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Speaker 1: Never want to miss a story. Please ask your parents

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Speaker 1: to subscribe. You can find us on Apple Podcasts or

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Speaker 1: wherever your parents listen to podcasts. And please, if you

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Speaker 1: love our stories, take a moment to leave us a review.

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Speaker 1: It may help others find our show. Thank you, hello friends,

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Speaker 1: and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. Solomon Owl listened to

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Speaker 1: Aunt Polly's advice and didn't eat for a whole week

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Speaker 1: while bumping into trees to try to get rid of

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Speaker 1: the wishbone. And now he is going back to see

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Speaker 1: if he is better. Aunt Polly checks him over and

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Speaker 1: he leaves very unhappy and very hungry. She tells him

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Speaker 1: he should not eat for another week, but he does

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Speaker 1: not listen to what she has to say. The Tale

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Speaker 1: of Solomon Owl, Part four, How do you feel now,

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Speaker 1: Aunt Pollywood Chuck, asked Solomon Owl when he had come

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Speaker 1: back to her house after a week's absence. No better,

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Speaker 1: he groaned. I still have pains, but they seem to

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Speaker 1: have moved and scattered all over me. Good, she exclaimed

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Speaker 1: with a smile. You are much better, though you didn't

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Speaker 1: know it. The wishbone is broken. You broke it by

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Speaker 1: flying again against the trees, and you ought not to

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Speaker 1: have any more trouble. But let me examine you, she said,

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Speaker 1: prodding him in the waistcoat once more. This is odd,

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Speaker 1: she continued a bit later. I can feel the wishbone

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Speaker 1: more plainly than ever. That's my own wishbone, Solomon cried, indignantly.

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Speaker 1: I've grown so thin from not eating that it's a

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Speaker 1: wonder you can't feel my backbone too, Aunt Polly Woodchuck

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Speaker 1: looks surprised. Perhaps you're right, she said, not having a

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Speaker 1: wishbone of my own. I forgot that you had one.

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Speaker 1: A look of disgust came over Solomon Owl's face. You

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Speaker 1: are a very poor doctor, he told her. Here you've

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Speaker 1: kept me from eating for a whole week, and I

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Speaker 1: don't believe it was necessary at all. Well you're better,

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Speaker 1: aren't you, she asked him. I will be as soon

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Speaker 1: as I have a good meal, replied Solomon Owl. Hopefully

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Speaker 1: you should not eat anything for another week. Aunt Polly

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Speaker 1: told him seriously, nonsense, he cried. I'm a doctor and

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Speaker 1: I know best, she insisted, But Solomon Owl hooted rudely.

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Speaker 1: I'll never come to you for advice any more, he declared.

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Speaker 1: I firmly believe that my whole trouble was simply that

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Speaker 1: I've been eating too little, and I will take care

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Speaker 1: to see that that doesn't happen again. No one had

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Speaker 1: ever spoken to Aunt Polly quite that way, though Old

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Speaker 1: mister Crow had complained one time that she had cured

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Speaker 1: him too quickly, But she did not lose her temper

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Speaker 1: in spite of Solomon's words. You'll be back here again

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Speaker 1: the next time you're ill, she remarked, and if you

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Speaker 1: continue to swallow your food whole. But Solomon Owl did

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Speaker 1: not even wait to hear what she said. He was

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Speaker 1: so impolite that he flew away while she was talking.

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Speaker 1: And since it was almost dark and a good time

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Speaker 1: to look for field mice, he began his night's hunting

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Speaker 1: right there in Farmer Green's pasture. By morning, Solomon was

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Speaker 1: so plump that Aunt Polly Woodchuck would have had a

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Speaker 1: good deal of trouble finding his wishbone. But since he

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Speaker 1: did not visit her again, she had no further chance

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Speaker 1: to prod him in the waistcoat. Afterward, Solomon heard a

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Speaker 1: bit of gossip that annoyed him. A friend of his

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Speaker 1: reported that Aunt Polly Woodchuck was going around telling everyone

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Speaker 1: how had saved Solomon's life mice, he exclaimed. He often

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Speaker 1: said that when someone would have said rats, there's not

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Speaker 1: a word of truth in her claim. And if people

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Speaker 1: in this neighborhood keep on taking her advice and her

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Speaker 1: cat nipped tea, they're going to be sorry someday, for

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Speaker 1: they'll be really ill the first thing they know, and

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Speaker 1: then what will they do. Solomon Owl was by no

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Speaker 1: means the only night prowler and pleasant valley. He had

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Speaker 1: neighbors that chose to sleep in the daytime so they

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Speaker 1: might roam through the woods and fields after dark. One

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Speaker 1: of these was Benjamin Bat, and also he was the

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Speaker 1: color of night itself. Now, Benjamin Bat was an odd fellow.

