Miss Nightshade Jenny Has Shown Her True Colors

We have always said that our kitties earn their names. As a result, we don’t normally name them right away. In Miss Jenny’s case, we did it differently. Her name at the SPCA was Nightshade, a perfectly poisonous, yet wonderful plant. It can be so deadly and yet it gives us potatoes and eggplant, not to mention chile peppers. The name Jenny came from the Three Penny Opera and the Pirate Jenny song. Miss Jenny has now shown her true colors and her name is perfect.

Don’t let her innocent face and lovely blue eyes fool you. She can be murderous. We have found the evidence. It’s appalling, I tell you. We didn’t really do anything for the holidays. We did get something for our pointy eared people. It was a couple of catnip fish with feather tails. I’m sure they are designed to totally confuse the kittehs, but that’s another story.

I awoke the other morning to total carnage. Miss Jenny had wreaked havoc upon the toys. The destruction wasn’t quite complete, but it was awful.

I know it was Jenny. I caught her in action and here is the evidence.

Albert Camus said it best:

Murder is terribly exhausting.

He was correct.

To see why the Pirate Jenny song is so perfect, just follow along below the fold to read the lyrics.

1
Gentleman, today you see me washing glasses
And I make the beds for everyone.
And you give me a penny and I quickly thank you
And you see my rags and this shabby [“ragged”] hotel
And you don’t know who you’re talkin’ to.
But one evening there’ll be shouting at the harbor
And people will ask: What’s all the shouting about?
And people will see me smiling while I do the glasses
And people will say: What’s she got to smile about?

And a ship with eight sails
And with fifty cannons
Will lie at the waterfront.

2
They say: Go clean your glasses, my child
And hand me the penny.
And the penny is accepted, and the bed is made!
(Nobody will sleep in it tonight.)
And they still don’t know who I am.
But one evening there’ll be a fuss at the harbor
And they’ll ask: What’s all the fuss?
And they’ll see me standing behind the window
And they’ll say: Why the evil smile?

And the ship with eight sails
And with fifty cannons
Will fire on the town.

3
Gentlemen, then your smile will disappear
‘Cause the walls will come tumbling down
And the town will be flattened to the ground.
Only a shabby hotel will be spared from the attack
And they’ll ask: Who’s the special one living there?
And tonight there’ll be shouting around the hotel
And they’ll ask: Why was the hotel spared?
And they’ll see me step out the door in the morning
And they’ll say: She was living there?

And the ship with eight sails
And with fifty cannons
Will fly flags from its mast.

4
And hundreds will come ashore around noon
And will step into the shadows
And will catch anyone in any door
And lay him in chains and bring him before me
And ask: Which one should we kill?
And at that midday it will be quiet at the harbor
When they ask, who has to die.
And then they’ll hear me say: All of them!
And when the heads roll, I’ll say: Hurray!

And the ship with eight sails
And with fifty cannons
Will disappear with me.

That was the literal translation from the German. It’s not what is most commonly sung in English. The song is a daydream by one of the downtrodden. Jenny is a prostitute and mistreated my Macky and others. Our Jenny isn’t mistreated, but was found abandoned. I’m sure kittehs have their daydreams too. Even if it’s killing catnip fish with feather tails.