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The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald · Classic Fiction Library

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter one, Why the Princess has a story about her.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: There was once a little princess whose father was king
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: over a great country full of mountains and valleys. His
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: palace was built upon one of the mountains, and was
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: very grand and beautiful. The princess, whose name was Irene,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: was born there, but she was sent soon after her
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: birth because her mother was not very strong to be
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: brought up by country people, in a large house, half castle,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: half farm house, on the side of another mountain, about
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: half way between its base and its peak. The princess
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: was a sweet little creature, and at the time my
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: story begins was about eight years old, I think, but
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: she got older very fast. Her face was fair and pretty,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: with eyes like two bits of night sky, each with
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: a star dissolved in the blue. Those eyes, you would
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: have thought, must have known they came from there, so
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: often were they turned up in that direction. The ceiling
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: of her nursery was blue with stars in it, as
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: like the sky as they could make it. But I
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: doubt if she ever saw the real sky with the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: stars in it. For a reason which I had better
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: mention at once, these mountains were full of hollow places
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: underneath huge caverns and winding ways, some with water running
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: through them, and some shining with all colors of the
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: rainbow when a light was taken in. They would not
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: have been much known about then had there not been
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: mines there, great deep pits with long galleries and passages
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: running off from them, which had been dug to get
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: at the ore of which the mountains were full. In
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: the course of digging, the miners came upon many of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: these natural caverns. A few of them had far off
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: openings out on the side of a mountain or into
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: a ravine. Now in these subterranean caverns lived a strain
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: race of beings, called by some gnomes, by some cobbolds,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: by some goblins. There was a legend current in the
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: country that at one time they lived above ground and
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: were very like other people. But for some reason or other,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: concerning which there were different legendary theories, the king had
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: laid what they thought two severe taxes upon them, or
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: had required observances of them they did not like, or
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: had begun to treat them with more severity in some
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: way or other, and impose stricter laws. And the consequence
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: was that they had all disappeared from the face of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: the country. According to the legend, however, instead of going
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: to some other country, they had all taken refuge in
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the subterranean caverns. Whence they never came out but at night,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and then seldom showed themselves in any numbers, and never
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: to many people at once. It was only in the
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: least frequented and most difficult parts of the mountains that
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: they were set to gather, even at night in the
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: open air. Those who had caught sight of any of
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: them said that they had greatly altered in the course
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: of generations, and no wonder seeing they lived away from
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the sun, in cold and wet and dark places. They
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: were now not ordinarily ugly, but either absolutely hideous or
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: ludicrously grotesque, both in face and form. There was no invention,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: they said, of the most lawless imagination expressed by pen
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: or pencil, that could surpass the extravagance of their appearance.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: But I suspect those who said so had mistaken some
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of their animal companions for the goblins themselves, of which
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: more by and by, the goblins themselves were not so
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: far removed from the human as such a description would imply,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: And as they grew misshapen in body, they had grown
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: in knowledge and cleverness, and now were able to do
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: things no mortal could see the possibility of. But as
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: they grew in cunning, they grew in mischief, And their
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: great delight was in every way they could think of
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: to annoy the people who lived in the open air
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: story above them. They had enough of affection left for
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: each other to preserve them from being absolutely cruel for
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: cruelty's sake to those that came in their way. But
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: still they so heartily cherished the ancestral grudge against those
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: who occupied their former possessions, and especially against the descendants
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: of the king who had caused their expulsion, that they
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: sought every opportunity of tormenting them in ways that were
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: as odd as their inventors. And although dwarfed and misshapen,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: they had strength equal to their cunning. In the process
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: of time, they had got a king and a government
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: of their own, whose chief business, beyond their own simple affairs,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: was to devise trouble for their neighbors. It will now
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: be pretty evident why the little princess had never seen
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the sky at night. They were much too afraid of
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the goblins to let her out of the house, even
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: in company with ever so many attendants, And they had
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: good reason, as we shall see by and by end
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: of chapter one chapter two, the princess loses herself. I
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: have said the Princess Irene was about eight years old
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: when my story begins, and this is how it begins.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: One very wet day, when the mountain was covered with mist,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: which was constantly gathering itself together into rain drops and
