Line #9 Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats


1	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1oldpossum.png]]
2	%%
3	A collection of cat poems written by Creator/TSEliot. They were largely written for his godchildren, and are thus rather more whimsical and cheerful than his more famous {{poetry}}. Nonetheless, it does contain Eliot's gift for allusions and sharp observations. The first edition, published by Faber and Faber, also featured his own illustrations. Other versions included illustrations by Creator/EdwardGorey.
4
5	Eliot's poems describe a number of curious and most singular cats, all of whom encompass common (if exaggerated) aspects of feline behaviour. Unlike its more famous adaptation, the musical ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'', the poems have little connection with one another, and there is no overarching storyline.
6
7	----
8	!!Provides examples of:
9
10	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Gus the Theatre Cat's proudest achievement was playing a character called "Firefrorfiddle, the Fiend of the Fell."
11	* TheAlibi: Macavity's specialty. No matter what crime he's committed this time, on its discovery he always manages to be a good distance away and doing something else.
12	-->He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare:\
13	At whatever time the deed took place--MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!
14	* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: When [[spoiler:Growltiger]] kicked the bucket, there was celebration throughout England and as far away as Bangkok.
15	* AnimalNamingConventions: Cats are said to have three different names, a family name bestowed by their humans, one name unique to them, and a third secret name "that no human research can discover, but the cat himself knows, and will never confess".
16	* AppropriatedAppelation: Growltiger rejoices in his title of "The Terror of the Thames."
17	* ArousedByTheirVoice: Growltiger apparently uses his deep voice for [[SerenadeYourLover amorous purposes]].
18	-->And the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone
19	* AwesomeMcCoolname: "The Naming of Cats" decrees that every cat should have one as his/her second name; one of those amazing names that "never belong to more than one cat." It gives Munkustrap, Quaxo, Coricopat, Bombalurina, and Jellylorum as examples.
20	* BeyondTheImpossible: When people say Macavity's wickedness knows no bounds, they ''mean'' it:
21	-->Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity\
22	He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
23	* TheBigBadShuffle: Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are clearly less evil than Growltiger, who is nothing compared to Macavity.
24	* BigDamnHeroes: The Great Rumpuscat breaking up the Peke/Pollicle feud.
25	* CaptainErsatz: Macavity, of Literature/SherlockHolmes's archrival, Professor Moriarty.
26	* CarnivoreConfusion: Jennyanydots ''teaches'' mice and cockroaches. Presumably, she's fed by her human owners.
27	* CatsAreLazy: Played with. Several of the poems feature cats who lie around all day, but most of them, such as Jennyanydots and the Jellicle Cats, turn out to have more active nocturnal lives. The one cat who does nothing but sleep is Old Deuteronomy, and he's not lazy, he's just Old.
28	* CatsAreMagic: Parodied with Mr. Mistoffelees, who is only a ''stage'' magician. However, many of the other cats are suggested to have borderline supernatural powers.
29	* CatsAreSuperior: The practical cats display either disdain for or general unconcern with the humans in their world. [[DogsAreDumb And don't get them ''started'' on dogs]].
30	* CatsHaveNineLives: Or at least the best ones do.
31	-->Old Deuteronomy's lived a long time;\
32	He's a Cat who has lived many lives in succession
33	* CatStereotype:
34	** Jennyanydots is a cheerful and ''apparently'' lazy tabby homemaker.
35	** The illustrations seem to show the villainous Growltiger to be dark-colored.
36	** The Siamese Cats sneak up on Growltiger in "sampans and junks".
37	** Mr. Mistoffelees, the Original Conjuring Cat, is entirely black.
38	** The well-to-do and gentlemanly Bustopher Jones is a tuxedo cat.
39	* TheChessmaster: Macavity always has an alibi (and one or two to spare).
40	* CivilizedAnimal: They're pretty clearly just heavily romanticized cats. References to clothing are sparse and ambiguous (for instance, Bustopher Jones's "white spats" might just be a poetic description of his fur color).
41	* CoolCat: The Rum Tum Tugger, Skimbleshanks, and Mr. Mistoffelees.
