Episode Transcript
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Hi, this is Stefania. Welcometo the classic children's story podcast Stories for
a Bedtime, Playtime, anytime tokeep your little ones entertained and happy.
We bring an international collection of stories, Stories that teach, Stories that entertain,
and more. This time he meetsa helpful petal, Uncle Wiggily,
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and the Beetle. One beautiful sunshinyday, when the wind was blowing through
the tea tops making music like achurch organ minny miles away. Uncle Wiggily
awakened in the little house which theRed Monkey had built for him in the
deep woods. Well, I'm goingto make another search for my fortune this
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morning, he said, as hewiggled his whiskers to get the dry leaves
out of them, for he hasslept in a bed of leaves, you
know. And I'll go with you, said the red Monkey, because the
last two or three times you wentoff by yourself, you got into trouble.
Trouble, I should say I did, exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit.
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There was the time when you fellinto the can of molasses, and the
hippotey hoped toad had to jump upand down with it on his back until
it was made into sticks. Ofcandy, said the red monkey. Turn
off, spoke Uncle reggilarly. Andthen there was the time when the skillery
scillery alligator changed. You went onthe red monkey and the angleworms tied themselves
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into notes about his legs to stophim. Do you remember that? Indeed,
I do, said the old gentlemanRabbit, And I will be very
glad to have you come along withme and help me. We will start
right after breakfast. So the twofriends built a little camp fire in front
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of the wooden house in the woods, and they cook some oatmeal and some
carrots and turnips, and Uncle Wiggilymade a cherry pie with plenty of red
juice in it. And the monkeyfound a bag of peanuts under a chestnut
tree and he roasted them for hisbreakfast. Then they started off on and
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on. They went through the woods, over the hills, up one side
and down the other, around thecorner where a big gray rock rested on
some green moss, And then allof a sudden there was a queer noise
up in the air. It waslike wings fluttering and a voice calling.
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And the voice said, is thered monkey down there? Oh? My,
I wonder who can want you saidUncle Wiggily. Baby, it's the
bear who once climbed up a treeafter me, cried the red monkey.
I'm going to hide, so hecrawled under a big broad leaf. Then
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once more the voice called out,I want the red monkey. Oh please,
Uncle Wiggily, don't let him getme, begged the shivering and shaking
monkey. Through a stone of thatbear? Will you ah hm, exclaimed
the old gentleman Rabbert. I don'tvery well see how it can be a
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bear. Bears don't fly in theair, for they have no wings.
I'll take a look. So helooked up in the air, and there,
instead of a bear flying overhead,it was only Dicky Chip Chip,
the little sparrow boy. Well blessme, cried Uncle Wiggily. What are
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you doing up there, Dickie ow, I'm making believe I'm a message your
boy, said the sparrow. Ihave a telegram for the red monkey.
Oh so that's why you wanted me, is it? Asked the long tailed
chap as he crawled out from underthe leaf. What is the message about?
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If you please here it is,spoke Dickie, And then from under
his wing he took a piece ofwhite coconut with writing on it, and
no sooner had the red monkey readit. Then he began to cry.
What's the matter, asked Uncle Wiggily. Oh dear, sobbed the red monkey.
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My little brother, who works ona hand organ, nearly had his
tail cut off by getting it twistedall around the handle. He is very
sick, and I must go homeright away. Oh, how sorry I
am. And then the red Monkeyate up the piece of coconut that had
the message written on it. Youhad better go home at once, said
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Uncle Wiggily, But I don't liketo leave you, said the red monkey.
Oh I will get along all right, spoke the brave old rabbit gentleman.
Go ahead, and when your brotheris well, come back, I
will, promised the red monkey ashe started for home. And I'll fly
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on ahead to tell them he iscoming, said Dicky Chip Chip. So
they both called goodbye to Uncle Wiggilyand hurried away through the woods, while
the rabbit gentleman kept on in searchof his fortune and now for the black
beetle. Uncle Wiggily was walking alongunder a green tree looking for some gold
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or diamonds, when all of asudden something jumped out of the bushes and
grabbed his crutch away from him.Then Uncle Wiggily so that it was a
wolf, and the wolf sprang downinto a big hole in the ground,
taking the crutch with him. Now, wow, called the wolf, showing
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his big ugly teeth. If youwalked your crutch, mister rabbit, you'll
have to come down this hole afterit. Come on down. But Uncle
Wiggily knew better than that, forjust as surely as he jumped down to
that hole, the wolf would haveeaten him all up. And the rabbit
didn't know what to do, forhe couldn't walk without his crutch on account
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of being lame with the rheumatism.Oh this is terrible, cried the rabbit.
