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Bevis. O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handycrafts-men.

Hol. The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons.

Becis. Nay more, the king's council are no good workmen.

Hol. True; And yet it is said,-Labour in thy vocation: which is as much to say as,-let| the magistrates be labouring men; and therefore should we be magistrates.

Bevis. Thou hast hit it: for there's no better sign of a brave mind, than a hard hand.

Hol. I see them! I see them! There's Best's

son, the tanner of Wingham.

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seven half-penny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hoop'd pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfry go to grass. And, when I am king (as king I will be)——

All. God save your majesty!

Cade. I thank you, good people:-There shall be no money; all shali eat and drink on my score; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree like brothers, and worship me their lord. Dick. The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

Cade. Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a

Becis. He shall have the skins of our enemies, 15 lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent

to make dog's leather of.

Hol. And Dick the butcher,

Beris. Then is sin struck down like an ox, and iniquity's throat cut like a calf.

lamb should be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled o'er, should undo a man? Some say, the bee stings: but I say, 'tis the bee's wax; for I did but seal once to a thing, and I was 20never my own man since. How now? who's there?

Hol. And Smith the weaver :Bevis. Argo, their thread of life is spun. Hol. Come, come, let's fall in with them. Drum. Enter Cade, Dick the butcher, Smith the weaver, and a sawyer, with infinite numbers. Cade. We John Cade, so term'd of our sup-25 posed father,

Dick. Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings'.

[Asid. Cade. For our enemies shall fall' before us, inspired with the spirit of putting down kings and 30 princes.-Command silence.

Dick. Silence!

Cade. My father was a Mortimer,—

Dick. He was an honest man, and a good bricklayer. [Aside. 35

Cade. My mother a Plantagenet,— Dick. I knew her well, she was a midwife. [Aside. Cade. My wife descended of the Lacies,Dick. She was, indeed, a pedlar's daughter, and sold many laces.

[Aside 40 Smith. But, now of late, not able to travel with her furr'd pack 3, she washes bucks here at home. [Aside.

Cade. Therefore am I of an honourable house. Dick. Ay, by my faith: the field is honourable; 45 and there was he born, under a hedge; for his father had never a house, but the cage. [Aside. Cade. Valiant I am.

Smith. 'A must needs; for beggary is valiant.

[Aside. 50

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Enter some, bringing in the Clerk of Chatham. Smith. The clerk of Chatham: he can write and read, and cast accompt.

Cade. O monstrous!

Smith. We took him setting of boys copies.
Cade. Here's a villain!

Smith. H'as a book in his pocket, with red letters in't.

Cade. Nay, then he is a conjurer.

Dick. Nay, he can make obligations, and write court-hand.

Cade. I am sorry for't: the man is a proper man, on mine honour; unless I find him guilty, he shall not die. Come hither, sirrah, I must examine thee: What is thy name?

Clerk. Emanuel.

Dick. They use to write it on the top of letters;-Twill go hard with you.

Cade. Let me alone:-Dost thou use to write thy name? or hast thou a mark to thyself, like an honest plain-dealing man?

Clerk. Sir, I thank God, I have been so well brought up, that I can write my name.

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All. He hath confess'd: away with him; he's villain, and a traitor.

Cade. Away with him, I say: hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck.

[Exit one with the Clerk. Enter Michael.

Mich. Where's our general? Cade. Here I am, thou particular fellow. Mich. Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother are hard by, with the king's forces. Cade. Stand, villain, stand, or I'll fell thee down: He shall be encounter'd with a man as good as himself: He is but a knight, is a' ?

Mich. No.

Cade. To equal him, I will make myself a knight presently; Rise up Sir John Mortimer.

That is, a barrel of herrings. Perhaps the word keg, which is now used, is cade corrupted. 2 He alludes to his name Cade, from cado, Lat. to fall. 3 A wallet or knapsack of skin with the hair outward.

i. e. of letters missive, and such like public acts.

Now have at him. Is there any more of them that be knights?

Mich. Ay, his brother.

Cade. Then kneel down, Dick Butcher;
Rise up Sir Dick Butcher. Now sound up the drum.
Enter Sir Humphrey Stafford, and his Brother,
with drum and soldiers.

