" Our Life in the Cube " na Blog.cz

The 1895 pastel work had been expected to fetch at least $80 million (£50.4 million) at the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Sotheby's.

But it went on to beat the $106 million (£66.4 million) that Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust fetched at Christie's in New York in May 2010 after a phone bidder won a 12-minute bidding war.

'A group of seven bidders jumped into the competition early, but it was a prolonged battle between two highly determined phone bidders that carried the final selling price to its historic level,' a Sotheby's spokesman said.

The painting, showing a haunted figure against a red backdrop, is one of four versions the Norwegian expressionist painter created and one of the most recognisable images in the world.

This version, which was on display in the UK last week, is the only one to include a hand-painted frame by Munch featuring a poem explaining his inspiration for the painting and where one of two figures in the background stare out towards the cityscape.

The Munch Museum in Oslo holds two other versions of the painting, with the third in the National Gallery of Norway.

In 2004 masked gunmen stole the 1910 version of The Scream as well as his Madonna from the Munch Museum only for them to be recovered two years later and put back on display in 2008.

The painting sold in New York was put up for sale by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of the artist.

This variegated selection of Agave forms an elegant tight rosette of smooth, broad, short leaves.

When grown indoors, each dark green leaf displays a very wide, dark blue-green margin that is lined with brighter orange-red spines, ending with a long, sharp, dark red terminal spine at the tip. Outdoors, the leaves have more of a glaucous coating, making them appear lighter grey blue and green. Leaf imprints can be found on both the front and back sides of each leaf.

Makes an excellent container specimen.

Agaves typically flower only once every 15-25 years and the main crown dies after blooming.

If the Clivia seed have not yet sprouted, put a teaspoon full of damp compost in a sealed plastic bag with a few seeds. Place the bag in a warm place or on top of your fridge, near the back where the warm air rises, to speed up sprouting.

Alternatively place clean damp (not wet) coarse sand (river sand is ideal) in a plastic container.

Press seeds 50% into sand making sure that the eye (small dark round spot on seeds where germination will take place) are facing to the side. Dont plant the seed under the soil surface.

Close the lid and place in warm spot for 1 to 3 weeks until the seed has germinated. Do not water again.

Take a pot or seed tray, about 15cm deep and put a layer of small stones or coarse bark chips in the bottom. Fill the container with a slightly acid growing medium, such as equal parts of coarse river sand and finely milled bark or a potting mix available at nurseries. (Clivias are not very fussy).

Firmly press down the mix and water well. Then make small holes, at least 2cm apart, to take the little taproots. Gently press each seed into the medium so that half the seed rests below the surface. Handle the seeds very gently.

Place the pot in a shaded position and keep moist by watering once or twice a week with a fine gentle spray.

Seedlings can be left in the pot for up to two years and at the beginning of the third year can be transplanted into permanent pots (especially the yellow ones) or into the garden. Alternatively they can be moved into well-drained individual black bags or pots after one year, in fresh growing medium adding a small quantity of bone meal. (Use one teaspoonful on each 15cm pot).

The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small gliding possum originating from the marsupial family.

The sugar glider is native to eastern and northern mainland Australia(as well as being introduced to Tasmania, Australia) and is also native to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Sugar gliders can be found all throughout the northern and eastern parts of mainland Australia, as well as the surrounding islands of Tasmania, Papua, New Guinea, and Indonesia. They can be found in any forest where there is food supply but are commonly found in forests with eucalyptus trees. They are nocturnal, meaning they sleep in their nestsduring the day and are active at night. At night, they hunt for insects and small vertebrates and feed on the sweet sapof certain species of eucalyptus, acacia and gum trees.The sugar glider is named for its preference for nectarous foods and its ability to glide through the air, much like a flying aquirrel.

When suitable habitats are present, sugar gliders can be seen 1 per 1,000 square meters provided that there are tree hollows available for shelter. They live in groups of up to eight adults, plus the current season's young, all sharing a nest and defending their territory. A dominant adult male will mark his territory and members of the group with saliva and a scent produced by separate glands on the forehead and chest. Intruders who lack the appropriate scent marking are expelled violently.

A sugar glider has a squirrel-like body with a long partially prehensile tail. The males are larger than the females, and their length from the nose to the tip of the tail is about 24 to 30 cm (12-13 inches, the body itself is approx. 5-6 inches). A sugar glider has a thick, soft fur coat that is usually blue-grey; some have been known to be yellow, tan, or albino. A black stripe is seen from its nose to midway of its back. Its belly, throat, and chest is a cream color.

