In Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan," Ribby the cat invites Duchess the dog for tea, intending to serve a mouse pie, much to Duchess's secret horror. Duchess plots to swap Ribby's pie with her own veal and ham pie (containing a metal patty-pan) by sneaking it into Ribby's oven while Ribby is out. However, due to using different ovens, Ribby serves her original mouse pie. Duchess eats it, mistakenly thinks it's her own, and descends into panic when she can't find the patty-pan, believing she's swallowed it. The resulting chaos involves fetching a doctor (a magpie), Duchess eventually discovering her untouched pie and realising her mistake, and trying to hide the evidence, leading to a funny conclusion where Ribby is left utterly confused by the eventual discovery of the patty-pan, resolving to invite someone else next time.

In Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan," Ribby the cat invites Duchess the dog for tea, intending to serve a mouse pie, much to Duchess's secret horror. Duchess plots to swap Ribby's pie with her own veal and ham pie (containing a...

The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan | Animal Stories