John
Dolittle was a strong man, though he wasn't
very tall. So the Italian went away saying rude
things and the monkey stayed with Doctor
Dolittle and had a good home. The other
animals in the house called him "Chee-Chee"--
which is a common word in monkey-language,
meaning "ginger."
And another time, when the circus came to
Puddleby, the crocodile who had a bad tooth-
ache escaped at night and came into the Doctor's
garden. The Doctor talked to him in
crocodile-language and took him into the house
and made his tooth better. But when the crocodile
saw what a nice house it was--with all the
different places for the different kinds of
animals--he too wanted to live with the Doctor.
He asked couldn't he sleep in the fish-pond at
the bottom of the garden, if he promised not
to eat the fish. When the circus-men came to
take him back he got so wild and savage that
he frightened them away. But to every one in
the house he was always as gentle as a kitten.
But now the old ladies grew afraid to send
their lap-dogs to Doctor Dolittle because of the
crocodile; and the farmers wouldn't believe that
he would not eat the lambs and sick calves they
brought to be cured. 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 be allowed to stay, that the
Doctor hadn't the heart to turn him out.
So then the Doctor's sister came to him and said,
"John, you must send that creature away.
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