by Roald Dahl
‘Somebody spoke,’ they seemed to be saying. ‘We didn’t hear it. It’s a nice day today.’
The crowd, sensing excitement, was beginning to move in around me. I ran back to Mr Pratchett, right up close to him and poked him in the stomach with my finger. ‘You’re a thief! A lousy little thief!’ I shouted.
The extraordinary thing was, Mr Pratchett didn’t seem to resent this at all.
‘Well, I never,’ he said. ‘Look who’s talking.’
Then suddenly the big face broke into a wide, frog-like grin, and he looked over at the crowd and shouted, ‘Look who’s talking!’
All at once everybody started to laugh. Down the line the bookies were coming to life and turning to each other and laughing and pointing at me and shouting, ‘Look who’s talking! Look who’s talking!’ The crowd began to take up the cry as well, and I stood there on the grass alongside Mr Pratchett with his wad of tickets as thick as a pack of cards in my hand, listening to them and feeling slightly hysterical. Over the heads of the people I could see Mr Feasey beside his blackboard, already chalking up the runners for the next race; and then beyond him, far away up the top of the field, I caught sight of Claud standing by the van, waiting for me with the suitcase in his hand.
It was time to go home.
PENGUIN CLASSICS
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First published by Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd 1954
This revised and expanded edition published by Michael Joseph 1961
Published in Penguin Classics 2010
Copyright © 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953 by Roald Dahl
Foreword copyright © Dom Joly, 2010
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author of the Foreword has been asserted
Acknowledgement is hereby made to The New Yorker, Colliers and Harper’s Magazine, in which some of the stories included in this volume first appeared.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book
ISBN: 978-0-14-196207-8
There’s More to Roald Dahl than Great Stories …
Did you know that 10 per cent of author royalties* from this book go to help the work of the Roald Dahl charities?
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity exists to make life better for seriously ill children because it believes that every child has the right to a marvellous life.
This marvellous charity helps thousands of children each year living with serious conditions of the blood and the brain – causes important to Roald Dahl in his lifetime – whether by providing nurses, equipment or toys for today’s children in the UK, or helping tomorrow’s children everywhere through pioneering research.
Can you do something marvellous to help others? Find out how at: www.marvellouschildrenscharity.org
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, based in Great Missenden just outside London, is in the Buckinghamshire village where Roald Dahl lived and wrote. At the heart of the Museum, created to inspire a love of reading and writing, is his unique archive of letters and manuscripts. As well as two fun-packed biographical galleries, the Museum boasts an interactive Story Centre. It is a place for the family, teachers and their pupils to explore the exciting world of creativity and literacy.
Find out more at www.roalddahlmuseum.org
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity (RDMCC) is a registered charity no. 1137409.
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre (RDMSC) is a registered charity no. 1085853.
The Roald Dahl Charitable Trust is a registered charity no. 1119330 and supports the work of RDMCC and RDMSC.
* Donated royalties are net of commission
Roald Dahl also wrote some rather popular children’s stories:
‘Roald Dahl is without question the most successful children’s writer in the world’
Independent