Grade-6 English, The Old Gumbie Cat

 

The Old Gumbie Cat

 

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;

Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.

 All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat;

She sits and sits and sits and sits - and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

 

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,

Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.

And when all the family's in bed and asleep,

She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep.

She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice

Their behaviour's not good and their manners not nice;

 

So when she has got them lined up on the matting, 

She teaches them music, crocheting and tatting.

 

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots; 

Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots. 

All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat: 

She sits and sits and sits and sits - and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

 

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,

Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.

 As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet,

She is sure it is due to irregular diet, 

And believing that nothing is done without trying,

She sets right to work with her baking and frying. 

She makes them a mousse-cake of bread and dried peas,

And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese.

 

So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers

On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.

 

TS. Eliot

 

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) was an English poet, playwright and literary critic. He was one of the pioneers of the modernist movement in poetry. His famous poems include The Waste Land, The Hollow Men and Ash Wednesday. Eliot won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

 

GLOSSARY

 

concerned with: worried about

tabby: striped

hustle and bustle: busy and noisy work

crocheting: making clothes from wool or cotton using a special thick needle with a hook at the end

tatting: making a kind of knotted lace with cotton

hearth: fireplace

diet: the food that you eat and drink regularly

mousse : a sweet dish made with cream and egg whites and flavoured with fruit chocolate or

bacon: meat from the back or sides of a pig that has been preserved using salt or smoke

three cheers: expression asking people to make three shouts of joy to congratulate somebody

 

Choose the correct answer. 

 

1. What does the cat Jennyanydots do when people work during the day?

 

a) She chases the mice from the kitchen. 

b) She eats and sleeps throughout the day.

c) She sits and waits for the night to come. (✔)

 

2. Why does the Gumbie Cat wait for the night to come? 

 

a) So that there is no one to disturb her sleep.

b) Because she starts her work at night. (✔)

c) Because she gets her dinner.

 

3. What qualities are important for Jennyanydots? 

 

a) good manners, eating proper food and doing something useful (✔)

b) being lazy and sleeping all day long

c) helping others

 

4. Why would it be difficult to find another cat like Jennyanydots?

 

a) Because Jennyanydots is a very useful cat and she ensures that everything is in order in the house. (✔)

b) Because Jennyanydots is the last of her species in the world.

(c) Because Jennyanydots is the laziest cat in the world. 

 

5. Why should we cheer for the Gumbie Cat?

 

a) Because she is not lazy like her owner's family thinks but works very hard to make sure that they are not disturbed when they are asleep at night by keeping the mice busy. (✔)

b) Because she proves a popular belief that cats are the laziest and most selfish pets.

c) Because she is the best-looking cat in the world.

 Which of the following statements are true about Jennyanydots?

 

1. The coat of Jennyanydots shows how weak and sick a cat she is. (F)

 

2. The family thinks that Jennyanydots is lazy and does no work. (T)

 

3. The old Gumbie Cat is very hardworking.(T)

 

4. Jennyanydots ensures that even the mice do something useful for the family. (T)

 

5. Jennyanydots likes to be looked after by other people(F)

 

6. Jennyanydots contribution to the family is a secret for them too. (T)

 

Sounds and Pronunciation

 

In the poem the words matting and tatting, bustle and bustle, and baking and frying have similar-sounding endings. In other words, they are rhyming words. Rhyming words are useful in writing songs and poems because these words make the poems rhythmic. Let's see how we can make a short poem using rhyming words: Here are some rhyming words: pear, bear, fare, rare, care, tear

 

The rare bear cared for the pear.

 

The pear was too rare to bear, So the bear took care of the rare pear.

 

The bear paid the fare for the pear

 

And drew a tear when the rare pear was marred.

 

Write five rhyming words for the following words.

1. Cat- muskat, bat, sat, that, pat
2. Mind- kind, wind, bind, find, grind
3. Name- fame, flame, game, came, tame
4. Meal- eel, deal, heal, squeal, steal
5. Day- bay, say, ray, bray, gray

 

Answer these questions:

Q1 How is the coat of the Gumbie cat?

Answer: The coat of the Gumbie cat is of tabby kind with tiger stripes and leopard spots.

 

Q2  Why does the Gumbie Cat wait for the night to come?

Answer: The Gumbie Cat waits for the night to come as the day's hustle are over and she can starts her work.

 

Q3 What does the cat Jennyanydots do when people work during the day?

Answer: The cat Jennyanydots sits and waits for the night to come.

 

Q4. Where does the Gumbie Cat like to sit?

Answer: The Gumbie cat likes to sit on the window-sill or anything flat and smooth. She sits on the stairs, on the steps, on the mat, beside the hearth, on the bed or on the poet's hat.

 

Q5 Why is Gumbie cat concerned about mice? What does she do with them?

Ans. The Gumbie cat is concerned about the mice because their behaviour is not good and their manners are not nice. They are noisy and annoying. 

 

She lines them up and teaches them music, crocheting, and tatting. She also makes them a mousse-cake of bread and dried peas and also fried lean bacon and cheese for them.

 

Q6 What qualities are important for Jennyanydots?

Answer: Good manners, eating proper food and doing something useful are the qualities that are important for Jennyanydots.

 

Q7 Does the Gumbie Cat have any purpose in life?

Answer: Yes, the Gumbie cat has a purpose in life. She keeps the cockroaches and mice away from destroying the household. She keeps the households well-ordered.

 

Q8 Why should we cheer for the Gumbie Cat?

Answer: We should cheer for the Gumbie Cat because she is not lazy like her owner’s family thinks but works very hard to make sure that they are not disturbed when they are asleep at night by keeping the mice busy.

 

Q9 Why would it be difficult to find another cat like Jennyanydots?

Answer: It would be difficult to find another cat like Jennyanydots because Jennyanydots is a very useful cat and she ensures that everything is in order in the house.

 

Answer in one word:

(a) Who is the poet of this poem?

 Ans- T.S Eliot

 

(b) What is the name of the Gumbie Cat?

Ans- Jennyanydots

 

(c) Give a synonym for striped.

Ans- tabby

 

(d) When does Gumbie Cat’s work start?

Ans- night

 

(e) What kind of spots does the Gumbie cat like?

Ans- sunny and warm

 

(f) The family thinks that the Gumbie cat is…….

Ans- lazy

 

(g) Give a word from the poem which means fireplace.

Ans-  hearth

 

(h) What is the sweet dish made with cream and egg whites and flavoured with fruit and chocolate called?

Ans- mousse

 

Activity

 

Below is one of the most famous children's rhymes 'Simple Simon'. Some words are missing. The missing words are given in the box. Discuss with your partner and choose the best options.

 

Ware, pail, adieu, thistle, water, sieve, look, said, fishing, pieman, catch, penny fair not

 

Simple Simon met a pieman,

Going to the fair.

Says  Simple Simon to the pieman, 

'Let me taste your ware’

 

Said the pieman unto Simon,

'Show me first your penny’

Said Simple Simon to the pieman,

'Indeed, I have not  any." 

 

Simple Simon went a-fishing,

For to catch a whale;

All the water  he had got

Was in his mother's paill

 

Simple Simon went to look,

If plums grew on a look thistle; 

He pricked his fingers very much, 

Which made poor Simon whistle.

 

He went for water in a sieve,

But soon it all fell through;

And now poor Simple Simon

Bids you all adieu