Dr Dolittle

A Novel by Hugh Lofting

Chapter 1: Puddleby
Read the text and highlight important parts as you go. After each paragraph, write down
what you think it means in the summary column on the right side of the page (the first one
has been done for you).
TEXT SUMMARY

Once upon a time, many years ago when our grandfathers were little John Dolittle was a

children—there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle— John Dolittle, M.D. clever doctor who lived a
long time ago.
"M.D." means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot.

He lived in a little town called, Puddleby–on–the–Marsh. All the folks, young

and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the street in
his high hat everyone would say, "There goes the Doctor!—He's a clever man."
And the dogs and the children would all run up and follow behind him; and
even the crows that lived in the church–tower would caw and nod their
heads.

The house he lived in, on the edge of the town, was quite small; but his garden
was very large and had a wide lawn and stone seats and weeping–willows
hanging over. His sister, Sarah Dolittle, was housekeeper for him; but the
Doctor looked after the garden himself.

He was very fond of animals and kept many kinds of pets. Besides the
gold–fish in the pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in the
pantry, white mice in his piano, a squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog
in the cellar. He had a cow with a calf too, and an old lame
horse–twenty–five years of age—and chickens, and pigeons, and two lambs,
and many other animals. But his favorite pets were Dab–Dab the duck, Jip
the dog, Gub–Gub the baby pig, Polynesia the parrot, and the owl Too–Too.

His sister used to grumble about all these animals and said they made the
house untidy. And one day when an old lady with rheumatism came to see the
Doctor, she sat on the hedgehog who was sleeping on the sofa and never came
to see him any more, but drove every Saturday all the way to Oxenthorpe,
another town ten miles off, to see a different doctor.

Then his sister, Sarah Dolittle, came to him and said,

"John, how can you expect sick people to come and see you when you keep all
these animals in the house? A fine doctor would never have his parlor full of
hedgehogs and mice! That's the fourth person these animals have driven
away. Squire Jenkins and the Parson say they wouldn't come near your house
again—no matter how sick they are. We are getting poorer every day. If you
go on like this, none of the best people will have you for a doctor."

"But I like the animals better than the 'best people'," said the Doctor.

"You are ridiculous," said his sister, and walked out of the room.

So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the people
who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no one left—except
the Cat's–meat–Man, who didn't mind any kind of animals. But the
Cat's–meat-Man wasn't very rich and he only got sick once a year—at
Christmas–time, when he used to give the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of
medicine.

Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on—even in those days, long ago; and if
the Doctor hadn't had some money saved up in his money–box, no one knows
what would have happened.
And he kept on getting still more pets; and of course it cost a lot to feed them.
And the money he had saved up grew littler and littler.

Then he sold his piano, and let the mice live in a bureau–drawer. But the
money he got for that too began to go, so he sold the brown suit he wore on
Sundays and went on becoming poorer and poorer.

And now, when he walked down the street in his high hat, people would say to
one another, "There goes John Dolittle, M.D.! There was a time when he was
the best known doctor in the West Country—Look at him now—He hasn't any
money and his stockings are full of holes!"

But the dogs and the cats and the children still ran up and followed him
through the town—the same as they had done when he was rich.

Chapter 1 - Questions:

1) What was Dr Dolittle’s first name? __________________.

2) What was the job of Sarah Dolittle? ______________________________

___________________________________________________________

3) What is meant by the word “parlour” in the sentence:

“A fine doctor would never have his parlor full of hedgehogs and mice! “
____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
4) How do you think the old lady felt and why? _______________________

__________________________________________________________

5) Who was the “Cat’s-meat-man”?_______________________________

__________________________________________________________

6) What did Dr Dolittle sell and why? ______________________________

__________________________________________________________

7) What made Dr Dolittle clever and what made him foolish? ____________

__________________________________________________________
8) After reading Chapter 1, which words did you not know the meaning of?
Write them down in the table below and try to figure out their meaning
using clues from the sentence.

Word and definition Example

Housekeeper: Someone who is hired Sally was my housekeeper for five

to take care of and clean a house. years. She always kept all the
bedrooms very tidy, but she was
reluctant to clean the bathroom.
Chapter 2: Animal Language
Read the text and highlight important parts as you go. After each paragraph, write down
what you think it means in the summary column on the right side of the page (the first one
has been done for you).

TEXT MEANING
The Cat’s-meat-man suggested
It happened one day that the Doctor was sitting in his kitchen
that Dr Dolittle should be an
talking with the Cat's–meat–Man who had come to see him with a animal doctor instead of a
stomach–ache. human doctor.

"Why don't you give up being a people's doctor, and be an

animal–doctor?" asked the Cat's–meat–Man.

The parrot, Polynesia, was sitting in the window looking out at the
rain and singing a sailor–song to herself. She stopped singing and
started to listen.

