Charles Dickens, the famous English novelist, wrote a great many books. He had a cat of which he was very fond. She was a fine Persian cat with pure white fur.

　　One evening, as he was absorbed in reading one of his favorite books by a candle-light, the candle suddenly went out. He was surprised, but took a match, struck it, and lighted and lighted the candle again, and once more sat down to read. You can imagine his astonishment1 when he again found himself in complete darkness. He looked around the room, lighted the candle again, and began to read once more.

　　After a while he stopped and looked up. He saw that his cat was trying to put out the light with her paw. The cat's intentions were quite clear to him-she wanted him to stop reading and play with her a while. Of course he did this, and besides he gave her some milk. The cat was quite contented2. She went over and curled herself into a ball on the sofa to take a nap. Then Dickens continued to read, and this time pussy3（貓咪） did not interrupt him again.