A Thousand Splendid Suns

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And he was smoking, another new habit, which he'd picked up from theguys Laila spotted him hanging around with these days. Laila couldn'tstand them, these new friends of Tariq's. They all dressed the same way,pleated trousers, and tight shirts that accentuated their arms and chest.They all wore too much cologne, and they all smoked. They struttedaround the neighborhood in groups, joking, laughing loudly, sometimeseven calling after girls, with identical stupid, self-satisfied grins on theirfaces. One of Tariq's friends, on the basis of the most passing ofresemblances to Sylvester Stallone, insisted he be called Rambo."Your mother would kill you if she knew about your smoking," Lailasaid, looking one way, then the other, before slipping into the alley."But she doesn't," he said. He moved aside to make room."That could change.""Who is going to tell? You?"Laila tapped her foot. "Tell your secret to the wind, but don't blame itfor telling the trees."Tariq smiled, the one eyebrow arched. "Who said that?""Khalil Gibran.""You're a show-off.""Give me a cigarette."He shook his head no and crossed his arms. This was a new entry in his
repertoire of poses: back to the wall, arms crossed, cigarette danglingfrom the corner of his mouth, his good leg casually bent."Why not?""Bad for you," he said."And it's not bad for you?""I do it for the girls.""What girls?"He smirked. "They think it's sexy.""It's not.""No?""I assure you.""Not sexy?""You look khila, like a half-wit.""That hurts," he said"What girls anyway?""You're jealous.""I'm indifferently curious.""You can't be both." He took another drag and squinted through thesmoke. "I'll bet they're talking about us now."
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Khour Rivekhead Booksa member of Pe
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PART ONE1.Mariam was five years old
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there once, to the tree. You were l
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Jalil didn't have the dil either, N
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center, in the shade of the willows
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uneventful forty-year reign. She sa
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"Well, one of," he said and smiled.
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* * *In the mornings, they awoke to
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He said they comforted him, eased h
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Mariam did."Only one skill And it's
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would squeal.Suspended in the air,
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He was the one who told her in the
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gone, he would surely take her with
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Mariam remembered him telling her t
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to the north of the city, Char-suq
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She waited until her legs were stif
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from hookahs.The old man turned ont
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Mariam only looked at him."I'll tak
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the cold leather of the backseat.*
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It was when Mullah Faizullah's slig
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chest with a flower vase on it. The
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Mariam shrugged. She didn't say to
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friend at the door, his white beard
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1 hey sat across from her, Jalil an
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Mariam fixed her eyes on Jalil, her
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"He's so old and weak," Khadija eve
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pair of matching sandals.She was ta
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"Mariam," Jalil whispered."Yes," sh
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Mariam could not bring herself to a
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"We're in Deh-Mazang," he said. The
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"What's this crying about?" Rasheed
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"Yes.""You can thank me then.""Than
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mother, feeling nauseated and homes
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say to you about the crying?"* * *T
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face. Her lips were much fuller tha
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again and running, bolting past the
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Mariam blinked."It's a joke. Of cou
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air smoky. The walls smelled faintl
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and kissed on the cheek, Mariam sto
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* * *That night, Rasheed visited he
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Except for a handful of days, Rashe
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out "Eidmubarak" to her as they pas
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On every page were women, beautiful
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unsettling about the way Rasheed se
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hammering- She wrapped a shawl arou
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Mariam stroked the softness of her
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"What kind of answer is that?" he s
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Other days, Mariam was besieged wit
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"Are you?"His eyes shifted to her.
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On April 17,1978, the year Mariam t
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apologies and sometimes not.In the
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salty or too bland for his taste. T
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yellow, an exhausted Fariba had pro
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Through the mouthful of grit and pe
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parents were fighting. Again. Laila
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go to war-Mammy too had thought Bab
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pulled tightly back and tied in a b
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with her books pressed to her chest
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"Beans, girls," Hasina said. "You r
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understand it-couldn't quite pictur
Page 123 and 124: the conversation, as the women talk
Page 125 and 126: * * *Mammy had pulled the yellowish
Page 127 and 128: "The usual.""Did you eat?""I did.""
Page 129 and 130: "Of course you do. Shut the curtain
Page 131 and 132: "What did you do 1 ?" she exclaimed
Page 133 and 134: thanks to God.""Heart attack. His s
Page 135 and 136: it's nonsense-and very dangerous no
Page 137 and 138: "Your masculine smarts? Really? Tel
Page 139 and 140: himself more upright, taking on a s
Page 141 and 142: reasons people out there took up ar
Page 143 and 144: duties."It's under control. You go
Page 145 and 146: But the feeling didn't last. It was
Page 147 and 148: would obliterate her in death. Mamm
Page 149 and 150: to be there when it happens, when A
Page 151 and 152: * * *Half an hour later, the driver
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Page 155 and 156: physically. He planted a brisk kiss
Page 157 and 158: * * *Later, after they'd eaten a lu
Page 159 and 160: 22.January 1989One cold, overcast d
Page 161 and 162: They "went to Cinema Park later tha
Page 163 and 164: Three years passed.In that time, Ta
Page 165 and 166: thoughtful face, eyebrow cocked and
Page 167 and 168: "I see you want to," Laila said, ir
Page 169 and 170: that some, if not most, of the neig
Page 171 and 172: "Oh, he has the most handsome smile
Page 173: off his newly muscular arms-complim
Page 177 and 178: precisely at the midpoint between m
Page 179 and 180: And when the rockets began to rain
Page 181 and 182: "I don't like it," she said. "Guns
Page 183 and 184: In June of that yeah, 1992, there w
Page 185 and 186: One daY that same month of June, Gi
Page 187 and 188: "And my mother is not a young woman
Page 189 and 190: "Let me marry you, Laila. Today. We
Page 191 and 192: Laila couldn't decide which he had
Page 193 and 194: stood by the front gates, leaning a
Page 195 and 196: wedding band-and most of her old cl
Page 197 and 198: She thought suddenly of her dream.
