Update 11/11/2008 - Percy passed away tonight. We will miss him terribly. He was a sweet and beautiful boy.
Parsifal is a mythical figure who is associated with Arthurian legend.
Parsifal, or Sir Percival, first appears as a prince embarked on a sacred quest
for the Holy Grail in the collection of Welsh tales based on earlier tradition,
known as the Mabinogion where he's called Peredur.
The first work devoted entirely to the Parsifal legend is Perceval le Gallois by
the French poet Chrétien de Troyes; in this unfinished 12th-century poem,
Parsifal locates the Grail and heals its dying custodian.
In Parzival, an epic by the 13th-century German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, the
story is given more precise form; it is on this that the German composer Richard
Wagner based his opera Parsifal. By the 15th century, the Morte d' Arthur by the
English writer Sir Thomas Malory depicts Parsifal as a knight of King Arthur's
Round Table, who, with Sir Galahad and Sir Bors, finds the Grail.
Percy came to us (or we should say we came to him) along with our current home
in March 2003. He was a tough fellow of indeterminate age, badly scarred and limping and wary
of humans but wanting to make friends with our Josephine.
He followed her wherever she went despite her less than polite rebuffs of his overtures.
Since then, he and the others have learned to get along fairly well. His best kitty
friends are Dory Alexander and Moritz.
The three of them are very nervous about missing dinner while they are outside! Even Jo learned to accept Percy
before she passed away. The two of them used to lie out on the deck chairs like
senior citizens enjoying their retirement.
Percy is a playful and affectionate guy with a penchant for singing,
especially at night while we're sleeping. Always ready for a good tummy rub, he's been
known to sink a claw in your leg to get your attention if you stop too soon.
He wants to be outside no matter what the weather but
we keep him inside at night to protect him against the local fox. We fast discovered that Percy's
rough past life does not keep him from being finicky. He let us know in short order that he expects salmon to
be served twice daily. We don't know how old he is but he is
currently the eldest MausCat. He has an unusually short
tail and long coat for a domestic shorthair and we suspect a Persian in his background.
He has a beautiful, expressive face. Although his formal
name is Percival we mostly call him Percy or Purrser.
Tiny Percy drawing from Cute Prints for You. Midi sequencer for "Camelot" unknown. Parsival legend from MS Encarta.