Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - Faber Children's

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

                             All rights reserved
                         © 1939; 1953 T. S. Eliot
              Copyright renewed © 1967 Esme Valerie Eliot
                     Illustrations © Júlia Sardà, 2021

                 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 R AILWAY 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.