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Speaker 1: Hello, friends, and welcome to sleep tight stories. Solomon has

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Speaker 1: finished trying to settle other people's problems after having trouble

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Speaker 1: with Jasper Jay and mister Crow. Simon, his smaller cousin,

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Speaker 1: and Solomon, both love to eat. When they decide to

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Speaker 1: go hunting together, things don't work out quite as Solomon hoped,

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Speaker 1: so they try to come to some sort of an agreement,

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Speaker 1: but in the end, Simon does not get the best

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Speaker 1: part of the deal. The Tale of Solomon Part six.

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl had a small cousin named Simon Screecher. He

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Speaker 1: was unlike Solomon in some respects because he always wore

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Speaker 1: ear tufts and his eyes were yellow instead of black.

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Speaker 1: But in some other ways he was no different from

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl, for he was a noisy chap and dearly

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Speaker 1: loved mice to eat. It happened that the two met

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Speaker 1: in the woods one fine fall evening, and they agreed

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Speaker 1: to go hunting mice together. Now being so much smaller

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Speaker 1: than Solomon, Simon's Screecher was all the sprier. In fact,

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Speaker 1: he was so active that he could catch mice faster

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Speaker 1: than Solomon Owl could capture them. And they had not

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Speaker 1: hunted long before Solomon discovered that Simon had succeeded in

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Speaker 1: disposing of six mice to his three. That discovery did

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Speaker 1: not please Solomon at all. Look here, he said, since

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Speaker 1: we are hunting together, it's only fair to divide what

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Speaker 1: we catch half and half. Simon's screecher hesitated, but after

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Speaker 1: reflecting that his cousin was very big and very strong,

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Speaker 1: he agreed to Solomon's suggestion. So they resumed their hunting,

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Speaker 1: and every time one of them caught two mice, he

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Speaker 1: gave one mouse to his cousin. Still, Solomon Owl was

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Speaker 1: not satisfied. Wait a moment, Solomon called to Simon's screecher,

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Speaker 1: it has just occurred to me that I am more

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Speaker 1: than twice as big as you are, so I ought

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Speaker 1: to have twice as many mice as you. This time,

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Speaker 1: Simon's screecher hesitated longer. He did not like the second

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Speaker 1: suggestion anymore than he did the first, and in the

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Speaker 1: end he said as much too, But Solomon Owl insisted

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Speaker 1: that it was only fair. You surely ought to be

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Speaker 1: glad to please your own cousin, he told Simon. It's

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Speaker 1: not that, said Simon screecher. It seems to me that

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Speaker 1: since I am not half your size. I ought to

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Speaker 1: have twice as many mice to eat, so i'll grow bigger. Well,

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Speaker 1: Solomon owl hadn't thought of that. He was puzzled to

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Speaker 1: know what to say, and he wanted time to think.

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Speaker 1: I'll think over what you say, he told Simon's creecher.

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Speaker 1: And now, since it's almost dawn, we'd better not hunt

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Speaker 1: any longer tonight. But i'll meet you again at dusk

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Speaker 1: if you come to my house very well, cousin Solomon,

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Speaker 1: Simon answered, I'm sure that after you've had a good sleep,

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Speaker 1: you will be ready to agree with me. If that's

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Speaker 1: the case, I may not take any nap at all.

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Speaker 1: Solomon replied, Oh, you ought to have your rest. His

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Speaker 1: cousin exclaimed Simon knew that if Solomon went all day

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Speaker 1: without sleep, he would be very irritable by nightfall. Well,

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Speaker 1: I'll try to get forty winks, Solomon promised. But I

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Speaker 1: don't believe I can get more than that, because I

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Speaker 1: have so much on my mind that I'm sure to

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Speaker 1: be restless. Simon's screecher was somewhat worried as they parted,

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Speaker 1: his wailing tremulous whistle, which floated through the shadowy woods

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Speaker 1: showed that he was far from happy. It proved to

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Speaker 1: be just as Solomon Owl had told his cousin, Simon's Screecher.

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Speaker 1: Solomon had so much on his mind that he had

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Speaker 1: no sooner fallen asleep than he awoke again to study

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Speaker 1: over the question that perplexed him. He certainly did not

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Speaker 1: want Simon to have twice as many mice as he did,

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Speaker 1: but Simon's argument was a good one. He had said

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Speaker 1: that since Solomon was more than twice his size, it

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Speaker 1: was only fair that he should have a chance to grow.

