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00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:39,100
A long time ago, when I wrote this
story, I never used to start work in the

2
00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:43,100
mornings until I had listened to one or
another of the Beethoven quartets all

3
00:00:43,100 --> 00:00:44,100
the way through.

4
00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,960
The idea behind this was that if I
soaked myself in these very great

5
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:53,760
works, then a little of Beethoven's
inspiration might stick to my own skin

6
00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,400
brain or my fingers and come out in what
I wrote.

7
00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,860
Of course, that never happened, but one
did sit down to work in a marvellously

8
00:01:01,860 --> 00:01:03,200
uplifted state of mind.

9
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,320
which made it a little more difficult to
write absolute bosh.

10
00:01:08,780 --> 00:01:12,720
What you're going to see now is a
musical story that somehow emerged from

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00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:13,980
peculiar habit of mine.

12
00:01:50,890 --> 00:01:52,190
Now that she's ready.

13
00:01:52,610 --> 00:01:54,090
All right, I'm coming.

14
00:01:58,350 --> 00:02:03,130
I've decided to clear this corner right
out. I'm sick and tired of all these

15
00:02:03,130 --> 00:02:04,570
brambles and navels.

16
00:02:05,010 --> 00:02:06,070
Take a day or two.

17
00:02:07,230 --> 00:02:09,509
Yes, well, just don't overdo it, that's
all.

18
00:02:09,810 --> 00:02:13,090
Louise, I wish you wouldn't treat me as
if I'm an old man.

19
00:02:13,630 --> 00:02:15,930
Exercise never did anybody any harm.

20
00:02:22,940 --> 00:02:24,180
Look. Look.

21
00:02:25,900 --> 00:02:30,020
What happens if you see a cat?

22
00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,100
What do you think you're doing?

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00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:36,560
You've scorched yourself.

24
00:02:39,180 --> 00:02:41,500
Do you know whose this cat is?

25
00:02:41,820 --> 00:02:43,080
Have you seen her before?

26
00:02:43,420 --> 00:02:44,420
Never.

27
00:02:46,660 --> 00:02:48,420
Well, now you go on home.

28
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:50,780
There's a good cat. That's it.

29
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:56,619
Oh, yes.

30
00:02:56,620 --> 00:02:58,280
Sue, go home.

31
00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:00,720
Go home. We don't want you.

32
00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:02,620
It's no use, Edward.

33
00:03:04,380 --> 00:03:08,580
Louisa, I'm not having that cat in the
house. I don't like cats in the house.

34
00:03:08,580 --> 00:03:11,600
No, you don't like anything in the
house. You don't like anything in the

35
00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,600
Oh, I think it's a beautiful cat. Oh,
you would.

36
00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:16,760
I hope it stays for a while.

37
00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:18,800
Well, I hope it doesn't.

38
00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,140
Anyway, it belongs to someone else. It
can't possibly stay here. It's obviously

39
00:03:24,140 --> 00:03:25,140
lost.

40
00:03:26,030 --> 00:03:27,030
Go home!

41
00:03:29,590 --> 00:03:34,910
Louisa, if that cat is still hanging
around here this afternoon, you'd better

42
00:03:34,910 --> 00:03:35,910
take it to the police.

43
00:03:36,330 --> 00:03:38,110
They'll see that it gets a home.

44
00:04:02,030 --> 00:04:03,710
How did you get in here?

45
00:04:05,070 --> 00:04:06,070
Hmm?

46
00:04:08,350 --> 00:04:13,670
Well, you're an awfully nice cat, and I
do wish I could keep you, but, you know,

47
00:04:13,770 --> 00:04:17,290
I'm not often allowed things that I
like.

48
00:04:18,529 --> 00:04:25,270
Oh, you darling, what a lot of... a lot
of

49
00:04:25,270 --> 00:04:27,990
bumps you've got on your beautiful face.

50
00:04:28,390 --> 00:04:29,830
Bumps, bumps, bumps.

51
00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,440
Well, darling, you must be very old.

52
00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:36,160
Well.

53
00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:39,500
Oh, dear. No, no, no.

54
00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:41,380
Well,

55
00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,560
after I finish playing the piano, if
I've got to take you to the police

56
00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,820
well, your owners must be frantic with
worry.