42	* CoolTeacher: Jennyanydots. She not only instructs her household mice in such useful subjects as music, crocheting and tatting; she cooks for them too!
43	* DiabolicalMastermind: Macavity.
44	* EarNotch: Growltiger's description states, in pertinent part, "One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why ... "
45	* EvilMakesYouUgly:
46	** Growltiger:
47	--->His manners and appearance did not calculate to please;\
48	His coat was torn and seedy, he was baggy at the knees;\
49	One [[EarNotch ear was somewhat missing]], no need to tell you why,\
50	And he scowled upon a hostile world from one forbidding eye
51	** Macavity:
52	--->You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.\
53	His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;\
54	His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed
55	* FantasticRacism: Growltiger.
56	-->But most to Cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed;\
57	To Cats of foreign name and race no quarter was allowed.
58	* FelonyMisdemeanor: Among Macavity's many heinous crimes is ''cheating at cards''.
59	* FemmeFatale: Griddlebone, Growltiger's lady-love who inadvertently exposes him to a deadly ambush.
60	* ForeheadOfDoom: Macavity is described as having a "highly domed" forehead.
61	* FormallyNamedPet: Mr. Mistoffelees.
62	* FurryReminder: Many of the poems speak of their subjects as though they were human, but "Growltiger" especially. So it's a bit of a shock to read that the bosun is off "prowling for his prey" behind a tavern.
63	* HeroicCaninesVillainousFelines: Inverted. According to "Of the awefull battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles: together with some account of the participation of the Pugs and the Poms, and the intervention of the Great Rumpuscat", dogs cause ruckuses, and cats have to break them up.
64	* IHaveManyNames: "Each cat must have three different names." An everyday one, a unique one, and one that only the cat knows.
65	* IKnowYourTrueName: The cat's third name should be only known to him or herself.
66	* InSeriesNickname: "Gus" is short for "Asparagus."
67	-->That's such a fuss\
68	To pronouce ...
69	* KarmaHoudini: Macavity repeatedly escapes justice and will likely never be caught.
70	* LetsDuet: Growltiger and Griddlebone's tragic night of romance:
71	-->The lovers sang their last duet, in danger of their lives
72	* LivingADoubleLife: By day Jennyanydots does nothing but sit around the house--that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!--but she dedicates her nights to improving the manners of the household mice and cockroaches.
73	* LoveInterest: Griddlebone disposes Growltiger to show his sentimental side.
74	* TheManBehindTheMan: Much like his inspiration, [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Moriarty]], Macavity's behind every crime.
75	-->They say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known,\
76	[[ContinuityNod (I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)]]\
77	Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time\
78	Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime.
79	* MeaningfulName: Every cat's secondary name gives clues to its personality. Growltiger is a fearsome villain, and the Rum Tum Tugger is engaged in a constant tug-of-war with his owners.
80	* MrMuffykins: The Pekes and the Pollicles (and the Pugs and the Poms).
81	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Griddlebone; Macavity; and Growltiger, Terror of the Thames.
82	* NarrativePoem: "Growltiger's Last Stand" and "the Pekes and the Pollicles".
83	* NoOneSeesTheBoss: ''Macavity's not there!''
84	* NoodleIncident:
85	** Gus repeatedly exalts "Firefrorfiddle, the Fiend of the Fell" as his greatest theatrical triumph, but the details of that performance are left to the reader's imagination.
86	** Subverted in "Growltiger", where "One ear was somewhat missing, no need to tell you why" is quickly followed by:
87	--->The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear--\
88	Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear.
89	* NotSoDifferentRemark: "The Ad-dressing of Cats" suggests this conclusion.
90	-->You now have learned enough to see\
91	That Cats are much like you and me\
92	And other people whom we find\
93	Possessed of various types of mind.\
94	For some are sane and some are mad\
95	And some are good and some are bad\
96	And some are better, some are worse--\
97	But all may be described in verse.
98	* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Played with. Growltiger is ambushed while wooing Griddlebone on his barge.
99	* OutlawCouple:
100	** Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, possibly. The stage adaptation went with this interpretation, but the original poem gives no information about their interpersonal relationship or even their genders (beyond describing them as "plausible fellows").
