Tailchaser's Song Quotes
"It's easier for me to remember where I was during the time I wrote Tailchaser's Song than it is for me to remember who I was."
"It took me a long time to understand the cat-human bargain."
"Just a bit of mental knitting with which to amuse myself."
"I'm not sure how long it took me to write the book all together, but it must have been about two years."
"Writing a book on the kitchen table was kind of like going out jogging in the evenings."
"The day the we-want-to-buy-your-book letter came, in January of 1985, is one of those things you never forget, right up there with weddings and the birth of children."
"Much of the past is frozen for us, which is why it's often such a shock to go back and visit remembered places or meet old acquaintances."
"But our own selves are like pearls, created by layer after layer of present laid over past until the original thing is completely hidden."
"All the Folk had exceedingly keen senses—they lived and died by them."
"The dividing line between waking and dreaming was a fine one among the Folk."
"Familiarity and the hard day-to-day business of raising a litter blunted many of Grassnestle’s subtler sensitivities."
"The life of the hunting mother did not permit brooding over abstractions."
"As he drew closer to his maturity the daily company of his brothers and sisters became less important to Fritti."
"During the hottest parts of the Hour of Smaller Shadows—his hunger blunted by his morning meal, his natural curiosity freed—he would range through the grasslands like his brethren of the savannahs, holding imaginary sway over all before him as he stood on a hillside, grass stems tickling his belly."
"Tailchaser found himself opening his heart to his newfound friend, and even he was surprised at what spilled out: dreams, hopes, ambitions—all mixed together and hardly differentiated from each other."
"She licked behind his ear and purred, "Of course, of course . . ." to him over and over until he finally crossed into the dream-world."
"Friends watched them and said that this was no mere attraction, to be consummated and then ended when the young fela finally came into her season."
"The elders sniffed sagely and kept their peace. They knew wounds of this type were best nursed in solitude, where the decision to live or die was freely made, and not regretted later."
"His mind felt blurry with conflicting passions."
"The atmosphere was full of cold traces of fear."
"He fled to the Old Woods and lived there alone."
"After much hard thought, Fritti decided that perhaps the Big Ones were a little like the Folk: some were good, and meant no idle harm, while some were not."
"All was as it had been, except that Tailchaser was more given to silences, and a little less to happy chattering."
"We are traveling together with our tails in the wind."
"Looking only straight ahead—lacking but the Word."
"Above the Wall, Meerclar’s Eye hung and gleamed, framing a sovereign wink against the black of the night."
"He looked around, and as his eye passed over Fritti the young cat felt a moment of impossible excitement."
"Old Snifflick climbed ponderously up onto his paws. He looked severely at Jumptall, then gazed around at the waiting Folk."
"Fritti Tailchaser was the only cat who did not stay for at least a moment with the brave delegation."
"Somewhere, he felt sure, Hushpad was staring up at the same Eye, and no one cared but him whether she was in danger or not."
"Half a hundred steps into the Old Woods, and still in the comparatively sunny and airy outer reaches of the forest, Fritti already felt himself to be the loneliest cat in the world."
"May you find luck dancing, young Tailchaser."
"To live always in darkness! Harar! How could the hole-dwellers and burrow-sleepers stand it?"
"I will not be a kitten, Fritti told himself. This is a good hunt-plan. I will wait for the proper moment."
"He was hungry. He had not eaten since Final Dancing of the previous day."
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"It’s a big world—but precious few there are to speak with."
"He may be back, Fritti pointed out. Oh, he’s not a bad sort, really. Mad as a mocking-bird. Tells good stories, though."
"My body translates mysteries with ease. My body is the Book of How to Go. I swear my ways are as deep as water’s ways."
"I send a message with my arching spine. But keep back more a message than I show. I lift my paw and give a secret sign."
"Courage counts no Eyes. There is precious little enough, without we fail to acknowledge it."
"Every day you have a choice, and if you want to, you can lie down in your fur and die anytime. But a First-walker never does y‘see?"
"Without dignity, life becomes scrabble and scrape."
"The days of valorous combat and oath-bonds and truth will never completely die, as long as the First-walkers survive."
"Wind is in the cane. Come along. Cane leaves swaying, rusty with talk Scratching choruses above the guinea’s squawk Wind is in the cane. Come along."
