Letter from Hattie to Muggins, March 11, 1903
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Muggins, March 11, 1903
Subject
Cats; Pets; Travel
Description
This is a lighthearted letter Harriet is writing to a cat named Muggins. Harriet thinks Muggins does not like her very much and he always runs away from her. She tells the cat about Mrs. Fitch's cat "Bobs" who tries to be close to Harriet and is not at all like Muggins. She also met a lady in Yokohama who had lots of photos and items with cats on them.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #4
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1903-03-11
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_464
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
S.S. China
March 11th 1903.
My dear Muggins -
I am going to write
a letter all to yourself and
dont you let any body see it
who will make [u]fun[/u] of me
for writing to you or of you
for receiving a letter from
me. And first I want to
know if they give you anything
to eat. and if they let you
come sit beside the
table. and say "Dear old
Mug he [u]shall[/u] have something
good to eat, [u]nice breakfast[/u]"
If they [u]do not[/u] I will send you
a message by wireless telegraphy
to tell you what I think of
them . And now I want to
tell you about some cats I
saw yesterday . When I first
went into Mrs Fitch's room and
sat down there was "Bobs" sitting
on the nice fur rug close by the
stove. He was different from
you Muggins he did not run
away from me and try to hide
under the table or lounge.
but came right up to me, and
put his paws up on my lap, and
I saw at once he wanted an
invitation to come and sit in
my lap. But Mrs Fitch said
no, no that he was old, and
shedding his hair, and dirty
because he would go in the
coal bin. But I said I
didnt mind, for I liked cats
I thought of you Mug although
you never think of me. So
Bobs climbed up in my
lap and purred beautifully.
Then when I went into
another room Bobs followed
right along and when I went
to the washstand to wash
my face and hands he climbed
up on the bed as near me as he
could get and purred and
gently bit my fingers. Then
I went over to the other corner
of the room to comb my hair
and he came, and climbed
on a chair near the dresser.
We went out directly after dinner
and left him sitting by the
stove, but when we came in
in the evening, + I went again
to the bedroom Bobs went too.
Mrs Fitch tried to make him
come out, but he ran under the
bed and hid until she went
out and shut the door and
then he came out again. I did
not mind his hiding because I
knew why he did it and it
was'nt [u]at all like you hiding[/u].
Well that is all about Bobs. I
saw some other nice cats and [u]not
one[/u] of them ran away and hid
from me. But I did not
have time to get much
acquainted with any of them
Perhaps if they know me as
well as you do, they would not
like me. Now I want to
tell you about a lady in
Yokohama who took me to
see her room. It was a very
pretty room, and what do you
think ? There were lots and
lots of pictures of cats and
kittens . some of them such
pretty pictures. I did not have
time to see them all. One very
pretty one was on a calendar for
1903 a large black and white
cat sitting up behind a table with
both its paws on an open book
and before it two of the dearest
little kittens looking up so earnestly
I am sure they were all very
studious cats . The lady had a
collection of Perry pictures of cats
and she advised me to [?vend?] for them
Do you think it would be a good
idea? Then she has a scrap
book two inches thick just
filled with pictures of cats.
I wish you and all the rest
of the family would save all
the cat pictures you find for
me. I must say I do not feel
proud of [u]your[/u] photograph but I
presume you will say that it
looks better than [u]mine[/u] which
I know is [u]sadly true[/u] .Now
goodbye dear Muggins I wish
you could think of me sometimes
[Note: Letter concludes sideways in the right hand margin]
but I shall have to do all the remembering I suppose Your aff [u]friend[/u]
Hattie --
March 11th 1903.
My dear Muggins -
I am going to write
a letter all to yourself and
dont you let any body see it
who will make [u]fun[/u] of me
for writing to you or of you
for receiving a letter from
me. And first I want to
know if they give you anything
to eat. and if they let you
come sit beside the
table. and say "Dear old
Mug he [u]shall[/u] have something
good to eat, [u]nice breakfast[/u]"
If they [u]do not[/u] I will send you
a message by wireless telegraphy
to tell you what I think of
them . And now I want to
tell you about some cats I
saw yesterday . When I first
went into Mrs Fitch's room and
sat down there was "Bobs" sitting
on the nice fur rug close by the
stove. He was different from
you Muggins he did not run
away from me and try to hide
under the table or lounge.
but came right up to me, and
put his paws up on my lap, and
I saw at once he wanted an
invitation to come and sit in
my lap. But Mrs Fitch said
no, no that he was old, and
shedding his hair, and dirty
because he would go in the
coal bin. But I said I
didnt mind, for I liked cats
I thought of you Mug although
you never think of me. So
Bobs climbed up in my
lap and purred beautifully.