101	** Growltiger and Griddlebone also likely qualify, since we know from "Macavity" that she us hardly an innocent LoveInterest.
102	* PerfectlyCromulentWord: Gumbie, Jellicle, Bravo Cat.
103	* PickyEater: The Rum Tum Tugger
104	-->If you offer him fish then he always wants a feast;\
105	When there isn't any fish then he won't eat rabbit.\
106	If you offer him cream then he sniffs and sneers,\
107	For he only likes what he finds for himself
108	* {{Pirate}}: Growltiger and his crew are widely feared.
109	* PoliceAreUseless:
110	** Against Macavity.
111	--->He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair.
112	** "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" mentions that there's supposed to be a Police Dog patrolling the area, but he misses the entire rumpus because he sloped off to the pub for a drink.
113	* PolicemanDog: A canine policeman is mentioned in "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles".
114	* PricelessMingVase: It was Mungojerrie--or Rumpleteazer . . .
115	-->... down from the library came a loud ping\
116	From a vase which was commonly said to be Ming
117	* PullARabbitOutOfMyHat: Mr. Mistoffelees is described pulling kittens out of a hat as one of his conjuring tricks.
118	* RefugeInAudacity: Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer:
119	-->They were plausible fellows who like to engage\
120	A friendly policeman in conversation.
121	* RevengeBallad: "Growltiger's Last Stand", about the [[PirateSong pirate cat]] Growltiger being finally taken down by his enemies, the [[YellowPeril Siamese]].
122	* SceneryDissonance: Growltiger is ambushed [[spoiler:and assassinated]] while wooing a lady under the moonlight of a peaceful summer night.
123	-->Now on a peaceful summer night, all nature seemed at play,\
124	The tender moon was shining bright, the barge at Molesey lay.\
125	All in the balmy moonlight it lay rocking on the tide--\
126	And Growltiger was disposed to show his sentimental side.
127	* ScoutOut: Averted. Presumably the organization was not yet under trademark.
128	-->So she's formed, from that lot of disorderly louts,\
129	A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts
130	* ShoutOut:
131	** Old Deuteronomy is named for a book of Literature/TheBible.
132	** Macavity's poem contains several to the Literature/SherlockHolmes canon. The description of Macavity's appearance echoes the description of Moriarty in "The Final Problem", and the list of his crimes includes references to several of Holmes's cases. Not to mention "the Napoleon of Crime".
133	** Amongst the many [[SmokyGentlemensClub Smoky Gentlemen's Clubs]] where Bustopher Jones gets fed is the [[Creator/PGWodehouse Drones]].
134	* SpellMyNameWithAThe: The Rum Tum Tugger
135	* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine:
136	-->[[spoiler: Growltiger]] to his vast surprise was forced to WalkThePlank.\
137	He who a hundred victims had driven to that drop,\
138	At the end of all his crimes was forced to go ker-flip, ker-flop.
139	* UncertainDoom: "Growltiger's Last Stand":
140	-->Then Griddlebone she gave a screech, for she was badly skeered;\
141	I am sorry to admit it, but she quickly disappeared.\
142	She probably escaped with ease, I'm sure she was not drowned--\
143	But a serried ring of flashing steel Growltiger did surround
144	* WalkThePlank: [[spoiler: Growltiger's]] fate.
145	* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Gus, the Theatre Cat.
146	* YellowPeril:
147	** The one appearance of "foreign" cats is when Growltiger is ambushed and [[WalkThePlank disposed of]] by a horde of Siamese. Possibly FairForItsDay, since Growltiger is unequivocally a villain, but it's presented as a case of GreyAndGrayMorality.
148	** The Great Rumpus Cat breaks up a street fight between Pekingese and Yorkshire Terriers, Pomeranians, and Pugs. The narrator makes a point of saying that the Pekingese are "Heathen Chinese" and "no British Dog".
149	* YourTomcatIsPregnant: Implied by the end of "Mr. Mistoffelees". The list of Mr. Mistoffelees' amazing feats culminates in the mysterious appearance of a litter of kittens.
150

Context Literature / OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats