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Story - Edward Elias Graphics - Karen Peacock

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Glyndŵr is a little red bear.

He looks exactly like any other small bear.

BUT …… Glyndŵr is not your usual every day bear.

Indeed, Glyndŵr is a very special bear!!

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Can you imagine what makes Glyndŵr such a special little bear?

Well … let’s see.

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Glyndŵr is ……...

six hundred and nine years old !

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The only ones who know where Glyndŵr really lives are his friends. But ……….

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…some say that he lives in a secret cave on a mountain somewhere in Snowdonia!

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Wales

And of course he is prince of all of Wales!

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Glyndŵr has friends in every corner of the world. One day he receives an e-mail on his computer.

 

The message had come all the way from ...

  

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….. India

The message said … 

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_____________________________________________________________________________________________

From : ANJOU To : GLYNDŴR Date : 10th January 2009 23.53 Subject : A MESSAGE FROM INDIA

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Dear Glyndŵr, Hello, my name is Anjou and I live in India. I’ve heard that you are a very brave bear. I need your help in solving an enormous problem …. but take care as your journey will be very dangerous.

Many thanks AnjouXX

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“Oh my word,” said Glyndŵr to his old friend Crach Ffinant, “I’ll have to go straight away.”

“Don’t worry old friend, I’ll look after everything here in dear old Wales,” said Crach Ffinant.

Crach Ffinant was a magician and Glyndŵr’s best friend.

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After sharing the news with all his other little friends and packing his rucksack Glyndŵr was ready to begin his long journey.

“So long little friends and remember not to let any stranger come near the cave,” warned Glyndŵr as he said good-bye.

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In no time at all Glyndŵr was on a plane and on his way …. to the far east!

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Then he went by boat to the famous city of Mumbai.

This is one of the most important cities in India.

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Glyndŵr went to look for a place to stay for the night. He searched and searched….

“ Indeed … this is a peculiar place,” thought Glyndŵr, “I’ve never seen such a thing!”

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At last Glyndŵr found a place to stay – it wasn’t very posh and the view from the window wasn’t very nice either!!

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But thank goodness .. The bed was very smart and fit for a prince!

After such a long and exhausting journey Glyndŵr slept like a log all night

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Glyndŵr woke up very early. He saw an odd looking man on a motorbike speeding up the street. To his astonishment the odd looking man came directly to Glyndŵr and gave him a letter!

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Prin

ce Glyndŵr

Mumbai

India

Dear Glyndŵr,

I hope you’ve arrived safely in Mumbai. To get to me you will have to visit the Taj Mahal. There you will get another message. Take care.

Anjou X x

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“Goodness gracious me,” said Glyndŵr, “ This Anjou must be a very clever girl.”

Once again Glyndŵr packed his rucksack and started on the long journey to the city of Agra and the Taj Mahal.

This time he began his journey in a very strange looking taxi!

A RICKSHAW

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In the distance he saw the high tower of the Taj Mahal. It looked so beautiful. Although he was a prince Glyndŵr had to wait in a queue for hours to get in.

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Because he was such a special bear and Prince of all of Wales, the man by the door asked all kinds of questions.

At last he got his ticket to go in.

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In front of him Glyndŵr saw one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

He went closer …….. and closer

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Glyndŵr remembered well the time when Shah Jahan’s wife died in 1631 … but this was the first time he had seen her grave.

For some reason Glyndŵr was determined to climb to the very top of the beautiful marble dome.

He began to climb and climb and at last…..

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He was sitting on top of the dome!

To his great astonishment he saw there was a scroll of paper tied to the top of the dome. And his name was on it!

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Dear Glyndŵr,

By now I hope you are sitting on top of the Taj Mahal. The next part of the journey will be even more dangerous!After you have seen four creatures the fifth will give you the last message. Look for number 54.

Take care Glyndŵr – some of the creatures can be very dangerous.

Bye,

Anjou

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Soon after leaving the Taj Mahal he saw the first creature. It looked like some kind of lizard but Glyndŵr didn’t get to close to him … just in case!

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Then he saw the second creature. An enormous spider! Glyndŵr had heard that spiders in India could be very dangerous and this one had already lost two legs! So off he went – rather quickly!

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Then he saw the third creature. This one looked a little more friendly – it looked very similar to his little friend the squirrel back home in Wales!

Glyndŵr had hoped that he wouldn’t come face to face with the fourth creature at all in India … BUT

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… he saw THREE of them. Although Glyndŵr was the bravest bear in the world he hated SNAKES, especially the Indian cobra. “LIZARD …SPIDER …SQUIRREL … COBRA, Gosh, I hope the fifth creature will be more friendly,” Glyndŵr said to himself, “Because that is the one who has the message ”

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Would you believe it, when Glyndŵr saw the fifth creature – a huge colurful ELEPHANT, it was wearing the number 54!

