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Hello, friends, and welcome to Sleep Tight Stories. For extra
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bedtime stories, mindfulness activities, and sound and music for sleep,
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please consider subscribing to Sleep Tight Premium. Visit sleeptightpremium.com to
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start a free trial. Thank you. I'd like to say
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a great big happy birthday wish to Oliver and Rosemary,
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who are turning six years old. Happy birthday to you.
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I hope you have a very special day. Today's story
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is about Spotty the turtle and the other animals that
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live in or around the green meadows and the smiling pool.
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Some of the animals are arguing about who is fastest,
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so they decide to have a race, as that is
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the only true way to see who is the fastest.
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Peter Rabbit, Reddy Fox, and Billy Mink are all ready
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to start their race, when they see Spotty the turtle
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and ask him if he would like to join the race.
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Spotty thinks, why not? And off they go. Let's see
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who will win the race. Spotty the turtle wins a race.
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All the little people who live on the green meadows
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and in the smiling pool and along the laughing brook
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were to have a holiday. The merry little breezes of
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old Mother West Wind had been very busy. Oh, very
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busy indeed in sending word to all the little meadow folks.
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You see, Peter Rabbit had been boasting. of how fast
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he could run. Reddy Fox was quite sure that he
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could run faster than Peter Rabbit. Billy Mink, who can
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move so quickly you can hardly see him, was quite
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sure that neither Peter Rabbit nor Reddy Fox could run
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as fast as he could. They all met one day
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beside the smiling pool and agreed. that old Grandfather Frog
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should decide who was the swiftest. Now Grandfather Frog was
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considered very wise. You see, he had lived a long time. Oh,
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very much longer than all of the others. And therefore,
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because of the wisdom of age, Grandfather Frog was always
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called on to decide all disputes. He sat on his
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green lily pad while Billy Mink sat on the big
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rock and Peter Rabbit and Reddy Fox sat on the bank. Each,
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in turn, told why he thought he was the fastest.
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Old Grandfather Frog listened and listened and said never a
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word until they were all through. When they had finished,
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he stopped to catch a silly green fly, and then
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he said, The best way to decide who is the
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swiftest is to have a race. So it was agreed
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that Peter Rabbit and Reddy Fox and Billy Mink should
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start together from the old butternut tree on one edge
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of the green meadows, race away across the green meadows
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to the little hill on the other side, and each
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bring back a nut from the big hickory which grew there.
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The one who first reached the old butternut tree with
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a hickory nut would be declared the winner. The little
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merry breezes flew about over the green meadows telling everyone
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about the race and everyone planned to be there. It
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was a beautiful summer day. Mr. Sun smiled and smiled,
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and the more he smiled, the warmer it grew. Everyone
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was there to see the race. Striped Chipmunk, Happy Jack Squirrel,
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Sammy Jay, Blackie the Crow, Hootie the Owl, and Bobby
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all sat up in the old butternut tree, where it
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was cool and shady. Johnny Chuck, Jerry Muskrat, Jimmy Skunk,
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Little Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog, and even Old Mr. Toad
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were there. Last of all came Spotty the Turtle. Now,
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Spotty the Turtle is a very slow walker, and he
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cannot run at all. When Peter Rabbit saw him coming
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up towards the old butternut tree, he shouted, Come, Spotty,
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don't you want to race with us? Everybody laughed because,
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you know, Spotty is so very, very slow. But Spotty
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didn't laugh, and he didn't get angry because everyone else laughed.
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There is a wise old saying, Peter Rabbit, said Spotty
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the Turtle, which shows that those who run fastest do
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not always reach a place first. I think I will
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enter this race.
Load full transcript
Everyone thought that that was the best
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joke they had heard for a long time, and all
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laughed harder than ever. They all agreed that Spotty the
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Turtle should start in the race, too. So they all
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stood in a row. Peter Rabbit first, then Billy Mink,
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then Ready Fox, and at the right side of Ready Fox,
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Spotty the Turtle. Are you ready? asked Grandfather Frog. Go! Go!
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Away went Peter Rabbit with great big jumps. After him
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went Billy Mink, so fast that there was just a
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little brown streak going through the tall grass, and side
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by side with him ran Reddy Fox. Now, just as
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they started, Spotty the Turtle reached up and grabbed the
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long hair at the end of Reddy's big tail. Of course,
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Reddy couldn't have stopped to shake him off because Peter
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Rabbit and Billy Mink were running so fast that he
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had to run his very best to keep up with them.
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But he didn't even know that Spotty the turtle was there.
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You see, Spotty is not very heavy and Reddy Fox
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was so excited that he did not notice that his
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big tail was heavier than usual. The merry little breezes
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flew along too to see that the race was fair.
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Peter Rabbit went with great big jumps. Whenever he came
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to a little bush, he jumped right over it, where
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Peter Rabbit's legs are long and meant for jumping. Billy
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Mink is so slim that he slipped between the bushes
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and through the long grass like a little brown streak.
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Reddy Fox, who is bigger than either Peter Rabbit or
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Billy Mink, had no trouble in keeping up with them.