It has five digits on each foot, each having a claw, except for the opposable toe on the hindfeet.Its most striking feature is the patagium, or membrane, that extends from the fifth finger to the first toe. When legs are stretched out, this membrane allows it to glide distances of 50-150 meters. This gliding is regulated by changing the curvature of the membrane or moving the legs and tail.

Another feature are the scent glands, located on the frontal (forehead), sternal (chest), and paracloacal (cloaca). These are used for marking purposes, mainly for the males. The frontal is easily seen on adult males as a bald spot. The male also has a bifurcated(two shafts) penis.

During the cold season, drought, or rainy nights, a sugar glider's activity is reduced. This is usually seen due to torpor. In the winter season or drought, there is a decrease in food supply, which is a challenge for this marsupial because of the energy cost for the maintenance of its metabolism,locomotion, and thermoregulation. With energetic constraints, the sugar glider will enter into daily torpor for 2-23 hours while in rest phase. However, before entering torpor, a sugar glider will reduce activity and body temperature normality in order to lower energy expenditure and avoid torpor.

Torpor, which is seen as an emergency measure, allows the animal to save energy by allowing its body temperature to fall to a minimum of 10.4 °Cto 19.6 °C. When the food is scarce, as in winter, heat production is lowered in order to reduce energy expenditure.With low energy and heat production, it is important for the sugar glider to peak its body mass by fat content in autumn (May/June)in order to survive the following cold season. In the wild, sugar gliders enter into daily torpor more often than sugar gliders in captivity.

Like many exotic animals, the sugar glider can suffer from calcium deficiencies if it is not fed an adequate diet.Calcium to phosphorus ratios should be 2:1 to prevent hypocalcemia, sometimes known as hind leg paralysis (HLP).

A captive glider's diet should be 50% insects (gut-loaded) or other sources of protein, 25% fruit and 25% vegetables.

Around the world, the sugar glider is a popular domestic pet, but is one of the most commonly traded wild animals in the illegal pet trade, where animals are plucked directly from their natural habitats.In Australia, sugar gliders can be kept in Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory but not Western Australia, New South Wales, ACT or Tasmania.

Sugar gliders are popular as pets in the United States, where they are bred in large numbers. Most states and cities allow sugar gliders as pets, with some exceptions including California, Hawaii, Alaska, Pensylvania and Massachusetts.

Whether sugar gliders make good pets is a subject of mild controversy, with many myths and exaggerations made on both sides.

Dinosaur (Kyouryuu)

Erta Ale Volcano is the most prominent feature of the Erta Ale Range located in the north-eastern Ethiopia in the region called Afar. Erta Ale Range is part of Danakil Depression which spreads across the Horn of Africa, partially covering Ethiopia as well as Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. Danakil Depression is known for being a stretch of land below sea level. The lowest point of Africa is located in Danakil Depression (155 meters below sea level).

Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia. The height of Erta Ale is 613 metres (2,011 ft) and since it is located within a depression that's below sea level, Erta Ale is one of world's lowest volcanoes. What Erta Ale lacks in height, it makes up for in width - Erta Ale is 50 km wide! To keep up with impressive measurements, the crater of Erta Ale is 0.7 x 1.6 km large. In local Afar langue, the name Erta Ale means "smoking mountain" but not surprisingly, the southern pit is locally known as the "gateway to hell". The single most impressive part of the Erta Ale Volcano is Erta Ale lava lake which is notable for being the longest existing lava lake in the world.

Erta Ale is very much an active volcano with latest eruption being as recent as 2009. Seven major eruptions occurred in last 125 years with most recent being the one from September 25, 2005.

The Money Frog, also known as the three legged toad or "Chan Chu" in Chinese is probably the most auspicious symbol of money-making. This mythical creature is said to appear every full moon near homes that will receive good news of increased wealth or monetary gain. Often portrayed sitting on a bed of wealth bearing a coin in its mouth, it is a wonderful symbol for wealth and career luck and for the patriarch of the family. The Money Frog is used for attracting wealth and abundance and can often be seen near cash registers, receptions, managers' desk and offices in Oriental countries.

1. Place this wonderful creature it in the wealth sector (South East) of your living room or office to magnify your windfall luck and enhance the income of the residents.

2. Place two Money Frogs: One inside your front door facing inwards symbolizes money coming in to your home of business and the other facing outward to collect the money.

3. For those involved in jobs where there is the opportunity to earn commission or side income, display a money frog next to your desk or diagonally opposite the front door to your home.

4. The best number of Money Frogs to have in your living room or garden is nine because it represents bringing in money from all directions of the compass. Place them randomly and discreetly under your table, behind the sofa, below the coffee table etc. Ensure that each Money Frog faces a different direction of the compass in the living room and one near your front door hopping inward to bring in lots of wealth and money. If nine is not possible, three or six are good numbers too.

