THE CASE OF THE MUKKINESE BATTLE-HORN transcribed by Brian
"African-American Goon Hern(AAGH!)" Phillips with corrections by John
Elliott.
CREDITS: A Kingsley-Union Films Release Peter
Sellers in The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn with Spike
Milligan Dick Emery Arnold(?) Thomas Wally Thomas Bill
Hooper Gordon Philliet SCREENPLAY Harry Booth Jan
Pennington Larry Stephens ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Peter
Sellers Spike Milligan Music...Edwin Astley Photography...Gerald
Gibbs Film Editor...Ferrie(?) Muldoon (?)...Brian Rhodes PRODUCED
BY Jan Pennington, Harry Booth, Michael Deeley DIRECTED BY Joseph
Sterling
"In the wonder of Schizophreniscope, the new Split
Screen." (Over an incredibly foggy screen, we hear
coughing.) CHILDREN'S BOOK NARRATOR-TYPE HERN: London. Yes, London. Who
can fail to recognize the city's great landmarks? Here, in Trafalgar
Square, for instance, there is Nelson's Column. And even in the worst
fog, you cannot miss Nelson's Column.
GRAMS: Car skids and
Crashes
CBN Hern: You see? There's someone not missing it now! But
there is one famous London landmark that anyone could miss, tucked
away in a little side turning(?).
(Fog clears to reveal a large
building.) CBN Hern: Recognize it? Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard is the
headquarters of the CID. The Criminal Investigation Department of the
London Police. Let us take a look at the world-famous CID at work
through the medium of a true real-life case; a factual documentary
record straight from the files of Scotland Yard.
( A file is
removed from a file cabinet that reads, "The Case of the Mukkinese
Battle-Horn". Fade to a museum case that says "Mukkinese
Battle-Horn".)
CBN Hern: Yes, the Mukkinese
Battle-Horn.
(A brick shatters the glass case in which the Horn is
contained. A hand comes into the frame, removes the brick, and we hear
hurried footsteps running away. Then we hear them coming back.
Someone's hand replaces the brick and very noisily removes the
Mukkinese Battle-Horn.)
Standard Hern(Shall be henceforth known as
Hern): The fact was not discovered until the following
morning.
Old Museum Guard:(GRAMS Extremely fast--paced music)
Get..me...Scotland...Yard. Hern: Within minutes of the report of the
burglary, Scotland Yard's Ace Detective, Superintendent Quilt. (Car
pulls up and out of frame, backs up into frame and stops in front of
museum. Quilt(Sellers) gets out, all the time scolding driver.
Sellers' garb should be familiar to anyone who has seen him as
Inspector Clouseau. Quilt opens trunk, to let out Detective Brown
(Milligan). (Inside museum) Woman Constable: Good morning,
sir. Quilt: Good morning, Constable. Where's the body? Woman
Constable: Body, sir? Oh, there's no body here. Quilt: You mean...we're
alone?(romantic music plays and fades). Hern: Wasting no time,
Superintendent Quilt and Sergeant Brown began a thorough search for
clues. Brown: Look, sir! (points down) An impression of a
heel! Quilt: Very clever, Brown. We haven't time for your impressions
now. Brown: Thank you, sir. (Quilt walks to another room) Quilt:
I say, you there, are you the body? Noddule: No, are you? Quilt: Oh,
no. I'm Superintendent Quilt of Scotland Yard. Noddule: Delighted to
meet you. My name's Noddule, I'm a curator here. Quilt: How do you
do? Noddule: Ha, ha, how do you do? (They shake hands) Quilt: Give
me my glove, will you? Noddule: Yes, of course. Quilt: (Looks past
Noddule) Hello? Noddule: Hello? I thought we just met. Quilt: What
have we got over here? (Walks over to the smashed case) What's all
this about, eh? Noddule: That? Oh, we just had a robbery last
night. Quilt: Anything stolen? (picks up card and recites)
"Metropolitan Museum, Mukkinese Battle Horn, 9th-century copper inlaid