Staf. Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent,
Mark'd for the gallows,-lay your weapons down,
Home to your cottages, forsake this groom :-
The king is merciful, if you revolt. [blood,
Y. Staf. But angry, wrathful, and inclin'd to
If you go forward: therefore yield, or die. [not';
Cade. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass
It is to you, good people, that I speak,
O'er whom, in time to come, I hope to reign;
For I am rightful heir unto the crown.

Staf. Villain, thy father was a plaisterer;
And thou thyself, a shearman, Art thou not?
Cade. And Adam was a gardener.
Y. Staf. And what of that?

Cade. Marry, this:-Edinund Mortimer, earl
of March,

[not Married the duke of Clarence' daughter; Did he Staf. Ay, sir.

Cade. By her he had two children at one birth.
Y. Staf. That's false.

[true:

Cade. Ay, there's the question; but, I say, 'tis
The elder of them, being put to nurse,
Was by a beggar-woman stol'n away;
And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,
Became a bricklayer, when he came to age:
His son am I; deny it, if you can.

[king.

Dick. Nay, 'tis too true; therefore he shall be Smith. Sir, he made a chimney in my father's house, and the bricks are alive at this day to testify it; therefore, deny it not.

Staf. And will you credit this base drudge's words, That speaks he knows not what?

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Y. Staf. Well, seeing gentle words will not pre-
Assail them with the army of the king. [vail,
Staf. Herald away: and, throughout every town,
Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade;
That those, which fly before the battle ends,
May, even in their wives' and children's sight,
Be hang'd up for example at their doors:

And

you, that be the king's friends, follow me.
[Exeunt the two Staffords, with their train.
Cade. And you, that love the commons, fol-
low me.-

Now shew yourselves men, 'tis for liberty.
We will not leave one lord, one gentleman:
Spare none, but such as go in clouted shoon;
15 For they are thrifty honest men, and such
As would (but that they dare not) take our parts.
Dick. They are all in order, and march toward us.
Cade. But then are we in order, when we are most
out of order. Come, march forward. [Exeunt.

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Another part of the Field. The parties fight, and
both the Staffords are slain.
Re-enter Cade, and the rest.

Cade. Where's Dick, the butcher of Ashford?
Dick. Here, sir.

Cade. They fell before thee like sheep and oxen, and thou behav'dst thyself as if thou hadst been in thine own slaughter-house: therefore thus I will 30 reward thee,The Lent shall be as long again as it is; and thou shalt have a licence to kill for a hundred lacking one.

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All. Ay, marry, will we; therefore get you gone. 40 Y. Staf. Jack Cade, the duke of York hath taught you this.

Čade. He lies, for I invented it myself. [Aside. Go to, sirrah, Tell the king from me, that--for his father's sake, Henry the fifth, in whose time boys 45 went to span-counter for French crowns,-I am content he shall reign; but I'll be protector over him.

Dick. And, furthermore, we'll have the lord Say's head, for selling the dukedom of Maine. 50

Cade. And good reason; for thereby is England maim'd, and fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you, that that lord Say hath gelded the common-wealth, and made it an eunuch: and more than that, he can 55 speak French, and therefore he is a traitor.

Staf. O gross and miserable ignorance! Cude. Nay, answer, if you can: The Frenchmen are our enemies: go to then, I ask but this: Can he, that speaks with the tongue of an enemy, be a good counsellor, or no?

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Dick. I desire no more.

Cade. And, to speak truth, thou deserv'st no less. This monument of the victory will I bear; and the bodies shall be dragged at my horse' heels, 'till I do come to London, where we will have the mayor's sword borne before us.

Dick. If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the gaols, and let out the prisoners. Cade. Fear not that, I warrant thee. Come, let's march towards London. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.
Black-Heath.

Enter King Henry w th a supplication, and Queen Margaret with Suffolk's head; the Duke of Buckingham, and the Lord Say.

2. Mar. Oft have I heard-that grief softens
the mind,

And makes it fearful and degenerate;
Think therefore on revenge, and cease to weep.
But who can cease to weep, and look on this?
Here may his head lie on my throbbing breast:
But where's the body that I should embrace?

Buck. What answer makes your grace to the rebels' supplication?

K. Henry. I'll send some holy bishop to entreat:
For God forbid, so many simple soufs
Should perish by the sword! And I myself,
Rather than bloody war should cut them short,
Will parley with Jack Cade their general.-
'Here Cade must be supposed to take off Stafford's armour.

