In tonight's bedtime story for kids, we’ll meet a cat named George, whose owner teaches him a beautiful poem about an owl and a pussycat. It gives George some ideas, and he and his owl friend Barnaby set out to find a pea-green boat, some honey, and plenty of money tied up in a five-pound note!
Relax, get sleepy, and let’s begin!
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Jane Thomas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:19
Speaker 1: a dream. I can't wait to get started with Tonight's story.
00:00:24
Speaker 1: It's a triumph of creativity and inventiveness that combines a
00:00:29
Speaker 1: classic poem by Edward Lear you and your parents may
00:00:32
Speaker 1: have heard of with two real friends up for a
00:00:36
Speaker 1: nighttime adventure. But Coco's here flapping his big list full
00:00:41
Speaker 1: of new Cocoa clubs names, and I must get to
00:00:43
Speaker 1: that first. Listen up for your shout out. It comes
00:00:46
Speaker 1: with our biggest thanks. So hi and welcome to Brook
00:00:50
Speaker 1: from Ireland, Georgia, Sebastian and Claudia all from New Zealand,
00:00:56
Speaker 1: Oliver Hailey and William from Adelaide Australia. Thank you, thank you,
00:01:01
Speaker 1: Thank you guys for signing up, and enjoy all your
00:01:04
Speaker 1: extra bonus episodes, the ad free listening and just general wonderfulness.
00:01:11
Speaker 1: So as I was saying this evening, We're going to
00:01:15
Speaker 1: meet a cat named George whose owner teaches him a
00:01:18
Speaker 1: beautiful poem about an owl and a pussy cat. It
00:01:22
Speaker 1: gives George some ideas and he and his owl friend
00:01:25
Speaker 1: Barnaby set out to find a pea green boat, some honey,
00:01:31
Speaker 1: and plenty of money tied up in a five pound note.
00:01:36
Speaker 1: Before I get started, snuggle down into bed and get
00:01:40
Speaker 1: as comfy as possible. Close your eyes gently and relax
00:01:45
Speaker 1: your face, your eyebrows, your cheeks, and your forehead, even
00:01:55
Speaker 1: the bridge of your nose and your tongue. Can you
00:02:00
Speaker 1: make everything feel really loose and floppy and gently breathe
00:02:06
Speaker 1: in and out. All relax now, breathing gently in and out,
00:02:16
Speaker 1: for it's time to rest your body and let your
00:02:18
Speaker 1: imagination roam free. This is The Owl and the Pussycat
00:02:25
Speaker 1: by Jane Thomas. Ollie and his brother Oscar live at
00:02:36
Speaker 1: the very top of a very tall, very gray building.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: Sometimes their home is so high in the sky that
00:02:43
Speaker 1: they live above the clouds, looking out onto a rolling
00:02:47
Speaker 1: world of white. But on days when it's clear, they
00:02:51
Speaker 1: can see for mile after mile looking across at all
00:02:55
Speaker 1: the other very tall, very gray buildings. Oscar and his
00:03:01
Speaker 1: brother Ollie live on the edge of one of the
00:03:04
Speaker 1: largest cities in the world. If they look out of
00:03:08
Speaker 1: the windows on the right side of their home, all
00:03:11
Speaker 1: they see is a sea of gray and concrete. But
00:03:16
Speaker 1: if they look out of the windows on the left
00:03:18
Speaker 1: side of their home, they can see the smooth billows
00:03:22
Speaker 1: of green hills leading up to purple mountains that disappear
00:03:26
Speaker 1: into the sky. They count themselves as very lucky, indeed,
00:03:32
Speaker 1: because they are one of the few homes in this
00:03:34
Speaker 1: city that has such a wonderful, endless view. They share
00:03:39
Speaker 1: their home with their parents and, perhaps even more importantly,
00:03:43
Speaker 1: their large gray cat called George. George is something of
00:03:49
Speaker 1: a giant, a huge ball of a cat who likes
00:03:53
Speaker 1: to leap from Oscar's lap to Ollie's lap and back again,
00:03:58
Speaker 1: snuggling into their hugs and purring softly as their fingers
00:04:03
Speaker 1: ripple through his fur. When Oscar and Ollie go out
00:04:08
Speaker 1: to school, George spends his time curled up on the
00:04:11
Speaker 1: window sill, looking out at the green world that stretches
00:04:15
Speaker 1: forever into the distance. From his great height, everything is
00:04:20
Speaker 1: made miniature, and he isn't quite sure how large the
00:04:25
Speaker 1: duck pond really might be, or whether the trees are
00:04:29
Speaker 1: as tall as him, or as tall as Oscar, or goodness,
00:04:33
Speaker 1: even taller than that. And at night, George sometimes sleeps
00:04:39
Speaker 1: on the end of Oscar's bed, and sometimes sleeps on
00:04:42
Speaker 1: the end of Ollie's bed, and sometimes he returns to
00:04:45
Speaker 1: the window sills to look out over the silent world.
