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🐱 Lesson 5 — Cats
"Māo" by Zhèng Zhènduó · Prose · Modern Chinese Classic
🎯 Learning Focus
Reading
- Understand the features of narrative prose
- Learn to write with extended metaphor (using animals to represent people)
- Master chronological order with emotional progression
- Reflect on compassion for all living beings
Values and Attitudes
- Protect animals and respect life
- Take responsibility for one's actions
- Stay strong in the face of failure
👤 About the Author: Zhèng Zhènduó (鄭振鐸)
| Item | Details |
|---|
| Lifespan | 1898 - 1958 |
| Courtesy name | Xīdì (西諦) |
| Birthplace | Chánglè, Fújiàn |
| Identity | Writer, literary historian, translator |
| Major works | Cats, Petrels, Guì Gōngtáng |
| Translations | The Bible, Greek mythology, Indian epics |
| Literary role | Co-promoter (with Lu Xun) of the New Culture Movement |
| Scholarship | Illustrated History of Chinese Literature, History of Chinese Popular Literature |
Zhèng Zhènduó is one of the most important writers, literary historians and translators in modern Chinese literature. His prose is known for being delicate, lyrical and rooted in everyday life. Cats is one of his finest prose pieces.
📖 Background
Cats was written in 1925, early in Zhèng's career. The text recalls three cats that the family kept, and through their fates, expresses compassion for living beings and reflection on human indifference.
💡 Context: Written after the May Fourth Movement, the text reflects the intellectuals' deep concerns about "life" and "human nature". On the surface it is about cats, but beneath it uses cats as a metaphor for vulnerable people in society.
🗂️ Structure
The text opens with "My family has kept cats several times, and each time the ending was …" and closes with "I will never bring up that mooncake again.", forming a frame.
The Three Cats
| Cats | Features | Fate | Author's Attitude |
|---|
| First cat |
From neighbour's home, lively and playful |
Died of illness |
Sad, lonely |
| Second cat |
From mother, even livelier |
Wrongly accused of stealing a bird and beaten to death |
Guilty, sorrowful, regretful |
| Third cat |
Picked up one winter night, timid, gloomy, never caught mice |
Killed by neighbour's black cat |
"Never to mention again" — deepest pain |
The fates of the three cats: died of illness → killed by injustice → killed by another cat. Each is more tragic than the last, and the author's grief runs deeper and deeper. The theme deepens from "love of cats" to "innocent lives".
🐱 The First Cat
Plot
The first cat was taken from a neighbour's home. This cat:
- Had white-spotted fur, lively and playful
- Seemed to catch mice (but did not really)
- Gradually became fat and less lively
- Died of illness in spring
Author's Feeling
"I" felt very sad and lonely.
The first cat's death made the author sad, but only a faint sense of loss — not deep pain.
🐱 The Second Cat (Most heartbreaking)
Plot
The second cat was brought in by the author's mother. This cat:
- Was even more lively and interesting
- Climbed trees and chased butterflies, bringing endless joy
- Was suspected by neighbours of stealing birds and chased
- Was finally beaten to death on the neighbour's roof
Key Passage
My heart ached bitterly. Truly, my conscience rebuked me.
Author's Feeling
Regret, self-reproach, guilt. The author felt he had participated in a wrongful act, even though he was not the chief instigator.
⚠️ The most important turning point of the text!
The second cat's death makes the author begin to reflect on "jumping to conclusions" and "ignoring vulnerable life". The text shifts from "loving cats" to reflecting on life's responsibility.
🐱 The Third Cat (Most painful)
Plot
The third cat was picked up from under a neighbour's eaves. This cat:
- Thin, timid and gloomy
- Had very mixed, ugly fur
- Never caught mice
- The family did not really like it; even "I" was indifferent
- Was finally killed by neighbour's black cat; "I" felt no sadness
Key Passage
There was an inexpressible pain in my heart. I will never forget it.
Author's Feeling
Never to mention again. Why?
⚠️ Why "never to mention"?
The author's pain is not about the cat's death, but about
his own coldness and heartlessness:
- Because he didn't like it, he did not protect it in time
- Because he didn't care, he watched helplessly as it was killed
- He even said afterwards "I was not sad", showing indifference
The real pain is the
sting of conscience, hence "
never to mention".
💭 Theme Analysis
Three Layers of Meaning
| Layer | Content |
|---|
| Surface | Records of three cats kept by the family |
| Middle | Love of cats and sorrow at their deaths |
| Deep | The dignity of life, human weakness, compassion for living creatures |
Central idea: Through the three cats' experiences — especially the second and third tragic deaths — the author expresses compassion for vulnerable life and reflects on human indifference, rashness and hasty judgement, urging readers to respect every living being.