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In its trunk was another scroll and once again Glyndŵr’s name was written on it! The elephant winked at Glyndŵr when it gave him the message.

Dear Glyndŵr.Congratulations … you’ve discovered my friend – this is my last message. We’ll see each other soon!

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Dear Glyndŵr.Congratulations … you’ve discovered my friend the elephant. This is my last message … we’ll meet each other soon! You must go to FORT KOTCHI, the only way to get there is in a canoe on the river.

Bye Anjou xx

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In a very short while he was sitting in a canoe and paddling up the river to a place called Fort Kotchi. …….

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Glyndŵr saw all kinds of things on his way up the river.

He saw a woman getting water from the river in her bucket!

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He saw another woman washing clothes in the river.

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He saw another woman walking along the river bank with a huge bowl on her head.

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Then suddenly … a small head appeared out of the water! “ Hello Glyndŵr,” he said, “ Come with me, I’ll take you to see Anjou.”

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To his surprise, Anjou was waiting for him on the river bank.“Hello Glyndŵr,” said Anjou with a huge grin on her face, “Welcome to our little village.”“Thank you very much,” answered Glyndŵr, “I’m so glad to meet you at last.”“Come on .. I’ve prepared a feast for you,” said Anjou.

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It was a long time since Glyndŵr had enjoyed such a magnificent feast. In front of him was the biggest curry he had ever seen, and a huge pappadum. “Oh! Thanks a million,” said Glyndŵr as he eagerly spooned the curry into his mouth.

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For pudding he had a tasty banana straight from a tree that was growing on at the bottom of Anjou’s garden.

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“Well Anjou,” asked Glyndŵr, “Are you going to tell me what is the big problem that you have?”“In short …. A MONKEY,” answered Anjou.“A MONKEY!” said Glyndŵr with his mouth wide open in astonishment.“Yes … A MONKEY” said Anjou again, “In this village there is a small monkey that is stealing everything.”

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“This naughty little monkey is driving us all mad …. we’ve tried everything to catch him but he tricks us every time!”

“Well indeed… it won’t take me long to deal with this little monkey,” said Glyndŵr, “He won’t be too clever for the Prince of Wales.”

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Glyndŵr had a trick up his sleeve !

Mmm … I’ll borrow a trick from my old friend Crach Ffinant.

THE MONKEY PUZZLE TREE!

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“Now then Anjou,” said Glyndŵr. “There is something very special about the monkey puzzle tree.”“What exactly…”asked Anjou in astonishment.“Well,” said Glyndwr craftily, “Any monkey in the world can climb the tree but it’s impossible for any monkey to come down again!”

But Anjou still didn’t understand Glyndwr’s cunning plan. There was one obvious problem and Anjou said carefully to Glyndŵr, “But we haven’t got a monkey puzzle tree in the village.”“No problem,” said Glyndŵr.In the blinking of an eye Glyndŵr had delved into his rucksack and pulled out a very strange looking seed.

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Glyndŵr dug a small hole in the earth and dropped the small seed in it. In no time at all a small monkey puzzle tree had sprouted with Glyndŵr sitting on top of it!

Because it was so prickly Glyndŵr jumped off, and then, to the surprise of Anjou and all the inhabitants of the village, within two minutes there was an enormous monkey puzzle tree standing in Anjou’s garden!

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Anjou and all the villagers were over the moon.

But still nobody knew how they were going to solve the problem.

THE MONKEY PROBLEM

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BANANAS !

What is that little monkey’s favourite food?

Bananas were a good choice because there were plenty of them available. So…. BANANAS it is !

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Glyndŵr threw a bunch of bananas to the very top of the tree. Everybody hid behind a wall and waited. They didn’t have to wait long. The little monkey came down the road. He leapt up the monkey puzzle tree, climbing from branch to branch without a care in the world. He sat on the top of the tree and before long he’d eaten all the bananas!But poor thing, when he’d finished, try as he might he just couldn’t climb down…..

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And he’s still there today!

Everybody in the village is very happy because the naughty little thief is stuck on top of the monkey puzzle tree.

For the first time in ages the people of the village are being left in peace … Thanks to Glyndŵr and the magic seed! 

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“Good-bye everyone,” said Glyndŵr to Anjou and her friends. “Thank you ever so much for the welcome.”

“Thank you Glyndŵr,” said Anjou. “And thank you for solving our problem … but where will you go next I wonder?”

“We’ll see,” answered Glyndŵr as he said good-bye to all his little friends in India.