00:04:50
Speaker 1: Everything is so much more peaceful at night. There are
00:04:53
Speaker 1: no cars sending the noise of their honking horns drifting
00:04:57
Speaker 1: up to him, and no ambulance with sirens, and no
00:05:02
Speaker 1: groups of school children shouting as they set off home.
00:05:07
Speaker 1: At night, after the street lights have been dimmed, after
00:05:12
Speaker 1: everyone in every room in every building has gone to sleep,
00:05:17
Speaker 1: there is a stillness to the world. George loves the
00:05:23
Speaker 1: night time for the stillness and for the visits from
00:05:26
Speaker 1: his friend. Barnaby sometimes swoops by to see George, his
00:05:33
Speaker 1: long wings white against the black of the night. It's
00:05:38
Speaker 1: odd that a cat and an owl should be friends,
00:05:41
Speaker 1: but friends they are. George tells Barnaby everything Oscar and
00:05:47
Speaker 1: Ollie learned in school each day, and Barnaby tells George
00:05:51
Speaker 1: all about the world he has only ever seen but
00:05:54
Speaker 1: never visited. Thanks to Barnaby, George has become very very
00:06:00
Speaker 1: good at imagining the feel of grasp beneath his paws,
00:06:03
Speaker 1: the scent of flowers in the air, and the way
00:06:07
Speaker 1: droplets of water might hang gleaming with rainbows from his fur.
00:06:14
Speaker 1: On this night, a particularly still and clear night, when
00:06:18
Speaker 1: a million stars light up the sky and it seems
00:06:22
Speaker 1: as if the moon has had an extra polish. George
00:06:26
Speaker 1: is telling Barnaby all about a poem that Oscar learned
00:06:29
Speaker 1: in school. It's all about he tells him, an owl
00:06:35
Speaker 1: and a cat. Barnaby pricks up his ears. This sounds
00:06:40
Speaker 1: much more interesting than the complicated sums George had tried
00:06:44
Speaker 1: to explain a few nights ago. To be honest, Barnaby
00:06:48
Speaker 1: hadn't been quite convinced that George really understood what he
00:06:52
Speaker 1: was talking about, but he was far too polite to
00:06:55
Speaker 1: mention this to his friend. But a poem was right
00:07:00
Speaker 1: up Barnaby Street. He loved the music of poetry, and
00:07:05
Speaker 1: one about an owl and a cat was definitely going
00:07:08
Speaker 1: to be one worth listening to. He settled onto his
00:07:12
Speaker 1: perch and listened as George recited the lines The owl
00:07:18
Speaker 1: and the pussy cat went to sea in a beautiful
00:07:22
Speaker 1: pea green boat. They took some honey and plenty of
00:07:27
Speaker 1: money wrapped up in a five pound note. Barnaby side,
00:07:34
Speaker 1: it sounded wonderful. In his mind's eye, he pictured George
00:07:40
Speaker 1: sat at one end of a little sailing boat and
00:07:44
Speaker 1: him at the other. With a start, he realized he'd
00:07:49
Speaker 1: missed a few lines. They sailed away for a year
00:07:54
Speaker 1: and a day to the land where the bond tree grows,
00:07:58
Speaker 1: and there the wood, a piggiwig stood with the ring
00:08:03
Speaker 1: at the end of his nose. Barnaby started wondering where
00:08:08
Speaker 1: they might find a bong tree, for he had certainly
00:08:11
Speaker 1: never seen a tree with such a name, and he'd
00:08:14
Speaker 1: never met a pig with a nose ring. But if
00:08:17
Speaker 1: humans could have them, why not pigs. George hadn't slowed
00:08:23
Speaker 1: down for Barnaby's wondering mind, and so he listened in
00:08:26
Speaker 1: again and heard the final lines. They dined on mints
00:08:31
Speaker 1: and slices of quints, which they ate with a runcible spoon,
00:08:37
Speaker 1: and hand in hand. On the edge of the sand,
00:08:40
Speaker 1: they danced by the light of the moon, the moon,
00:08:45
Speaker 1: the moon. They danced by the light of the moon.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: George sighed as he finished the poem and looked across
00:08:54
Speaker 1: at his friend. Doesn't it sound wonderful, he said. Barnaby nodded.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: We could make it happen, you know, he said, thoughtfully,
00:09:10
Speaker 1: Perhaps not for a year and a day. I think
00:09:15
Speaker 1: Oscar and Dolly would be terribly upset if you disappeared
00:09:19
Speaker 1: for that long. But yes, I know where we could
00:09:25
Speaker 1: find just such a boat. George looked across at his friend.
