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This song is available Joyce Levine's "Read, Read, Read! Tales of the Singing Librarian"

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An old man and an old woman were very lonely,
because their children had all grown up and moved away.
The woman said to her husband,
"I'd like to get a cat to keep me company."
So the old man promised to go find her a nice little cat.

Once there was a couple,
Their children were all grown,
An old man and woman,
They were all alone.

The old woman said to
The old man one day,
She wanted a pussycat
With whom for to play.

She wanted a pretty cat
Furry and small,
Exactly what it looked like
She didn't care at all.

Spoken:
So the old man went up the hill and down the hill,
through the valley, and over the mountain.
Until he came to a hillside that was all covered with cats.

The old man he traveled
Far enough for that,
He came to a hillside
Covered all with cats.

There were cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere.
Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.

Whichever one shall I choose, thought the old man.

First he chose a white one,
She was very sweet.
Then he chose a black one
With little white feet.

Next he picked a gray one,
He was pretty too,
Then he chose a striped one
Like a tiger in the zoo.

First he picked this one,
Then he picked that,
And when he was finished
He had chosen every single cat.

How many cats did he choose?

Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.
Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere.

So the old man started going home,
and the cats followed him in a long, long line.
They went over the mountain, through the valley,
up the hill and down the hill.
Finally they came to the old couple's house,
where his wife was waiting.

His wife saw him coming,
She was very glad,
But when she saw the cats.
Well, she was pretty mad.

I asked for a nice cat,
Furry and small,
Exactly what it looked like
I didn't care at all.

But dear husband, you've brought me:

Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.
Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere.

"Why, dear husband, however will we feed them all?"
"You're right," said the husband.
"I made a mistake. But I have an idea.
Let's ask the cats to choose.
I'll ask them who's the prettiest."

The old man was sorry
For choosing all the cats,
He asked them who's the prettiest,
He asked them just like that.

"I am the prettiest!"
"No, it is me!"
"No, I am the prettiest!"
Never could it be.
They started to hiss,
They started to fight,
They started in the scratch
And they started in to bite.

The cats made so much noise that the old couple rushed into their house
and shut all the windows and locked the door.
They stayed in the house for a long, long time.
But finally they noticed that it had gotten very quiet.
When all of it was over,
The old couple feared
With all of the fighting
The cats had disappeared.

When they peeked out,
they saw only one tiny, homely, scrawny little kitten.

Why were you left here,
Why did you stay,
When all of the other cats
Chased themselves away?

"Well, I'm just a plain cat,"
The old couple heard,
"And when you asked who's pretty
I didn't say a word."

Well, they took her in the house
And they gave her some milk.
They brushed her fur
Till it was smooth as silk.

And when they were all finished
That plain old cat so small,
Compared with all the others -
She was the prettiest cat of all.

And they ought to know, because they've seen:

Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.
Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere.

Many thanks to Joyce Levine for permission to display these lyric excerpts.
© 2007 Joyce Levine. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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