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Speaker 1: When he was still, he liked to hang by his

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Speaker 1: feet upside down, and when he was flying he sailed

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Speaker 1: about in a zigzag, careless fashion. He went in so

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Speaker 1: many different directions, turning this way and that one could

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Speaker 1: never tell where he was going. One might say that

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Speaker 1: his life was just one continual dodge. When he wasn't

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Speaker 1: resting with his heels where his head ought to be

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Speaker 1: a good Many of Benjamin Bats's friends said he certainly

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Speaker 1: must be crazy because he didn't do as they did,

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Speaker 1: but that never made the slightest difference in Benjamin Bat's habits.

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Speaker 1: He continued to zigzag through life and hang by his

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Speaker 1: heels just the same. Perhaps he thought that all the

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Speaker 1: other people were crazy because they didn't do likewise. Benjamin

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Speaker 1: often dodged across Solomon Owl's path when Solomon was hunting

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Speaker 1: for field mice, and since men, Benjamin was the least

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Speaker 1: bit like a mouse himself except for his wings. There

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Speaker 1: was a time once when Solomon tried to catch him,

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Speaker 1: but Solomon Owl soon found that chasing Benjamin Bat made

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Speaker 1: him dizzy. If Benjamin Bat hadn't been used to hanging

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Speaker 1: head downward, maybe he would have been dizzy too. Though

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Speaker 1: the two often saw each other, Benjamin Bat never seemed

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Speaker 1: to care to stop for a chat with Solomon Owl.

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Speaker 1: One night, however, Benjamin actually called to Solomon and asked

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Speaker 1: for his advice. He was in trouble, and he knew

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Speaker 1: that Solomon Owl was thought by some to be the

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Speaker 1: wisest old fellow for miles around. It was almost morning,

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Speaker 1: and Solomon Owl was hurrying home because a terrible storm

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Speaker 1: had started. The lightning was flashing, and heels of thunder

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Speaker 1: crashed through the woods. Big drops of rain were already

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Speaker 1: pattering down, but Solomon Owl did not care, for he

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Speaker 1: had almost reached his house in the hollow hemlock near

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Speaker 1: the foot of Blue Mountain. It was different with Benjamin

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Speaker 1: Bat that night. He had strayed a long distance from

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Speaker 1: his home in Cedar Swamp, and he didn't know what

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Speaker 1: to do. I want to get undercover somewhere, he told

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl. You don't know of a good place nearby?

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Speaker 1: Do you where I can get out of the storm

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Speaker 1: and take a nap? Why? Yes, answered Solomon Owl. Come

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Speaker 1: right along to my house and spend the day with me.

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Speaker 1: But Benjamin Bat did not like that suggestion at all.

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Speaker 1: I'm afraid I might crowd you, he said. He was

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Speaker 1: thinking of the time when Solomon Owl had chased him,

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Speaker 1: and sleeping in Solomon Owl's house seemed far from a

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Speaker 1: safe thing to do. Solomon was wise enough to guess

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Speaker 1: what was going on inside Benjamin's head. Come along, he said,

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Speaker 1: we'll both be asleep before we know it. I'm sorry

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Speaker 1: I can't offer you something to eat, but I don't

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Speaker 1: have a morsel of food in my house, no doubt,

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Speaker 1: though you've just had a good meal I ate seven

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Speaker 1: mice tonight, and I certainly couldn't eat anything more. When

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl told him that, Benjamin Bat thought perhaps there

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Speaker 1: was no danger after all, and since the rain was

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Speaker 1: falling harder and harder every moment, he thanked Solomon and

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Speaker 1: said he would be glad to accept his invitation. Follow me, then,

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Speaker 1: said Solomon Owl, and he led the way to his

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Speaker 1: home in the hemlock. For once, Benjamin and Bat flew

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Speaker 1: in a fairly straight line, though he did a little

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Speaker 1: dodging because he couldn't help it. There was more room

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Speaker 1: inside Solomon's house than Benjamin Bat had supposed. While Benjamin

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Speaker 1: was looking around and telling Solomon that he had a

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Speaker 1: fine home, his host quickly made a bed of leaves

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Speaker 1: in one corner of the room. There was only one room,

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Speaker 1: of course, that's for you, said Solomon Owl. I always

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Speaker 1: sleep on the other side of the house, And without

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Speaker 1: waiting even to make sure his guest was comfortable, Solomon

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Speaker 1: Owl lay down and began to snore, for he was

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Speaker 1: very sleepy. It was so cozy there that Benjamin Bat

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Speaker 1: was glad already that he had accepted Solomon's invitation. In

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Speaker 1: the middle of the day, Solomon Owl happened to wake up.

