““Messire, you amaze me,’ wailed the cat, putting on an amazed face, ‘ there is no king on that square.’ ‘ What? ‘ asked Woland, with a puzzled look at the board. The bishop, standing in the king’s square, turned his head away and covered his face with his hand. ‘ Aha, you rogue,’ said Woland reflectively. ‘ Messire! I appeal to the laws of logic!’ said the cat, clasping its paws to its chest, ‘ if a player says check and there is no king on the board, then the king is not in check! ‘ ‘ Do you resign or not? ‘ shouted Woland in a terrible voice. ‘ Give me time to consider, please,’ said the cat meekly. It put its elbows on the table, covered its ears with its paws and began to think. Finally, having considered, it said. ‘ I resign.’ ‘ He needs murdering, the obstinate beast,’ whispered Azazello. ‘ Yes, I resign,’ said the cat, ‘ but only because I find it impossible to play when I’m distracted by jealous, hostile spectators! ‘ He stood up and the chessmen ran back into their box.””
![“The functional disenchantment, the sweet habit of each other, had begun to put lines around her mouth, lines that looked like quotation marks--as if everything she said had already been said before...[the cat] was accustomed to much nestling and appreciation and drips from the faucet, though…” quote by Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f8c/lorrie-moore-870_gratitude_the-functional-disenchantment-the-sweet_1941450.jpg)
