Dick Whittington And His Cat

More than five hundred years ago there was a little boy named Dick
Whittington, and this is true. His father and mother died when he was
too young to work, and so poor little Dick was very badly off. He was
quite glad to get the parings of the potatoes to eat and a dry crust of
bread now and then, and more than that he did not often get, for the
village where he lived was a very poor one and the neighbours were not
able to spare him much.

Now the country folk in those days thought that the people of London
were all fine ladies and gentlemen, and that there was singing and
dancing all the day long, and so rich were they there that even the
streets, they said, were paved with gold. Dick used to sit by and listen
while all these strange tales of the wealth of London were told, and it
made him long to go and live there and have plenty to eat and fine
clothes to wear, instead of the rags and hard fare that fell to his lot
in the country.

So one day when a great waggon with eight horses stopped on its way
through the village, Dick made friends with the waggoner and begged to
be taken with him to London. The man felt sorry for poor little Dick
when he heard that he had no father or mother to take care of him, and
saw how ragged and how badly in need of help he was. So he agreed to
take him, and off they set.

How far it was and how many days they took over the journey I do not
know, but in due time Dick found himself in the wonderful city which he
had heard so much of and pictured to himself so grandly. But oh! how
disappointed he was when he got there. How dirty it was! And the people,
how unlike the gay company, with music and singing, that he had dreamt
of! He wandered up and down the streets, one after another, until he was
tired out, but not one did he find that was paved with gold. Dirt in
plenty he could see, but none of the gold that he thought to have put in
his pockets as fast as he chose to pick it up.

Little Dick ran about till he was tired and it was growing dark. And at
last he sat himself down in a corner and fell asleep. When morning came
he was very cold and hungry, and though he asked every one he met to
help him, only one or two gave him a halfpenny to buy some bread. For
two or three days he lived in the streets in this way, only just able to
keep himself alive, when he managed to get some work to do in a
hayfield, and that kept him for a short time longer, till the haymaking
was over.

After this he was as badly off as ever, and did not know where to turn.
One day in his wanderings he lay down to rest in the doorway of the
house of a rich merchant whose name was Fitzwarren. But here he was soon
seen by the cook-maid, who was an unkind, bad-tempered woman, and she
cried out to him to be off. "Lazy rogue," she called him; and she said
she'd precious quick throw some dirty dishwater over him, boiling hot,
if he didn't go. However, just then Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to
dinner, and when he saw what was happening, he asked Dick why he was
lying there. "You're old enough to be at work, my boy," he said. "I'm
afraid you have a mind to be lazy."

"Indeed, sir," said Dick to him, "indeed that is not so"; and he told
him how hard he had tried to get work to do, and how ill he was for want
of food. Dick, poor fellow, was now so weak that though he tried to
stand he had to lie down again, for it was more than three days since he
had had anything to eat at all. The kind merchant gave orders for him to
be taken into the house and gave him a good dinner, and then he said
that he was to be kept, to do what work he could to help the cook.

And now Dick would have been happy enough in this good family if it had
not been for the ill-natured cook, who did her best to make life a
burden to him. Night and morning she was for ever scolding him. Nothing
he did was good enough. It was "Look sharp here" and "Hurry up there,"
and there was no pleasing her. And many's the beating he had from the
broomstick or the ladle, or whatever else she had in her hand.

At last it came to the ears of Miss Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter,
how badly the cook was treating poor Dick. And she told the cook that
she would quickly lose her place if she didn't treat him more kindly,
for Dick had become quite a favourite with the family.

After that the cook's behaviour was a little better, but Dick still had
another hardship that he bore with difficulty. For he slept in a garret
where were so many holes in the walls and the floor that every night as
he lay in bed the room was overrun with rats and mice, and sometimes he
could hardly sleep a wink. One day when he had earned a penny for
cleaning a gentleman's shoes, he met a little girl with a cat in her
arms, and asked whether she would not sell it to him. "Yes, she would,"
she said, though the cat was such a good mouser that she was sorry to
part with her. This just suited Dick, who kept pussy up in his garret,
feeding her on scraps of his own dinner that he saved for her every day.
In a little while he had no more bother with the rats and mice. Puss
soon saw to that, and he slept sound every night.

