To Colin and Elizabeth...

All that I have written so far about Doctor Dolittle I heard long after it happened from those who had known him⁠—indeed a great deal of it took place before I was born. But I now come to set down tha...

My name was Tommy Stubbins, son of Jacob Stubbins, the cobbler of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh; and I was nine and a half years old. At that time Puddleby was only quite a small town. A river ran through the...

My name was Tommy Stubbins, son of Jacob Stubbins, the cobbler of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh; and I was nine and a half years old. At that time Puddleby was only quite a small town. A river ran through the...

One early morning in the Springtime, when I was wandering among the hills at the back of the town, I happened to come upon a hawk with a squirrel in its claws. It was standing on a rock and the squirr...

One Monday afternoon towards the end of April my father asked me to take some shoes which he had mended to a house on the other side of the town. They were for a Colonel Bellowes who was very particul...

When at last I could look around me I found that the hall was indeed simply full of animals. It seemed to me that almost every kind of creature from the countryside must be there: a pigeon, a white ra...

“I think your house is the most interesting house I was ever in,” I said as we set off in the direction of the town. “May I come and see you again tomorrow?” “Certainly,” said the Doctor. “Come any da...

Inside we found my father busy practising on the flute beside the fire. This he always did, every evening, after his work was over. The Doctor immediately began talking to him about flutes and piccolo...

The next morning, although I had gone to bed so late the night before, I was up frightfully early. The first sparrows were just beginning to chirp sleepily on the slates outside my attic window when I...

Just at that moment Polynesia came into the room and said something to the Doctor in bird language. Of course I did not understand what it was. But the Doctor at once put down his knife and fork and l...

When breakfast was over the Doctor took me out to show me the garden. Well, if the house had been interesting, the garden was a hundred times more so. Of all the gardens I have ever seen that was the ...

I did not think there could be anything left in that garden which we had not seen. But the Doctor took me by the arm and started off down a little narrow path and after many windings and twistings and...

Well, there were not many days after that, you may be sure, when I did not come to see my new friend. Indeed I was at his house practically all day and every day. So that one evening my mother asked m...

Presently the Doctor looked up and saw us at the door. “Oh⁠—come in, Stubbins,” said he, “did you wish to speak to me? Come in and take a chair.” “Doctor,” I said, “I want to be a naturalist⁠—like you...

The next day I was sitting on the wall of the Doctor’s garden after tea, talking to Dab-Dab. I had now learned so much from Polynesia that I could talk to most birds and some animals without a great d...

It seems that after Polynesia had left, Chee-Chee had grown more homesick than ever for the Doctor and the little house in Puddleby. At last he had made up his mind that by hook or crook he would foll...

When Thursday evening came there was great excitement at our house. My mother had asked me what were the Doctor’s favorite dishes, and I had told her: spare ribs, sliced beetroot, fried bread, shrimps...

From that time on of course my position in the town was very different. I was no longer a poor cobbler’s son. I carried my nose in the air as I went down the High Street with Jip in his gold collar at...

From that time on of course my position in the town was very different. I was no longer a poor cobbler’s son. I carried my nose in the air as I went down the High Street with Jip in his gold collar at...

The Hermit was an old friend of ours, as I have already told you. He was a very peculiar person. Far out on the marshes he lived in a little bit of a shack⁠—all alone except for his brindle bulldog. N...

When we reached the house the first question the Doctor asked of Dab-Dab in the hall was, “Is Jip home yet?” “No,” said Dab-Dab, “I haven’t seen him.” “Let me know the moment he comes in, will you, pl...

Dab-Dab was terribly upset when she found we were going away again without luncheon; and she made us take some cold porkpies in our pockets to eat on the way. When we got to Puddleby Courthouse (it wa...

Inside the courtroom everything was very solemn and wonderful. It was a high, big room. Raised above the floor, against the wall was the Judge’s desk; and here the judge was already sitting⁠—an old, h...

At first there was a dead silence in the Court. Then everybody began whispering or giggling at the same time, till the whole room sounded like a great hive of bees. Many people seemed to be shocked; m...

The trial went swiftly forward after that. Mr. Jenkyns told the Doctor to ask Bob what he saw on the “night of the 29th;” and when Bob had told all he knew and the Doctor had turned it into English fo...

Next the judge made a very long speech to the jury; and when it was over all the twelve jurymen got up and went out into the next room. And at that point the Doctor came back, leading Bob, to the seat...

Polynesia was waiting for us in the front porch. She looked full of some important news. “Doctor,” said she, “the Purple Bird-of-Paradise has arrived!” “At last!” said the Doctor. “I had begun to fear...

“Well, Miranda,” said the Doctor. “I’m terribly sorry this has happened. But you mustn’t mind Cheapside; he doesn’t know any better. He’s a city bird; and all his life he has had to squabble for a liv...

This news about Long Arrow made us all very sad. And I could see from the silent dreamy way the Doctor took his tea that he was dreadfully upset. Every once in a while he would stop eating altogether ...

We both opened our eyes; then bumped our heads together with a crack in our eagerness to lean over and see where we were to go. The atlas lay open at a map called, Chart of the South Atlantic Ocean. M...

That same week we began our preparations for the voyage. Joe, the mussel-man, had the Curlew moved down the river and tied it up along the river-wall, so it would be more handy for loading. And for th...

That same week we began our preparations for the voyage. Joe, the mussel-man, had the Curlew moved down the river and tied it up along the river-wall, so it would be more handy for loading. And for th...

Two days after that we had all in readiness for our departure. On this voyage Jip begged so hard to be taken that the Doctor finally gave in and said he could come. Polynesia and Chee-Chee were the on...