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: pouring down on the roofs of the great old house.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Whence it fell in a fringe of water from the
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: eaves all round about it. The princess could not, of
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: course go out. She got very tired, so tired that
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: even her toys could no longer amuse her. You would
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: wonder at that if I had time to describe to
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: you one half of the toys she had, But then
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: you wouldn't have the toys themselves, And that makes all
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: the difference. You can't get tired of a thing before
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: you have it. It was a picture, though, worth seeing,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: the princess sitting in the nursery with the sky seiling
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: over her head, at a great table covered with her toys.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: If an artist would like to draw this, I should
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: advise him not to meddle with the toys. I'm afraid
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of attempting to describe them, and I think he had
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: better not try to draw them. He had better not.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: He can do a thousand things I can't, but I
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: don't think he could draw those toys. No man could
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: better make the princess herself than he could, though, leaning
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: with her back bowed into the back of the chair,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: her head hanging down, and her hands in her lap,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: very miserable, as she would say herself, not even knowing
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: what she would like, except it were to go out
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: and get thoroughly wet, and catch a particularly nice cold,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: and have to go to bed and take druel. The
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: next moment after you see her sitting there, her nurse
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: goes out of the room. Even that is a change,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: and the princess wakes up a little and looks about her.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Then she tumbles off her chair and runs out of
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the door. Not the same door the nurse went out of,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: but one which opened at the foot of a curious
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: old stair of worm eaten oak, which looked as if
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: never any one had set foot upon it. She had
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: once before been up six steps, and that was sufficient
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: reason in such a day for trying to find out
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: what was at the top of it. Up and up,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: she ran such a long way, it seemed to her,
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: until she came to the top of the third flight.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: There she found the landing was the end of a
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: long passage. Into this she ran. It was full of
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: doors on either side. There were so many that she
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: did not care to open any, but ran on to
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the end, where she turned into another passage, also full
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: of doors. When she had turned twice more and still
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: saw doors and only doors about her, she began to
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: get frightened. It was so silent, and all those doors
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: must hide rooms with nobody in them. That was dreadful. Also,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: the rain made a great trampling noise on the roof.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: She turned and started at full speed, her little footsteps
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: echoing through the sound of the rain, back for the
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: stairs and her safe nursery, so she thought. But she
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: had lost herself long ago. It doesn't follow that she
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: was lost because she lost herself, though she ran for
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: some distance, turned several times, and then began to be afraid.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Very soon she was sure that she had lost the
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: way back. Rooms everywhere and no stare. Her little heart
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: beat as fast as her little feet ran, and a
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: lump of tears were growing in her throat, but she
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: was too eager and perhaps too frightened, to cry for
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: some time. At last her hope failed her, nothing but
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: passages and doors everywhere. She threw herself on the floor
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and burst into a wailing cry, broken by sobs. She
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: did not cry long, however, for she was as brave
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: as could be expected of a princess of her age.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: After a good cry, she got up and brushed the
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: dust from her frock. Oh what old dust it was.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Then she wiped her eyes with her hands, for princesses
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: don't always have their handkerchiefs in their pockets, any more
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: than some other little girls I know of. Next, like
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: a true princess, she resolved on going wisely to work
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: to find her way back. She would walk through the
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: passages and look in every direction for the stair. This
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: she did, but without success. She went over the same
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: ground again and again without knowing it, for the passages
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and doors were all alike. At last, in a corner,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: through a half open door, she did see a stair,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: but alas it went the wrong way. Instead of going down,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: it went up. Frightened as she was, However, she could
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: not help wishing to see where yet further the stair
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: could lead. It was very narrow and so steep. She
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: went on like a four legged creature on her hands
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  Speaker 1: and feet. End of Chapter two, Chapter three The Princess,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: and we shall see who. When she came to the top,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: she found herself in a little square place with three doors,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: two opposite each other, and one opposite the top of
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: the stair. She stood for a moment without an idea
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: in her little head what to do next. But as
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: she stood she began to hear a curious humming sound.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: Could it be the rain? No? It was much more
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: gentle and even monotonous than the sound of the rain,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: which now she scarcely heard. The low, sweet humming sound
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: went on, sometimes stopping for a little while, and then
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: beginning again. It was more like the hum of a
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: very happy bee that had found a rich well of
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: honey in some globular flower than anything else I can
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: think of at the moment, Where could it come from?