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Not one of them noticed that Spotty the Turtle was
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hanging fast to the end of Reddy's tail. Now, just
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at the foot of the little hill on which the
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big hickory tree grew was a little pond. It wasn't
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very wide, but it was quite long. Billy Mink remembered
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this pond, and he chuckled to himself as he raced along,
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for he knew that Peter Rabbit couldn't swim, and he
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knew that Reddy Fox doesn't like the water. So therefore,
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Both would have to run around it. He himself can
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swim even faster than he can run. The more he
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thought of this, the more silly it seemed that he
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should hurry so on such a warm day. Or, said
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Billy Mink to himself, even if they reach the pond first,
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they will have to run around it while I can
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swim across it and cool off while I am swimming.
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I will surely get there first. So Billy Mink ran
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slower and slower, and pretty soon he had dropped behind. Mr. Sun,
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round and red, looking down, smiled and smiled to see
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the race. The more he smiled, the warmer it grew.
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Now Eater Rabbit had a thick gray coat and Reddy
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Fox had a thick red coat and they both began
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to get very, very warm. Eater Rabbit did not make
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such long jumps as when he first started. Reddy Fox
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began to feel very thirsty and his tongue hung out.
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Now that Billy Mink was behind them They thought they
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did not need to hurry so much. Eater Rabbit reached
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the little pond first. He had not thought of the
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pond when he agreed to enter the race. He stopped
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right on the edge of it and sat up on
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his hind legs. Right across, he could see the big
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hickory tree, so near. And yet so far. For he
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knew that he must run around the pond, then back again.
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And it was a long, long way. In just a moment,
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Reddy Fox ran out of the bushes. And Reddy felt
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much as Peter Rabbit did. Way, way behind them was
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Billy Mink. trotting along comfortably and chuckling to himself. Eater
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Rabbit looked at Reddy Fox in dismay, and Reddy Fox
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looked at Peter Rabbit in dismay. Then they both looked
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at Billy Mink and remembered that Billy Mink could swim
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right across. Then Off Peter Rabbit started as fast as
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he could go around the pond one way, and Reddy
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Fox started around the pond the other way. They were
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so excited that
neither noticed a little splash in the pond.
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That was Spotty the Turtle, who had let go of
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Reddy's tail and now was swimming across the pond. for
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you know that Spotty is a splendid swimmer. Only once
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or twice he stuck his little black nose up to
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get some air. The rest of the time he swam underwater,
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and no one but the merry little breezes saw him.
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Right across he swam and climbed up the bank right
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under the big hickory tree. Now there were just three
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nuts left under the hickory trees. Two of these Spotty
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took down to the edge of the pond and buried
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in the mud. The other he took in his mouth
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and started back across the pond. Just as he reached
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the other shore, up trotted Billy Mink. But Billy Mink
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didn't see Spotty. He was too intent on watching Reddy
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Fox and Peter Rabbit, who were now halfway around the pond.
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In he jumped with a splash. My, how good that
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cool water did feel. He didn't have to hurry now
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because he felt sure that the race was his. So
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he swam round and round and chased some fish and
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had a beautiful time in the water. By and by,
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he looked up and saw that Peter Rabbit was almost
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around the pond one way and Reddy Fox was almost
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around the pond the other way. They both looked tired
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and hot and discouraged. Then Billy Mink swam slowly across
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and climbed out on the bank under the big hickory tree.
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But where were the nuts? Look as he would, he
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could not see a single nut anywhere. Yet the merry
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little breezes had said there were three nuts lying under
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the hickory tree. Billy Mink ran this way and ran
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that way. He was still running around, poking over the
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leaves and looking under the twigs and pieces of bark
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when Peter Rabbit and Reddy Fox came up. Then they
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too began to look under the leaves and under the bark.
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They pawed around in the grass. They hunted in every
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nook and cranny. but not a nut could they find.
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They were tired and angry and hot, and they accused
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Billy Mink of having hidden the nuts. Billy Mink insisted
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that he had not hidden the nuts, that he had
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not found the nuts. And when they saw how hard
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he was hunting, They believed him. All the afternoon they
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hunted and hunted and hunted. And all the afternoon, Spotty
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the turtle, with the nut in his mouth, was slowly,
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oh so slowly, crawling straight back across the green meadows
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towards the old butternut tree. Round red Mr. Sun was
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getting very close to the purple hills where he goes
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to bed every night, and all the little meadow folks
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were getting ready to go to their homes. They were
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wondering and wondering what could have happened to the racers
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when Sammy J. spied the merry little breezes dancing across
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the green meadows. Here come the merry little breezes. They'll
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tell us who wins the race, cried Sammy J. When
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the merry little breezes reached the old butternut tree, all
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the little meadow folks crowded around them. But the merry
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little breezes just laughed and laughed and wouldn't say a word. Then,
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all of a sudden, out of the tall meadow grass,
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crept Spotty the turtle and laid the hickory nut at
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the feet of Old Grandfather Frog. Old Grandfather Frog was
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so surprised that he actually let a great green fly
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buzz right past his nose. Where did you get that
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hickory nut? asked Grandfather Frog. Under the big hickory tree
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on the hill on the other side of the green meadows,
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said Spotty. Then all the merry little breezes clapped their
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hands and said, He did! He did! Spotty wins the race!
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Then they told how Spotty reached the pond by clinging
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to the tip of Reddy Fox's tail and had hidden
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the other two nuts. And then how he had patiently
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crawled home while Billy Mink and Reddy Fox and Peter
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Rabbit were hunting and hunting and hunting for the nuts
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they could not find. And so, Spotty the Turtle was
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awarded the race. And to this day, Eater Rabbit and
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Ready Fox and Billy Mink cannot bear the sight of
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a hickory nut. Good night. Sleep tight.