Foreign News: The Cat in the Library

L'Epoque, a usually staid Paris daily, hazarded a political revelation. A cat, it charged, was carried on the budget of the Bibliotheque Nationale, France's vast and ponderous national library. The cat, maintained by the library to discourage rats from gnawing the bindings, was said by L'Epoque to have died recently after giving birth to kittens and had been circumspectly replaced by a male.

TIME'S Paris Correspondent Sherry Mangan telephoned the library, was connected: 1) with the chef of the library canteen, who admitted a change of cats but was not sure of the new cat's sex; 2) with the...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!