"You see, Doctor," the Cat's–meat–Man went on, "you know all about
animals—much more than what these here vets do. That book you
wrote—about cats, why, it's wonderful! I can't read or write
myself—or maybe I'D write some books. But my wife, Theodosia, she's
a scholar, she is. And she read your book to me. Well, it's
wonderful—that's all can be said—wonderful. You might have been a
cat yourself. You know the way they think. And listen: you can make
a lot of money doctoring animals. Do you know that? You see, I'd
send all the old women who had sick cats or dogs to you. And if they
didn't get sick fast enough, I could put something in the meat I sell
'em to make 'em sick, see?"
"Oh, no," said the Doctor quickly. "You mustn't do that. That wouldn't
be right."

"Oh, I didn't mean real sick," answered the Cat's–meat–Man. "Just a

little something to make them droopy–like was what I had reference
to. But as you say, maybe it ain't quite fair on the animals. But
they'll get sick anyway, because the old women always give 'em too
much to eat. And look, all the farmers 'round about who had lame
horses and weak lambs—they'd come. Be an animal–doctor."

When the Cat's–meat–Man had gone the parrot flew off the window
on to the Doctor's table and said,

"That man's got sense. That's what you ought to do. Be an

animal–doctor. Give the silly people up—if they haven't brains enough
to see you're the best doctor in the world. Take care of animals
instead—THEY'll soon find it out. Be an animal–doctor."

"Oh, there are plenty of animal–doctors," said John Dolittle, putting

the flower–pots outside on the window–sill to get the rain.

"Yes, there ARE plenty," said Polynesia. "But none of them are any
good at all. Now listen, Doctor, and I'll tell you something. Did you
know that animals can talk?"

"I knew that parrots can talk," said the Doctor.

"Oh, we parrots can talk in two languages—people's language and

bird–language," said Polynesia proudly. "If I say, 'Polly wants a
cracker,' you understand me. But hear this: Ka–ka oi–ee, fee–fee?"

"Good Gracious!" cried the Doctor. "What does that mean?"

"That means, 'Is the porridge hot yet?'—in bird–language."

"My! You don't say so!" said the Doctor. "You never talked that way
to me before."

"What would have been the good?" said Polynesia, dusting some
cracker–crumbs off her left wing. "You wouldn't have understood me
if I had."

"Tell me some more," said the Doctor, all excited; and he rushed over
to the dresser–drawer and came back with the butcher's book and a
pencil. "Now don't go too fast—and I'll write it down. This is
interesting—very interesting—something quite new. Give me the Birds'
A.B.C. first—slowly now."

So that was the way the Doctor came to know that animals had a
language of their own and could talk to one another. And all that
afternoon, while it was raining, Polynesia sat on the kitchen table
giving him bird words to put down in the book.

At tea–time, when the dog, Jip, came in, the parrot said to the
Doctor, "See, HE'S talking to you."

"Looks to me as though he were scratching his ear," said the Doctor.

"But animals don't always speak with their mouths," said the parrot
in a high voice, raising her eyebrows. "They talk with their ears, with
their feet, with their tails—with everything. Sometimes they don't
WANT to make a noise. Do you see now the way he's twitching up one
side of his nose?"
"What's that mean?" asked the Doctor.

"That means, 'Can't you see that it has stopped raining?'" Polynesia
answered. "He is asking you a question. Dogs nearly always use their
noses for asking questions."

After a while, with the parrot's help, the Doctor got to learn the
language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself
and understand everything they said. Then he gave up being a
people's doctor altogether.

As soon as the Cat's–meat–Man had told everyone that John

Dolittle was going to become an animal–doctor, old ladies began to
bring him their pet pugs and poodles who had eaten too much cake;
and farmers came many miles to show him sick cows and sheep.

One day a plow–horse was brought to him; and the poor thing was
terribly glad to find a man who could talk in horse–language.

"You know, Doctor," said the horse, "that vet over the hill knows
nothing at all. He has been treating me six weeks now—for spavins.
What I need is SPECTACLES. I am going blind in one eye. There's
no reason why horses shouldn't wear glasses, the same as people. But
that stupid man over the hill never even looked at my eyes. He kept
on giving me big pills. I tried to tell him; but he couldn't understand a
word of horse language. What I need is spectacles."

"Of course of course," said the Doctor. "I'll get you some at once."
"I would like a pair like yours," said the horse" only green. They'll keep
the sun out of my eyes while I'm plowing the Fifty–Acre Field."
"Certainly," said the Doctor. "Green ones you shall have."

"You know, the trouble is, Sir," said the plow–horse as the Doctor
opened the front door to let him out—"the trouble is that ANYBODY
thinks he can doctor animals—just because the animals don't
complain. As a matter of fact it takes a much cleverer man to be a
really good animal doctor than it does to be a good people's doctor.
My farmer's boy thinks he knows all about horses. I wish you could
see him, his face is so fat he looks as though he had no eyes, and he
has got as much brain as a potato bug. He tried to put a
mustard–plaster on me last week."

