# Can Such Things Be? — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

- [The Death of Halpin Frayser](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-death-of-halpin-frayser.md): The chapter opens with a philosophical epigraph on death and the supernatural, suggesting that the dead may return with malevolent intent and that the spirit and body can be separated in unnatural ways.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i.md): Halpin Frayser wakes from a dreamless sleep in a forest and inexplicably speaks the name 'Catherine Larue.' He returns to sleep and enters a nightmare where he walks a haunted road, finds blood everywhere, and feels pers
- [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii.md): This chapter provides background on Halpin Frayser's youth in Nashville, Tennessee, his family's social standing, his dreamy and literary nature inherited from his great-grandfather Myron Bayne, and the deep, almost roma
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii.md): Halpin Frayser, trapped in a nightmare within a haunted wood, confronts a horrifying apparition that resembles his mother but is soulless and malevolent. Paralyzed with fear, he is attacked and strangled by the creature,
- [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iv.md): Detective Jaralson and Mr. Holker discover the body of a man in a forest graveyard, identified as Halpin Frayser, who appears to have been strangled in a violent struggle. They find a pocketbook containing a fragmentary 
- [The Secret of Macarger's Gulch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-secret-of-macarger-s-gulch.md): The narrator recounts a hunting trip in Macarger's Gulch where he camps in an abandoned cabin and experiences a strange, fearful night. Years later, he meets a man named Morgan who reveals that the cabin was the site of 
- [One Summer Night](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/one-summer-night.md): Henry Armstrong, buried but not convinced he is dead, lies in his grave with pathological indifference. During a stormy night, three men—two medical students and a cemetery worker named Jess—dig up his coffin. When they 
- [The Moonlit Road](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-moonlit-road.md): A man recounts the tragic story of his mother's murder and his father's disappearance, set against a moonlit road that holds the key to the family's dark secrets.
- [I: Statement of Joel Hetman, Jr.](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-statement-of-joel-hetman-jr.md): Joel Hetman, Jr. recounts the brutal murder of his mother, Julia Hetman, and his father's subsequent psychological decline. After returning home from Yale, he learns that his mother was strangled by an unknown assailant.
- [II: Statement of Caspar Grattan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-statement-of-caspar-grattan.md): Caspar Grattan, a man with no memory of his past before twenty years ago, recounts his life of wandering, poverty, and haunting guilt. He describes a recurring dream in which he suspects his wife of infidelity, returns h
- [III: Statement of the Late Julia Hetman, Through the Medium Bayrolles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-statement-of-the-late-julia-hetman-through-the-medium-bayrolles.md): Julia Hetman, now a ghost, recounts the night of her murder. She awoke to a sense of peril, heard hesitant footsteps on the stairs, and after a brief retreat, the entity returned, broke into her room, and strangled her. 
- [A Diagnosis of Death](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-diagnosis-of-death.md): Hawver recounts to Dr. Frayley his experience of seeing the apparition of Dr. Mannering, a reclusive physician who had lived in the house Hawver rented. The apparition silently lifted a finger in warning. Later, Hawver s
- [Moxon's Master](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/moxon-s-master.md): The narrator debates with Moxon about whether machines can think, leading to a philosophical discussion on consciousness and rhythm. Later, the narrator witnesses Moxon's chess-playing automaton violently strangle him du
- [A Tough Tussle](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-tough-tussle.md): Lieutenant Byring, a Federal officer on picket duty, experiences a profound psychological crisis as night, solitude, and the presence of a dead body overwhelm his senses. He descends into terror, hallucinating movement f
- [One of Twins](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/one-of-twins.md): The narrator, one of a pair of identical twins, recounts his uncanny experiences of mistaken identity and a tragic love triangle that culminates in the deaths of his brother John and Julia Margovan. After being mistaken 
- [The Haunted Valley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-haunted-valley.md): A mysterious and eerie tale set in a secluded valley, where strange occurrences and supernatural elements challenge the perceptions of the characters involved.
