"It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat. I can scarcely believe that, for cats are cryptic creatures, and close to strange things which men cannot see. They are the soul of antique Aegyptus, and bear tales of forgotten cities in Meroë and Ophir. They are the kin of the jungle's lords, and heirs to the secrets of hoary and sinister Africa. The Sphinx is their cousin, and they understand her speech; but they have forgotten much which she remembers. Yet they remember more than men, and there are strange things in the eyes of a cat by moonlight." -- from "The Cats of Ulthar" (1920) by H. P. Lovecraft​​