"Where did he put it?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh, he didn't put it anywhere—on me," said the horse. "He only tried
to. I kicked him into the duck–pond."

"Well, well!" said the Doctor.

"I'm a pretty quiet creature as a rule," said the horse—"very patient

with people—don't make much fuss. But it was bad enough to have
that vet giving me the wrong medicine. And when that red–faced
booby started to monkey with me, I just couldn't bear it any more."

"Did you hurt the boy much?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh, no," said the horse. "I kicked him in the right place. The vet's
looking after him now. When will my glasses be ready?"
"I'll have them for you next week," said the Doctor. "Come in again
Tuesday—Good morning!"

Then John Dolittle got a fine, big pair of green spectacles; and the
plow–horse stopped going blind in one eye and could see as well as
ever.

And soon it became a common sight to see farm–animals wearing

glasses in the country, round Puddleby; and a blind horse was a
thing unknown.

And so it was with all the other animals that were brought to him.
As soon as they found that he could talk their language, they told
him where the pain was and how they felt, and of course it was easy
for him to cure them.

Now all these animals went back and told their brothers and friends
that there was a doctor in the little house with the big garden who
really WAS a doctor. And whenever any creatures got sick—not only
horses and cows and dogs—but all the little things of the fields, like
harvest–mice and water–voles, badgers and bats, they came at once
to his house on the edge of the town, so that his big garden was
nearly always crowded with animals trying to get in to see him.

There were so many that came that he had to have special doors
made for the different kinds. He wrote "HORSES" over the front
door, "COWS" over the side door, and "SHEEP" on the kitchen door.
Each kind of animal had a separate door—even the mice had a tiny
tunnel made for them into the cellar, where they waited patiently in
rows for the Doctor to come round to them.
And so, in a few years' time, every living thing for miles and miles got
to know about John Dolittle, M.D. And the birds who flew to other
countries in the winter told the animals in foreign lands of the
wonderful doctor of Puddleby–on–the–Marsh, who could understand
their talk and help them in their troubles. In this way he became
famous among the animals—all over the world—better known even
than he had been among the folks of the West Country. And he was
happy and liked his life very much.

One afternoon when the Doctor was busy writing in a book,

Polynesia sat in the window—as she nearly always did—looking out at
the leaves blowing about in the garden. Presently she laughed aloud.

"What is it, Polynesia?" asked the Doctor, looking up from his book.

"I was just thinking," said the parrot; and she went on looking at
the leaves.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about people," said Polynesia. "People make me sick.
They think they're so wonderful. The world has been going on now
for thousands of years, hasn't it? And the only thing in
animal–language that PEOPLE have learned to understand is that
when a dog wags his tail he means 'I'm glad!'—It's funny, isn't it? You
are the very first man to talk like us. Oh, sometimes people annoy me
dreadfully—such airs they put on—talking about 'the dumb animals.'

DUMB!—Huh! Why, I knew a macaw once who could say 'Good

morning!' in seven different ways without once opening his mouth. He
could talk every language—and Greek. An old professor with a gray
beard bought him. But he didn't stay. He said the old man didn't talk
Greek right, and he couldn't stand listening to him teach the
language wrong. I often wonder what's become of him. That bird
knew more geography than people will ever know.—PEOPLE, Golly! I
suppose if people ever learn to fly—like any common
hedge–sparrow—we shall never hear the end of it!"

"You're a wise old bird," said the Doctor. "How old are you really? I
know that parrots and elephants sometimes live to be very, very old."

"I can never be quite sure of my age," said Polynesia. "It's either a
hundred and eighty–three or a hundred and eighty–two. But I know
that when I first came here from Africa, King Charles was still
hiding in the oak–tree—because I saw him. He looked scared to
death."

Chapter 2 - Questions

1) What ability did Dr Dolittle learn? _________________________________________

2) How did the Cat’s-meat-man change Dr Dolittle’s life? _________________________

____________________________________________________________________

3) Who was the immoral suggestion the Cat’s-meat-man made (Immoral means bad or evil) ?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

4) What does “ka-ka oi-ee fee-fee mean? ____________________________________

5) Which animal asks questions using their nose? _______________________________

6) What was the horse’s medical condition? ___________________________________

7) Why did Dr Dolittle become famous? ______________________________________

8) Why was Polynesia frustrated with humans?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

9) Which animal knew more about the places of the world than any human?

___________________________________________________________________
10) After reading Chapter 1, which words did you not know the meaning of?

Write them down in the table below and try to figure out their meaning

using clues from the sentence.

Word and definition Example

Scholar: Someone who has gone to Andrew was no fool, he had the
school and is well educated. wisdom of an owl and the knowledge
of a scholar.