with rubies and emeralds." (lifts the display window-smashing-type
brick) You've been swindled, old man. Noddule: What? Quilt: This is
an ordinary house brick. Noddule: I know. The Mukkinese Battle-Horn has
been stolen. Quilt : What? (Drops brick on Noddule's foot) Noddule:
Ooooh! Quilt: I must warn you that anything that you say can and will
be taken down and used in evidence against you. Sgt. Brown? Brown:
Yes, sir? Quilt: Make a note of that. Brown: Right, sir. (Both of
them speak in rapid-fire, simultaneous police-type banter) Quilt: Have
you got all that? Brown: No, sir! Quilt: Good! You know, Noddule, it
strikes me as very, very fishy why the thief chose this Mukkinese
Battle-Horn thing when there was all these other rare and valuable
items lying around. Noddule: Really? Quilt: Mm-hmm. Such as those
golden slave bangles. Noddule: By Jove, you're right! Quilt:
Yes... Noddule: He could have easily nicked one of those Chinese jade
ornaments. Quilt: Mmm. Noddule: Or even this(points and walks). This
Priceless Grecian vase(which he knocks over with his outstretched
finger). Botheration! Cleggett! Nip 'round to Woolworth's and get me
one of those priceless Grecian vases, will you?(Cleggett
exits) Quilt: Mr. Noddule, can you give me a full description of the
Mukkinese Battle-Horn? Noddule: Description? I can do better than
that. (yells off-camera) Cleggett! Cleggett: Yes? Noddule: Bring in
the other Mukkinese Battle-Horn. Quilt: Other? Noddule: This one was
one of a pair. Supposed to be he only identical pair
in existence. Quilt: Come now then, Noddule! Do you take me for a
raving idiot?(Cleggett wheels in the other horn) I'm an officer of the
Police Force and I...(Noddule, Brown and Quilt turn to see the
horn) Quilt, Noddule and Brown: AAGH! Quilt: So, um...this is
it? Noddule: Yes. This is it. Brown: It sort of looks like a
trumpet, sir. Noddule: With a little more plumbing, of
course. Quilt: Look, um, tell me one thing. Noddule: Yes? Quilt:
What are these holes? Noddule: I'm glad you mentioned those. They help
to change the pitch of the note. Quilt: I see. Noddule: Now
this one here, this one here is for D-Sharp... Quilt: That's rather
ingenious. Noddule: Yes, yes, yes. And that one there is for
A-Flat. Brown: Terribly stunning.(pointing to another spot on the horn)
WhatÕs that there for!? Noddule: Used razor blades. Brown: Mr.
Noddule, you're trying to be funny, sir. Noddule: (to camera) Aren't we
all? Hern: (Car drives up) Soon the various experts from the CID began
appearing on the scene. At 11:10, the police photographers arrived.
(Police are seen posing for a family portrait-type shot) Photographed
the police, and hurried away again. At 11:30, Quilt began his
interrogation of witnesses and possible suspects. Quilt: Send in
the night watchman, Jay Smith. 1st constable: Calling Jay
Smith! (From a sarcophagus comes Spike Milligan. The Smith character is
essentially Eccles.) Smith: Hellooo! OOooh. Fine, fine, fine.
(Sings) "Everything's going to be fine..."(he is manhandled by a
constable). Oh, here, whatÕre you doing? Lemme go! Lemme go, now! Take
your feet(?) off me! (Looks around quizzically) Quilt: Are you Jay
Smith? Smith: (nods in assent) Nope, nope. Quilt: He's not Jay
Smith, Brown! Smith: (to constable) HeÕs not Jay Smith-Brown. Quilt:
That's not Brown! Smith: That's not Brown. Quilt: Where were you on
the night of the seventeenth? Smith(to Quilt): I was at the pictures.
(to Constable), I WAS AT THE PICTURES! (to Quilt) BANG! A car went
bang, bang, bang, wit-tidda-dum, dayday, fine. Quilt: What about
the Mukkinese Battle-Horn? Smith: What ABOUT the Mukkinese
Battle-Horn? Quilt: It's been stolen! Smith: Oooh, (to Constable)
it's been stolen. Quilt: Constable, get this idiot out of here!