Note: NEVER keep money frogs in the bedroom, toilets or kitchen.

Big Bill Neidjie (c. 1920 - 23 May 2002)

was the last surviving speaker of the Gaagudju language, an indigenouslanguage from northern Kakadu after which the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Parkis named. He was a senior elder of Kakadu National Park and a traditional owner of the Bunitj estate in northern Kakadu, perhaps the most spectacular National Park in Australia. His decision to open up this land to other people was instrumental in the creation of Kakadu National Park. He was usually called Big Bill Neidjie because of his physique and physical strength, probably gained through his time working on the luggers, and was also called Kakadu Man, after the title of his first book.

He was born at Alawanydajawany on the East Alligator Riveraround 1920 into the Bunitj clan of the Gagudju people. His father was Nadampala and his mother was Lucy Wirlmaka, from the Ulbuk clan of the Amurrakpeople. He grew up leading a traditional lifestyle in the East Alligator region, and was taught by his father, his grandfather, and others how to hunt and manage his environment. From about the age of 20 he worked first with buffalo hunters, then at a timber mill, and then on board a luggertransporting people and goods along the North Coast. He was initiated at a ceremony at Ubirr in the early 1940s. During the Second World War he helped in the defence of Australia, working at the radar station at Cape Don. He was in Darwin during the Japanese bombings in 1942 and helped Aboriginal people during and after the devastation.

Big Bill was instrumental in the decision to lease his traditional lands to the Commonwealth of Australiaso that it could be managed as a wild area and as a resource to be shared by all Australians. After helping establish Kakadu as a National Park in 1979, he returned there to commit the rest of his life to supporting the joint management of the Park.

In 1988, Kakadu was featured in the February issue of The National Geographic Magazine, and was the focus of the National Geographic television documentary entitled Twilight Of The Dreamtime, in which Big Bill figured prominently. His son, Jonathan Yarramarrna appeared with him and parts of the film dealt with the future of Kakadu and specifically with Big Bill's preparation for Jonathan to assume the custodianship of his family's tribal lands. In 1989 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to conservation.

In many indigenous Australian cultures, there are traditional secrets passed down from generation to generation, and it is taboo to reveal these secrets to a non-initiate. As he grew older, Bill Neidjie realised that he might be in the position, as one of the last Gagudju initiates, of taking these secrets to the grave with him, and so made the courageous decision to break this taboo, so that his culture might live on. In addition to entrusting some of the custodianship of tribal lands to his son Jonathan, he related many of his stories to the anthropologist and others, and published two books, in which he related his passion for the land of which he was part, and insisted on the importance of managing the land in the traditional ways. He hoped that, one day, his culture might thrive once again, and his grandchildren, or their grandchildren, might pick up the threads once more.

Bill Neidjie died on 23 May 2002.

Chimeras (or chimaeras) in bptany are usually single organisms composed of two genetically different types of tissue. They occur in plants, on the same general basis as with animal chimeras. However, unlike animal chimeras, both types of tissues may have originated from the same zygote, and the difference is often due to mutation during ordinary cell division.

There are often authentic accounts of the origin of chimeras by spontaneous or induced mutations, by the sorting-out from variegated seedlings after plastid mutation, by grafting, by the layering of mixed populations of cells within callus tissue cultures, and by somatic hybridization through protoplast fusion.

Species of graft chimeras

These are produced by grafting together different speciesor genera, which involve tissues from two genetically different parents, different cultivarsor different species (which may belong to different genera). The tissues may be partially fused together following grafting to form a single growing organism that preserves both types of tissue in a single shoot.Just as the constituent species are likely to differ in a wide range of features, so the behavior of their periclinal chimeras is like to be highly variable.The first such known chimera was probably the Bizzariawhich is a confusion of the Florentine citron and the sour orange.

Because chimeras have more than one type of genetic material, while they may produce viable offspring from seed, these will not be true to type. All propagation that preserves the variation has to be by cuttingsor division. Some types of cuttings, such as root cuttings, will produce entirely new growing points, usually from the inner one of the two types of tissue, so that these cannot be used either.