57
00:05:01,420 --> 00:05:03,920
Now, I hope you like music.

58
00:05:05,060 --> 00:05:06,800
I play every afternoon.

59
00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:14,360
You know, when I was young, people used
to say that I showed promise

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00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,400
when I married.

61
00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:19,240
Well, enough said.

62
00:05:22,580 --> 00:05:27,840
Now, we'll start with a little Schumann.

63
00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,040
Not the matter. Did I frighten you?

64
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:54,520
Oh,

65
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,980
perhaps you've never heard music before.

66
00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:00,520
All right.

67
00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,960
I'm going to try you with something
else.

68
00:06:05,180 --> 00:06:06,180
Yes.

69
00:06:06,820 --> 00:06:07,820
Ready?

70
00:07:19,050 --> 00:07:20,950
How am I imagining it?

71
00:07:22,390 --> 00:07:24,810
Did you prefer the list to the showman?

72
00:07:25,990 --> 00:07:30,730
Well, that's slightly vulgar taste, if I
may say so. No, no, no, I... No, I do

73
00:07:30,730 --> 00:07:34,470
admit that lists can be very charming
sometimes.

74
00:07:35,530 --> 00:07:38,830
All right, let's see.

75
00:07:39,430 --> 00:07:44,410
What sort of connoisseur you really are.

76
00:07:45,330 --> 00:07:47,690
I'm going to play you a little bark.

77
00:07:54,540 --> 00:07:55,540
And what wrong?

78
00:07:56,060 --> 00:07:57,060
What's wrong?

79
00:07:58,140 --> 00:07:59,840
What's wrong with Johann Sebastian?

80
00:08:00,180 --> 00:08:02,900
What's so special about Franz Liszt?

81
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,240
I don't believe you know anything about
music at all. I think you're a fraud.

82
00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,240
All right, I am going to put you to a
test.

83
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,740
Let's see how this grabs you, pussycat.

84
00:09:27,310 --> 00:09:28,310
I'm up here.

85
00:09:28,410 --> 00:09:29,610
I am coming.

86
00:09:29,970 --> 00:09:35,410
Oh, Edward, something so wonderful has
happened. Now, I will try and tell you

87
00:09:35,410 --> 00:09:39,450
quietly and calmly, but you know I can
hardly breathe. What's happened here?

88
00:09:39,470 --> 00:09:43,990
please don't. Don't touch them. Leave
them exactly as they are. Louisa, what's

89
00:09:43,990 --> 00:09:44,990
the matter with you?

90
00:09:45,570 --> 00:09:49,010
I thought I told you to get rid of that
cat. I thought I told you to take it to

91
00:09:49,010 --> 00:09:50,830
the police. Did it do this damage?

92
00:09:51,130 --> 00:09:55,270
Well, please don't get worked up,
because what you don't understand is

93
00:09:55,270 --> 00:09:59,420
something... wonderfully exciting has
happened here in this house while you

94
00:09:59,420 --> 00:10:02,900
the guard. The cat knocked over the
statuette. That must have been terribly

95
00:10:02,900 --> 00:10:04,240
exciting. Exactly.

96
00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,480
Louisa, are you quite well?

97
00:10:10,460 --> 00:10:11,780
I'm in robust health.

98
00:10:12,380 --> 00:10:19,160
My dear, dear Louisa, I realize that we
lead a quiet life. I know that apart

99
00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:20,280
from your music...

100
00:10:21,050 --> 00:10:25,770
And your cranky ideas. You have very
little to occupy you but really a cat, a

101
00:10:25,770 --> 00:10:26,669
stray cat.

102
00:10:26,670 --> 00:10:31,130
Getting up to mischief cannot by the
wildest stretch of the imagination be

103
00:10:31,130 --> 00:10:33,290
called exciting. You're quite right.

104
00:10:34,030 --> 00:10:35,570
Quite right, Edward.

105
00:10:36,650 --> 00:10:40,390
I should have described what happened
here this afternoon as...

106
00:10:41,810 --> 00:10:46,050
Momentous. Oh, Louisa, stop this
nonsense and make us some tea. Not until

107
00:10:46,050 --> 00:10:49,850
told you what's happened. You've told me
the cat has broken some very valuable

108
00:10:49,850 --> 00:10:50,850
ornaments. Be quiet.

