Once you get a cat once, and stop already will not work. So Ernest Hemingway, a famous writer and Nobel laureate , believed. Indeed, he loved cats very much, and at home, on an estate on the island of Key West, he made a real cat's paradise. His pets could walk wherever they could, get good food and live at ease. But the writer at home had not quite ordinary cats. In this article we will talk about them. So what kind of cats are called Hemingway cats?
Snowball
This kitten was presented to the famous writer by his friend, captain Stanley Dexter, back in 1935. The pet was supposed to bring luck to Hemingway, because according to an old legend prevalent among sailors, such cats are real talismans. They were taken with them on long voyages by the captains of the ships, so that later they would definitely return.
Snezhka (as Hemingway called his kitten) had six fingers on each foot. This little fluffy lump grew up, became an adult cat and for many years lived side by side with the famous writer, opening a new era in his life.
A few words about cat features
Polydactyly is an anatomical abnormality. It is characterized by the fact that on the legs of the animal there are more fingers than is provided for by nature. Normally, cats have five fingers on the front legs, four on the hind legs. With polydactyly, the number of fingers is increased, and the paw at the same time looks unusual, strange.
Polydactyly is known to be inherited. That is, if the cat has this deviation, with a 50 percent probability it will be transmitted to its offspring. Another hypothesis of the occurrence of polydactyly is that it can be caused by impaired embryonic development. Unfortunately, what factors can lead to such a deviation has not yet been established.
However, this feature does not cause any inconvenience to cats. In no way does it affect the behavior of animals. If desired, the owners of such an unusual kitten can go to the veterinary clinic, where the extra fingers are simply removed surgically. But Ernest Hemingway did not begin to carry out such manipulations with his pets, of course.
Feline paradise
As mentioned above, several years later, more animals appeared in the writer's house. Snezhka had a love with a beautiful representative of his own kind, kittens were born. However, some were also six-fingered. All of them remained to live on the Hemingway estate.
Years passed, the number of cats grew. By the end of World War II, twenty pets had already lived in the writer’s house. And Hemingway loved all of them very much.
"I miss you"
Everyone knew about the warm affection of a talented writer to his pets. And journalists in those days repeatedly visited the estate to see how Ernest Hemingway and his unusual cats live. The press appeared entertaining materials, individual pictures and even entire photo stories. And, of course, everyone was interested in the same six-fingered cat Hemingway - Snowball. His pictures were printed next to the photos of the owner.
Hit the press and another cat Hemingway. The case was described when the writer had to shoot his pet, who was hit by a car. The animal was very tormented, so the owner had no other choice. On that day, journalists came to the house of the famous writer by chance, and it so happened that they caught tears in the eyes of this man who had seen life ...
Later, in a letter to his close friend, Hemingway wrote about what he wanted to tell his departed pet how much he missed him. “I had to shoot people, but I never felt such severe pain as when I held you in my arms, broken, dying, but purring ...”
Fifty seven Hemingway cats
The following fact is interesting. In 1957, fifty-seven feline representatives lived on the writer's estate. Hemingway's first six-toed cat , Snowball, was the ancestor of many of them.
The writer’s wife ordered the tower to be attached to the house. She believed that there Hemingway would be able to write in solitude, without being distracted by anything. However, the writer himself continued to create in his bedroom, and the tower was given to cats, which were freely located on its first floor.
Ernest Hemingway carried his love for furry domestic animals through his life. And, of course, this strong attachment could not affect the writer's work.
Cats in the works of Hemingway
At the very beginning of his writing career, Ernest Hemingway created a short story in which one of the main characters was a cat. These were just three pages of a story about two Americans, a married couple staying at an Italian hotel. The wife sees a cat sitting in the rain outside the window and goes down to pick it up in the room. The owner of the hotel sends a maid with an umbrella for the girl. The cat, however, has already left somewhere, and the girl returns to her husband's room. There is a small skirmish between the spouses, but the maid, holding the cat in her arms, soon enters the room. “The landlord asked you to transfer,” she says. And that’s all I wanted to say to the reader of Hemingway. “A cat in the rain” is the name of this story, which leads to thoughts about people, their relationships, characters and actions.
The novel Islands in the Ocean, published by the widow of the writer after his death, tells the story of the appearance of the cat Boyce in the house of Hemingway. Ham picked him up near his favorite restaurant as a kitten. This cat Hemingway enjoyed a privileged position in the house: he could climb into bed with the owner and eat with him from the same bowl. It is said that the writer’s pet took over from him the love of sweet tropical fruits.
Hemingway House Museum and its inhabitants
After the death of the writer, his house on Key West became a museum. And all the cats that lived there before, remained in their usual place. Ernest Hemingway himself bequeathed to his pets and their descendants indefinite maintenance. At the same time, cats are supposed to be allowed to be where they want, to be given attention, they should be fed deliciously.
For fluffy residents of the museum are equipped with automatic feeders, which they can visit at any time of the day or night, and drinking fountains. Ernest Hemingway made one of these fountains with his own hand, adapting an old urinal from a nearby bar for these purposes. And he still works, cats use him.
The museum is home to more than fifty representatives of the cat family, about forty of them are descendants of the same Snowball, they have a pronounced polydactyly. At the same time, due to their free crossing among themselves, very interesting variations of the manifestation of the sign arise - seven and eight fingers on the front paws. The colors of these cats also have the most diverse, there are also descendants of the black and white handsome Boyce.
The cat’s cemetery is also located on the island, where the inhabitants of the museum and the pets of Ham himself “rested on a rainbow” are resting. On each small tombstone, the names and dates of the birth and death of cats are indicated.
National Treasure of America
A few years ago, the inhabitants of the Ernest Hemingway Museum House were in danger. According to the law of the state of Florida, to which Key West Island belongs, at home every citizen can contain no more than four cats.
The Department of Agriculture filed a lawsuit against the museum administration. The statement claimed that keeping so many cats was illegal, as well as showing them to visitors for money. The lawsuit lasted several years, but museum staff defended their pets. Now cats living in the territory of Ernest Hemingway’s house are considered the national treasure of America and are officially protected by law.
How to chat with Hemingway cats?
Come to his house museum on Key West, Florida. Here you can not only learn about the life of a famous writer and get involved in his work, but also get acquainted with numerous cats, descendants of Snezhka, who settled with Ham back in 1935.
Museum cats are used to the attention of visitors. They behave calmly, many even climb on their knees to the guests and begin to purr.
And another interesting fact about the cats of Ernest Hemingway. During his lifetime, he called his pets so that their nicknames contained the consonant "C". And after the writer’s death, cats were named after celebrities. Now on the island live Audrey Hepburn, Charlie Chaplin, Sophia Loren and Pablo Picasso.
Ernest Hemingway loved cats. They accompanied his life and work, helped to find inspiration and tune in to the working wave. The writer took care of his furry pets, and they answered him with faithful purrs. What kind of cats did Ernest Hemingway like? The answer is simple: he loved everyone, even a little special.