Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf

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

1/29

y vester

and the

Mugic

Pebble

by WILLIAM

STEIG

MOORESTOVJN

LIBRARY

MioRESiowr.J.

N.J.

08057-2490

\\-inchnill Books

Simon and Schuster

\err'\brk


2/29

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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


3/29

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


4/29

"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-


5/29

\

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,


6/29

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\


7/29

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'

,}


8/29

:-

,

.,.

{(,

,,.

\

a:.-t

L,

k;

$'

O

tA

,J

ll

a1l

thc

possibiiitics.

alcl

crcuLuallr

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r,r:alizecl

tllit

lris

or.ilv

,l',rrr,,

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Ll,j,

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it

uas

so

lrright

arrd

slilr

-brit

ryhlt

orr

earth

n.oulil

rrraiic

lLcnr

rrislr

that

a locl.

lr:rc

a

clolkc_.r

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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,:.'


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


10/29

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.


11/29

A

I

[r.\t.'',lO

\\

\

ll

'i

'ti

,l

\r

l

Jlr$

J'

I

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\

['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,


12/29

They

rvcnt to

thc

police,

ch

d.

The

police

could

not find

their

.o

o

o

o

6

o

:..1-

,/

;

i:

il ;,/-

.:';

a,


13/29

u

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,-

,fl.:t

,\

\\t

t'

\t\

\

-

S_o.i

,$Sb

q;^

\--

tl

--

-G

gG--J

All the clogs in

Oatsdale rverrt

sciirching {or hirli. They

snifi:d

behind

evcr1.

rock

and

trec

and

bladc

oI

grass,

into

cvcry nook

and

grrllv


14/29

11^"

i,

XT

l

Ur

,\)/,

:

-

l"

t\

.,\\}

\\J

i,\/,

found not

a scent of hirn.

They

sniffed

the

rock

on Strax',

berry

Hill,

but it srnellcd

like a rock.

It

didn't

sncll

likc

Svh'ester.

.


15/29

After

a

month

of

searching the same places

over and

over

again, and inquiring

o{ the same animals

over and over

again, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan

no longer knew what

to

do.

They concluded

that something dreadful must have

hap-

pened

and

that

they would

probably never

see

their

son

again.

(Though

all the time he was less than a mile

away.)


16/29

They tried their best

to be

happy,

to

go

about

their

usual ways.

But

their

usual ways included Sylvester and

they

were

always reminded

of

him.

They

were

miserable. Life

had no meaning for

them any

more.


17/29

'll

"*

il./:

,)

'/

_$r

,i , ,

'lk

I

4

Night

followed

day

and

day follorvecl

night

over

and

over again.

Sylvester

on

the

hill

woke

up

less

and

less

often.

When

J\

€

\

.\

^:\

\

u


18/29

$slt

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r-

-Y

q\,f,

\ma

*\\

o

r"-:l_s*.

IIc

felt

he

would

be

a

rock

forever

and

hc

triecl

to

get

used

to

it.

Hc

wcnt

into

an

endlcss

slecp.

.l'he

d;rvs

grerv

colder.

Fall

carne

with

thc

lcaves

changing

color.

Then

the

lcaves

fell

and

the grass

bent

to

thc

ground.


19/29

t .

I

r

,/

'

--J

Then

it

was

winter.

The

winds

blew,

this

way

and

that.

It

snowed.

Mostly, the

animals stayed indoors,

living

on

the

food

they

had

stored

up.


20/29

\*_-.-..-_

i.

h{

it{

"

l' ---'

--/-

One

day

a wolf sat

on the rock

that

was Sylvester

and

howled and howled

because

he was hungry.


21/29

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t\/r

lr

Then

the

snows

rnelted.

The

earth warmcd

up

in

the

spring

sun

and things

budded.


22/29

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Leaves rvere

on t]re trccs again.

Florvers shorved their

young

faces,


23/29

One

day

in

May,

N'Ir.

Duncan

insisted

that

his

wife

go

rvith him

on

a

picnic.

"Let's

cheer

up,"

he

said.

"Let

us try

to

live

again

and

be happy

even

though

Sylvester,

our

angel,

is

no longer

rvith

us." They

went to

Strawberry

Hill.

,

t'

J,-'-**-'o(

lr

,\t, r

,l_

':i

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r

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24/29

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9

b

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6

&

tl

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r{

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H,

l,j

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ilv

t\

Mrs.

Duncan

sat dorvn on

the

rock. The

warmth

of

his

own mother

sitting

on him

I'oke

Sylvcster

up from

his

deep

winter

sleep.

How

he rvanted

to shout.

"Mother

Father It's

me, Sylvester,

Iir.r right

herel"

But

hc

couldn't

talk. He had

no

voice.

He

was

stone-dumb.

i

-:U

\I


25/29

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fr,lc

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"'t

it'/t

,

'r-i'i-irsl''

s/'

Mr.

Duncan

rvalked

airnlessly

about

while

\{rs.

Duncan

sct out the

picnic

food

on

the

rock

alfalfa sandrviches,

picklcd

oats,

sassafras

salad,

timothy conpote. Suddcnly

Mr.

Duncan sarv

the

red

pebble.

"Wllat

a fantastic

pcbble "

he

exclaimed.

"sylvester

would have loved it for

his

collection."

He

put

the

pebble

on the

rock.


26/29

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27/29

"Oh,

how I

wish he were here

with

us on

this lovely May

day," said

Mrs.

Duncan.

Mr.

Duncan

looked sadly at the

ground.

"Don't

you

wish it

too, Father?" she said. He looked

at her

as

if

to say,

"How

can

you

ask such a

question?"

Mr.

and Mrs. Duncan looked

at each other

with

great

sorrow_

"I

wish

I

were myself again,

I

wish

I

were my real self

again "

thought Sylvester.

And in

less

than an instant,

he

was

I

t)l

Lr

)

i'

t{,

',.

:

t,

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d{f

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.

,


28/29

(

6

d

.

rll{r

You can imagine

the

scene

that

braces,

the kisses,

the

questions,

the

looks,

and

the fond

exclamationsl

followed

-

the

em-

answers,

the loving

fr

i':r

i

0,,

ir*'.

i;


29/29

When they had

eventually

calmed

down

a bit,

and had

gotten

home,

Mr.

Duncan

put

the magic pebble

in

an

iron

safe.

Some

day they

might

want to

use

it,

but really,

for now,

what more

could they wish for?

They

all

had

all that

they

wanted.

Documents

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.pdf