Soon after this Mr. Fitzwarren had a ship ready to sail; and as it was
his custom that all his servants should be given a chance of good
fortune as well as himself, he called them all into the counting-house
and asked them what they would send out.

They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor
Dick, who had neither money nor goods, and so could send nothing. For
this reason he did not come into the room with the rest. But Miss Alice
guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She then
said, "I will lay down some money for him out of my own purse"; but her
father told her that would not do, for it must be something of his own.

When Dick heard this he said, "I have nothing whatever but a cat, which
I bought for a penny some time ago."

"Go, my boy, fetch your cat then," said his master, "and let her go."

Dick went upstairs and fetched poor puss, but there were tears in his
eyes when he gave her to the captain. "For," he said, "I shall now be
kept awake all night by the rats and mice." All the company laughed at
Dick's odd venture, and Miss Alice, who felt sorry for him, gave him
some money to buy another cat.

Now this, and other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the
ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more
cruelly than ever, and was always making game of him for sending his cat
to sea. "What do you think your cat will sell for?" she'd ask. "As much
money as would buy a stick to beat you with?"

At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought
he would run away. So he made a bundle of his things--he hadn't
many--and started very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the
first of November. He walked as far as Holloway, and there he sat down
to rest on a stone, which to this day, they say, is called
"Whittington's Stone," and began to wonder to himself which road he
should take.

While he was thinking what he should do the Bells of Bow Church in
Cheapside began to chime, and as they rang he fancied that they were
singing over and over again:

"Turn again, Whittington,
Lord Mayor of London."

"Lord Mayor of London!" said he to himself. "Why, to be sure, wouldn't I
put up with almost anything now to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in
a fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I'll go back, and think
nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the cross old cook if I am to be
Lord Mayor of London at last."

So back he went, and he was lucky enough to get into the house and set
about his work before the cook came down.

But now you must hear what befell Mrs. Puss all this while. The ship
_Unicorn_ that she was on was a long time at sea, and the cat made
herself useful, as she would, among the unwelcome rats that lived on
board too. At last the ship put into harbour on the coast of Barbary,
where the only people are the Moors. They had never before seen a ship
from England, and flocked in numbers to see the sailors, whose different
colour and foreign dress were a great wonder to them. They were soon
eager to buy the goods with which the ship was laden, and patterns were
sent ashore for the King to see. He was so much pleased with them that
he sent for the captain to come to the palace, and honoured him with an
invitation to dinner. But no sooner were they seated, as is the custom
there, on the fine rugs and carpets that covered the floor, than great
numbers of rats and mice came scampering in, swarming over all the
dishes, and helping themselves from all the good things there were to
eat. The captain was amazed, and wondered whether they didn't find such
a pest most unpleasant.

"Oh yes," said they, "it was so, and the King would give half his
treasure to be freed of them, for they not only spoil his dinner, but
they even attack him in his bed at night, so that a watch has to be kept
while he is sleeping, for fear of them."

The captain was overjoyed; he thought at once of poor Dick Whittington
and his cat, and said he had a creature on board ship that would soon do
for all these vermin if she were there. Of course, when the King heard
this he was eager to possess this wonderful animal.

"Bring it to me at once," he said; "for the vermin are dreadful, and if
only it will do what you say, I will load your ship with gold and jewels
in exchange for it."

The captain, who knew his business, took care not to underrate the value
of Dick's cat. He told His Majesty how inconvenient it would be to part
with her, as when she was gone the rats might destroy the goods in the
ship; however, to oblige the King, he would fetch her.

"Oh, make haste, do!" cried the Queen; "I, too, am all impatience to see
this dear creature."

Off went the captain, while another dinner was got ready. He took Puss
under his arm and got back to the palace just in time to see the carpet
covered with rats and mice once again. When Puss saw them, she didn't
wait to be told, but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in no time
almost all the rats and mice were dead at her feet, while the rest of
them had scuttled off to their holes in fright.

