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from the short story by
ROALD DAHL

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[bell tolling in the distance]

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In the afternoon,
the rat man came to the petrol station.

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He sidled up the driveway
with a soft, stealthy gait.

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His feet made no noise at all
on the gravel.

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He had an army knapsack
slung over one shoulder.

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He wore an old-fashioned corduroy jacket
with large pockets.

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Corduroy trousers were tied around
the knees with lengths of white string.

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- Hello?
- Yes?

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Rodent operative.

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His small, dark eyes
moved swiftly over the premises.

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- The rat man?
- That's me.

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He was lean, leathery, a sharp face,

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two long, sulfur-yellow teeth

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protruding from the upper jaw
over the lower lip.

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His ears were round and thin,
set near the back of his head.

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The eyes were almost black,

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but when they looked at you,
there was a flash of yellow in them.

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- You've come quick.
- Special orders from the Health Office.

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And now
you're going to catch all the rats?

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- Yeah.
- How?

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Yes. How?

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Depends what rats, where they is.
Different methods for different rats.

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- Trap them, I suppose.
- What?

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- Trap 'em.
- Trap 'em?

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The rat man snorted.

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Won't catch 'em that way.
Rats ain't rabbits.

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He held his face up high,

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sniffing the air with a nose that
twitched perceptibly from side to side.

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Rats is clever. You wanna catch 'em,
you gotta know 'em.

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You gotta know rats on this job.

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You know what they do? They watch you.

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Whole time you're preparin'
how to exterminate 'em,

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they're watchin' you.

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This ain't a sewer job, is it?

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No, it's not a sewer job.

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- Tricky things, sewer jobs.
- I shouldn't think so.

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You shouldn't, should you?
I'd like to see you do a sewer job.

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Just exactly how'd you set about it,
I'd like to know.

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Poison them, I suppose.

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And where exactly
would you put the poison?

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Down the sewer?

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The rat man sparkled, triumphant.

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Yeah, I knew it. "Down the sewer."

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Know what'd happen?
Get washed away completely.

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All your poison. Sewer's like a river.

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All right. Well, what would you do,
Mr. Rat Man? On a sewer job?

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The rat man advanced a step closer.

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His voice became secretive
and confidential,

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the voice of a man
divulging professional secrets.

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You works on the understandin'
a rat is a gnawin' animal, see?

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Anythin' you give 'em, they gnaws on it.

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So you got a sewer job on your hands.
What d'you do?

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His voice had the soft,
throaty sound of a croaking frog,

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and he seemed to speak all his words
with a wet-lipped relish,

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as if they tasted good on the tongue.

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You go down the sewer

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and you take along
some ordinary brown paper bags

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filled with plaster of paris powder.
Nothin' else.

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Then you suspend 'em
from the roof of the sewer

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so they hangs down
not quite touchin' the water.

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Just high enough so a rat can reach 'em.

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Claud was listening, rapt.

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Old rat comes swimmin' along the sewer,
sees the bag. He stops.

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[sniffs] Takes a sniff at it.
It don't smell so bad.

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- What's he do?
- He gnaws it.

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That's it! He starts gnawin' at the bag,
and the bag breaks,

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and the old rat
gets a mouthful of powder for his pains.

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Well?

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Well, that does him.

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- That kills him?
- Stone dead.

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- Plaster of paris…
- It swells when you wet it.

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Gets into the rat's tubes
and swells right up

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and kills him
quicker than anythin' in the world.

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That's where you got to know rats.

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His face glowed with a shifty pride.

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He rubbed his stringy fingers together,
holding the hands up close to his face.

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Now, where's them rats?

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The word "rats" came out
with a rich, fruity sound

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as if he were gargling with melted butter.

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In the hayrick across the road.

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- Not inside?
- Only in the hayrick. Nowhere else.

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I'll wager they're inside too,
gettin' in your food, spreadin' disease.

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- Got any sickness here?
- He looked pointedly at me, then at Claud.

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- Everyone's well.
- Quite sure?

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- Quite sure.
- You never know.

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He'd taken upon himself
the mantle of a public health officer,

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disappointed we were not suffering
from bubonic plague.

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Nevertheless, the rats are in the hayrick.
How will you remove them?

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The rat man grinned a crafty, toothy grin.

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He reached into his knapsack
and withdrew a large tin,

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weighing it up and down
in his hands as he spoke.

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Poison. Special poison. Deadly poison.

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They'd put you inside if they caught you
with even a spoonful of this.

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There's enough here to kill a million men.