Three-Stage Emotional Progression
- First stage: Love the cat → faint loss
- Second stage: Love the cat more → guilt and self-reproach
- Third stage: Indifferent → never to mention again (deepest pain)
The three cats = three stages of growth:
① Slight grief (died of illness)
② Medium guilt (wrongly killed)
③ Deep self-examination (killed by indifference)
The author moves from "loving cats" to "examining himself", and the theme grows deeper.
🔍 Writing Techniques
① Extended Metaphor
The cats' fates mirror the tragic experiences of vulnerable groups in society:
- Second cat = the wrongly accused and oppressed
- Third cat = the ignored and coldly treated outcasts
② Contrast
| Compared Items | Contrast |
|---|
| First cat vs Second cat | Quiet loss vs intense grief (different deaths) |
| Second cat vs Third cat | Loved then killed unjustly vs unloved and killed by indifference |
| Author's attitude | "Loved" → "indifferent" (striking reversal) |
③ Vivid Description
- Appearance (white-spotted, fat, thin)
- Action (chasing butterflies, climbing trees, biting)
- Demeanour (timid, gloomy)
④ Chronological Order
The three cats are introduced in first → second → third order, each layer going deeper.
⑤ Frame (Opening-Echoing-Closing)
- Opening: "My family has kept cats several times, and each time the ending was …"
- Closing: "I will never bring it up again"
- This frames the text and deepens the theme
📚 Key Vocabulary
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|
| 悵然 chàngrán | chàng rán | Disappointed, forlorn |
| 蜷伏 quánfú | quán fú | To curl up and lie down |
| 悽慘 qīcǎn | qī cǎn | Miserable, bleak |
| 妄下斷語 wàng xià duàn yǔ | wàng xià duàn yǔ | To jump to conclusions |
| 預感 yùgǎn | yù gǎn | A premonition |
| 畏縮 wèisuō | wèi suō | To shrink back in fear |
| 洋洋得意 yángyáng déyì | yáng yáng dé yì | Smug, very pleased with oneself |
| 悲楚 bēichǔ | bēi chǔ | Grieving and pained |
| 慚愧 cánkuì | cán kuì | Ashamed, conscience-stricken |
🎭 Symbolism of the Mooncake
The Mooncake at the End
After the third cat died, "I" placed a rice cake in front of it, only to find the cat already dead. The closing line says "I will never bring up that mooncake again."
Symbolic meanings of the mooncake:
- Guilt — the mooncake = wanting to make amends
- Indifference — but it is too late
- Responsibility — the author realises his neglect of life
⚠️ Important test point: "Never to mention" goes deeper than "sad", because real pain is the prick of conscience, not the loss of a pet.
✏️ Quick Practice
Question 1: How the three cats died
How did the author lose each of his three cats?
📋 Click to see the answer
The three cats' fates:
- First cat: died of illness
- Second cat: beaten to death after being wrongly accused of stealing a bird
- Third cat: killed by neighbour's black cat
Question 2: Why "never to mention" the mooncake?
The ending says "I will never bring up that mooncake again." Why?
📋 Click to see the answer
Reasons for "never to mention":
- The mooncake represents the author's wish to make amends for his coldness toward the third cat
- But the cat is already dead, beyond repair
- The author is aware of his own heartlessness, conscience-stricken
- The real pain is the prick of conscience, deeper than losing a pet
Question 3: Central Theme
What is the central idea of the text?
📋 Click to see the answer
The central idea:
Through three cats kept by the family — especially the tragic fates of the second and third cats — the author shows compassion for vulnerable life and reflects on human indifference, rashness and hasty conclusions, urging readers to respect every living being.
Question 4: Extended Metaphor
What do the cats' fates symbolise?
📋 Click to see the answer
Metaphorical meanings:
- Second cat = the wrongly accused and oppressed
- Third cat = the ignored and coldly treated outcasts
- Reflects the tragic fates of vulnerable groups in society
- Calls on people to care for the weak
Question 5: Contrast
How did the author's attitude toward the three cats differ?
📋 Click to see the answer
Contrast in attitude toward the three cats:
- First cat: loved, "sad, lonely" after death (faint)
- Second cat: loved even more, "self-reproach, anguish" after death (intense)
- Third cat: indifferent, "never to mention" after death (deepest)
The attitude moves from loved → loved more → indifferent, yet grief grows deeper and deeper — a striking contrast.
🎯 Lesson Summary
- Cats is Zhèng Zhènduó's classic prose, written in 1925
- Three cats: died of illness → killed by injustice → killed by another cat (each more tragic)
- Writing techniques: extended metaphor, contrast, vivid description, chronological order, frame
- Theme: respect life, reflect on human weakness
- Symbolism: the mooncake represents irretrievable guilt
- Values: protect animals, respect life, face setbacks bravely
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