Is this just modern nonsense - or is it a genuine traditional folk explanation of the Van Cats' characteristics?
VAN - THE SWIMMING CAT FROM NOAH'S ARK
"Van Swimming Cat’s story comes from legend, rather than history. White with ginger markings and tail, he is reputed to have stepped off Noah’s Ark when it came to rest on Mount Ararat. It is said that over 4,300 years ago Noah’s Ark carried a pair of white cats amongst the creatures that went aboard two by two to escape the Great Flood recorded in the Old Testament. After months of drifting in storms the Ark grounded on Mount Ararat, the highest volcanic mountain in what was then Mesopotamia and is now eastern Turkey. Noah opened the hatch and let down the gangplank. As the two cats emerged from the hold, the hatch door accidentally slammed down on their tails, which turned a fiery auburn. After months in darkness the sun was too much for them and they were temporarily blinded-which is why perhaps, there is a tendency for their descendants to be born with odd colored eyes, one blue and one auburn. The story goes that the Lord felt sorry for them, blessing them with a touch on their foreheads, giving them an auburn patch. The cats made their way down the mountain to the ancient community of Van where there was plenty of fish in the huge lake. There they bred an it became natural for the cats to wade, fish and swim in the water. The folklore, poetry and songs of the Armenian people of that region contain references to the swimming Van cat. In 1955 two visiting photographers were struck by the unique markings and characteristics of these beautiful half-wild creatures and arranged for a pair to be shipped to England for breeding. Viewers were astonished when the cats were shown on television, swimming in a pool. From then on the variety became known as the Turkish Van Swimming Cat, and has since become the favored breed of sailors and those who live aboard and tell the tale of Van, the first Ships’ Cat."