How many people who read this story thought of "Alice in Wonderland"? In particular, the Cheshire Cat?<br><br>1) The cat is gray with stripes of darker gray, like Teniel's illustration of the Cheshire Cat in <em>Alice in Wonderland</em>.<br>
2) It becomes invisible like that cat.<br>3) Father Inire's interest in children
and telling them stories is like Lewis Carrol.<br>4) Mirrors leading to an alternate reality was done in "Through the Looking Glass" long before Borges.<br>5) The doll-like child also seems like a reference to Alice, who
shrunk in the story.<br>6) In the end, the cat haunts someone's dreams. Alice's adventures were dreams.<br><br>