Whatever shall I do? I can'tstand these woods forever. And just
then there was a rustling in theleaves, and out walked a big black,
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pinching beetle. In front of hishead. He had two things,
just like fire tongues or crabs clawswith which to pinch. What is the
trouble, asked the black beetle politely. The wolf down the hole has my
crutch, and he won't give itto me, said the rabbit. Ha
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we will very soon fix that,spoke the beetle. Just tie a string
around me, Uncle Wiggily, andlower me down into the hole. Then
I'll pick up the crutch in mystrong pinchers and you can hold me up
again as I hold fast to it. But the wolf may kit you,
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said the rabbit. I'll fix that, wolf, replied the beetle, winking
his two little eyes real jolly like. So Uncle Wiggily tied a string around
the black insect and lowered him downinto the hole. The wolf saw him
coming and cried out, Paul,you can't get it to this crutch,
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for I'm sitting on it and I'llbite you. Yes, you watch,
spoke the black beetle, winking oneeye this time. So he looked down,
and surely enough the wolf was sittingon the crutch. But the beetle
knew a good trick. He swunghimself around on the end of the string
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which the rabbit held, and ashe got nearer to the wolf, the
beetle suddenly pinched the savage creature onthe tail. Oh my, oh,
cried the wolf, and he jumpedup in a hurry. And that was
just what the beetle wanted. Fornow he could reach the crutch, as
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the wolf was not sitting on itanymore. In his strong pincers. He
took a hold of it, pullme up, called the beetle to the
rabbit, and Uncle Wiggily did so, crutch and all by the string,
and they left the wolf down inthe hole as angry as mudpie. So
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that's how the beetle got back therabbit's crutch for him. And that's the
end of this story. But weget another one. It's gonna be about
Uncle Wiggily and Kittikat, Uncle Wiggilyand kittykat Well, said Uncle Wiggily as
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he and the black Beetle when walkingalong through the woods after the rabbit's crutch
had been taken away by the savagewolf. Don't you want to come along
with me, mister beadle, andhelp me look for my fortune? Indeed,
I would like to very much,said the funny little insect. But
the truth of the matter is Ihave to go in to work tomorrow,
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so I can't come work. Whatwork do you do, inquired Uncle Wiggily.
Oh, I am going to punchholes in the trolley car transfers with
my strong pincers, answered the beadle. Now I will have to bid you
good bye. But if anyone evertakes your crutch down a hole again,
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send for me and I'll get itback for you. So the beadle said
goodbye to the old gentleman rabbit andwent on his way, and Uncle Wiggily,
after looking at his crutch to besure the wolf had not bitten a
piece out of it, went onlooking for his fortune. My it's quite
lonesome going boy yourself, said therabbit as he hopped along through the woods.
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I missed the red monkey and thegrasshopper and the black beetle, but
then they can't always be with me, so I have to travel on alone.
On and on he went. Sometimesin the fields he stopped to hear
the birds sing, and he heardthem talking among themselves about how they must
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soon get ready to go down south, for the cold weather was coming.
That made the old gentleman rabbit feela little sad, and he wished that
he could go home soon, whereSammie and Susie Littletail were waiting for him.
But I can't go until I findmy fortune, he said. I
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must look harder than ever for it. Then, sometimes when he went through
the woods, he heard the littlebrooks whispering to the ferns. How that
soon there would be ice and snowall over, with boys and girls skating
and sliding downhill. That makes meshiver, exclaimed the rabbit, I too
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must get ready for winter. Oh, if I could only find that gold
and those diamonds, I'd go straighthome and never travel about anymore. So
he looked understones and down in hollowstumps, but not a piece of gold
nor a sparkling diamond could be found. Then it began to get late,
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and the sun was darkened behind theclouds. I wonder where I can stay
tonight, thought uncle Wiggily. Imust pick out a nice big stump,
fill it with leaves, and sleepin there. Well, it didn't take
him long to find what he wanted, and he prepared his bed for the
night. Then he built a littlefire and onto the stump and cooked his
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supper. He ate some carrots anda turnip sandwich with peanut butter on it,
and the last thing he ate wasa large piece of cherry pie.
