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Racketty-Packetty House and other stories - Frances Hodgeson Burnett · Children’s Stories Library

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Speaker 1: Rackety Packety House. Part one. Now, this is the story
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Speaker 1: about the doll family I liked and the doll family
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Speaker 1: I didn't. When you read it, you are to remember
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Speaker 1: something I am going to tell you. This is it.
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Speaker 1: If you think dolls never do anything you don't see
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Speaker 1: them do, you are very much mistaken. When people are
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Speaker 1: not looking at them, they can do anything they choose.
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Speaker 1: They can dance and sing and play on the piano
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Speaker 1: and have all sorts of fun. But they can only
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Speaker 1: move about and talk when people turn their backs and
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Speaker 1: are not looking. If any one looks, they just stop.
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Speaker 1: Fairies know this, and of course fairies visit in all
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Speaker 1: the dolls houses. Where the dolls are agreeable. They will
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Speaker 1: not associate, though, with dolls who are not nice. They
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Speaker 1: never call or leave their cards at a doll's house.
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Speaker 1: Where the dolls are proud or bad tempered, they are
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Speaker 1: very particular. If you are conceited or ill tempered yourself,
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Speaker 1: you will never know a fairy as long as you live.
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Speaker 1: Queen Cross Patch Rackety Packetty House. Racketty Packetty House was
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Speaker 1: in a corner of Cynthia's nursery, and it was not
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Speaker 1: in the best corner either. It was in the corner
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Speaker 1: behind the door, and that was not at all a
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Speaker 1: fashionable neighborhood. Rackety packetty house had been pushed there to
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Speaker 1: be out of the way when Tidy Castle was brought
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Speaker 1: in on Cynthia's birthday. As soon as she saw Tidy Castle,
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Speaker 1: Cynthia did not care for rackety packetty house, and indeed
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Speaker 1: was quite ashamed of it. She thought the corner behind
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Speaker 1: the door quite good enough for such a shabby old
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Speaker 1: doll's house, when there was the beautiful, big new one,
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Speaker 1: built like a castle, and furnished with most elegant chairs
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Speaker 1: and tables and carpets and curtains and ornaments and pictures
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Speaker 1: and beds and baths and lamps and bookcases, and with
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Speaker 1: a knocker on the front door, and a stable with
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Speaker 1: a pony cart in it at the back. The minute
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Speaker 1: she saw it she called out, oh, what a beautiful
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Speaker 1: doll castle. What shall we do with that untidy old
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Speaker 1: rackety packety house now? It is too shabby an old
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Speaker 1: fashioned to stand near it. In fact, that was the
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Speaker 1: way in which the old dolls House got its non
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Speaker 1: It had always been called the doll's house before, but
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Speaker 1: after that it was pushed into the unfashionable neighborhood behind
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Speaker 1: the door, and ever afterwards, when it was spoken of
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Speaker 1: at all, it was just called rackety packety house and
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Speaker 1: nothing else. Of course, Tidy Castle was grand, and Tidy
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Speaker 1: Castle was new and had all the modern improvements in it,
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Speaker 1: and rackety packety House was as old fashioned as it
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Speaker 1: could be. It had belonged to Cynthia's grandmamma and had
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Speaker 1: been made in the days when Queen Victoria was a
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Speaker 1: little girl, and then there was no electricity even in
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Speaker 1: Princess's doll houses. Cynthia's grandmamma had kept it very neat
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Speaker 1: because she had been a good housekeeper, even when she
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Speaker 1: was seven years old. But Cynthia was not a good housekeeper,
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Speaker 1: and she did not recover the furniture when it got dingy,
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Speaker 1: or repaper the walls, or mend the carpets and bedclothes,
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Speaker 1: And she never thought of such a thing as making
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Speaker 1: new clothes for the doll family. So of course their
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Speaker 1: early Victorian frocks and capes and bonnets grew in time
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Speaker 1: to be too shabby for words. You see, when Queen
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Speaker 1: Victoria was a little girl, dolls wore queer frocks and
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Speaker 1: long pantalets, and boy dolls wore funny, frilled trousers and
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Speaker 1: coats which would almost make you laugh to look at.
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Speaker 1: But the rackety packety house family had known better days.
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Speaker 1: I and my fairies had known them when they were
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Speaker 1: quite new, and had been a birthday present, just as
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Speaker 1: tidy Castle was when Cynthia turned eight years old. And
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Speaker 1: there was as much fuss about them when their house
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Speaker 1: arrived as Cynthia made when she saw Tidy Castle. Cynthia's
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Speaker 1: Grandmamma had danced about and clapped her hands with delight,
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Speaker 1: and she had scrambled down upon her knees and taken
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Speaker 1: the dolls out one by one, and thought their clothes beautiful.
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Speaker 1: And she had given each of them a grand name.
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Speaker 1: This one shall be Amelia, she said, and this one
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Speaker 1: is Charlotte, and this one is Victoria Lapoudina, and this
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Speaker 1: one is Aurelia Matilda. And this one shall be Leontine,
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Speaker 1: and this one Clotilda. And these boys shall be Augustus
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Speaker 1: and Rowland and Vincent and Charles Edward Stewart. For a
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Speaker 1: long time they led a very gay and fashionable life.
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Speaker 1: They had parties and balls, and were presented at court,
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Speaker 1: and went to royal christenings and weddings and were married themselves,
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Speaker 1: and families and scarlet fever and whooping cough and funerals
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Speaker 1: and every luxury. But that was long long ago, and
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Speaker 1: now all was changed. Their house had grown shabbier and shabbier,
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Speaker 1: and their clothes had grown simply awful. And Aurelia Matilda
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Speaker 1: and Victoria Lipoldina had been broken into bits and thrown
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Speaker 1: into the dust bin. And Leontine, who had really been
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Speaker 1: the beauty of the family, had been dragged out on
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Speaker 1: the hearth rug one night and had nearly all her
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Speaker 1: paint lick Dolph and a leg chewed up by a
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Speaker 1: Newfoundland puppy, so that she was a sight to behold.
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Speaker 1: As for the boys, Rouand and Vincent had quite disappeared,
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Speaker 1: and Charlotte and Amelia always believed they had run away
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Speaker 1: to seek their fortunes because things were in such a
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Speaker 1: state at home. So the only one left were Cootilda
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Speaker 1: and Amelia and Charlotte and poor Liantine and Augustus and
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Speaker 1: Charles Edward Stuart. Even they had their names changed after
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Speaker 1: Leontine had her paint lickedolf so that her head had
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Speaker 1: white bald spots on it, and she had scarcely any features.
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Speaker 1: A boy cousin of Cynthia's had put a bright red
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Speaker 1: spot on each cheek and painted her turned up nose
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Speaker 1: and round saucer blue eyes and a comical mouth. He
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Speaker 1: and Cynthia had called her ridic'less instead of Leontine, and
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Speaker 1: she had been called that ever since. All the dolls
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Speaker 1: were jointed at Dutch dolls, so it was easy to
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Speaker 1: paint any kind of features on them and stick out
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Speaker 1: their arms and legs in any way you liked, and
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Speaker 1: Leontine did look funny after Cynthia's cousin had finished. She
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Speaker 1: certainly was not a beauty, but her turned up nose
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Speaker 1: and her round eyes and funny mouths always seemed to
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Speaker 1: be laughing, so she really was the most good natured
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Speaker 1: looking creature you ever saw. Charlotte and Amelia Cynthia called
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Speaker 1: Meg and Peg, and Clotilda she called Kilmenskegg, and Augustus
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Speaker 1: she called Gustibus, and Charles Edward Stewart was nothing but
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Speaker 1: Peter Piper, so that was the end of their grand names.
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Speaker 1: The truth was, they went through all sorts of things,
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Speaker 1: and if they had not been such a jolly lot
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Speaker 1: of dolls. They might have all had fits and appendicitis
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Speaker 1: and died of grief, but not a bit of it,
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Speaker 1: if you will believe it. They got fun out of everything.
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Speaker 1: They used to just scream with laughter over the new names,
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Speaker 1: and they laughed so much over them that they got
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Speaker 1: quite fond of them. When Meg's pink silk flounces were torn,
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Speaker 1: she pinned them up and didn't mind in the least.
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Speaker 1: And when PEG's lace mantilla was played with by a
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Speaker 1: kitten and brought back to were in rags and tatters,
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Speaker 1: she just put a few stitches in it and put
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Speaker 1: it on again. And when Peter Piper lost almost the
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Speaker 1: whole leg of one of his trousers, he just laughed
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Speaker 1: and said it made it easier for him to kick
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Speaker 1: about and turn somersaults, and he wished the other leg
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Speaker 1: would tear off too. You never saw a family have
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Speaker 1: such fun. They could make up stories and pretend things
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Speaker 1: and invent games out of nothing. And my fairies were
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Speaker 1: so fond of them that I couldn't keep them away
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Speaker 1: from the doll's house. They would go and have fun
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Speaker 1: with Meg and Peg and Gilman's Keg and Gustabus and
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Speaker 1: Peter Piper, even when I had work for them to
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Speaker 1: do in Fairyland. But there I was so fond of
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Speaker 1: that shabby, disrespectable family myself that I never would scold
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Speaker 1: much about them, and often I went to see them.
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Speaker 1: That is how I know so much about them. They
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Speaker 1: were so fond of each other and so good natured,
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Speaker 1: and always in such spirits that everybody who knew them
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Speaker 1: was fond of them. And it was really only Cynthia
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Speaker 1: who didn't know them and thought them only a lot
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Speaker 1: of old, disreputable looking Dutch dolls, and Dutch dolls were
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Speaker 1: really quite out of fashion. The truth was that Cynthia
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Speaker 1: was not a particularly nice little girl and did not
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Speaker 1: care much for anything unless it was quite new. But
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Speaker 1: the kitten who had torn the lace, Mantilla, got to
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Speaker 1: know the family and simply loved them all. And the
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Speaker 1: Newfoundland puppy was so sorry about Liantine's paint and her
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Speaker 1: left leg that he could never do enough to make
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Speaker 1: it up. He wanted to marry Liantine as soon as
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Speaker 1: he grew old enough to wear a collar, but Liantine
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Speaker 1: said she would never desert her family because now that
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Speaker 1: she wasn't the beauty any more. She became the useful
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Speaker 1: one and did all the kitchen work, and sat up
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Speaker 1: and made poultices and beef tea when any of the
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Speaker 1: rest were ill. And the Newfoundland puppy saw she was
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Speaker 1: right for the whole family simply adored for Dicklas and
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Speaker 1: could not possibly have done without her. Meg and Peg
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Speaker 1: and Kilmen'skegg could have married any minute if they had liked.
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Speaker 1: There were two cock sparrows and a gentleman mouse who
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Speaker 1: proposed to them over and over again. They all three
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Speaker 1: said they did not want fashionable wives, but cheerful dispositions
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Speaker 1: and a happy home. But Meg and Peg were like
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Speaker 1: Ridiclus and could not bear to leave their families, besides
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Speaker 1: not wanting to live in nests and hatch eggs, and
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Speaker 1: Kilmenskegg said she would die of her broken heart if
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Speaker 1: she couldn't be with Ridic'lus, and Ridic'lus did not like
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Speaker 1: cheese and crumbs and mousy things, so they could never
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Speaker 1: live together in a mouse hole. But neither the gentleman
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Speaker 1: mouse nor the sparrows were offended because the news was
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Speaker 1: broken to them so sweetly, and they went on visiting
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Speaker 1: just as before. Everything was as shabby and disrespectable, and
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Speaker 1: as gay and as happy as it could be, until
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Speaker 1: tidy Castle was brought into the nursery, and then the
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Speaker 1: whole family had rather a fright. It happened in this
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Speaker 1: way when the doll's house was lifted by the nurse
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Speaker 1: and carried into the corner behind the door. Of course,
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Speaker 1: it was rather an exciting and shaky thing for Meg
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Speaker 1: and Peg and kilmen's Keg and gusta bus and Peter
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Speaker 1: Piper ridic'lus was out shopping. The furniture tumbled about, and
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Speaker 1: everybody had to hold on to anything they could catch
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Speaker 1: hold of. As it was, kilmen Skegg slid under a table,
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Speaker 1: and Peter Piper sat down in the coal box. But
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Speaker 1: notwithstanding all this they did not lose their tempers. And
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Speaker 1: when the nurse sat down their house on the floor
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Speaker 1: with a bump, they all got up and began to laugh.
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Speaker 1: Then they ran and peeped out of the windows, and
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Speaker 1: then they ran back and laughed again. Well, said Peter Piper.
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Speaker 1: We have been called Meg and Peg, and Kilmanskeg, and
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Speaker 1: Gustubus and Peter Piper instead of our grand names, And
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Speaker 1: now we live in a place called a rackety packety house.
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Speaker 1: Who cares, Let's join hands and have a dance. And
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Speaker 1: they joined hands and danced round and round, and kicked
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Speaker 1: up their heels, and their rags and tatters flew about them,
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Speaker 1: and they laughed until they fell down, one on top
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Speaker 1: of the other. It was just at this minute that
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Speaker 1: ridic'lous came back. The nurse had found her under a
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Speaker 1: chair and stuck her in through a window. She sat
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Speaker 1: on the drawing room sofa, which had holes in its
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Speaker 1: covering and the stuffing coming out, and her one whole
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Speaker 1: leg stuck out straight in front of her, and her
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Speaker 1: bonnet and shawl were on one side, and her basket
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Speaker 1: was on her left arm. Full of thinks she had
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Speaker 1: got cheap at market. She was out of breath and
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Speaker 1: rather pale through the being lifted up and swift through
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Speaker 1: the air so suddenly, but her saucer eyes and her
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Speaker 1: funny mouth looked as cheerful as ever. Good gracious, if
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Speaker 1: you knew what I had just heard, she said. They
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Speaker 1: all scrambled up and called out together, hallo, what is it?
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Speaker 1: The nurse said, the most awful thing? She answered them.
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Speaker 1: When Cynthia asked what we should do with raggety packety house,
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Speaker 1: She said, Oh, I'll put it behind the door for
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Speaker 1: the present, and then it'll be carried downstairs and burned.
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Speaker 1: It's too disgraceful to keep in any decent nursery, Oh,
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Speaker 1: cried Peter Piper. Oh, said Gustabus. Oh oh, oh, said
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Speaker 1: Meg and Peg and kilmen Skegg. Well they burn our
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Speaker 1: dear old shabby house. Do you think they will? And
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Speaker 1: actual tears began to run down their cheeks. Peter Piper
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Speaker 1: sat down on the floor all at once with his
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Speaker 1: hands stuffed in his pockets. I don't care how shabby
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Speaker 1: it is, he said. It's a jolly nice old place,
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Speaker 1: and it's the only house we've ever had. I don't
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Speaker 1: want to have any others, said Meg. Gustabus leaned against
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Speaker 1: the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets. I
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Speaker 1: wouldn't move if I was made King of England, he said.
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Speaker 1: Buckingham Palace wouldn't be half as nice. We've had such
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Speaker 1: fun here, said Peg. And Kilmen Skegg shook her head
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Speaker 1: from side to side and wiped her eyes on her
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Speaker 1: ragged pocket handkerchief. There is no knowing what would have
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Speaker 1: happened to them if Peter Piper hadn't cheered up as
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Speaker 1: he always did, I say, he said, do you hear
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Speaker 1: that noise? They all listened and heard a rumbling. Peter
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Speaker 1: Piper ran to the window and looked out, and then
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Speaker 1: ran back again, grinning. It's the nurse rolling up the
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Speaker 1: arm chair before the house to hide it so that
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Speaker 1: it won't disgrace the castle. Hooray, hooray. If they don't
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Speaker 1: see us, they will forget all about us, and we
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Speaker 1: shall not be burned up at all. Our nice old
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Speaker 1: rackety packety house will be left alone, and we can
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Speaker 1: enjoy ourselves more than ever because we shan't be bothered
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Speaker 1: with Cynthia. Hello, let's all join hands and have a dance.
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Speaker 1: So they all joined hands and danced round in a
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Speaker 1: ring again, and they were so relieved that they laughed
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Speaker 1: and laughed until they all tumbled down in a heap,
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Speaker 1: just as they had done before, and rolled about giggling
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Speaker 1: and squealing. It certainly seemed as if they were quite
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Speaker 1: safe for some time. At least, the big easy chair
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Speaker 1: hid them, and both the nurse and Cynthia seemed to
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Speaker 1: forget that there was such a thing as a rackety
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Speaker 1: packety house in the neighborhood. Cynthia was so delighted with
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Speaker 1: tidy castle that she played with nothing else for days
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Speaker 1: and days, And instead of being jealous of their grand neighbors,
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Speaker 1: the rackety packetty house people began to get all sorts
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Speaker 1: of fun out of watching them from their own windows.
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Speaker 1: Several of their windows were broken, and some had rags
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Speaker 1: and paper stuffed inside the broken panes. But mag and
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Speaker 1: Peg and Peter Piper would go and peep out of one,
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Speaker 1: and gusta bus and kilmen'skegg would peep out of the other.
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Speaker 1: And Ridiclus could hardly get her dishes washed and her
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Speaker 1: potatoes paired because she could see the castle kitchen from
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Speaker 1: her scullery window. It was so exciting. The castle dolls
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Speaker 1: were grand beyond words, and they were all lords and ladies.
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Speaker 1: These were their names. There was Lady Gwendolen Vere de Vere.
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Speaker 1: She was haughty and had dark eyes and hair, and
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Speaker 1: carried her head thrown back and her nose in the air.
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Speaker 1: There was Lady Muriel Vere de Vere, and she was
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Speaker 1: cold and lovely and indifferent, and looked down the bridge
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Speaker 1: of her delicate nose, And there was Lady Doris, who
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Speaker 1: had fluffy golden hair and laughed mockingly at every one.
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Speaker 1: And there was Lord Hubert and Lord Rupert and Lord Francis,
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Speaker 1: who were all handsome enough to make you feel as
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Speaker 1: if you could faint. And there was their mother, the
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Speaker 1: Duchess of tidy Shire. And of course there were all
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Speaker 1: sorts of maids and footmen, and cooks and scullery maids
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Speaker 1: and even gardeners. We never thought of living to see
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Speaker 1: such grand society, said Peter Piper to his brother and sisters.
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Speaker 1: It's quite kind of blessing. It's almost like being grand ourselves.
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Speaker 1: Just to be able to watch them, said Meg and
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Speaker 1: Peg and Kilmen'skegg, squeezing together and flattening their noses against
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Speaker 1: the attic windows. They could see bits of the sumptuous
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Speaker 1: white and gold drawing room, with the Duchess sitting near
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Speaker 1: the fire, her golden glasses upon her nose, and Lady
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Speaker 1: Gwendolen playing haughtily upon the harp, and Lady Muriel coldly
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Speaker 1: listening to her. Lady Dorris was having her golden hair
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Speaker 1: dressed by her maid in her bedroom, and Lord Hubert
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Speaker 1: was reading the newspaper with a high bred air, while
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Speaker 1: Lord Francis was writing letters to noblemen of his acquaintance,
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Speaker 1: and Lord Rupert was in an aristocratic manner glancing over
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Speaker 1: his love letters from ladies of title. End of Part one,
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Speaker 1: Rackety Packetty House, Part two. Kilmen'skeag and Peter Piper just
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Speaker 1: pinched each other with glee and squealed with delight. Isn't
13:54
Speaker 1: it fun? Said Peter Piper, I say, aren't they awful swells?
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Speaker 1: But Lord Francis can't kick about it trousers as I
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Speaker 1: can in mind, and neither can the others. I'd like
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Speaker 1: to see them try to do this. And he turned
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Speaker 1: three sumrsaults in the middle of the room and stood
14:08
Speaker 1: on his head on the biggest hole in the carpet,
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Speaker 1: and wiggled his legs and wiggled his toes at them
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Speaker 1: until they shouted so with laughing that ridiculous ran in
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Speaker 1: with a saucepan in her hand and perspiration on her
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Speaker 1: forehead because she was cooking turnips, which was all they
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Speaker 1: had for dinner. You mustn't laugh so loud, she cried out.
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Speaker 1: If we make so much noise, the tidy castle people
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Speaker 1: will begin complaining of this being a little neighborhood, and
14:29
Speaker 1: they might insist on moving away. Oh scrump, said Peter Piper,
14:34
Speaker 1: who sometimes invented dull slang, though there wasn't really a
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Speaker 1: bit of harm in him. I wouldn't have them move
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Speaker 1: away for anything. They are meat and drink to me.
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Speaker 1: They're going to have a dinner of ten courses, sighed ridic'lous.
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Speaker 1: I can see them cooking it from my scullery window,
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Speaker 1: and I have nothing but turnips to give you. Who cares,
14:51
Speaker 1: said Peter Piper. Let's have ten courses of turnips and
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Speaker 1: pretend each course is exactly like the one they're having
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Speaker 1: at the castle. I like turnips almost, but than anything almost,
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Speaker 1: perhaps not quite, said Gustubus. I can eat ten courses
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Speaker 1: of turnips like a shot. Let's go and find out
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Speaker 1: what their courses are, said Meg and Peg and Kilmenskeg,
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Speaker 1: And then we will write a menu on a piece
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Speaker 1: of peak tissue paper. And if you'll believe it, that
15:17
Speaker 1: was what they did. They divided their turnips into ten courses,
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Speaker 1: and they called the first horde vores, and the last
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Speaker 1: ices with a French name. And Peter Piper kept jumping
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Speaker 1: up from the table and pretending he was a footman,
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Speaker 1: and flourishing about in his flapping rags of trousers, and
15:32
Speaker 1: announcing the names of the dishes in such a grand
15:34
Speaker 1: way that they laughed till they nearly died, and said
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Speaker 1: they had never had such a splendid dinner in their lives,
15:39
Speaker 1: and they would rather live behind the door and watch
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Speaker 1: the tidy Castle people than be the tidy Castle people themselves.
15:45
Speaker 1: And then, of course they all joined hands and danced
15:47
Speaker 1: round and round and kicked up their heels for joy,
15:50
Speaker 1: because they always did that whenever there was a least
15:52
Speaker 1: excuse for it, and quite often when there wasn't any
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Speaker 1: at all, just because it was such good exercise, and
15:57
Speaker 1: worked off their high spirits so that they could settle
15:59
Speaker 1: down for a while. This was the way things went
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Speaker 1: on after that day. They almost lived at their windows.
16:05
Speaker 1: They watched the tidy Castle family get up and be
16:07
Speaker 1: dressed by their maids and valets in different clothes. Almost
16:10
Speaker 1: every day. They saw them drive out in their carriages
16:13
Speaker 1: and have parties and go to balls. They on nearly
16:15
Speaker 1: had brain fever with delight the day they watched Lady
16:17
Speaker 1: Gwendolen and Lady Muriel and Lady Doris dressed in their
16:21
Speaker 1: court trains and feathers, going to be presented at the
16:23
Speaker 1: first drawing room. After the lovely creatures had gone, the
16:27
Speaker 1: whole family sat down in a circle round the rackety
16:29
Speaker 1: packety house library fire, and Ridiculous read aloud to them
16:32
Speaker 1: about drawing rooms out of the scrap of the ladies
16:35
Speaker 1: pictorial she had found. And after that they had a
16:37
Speaker 1: court drawing room of their own, and they made tissue
16:40
Speaker 1: paper trains and glass beat crowns of diamond tiaras, and
16:43
Speaker 1: sometimes Gustus pretended to be the royal family, and the
16:46
Speaker 1: others were presented to him and kissed his hand, and
16:48
Speaker 1: then the others took turns, and he was presented, And
16:51
Speaker 1: suddenly the most delightful thing occurred to Peter Piper. He
16:54
Speaker 1: thought it would be rather nice to make them all
16:56
Speaker 1: into lords and ladies. And he did it by touching
16:58
Speaker 1: them on the shoulder with the drawing room, which he
17:00
Speaker 1: had straightened, because it was so crooked it was almost
17:02
Speaker 1: meant double. It was not exactly the way such things
17:05
Speaker 1: are done at court, but Peter Piper thought it would do,
17:08
Speaker 1: and at any rate, it was great fun. So he
17:11
Speaker 1: made them all kneel down in a row, and he
17:12
Speaker 1: touched each on the shoulder with the poker, and said,
17:15
Speaker 1: rise up, Lady Meg, and Lady Peg, and Lady kilmen's Keg,
17:18
Speaker 1: and Lady ridic'liss of rackety packetty house, and also the
17:21
Speaker 1: right Honorable Lord Gustavus Rags. And they all jumped up
17:24
Speaker 1: at once and made bows and curtseyed to each other.
17:27
Speaker 1: But they made Peter Piper into a duke, and he
17:29
Speaker 1: was called the Duke of Tags. He knelt down on
17:32
Speaker 1: the big hole in the carpet, and each one of
17:34
Speaker 1: them gave him a little thump on the shoulder with
17:35
Speaker 1: the poker, because it took more thumps to make a
17:37
Speaker 1: duke than a common or garden lord. The day after this,
17:41
Speaker 1: another much more exciting event took place. The nurse was
17:45
Speaker 1: in a bad temper, and when she was tidying the nursery,
17:47
Speaker 1: she pushed the easy chair aside and saw rackety packety house. Oh,
17:51
Speaker 1: she said, there is that rackety packety old thing. Still
17:55
Speaker 1: I had forgotten it. It must be carried downstairs and burned.
17:58
Speaker 1: I will go and tell one of the footmen to
17:59
Speaker 1: come for it. Meg and Peg and Kilmenskegg were in
18:03
Speaker 1: their attic, and they all rushed out in such a
18:05
Speaker 1: hurry to get downstairs. As they rolled all the way
18:07
Speaker 1: down the staircase, and Peter Piper and Gustupus had to
18:09
Speaker 1: dart out of the drawing room and pick them up.
18:11
Speaker 1: Ridic'lus came staggering up from the kitchen, quite out of breath. Oh,
18:15
Speaker 1: our house is going to be burned. Our house is
18:17
Speaker 1: going to be burned, cried Meg and Peg, clutching their brothers.
18:21
Speaker 1: Let's go and throw ourselves out of the window, cried
18:23
Speaker 1: kilmen Skegg. I don't see how they can have the
18:26
Speaker 1: heart to burn a person's home, said ridic'lus, wiping her
18:29
Speaker 1: eyes with her kitchen duster. Peter Piper was rather pale,
18:33
Speaker 1: but he was extremely brave and remembered that he was
18:36
Speaker 1: the head of the family now, Lady Meg and Lady
18:39
Speaker 1: Peg and Lady Kilmenskeg. He said, let's all keep cool.
18:42
Speaker 1: We shall keep cool when they set our house on fire,
18:45
Speaker 1: said Gustubus. Peter Piper just snapped his fingers. Pooh, he said,
18:49
Speaker 1: We're only made of wood and it won't hurt a bit.
18:51
Speaker 1: We shall just snap and crackle and go off almost
18:53
Speaker 1: like fireworks, and then we shall be ashes and fly
18:55
Speaker 1: away into the air and see all sorts of things.
18:57
Speaker 1: Perhaps it may be more fun than anything we have
18:59
Speaker 1: done yet. But I'm nice old house. I'm nice, old
19:03
Speaker 1: rackety packety house, said ridic'lus. I do so love it.
19:06
Speaker 1: The kitchen is so convenient, even though the oven won't
19:09
Speaker 1: bake any more. And things looked most serious because the
19:13
Speaker 1: nurse was really beginning to push the arm chair away,
19:15
Speaker 1: but it would not move. And I will tell you why.
19:18
Speaker 1: One of my fairies, who had come down the chimney
19:21
Speaker 1: when they were talking, had called me, and I had
19:23
Speaker 1: come in a second with a whole army of my workers,
19:25
Speaker 1: And though the nurse couldn't see them, they were all
19:27
Speaker 1: holding the chair tight down on the carpet so that
19:30
Speaker 1: it would not stir. And I, Queen Cross patched myself,
19:34
Speaker 1: flew downstairs and made the footman remember that minute that
19:37
Speaker 1: a box had come for Cynthia, and that he must
19:39
Speaker 1: take it upstairs to her nursery. If I had not
19:41
Speaker 1: been on the spot, he would have forgotten it until
19:43
Speaker 1: it was too late. But just in the very nick
19:45
Speaker 1: of time, up he came and Cynthia sprang up as
19:47
Speaker 1: soon as she saw him. Oh, she cried, it must
19:50
Speaker 1: be the doll who broke her little leg and was
19:52
Speaker 1: sent to the hospital. It must be Lady Patsy. And
19:55
Speaker 1: she opened the box and gave a little scream of joy,
19:57
Speaker 1: for there lay Lady Patsy, her whole name was Patricia,
20:00
Speaker 1: in a lace frilled nightgown, with her lovely leg and bandages,
20:04
Speaker 1: and a pair of tiny crutches, and a trained nurse
20:06
Speaker 1: by her side. That was how I saved them that time.
20:10
Speaker 1: There was such excitement over Lady Patsy and her little
20:12
Speaker 1: crutches and her nurse that nothing else was thought of.
20:15
Speaker 1: And my fairies pushed the arm chair back, and a
20:17
Speaker 1: rackety packetty house was hidden and forgotten once more. The
20:21
Speaker 1: whole rackety packetty family gave a great gasp of joy
20:24
Speaker 1: and sat down in a ring, all at once on
20:25
Speaker 1: the floor, mopping their foreheads with anything they could get
20:28
Speaker 1: hold of. Peter Piper used, Naunty mac cassar. Oh, we
20:32
Speaker 1: are obliged to you, Queen cross Patch, he panted out.
20:37
Speaker 1: But these all arms all fire her upsetting you leave
20:41
Speaker 1: them to me, I said, and I'll attend to them. Tip,
20:44
Speaker 1: I commanded the fairy nearest me, you will have to
20:46
Speaker 1: stay here and be ready to give the alarm when
20:48
Speaker 1: anything threatens to happen. And I flew away, feeling I
20:51
Speaker 1: had done a good morning's work. Well, that was the
20:55
Speaker 1: beginning of a great many things, and many of them
20:57
Speaker 1: were connected with Lady Patsy, And but for me there
21:00
Speaker 1: might have been unpleasantness. Of course, the rackety packetty dolls
21:04
Speaker 1: forgot about their fright directly and began to enjoy themselves
21:07
Speaker 1: again as usual. That was their way. They never sat
21:10
Speaker 1: up all night with trouble, Peter Piper used to say,
21:13
Speaker 1: And I told him they were quite right. If you
21:15
Speaker 1: make a fuss over trouble and put it to bed
21:17
Speaker 1: and nurse it and give it beef tea and gruel,
21:18
Speaker 1: you can never get rid of it. Their great delight
21:22
Speaker 1: now was Lady Patsy. They thought she was prettier than
21:25
Speaker 1: any of the other tidy castle dolls. She neither turned
21:28
Speaker 1: her nose up, nor looked down the bridge of it,
21:30
Speaker 1: nor laughed mockingly. She had dimples in the corner of
21:33
Speaker 1: her mouth and long curly lashes, and her nose was saucy,
21:36
Speaker 1: and her eyes were bright and full of laughs. She's
21:39
Speaker 1: the clever one of the family, said Peter Piper. I'm
21:41
Speaker 1: sure of that. She was treated as an invalid at first,
21:45
Speaker 1: of course, and kept in her room, but they could
21:47
Speaker 1: see her sitting up in her frilled night gown. After
21:50
Speaker 1: a few days, she was carried to a soft chair
21:52
Speaker 1: by the window, and there she used to sit and
21:54
Speaker 1: look out, and the rackety packety dolls crowded round their
21:57
Speaker 1: window and adored her. After after a few days, they
22:01
Speaker 1: noticed that Peter Piper was often missing, and one morning
22:03
Speaker 1: ridic'lus went up into the attic and found him sitting
22:06
Speaker 1: at a window all by himself and staring and staring. Oh, duke,
22:10
Speaker 1: she said, you see, they always tried to remember each
22:12
Speaker 1: other's titles. Dear me, duke, what are you doing here?
22:16
Speaker 1: I'm looking at her, he answered, I'm in love. I
22:19
Speaker 1: fell in love with her the minute Cynthia took her
22:21
Speaker 1: out of her box. I'm going to marry her. But
22:24
Speaker 1: she's a lady of high degree, said ridic'lus, quite alarmed.
22:27
Speaker 1: That's why she'll have me, said Peter Piper, in his
22:29
Speaker 1: most cheerful manner. Ladies of high degree always married the
22:32
Speaker 1: good looking ones in rags and tatters. If I had
22:34
Speaker 1: a whole suit of clothes on, she wouldn't look at me.
22:37
Speaker 1: I'm very good looking, you know. And he turned round
22:39
Speaker 1: and winked at Ridiculous in such a delightful, saucy way
22:42
Speaker 1: that she suddenly felt as if he were a very
22:43
Speaker 1: good looking though she had never thought of it before. Hullo,
22:48
Speaker 1: he said, all at once. I've just thought of something
22:49
Speaker 1: to attract her attention. Where's the ball of string? Cynthia's
22:53
Speaker 1: kitten had made them a present of a ball of string,
22:56
Speaker 1: which had been most useful. Ridic'lous ran and got it,
22:59
Speaker 1: and all the others came him upstairs to see what
23:01
Speaker 1: Peter Piper was going to do. They were all delighted
23:03
Speaker 1: to hear he had fallen in love with the lovely,
23:05
Speaker 1: funny lady Patsy. They found him standing in the middle
23:08
Speaker 1: of the attic and rolling the bowl of string. What
23:11
Speaker 1: are you going to do, duke, they all shouted. Just
23:14
Speaker 1: you watch, he said, and he began to make the
23:16
Speaker 1: string into a rope ladder as fast as lightning. When
23:19
Speaker 1: he had finished it, he fastened one end to a
23:21
Speaker 1: beam and swung the other end out of the window.
23:23
Speaker 1: From her window, he said, she can see the rackety
23:25
Speaker 1: packety house, and I'll tell you something, She's always looking
23:29
Speaker 1: at it. She watches us as much as we watch her.
23:31
Speaker 1: And I've seen her giggling and giggling. When we were
23:33
Speaker 1: having fun yesterday, when I chased Lady Meg and Lady
23:36
Speaker 1: Peg and Lady kilmen'skeg round and round the front of
23:39
Speaker 1: the house and turned somersault every five steps. She laughed
23:41
Speaker 1: until she got to stuff her handkerchief into her mouth.
23:44
Speaker 1: When we joined hands and danced and laughed until we
23:46
Speaker 1: fell in heaps, I thought she was going to have
23:48
Speaker 1: a kind of rosy, dimpled, lovely little fit. She giggled.
23:51
Speaker 1: So if I ran down the side of the house
23:53
Speaker 1: on this rope ladder, it will attract her attention, and
23:55
Speaker 1: then I shall begin to do things. He ran down
23:59
Speaker 1: the ladder, and that fair a minute. They saw Lady
24:00
Speaker 1: Patsy at her window give a start and lean forward
24:03
Speaker 1: to look. They all crowded round their window and chuckled
24:05
Speaker 1: and chuckled as they watched him. He turned three stately
24:09
Speaker 1: summersaults and stood on his feet and made a cheerful bow.
24:12
Speaker 1: The rackety packety saw Lady Patsy begin to giggle that minute.
24:16
Speaker 1: Then he took an anti macassar out of his pocket
24:19
Speaker 1: and fastened it round the edge of his torn trouser leg,
24:21
Speaker 1: as if it were laced trimming, and began to walk
24:23
Speaker 1: about like a duke, with his arms folded over his
24:25
Speaker 1: chest and his ragged old hat cocked on one side
24:28
Speaker 1: over his ear. Then the rackety packety saw Lady Patsy
24:32
Speaker 1: begin to laugh. Then Peter Piper stood on his head
24:35
Speaker 1: and kissed his hand, and Lady Patsy covered her face
24:37
Speaker 1: and rocked backwards and forwards in her chair, laughing and laughing.
24:41
Speaker 1: Then he struck an attitude with his tattered leg, put
24:43
Speaker 1: forward gracefully, and he pretended he had a guitar, and
24:46
Speaker 1: he sang right up at her window from rackety packety house,
24:51
Speaker 1: I come. It stands, dear lady, in a slum, a low,
24:54
Speaker 1: low slum. Behind the door, the stout armchair is placed before.
24:58
Speaker 1: Just take a look at it, my lady. The house
25:02
Speaker 1: itself is a perfect sight, and everybody's dressed like a
25:05
Speaker 1: perfect fright. But no one cares a single jot, and
25:08
Speaker 1: each one giggles over his lot. And as for me,
25:11
Speaker 1: I'm in love with you. I can't make up another verse,
25:14
Speaker 1: and if I did, it would be worse. But I
25:17
Speaker 1: could stand and sing all day if I could think
25:19
Speaker 1: of things to say. But the fact is I just
25:21
Speaker 1: wanted to make you look at me. And then he
25:24
Speaker 1: danced such a lively jing that his rags and tatters
25:27
Speaker 1: flew about him. And then he made another bow and
25:29
Speaker 1: kissed his hand again, and ran up the ladder like
25:31
Speaker 1: a flash, and jumped into the attic. After that, Lady
25:35
Speaker 1: Patty sat at her window all the time and would
25:37
Speaker 1: not let the trained nurse put her to bed at all,
25:39
Speaker 1: and Lady Gwendolen and Lady Muriel and Lady Doris could
25:42
Speaker 1: not understand it. Once, Lady Gwendolen said, haughtily and disdainfully
25:46
Speaker 1: and scornfully and scathingly, if you sit there so much
25:49
Speaker 1: there's little rackety packetty house, people will think you are
25:52
Speaker 1: looking at them. I am, said Lady Patty, showing all
25:56
Speaker 1: her dimples at once. They are such fun. And Lady
26:00
Speaker 1: Wwindolin swooned haughtily away, and the trained nurse could scarcely
26:03
Speaker 1: restore her. When the castle dolls drove out or walked
26:07
Speaker 1: in their garden. The instant they caught sight of one
26:09
Speaker 1: of the rackedy packete's, they turned up their noses and
26:11
Speaker 1: sniffed aloud, and several times the Duchess said she would
26:15
Speaker 1: remove because the neighborhood was absolutely low. They all scorned
26:19
Speaker 1: the rackety packete's. They just scorned them. One moonlight night,
26:24
Speaker 1: Lady Patsy was sitting at her window and he heard
26:26
Speaker 1: a whistle in the garden. When she peeped out carefully,
26:30
Speaker 1: there stood Peter Piper waving his ragged cap at her,
26:32
Speaker 1: and he had his rope ladder under his arm. Hello,
26:36
Speaker 1: he whispered as loud as he could. Could you catch
26:38
Speaker 1: a bit of rope if I threw it up to you? Yes,
26:41
Speaker 1: she whispered back. Then catch this, he whispered again. And
26:44
Speaker 1: he threw up the end of a string, and she
26:45
Speaker 1: caught it in the first throw. It was fastened to
26:47
Speaker 1: the rope ladder. Now pull, he said. She pulled and
26:51
Speaker 1: pulled until the rope ladder reached her window, and then
26:53
Speaker 1: she fastened to a hook that ran under the sill.
26:56
Speaker 1: And the first thing that happened, just like lightning, was
26:58
Speaker 1: that Peter Piper ran up the ladder and leaned over
27:01
Speaker 1: her window. Ledge, will you marry me? He said? I
27:03
Speaker 1: haven't anything to give you to eat, and I'm as
27:05
Speaker 1: ragged as a scarecrow. But will you end of Part
27:10
Speaker 1: two Racketty Packety House, Part three. She clapped her little hands.
27:17
Speaker 1: I eat very little, she said, and I would do
27:19
Speaker 1: without anything at all if I could only live in
27:22
Speaker 1: your funny, old shabby house. It is a ridiculous tumble
27:26
Speaker 1: down old barn, isn't it, he said? But every one
27:28
Speaker 1: of us is as nice as we can be. We
27:31
Speaker 1: are perfect Turkish delights. It's laughing the does it. Would
27:34
Speaker 1: you like to come down the ladder and see what
27:36
Speaker 1: a jolly shabby old hole the place is? Oh, do
27:39
Speaker 1: take me, said Lady Patsy. So he helped her down
27:43
Speaker 1: the ladder and took her under the armchair and into
27:45
Speaker 1: Rackety Packety House, and Meg and Peg and kilmen'skeg and
27:48
Speaker 1: Ridiculous and Gustibus all crowded round her and gave little
27:51
Speaker 1: screams of joy at the sight of her. They were
27:54
Speaker 1: afraid to kiss her at first, even though she was
27:56
Speaker 1: engaged to Peter Piper. She was so pretty and her
27:59
Speaker 1: frock had so much lace on it that they were
28:01
Speaker 1: afraid their old rags might spoil her, but she did
28:04
Speaker 1: not care about her lace, and flew at them and
28:06
Speaker 1: kissed and hugged them, every one. I have so wanted
28:09
Speaker 1: to come here, she said. It's so dull that the castle.
28:12
Speaker 1: I had to break my leg just to get a change.
28:14
Speaker 1: The Duchess sits reading near the fire with her gold
28:17
Speaker 1: eyeglasses on her nose, and Lady Gwendolen plays haughtily on
28:20
Speaker 1: the harp, and Lady Muriel coldly listens to her, and
28:23
Speaker 1: Lady Doris is always laughing mockingly, and Lord Hubert reads
28:26
Speaker 1: the newspaper with the high bred air, and Lord Francis
28:29
Speaker 1: writes letters to noblemen of his acquaintance, and Lord Rupert
28:32
Speaker 1: glances over his love letters from ladies of title in
28:35
Speaker 1: an aristocratic manner, until I could scream. Just to see
28:38
Speaker 1: you DearS, dancing about in your rags and tatters, and
28:41
Speaker 1: laughing and inventing games as if you didn't mind anything.
28:44
Speaker 1: Such a relief. She nearly laughed her little curly head
28:47
Speaker 1: off when they went all round the house with her,
28:49
Speaker 1: and Peter Piper showed her the holes and the carpet
28:51
Speaker 1: and the stuffing coming out of the sofas, and the
28:53
Speaker 1: feathers out of the beds, and the legs tumbling off
28:56
Speaker 1: the chairs. She had never seen anything like it before
28:59
Speaker 1: at the castle. Well, nothing is funny at all, she said,
29:01
Speaker 1: And nothing ever sticks out or hangs down or tumbles off.
29:04
Speaker 1: It's so plain and new. But I think we ought
29:08
Speaker 1: to tell her. Duke Ridicklus said we may have our
29:10
Speaker 1: house burned over our heads any day. She really stopped
29:13
Speaker 1: laughing for a whole minute when she heard that, But
29:16
Speaker 1: she was rather like Peter Piper in disposition, and she
29:18
Speaker 1: said almost immediately, Oh, they'll never do it, they've forgotten you.
29:22
Speaker 1: And Peter Piper said, don't, let's thick of it. Let's
29:25
Speaker 1: all join hands and dance round and round and kick
29:27
Speaker 1: up our heels and laugh as hard as ever we can.
29:29
Speaker 1: And they did, and Lady Patsy laughed harder than anyone else.
29:33
Speaker 1: After that, she was always stealing away from tidy castle
29:35
Speaker 1: and coming in and having fun. Sometimes she stayed all
29:39
Speaker 1: night and slept with Meg and Peg, and everybody invented
29:42
Speaker 1: new games and stories, and they really never went to
29:44
Speaker 1: bed until daylight. But the castle dolls grew more and
29:47
Speaker 1: more scornful every day and tossed their heads higher and higher,
29:50
Speaker 1: and sniffed louder and louder, until it sounded as if
29:54
Speaker 1: they all had influenza. They never lost an opportunity of
29:58
Speaker 1: saying disdainful things. And once the Duchess wrote a letter
30:01
Speaker 1: to Cynthia saying that she insisted on removing to a
30:03
Speaker 1: decent neighborhood. She laid the letter in her desk, but
30:07
Speaker 1: the gentleman mouse came in the night and carried it away,
30:09
Speaker 1: so Cynthia never saw it. And I don't believe she
30:11
Speaker 1: could have read it if she had seen it, because
30:13
Speaker 1: the Duchess wrote very badly, even for a doll. And
30:17
Speaker 1: then what do you suppose happened? One morning Cynthia began
30:22
Speaker 1: to play that all the tidy Castle dolls had scarlet fever.
30:25
Speaker 1: She said it had broken out in the night, and
30:27
Speaker 1: she undressed them all and put them into bed and
30:28
Speaker 1: gave them medicine. She could not find Lady Patsy, so
30:32
Speaker 1: she escaped the contagion. The truth was that Lady Patsy
30:35
Speaker 1: had stayed all night at Rackety Packetty House, where they
30:37
Speaker 1: were giving an imitation court ball with Peter Piper in
30:40
Speaker 1: a tin crown and shavings for supper, because they had
30:42
Speaker 1: nothing else, and in fact, the gentleman Mouse had brought
30:44
Speaker 1: the shavings from his nest as a present. Cynthia played
30:48
Speaker 1: nearly all day, and the Duchess and Lady Gwendolen and
30:50
Speaker 1: Lady Muriel and Lady Doris, and Lord Hubert and Lord
30:53
Speaker 1: Francis and Lord Rupert got worse and worse. By evening
30:56
Speaker 1: they were all raging in delirium, and Lord Francis and
30:59
Speaker 1: Lady Gwendolen had strong mustard plasters on their chests. And
31:03
Speaker 1: right in the middle of their agony, Cynthia suddenly got
31:06
Speaker 1: up and went away and left them to their fate,
31:08
Speaker 1: just as if it didn't matter in the least. Well,
31:11
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, Meg and Peg and
31:12
Speaker 1: Lady Patsy wakened all at once. Do you hear noise?
31:16
Speaker 1: Said Meg, lifting her head from her ragged old pillow.