All. No, no; and therefore we'll have his head.

1i. e. I pay them no regard.

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But

But stay, I'll read it over on once again. [face 2. Mar. Ah, barbarous villains! hath this lovely Rul'd, like a wandering planet, over me; And could it not enforce them to relent, That were unworthy to behold the same? K. Henry. Lord Say, Jack Cade hath sworn to have thy head.

Say. Ay, but I hope, your highness shall have K. Henry. How now, madam? [his. Lamenting still, and mourning Suffolk's death? I fear, my love, if that I had been dead, Thou wouldest not have mourn'd so much for me. 2. Mar. No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee.

Enter a Messenger.

K. Henry. How now! what news? why com'st thou in such haste?

Mes. The rebels are in Southwark: Fly, my lord!
Jack Cade proclaims himself lord Mortimer,
Descended from the duke of Clarence' house;
And calls your grace usurper, openly,
And vows to crown himself in Westminster.
His army is a ragged multitude

Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless:
Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother's death
Hath given them heart and courage to proceed:
All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,
Theycall-false caterpillars, and intendtheirdeath.
K. Henry. O graceless men! they know not
what they do.

Buck. My gracious lord, retire to Kenelworth,
Until a power be rais'd to put them down.
2. Mar. Ah! were the duke of Suffolk now alive,
These Kentish rebels should be soon appeas'd.

K. Henry. Lord Say, the traitor hateth thee, Therefore away with us to Kenelworth.

Say. So might your grace's person be in danger; The sight of nie is odious in their eyes: And therefore in this city will I stay, And live alone as secret as I may.

Enter another Messenger.

2 Mes. Jack Cade hath gotten London-bridge; The citizens fly him, and forsake their houses: The rascal people, thirsting after prey, Join with the traitor; and they jointly swear, To spoil the city, and your royal court. [horse. Buck. Then linger not, my lord: away, take K. Henry. Come, Margaret; God, our hope,

will succour us.

1 Cit. No, my lord, nor likely to be slain; for they have won the bridge, killing all those that withstand them: The lord mayor craves aid of your honour from the Tower, to defend the city 5 trom the rebels. [mand; Scales. Such aid as I can spare, you shall comBut I am troubled here with them myself, The rebels have assay'd to win the Tower. But get you into Smithfield, gather head, 10 And thither will I send you Matthew Gough': Fight for your king, your country, and your lives; And so farewell, for I must hence again. [Exeunt.

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Enter Jack Cade and the rest. He strikes his staff on London-stone.

Cade. Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting upon London-stone, I charge and 20 command, that, of the city's cost, the pissingconduit run nothing but claret wine the first year of our reign. And now, henceforward, it shall be treason for any that calls me other thanLord Mortimer.

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2. Mar. My hope is gone, now Suffolk is de-50
ceas'd.
[rebels.

K.Henry. Farewell, my lord: trust not to Kentish
Buck. Trust no body, for fear you be betray'd.
Say. The trust I have is in mine innocence,
And therefore am I bold and resolute. [Exeunt. 55

SCENE V. London.

Enter Lord Scales, and others, on the walls of the Tower. Then enter two or three Citizens below. Scales. How now? Is Jack Cade slain?

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60

Enter a Soldier running.

Sol. Jack Cade! Jack Cade!

Cade. Knock him down there. [They kill him. Smith. If this fellow be wise, he'll never call you Jack Cade more; I think, he hath a very fair warning.

Dick. My lord, there's an army gather'd together in Smithfield.

Cade. Come then, let's go fight with them: if you can, burn down the Tower too. Come, But, first, go and set London-bridge on fire; and, let's away. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII. Smithfield.

Alarum. Enter Jack Cade with his company. They fight with the King's forces, and Matthew Gough is slain.

Cade. So, sirs:-Now go some and pull down the Savoy; others to the inns of court; down with them all.

Dick. I have a suit unto your lordship. Cade. Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word.

Dick. Only, that the laws of England may come out of your mouth.

John. Mass, 'twill be sore law then; for he was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole yet. [Aside.

Smith. Nay, John, it will be stinking law; for his breath stinks with eating toasted cheese. [Aside. Cade. I have thought upon it, it shall be so. Away, burn all the records of the realm; my mouth shall be the parliament of England. John. Then we are like to have biting statutes, unless his teeth be pull'd out. [Aside.

