The White Cat pt. 2

Published: July 10, 2020, 9 p.m.

b'We hope you enjoy this preview of an episode from our back catalog available to our premium subscribers. Tonight, we\\u2019ll read the second part to the fairy tale called "The White Cat", credited to Madame d\\u2019Aulnoy. In part 1, the old king devises to distract his sons from taking over the throne with a sort of fool\\u2019s errand to find him the perfect beautiful lap dog. Whoever won would also take over the kingdom.\\xa0To unlock full episodes, ad-free listening, and more, please go to\\xa0snoozecast.com/plus.\\n\\nThe youngest son stumbles upon a magical castle with a lovely talking cat, known as the White Cat. She gives him an acorn that she says carries the tiniest, most perfect dog, to bring to his father.\\xa0\\n\\nAs an aside, the story mentions that the prince brings with him a \\u201cturnspit dog\\u201d. This was a lowly breed of dog that is now extinct. It was kept in kitchens and ran on a wheel to turn the spit, or rotisserie that meat cooked on. The turnspit may have been an ancestor to either a modern Corgi, or the Glen terrier.\\xa0\\n\\nIn order not to overexert a dog with this hot and unpleasant work they were often kept in pairs, so that they could be worked in shifts. It is believed that this is the origin of the proverb \'every dog has his day.\\u2019The Turnspit dog was also used as foot warmers at church, and it is said that Queen Victoria kept retired turspits as pets.\\xa0\\n\\n-- read by \'V\' --\\xa0\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'