Smith: Get this idiot out of here!(Constable removes Smith, amid
Smith's protests) Quilt: Next witness! I won't stand for it! I'll
show you! Next witness, Constable. 1st Constable: Right, sir. Next
witness! Brown: This is the janitor(?), sir. Quilt: Mr. Crimpe,
would you like to tell us your story? Crimpe: (Sounding much like
Willium "Mate" Cobblers, but not played by Sellers) Yes, sir. Well, I
was proceeding in an orderly manner towards the main gate in order to
lock up... Quilt: Mm-hmm... Crimpe: When suddenly, someone jumps out
and wallops me on me 'ead. Wallop, wallop, wallop, on me 'ead. I turns
'round and wallop, wallop, wallop again! Quilt: Incredible. Crimpe:
Down I goes I goes and wallop, wallop, wallop on me 'ead again! Then,
just as I start to get up, wallop, wallop, wallop...! Quilt: On your
head? Crimpe: No, sir. Wallop... Quilt: Wallop... Crimpe:
Wallop... Quilt: Hmm...Wallop. Tell me, Mr. Crimpe, did you notice
anything peculiar about these men? Crimpe: Yes, sir. Quilt:
What? Crimpe: They kept wallopin' me on me 'ead. Quilt: I see. Is
there anything else? Crimpe: (Takes off his hat to reveal a large
bandage) Yes, sir. Could I have an aspirin? Quilt: Constable, look
after Mr. Crimpe, would you? Crimpe: Thank you very much, sir. (leaves
with 2nd Constable) 1st Constable: Next witness! (a Veronica Lake-type
blonde woman walks up to the desk) Brown: (smitten) The next
witness is waiting, sir. Quilt: (looking down at the desk)Fine, Brown.
Now then, sire...(Camera, mimicking Quilt's eyes, takes a long,
languorous pan of the woman's figure after which, Quilt is equally
smitten) where were you on the night of the thruppenteenth? VLB
Woman: Don't you remember? Quilt: (eyes still locked on Woman)Have you
got all that down, Brown? Brown: Yes, sir! Quilt: Well, rub it out
again, would you? Hern: Lieutenant Quilt hurried back to Scotland Yard
and within minutes of his arrival, the well-oiled machinery of the CID
sprang into action. (At the CID, someone is riding an exercise bicycle
which seems to supply the power to the dispatcher's phone set. The
bike rider and the dispatcher are both dressed in nightshirts and
nightcaps. Dispatcher: Calling patrol car 11D, calling car 11D! Urgent
Turn left into Oxford Street and head west, turn left into Oxford
Street and head west. Calling car 5K, car 5K, turn right into Oxford
Street and head due east, turn right into Oxford... GRAMS Car skid
and crash. Dispatcher: Calling ambulance one-seven, calling ambulance
one-seven... CUT TO: Newsreel of an Army marching. Hern: The search
continued. During the afternoon, several arrests were made. CUT TO:
Night scene. It is foggy and two lovers are gazing into each other's
eyes. Hern: With nightfall, the weather took a turn for the worse.
But, even in the darkest, foggiest street, London's indomitable police
searched on, stopping late wayfarers and ruthlessly questioning
them. Constable: Hey! Hey, you two! Male Wayfarer: Uh,
yeah? Constable: Can you tell me the way to the police station? Male
Wayfarer: Just over there. Constable: Thank you. (exits, with his arms
outstretched, like a sleepwalker's) GRAMS Shout and fall into the
water. Female Wayfarer: Darling, how romantic! We must be by the
river. (CUT TO: Police station, officer walks in with stack of
papers.) Hern: By noon the following day, vast amounts of vital
evidence were pouring in. (Officer with large amount of papers drops an
envelope on the desk of Quilt and walks away with the stack of papers.
Brown scans the envelope with a magn Brown: It's a letter,
sir. (There is a break in my print of the film here.) Quilt: Now
let's see what this letter's all about. shall we? Hello! It's a report
from the police laboratory. Brown: Really, sir? Quilt: Yes. Let's
see. (reading)"Analysis of fluff taken from night watchman's trouser
cuff. Discovered were fragments of wool, cotton, fine ash from
Turkish-type cigarette, particles of dried mud from a Limestone district
and a quantity of low-grade industrial soot of coal dust. Brown:
Really, sir? And what was the analysis' conclusion? Quilt: "This suit
needs cleaning." Brown: Gosh! Quilt : File that will you
Brown? Brown: At once, sir! (Brown stretches out the hand that holds
the report. Brown takes out a nail file and uses it on Quilt's
hand.) GRAMS: Knock on door. (Amidst piano music best suited for
silent era films, a man with a mustache and hat enters the room. The
following sequence is rendered in title cards.) Burkington: Good
Morning. (Gesticulates as if speaking for two people; the "Two" of them
have a mock sword fight between them and then bows.) I am Catchpole
Burkington, famous star of the silent films. (Quilt and Brown look
at each other, with some astonishment. Quilt moves his mouth to speak,
but finds no sound is coming out. They decide to write out what they
want to say.)