00:09:32
Speaker 1: His paws kneaded the concrete beneath, and he imagined trailing
00:09:37
Speaker 1: them over the side of a boat and feeling the sea.
00:09:42
Speaker 1: He thought about seeing rings in pigs noses and finding
00:09:47
Speaker 1: out what a bond tree looked like, and stared at
00:09:50
Speaker 1: his paws to try and work out how they might
00:09:54
Speaker 1: hold whatever a runcible spoon might be. Do you think
00:10:00
Speaker 1: we can be back by dawn? He said at last.
00:10:05
Speaker 1: The night was as beautiful a night as he had
00:10:07
Speaker 1: ever seen. It seemed to be filled with magic, and
00:10:12
Speaker 1: was surely the finest night he would ever know to
00:10:16
Speaker 1: have an expedition in a pea green boat, promise, said Barnaby,
00:10:23
Speaker 1: sweeping his wing across his heart. If you had known
00:10:29
Speaker 1: to look across at that building on that very night,
00:10:32
Speaker 1: you might have seen the white sweep of a barnow
00:10:36
Speaker 1: drifting slowly down the side and behind him, walking first
00:10:41
Speaker 1: this way and then that, As he slowly descended the
00:10:45
Speaker 1: hundreds of steps that made up the wrought iron fire escape,
00:10:50
Speaker 1: you would have seen a large gray cat. The cat
00:10:55
Speaker 1: may be something of a giant, and he may have
00:10:59
Speaker 1: always known that he could leave at any time by
00:11:01
Speaker 1: taking this route, but he wasn't a particularly courageous animal
00:11:06
Speaker 1: and had never left home before. The cat paused every
00:11:11
Speaker 1: now and then, and the owl would hover in mid air,
00:11:16
Speaker 1: seeming to talk with the cat and coax him onwards,
00:11:21
Speaker 1: and then the cat would continue pause, being placed very
00:11:25
Speaker 1: carefully and specifically on each and every step. For that
00:11:31
Speaker 1: is how George and Barnaby descended to the street, and
00:11:36
Speaker 1: where George felt for the first time the grass beneath
00:11:41
Speaker 1: his paws. It was a tickling softness, firm and giving
00:11:47
Speaker 1: all at the same time, and the smell was like
00:11:51
Speaker 1: nothing George had ever known. Barnaby waited patiently while George
00:11:58
Speaker 1: rolled first this way, then that, arching his back into
00:12:03
Speaker 1: the grass and stretching his tail into the depths of
00:12:07
Speaker 1: the green. They went slowly through the park towards the
00:12:12
Speaker 1: boating lake, where a series of colorful wooden boats lay
00:12:16
Speaker 1: bobbing gently in the moonlight. Barnaby chose a pea green boat,
00:12:23
Speaker 1: and using his beak and a few stiff pulls, managed
00:12:28
Speaker 1: to untie the knot. George put a tentative paw into
00:12:33
Speaker 1: the boat, leaping back onto the dock as it wibbled
00:12:36
Speaker 1: and wobbled under his weight. It's perfectly safe, reassured Barnaby,
00:12:43
Speaker 1: standing in the boat and leaning to the left and
00:12:46
Speaker 1: to the right, showing how it rocked gently back and forth,
00:12:51
Speaker 1: back and forth, without ever turning over. George took a single,
00:12:57
Speaker 1: bold leap and jumped into the boughs of the boat,
00:13:01
Speaker 1: burying himself against the boards until the movement had quite stopped.
