He hid his face in the crook of his arm. "Oh, I know that I'm a King!" he cried. "I know my name and address, of course! But I do not know, after all these years, who I really, truly am!"
"Look at me and you will find out," said the Cat quietly.
"But I h-h-have looked at you!" sobbed the King into his handkerchief.
"Not really," the Cat insisted gently. "You have only glanced at me, now and again. A Cat may look at a King you say. But a King may also look at a Cat. If you did that, you would know who you are. Look in my eyes — and see!"
The King took his face out of the handkerchief and peered at the Cat through his tears. His eyes wandered over the calm white face and came at last to the Cat's green eyes. Within that shining, piercing gaze he saw his own reflection.
"Closer. Closer," the Cat commanded.
Obediently the King bent nearer.
And as he gazed at those fathomless eyes, a change came over the man within them. Slowly, his thin, pinched face grew fatter. The pale cheeks plumped into round red pouches and the wrinkles smoothed themselves out of his brow. Bright locks of brown curled upon his head; a brown beard sprang from his greying chin. The King gave a start of surprise and smiled. And a big broad rosy man smiled back from the mirroring eyes of the Cat.
"My Glorious Ghosts! That's me! he cried. "I know who I really am at last! Why, I'm not the cleverest man in the world!" He flung up his head with a gusty laugh. "Ho-ho! Ha-ha! I see it all now! I'm not a thinking person at all. I'm nothing but a Merry Old Soul!"
He waved his arms at the gaping courtiers. "Here, you! Take away those pens and papers. Tear up the notebooks! Bury the desks! And if anyone mentions a fact to me I shall cut off his head myself!"
He gave another uproarious laugh and embraced the Prime Minister so tightly that he nearly killed the old man.
"Forgive me, my faithful friend!" he cried. "And bring me my Pipe and a Bowl of Punch and call in my Fiddlers Three!"
"And you, my Joy, my Treasure, my Dove—" he turned to the Queen with outstretched arms. "Oh, give me your hand again, dear heart, and I'll never let it go!"
Happy tears crept down the cheeks of the Queen, and the King touched them gently away. "I don't need stars in the sky," he whispered, "I have them here, in your eyes."
"Forgive me if I interrupt. But what about me?" exclaimed the Cat.
"Well, you've got the kingdom. You've got the crown! What more do you want?" the King demanded.
"Pooh!" said the Cat. "They're no use to me! Accept them, I pray, as a friendly gift. But as no cat ever gives something for nothing, I demand in return two small requests—"
"Oh, anything. Anything at all," said the King with a lordly gesture.
"I should like, every now and then," said the Cat, "to come to the Palace and see—"
"Me? Why, of course! You're always welcome!" The King broke in with a satisfied smile.
"To see the Queen," the Cat continued, ignoring the King's remark.
"Oh — the Queen! All right. Whenever you like. You can help us to keep down the mice."
"My second request," the Cat went on, "is the little chain of blue-and-green flowers that the Queen wears round her neck."
"Take it — and welcome!" the King said airily. "It was only a cheap one, anyway."
Slowly the Queen put up her hands and unfastened the clasp at her throat. She twined the necklace about the Cat, looping it round the furry body and over and under the tail. Then for a long moment she looked deep into the Cat's green eyes and the Cat looked into hers. And in that look lay all the secrets that Queens and cats carry in their hearts and never tell to anyone.
"My At Home days are every Second Friday," said the Queen, as she smiled at the Cat.
"I shall come," the Cat said nodding.
And having said that, he turned away and, without a glance at anyone else, sailed out of the Council Chamber. The blue-and-green necklace shone in his fur and his tail waved to and fro like a banner.
"By the way!" called the King, as the Cat departed. "Are you sure you're really a prince in disguise? Could I have safely cut off your head?"
The Cat turned about and regarded him gravely. Then it smiled its mocking smile.
"Nothing is certain in this world. Good-bye!" said the green-eyed Cat.
It sprang across the sunny threshold and down the Castle steps.
On the Palace lawn a red cow was admiring her reflection in an ornamental pond.
"Who are you?" she enquired, as the Cat passed by.
"I'm the Cat that Looked at a King," he replied.
"And I," she remarked with a toss of her head, "am the Cow that Jumped Over the Moon."
"Is that so?" said the Cat. "Whatever for?"
The Cow stared. She had never before been asked that question. And suddenly it occurred to her that there might be something else to do than jumping over moons.
"Now that you mention it," she said shyly, "I don't think I really know." And she trotted away across the lawn to think the matter over.
On the garden path a large grey bird was noisily flapping its wings.
"I'm the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs!" it quacked haughtily.
"Indeed?" said the Cat, "and where are your goslings?"
"Goslings?" The Goose turned a trifle pale. "Well, now that you mention it, I have none. I always felt there was something missing." And she hurried off to make a nest and lay a common egg.
Plop! A green shape dropped in front of the Cat.
"I'm the Frog that Would a-Wooing Go," it said proudly.
"Do you tell me that, now?" the Cat said gravely. "Well, I trust you are happily married."
"Er — now that you mention it — not exactly. In fact — er — no!" confessed the Frog.
"Ah," said the Cat, with a shake of his head. "You should have obeyed your Mother!"
And before the Frog could do more than blink, the Cat had passed on. Away he went down the garden path, his whiskers twitching in the morning air, his blue-and-green necklace shining in the sun and his white tail waving like a banner behind him.
And as he disappeared through the Palace gates, all those who had seen him felt rich and happy.
The Cow and the Goose and the Frog were happy for now they could stop doing foolish things that had no rhyme or reason. The courtiers all were happy men, dancing by day to the Fiddlers' tunes and drinking at night from the flowing Bowl. The King himself was extremely happy because he no longer thought about anything. And the Queen was happy for a very good reason — because the King was happy. The little Page was happy, too. For now he could fill the inkwells with ink, and empty them back in the bottle again with no one to say him nay. But the happiest person in all the world was the old Prime Minister.
Do you know what he did?
He issued a proclamation.
The King commanded his subjects (it said) to put up Maypoles and dance around them; to get out Merry-go-rounds and ride them; to dance and feast and sing and grow fat and love one another dearly. And, furthermore, (it was clearly printed) if anyone disobeyed these laws, the King would immediately cut off his head.
And, having done that, the Prime Minister felt he had done enough. He spent the rest of his days doing nothing — just sitting in the sun in a rocking-chair, making himself a gentle breeze with a fan of cocoanut palm.
As for the Cat, he went his way through the ways of the world, decked in the Queen's bright necklace; and gazing at everything he saw with his green and piercing eyes.
He is still wandering, some folks say, for Near and Far are alike to him. And always as he goes, he watches out for one or another who will return his gaze. A king, it may be, or perhaps a shepherd, or a man going by through the city streets. If he comes upon anyone like that, he will stay with them for a little while. Not very long, but long enough. It takes no more than the tick of a second to look down deep in his deep green eyes and discover who they are….