Andrejs Upīts and cats
Did you know that Andrejs Upīts loved cats? One of his most trustworthy followers during the last years of his life was male cat called Pīka.
Andrejs Upīts and Pīka, 1957. Photo by J. Rjuikins
The fable "Mince's Adventures"
The names of pets with tails can be found in the fable “Cat and Mouse” (Kaķis un pele) and the story “Mince’s Adventures” (Minces piedzīvojumi) The most precise evidence of the fact that the writer hated dogs and loved cats could be found in the short story “German Shepherd” (Vilku suns) that was part of the novel “Smiling Leaf” (Smaidošā lapa, 1937).
Runcis Pīka Jūrmalā. Nezināms fotogrāfs.
Servant Alīda Stepe said this about the friendship about her master, Upīts, and Pīka the cat in 1973: – A chauffeur brought the cat in 1951 or 1952. Mama [Andrejs Upīts’ wife Olga] didn’t want it. The cat fell off her lap, but immediately he leapt into the lap of the professor [Andrejs Upīts]. The professor enjoyed that. When Upīts was at the table, he put a white sheet of paper on his side and put a piece of meat or something else that was tasty on his fork. The cat prettily took the food with its paw, pulled it off the fork, put the morsel on the paper and then ate it.
Pīka the cat. Unknown photographer
Pīka the cat. Unknown photographer
Pīka the cat in Jūrmala. Unknown photographer
Andrejs Upīts and Pīka, 1957. Photo by J. Rjuikins
– Did he go to the refrigerator? – When the cat was hungry, and there was no one in the kitchen, the cat brought the professor to the refrigerator and pointed to it. Yes, the professor gave the cat everything that was needed. He fed the cat. The cat loved veal liver and crabs. When I was opening a can in the kitchen, it didn’t matter where the cat was. It would rush to the kitchen and shriek if I didn’t give him anything. “You’re going to feed the cat with crabmeat,” Olga Upīts would say. “That cat will eat all of it!” And then the professor said “Fine, fine, I won’t eat in that case. Let the cat have it.”
Upīts family servant and memory teller Alīda Stepe with Pīka. Unknown photographer
Upīts family servant and memory teller Alīda Stepe with Pīka. Unknown photographer
Upīts family servant and memory teller Alīda Stepe with Pīka. Unknown photographer
Andrejs Upīts and Pīka, 1957. Photo by J. Rjuikins
– Do you think the cat helped Andrejs Upīts in his writing? Tell us about their “partnership”. – When the cat heard voices in the morning, he knew that the professor and his wife were awake. He immediately leapt onto the door handle, and when the door was open, he headed for Upīts to say good morning. They talked to one another. “What is that cat doing in the bedroom with all of its fur?”, Mama would scream. The cat ran along the professor when the professor was going to his office. He slept on the sofa and watched the professor. If the professor ignored him, the cat got on the desk and laid down on the papers. “Oh,” the professor would laugh. “You think that I shouldn’t work?” He had to play with the cat all the time. When the professor was lying on the sofa, the cat was always there. If someone rang the doorbell, the cat always wanted to know who was visiting the home. When ladies visited the professor, the cat examined their purses.
