So today I was reading from Nancy Willard’s A Visit to William Blake’s Inn to some interested kindergarteners visiting my Reading Cave™, in celebration of Read Across America Day. I got to “A Rabbit Shows Me My Room,” and was stunned by an error I’ve made for 25 years.
Quick, fill in the blank:
“I will keep you from perilous starlight,
and the old __________ lunatic cat.”
If you said man’s, it’s because you’ve sung William Blake’s Inn one time too many. The actual word is moon’s.
Arrgggh!
You know I’ve performed Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas probably 200 times. Last Christmas, I sat down and looked through the book again, and discovered that one passage I’ve been doing for years is not in the book. It’s also not in the cartoon. Somewhere along the way I just made up these two lines and they stayed in.
Embarrassing, yes. Especially when you’re so sure of yourself. “I don’t need to reread The Grinch (or William Blake). I’ve read it hundreds of times. I know what I’m doing.”
I like “moon’s” cat better.
Well, of course you like moon’s better, that’s the genius author’s word.
I remember you going on at length about who the “man” is and what the implications are for the overall gist of the work, etc. Snigger.
Feh. I’m not saying Nancy didn’t miss some opportunities by choosing moon over MAN, but who am I to quibble with her choices?
And I think I went on at length over whether the cat in question was to be identified with the King of Cats. So the analytical puzzle still obtains.
So there.
And also, neener neener.
It’s no fun if you’re actually remembering conversations.