Wittington and his cat [short story]

Title

Language

English

Source

The Young Citizen : the magazine for young people 5 (11) November 1939

Year

1939

Subject

Short stories

Fortune in literature

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

Dick Wittington was an orphan. A rich merchant took him as one of his helper. Dick Wittington has a cat. He had no more trouble with the rats and mice. Dick Wittington sent his cat to the ship for trade. When the King and Queen were on the ship they had troubles with rats and mice. The King bargained with the captain for the whole cargo of the ship, and then gave him ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. The captain hurried to the house of the rich merchant. kind merchant told Dick that the captain had sold his cat to "the King of a far-distant country, and had brought him great riches in return for her. Dick begged his master to take what part of the treasure he
pleased, since he owed all his good fortune to his kindness. But the rich merchant refused. Dick married the daughter of the rich merchant. They lived in great splendor and were very happy. Dick became Sheriff of London, and afterward he became Lord
Mayor of London three times, just as the great Bow Bells had seemed to say to
him.

Fulltext

400 THE YOUNG CITIZEN November, 1939 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT ONCE upon a time tl]ere lived in England a little boy whose name was Dick Whittington. His father and mother died when he was very young so that he remembered nothing about them. The poor little fellow was ragged and homeless; but he was bright and learned very rapidly. When he grew older he went to London, for he thought that the streets there were paved with gold. But instead, he found they were paved with hard stones and made a very poor bed. He nearly starved, for he could find no work by which to earn a living. At iast one day Dick lay down at the door of a rich merchant. The kind man, seeing that the child was ill for lack of food; ordered the servants to take him into the house and giv·e him a good dinner. Dick was given the job of being the cook's helper. The cook was ill-natured and always found fault with Dick. Dick's bed was in the garret where there were so many holes in the floor and. walls that every night he was troubled with rats and mice. One day a man gave Dick a coin for cleaning his shoes, and the next day Dick bought a cat with his money. Dick hid his cat in the garret and always took care to carry part of his dinner to her. In a short time he had rio more trouble with the rats and mice. Soon after this, the rich merchant had a ship ready to sail. He thought it right that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as well as himself. So he called them into his office and asked them what they would send on his ship for trade. They all had something that they were willing to send. Dick went upstairs and got his cat. There were tears in his eyes as he gave her to the captain. Dick missed his cat very much, -and soon the garret in which he slept was again overrun with rats and mice. He . was unhappy, too, because the cook was crosser than ever, and scolded him and often beat him. Life became so hard for him that one morning he decided to run away and go back to his village home. ·So he started. As Dick was walking sadly along the road, suddenly he heard the great Bow Bells of London chiming forth across the fields. They seemed to say to him: "Turn again, Whitt-ing-ton, Thrice Lord Mayor of London." So Dick turned and went back to his master's house. 1!1 the meantime, the ship with D-ick's cat on board was far out at sea. At last it was driven by the winds to a far distant country. The people there came in great numbers to see the sailors and to trade. Many were eager to buy the fine things /\.~O'lH'mber, 1939 THE YOUNG CITIZEN 401 that were loaded on the ship. At last, the King sent for the captain of the ship to come to the palace. The King and Queen were seated at the upper end of the room, and a number of different kinds of food were brought in for dinner. When they had been there only a short time many rats and mice rushed in and helped themselves from almost every dish. The captain of the ship wondered at this, and asked if the rats and mice were not very unpleasant. "Oh, yes," "said the King, "and I would give half my trea'ure to be freed from them.'' The captain jumped for joy. He remembered Dick Whittington's cat. He \?ld the King that he had on board his boat an animal that would kill the rats and mice immediately. "Bring this animal· to me," said the King, "and if she will do as you say, I will load your ship with gold and jewels in exchange for her." Away went the captain to the ship. He soon returned to the palace with Dick's cat under his arm. When the cat saw the rats and mice, she jumped out of the captain's arms and in a few minutes almost all the rats and mice lay dead at her feet. The King bargained with the captain for the whole cargo of the ship, and then gave him ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. The captain then said goodbye, and set sail with a fair wind to England. After a pleasant voyage, he arrived home. The captain hurried to the house of the rich mer~hant. He told the story of the cat and showed what the King had given him for the cargo, and the great amount he had given him for the cat. The rich merchant sent for the boy who was now back at his work cleaning the .pots for the cook. The kind merchant told Dick that the captain had sold his cat to "the King of a far-distant country, and had brought him gr'eat ri.;hes in return for her. Dick begged his master to take what part of the treasure he pleased, since he owed all his good· fortune to his kindness. But the rich merchant refused. History tells us that later Dick married the daugh~er of the rich merchant. They lived in great splendor and were very happy. Dick became Sheriff of London, and afterward he became Lord Mayor of London three times, just as. the gr-eat Bow Bells had seemed to say to . him.-Adapted. REVIEW I. Where is England? 2. What and where is London? 3. Was Dick Whittington a poor boy or a rich boy? · 4. Why did Dick go to London? 5. Where did he go to live? 6. What was his work? 7. Where did he sleep? 8. What is a garret? (See the dictionery.) 9. What did Dick buy? Why? l 0. Do you think the rich merchant was a kind man? 11. What offer did he make to his servants? 12. What did Dick "send? 13. Why was Dick going to run away? 14. Why did he return to his master? . 15. Where did the captaiq take the rich merchant's.ship? 16. Tell about the rats and mice in the King's palace. (Please turf/ lo page 418.) THE YOUNG CITIZEN November, 1939 SOME RIDDLES FOR FOURTH GRADERS (.1111swers from page 410) 1. Ink 2. Chickens 3. Kite 4. Calendar 5. Wind THE KITTEN (Cont;nued from page 417) Then I remembered how to talk kitten talk. Meow, meow, meow! I'll never play with the puppy dogs again."-Adapted. SOME QUESTIONS I. Did you like this story? Why? 2. Why were the duck, the goat, and the cow not able to teach the kitten how to talk? 3. Why did the duck, the goat, and the cow think they knew how to teach the kitten to talk? .4. When a cat is young what is it called? 5. When a duck is young what is it called? 6. When a·goat is young what is. it called> 7. When a cow is young what is it called? DICK WHITTINGTON ( Co11ti11ued _from page 401) 17. What did the captain tell the King? · 18. What did the captain do with Dick's cat? 19. What did the King give the captain? 20. What did the rich merchant tell Dick? 21. What offer did Dick make to the rich merchant? 22. Whom did Dick marry when he was grown? 23. What official did Dick become? 24. Who is the mayor of a city? 25. Did you like this story? Why? 26. Do you think Dick was a good boy? Why? 27. Was he a kind boy? How do you know? 28. Was Dick an honest boy? Why do you think so? FRANCISCO'S LESSONS (Co11tinu'ed from page 403) cident, and at the same time learn the two valuable lessons which Francisco learned. QUESTIONS 1. What was the lesson in safety which Francisco learned? 2. How did disobedience and carelessness cause Francisco to suffer? 3. What is the second lesson which Francisco learned? 4. Was it difficult for Francisco to do what his principal asked him to do·? 5. What do you learn from this story? 29. Do you think this story oc;curred.a long time ago or recently? 30. What kind of man do you think Dick became? Why?

pages

401+

Media