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 pond and made to swim, he would be much stronger. And perfecter.

So Jessica brushed and brushed and brushed his hair every day; and every day Phil tried to get hold of him so as to strengthen him. But Mrs. Banks kept him on the chest of drawers, so that Jessica could brush his hair and Phil couldn't quite reach him, and she thought to herself, "I believe he will win the prize after all." And every day when Mr. Banks came home from golf, she looked at him to see if he had won a silver cup; but he hadn't.

Mr. Banks hadn't been thinking much about his birthday. He knew he was 35 or 107 or something, and he knew it was this week, but nobody was more surprised than he when he came down to breakfast on Thursday, and found a beautiful parcel on his plate. You can guess how excited he was.