The Owl and the Pussycat - a nursery rhyme or???

 

 

The Owl and The Pussy Cat – a nursery rhyme or???

 

“My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things I have made touching the King.”  This is how Psalm 45, one of my favourite psalms starts in the King James Version of my favourite books.  A newer version starts thus “My heart is overflowing with a good theme...” I wonder why I am writing this now in the old version. When I make references to this amazing psalm, I usually use the newer version. Perhaps one has to go back to the old to enjoy the new. The owl and the pussycat went to sea on a beautiful pea green boat. This song has so reverberated in my mind it’s not even funny anymore.     

Perhaps I was about eight years old when I learnt that song. I enjoyed it, along with all the other nursery rhymes that were inculcated in us back then. The owl and the pussycat was not exactly a nursery rhyme. It was for older children. I still enjoyed it anyhow. Perhaps I visualised the whole scenario, the owl playing the violin and sweeping the demure pussycat off her feet, given a ring by a pig, getting married deep in the heart of the wilderness and dancing under the moonlight. It was as poetic as it was romantic. However, in adult years having been through and survived many a demonic attack, I do not find it romantic – not in the least.

The first time I saw an owl in real life must have been when I was about eight years old or maybe younger. My family lived in Yaba back then, in Medical Compound to be precise. We had neighbours in that same compound, which was actually more of an estate – oyibo neighbours. They had their own separate compound – the perfect habitat for an ‘animal farm’- pigs, monkeys, different kinds of birds, it was endless. We used to go there regularly to swing and look at the animals. It was there I first saw the owl. Even at that time it was a strange looking bird, and I found it quite creepy. The second time I saw an owl was sometime in 1994 I believe. I was part of a Breakfast Fellowship which took place every month in a very special friend’s house. I’ll call her Margaret. As the meetings grew, so did my spiritual life, and that was when I saw the owl. This time I did not go looking for it. It came looking for me, or perhaps someone in Margaret’s house.

At the Breakfast Fellowship I was in charge of cooking and serving breakfast. I chose the menus, I bought the ingredients, I cooked the breakfast, I laid the table, and I set the trend, mood, tone. Indeed I did. Perhaps someone or a cabal was not too happy. In doing my duties at the time, I would spend the night at Margaret’s. I would wake up pretty early to cook up a storm. On this particular day, at about 6am, just before sunrise, I heard this very loud thud on the roof. The next thing I heard a loud noise on the floor. It was then I saw the owl. It looked angry, but again that could have come with the territory of its strange looks. I was petrified. I ran into Margaret’s living room and called on the name of Jesus.

That meeting was successful. Everyone was happy. They enjoyed their scrumptious breakfast. Of course they did. They did not see the owl, know what had been averted or even loomed ahead for that matter. Jesus took care of that. I remember the popular and perhaps offensive saying. “A woman’s place belongs in the kitchen.” I couldn’t agree more. I will not join feminists to take offence at this remark. Destinies can be determined and influenced in the kitchen. Yes indeed, I find the kitchen a very governmental place, and that is the place of a woman.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea on a beautiful pea green boat.

I do not like cats either. In reality cats are harmless, but I do not like cats. When I see them in my dreams they are not harmless. I recall this particular dream where I visited a friend who had so many cats in her house. In another scene in that same dream, she fed me with poff poff.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea on a beautiful pea green boat.

I do not like that nursery rhyme. Looking back now I do not like the fact that we grew up with rhymes like that ingrained in our spirits. I do not like it, especially as the composer Edward Lear, was a very emotionally disturbed person. This rhyme makes me walk down memory lane in shivers wondering about other nursery rhymes. I wonder if like Edward Lear the composers of those rhymes were emotionally disturbed too and if their disturbed spirits rubbed off on our innocent little minds.

Okay, now let’s look at this poem in full

The owl and the pussycat went to sea

In a beautiful pea green boat

They took some honey and plenty of money

Wrapped up in a five pound note

The owl looked up to the stars above

And sang to a small guitar

“O lovely pussy O pussy my love”

What a beautiful pussy you are, you are, you are

What a beautiful pussy you are

Pussy said to the owl, “You elegant fowl,

How charmingly sweet you sing.

Oh let us be married, too long we have tarried;

But what shall we do with a ring?”

They sailed away for a year and a day

To the land where the Bong tree grows,

And there in a wood a piggy wig stood

With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,

With a ring at the end of his nose.

“Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?”

Said the piggy, “I will.”

So they took it and were married next day

By the turkey who lives on a hill.

They dined on mince and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon.

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand.

They danced by the light of the moon, the moon, the moon

They danced by the light of the moon.

Even Oyibos have described the last four lines of Lear’s poem as sinister. Their concerns are with the runcible spoon. The runcible spoon is one with three sharp edges. Quite frankly I do not see this as sinister. Runcible spoons to me are ordinary serving spoons. I do not see this as sinister. What I find sinister as a result of my experiences, attacks et al, is the union of the owl and the pussycat.