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Speaker 1: And everyone knew, Solomon reflected, everybody knew that eating made

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Speaker 1: one larger. The longer Solomon thought, the farther he seemed

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Speaker 1: from any answer that he liked, and he had begun

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Speaker 1: to fear that he would not succeed in getting more

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Speaker 1: than thirty nine winks all day instead of forty. When

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Speaker 1: all at once an idea came into his mind, Solomon

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Speaker 1: knew right away that he had nothing more to worry about.

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Speaker 1: He dropped into a sound sleep with a pleasant smile

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Speaker 1: upon his usually serious face, and when he opened his

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Speaker 1: eyes again, it was time for Simon's Screecher to arrive. Yes,

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Speaker 1: Solomon could hear his cousin's whistle even then, so we

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Speaker 1: hurried to his door, and there was Simon sitting on

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Speaker 1: a limb of the big hemlock, waiting for him. It's

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Speaker 1: all right, said Solomon to his cousin. I agree to

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Speaker 1: your suggestion. We'll hunt together again tonight, and if you

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Speaker 1: will give me one third of all the mice you catch,

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Speaker 1: I promise to give you two thirds of all the

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Speaker 1: mice I catch. Good, said Simon's screecher, and he looked

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Speaker 1: vastly relieved. Just hoot when you have any mice for me.

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Speaker 1: Whistle when you have any for me, Solomon Owl replied,

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Speaker 1: and at that they started out for their night's sport.

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Speaker 1: It was not long before Simon's screecher's well known whistle

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Speaker 1: brought Solomon hurrying to him. Simon already had three mice,

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Speaker 1: one of which he gave to Solomon according to their agreement.

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Speaker 1: The same thing happened several times, until at last Simon's

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Speaker 1: screecher began to grumble. What's the matter, he asked his cousin.

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Speaker 1: You are not hooting as you promised you would, but

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Speaker 1: I haven't caught any mice, Solomon Owl replied, again and

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Speaker 1: again and again. Simon's call someon Solomon, but not once

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Speaker 1: did Solomon's call Simon, And all the time Simon's screecher

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Speaker 1: grew more discontented. Toward the end of the night, he

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Speaker 1: declared flatly that he wasn't going to hunt anymore with

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Speaker 1: his cousin. I've done exactly as I agreed, Solomon Owl protested,

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Speaker 1: You're altogether too slow and clumsy. Simon's screecher told him bluntly,

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Speaker 1: if I'm going to hunt with anybody after this, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to choose someone that's as spry as me. There's

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Speaker 1: no sense in my working for you here. I've worked

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Speaker 1: hard all night long, and I'm still hungry, for I've

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Speaker 1: given you a third of my food. They parted, then

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Speaker 1: a none too pleasantly in Simon's whistle. As he flew

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Speaker 1: away toward his home, there was unmistakable anger, but solomon

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Speaker 1: owls answering hoots, while they were not exactly sweet, seemed

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Speaker 1: to carry more than a hint of laughter. One would

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Speaker 1: naturally think that Solo might have been even hungrier than

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Speaker 1: his small cousin, but it was not so. He had

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Speaker 1: had more to eat than usual, for he had been

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Speaker 1: very busy catching locusts and katy DIDs and frogs too.

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl had not tried to catch a single mouse

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Speaker 1: that night. You know now the idea that had come

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Speaker 1: to him while he was lying awake in his house

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Speaker 1: during the daytime. He had made up his mind that

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Speaker 1: he would not hunt for mice, and since he had

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Speaker 1: not promised Simon to give him anything else, there was

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Speaker 1: no reason why he should not eat all the frogs

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Speaker 1: and katy DIDs and locusts he could find. Perhaps it

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Speaker 1: was not surprising that Simon's screecher never guessed the truth,

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Speaker 1: but he seemed to know that there was something strange

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Speaker 1: about that night's hunting, for he never came to Solomon

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Speaker 1: Owl's house again. It was winter, and for several days

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Speaker 1: a strong south wind had swept up Pleasant Valley that,

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Speaker 1: as Solomon Owl knew very well, meant a thaw was coming.

