Sylvester and the Magic

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y vester

and the

Mugic

Pebble

by WILLIAM

STEIG

MOORESTOVJN

LIBRARY

MioRESiowr.J.

N.J.

08057-2490

\\-inchnill Books

Simon and Schuster

\err'\brk

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tY-.

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I

Sylvester

Duncan lived rvith his mother

and

Acorn Road in Oatsdale. One

of

his hobbies

was

pebbles

of unusual

shape

and

color.

father

at

collecting

?ri?

44

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In

all

his

young

life

Sylvester

had

never

had

a

wish

gratiffed

so

quickly.

It

struck

him

that

magic

must

be

at

work,

and

he

guessed

that

the

magic

must

be

in

the

remarkableJook_

ing

red

pebble.

(Where

indeed

it

was.)

To

make

a

test,

he

put

the

pebble

on

the

ground

and

said,

"I

wish

it

would

rain

again."

Nothing

hap_

pened.

But

when

he

said

the

same

thing

holding

the

pebble

in

his

hoof,

the

sky

tumed

black,

there

was

light_

ning

and

a

clap

of

thun_

der,

and

the

rain

came

shooting

down.

i

\n't

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"What

a lucky

day

this is "

thought Sylves-

ter.

"From

now

on

I

can

have anything

I

want.

My father

and mother

can have anything they

want. My relatives, my

friends,

and

anybody at

all

can

have

everything

anybody wants "

He

wished the sun-

shine

back in the sky,

and

he

wished

a

wart

on

his

left

hind

fetlock

would

disappear,

and

it

did,

and

he

started

home,

eager

to

amaze

his father and mother

with his

magic

pebble.

He

could

hardly wait

to

see their

faces.

Maybe

they wouldn't even be-

lieve

him at

ffrst-

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\

r-{:*

{Ln

--'.--*,--_-a

a

As hc

was

crossing

Strarvbcrry

llill,

thinking

o{ some

o{

the many,

many

thilgs hc

could

rvish for,

he was

startled to

see

a

mcan,

hungry

lion

looking

right

at

hirn from

behind

'iii{;

tY{

ii',.".\r

/"',i

6,

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FIe

could have

wished

the lion ivould

tum into

a butter-

fly

or

a daisy

or a

gnat.

He

could have wished

n.rany

things,

but he panicked

and

couldn't

think

carcfully.

"I

wish

I

were

a rock,"

he said.

and he became

a rock.

The

lion

came

bounding

over,

snified

the rock

a

hun-

dred times,

walked

around

and

around

it,

and went

away

confused, perplexed,

puzzled,

and

bovildered.

"I

saw

that

little

donkey

as clear

as day.

Ivlaybe

Iin

going

crazy,"

hc

muttered-

ll

{

lt'

r

\rL

S

,lts\ r"l'

,

tt\

8/18/2019 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf

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k

\:

t':1

n-l

lrl.r',',

,\rtl

ihere u'us

Sylrestlr..

rr

r.or,li

ou

Slrlrilxr.rv

llill.

urith

thc

nragic

peirl;ir:

1,,irg

riglit

lx'siclc

liirrr

on

thc grourrd.

antl ht:

rvas

rrnubli:

[o pick

it

up.

'Oh.

luru, I

*,ish

I

l,cre

rrrvsclf

agairr."

hc

tluruglrt.

but rrollring

happr:lecl.

IIc lrad

lo be touchirg

thc

1x'bble

to

rrrrrkc

ihc

ntagic

lor.k. llrl

thcrcr

rvns

rothing

]rr:

coultl

clo

about

it.

llis

thorrellts

ltcgrn

to

r.acre

lilic rrrrcl.

I:lc

*,as

I

I

v

J'

,}

8/18/2019 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf

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:-

,

.,.

{(,

,,.

\

a:.-t

L,

k;

$'

O

tA

,J

ll

a1l

thc

possibiiitics.

alcl

crcuLuallr

Lt:

r,r:alizecl

tllit

lris

or.ilv

,l',rrr,,

,,1

1,,.,,r,ri,,r:

Lir.,.tj

,-,i,r

,,,,.

t,rr-

*,,.,,,,,,.

Lo Ii,^l

t1.c

r.l

p,

l,l,l,

r,,,i

i,,

r,

i.t,

r',.,t

t1,,,

rrr.t.

,,,.r1

,,,

,,

',,,,,,,,,

l"

.r

,1,,',k",,.

s,,r,rc,,,,,

,rurriri

,;r.,.lr

lirrrl

r1,,.r.,.1

|,

Ll,j,

_

it

uas

so

lrright

arrd

slilr

-brit

ryhlt

orr

earth

n.oulil

rrraiic

lLcnr

rrislr

that

a locl.

lr:rc

a

clolkc_.r

?

.l.lii:

chairct

las r;,,r,

in

a iril]ion

al

br:st

Sr

h,-rslc,r

lcll

aslcr.p.

l\,Let

clsr:

corrlcl

he

clo?

\iglrt

carire

n'ith

rrraiit'star.s.

U

.J

v'

i,:.'

8/18/2019 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf

9/29

trIeanl'hilc.

birck at

lulnc.

\Ir. rrncl

\Irs.

l)uncar

paccd

thc floor, {rarrlic

with

\\on\'.

S_vlvester

hacl

nt:r'er

cornc homc

latcr

than

dinncr tiure.

'r\'hcrc

coulcl hr:

ltc?

'fhev

stnl,cd

up

al)

right

rvonclcring

rvhat

hacl

happcrrtxl, t:rpccting

tliat

Syl-

vcstel would surcl;'

turn up

by ritorrring. But

he

8/18/2019 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf

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i'

i''.,

J

r

-.i-

i rt, il

t1

ffi

,'V,

b'i

\',

A4n

 W

L riYna

J 'll

r

 -r:)

,

I

I

ir

r

i

r l,

i

|

\'il

,,

#rt

I

I

lr

il

r

At

darvn,

the1, went

about

inquiring

of

all the neighbors.

8/18/2019 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf

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A

I

[r.\t.'',lO

\\

\

ll

'i

'ti

,l

\r

l

Jlr$

J'

I

$J

\

 ['tv

i",ro

1

\

\

They

talked

to all

the children

-

the

puppies,

the kit-

tens, the

colts,

the

piglets.

No

one had

seen

Sylvester

since

the day before

yesterday.

{

t'1,1

I

,

,,?;h

'

t

'

r'r' ;

'"*',,i

,,

f

."

uo*,' u'-

t.,,'

tl,

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They

rvcnt to

thc

police,

ch

d.

The

po