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The house where the family lived stood near a park in New York City. In the mornings the sun looked into the house through the east windows and all the family got up very early.  Stuart was a great help to his parents and to his brother George. He was so small that he could do many useful things and was always ready to help. One day Mrs. Little went to wash the bath-tub and lost a ring from her finger. It rolled into the bath-tub and fell down the drain.

"What shall I do?" she cried with tears in her eyes.

"You must take a hairpin, and try to fish the ring out," said George.

So Mrs. Little found a piece of string and a hairpin, tied the hairpin to the string and for half an hour fished for the ring. But it was dark in the drain and she could not find it.

"What luck?" asked Mr. Little, who at that moment came into the bath-room.

"No luck at all," his wife answered. "It is so dark there! I can't fish my ring out."

"Let us send Stuart down the drain," said Mr. Little. "Would you like to try, Stuart?"

"Yes, I would," Stuart answered, "but I must put on my old pants first. I think it is wet in the drain."

So Stuart put on his old pants and prepared to fish for the ring. He took the string and gave one end of it to his father. Then he tied the other end round his waist. "When I pull the string three times, you must pull me up," he said.

So Mr. Little put Stuart down the drain. In a minute Stuart pulled the string three times, and his father carefully pulled him up. And everybody saw Stuart with a smile on his lips and the ring around his neck.

Mrs. Little kissed Stuart and thanked him. "Oh, my brave little son," she said proudly.

"How was it down there?" asked Mr. Little. He always liked to know about places to which he could not go himself.

"It was all right," said Stuart.

But everybody thought it was not very pleasant down there, because Stuart came back very dirty and had to wash himself quickly.

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This version of Stuart Little was originally published in Moscow, in 1964.  All rights are reserved by respective copyright owners and this version must not be used in any other but private ESL study settings.  Hard or electronic copies for business purposes are prohibited.

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