  The most discussed of ``live'' metaphors in physical sciences is that of the
Schr\"odinger cat. Introduced in the early, but mature days of the new quantum
theory, in 1935, the parable of the cat has provoked and enlivened debates on
the meaning of the quantum theory, on the ontology of the quantum wavefunction,
on the puzzle of the collapse of the wavefunction, on the meaning of quantum
measurement, and on the boundary between the quantum world and the classical
world. In this article, I will discuss these issues of the quantum theory
focussing on various aspects of the metaphor of the Schr\"odinger cat.
