# Simpkin — Short Fiction character guide

> Simpkin in Short Fiction by Beatrix Potter.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0002-the-tailor-of-gloucester

## Snapshot

A cat who hisses at his master's outstretched hand, then creeps into the snowy street and returns with the red silk that saves the tailor's coat.

## Who they are

Simpkin lives with the tailor of Gloucester, holds the teapot, and sulks when the old man frees the mice he had trapped. His resentment curdles into a small cruelty: he hides the twist of silk the tailor needs to finish the mayor's wedding coat. Yet he is the one who follows the tailor through the snow and back to the shop, where the finished coat and the note reading 'No more twist' reveal what the mice have done. His jealousy and his loyalty pull against each other, and the story turns on which wins.

## In the story

### [The Tailor of Gloucester](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/chapters/the-tailor-of-gloucester)

The tailor's cat, who is sent to buy supplies and later hunts for mice, but is locked out of the shop.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/characters/simpkin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_7_se/characters