Tradition / Region: Belgian Mythology
Alternative names: Magic Cat, Bewitched Cat
Category: Cat
The Myth
The Toverkat appears as a beautiful spotted cat with uncanny intelligence and supernatural abilities. It can escape any confinement, move with impossible speed, and seems impossible to capture. Rather than directly attacking people, it torments travelers and leads them into fear and confusion.
According to the legend, about fifty years before the story was recorded, three farmers were driving carts loaded with fat pigs to the market in Leuven on a bright September night. As they passed through the Bollo Woods near Tremelo, a beautiful spotted cat suddenly leapt from a thicket. It ran between the farmers’ legs and beneath the carts, meowing in an eerie and unsettling way.
One of the farmers suggested catching the animal. They seized the cat, tied it securely inside a sack, and continued their journey. Yet before they had gone ten paces, the cat was once again running beside them, despite the sack still being tightly fastened.
The strange cat continued to leap effortlessly through the spokes of the moving wagon wheels without suffering any injury, frightening the three men even more. After following them for another hour, they happened to meet a calf dealer on his way to the Leuven market. His cart was pulled by a large dog, and after hearing the farmers’ story, he confidently declared that his dog hated cats and would quickly deal with it.
The dog was released and charged toward the mysterious feline. In an instant, the cat sprang onto the dog’s back, dug its razor-sharp claws deep into its flesh, and clung to it as the terrified dog howled in pain. With the cat still on its back, the animal fled into the forest, disappearing forever.
The dog was never seen again. Left without his beast of burden, the calf dealer was forced to push his cart carrying the live calves all the way to Leuven himself. The tale endured as one of Flanders’ most famous stories of a supernatural or bewitched cat whose powers surpassed both humans and animals.
Sources
De Cock, Alfons. Vlaamsche sagen uit den volksmond. Amsterdam: Maatschappij voor Goede en Goedkoope Lectuur, 1921, p. 40.