Section 1, Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 Summary

"Whittington Meets The Lady"

As she makes her way to her pond, an unattractive duck (The Lady) meets an unattractive cat (Whittington), who responds to The Lady's comments about the strangeness of his name by saying it's a name from history. He says he was cast out of his home after the boy who owned him was sent away to school because his highly educated parents were embarrassed by his inability to read, and how the boy's parents stopped taking care of him after he (Whittington) got into a fight with a neighbor tomcat and killed it. The Lady scoffs that that's what tomcats do, they fight, particularly when it's important (see "Quotes, p. 5). Whittington agrees, saying that he needs a place to live and wants to join the animals in The Lady's barn, and adding that he's good...