THE TALE OF TOMKITTEN

by Beatrix Potter

Styled by LimpidSoft

DEDICATED TO ALL PICKLES,ESPECIALLY TO THOSE THAT GET UPON

MY GARDEN WAL

The Tale of Tom Kitten: First published1907, Frederick Warne & Co., 1907Printed and bound in Great Britain byWilliam Clowes Limited, Beccles and London.This document is an adaptation of the htmltext supplied by Project Gutenberg [EBook#14837], and is made freely available on theone condition: that it is FREE.

John RedmondSydney, Australia

john_redmond@optusnet.com.au

The Tale of Tom Kitten

ONCE upon a time there were threelittle kittens, and their names wereMittens, Tom Kitten, and Moppet.

They had dear little fur coats of theirown; and they tumbled about thedoorstep and played in the dust.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

BUT one day their mother—Mrs.Tabitha Twitchit—expected friends totea; so she fetched the kittens indoors,to wash and dress them, before thefine company arrived.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

FIRST she scrubbed their faces (thisone is Moppet).

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

THEN she brushed their fur, (this oneis Mittens).

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

THEN she combed their tails andwhiskers (this is Tom Kitten).

Tom was very naughty, and hescratched.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

MRS. TABITHA dressed Moppet andMittens in clean pinafores and tuckers;and then she took all sorts of elegantuncomfortable clothes out of a chest ofdrawers, in order to dress up her sonThomas.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

TOM KITTEN was very fat, and he hadgrown; several buttons burst off. Hismother sewed them on again.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

WHEN the three kittens were ready,Mrs. Tabitha unwisely turned themout into the garden, to be out of theway while she made hot buttered toast.

“Now keep your frocks clean, children!You must walk on your hind legs. Keepaway from the dirty ash-pit, and fromSally Henny Penny, and from thepig-stye and the Puddle-Ducks.”

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

MOPPET AND MITTENS walked downthe garden path unsteadily. Presentlythey trod upon their pinafores and fellon their noses.

When they stood up there were severalgreen smears!

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

“LET us climb up the rockery, and siton the garden wall,” said Moppet.

They turned their pinafores back tofront, and went up with a skip and ajump; Moppet’s white tucker fell downinto the road.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

TOM KITTEN was quite unable to jumpwhen walking upon his hind legs introusers. He came up the rockery bydegrees, breaking the ferns, andshedding buttons right and left.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

HE was all in pieces when he reachedthe top of the wall.

Moppet and Mittens tried to pull himtogether; his hat fell off, and the rest ofhis buttons burst.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

WHILE they were in difficulties, therewas a pit pat paddle pat! and the threePuddle-Ducks came along the hardhigh road, marching one behind theother and doing the goose step—pit patpaddle pat! pit pat waddle pat!

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

THEY stopped and stood in a row, andstared up at the kittens. They had verysmall eyes and looked surprised.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

THEN the two duck-birds, Rebeccahand Jemima Puddle-Duck, picked upthe hat and tucker and put them on.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

MITTENS laughed so that she fell offthe wall. Moppet and Tom descendedafter her; the pinafores and all the restof Tom’s clothes came off on the waydown.

“Come! Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck,” saidMoppet—“Come and help us to dresshim! Come and button up Tom!”

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

MR. DRAKE PUDDLE-DUCK advancedin a slow sideways manner, and pickedup the various articles.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

But he put them on himself! Theyfitted him even worse than Tom Kitten.

“It’s a very fine morning!” said Mr.Drake Puddle-Duck.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

AND he and Jemima and RebeccahPuddle-Duck set off up the road,keeping step—pit pat, paddle pat! pitpat, waddle pat!

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

THEN Tabitha Twitchit came down thegarden and found her kittens on thewall with no clothes on.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

SHE pulled them off the wall, smackedthem, and took them back to thehouse.

“My friends will arrive in a minute, andyou are not fit to be seen; I amaffronted,” said Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

SHE sent them upstairs; and I amsorry to say she told her friends thatthey were in bed with the measles;which was not true.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

QUITE the contrary; they were not inbed: not in the least.

Somehow there were veryextraordinary noises over-head, whichdisturbed the dignity and repose of thetea party.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

AND I think that some day I shall haveto make another, larger, book, to tellyou more about Tom Kitten!

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

AS for the Puddle-Ducks—they wentinto a pond.

The clothes all came off directly,because there were no buttons.

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The Tale of Tom Kitten

AND Mr. Drake Puddle-Duck, andJemima and Rebeccah, have beenlooking for them ever since.

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