Quilt's note: WHAT DO YOU WANT? Burkington: (via
title card) I've called for my Unemployment money. (Quilt writes out
another sign) Quilt's note: "THE LABOUR EXCHANGE IS NEXT DOOR!!
--->"
When Burkington looks tragic, music becomes deeply moving
to match. Burkington realises his mistake; music changes to "Thine be
the Glory". As he overacts his way out, he manages to walk into a
cupboard marked "Disguises" rather than the door. When he emerges, he
is dressed in a bathing costume; he shades his eyes and scans the
horizon. Music changes to "Rule Britannia". He returns to the cupboard
and emerges in his original suit and takes a deep bow. The music
reaches a heroic climax...While he is bent over, the Constable with
the stack of papers trips over him, with appropriate music. Burkington
exits.)*
An Announcer: We interrupt our story to bring you a word
from Mr. Maurice Ponque. Ponque: My name is Maurice Ponque...and I
live in a little log cabin in Picadilly. Last night, I left a burning
cigarette by my bedside and the 'ole place burnt down. And the night
before last, my fire insurance run out...and we did not get a penny.
My, how we did laugh, heh-heh, when we, heh-heh heard about
it. Announcer: Mr. Ponque has nothing to do with our story. We though
you might like to see what a real idiot sounds like.
SCENE: Man
reclining on a sofa holding a cigarette in a holder. This is intercut
with Quilt at the station house.
Hern: Six months later. The public
are pressing for an early arrest. The assistant commissionaire, Sir
Jervis Fruit(this character speaks with Grytpype-Thynne's voice) rings
Superintendent Quilt with an inquiry. Fruit: Hello, Quilt. Have you a
light? Quilt: A light? Certainly sir. (Quilt holds a lighter up to the
receiver, which lights the cigarette at the other end) Fruit: Thank
you. Quilt: All right, sir. Fruit: Quilt, about this Mukkinese
Battle-Horn thing, something must be done, you know. Quilt:
Yes. Fruit: Quilt, I want you to call at every music shop and pawn
shop, masquerading as a musician inquiring for a Mukkinese
Battle-Horn. Have you got that? Quilt: Yes sir, yes, yes. Fruit:
Good. What ever you do, take every precaution and don't get yourself
killed. Oh, I don't know, though. (A rock flies through Quilt's
window) Quilt: What was that? What was that Brown? Brown, what is
that? Brown: (looking at the rock through his spyglass) It's a
magnifying glass, sir! Quilt: Control, Brown, control! Brown: A
stone! With a message tied to it. Quilt: What does it say? Brown:
(reads note) "Fred Smith, Window Repair" Quilt: (reading same note)
"14A Hurling Street". Brown: Why, that's 14A Hurling Street's
address! Quilt: Yes, and no more than a stone's throw from here. Brown,
we'll start our search there. (Brown puts on a hat that is too large
for him and exits) (Several shots of the three brass balls (which
signify a pawnbroker's shop) outside different shops). Brown and
Quilt are outside a store. (We see the three brass balls, then pan
down to reveal a fourth. Hence...) Quilt: Business must be
good. (The door is marked "Musical Instruments". They knock.) Quilt:
Business must be good. Brown: Yes, Sire. Quilt:(Quilt knocks again,
impatiently.) Come on! Crun: (inside the shop) Puss, pussy, pussy,
kitty, kitty. Come on out of there you naughty little Dibble.(Knocking
is continuous throughout this scene.) Minnie: Henryyy!
Henryyy! Crun: Come on, Dibbles. Minnie: Henryyy! Crun: What is
it Minnie? I... Minnie: Henry, there's someone knocking at the
door! Crun: What, what is..., what is... Minnie: Knicky, knacky,
knocky at the door! Crun: Minnie, I can't hear what you're saying for
that knocking noise! Minnie: Tell them to stop that knocking! Crun:
I can't hear you! Mnk, ngk... Brown: Did someone
(unintelligible)? Crun: (goes to door and answers it) Good evening.