Pymmes Park has a long history going back to the year 1327 when William Pymme built a mansion on the North side of Watery Lane. The park is a valuable urban green space surrounded by dense terraced and high-rise housing with the residents making much use of the park's facilities. A Heritage Lottery Funding grant together with match funding by the London Borough of Enfield totaling £3.2 million during 2004/05 has enhanced the park's features that has seen large-scale improvements to the lake area and its network of footpaths, with park furniture being completely replaced throughout. The old bandstand has been updated and replaced with a new performance area in the style of a modern amphitheatre, constructed of marble, brick, and a stepped turf infill. During 2008 the walled garden was fully restored to its former glory, with repaired walls, a new entrance gate, bedding and paths. This area is a much-loved spot for park users who wish to find peace and tranquility. Recent improvements include the installation of a double multi use games area, refurbished tennis courts and an automated public convenience completed at the end of 2007 to replace the toilet block removed in 1995 as a result of the North Circular Road expansion. Pymmes Park has a very active Friends group, and the Council continues to work very closely with them to ensure that all future development of the park is in tune with the wishes of the local community.

In the rural areas of west Yunnan Province, it is a great event for a family to build a house. Therefore, the family must follow the time-honored customs. The Tile Cat in Yunnan refers to the ornament made from tiles placed in the middle of the ridge. Since it looks quite like a cat, it gets the name "Tile Cat". It is said that the cat made from tiles can eat all monsters and devils, thus protecting the whole family.

A sacrificial ceremony to inspire the magic power of the cat is required before the placement of the Tile Cat on the ridge. Generally falling in the second or eighth month of Chinese lunar calendar, a lucky day would be chosen and a local koradji would be invited to preside over the ceremony. At that time, the koradji would catch a red rooster, whisper some incantations related to disaster elimination, good luck, ghost removal and fortune-making, bite the cockscomb soon afterwards and shed its blood on the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and the whole body of the Tile Cat before putting five kinds of fruits and seeds (pine nut, melon seeds, broomcorn, Chinese date, and root) into the mouth of Title Cat while burning the yellow sacrificial paper and whispering the incantations for another while, and finally kill the rooster in person. Later on, the Tile Cat shall be passed to and touched by the whole family, who will witness the whole process when the roof is being covered with tiles until the Tile Cat is placed firmly and forever in the middle of the ridge. From then on, no matter in whatever weather, the Tile Cat will guard the house on the high ridge, making the family feel at ease and grateful.

As a spiritual support for the rural folk, the Tile Cat reflects truly the constant aspiration for and the pursuit of survival guarantee, safety and a happy life among the ordinary people. At this point, moreover, the modern urban citizens share the same inner world with those rural residents.

The rags to riches story of Dick Whittington and his cat is not just a fairy tale: it is part of the folklore of London. Today there is a monument to his cat near the Whittington Stone pub at the foot of Highgate Hill where Dick sat down and heard the famous Bow Bells of East London ring out.

The real Dick whittington was Lord Mayor of London in 1397, 1406 and 1419, and was a successful textile merchant.

The figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved in stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old prison at Newgate, which he built for criminals, while the logo of the Whittington Hospital, Highgate, still encorporates his cat.

This version (slightly edited) is by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-1829).

In the reign of the famous King Edward III there was a little boy called Dick Whittington whose father and mother died when he was very young. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; he got but little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for his breakfast; for the people who lived in the village were very poor indeed, and could not spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, and now and then a hard crust of bread.

Now Dick had heard many, many very strange things about the great city called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks in London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing and music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with gold.

One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, drove through the village while Dick was standing by the signpost. He thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so he took courage, and asked the driver to let him travel with him. So off they set together.

Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine street paved all over with gold that he did not even stay to thank the kind wagon driver; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through many of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were paved with gold; he thought that if he just took some little bits of the pavement, he should then have as much money as he could wish for.

Poor Dick ran till he was tired, but at last, finding that every way he turned he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he sat down in a dark corner and cried himself to sleep.

Little Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very hungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give him a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer him, and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy was soon quite weak and faint with hunger. He asked another man for money, who replied 'Go to work you lazy dog.' 'That I will,' said Dick, 'I will go to work for you, if you will let me.' But the man only cursed at him and went on.

At last a good-natured-looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. 'Why don't you go to work, my lad?' said he to Dick. 'That I would, but I do not know how to get any,' answered Dick. 'If you are willing, come along with me,' said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick worked briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made.

After this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost starved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr Fitzwarren, a rich merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an ill-tempered creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing dinner for her master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick: 'What business have you there, you lazy rogue? There is nothing else but beggars. If you do not take yourself away, we will see how you will like a sousing of some dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you jump.'

Just at that time Mr Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when he saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: 'Why do you lie there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are inclined to be lazy.'

'No, indeed, sir,' said Dick to him, 'that is not the case, for I would work with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am very sick for the want of food.'

'Poor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you.'

Dick now tried to rise, but was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had not eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about and beg a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant ordered him to be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given him, and be kept to do what work he was able to do for the cook.

