OneearlymorningintheSpringtime,whenIwaswanderingamongthehillsatthebackofthetown,Ihappenedtocomeuponahawkwithasquirrelinitsclaws. Itwasstandingonarockandthesquirrelwasfightingveryhardforitslife. ThehawkwassofrightenedwhenIcameuponitsuddenlylikethis,thatitdroppedthepoorcreatureandflewaway. Ipickedthesquirrelupandfoundthattwoofitslegswerebadlyhurt. SoIcarrieditinmyarmsbacktothetown. WhenIcametothebridgeIwentintothemusselman'shutandaskedhimifhecoulddoanythingforit.Joeputonhisspectaclesandexamineditcarefully.Thenheshookhishead. "Yoncrittur'sgotabrokenleg,"hesaid—"andanotherbadlycutan'all. Icanmendyouyourboats,Tom,butIhaven'tthetoolsnorthelearningtomakeabrokensquirrelseaworthy. Thisisajobforasurgeon—andforarightsmartonean'all. TherebeonlyonemanIknowwhocouldsaveyoncrittur'slife.Andthat'sJohnDolittle." "WhoisJohnDolittle?"Iasked."Isheavet?" "No,"saidthemussel-man."He'snovet.DoctorDolittleisanacheralist." "Anacheralist,"saidJoe,puttingawayhisglassesandstartingtofillhispipe,"isamanwhoknowsallaboutanimalsandbutterfliesandplantsandrocksan'all. JohnDolittleisaverygreatnacheralist. I'msurprisedyouneverheardofhim—andyoudaftoveranimals. Heknowsawholelotaboutshellfish—thatIknowfrommyownknowledge. He'saquietmananddon'ttalkmuch;butthere'sfolkswhodosayhe'sthegreatestnacheralistintheworld." "Wheredoeshelive?"Iasked. "OverontheOxenthorpeRoad,t'othersidethetown.Don'tknowjustwhichhouseitis,but'mostanyone'crosstherecouldtellyou,Ireckon.Goandseehim.He'sagreatman." SoIthankedthemussel-man,tookupmysquirrelagainandstartedofttowardstheOxenthorpeRoad. ThefirstthingIheardasIcameintothemarketplacewassomeonecalling"Meat!M-E-A-T!" "There'sMatthewMugg,"Isaidtomyself."He'llknowwherethisDoctorlives.Matthewknowseveryone." SoIhurriedacrossthemarket-placeandcaughthimup. "Matthew,"Isaid,"doyouknowDoctorDolittle?" "DoIknowJohnDolittle!"saidhe."Well,IshouldthinkIdo!IknowhimaswellasIknowmyownwife—better,Isometimesthink.He'sagreatman—averygreatman." "Canyoushowmewherehelives?"Iasked."Iwanttotakethissquirreltohim.Ithasabrokenleg." "Certainly,"saidthecat's-meat-man."I'llbegoingrightbyhishousedirectly.ComealongandI'llshowyou." "Oh,I'veknownJohnDolittleforyearsandyears,"saidMatthewaswemadeourwayoutofthemarket-place. "ButI'mprettysureheain'thomejustnow.He'sawayonavoyage.Buthe'sliabletobebackanyday. I'llshowyouhishouseandthenyou'llknowwheretofindhim." AllthewaydowntheOxenthorpeRoadMatthewhardlystoppedtalkingabouthisgreatfriend,DoctorJohnDolittle—"M.D."Hetalkedsomuchthatheforgotallaboutcallingout"Meat!" untilwebothsuddenlynoticedthatwehadawholeprocessionofdogsfollowinguspatiently. "WheredidtheDoctorgotoonthisvoyage?"IaskedasMatthewhandedroundthemeattothem. "Icouldn'ttellyou,"heanswered."Nobodyneverknowswherehegoes,norwhenhe'sgoing,norwhenhe'scomingback.Helivesallaloneexceptforhispets. He'smadesomegreatvoyagesandsomewonderfuldiscoveries. Lasttimehecamebackhetoldmehe'dfoundatribeofRedIndiansinthePacificOcean—livedontwoislands,theydid. Thehusbandslivedononeislandandthewiveslivedontheother.Sensiblepeople,someofthemsavages. Theyonlymetonceayear,whenthehusbandscameovertovisitthewivesforagreatfeast—Christmas-time,mostlikely. Yes,he'sawonderfulmanistheDoctor. Andasforanimals,well,thereain'tnooneknowsasmuchabout'emaswhathedoes." "Howdidhegettoknowsomuchaboutanimals?"Iasked. Thecat's-meat-manstoppedandleantdowntowhisperinmyear. "HETALKSTHEIRLANGUAGE,"hesaidinahoarse,mysteriousvoice. "Theanimals'language?"Icried. "Whycertainly,"saidMatthew."Allanimalshavesomekindofalanguage. Somesortstalkmorethanothers;someonlyspeakinsign-language,likedeaf-and-dumb. ButtheDoctor,heunderstandsthemall—birdsaswellasanimals. Wekeepitasecretthough,himandme,becausefolksonlylaughatyouwhenyouspeakofit.Why,hecanevenwriteanimal-language.Hereadsaloudtohispets. He'swrotehistory-booksinmonkey-talk,poetryincanarylanguageandcomicsongsformagpiestosing.It'safact. He'snowbusylearningthelanguageoftheshellfish. Buthesaysit'shardwork—andhehascaughtsometerriblecolds,holdinghisheadunderwatersomuch.He'sagreatman." "Hecertainlymustbe,"Isaid."IdowishhewerehomesoIcouldmeethim." "Well,there'shishouse,look,"saidthecat's,meat-man—"thatlittleoneatthebendintheroadthere—theonehighup—likeitwassittingonthewallabovethestreet." Wewerenowcomebeyondtheedgeofthetown. AndthehousethatMatthewpointedoutwasquiteasmallonestandingbyitself. Thereseemedtobeabiggardenaroundit;andthisgardenwasmuchhigherthantheroad,soyouhadtogoupaflightofstepsinthewallbeforeyoureachedthefrontgateatthetop. Icouldseethatthereweremanyfinefruittreesinthegarden,fortheirbrancheshungdownoverthewallinplaces. ButthewallwassohighIcouldnotseeanythingelse. WhenwereachedthehouseMatthewwentupthestepstothefrontgateandIfollowedhim. Ithoughthewasgoingtogointothegarden;butthegatewaslocked. Adogcamerunningdownfromthehouse;andhetookseveralpiecesofmeatwhichthecat's-meat-manpushedthroughthebarsofthegate,andsomepaperbagsfullofcornandbran,Inoticedthatthisdogdidnotstoptoeatthemeat,asanyordinarydogwouldhavedone,buthetookallthethingsbacktothehouseanddisappeared. Hehadacuriouswidecollarroundhisneckwhichlookedasthoughitweremadeofbrassorsomething.Thenwecameaway. "TheDoctorisn'tbackyet,"saidMatthew,"orthegatewouldn'tbelocked." "Whatwereallthosethingsinpaper-bagsyougavethedog?"Iasked. "Oh,thosewereprovisions,"saidMatthew—"thingsfortheanimalstoeat. TheDoctor'shouseissimplyfullofpets. Igivethethingstothedog,whiletheDoctor'saway,andthedoggivesthemtotheotheranimals." "Andwhatwasthatcuriouscollarhewaswearingroundhisneck?" "That'sasolidgolddog-collar,"saidMatthew."ItwasgiventohimwhenhewaswiththeDoctorononeofhisvoyageslongago.Hesavedaman'slife." "HowlonghastheDoctorhadhim?"Iasked. "Oh,alongtime.Jip'sgettingprettyoldnow. That'swhytheDoctordoesn'ttakehimonhisvoyagesanymore. Heleaveshimbehindtotakecareofthehouse. EveryMondayandThursdayIbringthefoodtothegatehereandgiveithimthroughthebars. HeneverletsanyonecomeinsidethegardenwhiletheDoctor'saway—notevenme,thoughheknowsmewell. Butyou'llalwaysbeabletotelliftheDoctor'sbackornot—becauseifheis,thegatewillsurelybeopen." SoIwentoffhometomyfather'shouseandputmysquirreltobedinanoldwoodenboxfullofstraw. AndthereInursedhimmyselfandtookcareofhimasbestIcouldtillthetimeshouldcomewhentheDoctorwouldreturn. AndeverydayIwenttothelittlehousewiththebiggardenontheedgeofthetownandtriedthegatetoseeifitwerelocked. Sometimesthedog,Jip,wouldcomedowntothegatetomeetme. Butthoughhealwayswaggedhistailandseemedgladtoseeme,heneverletmecomeinsidethegarden. 