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- Want to see?
- Yes, please.

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He took a penny and prized open the lid.

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There it is.

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He spoke almost lovingly of the stuff
and held it forward for Claud.

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[Claud] Corn or barley, is it?

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Oats. Oats soaked in deadly poison.

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You take just one grain in your mouth
and you're a goner in three minutes.

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Never out of me sight, this tin.

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[editor] He caressed the tin and shook it…

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- [rat man mimics rattle]
- …so the oat grains rustled softly inside.

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But your rats don't get this today.
They wouldn't have it, anyway.

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That's where you got to know rats.
Rats is suspicious. Terrible suspicious.

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So today they get
some nice, clean, tasty oats

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as will do 'em no harm in the world.

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Fatten 'em up, that's all.
And tomorrow, the same again.

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And the day after that,
and the day after that.

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And it'll taste so good,
all the rats in the district

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will be comin' along soon enough.

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Very clever.

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You got to be clever on this job,
cleverer than a rat.

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And that's saying something.

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"You've almost got to be a rat yourself."

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It slipped out before I could stop myself.

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I couldn't help it,
I was looking at him at the time.

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The effect it had on him was surprising.

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- That's it!
- …he cried.

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Now you got it, you really said somethin'.

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A good ratter's gotta be
more like a rat than anythin' else.

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Cleverer even than a rat,

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and that is not an easy thing to be,
let me tell you.

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Well, let's get on with it.

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Lady Leonora Benson's
asking for me urgent up at the manor.

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She's got rats too?

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Everybody's got rats.

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The rat man ambled off down the driveway.

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The way he walked was so like a rat,
it made you wonder.

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That slow, almost delicate, ambling walk
with a lot of give at the knees

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and no sound at all
from his footsteps on the gravel.

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He hopped over the gate,
and walked quickly 'round the hayrick,

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scattering handfuls of oats
onto the ground.

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The next day he returned
and repeated the procedure.

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The day after that he came again,
and the day after that,

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and finally, on the fourth day,
he put down the poisoned oats.

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But he didn't scatter these.
Instead, he placed them in little piles

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at each corner of the hayrick.

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- You got a dog?
- [Claud] Yes.

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Well, if you want him to die a horrible,
twisting death, let him in that gate.

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The next day he came to collect the dead.

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Get me an old sack.
I'm gonna need one to put 'em in.

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He was puffed up and important now,
the black eyes gleaming with pride.

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He was about to display
the results of his catch to the audience.

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Claud fetched a sack
and we walked across the road.

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The rat man prowled around the hayrick,

149
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bending over to inspect
one of his piles of poison.

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- Something wrong here.
- …he muttered.

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His voice was soft and angry.

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He ambled over to another pile
and got down to examine it closely.

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- Something wrong here.
- [Claud] What's the matter?

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He didn't answer, but it was clear
the rats hadn't touched his bait.

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"These are very clever rats here," I said.

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The rat man was annoyed

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and showed it on his face and nose
and by the way the two yellow teeth

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were pressing into his lower lip.

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- Don't give me that crap.
- …he said, looking at me.

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Nothing's wrong with these rats,
somebody's feedin' 'em.

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They got somethin' juicy
to eat somewhere, plenty of it.

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No rats in the world will turn down oats
unless their bellies is full to burstin'.

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The rat man turned away, sullen.

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He knelt down again scooping up
the poisoned oats with a small shovel,

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tipping it carefully back into a tin.

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When he had finished, all three of us
walked back across the road.

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The rat man stood by the petrol-pump,

168
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a rather sorry, humble rat man now

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whose face was beginning
to take on a brooding aspect.

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He had withdrawn into himself
over his failure,

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the eyes veiled and wicked,

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the little tongue darting out
to one side of the two yellow teeth.

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He looked up at me,
a surreptitious glance,

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then over at Claud.

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His nose-end twitched, sniffing the air.

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He raised himself up and down
on his toes, swaying gently,

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and in a soft voice,
soft and secretive, he said…

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You want to see something?

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He was trying to retrieve his reputation.

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- What?
- You want to see something amazing?

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He put his right hand
into the poacher's pocket of his jacket

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and brought out a large, live rat
clasped tight between his fingers.

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Good God!

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[chuckles] That's it. You see?

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He was crouching slightly
and craning his neck forward

186
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and leering at us and holding
this enormous brown rat,

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one finger and thumb making
a tight circle around its neck,

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clamping its head
so it couldn't turn and bite.

