A story about a boy in medieval times whose parents both die and he is left to be an orphan to fend for himself. He endures many hardships including a cook who beats him and treats him with much disrespect, and Whittington also has to sleep in a room with rats who crawl on him at night. He purchases a cat named Puss for a penny to help with the rat problem, but then has to send his cat on a trade ship.

A Moorish king with an abundance of rats ends up with Whittington's cat, and after the cat does a fine job for the King, Whittington receives a treasure. The story is based on a legend about a real person named Dick Whittington who was mayor of London in the early 1400's.