According to Holinshed, Matthew Gough was "a man of great wit and much experience in feats of chivalrie, the which in continuall warres had spent his time in service of the king and his father."

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Cade. And henceforward all things shall be in]

common.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord, a prize, a prize! here's the lord Say, which sold the town in France; he that made us pay one-and-twenty fifteens, and one shilling to the pound, the last subsidy.

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Enter George Beris, with the lord Say. Cade. Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. -Ah, thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram 10 lord! now art thou within point-blank of our ju-| risdiction regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty, for giving up of Normandy unto monsieur Basimecu, the Dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these presence, even the presence of 15 lord Mortimer, that I am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such filth as thou art. Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm, in erecting a grammar-school: and whereas, before, our fore-fathers had no other 20 books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be us'd; and, contrary to the king, his crown, and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face, that thou hast men about thee, that usually talk of a noun, and a verb;25 and such abominable words, as no christian ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed justices of peace, to call poor men before them about matfers they were not able to answer. Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and, because they 30 could not read', thou hast hang'd them; when, indeed, only for that cause they have been most worthy to live. Thou dost ride on a foot-cloth, dost thou not?

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Dick. What say you of Kent?
Say. Nothing but this: "Tis bona terra, mala
Cade. Away with him, away with him! he
speaks Latin,

Kent to maintain, the king, the realm, and you,
Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr'd me to the king:
And-seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,--
Unless you be possess'
s'd with devilish spirits,
You cannot but forbear to murder me.
This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings
For your behoof,-

[field?
Cade. Tut! when struck'st thou one blow in the
Say. Great men have reaching hands: oft have
I struck

Those that I never saw, and struck them dead.
George. O monstrous coward! what, to come
behind folks!
[your good.
Say. These checks are pale with watching for
Cade. Give him a box o' the ear, and that will
make 'em red again.

Say. Long sitting to determine poor men's causes
Hath made me full of sickness and diseases.
Cade. Ye shall have a hempen caudle then, and
the help of a hatchet.

Dick. Why dost thou quiver, man?

Say. The palsy, and not fear, provokes me.

Cade. Nay, he nods at us; as who should say, I'll be even with you. I'll see if his head will stand steadier on a pole, or no: Take him away, and behead him.

Say. Tell me, wherein have I offended most?
Have I affected wealth, or honour? speak.
Are my chests fill'd up with extorted gold?
Is my apparel sumptuous to behold ?

Whom have I injur'd, that ye seek my death?
These hands are freefrom guiltless blood-shedding,
35 This breast fromharbouring foul deceitfulthoughts.
O, let me live!

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Cade. I feel remorse in myself with his words: but I'll bridle it; he shall die, an it be but for pleading so well for his life. Away with him! 40 he has a familiar under his tongue; he speaks not o' God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike off his head presently; and then break into his son-in-law's house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off his head, and bring them both upon two poles hither.

[will. 45

All. It shall be done. [prayers, Say. Ah, countrymen! if when you make your God should be so obdurate as yourselves, How would it fare with your departed souls? 50 And therefore yet relent, and save my life.

Say. Hear me but speak, and bear me where you
Kent, in the Commentaries Cæsar writ,
Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle:
Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy;
Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice with favour have I always done; [never.
Prayers and tears have mov'd me, gifts could 55
When have I aught exacted at your hands?

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Cade. Away with him, and do as I command ye. [Exeunt some, with lord Say. The proudest peer of the realm shall not wear a head on his shoulders, unless he pay me tribute; there shall not a maid be married, but she shall pay to me her maidenhead' ere they have it: Men

Say was the old word for silk; on this depends the series of degradation, from say to serge, from serge to buckram. Shakspeare is a little too early with this accusation. 3 That is, they were hanged because they could not claim the benefit of clergy. 4 A footcloth was a horse with housings which reached as low as his feet. Dr. Johnson is inclined to think that Kent slipped into this passage by chance, and would read: "When have I aught exacted at your hand, But to maintain the king, the realm, and you?" Mr. Steevens proposes to read, "Bent to maintain," &c. i. e. strenuously resolved to the utmost, to, &c. "A familiar is a damon who was supposed to attend Alluding to an ancient usage during the existence of the feudal tenures.

at call.

shall

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Cade. But is not this braver?-Let them kiss one another; for they lov'd well, when they were alive. Now part them again, lest they consult about the giving up of some more towns in France. Soldiers, defer the spoil of the city until night for with these borne before us, instead of maces, we will ride through the streets; and, at 15 every corner, have them kiss 2.—Away. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.
Southwark.