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: She laid her ear first to one of the doors
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: to hearken if it was there, then to another. When
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: she laid her ear against the third door, there could
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: be no doubt where it came from. It must be
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: from something in that room. What could it be? She
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: was rather afraid, but her curiosity was stronger than her fear,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: and she opened the door very gently and peeped in.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: What do you think She saw a very old lady
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: who sat spinning. Perhaps you will wonder how the princess
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: could tell that the old lady was an old lady
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: when I inform you that not only was she beautiful,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: but her skin was smooth and white. I'll tell you more.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Her hair was combed back from her forehead and face,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: and hung loose, far down and all over her back.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: That's not much like an old lady, is it, Ah?
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: But it was white, almost as snow. And although her
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: face was so smooth, her eyes looked so wise that
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: you could not have helped seeing she must be old.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: The princess, though she could not have told you, why,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: did think her very old? Indeed, quite fifty, she said
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: to herself. But she was rather older than that, as
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: you shall hear. While the princess stared bewildered, with her
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: head just inside the door, the old lady lifted hers
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: and said, in a sweet but old and rather shaky voice,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: which mingled very pleasantly with the continued hum of her wheel.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: And come in, my dear, Come in. I am glad
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: to see you that the princess was a real princess.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: You might see now quite plainly, for she didn't hang
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: on to the handle of the door and stare without moving,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: as I have known some do who ought to have
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: been princesses but were only rather bulgar little girls. She
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: did as she was told, stepped inside the door and
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: shut it gently behind her. Come to me, my dear,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: said the old lady, And again the princess did as
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: she was told. She approached the old lady rather slowly,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: I confess, but did not stop until she stood by
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: her side and looked up in her face, with her
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: blue eyes and two melted stars in them. Why what
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: have you been doing with your eyes, child, asked the
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: old lady, crying, answered the princess, why, child, Because I
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: couldn't find my way down again, but you could find
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: your way up, not at first, not for a long time.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: But your face is streaked like the back of a zebra.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Haven't you a handkerchief to wipe your eyes with? No? Then,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: why didn't you come to me to wipe them for you, please,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: I didn't know you were here. I will next time.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: There's a good child, said the old lady. Then she
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: stopped her wheel and rose, and, going out of the room,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: returned with a little silver basin and a soft white
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: towel with which she washed and wiped the bright little face.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: And the princess thought her hands were so smooth and nice.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: When she carried away the basin and towel, the little
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: princess wondered to see how straight and tall she was,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: for although she was so old, she didn't stoop a bit.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: She was dressed in black velvet with thick, white, heavy
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: looking lace about it, and on the black dress her
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: hair shone like silver. There was hardly any more furniture
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: in the room than there might have been in that
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: of the poorest old woman who made her bread by spinning.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: There was no carpet on the floor, no table anywhere,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: nothing but the spinning wheel and the chair beside it.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: When she came she sat down and without a word,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: began her spinning once more, while Irene, who had never
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: seen a spinning wheel, stood by her side and looked on.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: When the old lady had got her thread fairly going again,
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: she said to the princess, but without looking at her.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Do you know my name? Child? No, I don't know it,
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: answered the princess. My name is Irene. That's my name,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: cried the princess. I know that. I'd let you have mine.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I haven't got your name, you've got mine. Oh how
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: can that be? Asked the princess, bewildered. I've always had
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: my name. Your papa, the king, asked me if I
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: had any objection to your having it, And of course
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: I hadn't. I let you have it with pleasure. It
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: was very kind of you to give me your name,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: and so a pretty one, said the princess. Oh not
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: so very kind, said the old lady. A name is
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: one of those things one can give away and keep
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: all the same. I have a good many such things.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Wouldn't you like to know who I am? Child? Yes,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: that I should very much. I'm your great great grandmother,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: said the lady. What's that, asked the princess. I'm your
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: father's mother's father's mother. Oh, dear, I can't understand that,
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: said the princess. I dare say not. I didn't expect
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: you would, but that's no reason why I shouldn't say it. Oh, no,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: answered the princess. I will explain it all to you
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: when you are older. The lady went on, But you
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: will be able to understand this much now. I came
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: here to take care of you. Is it long since
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: you came? Was it yesterday or was it to day?
