Once more, after an interval, the eyes of Vetranio lazily unclosed, and
this time he began to speak; but his thoughts--if thoughts they could be
called--were as yet wholly occupied by the 'table-talk' at the past
night's banquet.
'The ancient Egyptians--oh, sprightly and enchanting Camilla--were a
wise nation!' murmured the senator drowsily. 'I am myself descended
from the ancient Egyptians; and, therefore, I hold in high veneration
that cat in your lap, and all cats besides. Herodotus--an historian
whose works I feel a certain gratification in publicly mentioning as
good--informs us, that when a cat died in the dwelling of an ancient
Egyptian, the owner shaved his eyebrows as a mark of grief, embalmed the
defunct animal in a consecrated house, and carried it to be interred in
a considerable city of Lower Egypt, called 'Bubastis'--an Egyptian word
which I have discovered to mean The Sepulchre of all the Cats; whence it
is scarcely erroneous to infer--'
At this point the speaker's power of recollection and articulation
suddenly failed him, and Carrio--who had listened with perfect gravity
to his master's oration upon cats--took immediate advantage of the
opportunity now afforded him to speak again.
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