Won't you please come in? Quilt: Brown, this may be dangerous. I want
you to stick around here and keep your eyes open. Brown: Right,
sir. Quilt: Don't forget, Brown. Keep a sharp watch out. Brown: All
right, sir. (Quilt enters shop) Good evening. Crun: Good, mm, good
evening. Quilt: Uh, I'm think of taking up music and I'm looking for a
Mukkinese Battle-Horn. Crun: You can't get them, you know. Quilt:
Um, why not? Crun: You, mnk, can't get the wood, you know. Quilt: I
see. Crun: Poor old Molly Gnasher. Quilt: What about her? Crun:
She couldn't get the wood either. Quilt: Perhaps some other time. Well,
good night. Crun: Good...nnn...good night. (Quilt leaves. A door opens
at the other end of the shop. Brown and Quilt hide behind a corner.
The VLB woman is seen leaving the shop.) VLB Woman: Good night,
Mother. Minnie: Good night, darling. Don't be late now. Brown: Good
heavens, sir! Isn't that the lady you questioned at the museum, don't
you think? (They set out after her.) (CUT TO: A sign that reads
"Maxie's Club") Hern: The mysterious blonde led Quilt and Brown to
Maxie's Club. A notorious hangout of London's Underworld. Quilt:
Brown? I want you to get a message through to Scotland Yard to say
that we're coming here and...(A Speakeasy-type sliding peep door opens
up. Behind it is Maxie, a man with a beard, moustache and
sunglasses.) Maxie: Yeah? Quilt: I haven't knocked yet. Maxie:
Sorry (Closes peep door). (Quilt knocks) Maxie: (opens peep door)
Yeah? Quilt: Are you Mr. Maxie? Maxie: Such is my name. Quilt:
I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Such. Will Mr. Maxie be along? Maxie: I AM
Mr. Maxie. Quilt: Then you weren't very long, were you? We were
wondering if we could get into your club here. Maxie: You were
wondering if you could get into my club here? Quilt: Yes. Maxie:
No. Quilt: Why not? Maxie: This is a specially-fitted,
double-strength, armor-plated door and nobody can get through
it. Quilt: Then how did you get in? Maxie: Easy. I came through
there. (They all walk over to a Western-style swinging
door). Quilt: Cunning, very cunning. (A man flies head first through
the door out into the street.) Anyone we know? Brown: No,
sir. Quilt: Brown? Brown: Yes, sir? Quilt: You'd better stick
around and see what clues you can find. Brown: Very good,
sir. (Loud, jazzy music is playing. Quilt walks into the club, the
music stops and all eyes are focused on him. Quilt sits down next to
the VLB woman, whom he does not notice and removes his hat. The
revelry resumes. The light dims and an exotic dancer with a veil moves
seductively to some Pseudo-Eastern music. Quilt appears most
interested. The dancer moves closer to him.) Quilt: Oh, beauteous
one. Oh, fairest of the fair! Sublime siren! Exquisite enchantress.
What are you doing in a low hovel like this? Dancer(Jay Smith): I gotta
make a living too, y'know. Quilt: Why, your not a girl, you're a
man! Smith: I know that! But don't tell the manager. Quilt: Why
not!? Smith: We're engaged. Quilt: I...see it all now. Smith: You
can't! I haven't taken off the veils yet. Ha, haaa, ahee, ahigh, ahoo!
(he covers Quilt's face with a veil and runs off. Quilt puts on his
hat over the veil) Quilt: Brown! Brown: Yes, sir? Quilt: Where
are you? Brown: Where are you, sir? (Even though they are next to each
other, they look around, unable to locate the other) Quilt: I'm
behind this curtain, Brown. (Brown removes the veil from Quilt) Brown:
Good heavens, sir! What a brilliant place to hide! Quilt: Thank you,
Brown. Brown: By the way, sir, that dancer... Quilt: Yes? Brown:
Wasn't that the man you interrogated at the museum, sir? Quilt: Yes.