00:13:08
Speaker 1: Barnaby showed him which ropes to pull to raise the sail,
00:13:13
Speaker 1: and together they watched as the huge white sheet gently
00:13:19
Speaker 1: ballooned in the soft breeze, filling with just enough wind
00:13:25
Speaker 1: to ease them slowly, so slowly out across the lake.
00:13:33
Speaker 1: George looked at the ripples that formed behind them, and
00:13:37
Speaker 1: how the reflections of the stars moved and danced as
00:13:42
Speaker 1: they caught on the little waves. The pea green boat
00:13:47
Speaker 1: splashed softly through the water, a white line etched around
00:13:53
Speaker 1: it as it cut through the black. As George became
00:13:59
Speaker 1: used to the feet and dared to loosen his grip
00:14:02
Speaker 1: a little on the ropes, he pointed towards the bag
00:14:06
Speaker 1: he had hauled down the steps. Barnaby peered inside, smiling
00:14:12
Speaker 1: to himself as he saw a jar of honey wrapped
00:14:16
Speaker 1: up in a crisp, clean five pound note. The guitar, Barnaby.
00:14:22
Speaker 1: The guitar, said George, and the owl reached in and
00:14:28
Speaker 1: pulled out the ukulele that Barnaby had borrowed from the
00:14:32
Speaker 1: corner of Oscar's bedroom. That's the one you're supposed to
00:14:38
Speaker 1: sing to me, it says so in the poem. Barnaby
00:14:44
Speaker 1: had been daydreaming for that part, and he wasn't quite
00:14:48
Speaker 1: sure what to sing, so he made up something about
00:14:52
Speaker 1: a cat and a fiddle and a cow jumping over
00:14:55
Speaker 1: the moon, and George seemed to like that, so he
00:14:59
Speaker 1: made up an about how the stars twinkled like diamonds
00:15:04
Speaker 1: in the sky. George leaned back against the side of
00:15:09
Speaker 1: the boat and closed his eyes, feeling the breeze dancing
00:15:15
Speaker 1: through his fur as the little boat sailed gently across
00:15:19
Speaker 1: the lake. Barnaby singing and playing was the perfect touch,
00:15:26
Speaker 1: he thought, and he felt a little shiver of magic
00:15:31
Speaker 1: race all the way from his whiskers to the very
00:15:35
Speaker 1: tip of his tail. They stopped abruptly when they came
00:15:40
Speaker 1: to the shore, the boat having just enough momentum to
00:15:44
Speaker 1: ease its way onto the beach. George leapt out and
00:15:49
Speaker 1: felt for the very first time the sand beneath his paws.
00:15:55
Speaker 1: It spilled around and moved strangely on underneath, and on
00:16:01
Speaker 1: his paws and in his claws, all at the same time,
00:16:06
Speaker 1: made a brilliant white. By the light of the moon.
00:16:09
Speaker 1: The sand sparkled and shone, and shifted and sifted. George
00:16:17
Speaker 1: buried his nose into it to see what it smelled like,
00:16:21
Speaker 1: and came up immediately with a huge snort and a sneeze.
00:16:26
Speaker 1: Barnaby pretended not to notice, busying himself with tying the
00:16:31
Speaker 1: rope for the boat around a tree. Is that a
00:16:37
Speaker 1: bond tree? Asked George, and Barnaby said he supposed it
00:16:43
Speaker 1: might very well be exactly that, even though he knew
00:16:47
Speaker 1: perfectly well it was really a glorious weeping willow that
00:16:52
Speaker 1: was trailing its branches into the edge of the lake.
00:16:56
Speaker 1: George went and sniffed the tree, breathing in such a
00:17:00
Speaker 1: beautiful scent of damp fresh greenness that even the grass
00:17:06
Speaker 1: so wonderful only an hour before, seemed dull in comparison.
00:17:12
Speaker 1: The world was full in a way he had never known.