- [I: How Trees Are Felled in China](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-how-trees-are-felled-in-china.md): The narrator describes a mysterious ravine near Jo Dunfer's property, which he believes holds a secret. Jo Dunfer, a local known as 'Whisky Jo,' harbors a deep hatred for Chinese immigrants. He recounts how he employed a
- [II: Who Drives Sane Oxen Should Himself Be Sane](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-who-drives-sane-oxen-should-himself-be-sane.md): The narrator encounters a peculiar little man driving an oxcart, who addresses him with strange familiarity and leads him back to the ravine where Jo Dunfer and Ah Wee are buried. The man reveals the true story of Ah Wee
- [A Jug of Syrup](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-jug-of-syrup.md): Silas Deemer, a steadfast merchant of Hillbrook, dies in 1863 and is buried, but soon returns as a ghost to his store. Alvan Creede, a local banker, attempts to buy a jug of syrup from the apparition, but the transaction
- [Staley Fleming's Hallucination](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/staley-fleming-s-hallucination.md): A physician is called to treat Staley Fleming, who suffers from hallucinations of a black Newfoundland dog with a white forefoot. The physician connects the dog to the late Atwell Barton, an old enemy of Fleming who was 
- [A Resumed Identity](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-resumed-identity.md): A soldier awakens with no memory of his past and finds himself in a strange, unfamiliar setting. He struggles to piece together his identity and the circumstances that led him there, confronting the unsettling possibilit
- [I: The Review as a Form of Welcome](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-the-review-as-a-form-of-welcome.md): A man stands on a hill at night, observing a silent procession of ghostly soldiers marching along a moonlit road. He is disoriented and fearful, thinking the army may be Confederate forces moving on Nashville. The column
- [II: When You Have Lost Your Life Consult a Physician](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-when-you-have-lost-your-life-consult-a-physician.md): Dr. Stilling Malson encounters a man on the Stone's River battlefield who claims to be a lieutenant in the Federal army but is dressed in civilian clothes and seems disoriented. The doctor, suspecting a case of lost iden
- [III: The Danger of Looking Into a Pool of Water](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-the-danger-of-looking-into-a-pool-of-water.md): A man, after leaving a road and feeling inexplicably fatigued, discovers his hands and face are withered and aged. He realizes he has been unconscious for months since a battle in December, now finding it summer. He come
- [A Baby Tramp](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-baby-tramp.md): The chapter follows the tragic story of little Jo, an orphan who becomes a wandering tramp after the death of his parents, Hetty and Mr. Parlow, during a mysterious epidemic in Blackburg. After being adopted and then los
- [The Night-Doings at "Deadman's"](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-night-doings-at-deadman-s.md): On a bitterly cold, clear night in the abandoned mining camp of Deadman's Gulch, the sole inhabitant, Hiram Beeson, sits alone in his shanty staring into the fire. A mysterious, heavily muffled old man arrives unannounce
- [Beyond the Wall](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/beyond-the-wall.md): The narrator visits his friend Dampier in a tower during a storm, where they hear mysterious tapping on the wall. Dampier reveals he has heard the signal twice before and recounts a story of a past infatuation with a you
- [A Psychological Shipwreck](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-psychological-shipwreck.md): William Jarrett recounts his voyage from Liverpool to New York on the sailing vessel Morrow in 1874, during which he forms a mysterious bond with fellow passenger Janette Harford. After a strange psychological episode wh
- [The Middle Toe of the Right Foot](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-middle-toe-of-the-right-foot.md): A man named Manton, who has been estranged from his wife for ten years, returns to their home with his two children. The wife, who has been living in the house with her father, is found dead in a locked room with her thr
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i.md): Four men arrive at the haunted Manton house for a duel. After searching and arming the two principals, the candle is extinguished and the seconds depart, leaving the combatants in darkness. A witness later reports seeing
- [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii.md): Three young men, King, Sancher, and Rosser, converse on a hotel porch in Marshall, discussing physical defects in women. A stranger, Robert Grossmith, listens in, prompting Rosser to insult him. A quarrel ensues, and a d
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii.md): Sheriff Adams, Deputy King, and Mr. Brewer visit the abandoned Manton house in broad daylight, discovering the corpse of Mr. Manton crouched in a corner, dead from sheer horror. Footprints in the dust—including a woman's
- [John Mortonson’s Funeral](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/john-mortonson-s-funeral.md): John Mortonson is dead and his funeral is underway. Mourners gather, the minister delivers a eulogy, and the widow collapses in grief. As the clock strikes three, the coffin falls, the glass shatters, and John Mortonson'
- [The Realm of the Unreal](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-realm-of-the-unreal.md): A narrative exploring the blurred boundaries between reality and illusion, where characters confront unsettling phenomena that challenge their perceptions of the world.