31:19
Speaker 1: Yes I do, said Peg, sitting up and holding her
31:21
Speaker 1: ragged blanket up to her chin. Lady Patsy jumped up,
31:25
Speaker 1: with feathers sticking up all over her hair because they
31:27
Speaker 1: had come out of the holes in the ragged old bed.
31:30
Speaker 1: She ran to the window and listened oh, Meg and Peg,
31:32
Speaker 1: she cried out, it comes from the castle. Cynthia has
31:35
Speaker 1: left them all raving and delirium, and they are all
31:37
Speaker 1: shouting and groaning and screaming. Meg and Peg jumped up too.
31:41
Speaker 1: Let's go and call Kilmen'skegg and Ridic'lus and Gustabus and
31:44
Speaker 1: Peter Piper, they said, And they rushed down the staircase
31:47
Speaker 1: and met Kilmen'skegg and ridic'lous and Gustibus and Peter Piper
31:50
Speaker 1: coming scrambling up panting because the noise had wakened them
31:53
Speaker 1: as well. They were all over at Tidy Castle in
31:55
Speaker 1: a minute. They just tumbled over each other to get there.
31:58
Speaker 1: The kind hearted things. The servants were, every one fast asleep.
32:01
Speaker 1: Though the noise was awful. The loudest groans came from
32:04
Speaker 1: Lady Gwendolen and Lord Francis because their mustard plasters were
32:07
Speaker 1: blistering them. Frightfully, Ridic'lus took charge because she was the
32:11
Speaker 1: one who knew most about illness. She sent Gustibus to
32:14
Speaker 1: waken the servants, and then ordered hot water and cold
32:16
Speaker 1: water and ice and brandy and poultices, and shook the
32:19
Speaker 1: trained nurse for not attending to her business and took
32:21
Speaker 1: off the mustard plasters and gave gruel and broths and
32:24
Speaker 1: cough syrup and castor oil and ipecacuanha, and every one
32:27
Speaker 1: of the rackety packety's massaged and soothed and patted and
32:31
Speaker 1: put wet clothes on heads until the fever was gone,
32:34
Speaker 1: and the castle dolls all lay back on their pillows,
32:36
Speaker 1: pale and weak, but smiling faintly at every rackety packety
32:39
Speaker 1: they saw. Instead of turning up their noses and tossing
32:42
Speaker 1: their heads and sniffing loudly and just scorning them, Lady
32:46
Speaker 1: Gwendolen spoke first, and instead of being haughty and disdainful,
32:49
Speaker 1: she was as humble as a new born kitten. Oh
32:52
Speaker 1: you dear, shabby, disrespectable darling things, she said. Never never
32:56
Speaker 1: will I scorn you again. Never never, that's right, said
33:00
Speaker 1: Peter Piper, in his cheerful, rather slangy way. You take
33:03
Speaker 1: my tip, never scorn any one again. It's a mistake.
33:06
Speaker 1: Just watch me stand on my head. It'll cheer you up.
33:08
Speaker 1: And he turned six somersaults just like lightning, and stood
33:11
Speaker 1: on his head and wiggled his ragged legs at them
33:13
Speaker 1: until Suddenly they heard a snort from one of the beds,
33:15
Speaker 1: and it was Lord Hubert beginning to laugh, And then
33:17
Speaker 1: Lord Francis laughed, and then Lord Hubert shouted, and then
33:20
Speaker 1: Lady dor squealed, and Lady Muriel screamed, and Lady Gwendolen.
33:23
Speaker 1: Then the Duchess rolled over and over in their beds,
33:26
Speaker 1: laughing as if they would have fits. Oh, you delightful, funny,
33:30
Speaker 1: shabby old loves. Lady Gwendolen kept saying, to think that
33:34
Speaker 1: we scorned you. They'll be all right after this, said
33:38
Speaker 1: Peter Piper. There's nothing cure scarlet fever like cheering up.
33:41
Speaker 1: Let's all join heads and dance round and round once
33:44
Speaker 1: for them before we go back to bed. It'll throw
33:46
Speaker 1: them into a nice like perspiration and they'll drop off
33:49
Speaker 1: and sleep like tops. And they did it, and before
33:52
Speaker 1: they had finished, the whole lot of them were perspiring
33:54
Speaker 1: gently and snoring as softly as lambs. When they went
33:58
Speaker 1: back to rackety packety house, they talked a good deal
34:00
Speaker 1: about Cynthia and wondered and wondered why she had left
34:03
Speaker 1: her scarlet fever. So suddenly, and at last, ridic'lus made
34:06
Speaker 1: up her mind to tell them something she had heard.
34:09
Speaker 1: The Duchess told me, she said rather slowly, because it
34:13
Speaker 1: was bad news. The Duchess said that Cynthia went away
34:16
Speaker 1: because her mamma had sent for her, and her mamma
34:19
Speaker 1: had sent for her to tell her that a little
34:20
Speaker 1: girl princess is coming to see her tomorrow. Cynthia's mammy
34:24
Speaker 1: used to be a maid of honor to the queen,
34:26
Speaker 1: and that's why the little girl princess is coming, the
34:28
Speaker 1: Duchess said, And here ridiculous spoke very slowly. Indeed, that
34:33
Speaker 1: the nurse was so excited. She said she didn't know
34:36
Speaker 1: whether she stood on her head or on her heels.
34:38
Speaker 1: And she was tidy up the nursery. And to have
34:40
Speaker 1: that ragckety packet the old doll's house carried downstairs and
34:43
Speaker 1: burned early tomorrow morning, that's what the Duchess said. Meg
34:47
Speaker 1: and Peg and Kilmen's kegg clutched at their hearts and gasped,
34:50
Speaker 1: and Gustopus groaned, and Lady Patsy caught Peter Piper by
34:53
Speaker 1: the arm to keep him from falling. Peter Piper gulped,
34:56
Speaker 1: and then he had a sudden cheerful thought, perhaps she
34:59
Speaker 1: was raving in deliver he said, No, she wasn't, said ridic'lus,
35:03
Speaker 1: shaking her head. I had just given her hot water
35:06
Speaker 1: and cold and gruel and broth and castor oil, and
35:09
Speaker 1: I peck a kouana and put ice almost all over her.
35:12
Speaker 1: She was as sensible as any of us. Tomorrow morning,
35:14
Speaker 1: we shall not have any house over our heads. And
35:16
Speaker 1: she put her ragged old apron over her face and cried.
35:20
Speaker 1: If she wasn't raving in delirium, said Peter Piper, we
35:22
Speaker 1: shall not have any heads. You had better go back
35:25
Speaker 1: to the castle to night, Patsy, raggedy, packety house is
35:27
Speaker 1: no place for you. Then Lady Patsy drew herself up
35:31
Speaker 1: so straight that she nearly fell over backwards. I will
35:35
Speaker 1: never leave you, she said, and Peter Piper couldn't make her.
35:39
Speaker 1: You can just imagine what a doleful night it was.
35:42
Speaker 1: They went all over the house together and looked at
35:44
Speaker 1: every hole in the carpet, and every piece of stuffing
35:46
Speaker 1: sticking out of the dear old shabby sofas, and every
35:49
Speaker 1: broken window and chair leg and table and ragged blanket,
35:52
Speaker 1: and the tears ran down their faces for the first
35:54
Speaker 1: times in their lives. About six o'clock in the morning.
35:57
Speaker 1: Peter Piper made a last effort. That's so, we'll join
36:00
Speaker 1: hands in a circle, he said, quite faintly, and dance
36:03
Speaker 1: round and round once more. But it was no use.
36:07
Speaker 1: When they joined hands, they could not dance. And when
36:09
Speaker 1: they found that they could not dance, they all tumbled
36:11
Speaker 1: down in a heap and cried instead of laughing, And
36:13
Speaker 1: Lady Patty lay with her arms round Peter Piper's neck.
36:17
Speaker 1: Now Here is where I come in again, Queen Crosspatch,
36:19
Speaker 1: who is telling you the story? I always come in
36:22
Speaker 1: just at the nick of time, when people like the
36:24
Speaker 1: Rackety Packetys are in trouble. I walked in at seven o'clock.
36:28
Speaker 1: Get up off the floor, I said to them all,
36:30
Speaker 1: and they got up and stared at me. They actually
36:32
Speaker 1: thought I did not know what had happened. A little
36:35
Speaker 1: girl princess is coming this morning, said Peter Piper, and
36:37
Speaker 1: our house is going to be burned over our heads.
36:40
Speaker 1: This is the end of Rackety Packety house. No it isn't,
36:43
Speaker 1: I said, you leave this to me. I told the
36:45
Speaker 1: princess to come, though she doesn't know it in the least.
36:48
Speaker 1: A whole army of my working fairies began to swarm
36:51
Speaker 1: in at the nursery window. The nurse was working very
36:54
Speaker 1: hard to put things in order, and she had not
36:55
Speaker 1: sense enough to see fairies at all, so she did
36:58
Speaker 1: not see mine, though there were hundreds of them. As
37:00
Speaker 1: soon as she made one corner tidy, they ran after
37:03
Speaker 1: her and made it untidy. They held her back by
37:05
Speaker 1: her dress and hung and swung on a rapron until
37:07
Speaker 1: she could scarcely move, and kept wondering why she was
37:09
Speaker 1: so slow. She could not make the nursery tidy. As
37:12
Speaker 1: she was so flurried she forgot all about Rackedy packetty
37:14
Speaker 1: house again, especially as my working fairies pushed the arm
37:17
Speaker 1: chair close up to it so it was quite hidden.
37:20
Speaker 1: And there it was when the little girl Princess came
37:22
Speaker 1: with her ladies in waiting. My fairies had only just
37:25
Speaker 1: allowed the nurse to finish the nursery. Meg and Peg
37:28
Speaker 1: and Kilmut's Gag and Ridiculous and Gustibus and Peter Piper
37:31
Speaker 1: and Lady Patsy were all huddled up together looking out
37:34
Speaker 1: one window. They could not bear to be parted. I
37:37
Speaker 1: sat on the arm of the big chair and ordered
37:39
Speaker 1: my working fairies to stand ready to obey me the
37:41
Speaker 1: instant I spoke. The princess was a nice child and
37:44
Speaker 1: very polite to Cynthia when she showed her all her dolls,
37:47
Speaker 1: and last, but not least, tidy castle itself. She looked
37:50
Speaker 1: at all the rooms and the furniture and said polite
37:52
Speaker 1: and admiring things about each of them. But Cynthia realized
37:56
Speaker 1: she was not so much interested in it as she
37:57
Speaker 1: had thought she would be. The fact was that the
38:00
Speaker 1: princess had so many grand doll's houses in her palace
38:03
Speaker 1: that tidy castle did not surprise her at all. It
38:06
Speaker 1: was just when Cynthia was finding this out that I
38:08
Speaker 1: gave the order to my work, and the fairies push
38:10
Speaker 1: the arm chair away, I commanded, and very slowly, so
38:13
Speaker 1: that no one will know it is being moved. So
38:16
Speaker 1: they moved it away, very very slowly, and no one
38:19
Speaker 1: saw that it had stirred. But the next minute the
38:21
Speaker 1: little girl princess gave a delightful start. Oh what is that?
38:25
Speaker 1: She cried, hurrying towards the unfashionable neighborhood behind the door.
38:29
Speaker 1: Cynthia blushed all over, and the nurse actually turned pale.
38:32
Speaker 1: The rackety packetyes tumbled down in a heap beneath their window,
38:35
Speaker 1: and began to say their prayers very fast. It's only
38:38
Speaker 1: a shabby old doll's house, your highness, Cynthia stammered out.
38:42
Speaker 1: It belonged to my grandmamma, and it ought not to
38:44
Speaker 1: be in the nursery. I thought you had hadn't burned,
38:46
Speaker 1: nurse burned, The little girl princess cried out in the
38:49
Speaker 1: most shocked way. Why if it was mine, I wouldn't
38:52
Speaker 1: have it burned for worlds. Oh, please push the chair
38:55
Speaker 1: away and let me look at it. There are no
38:57
Speaker 1: dolls houses like it anywhere in these days. And when
39:00
Speaker 1: the arm chair was pushed aside, she scrambled down on
39:03
Speaker 1: her knees, just as if she were not a little
39:04
Speaker 1: girl princess at all. Oh, oh, oh, she said, how
39:08
Speaker 1: funny and dear, what a darling old doll's house. It
39:11
Speaker 1: is shabby, and one's mending, of course, but it's almost
39:13
Speaker 1: exactly like one my grandmamma had she kept in among
39:16
Speaker 1: her treasures, and only let me look at it as
39:18
Speaker 1: a great great treat. Cynthia gave a gasp. For the
39:21
Speaker 1: little girl princesses grandmamma had been the queen and people
39:24
Speaker 1: had knelt down and kissed her hand, and been obliged
39:26
Speaker 1: to go out of the room backwards before her. The
39:29
Speaker 1: little girl Princess was simply filled with joy. She picked
39:32
Speaker 1: up Meg and Peg and Kilmut's Keg and Gustavus and
39:35
Speaker 1: Peter Piper as if they had really been a queen's dolls. Oh,
39:38
Speaker 1: the darling dear, she said, just look at their nice
39:41
Speaker 1: queer faces, and their funny clothes, just just like Grandmamma's
39:45
Speaker 1: dolly's clothes. Only these poor things do want new ones.
39:48
Speaker 1: So oh how I should like to dress them again
39:51
Speaker 1: just as they used to be dressed, and have the
39:53
Speaker 1: whole house all made up just as it used to
39:55
Speaker 1: be when it was new, that old raggety paggety house,
39:59
Speaker 1: said Cynthia, losing her breath. If it were mine, I
40:02
Speaker 1: should make it just like Grandmamma's, and I should love
40:05
Speaker 1: it more than any other doll's house I had. I never, never,
40:08
Speaker 1: never saw anything as nice and laughing and good natured
40:11
Speaker 1: as these dolls faces. They look as if they had
40:13
Speaker 1: been having fun ever since they were born. Oh, if
40:16
Speaker 1: you burned them in their home, I could never forgive you.
40:20
Speaker 1: I I never will your Highness stammered Cynthia, quite overwhelmed.
40:25
Speaker 1: Suddenly she started forward. Why there is the lost doll,
40:28
Speaker 1: she cried out, there is Lady Patsy. How did she
40:31
Speaker 1: get back into rackety Packetty House. Perhaps she went there
40:34
Speaker 1: to see them because they were so poor and shabby,
40:36
Speaker 1: said the little girl princess. Perhaps she likes this one,
40:39
Speaker 1: and she pointed to Peter Piper. Do you know when
40:42
Speaker 1: I picked him up, their arms were about each other.
40:44
Speaker 1: Please let her stay with him? Oh, she cried out
40:47
Speaker 1: the next instant and jumped a little. I felt as
40:49
Speaker 1: if the boy one was kicking his leg. And it
40:52
Speaker 1: was actually true, because Peter Piper could not help it,
40:55
Speaker 1: and he had kicked out his ragged leg for joy.
40:57
Speaker 1: He had to be very careful not to kick any
40:59
Speaker 1: more when he heard what happened next. As the princess
41:02
Speaker 1: liked Raggedy Packetty House so much, Cynthia gave it to
41:05
Speaker 1: her for a present, And the princess was really happy.
41:08
Speaker 1: And before she went away, she made a little speech
41:10
Speaker 1: to the whole rackety packetty family, whom she had set
41:12
Speaker 1: all in a row in the ragged old, dear, old,
41:14
Speaker 1: shabby old drawing room. Where they had had so much fun.
41:17
Speaker 1: You are going to come and live with me, funny,
41:19
Speaker 1: good natured loves, she said, And you shall all be
41:22
Speaker 1: dressed beautifully again, and your house shall be mended and
41:25
Speaker 1: papered and painted and made as lovely as ever it was.
41:28
Speaker 1: And I'm going to like you better than all my
41:30
Speaker 1: other dolls houses, just as Grandmama said she liked hers.
41:33
Speaker 1: And then she was gone, and every bit of it
41:36
Speaker 1: came true. Rackety Packety House was carried to a splendid
41:40
Speaker 1: nursery in a palace, and Meg and Peg and Kilmut's
41:42
Speaker 1: Gag and ridic'lus and Gustumus and Peter Piper were made
41:45
Speaker 1: so gorgeous that if they had not been so nice,
41:47
Speaker 1: they would have grown proud, but they didn't. They only
41:50
Speaker 1: grew jollier and Jollier and Peter Piper married Lady Patsy,
41:53
Speaker 1: and Ridiculous's left leg was mended, and she was painted
41:56
Speaker 1: into a beauty again, But she always remained a useful one.
42:00
Speaker 1: And the dolls in the other dolls houses used to
42:02
Speaker 1: make deep curtsies when a rockety packety house doll passed them,
42:05
Speaker 1: and Peter Piper could scarcely stand it. Because it always
42:07
Speaker 1: made him want to stand on his head and laugh.
42:09
Speaker 1: And so when they were curtsied at because they were
42:11
Speaker 1: related to the Royal Doll's house, they used to run
42:14
Speaker 1: into their drawing room and fall into fits of giggles.
42:16
Speaker 1: And they could only stop them by all joining hands
42:18
Speaker 1: together in a ring and dancing round and round and round,
42:21
Speaker 1: and kicking up their heels and laughing until they tumbled
42:23
Speaker 1: down in a heap. And what do you think of
42:25
Speaker 1: that for a story? And doesn't it prove to you
42:28
Speaker 1: what a valuable friend a fairy is, particularly a.
42:31
Speaker 2: Queen one, surly tim part one, Sorry to hear my
42:40
Speaker 2: fellow workmen speak so disparaging of me. Well, mester, that's
42:44
Speaker 2: as it may be. You know, happened my fellow workmen,
42:47
Speaker 2: and made a bit of mistake, happen what seemed like
42:50
Speaker 2: crustiness to them, being so much crostiness as somebody else happen.
42:55
Speaker 2: I might do my own bit of complaining too. You
42:58
Speaker 2: might not trust all your ear, miss, That's all I
43:01
Speaker 2: can say. I looked at the man's bent face quite curiously,
43:06
Speaker 2: and judging from its rather heavy but still not unprepossessing outline,
43:11
Speaker 2: I could not really call it a bad face, or
43:14
Speaker 2: even a sulky one. And yet both managers and hands
43:17
Speaker 2: had given me a bad account of Tim Hibblethwaite. Surly Tim,
43:22
Speaker 2: they called him, and each had something to say about
43:25
Speaker 2: his sullen disposition to silence and his short answers. Not
43:30
Speaker 2: that he was accused of anything like misdemeanor, but he
43:33
Speaker 2: was glum, like the factory people said, and a sorly fellow,
43:39
Speaker 2: well deserving his name, As the master of the room
43:42
Speaker 2: had told me, I had come to Lancashire to take
43:46
Speaker 2: control of my father's spinning factory a short time before,
43:50
Speaker 2: being anxious to do my best towards the hands, and
43:53
Speaker 2: I often talked to one and another in a friendly way,
43:57
Speaker 2: so that I could better understand their grievances and remedy
44:00
Speaker 2: them with justice to all parties concerned. So in conversing
44:04
Speaker 2: with men, women and children, I gradually found out that
44:08
Speaker 2: Tim Hibbelothwhite was in bad odor, and that he held
44:12
Speaker 2: himself doggedly aloof from all. And this was how, in
44:15
Speaker 2: the course of time I came to speak to him
44:17
Speaker 2: about the matter. And the opening words of my story
44:21
Speaker 2: are the words of his answer. But they did not
44:23
Speaker 2: satisfy me. By any means, I wanted to do the
44:27
Speaker 2: man justice myself and see that justice was done to
44:30
Speaker 2: him by others. And then again, when after my curious
44:34
Speaker 2: look at him, he lifted his head from his work
44:36
Speaker 2: and drew the back of his hand across his warm face,
44:39
Speaker 2: I noticed that he gave his eyes a brush, and
44:42
Speaker 2: glancing at him once more, I recognized that the presence
44:45
Speaker 2: of a moisture in them. In my anxiety to conceal
44:49
Speaker 2: that I had noticed anything unusual, I am afraid I
44:52
Speaker 2: spoke to him quite hurriedly. I was a young man then,
44:55
Speaker 2: and by no means as self possessed as I ought
44:58
Speaker 2: to have been. You won't misunderstand me, hibbileth Wait, I said,
45:03
Speaker 2: I don't mean to complain. Indeed, I have nothing to
45:06
Speaker 2: complain of, for Foxley tells me you're the steadiest and
45:09
Speaker 2: most orderly hand he has under him. But the fact
45:13
Speaker 2: is I should like to make friends with you all
45:15
Speaker 2: and see that no one is treated badly. And somehow
45:19
Speaker 2: or other I found out that you were not disposed
45:22
Speaker 2: to feel friendly toward the rest, and I was sorry
45:25
Speaker 2: for it. But I suppose you have some reason of
45:27
Speaker 2: your own. The man bent down over his work again,
45:30
Speaker 2: silent for a minute, to my discomfiture, but at last
45:34
Speaker 2: he spoke, almost huskily. Thank you, mister, he said, you're
45:39
Speaker 2: a kindly chapel. You wouldn't have noticed, and you're not
45:42
Speaker 2: for wrong either. I have reasoned my own, though I
45:46
Speaker 2: like to keep them to myself most the times. The
45:48
Speaker 2: fellows as throws their slurs on me, would not understand
45:51
Speaker 2: him if I will like to gab, which I never wore.
45:55
Speaker 2: But happen the time will come when surly Tim will
45:58
Speaker 2: tell his own tale, though I often think it's like
46:01
Speaker 2: it won't not come till the day of judgment. I
46:05
Speaker 2: hope it comes before then, I said cheerfully. I hope
46:07
Speaker 2: the time is not far away when we shall all
46:09
Speaker 2: understand you. Hibbleth wait. I think it's been misunderstanding so
46:13
Speaker 2: far which has separated you from the rest, and it
46:16
Speaker 2: cannot last always, you know. But he shook his head,
46:19
Speaker 2: not after a surly fashion, but as I thought, a
46:22
Speaker 2: trifle sadly or heavily. So I did not ask any
46:25
Speaker 2: more questions or try to force the subject upon him.
46:29
Speaker 2: But I noticed him pretty closely as time went on,
46:32
Speaker 2: and the more I saw of him, the more fully
46:35
Speaker 2: I was convinced that he was not so surly as
46:37
Speaker 2: people imagined. He never interfered with the most active of
46:41
Speaker 2: his enemies, nor made any reply when they taunted him,
46:45
Speaker 2: And more than once I saw him perform a silent,
46:48
Speaker 2: half secret act of kindness. Once I caught him throwing
46:51
Speaker 2: half his dinner to a wretched little lad who had
46:54
Speaker 2: just come to the factory and worked near him. And
46:57
Speaker 2: once again, as I was leaving the building on a
47:00
Speaker 2: rainy night, I came upon him on the stone steps
47:03
Speaker 2: at the door, bending down with an almost pathetic clumsiness
47:07
Speaker 2: to pin the woolen shawl of a poor little mite, who,
47:11
Speaker 2: like so many others, worked with her shiftless father and
47:14
Speaker 2: mother to add to their weekly earnings. It was always
47:18
Speaker 2: the poorest and least cared for of the children whom
47:21
Speaker 2: he seemed to befriend, and very often I noticed that,
47:25
Speaker 2: even when he was kindness in his awkward man fashion,
47:28
Speaker 2: the little waives were afraid of him and showed their
47:31
Speaker 2: fear plainly. The factory was situated on the outskirts of
47:35
Speaker 2: a thriving country town near Manchester, and at the end
47:40
Speaker 2: of the lane that led from it to the more
47:42
Speaker 2: thickly populated part. There was a path crossing a field
47:47
Speaker 2: to the pretty church and churchyard, and this path was
47:50
Speaker 2: a short cut homeward for me. Being so pretty and quiet,
47:54
Speaker 2: the place had a sort of attraction for me, and
47:56
Speaker 2: I was in the habit of frequently passing through it
47:58
Speaker 2: on my way, partly because it was pretty and quiet,
48:03
Speaker 2: and partly because I have no doubt, because I was
48:06
Speaker 2: inclined to be weak and melancholy at the time, my
48:09
Speaker 2: health being broken down under hard study. It so happened
48:13
Speaker 2: that in passing here one night, and glancing in among
48:16
Speaker 2: the graves and marble monuments as usual, I caught sight
48:20
Speaker 2: of a dark figure sitting upon a little mound under
48:23
Speaker 2: a tree and resting its head upon its hands. And
48:26
Speaker 2: in this sad looking figure I recognized the muscular outline
48:31
Speaker 2: of my friend, Surly Tim. He did not see me
48:35
Speaker 2: at first, and I was almost inclined to think it
48:37
Speaker 2: best to leave him alone. But as I half turned away,
48:41
Speaker 2: he stirred with something like a faint moan, and then
48:45
Speaker 2: lifted his head and saw me standing in the bright,
48:48
Speaker 2: clear moonlight. Who's there, he said, dost thou want out?
48:53
Speaker 2: It's only doncast he will wait. I returned as I
48:58
Speaker 2: sprangled with a low stone wall to join him. What
49:00
Speaker 2: is the matter, old fellow, I thought I heard you
49:03
Speaker 2: groan just now. You might have done, mister, he answered,
49:07
Speaker 2: heavily happened? But did I? I dunno myself. Not the matter, though,
49:12
Speaker 2: as I knows on only, I'm a bit out of thoughts.
49:16
Speaker 2: He turned his head aside slightly and began to pull
49:19
Speaker 2: out the blades of grass on the mound, and all
49:21
Speaker 2: at once I saw that his hand was trembling nervously.
49:26
Speaker 2: It was almost three minutes before he spoke again. That
49:30
Speaker 2: and belongs to me, he said, suddenly at last, pointing
49:33
Speaker 2: to a longer mound at his feet, and this little
49:36
Speaker 2: un signifying with an indescribable gesture, the small one upon
49:41
Speaker 2: which he sat. Poor fellow, I said, I see now
49:46
Speaker 2: a little lad o mine, he said, slowly and tremulously,
49:49
Speaker 2: A little lad o mine man and his mother what
49:53
Speaker 2: I exclaimed, I never knew that you were a married man.
49:56
Speaker 2: Tim He dropped his head upon his hand, again, still
50:00
Speaker 2: pulling nervously at the grass with the other. The law says,
50:04
Speaker 2: I beant, master, he answered, in a painful, strained fashion.
50:09
Speaker 2: I couldnt tell myself what God Almighty d say about it.
50:13
Speaker 2: I don't understand. I faltered. You don't mean to say
50:16
Speaker 2: the poor girl never was your wife, Hibblethwaite, That's what
50:20
Speaker 2: the law says. Slowly, I fought different, my son, and
50:25
Speaker 2: so did the poor lass. That's what's the matter, Mester,
50:29
Speaker 2: that's the trouble. The other nervous hand went up to
50:32
Speaker 2: his bent face for a minute and hid it. But
50:34
Speaker 2: I did not speak. There was so much of strange
50:37
Speaker 2: grief in his simple movement that I felt words would
50:41
Speaker 2: be out of place. It was not my dogged, inexplicable
50:45
Speaker 2: hand who was sitting before me in the bright moonlight
50:48
Speaker 2: on the baby's grave. It was a man with a
50:51
Speaker 2: hidden history of some tragic sorrow, long kept secret in
50:56
Speaker 2: his homely breast, perhaps a history very few of us
51:00
Speaker 2: could read or write. I would not question him, though
51:03
Speaker 2: I fancied he meant to explain himself. I knew that
51:06
Speaker 2: if he was willing to tell me the truth, it
51:09
Speaker 2: was best that he should choose his own time for it,
51:13
Speaker 2: And so I let him alone. And before I had
51:15
Speaker 2: waited very long, he broke the silence himself, as I
51:19
Speaker 2: had thought he would. It were welly about six years ago,
51:24
Speaker 2: I come here, he said, more or less. Welly about
51:26
Speaker 2: six years. I were a quiet chap then mester, and
51:30
Speaker 2: had not many friends. But i'd mourn I am now happened.
51:35
Speaker 2: I were better natured, but just as Lloyke, I were
51:38
Speaker 2: lighter hearted. But that's not to do with it. I
51:42
Speaker 2: had not been h more than a week when there
51:44
Speaker 2: come a young woman to mind the loom in the
51:47
Speaker 2: next room to me. And this young woman, being pretty
51:51
Speaker 2: and modest, takes my fancy. She were not like the
51:55
Speaker 2: rest of the wench's loud talking and slattered ill ways.
51:59
Speaker 2: She we was just quiet like and no else. First
52:02
Speaker 2: time I seed her, I says to my son, there's
52:05
Speaker 2: a lass at seed trouble. And somehow every time I
52:08
Speaker 2: seed her after, I says to my son, there's a
52:12
Speaker 2: lass at seed trouble. It were ear awrye. She had
52:16
Speaker 2: a soft like brown eye, mister, and it were eer
52:19
Speaker 2: voice her Her voice were soft like too. I sometimes
52:23
Speaker 2: thought it were plain to be seed, even eer dress.
52:26
Speaker 2: If she'd been born a lady, she'd have been one
52:29
Speaker 2: of fine sort. And as she'd been born a factory lass,
52:32
Speaker 2: she wore one of a fine sort. Still, so I
52:35
Speaker 2: took to watching her and trying to make friends wear,
52:38
Speaker 2: but I never had much luck were till one need.
52:41
Speaker 2: I was going home through the snow, and I seed
52:44
Speaker 2: her afore tightened the drift. We're not but a thin
52:48
Speaker 2: shawl o'er a head. And so I goes up behind her,
52:51
Speaker 2: and I says to her steady and respectful, so she
52:53
Speaker 2: wouldn't be a feared I says, las, let me see
52:57
Speaker 2: thee home. It's bad weather for thee to be out in,
53:00
Speaker 2: by thy sin, take my coat and wrap thee up
53:03
Speaker 2: in it, and take hold o my arm, and let
53:05
Speaker 2: me help thee along. She looks up right straight forward
53:09
Speaker 2: in my face with her brown eyes, and I tell you, mister,
53:12
Speaker 2: I were glad I were an honest man stead of
53:14
Speaker 2: a rascal for them quiet eyes erda found me out
53:18
Speaker 2: before i'd a done. Sayin my say if i'd a
53:21
Speaker 2: meant harm, thank you kindly, Master hibbileth Wait, she says,
53:26
Speaker 2: But do not take off the coat for me. I'm
53:29
Speaker 2: doing pretty nicely. It is mister hibbileth Wait. Mean't it
53:33
Speaker 2: ay alas I answers, it's him mort i ax yer
53:37
Speaker 2: name ay, to be sure, said she. My name's Rosanna
53:42
Speaker 2: Sannah Brent. The folk at the mill all us cold me.
53:45
Speaker 2: I work a p loom in next room to thine.
53:48
Speaker 2: I've seed thee often and often so we walks home
53:51
Speaker 2: to her lodgin's, and on the way we talks together,
53:54
Speaker 2: friendly and quiet like. And the more we talks, the
53:57
Speaker 2: more sees she's had trouble. And by and by beIN
54:01
Speaker 2: only common workin folk were straightforward to each other in
54:05
Speaker 2: our plain way, it comes out what her trouble has been.
54:09
Speaker 2: You'll perhaps wouldn't think I've been a married woman, mister,
54:12
Speaker 2: she says, bra Hah, And I wedded and rude and
54:16
Speaker 2: married a soldier when I were a giddy young wench
54:19
Speaker 2: four years ago, and it were the worst thing as
54:21
Speaker 2: ever I did in all my days. He were one
54:24
Speaker 2: of your handsome, fastest chaps. And he tired o me
54:27
Speaker 2: as many of his stripe always do, tire o poor lasses.
54:31
Speaker 2: And then he ill treated me. He went to the
54:34
Speaker 2: crimea after we'd been wedd a year and left me
54:37
Speaker 2: to shift and myself, and I heard six months after
54:40
Speaker 2: he were dead. He never ricked back to me, nor
54:43
Speaker 2: sent me no help. But I could not think he
54:45
Speaker 2: were dead till the letter come he would kill the
54:47
Speaker 2: first month he were out fighting the Rusians, poor fellow,
54:51
Speaker 2: poor phil blaw and mercy on him. And that were
54:55
Speaker 2: how I found out about her trouble, And somehow it
54:58
Speaker 2: seemed to draw me to her and make me feel
55:01
Speaker 2: kindly towards her. Twas so pitiful to hear her talk
55:04
Speaker 2: about the rascal, so sorrowful and gentle, and not give
55:09
Speaker 2: a real hard word for what he done. But that's
55:12
Speaker 2: all yus the way wi woman folk, the more you're
55:15
Speaker 2: harry of them, the more they pity yo and pray
55:18
Speaker 2: for you. Why she want o more than twenty two?
55:20
Speaker 2: Then she must have been naught but a slippable alas
55:23
Speaker 2: when they were wed. How sever Rosanna Breadt and me
55:27
Speaker 2: got to be good friends, and we walked home together
55:30
Speaker 2: at nights and talked about our bits of wage and
55:32
Speaker 2: our bits of dead, and the way that wind should
55:35
Speaker 2: keep up her spirits when I were a bit down
55:37
Speaker 2: arded about out, were just a wonder. She was so
55:40
Speaker 2: quiet and steady, and when she set out, she meant it,
55:44
Speaker 2: and she never said too much or too little. Her
55:47
Speaker 2: brown eyes always reminded me of my mother, though the
55:50
Speaker 2: old woman deed when I would know but a little chap,
55:53
Speaker 2: but I never seed Santabrand's smiled. I'll thinking o how
55:56
Speaker 2: my mother looked when I were kneeling down sayin my prayers,
56:00
Speaker 2: and being as the last word so dear to me,
56:03
Speaker 2: I made up my mind to axe her to be
56:05
Speaker 2: somewhat dearer. So once going home along weer, I takes
56:09
Speaker 2: older hand and lifts it up and kisses it gentle,
56:12
Speaker 2: as gentle as were somewhat the same feelin' as I'd
56:15
Speaker 2: kissed the good book. Sannah, I says, Being as you've
56:19
Speaker 2: had so much trouble with your first chance, would you
56:22
Speaker 2: be afeared to try a second? Could you trust a
56:25
Speaker 2: man again, such a man as me, Sannah, I wouldn't
56:28
Speaker 2: be feared to trust thee. Tim She answers back, soft
56:31
Speaker 2: and gentle, after a manner, I would not be feared
56:35
Speaker 2: to trust THEE. Any time I kisses her hand again, gentler, still,
56:40
Speaker 2: God blessed thee, less, I says, Does that mean yes?
56:43
Speaker 2: She crept up closer to me her sweet quiet way. Aye, lad,
56:48
Speaker 2: She answers. It means yes, And I'll bide by it,
56:51
Speaker 2: and thou shalt never rue it. Last said I that's
56:54
Speaker 2: given thy life to me, and I'll give mine to THEE.
56:57
Speaker 2: Sure and true. So we asked if a church the
57:01
Speaker 2: next Sunday and the month for then we were wed.
57:05
Speaker 2: And if ever a God's son shone on a happy man,
57:09
Speaker 2: it shone on one that day when we come out
57:12
Speaker 2: of church together, me and Rosanna, and went to our
57:14
Speaker 2: bit of a home to begin life again. I could
57:18
Speaker 2: not tell thee, mister, THEE beat no words to tell
57:21
Speaker 2: how happy and peaceful we live. For two years after that,
57:26
Speaker 2: my last never altered her sweet ways, and I just
57:29
Speaker 2: loved her to make up to her for what had
57:31
Speaker 2: gone by. I thank God Almighty for his blessing every day,
57:36
Speaker 2: and every day I pray to be made worthy of it.
57:39
Speaker 2: And here's just where I'd like to ask a question, mister,
57:43
Speaker 2: about some AD's worried me a good deal. I don't
57:48
Speaker 2: want to question the maker, but I would like to
57:51
Speaker 2: know how it is at. Sometimes it seems as we're clean, forgot,
57:56
Speaker 2: as if he could not fash histen about our troubles,
58:00
Speaker 2: and most like left them to work out their sins. Yo,
58:03
Speaker 2: see mester, and we all see. Sometimes he thinks on
58:07
Speaker 2: us and gives us a lift, but has not thy
58:10
Speaker 2: thy sins seen times when thou stopped short and axed,
58:13
Speaker 2: thy send, Where's God Almighty? At e is' streatent? Things
58:18
Speaker 2: out a bit? The world's a power of snarl, the
58:22
Speaker 2: righteous is forsaken in his seeds, beggin bread, and the
58:26
Speaker 2: devil's topmost Again. I've talked to my Lass about it sometimes,
58:30
Speaker 2: and I dunnot think I meant harm Mester, for I
58:33
Speaker 2: felt humble enough. And when I talked my Lass, she'd
58:37
Speaker 2: listen and smile soft and sorrowful. But she never give
58:41
Speaker 2: me but one answer, surly Tim Part two Tim. She'd say,
58:50
Speaker 2: this is only the school and where the scholars, and
58:54
Speaker 2: he's teaching us his way. We might not be like
58:57
Speaker 2: the children. Always real I the wilderness and turn away
59:00
Speaker 2: from the cross coss of a serpent. We mun not
59:04
Speaker 2: say there is a snake. We mun say there's the cross,
59:08
Speaker 2: and the Lord's give it to us. The teacher wouldn't
59:12
Speaker 2: be a much use to him if the scholars knew
59:14
Speaker 2: as much as he did. And I always think it's
59:17
Speaker 2: the best to comfort my son with saying the Lord
59:20
Speaker 2: Almighty he knows and she all. He has comforted me too.
59:26
Speaker 2: When I were worded, life looked smooth. Somehow them three
59:29
Speaker 2: year happened, the Lord send him to me to make
59:32
Speaker 2: up for what were comin. At the end of the
59:35
Speaker 2: first year the child were born. The little lad here
59:39
Speaker 2: touching the turf with his hand, wee what he his
59:43
Speaker 2: mother caught him, and he wore a fine, lightsome little chap.
59:48
Speaker 2: He filled the whole house with music day in and
59:51
Speaker 2: day out, croan and crowing and crying too sometime. But
59:55
Speaker 2: if ever you're a feather mister, you find out at
59:59
Speaker 2: a baby's cry music often enough, and you'll find too,
1:00:03
Speaker 2: if you'll ever lose one, and you give all you'd
1:00:07
Speaker 2: getting just to hear even the worst a cryin' Rosanna,
1:00:11
Speaker 2: she couldna find ear her heart to set a little
1:00:14
Speaker 2: one out of her arms a minute, and she'd go
1:00:17
Speaker 2: about the room, where eyes all leading up, and her
1:00:20
Speaker 2: face bloomin' like a slip o'er girl's. And if she
1:00:23
Speaker 2: laid him ill a cradle, her head 'd be turned
1:00:26
Speaker 2: o'er her shoulder all the time, lookin at him, and
1:00:29
Speaker 2: singing bits of sweet soundin foolish women folks songs. I
1:00:33
Speaker 2: thought then at them old nursery songs were the happiest
1:00:37
Speaker 2: music I ever heard. And when Sanna sung em, they
1:00:40
Speaker 2: minded me a hymn tunes well mester. Before the spring
1:00:44
Speaker 2: were out, we wat was toddling round, holding to his
1:00:48
Speaker 2: mother's gown. And by the middle or next year he
1:00:51
Speaker 2: was cooing like a dove and prattling words er a
1:00:54
Speaker 2: voice like hers. His eyes were big an brown, and
1:00:57
Speaker 2: straightforward like hers, and his mind was like hers, and
1:01:01
Speaker 2: his curls were the color o'er brown. Bee's back happened
1:01:05
Speaker 2: we set too much store by him, or happen it
1:01:07
Speaker 2: were only the teacher again teaching us his way. But
1:01:10
Speaker 2: however that were. I came home one sunny morning from
1:01:13
Speaker 2: the factory, and my dear last met me at the door,
1:01:16
Speaker 2: all white and cold, but tryin hard to be brave
1:01:20
Speaker 2: and help me to bear what she had to tell.
1:01:22
Speaker 2: Tim said she, the Lord has sent us a trouble,
1:01:26
Speaker 2: but we can bear it together. Conner, we dear lad
1:01:30
Speaker 2: That were all, but I knew what it meant. Though
1:01:32
Speaker 2: the poor little lamb had been well enough when I
1:01:34
Speaker 2: kissed him last. I went in and saw him lying
1:01:37
Speaker 2: there on his pillows, struggling and gasping in hard convulsions,
1:01:42
Speaker 2: and I seed all was over, and in half an hour.
1:01:45
Speaker 2: Just as the sun crept across the room and touched
1:01:48
Speaker 2: his curls, the pretty little chap opens his eyes or
1:01:51
Speaker 2: at once, Daddy, he crows out sit he daddy, and
1:01:55
Speaker 2: he lifts himself up and catches at the floating sunshine,
1:02:00
Speaker 2: laughs at it, and falls back dead. Mister, I've always
1:02:04
Speaker 2: thought at the Lord Almighty knew what he were doin
1:02:08
Speaker 2: when he give the woman to Adam in the gardener Eden.
1:02:11
Speaker 2: He knowed he were not but a poor chap as
1:02:14
Speaker 2: could not do for his'n. And I suppose that's the
1:02:17
Speaker 2: reason he give the woman the strength to bear trouble
1:02:19
Speaker 2: when it come. I'd agin clean in if I had
1:02:23
Speaker 2: not been for my lass. When the little chap deed,
1:02:26
Speaker 2: I never tackled out e. All my days had hurt
1:02:29
Speaker 2: me as heavy as losin him did. I could not
1:02:32
Speaker 2: abear the sight o his cradle, And if ever I
1:02:35
Speaker 2: come across any of his bits of playthings, I thought
1:02:38
Speaker 2: a cryin an shakin like a baby, I kept out
1:02:41
Speaker 2: of the way of the neighbor's children. Even I was
1:02:44
Speaker 2: not like Rosanna. I could not see quite clear what
1:02:47
Speaker 2: the Lord meant, and I could not help murmuring sad
1:02:51
Speaker 2: and heavy that's just likeless men, mister, just as if
1:02:55
Speaker 2: the dear wench As had given him her life of
1:02:57
Speaker 2: food day and Neat had ner f we're the best
1:03:00
Speaker 2: reed of a two to be weak and heavy hearted.
1:03:04
Speaker 2: But I gettin' welly over it at last. And we
1:03:07
Speaker 2: was beginning to come round a bit and look forward
1:03:10
Speaker 2: to the time when we'll see him again, instead of
1:03:13
Speaker 2: looking back to the time we shut the round bit
1:03:16
Speaker 2: of a face under the coffin lid. The day come
1:03:19
Speaker 2: when we could bear to talk about him and mine
1:03:21
Speaker 2: things he'd said, and trying to say it is broken,
1:03:24
Speaker 2: baby ways. And so we were creeping back again to
1:03:27
Speaker 2: the old happy quiet, and we had been welly six
1:03:30
Speaker 2: months when summat fresh come. I'll never forget it, mister.
1:03:35
Speaker 2: The neat it happened. I'd kissed Rosanna at the door
1:03:38
Speaker 2: and left her standin there when I went up to
1:03:40
Speaker 2: the village to buy summut. She wanted it were a
1:03:43
Speaker 2: bright moonlight, neat just such a need as this, and
1:03:46
Speaker 2: the lass had followed me out to see the moonshine.
1:03:49
Speaker 2: It was so bright and clear, and just before I starts,
1:03:52
Speaker 2: she folds both her hands on my shoulder and says
1:03:55
Speaker 2: soft and thoughtful. Tim, I wonder if a little chap
1:04:00
Speaker 2: seize us. I'd like to know, dear Lass, I answers back,
1:04:04
Speaker 2: and then she speaks again. Tim, I wonder if he'd
1:04:08
Speaker 2: know he was ours, if he could see, or if
1:04:11
Speaker 2: he'd ha forgot he was such a little fellow. Then
1:04:15
Speaker 2: were the last peaceful words I ever heard her speak.
1:04:19
Speaker 2: I went up to the village and gettin what she
1:04:21
Speaker 2: sent me for, and then I come back. The moon
1:04:24
Speaker 2: was shining as bright as ever, and the flowers e'er
1:04:27
Speaker 2: a little sliper garden, or a sparkling with dew. I
1:04:30
Speaker 2: seed him as I went up the walk, and I
1:04:33
Speaker 2: thought again of what she'd set about the little lad.
1:04:36
Speaker 2: She was not outside, and I could not see a
1:04:39
Speaker 2: leap about the house, but I heard voices, so I
1:04:42
Speaker 2: walked straight in into the entry, into the kitchen, and
1:04:46
Speaker 2: there she were, mister, my poor wench, crouching down by
1:04:50
Speaker 2: the table, hiding her face, e her hands, and close
1:04:53
Speaker 2: beside her were a man, a man a red soldier clothes.
1:04:57
Speaker 2: My heart leaped into my throat, and for a minute
1:05:01
Speaker 2: I had not a word, for I saw summat whin up,
1:05:04
Speaker 2: though I could not tell where it were but at
1:05:06
Speaker 2: last my voice came back. Good evening, mester, I says
1:05:09
Speaker 2: to him, I hope you had not brought an ill news.
1:05:13
Speaker 2: What else thee dear Lass? She stirs a little and
1:05:16
Speaker 2: gives a moan like a dying child, and then she
1:05:18
Speaker 2: lifts up her wand broken hearted face and stretches out
1:05:21
Speaker 2: both her hands to me. Tim, She says, do not
1:05:25
Speaker 2: hate me, Lad, Dunno. I thought he were dead long sin.
1:05:29
Speaker 2: I thought that the Russians killed him, and I were free.
