Friday, March 1, 2013

Cats A-Z: R (Raton)

"Raton" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Raton 

The fire illuminates Raton's face, warming him more than he'd like. His eyes fix on one of the plump and glistening chestnuts. He reaches into the pan and braces himself for the burn. Hot! Hot! He flicks the nut out of the pan toward Bertrand. Raton winces and holds his paw up to let the tender pads cool. This is a tedious, painful task, but he thinks of the tasty pile of chestnuts that he and Bertrand have agreed to divide, and reaches in again. 

Raton is a character from from an old fable "The Monkey and the Cat." In it, the conniving monkey Bertrand persuades the cat Raton into fishing hot, roasting chestnuts out of a fire. Bertrand tells Raton that they will share the bounty, but then gobbles down each chestnut as Raton fishes them out. 



No comments:

Post a Comment