0:35:50 > 0:35:57.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11No, no, sorry, I haven't seen Samuel Spratt.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16I've seen Tabby McTat and Soames and Susan,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18but I...
0:36:18 > 0:36:19Oh, hello. I'm Josie.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24The cats were just telling me that they haven't seen Samuel Spratt
0:36:24 > 0:36:28for a very long time and they wondered if I'd seen him.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30Have you seen him?
0:36:30 > 0:36:35He's small, grey and stripy and he wears a little red tartan collar.
0:36:35 > 0:36:41Well, maybe tonight's story will help us find Samuel, hmm?
0:36:41 > 0:36:46This story is by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
0:36:46 > 0:36:49and is called Tabby McTat.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Tabby McTat was a busker's cat
0:36:53 > 0:36:56with a miaow that was loud and strong.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58The two of them sang of this and that
0:36:58 > 0:37:02and the people threw coins in the old checked hat
0:37:02 > 0:37:05and this was their favourite song.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08# Me, you and the old guitar
0:37:08 > 0:37:12# How perfectly, perfectly happy we are
0:37:12 > 0:37:15# Meee-you and the old guitar
0:37:15 > 0:37:19# How purr-fectly happy we are. #
0:37:19 > 0:37:23One morning, while Fred ate some bacon and bread,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26McTat took a stroll round the block
0:37:26 > 0:37:29then stopped, for there on a doorstep sat
0:37:29 > 0:37:33a gorgeously glossy and green-eyed cat.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36She was black with one snowy white sock.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40Sock and McTat had a cat-to-cat chat
0:37:40 > 0:37:42and that's how their story began.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46For while they were chatting of this and of that,
0:37:46 > 0:37:49a thief had his eye on the old checked hat.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52He eyed it, he snatched it, he ran.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56The busker gave chase, but he tripped on a lace
0:37:56 > 0:37:58and crash! In a flash he was down.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01He broke his leg and he banged his head
0:38:01 > 0:38:07and he ended up in a hospital bed in a far away part of town.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11"Goodbye," McTat said, "I must go back to Fred,"
0:38:11 > 0:38:13but where had the busker gone?
0:38:13 > 0:38:17The sun went down and the sky grew black.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20The stars came out but he didn't come back.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24McTat lingered on and on.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28A week later, Sock took a stroll round the block
0:38:28 > 0:38:31and found her new friend looking thin.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34"He's gone off and left me," said Tabby McTat.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Then Socks said, "My people, Prunella and Pat,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41"would gladly find room for a fine tabby cat."
0:38:41 > 0:38:44She was right and they took McTat in.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48Next morning, Old Fred left his hospital bed
0:38:48 > 0:38:51and found his way back to the square.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54But a brass band stood where the pair once sat
0:38:54 > 0:38:57and the band played this and the band played that
0:38:57 > 0:39:01and Fred looked all round for his loud-miaowed cat
0:39:01 > 0:39:04but Tabby McTat wasn't there.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08Now McTat had a wife and a very full life
0:39:08 > 0:39:10with plenty of things to do,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13like washing Prunella and pouncing on Pat
0:39:13 > 0:39:16and hiding the car keys under the mat
0:39:16 > 0:39:18and keeping the newspapers nice and flat
0:39:18 > 0:39:21and giving the pens an occasional bat
0:39:21 > 0:39:24and nibbling this and nibbling that
0:39:24 > 0:39:27but he dreamed of his friend with the old checked hat
0:39:27 > 0:39:31and he always woke up with a, "Miaow?"
0:39:31 > 0:39:34And often he said, "What's happened to Fred?"
0:39:34 > 0:39:37And his paws took him back to the square
0:39:37 > 0:39:40but a conjurer stood where the pair once sat
0:39:40 > 0:39:43and he pulled out this and he pulled out that
0:39:43 > 0:39:47and the people threw coins in the tall black hat.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50But the busker was never there.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54One morning Socks said, "Look, under the bed
0:39:54 > 0:39:57"and see the three kittens I've had."
