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Voyages of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
page 52 of 301 (17%)
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"Are those deer over there?" I asked.

"DEER!" said the Doctor. "Where do you mean?"

"Over there," I said, pointing--"nibbling the grass border of the
bed. There are two of them."

"Oh, that," said the Doctor with a smile. "That isn't two
animals: that's one animal with two heads--the only two-headed
animal in the world. It's called the 'pushmi-pullyu.' I brought
him from Africa. He's very tame--acts as a kind of
night-watchman for my zoo. He only sleeps with one head at a
time, you see very handy--the other head stays awake all night."

"Have you any lions or tigers?" I asked as we moved on.

"No," said the Doctor. "It wouldn't be possible to keep them
here--and I wouldn't keep them even if I could. If I had my
way, Stubbins, there wouldn't be a single lion or tiger in
captivity anywhere in the world. They never take to it. They're
never happy. They never settle down. They are always thinking of
the big countries they have left behind. You can see it in their
eyes, dreaming--dreaming always of the great open spaces where
they were born; dreaming of the deep, dark jungles where their
mothers first taught them how to scent and track the deer. And
what are they given in exchange for all this?" asked the Doctor,
stopping in his walk and growing all red and angry--"What are
they given in exchange for the glory of an African sunrise, for
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