The Cats of Copenhagen

Cats filled with sweets used to be a popular gift, and were James Joyce’s choice of treats for his young grandson. But when he was in Copenhagen he couldn’t find any to bring back, so he wrote: “there are loads of fish and plenty of bicycles here, but no cats.” Joyce liked Denmark with its red postboxes, cycling postmen and friendly policemen, who he claimed lay in bed all day, smoking cigars and drinking buttermilk. Even famous grandfathers enjoy fibbing every now and then, so he signs the letter off with “true or false; what do you think?”