- [I](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i.md): The narrator recounts a dark night drive from Newcastle to Auburn through a narrow ravine, where he unexpectedly encounters Dr. Dorrimore, a man he had not seen in five years. Despite offering him a ride, the narrator fe
- [II](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii.md): The narrator recounts his first unsettling encounter with Dr. Dorrimore at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, where a conversation about Hindu jugglers leads to a demonstration of Dorrimore's uncanny powers. Dorrimore m
- [III](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii.md): The narrator describes his second meeting with Dr. Dorrimore, who is absent due to illness. Miss Margaret Corray and her mother arrive unexpectedly, and the narrator reveals his engagement to Miss Corray. Despite his hap
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iv.md): The narrator, in a state of madness, visits an abandoned cemetery in Auburn where he encounters Dr. Dorrimore and Margaret Corray. Overcome with rage, he attacks them but later wakes up bruised and bloody. Upon recovery,
- [V](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/v.md): The narrator reveals that Margaret Corray is now his wife and was unaware of his ordeal, living in Oakland. He references a newspaper article about Professor Valentine Dorrimore, a hypnotist who claims that highly suscep
- [John Bartine's Watch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/john-bartine-s-watch.md): The narrator recounts an evening with John Bartine, who becomes inexplicably agitated when asked for the time. Bartine eventually reveals the story of his ancestral watch, which once belonged to his great-grandfather Bra
- [The Damned Thing](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-damned-thing.md): A group of men gather at the inquest into the death of Hugh Morgan, who has been found dead under mysterious circumstances in a remote cabin. The coroner and witnesses examine the scene and testimony, revealing that Morg
- [I: One Does Not Always Eat What Is on the Table](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/i-one-does-not-always-eat-what-is-on-the-table.md): An inquest is held in a remote cabin for the deceased Hugh Morgan. The coroner reads from an old account book found among Morgan's effects. A young journalist, William Harker, arrives late, having posted an account of th
- [II: What May Happen in a Field of Wild Oats](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-what-may-happen-in-a-field-of-wild-oats.md): The narrator recounts a hunting expedition with Hugh Morgan, during which they encounter an invisible, violent entity in a field of wild oats. Morgan reacts with terror, fires his gun, and is brutally attacked and killed
- [III: A Man Though Naked May Be in Rags](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-a-man-though-naked-may-be-in-rags.md): The coroner examines the naked, brutally beaten body of Hugh Morgan in the cabin, displaying severe contusions and lacerations. Witness Harker testifies, but the jury, skeptical of his sanity, asks what asylum he escaped
- [IV: An Explanation from the Tomb](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iv-an-explanation-from-the-tomb.md): Excerpts from Hugh Morgan's diary reveal his observations of strange phenomena, including a dog's unusual behavior, stars being eclipsed by an invisible object, and mysterious footprints. He theorizes about sounds and co
- [Haïta the Shepherd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ha-ta-the-shepherd.md): Haïta, a simple shepherd devoted to the god Hastur, lives a pure and contented life until he begins to question the mysteries of existence and the inevitability of death. His curiosity drives away a mysterious maiden nam
- [An Inhabitant of Carcosa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/an-inhabitant-of-carcosa.md): The narrator, reflecting on Hali's words about different kinds of death, finds himself lost in a bleak, desolate plain filled with ancient gravestones and ruins. Believing he is ill and delirious, he encounters a lynx an
- [The Stranger](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-stranger.md): A group of adventurers camping in the Arizona desert are visited by a mysterious stranger who recounts a harrowing tale of a prospecting expedition thirty years prior, in which four men—Ramon Gallegos, William Shaw, Geor
- [The Ways of Ghosts](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-ways-of-ghosts.md): The narrator introduces a collection of ghost stories obtained from a peculiar acquaintance, noting the author's simple and direct style and his own reluctance to embellish the narratives.