Alarum, and retreat. Enter again Cade, and ali his rabblement.

Will he conduct you through the heart of France,
And make the meanest of you earls and dukes?.
Alas, he hath no home, no place to fly to;
Nor knows he how to live, but by the spoil,
Unless by robbing of your friends, and us.
Wer't not a shame, that, whilst you live at jar,
The fearful French, whom you fate vanquished,
Should make a start o'er seas, and vanquish you?
Methinks, already, in this civil broil,

10I see them lording it in London streets,
Crying-Villageois! unto all they meet.
Better, ten thousand base-born Cades miscarry,
Than you should stoop unto a Frenchman's mercy.
To France, to France, and get what you have lost;
Spare England, for it is your native coast:
Henry hath money, you are strong and manly;
God on our side, doubt not of victory.

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Cade. Up Fish-street! down Saint Magnus' corner! kill and knock down! throw them into Thames![4 parley sounded. 25 What noise is this I hear? Dare any be so bold to sound retreat and parley, when I command them kill?,

Enter Buckingham, and old Clifford, attended.
Buck. Ay, here they be that dare, and will 30
disturb thee:

Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from the king
Unto the commons, whom thou hast mis-led;
And here pronounce free pardon to them all,
That will forsake thee, and go home in peace.

Clif. What say ye, countrymen? will ye relent,
And yield to mercy, whilst 'tis offer'd you;
Or let a rabble lead you to your deaths?

Who loves the king, and will embrace his pardon,
Fling up his cap, and say-God save his majesty
Who hateth him, and honours not his father,
Henry the fifth, that made all France to quake,
Shake he his weapon at us, and pass by.

All. A Clifford! a Clifford! we'll follow the king, and Clifford.

Cade. Was ever feather so lightly blown to and fro, as this multitude? The name of Henry the fifth hales them to an hundred mischiefs, and makes them leave me desolate. I see them lay their heads together, to surprize me my sword make way for me, for here is no staying.-In despight of the devils and hell, have through the very midst of you! and heavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.

[Exit,

Buck. What, is he fled? go some, and follow him;
And he, that brings his head unto the king,
Shall have a thousand crowns for his reward.-

[Exeunt some of them.
35 Follow me, soldiers; we'll devise a mean
To reconcile you all unto the king.

SCENE IX.

Kenelworth Castle.

[Exeunt.

40 Sound trumpets. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, and Somerset, on the Terras.

All. God save the king! God save the king!
Cade. What, Buckingham, and Clifford, are ye 45
so brave?—And you, base peasants, do ye believe
him? will you needs be hang'd with your pardons
about your necks? Hath my sword therefore broke
through London gates, that you should leave me
at the White-hart in Southwark? I thought, ye 50
would never have given out these arms, 'till you
had recover'd your ancient freedom: but you are
all recreants, and dastards; and delight to live in
slavery to the nobility. Let them break your
backs with burdens, take your houses over your
heads, ravish your wives and daughters before
your faces: For me,-I will make shift for one;
and so-God's curse light upon you all!

All. We'll follow Cade, we'll follow Cade.
Chif. Is Cade the son of Henry the fifth,
That thus you do exclaim-you'll go with him

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K. Henry. Was ever king, that joy'd an earthly

throne,

And could command no more content than I?
No sooner was I crept out of my cradle,
But I was made a king, at nine months old;
Was never subject long'd to be a king,
As I do long and wish to be a subject.

Enter Buckingham and Clifford.
Buck. Health and glad tidings, to your majesty!
K. Henry. Why, Buckingham, is the traitor
Cade surpriz'd?

Or is he but retir'd to make him strong?
Enter beloze, multitudes, with halters about their necks.
Clif. He's fled, my lord, and all his powers do
yield;

And humbly thus with halters on their necks
Expect your highness' doon, of life or death.
K. Henry. Then, heaven, set ope thy everlasting

gates,

To entertain my vows of thanks and praise !–

A pun, perhaps alluding to the brown bills, or halberds, with which the commons were anciently armed. This fact is recorded by Holinshed, p. 634; "and as it were in a spite caused them in every street to kisse together,”

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