After being woken up by Zhang Zian, the other elfins re-observed Old Time Tea, Fina, and the three cats on the phone screen.
The elfins had vaguely seen something, but they couldn't find the right words to describe it. After listening to his description, it was as if a stone had been removed from their windpipe.
They had followed Zhang Zian to Egypt, entered the Great Pyramid, and entered the Golden Pyramid. They had also seen many souvenirs of ancient Egyptian culture in the market, including many items and murals related to scarabs. After all, the ancient Egyptians believed that scarabs pushed the sun up and down every day. They occupied a very important position in ancient Egyptian mythology, symbolizing the rebirth that the pharaohs dreamed of. They were also one of the most commonly used shapes to make amulets.
The pattern on Fina's forehead was a scarab with a very clear outline.
Old Time Tea also had a similar pattern on its forehead, but it wasn't as clear as Fina's scarab pattern.
Richard could only hear but couldn't see, and it was anxious. It pecked Zhang Zian's head with its beak, asking him to explain in words. Because it usually didn't dare to look directly at Fina, and Old Time Tea always wore a bamboo hat, it really didn't pay much attention to the patterns on the foreheads of the two cat elfins.
Zhang Zian knew that if he didn't explain it clearly to Richard, it would probably struggle all night. At the same time, to make it easier for the other elfins to understand, he said, "The scarab pattern on Fina's and Old Time Tea's foreheads is similar to the capital letters W, H, and M, arranged in order."
He used a branch that was used as firewood to draw these three letters in the dirt.
W
H
M
The points of W and M were connected to the upper and lower points of H, like a scarab with forelimbs, hind limbs, and a body.
Some omitted the middle H and only used W and M to connect the upper and lower points.
In contrast, the three cats in the photo album on the phone didn't have the upper half of the pattern on their foreheads, only the M.
The scarab pattern and the M pattern were basically the only two patterns on the foreheads of all tabby cats. The former was the majority, and the latter was a small part.
The elfins finally understood. Thinking back to the ordinary cats in the pet shop, all the tabby cats seemed to be like this.
But what did this mean? It was just a pattern on the forehead!
Zhang Zian had never noticed such subtle differences before. He had to thank Professor Wei Kang for understanding this.
Professor Wei Kang was researching the evolution of domestic cats. He really wanted to find a cat species with mackerel stripes and spots, which was the original Egyptian cat.
Zhang Zian had participated in the trip to Egypt as a special consultant. He had enjoyed the free clothing, food, accommodation, and transportation provided by Binhai University. He was loyal to Professor Weikang, so he had actively maintained communication with Professor Weikang. Coincidentally, he had heard Professor Wei Kang mention this point about the forehead lines of tabby cats.
Professor Wei Kang specialized in house cats, so he was quite knowledgeable in this area. At that time, he had mentioned an ancient legend to explain the difference between the two patterns.
Professor Wei Kang said it in a half-joking tone, but because it was interesting, Zhang Zian silently remembered it.
"Fina, how much do you know about this?"
Zhang Zian stared at Fina, who had remained silent.
When he was thinking, observing, and talking, Fina's attitude was very different from its usual calmness. Even when they had met the four dead cats during the day, its attitude was so calm that he wondered if it was planning to die quietly.
"I noticed it a long time ago, long before today," Fina said. "When I taught the kittens to dance, most of them were very obedient, but some of them were a little more naughty. I thought it was a difference in intelligence, but I did notice that the patterns on the foreheads of these naughty kittens were incomplete … Thousands of years have passed, and the cats of today are already different from the cats of my era, so I didn't pay much attention to it."
The other elfins knew that Fina would teach the new kittens to dance every once in a while, but they didn't know that there was a hidden reason.
Fina's eyes suddenly became brighter, and it stared at Zhang Zian. "About this, what do you want to tell me?"
Zhang Zian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked, "Do you know that cats have nine lives?"
"Nine lives? It's nonsense! " Fina said decisively. "If cats had nine lives, the symbol of rebirth in ancient Egypt wouldn't be the scarab!"
Old Time Tea also chimed in. "About this, I often hear people talking about it on TV, but I don't know where it came from. Every time I hear it, I'm confused. I've lived for so many years, but I've never seen a cat come back to life …"
"Quack? Nine lives? " Richard didn't want to be left out. "When you were selling the Siberian Forest cat that was said to not cause allergies, didn't you say that there was a movie about cats called Nine Lives?"
Zhang Zian nodded. "Yes, the legend of cats having nine lives is not only spread in China, but also in the West."
"Nonsense!" Fina repeated. "I've never heard of it! I won't believe it either! "
"It's normal that you haven't heard of it," Zhang Zian explained. "Because this legend originated after you."
He said to the elfins, "In ancient China, there were no cats. Cats were introduced to China from the Western Regions. The legend of nine lives also came from the Western Regions. The origin of this legend is in the Middle East."
In the ancient Middle East — this "ancient" was after Fina's time — there was a very famous and prestigious person who was respected by others as a prophet.
The prophet had a cat named Mieza, and he loved it very much.
Once, the prophet was about to go to pray, but he found Mieza sleeping on the sleeve of his robe. In order not to disturb its sleep, he simply cut off the sleeve, put on the robe, and went to pray. After he came back from the prayer, Mieza seemed to know that he cared for it. As if it had a spirit, it bowed its back and raised its tail to thank him. The prophet lovingly stroked Mieza's head three times, leaving four black lines, which were his four fingerprints in the shape of an M.
According to legend, the prophet not only left an M-shaped mark on Mieza, but also gave it nine lives. This was the origin of the legend of cats having nine lives.
From then on, the scarab pattern and the M-shaped pattern went their separate ways.
After Zhang Zian finished speaking, the other elfins listened attentively, while Fina sneered.
People said that the moon was round on the 15th day of the month.
He looked up at the full moon in the night sky. A cool breeze blew past, and he suddenly felt a little cold. He tightened his body and murmured,
"The White Jade Capital in the sky, the Five Cities in the Twelve Buildings. The prophet touched my head, and I received nine lives … "
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