The Key of Life (1910)
The first view shows the death of an Old Brahmin priest and his presentation to his favorite pupil, a young American artist, of the sacred robe of Krishna, together with a copy of the Divine Book of Mysteries, with an injunction to search for the Key of Life, which is hidden in the book and with which the robe itself is somehow concerned. Then we see the young man in his studio in New York surrounded with symbols of his studies and evidences of his life in other countries. He is reading the Book of Mysteries, while his little sister is studying the laws of love in company with a young man who is evidently her tutor. The girl plays with a little kitten and when the love scene passes and the betrothal is announced to the brother, the kitten is left upon the hitter's desk while he continues his studies alone. Suddenly he comes upon a paragraph which he has read, without understanding, before, when it is flashed upon the screen it tells us that Reincarnation is the Key of Life, and that if wrapped in the robe of Krishna, the ninth invocation he spoken before the shrine of Brahma, a reincarnation will take place. Getting the robe of Krishna, he opens its wrappings and unfolds it to view. Then he looks about him for an object which shall pass through the stages from animal life to humanity. He lights upon the kitten, which he places in a bowl, draping over it the robe of Krishna, while he repeats the invocation before the shrine of Brahma. A light vapor rises from the bowl, which with the kitten suddenly disappears and a sort of human kitten stands upon the pedestal. She is rather a charming young woman with cat-like qualities, which become more evident as he becomes better acquainted with her. He helps her down from the pedestal and admires her beauty, playing with her as he would with a kitten. She alternately rubs against him and scratches his hand. Then, suddenly, just when he feels that he has begun to teach her the human feeling of love, she darts after the bird in the cage and he catches her only in time to protect it. A little later she makes the discovery of the cream in the pitcher which she wants to lap up. He shows her how to drink properly, but it is evidently not the natural way for her. With kitten-like curiosity she plays with a dagger until she scratches her finger. Then he shows her how dangerous a thing it is to tamper with. Finally, after much patience and coaxing, he succeeds in making her understand a little of love, and is just about to seal the understanding with a kiss when he hears a sound at the door; his sister returning, Lest his position and that of the kitten-woman be misunderstood, he secretes her behind the curtain and admits his sister, who announces a shopping expedition, kisses him and leaves him alone again. But that kiss has been enough to rouse the cat-like jealousy of the reincarnated one, and she flies into a rage. Seizing the dagger she makes a vicious lunge at him, which just grazes his shoulder. He takes it away from her and drops to his seat, his head upon his hands in despair. Then slowly the reincarnated one begins to understand that she is neither cat nor human, and despair fills her because of the attack upon the man who would have loved her. She seizes the dagger and is about to end her own human existence, when suddenly a vision of Brahma in the clouds appears and stays her hand. Ascending the steps of the shrine, she turns and faces the now-awakened artist and tells him that she understands his situation, and goes back to her million lives on the way from cat-hood to woman-hood again, in regular order. As he steps forward her face changes more to that of the cat, and suddenly she is gone entirely. Turning around, he discovers the bowl, the robe of Krishna and the kitten exactly the same in location and appearance as when the incarnation first began.
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GenresDrama
Short
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