One day Bimbo,the naugthy Siamese kitten,went creeping into the kitchen to see if there was anything he could eat.Sometimes his mistress dropped things on the floor,and if she couldn't stop to pick them up at that moment,there was just a chance that he could snap them up!
"Mistress dropped a bit bacon rind yesterday,"thought Bimbo."And once she dropped a sausage!Maybe she will drop a haddock today,or something really exciting!"
So he sat patiently under the table and waited and waited.But all that hismistress dropped was a fork that stuck into Bimbo's tail,and he didn't like that at all!
He was just going away when his mistress went to answer the door.Bimbo jumped up on the table at once.Mistress was making cakes,but there was nothing there for Bimbo to eat.He didn't want flour.He didn't want sugar.He didn't want currants.
But wait a minute,what was this?There was a little jug of milk on the table,and oh,the cream on the top of that milk!
"Now this is something worth having!"thought Bimbo in delight,and he put his head down to the jug.He put out his pink tounge,but alas,it couldn't reach the cream because the jug was only half full.
"Well,there's nothijg for it but to put my head into the jug and lick the milk like that,"thought Bimbo.He took a quick look up the hallway.Good,Mistress was still talking at the door.So into the neck of the jug went Bimbo's little head,and he began to lick up the cream greedily.
Then he heard his mistress close the door and he knew she was coming back.What a scolding he would get if she found himsteaking the milk.he tried to take his head out of the jug at once,but he couldn't!Its was stuck!
He tried and tried.He heard his mistress coming back into the kitchen.Poor Bimbo!He jumped down from the table with his head still in the jug.Milk poured all over him!
He ran quickly put of the door,banging himself on the side of it as he went,because,of course,he couldn't see with his head inside the jug!
Down the passageway he ran,and came to the little room where his mistress often to worked.He thought he would go in there and work the jug off his head in peace.He slipped inside the room and sat down,panting ,the jug still over his head.It was hard to breathe properly with it on,and it felt very tight and uncomfortable
"The milk has soaked my face,"thought Bimbo."It was perfectly horrid.I don't like it at all.I am very unhappy.Now,before anyone comes,I really must try to drag this jug off my head.My front paws will help me."
So Bimbo sat and tried to pull the jug off his head with his paws.But it simply wouldn't come!
"Bones and biscuits,tails and whiskers,whatever in the world am I to do?"thought poor Bimbo,in a fright."Have I got to wear this jug all the rest of my life?I do hope not.I'd better go and find Topsy and see if she will pull it off for me."
So off he went out of the little room to find Topsy.He couldn't see at all where he was going,and he kept bumping into the wall and making a tremendous noise.
Bang-bang,bang-crash,he went.Topsy,the little fox-terrier puppy,heard the strange noise and pricked up to her ears.She ran to see what it was.Bimbo heard the pitter-patter of her paws and called out to Topsy."Topsy,help me!"
But the jug made his voice sound very odd indeed,just like yours sounds when you roll up a newspaper and then talk down it."Wop-wop-wop-wop!"his voice sounded like."Wop-wop-wop-wop!"
Topsy stared and listened in the greatest astonishment.What could this creature be with a jug for a head and a voice that said "Wop-wop-wop-wop!"all the time?Topsy didn't like it.She put her tail down and fled away to find the other animals,Bobs the black-and-white fox terrier and Cosy the tabby cat.
Bimbo clattered after her,the jug bumping againts the walls as he ran.Topsy found Bobs and Cosy and wuffed to them.
There's a jug-headed animal in the house that says 'Wop-wop-wop-wop!'in a funny deep voice.I'm frightened!Save me!".
"Dont be silly,"said Bobs,getting up."A jug-headed animal with a voice that says 'Wop-wop-wop-wop!'You must be mad!"
But when Bimbo came round the corner with the jug still on his head,crying for help in a voice that still sounded exactly like "Wop-wop-wop-wop!" all three animals were as scared as could be.They fled into the garden at once.And out into the garden after them went Bimbo,crying for help.It was strange sight to see.
Goodness knows what would have happened if Bimbo hadn't run straight into the wall.The jug broke in half and fell off,and there was Bimbo's face looking at the others,scared and soaked with milk.
"Bimbo!Is this a new game or something?"cried Bobs."Whatever did you put a jug on your head for?You gave us an awful fright."
"I didn't put it on,"said poor Bimbo,beginning to wash his face clean."It wouldn't come off,that's all.And I think you are a lot of mean creatures,running away when I kept calling out for help."
"Well,we would have helped you if only you had said something sensible instead of 'Wop-wop-wop-wop!" said Topsy."We couldn't think what that meant,so we ran away."
"I did not say 'Wop-wop-wop-wop!' "said Bimbo,"But maybe the jug over my head made my words sound like that.You go and get a jug over your head and talk down it,and see what sounds like,one of you."
But nobody wanted to,and don't you try either,will you!
