Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats

FABER has published children’s books since 1929. T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man were amongst the first. Our catalogue at the time said that ‘it is by reading such books that children learn the difference between the shoddy and the genuine’. We still believe in the power of reading to transform children’s lives. All our books are chosen with the express intention of growing a love of reading, a thirst for knowledge and to cultivate empathy. We pride ourselves on responsible editing. Last but not least, we believe in kind and inclusive books in which all children feel represented and important. About the Author

THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT (1888–1965) was born in St Louis, Missouri, USA. Throughout the 1930s he composed the now famous poems about Macavity, Old Deuteronomy, Mr Mistoffelees and many other cats, under the name of ‘Old Possum’, and included them in letters to his godchildren. In 1939 they were collected and published as Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Eliot received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1948. In 1981 Eliot’s cat poems were set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber as ‘Cats’, which was, for many years, the longest running show on Broadway. About the Illustrator

JÚLIA SARDÀ is an critically-acclaimed illustrator from Barcelona. After her studies, Júlia started working for Disney/Pixar and then moved on to freelancing. Ranging from concept art for video games, to children’s illustration Júlia has worked for a wide range publishers throughout Europe and the UK. She has illustrated some everlasting classics such as: Alice in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Júlia was shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal in 2020 for Mary and Frankenstein. First published in 1939 by Faber & Faber Limited Bloomsbury House 74–77 Great Russell Street London, WC1B 3DA faberchildrens.co.uk

This edition published in 2021

Typeset by Faber Printed by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY

The right of T. S. Eliot and Júlia Sardà to be identified as author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978–0–571–34613–4

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats

T. S. Eliot Illustrated by Júlia Sardà Preface

This book is respectfully dedicated to those friends who have assisted its composition by their encouragement, criticism and suggestions: and in particular to Mr. T. E. Faber, Miss Alison Tandy, Miss Susan Wolcott, Miss Susanna Morley, and the Man in White Spats. O. P. Contents

THE NAMING OF CATS 1

THE OLD GUMBIE CAT 3

GROWLTIGER’S LAST STAND 6

THE RUM TUM TUGGER 10

THE SONG OF THE JELLICLES 13

MUNGOJERRIE AND RUMPELTEAZER 16

OLD DEUTERONOMY 20

THE PEKES AND THE POLLICLES 23

MR. MISTOFFELEES 27

MACAVITY: THE MYSTERY CAT 31

GUS: THE THEATRE CAT 34

BUSTOPHER JONES: THE CAT ABOUT TOWN 38

SKIMBLESHANKS: THE RAILWAY CAT 41

THE AD-DRESSING OF CATS 45

CAT MORGAN INTRODUCES HIMSELF 49

The Naming of Cats

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,

It isn’t just one of your holiday games;

You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter

When I tell you, a cat must have three different names.

First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,

Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,

Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—

All of them sensible everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,

Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:

Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—

1 But all of them sensible everyday names.

But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,

A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,

Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,

Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?

Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,

Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,

Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum—

Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,

And that is the name that you never will guess;

The name that no human research can discover—

But the cat himself knows, and will never confess.

2 When you notice a cat in profound meditation,

The reason, I tell you, is always the same:

His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation

Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:

His ineffable effable

Effanineffable

Deep and inscrutable singular Name.