0:39:57 > 0:39:59And Soames looked like this
0:39:59 > 0:40:00and Susan like that
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and the littlest kitten, called Samuel Spratt,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06looked exactly the same as his dad.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10The three kittens grew and they learnt how to mew
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and McTat sometimes sang them his song.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16And Samuel Spratt, with his tabby-grey fur,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19had a deafening miaow and a very loud purr
0:40:19 > 0:40:22and he simply loved singing along.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25# Me, you and the old guitar
0:40:25 > 0:40:28# How perfectly, perfectly happy we are
0:40:28 > 0:40:31# Meee-you and the old guitar
0:40:31 > 0:40:34# How purr-fectly happy we are! #
0:40:34 > 0:40:37When Susan and Soames found very good homes,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40their parents were happy and proud.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43There was one home like this and another like that
0:40:43 > 0:40:47but nobody wanted poor Samuel Spratt.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50They all said, "His voice is too loud."
0:40:50 > 0:40:53Now, Tabby McTat was a home-loving cat
0:40:53 > 0:40:56but he couldn't stop dreaming of Fred
0:40:56 > 0:40:59and one day he called for his wife and his son
0:40:59 > 0:41:03and told them, "There's something that has to be done,
0:41:03 > 0:41:05"I must go and find him," he said.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08So up and down and all over town
0:41:08 > 0:41:10he wandered a whole week long.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12For many a morning and afternoon
0:41:12 > 0:41:15by the light of the sun and the light of the moon
0:41:15 > 0:41:19till he heard a familiar song...
0:41:19 > 0:41:22# Just me and the old guitar
0:41:22 > 0:41:26# If I had a cat I'd be happier far
0:41:26 > 0:41:29# Just me and the old guitar
0:41:29 > 0:41:33# With my cat I'd be happier far. #
0:41:33 > 0:41:39"It's Tabby McTat! It's my old long-lost cat!"
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Old Fred was ecstatically glad.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Then the two of them sang of this and that
0:41:44 > 0:41:48and the people threw coins in the new checked hat,
0:41:48 > 0:41:50but why did McTat feel sad?
0:41:50 > 0:41:54He was missing his wife and his comfortable life
0:41:54 > 0:41:56and the dozens of things to do
0:41:56 > 0:41:59like washing Prunella and pouncing on Pat
0:41:59 > 0:42:01and hiding the car keys under the mat
0:42:01 > 0:42:04and keeping the newspapers nice and flat
0:42:04 > 0:42:07and giving the pens an occasional bat
0:42:07 > 0:42:09but how could he tell the busker that?
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Then out from a shadow sprang Samuel Spratt,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17"Oh, please let me be the busker's cat,"
0:42:17 > 0:42:20he said with a deafening mew!
0:42:20 > 0:42:24Now Samuel Spratt IS the busker's cat
0:42:24 > 0:42:27with a miaow that is loud and strong.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29The two of them sing of this and that
0:42:29 > 0:42:32though Samuel sings just a little bit flat
0:42:32 > 0:42:36and the people throw coins in the old checked hat
0:42:36 > 0:42:38and this is their favourite song...
0:42:38 > 0:42:41# Me, you and the old guitar
0:42:41 > 0:42:44# How perfectly, perfectly happy we are
0:42:44 > 0:42:47# Meee-you and the old guitar
0:42:47 > 0:42:51# How purr-fectly happy we are! #
0:42:51 > 0:42:56And that story was called Tabby McTat.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58So, that's where Samuel is,
0:42:58 > 0:43:00he's off singing with Fred.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03I wonder where they're busking tonight.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08I'm going to tell the other cats about Samuel and Tabby's adventures
0:43:08 > 0:43:12and while I do, it's time for you to go to bed.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15I'll see you soon for another story.
0:43:15 > 0:43:16Night, night.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:19 > 0:43:22E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk