Dr. John Dolittle lived in a small town called Puddleby.
The townspeople knew him well.
Dr. Dolittle looked after sick people and gave them medicine.
Dr. Dolittle had many pets.
Mice lived in the piano.
He kept a squirrel in the closet.
He also had rabbits, a very old horse, chickens, pigeons, lambs, and even a hedgehog in the basement.
Sarah, the doctor's sister, was his housekeeper.
She did not like having so many animals around.
They made the house messy.
Even his patients were not happy.
"Oh, Dr. Dolittle, my knees hurt again,"
Mrs. Keebler whined as she slowly sat down in his office.
"ARGGGHHHHHHHH!" she suddenly cried, and stood up again.
"I'm sorry. Oh, it's only Spiky my hedgehog."
Dr. Dolittle smiled at the sleepy animal she had sat on.
Most of his patients never came back.
The more animals Dr. Dolittle had, the fewer patients he had.
"We are running out of money, John," Sarah complained.
"Money," Dr. Dolittle sighed. "What a headache!"
"Well, we can't live without money!" Sarah said angrily.
Of all the pets he had, Dr. Dolittle's favorites were Jip the dog,
Gub-Gub the baby pig, Dab-Dab the duck, Too-Too the owl, and of course, his parrot Polynesia.
"You are my best friends," he often told them.
"Woof woof!" barked Jip.
"Quack, quack, quack, quack, oink, oink, snort," Dab-Dab and Gub-Gub cried cheerfully.
"GWAK! Polly wants a cracker!" Polynesia chirped.
Too-Too watched silently from the bookcase.
"I'm getting tired of this, John!" Sarah shouted one day.
"No one wants to come here!
They don't like the animals!"
She waved her hands around.
"But I like animals better than people," the doctor replied.
"Well, without money you can't feed them, or ME or YOURSELF!"
With that, Sarah stomped out of the room.
But Sarah was right.
Soon they ran out of money.
Dr. Dolittle had to sell his piano, so the mice had no place to live.
"Don't worry, you can live inside my sock drawer," the doctor said.
Even Dr. Dolittle's bedroom was filled with animals.
But he didn't mind sharing.
"There, you'll be safe and warm," he told the mice.
Now the townspeople didn't go to Dr. Dolittle anymore.
They traveled to another town when they needed a doctor.
The only friends he had left were his pets.
"Money," Dr. Dolittle sighed. "What a headache!"