Mouse Soup (5 page)

Little buds came out near the leaves.

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The buds opened up.

They became large roses.

“Thank you, kind policeman!” cried the old lady.

“You have saved my thorn bush! You have made my 41

house beautiful!” She kissed the policeman and gave him a big bunch of roses to take home.

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“There,” said the mouse.

“I have told you my stories.

They will make your mouse soup taste really good.”

“All right,” said the weasel, “but how can I put the stories into the soup?”

“That will be easy,” said the mouse.

“Run outside and find a nest of bees, some mud, two large stones, ten crickets, and a thorn bush.

Come back and put them all into the soup.”

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The weasel ran outside very fast.

He forgot to close the door.

The weasel found a nest of bees.

He was stung many times.

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The weasel found some mud.

It was wet and gooey.

The weasel found two large stones.

They were heavy.

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The weasel found ten crickets.

He had to jump to catch them.

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The weasel found a thorn bush.

He was pricked and scratched.

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“Now my mouse soup will taste really good!” said the weasel.

But when the weasel came back to his house, he found a surprise.

The cooking pot was empty.

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The mouse hurried to his safe home.

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