The Cat in the Hat (Jim Thurman)
by Richard SmartFrom the Dr. Seuss book "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back".
“Play tricks? Oh, my my! No, no, no! I just want to go in to get out of the snow. Keep your mind on your work. You just stay there, you two. I will go in the house and find something to do.”
“But I like to eat cake in a tub. You should try it some time.”
“Have no fear of that ring! Why, I can take cat rings off tubs. Just like that!”
“Ho! Ho! I can make the spot go. The way I take spots off a dress is just so!”
“See here! It is not hard at all. The thing that takes spots off a dress is a wall!”
“Oh, wall spots! Let me tell you some news. To take spots off a wall, all I need is two shoes!”
“But your dad will not know about that. He will never find out!”
“His $10 shoes will have no spots at all. I will rub them right off on this rug in the hall.”
“Don’t ask me, why, you know that I can!”
“I can clean up these rug spots before you count three! No spots are too hard for a Hat Cat like me!”
“It is good that your dad has the right kind of bed.”
“This is not the right kind of a bed.”
“To take spots off this bed will be hard. I can’t do it alone.”
“It is good I have some one to help me, right here in my hat on the top of my head!
It is good that I have him here with me today. He helps me a lot. This is Little Cat A.”
“Now you will see something new! My cats are all clever. My cats are good shots. My cats have good guns. They will kill all those spots!”
“Oh, no! All they need is more help. Help is all that they need. So keep still and don’t yelp.”
“This is good. This is what they should do and I knew that they would. With a little more help, all the work will be done. They need one more cat. And I know just the one.”
“Look close! In my hand I have Little Cat V. On his head are Cats W, X, Y, and Z.”
“Z is too small to see. So don’t try. You can not. But Z is the cat who will clean up that spot!”
“Now here is the Z you can’t see, and I bet you can’t guess what he has in his hat! He has something called Voom. Voom is so hard to get, you never saw anything like it, I bet. Why, Voom cleans up anything clean as can be! Take your hat off now, Little Cat Z! Take the Voom off your head! Make it clean up the snow! Hurry! You Little Cat! One! Two! Three! GO!”
“So you see! Now your snow is all white! Now your work is all done! Now your house is all right! And you know where my little cats are? That Voom blew my little cats back in my hat. And so, if you ever have spots, now and then, I will be very happy to come here again . . . with Little Cats A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, and O, P . . . . . . and Q, R, S, T . . . and Cat U and Cat V . . . and Little Cats W, X, Y, and Z!”
