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The pavilion held only two cushions: one to the left, and one to the right. The space in between was left open, just enough for a cat to curl up in. That cat was the Pavilion Chief. No one could say quite when it had taken up residence there. The students had at first called it simply "Orange," but when they found it a permanent fixture of the pavilion, they bestowed upon it the title of Chief.\nWhen the master held forth on the classics in the lecture hall before rows of white-robed students, Chief would sometimes take up its place on a cushion in the last row, ears pricked and tail folded with perfect propriety. The master would glance at it now and then but never drove it away, only saying with a smile, "Hast thou also come to hear the Way?" The cat would let out a soft meow, as if in answer. "It understood every word," the students marveled.\nThereafter, when the students gathered in the pavilion to read, Chief would crouch between the cushions, leaning its head in close to follow the lines of characters with its eyes. If anyone read aloud, it would rest its chin upon that person's knee and listen with half-closed eyes. If they read correctly, it sat still; if they erred, a swift paw would come down at once. On one occasion, a careless student misread the verse "the duck is first to know when the spring river grows warm" as "the goose is first to know", and Chief struck three times in rapid succession, sending the student scrambling to check the text.\nAll agreed it was a cat of considerable learning. Some claimed to have seen it trace a character in the dirt with its claw, something resembling the character "zhi." Others said it would nap when the master lectured on The Analects, yet perk up at the Book of Changes, proving it chose only the most profound passages to attend to.\nSuch tales were many and varied, yet on one point everyone was in agreement: Chief was a cat of deep erudition. When the moon rose, one could sometimes hear Chief let out a soft, quiet meow, as though reviewing the day's lessons in peace.