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When I saw a picture of a cat trying to catch an eagle and getting taken for a ride, I remembered the folktale about the Simurgh, a giant bird in Persian mythology. What if Pepper and Zam were flying over Afghanistan to reach Kashmir and the giant bird was real and plucked Pepper from the carpet. I thought it was a good idea. The Simurgh in this book is similar to the Simurgh in the Afghan folktale book I have. Once upon a time Afghanistan was part of Persia and so their folktale is similar. 

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