- [Present at a Hanging](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/present-at-a-hanging.md): In 1853, an old man named Daniel Baker is suspected of murdering a peddler who stayed at his house. Seven years later, the Rev. Mr. Cummings encounters a ghostly peddler on a bridge, who points downward before vanishing.
- [A Cold Greeting](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-cold-greeting.md): Benson Foley recounts a strange incident involving James H. Conway, who believed he had received a cold greeting from their mutual friend Lawrence Barting in San Francisco, only to later learn that Barting had died days 
- [A Wireless Message](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-wireless-message.md): In the summer of 1896, Mr. William Holt, a wealthy Chicago manufacturer separated from his wife, becomes lost while walking in central New York. He experiences a mysterious, intense red light that illuminates the sky, du
- [An Arrest](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/an-arrest.md): Orrin Brower, a fugitive who murdered his brother-in-law, escapes from jail and flees into a forest. Lost in the dark, he encounters a motionless figure on an old road. Under moonlight, he sees it is the jailer, Burton D
- [Soldier-Folk](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/soldier-folk.md): A narrative exploring the lives and experiences of soldiers, delving into themes of duty, mortality, and the psychological toll of warfare.
- [A Man with Two Lives](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-man-with-two-lives.md): David William Duck recounts his harrowing experience as a soldier in 1866, where he was trapped by Sioux Indians in a canyon, fought for three days, and later discovered that his body had been found and buried two months
- [Three and One Are One](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/three-and-one-are-one.md): Barr Lassiter, a Union soldier from a divided Tennessee family, returns home after two years to find his family cold and unresponsive. His father rebuffs him, his mother ignores him, and his sister passes without recogni
- [A Baffled Ambuscade](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-baffled-ambuscade.md): A Federal cavalry squadron under Major Seidel sets out on a secret night mission from Readyville. Trooper Dunning, who had been ordered to a post, is found ahead of the column with a dead horse and a dead man. He warns t
- [Two Military Executions](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/two-military-executions.md): In 1862, Private Bennett Story Greene is executed by firing squad for striking his officer, Lieutenant Dudley, who later feels remorse. Weeks later during a stormy night after the Battle of Shiloh, Greene's name is calle
- [Some Haunted Houses](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/some-haunted-houses.md): A collection of tales exploring haunted houses and supernatural encounters, where characters confront eerie phenomena, spectral apparitions, and the lingering presence of the dead.
