The Seven Wonderful Cats,
A little elf book.
When this book came out it cost 79 cents.
In a pleasant little house beside a wide river,
There once lived a little old lady whose name was Dame Wiggins of Leigh.
Dame Wiggins was a very worthy old soul,
But she was often unhappy because she was so very lonely.
Oh,
What I would not give,
What I would not give,
She often said to herself,
To have someone here in my little house to keep me company.
Someone with learning,
Perhaps,
Who could talk to me about the things wise people have written in their books.
Or someone who could sing,
Keep me cheered up with music.
Or someone who could help me mend and sew,
Or even just someone to amuse me.
And one day a neighbor was passing by and he spied Dame Wiggins of Leigh sweeping off her doorstep.
Good morning to you,
Dame Wiggins,
And how are you today,
He called.
Very well,
Neighbor,
And thank you,
Said the good dame,
Except that I'm such a lonesome old soul and my knee hurts me terribly at times.
Besides that,
The rats and the mice are about to eat me out of my house and home.
Aha,
Said the neighbor,
Rats and mice,
You say,
Then I have just the thing for you.
I have seven wonderful cats that you may have,
And they will soon make short work of all your rats and mice.
Well,
Sure enough,
The very next day,
The neighbor sent his seven wonderful cats to Dame Wiggins of Leigh,
And the name of every single one of them was Tommy.
Welcome,
My fine cats,
Dame Wiggins of Leigh cried.
When she beheld them,
Now I shall not be lonely anymore,
She said.
Indeed,
And you shall not,
Said all the Tommies together.
They smiled brightly and wiggled their whiskers at her.
We hear that you have here many rats and mice,
Upon which we may make many good dinners.
Oh,
There are far too many of them here,
Said the good Dame,
Greatly pleased to see what fine manners these Tommies had.
Follow me,
My fine cats,
And I will show you to their holes.
So they followed her through the little house,
And she pointed out all the rat and mouse holes to them.
And then each Tommy settled down by a big hole and wiggled his whiskers fiercely.
Every day,
This fierce whiskered crew caught rats and mice.
And at last,
The seven wonderful cats went to Dame Wiggins and said,
Not a rat or a mouse is to be found.
We have caught them all,
Or frightened them all away.
Well done,
My fine cats,
Said Dame Wiggins of Leigh.
And she gave each Tommy a big saucer of cream.
Now,
My fine cats,
Said she,
When they had lapped up their last little drop,
Since the rats and the mice are gone,
What do you wish to do?
Now that our work is done,
Said all the Tommies,
We should like very much to go to school.
Go to school,
Cried Dame Wiggins.
She was much surprised,
For never before had she heard of cats going to school.
To be sure,
Tommies,
If school you wish to school,
You shall go.
And at school,
The seven wonderful cats studied long and hard,
So that they learned very fast.
And soon they could read the words milk,
Rat,
Mouse,
And they could even spell the word mew.
The master thought he had never seen such wonderful Tommies,
As indeed he had not,
And he wrote a fine letter to Dame Wiggins,
Telling her what a credit they were to her.
But though she was glad to know how well they were doing,
She was also quite lonely without them.
That is why,
When it was almost wintertime,
She sent for them to come home.
So home they came,
And they spoke to Dame Wiggins in such a wise and learned manner,
That the good lady was delighted.
Now,
Now that my Tommies are educated,
She said,
I shall never be again without wisdom in my little house.
Then,
Very happy that they had learned so much in school,
She ran out to the market to get some wonderful things for their supper.
And when she came back,
She found her seven wonderful cats mending the parlor carpet,
Each handling his needle as briskly as a little bee.
Oh,
What wonderful cats these are,
She cried,
And now I shall never again be without someone to help me mend and sew.
The very next day,
She went to the market again,
And when she came back,
What do you think the seven wonderful cats were doing?
That river had frozen over during the night,
And the seven Tommies were having a fine time skating on the ice.
So amusing did they look,
And such funny falls did they take,
And so happy were they that good Dame Wiggins of Lee just sat down on the bank and laughed until she cried,
I shall never again be without someone to amuse me with bright antics,
Said she,
And she dried the tears of laughter from her cheeks.
