Another time, when the circus came to Puddleby, the crocodile who had a bad toothache escaped at night and came into the Doctor’s garden. The Doctor talked to him in crocodile-language, took him into the house and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile saw what a nice house it was, he wanted to live with the Doctor. He asked to let him sleep in the fish-pond, and promised not to eat the fish. And the Doctor agreed. But now the old ladies were afraid to send their lap-dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the crocodile; and the farmers were also afraid of the crocodile. So the Doctor went to the crocodile and told him he must go back to his circus. But he wept such big tears, and begged so hard to stay, that the Doctor felt sorry for him and let him stay.
So then the Doctor’s sister came to him and said,
“John, you must send that creature away. Now the farmers and the old ladies are afraid to send their animals to you. We will lose all the money! I will no longer be housekeeper for you if you don’t send away that alligator.”
“It isn’t an alligator,” said the Doctor – “it’s a crocodile.”
“I don’t care what you call it,[2]” said his sister. “It’s a nasty thing. I won’t have it in the house.”
“But he has promised me,” the Doctor answered, “that he will not bite any one. He doesn’t like the circus; and I haven’t the money to send him back to Africa where he comes from. Don’t be so fussy.”
“I tell you I WILL NOT have him around,” said Sarah. “He eats the linoleum. If you don’t send him away this minute I’ll – I’ll go and get married!”
“All right,” said the Doctor, “go and get married. It can’t be helped.[3]”
So Sarah Dolittle packed up her things and went off; and the Doctor was left all alone with his animal family. And very soon he became very poor. But the Doctor didn’t worry at all.
“Money is a nuisance,” he said.
Soon the animals began to worry. And one evening when the Doctor was asleep in his chair before the kitchen-fire they began talking. And the owl, Too-Too, who was good at arithmetic, figured it out that there was only money enough left to live one week – if they each had one meal a day and no more. Then the parrot said, “I think we all should do the housework ourselves.” So the monkey, Chee-Chee cooked; the dog swept the floors; the duck made the beds; the owl, Too-Too, kept the accounts, and the pig worked in the garden. They made Polynesia, the parrot, housekeeper because she was the oldest. And the house was very tidy and clean. But still they needed money. So the animals made a vegetable and flower stall outside the garden-gate and sold radishes and roses to the people that passed by along the road.
But the snow came earlier than usual that year; and although the old lame horse brought a lot of wood from the forest outside the town, so they could have a big fire in the kitchen, most of the vegetables in the garden were gone, and the rest under snow; and many of the animals were really hungry.
The Fourth Chapter
A Message From Africa
That winter was a very cold one. And one night in December, when they were all round the warm fire in the kitchen, and the Doctor was reading aloud to them, the owl, Too-Too, suddenly said, “Sh! What’s that noise outside?” They all listened; and they heard the sound of someone running. Then the door opened and the monkey, Chee-Chee, ran in.
“Doctor!” he cried, “I’ve just had a message from my cousin in Africa. There is a terrible sickness among the monkeys out there. They are all catching it – and they are dying. They have heard of you, and beg you to come to Africa to stop the sickness.”
“Who brought the message?” asked the Doctor. He took off his glasses and laid down his book.
“A swallow,” said Chee-Chee. “She is outside.”
“Bring her in by the fire,” said the Doctor.
So the swallow arrived, she was cold; and although she was a little afraid at first, she soon got warmed up[4] and began to talk. Then the Doctor said, “I need to go to Africa. But we haven’t enough money to buy the tickets. Perhaps if I go down to the seaside I will borrow a boat that will take us to Africa. I knew a seaman once who brought his baby to me with measles. Maybe he’ll lend us his boat – the baby got well.[5]”
So early the next morning the Doctor went down to the seashore. And when he came back, he told the animals that the sailor was going to lend them the boat. Then the crocodile and the monkey and the parrot were very glad and began to sing, because they were going to see Africa, their real home. And the Doctor said, “I will only be able to take you three – with Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, Gub-Gub the pig and the owl, Too-Too. The rest of the animals will go back and live in the fields where they were born until we come home again.”
The Doctor and the animals needed some food for the voyage, so the sailor went to see the grocer and came back with all the things they wanted. Then the animals packed up, closed the house and gave the key to the old horse who lived in the stable. There was plenty of hay for the horse, so the animals didn’t worry and carried their baggage down to the seashore and got onto the boat.
They were just going to start on their journey, when the Doctor said that he didn’t know the way to Africa. But the swallow promised to show them the way because she knew it very well. So the Doctor told Chee-Chee to pull up the anchor and the voyage began.
The Fifth Chapter
The Great Journey
Now for six whole weeks they sailed on and on,[6] over the sea. They followed the swallow who flew before the ship to show them the way. They sailed further and further into the South, and it got warmer and warmer. Polynesia, Chee-Chee and the crocodile enjoyed the hot sun very much. But the pig and the dog and the owl, Too-Too, could do nothing in such weather, but sat at the end of the ship in the shade of a big barrel, drinking lemonade. Dab-Dab, the duck, jumped into the sea and swam behind the ship, so she kept herself cool. In this way, too, she caught herrings on Tuesdays and Fridays – when everybody on the boat ate fish.
One evening, at sunset, the Doctor said, “Bring me the telescope, Chee-Chee. Our journey is nearly ended. Very soon we will see the shores of Africa.” And about half an hour later they thought they could see land. But it began to get darker and darker and they couldn’t be sure.
Then a great storm came up, with thunder and lightning. The wind howled; the rain came down in torrents; and the waves got so high they splashed over the boat. Soon there was a big BANG! The ship stopped and rolled over on its side.
“What’s happened?” asked the Doctor.
“I’m not sure,” said the parrot; “but I think we’re ship-wrecked.[7] Tell the duck to get out and see.”
So Dab-Dab dived down under the waves. And when she came up she said they had struck a rock; there was a big hole in the bottom of the ship; the water was coming in; and they were sinking fast. “Dear me, dear me!” said the Doctor. “Well – we must all swim to land.” But Chee-Chee and Gub-Gub did not know how to swim. “Take the rope!” said Polynesia. “Come here, Dab-Dab. Take this end of the rope, fly to the shore and tie it to a palm-tree; and we’ll hold the other end on the ship here. Then those that can’t swim must climb along the rope until they reach the land.”