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Because it was so wet that I couldn't get out,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: I've been here ever since you came yourself. What a
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: long time, said the princess. I don't remember it at all. No,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I suppose not. But I never saw you before. No,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: but you shall see me again. Do you live in
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: this room always? I don't sleep in it. I sleep
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: on the opposite side of the landing. I sit here
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: most of the day. I shouldn't like it. My nursery
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: is much prettier. You must be a queen too, if
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: you're my great big grandmother. Yes, I am a queen.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Where's your crown? Then? In my bedroom? I should like
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: to see it? You shall some day, not to day.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: I wonder why, nurse he never told me. Nurse he
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: doesn't know. She never saw me. But somebody knows that
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: you're in the house. No nobody. How do you get
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: your dinner. Then I keep boultry of a sort. Where'd
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: you keep them? Now? I will show you, and who
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: makes the chicken broth for you? I never kill any
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: of my chickens. Then, I can't understand. What did you
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: have for breakfast this morning? Asked the lady. Oh, I
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: had bread, milk and an egg. I daresay you eat
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: the eggs. Yes, that's it. I eat the eggs. Is
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: that what makes your hair so white? No, my dear,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: it's old age. I am very old, I thought, so
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: are you fifty? Yes? More than that? Are you a
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: hon hundred? Yes? More than that. I'm too old for
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: you to guess. Come and see my chickens again. She
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: stopped her spinning. She rose, took the princess by the hand,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: led her out of the room, and opened the door
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: opposite the stair. The princess expected to see a lot
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: of hens and chickens, but instead of that, she saw
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the blue sky first, and then the roofs of the house,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: with a multitude of the loveliest pigeons, mostly white, but
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: of all colors, walking about, making boughs to each other
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: and talking a language she could not understand. She clapped
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: her hands with delight, and up rose such a flapping
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: of wings that she, in her turn, was startled. You've
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: frightened my poultry, said the old lady, smiling. And ny
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: frightened me, said the princess, smiling too. But what very
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: nice poultry? Are the eggs nice? Yes, very nice? What
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: a small eggspoon you must have? Wouldn't it be better
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: to keep hens and get bigger eggs? Now? How should
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: I feed them? Though? I see, said the princess. The
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: pigeons feed themselves. They've got wings just so. If they
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: couldn't fly, I couldn't eat their eggs. But how'd you
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: get at the eggs? Where are their nests? The lady
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: took hold of a little loop of string in the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: wall at the side of the door, and lifting a shutter,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: showed a great many pigeon holes with nests, some with
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: young ones, and some with eggs in them. The birds
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: came in at the other side, and she took out
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the eggs on this side. She closed it again quickly
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: lest the young ones should be frightened. Oh what a
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: nice way, cried the princess. Will you give me an
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: egg to eat? I'm rather hungry. I will some day,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: But now you must go back, or your nursey will
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: be miserable about you. I dare say she is looking
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: for you everywhere except here, answered the princess. Oh, how
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: surprised she will be when I tell her about my
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: great big grand grandmother. Yes, that she will, said the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: old lady, with a curious smile. Mind, you tell her
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: all about it, exactly that I will please when you
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: take me back to her. Now, I can't go all
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the way, but I will take you to the top
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: of the stair, and then you must run down quite
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: fast into your own room. The little princess put her
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: hand in the old lady's who looking this way, and
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: that brought her to the top of the first stair,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: and thends to the bottom of the second, and did
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: not leave her till she saw her half way down
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: the third. When she heard the cry of her nurse's
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: pleasure at finding her, she turned and walked up the
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: stairs again, very fast, indeed for such a very great grandmother,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: and sat down to her spinning, with another strange smile
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: on her sweet old face. About this spinning of hers,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I will tell you more another time. Guess what she
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: was spinning. End of chapter three chapter four. What the
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: nurse thought of it? Why where have you been, princess
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: asked the nurse, taking her in her arms. It's very
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: unkind of you to hide away so long. I began
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to be afraid here, she checked herself. What were you
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: afraid of, Nursey, asked the princess. Never mind, she answered,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Perhaps I will tell you another day. Now tell me
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: where you've been. I've been up a long way to
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: see my very great, huge old grandmother, said the princess.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: What do you mean by that, asked the nurse, who