1:05:33
Speaker 2: But I am na. I never were. He never deed, Tim,
1:05:37
Speaker 2: And there he is the mon as I were wed
1:05:40
Speaker 2: to and left by God forgim oh, and O God,
1:05:44
Speaker 2: forgive me there, mister, there's a story for thee. What
1:05:49
Speaker 2: dost thou think art? My poor Lass was now my
1:05:52
Speaker 2: wife at awe the little Chap's mother was not his
1:05:55
Speaker 2: favor's wife, and never had been. That there worthless fellow
1:06:00
Speaker 2: as beat and starved her and left her to fight
1:06:03
Speaker 2: the world alone, had come back alive and well ready
1:06:07
Speaker 2: to begin again. He could take away from me at
1:06:10
Speaker 2: any hour of the day, and I could not say
1:06:12
Speaker 2: a word to bury him. The law said my wife.
1:06:15
Speaker 2: The little dead Lad's mother belonged to him body and soul.
1:06:20
Speaker 2: There was no law to help us. It were awe
1:06:23
Speaker 2: on his side. We're no use going o'er all, we
1:06:27
Speaker 2: said to each other in that dark room. There. I
1:06:30
Speaker 2: raved and prayed and pled with the lass to let
1:06:33
Speaker 2: me carry her across the seas, where I'd heard there
1:06:36
Speaker 2: were help for such like. But she pled back her
1:06:40
Speaker 2: broken patient way that it would not be read and
1:06:43
Speaker 2: happened it were the lord's will. She didna say much
1:06:47
Speaker 2: to the soldier. I scarce heard her speak to him
1:06:50
Speaker 2: more than once, when she axed him to let her
1:06:52
Speaker 2: go away by her sin that kanna want me now
1:06:55
Speaker 2: fill She said, thakana care for me. Thou must know
1:06:59
Speaker 2: I'm more this man's wife than thine. But I dunnot
1:07:03
Speaker 2: axe thee to give me to him, because I know
1:07:05
Speaker 2: thou would not be rat I only axe thee to
1:07:08
Speaker 2: let me alone. I'll go fur enough off and never
1:07:11
Speaker 2: see him more. But the villain held to her. If
1:07:15
Speaker 2: she did not come wi him, he said, he he
1:07:17
Speaker 2: er up before the court for bigamy. I could have
1:07:20
Speaker 2: done murder than mister, and I would ha done it
1:07:23
Speaker 2: had not been for the last runnin betwixt us and
1:07:26
Speaker 2: Pleadin with all her might. If we'd been rich folk,
1:07:30
Speaker 2: there might have been some help for her. At least
1:07:32
Speaker 2: the law might have been brought to make him leave
1:07:35
Speaker 2: her bee. But being poor workin folk, there were only
1:07:38
Speaker 2: one thing. The wife mount go wi a husband, And
1:07:42
Speaker 2: there the husband stood a scoundrel, cursin' with his black
1:07:47
Speaker 2: heart on his tongue. Well, says the Lass. At last,
1:07:50
Speaker 2: fair wearied out wi grief. I'll go with thee, Phil,
1:07:54
Speaker 2: and I'll do my best to please thee. But I
1:07:56
Speaker 2: will not promise to forget the man has been true
1:08:00
Speaker 2: to me and has stood betwixt me and the world.
1:08:04
Speaker 2: And then she turned round to me. Tim, she said
1:08:06
Speaker 2: to me as if she were half feared. I fear
1:08:10
Speaker 2: to him and me standing by three hours afore the
1:08:14
Speaker 2: Lord had let me mill any mon ad feared her, Tim,
1:08:18
Speaker 2: she says, surely he would not refuse to let us
1:08:22
Speaker 2: go together to the little lad's grave for the last time.
1:08:26
Speaker 2: She did not speak to him but to me, and
1:08:29
Speaker 2: she spoke still and strained, as if she were too
1:08:32
Speaker 2: heart broke to be wild. Her face was as white
1:08:36
Speaker 2: as the dead, but she did not cry as any
1:08:39
Speaker 2: other woman would have done. Come, Tim, she said, he
1:08:42
Speaker 2: canna say no to that, And so out we went
1:08:46
Speaker 2: without another word, and left the black hearted rascal behind
1:08:50
Speaker 2: sitting the very room, The little undeed in his cradle
1:08:54
Speaker 2: stood there in the corner. We went out into the
1:08:57
Speaker 2: moonlight about speaking, and we did not say a word
1:09:00
Speaker 2: until we come to this very place. Mister. We stood
1:09:04
Speaker 2: here for a minute silent, and then I sees her
1:09:06
Speaker 2: begin to shake, and she throws her send down on
1:09:09
Speaker 2: the grass, where arms flung o'er the grave, and she
1:09:12
Speaker 2: cries out as if her death wound had been given
1:09:15
Speaker 2: to her. Little lad. She says, little lad, dost us
1:09:19
Speaker 2: see thy mother? Canst not thou hear her callin thee
1:09:24
Speaker 2: little lad get nigh to the throne, and plead. I
1:09:28
Speaker 2: fell down beside, oh the poor crushed wench, and sobbed
1:09:32
Speaker 2: weather I could not comfort her, for where would there
1:09:35
Speaker 2: any comfort for us? There were none left. There were
1:09:39
Speaker 2: no hope. We were shamed and broke down. Our lives
1:09:43
Speaker 2: was lost. The past were not The future were worse,
1:09:47
Speaker 2: O my poor lass. How hard she tried to pray
1:09:50
Speaker 2: for me, mister, Yes, for me, as she lay there
1:09:53
Speaker 2: with her arms round her dead baby's grave and her
1:09:56
Speaker 2: cheek on the grass as grew o'er his breast, Lord
1:10:00
Speaker 2: God Almighty, she says, help us don gil us up. Dunno, dunnot.
1:10:06
Speaker 2: We cannot do without THEE. Now if the time ever
1:10:09
Speaker 2: were when we could, the little chap must be with THEE.
1:10:13
Speaker 2: I might the bit of comfort about gathering the lambs.
1:10:16
Speaker 2: It is bosom and Lord, if I could spare him
1:10:19
Speaker 2: a minute, send him down to us with a bit
1:10:22
Speaker 2: of leat, oh favor, help the poor lad here, help him.
1:10:26
Speaker 2: Let the wait for on me, not on him. Just
1:10:30
Speaker 2: help the poor lad to bear it. If ever I
1:10:32
Speaker 2: did out as were worthy of thy sight, let that
1:10:36
Speaker 2: be my reward, Dear Lord Almighty, I be willing to
1:10:40
Speaker 2: give up a bit o my own heavenly glory for
1:10:42
Speaker 2: the dear lad's sake. Well, mister, she lay there on
1:10:46
Speaker 2: the grass, prayin and cryin' wild but gentle, for ny
1:10:50
Speaker 2: half an hour, and then it seemed as she got
1:10:52
Speaker 2: quiet like, and she got up. Happened the Lord had
1:10:56
Speaker 2: hearkened and sent the child happen he had for when
1:10:59
Speaker 2: she getting up, her face looked to me, all white
1:11:02
Speaker 2: and shinin' ive a clear moonlight. Sit down by me,
1:11:06
Speaker 2: dear lad, she said, and hold my hand a minute.
1:11:10
Speaker 2: I set down and took hold her hand as she
1:11:12
Speaker 2: bid me tim. She said, this were why the little
1:11:16
Speaker 2: chap deed. Dost not thou see now at the Lord
1:11:19
Speaker 2: knew best? Yes, lass, I answers humble, and lays my
1:11:24
Speaker 2: face on her hand, breaking down again. Hush, dear Lad,
1:11:28
Speaker 2: she whispers, we had not time for that. I want
1:11:31
Speaker 2: to talk to THEE. Will to listen, yes, wife, I says,
1:11:35
Speaker 2: And I heard her sob when I said it, But
1:11:38
Speaker 2: she catches her sin up again. I want THEE to
1:11:41
Speaker 2: make me a promise, said she. I want THEE to
1:11:43
Speaker 2: promise never to forget what peace we ha had. I
1:11:47
Speaker 2: want THEE to remember it all us, and to mind
1:11:50
Speaker 2: him at stead, and let his little hand hold THEE
1:11:53
Speaker 2: back fro sin and hard thoughts. I pray for THEE
1:11:57
Speaker 2: need and day tim, and thou shall pray for me,
1:12:01
Speaker 2: and happen they'll come al eat. But if they do not,
1:12:04
Speaker 2: dear lad, and I do not see how they could.
1:12:07
Speaker 2: If they do not, and we never see each other again.
1:12:11
Speaker 2: I want THEE to make me a promise. But if
1:12:13
Speaker 2: thas seized the little chap first, thou'lt mind him o
1:12:17
Speaker 2: me and watch out wi him nigh the gate, and
1:12:21
Speaker 2: I'll promise THEE that if I see him first, I'll
1:12:25
Speaker 2: mind him o THEE and watch out, true and constant,
1:12:29
Speaker 2: I promised her, mister, as you can guess. And we
1:12:32
Speaker 2: kneeled down and kissed the grass, and she took a
1:12:35
Speaker 2: bit of a sound to put in her bosom, and
1:12:38
Speaker 2: then we stood up and looked at each other, and
1:12:40
Speaker 2: at last she put her dear face on my breast
1:12:42
Speaker 2: and kissed me as she had done every neat since
1:12:45
Speaker 2: we were man and wife. Good Bye, dear Lad, she whispers,
1:12:50
Speaker 2: her voice all broken. Don't come back to the house
1:12:53
Speaker 2: till I'm gone. Good Bye, dear dear lad, And God
1:12:57
Speaker 2: blessed THEE. And she slipped out of my arms and
1:13:00
Speaker 2: were gone in a moment, almost before I could cry out,
1:13:05
Speaker 2: there is now much more to tell, mister. The end's
1:13:07
Speaker 2: coming now. And happened? It'll shorten off the story so
1:13:11
Speaker 2: it it seemed sudden to THEE, but it were not
1:13:14
Speaker 2: sudden to me. I lived alone here and worked and
1:13:18
Speaker 2: minded my own business and answered no questions for nigh
1:13:21
Speaker 2: about a year here and out and seeing out and
1:13:25
Speaker 2: open out, and till one time when the daisies were
1:13:28
Speaker 2: blown off a little grave. Here there come to me
1:13:31
Speaker 2: a letter from Manchester, from one of the medical chaps
1:13:34
Speaker 2: at the hospital. It were a short letter with print
1:13:38
Speaker 2: on it, and the moment I seated, I knowed some
1:13:40
Speaker 2: it were up, and I opened it trembling. Mister. There
1:13:44
Speaker 2: were a woman lyon in one of the wards, dying
1:13:47
Speaker 2: of some long named heart disease, and she prayed him
1:13:50
Speaker 2: to send for me, and one of the young soft
1:13:52
Speaker 2: hearted ones had written me a line to let me know.
1:13:55
Speaker 2: I started almost before I finished reading the letter. And
1:13:59
Speaker 2: when I go into the place, I fun just what
1:14:01
Speaker 2: I knowed I should. I fun her my wife, the
1:14:05
Speaker 2: blessed lass, And if it been an hour later, I
1:14:08
Speaker 2: wouldn'er seen her alive, for she would nigh past known
1:14:11
Speaker 2: me then. But I knelt down by the bedside, and
1:14:15
Speaker 2: I plead where as she lay there, until I brought
1:14:18
Speaker 2: her back to the world again. For one moment her
1:14:20
Speaker 2: eyes flew wide open all at once, and she seed
1:14:23
Speaker 2: me and smiled, her dear face quivering to death. Dear lad,
1:14:28
Speaker 2: she whispered, The path was not so long after all.
1:14:31
Speaker 2: The Lord knew he trod it hisn't once, you know,
1:14:35
Speaker 2: I knowed that come, I prayed. So I've reached the
1:14:38
Speaker 2: very inn now, Tim, and I shall see the little
1:14:41
Speaker 2: lad first. But I wonna forget my promise. No, I'll
1:14:46
Speaker 2: look out for thee, for thee at the gate. And
1:14:50
Speaker 2: her eyes shut, slow and quiet, and I knowed she
1:14:53
Speaker 2: was dead. There, mister Duncaster, there it all is. For
1:14:59
Speaker 2: there she lies under the daisies, closed by her child.
1:15:02
Speaker 2: For I brought her here and buried her. The fellow
1:15:05
Speaker 2: has come betwixt us and tortured her for a while
1:15:09
Speaker 2: and then left her again. I fell out, and she
1:15:12
Speaker 2: was so feared of doing some harm that she would
1:15:14
Speaker 2: not come nigh me. It were heart diseases killed her,
1:15:18
Speaker 2: the medical chap said. But I knowed better. It were heartbreak,
1:15:22
Speaker 2: that's all. Sometimes I think o'er it till I cannot
1:15:26
Speaker 2: stand it any longer, and then I'm fain to come
1:15:29
Speaker 2: here and lay my hand on the grass. And sometimes
1:15:33
Speaker 2: I had queer dreams about her. I had one last neat,
1:15:37
Speaker 2: I thought, as she'd come to me all at once,
1:15:40
Speaker 2: just as she used to look only where, her white
1:15:42
Speaker 2: face shining like a star. And she says, Tim, the
1:15:46
Speaker 2: path is not so long, after all has come nigh
1:15:49
Speaker 2: to the inn an me an. The little chap is waitin.
1:15:52
Speaker 2: He knows THEE, dear lad, For I've taught him. That's
1:15:56
Speaker 2: why I come here to neat, mister, And I believe
1:15:58
Speaker 2: that's why I've talked so free to THEE. If I'm
1:16:01
Speaker 2: near the end, i'd like someone to know I have
1:16:05
Speaker 2: meant no hurt. When I seemed grum and surly it
1:16:08
Speaker 2: were no ill will, but a heavy heart. He stopped there,
1:16:14
Speaker 2: and his head drooped upon his hands again, and for
1:16:17
Speaker 2: a minute or so there was another dead silence. Such
1:16:21
Speaker 2: a story as this needed no comment. I could make none.
1:16:26
Speaker 2: It seemed to me that the poor fellow's sore heart
1:16:28
Speaker 2: could bear none. At length, he rose from the turf
1:16:32
Speaker 2: and stood up, looking out over the graves into the
1:16:35
Speaker 2: soft light beyond, with a strange, wistful sadness. Well I
1:16:40
Speaker 2: mun go now, he said, slowly. Good neat, mister, good neat,
1:16:45
Speaker 2: and thank you for listenin good night, I returned, adding
1:16:49
Speaker 2: in an impulse of pity that was almost a passion,
1:16:53
Speaker 2: and God help you. Thank you again, mister, he said,
1:16:57
Speaker 2: and then turned away. And as I sat pondering, I
1:17:00
Speaker 2: watched his heavy, drooping figure threding its way among the
1:17:04
Speaker 2: dark mounds and white marble, and under the shadowy trees,
1:17:08
Speaker 2: and out into the path beyond. I did not sleep
1:17:12
Speaker 2: well that night. The strained, heavy tones of a man's
1:17:15
Speaker 2: voice were in my ears, and the homely yet tragic
1:17:19
Speaker 2: story seemed to weave itself into all my thoughts and
1:17:22
Speaker 2: keep me from wrist. I could not get it out
1:17:26
Speaker 2: of my mind. In consequence of the sleeplessness, I was
1:17:30
Speaker 2: later than usual in going down to the factory, and
1:17:33
Speaker 2: when I arrived at the gates, I found an unusual
1:17:36
Speaker 2: bustle there. Something out of the ordinary routine had plainly occurred,
1:17:41
Speaker 2: for the whole place was in confusion. There was a
1:17:44
Speaker 2: crowd of hands grouped around one corner of the yard,
1:17:47
Speaker 2: and as I came in, a man ran against me
1:17:50
Speaker 2: and showed me a terribly pale face. I ax, pardon,
1:17:54
Speaker 2: mister Doncaster, he said, in a wild hurry, but there's
1:17:57
Speaker 2: an accident happened. One of the weavers is her bed,
1:18:00
Speaker 2: and I'm going for the doctor. The loom caught and
1:18:03
Speaker 2: crushed him afore we could stop it. For some reason
1:18:07
Speaker 2: or other, my heart misgave me that very moment, I
1:18:10
Speaker 2: pushed forward to the group in the yard corner, and
1:18:13
Speaker 2: made my way through it. A man was lying on
1:18:16
Speaker 2: a pile of coats in the middle of the bystanders,
1:18:20
Speaker 2: a poor fellow, crushed and torn and bruised, but lying
1:18:24
Speaker 2: quite quiet now, only for an occasional little moan that
1:18:28
Speaker 2: was scarcely more than a quick gasp for breath. It
1:18:32
Speaker 2: was surly, tim, He's nigh the end of it, now,
1:18:36
Speaker 2: said one of the hands, pityingly, is nigh the last, now,
1:18:39
Speaker 2: poor chap? What's that? He said? In lads for all
1:18:42
Speaker 2: at once, some flickering sense seemed to have caught at
1:18:45
Speaker 2: one of the speaker's words, and the wounded man stirred,
1:18:49
Speaker 2: murmuring faintly, but not to the watchers. Ah no, to
1:18:54
Speaker 2: something far, far beyond their feeble human sight, to something
1:19:00
Speaker 2: in the broad without the end. He said, Aye, this
1:19:05
Speaker 2: is the end, dear lass, and the paths all shinin'
1:19:09
Speaker 2: er summit. And why alas I can see thee plain
1:19:13
Speaker 2: and the little chap too. Another flutter of the breath,
1:19:17
Speaker 2: one slight movement of a mangled hand, and I bent
1:19:20
Speaker 2: down closer to the poor fellow, closer because my eyes
1:19:24
Speaker 2: were so dimmed that I could not see lads, I
1:19:28
Speaker 2: said aloud. A few seconds later, you can do no
1:19:31
Speaker 2: more for him. His pain is over, for with a
1:19:36
Speaker 2: sudden glow of light which shone upon the shortened path,
1:19:40
Speaker 2: and the waiting figures of his child and its mother. Surly,
1:19:44
Speaker 2: Tim's earthly trouble had ended.
1:19:47
Speaker 1: The Land of the Blue Flower Part one. The Land
1:19:53
Speaker 1: of the Blue Flower was not called by that name
1:19:57
Speaker 1: until the tall, strong, beautiful King More came down from
1:20:01
Speaker 1: his castle on the mountain Crag and began to reign.
1:20:05
Speaker 1: Before that time it was called King Mordrath's land, and
1:20:09
Speaker 1: as the first King Mordres had been a fierce and
1:20:11
Speaker 1: cruel king, this seemed a gloomy name. A few weeks
1:20:16
Speaker 1: before Moore was born, his weak, selfish boy father, whose
1:20:20
Speaker 1: name was King Mordres, also had been killed while hunting,
1:20:24
Speaker 1: and his fair mother with the clear eyes died when
1:20:27
Speaker 1: he was but a few hours old. But early in
1:20:30
Speaker 1: that day she sent for her venerable friend and teacher,
1:20:34
Speaker 1: who was said to be the oldest and wisest man
1:20:36
Speaker 1: in the world, and who long ago had fled to
1:20:39
Speaker 1: a cave in the mountains, that he might see no
1:20:41
Speaker 1: more of the famine and disorder and hatred in the
1:20:43
Speaker 1: country spread out on the plains below. He was a
1:20:47
Speaker 1: marvelous old man, almost a giant in size, and having
1:20:51
Speaker 1: great blue eyes like deep sea water. They too, were
1:20:55
Speaker 1: clear eyes, like the fair queen's. They seemed to see
1:20:59
Speaker 1: all things, and to hold in their depths no single
1:21:01
Speaker 1: thought which was not fine and great. The people were
1:21:05
Speaker 1: a little afraid of him when they saw him go
1:21:07
Speaker 1: striding majestically through their streets. They had no name for him,
1:21:11
Speaker 1: but the ancient One. The lovely Queen, drew aside the
1:21:16
Speaker 1: embroidered coverlet of her gold and ivory bed, and showed
1:21:19
Speaker 1: him the tiny baby sleeping by her side. He was
1:21:23
Speaker 1: born a king, she said. No one can help him
1:21:26
Speaker 1: but you. The ancient One looked down at him. He
1:21:30
Speaker 1: has long limbs and strong ones. He will make a
1:21:34
Speaker 1: great king, he said, Give him to me. The Queen
1:21:39
Speaker 1: held out the little new born one in her arms.
1:21:42
Speaker 1: Take him away quickly, before he hears the people quarreling
1:21:45
Speaker 1: at the palace gate. She said. Take him to the
1:21:48
Speaker 1: castle on the mountain crag. Keep him there until he
1:21:51
Speaker 1: is old enough to come down and be king. When
1:21:55
Speaker 1: the sun sinks behind the clouds, I shall die, But
1:21:58
Speaker 1: if he is with you, he will learn what king
1:22:00
Speaker 1: should know. The Ancient One took the child, folded him
1:22:04
Speaker 1: in his long gray robe, and strode majestically through the
1:22:07
Speaker 1: palace gates, through the ugly city, and out over the
1:22:10
Speaker 1: plains to the mountain. When he began to climb its
1:22:14
Speaker 1: steep sides, the sun was setting and casting a golden
1:22:17
Speaker 1: rose color over the big rocks and the wild flowers
1:22:20
Speaker 1: and bushes which grew on every side, so that there
1:22:23
Speaker 1: seemed no path to be found. But the Ancient One
1:22:26
Speaker 1: knew his way anywhere in the world. Without a path
1:22:28
Speaker 1: to guide him, he climbed and climbed, and little King
1:22:32
Speaker 1: Amor slept soundly in the folds of his gray robe.
1:22:35
Speaker 1: He reached the summit at last, and, pushing his way
1:22:38
Speaker 1: through a jungle of twisted vines, starred all over with pale,
1:22:41
Speaker 1: sweet scented buds, he stood looking at the castle, which
1:22:44
Speaker 1: was set on the very topmost crag, and looked out
1:22:47
Speaker 1: over the mountain's edge at the sea and the sky
1:22:49
Speaker 1: and the spreading plains below. The sky was dark blue
1:22:54
Speaker 1: now and lit by a myriad stars, and all was
1:22:57
Speaker 1: so still that the world seemed to be thousands of
1:22:59
Speaker 1: miles away, and ugliness and squalor, and people who quarreled
1:23:03
Speaker 1: seem things which were not true. A sweet, cool wind
1:23:07
Speaker 1: blew about them, as the Ancient One took King a
1:23:09
Speaker 1: Moore from the folds of his gray robe and laid
1:23:11
Speaker 1: him on the carpet of scented moss. The stars are
1:23:16
Speaker 1: very near, he said. Waken, young king, and see how
1:23:20
Speaker 1: near they are, and know they are your brothers, your brother.
1:23:24
Speaker 1: The wind is bringing to you the breath of your brothers,
1:23:27
Speaker 1: the trees. You are at home. Then King Amore opened
1:23:32
Speaker 1: his eyes, and when he saw the stars in the
1:23:34
Speaker 1: dark blueness above him, he smiled. And though he was
1:23:37
Speaker 1: not yet a whole day old, he threw up his
1:23:39
Speaker 1: small hand, and it touched his forehead, like a king
1:23:44
Speaker 1: and a soldier. He salutes them, said the ancient One,
1:23:47
Speaker 1: though he does not know he did it. The castle
1:23:51
Speaker 1: was huge and splendid, though it had been deserted for
1:23:54
Speaker 1: a hundred years. For three generations, the royal owners had
1:23:58
Speaker 1: not cared to look out on the world from high places.
1:24:01
Speaker 1: They knew nothing of the wind and the trees and
1:24:04
Speaker 1: the stars. They lived on the plains and their cities,
1:24:07
Speaker 1: and hunted and rioted and levied heavy taxes on their
1:24:10
Speaker 1: wretched people, and the castle had lived through its summers
1:24:13
Speaker 1: and winters alone. It had battlements and towers which stood
1:24:17
Speaker 1: out clear against the sky, and there was a great
1:24:20
Speaker 1: banquet hall and chambers for hundreds of guests, and rooms
1:24:23
Speaker 1: for a thousand men at arms, and the courtyard was
1:24:26
Speaker 1: big enough to hold a tournament in. In the midst
1:24:29
Speaker 1: of its space and splendor, the little King Amoor lived
1:24:32
Speaker 1: alone but for the companionship of the ancient One and
1:24:35
Speaker 1: the servant as old as himself. But they knew a
1:24:37
Speaker 1: secret which kept them young in spite of the years
1:24:40
Speaker 1: they had passed through. They knew that they were brothers
1:24:44
Speaker 1: of all things in the world, and that the man
1:24:46
Speaker 1: who never knows an angered or evil thought can never
1:24:49
Speaker 1: know a foe. They were strong and straight and wise,
1:24:53
Speaker 1: and the wildest creatures stopped to give them breeding as
1:24:55
Speaker 1: it passed, and they understood its language when it spoke.
1:24:59
Speaker 1: Because they held dark thoughts in their minds, they knew
1:25:02
Speaker 1: no fear, and because they knew no fear, the wild
1:25:05
Speaker 1: creatures knew none, and the speech of each was clear
1:25:07
Speaker 1: to the other. Each morning they went out on the
1:25:11
Speaker 1: battlements at dawn, to see the splendid sun rise slowly
1:25:14
Speaker 1: out of the purple sea. One of the very first
1:25:17
Speaker 1: things the child king Amore remembered in his life, And
1:25:21
Speaker 1: he remembered it always was a dawning day when the
1:25:24
Speaker 1: ancient One wakened him gently, and folding him in his
1:25:27
Speaker 1: long gray robe, carried him up the winding and narrow
1:25:30
Speaker 1: stone staircase, until at last they stepped forth on the
1:25:33
Speaker 1: top of the huge castle, which seemed to the little
1:25:35
Speaker 1: creature to be so high that it was quite close
1:25:38
Speaker 1: to the wonderful sky itself. The sun is going to
1:25:42
Speaker 1: rise and wake the world, said the ancient One, young king,
1:25:46
Speaker 1: watch the wonder of it. Amour lifted his little head
1:25:52
Speaker 1: and looked. He was only just old enough to be
1:25:55
Speaker 1: beginning to understand things, but he loved the ancient One
1:25:58
Speaker 1: and all he said and did. Far below the mountain
1:26:02
Speaker 1: crag lay the sea in the night. While it slept,
1:26:06
Speaker 1: it had looked dark blue or violet, But now it
1:26:09
Speaker 1: was slowly changing its color. The sky was changing too,
1:26:13
Speaker 1: It was growing paler and paler. Next it grew faintly bright,
1:26:17
Speaker 1: so did the sea. Then a slight flush crept over
1:26:20
Speaker 1: the land and water, and all the small floating clouds
1:26:23
Speaker 1: were rosy pink. King the Moore smiled because birds voices
1:26:27
Speaker 1: were to be heard in the trees and bushes, and
1:26:30
Speaker 1: something golden bright was rising out of the edge of
1:26:32
Speaker 1: the ocean, and sparkling light danced on the waves. It
1:26:36
Speaker 1: rose higher and higher, and grew so dazzling and wonderful
1:26:39
Speaker 1: that he threw out his little hand with a shout
1:26:41
Speaker 1: of joy. The next moment he started back, because there
1:26:44
Speaker 1: rose near him a loud whir and beating of powerful wings,
1:26:47
Speaker 1: as a great bird flew out of a crag near
1:26:49
Speaker 1: by and soared high into the radiant morning heavens. It
1:26:54
Speaker 1: is the eagle who is our neighbor, said the ancient One.
1:26:57
Speaker 1: He has awakened and gone to give his great to
1:27:00
Speaker 1: the sun. And as the little king sat upright enraptured,
1:27:04
Speaker 1: he saw that from the dazzling brightness at the edge
1:27:07
Speaker 1: of the world there leapt forth a ball of living
1:27:09
Speaker 1: gold and fire. And even he knew that the sun
1:27:12
Speaker 1: had risen at every day's dawn. It leaps forth like that,
1:27:16
Speaker 1: said the ancient One. Let us watch together, and I
1:27:20
Speaker 1: will tell you stories of it. So they sat by
1:27:23
Speaker 1: the battlements, and stories were told. They were stories of
1:27:27
Speaker 1: the small grains lying hidden in the dark earth, waiting
1:27:30
Speaker 1: for the golden heat of the sun to draw them
1:27:32
Speaker 1: forth into life, until they covered the tilled fields with
1:27:35
Speaker 1: waving wheat to make bread for the world. They were
1:27:38
Speaker 1: stories of the seeds of fair flowers warmed and ripened
1:27:41
Speaker 1: until they burst into scented blossoms. There were stories of
1:27:45
Speaker 1: the roots of trees and the rich sap drawn upward
1:27:48
Speaker 1: by the heat until great branches and thick leafage waved
1:27:51
Speaker 1: in the summer air. There were stories of men, women
1:27:54
Speaker 1: and children walking with light step and glad because of
1:27:58
Speaker 1: the gold of the sun. Every day it warms, every
1:28:02
Speaker 1: day it draws, and every day it ripens and gives life,
1:28:06
Speaker 1: And there are many who forget the wonder of it.
1:28:09
Speaker 1: Lift your head high as you walk, young king, and
1:28:12
Speaker 1: often look upward, never forget the sun. At every dawning
1:28:19
Speaker 1: they rose and saw together the wonder of the day.
1:28:22
Speaker 1: In the first time, the sky was heavy with gray clouds,
1:28:25
Speaker 1: and the sun did not leap upward from behind the
1:28:27
Speaker 1: edge of the world. The ancient ones said another thing.
1:28:32
Speaker 1: The burning gold is behind the lowering gray and purple.
1:28:35
Speaker 1: The clouds are heavy with soft rain. When they break,
1:28:39
Speaker 1: they will drop it in showers or splendid storms, and
1:28:42
Speaker 1: the thirsty earth will drink it up. The grains will
1:28:45
Speaker 1: drink it, and the seed and the roots, and the
1:28:48
Speaker 1: world will be joyous and rich with fresh life. The
1:28:51
Speaker 1: springs will bubble up like crystal, and the brooks will
1:28:54
Speaker 1: rush babbling through the green of the forest. The drinking
1:28:57
Speaker 1: places for the cattle will be full and clear, and
1:29:00
Speaker 1: men and women will feel rested and cool. Lift your
1:29:03
Speaker 1: head high when you walk, young king, and often look upward.
1:29:07
Speaker 1: Never forget the clouds. So hearing these things every day,
1:29:13
Speaker 1: King Amore learned the meaning of both sun and cloud,
1:29:16
Speaker 1: and loved and felt himself brother to both. The first
1:29:21
Speaker 1: time he remembered seeing a storm, the ancient one took
1:29:24
Speaker 1: him to the battlements again, and together they watched the
1:29:27
Speaker 1: dark clouds pour down their floods, while their purple was
1:29:30
Speaker 1: riven by the dazzling lances of the lightning. And the
1:29:32
Speaker 1: thunder rolled and crashed and seemed to rend asunder things
1:29:36
Speaker 1: no human eye could see. And the wind roared round
1:29:39
Speaker 1: the castle on the mountain crag and beat against its towers,
1:29:42
Speaker 1: and tossed the branches of the hugest trees and whirled
1:29:45
Speaker 1: the rain sheets over the land, and King Amore stood
1:29:48
Speaker 1: erect and strong like some little soldier, though he wondered
1:29:51
Speaker 1: where the small birds were, and if the eagle were
1:29:54
Speaker 1: in his nest. Through all the tumult, the Ancient One
1:29:58
Speaker 1: stood still. He looked taller than ever in his long
1:30:01
Speaker 1: gray robe, and his strange eyes were deep as the sea.
1:30:05
Speaker 1: At last, he said, in a slow, calm voice, this
1:30:10
Speaker 1: is the voice of the power. Men know not. No
1:30:13
Speaker 1: man has yet quite understood. Though it seems to speak,
1:30:18
Speaker 1: hearken to it. Let your soul stand silent. Listen, young king.
1:30:24
Speaker 1: Hold your head high as you walk, and look often upward.
1:30:28
Speaker 1: Never forget the storm. So the king learned to love
1:30:32
Speaker 1: the storm and be won with it, knowing no fear.
1:30:37
Speaker 1: But perhaps it might be because he had been laid
1:30:40
Speaker 1: on the scented moss and had, without knowing it, saluted them.
1:30:44
Speaker 1: On the first night of his life. He felt nearest
1:30:47
Speaker 1: to and loved most his brothers, the stars, every fair knight.
1:30:53
Speaker 1: Through the king's earliest years, the Ancient One carried him
1:30:56
Speaker 1: to the battlements and let him fall asleep beneath the
1:30:58
Speaker 1: shining myriads. But first he would walk about, bearing him
1:31:03
Speaker 1: in his arms, or sitting with him in the splendid silence,
1:31:06
Speaker 1: sometimes relating wonders to him in a low voice, sometimes
1:31:10
Speaker 1: uttering no word, only looking calmly into the high vault above,
1:31:14
Speaker 1: as if the star spoke to him and told him
1:31:17
Speaker 1: of perfect peace. When a man looks long at them,
1:31:21
Speaker 1: he said, he grows calm and forgets small things. They
1:31:25
Speaker 1: answer his questions and show him that his earth is
1:31:28
Speaker 1: only one of the million worlds. Hold your soul still,
1:31:33
Speaker 1: and look upward often, and you will understand their speech.
1:31:37
Speaker 1: Never forget the stars. End of Part one of the
1:31:44
Speaker 1: Land of the Blue Flower. Part two. So as the
1:31:50
Speaker 1: child King grew day by day, the world seemed to
1:31:54
Speaker 1: grow fuller and fuller of wonders and beauties. There were
1:31:57
Speaker 1: the sun and the moon, the storm and the stars,
1:32:02
Speaker 1: the straight falling lances of rain, the springing of the
1:32:05
Speaker 1: growing things, the flight of the eagle, the songs and
1:32:09
Speaker 1: nests of small bird creatures, the changing seasons, and the
1:32:13
Speaker 1: work of the great brown earth giving its harvest and
1:32:15
Speaker 1: its fruits. All these wonders in one world, And you,
1:32:21
Speaker 1: a man upon it, said the ancient one. Hold your
1:32:25
Speaker 1: head I when you walk young king, and often look upward,
1:32:30
Speaker 1: never forget one marvel among them all. He forgot nothing.
1:32:36
Speaker 1: He lived looking out on all things from great, clear,
1:32:40
Speaker 1: joyous eyes upon his mountain crag. He never heard of
1:32:44
Speaker 1: poultry or unbautiful word, or knew of the existence of
1:32:47
Speaker 1: unfriendliness or baseness, and thought, as soon as he was
1:32:51
Speaker 1: old enough to go out alone, he roamed about the
1:32:53
Speaker 1: great mountain and fear neither storm nor wild beasts. Shaggy
1:32:58
Speaker 1: manned lions and their mates drew near and fawned on him,
1:33:01
Speaker 1: as their kind had fallen on the young Adam in
1:33:03
Speaker 1: the garden of Eden. There had never passed through his
1:33:06
Speaker 1: mind the thought that they were not his friends. He
1:33:10
Speaker 1: did not know that there were men who killed their
1:33:12
Speaker 1: wild brothers. In the huge courtyard of the castle, he
1:33:16
Speaker 1: learned to ride and to perform great feats of strength.
1:33:20
Speaker 1: Because he had not learned to be afraid. He never
1:33:22
Speaker 1: feared that he could not do a thing. He grew
1:33:25
Speaker 1: so strong and beautiful that when he was ten years
1:33:28
Speaker 1: old he was as tall as the youth of sixteen,
1:33:31
Speaker 1: and when he was sixteen he was already like a
1:33:33
Speaker 1: young giant. This was because he had been brother to
1:33:36
Speaker 1: the storm, and had lived close to the strength and
1:33:39
Speaker 1: splendor of the stars. Only once, when he was a
1:33:43
Speaker 1: boy of twelve, a strange and painful thing happened to him.
1:33:48
Speaker 1: From his kingdom in the plains below. There had been
1:33:50
Speaker 1: sent to him a beautiful young horse, which had been
1:33:53
Speaker 1: bred for him. Never had so magnificent an animal been
1:33:56
Speaker 1: born in the royal stable. When he was brought into
1:33:59
Speaker 1: the courtyard, the boy King's eyes shone with joy. He
1:34:03
Speaker 1: spent the greater part of the morning in exercising and
1:34:05
Speaker 1: leaping him over barriers. The ancient One in his tower
1:34:09
Speaker 1: chamber heard his shouts of exultation and encouragement. At last,
1:34:13
Speaker 1: the king went out to try him on the winding
1:34:15
Speaker 1: mountain road. When he returned, he went at once to
1:34:19
Speaker 1: the tower chamber to the ancient One, who, when he
1:34:23
Speaker 1: raised his eyes from his great book, looked at him gravely.
1:34:27
Speaker 1: Let us climb to the battlements. The boy said, we
1:34:30
Speaker 1: must talk together. So they went, and when they stood
1:34:34
Speaker 1: looking out on the world below, the curving and turquoise
1:34:37
Speaker 1: sky above them, the eyes of the ancient One were
1:34:40
Speaker 1: still more grave. Tell me, young King, something strange has happened.
1:34:47
Speaker 1: King Moore answered, I have felt something I have not
1:34:50
Speaker 1: felt before. I was riding my horse around the field
1:34:54
Speaker 1: on the plateau, and he saw something which he refused
1:34:56
Speaker 1: to pass. It was a young leopard watching us from
1:34:59
Speaker 1: a My horse reared and snorted. He would not listen
1:35:03
Speaker 1: to me, but backed and wheeled around. I tried in
1:35:06
Speaker 1: vain to persuade him, and suddenly, when I saw I
1:35:09
Speaker 1: could not make him obey me, this strange new feeling
1:35:12
Speaker 1: rushed through all my body. I grew hot and knew
1:35:15
Speaker 1: my face was scarlet. My heart beat faster, and my
1:35:18
Speaker 1: blood seemed to boil in my veins. I shouted out harsh,
1:35:21
Speaker 1: ugly words. I forgot all things are brothers. I lifted
1:35:24
Speaker 1: my hand and clenched it and struck my horse again
1:35:27
Speaker 1: and again. I loved him no longer, I felt that
1:35:29
Speaker 1: he no longer loved me. I am hot and wearied
1:35:33
Speaker 1: and heavy from it. Still I feel no more joy.
1:35:36
Speaker 1: Was it pain? I felt? I have never felt pain,
1:35:39
Speaker 1: and do not know was it pain? It was a
1:35:44
Speaker 1: worse thing, answered the ancient one. It was anger. When
1:35:48
Speaker 1: a man is overcome by anger, he is a poisoned fever.
1:35:52
Speaker 1: He loses his strength, he loses his power over himself,
1:35:56
Speaker 1: and over others he throws away tied in which he
1:35:59
Speaker 1: might might have gained the end he most desires. There
1:36:03
Speaker 1: is no time for anger in the world. So King
1:36:08
Speaker 1: Amore learned the uselessness of anger. For they sat long
1:36:11
Speaker 1: upon the battlements, while the ancient One told him how
1:36:14
Speaker 1: its poison worked in the veins and weakened the strongest man,
1:36:17
Speaker 1: until he was made a fool. That night or more
1:36:20
Speaker 1: lay under the sky, looking at his myriad brothers, the stars,
1:36:24
Speaker 1: and drawing calm from them. If you lie through the
1:36:29
Speaker 1: night upon the battlements and think only of the stillness
1:36:33
Speaker 1: and the stars, you will forget your anger, and its
1:36:36
Speaker 1: poison will die away. If you put into your mind
1:36:39
Speaker 1: a beautiful thought, it will take the place of the
1:36:42
Speaker 1: evil one. There is no room for darkness in the
1:36:46
Speaker 1: mind of him who thinks only of the stars. This
1:36:50
Speaker 1: had been said to him by the ancient One. Upon
1:36:54
Speaker 1: the plateau, at the foot of the crag on which
1:36:56
Speaker 1: the castle stood, there were marvelous walled gardens. The sad
1:37:00
Speaker 1: young queen of the first King Marders planted them, and
1:37:04
Speaker 1: after her death they had been left to run wild.
1:37:07
Speaker 1: Since the baby King Amore had been brought to the
1:37:09
Speaker 1: mountain top. The ancient one and his servitor had made
1:37:12
Speaker 1: them bloom again. As soon as he was old enough
1:37:15
Speaker 1: to hold a small spade. The More had worked in
1:37:17
Speaker 1: the beds, All things grew for him as if his
1:37:20
Speaker 1: touch were spelled. Birds and bees and butterflies flocked round
1:37:24
Speaker 1: him as he labored. He knew what the bees hummed,
1:37:28
Speaker 1: and where they flew to load themselves with honey. Butterflies
1:37:31
Speaker 1: lighted upon his hands and taught him strange things. Birds
1:37:35
Speaker 1: told him of their travels, and brought him seeds from
1:37:37
Speaker 1: far countries, which he planted in his gardens, and which
1:37:40
Speaker 1: bloomed into Marble's flowers. A swallow, who loved him very much,
1:37:44
Speaker 1: and who had seen many wonderful lands, once brought him
1:37:47
Speaker 1: a seed from an emperor's secret garden, which none but
1:37:50
Speaker 1: four of his own slaves had ever seen. These slaves
1:37:54
Speaker 1: had been born in the garden and would never leave
1:37:56
Speaker 1: it while they lived. King More planted the seed, and
1:38:00
Speaker 1: the placealts of its own. It grew into the most
1:38:04
Speaker 1: beautiful blue flower the world had ever known. It was
1:38:07
Speaker 1: of a blue so pure and exquisitely intense, that it
1:38:10
Speaker 1: was raptured to look at it. Its blossoms hung from
1:38:13
Speaker 1: a tall stem, and in its first years it gave
1:38:16
Speaker 1: a thousand seeds. Each year a more planted more flowers,
1:38:20
Speaker 1: and each year they grew taller and more wonderful, and
1:38:23
Speaker 1: blossomed a longer time. When the summer wind blew, it
1:38:27
Speaker 1: shook out the clouds of delicate fragrance, which sometimes floated
1:38:31
Speaker 1: down the mountain, until the wretched dwellers in King Mordreth's
1:38:33
Speaker 1: land forgot their quarrels and misery, and even lifted their
1:38:37
Speaker 1: heavy heads to inhale it, and asked each other what
1:38:39
Speaker 1: was being done upon the mountain. Each year, King Amore
1:38:43
Speaker 1: gathered the seeds and stored them in an unused tower
1:38:46
Speaker 1: of his castle. Taller and stronger he grew, and each
1:38:50
Speaker 1: day wiser and more beautiful. Each plant, each weed, each
1:38:55
Speaker 1: four footed thing, each wind, each star of heaven taught
1:38:59
Speaker 1: him its wonder in its wisdom. His eyes were so
1:39:02
Speaker 1: marvelous in their straight glance splendor, that when he looked
1:39:05
Speaker 1: at a man, they seemed to read his soul and
1:39:08
Speaker 1: command its truth to answer him. It was so powerful
1:39:11
Speaker 1: that he could break an iron bar in two pieces
1:39:13
Speaker 1: with his hands. When he was twenty years old. The
1:39:17
Speaker 1: ancient one took him up on the battlements, and giving
1:39:20
Speaker 1: him a strong glass, told him to look down upon
1:39:22
Speaker 1: the capital city on the plain and see what was
1:39:25
Speaker 1: being done there. I see many people gathered in crowds,
1:39:31
Speaker 1: Amore said, when he had looked for a few moments,
1:39:33
Speaker 1: I see bright colors and waving pennance and triumphal arches.
1:39:37
Speaker 1: It is as if some great ceremony were being prepared for.
1:39:41
Speaker 1: The people are making ready for your coronation, said the
1:39:44
Speaker 1: ancient one. To morrow you will be laid in state
1:39:47
Speaker 1: down the mountain and acclaimed king. It was to fit
1:39:51
Speaker 1: you to reign over your kingdom that I taught you
1:39:53
Speaker 1: to know all the wonders of the world, and have
1:39:56
Speaker 1: shown you that no thing is useless but folly and
1:39:58
Speaker 1: dishonoring thought, that which you have learned from your brothers.
1:40:02
Speaker 1: Here you go down the mountain to teach your brothers.
1:40:04
Speaker 1: There you will see things which are not beautiful, and
1:40:08
Speaker 1: those which are unclean. But hold your head high when
1:40:11
Speaker 1: you walk, young king, and never forget the sun, the wind,
1:40:16
Speaker 1: and the stars. To himself, as he looked on him,
1:40:20
Speaker 1: the ancient One said, when he stands before them, they
1:40:24
Speaker 1: will think he is a young God. The next morning,
1:40:29
Speaker 1: a splendid procession wound its glittering way up the mountain
1:40:32
Speaker 1: road to the castle. There were princes and nobles and chieftains.
1:40:36
Speaker 1: Rich colors glowed in their attire, and gorgeous banners and
1:40:40
Speaker 1: pennants waved over them, while music from gold and silver
1:40:43
Speaker 1: trumpets accompanied them as they rode, and their many followers
1:40:46
Speaker 1: marched behind. The Ancient One, in his long robe of gray,
1:40:51
Speaker 1: stood by Kingamore on the broad stone terrace, guarded by
1:40:54
Speaker 1: its crouching carved lions. This is your king, o people,
1:41:00
Speaker 1: he said, And when the people looked, it was as
1:41:04
Speaker 1: he said it would be. They drew back a little
1:41:07
Speaker 1: and gazed in fear, and many of the followers fell
1:41:10
Speaker 1: upon their knees. They thought they saw a beautiful, young
1:41:13
Speaker 1: giant and god. But he was only a splendid and
1:41:16
Speaker 1: powerful young man who had never known a dark thought,
1:41:19
Speaker 1: and had lived near to his brothers the stars. His horse,
1:41:23
Speaker 1: adorned with golden trappings, was brought and he was led
1:41:26
Speaker 1: down the mountain side through the gates into the capital
1:41:29
Speaker 1: city of his kingdom. He desired that the Ancient One
1:41:32
Speaker 1: should ride by his side. What he saw as he
1:41:37
Speaker 1: rode to the place of coronation he had never seen before.