Page 199 and 200: Somewhere, an accordion playing.Mer
Page 201 and 202: she had to retch."How long is she s
Page 203 and 204: at the girl, at her blond curls, he
Page 205 and 206: names added to theshaheed list. Nor
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Page 209 and 210: bleeping, syringes all over the gro
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Page 213 and 214: it was as thick and coarse as ever.
Page 215 and 216: But this is for the best. You'll se
Page 217 and 218: Not with this daily retching.This n
Page 219 and 220: 31.MadamIn the daytime, the girl wa
Page 221 and 222: "No matter. The point is, I am your
Page 223 and 224: could hear the creaking of its hing
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"You can imagine the rest. The boy
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he's siding with Massoud. And Hekma
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imagined. He had her sit behind his
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Jbarly one morning the next spring,
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"Not yet, Rasheed. No. Let go. Come
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"I was listening to the radio the o
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anything.In the end, Mariam knew th
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Mariam pulled her finger free. The
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"Which was it?""He was like both.""
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Laila sat in a comer and draped her
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Mariam gave a half smile. "It's a g
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* * *Early the following yeah, in J
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loaded gun near Aziza.One day that
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azan rang out, and then the morning
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Mariam shifted Aziza in her arms. "
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Laila gave him their names, and he
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"You're not going to get on this bu
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died. Sometimes they're telling the
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to go-"Laila didn't see the punch c
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"Soon." Laila kissed her daughter,
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country that will hold me accountab
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They "went our that day, the four o
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Shar-e-Nau, in Karteh-Parwan, in Wa
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Ever cared to visit the real Afghan
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punishment. Then, on Fridays, he we
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to guide the spoke, if indeed she c
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Before the registration window was
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aluminum table. The top shelf had a
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you'll find yourself in a bidding w
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behind their parched lands, selling
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with Laila. He had bought him a new
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were inseparable now. Of late, with
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sound like dropping a rice bag to t
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their livestock. When they found ne
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few toys Laila had fought Rasheed t
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of her children. She had saved the
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"What's taking him so long?" Mariam
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lived in Shar-e-Nau and owned the c
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the ragged net lying limply in the
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On the way to Karteh-Seh, Zalmai bo
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you won't go hungry. They have rice
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Next to Laila, Aziza snorted.Zaman
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bless you, brother."***But "when th
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warn you.""I'm coming with you," Ma
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"They're fractures along the earth'
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transpiration.More than once, Laila
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bewildered, almost harmless. Like s
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perfectly still and looked at Tariq
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LailaIariq said that one of the men
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"I'm so sorry.""Well. Yes. Me too.
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"I don't recognize Kabul.""Neither
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long to see the doctor, Tariq said.
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"He was only visiting," Mariam said
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guilty to feel that about Zalmai, w
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new leg. Tariq said he'd wept at th
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"I'll count the minutes."Almost ten
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"And then…Idon't know. I have to
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touched her fingers to her temple,
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Mariam clawed at him. She beat at h
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LailaLaila was aware of the face ov
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say anything for a long time.Laila'
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"Somewhere with trees," she said. "
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"I don't know, my love."When was he
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a while, wait for things to calm do
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awaited planting and chickens that
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glass. There were no curtains eithe
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It was just as well, she said, her
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"Well, then." He threw up his hands
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walls. She watched the winds stir m
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A lump closed off her throat. In a
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her eyes, it was not regret any lon
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It was Sayeecl who summoned a frien
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tags along, a mop in one hand, the
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delivered again.At some point, Lail
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"Did you hear?" he says, panting a
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In less than two hours, both towers
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But it rankles Laila, what Tariq is
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precisely the sort of life she used
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"I am happy," Laila says. "Of cours
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As she leans back and watches Sayee
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is a painting of the poet Khaja Abd
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she is alive and sitting in this ta
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the wall They sit by the open windo
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mosquitoes hovering in front of her
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summon Mariam behind the lids of he
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"Let's go back," he says. Then, "I
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* * *Tariq and the children come ba
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deserved you. Now all I can do is a
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Zalmai's new goat. Laila watched th
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Laila yanks her children back onto
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calling after her, Aziza screaming
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blankets that keep the children war
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AcknowledgmentsA few clarifications
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A Thousand Splendid Suns

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