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: thought she was making fun. I mean that I've been
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: a long way up up to see my great grandmother. Oh, Nursey,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: you don't know what a beautiful mother of grandmother's I've
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: got up stairs. She's such an old lady with such
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: lovely white hair, as white as my silver cup. Now
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: when I think of it, I think her hair must
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: be silver. What nonsense you're talking, princess, said the nurse.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: I'm not talking nonsense, returned Irene, rather offended. I will
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: tell you all about her. She's much taller than you
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: and much prettier. Oh I dare say, remarked the nurse.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: And she lives upon pigeons eggs, most likely, said the nurse.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: And she sits in an empty room, spin spinning all
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: day long. Not a doubt of it, said the nurse.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: And she keeps her crown in her bedroom, of course,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: quite the trouble place to keep her crown in. She
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: wears it in bed. I'll be bound. She didn't say that,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: and I don't think she does. That wouldn't be comfortable,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: would it. I don't think my papa wears his crown
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: for a nightcap, does he, Nursey. Ah, I've never asked him.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I dare say he does. And she's been there ever
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: since I came here, ever so many years. Anybody could
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: have told you, that, said the nurse, who did not
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: believe a word I rene was saying, why didn't you
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: tell me? Then? There is no necessity you could make
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: it all that for yourself. You don't believe me, then,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: exclaimed the princess, astonished and angry as she well might be.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Did you expect me to believe your princess, asked the
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: nurse coldly. AH. Know, princesses are in the habit of
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: telling make believes. When you're the first I ever heard
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: of who expected to have them believed, she added, seeing
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: that the child was strangely in earnest. The princess burst
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: into tears. Well, I must say, remarked the nurse, now
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: thoroughly vexed with her for crying. It is not a
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: it's all becoming in the princess to tell stories and
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: expect to be believed just because she's a princess. But
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: it's quite true. I tell you. You've plent it, then, child, No,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: I didn't dream it. I went upstairs and I lost myself.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: And if I hadn't found a beautiful lady, I should
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: never have found myself. Now I dare say, well, you
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: just come up with me and see if I'm not
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: telling the truth. Indeed, I have other work to do.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: It's your dinner time, and I won't have any more
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: such nonsense. The princess wiped her eyes, and her face
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: grew so hot that they were soon quite dry. She
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: sat down to her dinner, but ate next to nothing.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Not to be believed does not at all agree with princesses,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: For a real princess cannot tell a lie. So all
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: the afternoon she did not speak a word. Only when
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: the nurse spoke to her, she answered her, for a
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: real princess is never rude, even when she does well
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: to be offended. Of course, the nurse was not comfortable
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: in her mind, not that she suspected the least truth
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: in Irene's story, but she loved her dearly and was
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: vexed with herself for having been cross to her. She
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: thought her crossness was the cause of the princess's unhappiness,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: and had no idea that she was really and deeply
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: hurt at not being believed. But as it became more
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: and more plain during the evening in her every motion
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: and look that although she tried to amuse herself with
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: her toys, her heart was too vexed and troubled to
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: enjoy them. Her nurse's discomfort grew and grew. When bedtime came,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: she undressed and laid her down, but the child, instead
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: of holding up her little mouth to be kissed, turned
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: away from her and lay still. Then Nursey's heart gave
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: way altogether, and she began to cry. At the sound
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: of her first sob. The princess turned again and held
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: her face to kiss her as usual, but the nurse
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: had her handkerchief to her eyes and did not see
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: the movement, Nursey, said the princess. Why won't you believe me,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: because I can't believe you, said the nurse, getting angry again. Ah,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: then you can't help it, said Irene. And I will
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: not be vexed with you any more. I will give
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: you a kiss and go to sleep. Oh you little angel,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: cried the nurse, and caught her out of bed and
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: walked about the room with her in her arms, kissing
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: and hugging her. You will let me take you to
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: see my dear old, great big grandmother, won't you, said
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: the princess as she laid her down again. And you
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: won't say I'm ugly any more, will you, Princess Nursey,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I never said you were ugly. What can you mean? Well,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: if you didn't say it, you meant it. Indeed, I
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: never did. You said I wasn't so pretty as that
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: as my beautiful grandmother. Yes, I did say that, and
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: I say it again, for it's quite true. Then I
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: do think you're unkind, said the nurse, and put her