I'm finally beginning to see the whole sinister plot. BrownÓ What do
you mean, sir? Quilt: I'll show you. Waiter! Waiter: Yes,
sir? Quilt: Bring me the manager. (Maxie enters) Maxie: Somebody
call? Quilt: Yes. First the night watchman and then...(pulls off the
glasses and fake beard on Maxie.) Brown: Good heavens, sir! The
curator of the museum! Quilt: Yes! Alias Doublegainer(Doppleganger?)
Wormscrew, head of an international ring of Mukkinese Battle-Horn
smugglers! DW(Maxie): Curses! Unmasked! (Turns away) Waiter!
(exits) Brown: Be careful, sir! This might be a devilish trick! (The
waiter arrives with a bowl of soup, from which DW(Maxie) removes a
gun. The detectives cower.) Quilt: Gad! Minestrone! Brown: (runs
his finger over the top of the barrel of the gun and licks his finger)
And no salt! Quilt: Brown! Quick, Brown! (Brown opens his jacket to
reveal two sheathed swords. Quilt takes one) The eleventh hour, but
nevertheless in the nick of time. DW(Maxie): Bah! Outwitted by a
neat and audacious trick! (To facil’tate Quilt's fighting, Brown lifts
off Quilt's hat) Brown: Come!(unitelligible) (DW and Quilt begin to
duel gun-to-sword) DW(Maxie): Touche'! Quilt:
Three-che'! DW(Maxie): Four-che'! (The duel continues. Quilt pours
ketchup on DW's right arm.) DW(Maxie): Oh, BLOOD! (Faints) Quilt:
There! That's put an end to your...(untelligible). Nothing can save
you now. Not al the king's horses, not all the king's men! (Through
the swinging doors, three men in musketeer outfits appear.) Musketeer
1: Defend the King(Rent the King?)! All 3 Musketeers: Defend the
King! (They cross their swords and then charge Quilt, swords pointing
forward.) Quilt: Brown, help me! Brown: (jumping in with a drawn
sword) Excalibur! Quilt: Down with the...(Unitelligible. Larky? Lurgi?)
Have at you! (A full-blown melee' ensues.) DW(Maxie): (still on the
floor) I'm dying! I'm dying! I don't want to die! CUT TO: VLB woman
dueling Quilt. Quilt: Brown? Brown: Yes, sir? Quilt: Who is this
girl? Brown: That's the producer's girlfriend, sir. Quilt:
What? Brown: (in an overdubbed voice, to camera) You think I'm
kidding? DW(Maxie): (still on the floor) But I'm gonna die! It's in the
script! I'm dying! I...I...oh, what a wonderful world we live
in! Quilt: (taking a short break from fencing) It's all rather
confusing, really. (resumes fencing) DW(Maxie): (STILL on the
floor, getting an eyeful of the VLB woman's legs) No, I don't! I want
to live! Yes, I want to live! Brown: By the way, sir. Did you turn that
gas off? Quilt: Yes. They can't win! The poor fools just can't
win! (A huge explosion blows Quilt and Brown out of the club.) I fear
that taught them a lesson, Brown? Quilt: By Jove, yes, sir!
(Brown's hat falls at Brown's feet. Quilt retrieves it and Brown puts
it on) Thank you. (The strains of a mournful horn is heard in the
distance. They get up.) Thank goodness I've got you Brown. It would
take a Superman to evade those eagle eyes of yours. Brown: Thank you,
sir. Quilt: Come lad, we must try and find the Mukkinese
Battle-Horn. Brown: Right, sir! Quilt: Whoever stole it won't get
away, Brown. (They walk down the street and a gentleman is playing an
instrument so homely and serpentine, it can't be anything other than
the Mukkinese Battle-Horn. It the source of the aformentioned mournful
music. They look at the musician for a while. They look at his sign,
which reads, "Ex-Mukkinese serviceman. Please give
generously.") Quilt: Poor devil. Give him a couple of coins, Brown.
(They walk off) Yes, Brown, arrest everyone...(The horn player stops
playing, looks in their direction and begins playing again.) "The
End" appears on the screen mirror-image backwards. It is pulled away,
as a slide would be and is righted to read "The End")
ALTERNATE
ENDING: In another version, the end credits (list those not appearing,
which include Fred Nurke and Jim Pills) are overdubbed with Min &
Henry still shouting at each other.*
*A gracious tip of the
hat to John Elliott for information and correction on this
sequence.
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