blue fairy tale book

Chapter 30 The History of the Whittington Legend
Dick Whittington was a very young child when his parents died.He was indeed too young to even know them, nor where he was born.Little he was dressed in rags and roamed around like a pony.Later he met a coachman who was going to London, and the coachman allowed him to follow the coach all the way to London, so that he would not have to pay any toll on the way.Little Whittington was very happy, because he heard that the streets there were paved with gold, and he wanted to get a bushel of gold, so he wanted to go to London to see.But how disappointed he was, poor boy, when he saw those streets filled with dust instead of gold, and found himself in a strange place, without a friend, without food, without money!

Although the coachman was kind enough to let him come here free of charge, the coachman paid no attention to him when he came to the city.Before long, the poor little boy was cold and hungry, and wished he had been in a good country kitchen, by a warm fire.

He got into trouble and fell at the door of a Mr. Fitzwarren - a businessman.

The cook saw him, a brutish, rough woman, and ordered him to do his own thing, or she'd give him a bad rap.At this moment, Mr. Fitzwarren, coming back from the Exchange, began to scold the poor boy, too, and told him to look for work.

Whittington replied that he would gladly go to work if anyone would employ him, and would work if he could get something to eat, for he had not eaten for three days.He said he was a poor rural kid who knew no one here and no one wanted to hire him.

He tried to get up, but he was so weak that he fell down again.This aroused the sympathy of the merchant, and he ordered his servants to carry him into the house, and gave him some meat and drink, and made him help the cook with all the dirty work which she gave her orders.

He would be very happy in this nice home if it weren't for the irascible cook who had to roast and grease the roast all day long, or beat poor Whittington when the spit was idle of.At last Miss Alice, his master's daughter, learned of the situation, felt sorry for the little boy, and asked the servants to treat him kindly.

Apart from the cook's irascibility, Whittington had one difficulty to overcome in order to live a happy life.

His master had ordered a mattress stuffed with flakes to be placed for him in the attic, where every day there were many rats and mice, and they used to run over the poor boy's nose, and made him restless.After some time, a gentleman came to the master's house, and he gave Whittington a penny to clean his shoes.He pocketed the penny, determined to put the money where it was best spent.The next day, he saw a woman holding a cat on the street, so he ran over to ask the price of the cat.The woman asked for a good price (for it was a fine mouser-cat), but she heard Whittington say he had only a penny in the world, and really wanted a cat, so she sold him the cat .

Whittington hid the cat in the attic, fearing that it would be beaten by his sworn enemy, the cook.The cat was there before long killing or scaring away the mice, so that the poor boy could now sleep soundly at last.

Soon after this the merchant had a ship ready to sail, and he called his servants, as was his custom, that each of them might take something with him to try his luck.They paid neither the freight nor the duty on whatever they took out, for he justly thought that if he were willing to let those poor people share in his fortune, the Almighty would bless him more.

All the servants were there, except poor Whittington.He had neither money nor goods, and he could think of nothing with which to chance his luck.But his good friend Miss Alice thought he must be too poor to show himself, and sent for him.

She offered to pad him with something, but the merchant told his daughter not to do that, it had to be his own.To which poor Whittington said he had nothing but a cat which he bought for a penny. "Bring your cat, boy," said the merchant, "you can take it out." Whittington brought the poor kitten to the captain, with tears in his eyes, and said he was going to be like before Being harassed by rats like that.All the companions laughed at him except Miss Alice.The lady took pity on the poor boy and gave him some money to buy another cat.

While the kitten was fighting the huge waves at sea, poor Whittington was beaten at home by his cruel enemy, the cook, who treated him very cruelly and laughed at him for sending her kitten out to sea.At last the poor little boy decided to escape, packed up what little luggage he had, and set off early in the morning on All Saints' Day.He came all the way to Holloway, and sat down on a rock to think which way he should go, when he was on the 11st of November.

While contemplating this, there are only six St Mary's in London?The bells of Beau's Church rang, and it seemed to him that their voices spoke to him in this way:

"Whittington, go back, Your Excellency the three-time Mayor of London."

"Your Lord Mayor of London!" he said to himself, "what can a man not bear to be Lord Mayor of London in such a fine coach? Oh, I'm going back, and I'd rather put up with all that Cecily has." I don't want to miss my chance to be Lord Mayor of London!" and he turned back, luckily Mrs Cecily was not there when he went into the house and began to work.

Now, we have to follow Miss Cat to the coast of Africa.How dangerous is the voyage at sea, how unpredictable the wind and waves are, and how many accidents life at sea can encounter!
The ship carrying the cat was tossed on the sea for a long time, and finally was blown by a headwind to the Barbary coast, where the Moors, unknown to the British, lived.Those people received our compatriots with kindness.In order to make a deal with them, the captain showed them all kinds of goods on board, and sent some to the king of that country.The king was very pleased, and sent for the captain and agent to the palace, which was about a mile from the sea.There, according to the custom of the country, they were seated on rich rugs embroidered with gold and silver, with the king and queen seated at the head of the room.The dinner was brought up, and there were many kinds of delicacies, but as soon as the dishes were put down, an astonishing number of mice swarmed in from all directions, and devoured all the food greedily in an instant.

The agent turned around in surprise, and asked the nobles if these villains were annoying. "Oh! yes," said they, "very nasty, and the king would have given half his treasure to get rid of them, for they not only ruined his dinner, but also, as you see, in his bedchamber They even attacked him in bed. He had to be watched all the time in his sleep because he was afraid of them."