00:17:18
Speaker 1: The pair set out through a meadow, heading towards a
00:17:22
Speaker 1: farm that stood on a hill. Barnaby skimmed over the
00:17:27
Speaker 1: long grasses, wings outstretched, and George rushed this way and that,
00:17:34
Speaker 1: pulled in every direction by new scents and smells, with
00:17:38
Speaker 1: flowers almost calling out to be breathed in. He found
00:17:44
Speaker 1: stars that had fallen to the ground and formed delicate
00:17:48
Speaker 1: white petals, and Barnaby told him this one was called jasmine.
00:17:55
Speaker 1: A complicated looking flower with twisted petals and yellow tongues
00:18:00
Speaker 1: and dabbles of pink was honeysuckle. And some tiny purple
00:18:07
Speaker 1: flowers that stayed close to the ground and grouped together
00:18:10
Speaker 1: was Barnaby told George something called night scented stock. And
00:18:17
Speaker 1: George thought this really rather wonderful that mother Nature had
00:18:21
Speaker 1: thought to put together some flowers that smelled especially beautiful
00:18:26
Speaker 1: during the night. It felt, for a moment as if
00:18:32
Speaker 1: everything had been placed there specially for him to find,
00:18:37
Speaker 1: to show him how much magic there is if we
00:18:42
Speaker 1: only go even a little way from our front door.
00:18:46
Speaker 1: And it was a meandering, wondering, slow sort of walk
00:18:51
Speaker 1: that finally led them to the edge of the farm.
00:18:56
Speaker 1: Barnaby guided him across to where the pigs lay snuffling
00:19:00
Speaker 1: in their sleep, and George walked along to where the
00:19:04
Speaker 1: largest one lay on his side, a huge brass ring
00:19:10
Speaker 1: glistening in his nose. It's just as the poem said,
00:19:16
Speaker 1: whispered George to Barnaby, and was on the point of
00:19:20
Speaker 1: waking the pig when the owl held up a wing
00:19:23
Speaker 1: to stop him. Why do we need to wake him,
00:19:29
Speaker 1: asked Barnaby. He looks so peaceful, and George felt a
00:19:37
Speaker 1: little silly as he thought back to the poem and
00:19:40
Speaker 1: remembered that in it, the owl and the pussycat used
00:19:45
Speaker 1: the ring from a pig's nose to be married by
00:19:48
Speaker 1: the turkey who lived on the hill. Much as he
00:19:52
Speaker 1: was very fond of Barnaby, and they would he hoped,
00:19:55
Speaker 1: remain best friends for many years to come. He wasn't
00:19:59
Speaker 1: sure or that marriage was on the cards, and perhaps
00:20:03
Speaker 1: it was best if they skipped that part of the poem. Oh,
00:20:07
Speaker 1: I just wanted to ask him, something, said George, hurrying
00:20:12
Speaker 1: to add. But no, you're right, it really doesn't matter.
00:20:16
Speaker 1: Let's leave him sleeping. He does look so very happy
00:20:21
Speaker 1: curled up there in the hay. George was very glad
00:20:25
Speaker 1: of his grayfair, hiding his blushes as they walked back
00:20:29
Speaker 1: down the hill and headed once more towards the beach.