"The great ones cry out in the night... there is movement in the earth... the heart’s desire is found... in an unexpected place."
"When caught in dark places, choose your friends well... or choose your enemies."
"Tangaloor, fire-bright Flame foot, farthest walker Your hunter speaks In need he walks In need, but never in fear."
"What do they hunt by the glimmering pools of water, By the round silver Moon, the Pool of Heaven— In the striped grass, amid the barkless trees— The stars scattered like the eyes of the beasts above them!"
"For the love of Whitewind, save your breath and run!"
"Tails and Nails! Too many questions, not enough answers."
"Even I admit it’s a very nice nest to come back to."
"If we follow the Purrwhisper here in a ways—and none too far a way, either—do you know where we’ll be?"
"Perhaps this M‘an, this pathetic, oversized beast who clusters with his fellows in papery wasp nests, who goes unclawed and unfurred through the world, perhaps this object of scorn can teach us something?"
"They’re here for the celebration I told you about."
"Oh, we do have to forage a bit far sometimes, it’s true."
"Being a Master Old-singer’s not falling down a gopher hole, you know."
"It felt unnatural, inexplicably wrong, for the Folk to gather together in such numbers."
"I’m sorry... I didn’t know... what are they?"
"A little lightens the ka, and brings out song and happiness."
"I will wait with you. That is all we can do."
"Time lost all meaning as he fell; there was no sensation of wind or air passing."
"Bitterly will you regret straying into these warmthless shadows."
"The thought of the living burns me ... it burns me! Ah, such pain!"
"I hope you will do me the honor of sharing my kill."
"All his tomhood had been taken, changed he had been to half-fela."
"Now the servants make them masters, but the True-Folk ne‘er are vanquished."
"It is good to know that true hearts still beat in the ancient home of our Folk."
"Go in the watchfulness of our Lord Firefoot, Fencewalker."
"Stay out of trouble, and that will be my reward."
"The wrong, youngest hunter, is that we are the Folk, not Growlers who need to be led to live."
"Anyone can see that a cat must run, must hunt."
"I should not allow myself to become angry, but in our time of great danger, to see those mewing sycophants lolling about while our kin are being destroyed... forgive me."
"This is something you may pass along in story to litters yet unborn."
"Remember, the lands you are walking into bear an evil name these days. Tread warily."
"We will not go any closer, Pouncequick ... not now."
"The pulse of the mound seemed lower and more basic—all-pervading, but, strangely, more natural."
"I feel something. I felt it before... above ground."
"Here now, back to the holes—never do, never do ..."
"All this bim-bam bashing and gnashing... can’t... can’t... ?"
"Skydancer’s Ears and Tears! When am I going to stop making promises I have not the slightest chance of keeping?"
"If you make any movement to escape I will tear you to ribbons, and be pleased to do it."
"The phantom light rendered all in the cavern into spirits and vaulting shadows."
"I’ll be back for you, Pounce, don’t worry! Take care of him, Eatbugs!"
"I don’t know what your secret is, but I know there’s something there."
"Everyone flees from the bear...but sometimes the bear has bad dreams."
"All of the rocks and earth between those Folk and the sky had melted away, and they were singing together beneath Meerclar’s Eye."
"In the heart of his mound he lay, and his creatures multiplied around him, spreading outward."
"When the last threads were complete he would also rule the Hours of brightness."
"His inexorable, cold intelligence weighed these arguments and found them solid—but still he was not free of a smallest, most insignificant mote of unease."
"His family and peers were gone from the earth without trace, except in myth and reverence."
"Back and forth, soft gray paws laid delicately down one after another, Roofshadow walked a careful circuit."
"The sun, sparking the cold air and striking diamond gleams from the snowy ground, had passed the meridian."
"Then, shaking her head gently, she lowered a snuffling nose, breathed for a moment, then suddenly canted her ear again."
"Warm, fetid air rushed up through the aperture, and she reared back in surprise."
"Tailchaser searched the bobbing sea of hopeless animals for Pawgrip."
"In a cave on the rock wall above the Greater Gate, Roofshadow looked down upon the charnel life of the mound."
"Escape attempts were frequent, of course, but invariably they failed."
"Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat, The mist in my face."
"Pain and weariness battled beneath Tailchaser’s fur."