Literature / Churchmouse Stories

Churchmouse Stories is a collection of short stories by Margot Austin, published in 1956. The book concerns a number of animals, mostly focusing on three living with Parson Pease-Porridge.

1. "Peter Churchmouse": Peter, an unfortunate mouse, finds his daily cheese in the mousetrap taken away and replaced with a kitten called Gabriel. The two team up to find a way to get Peter his food again.
2. "Gabriel Churchkitten": Gabriel tries to think of a plan to keep Parson Pease-Porridge in bed at night.
3. "Trumpet": Trumpet, the new churchdog, can't stop howling, and Gabriel and Peter's attempts to help only seem to make things worse.
4. "The Three Silly Kittens": Kittens Tom, Dick, and Harry go about their days.
5. "Gabriel Churchkitten and the Moths": Peter and Trumpet try to help Gabriel come up with a way to prevent Parson Pease-Porridge from replacing him with a new cat.

This book includes examples of the following tropes:

• Animal Jingoism: Averted for the most part. Peter and Gabriel (a mouse and a kitten) quickly become good friends and though Gabriel initially asserts he's not supposed to like Trumpet (a spotted puppy), any antagonism disappears after Trumpet asks about his thinking hat.
• Animal Lover: Parson Pease-Porridge is extremely friendly and patient with the animals. When he figures out he has a churchmouse (rather than rats as he previously thought), he immediately figures that all the destruction happened because of the mouse's hunger and sets out cheese for him from that point forward. Even though the animals worry that he might send them away multiple times, it proves groundless, despite the mischief they cause.
• Bindle Stick: One thought bubble in "Gabriel and the Moths" shows Gabriel leaving with his belongings tied in a bundle on a stick.
• Blind Without 'Em: Parson Pease-Porridge's poor vision comes into play in more than one story.
  • "Peter Churchmouse": Parson Pease-Porridge mistakes Peter for a gray spot and his tracks on a sermon for footnotes before he gets his glasses replaced.
  • "Gabriel Churchkitten": Parson Pease-Porridge can't keep from bumping into things if he doesn't have his glasses on — at least while he's awake. To the animals' dismay, he can sleepwalk without them just fine.
• Censorship by Spelling: Being a mouse, Peter finds "cat" too terrifying to say, so he gets around it by spelling it on the rare occasions he actually needs to use the word.
• Character Catch Phrase:
  • Peter usually says "Fuss, fuss, fuss!" during irritating moments.
  • Gabriel often says "I could listen and listen" after Peter makes up another poem.
• Character Tic: Peter always raises his eyebrows before making up a poem.
• Chekhov's Skill: The first story opens with Peter jumping to avoid the arm of the mouse trap, a skill he's honed over long periods of getting cheese from the device. Later, he and Gabriel decide that he should sit on one of Parson Pease-Porridge's books to show him he's not a rat. The nearsighted parson mistakes Peter for a gray spot and slams the heavy book shut; Peter only escapes thanks to a quick jump.
• Foreshadowing: Peter mentions how tasty he finds pink soap multiple times in "Trumpet", which makes it less surprising when he eats it at the end of the story, saving Trumpet another bath.
• Gone Horribly Right: During one story, Parson Pease-Porridge begins sleepwalking and playing the organ all night, keeping the animals awake. One day, they use the chewing gum under the pews to block the holes in the organ. Parson Pease-Porridge can't play music...so he begins singing, which is even worse.
• Hey, That's My Line!: Peter doesn't like either of the other animals stepping on his shtick of making up verses.
• Literal-Minded: Gabriel's thinking cap is a decorative nest with a fake bird. Gabriel says he picked it after hearing Parson Pease-Porridge claim that a little bird told him what became of the missing soap.
• Mondegreen Gag: Played for Drama in "Gabriel Churchkitten and the Moths". Gabriel thinks Parson Pease-Porridge plans to replace him after hearing him say he's getting a new cat because the current one's moth-eaten. He actually heard him talking about getting a new hat.
• Perfectly Cromulent Word: Peter makes up a poem telling Trumpet to stop howling before he calls "a coppit." When Gabriel asks what that means, Peter answers that he doesn't know, implying he made it up to have a rhyming word.
• Running Gag: In "Trumpet", Parson Pease-Porridge keeps giving Trumpet baths, much to the dismay of the dog and Peter, who likes to snack on the soap.
• Sentimental Shabbiness: Parson Pease-Porridge buys a new hat, in which Peter chews a hole and Gabriel curls up for a nap. When Parson Pease-Porridge sees this, he laments the situation and then takes his old hat off the hook. However, he smiles and comments that perhaps old friends, even if moth-eaten, are the best friends.
• A Simple Plan: Many of the animals' plans make sense (at least if their beginning guesses were sound), but they seldom work the way they are supposed to.
• Sleepwalking: In "Gabriel Churchkitten", Parson Pease-Porridge develops the habit of walking in his sleep, eating all the things he put out for the animals, and playing the organ all night.
• Theory Tunnel Vision: In "Gabriel and the Moths", Gabriel and Trumpet hear early on that Parson Pease-Porridge is getting a new cat because the current one is moth-bitten. Eventually, they find a hatbox with a new hat in it sitting on the table. They conclude that the new cat has to be under the hat, even though he won't talk to them, rather than considering that "cat" and "hat" could easily be mistaken for each other.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky: Peter tells Gabriel that he ate an entire hymnbook at one point because of his hunger, despite disliking it.
• The Tooth Hurts: Parson Pease-Porridge ultimately discovers that Trumpet has been howling because he's been cutting a tooth.
• You Dirty Rat!: Parson Pease-Porridge sets traps and gets a kitten to deal with his rat problem. Once he realizes it's a churchmouse instead, he's much more sympathetic.