Just before suppertime Bumpo appeared from downstairs and went to the Doctor at the wheel. “A stowaway in the hold, Sir,” said he in a very businesslike seafaring voice. “I just discovered him, behind...

The next morning when we were eating a very excellent breakfast of kidneys and bacon, prepared by our good cook Bumpo, the Doctor said to me, “I was just wondering, Stubbins, whether I should stop at ...

Then the Doctor told me to take the wheel while he made a little calculation with his map and worked out what new course we should take. “I shall have to run for the Capa Blancas after all,” he told m...

We remained three days in the Capa Blanca Islands. There were two reasons why we stayed there so long when we were really in such a hurry to get away. One was the shortage in our provisions caused by ...

Next morning we were awakened by a great racket. There was a procession coming down the street, a number of men in very gay clothes followed by a large crowd of admiring ladies and cheering children. ...

The next day was a great day in Monteverde. All the streets were hung with flags; and everywhere gaily dressed crowds were to be seen flocking towards the bullring, as the big circus was called where ...

As soon as the door closed behind the Doctor the most tremendous noise I have ever heard broke loose. Some of the men appeared to be angry (friends of Pepito’s, I suppose); but the ladies called and c...

Miranda, the Purple Bird-of-Paradise had prophesied rightly when she had foretold a good spell of weather. For three weeks the good ship Curlew plowed her way through smiling seas before a steady powe...

Miranda, the Purple Bird-of-Paradise had prophesied rightly when she had foretold a good spell of weather. For three weeks the good ship Curlew plowed her way through smiling seas before a steady powe...

Well, now that he was started once more upon his old hobby of the shellfish languages, there was no stopping the Doctor. He worked right through the night. A little after midnight I fell asleep in a c...

As soon as I had the Curlew swung round upon her course again I noticed something peculiar: we were not going as fast as we had been. Our favorable wind had almost entirely disappeared. This, at first...

When I awoke I was very hazy in my head. The sky was blue and the sea was calm. At first I thought that I must have fallen asleep in the sun on the deck of the Curlew. And thinking that I would be lat...

They all gave me a great greeting as I clambered off my half of the ship on to theirs. Bumpo brought me a wonderful drink of fresh water which he drew from a barrel; and Chee-Chee and Polynesia stood ...

We found the woods at the feet of the hills thick and tangly and somewhat hard to get through. On Polynesia’s advice, we kept away from all paths and trails, feeling it best to avoid meeting any India...

We all agreed afterwards that none of us had ever worked so hard in our lives before as we did that day. For my part, I know I was often on the point of dropping exhausted with fatigue; but I just kep...

The next part of our problem was the hardest of all: how to roll aside, pull down or break open, that gigantic slab. As we gazed up at it towering above our heads, it looked indeed a hopeless task for...

The next part of our problem was the hardest of all: how to roll aside, pull down or break open, that gigantic slab. As we gazed up at it towering above our heads, it looked indeed a hopeless task for...

From that time on the Indians’ treatment of us was very different. We were invited to their village for a feast to celebrate the recovery of the lost families. And after we had made a litter from sapl...

Then the Doctor asked Long Arrow if he knew what fire was, explaining it to him by pictures drawn on the buckskin tablecloth. Long Arrow said he had seen such a thing⁠—coming out of the tops of volcan...

Very early in our experience of Popsipetel kindness we saw that if we were to get anything done at all, we would almost always have to do it secretly. The Doctor was so popular and loved by all that a...

On our way back to the village the Doctor began discussing natural history with Long Arrow. But their most interesting talk, mainly about plants, had hardly begun when an Indian runner came dashing up...

But alas! even the Three, mighty though they were, could not last forever against an army which seemed to have no end. In one of the hottest scrimmages, when the enemy had broken a particularly wide h...

The next day we set out for the far end of the island, and reaching it in canoes (for we went by sea) after a journey of twenty-five hours, we remained no longer than was necessary in the City of Bag-...

But the change of heart in the Bag-jagderags was really sincere. The Doctor had made a great impression on them⁠—a deeper one than even he himself realized at the time. In fact I sometimes think that ...

We were awakened by music. The glaring noonday sunlight was streaming in at our door, outside of which some kind of a band appeared to be playing. We got up and looked out. Our house was surrounded by...

In my long lifetime I have seen many grand and inspiring things, but never anything that impressed me half as much as the sight of the Whispering Rocks as they looked on the day King Jong was crowned....

Jong Thinkalot had not ruled over his new kingdom for more than a couple of days before my notions about kings and the kind of lives they led changed very considerably. I had thought that all that kin...

Jong Thinkalot had not ruled over his new kingdom for more than a couple of days before my notions about kings and the kind of lives they led changed very considerably. I had thought that all that kin...

In the Royal Palace Bumpo and I had a beautiful suite of rooms of our very own⁠—which Polynesia, Jip and Chee-Chee shared with us. Officially Bumpo was Minister of the Interior; while I was First Lord...

“Long Arrow!” cried the Doctor. “How splendid! Show him in⁠—show him in at once.” “I’m so glad,” he continued, turning to us as soon as the footman had gone. “I’ve missed Long Arrow terribly. He’s an ...

For a long time after that Cabinet Meeting of which I have just told you we did not ask the Doctor anything further about going home. Life in Spidermonkey Island went forward, month in month out, busi...

So Doctor Dolittle with a crown on his head sat down upon the shore like King Knut, and waited. And for a whole hour the porpoises kept going and coming, bringing up different kinds of sea-beasts from...

From the way Polynesia talked, I guessed that this idea of a holiday was part of her plan. The Doctor made no reply; and we walked on silently towards the town. I could see, nevertheless that her word...

Well, you can guess how glad we were when next morning the Doctor, after his all-night conversation with the snail, told us that he had made up his mind to take the holiday. A proclamation was publish...