The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan is a children's book by Beatrix Potter.
Ribby (a cat) invites her friend Duchess (a dog) over for a party, promising to bake a delicious meat pie, all for Duchess. But Duchess fears that Ribby's pie will turn out to be made of mouse-meat, which she believes gives her indigestion. Remembering that she and Ribby have identical pie-dishes, she devises a plan: while Ribby is out shopping for party supplies, Duchess will sneak into her house, take the mouse pie out of the oven, and replace it with a ham pie that Duchess herself made. She'll hide the mouse pie somewhere, and Ribby will be none the wiser. What could possibly go wrong?
This story provides examples of:
- An Aesop: If your friend's mouse-meat pies give you indigestion, you should just tell her instead of concocting a Zany Scheme that will result in your looking like an idiot.
- Animal Jingoism: Briefly mentioned when Ribby's cousin expresses disdain at the idea of Ribby being friends with a dog.
- The Cameo: Ribby's snobby cousin is Tabitha Twitchit.
- Does Not Like Spam: Duchess does not like mouse meat.
- Dramatic Irony: Duchess, while Ribby is out, puts her ham pie into Ribby's top oven, intending to get rid of the mouse pie. When, in looking for the mouse pie, she tries the door of the bottom oven, it sticks, and then Duchess, hearing Ribby coming back, flees the house before she can keep searching. Later, at the party, Duchess doesn't see which oven Ribby takes the pie out of. The whole story runs on Dramatic Irony, due to both characters thinking their two different pies are the same pie.
- The Hyena: Dr. Maggotty laughs a lot. "Ha HA!"
- I Ate WHAT?!: Twice: First Duchess, thinking she's eaten her ham pie, freaks out when she thinks she's swallowed the patty pan that held up the crust; then she realizes that she's eaten a whole pie made of mouse meat.
- Poor Communication Kills: Duchess considers simply telling Ribby that mouse-meat pie doesn't agree with her, but rejects this idea as impolite and settles on a Zany Scheme instead. This leads her to unknowingly eating the mouse pie instead of her own, then thinking she's swallowed a patty pan.
- The Unintelligible: Dr. Maggotty only says the words "spinach" and "gammon."
- Zany Scheme: Duchess's pie-swapping plan.