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Speaker 1: He was not sorry, because the weather had been bitterly cold. Well,

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Speaker 1: the thaw came, and the weather grew so warm that

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl could stay out all night without once feeling chilled.

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Speaker 1: He found the change so agreeable that he strayed farther

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Speaker 1: from home than was his custom. Indeed, he was far

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Speaker 1: away on the other side of Blue Mountain at midnight

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Speaker 1: when it began to rain. Now that was not quite

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Speaker 1: so pleasant, but still Solomon Owl did not mind too much.

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Speaker 1: It was not until later that he began to feel

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Speaker 1: alarmed when he noticed that flying did not seem as

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Speaker 1: easy as usual. Solomon had grown heavy all at once,

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Speaker 1: and goodness knows it was not because he had overeaten,

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Speaker 1: for food was scarce at that season of the year. Moreover,

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Speaker 1: Solomon's wings were strangely stiff. When he moved them, they cracked.

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Speaker 1: It must be my joints, he said to himself, I'm

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Speaker 1: afraid this wetting has given me rheumatism. So he started

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Speaker 1: home at once, though it was only midnight. But the

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Speaker 1: further he went, the worst he felt, and the harder

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Speaker 1: it was to fly. I'll have to rest for a while,

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Speaker 1: he said to himself. At last, so he landed on

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Speaker 1: a limb, for he was more tired than he had

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Speaker 1: ever been in all his life. But he soon felt

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Speaker 1: so much better that he was ready to start on again.

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Speaker 1: And then, to his dismay, Solomon Owl found that he

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Speaker 1: could hardly stir the moment he left his perch. He

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Speaker 1: floundered down upon the ground, and though he tried his hardest,

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Speaker 1: he couldn't reach the tree again. The rain was still

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Speaker 1: beating down steadily, and Solomon began to think it was

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Speaker 1: a bad night to be out. What was worse, the

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Speaker 1: weather was quickly turning cold. I'm afraid I'll have to

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Speaker 1: stay in bed a week after this, he groaned. If

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Speaker 1: I sit here very long as wet as I am,

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Speaker 1: while the thaw turns into a freeze, I will certainly

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Speaker 1: be ill. Now. If it hadn't been for the rain,

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl would have had no trouble at all. Or

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Speaker 1: if it hadn't been for the freezing cold, he would

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Speaker 1: have been in no difficulty, though he didn't know it.

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Speaker 1: His trouble was simply this. The rain froze upon him

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Speaker 1: as fast as it fell, covering him with a coating

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Speaker 1: of ice. It was no wonder that he felt strangely heavy,

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Speaker 1: no wonder that he couldn't fly. There he crouched on

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Speaker 1: the ground while the rain and sleet beat upon him,

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Speaker 1: and the only comforting thought that entered his head was

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Speaker 1: that on so stormy a night, Tommy Fox and Fatty

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Speaker 1: Raccoon would be snug and warm in their beds. They

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Speaker 1: wouldn't go out in such weather, and Solomon Owl wished

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Speaker 1: that he too, had stayed at home that night. From

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Speaker 1: midnight until almost dawn, Solomon Owl sat there now and

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Speaker 1: then he tried to fly, but it was no use.

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Speaker 1: He could scarcely raise himself off the ground. At last,

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Speaker 1: he decided he would have to walk home. Fortunately, a

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Speaker 1: hard crust covered the soft snow, so Solomon started off

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Speaker 1: on his long journey. Lying. Solomon could have covered the

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Speaker 1: distance in a few minutes, but he was a slow walker.

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Speaker 1: By the time he reached his home among the hemlocks,

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Speaker 1: the sun was shining brightly, for the rain had stopped

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Speaker 1: before daybreak. Solomon wondered how he would ever succeed in

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Speaker 1: reaching his doorway. High up in the hollow tree, he

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Speaker 1: gazed helplessly upward, and as he sat there sadly, the

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Speaker 1: bright sunshine melted the ice that covered his wings. After

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Speaker 1: a time, he discovered that he could move freely once more,

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Speaker 1: and then he rose quickly in the air, and in

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Speaker 1: a twinkling he had disappeared into the darkness of his home,

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Speaker 1: that darkness which to him was always so pleasant. And

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Speaker 1: that is the end of this part good night, sleep tight,