189
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Do you go around
with rats in your pockets?

190
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Always a rat or two about me somewhere.

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He put his free hand into the other pocket
and produced a small, white…

192
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- Is that a ferret?
- The rat man snickered, hissing.

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The ferret seemed to know him
and stayed still.

194
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Nothing will kill a rat
quicker than a ferret.

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He held the two animals
close in front of him

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so the ferret's nose
came within six inches of the rat's face.

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The pink beady eyes of the ferret
stared at the rat.

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The rat struggled,
trying to edge away from the killer.

199
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- Now.
- …he said.

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Watch.

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[editor] His khaki shirt
was open at the neck,

202
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and he lifted the rat
and slipped it down inside,

203
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next to his skin.

204
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His belt prevented the rat
from going lower than his waist.

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He slipped the ferret in next.

206
00:09:01,501 --> 00:09:04,376
Immediately, there was
a great commotion inside the shirt.

207
00:09:04,459 --> 00:09:08,043
It appeared the rat was running around
his body, chased by the ferret.

208
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Six or seven times they went around,
the small bulge chasing the larger one,

209
00:09:11,959 --> 00:09:15,043
gaining on it slightly each circuit,
drawing closer and closer

210
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until at last the two bulges
seemed to come together,

211
00:09:17,834 --> 00:09:20,543
and there was a scuffle
and a series of shrill shrieks.

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Throughout this performance,
the rat man stood absolutely still,

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legs apart, arms hanging loosely,

214
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dark eyes resting calmly
on Claud's frozen face.

215
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Finally, he took his hand
and reached down into his shirt

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and pulled out the ferret.

217
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With the other, he took out the dead rat.

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There were traces of blood
around the white muzzle of the ferret.

219
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"Not sure I liked that very much," I said.

220
00:09:44,918 --> 00:09:47,834
You never seen nothin' like it before,
I'll bet you that.

221
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Can't say I have.

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You'll get a nasty nip
in the guts one of these days.

223
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…Claud told him, but was intrigued,
and the rat man was becoming cocky again.

224
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You want to see something
far more amazing?

225
00:09:58,168 --> 00:10:01,251
Something you'd never believe unless
you're seeing it with your own eyes?

226
00:10:01,334 --> 00:10:03,876
I glanced at Claud
more than slightly apprehensive.

227
00:10:05,918 --> 00:10:06,751
Yes.

228
00:10:07,501 --> 00:10:09,626
The rat man slipped
the dead rat into one pocket

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{\an8}and the ferret into the other.

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{\an8}Then he reached into his knapsack
and produced a second live rat.

231
00:10:15,126 --> 00:10:15,959
{\an8}Holy Christ!

232
00:10:16,043 --> 00:10:18,334
Always got one or two rats
about me somewhere.

233
00:10:18,418 --> 00:10:20,084
You got to know rats on this job,

234
00:10:20,168 --> 00:10:22,751
and if you wanna know 'em
you gotta have 'em around.

235
00:10:22,834 --> 00:10:26,418
This is a sewer rat, this one.
An old sewer rat, clever as buggery.

236
00:10:26,501 --> 00:10:30,043
See him watchin' me all the time,
wonderin' what I'm gonna do next?

237
00:10:30,126 --> 00:10:31,459
- See him?
- Most unpleasant.

238
00:10:31,543 --> 00:10:32,793
"What will you do?"

239
00:10:32,876 --> 00:10:36,209
I had a feeling I'd like
this demonstration less than the last one.

240
00:10:36,293 --> 00:10:39,376
- Fetch me a piece of string.
- Claud fetched a piece of string.

241
00:10:39,459 --> 00:10:41,834
The rat man
looped it around the rat's hind leg.

242
00:10:41,918 --> 00:10:44,709
The rat struggled,
but the rat man held it tight.

243
00:10:44,793 --> 00:10:46,334
Now, you got a table inside?

244
00:10:46,418 --> 00:10:48,376
"We don't want the rat inside," I said.

245
00:10:48,459 --> 00:10:50,834
Well, I need a table.
Or somethin' flat, anyway.

246
00:10:50,918 --> 00:10:54,168
We walked over to the petrol-pump
and he put the sewer rat on top.

247
00:10:54,251 --> 00:10:57,751
He attached the string to a post
so the rat was now tethered.

248
00:10:57,834 --> 00:11:00,293
At first, it crouched,
unmoving and suspicious,

249
00:11:00,376 --> 00:11:02,626
a big-bodied gray rat
with bright black eyes

250
00:11:02,709 --> 00:11:06,209
and a scaly tail that lay in a long curl
on the metal surface.