The King was delighted to get rid so easily of such an intolerable
plague, and the Queen desired that the animal who had done them such a
service might be brought to her. Upon which the captain called out,
"Puss, puss, puss," and she came running to him. Then he presented her
to the Queen, who was rather afraid at first to touch a creature who had
made such a havoc with her claws. However, when the captain called her,
"Pussy, pussy," and began to stroke her, the Queen also ventured to
touch her and cried, "Putty, putty," in imitation of the captain, for
she hadn't learned to speak English. He then put her on to the Queen's
lap, where she purred and played with Her Majesty's hand and was soon
asleep.

The King having seen what Mrs. Puss could do, and learning that her
kittens would soon stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats,
after bargaining with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, then gave
him ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to.

The captain then said farewell to the court of Barbary, and after a fair
voyage reached London again with his precious load of gold and jewels
safe and sound.

One morning early Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house and
settled himself at the desk to count the cash, when there came a knock
at the door. "Who's there?" said he. "A friend," replied a voice. "I
come with good news of your ship the _Unicorn_." The merchant in haste
opened the door, and who were there but the ship's captain and the mate,
bearing a chest of jewels and a bill of lading. When he had looked this
over he lifted his eyes and thanked heaven for sending him such a
prosperous voyage.

The honest captain next told him all about the cat, and showed him the
rich present the King had sent for her to poor Dick. Rejoicing on behalf
of Dick as much as he had done over his own good fortune, he called out
to his servants to come and to bring up Dick:

"Go fetch him, and we'll tell him of his fame;
Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name."

The servants, some of them, hesitated at this, and said so great a
treasure was too much for a lad like Dick; but Mr. Fitzwarren now showed
himself the good man that he was and refused to deprive him of the value
of a single penny. "God forbid!" he cried. "It's all his own, and he
shall have it, to a farthing."

He then sent for Dick, who at the moment was scouring pots for the cook
and was black with dirt. He tried to excuse himself from coming into the
room in such a plight, but the merchant made him come, and had a chair
set for him. And he then began to think they must be making game of him,
so he begged them not to play tricks on a poor simple boy, but to let
him go downstairs again back to his work in the scullery.

"Indeed, Mr. Whittington," said the merchant, "we are all quite in
earnest with you, and I most heartily rejoice at the news that these
gentlemen have brought. For the captain has sold your cat to the King of
Barbary, and brings you in return for her more riches than I possess in
the whole world; and may you long enjoy them!"

Mr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had
brought with them, saying, "There is nothing more now for Mr.
Whittington to do but to put it in some place of safety."

Poor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his
master to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his
kindness. "No, no," answered Mr. Fitzwarren, "this all belongs to you;
and I have no doubt that you will use it well."

Dick next begged his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of
his good fortune, but they would not, and at the same time told him what
great joy they felt at his great success. But he was far too
kind-hearted to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the
captain, the mate, and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even
to his old enemy, the cross cook.

After this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a tailor and get
himself dressed like a gentleman, and told him he was welcome to live in
his house till he could provide himself with a better.

When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, and he was dressed
in a smart suit of clothes, he was just as handsome and fine a young man
as any who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's, and so thought fair Alice
Fitzwarren, who had once been so kind to him and looked upon him with
pity. And now she felt he was quite fit to be her sweetheart, and none
the less, no doubt, because Whittington was always thinking what he
could do to please her, and making her the prettiest presents that could
be.

Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw which way the wind blew, and ere long proposed
to join them in marriage, and to this they both readily agreed. A day
for the wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the
Lord Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of
the richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a
magnificent feast.

History tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady lived in great
splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was
Sheriff, and thrice Lord Mayor of London, and received the honour of
knighthood from Henry V.

After the King's conquest of France, Sir Richard Whittington entertained
him and the Queen at dinner at the Mansion House in so sumptuous a
manner that the King said, "Never had Prince such a subject!" To which
Sir Richard replied, "Never had subject such a Prince."