Cats Paradise by Emile Zola | Short Summary | Question-Answers | Video Explanation

MSEducator.in - Cat's Paradise By Emile Zola
-Watch this Video for detailed Explanation- 
Cat’s paradise was first published in 1864, is the story of an Angora cat (pet cat). The story revolves around an Angora cat who yearned to be outside on the rooftops. This story shows the difference between the life of an indoor cat (pet cat) and outdoor cats (stray cats). The chapter indicates how it is important to be content and grateful for wherever one is placed in life.


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- Short Summary -
An Angora cat is the main character of the story. The cat is unnamed in the story. He describes himself as two years old, fat, simple and spoiled. He spends his time looking out of the window and wanted to live outdoors. He led a luxurious life- had a soft bed to sleep on, was served delicious red meat but he was bored with being happy all day long. He was so tempted to go out. One day, when he found the kitchen window open he escaped onto a small roof. He made friends with a tomcat (an outdoor cat), who offered to educate him. He readily accepted the offer. The joy of this freedom was short lived for the indoor cat as he struggled on the streets with no access to food and shelter. He ultimately decided to get back to his home even if it meant to be locked within the doors. He now understood what true paradise meant.



- Explanation -
The pet cat describes himself as two years old, the fattest and the most innocent cat. He lived in luxury. He had a real bedroom at the bottom of a wardrobe. He slept on feather pillows. He ate meat, lovely red meat. Still, he was not happy as he wanted to live the life of the cats on the rooftops.

One day he found the kitchen window to be open and escaped onto a small roof. His paws immersed in the mud for the first time which filled him with happiness. He felt like he was walking over velvet. He loved the smell of the large gutters. He enjoyed the heat of the sun. The cat was left terrified when three outdoor cats approached him and meowed at him frightfully. On seeing him slip on the tiles, they made fun of him and called him fat-scared-cat. The pet cat was accepted into the gang. Old tomcat became his very good friend. Everything in the street looked good and beautiful for the cat. He loved drinking from the gutters like the outdoor cats. He felt like his dream come true when he saw a gorgeous cat pass by. He couldn’t resist dashing forward to greet her. 


But all this came to an end very soon after a violent rebuke. He was very hungry and had to find food for himself because nobody served food to the outdoor cats. The poor fat cat was not used to hunting food. He had never hunted before. He began to look around, but couldn’t find anything and feared he might stay hungry. The sight of a man preparing a meal caught his attention. The lovely cutlet kept on the table attracted him. He immediately jumped through the window and was on that table. But he was seen by the man who then gave him a good smack with a broom. The smack was so hard that the chop dropped from his mouth and he had to run for his life. The fat cat now understood the difficulties in the life of the outdoor cats. The tomcat, his only dear friend in the outside world told him that he would have to hunt in the gutters and in the garbage heaps in order to feed himself and also told him that the food on the table was meant only to be admired from a distance.

The cat now had no food to eat, no shelter to protect him from the heavy rainfall. He remembered all the comforts which he enjoyed when he was indoors. He started missing home and understood the worth of all those things. Now, The next morning the Tomcat took him back to his house. The cat was thankful to the tomcat and was happy to be back. He now valued the comfort and knew that it was a paradise as it gave him all happiness and comfort.



- Word-Meanings -

Native : lack of experience and knowledge.
Presumptuously : confidently
Disdained : refused
Providence : god
Insipid : not interesting
Supple : soft and able to bend
Ravishing : extremely beautiful
Comrades : friends
Perplexed : puzzled
Scavenge : search for things that can be used or eaten from garbage.
Penetrating : strong
Languished : to be forced to stay somewhere.
Roasted on a spit : cooked
Rummaged : search untidily and carelessly.
Succulent : juicy
Brusquely : rudely
Revelled : enjoy oneself in a lively manner.
Afterthought : something that is thought or added later.
Embers : burnt coal



- Question/Answers -

Q. Describe the condition in which the narrator lived before leaving the house.
Q. Why did the narrator fancy the outside world?
Q. Why did the Cat decide to leave the house ?
Q. How did the Cat’s life change after stepping out of the house?
Q. Why did the other cats call the narrator a scaredy-cat? Why was the narrator scared?
Q. Who offered to educate the Fat Cat and about what?
Q. What did the tomcat say to the narrator?
Q. Describe the incident involving a young workman and the cat.
Q. In what ways the life on the streets different from the life that the narrator had led?
Q. How does the cat describe ‘paradise’ by the end of the story?


Q. Reference to context :

“You are a fool. I’d die in that warm softness. 
Your life of abundance is fine for spoiled cats. 
Free cats will never buy your ease and your 
comforter for the price of being imprisoned. 
Goodbye!”

a. Who said the above lines?
b. Who is referred to as a fool in the above lines?
c. What do you understand by ‘life of abundance'?

- ANSWERS -

- Self Evaluation Test -

This is a quiz based test which is consist of 20 Multiple Choice Questions to test your Understanding about this Chapter...



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