Dick Whittington and his Cat

There was once a poor boy called Dick Whittington
who lived in a small village in the south of England.
He had no proper home, for both his parents had died
and he was unkindly treated by many of the villagers.
One day, Dick overheard someone say that the streets
of London were paved with gold and he decided that
he would go there at once and pick his fortune up
in gold pieces from the streets, for he thought people
might treat him more kindly, if he were rich.
So young Dick set out to walk to London. He had
not gone far when a man in a cart stopped and asked
him if he was running away from home. “I have no
home,” Dick answered. “I am on my way to London
to find my fortune.”
“I’m going to London myself,” said the carter.
“Jump up here beside me and we will journey together.”
They arrived in London just before nightfall and
the carter left Dick and made his way to an inn. Poor
Dick stood alone and looked around him in dismay.
Where was all that fine gold ? All he could see were
dirty streets and lots of unfriendly people. He had
nowhere to sleep and in the end he spent the night in
the corner of an alley where he hoped he would come
to no harm.
The next morning Dick woke up cold, miserable
and very hungry. He wandered around begging for
food, but again and again people shouted at him, “Go
away you lazy fellow! Be off with you,” and aimed
angry blows at his head. At last he collapsed in the
street and lay there, too weak to look further for food.
By chance, Dick had fallen in front of a house
belonging to a rich merchant called Mr Fitzwarren.
The cook was trying to drive Dick away, when Mr
Fitzwarren returned home from inspecting his ships. He
stopped and said to Dick, “Why don’t you work if you
need food ?”
“I would work,’’ said Dick, “but I know nobody
who will give me anything to do.” “Take him into the kitchen,” Mr Fitzwarren ordered
the cook. “Feed him first and then find some work for
him.”
So Dick was given a home and a living. He had a
small corner of the attic to sleep in and his job was to
help the cook with all the pots and pans in the kitchen.
Dick’s life should have been much better than before,
but he still had two difficulties to face.
The first was that the attic he slept in was overrun
by rats and mice. At night they scampered all over
him and kept him awake. After a time he solved this
problem by saving the few pennies he was paid, and
buying himself a cat. In no time at all, the cat chased
away all the rats and mice, and Dick was able to
sleep peacefully.
The other difficulty, which was not so easy to
overcome, was the cook’s bad temper. She shouted and
screamed all day, and would scold Dick and hit him
with a wooden spoon, even when he was working as
hard as he could.
One night Dick decided he could stand it no more.
Early the next morning before the cook was up, he set
out with his cat to seek his fortune elsewhere. The two
of them walked as far as Holloway, on their way out
of London, then Dick sat down on a stone to rest. It
was the first of November, All Saint’s Day, and the
church bells were ringing. As Dick sat and listened it
seemed they were ringing out a message for him :
Turn again Whittington,
Thou worthy citizen,
Lord Mayor of London.
“Lord Mayor of London ?” said Dick. “I should like
to be Lord Mayor and ride in a fine coach. I can put
up with a few scoldings from the cook if that is what
is in store for me.” So Dick and his cat retraced their
steps to Mr Fitzwarren’s house. Luckily they were able
to slip back before they had been missed.
Now Mr Fitzwarren used to send ships far across
the sea to trade with other countries. He would load
a ship with goods for the captain and ship’s crew to
sell in faraway places and then they would bring back
goods that could be sold at home. One day he called his household together. “I am
sending a ship to the African coast to trade,” he said.
“Would any of you like to send something of yours
on it ? You can then share in the profits if the voyage
is successful.” Everyone produced something except for
Dick, who had nothing to offer. “Have you nothing
of your own, Dick ?” asked Mr Fitzwarren kindly, and
Dick replied, “Only my cat.”
“Then let your cat go on the ship,” said Mr
Fitzwarren. His daughter, Alice, said, “Dick loves his
cat. Let me put something in for him.” But her father
said, “No, it must be his, not something belonging to
someone else.”
So Dick fetched his cat and said goodbye to it
sadly. The captain of the ship was delighted, for the
cat was an excellent mouser and so he had no trouble
with rats and mice on his voyage.
After some months the ship arrived at a place on
the African coast, Barbary, where people called the
Moors lived. The captain sent a message to the king
to say he had fine goods for sale and he was invited
to the palace to show them. While he was talking to
the king and queen some dishes of food were brought
in, but almost immediately rats and mice ran up and
before the captain’s eyes, ate all the food. The captain
was astonished and asked if this was what normally
happened.
“Alas, yes !” came the reply. “The country is
suffering from a plague of rats and mice and we
cannot get rid of them.”
“I think I may have the answer on my ship,” said
the captain, and he sent a message asking for Dick’s
cat to be brought to the palace. More food was laid
out and the rats and mice appeared as before. The cat
immediately pounced, killing at least a dozen before
they scattered. Everyone was delighted and the queen
asked, “What do you call this animal ?”
“Puss is the name she answers to,” said the captain
and when the queen called, “Puss, puss,” the cat went
over to her and purred. The queen was a little alarmed
at first, as she had seen how fiercely the cat had attacked the rats and mice, but the captain told her
not to be anxious. “Puss is very friendly with people,”
he said, “and would soon rid your kingdom of rats
and mice.”
“I would give great wealth to own this animal,”
said the queen.
So the captain began bargaining and it was agreed
that the king would buy the whole cargo from Mr
Fitzwarren’s ship to pay a fine price for it and for
the cat alone the king paid ten times the sum again.
When the ship came back to the Port of London,
the captain showed Mr Fitzwarren the gold and jewels
he had brought from Barbary and told him the story
of the cat, the merchant sent for Dick. “From now on,
Dick” he said, “we should all call you Mr Whittington,
for you are a rich man.’’ Mr Fitzwarren then paid him
all the money the captain had received for the cat.
From this time on Dick worked with Mr Fitzwarren
and became a successful merchant himself. He married
Mr Fitzwarren’s daughter Alice and three times he
was elected Lord Mayor of London. He was also in
time knighted by the king and became Sir Richard
Whittington. He was not only famous, but he was
popular too, for he always helped the poor with his
money. Sometimes when he was old, he would tell his
grandchildren the story of his cat, and how the bells
of London had called him back when he was only a
poor boy :