UnFamiliar Tales

Though we knew this moment was coming, that doesn't make it any easier. We finish our discussion of Book II, which means goodbye for now to the Murr Cinematic Universe. The book ends with an editor's postscript informing us of the fictional Murr's death, which coincides with the death of ETA Hoffmann's real-life cat Murr. With ETA Hoffmann dying a few months after the publication of Book II, the saga of Murr and Kreisler remained unfinished. But the circular structure of the book means the end of Book II actually takes us back to the beginning of Book I. And so, we will remember Murr as he was at the end of the story, at the beginning of the book, poised to continue his life and adventures (and, of course, opinions) with Kreisler.

"I do not bite my thumb at you, Murr, but I do bite my thumb, Murr!" The local tabby cat — veteran from the historic Raid on the Pantry, recipient of the Order of the Burnt Bacon — has slighted Murr, and there is only one possible reply: Fight! Fight! Fight! Does Murr earn his victory through a duel among tomcats, or will he have to walk away with his tail between his legs? Hayley and Pratima talk about commissioning pocket-size oil portraits of their nemeses to hand out like business cards. While they natter on, Pebbles and Nox decide to take a more active role in editing this episode.

Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare fratres in unum! How great it is for brothers to dwell in unity! As we begin Part III, Murr and Kreisler each join different sorts of brotherhoods. Murr joins a cat fraternity, and Kreisler joins a monastery. Meanwhile, Hayley and Pratima talk about their own failed attempts to participate in Greek life, and Nox has found a quiz to determine if Pebbles is a dreadful Philistine cat. This very special episode features the titular song Ecce Quam Bonum (00:31:18), as sung by Murr and the other cats in the cat fraternity.

Love is in the air! Murr finds love with a calico cat, but learns in the end that his true love is the love of learning. Who needs a lover's embrace when you can snooze, gently enclosed in a velvety doctoral cap? Nox tries his own paw at love poetry with "Ode to Ball," and it's an instant classic. Meanwhile, Hayley and Pratima talk about what happens when the person you love doesn't love the media franchises you love.

Adolescence is a time to find yourself... find yourself some unattended food, that is. Murr lives through his awkward age and has his first adventure in town, learning that his Latin skills only take him so far when he wants to acquire sausages. Hayley learns she has a formative adolescent experience in common with Kreisler: namely, music lessons with an eccentric array of music teachers, some of whom threw pork chops at her. And some of us never outgrow the adolescent ways of counter surfing and pantry-raiding, as Pebbles tells us about her sister Deanna's new app Leftovrs. Now you can invite a cat to polish off a plate of unattended food no matter where you are.

We wrap up Part I of Tomcat Murr talking about the highly relatable struggles faced by our dear protagonists as they each learn that following your passions is not without peril. Murr learns to read and write, but his joy as a scholar finding his voice is briefly eclipsed by his worries that Master Abraham will discover his talents and place him into indentured academic servitude. Meanwhile, Kreisler is no stranger to career change woes as he quits his most recent gig with the Duke. Lucky for him, Prince Irenaeus's court is always hiring for the position of "Rich Person Friend."

In Episode 2 Part 2, we talk about Murr's birth story, as told respectively by Murr and Master Abraham, and about the well-rehearsed birth stories we tell about the animals in our lives. Hayley rescued a dog, an animal everyone likes to have around, but Pratima rescued a cat, a perfidious creature that one would bring home only out of pure, unselfish philanthropy. But Nox is a cattle dog without cattle to herd, and Pebbles hasn't seen a mouse since February 2016. Is it better to imagine that our animals are useful to us? Or is it best to revel in their uselessness?

A cat writing his autobiography is not the only strange thing about *The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr*. There's also the fact that Murr's autobiography is accidentally spliced together with a biography of a man named Johannes Kreisler, who (incidentally) becomes Murr's human one day. What are the odds! In Episode 2 Part 1, we talk about how the biography of Kreisler fits into the MCU (Murr Cinematic Universe), and our hopes that some day our own life's work will be spliced together with our animal friends' autobiographies.

Do you suspect that your dog is writing his autobiography? Have you seen your cat nosing around your keyboard one too many times? Are you wondering how you can encourage their creative aspirations? In Episode 1, hosts Pratima Gopalakrishnan and Hayley Milliman talk about the long and august tradition of making up authorial voices for the animals in your life. Season 1 of UnFamiliar Tales is all about the 19th century German book titled *The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr.* This remarkable book by E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) is the autobiography of a cat named Murr who teaches himself to read and write.