8. Dick Whittington and His Cat

Once there was a little boy named Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died and the people who took care of him were very poor. Often he had no breakfast or dinner. In the town where he lived Dick often heard about London, the great city, where people said nobody was ever hungry, nobody had to work, and the streets were paved with gold. Dick longed to go there. So one day when a big wagon, drawn by eight horses, all with bells on their heads, was going to London, Dick went along. But he was disappointed to find the streets covered with dirt instead of gold, and none would give the hungry boy even a crust of dry bread. At night he was so cold and tired he sat down on the stone steps of a great house and longed to be back in the town where he was born. Next day Dick found some work to do in the kitchen of this great house. He would have been happy there, but the cook beat him, and the rats and mice in the garret where he slept kept him awake at night, often running over his face. One day a gentleman gave him a penny. Dick bought a cat, which soon drove away all the rats and mice, and then the poor boy slept soundly every night.

Dick’s master was a rich merchant with great ships that he used to fill with all kinds of things to send to foreign lands. Whenever a ship was ready to sail it was his custom to call together all his servants and ask them to send something in the ship to trade for profit. So one day when the ship was ready, all the servants had something to send, except Dick, who said he had nothing in the world but a cat. “Send your cat, my lad,” said the master; “perhaps you will get something of profit for her.” Dick, with tears in his eyes, carried poor puss down to the ship and gave her to the captain. After the cat was gone the rats and mice came back and the cook treated Dick so cruelly that early one morning he ran away. He had not gone very far when he sat down on a stone to rest, and listened to the ringing of a merry chime of bells, which seemed to him to say:

“If I am to be Lord Mayor of London,” said Dick, “I will go back and let the cook scold me as much as she pleases.” Then Dick turned back and reached the kitchen before any one missed him. Some time after that the ship came back, and the captain said Dick’s cat had won him a great fortune, for an African chief had bought the cat at a great price to drive away the rats and mice from the dining-table of his palace. Dick was cleaning pots in the kitchen when his master called him into his office. “Mr. Whittington,” he said, “your cat has brought you more money than I have in the whole world.” Dick was too kind to keep all for himself. He gave presents to his master’s daughter Alice, and to the captain, and to the sailors, and even to the cross old cook. When he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he looked as handsome as any young man in London. So Dick Whittington, through his cat, became a rich merchant, married his master’s daughter, and became three times Lord Mayor of London.