And the seven wonderful cats began to take long strolls through the fields,
And in their strolls they were ever so careful not to disturb the little birds that were building their springtime nests.
These were very well-mannered cats indeed,
And never wanted to eat little birds as ordinary cats always wanted to do.
Oh my fine cats,
Said good Dame Wiggins one morning,
If you'll all climb into the big walnut tree and sit there like good Tommies,
All seven in a row,
I am so sure the little birds will teach you how to sing.
So,
The seven wonderful cats climbed into the big walnut tree,
Sat there on a limb and all seven in a row,
Until the meadow larks and the bluebirds,
The robins,
And the many other songbirds came and gave them singing lessons,
Because they were such good cats.
So pleased was Dame Wiggins with their progress in music,
That she bought each of them a little trumpet to play on when they were tired of singing.
So,
Every night they played and sang for her until bedtime.
Ah me,
Said the good Dame happily,
I shall never be without music again.
And one morning,
When they were out visiting the little singing birds,
The Tommies came upon a poor little sick lamb that had lost its mother.
Oh how sad,
Said the seven wonderful cats,
We must help this poor little sick lamb find its mother.
So,
They hunted about and found a wheelbarrow,
Then they put the little lamb on the wheelbarrow and they wheeled it home.
Dame Wiggins was overjoyed at their kindliness,
You shall all have some sprats for your good deed,
She promised.
Then she hurried away to the field to search out that little lamb's mother.
And while she was away,
Those seven wonderful Tommy cats turned down the covers and warmed the sheets and put their poor little lamb safely to bed.
The Dame could not find the mother sheep,
So she came back home.
And when she saw just what the seven wonderful cats had done,
She was indeed well pleased.
I myself shall never be without a nurse,
Should I fall ill,
She said happily.
The next morning,
The Dame noticed that not a cat was about.
However,
Before long,
There was a great fuss and a commotion outside.
Here came her Tommies,
Each one riding upon the back of a sheep and driving a whole flock before them.
They had gone in search of the sheep for they were sure the lamb's mother must be in the flock somewhere.
Well done,
My fine,
Smart cats,
Said Dame Wiggins.
She was unable to hide her joy when the little sick lamb cried,
Bah,
Bah,
Bah,
And jumped out of bed,
Running straight to its own mother.
Now the farmer who owned the sheep soon noticed that they were gone from his pasture,
And he came in search of them.
He stepped up to the Dame's door with his dog,
Trey,
At his heels and not with his crook.
Good morning,
Dame Wiggins,
Said he.
Have you seen my sheep?
Yes,
Indeed,
Fine farmer.
My seven wonderful Tommy boys have just taken them back to their own pasture.
And then she told the farmer how they had found the sick lamb and he cared for it all night and then found its mother.
What wonderful cats,
Said the farmer.
I must reward them.
So when those seven wonderful cats came back from taking the sheep to his pasture,
There was the farmer just awaiting for them.
He had hitched up a team of horses to the wagon,
And he gave them all a ride to the farmhouse.
The farmer,
For their kindness,
Gave them a wonderful dinner of field mouse and raspberry jam.
And for dessert,
They had all the fresh cream they could drink.
The seven Tommies were so pleased with their dinner,
They decided to play him some fine music and straight away began singing and blowing their little trumpets in their very best manner.
Very good,
My fine cats,
The farmer said,
Laughing heartily.
Dame Wiggins must be pleased to listen to such grand and glorious music.
Now,
If it please you,
Said the cats,
We must be getting home.
Very well,
Said the farmer,
And put them all into his big wagon again and took them home.
And for their kindness to his lamb,
And for making him laugh ever so much,
He gave them a large ham and many other presents.
Oh,
My fine Tommies,
What a wonderful big ham you have,
Cried Dame Wiggins of Lee.
Now come in to supper and sit down with me,
Lovelies,
And surely I shall never want for anything so long as I have you,
My seven wonderful cats.
Sweet dreams to you,
And may you be guarded all the night long by angels as fine as the seven wonderful Tommy cats.
