Say What?: A cat may look at a king / A dog is a man's best friend
All around the world, traditional proverbs contain a veritable menagerie of animals. Today we'll take a closer look at two sayings that each feature one of our most common household companion animals.
The first of these old saws has the aura of something that must have been around forever, but in fact, scholars have only traced it back to the 16th century. A collection of English proverbs titled The Proverbs and Epigrams of John Heywood, published in 1562, includes this line:
What, a cat may look on a king, ye know!
The saying is usually taken to mean that even the lowliest have certain rights:
As the day wore on and the crowd watching the Cabbage-Kicking Procession crowd grew more restive, Nobby Nobbs was getting thoroughly tired of street-lining duty, and especially of small children's jammy hands in his hair and crumbs dropped down the back of his neck. As the last of the procession of notables went by, he gave Sir Reynold such a fierce grimace that the man started twitching.
"Steady on," muttered Sergeant Colon. "You don't want to look at Lord Vetinari that way."
"And why shouldn't I?" snarled Nobby. "It's not like he's been standin' here all day with Dibbler's pie crust dribbling down his spine!"
Colon looked at him sideways for a moment and then shrugged. "Ah, well. Like as not he won't care. As they say, a cat may look at a king."
Nobby fairly swelled with irritation. "A cat, am I? All I did was look, Sarge! You ain't got no cause to call me names for it!"
More recently, judging by what I found online while researching this article, the saying seems to have been extended to be a rebellious statement from the lowliest in society to the loftiest: You're not so high and mighty: I'm as good as you are! It may also interest you to know that French includes a very similar proverb: "Un chien regarde bien un évêque" ("a dog may look at a bishop").
The saying about our canine companions, on the other hand, is believed to have been popularized in its current form by a particular historical event. In 1869, Leonidas Hornsby, a farmer in the U.S. state of Missouri, became enraged by the loss of several of his sheep to roaming dogs and vowed to shoot the first dog he saw on his property. The unlucky creature turned out to be Old Drum, the beloved pet of Hornsby's brother-in-law, Charles Burden. The two fought the case of the legality of Old Drum's death in the courtroom several times. During the final trial, Burden's attorney, George Graham Vest, won the case definitively for his client by an emotional speech that runs, in part, as follows:
Gentlemen of the jury, the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy … . The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world - the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous - is his dog.
[Emphasis added]
The final sentence is believed to have been shortened over the years to the current saying, "A dog is a man's best friend." Unlike the previous saw, this one has no secondary or assumed meaning. It may be uttered ironically, but the basic meaning is still exactly what Vest meant by his longer and more elegant courtroom statement: the loyalty of a dog exceeds that of any human being or other creature:
"That's a fine creature ye have, there, sergeant," said the old lady who ran the cider stall, and patted Angua heavily on the head. Thump thump thump. Angua was certain she could feel her brain rattling in her skull along with each blow.
"Who's a good girl, then?" chortled the stallkeeper. "You know, sergeant, they say that a dog is a man's best friend."
"That's certainly true," said Carrot, cheerfully. "Thanks for the drink. Come up, girl: we're leaving."
"Well, you are my best friend," muttered Carrot, once they were out of earshot. Angua gave his calf a sharp little nip. "Ow!" said Carrot. "Yes, I know: I'm sorry!"
Note that not everyone agrees that Vest's speech is the origin of this saying. The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs cites poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744) as the source. The quotation I was able to find, however, from a letter written by the poet, is not exactly the proverb of today either: Pope wrote that "Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends.”
To sum up: A cat may look at a king is generally used metaphorically, as a comment on the interactions between those of high and low social status, but A dog is a man's best friend is typically used as a literal comment (although sometimes an ironic one) on the relationship between people and their canine companions.
Sources
- A cat may look at a king (PhraseFinder)
- Cat may look at a King (InfoPlease)
- Man's best friend (PhraseFinder)
- Heritage: Tribute to the Dog (Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center, Warrensburg, MO)
- Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs by Martin H. Manser, Facts on File Inc., 2002