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: handkerchief to her eyes again. Nursey, dear, everybody can't be
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: as beautiful as every other body. You know, you're very
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: nice looking, But if you had been as beautiful as
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: my grandmother. Bother your grandmother, said the nurse. Nurse, that's
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: very rude. You're not fit to be spoken too till
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: you can behave better. The princess turned away once more,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: and again the nurse was ashamed of herself. I'm sure
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: I beg your pardon, princess, she said, though still in
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: an offended tone. But the princess let the tone pass
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: and heeded only the words. You won't say it again,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: I'm sure, she answered, once more, turning towards her nurse.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: I was only going to say that if you had
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: been twice as nice looking as you are, some king
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: or other would have married you, and then what would
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: have become of me? You are an angel, repeated the
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: nurse again. Embracing her now insisted, Irene, you will come
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: and see my grand mother, won't you. I will go
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: anywhere you like, my cherub, she answered, and in two minutes,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: the weary little princess was fast asleep. End of chapter four,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Chapter five. The princess let well alone. When she woke
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: the next morning, the first thing she heard was the
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: rain still falling. Indeed, this day was so like the
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: last that it would difficult to tell where was the
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: use of it. The first thing she thought of, however,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: was not the rain, but the lady in the tower,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: And the first question that occupied her thoughts was whether
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: she should not ask the nurse to fulfill her promise
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: this very morning and go with her to find her
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: grandmother as soon as she had had her breakfast. But
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: she came to the conclusion that perhaps the lady would
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: not be pleased if she took any one to see
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: her without first asking leave, especially as it was pretty evident,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: seeing she lived on pigeons eggs and cooked them herself,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: that she did not want the household to know she
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: was there. So the princess resolved to take the first
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: opportunity of running up alone and asking whether she might
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: bring her nurse. She believed the fact that she could
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: not otherwise convince her she was telling the truth would
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: have much weight with her grandmother. The princess and her
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: nurse were the best of friends all dressing time, and
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: the princess, in consequence ate an enormous little breakfast. I
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: wonder Lootie, that was her pet name for her nurse,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: what pigeons eggs taste like? She said, as she was
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: eating her egg, not quite a common one, for they
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: always picked out the pinky ones for her. We'll get
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: you a pigeon's egg, and you shall judge for yourself,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: said the nurse. Oh no, no, no, returned Irene, suddenly,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: reflecting that they might disturb the old lady in getting it,
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: and that even if they did not, she would have
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: one less in consequence. Ah, what a strange creature you are,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: said the nurse, first of wanted thing, and then to
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: refuse it. But she did not say it crossly, and
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: the princess never minded any remarks that were not unfriendly. Well,
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: you see, Lootie, there are reasons, she returned and said
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: no more, for she did not want to bring up
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: the subject of their former strife, lest her nurse should
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: offer to go before she had had her grandmother's permission
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: to bring her. Of course, she could refuse to take her,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: but then she would believe her less than ever now.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: The nurse, as she said afterwards, could not be every
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: moment in the room. And as never before yesterday had
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the princess given her the smallest reason for anxiety, it
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: had not yet come into her head to watch her
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: more closely. So she soon gave her a chance, and
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: the very first that offered Irene was off and up
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: the stairs again. This day's adventure, however, did not turn
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: out like yesterday's, although it began like it, and indeed
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: to day is very seldom like yesterday, if people would
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: note the difference, even when it rains. The princess ran
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: through passage after passage and could not find the stair
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: of the tower. My own suspicion is that she had
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: not gone up high enough and was searching on the
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: second instead of the third floor. When she turned to
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: go back, she failed equally in her search. After the stair,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: she was lost once more. Something made it even worse
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: to bear this time, and it was no wonder that
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: she cried again. Suddenly it occurred to her that it
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: was after having cried before, that she had found her
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: grandmother's stair. She got up at once, wiped her eyes,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: and started upon a fresh quest this time. Although she
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: did not find what she hoped, she found what was
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: next best. She did not come on a stair that
