Long, Long ago, there lived a poor orphan named Bob. He always longed to see the city. One day, Bob saw a horse-wagon driving through his village. So, Bob ran up to the wagon-driver and asked, “Would you please take me to the city?”
The wagon-driver agreed. After reaching the city, Bob was so delighted that he ran through every road, street and lane. Finally, he was tired and slept at the doorstep of a rich merchant. The next morning, the merchant’s cook shouted, “What are you doing here? Go away.”
Hearing the commotion, the rich merchant came out and said, “Dear boy, you must find work.” Bob said, “I am ready to work.” The kind merchant gave him food and hired him to help the cook.
Bob was happy in the merchant’s house. He accompanied the merchant’s daughter, Miss Ann, whenever she went on an outing. One day, Miss Ann dropped her purse and left without noticing it. Bob picked the purse up and returned it to her.
One day, Bob brought a stray kitten and kept it with him since his room had a lot of rats. The kitten grew up to be a trained cat which could catch all the rats and the mice in the house. Soon, the merchant’s ship was leaving for a foreign land. The merchant called his servants and said, “I want all of you to have some good fortune and try your luck in trading. You can send goods to be sold.”
All the servants had something to give except Bob. He said, “I don’t have anything to give except my cat.” The merchant said, “Then, give your cat, my boy.” Hesitatingly, Bob sent his cat away on the ship.
After a few months, the merchant’s ship returned loaded with gold. The captain of the ship said to the merchant, “Sir, the King and the Queen of the foreign land we visited had trouble with mice. Since, our cat killed all the mice, they were so happy that they kept the cat. In return they paid us with a ship full of gold.”
The merchant was very happy with the profits and gave half of the gold to Bob. Bob gave some to the captain and the crew, some to the coachman and the cook. Bob became rich. Now, he had to work no more with the cook. He began going to school with Ann and lived happily ever after.
