THE WHITE CAT

In story terms at least, Mme. La Comtesse D'Aulnoy's White Cat appears here in much reduced circumstances--most of what goes on inside her sumptious palace is omitted, as are the young prince's fears that the Cat he has come to love will betray him and the original denouement in which the prince cuts off her head and tail to transform her into a beautiful Queen. This prettified version has even prettier pictures--tableaux of dreamlike, sumptious elegance in muted, fin-de-siecle mauves, yellows, purplish browns. Sweet and airy--like an extra rich meringue.