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: went up, but she came upon one that went down.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: It was evidently not the stair that she had come up.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Yet it was a good deal better than none. So
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: down she went, and while singing merrily, before she reached
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: the bottom. There, to her surprise, she found herself in
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: the kitchen. Although she was not allowed to go there alone,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: her nurse had often taken her, and she was a
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: great favorite with the servants, so there was a general
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: rush at her the moment she appeared, for everyone wanted
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: to have her, and the report of where she was
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: soon reached the nurse's ears. She came at once to
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: fetch her, but she never suspected how she had got there,
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: and the princess kept her own counsel. Her failure to
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: find the old lady not only disappointed her but made
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: her very thoughtful. Sometimes she came almost to the nurse's
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: opinion that she had dreamt all about her, but that
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: fancy never lasted very long. She wondered much whether she
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: should ever see her again, and thought it very sad
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: not to have been able to find her when she
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: particularly wanted her. She resolved to say nothing more to
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: her nurse on the subject, seeing it was so little
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: in her power to prove her words. End of chapter
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: five to six The Little Miner. The next day, the
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: great cloud still hung over the mountain, and the rain
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: poured like water from a full sponge. The princess was
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: very fond of being outdoors, and she nearly cried when
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: she saw that the weather was no better. But the
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: mist was not of such a dark, dingy gray. There
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: was light in it, and as the hours went on
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: it grew brighter and brighter, until it was almost too
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: brilliant to look at. And late in the afternoon the
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: sun broke out so gloriously that Irene clapped her hands, saying, see, see, Lootie,
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: the sun has had his face washed. Look how bright
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: he is. Do get my hat and let us go
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: out for a walk. Oh dear, oh dear, how happy
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: I am. Lootie was very glad to please the princess.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: She got her hat and cloak, and they set out
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: together for a walk up the mountain, for the road
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: was so hard and steep that the water could not
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: rest upon it, and it was always dry enough for walking.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: A few minutes after the rain ceased, the clouds were
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: rolling away in broken pieces, like great over wooly sheep,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: whose wool the sun had bleached till it was almost
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: too white for the eyes to bear. Between them, the
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: sky shone with a deeper and purer blue because of
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: the rain. The trees on the road side were hung
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: all over with drops, which sparkled in the sun like jewels.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: The only things that were no brighter for the rain
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: were the brooks that ran down the mountain. They had
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: changed from the clearness of crystal to a muddy brown.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: But what they lost in color, they gained in sound,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: or at least in noise, for a brook when it
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: is swollen is not so musical as before. But Irene
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: was in raptures with the great brown streams tumbling down everywhere,
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: and Lootie shared in her delight, for she too, had
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: been confined to the house for three days. At length,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: she observed that the sun was getting low and said
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: it was time to be going back. She made the
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: remark again and again, but every time the princess begged
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: her to go on, just a little father and a
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: little father, reminding her that it was much easier to
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: go downhill, and saying that when they did turn, they
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: would be home in a moment. So on and on
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: they did go. Now to look at a group of ferns,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: over whose tops a stream was pouring in a watery arch.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: Now to pick up a shining stone from a rock
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: by the wayside, Now to watch the flight of some bird. Suddenly,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: the shadow of a great mountain peak came up from
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: behind and shot in front of them. When the nurse
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: saw it, she started and shook, and catching hold of
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: the princess's hand, turned and began to run down the hill.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: What's all the haste, Nursey asked Irene, running alongside of her.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: We must not be out a moment longer, but we
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: can't help being out a good many moments longer. It
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: was too true, The nurse almost cried. They were much
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: too far from home. It was against express orders to
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: be out with the princess one moment, moment after the
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: sun was down, and they were nearly a mile up
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: the mountain. If His Majesty Irene's Papa were to hear
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: of it, Lootie would certainly be dismissed, and to leave
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: the princess would break her heart. It was no wonder
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: she ran, but Irene was not in the least frightened,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: Not knowing anything to be frightened at, she kept on
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: chattering as well as she could, But it was not easy.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: Looti LOOTI, why do you run so fast? It shakes
