Mama Paws was preparing the evening meal and it was mouth-watering. Sage, thyme, mint and onions had all been finely chopped up and placed into a casserole dish to garnish the meat and potatoes. She added a knob of butter for good measure. Now dinner wouldn't be ready for some time and Mama knew that very soon two hungry cubs would be home from school. So while Papa Paws stoked the stove with logs, Mama made a bowl of steaming hot rice with sultanas and plenty of sugar and a generous topping of honey.

Sure enough they were ravenous and the contents of the bowls soon disappeared. Old Duchess had hoped for a spoonful or two in her dish but it didn't materialise. Sourpuss just watched the proceedings from her cosy cushion, secure in the certainty that she would get her saucer of cream after dessert.

'So how was school today, Padders?' asked old Papa.

Enthusiastic as ever, he declared, 'Great!' and went on to tell of all the interesting things he had learned. 'Best of all, Papa, was geography. The teacher taught us all about London, the capital of England. She showed us pictures of interesting buildings and of Big Ben and Great Tom.'

''Big Ben and Great Tom?' repeated Puff. 'What are they? Sounds like a big dog and cat.'

But she was wrong and Padders corrected her. 'Big Ben and Great Tom are the names of two large bells. Big Ben is the bell which hangs in the tower of the Houses of Parliament and it has a deep rich tone. It is famous because it is heard over the radio and television throughout the year. Several years ago, however, Big Ben had to be cleaned and overhauled and another famous bell was heard.

'Great Tom,' suggested Puff.

'Yes, and it is high up in St. Paul's Cathedral. It is the oldest bell, but much lighter than Big Ben.' Padders loved to tell of his knowledge! 'Papa do you know how heavy Big Ben is?'

'No, I don't know, Padders,' he had to admit.

'Guess!' exclaimed Padders.

'No, I haven't a clue.'

'Well, it's thirteen and a half tonnes while Great Tom is only four and a half tonnes.'

'That's a lot of information you have retained today,' said Papa. 'But did you know another interesting thing about those bells? You know that Big Ben belongs to the realm of politics- the Houses of Parliament - and Great Tom belongs to St Paul's Cathedral, but did you know that it is the chimes of Big Ben that are set to very interesting words.' He got Padders to act the chimes of the bell and as he chimed, Papa paws said the words.

All through this hour,
Lord be my guide,
And by Thy power
No foot shall slide.'


'So every time you hear Big Ben you shall be reminded that God is our guide through every hour of the day and night,' he added.

'Well Puff, how was your day?'

'Dismal!' she declared in no uncertain terms. 'We had double maths!' Puff as you can guess disliked maths! 'Worse than that the teacher brought me to the blackboard to do sums in front of the whole class and I couldn't do them and everyone laughed and I felt awful. I hate that teacher. I hate my class. I hate maths, and even worse I have Maths for homework!'

Well old Papa was always stern but considerate too and he sat at the table beside her as she produced her jotter and text book.

'So what have we got tonight?'

'Everything. Adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplication!' She just couldn't get the hang of multiplication. So Papa Paws spent time teaching her the tables and explaining and giving examples of how it worked. Dinner was almost ready when the penny dropped with Puff and she began to grasp the logic of it all. She felt so good as Papa would say 'four times eight' and she would say 'thirty-two!' Then old Papa said that there was a multiplication sum in the Bible too. It was found in the book of Matthew. 'Peter came up to Jesus and asked Him a question, "Lord how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me?" Up to seven times, he suggests. But Jesus answered him - "I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven."

Puff worked it out correctly - 'Four hundred and ninety times,' she said!

Papa Paws explained to her that Jesus chose this high number simply to show us that we should always forgive others. 'He doesn't mean we should count to four hundred and eighty nine and then say, one more and youv'e had it! No, the Bible says that we should not keep a record of the wrong things done against us. Peter thought he was showing great faith and love when he offered to forgive at least seven times, but Jesus taught to go on forgiving everyone because that's the way it should be.

Well, Puff's conscience was stirring and she knew there was a message in that multiplication sum for her. Just that very night she had declared that she hated her teacher and her classmates. She didn't really hate them - she was just annoyed at them. Now she realised she should forgive them and speak words of love.

Once she had made that decision she felt much brighter and cheerful herself. Not only could she multiply but she could also forgive. Padders too was in a jolly mood and was chiming away as dinner was served!