Chapter 1 Puddleby A great many years ago, there lived a doctor called Doolittle.
This was long before your grandfathers were little boys or your grandmothers were little girls.
His full name was John Doolittle, M.D.
The M.D. showed that he was a proper doctor.
He was a very smart man who helped many sick people.
Dr Doolittle lived in a very small town called Puddleby on the Marsh.
Everyone in town knew him.
After all, he was easy to recognize.
He was a tall man and always wore a high hat.
This made him look even taller.
He also wore a long black coat with deep pockets.
Dr. Doolittle kept many things in these pockets.
A handkerchief, an apple in case he ran into a horse, and a notebook.
Whenever he walked down Main Street, people would point and say, Look, there goes the doctor.
He's such a clever man.
Children ran after him, laughing and asking questions.
Dr. Doolittle always answered them.
He never thought a question was silly.
Dogs would whack their tails and follow him down the street.
Even the crows who lived in the church tower would fly over him, calling to him and nodding.
Dr. Doolittle lived in a little house at the edge of town.
The house was small, but his garden was large.
There was a lot of grass and many trees.
A low wall surrounded his yard.
There were many shady resting places.
His sister Sarah lived with him.
She took care of the house, and Dr. Doolittle took care of the garden.
He also kept a lot of pets.
Dr. Doolittle was very fond of edibles, you see.
There were goldfish in the pond at the bottom of his garden.
He had rabbits in a little hutch beside his house.
White mice lived in his piano.
A squirrel stayed in his linen cabinet, and there was a hedgehog in the cellar.
He even kept a cow as a pet.
The cow and her calf shared the shed with an old horse.
This horse had lived with Dr Doolittle for more than twenty-five years, so they were quite good friends.
There were chickens and pigeons, two lambs, a goat, and many other animals living in the same yard.
His favorite pets though, were Dab-Dab the Duck, Jip the Dog, Gub-Gub the Pig, Polynesia the Parrot and Tutu the Owl.
His sister Sarah often complained about the animals.
It was hard to keep a tidy house with so many animals running around, she said.
It made it difficult for the doctor's patients when they came for appointments.
One day an old woman came in for a checkup and sat down on the hedgehog.
He was sound asleep on the sofa and did not hear her come in.
The poor woman was so surprised that she screamed and ran back out the door.
She vowed never to see Dr. Doolittle again.
Instead, she drove to a town ten miles away to see another doctor.
Sarah Doolittle decided it was time to speak to her brother about his animals.
"'John,' she said, "'how can you expect your patients to visit with so many animals in the house?'
She placed her hands on her hips and spoke sternly.
That's the fourth patient the animals have driven away.
Mr. Jenkins says that he won't come back.
Even the minister has had enough.
We cannot afford to lose any more.
If you keep this up, we will lose all our best patients.
Sarah was really quite angry.
But I like the animals better than our best patients, said the doctor.
You are ridiculous, said his sister.
Then she walked out of the room.
As time went on, the good doctor got more and more animals.
More animals meant fewer people came to see him.
Eventually, he had only one patient, the butcher.
The butcher did not mind being around all the animals, but he only got sick once a year.
This was not enough money for Dr. Doolittle and his sister to pay all their bills.
Also, there were a lot of animals to feed.
The doctor had some money saved.
It could have lasted years, but he kept bringing home more animals.
So he moved the white mice into a dresser drawer and sold the piano.
Then he sold his brown suit.
He sold a wagon and some books and an old table from the kitchen.
Still, there was too little money and too many animals.
Dr. Doolittle and his sister became poorer and poorer.
When he walked down the street in his high hat, the grown-ups pointed to him.
They said, There goes Dr. Doolittle.
He used to be the best-known doctor in the county.
Now he's too poor to own a good suit.
He hasn't any money and his stockings are full of holes.
Dr. Doolittle paid no attention.
He was still a happy man. and the dogs and cats and children still ran after him.
The dogs still wagged their tails, and the children still asked questions.
As always, the good doctor took his time to talk to them all.