1:41:41
Speaker 1: Notwithstanding the embroidered silk and velvet hangings decorating the fronts
1:41:45
Speaker 1: of rich people's houses, he caught glimpses of filthy side streets,
1:41:49
Speaker 1: squalid alleys, and tumble down tenements. He saw forlorn little
1:41:54
Speaker 1: children scuttle away like rats into their holes. As he
1:41:57
Speaker 1: drew near and wretched, vicious looking men and women fighting
1:42:00
Speaker 1: with each other for places in the crowd. Sharp miserable
1:42:04
Speaker 1: faces peered round corners at him, and nobody smiled, because
1:42:07
Speaker 1: everyone hated or distrusted his neighbor. And they dreaded and
1:42:11
Speaker 1: disliked the young king because all the king mordreates had
1:42:13
Speaker 1: been evil and selfish, and he was their descendant. When
1:42:17
Speaker 1: they saw that he was so tall and powerful, and
1:42:20
Speaker 1: carried his handsome head so high, often looking upward, they
1:42:24
Speaker 1: feared him still more. As their own heads hung down.
1:42:27
Speaker 1: They never saw anything but the dirt and dust beneath
1:42:29
Speaker 1: their feet. Were the quarrels about them, so their minds
1:42:32
Speaker 1: were full of fears and ugly thoughts, and they at
1:42:35
Speaker 1: once began to be afraid of him and suspect him
1:42:37
Speaker 1: of being proud. He could do twice as much evil
1:42:40
Speaker 1: as other kings, they said, since he was twice as
1:42:43
Speaker 1: strong and twice as handsome. It was their nature to
1:42:46
Speaker 1: think an evil salt of anything or anybody, and to
1:42:49
Speaker 1: be afraid of all things. At the outset, the princes
1:42:54
Speaker 1: and nobles who rode in the procession tried to prevent
1:42:56
Speaker 1: King Amore seeing the wretched looking people and ill kept streets.
1:43:00
Speaker 1: They pointed out the palaces and decoration, and beautiful ladies,
1:43:04
Speaker 1: throwing flowers in his path from the balconies. He praised
1:43:07
Speaker 1: all the splendors and saluted the balconies, looked up with
1:43:10
Speaker 1: such radiant and smiling eyes that the ladies almost threw
1:43:13
Speaker 1: themselves after their flowers, and cried out that never, never
1:43:16
Speaker 1: had there been crowned such a beautiful young king before.
1:43:20
Speaker 1: Do not look at the rabble, your majesty, the Prime
1:43:23
Speaker 1: minister said. They are an evil, ill tempered lot of worthless,
1:43:26
Speaker 1: malcontents and thieves. I would not look at them, answered
1:43:32
Speaker 1: King Amore if I knew that I could not help them.
1:43:35
Speaker 1: There is no time to look at dark things if
1:43:38
Speaker 1: one cannot make them brighter. I look at these because
1:43:42
Speaker 1: there is something more to be done. I do not
1:43:45
Speaker 1: yet know what. There is such hatred in their eyes
1:43:49
Speaker 1: that they will only make you angry, sire, said a
1:43:52
Speaker 1: handsome young prince who rode near. There is no time
1:43:56
Speaker 1: for anger, said Amour, holding his crowned head high. It
1:43:59
Speaker 1: is a worthless thing. After sunset there was a great banquet,
1:44:04
Speaker 1: and after it a great ball, and the courtiers and
1:44:08
Speaker 1: princes were delighted by the beauty and grace of the
1:44:11
Speaker 1: new king. He was much brighter and more charming than
1:44:14
Speaker 1: any of the king Mordrets had been. His laugh was
1:44:17
Speaker 1: full of gaiety, and the people who stood near him
1:44:20
Speaker 1: felt happier that they did not know why. But when
1:44:24
Speaker 1: the ball was at its height, he stepped into the
1:44:26
Speaker 1: center of the room and spoke aloud to the splendid company.
1:44:30
Speaker 1: I have seen the broad streets and the palaces, and
1:44:34
Speaker 1: all that is beautiful in my capital, he said. Now
1:44:37
Speaker 1: I must go to the narrow streets and the dark ones.
1:44:41
Speaker 1: I must see the miserable people, the cripples, the wretches,
1:44:45
Speaker 1: the drunkards, and the thieves. Every one clamored and protested
1:44:50
Speaker 1: these things they had hidden from him. They said, kings
1:44:52
Speaker 1: should not see them. I will see them, he said,
1:44:57
Speaker 1: with a smile, which was beautiful and strange. I go
1:45:00
Speaker 1: now on foot and unattended except for my friend the
1:45:04
Speaker 1: ancient One. Let the ball go on. He strode through
1:45:09
Speaker 1: the glittering throng, with the gray clad Ancient One at
1:45:12
Speaker 1: his side. He still wore his crown upon his head,
1:45:15
Speaker 1: because he wished his people to know that their king
1:45:18
Speaker 1: had come to them through dark and loathsome places. They
1:45:22
Speaker 1: went through, narrow streets and back alleys and courts, where
1:45:26
Speaker 1: people scuttled away like rats, as the gutter children had
1:45:29
Speaker 1: done in the daytime. Kingamore could not have seen them,
1:45:32
Speaker 1: but that he had brought with him a bright lantern
1:45:35
Speaker 1: and held it up in the air above his high head.
1:45:38
Speaker 1: The light shining down upon his beautiful face and his
1:45:40
Speaker 1: crown bade him look more than ever like a young
1:45:43
Speaker 1: god and giant. And the people cowered terrified before him,
1:45:47
Speaker 1: asking each other what such a king would do to
1:45:49
Speaker 1: wretches like themselves. But just very few little children smiled
1:45:54
Speaker 1: at him, because he was so young and bright and splendid.
1:45:58
Speaker 1: No one in the black holes corners could understand why
1:46:01
Speaker 1: a king should come walking among them on the night
1:46:04
Speaker 1: of his coronation day. Most of them thought that the
1:46:07
Speaker 1: next morning he would order them all to be killed
1:46:09
Speaker 1: and their houses burned, because he would only think of
1:46:12
Speaker 1: them as vermin. Once, as he passed through a dark court,
1:46:17
Speaker 1: a madman darted out in his path, shaking his fist.
1:46:20
Speaker 1: WI hate you, he cried, WUEI hate you. The dwellers
1:46:25
Speaker 1: in the court gasped with terror, wondering what would happen.
1:46:28
Speaker 1: But the tall young king stood, holding his lantern above
1:46:31
Speaker 1: his head and gazing at the madman with deep thought
1:46:34
Speaker 1: in his eyes. There is no time for hatred in
1:46:37
Speaker 1: the world, he said, There is no time, and then
1:46:41
Speaker 1: he passed on. The look of deep thought was in
1:46:45
Speaker 1: his face throughout the hours in which he strode on,
1:46:48
Speaker 1: until he had seen all he had come to see.
1:46:51
Speaker 1: The Next day he rode back up the mountain to
1:46:54
Speaker 1: his castle on the crag, and when night fell, he
1:46:57
Speaker 1: lay out upon the battles under the sky, as he
1:47:00
Speaker 1: had done on so many nights. The soft wind blew
1:47:04
Speaker 1: about him as he looked up at the stars. I
1:47:07
Speaker 1: do not know, my brothers, he said to them, tell me,
1:47:11
Speaker 1: And he lay silent until the great, sweet stillness of
1:47:14
Speaker 1: the night seemed to fill his soul, And when the
1:47:16
Speaker 1: stars began to fade. He slept in rapturous peace. The
1:47:22
Speaker 1: people in his kingdom on the plain waited, wondering what
1:47:25
Speaker 1: he would do. During the next few days, they quarreled
1:47:29
Speaker 1: and hated each other more than ever, the rich ones
1:47:31
Speaker 1: because they all wanted to gain his favor, and each
1:47:34
Speaker 1: was jealous of the other, the poor ones because they
1:47:37
Speaker 1: were afraid of him, and each man feared that his
1:47:39
Speaker 1: neighbor would betray things he had done in the past.
1:47:42
Speaker 1: Only two boys working together in a field, having stopped
1:47:46
Speaker 1: to wrangle and fight, one of them suddenly stood still,
1:47:50
Speaker 1: remembering something and said a strange thing in a strange voice,
1:47:55
Speaker 1: there is no time for anger. There is no time.
1:47:59
Speaker 1: And as he felt work again, his companion did the same.
1:48:02
Speaker 1: And when they had finished their task of weeding, they
1:48:05
Speaker 1: talked about the thing and remembered that when they had
1:48:08
Speaker 1: quarreled the day before, they had not finished their task
1:48:11
Speaker 1: at all, and had not been paid, and had gone
1:48:14
Speaker 1: home sore from the blows they had given each other,
1:48:16
Speaker 1: and it had no supper. No, there is no time,
1:48:21
Speaker 1: they decided. At the beginning of the following week, there
1:48:26
Speaker 1: were rumors that a strange law had been made the
1:48:29
Speaker 1: strangest ever known in the world. It was something about
1:48:33
Speaker 1: a blue flower. What had flowers to do with laws?
1:48:38
Speaker 1: Or what had laws to do with flowers? People quarreled
1:48:41
Speaker 1: about what the meaning of such a law might be.
1:48:44
Speaker 1: Those who thought first of evil things and fears began
1:48:47
Speaker 1: to say that in the rich people's gardens was to
1:48:50
Speaker 1: be planted a blue flower whose perfume would poison all
1:48:53
Speaker 1: the poor. The only ones who did not quarrel were
1:48:57
Speaker 1: the two boys and their friends, who had already begun
1:48:59
Speaker 1: to make sort of password of there is no time
1:49:02
Speaker 1: for anger. One of them, who was clever, added a
1:49:06
Speaker 1: new idea to the same. There is no time for fear,
1:49:10
Speaker 1: he cried out in the field. Let us go on
1:49:12
Speaker 1: with our work. And they finished their task early and
1:49:15
Speaker 1: played games at last. One morning it was made known
1:49:21
Speaker 1: that the new king was to give a feast in
1:49:23
Speaker 1: the open air to all the people. It was to
1:49:27
Speaker 1: be on the plane outside the city, and he himself
1:49:30
Speaker 1: was going to proclaim to them the law of the
1:49:33
Speaker 1: blue flower. And now we shall know the worst. Growled
1:49:37
Speaker 1: and shivered the afraid ones as they shuffled their way
1:49:39
Speaker 1: to the plane, and the boys who used the password
1:49:42
Speaker 1: heard them. There is no time to think of the worst,
1:49:45
Speaker 1: shouted the clever one at the top of his voice.
1:49:47
Speaker 1: There is no time we shall be late for the feast,
1:49:50
Speaker 1: And a number of people actually turned to listen, because
1:49:54
Speaker 1: there was a high, strong, gay sound in his voice
1:49:57
Speaker 1: such as had never been heard in King Morgant's land before.
1:50:02
Speaker 1: The plain was covered with thick green grasses, and beautiful
1:50:05
Speaker 1: spreading trees grew on it. There was a richly dripped
1:50:09
Speaker 1: platform for King of Moore's gold and ivory chair. But
1:50:12
Speaker 1: when the people gathered about, he stood up before them,
1:50:15
Speaker 1: a beautiful young giant, with eyes like fixed stars, and
1:50:19
Speaker 1: head held high, and he read his law in a
1:50:22
Speaker 1: voice which wonderful to relate. Was heard by every man,
1:50:27
Speaker 1: woman and child, even by the little cripple crouching alone
1:50:30
Speaker 1: in the grass on the very outskirts of the crowd,
1:50:33
Speaker 1: and not expecting to hear or see anything. This is
1:50:38
Speaker 1: what he read in my pleasurence. On the mountain top
1:50:42
Speaker 1: there grows a blue flower, one of my brothers. The
1:50:46
Speaker 1: birds brought me as seed from an emperor's hidden garden.
1:50:50
Speaker 1: It is as beautiful as the sky at dawn. It
1:50:53
Speaker 1: has a strange power. It dispels evil, fortune and the
1:50:57
Speaker 1: dark thoughts which bring it. There is no time for
1:51:00
Speaker 1: dark salts, There is no time for evil. Listen to
1:51:04
Speaker 1: my law. To morrow seeds will be given to every man,
1:51:09
Speaker 1: woman and child in my kingdom, even to the newborn.
1:51:13
Speaker 1: Every man, woman and child, even the newborn, is commanded
1:51:18
Speaker 1: by the law to plant and feed and watch over
1:51:21
Speaker 1: the blue flower. It is the work of each to
1:51:24
Speaker 1: make it grow. The mother of the newborn child can
1:51:27
Speaker 1: hold its little hand and make it drop the seeds
1:51:30
Speaker 1: into the earth. As the child grows, she must show
1:51:34
Speaker 1: it the green shoots when they pierce the brown soil.
1:51:37
Speaker 1: She must babble to it of its blue flower. By
1:51:41
Speaker 1: the time it is pleased by color, it will love
1:51:43
Speaker 1: the blossoms, and the spell of happiness and good fortune
1:51:47
Speaker 1: will begin to work for it. It is not one
1:51:50
Speaker 1: person here and there who must plant the flower, but
1:51:53
Speaker 1: each and every one, to those who have not land
1:51:57
Speaker 1: about them, all the land is free. You may plant
1:52:00
Speaker 1: by the roadside, in a cranny of a wall, in
1:52:03
Speaker 1: an old box or glass, or tub, in any bare
1:52:07
Speaker 1: space in any man's field or garden. But each must
1:52:11
Speaker 1: plant his seeds and watch over and feed them. Next year,
1:52:15
Speaker 1: when the blue flower blossoms. I shall ride through my
1:52:18
Speaker 1: kingdom and bestow my rewards. This is my law. What
1:52:24
Speaker 1: will both all if some of us do not make
1:52:26
Speaker 1: them grow? Groan some of the afraid ones. There is
1:52:29
Speaker 1: no time to think of that, shouted the boy who
1:52:31
Speaker 1: was clever plant them. When the prime Minister and his
1:52:36
Speaker 1: followers told the King that larger and stronger prisons must
1:52:39
Speaker 1: be built from the many criminals, and that heavier taxes
1:52:42
Speaker 1: must be laid upon the people to rescue the country
1:52:45
Speaker 1: from poverty, his answer to them was wait until the
1:52:49
Speaker 1: blooming of the blue flower. In a short time, every
1:52:53
Speaker 1: one was working in the open air, digging in the soil.
1:52:57
Speaker 1: Tiny children as well as men and women, drunkards and
1:53:01
Speaker 1: thieves and idlers who had never worked before, came out
1:53:04
Speaker 1: of their dark holes and corners into the light of
1:53:07
Speaker 1: the sun. It was not a hard thing to plant
1:53:10
Speaker 1: a few flower seeds. And because the King of More
1:53:13
Speaker 1: looked so much more powerful than other men, and had
1:53:15
Speaker 1: eyes so wonderful and commanding, they did not know what
1:53:18
Speaker 1: punishment he would invent for them, and were afraid to
1:53:21
Speaker 1: disobey him. But somehow, after they had worked in the
1:53:25
Speaker 1: sweet scented earth for a while and had seen others working.
1:53:29
Speaker 1: The light of the sun and the freshness of the
1:53:31
Speaker 1: air made them feel in better humor. The wind blew
1:53:35
Speaker 1: away their evil fancies and their headaches. And because there
1:53:38
Speaker 1: was so much talk and wondering about the magic of
1:53:41
Speaker 1: the blue flower, they became interested and wanted to see
1:53:45
Speaker 1: what it would do for them when it blossomed. Scarcely
1:53:48
Speaker 1: any of them had ever tried to make a flower
1:53:50
Speaker 1: grow before, and they gradually thought of it a great deal.
1:53:55
Speaker 1: There was less quarreling because conversation with neighbors all about
1:53:58
Speaker 1: a blue flower gave no reason for hard words. The
1:54:02
Speaker 1: worst and idlest were curious about it, and everyone tried
1:54:05
Speaker 1: experiments of his own. The children were delighted and actually
1:54:09
Speaker 1: grew happy and rosy over their digging and watering and caretaking. Gradually,
1:54:15
Speaker 1: all sorts of curious things happened. People who were growing
1:54:19
Speaker 1: blue flowers began to keep the ground around them in order.
1:54:23
Speaker 1: He did not like to see bits of paper and
1:54:25
Speaker 1: rubbish lying about, so they cleared them away. One quite
1:54:29
Speaker 1: new thing which occurred was that sometimes people even helped
1:54:33
Speaker 1: each other a little cripples, and those who were weak
1:54:37
Speaker 1: actually found that there were stronger ones who would do
1:54:39
Speaker 1: things for them when their backs ached, and when it
1:54:42
Speaker 1: was hard to carry water or dig up weeds. No
1:54:46
Speaker 1: one in King Mordert's land had ever helped another before
1:54:51
Speaker 1: the boy who was clever did more than all the rest.
1:54:54
Speaker 1: He gathered together all the children he could, and formed
1:54:57
Speaker 1: them into a band using the passwords. In time it
1:55:00
Speaker 1: became quite like a little army. They called themselves the
1:55:04
Speaker 1: Band of the Blue Flower, and each boy and girl
1:55:07
Speaker 1: was bound to remember the passwords and apply them to all.
1:55:10
Speaker 1: They did so. Often, when a number of people were
1:55:14
Speaker 1: together and things began to go wrong, a clear, young
1:55:17
Speaker 1: voice would cry out somewhere, like a silver battle cry,
1:55:21
Speaker 1: there is no time for anger, or there is no
1:55:23
Speaker 1: time for hate, or there is no time to fret.
1:55:26
Speaker 1: There is no time among the great and rich people. Also,
1:55:32
Speaker 1: singular things came to pass. Those who had wasted their
1:55:35
Speaker 1: days loitering or rioting were obliged to get up in
1:55:39
Speaker 1: the morning to work in their gardens, and, finding that
1:55:42
Speaker 1: exercise and fresh air improved their health and spirits, they
1:55:46
Speaker 1: began to like it. Court ladies found it good for
1:55:49
Speaker 1: their complexions and tempers. Busy merchants discovered that it made
1:55:53
Speaker 1: their heads clearer. Ambitious students found that after an hour
1:55:57
Speaker 1: spent evening and morning over their blue flags, they could
1:56:01
Speaker 1: study twice as long without fatigue. The children of the
1:56:04
Speaker 1: princes and nobles became so full of work and talk
1:56:08
Speaker 1: of their soil and their seeds that they quite forgot
1:56:10
Speaker 1: the squabble and be jealous of each other's importance at court.
1:56:14
Speaker 1: Never in one story could it be told how many unusual,
1:56:17
Speaker 1: interesting and wonderful things occurred in the once gloomy King
1:56:21
Speaker 1: Mortal's land, just because every person in it, rich and poor,
1:56:25
Speaker 1: old and young, good and bad, had to plant and
1:56:29
Speaker 1: care for and live every day of life with a
1:56:32
Speaker 1: blue flower. Ho the corners and crannies and queer places
1:56:36
Speaker 1: it was planted in, and hoh a thrill of excitement
1:56:39
Speaker 1: everywhere when the first tender green shoots thrust their way
1:56:42
Speaker 1: through the earth, and the wave of excitement which passed
1:56:46
Speaker 1: over the whole land when the first buds showed themselves.
1:56:50
Speaker 1: By that time, every one was so interested that even
1:56:53
Speaker 1: the afraid ones had forgotten to ask each other what
1:56:56
Speaker 1: caame are would do to them if they had no
1:56:58
Speaker 1: blue flower. Somehow people had gained courage, and they knew
1:57:03
Speaker 1: the blue flower would grow, and they knew there was
1:57:06
Speaker 1: no time to stop working. While they worried and said,
1:57:08
Speaker 1: suppose it didn't there was no time. Sometimes the young
1:57:14
Speaker 1: king was on the mountain top with the wind and
1:57:17
Speaker 1: the eagle and the stars, and sometimes he was in
1:57:20
Speaker 1: his palace in the city, but he was always working
1:57:24
Speaker 1: and thinking for his people. He was not seen by
1:57:27
Speaker 1: the people, however, until a splendid summer day came, when
1:57:31
Speaker 1: it was proclaimed by heralds in the streets that he
1:57:33
Speaker 1: would begin his journey through the land by riding through
1:57:36
Speaker 1: the capital to see the blossoming of the blue flowers,
1:57:39
Speaker 1: and there would be a feast once more upon the plain.
1:57:44
Speaker 1: It was a wonderful day. The air was full of
1:57:46
Speaker 1: golden light, and the sky of such a blueness as
1:57:49
Speaker 1: never had been seen before. Out of the palace gates
1:57:53
Speaker 1: he rode, and he wore his crowd, and his eyes
1:57:55
Speaker 1: were more brilliant than the jewels in it, and his
1:57:58
Speaker 1: smile was more radiant than the son rise as he
1:58:00
Speaker 1: looked about him. For every breath he drew in was fragrant,
1:58:04
Speaker 1: every ugly place was hidden, and every squalid corner filled
1:58:07
Speaker 1: with beauty. For it seemed as if the whole world
1:58:10
Speaker 1: were waving with blue flowers, tumble down houses and fences
1:58:14
Speaker 1: were covered with them, because some of them climbed like vines.
1:58:18
Speaker 1: Neglected fields and gardens had been made neat so that
1:58:21
Speaker 1: they would grow. Rubbish and dirt had been cleaned away
1:58:24
Speaker 1: to make room for clumps and patches of them. You
1:58:27
Speaker 1: could not grow the blue flower among dirt and disorder,
1:58:30
Speaker 1: any more than you could grow it while you were
1:58:32
Speaker 1: spending your time in drinking and quarreling. By the roadsides,
1:58:37
Speaker 1: in courts, in windows, in cracks, in walls, in broken places,
1:58:42
Speaker 1: in roofs, in great people's gardens, on the window sills,
1:58:46
Speaker 1: or about the doorways of poor people's hovels. Fair and
1:58:49
Speaker 1: fragrant and waving grew as a blue flower. Where it waved,
1:58:53
Speaker 1: there was no room for dirt and rubbish. And suddenly
1:58:56
Speaker 1: even the dullest people began to see that the face
1:58:59
Speaker 1: of the whole old land was changed, as if by
1:59:02
Speaker 1: some strange magic, and the whole population seemed changed with it.
1:59:06
Speaker 1: Everybody looked fresher and more cheerful. People had actually learned
1:59:10
Speaker 1: to smile and keep themselves clean, and there was not
1:59:13
Speaker 1: one who was not healthier. They had in fact been
1:59:17
Speaker 1: noticing this for some time, and they had said to
1:59:20
Speaker 1: each other, the power of the blue flower of which
1:59:23
Speaker 1: the king had spoken was beginning to work. The children
1:59:27
Speaker 1: had grown gay and rosy, and the boy who was clever,
1:59:30
Speaker 1: and all his companions had found time to earn themselves
1:59:32
Speaker 1: new clothes because they had never forgotten their passwords. All
1:59:37
Speaker 1: the farmers wanted them to work in their fields, because
1:59:40
Speaker 1: they said there was no time to idle, no time
1:59:42
Speaker 1: to fight, no time to play evil tricks. On the
1:59:47
Speaker 1: king rode and on and on and on, and the
1:59:51
Speaker 1: further he went, the more splendid and joyous his smile grew.
1:59:55
Speaker 1: But at no time during the day was it more
1:59:58
Speaker 1: beautiful than when he met little Cripple, who had sat
2:00:01
Speaker 1: on the outside of the crowd on the first feast day,
2:00:04
Speaker 1: not expecting to see or hear anything. The cripple lived
2:00:08
Speaker 1: in a tiny hovel on the edge of the city,
2:00:11
Speaker 1: and when the glittering procession drew near it, the small
2:00:13
Speaker 1: patch of garden was quite bare and had not a
2:00:16
Speaker 1: blue flower in it, And the little cripple was sitting
2:00:19
Speaker 1: huddled up on his broken doorstep, sobbing softly, with his
2:00:23
Speaker 1: face hidden in his arms. King Amore drew up his
2:00:28
Speaker 1: white horse and looked at him, and looked at his
2:00:31
Speaker 1: bare garden. What has happened here? He said. This garden
2:00:35
Speaker 1: has not been neglected, it has been dug and kept
2:00:38
Speaker 1: free of weeds. But my law has been broken. There
2:00:42
Speaker 1: is no blue flower. Then the little cripple got up, trembling,
2:00:47
Speaker 1: and hobbled through his rickety gait, and threw himself down
2:00:50
Speaker 1: upon the earth before the King's white horse, sobbing hopelessly
2:00:54
Speaker 1: and heart brokenly. O King, he cried, I am only
2:00:58
Speaker 1: a cripple, and small that I can easily be killed.
2:01:01
Speaker 1: I have no flowers at all. When I opened my
2:01:04
Speaker 1: package of seeds, I was so glad that I forgot
2:01:07
Speaker 1: the wind was blowing, and suddenly a great gust carried
2:01:09
Speaker 1: them all away forever, and I had not even one left.
2:01:13
Speaker 1: I was afraid to tell anybody. And then he cried
2:01:16
Speaker 1: so that he could not speak. Go on, said the
2:01:20
Speaker 1: young king gently, What did you do? I could do nothing,
2:01:24
Speaker 1: said the little cripple. Only I made my garden eat
2:01:27
Speaker 1: and kept away the weeds. And sometimes I asked other
2:01:31
Speaker 1: people to let me dig a little for them. And
2:01:33
Speaker 1: always when I went out, I picked up the ugly
2:01:36
Speaker 1: things I saw lying about, the bits of paper and rubbish,
2:01:40
Speaker 1: and I dug holes for them in the earth. But
2:01:43
Speaker 1: I have broken your law. Then the people gasped for breath,
2:01:47
Speaker 1: for King Moore dismounted from his horse and lifted the
2:01:50
Speaker 1: little cripple up in his arms and held him against
2:01:53
Speaker 1: his breast. You shall ride with me to day, he said,
2:01:57
Speaker 1: and go to my castle on the mountain crag, and
2:02:00
Speaker 1: live near the stars and the sun. When you kept
2:02:03
Speaker 1: the weeds from your bare little garden, and when you
2:02:06
Speaker 1: dug for others and hid away ugliness and disorder, you
2:02:09
Speaker 1: planted a blue flower every day. You have planted more
2:02:13
Speaker 1: than all the rest. And your reward shall be the sweetest,
2:02:16
Speaker 1: for you plant it without seeds. And then the people
2:02:20
Speaker 1: shouted until the world seemed to ring with their joy.
2:02:23
Speaker 1: And somehow they knew that King Mordreth's land had come
2:02:26
Speaker 1: into fair days. And they thought it was the blue
2:02:29
Speaker 1: flower magic. But the earth is full of magic, and
2:02:33
Speaker 1: more said to the ancient one, after the feast on
2:02:35
Speaker 1: the plain was over. Most men know nothing of it,
2:02:38
Speaker 1: and so it comes misery. The first law of the
2:02:41
Speaker 1: earth's magic is this one. If you fill your mind
2:02:44
Speaker 1: with a beautiful thought. There will be no room in
2:02:47
Speaker 1: it for an ugly one. This I learned from you
2:02:51
Speaker 1: and from my brothers the stars. So I gave my
2:02:54
Speaker 1: people the blue flower to think of and work for.
2:02:58
Speaker 1: It led them to see beauty, unto work happily, and
2:03:01
Speaker 1: filled the land with bloom. I their king, am their brother.
2:03:06
Speaker 1: And soon they will understand this, and I can help them,
2:03:10
Speaker 1: and all will be well. They shall be wise and joyous,
2:03:14
Speaker 1: and no good fortune. The little Cripple lived near the
2:03:19
Speaker 1: sun and the stars in the castle on the mountain
2:03:22
Speaker 1: Crag until he grew strong and straight. Then he was
2:03:27
Speaker 1: the king's chief guarden. The boy was clever, was made
2:03:31
Speaker 1: captain of his band, which became the king's own guard,
2:03:35
Speaker 1: and never left him. And the gloom of King Mordred's
2:03:38
Speaker 1: land was forgotten, because it was known throughout all the
2:03:41
Speaker 1: world as the land of the blue Flower.
2:03:46
Speaker 2: The Little Hunchback Zia Part one. The Little Hunchback Zia
2:03:53
Speaker 2: toiled slowly up the steep road, keeping in the deepest shadows,
2:03:57
Speaker 2: even though the night had long fallen. Sometimes he staggered
2:04:01
Speaker 2: with weariness, or struck his foot against the stone and
2:04:05
Speaker 2: smothered his involuntary cry of pain. He was so full
2:04:08
Speaker 2: of terror that he was afraid to utter a sound
2:04:12
Speaker 2: which might cause any traveler to glance toward him. This
2:04:16
Speaker 2: he feared more than any other thing, that some man
2:04:20
Speaker 2: or woman might look at him too closely. If such
2:04:24
Speaker 2: a one knew much and had keen eyes, he or
2:04:27
Speaker 2: she might in some way guess even at what they
2:04:30
Speaker 2: might not yet see. Since he had fled from the
2:04:33
Speaker 2: village in which his wretched short life had been spent,
2:04:37
Speaker 2: he had hidden himself in thickets and behind walls or
2:04:40
Speaker 2: rocks or bushes during the day, and had only come
2:04:44
Speaker 2: forth at night to stagger along his way in the darkness.
2:04:48
Speaker 2: If he had not managed to steal some food before
2:04:51
Speaker 2: he began his journey, and if he had not found
2:04:53
Speaker 2: in one place some beans dropped from a camel's feeding bag,
2:04:58
Speaker 2: he would have starved for five nights he had been
2:05:01
Speaker 2: wandering on. But in his desperate fear, he had lost
2:05:05
Speaker 2: count of time. When he had left the place he
2:05:08
Speaker 2: had called his home, he had not known where he
2:05:11
Speaker 2: was going, or where he might hide himself. In the end,
2:05:14
Speaker 2: the old woman with whom he had lived, and for
2:05:17
Speaker 2: whom he had begged and labored, had driven him out
2:05:20
Speaker 2: with a terror as great as his own. Begone. She
2:05:24
Speaker 2: had cried, in a smothered shriek, Get thee gone, a
2:05:28
Speaker 2: cursed Even now thou mayest have brought the curse upon me. Also,
2:05:33
Speaker 2: a creature born a hunchback, comes on earth, with the
2:05:36
Speaker 2: blight of Jehovah's wrath upon him. Go far, go as
2:05:41
Speaker 2: far as thy limbs will carry thee. Let no man
2:05:44
Speaker 2: come near enough to thee to see it. If thou
2:05:47
Speaker 2: go far enough away before it is known, it will
2:05:50
Speaker 2: be forgotten that I have harbored thee. He had stood
2:05:53
Speaker 2: and looked at her in the silence of the dead,
2:05:57
Speaker 2: his immense black Syrian eyes growing wider and wider with
2:06:01
Speaker 2: childish horror. He had always regarded her with slavish fear.
2:06:07
Speaker 2: What he was to her he did not know. Neither
2:06:10
Speaker 2: did he know how he had fallen into her hands.
2:06:13
Speaker 2: He knew only that he was not of her blood
2:06:16
Speaker 2: or of her country, and that he yet seemed to
2:06:19
Speaker 2: have always belonged to her. In his first memory of
2:06:22
Speaker 2: his existence, a little deformed creature rolling about on the
2:06:27
Speaker 2: littered floor of her uncleanly hovel, he had trembled at
2:06:30
Speaker 2: the sound of her voice, and had obeyed it like
2:06:34
Speaker 2: a beaten spaniel puppy. When he had grown older, he
2:06:38
Speaker 2: had seen that she lived upon alms and thievery and
2:06:41
Speaker 2: witch like evil doings that made all decent folk avoid her.
2:06:46
Speaker 2: She had no kinsfolk or friends, and only such visitors
2:06:49
Speaker 2: as came to her in the dark hours of night
2:06:52
Speaker 2: and seemed to consult with her as she sat and
2:06:55
Speaker 2: mumbled strange incantations while she stirred a boiling pot. Zea
2:07:01
Speaker 2: had heard of soothsayers and dealers with evil spirits, and
2:07:05
Speaker 2: at such hours was either asleep on his palate in
2:07:08
Speaker 2: a far corner, or if he lay awake, hid his
2:07:12
Speaker 2: face under his wretched covering and stopped his ears. Once,
2:07:17
Speaker 2: when she had drawn near and found his large eyes
2:07:20
Speaker 2: open and staring at her in spellbound terror, she had
2:07:23
Speaker 2: beaten him horribly and cast him into the storm raging outside.
2:07:28
Speaker 2: A strange passion in her seemed her hatred of his eyes.
2:07:34
Speaker 2: She could not endure that he should look at her
2:07:36
Speaker 2: as if he were thinking. He must not let his
2:07:39
Speaker 2: eyes rest on her for more than a moment when
2:07:42
Speaker 2: he spoke. He must keep them fixed on the ground,
2:07:45
Speaker 2: or look away from her, from his babyhood. This had
2:07:48
Speaker 2: been so a hundred times. She had struck him when
2:07:52
Speaker 2: he was too young to understand her reason. The first
2:07:55
Speaker 2: strange lesson he had learned was that she hated his eyes,
2:08:00
Speaker 2: and was driven to fury when she found them resting
2:08:03
Speaker 2: innocently upon her. Before he was three years old, he
2:08:07
Speaker 2: had learned this thing, and had formed the habit of
2:08:10
Speaker 2: looking down upon the earth as he limped about. For long,
2:08:14
Speaker 2: he thought that his eyes were as hideous as his
2:08:17
Speaker 2: body was. Distorted. In her frenzies, she told him that
2:08:20
Speaker 2: evil spirits looked out from them, and that he was
2:08:23
Speaker 2: possessed of devils. Without thought of rebellion or resentment, he
2:08:28
Speaker 2: accepted with timorous humility as part of his existence. Her
2:08:32
Speaker 2: taunts and his twisted limbs. What use in rebellion or anger.
2:08:37
Speaker 2: With the fatalism of the east, He resigned himself to
2:08:40
Speaker 2: that which was. He had been born a deformity, and
2:08:44
Speaker 2: even his glance carried evil. This was life. He knew
2:08:48
Speaker 2: no other of his origin. He knew nothing except that
2:08:52
Speaker 2: from the old woman's rambling outbursts he had gathered that
2:08:55
Speaker 2: he was of Syrian blood and the homeless outcast. But
2:08:59
Speaker 2: though he had so long trained himself to look downward
2:09:02
Speaker 2: that it had at last become an effort to lift
2:09:05
Speaker 2: his heavily lashed eyelids. There came a time when he
2:09:08
Speaker 2: learned that his eyes were not so hideously evil as
2:09:12
Speaker 2: his task mistress had convinced him that they were. When
2:09:15
Speaker 2: he was only seven years old, she sent him out
2:09:18
Speaker 2: to beg arms for her, and on the first day
2:09:21
Speaker 2: of his going forth, she said a strange thing, the
2:09:24
Speaker 2: meaning of which he could not understand. Go not forth
2:09:28
Speaker 2: with thine eyes bent downward on the dust, Lift them
2:09:32
Speaker 2: and look long at those from whom thou askest alms.
2:09:36
Speaker 2: Lift them and look as I see thee. Look at
2:09:38
Speaker 2: the sky, when thou knowest not I am near. I
2:09:42
Speaker 2: have seen thee hunchback, gaze at the passer by, as
2:09:46
Speaker 2: if thou sawest their souls, and asked help of them.
2:09:50
Speaker 2: She said it with a fierce laugh of derision. But
2:09:53
Speaker 2: when in his astonishment he involuntarily lifted his gaze to hers,
2:09:57
Speaker 2: she struck at him, her harsh laugh broken in two.
2:10:01
Speaker 2: Not at me, hunchback, not at me, at those who
2:10:05
Speaker 2: are ready to give, she cried out. He had gone out,
2:10:09
Speaker 2: stunned with amazement. He wondered so greatly that when he
2:10:13
Speaker 2: at last sat down by the roadside under a fig tree,
2:10:17
Speaker 2: he sat in a dream. He looked up at the
2:10:19
Speaker 2: blueness above him, as he always did when he was alone.
2:10:22
Speaker 2: His eyelids did not seem heavy when he lifted them
2:10:25
Speaker 2: to look at the sky. The blueness and the billows
2:10:28
Speaker 2: of white clouds brought rest to him and made him
2:10:32
Speaker 2: forget what he was. The floating clouds were his only friends.
2:10:37
Speaker 2: There was something, yes, there was something. He did not
2:10:41
Speaker 2: know what. He wished he were a cloud himself and
2:10:44
Speaker 2: could lose himself at last in the blueness, as the
2:10:48
Speaker 2: clouds did when they melted away. Surely the blueness was
2:10:52
Speaker 2: the something. The soft, dull pad of camels feet approached
2:10:56
Speaker 2: upon the road without his hearing them. He was not
2:10:59
Speaker 2: rouse from his absorption until the camel stopped its tread
2:11:03
Speaker 2: so near him that he started and looked up. It
2:11:07
Speaker 2: was necessary that he should look up a long way.
2:11:09
Speaker 2: He was a deformed little child, and the camel was
2:11:12
Speaker 2: a tall and splendid one, with rich trappings and golden bills.
2:11:17
Speaker 2: The man it carried was dressed richly, and the expression
2:11:20
Speaker 2: of his dark face was at once restless and curious.
2:11:25
Speaker 2: He was bending down and staring at Zea as if
2:11:29
Speaker 2: he were something strange. What dost thou see, child? He
2:11:33
Speaker 2: said at last, and he spoke, almost in a breathless whisper.
2:11:37
Speaker 2: What art thou waiting for? Zea stumbled to his feet
2:11:41
Speaker 2: and held out his bag, frightened because he had never
2:11:44
Speaker 2: begged before and did not know how, and if he
2:11:47
Speaker 2: did not carry back money and food, he would be
2:11:50
Speaker 2: horribly beaten again. Alms arms, he stammered, Master Lord, I
2:11:56
Speaker 2: beg for for her who keeps me. She is poor
2:11:59
Speaker 2: and old. Alms, great Lord, for a woman who is old.
2:12:03
Speaker 2: The man, with a restless face, still stared. He spoke
2:12:07
Speaker 2: as if unaware that he uttered words, and as if
2:12:10
Speaker 2: he were afraid the child's eyes. He said, I cannot
2:12:15
Speaker 2: pass him by. What is it? I must not be
2:12:18
Speaker 2: held back? But the unearthly beauty of his eyes. He
2:12:22
Speaker 2: caught his breath as he spoke, and then he seemed
2:12:25
Speaker 2: to awaken, as one struggling against a spell. What is
2:12:30
Speaker 2: thine name? He asked. Zea also had lost his breath.
2:12:34
Speaker 2: What had the man meant when he spoke of his eyes?
2:12:37
Speaker 2: He told his name, But he could answer no further questions.
2:12:41
Speaker 2: He did not know whose son he was. He had
2:12:44
Speaker 2: no home of his mistress. He knew only that her
2:12:47
Speaker 2: name was Judith, and that she lived on alms. Even
2:12:51
Speaker 2: while he related these things, he remembered his lesson, and,
2:12:54
Speaker 2: dropping his eyelids, fixed his gaze on the camel's feet.
2:12:58
Speaker 2: Why dost thou cast thine eyes downward? The man asked,
2:13:01
Speaker 2: in a troubled and intense voice. Zea could not speak,
2:13:05
Speaker 2: being stricken with fear and the dumbness of bewilderment. He
2:13:09
Speaker 2: stood quite silent, And as he lifted his eyes and
2:13:12
Speaker 2: let them rest on the stranger's own, they became large
2:13:16
Speaker 2: with tears, big piteous tears. Why persisted the man anxiously?
2:13:23
Speaker 2: Is it because thou seest evil in my soul? No? No,
2:13:27
Speaker 2: sobbed Zea. One taught me to look away, because I
2:13:30
Speaker 2: am hideous and my eyes are evil evil, said the stranger.
2:13:36
Speaker 2: They have lied to thee. He was trembling as he spoke,
2:13:40
Speaker 2: A man who has been pondering on sin, dare not
2:13:44
Speaker 2: pass their beauty by? They draw him and show him
2:13:48
Speaker 2: his own soul. Having seen them, I must turn my
2:13:51
Speaker 2: camel's feet backward. And go no farther on this road,
2:13:55
Speaker 2: which was to lead me to a black deed. He
2:13:58
Speaker 2: bent down and drawn the purse into the child's arms bag,
2:14:03
Speaker 2: still staring at him and breathing hard. They have the look,
2:14:07
Speaker 2: he muttered, of eyes that might behold the Messiah, who knows,
2:14:13
Speaker 2: who knows? And he turned his camel's head, still shuddering
2:14:18
Speaker 2: a little, and he rode away back towards the place
2:14:20
Speaker 2: from which he had come. There was gold in the
2:14:23
Speaker 2: purse he had given, and when Zia carried it back
2:14:26
Speaker 2: to Judith, she snatched it from him and asked him
2:14:29
Speaker 2: many questions. She made him repeat word for word all
2:14:34
Speaker 2: that had passed. After that, he was sent out to
2:14:37
Speaker 2: beg day after day, and in time he vaguely understood
2:14:41
Speaker 2: that the old woman had spoken falsely when she had
2:14:44
Speaker 2: said that evil spirits looked forth hideously from his eyes.
2:14:48
Speaker 2: People often said that they were beautiful and gave him money,
2:14:53
Speaker 2: because something in his gaze drew them near to him.
2:14:57
Speaker 2: But this was not all. At times there were those
2:14:59
Speaker 2: whose spoke under their breath to one another of some
2:15:02
Speaker 2: wonder of light in them, some strange luminousness which was
2:15:07
Speaker 2: not earthly. He surely sees that which we cannot. Perhaps
2:15:11
Speaker 2: when he is a man, he will be a great
2:15:13
Speaker 2: silk sayer and reader of the stars. He heard a
2:15:17
Speaker 2: woman whisper to a companion one day. Those who were
2:15:20
Speaker 2: evil were afraid to meet his gaze and hated it,
2:15:24
Speaker 2: as old Juth did, though as he was not their servant,
2:15:28
Speaker 2: they dare not strike him when he lifted his soft,
2:15:31
Speaker 2: heavy eyelids. But Zea could not understand what people meant
2:15:35
Speaker 2: when they whispered about him or turned away fiercely. A
2:15:39
Speaker 2: weight was lifted from his soul when he realized that
2:15:42
Speaker 2: he was not as revolting as he had believed, and
2:15:45
Speaker 2: when people spoke kindly to him, he began to know
2:15:48
Speaker 2: something like happiness for the first time in his life.
2:15:52
Speaker 2: He brought home so much in his arms bag that
2:15:55
Speaker 2: the old woman ceased to beat him and gave him
2:15:57
Speaker 2: all liberty. He was allowed to go out at night
2:16:00
Speaker 2: and sleep under the stars. At such times he used
2:16:03
Speaker 2: to lie and look up at the jeweled myriads until
2:16:06
Speaker 2: he felt himself drawn upward and floating, nearer and nearer
2:16:10
Speaker 2: to that unknown something, which he felt also in the
2:16:14
Speaker 2: high blueness of the day. When he first began to
2:16:17
Speaker 2: feel as if some mysterious ailment was creeping upon him.
2:16:21
Speaker 2: He kept himself out of Judith's way as much as possible.
2:16:25
Speaker 2: He dared not tell her that sometimes he could scarcely
2:16:27
Speaker 2: crawl from one place to another. A miserable, fevered weakness
2:16:32
Speaker 2: became his secret. As the old woman took no notice
2:16:36
Speaker 2: of him, except when he brought back his day's earnings,
2:16:39
Speaker 2: it was easy to evade her. One morning, however, she
2:16:42
Speaker 2: fixed her eyes upon him suddenly and keenly. Why art
2:16:47
Speaker 2: thou so white? She said, and caught him by the arm,
2:16:51
Speaker 2: whirling him toward the light. Art thou ailing? No, No,
2:16:55
Speaker 2: cried Zea. She held him still for a few seconds,
2:16:58
Speaker 2: still staring Thou art too white? She said, I will
2:17:03
Speaker 2: have no such whiteness. It is the whiteness of of
2:17:06
Speaker 2: and accursed thing. Get thee gone. He went away, feeling
2:17:10
Speaker 2: cold and shaken. He knew he was white. One or
2:17:14
Speaker 2: two alms givers had spoken of it, and had looked
2:17:17
Speaker 2: at him a little fearfully. He himself could see that
2:17:19
Speaker 2: the flesh of his thin body was becoming an unearthly color.
2:17:24
Speaker 2: Now and then he had shuddered as he looked at it,
2:17:26
Speaker 2: because because there was one curse so horrible beyond all others,
2:17:32
Speaker 2: that the strongest man would have quailed in his dread
2:17:35
Speaker 2: of its drawing near him. And he was a child,
2:17:38
Speaker 2: a twelve year old boy, a helpless, little hunchback mendicant.
2:17:44
Speaker 2: When he saw the first white and red spot upon
2:17:47
Speaker 2: his flesh, he stood still and stared at it, gasping,
2:17:51
Speaker 2: and the sweat started out upon him and rolled down
2:17:54
Speaker 2: in great drops. Jehovah, he whispered, God of Israel, thy servant,
2:18:00
Speaker 2: is but a child. But there broke out upon him
2:18:04
Speaker 2: other spots, and every time he found a new one,
2:18:07
Speaker 2: his flesh quaked, and he could not help looking at
2:18:10
Speaker 2: it in secret, again and again. Every time he looked
2:18:13
Speaker 2: it was because he hoped it might have faded away.