Then he washed the dishes, andcurling up on the soft leaves, he
was soon asleep dreaming of his littlenephew and niece, Sammy and Sussy.
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Now about midnight, the savage alligator, who hadn't had anything to eat in
a long time, started out tofind something, and pretty soon he came
upon the stump where Uncle Wiggily wassleeping. Ah, there is a good
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meal for me, cried the skilleryScalery creature as he reared up on the
end of his double jointed tail andput his long nose down the all old
stone. Hey what's this? Whois it? Has the red monkey come
back? Cried the rabbit, suddenlyawaking. I'm glad to see you,
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mister monkey. Here is some cherrypie for you. And then, being
only half awake, Uncle Wiggily tooka large piece of pie and held it
out, thinking he was giving itto the monkey, but it slipped from
his hand and it fell right intothe alligator's face, and the cherry juice
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ran down into the eyes of theSkillery Scallery creature and tickled him so much
that he sneezed. And then heran away, for he thought the red
monkey might possibly be in the stomp, and the alligator was afraid the monkey
might throw hot potatoes down his throatagain. Uncle Wiggily looked out of the
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stomp, and by the light ofthe silvery moon, he saw the alligator
running away. And this was thefirst time he knew that it was a
scillery creature and not the monkey whohad come in so suddenly. Why that
was a narrow escape, cried therabbit. It's a good thing I took
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that cherry part a bit with me. I must be on the watch for
the elligator may come back. Butthe skillery scallery creature with a double jointed
tail didn't return, though Uncle Wiggilydidn't sleep very good the rest of the
night on account of being so anxiousand worrying so much. And in the
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morning, when he awakened from alittle nap, the old gentleman rabbit felt
very strange. He tried to getup, but found that he couldn't.
He was as dizzy as if hehad been on a merry go round,
and he felt very ill. Oh, it must have been the fright the
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elligator gave me. Thought, Ohdear, what shall I do here?
I am all alone in this stuffin the woods, and no one to
help me. Oh, I'm apoor forsaken old rabbit. And nobody loves
me. Oh, if only Sammyor Susie were here, I'm sure.
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And then just then there was ascratching sound outside the stumb mark. What's
that, whispered the rabbit. Thatmust be the alligator coming back to get
me. And I can't even getup to throw some cherry pie at him.
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Oh, if only the red monkeyor the black beetle would only come.
Then the scratching noise sounded some more, and Uncle Wiggily was getting so
frightened that he didn't know what todo. And then all of a sudden
he saw something white at the tophole of the stump, and a voice
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exclaimed, Well, if there isn'tmy dear old Uncle Wiggily, and you
are ill. I know you are. I can tell by the way your
nose twinkles. Indeed I am,said the poor old rabbit. But who
are you for? You know hecouldn't see well as his glasses have fallen
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off. Oh I am Kitty Cat, said the voice, and there,
sure enough was the little cat girl. She had been away on her summer
vacation and was just coming back toget ready for school when she happened to
walk through the woods then she hearda voice and the stump, and going
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to look, she saw Uncle Wiggily. Oh, how glad I am to
see you, kitty cat, saidthe rabbit. And how sorry I am
to see you ill, said thecat girl. But don't worry, I'm
going to make you well. Justkeep quiet. Then that brave little kitten
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girl scarried around and gathered some leavesfrom a plant called cat nip for said
kitty. If cat nips is goodfor cats, it must be good for
rabbits. So she made some catnip tea and gave it to Uncle Wiggily,
and in an hour he was allbetter and could set up. Then
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Kitty made him some toes with someslices of yellow carrots on it, and
he felt better still, and bynoon he was as good as ever.
But I don't know what I wouldhave done only for you, kitty cat,
said the rabbit. Thank you verymuch. No, I can carry
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on and seek my fortune. Andhow come with you, spoke kitty cat.
So they traveled on together, andthey had an adventure the very next
day. I'll tell you about itnext time. The next story will be
of Uncle Wiggily and Jenny Chipmunk andthat's the end of today's story. I'll
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