it was a judge of knots because it had a habit of tying up unfortunate blue - bottles . it did not offer to assist him . tom kitten wriggled and squirmed until he was quite exhausted . presently the rats came back and set to work to make him into a dumpling . first they smeared him with butter , and then they rolled him in the dough . " will not the string be very indigestible , anna maria ? " inquired samuel whiskers . anna maria said she thought that it was of no consequence ; but she wished that tom kitten would hold his head still , as it disarranged the pastry . she laid hold of his ears . tom kitten bit and spat , and mewed and wriggled ; and the rolling - pin went roly - poly , roly ; roly , poly , roly . the rats each held an end . " his tail is sticking out ! you did not fetch enough dough , anna maria . " " i fetched as much as i could carry , " replied anna maria . " i do not think"--said samuel whiskers , pausing to take a look at tom kitten--"i do not think it will be a good pudding . it smells sooty . "
a dumpling .
what did the rats want to make out of tom kitten ?
what did the rats want to make out of tom kitten ?