The old widow had at last traveled to America from her native Russia to live with her grandson. It seems that grandma loved America, but live had left her with a single disappointment: she was utterly unable to learn even the basics of English.
One day her grandson's large and thoroughly obnoxious cat jumped on the table and held himself to grandma's supper.
"Upsheek! Upsheek!" the old woman yelled at the cat. The beast, being thoroughly unfamiliar with Slavic cat-talk, regarded her with disdain and did not budge.
The boy, hearing the old woman's cries, entered the room and took in the situation at a glance.
"Down, cat!" said he, "or I'll make a pair of gloves out of 'ya."
The cat retreated at once.
Grandma shook her head. "Who would have thought," she said remorsefully in elegant Russian, "that a wretched cat would know more English than me?"