251
00:11:06,293 --> 00:11:08,793
It was looking away,
but watching him sideways

252
00:11:08,876 --> 00:11:10,459
to see what he was going to do.

253
00:11:10,543 --> 00:11:14,209
The rat man stepped back a few paces,
and immediately the rat relaxed.

254
00:11:14,293 --> 00:11:15,668
It sat up on its haunches

255
00:11:15,751 --> 00:11:18,001
and began to lick
the gray fur on its chest.

256
00:11:18,084 --> 00:11:20,626
Then it scratched its muzzle
with both front paws.

257
00:11:20,709 --> 00:11:23,918
It seemed quite unconcerned
about the other men standing nearby.

258
00:11:24,001 --> 00:11:26,376
- How about a little bet?
- [editor] …the rat man said.

259
00:11:26,459 --> 00:11:27,918
"No, thank you." I said.

260
00:11:28,001 --> 00:11:31,418
- [rat man] It's more fun if you bet.
- [Claud] What do you want to bet on?

261
00:11:31,501 --> 00:11:34,293
[rat man] I can kill that rat
without using my hands.

262
00:11:34,376 --> 00:11:36,501
I'll put 'em in my pockets
and not use 'em.

263
00:11:36,584 --> 00:11:39,293
[editor] It was apparent the rat man
was out to earn some money.

264
00:11:39,376 --> 00:11:42,668
I looked at the rat that was to be killed
and began to feel sick,

265
00:11:42,751 --> 00:11:44,668
not because it was going to be killed,

266
00:11:44,751 --> 00:11:47,209
but because it was to be killed
in a special way,

267
00:11:47,293 --> 00:11:49,376
with a considerable degree of enthusiasm.

268
00:11:51,793 --> 00:11:54,043
- No arms?
- No arms, no legs, no hands neither.

269
00:11:54,126 --> 00:11:55,751
- You'll sit on it.
- No squashing.

270
00:11:55,834 --> 00:11:57,626
- Let's see it.
- Bet me a quid first.

271
00:11:57,709 --> 00:11:59,543
Don't be bloody daft. Why should we?

272
00:11:59,626 --> 00:12:01,251
- What'll you bet?
- Zero. Nothing.

273
00:12:01,334 --> 00:12:03,209
All right. Then it's a no-go.

274
00:12:03,293 --> 00:12:05,668
- He made as if to untie the string.
- I'll bet a shilling.

275
00:12:05,751 --> 00:12:07,709
The sick sensation in my stomach
was increasing.

276
00:12:07,793 --> 00:12:10,418
But there was an awful magnetism
about this business.

277
00:12:10,501 --> 00:12:12,918
I found myself
unable to walk away or even move.

278
00:12:13,001 --> 00:12:13,959
- You too?
- No.

279
00:12:14,043 --> 00:12:15,751
Want me to do this for a shilling?

280
00:12:15,834 --> 00:12:17,793
- I don't want you to do it.
- Where's the money?

281
00:12:17,876 --> 00:12:19,668
Claud put a shilling on the petrol-pump.

282
00:12:19,751 --> 00:12:22,543
The rat man laid two sixpences
beside Claud's money.

283
00:12:22,626 --> 00:12:23,459
Bet's on.

284
00:12:23,543 --> 00:12:24,793
Claud and I stepped back.

285
00:12:24,876 --> 00:12:27,501
The rat man stepped forward,
put his hands in his pockets

286
00:12:27,584 --> 00:12:29,959
and inclined his body
from the waist toward the rat.

287
00:12:30,043 --> 00:12:31,626
The rat was crouching, alarmed.

288
00:12:31,709 --> 00:12:34,293
It seemed it was preparing
to spring at the rat man,

289
00:12:34,376 --> 00:12:36,084
but then it began to reverse away,

290
00:12:36,168 --> 00:12:38,543
dragging its body backwards
with crouching steps

291
00:12:38,626 --> 00:12:40,751
until the string tautened on its hind leg.

292
00:12:40,834 --> 00:12:42,959
The rat man
leaned further towards the rat,

293
00:12:43,043 --> 00:12:45,626
following it back and forth
with his eyes. Suddenly…

294
00:12:45,709 --> 00:12:48,334
- It panicked.
- …it panicked and leapt into the air.

295
00:12:51,209 --> 00:12:54,918
The string pulled it up with a jerk
that must've nearly dislocated its leg.