109
00:10:51,230 --> 00:10:52,230
Yes.

110
00:10:53,470 --> 00:10:57,050
Now, this is no ordinary cat.

111
00:10:57,850 --> 00:11:00,530
This is a musical cat.

112
00:11:00,730 --> 00:11:03,910
A musical cat? Well, what does it do?
Whistle the anvil chorus?

113
00:11:04,510 --> 00:11:05,510
No.

114
00:11:07,090 --> 00:11:09,230
It would end deadly serious.

115
00:11:11,540 --> 00:11:13,980
Now, I am not a fanciful woman.

116
00:11:14,420 --> 00:11:20,080
I think I can say, not immodestly, that
I'm practical, hardworking, and down to

117
00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:21,140
earth. Down to earth?

118
00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:28,280
What is all that spiritualism, theosophy
of reincarnation? Be your

119
00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:29,280
own guru.

120
00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:35,180
Down to earth. Yes, well, I was coming
to that. I am a realist.

121
00:11:36,380 --> 00:11:38,760
Yes. And that is why I know.

122
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:46,340
that there are certain mysteries in life
that cannot be denied, or in some

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00:11:46,340 --> 00:11:47,520
cases explained.

124
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:53,920
And I believe that the immortality of
the human soul is one such mystery.

125
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,240
What has that got to do with a cat?

126
00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:03,480
Well, now, I will try and tell you what
I think in plain English.

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00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:08,420
I am listening. I know you think I'm
silly, but I shall bear your call

128
00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,680
Don't get heroic. Just please come to
the point.

129
00:12:11,980 --> 00:12:18,960
Edward, I think that we are at this

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00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:25,800
moment in the presence of a great
immortal

131
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,500
soul. Yes, yes, of course, of course.

132
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:36,060
I believe that this cat is a
reincarnation of the great Hungarian

133
00:12:39,849 --> 00:12:41,290
Franz Liszt.

134
00:12:44,470 --> 00:12:46,070
Oh. Oh.

135
00:12:53,530 --> 00:12:54,250
All

136
00:12:54,250 --> 00:13:00,950
right.

137
00:13:01,290 --> 00:13:06,850
All right. You say the cat reacted to
the music of Franz Liszt twice. No.

138
00:13:07,820 --> 00:13:11,500
I heard him turn, saw him walk to you
once. Let's see him do it again.

139
00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:12,900
Certainly not.

140
00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,400
He's not a circus performer.

141
00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,520
He is one of the world's great
composers.

142
00:13:18,940 --> 00:13:25,100
Oh, my dear woman, he is a cat. He is
the reincarnation of Franz Liszt. Prove

143
00:13:25,100 --> 00:13:26,100
it!

144
00:13:26,180 --> 00:13:29,260
I don't need to prove it. I know.

145
00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:30,840
The soul.

146
00:13:31,610 --> 00:13:33,250
He's there, and that's good enough for
me.

147
00:13:33,510 --> 00:13:34,510
Let's see him perform.

148
00:13:34,790 --> 00:13:38,410
Let's see him tell the difference
between his own music and someone

149
00:13:39,110 --> 00:13:40,790
I do believe you're jealous.

150
00:13:41,310 --> 00:13:44,410
Jealous? What a miserable, mangy old
cat.

151
00:13:44,630 --> 00:13:48,150
All right, if you're going to be
insulting, the best thing you can do is

152
00:13:48,150 --> 00:13:52,690
back to your gardening and leave the two
of us here together in peace.

153
00:13:53,030 --> 00:13:57,290
If you want my honest opinion, I think
you're ill. I think you need a doctor.

154
00:13:57,770 --> 00:13:59,990
You pay no attention to him, my darling.

155
00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:04,760
Oh, dear, no. Paying no attention to
him. That's nice, Drew.

156
00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,460
Oh, dear, if only you could talk.

157
00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,840
Just thank you. You knew Beethoven.

158
00:14:12,660 --> 00:14:15,180
You met Mendelssohn and Schubert.

159
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:16,920
Good grief.

160
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,220
You were Wagner's father -in -law. I'm
looking at Wagner's father -in -law.

161
00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:25,800
He wants proof.

162
00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:29,820
Wills, Wills.

