Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman. they lived in a nice clean house which had flowers all round it. but they couldn’t be happy because they were so very lonely. «if only we had a cat! » said the very old woman. « a cat? » asked the very old man. «i will get you a cat, my dear, » said the very old man. and he went over the hills to for one. he walked a long, long time and he came to a hill which was covered with cats. cats here, catst there, cats and kittens every where, hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats. «oh», cried the old man happily, «now i can choose the prettiest cat and take it home with me! » so he chose one. it was white. but he saw another one all black and white and it was as pretty as the first. so he took this one too. but then he saw a grey kitten which was as pretty as the others, so he took it too. and just then the very old man found a kitten which was black and very beautiful. so he took it. and then he saw a brown and yellow cat.