There are loads of myths about the owl worldwide; in a nutshell, they are birds of death, and they uncover secrets; the owl is said to be a witch’s companion, sharing the power of the night. They symbolise wisdom, intelligence, wealth, education and are deeply connected to magic. In the Far East, it is said that a combination of the owl and pussycat are used for mysticism.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea on a beautiful pea green boat.

My God have mercy on us mere mortals. Needless to say, I lost an uncle from a paternal side shortly after that encounter with the owl, but did not make any connection until now, especially as the deceased had battled with illness for years. I prayed for the man’s healing alongside the fine young women in the fellowship.  “God let your will be done.” I remember that this was a prayer of one of the members. He died not too long after, and that started a cycle of deaths in my paternal line. Interestingly, Margaret’s father died either that same year or the year after. His death was a blur. I recall barely recovering from being hospitalised myself and asked to prepare food for an occasion in Margaret’s house. She got a phone call that her father was not feeling well. We had a grim lunch as understandably that spoiled our party mood. She travelled to tend to him and that was the last time she ever saw him. As I clearly recall, it was a brief illness.

It was after the visitation of the owl that the death’s started. My uncle, Margaret’s father, either that same year or the year after; death could have gotten the better of me but mercy said no. But, death took my brother, and one so did one of Margaret’s relatives. Her relative and my brother I believe were buried on the same day. I hear a black bird hovered around the wall of my father’s compound in the village at when my brother was buried. But I did not see the bird. Perhaps in God’s eyes I had seen enough. Needless to say, my grandmother and another Uncle died not too long after. “And I Daniel alone saw the vision,” (Daniel 10:7) All this happened after my seeing the owl back then and did not remember or make any connections.

The owl and the pussycat went to sea on a beautiful pea green boat...Now let’s see... what is my take on this? The composer lived between 1812 and 1888. Perhaps he was a prophet in the wrong setting and that made him tip over the edge. However like I said earlier, based on my bad experiences of these two animals, perhaps my take on this is a very bad union...

The owl and the pussycat – the witches’ companions tied up the sweetness and wealth of the world in a five pound note and went to sea. I wondered what the significance of ‘five’ was in that poem. Five is the number for grace and connotes the fivefold ministry. Perhaps the number five could have represented the Big Five in the animal kingdom – the five most difficult to hunt down – most difficult for hunters but easy as pie for the owl and the pussycat, as the dark forces that ruled them separated them from the rest of the animals. They also took the resource of the earth to the sea, hence the beautiful pea green boat. And then, the owl sang...he had to set the perfect scene for this marriage made in hell. He knew how to hit the right notes...what a beautiful pussy you are, you are what a beautiful pussy you are...The first repetitive part of that poem. He worshiped her looks, singing the right song with the help of his astral travels. That was the deciding factor for the pussy cat –it was time to get married for too long they had tarried – and I ask, what was the mode of their tarrying?

They got married alright; the pig of which mere mortals have associated with dirt (whose meat is sinfully delicious) provided them with their symbol of life in exchange for one shilling. They got married the next day by a bird that is religiously slaughtered at certain times of the year. This is the part I find sinister. The rest of the song I don’t...or do I? They dined on mince and slice of quince which they ate with a runcible spoon- quince is a hard, acid, apple like, yellowish fruit, used for preserves, of a small deciduous Asian tree, mince could be anything ranging from the crushing of the animals that facilitated their wedding, to the vegetation they took via the sea to the wilderness where the despicable was done, or to even the humans who hunted them. Okay, it may be a tad bit sinister; especially slices of quince became the perfect condiment- vegetation yet again- vegetation from the Far East where some of her inhabitants are said to use the combination of the diners of mince and quince for their underworld activities. In their mind, it was a fait accompli – they could finally dance by the light of the moon – the power of the night, on the edge of the sand...this is as interesting as it is sinister.

I am able by the grace of God to analyse this based on my bad experience. But...there is another side. In fact there is one side -the side that was there from the very beginning. There is indeed one side – The God side. The One who created all things and said it was all good. The One who created man, in His image gave him dominion over the fish in the sea, the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Indeed there is the God side, and sadly, the God side had an enemy- an enemy that hated the power of the one who was created in God’s image. The one who perverted the mind of the one created in His image, using the animals he should have had dominion of against his own fellowmen, and ultimately God Himself.

I say by the grace of God- the owl will not be a symbol of death in the mighty name of Jesus, neither will the cat be the witch’s companion. It was not so in the beginning. In the beginning was good. God said so, and His word is yes and amen. His word is final. Perhaps my sleep pattern this morning was a sign. I went to bed at about 10pm last night and woke up at about 7am this morning. It’s been a long time since I did that. Of late it’s been finally sleeping at about 3-4am, waking up at 6am, and then maybe 10am or 11am. Perhaps my regular back to basic sleep hours of 10pm – 7am is a sign that God has dealt with the chaos orchestrated by the owl, pussycat and the force or forces behind them and restoring order...   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Posted by: Enuma Chigbo on 11 March 2010

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