00:20:34
Speaker 1: I'm afraid I don't quite know what a runcible spoon is,
00:20:40
Speaker 1: he said sadly, as he unpacked the rest of the
00:20:44
Speaker 1: things from the bag. Will this do, he asked Barnaby,
00:20:49
Speaker 1: holding up a teaspoon. I think it's perfect, reassured the owl,
00:20:56
Speaker 1: pulling the corners of a tartan tea towel that was
00:20:59
Speaker 1: serving them well as a picnic rug. They dined on
00:21:06
Speaker 1: mince and slices of quints, which they ate with a
00:21:11
Speaker 1: runcible spoon, recited George, and hand in hand, on the
00:21:18
Speaker 1: edge of the sand, they danced by the light of
00:21:22
Speaker 1: the Barnaby. We must dance. George jumped up and pulled
00:21:29
Speaker 1: Barnaby towards him, and poor holding wing, they danced slowly
00:21:35
Speaker 1: along the shore. A nightingale landed in the weeping willow
00:21:40
Speaker 1: and poured its beautiful song into the night, and a
00:21:44
Speaker 1: frog jumped onto a lily pad and softly added his glorious,
00:21:50
Speaker 1: deep voice to the tune. George had spent many evenings
00:21:55
Speaker 1: talking with Barnaby and laughing with Barnaby, sharing ideas and thaws,
00:22:02
Speaker 1: and hopes and dreams. But he had never, for a
00:22:07
Speaker 1: moment imagined that he might one day dance with him
00:22:12
Speaker 1: by the light of the moon. The big gray cat
00:22:17
Speaker 1: smiled to himself as he placed his paws carefully on
00:22:21
Speaker 1: the sand, soaking up every moment and sensation so that
00:22:27
Speaker 1: he might remember them forever. And as the sky slowly
00:22:33
Speaker 1: turned from black to the deepest blue, and the stars
00:22:38
Speaker 1: disappeared one by one, George and Barnaby climbed back into
00:22:45
Speaker 1: the pea green boat. Once more. George hoisted the sail,
00:22:52
Speaker 1: and once more they moved gently through the water, gliding
00:22:59
Speaker 1: silently towards the other side of the lake and sending
00:23:05
Speaker 1: ripples rolling back towards the shore. By the time they
00:23:12
Speaker 1: reached the side, George's eyes were beginning to close. He
00:23:17
Speaker 1: had spent many nights awake for hours looking up at
00:23:22
Speaker 1: the moon and stars, but he had never been awake
00:23:26
Speaker 1: for so long and seen and felt so many new
00:23:31
Speaker 1: things all at once. It was a very tired George
00:23:37
Speaker 1: who poured the boat back into the little dock, and
00:23:41
Speaker 1: a very tired George who set out across the grass
00:23:45
Speaker 1: damp with dew. He knew he needed to be home
00:23:50
Speaker 1: before Oscar and Ollie were awake, but he allowed himself
00:23:56
Speaker 1: to find one more patch of jasmine, and, breathing deeply
00:24:02
Speaker 1: the glorious scent. Barnaby followed as George went up the
00:24:08
Speaker 1: fire escape, the great gray cat's legs feeling heavier with
00:24:15
Speaker 1: each and every step. He was so tired now, so
00:24:23
Speaker 1: very very tired. Each step felt like a thousand and
00:24:30
Speaker 1: he longed to be safely curled up but the end
00:24:33
Speaker 1: of Ollie's bed, safe against the softness of the blankets.
00:24:41
Speaker 1: A few more steps and he would be there. Just
00:24:46
Speaker 1: one last step and there he was, back home, and
00:24:55
Speaker 1: Barnaby was waving goodbye as he disappeared, head towards his
00:25:01
Speaker 1: cozy nest, buried warm and safe in a hole in
00:25:07
Speaker 1: a horse chestnut tree. George replaced the things he'd taken
00:25:14
Speaker 1: one by one, with the ukuleley returned to the corner
00:25:19
Speaker 1: of Oscar's room, and the honey, or what was left
00:25:23
Speaker 1: of it, back on the shelf in the kitchen, and
00:25:27
Speaker 1: the plates he'd used for the quints and the mints,
00:25:31
Speaker 1: placed along with the pile of dishes that stood waiting
00:25:35
Speaker 1: to be washed. And finally he padded his way across
00:25:41
Speaker 1: the soft carpet and jumped onto the end of Ollie's bed,
00:25:47
Speaker 1: turning himself around and around to make the blankets wrap
00:25:53
Speaker 1: gently around his body. And whereas before he had always
00:26:00
Speaker 1: fallen asleep with dreams of possibilities floating through his mind,
00:26:06
Speaker 1: this time he had his very own memories of dancing
00:26:12
Speaker 1: with Barnaby by the light of the moon. And that
00:26:17
Speaker 1: is how he fell asleep, his soft gray fur rising
00:26:23
Speaker 1: and falling as he breathed in and out and dreamed
00:26:31
Speaker 1: those magical dreams of moments that were, and moments that
00:26:39
Speaker 1: might be, and moments that are only made possible when
00:26:47
Speaker 1: we let ourselves believe in the infinite wonder of the world,
00:27:00
Speaker 1: the us