2:18:17
Speaker 2: But no spot faded away, and the skin on the
2:18:20
Speaker 2: palms of his hands began to be rough and cracked,
2:18:23
Speaker 2: and the show spots. Also. In a cave on a hillside,
2:18:27
Speaker 2: near the road where he sat and begged, there lived
2:18:30
Speaker 2: a deathly being who, with face swathed in linen and
2:18:34
Speaker 2: with bandaged stumps of limbs, hobbled forth now and then
2:18:38
Speaker 2: and came down to beg also, but always keeping at
2:18:42
Speaker 2: a distance from all human creatures, And as he approached,
2:18:46
Speaker 2: the pitiful rattled loudly his wooden clappers, wailing out, unclean, unclean.
2:18:53
Speaker 2: It was the leper Bias whose hopeless tale of awful
2:18:58
Speaker 2: days was almost done. Zia himself had sometimes limped up
2:19:02
Speaker 2: the hillside and laid some of his own poor food
2:19:05
Speaker 2: upon a stone near his cave, so that he might
2:19:08
Speaker 2: find it. One day, he had also taken a branch
2:19:12
Speaker 2: of almond blossom in full flower, and had laid it
2:19:15
Speaker 2: by the food. And when he had gone away, he
2:19:18
Speaker 2: stood at some distance, watching to see the poor ghost
2:19:21
Speaker 2: come forth to take what he had given. And he
2:19:23
Speaker 2: had seen him first clutch at the blossoming branch and
2:19:27
Speaker 2: fall upon his face, holding it to his breast, a white, bound,
2:19:33
Speaker 2: shapeless thing, sobbing and uttering, hoarse, croaking, unhuman cries, no
2:19:39
Speaker 2: alms giver. But Zia had ever dreamed of bringing a
2:19:42
Speaker 2: flower to him, who was forever cut off from all
2:19:46
Speaker 2: bloom and loveliness. It was this white, shuddering creature that
2:19:50
Speaker 2: Zea remembered with a sick chill of horror. When he
2:19:53
Speaker 2: saw the spots unclean, unclean. He heard the cracked voice
2:19:59
Speaker 2: cry to the sound of wooden clappers, unclean, unclean. Judith
2:20:05
Speaker 2: was standing at the door of her hovel one morning
2:20:08
Speaker 2: when Zea was going forth for the day. He had
2:20:11
Speaker 2: fearfully been aware that for days she had been watching him,
2:20:14
Speaker 2: as he had never known her to watch him before
2:20:17
Speaker 2: this morning. She had followed him to the door, and
2:20:20
Speaker 2: had held him there a few moments in the light,
2:20:22
Speaker 2: with some harsh speech, keeping her eyes fixed on him
2:20:26
Speaker 2: the while. Even as they so stood, there fell upon
2:20:30
Speaker 2: the clear air of the morning a hollow, far off sound,
2:20:34
Speaker 2: the sound of wooden clappers rattled together, and the hopeless
2:20:38
Speaker 2: crying of two words unclean, unclean, And then silence fell
2:20:44
Speaker 2: upon Zea descended, a fear beyond all power of words
2:20:47
Speaker 2: to utter. In his quaking, young torment. He lifted his
2:20:52
Speaker 2: eyes and met the gaze of the old woman as
2:20:54
Speaker 2: it flamed down upon him. Go within, she commanded suddenly,
2:20:59
Speaker 2: and pointed to the wretched room inside. He who bade her,
2:21:03
Speaker 2: and she followed him, closing the door behind them. Tear
2:21:06
Speaker 2: off thy garment, she ordered, strip thyself to thy skin,
2:21:10
Speaker 2: to thy skin. He shook from head to foot, his
2:21:14
Speaker 2: trembling hands, almost refusing to obey him. She did not
2:21:18
Speaker 2: touch him, but stood apart, glaring. His garments fell from
2:21:22
Speaker 2: him and lay in a heap at his feet, and
2:21:24
Speaker 2: he stood among them naked. One look, and she broke forth,
2:21:28
Speaker 2: shaking with fear, herself into a breathless storm of fury.
2:21:33
Speaker 2: Thou hast known this thing and hidden it? She raved leper, Leper,
2:21:38
Speaker 2: a cursed hunchback thing. As he stood in his nakedness
2:21:42
Speaker 2: and sobbed great heavy, childish sobs. She did not dare
2:21:47
Speaker 2: to strike him and rage the more. If it were
2:21:51
Speaker 2: known that she had harbored him, the priest would be
2:21:54
Speaker 2: upon her, and all that she had would be taken
2:21:56
Speaker 2: from her and burned. She would not even let him
2:22:00
Speaker 2: his clothes on in her house. Take thy rags, and
2:22:03
Speaker 2: be gone in thy nakedness. Clothe thyself on the hill side.
2:22:07
Speaker 2: Let none see thee until thou art far away. Rot
2:22:11
Speaker 2: as thou wilt, but dare not to name me. Begone, begone, begone,
2:22:16
Speaker 2: And with his rags he fled naked through the doorway
2:22:20
Speaker 2: and hid himself in the little wood beyond. Later, as
2:22:24
Speaker 2: he went on his way, he had hidden himself in
2:22:26
Speaker 2: the daytime behind bushes by the wayside or off the road,
2:22:30
Speaker 2: he had crouched behind rocks and boulders, he had slept
2:22:34
Speaker 2: in caves when he found them, he had shrunk away
2:22:36
Speaker 2: from all human sight. He knew it could not be
2:22:39
Speaker 2: long before he would be discovered, and then he would
2:22:42
Speaker 2: be shut up, and afterward he would be as Barias
2:22:45
Speaker 2: until he died along like unto Barias. To him, it
2:22:50
Speaker 2: seemed as though shurely never child had sobbed before, as
2:22:54
Speaker 2: he sobbed, lying hidden behind his boulders, among his bushes,
2:22:58
Speaker 2: on the bare hill, among the rocks. For the first
2:23:02
Speaker 2: four nights of his wandering, he had not known where
2:23:05
Speaker 2: he was going. But on this fifth night he discovered
2:23:09
Speaker 2: he was on the way to Bethlehim, beautiful little Bethel.
2:23:13
Speaker 2: Him curving on the crest of the Judaean mountains and
2:23:16
Speaker 2: smiling down upon the fairness of the fairest of sweet valleys,
2:23:21
Speaker 2: rich with vines and figs and olives and almond trees.
2:23:26
Speaker 2: He dimly recalled stories he had overheard of its loveliness,
2:23:29
Speaker 2: And when he found that he had wandered unknowingly toward it,
2:23:32
Speaker 2: he was aware of a faint sense of peace. He
2:23:35
Speaker 2: had seen nothing of any other part of the world
2:23:38
Speaker 2: than the poor village, outside which the hovel of his
2:23:41
Speaker 2: bond mistress had clung to a low hill. Since he
2:23:44
Speaker 2: was near it, he vaguely desired to see bethe Lahem.
2:23:49
Speaker 2: He had learned of its nearness as he lay hidden
2:23:51
Speaker 2: in the undergrowth on the mountain side that he had
2:23:54
Speaker 2: begun to climb the night before. Awakening from sleep, he
2:23:58
Speaker 2: had heard many feet passing up the climbing road, the
2:24:01
Speaker 2: feet of men and women, and children, of camels and dasses,
2:24:05
Speaker 2: and all had seemed to be of a procession ascending
2:24:09
Speaker 2: the mountain side. Lying flat upon the earth, he had
2:24:13
Speaker 2: parted the bushes cautiously and watched and listened to the shouts, cries, laughter,
2:24:19
Speaker 2: and talk of those who were near enough to be heard.
2:24:22
Speaker 2: So bit by bit he had heard the story of
2:24:24
Speaker 2: the passing Throng. The great Emperor Augustus, who to the
2:24:29
Speaker 2: common herd seemed some strange omnipotent in his remote and
2:24:33
Speaker 2: sumptuous paradise of Rome, had issued a decree that all
2:24:37
Speaker 2: the world of his subjects should be enrolled, and every man,
2:24:41
Speaker 2: woman and child must enroll himself in his own city
2:24:45
Speaker 2: and to the little town of Bethlehem. All these travelers
2:24:49
Speaker 2: were wending their way to the place of their nativity,
2:24:52
Speaker 2: in obedience to the Great Caesar's command. End of section
2:24:57
Speaker 2: eight The Little Hunchback Zia, Part two. All through the
2:25:04
Speaker 2: day he watched them, men and women and children who
2:25:08
Speaker 2: belonged to one another, who rode together on their beasts,
2:25:11
Speaker 2: or walked together hand in hand, women on camels or asses,
2:25:16
Speaker 2: held their little ones in their arms, or walked with
2:25:19
Speaker 2: the youngest slung on their backs. He heard boys laugh
2:25:23
Speaker 2: and talk with their fathers, boys of his own age,
2:25:26
Speaker 2: who trudged merrily along, and now and again ran forward,
2:25:29
Speaker 2: shouting with glee. He saw more than one strong man
2:25:33
Speaker 2: swing his child up to his shoulder and bare him along,
2:25:36
Speaker 2: as if he found joy in his burden. Boy and
2:25:40
Speaker 2: girl companions played as they went and made holiday of
2:25:43
Speaker 2: their journey. Young men or women who were friends, lovers,
2:25:47
Speaker 2: or brothers and sisters bore one another company. No one
2:25:51
Speaker 2: is alone, said Zea, twisting his thin fingers together. No one,
2:25:56
Speaker 2: no one, And there are no lepers the great seas
2:26:00
Speaker 2: who would not count a leper. Perhaps if he saw one,
2:26:03
Speaker 2: he would command him to be put to death. And
2:26:05
Speaker 2: then he writhed upon the grass and sobbed again. His
2:26:08
Speaker 2: bent chest almost bursting with his efforts to make no sound.
2:26:12
Speaker 2: He had always been alone, always, always, but this loneliness
2:26:18
Speaker 2: was such as no young human thing could bear. He
2:26:22
Speaker 2: was no longer alive, he was no longer a human being, unclean, unclean, unclean.
2:26:30
Speaker 2: At last he slept, exhausted, and passed his piteous, prostrate, childhood,
2:26:35
Speaker 2: and helplessness. The slow procession wound its way up the
2:26:39
Speaker 2: mountain round toward the Crescent of Bethlehem, knowing nothing of
2:26:44
Speaker 2: his nearness to its unburdened comfort and simple peace. When
2:26:48
Speaker 2: he awakened, the night had fallen, and he opened his
2:26:52
Speaker 2: eyes upon a high vault of blue velvet darkness strewn
2:26:56
Speaker 2: with great stars. He saw this at the first moment
2:27:01
Speaker 2: of his consciousness, and then he realized that there was
2:27:04
Speaker 2: no longer to be heard the sound either of passing
2:27:07
Speaker 2: hoofs or treading feet. The travelers who had gone by
2:27:11
Speaker 2: during the day had probably reached their journey's end and
2:27:15
Speaker 2: gone to rest in their tents, or had found refuge
2:27:19
Speaker 2: in the enclosing khan that gave shelter to wayfarers and
2:27:22
Speaker 2: their beasts of burden. But though there was no human
2:27:26
Speaker 2: creature near, and no sound of human voice or human tread.
2:27:30
Speaker 2: A strange change had taken place in him. His loneliness
2:27:35
Speaker 2: had passed away and left him lying still and calm,
2:27:39
Speaker 2: as though it had never existed, as though the crushed
2:27:42
Speaker 2: and broken child who had plunged from a precipice of
2:27:45
Speaker 2: war and to deadly exhausted sleep was only a vague
2:27:49
Speaker 2: memory of a creature in a dark past dream. Had
2:27:54
Speaker 2: it been himself lying upon his back, seeing only the
2:27:58
Speaker 2: immensity of the deep blue above him, and the greatness
2:28:01
Speaker 2: of the stars, he scarcely dared to draw breath lest
2:28:05
Speaker 2: he should arouse himself to new anguish. It had not
2:28:08
Speaker 2: been he who had so suffered. Surely it had been
2:28:12
Speaker 2: another zea what had come upon him, what had come
2:28:16
Speaker 2: upon the world? All was so still that it was
2:28:20
Speaker 2: if the earth waited, as if it waited to hear
2:28:23
Speaker 2: some word that would be spoken out of the great
2:28:26
Speaker 2: space in which it hung. He was not hungry, or
2:28:29
Speaker 2: cold or tired. It was as if he had never
2:28:34
Speaker 2: staggered and stumbled up the mountain path and dropped, shuddering
2:28:38
Speaker 2: to hide behind the bushes before the daylight came and
2:28:41
Speaker 2: men could see his white face. Surely he had rested long.
2:28:46
Speaker 2: He had never felt like this before, and he had
2:28:49
Speaker 2: never seen so wonderful a night. The stars had never
2:28:53
Speaker 2: been so many and so large. What made them so
2:28:57
Speaker 2: soft and brilliant? That each one was almost like a sun?
2:29:01
Speaker 2: And he strangely felt that each looked down at him
2:29:05
Speaker 2: as if it said the word, though he did not
2:29:07
Speaker 2: know what the word was. Why had he been so
2:29:10
Speaker 2: terror stricken? Why had he been so wretched? There were
2:29:15
Speaker 2: no lepers, there were no hunchbacks. There was only zea,
2:29:19
Speaker 2: and he was at peace and akin to the stars
2:29:23
Speaker 2: that looked down. How heavenly still the waiting world was,
2:29:28
Speaker 2: how heavenly still? He lay and smiled and smiled. Perhaps
2:29:33
Speaker 2: he lay so for an hour, and then, high high above,
2:29:36
Speaker 2: he saw, or thought he saw, in the remoteness of
2:29:40
Speaker 2: the vault of blue, a brilliant whiteness float. Was it
2:29:44
Speaker 2: a strange snowy cloud or was he dreaming? It seemed
2:29:48
Speaker 2: to grow whiter, more brilliant. His breath came fast, and
2:29:53
Speaker 2: his heart beat trembling in his breast, because he had
2:29:56
Speaker 2: never seen clouds so strangely purely. There was another, higher, farther, distant,
2:30:04
Speaker 2: and yet more dazzling. Still, another and another showed its radiance,
2:30:09
Speaker 2: until at last an arch of splendor seemed to stream
2:30:12
Speaker 2: across the sky. It is like the glory of the
2:30:16
Speaker 2: Ark of the Covenant. He gasped and threw his arm
2:30:19
Speaker 2: across his blinded eyes, shuddering with rapture. He could not
2:30:24
Speaker 2: uncover his face. And it was as he lay, quaking
2:30:27
Speaker 2: with an unearthly joy that he first thought he heard
2:30:30
Speaker 2: sounds of music, as remotely distant as the lights. Is
2:30:35
Speaker 2: it on earth? He panted? Is it on earth? He
2:30:40
Speaker 2: struggled to his knees. He had heard of miracles and
2:30:43
Speaker 2: wonders of old and of the past ages, when the
2:30:46
Speaker 2: sons of God visited the earth. Glory to God in
2:30:50
Speaker 2: the Highest, he stammered, again and again and again, Glory
2:30:54
Speaker 2: to the Great Jehovah. And he touched his forehead seven
2:30:57
Speaker 2: times to the earth. Then he behaved held a singular thing.
2:31:02
Speaker 2: When he had gone to sleep, a flock of sheep
2:31:04
Speaker 2: had been lying near him on the grass. The flock
2:31:07
Speaker 2: was still there, but something seemed to be happening to it.
2:31:10
Speaker 2: The creatures were awakening from their sleep as if they
2:31:14
Speaker 2: had heard something. First one head was raised, and then another,
2:31:19
Speaker 2: and then another, and another until every head was lifted
2:31:23
Speaker 2: and every one was turned toward a certain point, as
2:31:27
Speaker 2: if listening. What were they listening for? Zea could see nothing,
2:31:32
Speaker 2: though he turned his own face towards the climbing road
2:31:35
Speaker 2: and listened with them. The floating radiance was so increasing
2:31:39
Speaker 2: in the sky that at this point of the mountain
2:31:42
Speaker 2: side it seemed no longer to the night, and the
2:31:46
Speaker 2: faraway peans held him breathless with mysterious Awe was the
2:31:51
Speaker 2: sound on earth? Where did it come from? Where? Praised
2:31:56
Speaker 2: be Jehovah? He heard his weak and shaking young voice quaver.
2:32:01
Speaker 2: Some belated travelers were coming slowly up the road. He
2:32:05
Speaker 2: heard an ass his feet and low voices. The sheep
2:32:09
Speaker 2: heard them also, had they been waiting for them? They rose,
2:32:14
Speaker 2: one by one, the whole flock, to their feet, and
2:32:17
Speaker 2: turned in a body toward the approaching sounds. Zia stood
2:32:22
Speaker 2: up with them. He waited also, and it was as
2:32:26
Speaker 2: if at this moment his soul so lifted itself that
2:32:29
Speaker 2: it almost broke away from his body. Almost around the curve.
2:32:35
Speaker 2: An ass came slowly, bearing a woman and led by
2:32:39
Speaker 2: a man who walked by his side. He was a
2:32:42
Speaker 2: man of sober years, and walked wearily. Zia's eyes grew
2:32:47
Speaker 2: wide with awe and wondering as he gazed scarce breathing.
2:32:52
Speaker 2: The light upon the hillside was so softly radiant and
2:32:55
Speaker 2: so clear that he could see that the woman's robe
2:32:58
Speaker 2: was blue, and that she lifted her face to the
2:33:01
Speaker 2: stars as she rode. It was a young face and
2:33:05
Speaker 2: pale with the pallor of lilies, and their eyes were
2:33:09
Speaker 2: as stars of the morning. But this was not all.
2:33:12
Speaker 2: A radiance shone from her pure pallor, and bordering her
2:33:16
Speaker 2: blue robe and veil was a faint, steady glow of light.
2:33:21
Speaker 2: And as she passed the standing and waiting sheep, they
2:33:24
Speaker 2: slowly bowed themselves upon their knees before her, and so
2:33:29
Speaker 2: knelt until she had passed by and was out of sight.
2:33:33
Speaker 2: Then they returned to their places and slept as before.
2:33:37
Speaker 2: When she was gone, Zia found that he also was kneeling.
2:33:42
Speaker 2: He did not know when his knees had bent. He
2:33:45
Speaker 2: was faint with ecstasy. She goes to Bethlehem, he heard
2:33:50
Speaker 2: himself say, as he had heard himself speak before, I too,
2:33:55
Speaker 2: I too. He stood a moment listening to the sound
2:33:59
Speaker 2: of the acid retreating feet as it grew fainter in
2:34:02
Speaker 2: the distance. His breath came quick and soft. The light
2:34:07
Speaker 2: had died away from the hillside, but the high, floating
2:34:10
Speaker 2: radiance seemed to pass to and fro in the heavens.
2:34:14
Speaker 2: And now and again he thought he heard the faint,
2:34:16
Speaker 2: far sound that was like music, so distant that it
2:34:21
Speaker 2: was as a thing heard in a dream. Perhaps I
2:34:24
Speaker 2: behold visions, he murmured. It may be that I shall awake.
2:34:29
Speaker 2: But he found himself making his way through the bushes,
2:34:32
Speaker 2: and setting his feet upon the road. He must follow,
2:34:35
Speaker 2: He must follow, howsoever steep the hill he must climb
2:34:40
Speaker 2: to Bethlehem. But as he went on his way, it
2:34:44
Speaker 2: did not seem steep, and he did not waver or toil,
2:34:48
Speaker 2: as he usually did when walking. He felt no weariness
2:34:52
Speaker 2: or ache in his limbs, and the high radiance gently
2:34:55
Speaker 2: lighted the path and dimly revealed that many white flowers
2:35:00
Speaker 2: he had never seen before seemed to have sprung up
2:35:03
Speaker 2: by the roadside, and to wave softly to and fro,
2:35:07
Speaker 2: giving forth a fragrance so remote and faint, and yet
2:35:11
Speaker 2: so clear, that it did not seem of earth. It
2:35:14
Speaker 2: was perhaps part of the vision of the distance. He climbed.
2:35:19
Speaker 2: His thought took no cognizance. There was in this vision
2:35:22
Speaker 2: neither distance nor time. There was only faint radiance, far
2:35:27
Speaker 2: strange sounds, and the breathing of air, which made him
2:35:31
Speaker 2: feel an ecstasy of lightness. As he moved. The other
2:35:35
Speaker 2: Zea had traveled painfully, had stumbled and struck his feet
2:35:39
Speaker 2: against wayside stones. He seemed ten thousand miles, ten thousand
2:35:45
Speaker 2: years away. It was not he who went to Bethlehem, led,
2:35:49
Speaker 2: as if by some power invisible, to Bethlehem. To Bethlehem,
2:35:54
Speaker 2: where went the woman, whose blue robe was bordered with
2:35:57
Speaker 2: a glow of fair luminousness, and whose face, like an
2:36:00
Speaker 2: uplifted lily, softly shown. It was she he followed, knowing
2:36:06
Speaker 2: no reason but that his soul was called. When he
2:36:10
Speaker 2: reached the little town and stood at last near the
2:36:13
Speaker 2: gateway of the Khan, in which the day long procession
2:36:16
Speaker 2: of wayfarers had crowded to take refuge for the night,
2:36:20
Speaker 2: he knew that he would find no place among the
2:36:23
Speaker 2: multitude within its walls. Too many of the Great Caesar's
2:36:26
Speaker 2: subjects had been born in Bethlehem and had come back
2:36:30
Speaker 2: for their enrollment. The Khan was crowded to its utmost,
2:36:34
Speaker 2: and outside lingered many who had not been able to
2:36:37
Speaker 2: gain admission, and who consulted plaintively with one another as
2:36:41
Speaker 2: to where they might find the place to sleep and
2:36:43
Speaker 2: to eat the food they carried with them. Zia had
2:36:47
Speaker 2: made his way to the entrance gate only because he
2:36:50
Speaker 2: knew the travelers he had followed would seek shelter there,
2:36:53
Speaker 2: and that he might chance to hear of them. He
2:36:56
Speaker 2: stood a little apart from the gate and waited something
2:37:00
Speaker 2: would tell him what he must do. Almost as this
2:37:03
Speaker 2: thought entered his mind, he heard voices speaking near him.
2:37:07
Speaker 2: Two women were talking together, and soon he began to
2:37:11
Speaker 2: hear their words. Joseph of Nazareth, and marry his wife,
2:37:15
Speaker 2: one said, both of the line of David. There was
2:37:19
Speaker 2: no room for them, even as there was no room
2:37:21
Speaker 2: for others not of royal lineage. To the mangers in
2:37:24
Speaker 2: the cave they've gone seeing the woman had sore need
2:37:27
Speaker 2: of breast. She thou knowest Zea heard no more. He
2:37:32
Speaker 2: did not ask where the cave lay. He had not
2:37:35
Speaker 2: needed to ask his way to Bethlehem. That which had
2:37:37
Speaker 2: led him again directed his feet away from the entrance
2:37:41
Speaker 2: gate of the Khan past the crowded court, and the
2:37:44
Speaker 2: long low wall of stone, within the enclosure of which
2:37:47
Speaker 2: the camels and asses browsed, and slept on at last
2:37:51
Speaker 2: to a pathway leading to the gray of rising rocks.
2:37:55
Speaker 2: Beneath them was the cave he knew, though none had
2:37:58
Speaker 2: told him so. Only a short distance and he saw
2:38:02
Speaker 2: what drew him trembling nearer at the open entrance, through
2:38:06
Speaker 2: which he could see the rough mangers of stone, the
2:38:09
Speaker 2: heaps of fodder, and the ass munching slowly. In a corner.
2:38:13
Speaker 2: The woman who wore the blue robe stood, leaning wearily
2:38:17
Speaker 2: against the heavy wooden post, and the soft light bordering
2:38:21
Speaker 2: her garments set her in a frame of faint radiance,
2:38:25
Speaker 2: and glowed in a halo about her head the light.
2:38:30
Speaker 2: The light cried Zea in a breathless whisper, and he
2:38:34
Speaker 2: crossed his hands upon his breast. Her husband surely could
2:38:38
Speaker 2: not see it. He moved soberly about, unpacking the burden
2:38:42
Speaker 2: the acid carried, and, seeming to see naught else, he
2:38:45
Speaker 2: heaped straw in a corner with care, and threw his
2:38:49
Speaker 2: mantle upon it. Come, he said, here thou canst rest,
2:38:53
Speaker 2: and I can watch by thy side. The angels of
2:38:56
Speaker 2: the Lord be with thee. The woman turned from the
2:38:59
Speaker 2: door and went toward him, walking with slow steps. He
2:39:03
Speaker 2: gazed at her with mild, unillumined eyes. Does he not
2:39:08
Speaker 2: see the light? Panted zea? Does he not see the light?
2:39:13
Speaker 2: Soon he himself no longer saw it. Joseph of Nazareth
2:39:17
Speaker 2: came to the wooden doors and drew them together. And
2:39:21
Speaker 2: the boy stood alone on the mountain side, trembling still
2:39:25
Speaker 2: and wet with a dew of the night, but not weary,
2:39:28
Speaker 2: not hungered, not athirst or afraid, only quaking with wonder
2:39:33
Speaker 2: and joy. He the little hunchback Zia, who had known
2:39:38
Speaker 2: no joy before, since the hour of his birth. He
2:39:42
Speaker 2: sank upon the earth slowly in an exquisite piece, a
2:39:46
Speaker 2: piece that thrilled his whole being. As he stole over
2:39:50
Speaker 2: his limbs, deepening moment by moment, his head drooped softly
2:39:56
Speaker 2: upon a cushion of moss. As his eyelids fell, he
2:39:59
Speaker 2: saw a splendor of whiteness floating in the height of
2:40:03
Speaker 2: the purple vault above him. The dawn was breaking, and
2:40:07
Speaker 2: yet the stars had not faded away. This was his
2:40:10
Speaker 2: thought when his eyes first opened on a great one
2:40:14
Speaker 2: greater than any other in the sky, and of so
2:40:17
Speaker 2: pure a brilliance that it seemed as if even the
2:40:20
Speaker 2: sun would not be bright enough to put it out.
2:40:23
Speaker 2: It hung high in the paling blue, high as the
2:40:27
Speaker 2: white radiance, And as he lay and gazed, he thought
2:40:30
Speaker 2: it surely moved. What new star was it that, in
2:40:35
Speaker 2: that one night had been born? He had watched the
2:40:37
Speaker 2: stars through so many desolate hours that he knew each
2:40:41
Speaker 2: great one as a friend, and this one he had
2:40:44
Speaker 2: never seen before. The morning was cold, and his clothes
2:40:49
Speaker 2: were wet with dew, but he felt no chill. He remembered, Yes,
2:40:54
Speaker 2: he remembered. If he had lived in a vision the
2:40:57
Speaker 2: day before, he was surely living in one. Yet the
2:41:01
Speaker 2: Zea who had been starved and beaten and driven out
2:41:04
Speaker 2: naked into the world, who had clutched his thin breast
2:41:07
Speaker 2: and sobbed writhing upon the earth, where was he? He
2:41:12
Speaker 2: looked down upon his hands and saw the cracked and
2:41:15
Speaker 2: scaling palms, and it was as though they were not.
2:41:18
Speaker 2: He thrust back the covering from his chest and saw
2:41:21
Speaker 2: the spots there. But there were no lepers, there were
2:41:25
Speaker 2: no hunchbacks. There were only Zia and the light. He
2:41:30
Speaker 2: knelt and turned himself towards the cave and prayed. And
2:41:34
Speaker 2: as he so knelt and prayed, the man Joseph rolled
2:41:39
Speaker 2: open the heavy wooden door. Then Zea, still kneeling, beat
2:41:45
Speaker 2: himself softly upon the breast, and prayed again, not as
2:41:48
Speaker 2: before to Jehovah, but to that which he beheld. The
2:41:53
Speaker 2: light was there, fair, radiant, wonderful. The cave was bathed
2:41:59
Speaker 2: in it. The woman in the blue robe sat upon
2:42:02
Speaker 2: the straw, and in her arms she held a new
2:42:05
Speaker 2: born child. Zia touched his forehead to the earth again,
2:42:10
Speaker 2: again and again, unknowing that he did so. The child
2:42:15
Speaker 2: was the light itself. He must rise and draw near
2:42:19
Speaker 2: that which had drawn him up the mountain side drew
2:42:22
Speaker 2: him again. The child was the light itself. As he
2:42:27
Speaker 2: crept near the cave's entrance, the woman's eyes rested upon him,
2:42:31
Speaker 2: soft and wonderful. She spoke to him. She spoke, beat
2:42:37
Speaker 2: out afraid, She said, draw a nigh and behold. Her
2:42:41
Speaker 2: voice was not as the voice of other women. It
2:42:45
Speaker 2: was like her eyes. His body, through his blood, threw
2:42:48
Speaker 2: every limb and fleshly at him. Of him he felt
2:42:51
Speaker 2: it steel, new, life, warming, thrilling, wakening in his veins
2:42:57
Speaker 2: new life. As he felt it. He knelt, quaking with rapture,
2:43:02
Speaker 2: even as he had stood the night before, gazing at
2:43:04
Speaker 2: the light. The new born hand lay still. He did
2:43:09
Speaker 2: not know how long he knelt. He did not know
2:43:11
Speaker 2: that the woman leaned toward him, scarce drawing breath, her
2:43:15
Speaker 2: wondrous eyes resting upon him as if she waited for
2:43:19
Speaker 2: a sign. Even as she so gazed, she beheld it
2:43:23
Speaker 2: and spoke, whispering as in awed prayer. Go forth, and
2:43:28
Speaker 2: cleanse thy flesh in running water, she said. Go forth.
2:43:32
Speaker 2: He moved, He rose, He stood upright, the hunchback Zear,
2:43:38
Speaker 2: who had never stood up right before. His body was straight,
2:43:42
Speaker 2: his limbs were strong. He looked upon his hands, and
2:43:45
Speaker 2: there was no blemish or spot to be seen. I
2:43:49
Speaker 2: am made whole, he cried, in ecstasy, so wild that
2:43:53
Speaker 2: his boy's voice rang and echoed in the cave's hollowed roof.
2:43:57
Speaker 2: I AM made whole. Go forth, she said, softly, go
2:44:02
Speaker 2: forth and give praise. He turned and went into the
2:44:06
Speaker 2: dawning day. He stood swaying, and heard himself sob forth
2:44:11
Speaker 2: a rapturous cry of prayer. His flesh was fresh and pure,
2:44:16
Speaker 2: he stood, erect and tall. He was as others whom
2:44:19
Speaker 2: God had not cursed. The light, the light. He stretched
2:44:24
Speaker 2: forth his arms to the morning sky. Some shepherds, roughly
2:44:29
Speaker 2: clothed in the skin of lambs and kids, were climbing
2:44:32
Speaker 2: the hill towards the cave. They carried their crooks, and
2:44:36
Speaker 2: they talked eagerly, as though in wonderment at some strange
2:44:40
Speaker 2: thing which had befallen them, looking up at the heavens,
2:44:43
Speaker 2: and one pointed with his crook. Surely it draws nearer
2:44:47
Speaker 2: the star, he said. Look. As they passed a thicket
2:44:50
Speaker 2: where a brook flowed through the trees, a fair boy
2:44:54
Speaker 2: came forth, cleansed, fresh and radiant, as if he had
2:44:58
Speaker 2: but just bathed it in its clear waters. It was
2:45:02
Speaker 2: the boys there. Who is this? One, said the oldest shepherd.
2:45:06
Speaker 2: How beautiful he is, how the light shines on him.
2:45:10
Speaker 2: He looks like a king's son. And as they passed
2:45:15
Speaker 2: they made obeisance to him.
2:45:18
Speaker 3: Part one of Esmeralda. To begin, I am a Frenchman,
2:45:25
Speaker 3: a teacher of languages, and a poor man, necessarily a
2:45:28
Speaker 3: poor man, as the great world would say, or I
2:45:32
Speaker 3: should not be a teacher of languages and my wife,
2:45:35
Speaker 3: a copyist of great pictures, selling her copies at small prices.
2:45:39
Speaker 3: In our own eyes, it is true we are not
2:45:42
Speaker 3: so poor, my Lily and I. Looking back upon our past,
2:45:46
Speaker 3: we congratulate ourselves upon our prosperous condition. There was a
2:45:51
Speaker 3: time when we were poorer than we are now, and
2:45:54
Speaker 3: were not together, and were moreover in London instead of
2:45:58
Speaker 3: in Parriques. These were indeed calamities to be poor, to teach,
2:46:03
Speaker 3: to live apart, not even knowing each other. And in England.
2:46:07
Speaker 3: In England we spent years we instructed imbeciles of all grades.
2:46:13
Speaker 3: We were chilled by east winds and tortured by influenza.
2:46:17
Speaker 3: We vainly strove to conciliate the appalling English. We were
2:46:21
Speaker 3: discouraged and desolate. But this, thank Le bon Dieu, is past.
2:46:26
Speaker 3: We are united. We have our little apartment upon the
2:46:29
Speaker 3: fifth floor, it is true, but still not hopelessly far
2:46:33
Speaker 3: from the Chensalize clely paints her little pictures or copies
2:46:37
Speaker 3: those of some great artists, and fine sale for them.
2:46:41
Speaker 3: She is not a great artist herself, and is charmingly
2:46:44
Speaker 3: conscious of the fact. At fifteen, she says, I regretted
2:46:50
Speaker 3: that I was not a genius at five and twenty.
2:46:53
Speaker 3: I rejoice that I made the discovery so early, and
2:46:57
Speaker 3: so gave myself time to become great for the small
2:47:01
Speaker 3: gifts bestowed upon me. Why should I eat out my
2:47:04
Speaker 3: heart with envy? Is not it possible that I might
2:47:07
Speaker 3: be a less clever woman than I am and a
2:47:10
Speaker 3: less lucky one. On my part, I have my pupils,
2:47:14
Speaker 3: French pupils who take lessons in the English German, or
2:47:17
Speaker 3: Italian English, or American pupils who generally learn French, and
2:47:23
Speaker 3: upon the whole I do not suffer from lack of patrons.
2:47:27
Speaker 3: It is my habit, when clearly is at work upon
2:47:30
Speaker 3: a copy in one of the great galleries, to accompany
2:47:32
Speaker 3: her to the scene of her labor in the morning
2:47:35
Speaker 3: and call for her at noon. And in accordance with
2:47:38
Speaker 3: this habit, I made my way to the louver at
2:47:40
Speaker 3: mid day. Upon one occasion three years ago, I found
2:47:44
Speaker 3: my wife busy at riessel in the Grand Gallery. And
2:47:48
Speaker 3: when I approached her and laid my hand upon the shoulder,
2:47:51
Speaker 3: as was my wont she looked up at me with
2:47:53
Speaker 3: a smile and spoke to me in a cautious undertone.
2:47:57
Speaker 3: I am glad, she said that you or not ten
2:48:00
Speaker 3: minutes later, look at those extraordinary people. She still leaned
2:48:05
Speaker 3: back in her chair and looked up at me, but
2:48:08
Speaker 3: made at the same time one of those indescribable movements
2:48:12
Speaker 3: of the head which a clever woman can render. So significant.
2:48:17
Speaker 3: This slight gesture directed me at once to the extraordinary
2:48:20
Speaker 3: people to whom she referred. Are they not truly wonderful?
2:48:25
Speaker 4: She asked.
2:48:26
Speaker 3: There were two of them, evidently, father and daughter, and
2:48:30
Speaker 3: they sat side by side upon a seat placed in
2:48:32
Speaker 3: an archway, and regarded hopelessly one of the finest works
2:48:36
Speaker 3: in the gallery. The father was a person undersized and elderly.
2:48:40
Speaker 3: His face was tanned and seemed as if with years
2:48:44
Speaker 3: of rough outdoor labor. The effect produced upon him by
2:48:47
Speaker 3: his clothes was plainly one of actual suffering, both physical
2:48:51
Speaker 3: and mental. His stiff hands refused to meet the efforts
2:48:55
Speaker 3: of his gloves to fit them, his body shrank from
2:48:58
Speaker 3: his garments. If he had not been pathetic, he would
2:49:01
Speaker 3: have been ridiculous. But he was pathetic. It was evident
2:49:06
Speaker 3: he was not so attired of his own free will
2:49:08
Speaker 3: that only a patient nature inured by long custom to discomfort,
2:49:13
Speaker 3: sustained him. That he was in the gallery under protest
2:49:17
Speaker 3: that he did not understand the paintings, and that they
2:49:20
Speaker 3: perplexed overwhelmed him. The daughter is almost impossible to describe,
2:49:26
Speaker 3: and yet I must attempt to describe her. She had
2:49:30
Speaker 3: a slender and pretty figure. There were slight marks of
2:49:33
Speaker 3: the sun on her face also, and as in her
2:49:36
Speaker 3: father's case, the richness of her dress was set at
2:49:39
Speaker 3: defiance by a strong element of incongruousness. She had black
2:49:44
Speaker 3: hair and gray eyes, and she sat with folded hands,
2:49:46
Speaker 3: staring at the picture before her in dumb uninterestedness. Clely
2:49:51
Speaker 3: had taken up her brush again and was touching up
2:49:54
Speaker 3: her work. Here and there they have been here two hours,
2:49:58
Speaker 3: she said, the waiting for someone. At first they tried
2:50:02
Speaker 3: to look about them as others did. They wandered from
2:50:05
Speaker 3: seat to seat, and sat down and looked as you
2:50:08
Speaker 3: see them doing. Now what you think of them? To
2:50:11
Speaker 3: what nation should you ascribe them? They are not French,
2:50:15
Speaker 3: I answered, And they are not English. If she were English,
2:50:19
Speaker 3: said Clely, the girl would be more conscious of herself
2:50:24
Speaker 3: and of what we might possibly be saying. She is
2:50:26
Speaker 3: only conscious that she is out of place and miserable.
2:50:30
Speaker 3: She does not care for us at all. I have
2:50:32
Speaker 3: never seen Americans like them before, but I am convinced
2:50:36
Speaker 3: that they are Americans. She laid aside her working materials
2:50:40
Speaker 3: and proceeded to draw on her gloves. We will go
2:50:44
Speaker 3: and look at that Tantacion de Saint Antoine Artaignier, she said,
2:50:49
Speaker 3: and we may hear them speak. I confess I am
2:50:52
Speaker 3: devoured by an anxiety to hear them speak. According a
2:50:56
Speaker 3: few moments later, an amiable young couple stood before Tantarcion,
2:51:01
Speaker 3: regarding it with absorbed and critical glances. But the father
2:51:06
Speaker 3: and daughter did not seem to see us. They looked
2:51:09
Speaker 3: disconsolately about them or at the picture before which they sat. Finally, however,
2:51:14
Speaker 3: we were rewarded by hearing them speak to each other.
2:51:18
Speaker 3: The father addressed the young lady slowly and deliberately, and
2:51:22
Speaker 3: with an accent which, but for my long residence in
2:51:25
Speaker 3: England and familiarity with some forms of its patois, I
2:51:28
Speaker 3: should find it impossible to transcribe. As Moraldi, he said,
2:51:35
Speaker 3: your mar's long time a common yes, answered the girl,
2:51:41
Speaker 3: with the same accent, and in a voice wholly listless
2:51:44
Speaker 3: and melancholy. She's a long time Clelli favored me with
2:51:50
Speaker 3: one of her rapid side glances. The study of character
2:51:54
Speaker 3: is a grand patition, and her special weakness is a
2:51:57
Speaker 3: fancy for the singular and incongruous. I have seen her
2:52:01
Speaker 3: stand in silence and regard with positive interest one of
2:52:04
Speaker 3: her former patronesses, who was overwhelming her with gondumelius violence,
2:52:09
Speaker 3: seeming entirely unconscious of all else, but that the woman
2:52:13
Speaker 3: was of a species novel to her, and therefore worthy
2:52:17
Speaker 3: of delicate observation. It is, as I said, she whispered,
2:52:23
Speaker 3: they are Americans, but of an order entirely new. Almost
2:52:28
Speaker 3: the next instant, she touched my arm. Here is the mother,
2:52:32
Speaker 3: she exclaimed. She is coming this way. See a woman
2:52:37
Speaker 3: advanced rapidly toward our part of the gallery, A small,
2:52:41
Speaker 3: angry woman with an ungraceful figure and a keen brown eye.
2:52:46
Speaker 3: She began to speak aloud, while still several feet distant
2:52:49
Speaker 3: from the waiting couple. Come along, she said, I've found
2:52:55
Speaker 3: a place at last, though I've been all the morning.
2:52:58
Speaker 3: Ad It and the woman woman who keeps the door,
2:53:01
Speaker 3: speaks English, they calumn remarked, the husband, meekly rising con sergs,
2:53:10
Speaker 3: I wonder why the girl rose, also still with her
2:53:15
Speaker 3: hopeless abstracted air, and followed the mother, who led the
2:53:19
Speaker 3: way to the door. Seeing her move forward, my wife
2:53:22
Speaker 3: uttered an admiring exclamation. She is more beautiful than I thought,
2:53:28
Speaker 3: she said. She holds herself marvelously. She moves with the
2:53:33
Speaker 3: freedom of some fine wild creature. And as the party
2:53:37
Speaker 3: disappeared from view, her regret at losing them drew from
2:53:41
Speaker 3: her a sigh. She disgusted them with characteristic enthusiasm. All
2:53:46
Speaker 3: the way home. She even concocted a very probable little romance.
2:53:51
Speaker 3: One would always imagine so many things concerning Americans. They
2:53:55
Speaker 3: were so extraordinary a people. They acquired wealth by such
2:53:59
Speaker 3: peculi means, Their country was so immense, their resources were
2:54:04
Speaker 3: so remarkable. These persons, for instance, were evidently persons of wealth,
2:54:10
Speaker 3: and as plainly had risen from the people. The mother
2:54:13
Speaker 3: was not quite so wholly untaught as the other two,
2:54:17
Speaker 3: but she was more objectionable. One can bear with a
2:54:22
Speaker 3: large simplicity of utter ignorance, said my fair philosopher. One
2:54:27
Speaker 3: frequently finds it gentle and unworldly, But the other is odious,
2:54:33
Speaker 3: because it is always aggressive and narrow. She had taken
2:54:38
Speaker 3: a strong feminine dislike to Madame la maire. She makes
2:54:42
Speaker 3: her family miserable, she said, she drags them from place
2:54:47
Speaker 3: to place. Possibly there is a lover, more possibly than not.
2:54:51
Speaker 3: The girl's eyes wore a peculiar look, as if they
2:54:55
Speaker 3: searched for something far away. She had scarce concluded her
2:55:01
Speaker 3: charming little harangue when we reached our destination. But as
2:55:06
Speaker 3: we passed through the entrance, she paused to speak to
2:55:09
Speaker 3: the curly headed child of the concierge, whose mother held
2:55:13
Speaker 3: him by the hand. We shall have new arrivals to morrow,
2:55:18
Speaker 3: said the good woman, who was always ready for friendly gossip.
2:55:22
Speaker 3: The apartment upon the first floor, and she nodded to
2:55:25
Speaker 3: me significantly and with good natured encouragement. Perhaps you may
2:55:30
Speaker 3: get pupils, she added. They are Americans and speak only English,
2:55:36
Speaker 3: and there is a young lady. Madame says Americans, exclaimed
2:55:42
Speaker 3: Claie with sudden interest. Americans, answered the concierge. It was
2:55:48
Speaker 3: madame who came, mon dieu. It was wonderful, so rich
2:55:53
Speaker 3: and so so, filling up the blank by a shrug
2:55:56
Speaker 3: of deep meaning. It cannot have been long since they
2:56:00
Speaker 3: were peasants, her voice dropping into a cautious whisper. Why
2:56:06
Speaker 3: not our friends of the louver, said Cleie, as we
2:56:10
Speaker 3: went on upstairs, Why not, I replied, it is very possible.
2:56:17
Speaker 3: The next day there arrived at the house numberless trunks
2:56:21
Speaker 3: of large dimensions, superintended by the small, angry woman and
2:56:25
Speaker 3: the maid. An hour later came a carriage, from whose
2:56:29
Speaker 3: door emerged the young lady and her brother. Both looked
2:56:34
Speaker 3: pale and fagged. Both were led upstairs in the midst
2:56:38
Speaker 3: of voluble comments and commands by the mother, and both,
2:56:42
Speaker 3: entering the apartment seemed swallowed up by it. As we
2:56:46
Speaker 3: saw and heard nothing further of them. Clee was indignant.
2:56:51
Speaker 3: It is plain that the mother overwhelms them, she said.
2:56:57
Speaker 3: A girl of that age should speak and be interested
2:57:00
Speaker 3: in any novelty. This one would be if she were
2:57:04
Speaker 3: not to wretch it and the poor little husband. My dear,
2:57:09
Speaker 3: I remarked, you are a feminine bayard. You engage yourself
2:57:14
Speaker 3: with such ardor in everybody's wrongs. When I returned from
2:57:19
Speaker 3: my afternoon's work a few days later, I found Cleee
2:57:22
Speaker 3: again excited. She had been summoned to the first floor
2:57:26
Speaker 3: by Madame. I went into the room, said Clelye, and
2:57:31
Speaker 3: found the mother and daughter together Mademoiselle, who stood by
2:57:36
Speaker 3: the fire, had evidently been weeping. Madame was in an
2:57:39
Speaker 3: abrupt and angry mood. She wasted no words. I want
2:57:44
Speaker 3: you to give her lessons, she said, making an ungraceful
2:57:49
Speaker 3: gesture in the direction of her daughter. What do you
2:57:53
Speaker 3: charge a lesson? And on my telling her, she engaged
2:57:56
Speaker 3: me at once. It's a great deal, but I I
2:58:00
Speaker 3: guess I can pay as well as other people, she remarked.