Then when I went into
another room Bobs followed
right along and when I went
to the washstand to wash
my face and hands he climbed
up on the bed as near me as he
could get and purred and
gently bit my fingers. Then
I went over to the other corner
of the room to comb my hair
and he came, and climbed
on a chair near the dresser.
We went out directly after dinner
and left him sitting by the
stove, but when we came in
in the evening, + I went again
to the bedroom Bobs went too.
Mrs Fitch tried to make him
come out, but he ran under the
bed and hid until she went
out and shut the door and
then he came out again. I did
not mind his hiding because I
knew why he did it and it
was'nt [u]at all like you hiding[/u].
Well that is all about Bobs. I
saw some other nice cats and [u]not
one[/u] of them ran away and hid
from me. But I did not
have time to get much
acquainted with any of them
Perhaps if they know me as
well as you do, they would not
like me. Now I want to
tell you about a lady in
Yokohama who took me to
see her room. It was a very
pretty room, and what do you
think ? There were lots and
lots of pictures of cats and
kittens . some of them such
pretty pictures. I did not have
time to see them all. One very
pretty one was on a calendar for
1903 a large black and white
cat sitting up behind a table with
both its paws on an open book
and before it two of the dearest
little kittens looking up so earnestly
I am sure they were all very
studious cats . The lady had a
collection of Perry pictures of cats
and she advised me to [?vend?] for them
Do you think it would be a good
idea? Then she has a scrap
book two inches thick just
filled with pictures of cats.
I wish you and all the rest
of the family would save all
the cat pictures you find for
me. I must say I do not feel
proud of [u]your[/u] photograph but I
presume you will say that it
looks better than [u]mine[/u] which
I know is [u]sadly true[/u] .Now
goodbye dear Muggins I wish
you could think of me sometimes
[Note: Letter concludes sideways in the right hand margin]
but I shall have to do all the remembering I suppose Your aff [u]friend[/u]
Hattie --
China轮船上 1903年3月11日 亲爱的Muggins 我要给你写一封信 / 你不要告诉任何会拿我开玩笑的人 / 我给你写了一封信。 / 首先我想知道他们是否给你东西吃。 / 他们是否让你在饭桌上吃 / 比如， 老Mug早饭会吃一下好吃的。 / 如果他们不是， 我会给你发无线电报告诉你 我的想法。 现在我想跟你说说我昨天看到的猫。 / 我第一次看到Fitch太太的房间， 那只猫Bobs坐在火炉旁的 皮毛地毯上坐着。 他和你Muggins不一样， 他不会朝我跑过来 并且试着藏在桌子下面或者大厅， / 而是直朝我跑来， 把他的爪子放在我的大腿上， 我立刻看出来， 他想让我请他过来坐在我的腿上。 但是Fitch太太说不可以 他太老了， 他抖下来他的毛和灰尘 因为他走进了煤炭桶里。 但是我说我不介意， 因为我喜欢猫， 我想过你， 但是我知道你不会想我。 所以Bobs爬到我腿上 他满足的咕哝着 我去另一个房间的时候 Bobs在后面跟着， 我去洗手台洗手的时候 / 他爬上床 尽可能靠近我 开始清理自己， 又轻轻咬了我的手指。 我去了房间的另一个角梳头 / 他来了， 爬上了梳妆台的椅子上。 我们吃完饭以后就出去了， 他坐在火炉旁， 但是我们晚上回来的时候， 我再一次走进卧室 Bobs也走进去了。 Fitch太太试着让它出去， 但是他跑到床底下藏了起来， 直到她出去， 关上门 他才再一次出来。 我不介意他藏起来 因为我知道他为什么藏， 而且他藏不像你那样。 这就是关于Bobs的全部。 我也遇到了一些其他很好的猫， 他们都不会因为我跑掉藏起来。 但是我没有时间更多和他们互相了解。 / / 也许，如果他们对我的了解和你一样多， 他们不会喜欢我。 现在我想告诉一个带我去参观她房间的横滨女人。 / / 那是一间很漂亮的房间， 你怎么想？ 有很多关于大猫和小猫的照片。 / 一些照片特别好看。 我没有时间去看所有的。 / 一个印在1903年日历上的非常漂亮 印着一只黑白色的猫 坐在桌子后面 两只爪子放在一本打开的书上， 在他面前， 两只很小的猫很认真地看， 我确定他们都是很爱学习的小猫。 / 这个女人收集了很多猫的照片， 她给我提了建议。 你认为这是个好建议吗？ 她还有一本两英寸厚的收集本 / 填满了猫的照片。 我希望你和家人可以为我保存所有猫的照片。 / / 我不得不说 我并不对你的照片感到骄傲， 但是我认为它会比我的看起来更好 / 我知道这是真的。 现在再见了，亲爱说Muggins 我希望你可以时不时想到我 【边缘书写】 但是我会尽力。 我认为的你的朋友 Hattie --
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Muggins, March 11, 1903,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 26, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/518.