The agent jumped up with joy, thinking of poor Whittington and his kitten, and told the king that he had an animal on board that would drive all these evil spirits away at once.When the King heard the news, he jumped up so high that his turban fell off his head. "Bring that animal," said he, "these villains are dreadful at court. If it does as well as you say, I'll fill your ships with gold and gems Come in exchange for it." The agent had a well-thought-out plan, and he took this opportunity to explain the advantages of Miss Cat in detail.He told His Majesty that it would be inconvenient to leave it, because the Rats would destroy the ship's cargo if it went away--but to help His Majesty, he would go and bring it. "Go, go," said the Queen, "I can't wait to see that lovely animal."

The agent galloped off, and when another meal was ready and the mice were going to gorge on it, he came back with the cat.He immediately put Miss Cat down, and after a while, the cat killed many mice.

The king was overjoyed to see his old enemy destroyed by such a small animal, and the queen was even more delighted, wishing they would bring the cat nearer so that she could have a closer look.The agent called, "Cat, cat, cat!" and the cat walked up to him.He handed it to the queen, who drew back in terror, not daring to touch the animal which had done so much damage among the rats.But when the agent stroked the cat, and called: "Pussy, Pussy!", the Queen also stroked it and cried, "Mommy, Mommy!" because she had never learned English.

Then he put the cat on the Queen's lap, and it purred, played with Her Majesty's hand, and meowed to sleep.

The king saw the achievements of Miss Cat and was told that the kittens she gave birth to could meet the needs of the whole country, so he negotiated with the captain and agent for the whole cargo, and finally bought the cat at ten times the price of the cargo. .They said good-bye to their Majesties the King and Queen, and the other great persons of the court, and sailed in good sail for England.Now we must follow them back to England.

As soon as the dawn broke, Mr. Fitzwarren got up, ready to count the cash and start the day's business.He walked into the counting room and sat down at the table when someone came and knocked lightly on the door a few times. "Who is it?" asked Mr. Fitzwarren. "A friend." The person outside the door replied. "What friend would come here at this inappropriate time?" "A true friend never has an inappropriate time," replied the man. Good news for the ship." The merchant stood up hastily, forgetting even his own gout.He opened the door at once, and saw the captain and agent waiting outside the door. They brought a chest of precious stones and a cargo list. For this reason, the merchant looked up to the sky and thanked God for giving him such a successful voyage.So they told him of the cat's adventures, and showed him the chest of precious stones which they had brought for Mr. Whittington.Seeing it, he exclaimed very seriously (and not in the most poetic way):
"Go, invite him, tell him of his name, and call him Mr. Whittington from now on."

When some people present said to him that this treasure was too much for such a poor boy as Whittington, he said: "God forbids me to deprive him of a penny, which belongs to him." so all the money belongs to him.” So he called in Mr. Whittington, who was sweeping the kitchen, and excused himself from going into the counting room, saying that it was so clean and his shoes Dirty and full of hobnails.The merchant called him in anyway, and had a chair brought for him.For this reason, he thought they must be planning to tease him, as it often happens in the kitchen, and he begged his master not to tease a poor and lowly man - who was not in their way - and let him go back to his own life.The merchant took him by the hand and said, "Indeed, Mr. Huislan, I am sincere to you, and I have invited you to congratulate you on your great success. Your cat is here for you. Won more money than I have ever owned, may you enjoy it forever and be happy forever!"

In the end, people showed him the treasures and convinced him that all those things belonged to him.He knelt down and thanked God for his timely care for such a poor and miserable creature as he was.Then he laid all his treasures at his master's feet, but the master would not accept them at all, but told him that he should be heartily glad of his prosperity, and hoped that the wealth he had acquired would be a great favor to him. comfort and make him happy.Then he begged his hostess and good friend Miss Alice to accept his gift.Miss Alice refused to accept any of his money, telling him that she was heartily delighted at his good fortune, and wished him great happiness.Then he rewarded the captain and agent and crew for helping him look after the cargo.He also distributed gifts to all the servants in that house, not even his old enemy, the cook, although she didn't deserve them at all.

Mr. Fitzwarren thereafter persuaded Mr. Whittington to send for some domestic servants, and to dress himself like a gentleman, and offered to let him live in the house until he could find a better one. Good house so far.

Now, Mr. Whittington washed his face, curled his hair, put on a rich suit, and became a refined young man.And as riches impart self-confidence to a man, he soon gave up that timid manner—which was chiefly caused by mental repression—and became a lively companion, so that those who had formerly sympathized with him Miss Alice was now deeply in love with him.

When her father found out that they were in love with each other, he proposed that they marry, and both parties happily agreed.His Excellency the Lord Mayor of London, the City Councilor, the Sheriff, the Stationers' Association, the Royal Academy of Arts and many distinguished businessmen attended the wedding and were well received.

They lived happily afterwards, had several children, and lived to a very old age before they died.Mr. Whittington became Sheriff of London, and was Lord Mayor for three terms.In his last year as mayor, he conquered France and was admired by King Henry V and his queen, who, considering Whittington's exploits, said: "Never has a sovereign had such a good subject." This sentence was said to him at the dinner table."The subjects never had such a wise king," replied he, and His Majesty soon knighted him, out of respect for his virtue.

For many years before his death, Sir Richard continued to support a large number of poor citizens, built a church and college for them, provided annual subsidies to poor students, and built a hospital not far away .

He also built Newgate Gaol for prisoners, and generously funded St. Bartholomew's Hospital and other public charities.

①A famous prison in London was demolished in 1902.

(End of this chapter)