An interesting episode occurred in our
little circle of workers while we were consuming the contents of our nose
bags. A nice looking cat joined the circle and quietly stood by for a
hand out. Several of the diners pinched off a little of a delicacy and
presented it to the visitor.
One member of the lunch circle bunch was petting the cat and listening to
the contented purr. He announced to the group that he would bet all takers
that he could make the cat chew on an onion. This didn’t sound like an
easy task and two of the diners offered to bet a dollar. A dollar was
considered a lot of money in those days, but it sounded so easy to win
they thought it was worth the
risk.
The cat feeding expert pulled a
small onion from his sack and held it in front of the cat’s nose. The cat
turned its head and showed no interest in it. The two bettors smiled. This
was going to be an easy
win.
But things began to change when the
cat feeder took the end of the cat’s tail between his thumb and forefinger
and began to press it gently. At the same time he held the onion in front
of the cat’s mouth and continued to increase the pressure on the tip of
the tail. As the pressure increased the cat suddenly began to chew on the
onion and continued to do so until the expert released the pressure on the
tail. He then picked up a small stick and held in front of the cat and
again pressed the tip of the tail. Again the cat started
chewing.
And another bet was lost because the
one betting picked another man’s trick to bet on. I learned something
about a cat that I didn’t know as a result of this bet. Since then I have
tried the procedure on several cats and all have responded in the same
way. When the tip of the tail is pinched the cat will start chewing
lightly on whatever is held close to the mouth. It may be possible that
some cats, or some breed of cat, will not respond, but I have not heard of
a
failure. Try this on your favorite cat sometime. I’ll bet
the cat will start chewing on what is in front of its mouth. Just be sure
your fingers are out of
reach. I do not condone betting on tricks, but I have seen
many bets made and many lost because the person betting was greedy and
looking for easy money. Usually, if a person is familiar enough with his
subject to invite all bets, he knows what he is doing. So don’t be tempted
to go for the easy money just because it looks like a sure
win.
On another day, in the same circle of
diners, the circle made this comment: “I’ll bet anyone here that a penny
match box does not have the word ‘match’ or ‘matches’ printed on it.” Every man’s ears perked up a
little and three men offered to bet a dollar that it did. This bet looked
like easy money during a period when any kind of money was hard to get. He
quickly called the bet and asked if anyone had a penny match box. Several
smokers pulled a box out of a shirt picked and held them up for the
gambler to see. The word “MATCHES”
was printed across the top
of the lid. The three bettors held out their hand for their
winnings.
The gambler reached for one of the boxes, held it up and slid the
box out of the lid.
“You will notice,” He said, “that there is no printing on the box.
The printing is all on the lid. I will take the dollars, please!” There
was considerable complaining of fraud and cheating and a serious
discussion about whether the box and lid were separate items or if both
constituted just one box. A fight almost began, but the majority ruled
that the three had been victims of another man’s trick. The gambler
collected his bet and matter was closed.
I suppose you have already detected the moral to this tale: never
bet on the other man’s tricks! |