80 lines
4.8 KiB
Standard ML
80 lines
4.8 KiB
Standard ML
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Z E E K E R ' S FAVORITE STORY
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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HERE'S A TRUE STORY TOLD BY ZEEKER THE ELF--THE GREATEST STORYTELLER IN THE
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WORLD!
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___________________________________________________________________________
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Long, long ago there lived a little creature called the Loud-Mouth Twit, and
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he was mean as mean can be! The twit liked to stand on your shoulder and
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whisper in your ear, giving you bad ideas. He'd make you crabby and
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moody, and you wouldn't even notice he was there. That's the kind of a
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fellow this nasty twit was!
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THE TROUBLE WITH PRESENTS.
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We put up with that Loud-Mouth Twit for a long time. But when he started
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causing trouble with our presents, we figured we had to do something!
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Back then, people liked to give presents to other peple, just like they do
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now. And back then, the giver liked to surprise the receiver, just like
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now. That was half the fun.
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So whenever an elf would make a present, he'd hide it until gift-giving day
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came around. Then, on the gift-day, the elf would pull out that gift and
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give it to his friend. "Oh, thank you, thank you; I had no idea; it's just
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what I wanted; oh, thanks so much!" the receiver would say. And everyone
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would be happy.
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Twits don't like people to be happy. It makes them mad. It shrivels up
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their faces and makes their claws come out. Oh, twits are mean that way!
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And the Loud-Mouth Twit was the worst one of all. "It's the surprise they
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like best," he muttered to himself. "I can't stop this stupid gift-giving,
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but I CAN ruin the surprise!"
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And that's what he set out to do. Whenever an elf would hide a gift, the
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twit would find it. And then, like the Loud-Mouth Twit he was, he'd jump on
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the shoulder of the other elf and whisper in his ear: "Hey, old Amt is
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getting you a new chair for gift-day! How about that! It's made of
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mahogany and the seat is covered with red velvet, and he's planning to
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surprise you. Heh-heh-heh!"
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Then the surprise was all ruined, and half the fun was gone.
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That made the Loud-Mouth Twit very happy. "They hate it!" he chuckled
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gleefully. "Their gift-day isn't any fun any longer!"
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Well, elves aren't dumb. They knew that sneaky twit was whispering in
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their ears! The solution was to hide their gifts a lot better.
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So they tried hiding presents under the floor of the Elf Hall. They hid
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them under the step. In the drainpipes. Under the ceiling. On top of the
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roof. Out in the bushes. Under the outhouse seat. Under their pillows.
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Wherever they could think of that the twit wouldn't find them.
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But that didn't stop the Loud-Mouth Twit! Twits have very sharp eyes and a
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keen sense of smell. The Loud-Mouth Twit was able to find every gift they
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hid -- and then he went running to the recipient. "Oh noble Willo!" he'd
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sing in the elf's ear. "Erdi is getting you something wonderful for gift-
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day! A yellow-green blanket to go on your bed, with striped fringes of
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amber an gold. Made out of Erdi's own hair, that he's been saving all these
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years. Isn't this a wonderful surprise! Oh, won't you be so surprised?"
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Then, when Erdi gave the precious blanket to Willo, instead of being happy
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and surprised, Willo only said, "Oh, yes, I knew you were going to give
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this to me. Oh, well, okay."
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Things finally got so bad that the elves called an Elf Council.
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"We've go to stop this Loud-Mouth Twit," the leader said. "He's ruining
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EVERYTHING."
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They discussed the problem all day and throught the night. And then,
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finally, one of the youngest elves had an idea. "Why don't we cover our
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presents, so the twit can't see inside?"
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"And what would we cover them with, young one?" the leader asked sternly.
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"Oh, I don't know," the young elf answered. "How about paper?"
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As soon as the elf said it, all the others knew that was their answer. They'd
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cover the gifts with paper!
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The next day all the elves got busy making new gifts, for a special gift-day.
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One by one they completed their projects -- and then wrapped the presents in
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paper. They tried to find colorful, pretty, bright paper, to make the gift
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look nicer, and some even wrapped the package in a bow. Then they put all
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the presents in a stack by the window.
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When the twit came along, he sneered at the elves. "Hah!" he said.
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"Presents! I'm going to take a little peek." And he sneaked up to the
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pile and tried to look. But twits are weak, and the paper was strong. He
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tried package after package -- and he couldn't see inside even one of them.
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"Oh, woe! Oh, misery!" he shouted. "The elves are going to be surprised and
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in despair he raced from the Elf Hall -- and he's never been seen again.
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Ever since then the elves have had great fun surprising each other on gift-
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day. They say, "Oh, thank you, thank you! I had no idea! It was just what
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I wanted!" And they've found that wrapping packages makes gifts TWICE as
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fun as they were before!
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