this story was first recorded in 1605. richard whittington was a real person, the son of a knight and himself a rich merchant in london. he served three terms as lord mayor of london: 1397-99, 1406-07, and 1419-20. he died in 1423.

long, long time ago there lived a poor boy called dick whittington. he had no mother and no father, and often nothing to eat. one day he heard of the great city of london, where, said everyone, even the streets were paved with gold. dick decided to go to london to seek his fortune.

london was a big and busy city, full of people both rich and poor. but dick could not find any streets that were paved with gold. tired, cold and hungry he fell asleep on the steps of a great house. this house belonged to mr. fitzwarren, a rich merchant, who was also a good and generous man. he took dick into his house, and gave him work as a scullery boy.

dick had a little room of his own where he could have been very happy if it had not been for the rats. they would run all over him as he lay on his bed at night and would not let him sleep. one day dick earned a penny shining shoes for a gentleman, and with it he bought a cat. after that dick's life became easier - the cat frightened away all the rats, and dick could sleep in peace at night.

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