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Speaker 1: He was sorry that he hadn't slept until sunset because

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Speaker 1: he was very hungry. Knowing that it was light outside

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Speaker 1: his hollow tree, he didn't want to leave home to

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Speaker 1: find something to eat. Then suddenly he remembered that he

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Speaker 1: had brought Benjamin Bat to his house early that morning

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Speaker 1: so Benjamin might escape the storm. Why not eat Benjamin Bat?

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Speaker 1: As soon as the thought occurred to him, Solomon Owl

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Speaker 1: liked it, and he moved quietly over to the bed

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Speaker 1: of leaves he had made for his guest just before daybreak.

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Speaker 1: But Benjamin Bat was not there. Though Solomon looked in

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Speaker 1: every nook and cranny of his one room house, he

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Speaker 1: did not find him. He must have left as soon

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Speaker 1: as it stopped raining, said Solomon Owl to himself. He

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Speaker 1: might at least have waited to thank me for giving

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Speaker 1: him a day's lodging. It's the last time I'll ever

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Speaker 1: bring him into my house, and I ought to have

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Speaker 1: known better than to have anything to do with a

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Speaker 1: crazy person like Benjamin Bat. Anybody can see that Solomon

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Speaker 1: Owl was not happy, but it was not at all

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Speaker 1: surprising if one stops to remember how hungry he was

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Speaker 1: and that he had expected to enjoy a good meal

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Speaker 1: without the trouble of going away from home to get it.

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl went to the door of his house and

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Speaker 1: looked out. The sun was shining so brightly that after

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Speaker 1: blinking in his doorway for a few minutes, he decided

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Speaker 1: that he would go to bed again and try to

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Speaker 1: sleep until dusk. He never liked bright days, They're so dismal,

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Speaker 1: he used to say. Give me a good dark night,

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Speaker 1: and I'm happy, for there's nothing more cheering than gloom.

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Speaker 1: The right of the hunger pangs that nod inside him.

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Speaker 1: Solomon at last succeeded in falling asleep once more, and

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Speaker 1: he dreamed that he chased Benjamin Bat three times around

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Speaker 1: Blue Mountain, and then three times back again in the

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Speaker 1: opposite direction, But he could never catch him because Benjamin

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Speaker 1: Bat simply wouldn't fly straight. His zigzag course was so

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Speaker 1: confusing that even in his dream Solomon Owl grew dizzy. Now,

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Speaker 1: Benjamin Bat was in Solomon's house all the time, and

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Speaker 1: the reason why Solomon Owl hadn't found him was a

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Speaker 1: very simple one. It was merely that Solomon hadn't looked

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Speaker 1: in the right place. Benjamin Bat was hidden, as you

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Speaker 1: might say, where his hungry host never once thought to

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Speaker 1: look for him, and being asleep all the while, Benjamin

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Speaker 1: didn't once move or make the slightest noise. If he

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Speaker 1: had snored or sneezed or rustled his wings, no doubt

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Speaker 1: Solomon Owl would have found him. When Benjamin awoke late

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Speaker 1: in the afternoon, Solomon was still sleeping, and Benjamin crept

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Speaker 1: through the door and went out into the gathering twilight

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Speaker 1: without waking Solomon. I'll thank him the next time I

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Speaker 1: meet him, Benjamin Bat decided, and he staggered away through

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Speaker 1: the air, as if he did not quite know himself

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Speaker 1: where he was going. But of course that was only

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Speaker 1: his strange way of flying. When he told his friends

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Speaker 1: where he had spent the day, they were astonished. How

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Speaker 1: did you ever dare do anything so dangerous as sleeping

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Speaker 1: in Solomon Owl's house, they all asked him, But Benjamin

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Speaker 1: Bat only said, oh, there was nothing to be afraid of,

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Speaker 1: and he began to feel quite important. And that is

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Speaker 1: the end of this part. Good Night, sleep tight,