Dick Whittington

 

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Dick Whittington. He was an orphan who did not have any money.

One day, he set off for London. He wanted to look for work. He was going there because he had heard that the streets were paved with gold and that it was an enormous place. London was a long way away, and he walked for days and days. When he got there, he found that the streets were not paved with gold, but also found that it was bigger than he had ever imagined and was not at all like his home. 

He asked for work in all the houses and all the shops, but there was no work for him. After a few days, he was so hungry and tired that he went to sleep on the doorstep of a big house.

Suddenly, as Dick drifted off to sleep, a cook came out of the house and started to chase him away. Just then, the man who owned the house came home. His name was Mr. Fitzwarren, and he was very rich. He decided to let the boy work in the kitchen. Dick worked hard in the kitchen every day. Mr. Fitzwarren was pleased and gave Dick some money.

But every night, just as Dick was dozing off, many rats and mice jumped onto his bed and started running about. Because of this, Dick bought a cat with his money. When he went to sleep, the cat chased all the rodents away. Dick had a good night’s sleep at last. 

Mr. Fitzwarren had a daughter named Alice. She wanted to help Dick and so she told Dick that her father was a trader who owned many ships. She persuaded him to give Mr. Fitzwarren his cat to sell. Mr. Fitzwarren agreed and told Dick that he would certainly sell his cat for him.

Dick missed his cat very much. At night, the rodents came back. This made Dick very sad. ‘I don’t like London.’ Dick said. ‘I’m going home.’ So, in the middle of the night, Dick set out for home. As he was leaving London, he heard the church bells.

“Turn again, Whittington, Lord mayor of London" 
"Turn again, Whittington, three times Lord Mayor of London.”

Hearing this, Dick turned and went back to Mr. Fitzwarren’s house.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fitzwarren’s ship had reached its destination. The King and Queen of that country had wanted to buy some goods. The King and Queen had a beautiful castle, but there were rodents running all over it. Mr. Fitzwarren put the cat down and it had chased all the rats and mice away from the palace in a few minutes. 

The King and Queen gave Mr. Fitzwarren lots of money and gave the cat to him. So, Mr. Fitzwarren took the cat to London along with the money. 

When he got home, he gave both the cat and the money to Dick. Dick was pleased to have a lot of money, and he was even more pleased to see his cat. The money made him very rich, and, after a while, he married Alice. Dick, Alice, and the cat lived happily ever after. And the people of London made them their Lord mayor three times, as the bells had said.

Location: Sri Lanka

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