"Old Deuteronomy's lived a long time;He's a Cat who has lived many lives in succession.
He was famous in proverb and famous in rhyme
A long while before Queen Victoria's accession.
Old Deuteronomy's buried nine wives
And more -I am tempted to say, ninety-nine;
And his numerous progeny prospers and thrives
And the village is proud of him in his decline."
Thomas Sterne Eliot: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
Faber and Faber, London - 1987
pag. 33