Little Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had not been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say:

'You are under me, so look sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind up the jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or -, and she would shake the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting that when she had no meat to baste she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders with a broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last her ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr Fitzwarren's daughter, who told the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder.

The behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this, Dick had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there were so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was tormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for cleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day he saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, 'Will you let me have that cat for a penny?' The girl said: 'Yes, that I will, master, though she is an excellent mouser.'

Dick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of his dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the rats and mice, but slept quite sound every night.

Soon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the custom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as well as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what they would send out.

They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor Dick, who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing. For this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss Alice guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She then said: 'I will lay down some money for him, from my own purse'; but her father told her: 'This will not do, for it must be something of his own.'

When poor Dick heard this, he said: 'I have nothing but a cat which I bought for a penny some time since of a little girl.'

'Fetch your cat then, my lad,' said Mr Fitzwarren, 'and let her go.'

Dick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes, and gave her to the captain; 'for,' he said, 'I shall now be kept awake all night by the rats and mice.' All the company laughed at Dick's odd venture; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to buy another cat.

This, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more cruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to sea. She asked him: 'Do you think your cat will sell for as much money as would buy a stick to beat you?'

At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought he would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and started very early in the morning, on All-Hallows Day, the first of November. He walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone, which to this day is called 'Whittington's Stone', and began to think to himself which road he should take.

While he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which at that time were only six, began to ring, and at their sound seemed to say to him:

'Turn again, Whittington,
Thrice Lord Mayor of London.'

'Lord Mayor of London!' said he to himself. 'Why, to be sure, I would put up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in a fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord Mayor of London at last.'

Dick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set about his work before the old cook came downstairs.

We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the cat on board was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the winds on a part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the Moors, unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see the sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and treated them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very eager to buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with.

When the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to the king of the country; who was so much pleased with them that he sent for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the custom of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver. The king and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a number of dishes were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when a vast number of rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in an instant. The captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were not unpleasant.

'Oh, yes,' said they, 'very offensive; and the king would give half his treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as you see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, so that he is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of them.'

The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his cat, and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would dispatch all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the joy which the news gave him that his turban dropped off his head. 'Bring this creature to me,' says he; 'vermin are dreadful in a court, and if she will perform what you say, I will load your ship with gold and jewels in exchange for her.'

The captain, who knew his business, took his opportunity to set forth the merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty: 'It is not very convenient to part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy the goods in the ship-but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her.'

'Run, run!' said the queen; 'I am impatient to see the dear creature.'

Away went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready. He put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to see the table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for bidding, but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid almost all the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their fright scampered away to their holes.

The king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the queen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness might be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the captain called: 'Pussy, pussy, pussy!' and she came to him. He then presented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch a creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However, when the captain stroked the cat and called: 'Pussy, pussy', the queen also touched her and cried: 'Putty, putty', for she had not learned English. He then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and played with her majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep.

The king, having seen the exploits of Miss Puss, and being informed that her kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats, bargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to.

The captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair wind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London.

One morning, early, Mr Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house and seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the business for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. 'Who's there?' said Mr Fitzwarren. 'A friend,' answered the other; 'I come to bring you good news of your ship Unicorn.' The merchant, bustling up in such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who should he see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of jewels and a bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted up his eyes and thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage.

They then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present that the king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the merchant heard this, he called out to his servants:

'Go send him in, and tell him of his fame;
Pray call him Mr Whittington by name.'

Mr Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of his servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered: 'God forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny; it is his own, and he shall have it to a farthing.'

He then sent for Dick, who at that time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He would have excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying, 'The room is swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails.' But the merchant ordered him to come in.

Mr Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to think they were making game of him, and at the same time said to them: 'Do not play tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you please, to my work.'

'Indeed, Mr Whittington,' said the merchant, 'we are all quite in earnest with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these gentlemen have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the King of Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I possess in the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!'

Mr Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had brought with them, and said: 'Mr Whittington has nothing to do but to put it in some place of safety.'

Poor Dick hardly, knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his master to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his kindness. 'No, no,' answered Mr Fitzwarren, 'this is all your own; and I have no doubt but you will use it well.'

Dick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of his good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him they felt great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too kind-hearted to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the captain, the mate, and the rest of Mr Fitzwarren's servants; and even to the ill-natured old cook.

After this Mr Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor, and get himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to live in his house till he could provide himself with a better.

When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes, he was as handsome and genteel as any young man who visited at Mr Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice, who had once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now looked upon him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt, because Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige her, and making her the prettiest presents that could be.

Mr Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join them in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very rich feast.

History tells us that Mr Whittington and his lady lived in great splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was Sheriff of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of knighthood by Henry V.