123 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
Yertle the Turtle
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by dr. seuss
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On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
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Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
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A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
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The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
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The turtles had everything turtles might need.
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And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.
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They were... untill Yertle, the king of them all,
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Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
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"I'm ruler", said Yertle, "of all that I see.
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But I don't see enough. That's the trouble with me.
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With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
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But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
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This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
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It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
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"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
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What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"
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So Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
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And Yertle, the Turtle King, gave a command.
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He ordered nine turtles to swim to his stone
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And, using these turtles, he built a new throne.
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He made each turtle stand on another one's back
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And he piled them all up in a nine-turtle stack.
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And then Yertle climbed up. He sat down on the pile.
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What a wonderful view! He could see 'most a mile!
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"All mine!" Yertle cried. "Oh, the things I now rule!
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I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
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I'm the king of a house! And, what's more, beyond that
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I'm the king of a blueberry bush and a cat!
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I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
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For I am the ruler of all that I see!"
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And all through the morning, he sat up there high
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Saying over and over, "A grat king am I!"
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Until 'long about noon. Then he heard a faint sigh.
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"What's that?" snapped the king
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And he looked down the stack.
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And he saw, at the bottom, a turtle named Mack.
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Just a part of his throne. And this plain little turtle
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Looked up and he said, "Beg your pardon, King Yertle.
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I've pains in my back and my shoulders and knees.
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How long must we stand here, Your Majesty, please?"
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"SILENCE!" the King of the Turtles barked back.
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"I'm king, and you're only a turtle named Mack."
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"You stay in your place while I sit here and rule.
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I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
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I'm the king of a house! And a bush! And a cat!
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But that isn't all. I'll do better than that!
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My throne shall be higher!" his royal voice thundered,
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"So pile up more turtles! I want 'bout two hundred!"
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"Turtles! More turtles!" he bellowed and brayed.
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And the turtles 'way down in the pond were afraid.
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They trembled. They shook. But they came. They obeyed.
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>From all over the pond, they came swimming by dozens.
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Whole families of turtles, with uncles and cousins.
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And all of them stepped on the head of poor Mack.
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One after another, they climbed up the stack.
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Then Yertle the Turtle was perched up so high,
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He could see fourty miles from his throne in the sky!
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"Hooray!" shouted Yertle. "I'm the king of the trees!
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I'm king of the birds! And I'm king of the bees!
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I'm king of the butterflies! King of the air!
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Ah, me! What a throne! What a wonderful chair!
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I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
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For I am the ruler of all that I see!"
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Then again, from below, in the great heavy stack,
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Came a groan from that plain little turtle named Mack.
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"Your Majesty, please... I don't like to complain,
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But down here below, we are feeling great pain.
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I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
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But down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.
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We turtles can't stand it. Our shells will all crack!
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Besides, we need food. We are starving!" groaned Mack.
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"You hush up your mouth!" howled the mighty King Yertle.
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"You've no right to talk to the world's highest turtle.
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I rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea!
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There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than me!"
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But, while he was shouting, he saw with suprise
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That the moon of the evening was starting to rise
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Up over his head in the darkening skies.
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"What's THAT?" snorted Yertle. "Say, what IS that thing
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That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
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I shall not allow it! I'll go higher still!
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I'll build my throne higher! I can and I will!
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I'll call some more turtles. I'll stack 'em to heaven!
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I need 'bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!"
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But, as Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
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And started to order and give the command,
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That plain little turtle below in the stack,
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That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack,
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Decided he'd taken enough. And he had.
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And that plain little lad got a bit mad.
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And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing.
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He burped!
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And his burp shook the throne of the king!
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And Yertle the Turtle, the king of the trees,
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The king of the air and the birds and the bees,
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The king of a house and a cow and a mule...
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Well, that was the end of the Turtle King's rule!
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For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond,
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Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! in the pond!
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And tosay the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
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Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
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And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
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As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.
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