163
00:14:30,060 --> 00:14:32,980
No, not we're... Oh, excuse me.

164
00:14:33,900 --> 00:14:37,780
Milton... Recurring Earth Lives.

165
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:44,900
F... F... F Milton. Ah, F Milton Willis.
The Emerson Foundation

166
00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:47,760
Library. We'll be back in half an hour.

167
00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,600
Oh, yes, I see you're interested in
reincarnations.

168
00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:02,840
Well, now, the list is endless.

169
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,680
Epictetus came back as Ralph Waldo
Emerson.

170
00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:07,900
Cicero returned as Gladstone.

171
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,460
Alfred the Great came back as Abraham
Lincoln.

172
00:15:10,740 --> 00:15:12,720
And Julius Caesar as Teddy Roosevelt.

173
00:15:13,020 --> 00:15:14,560
Yes, all these are proven facts.

174
00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:19,680
Really? Is there anything known about
the famous composer, Franz Liszt?

175
00:15:20,180 --> 00:15:21,180
Can't recall.

176
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,160
However, a colleague of mine, Professor
Jameson, maintains that Beethoven came

177
00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:26,160
back as Louis Armstrong.

178
00:15:26,830 --> 00:15:32,170
I make no comment, but I'm rather
doubtful. Would you excuse me? Oh, I'm

179
00:15:32,470 --> 00:15:33,470
I beg your pardon.

180
00:15:33,830 --> 00:15:35,750
I'm talking about animals.

181
00:15:36,670 --> 00:15:43,530
I mean, is it possible, would it be
probable for a faint person to come back

182
00:15:43,530 --> 00:15:45,890
the body of an animal?

183
00:15:46,250 --> 00:15:49,290
I'm afraid I'm not very good about
animals. I have an allergy to fur.

184
00:15:49,790 --> 00:15:51,430
But yes, there are known cases.

185
00:15:52,390 --> 00:15:54,850
Napoleon Bonaparte came back as an
Arabian static.

186
00:15:55,420 --> 00:15:57,840
Yes, a gift from Prince Ibn Saud to
Queen Victoria.

187
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,680
Oh, then, of course, there's that most
celebrated of reincarnation, Lord Byron.

188
00:16:03,740 --> 00:16:05,220
Oh, I think everyone knew about that.

189
00:16:05,820 --> 00:16:08,640
Yes, Lord Byron returned as a Bengal
tiger.

190
00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:15,200
Unfortunately, he was shot on an
expedition in 1906, led by the president

191
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,320
Karachi branch of our society.

192
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:26,160
If one was convinced, Mr. Williams, of
the reincarnation of someone famous as

193
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:32,680
animal, let's say as a cat, for example,
how would one set about

194
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:33,760
proving it?

195
00:16:34,060 --> 00:16:35,920
Now, this is very interesting.

196
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,880
Usually one would observe a physical
resemblance, however slight.

197
00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:44,100
Let's take the example of Lord Byron and
the tiger.

198
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,560
It was found that the tiger was lame.

199
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,600
Well, Lord Byron had a clubbed foot.

200
00:16:50,140 --> 00:16:51,140
So, you see.

201
00:16:51,220 --> 00:16:56,480
I can't tell you what the resemblance
was between Bonaparte and the Arabian

202
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:57,480
Staden. Oh,

203
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,800
I beg your pardon. I do beg your pardon.
I could find out if you wanted me to.

204
00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,359
Thank you. Thank you. You have been so
kind.

205
00:17:06,660 --> 00:17:07,660
Anytime, anytime.

206
00:17:07,940 --> 00:17:11,579
Now, perhaps you'd be interested in some
of the work that I've been doing

207
00:17:11,579 --> 00:17:15,560
recently. A very great favorite of mine,
George Washington.

208
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:17,280
I am.

209
00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:19,800
I can prove three reappearances.

210
00:17:20,300 --> 00:17:21,579
First, as Mrs. Lincoln.

211
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,819
Secondly, as the poet Whitman.

212
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:31,420
And third, third, and this is going to
really baffle the cynics, as the Dalai

213
00:17:31,420 --> 00:17:32,420
Lama.

214
00:17:33,540 --> 00:17:37,260
That's it. Look carefully at that
photograph. Now, what do you see? Do you

215
00:17:37,260 --> 00:17:38,219
his warts?