2:58:05
Speaker 3: A few of the lessons were given downstairs, and then
2:58:08
Speaker 3: Clayly preferred a request to Madame. If you will permit
2:58:14
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle to come to my room, you will confer a
2:58:17
Speaker 3: favor upon me, she said. Fortunately, her request was granted,
2:58:23
Speaker 3: and so I used afterward to come home to find
2:58:26
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle Esmeralda in our little salon at work. Disconsolately and tremulously.
2:58:33
Speaker 3: She found it difficult to hold her pencil in the
2:58:35
Speaker 3: correct manner, and one morning she let it drop and
2:58:39
Speaker 3: burst into tears. Don't you see I'll never do it,
2:58:45
Speaker 3: she answered, miserably. Don't you see I couldn't even if
2:58:49
Speaker 3: my heart was in it, and it ain't at all.
2:58:53
Speaker 3: She held out her little hands piteously for clely to
2:58:56
Speaker 3: look at. They were well enough shaped and would have
2:58:59
Speaker 3: been pretty if they had not been robbed of their
2:59:01
Speaker 3: useful suppleness by labor. I've been used to work, she said,
2:59:08
Speaker 3: rough work all my life, and my hands ain't like yours.
2:59:13
Speaker 3: But you must not be discouraged, Mademoiselle, said Clelie gently.
2:59:19
Speaker 3: Time time interposed the girl with a frightened look in
2:59:23
Speaker 3: her pretty gray eyes. That's what I can't bear to
2:59:26
Speaker 3: think of the time that's to come. This was the
2:59:31
Speaker 3: first of many outbursts of confidence. Afterward, she related to
2:59:35
Speaker 3: Clellie with the greatest naivete the whole history of the
2:59:39
Speaker 3: family affairs. They had been the possessors of some barren
2:59:44
Speaker 3: mountain lands in North Carolina, and her description of their
2:59:48
Speaker 3: former life was wonderful, indeed, to the ears of the Parisian.
2:59:53
Speaker 3: She herself had been brought up with marvelous simplicity and hardihood,
2:59:57
Speaker 3: barely learning to read and write, and in absolute ignorance
3:00:01
Speaker 3: of society. A year ago, iron had been discovered upon
3:00:05
Speaker 3: their property, and the result had been wealth and misery
3:00:09
Speaker 3: for father and daughter. The mother, who had some vague
3:00:13
Speaker 3: fancies of the attractions of the great outside world, was
3:00:16
Speaker 3: ambitious and restless Monsieur, who was a mild and accommodating person,
3:00:22
Speaker 3: could only give way before her stronger will. She always
3:00:27
Speaker 3: had her way with us, said Mademoiselle Esmeralda, scratching nervously
3:00:33
Speaker 3: upon the paper before her with her pencil. At this
3:00:36
Speaker 3: part of the relation, we did not want to leave home,
3:00:40
Speaker 3: neither me nor father. And father said more than I
3:00:44
Speaker 3: ever heard him say before. At one time, Mother says,
3:00:48
Speaker 3: he let me and Esmeraldi stay at home, and you
3:00:52
Speaker 3: go and enjoy your tower. You've had more schooling, and
3:00:56
Speaker 3: you'll be more at home than we should. You're used
3:00:59
Speaker 3: to to sitity ways, having lived in Lizabethville. But it
3:01:03
Speaker 3: only vexed her. People in town had been talking to
3:01:06
Speaker 3: her about traveling and letting me learn thanks, and she'd
3:01:10
Speaker 3: set her mind on it. She was very simple and unsophisticated.
3:01:15
Speaker 3: To the memory of her former, truly singular life, she
3:01:18
Speaker 3: clung with unshaken fidelity. She recurred to it constantly. The
3:01:23
Speaker 3: novel and luxury of her new existence seemed to have
3:01:26
Speaker 3: no attractions for her. One thing, even my c Lily
3:01:30
Speaker 3: found incomprehensible. While she fancied she understood the rest, she
3:01:34
Speaker 3: did not appear to be moved to pleasure, even by
3:01:38
Speaker 3: our beloved Paris. It is a true malady, dupay Clely
3:01:43
Speaker 3: remarked to me. And that is not all, Nor was
3:01:48
Speaker 3: it all. One day the whole truth was told amid
3:01:52
Speaker 3: a flood of tears. Ah, I was gone to be married,
3:01:57
Speaker 3: cried the poor child. I was to have been married
3:02:01
Speaker 3: the week the ow was found. I was already and
3:02:05
Speaker 3: mother mother shut right down on us. Clely glanced at
3:02:10
Speaker 3: me in amazed questioning. It is a kind of argo
3:02:14
Speaker 3: which belongs only to Americans, I answered, in an undertone.
3:02:19
Speaker 3: The alliance was broken off. Ciel, exclaimed my Clellee between
3:02:25
Speaker 3: her small shut teeth. The woman is a fiend. She
3:02:30
Speaker 3: was wholly absorbed in her study of this unworldly and
3:02:33
Speaker 3: untaught nature. She was full of sympathy for its trials
3:02:37
Speaker 3: and tenderness, and for its pain. Even the girl's peculiarities
3:02:43
Speaker 3: of speech were full of interest to her. She made
3:02:45
Speaker 3: serious and intelligent efforts to understand them, as if she
3:02:49
Speaker 3: studied a new language. It is not common argaux, she said.
3:02:55
Speaker 3: It has its subtleties. One continually finds somewhere and original idea,
3:03:01
Speaker 3: the sometimes even of bon Mot which startles one by
3:03:04
Speaker 3: its pointedness. As you say, however, it belongs only to
3:03:08
Speaker 3: the Americans and their remarkable country. A French mind can
3:03:12
Speaker 3: only arrive at its climaxes through a grave and occasionally
3:03:16
Speaker 3: tedious research, which would weary most persons, but which however,
3:03:21
Speaker 3: does not weary me. The confidence of Mademoiselle Esmeralda was
3:03:26
Speaker 3: easily won. She became attached to us both and particularly
3:03:31
Speaker 3: to Clelie. When her mother was absent or occupied, she
3:03:35
Speaker 3: stole upstairs to our apartment and spent with us the
3:03:38
Speaker 3: moments of leisure chance afforded her. She liked our rooms,
3:03:43
Speaker 3: she told my wife, because they were small, and our
3:03:46
Speaker 3: society because we were clever, which we discovered afterward meant amiable.
3:03:52
Speaker 3: But she was always pale and out of spirits. She
3:03:55
Speaker 3: would sit before our fire, silent and abstracted. Imma ties
3:04:00
Speaker 3: not mind if I don't talk, she would say, I can't,
3:04:05
Speaker 3: and it seems to help me to get to see
3:04:07
Speaker 3: it and think about things. Mother won't let me do
3:04:10
Speaker 3: it downstairs. We became also familiar with the father. One
3:04:16
Speaker 3: day I met him upon the staircase, and to my amazement,
3:04:19
Speaker 3: he stopped as if he wished to address me. I
3:04:22
Speaker 3: raised my hat and bade him good morning. On his
3:04:25
Speaker 3: palt he drew forth a large handkerchief and began to
3:04:28
Speaker 3: rub the palms of his hands with awkward timidity. Howdy,
3:04:33
Speaker 3: he said, I confess that at the moment I was
3:04:37
Speaker 3: covered with confusion. I, who was a teacher of English,
3:04:40
Speaker 3: and flattered myself that I wrote and spoke it fluently,
3:04:44
Speaker 3: did not understand immediately, however, it flashed across my mind
3:04:48
Speaker 3: that the word was a species of salutation, which I
3:04:51
Speaker 3: finally discovered to be the case. I bowed again and
3:04:54
Speaker 3: thanked him hazarding the reply that my health was excellent,
3:04:58
Speaker 3: and an inquiry as to the the state of madame's.
3:05:01
Speaker 3: He rubbed his hands still more nervously and answered me
3:05:05
Speaker 3: in the slow and deliberate manner I had observed at
3:05:08
Speaker 3: the louver. Thank ye, he said, she's doing tallble well,
3:05:14
Speaker 3: is mother as well as Carmen. And she's enjoying herself too.
3:05:20
Speaker 3: I wish we was all but there. He checked himself
3:05:24
Speaker 3: and glanced hastily about him. Then he began again. Es Moraldi,
3:05:30
Speaker 3: he said, es Moraldi, thanks a heap on you. She
3:05:34
Speaker 3: takes a sad comfort out of miss de I can't
3:05:38
Speaker 3: call your name, but I mean your wife, Madame de
3:05:42
Speaker 3: mart I replied, is rejoiced indeed to have won the
3:05:47
Speaker 3: friendship of Mademoiselle. Yes, he proceeded, she takes a sadder
3:05:54
Speaker 3: comfort in you and all, and she needs comfort, does
3:05:57
Speaker 3: es Moraldi. There ensued a slight pause, which somewhat embarrassed me,
3:06:03
Speaker 3: for at every pause he regarded me with an air
3:06:06
Speaker 3: of meek and hesitant appeal. She's a little down spiritted,
3:06:11
Speaker 3: is Esmeraldi, he said, Anne, adding this suddenly in a
3:06:16
Speaker 3: subdued and fearful tone.
3:06:18
Speaker 4: So am I?
3:06:20
Speaker 3: Having said this, he seemed to feel that he had
3:06:23
Speaker 3: overstepped a barrier. He seized the lapel of my coat
3:06:27
Speaker 3: and held me prisoner, pouring forth his confessions with a
3:06:30
Speaker 3: faith in my interest by which I was at once
3:06:33
Speaker 3: amazed and touched. You see, it's this way, he said,
3:06:38
Speaker 3: It's this way, mister. We're home folks, me and Esmeraldi,
3:06:43
Speaker 3: and we're a long way from home, and it sort
3:06:45
Speaker 3: of seems like we didn't get no use to to
3:06:47
Speaker 3: it than we was at first. We're not like mother mother.
3:06:51
Speaker 3: She was raised in the town. She was raised in Lizabethville,
3:06:54
Speaker 3: and she's ours took the town ways, but me and Esmeraldi,
3:06:58
Speaker 3: we was raised in the mountains, right under the shadow
3:07:01
Speaker 3: of old Bald and town goes hard with us. Seems
3:07:04
Speaker 3: like we're all is a thinkin in North Carolina. And
3:07:08
Speaker 3: Mother she gets outed, which is likely. She says, we
3:07:11
Speaker 3: are to fit ourselves fra high a pair, and I
3:07:15
Speaker 3: dare say we'd are, but ye see, it goes sot
3:07:18
Speaker 3: hard with us, and as Moraldi, she has her trouble,
3:07:22
Speaker 3: and I can't help a sympathizing with her, for young
3:07:25
Speaker 3: folks will be young folks, and I was young folks
3:07:28
Speaker 3: once myself. Once once I sought a heap of store
3:07:32
Speaker 3: by mother. So you see how it is. It is
3:07:37
Speaker 3: very sad, monsieur, I answered with gravity singular as it
3:07:41
Speaker 3: may appears, it was not so laughable to me as
3:07:44
Speaker 3: it might seem. It was so apparent that he did
3:07:47
Speaker 3: not anticipate ridicule, and my Clely's interest in these people
3:07:51
Speaker 3: also rendered them sacred in my eyes. Yes, he returned,
3:07:58
Speaker 3: that's so. And sometimes it's worse than you'd think when
3:08:02
Speaker 3: mother's outed. And that's why I'm glad, as miss Daimar
3:08:06
Speaker 3: and as Moraldi is such friends it struck me at
3:08:10
Speaker 3: this moment that he had some request to make of me.
3:08:13
Speaker 3: He grasped the lapel of my coat somewhat more tightly,
3:08:17
Speaker 3: as if requiring additional support, and finally bent forward and
3:08:21
Speaker 3: addressed me with caution, do you think, as miss Daimar
3:08:25
Speaker 3: would mind it? If and now? And then? I was
3:08:27
Speaker 3: to step in for Esmeraldi and said a little, just
3:08:31
Speaker 3: in a kind of neighboring way as Moeraldi. She says,
3:08:34
Speaker 3: you're so sociable, and I hain't been sociable with no
3:08:38
Speaker 3: one for for a right smart spell, and it seems
3:08:41
Speaker 3: like a kind of hanker out of it. You've no idea, mister,
3:08:44
Speaker 3: how lonesome a man can get when he hankers to
3:08:47
Speaker 3: be sociable and hain't no one to be sociable with. Mother,
3:08:51
Speaker 3: She says, go out on the Champs el easy and promenade.
3:08:55
Speaker 3: And I've done it, but some ways it don't reach
3:08:57
Speaker 3: the spot. I don't seem to get sociable with no
3:09:00
Speaker 3: one I've spoke to, maybe through us speaking different languages
3:09:05
Speaker 3: and not come to understanding. I've tried it loud, and
3:09:08
Speaker 3: I've tried it low and encouraging, but some ways we
3:09:11
Speaker 3: never seemed to get on, and r Miss Damar wouldn't
3:09:14
Speaker 3: take no exceptions at me are droppin in. I feel
3:09:17
Speaker 3: as if I should be soort of uplifted if she'd
3:09:20
Speaker 3: only allow it once a week or even fewer, Monsieur,
3:09:25
Speaker 3: I replied with warmth, I beg you will consider ar
3:09:29
Speaker 3: salon at your disposal, not once a week, but at
3:09:32
Speaker 3: all times. And Madame des mart would certainly join me
3:09:36
Speaker 3: in the invitation if she were upon the spot. He
3:09:40
Speaker 3: released the lapel of my coat and clasped my hand,
3:09:44
Speaker 3: shaking it with fervor. Now that's clever, that is, he said,
3:09:49
Speaker 3: And it's friendly, and I'm obligated to ye. Since he
3:09:54
Speaker 3: appeared to have nothing further to say, we went downstairs together.
3:09:58
Speaker 3: At the door, we parted. I'm a goin, he remarked,
3:10:02
Speaker 3: to the champs a lazy to promenade. Where are you
3:10:05
Speaker 3: going to the boulevard Rossmann, monsieur to give a lesson?
3:10:11
Speaker 3: I returned, I will wish you good morning. Good morning,
3:10:16
Speaker 3: he answered, bon reflecting deeply for a moment, bon Geour,
3:10:22
Speaker 3: I am trying to learn it, you see, with a
3:10:24
Speaker 3: view to beIN more sociable bon Geour, and thus took
3:10:29
Speaker 3: his departure. After this, we saw him frequently. In fact,
3:10:34
Speaker 3: it became his habit to follow Mademoiselle Esmeralda in all
3:10:37
Speaker 3: her visits to our apartment. A few minutes after her arrival,
3:10:41
Speaker 3: we usually held a timid knock upon the outer door,
3:10:44
Speaker 3: which proved to emanate from Monsieur, who always entered with
3:10:48
Speaker 3: a laborers bonjour, and always slipped deprecatingly into the least
3:10:53
Speaker 3: comfortable chair near the fire, hurriedly concealing his hat beneath it.
3:10:59
Speaker 3: In him also, my clearly became much interested. On my
3:11:03
Speaker 3: own part. I could not cease to admire the fine
3:11:06
Speaker 3: feeling and delicate tact she continually exhibited in her manner
3:11:09
Speaker 3: toward him. In time, he even appealed to lose something
3:11:13
Speaker 3: of his first embarrassment and discomfort, though he was always
3:11:16
Speaker 3: inclined to a reverent silence in her presence. He don't
3:11:21
Speaker 3: say much, don't father, said Mademoiselle Esmeralda, with tears in
3:11:26
Speaker 3: her pretty eyes. He's like me, but you don't know
3:11:30
Speaker 3: what comfort he's taken. When he sits and listens and
3:11:33
Speaker 3: stirs his chocolate round and round without drinking it. He
3:11:37
Speaker 3: doesn't drink it because he ain't used to it. But
3:11:40
Speaker 3: he likes to have it when we do, because he
3:11:42
Speaker 3: says it makes him feel sociable. He's trying to learn
3:11:46
Speaker 3: to drink it, too. He practices every day, a little
3:11:49
Speaker 3: at a time. He was powerful, afraid at first that
3:11:52
Speaker 3: you'd take exceptions to him. Doin nothin but stir it round.
3:11:55
Speaker 3: But I told a man knew you wouldn't for you.
3:11:58
Speaker 3: Wasn't that kind? I find him, said Clee to me,
3:12:04
Speaker 3: inexpressibly mournful, even though he excites one to smile upon
3:12:09
Speaker 3: all occasions. Is it not mournful that his very suffering
3:12:14
Speaker 3: should be absurd? Mon dieu? He does not wear his clothes.
3:12:20
Speaker 3: He bears them about with him. He simply carries them.
3:12:25
Speaker 3: It was about this time that Mademoiselle Esmeralda was rendered
3:12:29
Speaker 3: doubly unhappy. Since their residence in Paris, Madame had been
3:12:34
Speaker 3: industriously occupied in making efforts to enter society. She had
3:12:39
Speaker 3: struggled violently and indefatigably. She was at once persistent and ambitious.
3:12:45
Speaker 3: She had used every means that lay in her power,
3:12:47
Speaker 3: and most of all, she had used her money. Naturally.
3:12:51
Speaker 3: She had found people upon the outskirts of good circles,
3:12:54
Speaker 3: who would accept her with her money. Consequently, she had
3:12:58
Speaker 3: obtained acquaintances of a class, and was bold enough to
3:13:01
Speaker 3: employ them as stepping stones at all events. She began
3:13:05
Speaker 3: to receive invitations, and to discover opportunities to pay visits
3:13:10
Speaker 3: and to take her daughter with her. Accordingly, Mademoiselle Esmeralda
3:13:15
Speaker 3: was placed upon exhibition. She was dressed by experienced artistes.
3:13:21
Speaker 3: She was forced from her seclusion and obliged to drive,
3:13:25
Speaker 3: and call and promenade. Her condition was pitiable. While all
3:13:30
Speaker 3: this was torture to her inexperienced and timidity, her fear
3:13:35
Speaker 3: of her mother rendered her wholly submissive. Each day brought
3:13:39
Speaker 3: with it some new trial. She was admired for many reasons,
3:13:43
Speaker 3: by some for her wealth, of which all had heard rumors,
3:13:47
Speaker 3: by others for her freshness and beauty. The silence and
3:13:51
Speaker 3: sensitiveness which arose from shyness and her ignorance of all
3:13:55
Speaker 3: social rules were called naivete and modesty, And people who
3:14:00
Speaker 3: abhorred her mother, not unfrequently, were charmed with her. And
3:14:05
Speaker 3: consequently Madame found her also an instrument of some consequence
3:14:10
Speaker 3: in her determination to overcome all obstacles. Madame even condescended
3:14:14
Speaker 3: to apply to my wife, whose influence over Mademoiselle, she
3:14:18
Speaker 3: was clever enough not to undervalue. I want you to
3:14:22
Speaker 3: talk to Mademoiselle, she said. She thinks a great deal
3:14:27
Speaker 3: of you, and I want you to give her some
3:14:29
Speaker 3: good advice. You know what society is, and you know
3:14:34
Speaker 3: that she ought to be proud of her advantages and
3:14:37
Speaker 3: not make a fool of herself. Many a girl would
3:14:40
Speaker 3: be glad enough of what she has before her. She's
3:14:44
Speaker 3: got money, and she has got chances, and I don't
3:14:47
Speaker 3: begrudge her anything. She can spend all she likes on
3:14:51
Speaker 3: clothes and things, and I'll take her anywhere if she'll
3:14:54
Speaker 3: behave herself. They wear me out. Her and her father.
3:14:58
Speaker 3: It's her father that's ruined her and her living as
3:15:01
Speaker 3: she's done. Her father never knew anything, and he's made
3:15:05
Speaker 3: a pet of her and got her into his way
3:15:08
Speaker 3: of thinking. It's ridiculous how little ambition they have. And
3:15:12
Speaker 3: she might marry as well as any girl. There's a
3:15:15
Speaker 3: marquis that's quite in love with her at this moment,
3:15:19
Speaker 3: and she's as afraid of him as death, and cries
3:15:22
Speaker 3: if I even mention him, though he's a nice enough man,
3:15:26
Speaker 3: if he is a bit elderly. Now, I want you
3:15:30
Speaker 3: to reason with her, this clearly told me afterward, and
3:15:35
Speaker 3: upon going away she ended she turned round toward me,
3:15:39
Speaker 3: setting her face into an indescribable expression of hardness and obstinacy.
3:15:45
Speaker 3: I want her to understand, she said, that she's cut
3:15:49
Speaker 3: off forever from anything that's happened before. There's the Atlantic
3:15:52
Speaker 3: Ocean and many a mile of land between her and
3:15:55
Speaker 3: North Carolina, and so she may as well give that
3:15:59
Speaker 3: up Part two of Esmeralda. Two or three days after this,
3:16:08
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle came to our apartment in great grief. She had
3:16:12
Speaker 3: left Madame in a violent, ill temper. They had received
3:16:16
Speaker 3: invitations to a ball at which they were to meet
3:16:18
Speaker 3: the Marquis. Madame had been elated, and the discovery of
3:16:22
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle's misery and trepidation had roused her indignation. There had
3:16:26
Speaker 3: been a painful scene, and Mademoiselle had been overwhelmed. As usual.
3:16:31
Speaker 3: She knelt before the fire and wept despairingly. I'd rather
3:16:36
Speaker 3: die than go, she said. I can't stand it. I
3:16:41
Speaker 3: can't get used to it. The light and the noise,
3:16:44
Speaker 3: and the talk hurts me. And I don't know what
3:16:47
Speaker 3: I am doing, and people stare at me, and I
3:16:50
Speaker 3: make mistakes, and I'm not fit for it. And and
3:16:55
Speaker 3: I'd rather be dead fifty thousand times than let that
3:16:58
Speaker 3: man come near me. I hate him, and I am
3:17:01
Speaker 3: afraid of him, and I wish I was dead. At
3:17:05
Speaker 3: this juncture came the timid summons upon the door, and
3:17:09
Speaker 3: the father entered with a disturbed and subdued air. He
3:17:13
Speaker 3: did not conceal his hat, but held it in his
3:17:15
Speaker 3: hands and turned it round and round in an agitated manner.
3:17:19
Speaker 3: As he seated himself beside his daughter is Moraldi, He said,
3:17:26
Speaker 3: don't you take it so hard, honey, mother. She's kind routed,
3:17:30
Speaker 3: and she's not at herself rightly. Don't you never mind?
3:17:34
Speaker 2: Mother?
3:17:34
Speaker 3: She means well, but but she's got a sort o
3:17:37
Speaker 3: curious way of showing it. She's got a high spirit,
3:17:41
Speaker 3: and we not allow for it and not take it
3:17:43
Speaker 3: so much to heart. Miss Damar here knows how high
3:17:46
Speaker 3: spirited people is. Sometimes, I dare say, and mother, she's
3:17:50
Speaker 3: got a powerful high spirit. But the poor child only
3:17:55
Speaker 3: wept more hopelessly. It was not only the cruelty of
3:17:58
Speaker 3: her mother which oppressed her. It was the wound she
3:18:00
Speaker 3: bore in her heart. Clely's eyes filled with tears as
3:18:05
Speaker 3: she regarded her. The father was also more broken in
3:18:09
Speaker 3: spirit than he wished it to appear. His weather beaten
3:18:12
Speaker 3: face assumed an expression of deep melancholy, which at last
3:18:15
Speaker 3: betrayed itself in an evidently inadvertent speech, A wish, I
3:18:21
Speaker 3: wish he faltered. Lord, I'd give a heap to see wash. Now,
3:18:27
Speaker 3: I'd give a heap to see him as Moeraldi. It
3:18:31
Speaker 3: was as if the words were the last straw. The
3:18:34
Speaker 3: girl turned toward him and flung herself upon his breast
3:18:37
Speaker 3: with a passionate cry, Oh, father, she sobbed. We shan't
3:18:43
Speaker 3: never see him again, never never nor the mountains nor
3:18:48
Speaker 3: the people that cared for us. We've lost it all
3:18:51
Speaker 3: and we can't get back, and we haven't a soul
3:18:54
Speaker 3: that's near to us, and we're all alone, You and me, father,
3:18:58
Speaker 3: and wash Wash. He thinks we don't care. I must
3:19:03
Speaker 3: confess to a momentary spasm of alarm. Her grief was
3:19:07
Speaker 3: so wild and overwhelming. One hand was flung about her
3:19:10
Speaker 3: father's neck, and the other pressed itself against her side
3:19:14
Speaker 3: as if her heart was breaking, Clelye bent down and
3:19:18
Speaker 3: lifted her up, consoling her tenderly. Mademoiselle, she said, do
3:19:25
Speaker 3: not despair, le bon dieu, we'll surely have pity. The
3:19:30
Speaker 3: father drew forth the large linen handkerchief, and, unfolding it, slowly,
3:19:36
Speaker 3: applied it to his eyes. Yes, as Moraldi, he said,
3:19:41
Speaker 3: don't let us give out. At least, don't you give out.
3:19:44
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter for me as Moraldi, because you see
3:19:48
Speaker 3: I must hold on to mother as a swe not
3:19:50
Speaker 3: to go back on. But you're young and likely as Moraldi.
3:19:55
Speaker 3: And don't you give out yet, for the lord's sake.
3:19:59
Speaker 3: But she did not cease weeping until she had wholly
3:20:02
Speaker 3: fatigued herself. And by this time there arrived a message
3:20:06
Speaker 3: from Madame, who required her presence downstairs. Monsieur was somewhat
3:20:11
Speaker 3: alarmed and rose precipitately, but Mademoiselle was too full of
3:20:16
Speaker 3: despair to admit of fear. It's only the dressmaker. She said,
3:20:23
Speaker 3: you can stay where are, father, and she won't guess.
3:20:26
Speaker 3: We've been together, and it'll be better for us both,
3:20:30
Speaker 3: And accordingly she obeyed the summons alone. Great were the
3:20:36
Speaker 3: preparations made by Madame for the entertainment my wife, to
3:20:40
Speaker 3: whom she displayed the costumes and jewelry she had purchased,
3:20:43
Speaker 3: was aroused to an admiration. Truly feminine, she had the
3:20:48
Speaker 3: discretion to trust to the taste of the artist's and
3:20:51
Speaker 3: had restrained them in nothing. Consequently, all that was to
3:20:55
Speaker 3: be desired in the appearance of Mademoiselle as Meraalda upon
3:20:59
Speaker 3: the event and ful evening was happiness. With her mother's permission,
3:21:04
Speaker 3: she came to our room to display herself, Monsieur following her,
3:21:07
Speaker 3: with an air of awe and admiration commingled. Her costume
3:21:12
Speaker 3: was rich and exquisite, and her beauty beyond criticism. But
3:21:17
Speaker 3: as she stood in the center of our little salon
3:21:19
Speaker 3: to be looked at, she presented an appearance to move
3:21:22
Speaker 3: one's heart. The pretty young face, which had by this
3:21:26
Speaker 3: time lost its slight traces of the sun, had also
3:21:29
Speaker 3: lost some of its bloom. The slight figure was not
3:21:33
Speaker 3: so round nor so erect as it had been, and
3:21:36
Speaker 3: moved with less spirit and girlishness. It appeared that Monsieur
3:21:41
Speaker 3: observed this also, for he stood apart, regarding her with
3:21:45
Speaker 3: evident depression and occasionally used his handkerchief with a violence
3:21:49
Speaker 3: that was evidently meant to conceal some secret emotion. You're
3:21:54
Speaker 3: not so pert as he was as Moraldi, he remarked, tremulously,
3:22:00
Speaker 3: an nod is purret by a light smile. And what
3:22:02
Speaker 3: with that, and what with your fixings? Wash, I mean
3:22:06
Speaker 3: the home folks hastily, they'd hardly know you. He followed
3:22:11
Speaker 3: her downstairs mournfully when she took her departure, and Clely
3:22:15
Speaker 3: and myself, being left alone, interested ourselves in various speculations
3:22:20
Speaker 3: concerning them, as was our habit. This, Monsieur Wash remarked,
3:22:26
Speaker 3: Clely is clearly the lover poor child, how passionately she
3:22:32
Speaker 3: regrets him, And thousands of miles lie between them, thousands
3:22:37
Speaker 3: of miles. It was not long after this that, on
3:22:41
Speaker 3: my way downstairs to make a trifling purchase, I met
3:22:45
Speaker 3: with something approaching an adventure. It's so chanced that as
3:22:49
Speaker 3: I descended the staircase of the second floor, the door
3:22:52
Speaker 3: of the first floor apartment was thrown open, and from
3:22:55
Speaker 3: it issued Mademoiselle Esmerda and her mother, on their way
3:23:00
Speaker 3: to the waiting carriage. My interest in the appearance of
3:23:02
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle in her white robes and sparkling jewels so absorbed
3:23:06
Speaker 3: me that I inadvertently brushed against the figure which stood
3:23:09
Speaker 3: in a shadow regarding them, also turning at once to apologize,
3:23:14
Speaker 3: I found myself confronting a young man, tall, powerful, but
3:23:18
Speaker 3: with a sad and haggard face, and attired in a
3:23:22
Speaker 3: strange and homely dress which had a foreign look. Monsieur,
3:23:28
Speaker 3: I exclaimed a thousand pardons, I was so unlucky as
3:23:31
Speaker 3: not to see you, But he did not seem to hear.
3:23:34
Speaker 3: He remained silent, gazing fixedly at the ladies until they
3:23:38
Speaker 3: had disappeared, And then, on my addressing him again, he awakened,
3:23:42
Speaker 3: as it were, with a start. It doesn't murter, he answered,
3:23:47
Speaker 3: in a heavy, bewildered voice, and in English, and turning back,
3:23:51
Speaker 3: made his way slowly up the stairs. But even the
3:23:55
Speaker 3: utterance of this brief sentence had betrayed, to my practiced
3:23:58
Speaker 3: ear a peculiar accent, an accent which, strange to say,
3:24:02
Speaker 3: bore a likeness to that of our friends downstairs, and
3:24:06
Speaker 3: which caused me to stop a moment at the lodge
3:24:08
Speaker 3: of the concierge and ask her a question, or so,
3:24:12
Speaker 3: have we a new occupant upon the fifth floor, I
3:24:15
Speaker 3: inquired a person who speaks English. She answered me with
3:24:19
Speaker 3: a dubious expression, You must mean the strange young man
3:24:24
Speaker 3: upon the sixth She said, he is a new one
3:24:28
Speaker 3: and speaks English. Indeed, he does not speak anything else,
3:24:32
Speaker 3: or even understand the word mon dieu. The trials one
3:24:36
Speaker 3: encounters with such persons, endeavoring to comprehend poor creatures and
3:24:41
Speaker 3: failing always. And this one is worse than a rest
3:24:44
Speaker 3: and looks more wretched as if he had not a
3:24:47
Speaker 3: friend in the world. What is his name? I asked,
3:24:53
Speaker 3: How can one remember their names? It is worse than impossible.
3:24:57
Speaker 3: This one is frightful, but he has no letters. Think heaven.
3:25:01
Speaker 3: If there should arrive one with an impossible name upon it,
3:25:04
Speaker 3: I should take it to him and run the risk. Naturally, Clelye,
3:25:09
Speaker 3: to whom I related the incident, was much interested, but
3:25:12
Speaker 3: it was some time before either of us saw the
3:25:14
Speaker 3: hero of it again, though both of us confessed to
3:25:17
Speaker 3: having been upon the watch for him. The concierge could
3:25:21
Speaker 3: only tell us that he lived a secluded life, rarely
3:25:24
Speaker 3: leaving his room in the daytime, and seeming to be
3:25:27
Speaker 3: very poor. He does not work, and he eats next
3:25:30
Speaker 3: to nothing, she said. Late at night he occasionally carries
3:25:34
Speaker 3: up a loaf, and once he treated himself to a
3:25:36
Speaker 3: cup of bouillon from the restaurant at the corner. But
3:25:39
Speaker 3: it was only once, poor young man, He is at
3:25:42
Speaker 3: least very gentle and well conducted, so it was not
3:25:47
Speaker 3: to be wondered at that we did not see him.
3:25:50
Speaker 3: Clellie mentioned him to her young friend, but Mademoiselle's interest
3:25:53
Speaker 3: in him was only faint and ephemeral. She had not
3:25:56
Speaker 3: the spirit to rouse herself to any strong emotion. I
3:26:01
Speaker 3: daresay he is an American, she said. There are plenty
3:26:05
Speaker 3: of Americans in Paris, but none of them seem a
3:26:08
Speaker 3: bit nearer to me than if they were French. They
3:26:12
Speaker 3: are all rich and fine, and they all like the
3:26:15
Speaker 3: life here better than the life at home. This is
3:26:18
Speaker 3: the first poor one I have heard of. Each day
3:26:22
Speaker 3: brought fresh unhappiness to her. Madame was inexorable. She spent
3:26:27
Speaker 3: a fortune upon toilette for her, and insisted upon dragging
3:26:30
Speaker 3: her from place to place and wearying her with gaieties
3:26:33
Speaker 3: from which her sad young heart shrank. Each afternoon. Their
3:26:37
Speaker 3: equipage was to be seen upon the Chamsalise, and each
3:26:41
Speaker 3: evening it stood before the door, waiting to bear them
3:26:44
Speaker 3: to some place of festivity. Mademoiselle Seberte Noir, the marquis,
3:26:50
Speaker 3: who was a debilitated rue in search of a fortune,
3:26:53
Speaker 3: attached himself to them upon all occasions, Bah said clely,
3:26:58
Speaker 3: with contempt. She amazes one by her imbecility. This woman, Truly,
3:27:04
Speaker 3: one would imagine that her vulgar sharpness would teach her
3:27:08
Speaker 3: that his object is to use her as a tool,
3:27:11
Speaker 3: and that having gained Mademoiselle's fortune, he would treat them
3:27:15
Speaker 3: with brutality and derision. But she did not seem to see. Possibly,
3:27:20
Speaker 3: she fancied that, having obtained him for a son in law,
3:27:23
Speaker 3: she would be bold and clever enough to outwit and
3:27:26
Speaker 3: control him. Consequently, he was encouraged and fond upon, and
3:27:30
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle grew thin and pale and large eyed, and wore
3:27:35
Speaker 3: continually an expression of secret terror. Only in her visits
3:27:40
Speaker 3: to our fifth floor did she dare to give way
3:27:42
Speaker 3: to her grief. And truly at such times, both my
3:27:45
Speaker 3: CLEARLYE and I were greatly affected. Upon one occasion, indeed,
3:27:50
Speaker 3: she filled us both with alarm. Do you know what
3:27:54
Speaker 3: I shall do, she said, stopping suddenly in the midst
3:27:57
Speaker 3: of her weeping. I'll bear it is long as I can,
3:28:01
Speaker 3: and then I'll put an end to it. There's there's
3:28:04
Speaker 3: always the sand left. And I have laid awake and
3:28:07
Speaker 3: thought of it many and that father and me saw
3:28:10
Speaker 3: May and taken out of it one day, and the
3:28:13
Speaker 3: people said he was a tyrolean and drown himself because
3:28:17
Speaker 3: he was so poor and lonely, and and so far
3:28:21
Speaker 3: from home. Upon the very morning she made this speech,
3:28:26
Speaker 3: I saw again our friend of the sixth floor. In
3:28:29
Speaker 3: going downstairs, I came upon him sitting upon one of
3:28:32
Speaker 3: the steps, as if exhausted, And when he turned his
3:28:35
Speaker 3: face upward, its pallor and haggardness startled me. His tall
3:28:40
Speaker 3: form was wasted, his eyes were hollow. The peculiarities I
3:28:44
Speaker 3: had before observed were doubly marked. He was even emaciated.
3:28:50
Speaker 3: Monsieur I said in English, you appear indisposed, you have
3:28:54
Speaker 3: been ill. Allow me to assist you to your room. No,
3:28:59
Speaker 3: thank you, he answered, it's only weakness. Ah, I saw
3:29:05
Speaker 3: a gavou. Don't trouble yourself. I shall get over it directly.
3:29:11
Speaker 3: Something in his face, which was a very young and
3:29:14
Speaker 3: well looking one forced me to leave him in silence,
3:29:17
Speaker 3: merely bowing as I did so. I felt instinctively that
3:29:21
Speaker 3: to remain would be to give him additional pain. As
3:29:25
Speaker 3: I passed the room of the concierge, however, the excellent
3:29:28
Speaker 3: woman beckoned to me to approach her. Did you see
3:29:32
Speaker 3: the young man, she inquired, rather anxiously. He has shown
3:29:37
Speaker 3: himself this morning for the first time in three days.
3:29:40
Speaker 3: There is something wrong. It is my impression that he
3:29:43
Speaker 3: suffers want that he is starving himself to death. Her
3:29:48
Speaker 3: rosy countenance absolutely paled as she uttered these last words,
3:29:53
Speaker 3: retreating a pace from me and touching my arm with
3:29:56
Speaker 3: her forefinger. He has carried up even less than usual
3:30:00
Speaker 3: during the last few weeks, she added, and there has
3:30:04
Speaker 3: been no bouillon whatever. A young man cannot live only
3:30:09
Speaker 3: on dry bread, and too little of that he will perish,
3:30:13
Speaker 3: and apart from the inhumanity of the thing, it will
3:30:16
Speaker 3: be unpleasant for the other locretaire. I wasted no time
3:30:21
Speaker 3: in returning to clearly, having indeed some hope that I
3:30:24
Speaker 3: might find a poor fellow still occupying his former position
3:30:26
Speaker 3: upon the staircase. But in this I met with disappointment.
3:30:30
Speaker 3: He was gone, and I could only relate to my
3:30:32
Speaker 3: wife what I had heard and trust to her discretion.
3:30:36
Speaker 3: As I had expected, she was deeply moved. It is terrible,
3:30:41
Speaker 3: she said, and it is also a delicate and difficult
3:30:44
Speaker 3: matter to manage. But what can one do? There is
3:30:48
Speaker 3: only one thing, I, who am a woman and have
3:30:51
Speaker 3: suffered privation myself, may venture accordingly. She took her departure
3:30:57
Speaker 3: for the floor above. I heard her light summon upon
3:31:00
Speaker 3: the door of one of the rooms, but heard no reply.
3:31:04
Speaker 3: At last, however, the door was opened gently and with
3:31:06
Speaker 3: a hesitance that led me to imagine that it was
3:31:08
Speaker 3: Clelle herself who had pushed it open, And immediately afterwards
3:31:12
Speaker 3: I was sure that she had uttered an alarmed exclamation.
3:31:15
Speaker 3: I stepped out upon the landing and called to her
3:31:18
Speaker 3: in a subdued tone, Clellee, I said, did I hear
3:31:22
Speaker 3: you speak? Yes, she returned from within the room, Come
3:31:27
Speaker 3: at once and bring with you some brandy. In the
3:31:30
Speaker 3: shortest possible time, I had joined her in the room,
3:31:33
Speaker 3: which was bare, cold and unfurnished, a mere garret, in fact,
3:31:37
Speaker 3: containing nothing but a miserable bedstead upon the floor near
3:31:41
Speaker 3: the window. Knelt Clelle, supporting with her knee and arm
3:31:44
Speaker 3: the picture of the young man she had come to visit.
3:31:48
Speaker 3: Quick with the brandy, she exclaimed, this may be a faint,
3:31:51
Speaker 3: but it looks like death. She had found the door
3:31:54
Speaker 3: partially open, and, receiving no answer to a knock, had
3:31:57
Speaker 3: pushed it farther Ajar and caught a glimpse of the
3:32:00
Speaker 3: fallen figure, and hurried to its assistance to be as
3:32:03
Speaker 3: brief as possible. We both remained at the young man's
3:32:06
Speaker 3: side during the whole of the night. As the concierge
3:32:09
Speaker 3: had said he was perishing from inner nation, and the
3:32:12
Speaker 3: physician we called in assured us that only the most
3:32:15
Speaker 3: constant attention would save his life. Monsieur Claly explained to him,
3:32:21
Speaker 3: upon the first occasion upon which he opened his eyes,
3:32:25
Speaker 3: you are ill and alone, and we wish to befriend you.
3:32:29
Speaker 3: And he was too weak to require from her anything
3:32:32
Speaker 3: more definite. Physically, he was a person to admire. In health,
3:32:37
Speaker 3: his muscular power must have been immense. He possessed the
3:32:40
Speaker 3: frame of a young giant, and yet there was in
3:32:43
Speaker 3: his face a look of innocence and experience amazing, even
3:32:46
Speaker 3: when one recollected his youth. It is the look, said Clelie,
3:32:51
Speaker 3: regarding him attentively, the look one sees in the faces
3:32:56
Speaker 3: of Monsieur and his daughter downstairs, the look of a
3:32:59
Speaker 3: pearl who has lived a simple life and who knows
3:33:02
Speaker 3: absolutely nothing of the world. It is possible that this
3:33:07
Speaker 3: may have prepared the reader for the denouement which followed,
3:33:11
Speaker 3: But singular as it may appear, it did not prepare
3:33:14
Speaker 3: either clearly or myself. Perhaps because we had seen the world,
3:33:18
Speaker 3: and having learned to view it in a practical light,
3:33:22
Speaker 3: were not prepared to encounter suddenly our romance almost unparalleled.
3:33:28
Speaker 3: The next morning, I was compelled to go out to
3:33:30
Speaker 3: give my lessons as usual, and left pleaarly with our patients.
3:33:34
Speaker 3: On my return, my wife, hearing my footsteps, came out
3:33:38
Speaker 3: and met me upon the landing. She was moved by
3:33:40
Speaker 3: the strongest emotion and much excited. Her cheeks were pale
3:33:44
Speaker 3: and her eyes shone.
3:33:46
Speaker 1: Do not go in.
3:33:47
Speaker 3: Yet, she said, I have something to tell you. It
3:33:50
Speaker 3: is almost incredible, but it is the lover. For a
3:33:55
Speaker 3: moment we remained silent, standing looking at each other. To me,
3:33:59
Speaker 3: it seemed incredible. Indeed, he could not give her up.
3:34:04
Speaker 3: Clely went on until he was sure she wished to
3:34:07
Speaker 3: discard him. The mother had employed all her ingenuity to
3:34:11
Speaker 3: force him to believe that such was the case. But
3:34:14
Speaker 3: he could not rest until he had seen his betrothed
3:34:17
Speaker 3: face to face. So he followed her, poor, inexperienced and miserable,
3:34:21
Speaker 3: And when at last he saw her at a distance,
3:34:24
Speaker 3: the luxury with which she was surrounded caused his heart
3:34:27
Speaker 3: to fail him, and he gave way to despair. I
3:34:31
Speaker 3: accompanied her into the room and held the rest from
3:34:34
Speaker 3: his own lips. He gathered together all his small savings
3:34:38
Speaker 3: and made his journey in the cheapest possible way, in
3:34:41
Speaker 3: the steerage of the vessel and in third class carriages,
3:34:45
Speaker 3: so that he might have some trifle left to subsist upon.
3:34:49
Speaker 3: I've a little farm, he said, and there's a house
3:34:53
Speaker 3: on it. But I wouldn't sail there if she cared
3:34:57
Speaker 3: to go. It was all I had to take, and
3:35:01
Speaker 3: I'd worked hard to buy it. That worked hard, early
3:35:04
Speaker 3: and late, always thinking that some day we'd begin a
3:35:08
Speaker 3: laugh there together, as Moraldi and me, since neither sea,
3:35:13
Speaker 3: nor land, nor cruelty could separate them, said Clelie to
3:35:17
Speaker 3: me during the day. It is not I who will
3:35:20
Speaker 3: help to hold them apart. So when Mademoiselle came for
3:35:24
Speaker 3: her lessons that afternoon, it was Clelye's task to break
3:35:28
Speaker 3: the news to her, to tell her that neither sea
3:35:31
Speaker 3: nor land lay between herself and her lover, and that
3:35:35
Speaker 3: he was faithful. Still, she received the information as she
3:35:39
Speaker 3: might have received a blow, staggering backward and whitening and
3:35:43
Speaker 3: losing her breath. But almost immediately afterwards she uttered a
3:35:47
Speaker 3: sad cry of disbelief and anguish. No, no, she said
3:35:54
Speaker 3: it it isn't true. I won't believe it. A mus'n't
3:35:58
Speaker 3: there's half the world between us. Oh, don't try to
3:36:01
Speaker 3: make me believe it when it can't be true. Come
3:36:05
Speaker 3: with me, replied Clee. Never, never in my life has
3:36:10
Speaker 3: it been my fate to see before or since a
3:36:13
Speaker 3: sight so touching as the meeting of these two young hearts.
3:36:18
Speaker 3: When the door of the cold bare room opened and
3:36:21
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle as Maralda entered, the lover held out his weak
3:36:26
Speaker 3: arms with a sob, a sob of rapture and yet
3:36:30
Speaker 3: terrible to hear. I thought you'd gone back on me,
3:36:34
Speaker 3: as Moraldi, he cried, I thought you'd gone back on me. Clellie,
3:36:40
Speaker 3: and I turned away and left them, as the girl
3:36:43
Speaker 3: fell upon her knees at his side. The effect produced
3:36:48
Speaker 3: upon the father, who had followed Mademoiselle as usual, and
3:36:51
Speaker 3: whom we found patiently seated upon the bottom step of
3:36:54
Speaker 3: the flight of stairs awaiting our arrival, was almost indescribable.
3:36:59
Speaker 3: He sank back upon his seat with a gasp, clutching
3:37:02
Speaker 3: at his hat with both hands. He also disbelieved w wash,
3:37:08
Speaker 3: he exclaimed weakly. Laurel, No, Laurel, no, not wash.
3:37:15
Speaker 1: Wash.
3:37:16
Speaker 3: He is in North Carolina. Lord no, he is upstairs,
3:37:23
Speaker 3: returned Clee, and Mademoiselle is with him. During the recovery
3:37:28
Speaker 3: of Monsieur wash, though but little was said upon the subject,
3:37:32
Speaker 3: it is my opinion that the minds of each of
3:37:35
Speaker 3: our number pointed only toward one course in the future.