296
00:12:55,001 --> 00:12:56,501
It crouched again at the edge,

297
00:12:56,584 --> 00:12:59,459
as far away as the string would allow,
whiskers quivering,

298
00:12:59,543 --> 00:13:01,334
the long gray body rigid with fear.

299
00:13:01,418 --> 00:13:04,793
At this point, the rat man again
began to move his face very slowly,

300
00:13:04,876 --> 00:13:06,001
closer and closer.

301
00:13:06,084 --> 00:13:09,209
I wanted to cry out for him to stop,
but I couldn't speak.

302
00:13:09,293 --> 00:13:12,793
Something extremely unpleasant
was about to happen, I was sure of that.

303
00:13:12,876 --> 00:13:16,334
Something sinister and cruel,
but I had to see it now.

304
00:13:16,418 --> 00:13:19,709
Not more than the length of a man's hand
was separating the two.

305
00:13:19,793 --> 00:13:22,501
The rat pressed its body flat,
tense and terrified.

306
00:13:22,584 --> 00:13:23,959
The rat man was also tense,

307
00:13:24,043 --> 00:13:27,543
but with a dangerous active tensity
that was like a tight-wound spring.

308
00:13:27,626 --> 00:13:30,168
The shadow of a smile
flickered around the skin of his mouth.

309
00:13:30,251 --> 00:13:32,084
Then, suddenly, he struck,

310
00:13:32,168 --> 00:13:33,209
as a snake strikes,

311
00:13:33,293 --> 00:13:36,043
darting his head forward
with a swift knife-like stroke…

312
00:13:36,126 --> 00:13:38,168
…that originated in the muscles
of the lower body…

313
00:13:38,251 --> 00:13:40,793
[editor] …and I had a glimpse
of the mouth opening wide…

314
00:13:40,876 --> 00:13:41,918
…two yellow teeth…

315
00:13:42,001 --> 00:13:45,251
[both] …the whole face contorted
by the effort of mouth-opening.

316
00:13:46,001 --> 00:13:47,918
More than that, I did not care to see.

317
00:13:48,001 --> 00:13:50,334
I closed my eyes,
and when I opened them again,

318
00:13:50,418 --> 00:13:51,459
the rat was dead,

319
00:13:51,543 --> 00:13:54,084
the rat man
was slipping the money into his pocket

320
00:13:54,168 --> 00:13:55,793
and spitting to clear his mouth.

321
00:13:57,793 --> 00:13:59,918
And that's what
they makes licorice out of.

322
00:14:00,001 --> 00:14:03,918
Rat's blood's what the big factories
and chocolate-makers use to make licorice.

323
00:14:04,001 --> 00:14:06,126
Nothin' wrong with a drop of rat's blood.

324
00:14:08,834 --> 00:14:10,584
You are absolutely disgusting.

325
00:14:10,668 --> 00:14:13,126
But that's it, you see.
You eaten it many a time.

326
00:14:13,209 --> 00:14:16,293
Penny sticks and licorice bootlaces
all made from rat's blood.

327
00:14:16,376 --> 00:14:18,501
We don't want to hear
another word, thanks.

328
00:14:18,584 --> 00:14:21,334
Boiled up in great cauldrons,
bubblin' and steamin'

329
00:14:21,418 --> 00:14:23,459
and men stirrin' it with long poles.

330
00:14:23,543 --> 00:14:26,001
One of the big secrets
of the chocolate factories,

331
00:14:26,084 --> 00:14:29,918
and no one knows about it,
except the ratters supplyin' the stuff.

332
00:14:30,001 --> 00:14:32,918
Suddenly he noticed his audience
was no longer with him.

333
00:14:33,001 --> 00:14:36,126
Our faces were hostile
and sick-looking and crimson with anger.

334
00:14:36,709 --> 00:14:39,501
He stopped and turned away
without another word.

335
00:14:39,584 --> 00:14:44,168
We watched as he sloped onto the road
with a slow, delicate, ambling walk.

336
00:14:44,251 --> 00:14:47,126
His footsteps didn't make a sound,
not even on the gravel.

337
00:14:56,001 --> 00:14:57,751
[bell tolling in the distance]

338
00:15:00,418 --> 00:15:01,251
Strange.

339
00:15:02,126 --> 00:15:04,084
The rats never ate the poisoned oats.

340
00:15:05,418 --> 00:15:09,334
There must be
something nutritious in the hayrick.

341
00:15:14,584 --> 00:15:16,668
[wind blowing]