216
00:17:38,220 --> 00:17:40,400
Yeah. Well, he was famous for them.

217
00:17:40,860 --> 00:17:42,040
His what? Yes.

218
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,700
Yes. His children used to grow little
tufts of hair.

219
00:17:47,260 --> 00:17:53,640
on their own faces didn't they to look
just like yes five of them yes

220
00:17:53,640 --> 00:18:00,560
now feel the cat's face feel me yes come
on feel

221
00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:07,400
it properly what what you feel what's
that bumps

222
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:13,960
exactly five of them edward in exactly

223
00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:15,360
the same places

224
00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:22,840
Don't prove anything.

225
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:32,480
I'm afraid, maestro, I shall have to put
you to a little test.

226
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:43,440
Now, it is well known that Liszt admired
all of Chopin's

227
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,060
works, except one.

228
00:18:47,790 --> 00:18:52,030
And that was the... the Scatthorn B
-flat minor.

229
00:18:52,890 --> 00:18:59,590
He called that the governor's... the
governor's Scatthorn. He hated it. So

230
00:19:00,770 --> 00:19:03,590
Well, let's just see what happens.

231
00:19:04,450 --> 00:19:05,450
Yes?

232
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,760
And now some of his own music.

233
00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:43,180
And what have you got to say for
yourself now?

234
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,300
I must say, it's quite amusing.

235
00:19:48,460 --> 00:19:50,680
Amusing? Yes, amusing.

236
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,320
We've got friends lives, staying in our
house.

237
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,260
most wonderful thing that's ever
happened.

238
00:19:58,500 --> 00:20:03,360
I shall notify all the eminent musicians
in the world. I think you're mad.

239
00:20:03,620 --> 00:20:04,620
We'll make films.

240
00:20:04,860 --> 00:20:08,340
We'll get television interviews. I'll
have none of this. Louisa, I absolutely

241
00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:12,680
forbid you to stir up a lot of publicity
about such a ridiculous thing.

242
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:22,600
Keep the damn animal if you must, but
it'll go no further. Do you understand

243
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:23,600
that, Louisa?

244
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:24,680
Damn you, Ed.

245
00:20:26,830 --> 00:20:32,690
For the first time in our lives,
something wonderful happens, and then

246
00:20:32,690 --> 00:20:39,010
scared to death that somebody will laugh
at you. I realize that this is an

247
00:20:39,010 --> 00:20:41,370
awkward time in your life.

248
00:20:42,310 --> 00:20:43,310
My God.

249
00:20:44,530 --> 00:20:49,490
You idiot, you pompous idiot. Don't you
see that this is something momentous? I

250
00:20:49,490 --> 00:20:51,350
must have another word on this subject.

251
00:20:51,900 --> 00:20:55,300
I'll tell you what you will do. You will
go to the kitchen and fix me something

252
00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:57,120
to eat. I am hungry and I want my
dinner.

253
00:20:59,020 --> 00:21:03,220
I am sorry.

254
00:21:04,020 --> 00:21:06,400
I didn't realize.

255
00:21:07,820 --> 00:21:11,400
Oh, you must be thankless.

256
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:12,920
I'm sorry.

257
00:21:13,900 --> 00:21:15,720
I'll make you something very special.

258
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,340
Very special, my darling, just for you.

259
00:21:20,460 --> 00:21:21,460
I won't belong.

260
00:22:10,899 --> 00:22:12,180
Where is he? Who?

261
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:14,720
You know who?

262
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:17,400
Oh, a cat? I don't know.

263
00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:22,780
I, uh, built a fire up so it'll burn all
night.

264
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:38,520
Edward.

265
00:22:40,270 --> 00:22:41,270
I forgot my gloves.

266
00:22:42,670 --> 00:22:44,970
Them brambles will tear you to pieces.

267
00:22:48,010 --> 00:22:51,550
Maestro! There's nothing to get worked
up about, Louisa.

268
00:22:52,650 --> 00:22:53,710
Louisa, put that down.

269
00:22:54,390 --> 00:22:55,630
Put that down, Louisa.

270
00:22:56,350 --> 00:22:57,890
Put that down.

271
00:22:58,930 --> 00:22:59,930
Louisa!