3:37:40
Speaker 3: In Mademoiselle's demeanor there appeared a certain air of new
3:37:43
Speaker 3: courage and determination, though she was still pallid and anxious.
3:37:47
Speaker 3: It was as if she had passed a climax and
3:37:50
Speaker 3: had gained strength. Monsieur the Father was alternately nervous and ejected,
3:37:56
Speaker 3: or in feverishly high spirits. Occasionally he sat for some
3:38:00
Speaker 3: time without speaking, merely gazing into the fire with a
3:38:03
Speaker 3: hand upon each knee. And it was one evening after
3:38:07
Speaker 3: a more than usually prolonged silence of this description, that
3:38:10
Speaker 3: he finally took upon himself the burden which lay upon
3:38:13
Speaker 3: us unitedly. Is Moeraldi, he remarked, tremulously and with manifest trepidation,
3:38:22
Speaker 3: as Moraldi, I've been thinking it's time we broke it
3:38:26
Speaker 3: to mother. The girl lost color, but she lifted her
3:38:31
Speaker 3: head steadily. Yes, father, she answered, it's time. Yes, he echoed,
3:38:40
Speaker 3: rubbing his knees slowly, it's time. And is Moraldi it's
3:38:46
Speaker 3: a thing too? The saurus set a man back. Yes, father,
3:38:51
Speaker 3: she answered again, yes, as before, though his voice broke somewhat.
3:38:59
Speaker 3: And I dare say you know how it'll be, as Moraldi,
3:39:04
Speaker 3: that you'll have to choose betwixt mother and wash. She
3:39:10
Speaker 3: sat by her lover, and for answer she dropped her
3:39:12
Speaker 3: face upon his hand with a sob N. And you've
3:39:17
Speaker 3: chose wash, aes Moraldi. Yes, father, He hesitated a moment,
3:39:25
Speaker 3: and then took his hat from his place of concealment
3:39:28
Speaker 3: and rose. It's natural, he said, And it's right. I
3:39:35
Speaker 3: wouldn't want it no other way, and you mustn't mind,
3:39:38
Speaker 3: des Moraldi. It's been kind of rough on me as
3:39:41
Speaker 3: can't go back on mother Havin swore to cherish her
3:39:44
Speaker 3: till death.
3:39:45
Speaker 2: Do us part.
3:39:46
Speaker 3: You've allays been a good gal to me an, we've
3:39:49
Speaker 3: thought a heap on each other, and I reckon it.
3:39:51
Speaker 3: Can allers be the same way, even though we're separated,
3:39:55
Speaker 3: For it's natural you should have chose wash an An.
3:40:00
Speaker 3: I wouldn't have it no other way, as Moraldi. Now
3:40:03
Speaker 3: I'll go and have it out with mother. We were
3:40:07
Speaker 3: all sufficiently unprepared for the announcement to be startled by it.
3:40:11
Speaker 3: Mademoiselle Esmeralda, who was weeping bitterly, half sprang to her
3:40:16
Speaker 3: feet to night She said, oh, father, yes, he replied,
3:40:24
Speaker 3: I've been thinking over it, and I don't see no
3:40:27
Speaker 3: other way, and it may as well be to ned
3:40:29
Speaker 3: as any other time. After leaving us, he was absent
3:40:34
Speaker 3: for about an hour. When he returned, there were traces
3:40:38
Speaker 3: in his appearance of the storm for which he had passed.
3:40:41
Speaker 3: His hands trembled with agitation. He even looked weakened as
3:40:45
Speaker 3: he sank into his chair. We regarded him with commiseration.
3:40:51
Speaker 3: It's over, he half whispered, and it was even rougher
3:40:56
Speaker 3: than I thought it would be. She was terrible auded,
3:41:00
Speaker 3: was mother. I reckon? I never see her so outed before.
3:41:04
Speaker 3: She jest raged and tore. It was more than I
3:41:07
Speaker 3: could stand, Desmeraldi, and he dropped his head upon his
3:41:11
Speaker 3: hands for support. Seemed like it was the marquis as
3:41:15
Speaker 3: laid heaviest upon her. He proceeded. She was terrible sot
3:41:20
Speaker 3: on the Marquess, and every time she think of him,
3:41:23
Speaker 3: she'd just rear, sheest rear. I never stood up again, mother,
3:41:28
Speaker 3: afore an I hope I sha'n't never have it to
3:41:31
Speaker 3: do again in my time. I'm kind O wore out.
3:41:36
Speaker 3: Little by little, we leaned much of what had passed,
3:41:39
Speaker 3: though he evidently withheld the most for the sake of Mademoiselle.
3:41:43
Speaker 3: And it was some time before he broke the news
3:41:45
Speaker 3: to her that her mother's doors were closed against her.
3:41:50
Speaker 3: I think you'll find it pleasanter a stoppin here, he said.
3:41:54
Speaker 3: If miss day Marle bored ye until the time for
3:41:57
Speaker 3: starting home, her spirit was so up that she said
3:42:00
Speaker 3: she didn't aim to see you no more. And you
3:42:03
Speaker 3: know how she is as Moraldi when her spirit's up.
3:42:07
Speaker 3: The girl went and clung around his neck, kneeling at
3:42:10
Speaker 3: his side and shedding tears. Oh, father, she cried, You've
3:42:15
Speaker 3: bore a great deal for me. You've born more than
3:42:18
Speaker 3: any one knows, and all for me. He looked rather
3:42:23
Speaker 3: grave as he shook his head at the fire. That's so,
3:42:27
Speaker 3: is Moraldi, he replied. But we allays seemed nigh to
3:42:32
Speaker 3: each other somehow, and when it come to the worst,
3:42:35
Speaker 3: I was bound to kinder to make a stand for you,
3:42:38
Speaker 3: as I couldn't have made for myself. I couldn't have
3:42:41
Speaker 3: done it for myself. Lord No, So Mademoiselle remained with us,
3:42:48
Speaker 3: and Cleille assisted her to prepare her simple outfit. And
3:42:52
Speaker 3: in the evening, the tall young lover came into our
3:42:55
Speaker 3: apartment and sat looking on which aspect of affairs I
3:42:58
Speaker 3: will confess was in highly knew to Clealy, and yet
3:43:02
Speaker 3: did not displease her. Their candor moves me, she said.
3:43:08
Speaker 3: He openly regards her with adoration. At parting, she accompanies
3:43:12
Speaker 3: him to the door, and he embraces her tenderly. And
3:43:15
Speaker 3: yet one is not repelled. It is the love of
3:43:19
Speaker 3: the lost Arcadia, serious and innocent. Finally we went with
3:43:25
Speaker 3: them one morning to the American Chapel in the Rue
3:43:28
Speaker 3: de Baron, and they were united in our presence and
3:43:32
Speaker 3: that of Monsieur, who was indescribably affected. After the completion
3:43:37
Speaker 3: of the ceremony, he presented Monsieur Roche with a package.
3:43:41
Speaker 3: It's papers as I've had drawed up for Esmeraldi. He said,
3:43:46
Speaker 3: it'll start you well out in the world. Then after
3:43:49
Speaker 3: me and mother's gone, there's no one but you and
3:43:51
Speaker 3: her to have rest the Lord. May the Lord bless you.
3:43:57
Speaker 3: We accompanied them to have and did not to leave
3:44:00
Speaker 3: them until the last moment. Monsieur was strangely excited and
3:44:04
Speaker 3: clung to the hands of his daughter and son in law,
3:44:07
Speaker 3: talking fast and nervously and pouring out messages to be
3:44:11
Speaker 3: delivered to his distant friends. Tell m I'd lack powerful
3:44:15
Speaker 3: well to see em all, and I'd have come only
3:44:18
Speaker 3: only things were kind or unconvenient sometime perhaps. But here
3:44:24
Speaker 3: he was obliged to clear his throat, as his voice
3:44:27
Speaker 3: had become extremely husky, and having done this he added,
3:44:31
Speaker 3: in an undertone, you see, Esmeralde, I couldn't because mother,
3:44:37
Speaker 3: as I've sworn not to go back on wash, he
3:44:40
Speaker 3: wouldn't go back on you, however high your spirit was,
3:44:44
Speaker 3: and I can't go back on mother. The figures of
3:44:48
Speaker 3: the young couple standing at the side Monsieur Wash holding
3:44:52
Speaker 3: his wife to his breast with one strong arm, were
3:44:55
Speaker 3: the last we saw as the ship moved slowly away.
3:45:00
Speaker 3: It is obscurity to which they are returning, I said,
3:45:04
Speaker 3: half unconsciously. It is love, said Cleie. The father, who
3:45:11
Speaker 3: had been standing about came back to us, replacing in
3:45:15
Speaker 3: his pocket his handkerchief. They are young and likely, you see,
3:45:21
Speaker 3: said Monsieur, and life before them. And it's natural, as
3:45:25
Speaker 3: she should have chose Wash, as was young too, and
3:45:29
Speaker 3: sought on her lord. It's natural, and I wouldn't have
3:45:34
Speaker 3: it no other ways. End of Section eleven.
3:45:40
Speaker 5: My Robin, They came to me among the letters I
3:45:46
Speaker 5: received last spring, one which touched me very closely. It
3:45:51
Speaker 5: was a letter full of delightful things. But the delightful
3:45:54
Speaker 5: thing which so reached my soul was a question. The
3:45:58
Speaker 5: writer had been reading The Secret Garden, and her question
3:46:02
Speaker 5: was this, did you own the original of the Robin?
3:46:07
Speaker 5: He could not have been a mere creature of fantasy.
3:46:10
Speaker 5: I feel sure you owned him. I was thrilled to
3:46:14
Speaker 5: the center of my being here was some one who
3:46:17
Speaker 5: plainly had been intimate with robins, English robins. I wrote
3:46:22
Speaker 5: and explained as far as one could in a letter
3:46:25
Speaker 5: what I am now going to relate in detail. I
3:46:30
Speaker 5: did not own the robin. He owned me, or perhaps
3:46:34
Speaker 5: we owned each other. He was an English robin, and
3:46:38
Speaker 5: he was a person, not a mere bird. An English
3:46:42
Speaker 5: robin differs greatly from the American one. He is much
3:46:46
Speaker 5: smaller and quite differently shaped. His body is daintily round
3:46:50
Speaker 5: and plump, His legs are delicately slender. He is a
3:46:54
Speaker 5: graceful little patrician with an astonishing allurement of bearing. His
3:46:59
Speaker 5: eye large and dark and dewy. He wears a tight
3:47:03
Speaker 5: little red satin waistcoat on his full round breast, and
3:47:06
Speaker 5: every tilt of his head, every flirt of his wing,
3:47:09
Speaker 5: is instinct with dramatic significance. He is fascinatingly conceited. He
3:47:16
Speaker 5: burns with curiosity. He is determined to engage in social
3:47:20
Speaker 5: relations at almost any cost, and his raging jealousy of
3:47:25
Speaker 5: attention paid to less worthy objects than himself drives him
3:47:29
Speaker 5: at times to efforts to charm and distract, which are irresistible.
3:47:34
Speaker 5: An intimacy with a robin. An English robin is a
3:47:38
Speaker 5: liberal education. This particular one I knew in my rose
3:47:44
Speaker 5: garden in Kent. I feel sure he was born there,
3:47:48
Speaker 5: and for a summer at least believed it to be
3:47:50
Speaker 5: the world. It was a lovesome, mystic place, shut in
3:47:55
Speaker 5: partly by old red brick walls against which fruit trees
3:47:58
Speaker 5: were trained, and partly by a laurel hedge with a
3:48:01
Speaker 5: wood behind it. It was my habit to sit and
3:48:05
Speaker 5: write there under an age rythen tree gray with lichen
3:48:09
Speaker 5: and festooned with roses. The soft silence of it, the
3:48:14
Speaker 5: remoter aloofness, were the most perfect ever dreamed of. But
3:48:19
Speaker 5: let me not be led astray by the garden. I
3:48:22
Speaker 5: must be firm and confine myself to the robin. The
3:48:27
Speaker 5: garden shall be another story. There were so many people
3:48:32
Speaker 5: in this garden, people with feathers or fir, who, because
3:48:36
Speaker 5: I sat so quietly, did not mind me in the
3:48:39
Speaker 5: least that it was not a surprising thing when I
3:48:42
Speaker 5: looked up one summer morning to see a small bird
3:48:45
Speaker 5: hopping about the grass a yard or so away from me.
3:48:50
Speaker 5: The surprise was not that he was there, but that
3:48:52
Speaker 5: he stayed there, or rather he continued to hop with short,
3:48:57
Speaker 5: reflective looking hops, and that while hoping, he looked at
3:49:01
Speaker 5: me not in a furtive, flighty way, but rather as
3:49:05
Speaker 5: a person might tentatively regard a very new acquaintance. The
3:49:10
Speaker 5: absolute truth of the matter, I had reason to believe
3:49:13
Speaker 5: later was that he did not know I was a person.
3:49:17
Speaker 5: I may have been the first of my species he
3:49:19
Speaker 5: had seen in this rose garden world of his, and
3:49:22
Speaker 5: he thought I was only another kind of robin. I was, too, though,
3:49:28
Speaker 5: that was a secret of mine, and nobody but myself
3:49:31
Speaker 5: knew it. Because of this fact, I had the power
3:49:35
Speaker 5: of holding myself still, quite still, and filling myself with
3:49:41
Speaker 5: softly alluring tenderness of the tenderest when any little wild
3:49:45
Speaker 5: thing came near me, What do you do to make
3:49:50
Speaker 5: him come to you like that? Some one asked me
3:49:52
Speaker 5: a month or so later, What do you do? I
3:49:58
Speaker 5: don't know what I do, exactly, said, except that I
3:50:01
Speaker 5: hold myself very still and feel like a robin. You
3:50:07
Speaker 5: can only do that with a tiny wild thing by
3:50:10
Speaker 5: being so tender of him, of his little timidities and feelings,
3:50:15
Speaker 5: so daringly anxious not to startle him or suggest by
3:50:19
Speaker 5: any movement the possibility of your being a creature who
3:50:22
Speaker 5: could hurt. That your very yearning to understand his tiny
3:50:26
Speaker 5: hopes and fears and desires makes you, for the time
3:50:30
Speaker 5: cease to be quite a mere human thing, and give
3:50:33
Speaker 5: you another and more exquisite sense, which speaks for you
3:50:37
Speaker 5: without speech. As I sat and watched him, I held
3:50:42
Speaker 5: myself softly still, and felt just that I did not
3:50:48
Speaker 5: know he was a robin. The truth was that he
3:50:51
Speaker 5: was too young at that time to look like one.
3:50:54
Speaker 5: But I did not know that either. He was plainly
3:50:58
Speaker 5: not a thrush or a linet, a sparrow, or a
3:51:00
Speaker 5: starling or a blackbird. He was a little indeterminate colored bird,
3:51:06
Speaker 5: and he had no red on his breast. And as
3:51:09
Speaker 5: I sat and gazed at him, he gazed at me
3:51:12
Speaker 5: as one quite without prejudice, unless it might be with
3:51:16
Speaker 5: the slightest tinge of favor, and hopped and hopped and hopped.
3:51:24
Speaker 5: That was the thrill and wonder of it. No bird,
3:51:27
Speaker 5: however evident his acknowledgment of my harmlessness, had ever hopped
3:51:32
Speaker 5: and remained. Many had perched for a moment in the
3:51:36
Speaker 5: grass or on a near by bow, had trilled or
3:51:39
Speaker 5: chirped or secured a scurrying golden green beetle, and flown away.
3:51:44
Speaker 5: But none had stayed to inquire, to reflect, even to
3:51:49
Speaker 5: seem if one dared to be so bold as to
3:51:52
Speaker 5: hope such a thing to make mysterious almost occult advances
3:51:57
Speaker 5: towards intimacy. Also, I had never before heard of such
3:52:02
Speaker 5: a thing happening to any one, howsoever. Bird loving birds
3:52:07
Speaker 5: are creatures who must be wooed, and it must be
3:52:10
Speaker 5: delicate and careful wooing which allures them into friendship. I
3:52:16
Speaker 5: held my soft stillness. Would he stay? Could it be
3:52:20
Speaker 5: that the last hop was nearer? Yes? It was. The
3:52:25
Speaker 5: moment was a breathless one. Dare one believe that the
3:52:28
Speaker 5: next was nearer still, and the next and the next,
3:52:33
Speaker 5: And that the two yards of distance had become scarcely one,
3:52:37
Speaker 5: and that within that radius he was soberly hopping around
3:52:40
Speaker 5: my very feet, with his quite unafraid eye full upon me.
3:52:45
Speaker 5: This was what was happening. It may not seem exciting,
3:52:49
Speaker 5: but it was that a little wild thing should come
3:52:53
Speaker 5: to one unasked, was of a thrillingness. Touched with awe,
3:53:00
Speaker 5: without stirring a muscle, I began to make low, soft
3:53:03
Speaker 5: little sounds to him, very low and very caressing, indeed
3:53:08
Speaker 5: softer than one makes to a baby. I wanted to
3:53:11
Speaker 5: weave a spell, to establish mental communication, to make magic.
3:53:17
Speaker 5: And as I uttered the tiny sounds, he hopped nearer
3:53:19
Speaker 5: and nearer. Oh, to think that you will come as
3:53:24
Speaker 5: near as that, I whispered to him. You know, you
3:53:29
Speaker 5: know that nothing in the world would make me put
3:53:32
Speaker 5: out my hand or startle you in the least tiniest way.
3:53:37
Speaker 5: You know it because you are a real person as
3:53:39
Speaker 5: well as a lovely, lovely little bird thing. You know
3:53:44
Speaker 5: it because you are a soul. Because of this first morning,
3:53:50
Speaker 5: I knew years later that this was what Mistress Mary
3:53:54
Speaker 5: thought when she bent down in the long walk and
3:53:57
Speaker 5: tried to make Robin sounds. I said it all in
3:54:02
Speaker 5: a whisper, and I think the words must have sounded
3:54:05
Speaker 5: like Robin sounds, because he listened with interest, and at last,
3:54:10
Speaker 5: miracle of miracles, as it seemed to me, he actually
3:54:13
Speaker 5: fluttered up on to a small shrub not two yards
3:54:16
Speaker 5: away from my knee, and sat there as one who
3:54:20
Speaker 5: was pleased with the topic of conversation. I did not move,
3:54:25
Speaker 5: of course, I sat still and waited his pleasure. Not
3:54:29
Speaker 5: for mines of rubies, would I have lifted a finger.
3:54:34
Speaker 5: I think he stayed near me altogether about half an hour.
3:54:38
Speaker 5: Then he disappeared where or even exactly when, I did
3:54:42
Speaker 5: not know. One moment he was hopping among some of
3:54:45
Speaker 5: the rose bushes, and then he was gone. This, in fact,
3:54:50
Speaker 5: was his little mysterious way from first to last, through
3:54:55
Speaker 5: all the months about delicious intimacy. He never let me
3:54:58
Speaker 5: know where he lived. I knew it was in the
3:55:01
Speaker 5: rose garden, but that was all. His extraordinary freedom from
3:55:05
Speaker 5: timorousness was something to think over. After reflecting upon him
3:55:10
Speaker 5: a good deal, I thought I had reached an explanation.
3:55:14
Speaker 5: He had been born in the rose garden, and being
3:55:17
Speaker 5: of a home loving nature, he had declined to follow
3:55:20
Speaker 5: the rest of his family when they had made their
3:55:22
Speaker 5: first flight over the wall into the rose walk, or
3:55:26
Speaker 5: over the Laurel hedge into the pheasant cover behind. He
3:55:31
Speaker 5: had stayed in the rose world, and then had felt lonely,
3:55:35
Speaker 5: without father or mother, or sisters or brothers. Desolateness of
3:55:40
Speaker 5: spirit fell upon him. He saw a creature, I insist
3:55:43
Speaker 5: on believing that. He thought it another order of Robin,
3:55:47
Speaker 5: and approached to see what it would say. Its whole
3:55:51
Speaker 5: bearing was confidence inspiring. It made softly, alluring, if unexplainable sounds.
3:55:57
Speaker 5: He felt its friendliness and affection. It was curious to
3:56:01
Speaker 5: look at, and far too large for any ordinary nest.
3:56:05
Speaker 5: It plainly could not fly, But there was not a
3:56:08
Speaker 5: shadow of inimical sentiment in it. Instinct told him that
3:56:13
Speaker 5: it admired him, It wanted him to remain near. There
3:56:17
Speaker 5: was a certain comfort in its caressing atmosphere. He lightd
3:56:21
Speaker 5: it and felt less desolate. He would return to it
3:56:25
Speaker 5: again the next day. Summer rains kept me in the house.
3:56:31
Speaker 5: The next I went to the rose garden in the
3:56:33
Speaker 5: morning and sat down under my tree to work. I
3:56:36
Speaker 5: had not been there half an hour when I felt
3:56:38
Speaker 5: I must lift my eyes and look. A little indeterminate
3:56:42
Speaker 5: colored bird was hopping quietly about in the grass, quite
3:56:46
Speaker 5: aware of me, as his dew bright eye manifested he
3:56:51
Speaker 5: had come again of intention because we were mates. It
3:56:57
Speaker 5: was the beginning of an intimacy not to be described
3:57:00
Speaker 5: unless one filled a small volume. From that moment, we
3:57:04
Speaker 5: never doubted each other for one second. He knew, and
3:57:08
Speaker 5: I knew. Each morning when I came into the rose garden,
3:57:12
Speaker 5: he came to call on me and discover things he
3:57:14
Speaker 5: wanted to know concerning robins of my size and unusual
3:57:18
Speaker 5: physical confirmation he did not understand, but he was attracted
3:57:23
Speaker 5: by me. Each day I held myself still and tried
3:57:27
Speaker 5: to make Robin sounds expressive of adoring tenderness, and he
3:57:31
Speaker 5: came each day a little nearer. At last arrived a
3:57:37
Speaker 5: day when as I softly left my seat and moved
3:57:39
Speaker 5: about the garden, he actually quietly hopped after me. I
3:57:45
Speaker 5: wish I could remember exactly what length of time elapsed
3:57:49
Speaker 5: before I knew he was really a robin. An ornithologist
3:57:53
Speaker 5: would doubtless know, but I do not. But one morning
3:57:57
Speaker 5: I was bending over a bed of lorette messimiro, and
3:58:01
Speaker 5: I became aware that he had arrived in his usual
3:58:04
Speaker 5: mysterious way without warning. He was standing in the grass,
3:58:09
Speaker 5: and when I turned my eyes upon him, I only
3:58:12
Speaker 5: just saved myself from starting, which would have meant disaster.
3:58:17
Speaker 5: I saw upon his breast the first dawning of a
3:58:20
Speaker 5: flush of color, more tawny than actual red at that stage,
3:58:25
Speaker 5: but it hinted at revelations further subterfusius Useless, I said
3:58:30
Speaker 5: to him, you are betrayed. You are a robin, and
3:58:35
Speaker 5: he did not attempt to deny it, either then or
3:58:38
Speaker 5: at any future time. In less than two weeks he
3:58:41
Speaker 5: revealed a tight, glossy, little bright red satin waistcoat, and
3:58:46
Speaker 5: with it a certain youthful maturity, such as one beholds
3:58:49
Speaker 5: in the wearer of a first dress suit. His movements
3:58:53
Speaker 5: were more brisk and certain. He began to make little
3:58:57
Speaker 5: flights and little sounds, though for some time he made
3:59:00
Speaker 5: no attempt to sing. Instead of appearing suddenly in the
3:59:04
Speaker 5: grass at my feet, a heaveny little rush of wings
3:59:08
Speaker 5: would bring him to a bough over my head, or
3:59:10
Speaker 5: a twig quite near me, where he would tilt daintily,
3:59:14
Speaker 5: taking his silent but quite responsive part in the conversations
3:59:19
Speaker 5: which always took place between us. It was I who talked,
3:59:24
Speaker 5: telling him how I loved him, how satin red his
3:59:27
Speaker 5: waistcoat was, how large and bright his eyes, how delicate
3:59:32
Speaker 5: and elegant his slender legs. I flattered him a great deal.
3:59:37
Speaker 5: He adored flattery, and I am sure he loved me
3:59:40
Speaker 5: most when I told him that it was impossible to
3:59:42
Speaker 5: say anything which could flatter him. It gave him confidence
3:59:46
Speaker 5: in my good taste. One morning, a heavenly sunny one,
3:59:52
Speaker 5: I was conversing with him by the Lorette messimes again,
3:59:55
Speaker 5: and he was evidently much pleased with the things I said.
3:59:59
Speaker 5: Perhaps he liked my hat, which was a large white
4:00:02
Speaker 5: one with the wreath of roses round its crown. I
4:00:06
Speaker 5: saw him look at it, and I gently hinted that
4:00:08
Speaker 5: I had worn it in the hope that he would approve.
4:00:12
Speaker 5: I had broken off a handful of coral pink lorettes
4:00:15
Speaker 5: and was arranging them idly when he spread his wings
4:00:18
Speaker 5: in a sudden upward flight, A tiny swift flight which
4:00:22
Speaker 5: ended among the roses on my hat, the very hat
4:00:25
Speaker 5: on my head. Did I make myself still? Then? Did
4:00:29
Speaker 5: I stir by a single hair's breadth? Who does not know?
4:00:34
Speaker 5: I scarcely let myself breathe. I could not believe that
4:00:38
Speaker 5: such a thing of pure joy could be true. But
4:00:43
Speaker 5: in a minute I realized that he at least was
4:00:46
Speaker 5: not afraid to move. He was perfectly at home. He
4:00:50
Speaker 5: hopped about the brim and examined the roses with delicate pecks.
4:00:54
Speaker 5: That I was under the hat apparently only gave him confidence.
4:00:57
Speaker 5: He knew me as well as that He stayed until
4:01:01
Speaker 5: he had learnt all he wished to know about garden hats,
4:01:04
Speaker 5: and then he lightly flew away. From that time, Each
4:01:08
Speaker 5: day drew us closer to each other. He began to
4:01:11
Speaker 5: perch on twigs only a few inches from my face
4:01:14
Speaker 5: and listen while I whispered to him. Yes, he listened
4:01:19
Speaker 5: and made answer with chirps. Nothing else would describe it.
4:01:24
Speaker 5: As I wrote, he would alight on my manuscript paper
4:01:27
Speaker 5: and try to read. Sometimes I thought he was a
4:01:30
Speaker 5: little offended because he found my handwriting so bad that
4:01:34
Speaker 5: he could not understand it. He would take crumbs out
4:01:37
Speaker 5: of my hand. He would alight on my chair or
4:01:40
Speaker 5: my shoulder. The instant I opened a little door in
4:01:43
Speaker 5: the leaf covered garden wall, I would be greeted by
4:01:46
Speaker 5: the darling little rush of wings, And he was beside me.
4:01:51
Speaker 5: And he always came from nowhere and disappeared into space.
4:01:58
Speaker 5: That through the whole summer was his rarest fascination. Perhaps
4:02:02
Speaker 5: he was not a real robin, Perhaps he was a fairy.
4:02:05
Speaker 5: Who knows. Among the many house parties staying with me,
4:02:09
Speaker 5: he was a subject of thrilled interest. People knew of
4:02:13
Speaker 5: him who had not seen him, and it became accustom
4:02:16
Speaker 5: with callers to say, may we go into the rose
4:02:19
Speaker 5: garden and see the robin. One of my American guests
4:02:23
Speaker 5: said he was uncanny and called him the goblin robin.
4:02:28
Speaker 5: No one had ever seen a thing so curiously human,
4:02:32
Speaker 5: so much more than mere bird. When I took callers
4:02:37
Speaker 5: to the rose garden, he was exquisitely polite. He always
4:02:41
Speaker 5: came when I stood under my tree and called, but
4:02:44
Speaker 5: he never at such times met me with his rush
4:02:47
Speaker 5: to the little door. He would perch near me and talk,
4:02:50
Speaker 5: But there was a difference, certain exquisite intimate charms he
4:02:54
Speaker 5: kept for me alone. I wondered when he would begin
4:02:58
Speaker 5: to sing. One morning, the sun being strong enough to
4:03:02
Speaker 5: pierce through the leaves of my tree, I had a
4:03:05
Speaker 5: large Japanese tent umbrella arranged so that it shaded my table.
4:03:09
Speaker 5: As I wrote. Suddenly I heard a robin's song, which
4:03:13
Speaker 5: sounded as if it were being trued from some tree
4:03:16
Speaker 5: at a little distance from where I sat. It was
4:03:19
Speaker 5: so pretty that I leaned forward to see exactly where
4:03:22
Speaker 5: the singer perched. I made a delicious discovery. He was
4:03:27
Speaker 5: not on a tree at all. He was perched upon
4:03:29
Speaker 5: the very end of one of the bamboo ribs of
4:03:32
Speaker 5: my big flowery umbrella. He was my own robin, And
4:03:36
Speaker 5: there he sat singing to me his first tiny song,
4:03:40
Speaker 5: showing me that he had found out how to do it.
4:03:44
Speaker 5: The effect of singing at a distance was produced by
4:03:47
Speaker 5: the curious fact that he was singing with his bill closed,
4:03:52
Speaker 5: his darling scarlet throat puffed out and tremulous with the
4:03:55
Speaker 5: captive trills. Perhaps a robin's first song is always of
4:04:01
Speaker 5: this order. I do not know. I only know that
4:04:04
Speaker 5: this was his earlier manner. My enraptured delight I expressed
4:04:09
Speaker 5: to him in my most eloquent phrases. I praised him,
4:04:13
Speaker 5: I flattered him, I made him believe that no robin
4:04:17
Speaker 5: had really ever sung before. He was much pleased, and
4:04:21
Speaker 5: flew down on to the table to hear all about
4:04:23
Speaker 5: it and incite me to further effort. In a few
4:04:28
Speaker 5: days he had learnt to sing perfectly, not with the low,
4:04:32
Speaker 5: distant sounding note, but with open break and clear, brilliant
4:04:37
Speaker 5: little roulades and trills. He grew prouder and prouder. When
4:04:42
Speaker 5: he saw I was busy, he would tilt on a
4:04:45
Speaker 5: nearby bow and call me with flirtatious, provocative, outbreaking of song.
4:04:50
Speaker 5: He knew that it was impossible for anyone to resist him,
4:04:54
Speaker 5: any one in the world. Of course, I would get
4:04:57
Speaker 5: up and stand beneath his tree with my face up turned,
4:05:00
Speaker 5: and tell him that his charm, his beauty, his fascination,
4:05:04
Speaker 5: and my love were beyond the power of words to express.
4:05:09
Speaker 5: He knew that would happen, and reveled in it. His
4:05:12
Speaker 5: tiny airs and graces, his devices to attract and absorb
4:05:16
Speaker 5: attention was unending. He invented new ones every day, and
4:05:22
Speaker 5: each was more enslaving than the last. Could it be
4:05:26
Speaker 5: that he was guilty when he met other robins, of
4:05:30
Speaker 5: boasting of his conquest of me and of my utter subjugation.
4:05:34
Speaker 5: I cannot believe it possible. Also, I never saw other
4:05:38
Speaker 5: robins accost him or linger in their passage through the
4:05:41
Speaker 5: rose garden to exchange civilities. And yet a very strange
4:05:46
Speaker 5: thing occurred. On one occasion, I was sitting at my
4:05:50
Speaker 5: table expecting him, and heard a familiar chirp. When I
4:05:55
Speaker 5: looked up, he was a tilt upon the branch of
4:05:57
Speaker 5: an apple tree near by. I greeted him with little
4:06:01
Speaker 5: whistles and twitters, thinking of course, that he would fly
4:06:04
Speaker 5: down to me for our usual conversation. But though he
4:06:08
Speaker 5: chirped a reply and put his head on one side engagingly,
4:06:12
Speaker 5: he did not move from his bow. What is the
4:06:16
Speaker 5: matter with you? I said, come down, Come down, little brother,
4:06:21
Speaker 5: But he did not come. He only sidled and twitted
4:06:24
Speaker 5: and stayed where he was. This was so extraordinary that
4:06:28
Speaker 5: I got up and went to him. As I looked,
4:06:32
Speaker 5: a curious doubt came upon me. He looked like Tweety,
4:06:36
Speaker 5: which had become his baptismal name. He tilted his head
4:06:39
Speaker 5: and flirted and twitted after the manner of Tweety. But
4:06:43
Speaker 5: could it be that he was not what he pretended
4:06:46
Speaker 5: to be? Could he be a stranger bird? That seemed
4:06:51
Speaker 5: out of the question, as no stranger bird would have
4:06:53
Speaker 5: comported himself with such familiarity. No stranger surely would have
4:06:58
Speaker 5: come so near an addressed me with such intimate twitterings
4:07:02
Speaker 5: and well known airs and graces. I was mystified beyond measure.
4:07:08
Speaker 5: I exerted all my powers to lure him from his branch,
4:07:12
Speaker 5: but descend from it he would not. He listened and
4:07:15
Speaker 5: smiled and flirted his tail, but he stayed where he
4:07:19
Speaker 5: was listen. I said, at last, I don't believe in you.
4:07:24
Speaker 5: There is a mystery here. You pretend you know me,
4:07:28
Speaker 5: and yet you act as if you were afraid of me,
4:07:31
Speaker 5: just like a common bird who is made of nothing
4:07:33
Speaker 5: but feathers. I don't believe you are Tweety at all.
4:07:37
Speaker 5: You are an impostor, believable or not. Just at that moment,
4:07:43
Speaker 5: when I stood there under the bough, arguing, reproaching, and
4:07:46
Speaker 5: beguiling by turns, and puzzled beyond measure, out of the
4:07:50
Speaker 5: nowhere darted a little scarlet flame of frenzy. Tweaty himself
4:07:56
Speaker 5: with his feathers ruffled and on fire with fury. The
4:07:59
Speaker 5: robin the branch actually was an impostor, and Tweaty had
4:08:03
Speaker 5: discovered him, red breasted, if not red handed, with crime.
4:08:08
Speaker 5: Oh the sight it was to behold him in his
4:08:11
Speaker 5: tiny berserker rage at his impudent rival. He flew at him,
4:08:16
Speaker 5: He beat him, he smacked him, he pecked him, He
4:08:19
Speaker 5: shrieked bad language at him. He drove him from the branch,
4:08:23
Speaker 5: from the tree, from one tree after another. As the
4:08:26
Speaker 5: little traitor tried to take refuge, he drove him from
4:08:30
Speaker 5: the rose garden, over the laurel hedge, and into the
4:08:32
Speaker 5: pheasant cover in the wood. Perhaps he killed him and
4:08:35
Speaker 5: left him slain in the bracken I could not see,
4:08:39
Speaker 5: but having beaten him once and forever, he came back
4:08:42
Speaker 5: to me, panting, all fluffed up and with bloodthirst, only
4:08:46
Speaker 5: just dying in his eye. He came down on to
4:08:49
Speaker 5: my table, out of breath as he agitated, dear rearranged
4:08:53
Speaker 5: his untidy feathers, and indignant, almost unreconcilable. Because I had
4:08:59
Speaker 5: been so undiscriminating and feeble minded, imbecile as to be
4:09:04
Speaker 5: for one moment deceived, His righteous wrath was awful to behold.
4:09:11
Speaker 5: I was so frightened that I felt quite pale, with
4:09:14
Speaker 5: those whiles of the serpent which every noble woman finds
4:09:17
Speaker 5: herself forced to employ at times. I endeavored to pacify him.
4:09:23
Speaker 5: Of course, I did not really believe he was you,
4:09:25
Speaker 5: I said tremulously. He was your inferior in every respect.
4:09:30
Speaker 5: His waistcoat was not nearly so beautiful as yours, his
4:09:34
Speaker 5: eyes were not so soul compelling, his legs were not
4:09:37
Speaker 5: nearly so elegant and slender, and there was an expression
4:09:41
Speaker 5: about his beak which I distrusted from the first you
4:09:45
Speaker 5: heard me tell him he was an impostor. He began
4:09:49
Speaker 5: to listen, he became calmer, he relented, He kindly ate
4:09:55
Speaker 5: a crumb out of my hand. We began mutually to
4:09:59
Speaker 5: understand the inn for me of the situation. The impostor
4:10:02
Speaker 5: had been secretly watching us. He had envied us our
4:10:06
Speaker 5: happiness into his degenerate mind, had stolen the darkling and
4:10:10
Speaker 5: criminal thought that he, or dacious scoundrel might impose upon
4:10:15
Speaker 5: me by pretending he was not merely a robin, but
4:10:19
Speaker 5: the robin Tweaty himself, and that he might supplant him
4:10:23
Speaker 5: in my affections. But he had been confounded and cast
4:10:27
Speaker 5: into outer darkness, and again we were one. I will
4:10:32
Speaker 5: not attempt to deceive. He was jealous beyond bounds. It
4:10:37
Speaker 5: was necessary for me to be most discreet in my
4:10:39
Speaker 5: demeanor towards the head gardener, with whom I was obliged
4:10:43
Speaker 5: to consult frequently. When he came into the rose garden
4:10:46
Speaker 5: for orders, tweaty At once appeared. He followed us hopping
4:10:51
Speaker 5: in the grass, or from rose bush to rose bush.
4:10:55
Speaker 5: No word of ours escaped him. If our conversation on
4:10:58
Speaker 5: the enthralling subject of fertilizer and aphids seemed, in its
4:11:03
Speaker 5: earnest absorption, to verge upon the emotional and tender he interfered.
4:11:07
Speaker 5: At once, he commanded my attention, He perched on nearby boughs,
4:11:12
Speaker 5: and endeavored to distract me. He fluttered about and called
4:11:16
Speaker 5: me with chirps. His last resource was always to fly
4:11:20
Speaker 5: to the topmost twig of an apple tree and begin
4:11:23
Speaker 5: to sing his most brilliant song, in his most thrilling
4:11:26
Speaker 5: tone and with an affected manner. Naturally we were obliged
4:11:31
Speaker 5: to listen and talk about him. Even Old Barton's weather
4:11:35
Speaker 5: beaten apple face would wrinkle into smiles. He's doing that
4:11:40
Speaker 5: to make us look at him, he would say, that's
4:11:43
Speaker 5: what he's doing it for. He can't abide not to
4:11:46
Speaker 5: be noticed. But it was not only his vanity which
4:11:50
Speaker 5: drew him to me. He loved me. The low song
4:11:54
Speaker 5: trilled in his little pulsating scarlet throat was mine. He
4:11:58
Speaker 5: sang it only to me, and he would never sing
4:12:00
Speaker 5: it when any one else was there to hear, When
4:12:04
Speaker 5: we were quite alone, with only roses and bees and
4:12:07
Speaker 5: sunshine and silence about us. When he swung on some
4:12:11
Speaker 5: spray quite close to me, and I stood and talked
4:12:14
Speaker 5: to him in whispers. Then he would answer me each
4:12:18
Speaker 5: time I paused, with the little, far away sounding trills,
4:12:24
Speaker 5: the sweetest, most wonderful little sounds in the world. A
4:12:29
Speaker 5: clever person who knew more of the habits of birds
4:12:32
Speaker 5: than I did, told me a most curious thing, that
4:12:37
Speaker 5: is his little mating song. He said, you have inspired
4:12:40
Speaker 5: a hopeless passion in a robin. Perhaps so he thought.
4:12:45
Speaker 5: The rose garden was the world, and it seemed to
4:12:48
Speaker 5: me he never went out of it during the summer months.
4:12:51
Speaker 5: At whatsoever hour I appeared and called him, He came
4:12:55
Speaker 5: out of bushes, but from a different point each time.
4:12:59
Speaker 5: In late autumn, however, one afternoon I saw him fly
4:13:03
Speaker 5: to me from over a wall dividing the enclosed garden
4:13:06
Speaker 5: from the open ones. I thought he looked guilty and
4:13:10
Speaker 5: fluttered when he alighted near me. I think he did
4:13:13
Speaker 5: not want me to know. You have been making the
4:13:17
Speaker 5: acquaintance of a young lady Robin. I said to him,
4:13:20
Speaker 5: perhaps you are already engaged to her for the next season.
4:13:25
Speaker 5: He tried to persuade me that it was not true,
4:13:28
Speaker 5: but I felt he was not entirely frank. After that,
4:13:31
Speaker 5: it was plain that he had discovered that the rose
4:13:34
Speaker 5: Garden was not all the world. He knew about the
4:13:37
Speaker 5: other side of the wall, but it did not absorb
4:13:40
Speaker 5: him altogether. He was seldom absent when I came, and
4:13:44
Speaker 5: he never failed to answer my call. I talked to
4:13:48
Speaker 5: him often about the young lady Robin, But though he
4:13:51
Speaker 5: showed a gentlemanly reticence on the subject, I knew quite
4:13:55
Speaker 5: well he loved me best. He loved my robin sounds,
4:13:59
Speaker 5: he loved my whispers. His dewy dark eyes looked into
4:14:02
Speaker 5: mine as if he knew we two understood strange, tender
4:14:07
Speaker 5: things others did not. I was only a mere tenant
4:14:12
Speaker 5: of the beautiful place I had had for nine years,
4:14:15
Speaker 5: and that winter the owner sold the estate. In December,
4:14:19
Speaker 5: I was to go to Montreux for a couple of months.
4:14:23
Speaker 5: In March I was to return to Matham and close
4:14:26
Speaker 5: it before leaving it finally until I left for Switzerland.
4:14:31
Speaker 5: I saw my Robin every day before I went away.
4:14:35
Speaker 5: I called him to me and told him where I
4:14:37
Speaker 5: was going. He was such a little thing. Two or
4:14:41
Speaker 5: three months might seem a lifetime to him. He might
4:14:44
Speaker 5: not remember me so long. I was not a real robin.
4:14:49
Speaker 5: I was only a human being. I said a great
4:14:52
Speaker 5: many things to him, wondering if he would even be
4:14:55
Speaker 5: in the garden when I came back. I went away wondering.
4:15:01
Speaker 5: When I returned from the world of winter sports, of
4:15:04
Speaker 5: mountain snows, of tobogganing and skis, I felt as if
4:15:08
Speaker 5: I had been absent a long time. There had been
4:15:11
Speaker 5: snow even in Kent, and the park and gardens were white.
4:15:16
Speaker 5: I arrived in the evening the next morning. I threw
4:15:19
Speaker 5: on my red friezed garden cloak and went down the
4:15:22
Speaker 5: flagged terrace and the long walk through the wall gardens
4:15:26
Speaker 5: to the beloved place where the rose bushes stood, dark
4:15:29
Speaker 5: and slender and leafless among the whiteness. I went to
4:15:33
Speaker 5: my own tree and stood under it and called, Are
4:15:38
Speaker 5: you gone? I said, in my heart, are you gone?
4:15:41
Speaker 5: Little soul? Shall I never see you again? After the call,
4:15:46
Speaker 5: I waited, and I had never waited before. The roses
4:15:51
Speaker 5: were gone, and he was not in the rose world.
4:15:55
Speaker 5: I called again. The call was sometimes a soft whistle
4:15:59
Speaker 5: and as near a rob and sound as I could
4:16:01
Speaker 5: make it. Sometimes it was a chirp. Sometimes it was
4:16:06
Speaker 5: a quick, clear repetition of sweet, sweet sweetie, which I
4:16:10
Speaker 5: fancied he liked best. I made one after the other,
4:16:15
Speaker 5: and then something scarlet flashed across the lawn, across the
4:16:20
Speaker 5: rose walk, over the wall, and he was there. He
4:16:24
Speaker 5: had not forgotten. It had not been too long. He
4:16:28
Speaker 5: alighted on the snowy brown grass at my feet. Then
4:16:33
Speaker 5: I knew he was a little soul, and not only
4:16:36
Speaker 5: a bird. And the real parting, which must come in
4:16:39
Speaker 5: a few weeks time, loomed up before me, a strange,
4:16:42
Speaker 5: tragic thing. I do not often allow myself to think
4:16:48
Speaker 5: of it. It was too final, and there was nothing
4:16:52
Speaker 5: to be done. I was going thousands of miles across
4:16:56
Speaker 5: the sea. A little warm thing of scarlet and brown
4:16:59
Speaker 5: feathers and pulsating trilling throat lived such a brief life,
4:17:04
Speaker 5: the little soul in its black dewdrop eye. One knows
4:17:08
Speaker 5: nothing about it. For myself, I sometimes believe strange things.
4:17:13
Speaker 5: We two were something weirdly near to each other. At
4:17:18
Speaker 5: the end. I went down to the bare world of
4:17:20
Speaker 5: roses one soft damp day and stood under the tree
4:17:24
Speaker 5: and called him for the last time. He did not
4:17:27
Speaker 5: keep me waiting, and he flew to a twig very
4:17:30
Speaker 5: near my face. I could not write all I said
4:17:34
Speaker 5: to him. I tried with all my heart to explain,
4:17:38
Speaker 5: and he answered me between his listenings with the far
4:17:42
Speaker 5: away love note. I talked to him as if he
4:17:46
Speaker 5: knew all I knew. He put his head on one
4:17:49
Speaker 5: side and listened so intently that I felt that he understood.
4:17:54
Speaker 5: I told him that I must go away, and that
4:17:56
Speaker 5: we should not see each other again. And I told
4:17:59
Speaker 5: him why. But you must not think when I do
4:18:03
Speaker 5: not come back, it is because I have forgotten you,
4:18:05
Speaker 5: I said. Never since I was born have I loved
4:18:08
Speaker 5: anything as I have loved you, except my two babies.
4:18:13
Speaker 5: Never shall I love anything so much again, so long
4:18:15
Speaker 5: as I am in the world. You are a little
4:18:18
Speaker 5: soul and I am a little soul. And we shall
4:18:21
Speaker 5: love each other forever and ever. We won't say good bye.
