Uñas de gato y cara de beato.
This saying chastises hypocrites. And Grendel loves it, because in a different language the expression disguising oneself as a cat would be used to convey the same meaning. Symbolism is relative. For some, cat and saint are synonyms. And for others, those two are polar opposites. But we just love masks.
This is the story of two sisters that were born on the same day. One of them was born beautiful and innocent. The other was born scheming and ambitious, willing to sink her cat claws into Life, so as not to miss anything it had to offer.
The older sister’s beauty cost her her innocence. Whereas the lack of that same beauty cost the younger sister her ambition. That is why they decided to learn from each other, to disguise themselves as the other, so as not to lose, nor miss, anything else in their lives.
The older sister borrowed the cat claws of the younger sister. And instead of crying for all she had lost, she learned to pretend to be good and innocent. The younger sister borrowed the beauty of the older sister. And all Life had to offer finally was in her cat claws’ reach.
The World made me in its image. Do you see how beautiful I am? The glint of starlight in my eyes? My smile stays in place, because I know that it’s not polite to take gifts back. And the World would never do that to me.
Two and two make four. Have you ever looked up at the Night’s hoard? Her gold coins number in the thousands, and I always knew that was what I would strive for. Starlight called, and the glint of ambition in my eyes answered. That was my first word. But all birds die. And only the knowledge remains. I need your two coins. But you want beauty, everybody does. And if you take a closer look, you will see that the stars can’t stand each other’s touch. Sooner or later, aloofness becomes the darkness in every cat’s eyes.
You took something away from me. All my starlight, leaving only dust behind. But I don’t blame you. No, no, no. On the contrary, I can’t thank you enough. You taught me the rules, and now I know which role I have to play. I can replace my light. I can use that dust to make up my face. Starlight has no place in this plastic, cruel world after all. And glitter works best, to cover up ugliness.
Love, love, love. Don’t you love me yet? Look at my face. Isn’t the mask in its place? Right. Now kindly hand the world over to me. Please. Pretty please? I shouldn’t forget to be polite, should I? My claws got the better of me for a moment there. Where was I? Yes. You know that you love me. Purr, purr, purr. Now hurry up.