- [The Isle of Pines](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-isle-of-pines.md): The chapter recounts the mysterious life and death of Herman Deluse, a reclusive old man living near Gallipolis, Ohio, rumored to have been a pirate. After his death under unexplained circumstances, the Reverend Henry Ga
- [A Fruitless Assignment](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-fruitless-assignment.md): Henry Saylor, a reporter for the Cincinnati Commercial, is assigned to spend a night alone in the supposedly haunted Roscoe house on Vine Street. Despite the eerie reputation and the crowd outside, Saylor experiences a s
- [A Vine on a House](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-vine-on-a-house.md): The chapter recounts the eerie history of an abandoned house near Norton, Missouri, once occupied by the Harding family. After Mrs. Harding supposedly left to visit her mother in Iowa and never returned, the family vanis
- [At Old Man Eckert’s](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/at-old-man-eckert-s.md): Philip Eckert, a reclusive farmer, vanishes without a trace from his isolated Vermont home. Years later, the house is deemed haunted, prompting three local men—John Holcomb, Wilson Merle, and Andrus C. Palmer—to investig
- [The Spook House](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-spook-house.md): Colonel J. C. McArdle and Judge Myron Veigh seek shelter at a deserted Kentucky plantation known as the 'Spook House' during a storm. Upon entering, they discover a hidden room filled with decaying corpses. McArdle, horr
- [The Other Lodgers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-other-lodgers.md): Colonel Levering recounts a harrowing night at the Breathitt House in Atlanta, a dilapidated former hotel and hospital. After falling asleep in a room, he awakens to find it filled with the corpses of former patients. Th
- [The Thing at Nolan](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-thing-at-nolan.md): The chapter recounts the mysterious disappearance of Charles May after a quarrel with his son John, who threatened him. John is indicted for murder despite no body being found, but is acquitted when witnesses claim Charl
- [Bodies of the Dead](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/bodies-of-the-dead.md): This chapter explores the unsettling and often grotesque treatment of corpses in Bierce's stories, examining how dead bodies serve as focal points for horror, supernatural occurrences, and psychological terror. The narra
- [That of Granny Magone](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/that-of-granny-magone.md): In a remote cabin in the Cumberland mountains, the death of the reputed witch Granny Magone leads to a horrifying incident during the wake: a black cat attacks the corpse, and the dead woman's hand rises, seizes the cat,
- [A Light Sleeper](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-light-sleeper.md): John Hoskin's wife dies suddenly while visiting relatives in Springfield, Illinois. When her body is shipped to San Francisco, Hoskin discovers that the body's position has inexplicably changed from the original arrangem
- [The Mystery of Charles Farquharson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-mystery-of-charles-farquharson.md): In 1843, William Hayner Gordon discovers a mysterious corpse in his locked bedroom after briefly extinguishing his candle. Despite an inquest, the body remains unidentified. Months later, he learns that Charles Farquhars
- [Dead and 'Gone'](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/dead-and-gone.md): On August 14, 1872, George J. Reid collapses and dies suddenly in his family's dining room. After his body is placed in a bedroom, a physician arrives to find the body has vanished without explanation, leaving only the c
- [A Cold Night](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-cold-night.md): After the first day's battle at Stone River, a Federal sergeant's body is found among the dead with a bullet wound through the forehead. During the cold night, a soldier and his companion take the blanket covering the co
- [A Creature of Habit](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-creature-of-habit.md): In a Montana mining camp in 1865, gambler Henry 'Gray Hank' Graham murders miner Dreyfuss after a card dispute, is swiftly tried by vigilantes, and hanged. After the body is cut down, it bizarrely runs through the panick
- [Mysterious Disappearances](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/mysterious-disappearances.md): This chapter collects several tales of inexplicable vanishings, where individuals disappear without trace under strange circumstances, often leaving behind only baffling clues or no evidence at all.
- [The Difficulty of Crossing a Field](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/the-difficulty-of-crossing-a-field.md): In July 1854, a planter named Williamson vanishes without a trace while crossing a pasture near Selma, Alabama, witnessed by his neighbor Armour Wren and Wren's son James. Despite a thorough search, no explanation is fou
- [An Unfinished Race](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/an-unfinished-race.md): James Burne Worson, a shoemaker from Leamington, England, makes a drunken wager to run to Coventry and back. He sets off with three companions following in a cart. In the middle of the road, he suddenly stumbles, cries o
- [Charles Ashmore's Trail](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/charles-ashmore-s-trail.md): In 1878, sixteen-year-old Charles Ashmore vanishes while fetching water from a spring near his family's farm in Illinois. His footprints abruptly end in the snow, with no tracks leading away. After his disappearance, fam
- [Science to the Front](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/science-to-the-front.md): This chapter discusses Dr. Hern of Leipzig's theory of mysterious disappearances, proposing that voids or cavities in the luminiferous ether allow animate and inanimate objects to fall into an invisible world, beyond sen
- [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/endnotes.md): The chapter consists of endnotes referencing the tale's origin among the papers of the late Leigh Bierce and a historical note about the Isle of Pines as a pirate rendezvous.

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