4:18:25
Speaker 5: We have been too near to each other, nearer than
4:18:29
Speaker 5: human beings are. I love you, and love you, and
4:18:34
Speaker 5: love you, little soul. Then I went out of the
4:18:38
Speaker 5: rose garden. I shall never go into it again.
4:18:43
Speaker 4: Nay, she wrote, Little daughter Prue, said Anna, her sabbots
4:18:50
Speaker 4: clattering loudly on the brick floor as she moves more
4:18:53
Speaker 4: rapidly in her wrath prue, madam she rolled. Indeed, there
4:18:59
Speaker 4: was a time, and it was but two years ago,
4:19:01
Speaker 4: that she was but plain Mare Girod, and no better
4:19:05
Speaker 4: than the rest of us. And it seems to me, neighbors,
4:19:10
Speaker 4: that it is not well to show pride because one
4:19:12
Speaker 4: has the luck to be favored by fortune. Where forsoof
4:19:17
Speaker 4: would are Madam Girod stand if luck had not given
4:19:22
Speaker 4: her a daughter pretty enough to win a witch husband. True, indeed,
4:19:27
Speaker 4: echoed two of the gossips who were her admiring listeners,
4:19:31
Speaker 4: True beyond doubt. Where indeed, but the third, a comely,
4:19:36
Speaker 4: fresh skinned matron who leaned against the door and knitted
4:19:40
Speaker 4: a stout gray stocking with fast clashing needles, did not
4:19:44
Speaker 4: acquiesce so readily. Well, Well, neighbors, she said, for my part,
4:19:50
Speaker 4: I do not see much to complain of Mayor Girod.
4:19:53
Speaker 4: She is still may Girod to me, is as honest
4:19:56
Speaker 4: and kindly a soul as Ever, it is not she
4:19:59
Speaker 4: who is called herself Madame Girod. It is others who
4:20:02
Speaker 4: are foolish enough to fancy that good luck must change
4:20:06
Speaker 4: one's old ways. If she had the wish to be
4:20:09
Speaker 4: a grand personage, she would not have left our village
4:20:12
Speaker 4: before this and have joined Madame le Grande in Paris.
4:20:16
Speaker 4: On the contrary, however, she remains in her cottage and
4:20:20
Speaker 4: is as good a neighbor as ever, even though she
4:20:24
Speaker 4: is fond of talking of the carriages and jewels in
4:20:26
Speaker 4: Madame le Grande and her establishment on the Boulevard Mauchcherbs.
4:20:31
Speaker 4: In fact, I ask you who of us would not
4:20:34
Speaker 4: rejoice also to be the mother of our daughter, whose
4:20:36
Speaker 4: fortune had been so good. That is also true, commented
4:20:42
Speaker 4: the amiable couple, nodding their white capped heads with a
4:20:46
Speaker 4: sagacious air. True, without doubt. But Anno replied her contemptuous
4:20:53
Speaker 4: sugar of her shoulders. Wait until Madame Girard is invited
4:20:56
Speaker 4: to visit the Boulevard Mauchcherbs. She said, we have not
4:21:00
Speaker 4: heard that this has happened. Yet she would not go
4:21:05
Speaker 4: if she were at least not to remain. Her heart
4:21:09
Speaker 4: has grown to the old place sheep or her children in,
4:21:11
Speaker 4: as she has herself said to me, most sensibly law
4:21:15
Speaker 4: is young and will learn easily the ways of the
4:21:17
Speaker 4: great world. I am old, and cannot I am battered
4:21:21
Speaker 4: at home among my neighbors. Doubtless, however, in course of
4:21:26
Speaker 4: time she will pay Madame le Grand a visit at
4:21:28
Speaker 4: her home in Paris, or at the chateau which Monsieur
4:21:32
Speaker 4: le Grand, of course possesses, as the rich and aristocratic
4:21:35
Speaker 4: always do, doubtless, said Anna grimly. Doubtless honest Jean Tallow
4:21:43
Speaker 4: passed us stare by and went on with stout gravity
4:21:46
Speaker 4: of demeanor. There is only one thing for which I
4:21:49
Speaker 4: somewhat blamed margyand and that is that I think she
4:21:52
Speaker 4: has scarcely done her duty toward Valentine. He disappointed her
4:21:56
Speaker 4: by being an ugly lad instead of a pretty girl,
4:21:59
Speaker 4: and she had not paidatience with him. Law was the favorite.
4:22:02
Speaker 4: Whatever Law did was right, and it was not so
4:22:05
Speaker 4: with the other. Though I myself known that Valentin was
4:22:09
Speaker 4: a good lad and tender hearted. Once put in a
4:22:15
Speaker 4: white cap, I saw her beat him severely because he
4:22:18
Speaker 4: fell with the little girl in his arms and scratched
4:22:21
Speaker 4: her cheek. And it was not his fault. His foot
4:22:25
Speaker 4: slipped upon a stone. He was carrying the child carefully
4:22:28
Speaker 4: and tenderly. Enough. You are right in calling him a
4:22:31
Speaker 4: good lad, neighbor, Tallow, he was a good lad, Valentine Girod,
4:22:36
Speaker 4: and fond of his mother, notwithstanding that she was not
4:22:39
Speaker 4: fond of him, Yes, added her companion. But it is
4:22:43
Speaker 4: a truth that he was a great contrast to the
4:22:45
Speaker 4: girl mon Dieu, his long limbs and awkward body, his
4:22:49
Speaker 4: great sad eyes and ugly face. While law was she
4:22:53
Speaker 4: not tall and slender and white like a lily in
4:22:57
Speaker 4: a garden, And her voice was like the ringing of silver,
4:23:01
Speaker 4: and her eyes so soft and large as an infant.
4:23:06
Speaker 4: She reminded one of Little Jesus as one sees him
4:23:09
Speaker 4: in the churches. No wonder that Mare Girord fettered at
4:23:13
Speaker 4: the difference between the two, and Valentine was her first,
4:23:18
Speaker 4: And what mother does not look for great things in
4:23:21
Speaker 4: her first? We cannot help feeling that something must come
4:23:24
Speaker 4: of one's own charms, if one has any. And Mayor
4:23:28
Speaker 4: Girrod was a handsome bride. An ugly bantling seems to
4:23:31
Speaker 4: offer one a sort of insult, particularly at first when
4:23:35
Speaker 4: one is young and vain. There is no more beautiful
4:23:40
Speaker 4: young girl than low Girrod at sixteen, said jean Tello,
4:23:45
Speaker 4: and none more useless, said Anno loudly gave me a
4:23:49
Speaker 4: young girl who is industrious and honest. My Margot is
4:23:53
Speaker 4: better provided for than low Girrod was before her marriage.
4:23:57
Speaker 4: But her hands are not white, nor is her but
4:24:00
Speaker 4: a span around. She has too much work to do.
4:24:05
Speaker 4: She is not a tall, white, swaying creature who is
4:24:08
Speaker 4: too good to churn and tender creatures who give her food.
4:24:12
Speaker 4: I have heard it said that Law would have worked
4:24:15
Speaker 4: if her mother had permitted it, But I don't believe it.
4:24:18
Speaker 4: She had not a working luck, Mademoiselle. Law was too
4:24:22
Speaker 4: good for the labor of humble people. She must go
4:24:25
Speaker 4: to Paris and learn a fine, delicate trade. But good
4:24:30
Speaker 4: came of it. Put in jean Tallow, it proved all
4:24:32
Speaker 4: the better for her. Let her mother thanked the virgin,
4:24:36
Speaker 4: then cried Anna contemptuously. It might not have proved the better.
4:24:41
Speaker 4: It might have proved the worse. Evil might have come
4:24:45
Speaker 4: of it instead of good. Who among us has not
4:24:48
Speaker 4: heard of such things? Did not marry Gaudier go to
4:24:51
Speaker 4: Paris too, Ah, poor little one indeed sighed the white cups,
4:24:58
Speaker 4: and in two years, added Anno. Her mother died of
4:25:02
Speaker 4: a broken heart, But said cheerful Jeanne somewhat dryly, Law's
4:25:09
Speaker 4: mother is not dead yet. So let us congratulate ourselves
4:25:12
Speaker 4: that to go to Paris has brought luck to one
4:25:14
Speaker 4: of our number at least, And let us deal charitably
4:25:17
Speaker 4: with mere Giroud, who certainly means well and is only
4:25:21
Speaker 4: naturally proud of her daughter's grandeur. For my part, I
4:25:24
Speaker 4: can afford to rejoice with her. She rolled up her
4:25:28
Speaker 4: stout stocking into a ball and stuck her needles through it,
4:25:31
Speaker 4: nodding at the free women. I promised I would drop
4:25:35
Speaker 4: in and spend a few minutes with her this morning.
4:25:37
Speaker 4: She said, so, I'll bid you good day, and she
4:25:40
Speaker 4: stepped across the threshold and trudged off in the sunshine,
4:25:44
Speaker 4: her wooden shoes sounding bravely on the path. It was
4:25:48
Speaker 4: only a little place, Saint Qui, as we shall call it,
4:25:51
Speaker 4: for want of a better name, our little village of
4:25:54
Speaker 4: one street, and of many vines and roses and orchards,
4:25:57
Speaker 4: and of much gossip. The poor people inhabited it, simple
4:26:02
Speaker 4: ignorant folk who knew one another and discussed one another's
4:26:06
Speaker 4: faults and grape crops with equal frankness, worked hard, lived frugally,
4:26:11
Speaker 4: confessed regularly, and slept well. Devout people and ignorant, who
4:26:17
Speaker 4: believed that the little shrines they erected in their vineyards
4:26:20
Speaker 4: brought blessings upon their grapes, and who knew nothing of
4:26:24
Speaker 4: the great world beyond, and spoke of Paris with awe
4:26:27
Speaker 4: and even with a shade of doubt. Living the same
4:26:31
Speaker 4: lives generation after generation, tilling the same crops, and praying
4:26:36
Speaker 4: before the same stone altar in a small, quaint church,
4:26:40
Speaker 4: it is not to be wondered at that when a
4:26:42
Speaker 4: change occurred to any one of their number, it was
4:26:45
Speaker 4: regarded as a sort of social era. There were those
4:26:49
Speaker 4: in Saint Croix who had known Meagurrod's grandfather, a slow spoken,
4:26:54
Speaker 4: kindly old peasant who had drunk his van ordinaire and
4:26:58
Speaker 4: smoked his pipe with the poor forest. And there was
4:27:01
Speaker 4: not one who did not well know New Zerod herself,
4:27:05
Speaker 4: and who had not watched the growth of the little
4:27:08
Speaker 4: law who had bloomed into a beauty not unlike the
4:27:12
Speaker 4: beauty of the white Provence roses which climbed over and
4:27:15
Speaker 4: around her mother's cottage door. May your Rod's little daughter,
4:27:20
Speaker 4: she had been called, even after she grew into the
4:27:23
Speaker 4: wonderfully tall and wonderfully fair creature she became before she
4:27:27
Speaker 4: left the village accompanying her brother Valentine to Paris. Ma FOI,
4:27:34
Speaker 4: said the man, But she is truly a beauty. May's
4:27:37
Speaker 4: your Odd's little daughter. She would be well looked to,
4:27:41
Speaker 4: said the wiseacres neare's your Od's little daughter. There is
4:27:46
Speaker 4: one we must always give way before, said the best
4:27:49
Speaker 4: natured among the girls, and that one is mayors Your's
4:27:53
Speaker 4: little daughter. The old Ciure the parish took interest in
4:27:57
Speaker 4: her and gave her lessons, and as mar Girod would
4:28:01
Speaker 4: have held her strictly to them. Even if she had
4:28:04
Speaker 4: not been tractable and studious by nature, she was better
4:28:08
Speaker 4: educated and more gently trained than her companions. The fact was, however,
4:28:14
Speaker 4: that she had not many companions. Some element in her
4:28:17
Speaker 4: grace and beauty seemed to separate her from the rest
4:28:20
Speaker 4: of her class. Village sports and festivities had little attraction
4:28:25
Speaker 4: for her, and upon the whole she seemed out of
4:28:28
Speaker 4: place among them. Her stature, her fair still face, and
4:28:33
Speaker 4: her slow, quiet movements suggested rather embarrassingly to the humble
4:28:38
Speaker 4: feasters the presence of some young princess far above them.
4:28:42
Speaker 4: Pouf said a sharp tongued bell. One day, I have
4:28:46
Speaker 4: no patience with her. She is so tall this law,
4:28:50
Speaker 4: that one must be forever looking up to her, And I,
4:28:53
Speaker 4: for one, do not care to be forever looking up.
4:28:57
Speaker 4: The hint of refined pride in her demeanor was Mayor
4:29:00
Speaker 4: Girrod's greatest glory. She is not like the rest my law,
4:29:05
Speaker 4: she would say to her son. One can see it
4:29:07
Speaker 4: in the way in which she holds her head. She
4:29:10
Speaker 4: has the quiet, grave air of a great personage. There
4:29:14
Speaker 4: were many who wondered that Valentine showed no jealousy or
4:29:18
Speaker 4: distaste at hearing his sister's praises sounded so frequently to
4:29:22
Speaker 4: his own detriment. There was no praise for him. The
4:29:27
Speaker 4: poor fond mother's heart was full of law. Her son
4:29:33
Speaker 4: had been a bitter disappointment to her, and to her mind,
4:29:36
Speaker 4: was fitted for nothing but to make himself an adoring
4:29:39
Speaker 4: slave to his sister's beauty. And this the gentle, generous
4:29:43
Speaker 4: fellow certainly was. He was always ready to serve her,
4:29:48
Speaker 4: always affectionate, always faithful, And Ney Girrod, who was blind
4:29:54
Speaker 4: to or careless of all his loving, constant labor for
4:29:58
Speaker 4: her own comfort, deigned to see that he did his
4:30:01
Speaker 4: duty toward law. He has at least a sense to
4:30:05
Speaker 4: appreciate her as far as he is able. She said.
4:30:10
Speaker 1: So.
4:30:11
Speaker 4: When Valentine, who had a talent for engraving, was discovered
4:30:14
Speaker 4: by some one who understood his genius and could make
4:30:17
Speaker 4: use of it, and was offered a place in a
4:30:19
Speaker 4: great gay city, nere Girod formed an ambitious plan. He
4:30:25
Speaker 4: should take law and find her a position. Also, she
4:30:29
Speaker 4: had the fingers of a fair magician and could embroider marvelously.
4:30:34
Speaker 4: So she trusted law to him, and the two bade
4:30:37
Speaker 4: farewell to Saint Croix and departed together. A month passed,
4:30:42
Speaker 4: and then there came a letter containing good news. Valentine
4:30:46
Speaker 4: was doing well and law also she had found a
4:30:50
Speaker 4: place in a great family, where she was to embroider
4:30:53
Speaker 4: and wait upon a young lady. They were rich people
4:30:56
Speaker 4: and were kind and paid her well, and she was happy.
4:31:02
Speaker 4: When they first saw her, they were astonished, wrote the
4:31:05
Speaker 4: simple tender Valentine. I went with her to present herself.
4:31:09
Speaker 4: My employer had recommended her. There is a son who
4:31:12
Speaker 4: is past his youth, and who has evidently seen the world.
4:31:16
Speaker 4: He is aristocratic and fair, and slightly bald, but extremely handsome. Still.
4:31:22
Speaker 4: He sat holding a newspaper in his long white fingers,
4:31:26
Speaker 4: and when we entered, he raised his eyes above it
4:31:28
Speaker 4: and looked at Law. And I heard him exclaim under
4:31:31
Speaker 4: his breath, mon dieu, as if her beauty fairly startled him.
4:31:37
Speaker 4: When the cure to whom the proud mother showed the
4:31:40
Speaker 4: letter read this part, he did not seem as rejoiced
4:31:43
Speaker 4: as Margirod had expected. On the contrary, he looked a
4:31:47
Speaker 4: little grave and rubbed his forehead. Ah ah, he said,
4:31:54
Speaker 4: there lies the danger. Danger, exclaimed margiod starting he turned
4:32:00
Speaker 4: and regarded her with a rather hesitant air, as if
4:32:03
Speaker 4: he were at once puzzled and fearful, puzzled by her simplicity,
4:32:08
Speaker 4: and fearful of grieving her unnecessarily. Valentine is a good lad,
4:32:13
Speaker 4: he said. Valentine will be watchful, though perhaps he is
4:32:17
Speaker 4: too good to suspect evil. Mayor Girrod put her hand
4:32:21
Speaker 4: to her heart. You are not afraid, she said, quite proudly,
4:32:25
Speaker 4: beginning at last to comprehend you are not afraid of evil.
4:32:29
Speaker 4: To Law, no, no, no, he answered, surely not. He
4:32:37
Speaker 4: said no more then, But he always asked to see
4:32:40
Speaker 4: the letters and read them with great care, sometimes over
4:32:44
Speaker 4: and over again. They came very regularly for six or
4:32:47
Speaker 4: seven months, and then there was a gap of a
4:32:50
Speaker 4: few weeks, and then came a strange, almost incomprehensible letter
4:32:55
Speaker 4: from Valentine, containing news which almost caused Mayor Girod's heart
4:32:59
Speaker 4: to burst with joy and gratitude. Law was married and
4:33:04
Speaker 4: had made such a marriage as could scarcely have been
4:33:06
Speaker 4: dreamed of. A rich aristocrat who had visited her employers,
4:33:11
Speaker 4: had fallen in love with her and married her. He
4:33:15
Speaker 4: had no family to restrain him, and her beauty had
4:33:18
Speaker 4: won him completely from the first hour. He had carried
4:33:22
Speaker 4: her away with him to make a prolonged tour. The
4:33:26
Speaker 4: family with whom she had lived had been lavish in
4:33:29
Speaker 4: their gifts and kindness, but they had left Paris also
4:33:32
Speaker 4: and were voyaging. The name of Law's bridegroom was LeGrande,
4:33:37
Speaker 4: and there came messages from Law, and enclosed was a
4:33:41
Speaker 4: handsome present of money. Mayor Gerard was overwhelmed with joy.
4:33:47
Speaker 4: Before three hours had passed, all Saint Croix knew the
4:33:51
Speaker 4: marvelous news. She went from house to house showing a
4:33:55
Speaker 4: letter and the money, and it was not until night
4:33:57
Speaker 4: that she cooled down sufficiently to labor through a long
4:34:01
Speaker 4: epistle to Valentine. It was a year before Law returned
4:34:06
Speaker 4: to Paris, and during that time she wrote but seldom.
4:34:10
Speaker 4: But Valentine wrote often and answered all his mother's questions,
4:34:14
Speaker 4: though not as fluently nor with so many words as
4:34:17
Speaker 4: she often wished. Law was rich and beautiful as ever.
4:34:22
Speaker 4: Her husband adored her and showered gifts and luxuries upon her.
4:34:27
Speaker 4: She had equipages and jewels. She wore her velvet and
4:34:30
Speaker 4: satin and lace every day. She was a great lady,
4:34:35
Speaker 4: and had a house like a palace. Law herself did
4:34:39
Speaker 4: not say so much in her secret heart. May she
4:34:44
Speaker 4: roared often longed for more, But she was a discreet,
4:34:48
Speaker 4: unfa seeing woman. What would you do? She said? She
4:34:53
Speaker 4: must drive out in her equipage, and she must dress
4:34:55
Speaker 4: and receive great people. That I am not so blind
4:34:58
Speaker 4: a mother as not to see. She will have many
4:35:00
Speaker 4: to learn. She is not time to write long letters.
4:35:05
Speaker 4: And see how she cares for me money see you
4:35:09
Speaker 4: by every letter, and a silk dress and lace cap.
4:35:12
Speaker 4: She herself has chosen in the boulevard Capucines. And I
4:35:17
Speaker 4: must care for myself and furnish the cottage prettily, and
4:35:20
Speaker 4: keep a servant. Her wealth and great fortune have not
4:35:23
Speaker 4: rendered her dutiful my law. So she talked of Madame
4:35:28
Speaker 4: le Grand, and so all Saint Croix talked of Madame
4:35:31
Speaker 4: le Grand. And some, of course were envious and prophesied
4:35:36
Speaker 4: that the end had not come yet, and Mayor Giroud
4:35:39
Speaker 4: would find herself forgotten some fine day. And others rejoiced
4:35:43
Speaker 4: with her and congratulated themselves that they knew so aristocratic
4:35:47
Speaker 4: a person as Madame le Grand. Jeanne Tallow was one
4:35:51
Speaker 4: of those who sympathized with her in all warm heartedness
4:35:55
Speaker 4: and candor, with her knitting in her hand, ready for action,
4:36:00
Speaker 4: and friendly unceremoniousness. She presented herself at the cottage door
4:36:04
Speaker 4: one morning, nodding and speaking before she had crossed the threshold.
4:36:09
Speaker 4: Good day, neighbor Girrade, any letter from law this morning?
4:36:13
Speaker 4: Mayor Girod, who sat before the window under the swinging
4:36:16
Speaker 4: cage of her bird, looked up with an air a
4:36:19
Speaker 4: little more serious than usual. Ah, she said, I am
4:36:23
Speaker 4: glad it is Eugene. I have been wishing to see you.
4:36:27
Speaker 4: Jean seated herself smiling, then said she it is well.
4:36:31
Speaker 4: I came. But suddenly she noticed the absent look of
4:36:35
Speaker 4: her friend and commented upon it. You do not look
4:36:38
Speaker 4: your best this morning, she said, how does it occur?
4:36:43
Speaker 4: I am thinking, said mar Girrod, with some importance of manner.
4:36:47
Speaker 4: I am thinking of going to Paris. To Paris, I
4:36:52
Speaker 4: am anxious, shaking her head seriously. I had last night
4:36:56
Speaker 4: a bad dream. I wished to see Law. Then she
4:37:00
Speaker 4: turned and looked at Jeanne most wistfully. It is a
4:37:03
Speaker 4: long time since I have seen her, yes, answered Jeanne,
4:37:07
Speaker 4: in a little doubt. But Paris is a long way off, yes,
4:37:12
Speaker 4: said Margirode. But it appears that all at once I
4:37:16
Speaker 4: realize how long it is since I have seen my child.
4:37:19
Speaker 4: I am getting old. You see, I was not very
4:37:21
Speaker 4: young when she was born, and as one grows older,
4:37:24
Speaker 4: one becomes more uneasy and obstinate in one's fancies. This morning,
4:37:29
Speaker 4: I feel that I must see my Law. My heart
4:37:32
Speaker 4: yearns for her, and hastily she will undoubtedly be rejoiced
4:37:37
Speaker 4: to see me. She has often said that she wished
4:37:39
Speaker 4: she might lay her head upon my breast again. It
4:37:43
Speaker 4: seemed that she was resolved upon the journey. She was
4:37:46
Speaker 4: in a singular uneasy mood and restless beyond measure. She
4:37:51
Speaker 4: who had never been twenty miles from Saint Quaix, had
4:37:55
Speaker 4: made up her mind to leave it at once and
4:37:57
Speaker 4: confront all the terrors of her journey to Paris. For
4:38:02
Speaker 4: there were terrors in such a journey to the mind
4:38:04
Speaker 4: of a simple peasant who had so far traveled but
4:38:07
Speaker 4: in one groove. She would not even wait to consult
4:38:11
Speaker 4: Monsieur le Ciurais, who was unfortunately absent. Jeanne discovered, to
4:38:17
Speaker 4: her astonishment that she had already made her small preparations,
4:38:21
Speaker 4: had packed her best garments in a little wooden box,
4:38:25
Speaker 4: laying the silk gown and lace cap at the top,
4:38:28
Speaker 4: that they might be in readiness. I will not interfere
4:38:33
Speaker 4: at all, and I shall not remain long, she said,
4:38:35
Speaker 4: only long enough to see my law and spend a
4:38:38
Speaker 4: few days of her quietly. It is not Paris I
4:38:41
Speaker 4: care for, or the great sights. It is that I
4:38:44
Speaker 4: must see my child. Saint Croix was fairly bewildered at
4:38:49
Speaker 4: the news it heard the next day Mayor Aziord had
4:38:53
Speaker 4: gone to Paris to visit Madame le Grande had actually gone,
4:38:57
Speaker 4: sending her little servant home and shutting up her small
4:39:00
Speaker 4: trim cottage. Let us hope that Madame la grand will
4:39:05
Speaker 4: receive her as she expects to be received, said Anno.
4:39:09
Speaker 4: For my part, I should have preferred to remain in
4:39:11
Speaker 4: Saint Croix. Only yesterday she in tallowed her, as that
4:39:15
Speaker 4: she had no intention of going. She will see wonderful things,
4:39:20
Speaker 4: said the more simple and amiable. It is possible that
4:39:23
Speaker 4: she may be invited to the Tui l'a rise, and
4:39:26
Speaker 4: without doubt she will drive to the Bois de Boulogne
4:39:30
Speaker 4: in Madame la Grande's carriage, with servants in livery to
4:39:33
Speaker 4: attend her. My uncle's son, who is a valet de
4:39:37
Speaker 4: place in a great family, tells us that the aristocracy
4:39:40
Speaker 4: drives up and down the champsi Lisee every afternoon, and
4:39:44
Speaker 4: the sight is magnificent. But mar Girrod did not look
4:39:49
Speaker 4: forward to such splendors as these. I shall see my
4:39:52
Speaker 4: law as a great lady, she said to herself, I
4:39:56
Speaker 4: shall hold her white hands and kiss her cheeks. The
4:40:00
Speaker 4: roar of vehicles, and the rush and crowd and bustle
4:40:03
Speaker 4: bewildered her. The brightness and the rolling wheels dazzled her
4:40:07
Speaker 4: old eyes, but she held herself bravely. People to whom
4:40:11
Speaker 4: she spoke smiled at her patois and innocent questions, but
4:40:16
Speaker 4: she did not care. She found the fiacre, which took
4:40:19
Speaker 4: her to her destination, and when after she had paid
4:40:22
Speaker 4: the driver he left her. She entered the wide doors
4:40:26
Speaker 4: with a beating heart, the blood rising on her cheek
4:40:30
Speaker 4: and glowing through the withered skin. Madame le grand, she
4:40:35
Speaker 4: said a little proudly to the concierge, and the woman
4:40:38
Speaker 4: stared at her. As she led up the staircase. She
4:40:41
Speaker 4: was so eager that she scarcely saw the beauty around her,
4:40:45
Speaker 4: the thick, soft carpets, the carved balustrades, the superb lamps.
4:40:51
Speaker 4: But when they stopped before a door, she touched the
4:40:53
Speaker 4: concierge upon the arm. Do not say my name, she said,
4:40:59
Speaker 4: I am her mother. The woman stared at her more
4:41:02
Speaker 4: than ever. It is not my place to announce you,
4:41:06
Speaker 4: she said, I only came up because I thought you
4:41:09
Speaker 4: would not find a way. She could not have told
4:41:12
Speaker 4: why it was or how it happened. But when at
4:41:15
Speaker 4: last she was ushered into the salon, a strange sense
4:41:19
Speaker 4: of oppression fell upon her. The room was long and lofty,
4:41:25
Speaker 4: and so shadowed by the heavy curtains falling across the windows,
4:41:28
Speaker 4: that it was almost dark. And then all at once
4:41:33
Speaker 4: some one rose from a reclining chair at the farther
4:41:36
Speaker 4: end of the apartment and advanced a few steps toward her,
4:41:40
Speaker 4: a tall and stately figure moving slowly. Who she heard
4:41:46
Speaker 4: a cold, soft voice say, And then came a sharp cry,
4:41:50
Speaker 4: and laurel white hands were thrown out in a strange,
4:41:53
Speaker 4: desperate gesture, and she stopped and stood like a statue
4:41:57
Speaker 4: of stone. Mother, Mother, Mother, she repeated again and again,
4:42:03
Speaker 4: as if some indescribable pain shook her. If she had
4:42:08
Speaker 4: been beautiful before, now she was more beautiful. Still. She
4:42:12
Speaker 4: was even taller than ever. She was like a queen.
4:42:16
Speaker 4: Her long robe was of delicate gray velvet, and her
4:42:20
Speaker 4: hair and froat and wrists were bound with pearls and gold.
4:42:25
Speaker 4: She was so lovely and stately that for a moment
4:42:29
Speaker 4: mer Girod was half awed. But the next it was
4:42:33
Speaker 4: as if her strong mother heart broke loose my law.
4:42:38
Speaker 4: She cried out, Yes, it is I, my child, it
4:42:41
Speaker 4: is I law. And she almost fell upon her knees
4:42:44
Speaker 4: as she embraced her trembling for ecstasy. But Law scarcely spoke.
4:42:51
Speaker 4: She was white and cold, and at last she gasped
4:42:55
Speaker 4: forth three words, where is Valentine? But Margirod did not
4:43:01
Speaker 4: know it was not Valentine. She cared to see Valentine
4:43:05
Speaker 4: could wait since she had her Law. She sat down
4:43:08
Speaker 4: beside her in one of the velvet chairs. She held
4:43:11
Speaker 4: the fair hand in her own. It was covered with jewels,
4:43:15
Speaker 4: but she did not notice them. Her affection only told
4:43:18
Speaker 4: her that it was cold and tremulous. You are not well, Law,
4:43:25
Speaker 4: she said. It was well that my dream warned me
4:43:27
Speaker 4: to come. Something is wrong. I am quite well, said Law.
4:43:32
Speaker 4: I do not suffer at all. She was so silent
4:43:35
Speaker 4: that if mar Giod had not had so much to say,
4:43:39
Speaker 4: she would have been troubled. As it was. However, she
4:43:43
Speaker 4: was content to pour forth her affectionate speeches, one after another,
4:43:47
Speaker 4: without waiting to be answered. Where is Monsieur le Grand,
4:43:53
Speaker 4: she ventured? At last, he is, said Law, in a
4:43:56
Speaker 4: hesitant voice. He is in Normandy. Shall I not see him,
4:44:01
Speaker 4: asked Margiod. I'm afraid not. Unless your visit is a
4:44:05
Speaker 4: long one will be absent for months. She did not
4:44:09
Speaker 4: speak with any warmth. It was as if she did
4:44:11
Speaker 4: not care to speak of him at all, as if
4:44:14
Speaker 4: the mention of him even embarrassed her a little. Mayor
4:44:19
Speaker 4: Gerard felt a secret misgiving. I shall not stay long,
4:44:23
Speaker 4: she said, but I could not remain anyway. I wished
4:44:26
Speaker 4: so eagerly to see you and know that you are happy.
4:44:29
Speaker 4: You are happy, my law. Law turned toward her and
4:44:34
Speaker 4: gave her a long look, a look which seemed unconsciously
4:44:38
Speaker 4: to ask her a question. Happy, she answered, slowly and deliberately.
4:44:43
Speaker 4: I suppose so, Yes, Mayor Giroud caressed her hand again
4:44:48
Speaker 4: and again, yes, she said, it must be so. The
4:44:53
Speaker 4: good days are always happy, and you, my Law, have
4:44:56
Speaker 4: always been dutiful and virtuous, and consequently you are rewarded.
4:45:01
Speaker 4: You have never caused me a grief, and now, fact
4:45:04
Speaker 4: of good God, you are prosperous. She looked at her,
4:45:08
Speaker 4: almost adoringly, and at last touched the soft, thick gray
4:45:12
Speaker 4: velvet of her drapery with reverence. Do you wear such
4:45:16
Speaker 4: things as this every day? She asked? Yes, Law answered
4:45:20
Speaker 4: every day, Ah, sighed the happy mother. How Monsieur le
4:45:25
Speaker 4: grand must adore you. At length, she found time to
4:45:29
Speaker 4: ask a few questions concerning Valentine. I know that he
4:45:33
Speaker 4: is well and prosperous, as one could expect him to be.
4:45:36
Speaker 4: But I hope bridling a little with great seriousness. I
4:45:40
Speaker 4: hope he conducts himself in such a manner as to
4:45:43
Speaker 4: cause you no embarrassment, though naturally you do not see
4:45:46
Speaker 4: him often. No, was the answer. They did not see
4:45:50
Speaker 4: him often. Well well, began new Giraude, becoming lenient in
4:45:56
Speaker 4: her great happiness. He is not a bad lad, Valentine.
4:45:59
Speaker 4: He means well. But here she stopped. Law checked her
4:46:04
Speaker 4: with a swift, impassioned movement. He is what we cannot understand,
4:46:09
Speaker 4: she said, in a hushed, strained voice. He is a saint,
4:46:13
Speaker 4: his new fort for himself, his whole life is a sacrifice.
4:46:17
Speaker 4: It is not I you should adore. It is Valentine, Valentine,
4:46:22
Speaker 4: echoed Margiroud. It quite bewildered her, the mere thought of
4:46:28
Speaker 4: adoring Valentine, my child, she said, when she recovered herself.
4:46:34
Speaker 4: It is your good heart which says this. The same
4:46:38
Speaker 4: night Valentine came, Law went out into an antechamber to
4:46:42
Speaker 4: meet him, and each stood and looked at the other
4:46:44
Speaker 4: with pale face and anguished eyes. Valentine's eyes were hollow
4:46:49
Speaker 4: and sunken. As if with some great sorrow, and his large,
4:46:54
Speaker 4: awkward frame seemed wasted, but there was no reproach. Mingled
4:46:58
Speaker 4: with the indescribable sadness of his gaze. Your note came
4:47:03
Speaker 4: to me, he said, our mother. She is in there,
4:47:09
Speaker 4: said Law in a low, hurried, shaken voice, and she
4:47:12
Speaker 4: pointed to the salon. She has come to embrace me,
4:47:17
Speaker 4: to make sure that I am happy. Ah, my God,
4:47:21
Speaker 4: and she covered her deftly face with her hands. Valentine
4:47:25
Speaker 4: did not approach her. He could only stand still and
4:47:28
Speaker 4: look on. One thought filled his mind. We have no
4:47:32
Speaker 4: time to weep, Law, he said gently. We must go
4:47:35
Speaker 4: on as we have begun. Give me your hand. This
4:47:39
Speaker 4: was all, and then the two went in together, Law's
4:47:43
Speaker 4: hand upon her brother's arm. It was a marvelous life
4:47:48
Speaker 4: mere Girouard lived during the next few days. Certainly she
4:47:52
Speaker 4: could not complain that she was not treated with deference
4:47:55
Speaker 4: and affection. She wore a silk dress. Every day, she
4:47:59
Speaker 4: sat at a wonderful table, and a liveried servant stood
4:48:03
Speaker 4: behind her chair. She drove her here and there in
4:48:06
Speaker 4: a luxurious carriage. She herself, in fact, lived the life
4:48:11
Speaker 4: of an aristocrat and a great lady better than all
4:48:14
Speaker 4: the rest. She found her Law as gracious and dutiful
4:48:18
Speaker 4: as her fond heart could have wished. She spent every
4:48:22
Speaker 4: hour with her. She showed her all her grandeurs of
4:48:25
Speaker 4: jewelry and toilette. She was not ashamed of her mother,
4:48:29
Speaker 4: untutored and simple as she might be. Only she is
4:48:34
Speaker 4: very pale and quiet, she remarked to Valentine once, even
4:48:39
Speaker 4: paler and more quiet than I should have expected. But
4:48:43
Speaker 4: then we know that the rich and aristocratic are always
4:48:46
Speaker 4: somewhat reserved. It is only the peasantry and provincials who
4:48:50
Speaker 4: are talkative and florid. It is natural that Law should
4:48:54
Speaker 4: have gained the manner of the great world. But her happiness,
4:48:58
Speaker 4: poor soul did not last long. And yet the blow
4:49:02
Speaker 4: God sent was a kindly one. One morning, as they
4:49:07
Speaker 4: went out to their carriage, Law stopped to speak to
4:49:10
Speaker 4: a woman who crouched upon the edge of the pavement
4:49:13
Speaker 4: with a child in her arms. She bent down and
4:49:16
Speaker 4: touched the little one with her hand, and mar Girard,
4:49:19
Speaker 4: looking on, thought of pictures she had seen of the
4:49:22
Speaker 4: blessed Virgin and of lovely saints healing the sick. What
4:49:28
Speaker 4: is the matter asked Law. The woman looked down at
4:49:32
Speaker 4: the child and shivered. I do not know, she answered, hoarsely.
4:49:36
Speaker 4: Only we are ill, and God has forsaken us. We
4:49:40
Speaker 4: have not tasted food for two days. Law took something
4:49:44
Speaker 4: from her purse and laid it silently in a small
4:49:47
Speaker 4: child's fevered hand. The woman burst into tears. Madame, she said,
4:49:55
Speaker 4: it is a twenty franc piece. Yes, said Lord, when
4:50:01
Speaker 4: it is spent, come to me again, and she went
4:50:04
Speaker 4: to her carriage. My child said, margirod, it is you
4:50:09
Speaker 4: who are a saint. The good God did wisely in
4:50:13
Speaker 4: showering blessings upon you. A few days longer, she was happy,
4:50:18
Speaker 4: and then she awakened from her sleep one night and
4:50:21
Speaker 4: found Law standing at her bedside, looking down at her
4:50:25
Speaker 4: and shuddering. She started up with an exclamation of terror.
4:50:30
Speaker 4: Mon dieu, she said, what is it? She was answered
4:50:35
Speaker 4: in a voice she had never heard before, Laws, but
4:50:39
Speaker 4: hoarse and shaken. Law had fallen upon her knees and
4:50:43
Speaker 4: grasped the bedclothes, hiding her face in the folds. I
4:50:48
Speaker 4: am ill, she answered, in a strange changed tone. I
4:50:53
Speaker 4: am I am cold and burning, I am dying. In
4:50:59
Speaker 4: an instant, mayr Gerod stood upon the floor, holding her
4:51:03
Speaker 4: already insensible form in her arm. She was obliged to
4:51:07
Speaker 4: lay her upon the floor while she rang the bell
4:51:09
Speaker 4: to alarm the servants. She sent for Valentine and the doctor.
4:51:14
Speaker 4: The doctor, arriving, regarded her beautiful face with manifest surprise
4:51:19
Speaker 4: and alarm. It was no longer pale, but darkly flushed,
4:51:24
Speaker 4: and a stamp of terrible pain was upon it. She
4:51:29
Speaker 4: has been exposed to infection, she said, This is surely
4:51:33
Speaker 4: the case. It is a malignant fever. Then ner Girrod
4:51:38
Speaker 4: thought of the poor mother and child. Oh my God,
4:51:42
Speaker 4: she prayed, do not let her die a martyr. But
4:51:46
Speaker 4: the next day there was not a servant left in
4:51:49
Speaker 4: the house, but Valentine was there, and there had come
4:51:53
Speaker 4: a sister of mercy. When she came, Valentine met her
4:51:57
Speaker 4: and led her into the salon. They remained together for
4:52:01
Speaker 4: half an hour, and then came out and went to
4:52:04
Speaker 4: the sick room. And there were traces of tears upon
4:52:07
Speaker 4: the sister's face. She was a patient, tender creature who
4:52:11
Speaker 4: did her work well and listened with untiring gentleness to
4:52:16
Speaker 4: mar Girrod's passionate plaints. So beautiful, so young, so beloved,
4:52:22
Speaker 4: cried the poor mother, and Monsieur absent in Normandy, though
4:52:27
Speaker 4: it is impossible to say where, And if death should
4:52:30
Speaker 4: come before his return, who would confront him with the truth.
4:52:34
Speaker 4: So beautiful, so happy, so adored, and law lay upon
4:52:42
Speaker 4: the bed, sometimes wildly delirious, sometimes a dreadful statue of stone,
4:52:48
Speaker 4: on hearing, on seeing unmoving, deaf, without death's rest, life
4:52:54
Speaker 4: in death's bonds of iron. But while mar Girrod wept,
4:52:58
Speaker 4: Valentine had no He was faithful, untiring, but silent. Even
4:53:04
Speaker 4: at the worst, one would think he had no heart,
4:53:08
Speaker 4: said mar Girrod, that men are often so ready to work,
4:53:12
Speaker 4: but cold and dumb. Ah, it is only a mother
4:53:15
Speaker 4: who bears the deepest grief. She fought passionately, enough for
4:53:20
Speaker 4: a hope at first, but it was forced from her grasp.
4:53:24
Speaker 2: In the end.
4:53:25
Speaker 4: Death had entered the house and spoken to her in
4:53:29
Speaker 4: a change of voice, which had summoned her from her sleep.
4:53:33
Speaker 4: Madame said the doctor one evening, as they stood over
4:53:37
Speaker 4: the bed while the sun went down. I have done
4:53:40
Speaker 4: all that is possible. She will not see the sunset again.
4:53:44
Speaker 4: She may not see it rise. Mar Girrod fell upon
4:53:48
Speaker 4: her knees beside the bed, crossing herself and weeping. She
4:53:53
Speaker 4: will die, she said, a blessed martyr, She will die
4:53:58
Speaker 4: the death of a saint. That very night. Only a
4:54:01
Speaker 4: few hours later, there came to them a friend one
4:54:05
Speaker 4: day had not, for one moment even hoped to see
4:54:08
Speaker 4: a gentle, grave old man in a thin, well worn
4:54:12
Speaker 4: black robe the cure of Saint Croix. Him Valentine met also,
4:54:19
Speaker 4: and when the two saw each other, there were barriers
4:54:22
Speaker 4: that fell away in their first interchange of looks. My
4:54:27
Speaker 4: son said, the old man, holding out his hands, tell
4:54:31
Speaker 4: me the truth. Then Valentine fell into a chair and
4:54:35
Speaker 4: hid his face. She is dying, he said, And I
4:54:40
Speaker 4: cannot ask that she should live. What was my life,
4:54:45
Speaker 4: he cried, passionately, speaking again, What was my life to me?
4:54:49
Speaker 4: That I should not have given it? To save her,
4:54:51
Speaker 4: to save her to her beauty and honor and to
4:54:54
Speaker 4: her mother's love. I would have given it cheerfully a
4:54:57
Speaker 4: thousand times, a thousand times again and again. But it
4:55:02
Speaker 4: was not to be, And in spite of my prayers,
4:55:05
Speaker 4: I lost her, Oh my God, with a sob of agony.
4:55:10
Speaker 4: If to night she were in Saint Croix, and I
4:55:13
Speaker 4: could hear the neighbors call her again, as they used
4:55:16
Speaker 4: Mayor Giraud's little daughter. The eyes of the Cure had
4:55:21
Speaker 4: tears in them. Also. Yesterday I returned to Saint Croix
4:55:25
Speaker 4: and found your mother absent, he said. I have had
4:55:28
Speaker 4: terrible fears for months, and when I found her house closed,
4:55:32
Speaker 4: they caused me to set out upon my journey at once.
4:55:36
Speaker 4: He did not ask any questions. He remembered too well
4:55:40
Speaker 4: the man of whom Valentine had written, the son who
4:55:44
Speaker 4: was passed his youth and had evidently seen the world,
4:55:47
Speaker 4: the pale aristocrat who had exclaimed mon dieu at the
4:55:51
Speaker 4: sight of Law's wondrous beauty. When the worst came to
4:55:56
Speaker 4: the worst, said Valentine, I vowed myself to the labor
4:56:00
Speaker 4: of sparing our mother. I have worked early and late
4:56:03
Speaker 4: to sustain myself in the part I played. It was
4:56:07
Speaker 4: not from Law. The money came. My God. Do you
4:56:10
Speaker 4: think I would have permitted my mother's hand to have
4:56:13
Speaker 4: touched a gift of hers? She wrote the letters? But
4:56:16
Speaker 4: the money I had earned. Honestly, Heaven will justify me
4:56:21
Speaker 4: for my falsehood, since I have suffered so much. Yees,
4:56:26
Speaker 4: responded the Cure, looking at his bent form, with gentle,
4:56:30
Speaker 4: pitying eyes. Heaven will justify you, my son. They watched
4:56:36
Speaker 4: by law until the morning, but she did not see them.
4:56:39
Speaker 4: She saw nothing to night. It was the statue of
4:56:43
Speaker 4: Marble which lay before them. But in that early morning,
4:56:49
Speaker 4: when the sky was dappled with pink and gold, and
4:56:53
Speaker 4: the air was fresh and cool, and a silence even
4:56:56
Speaker 4: more complete than that of the night, seemed to rain
4:56:59
Speaker 4: their case a change. The eyes they had seen closed
4:57:04
Speaker 4: for so many hours were opened, and the soft voice
4:57:08
Speaker 4: broke in upon the perfect stillness of the room. The
4:57:12
Speaker 4: lilies in the garden are in bloom to day. They
4:57:16
Speaker 4: were never so tall and white and fair before. I
4:57:19
Speaker 4: will gather them for the altar to give to the
4:57:22
Speaker 4: Virgin at my confession. May I culper mayor, And all
4:57:29
Speaker 4: was over, and Mayre. She rode fell upon her knees again,
4:57:34
Speaker 4: crying as she had cried before, amid a passion of
4:57:37
Speaker 4: sobs and tears. She has died, my child, the death
4:57:43
Speaker 4: of a blessed martyr. It was rather strange. The villagers
4:57:49
Speaker 4: said that Madame le Grande should have been buried in
4:57:52
Speaker 4: the little graveyard at Saint Croix instead of in some
4:57:55
Speaker 4: fine tomb at Pere la Chaise, but it was terribly sad.
4:58:01
Speaker 4: Her husband was away. They knew not where, and it
4:58:05
Speaker 4: was Valentine's wish, and mar Giraud's heart yearned so over
4:58:10
Speaker 4: her beloved one. So she was laid there and the
4:58:14
Speaker 4: marble cross was placed at her head, a tall, beautiful
4:58:18
Speaker 4: cross by Monsieur le Grande. Of course, only it was
4:58:22
Speaker 4: singular that he never came, though perhaps that is the
4:58:26
Speaker 4: way of the great, not to mourn long or deeply,
4:58:30
Speaker 4: even for those who have been most lovely and whom
4:58:33
Speaker 4: they have most tenderly loved.