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: my teeth when I talk. Then don't talk, said Lootie.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: But the princess went on talking. She was always saying, look, look, Lootie.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: But Lootie paid no more heed to anything she said,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: only ran on. Look, look, Lootie, don't you see that
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: funny man peeping over the rock? Lootie only ran the
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: faster they had to pass the rock, and when they
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: came nearer, the princess saw it was only a lump
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: of the rock itself that she had taken for a man. Look, look, Lootie,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: there's such a curious creature at the foot that old tree.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Look at it, Lootie, it's making faces at us, I
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: do think. Lootie gave a stifled cry and ran faster, still,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: so fast that Irene's little legs could not keep up
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: with her, and she fell with a crash. It was
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: a hard down hill road, and she had been running
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: very fast, so it was no wonder when she began
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: to cry. This put the nurse nearly beside herself, but
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: all she could do was to run on the moment
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: she got the princess on her feet again, who's that
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: laughing at me, said the princess, trying to keep in
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: her sobs and running too fast for her gray's knees.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: Nobody child, said the nurse, almost angrily. But that instant
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: there came a burst of coarse tittering from somewhere near,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: and a hoarse, indistinct voice that seemed to say, lies, lies, lies. Oh,
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: cried the nurse with a sigh that was almost a scream,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: and ran on faster than ever. Nursey lootie, I can't
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: run any more. Do let us walk a bit? What
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: am I to do? Said the nurse. Here, I'll carry you.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: She caught her up, but found her much too heavy
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: to run with, and had to set her down again.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: Then she looked wildly about her, gave a great cry,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: and said, we've taken the wrong turning somewhere, and I
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: don't know where we are. We're lost lost. The terror
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: she was in had quite bewildered her. It was true
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: enough they had lost the way they had been running
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: down into a little valley in which there was no
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: house to be seen. Now, Irene did not know what
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: good reason there was for her nurse's terror, For the
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: servants had all strict orders never to mention the goblins
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: to her. But it was very discomposing to see her
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: nurse in such a fright. Before, however, she had time
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: to grow thoroughly alarmed. Like her she heard the sound
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: of whistling, and that revived her. Presently they saw a
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: boy coming up the road from the valley to meet them.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: He was the whistler, but before they met his whistling
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: changed to singing. And this is something like what he sang.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: A rod DoD bang go. The hammers clang, hit and
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: turn and bore, wizen, puff and roar. Thus we rive
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: the rocks, force the goblin locks. See the shining oar
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: one two three bright as gold can be four five,
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: six shovels Mattict pix. Seven eight nine. Light your lamp
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: at nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Loosely hold the hell. We're
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: the merry minor boys. Make the goblins hold their noise. Now,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: wish you would hold your noise, said the nurse rudely,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: For the very word goblin at such a time and
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: in such a place made her tremble. It would bring
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: the goblins upon them. To a certainty, she thought to
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: defy them in that way. But whether the boy heard
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: her or not, he did not stop his singing. Thirteen
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: fourteen fifteen, This is worth the fifteen sixteen, seventeen eighteen,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: there's the match, and latein n nineteen twenty goblins in
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: the plenty. Don't be quiet, cried the nurse in a
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: whispered shriek. But the boy, who was now close at hand,
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: still went on, Hush, guff, curry, there you go in
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: a hurry, gobble gobble goblin. There you go, a wobblin hobble,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: hobble hoblin, gobble, cobble goblin, hob bob goblin. Ha. There
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: said the boy, as he stood opposite them. There that'll
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: do for them. They can't bear singing, and they can't
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: stand that song. They can't sing themselves, for they have
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: no more voice than the crow, and they don't like
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: other people to sing. The boy was dressed in a
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: miner's dress, with a curious cap on his head. He
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: was a very nice looking boy, with eyes as dark
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: as the mines in which he worked, and as sparkling
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: as the crystals in their rocks. He was about twelve
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: years old. His face was almost too pale for beauty,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: which came of his being so little in the open
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: air and the sunlight, for even veget grown in the
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: dark or white. But he looked happy, merry. Indeed, perhaps
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: the thought of having routed the goblins, and his bearing
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: as he stood before them, had nothing clownish or rude
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: about it. I saw them, he went on, as it
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: came up, and a very glad I did. I knew
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: they were after somebody, but I couldn't see who it was.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: They won't touch you as long as I'm with you.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: Why who are you? Asked the nurse, offended at the
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: freedom with which he spoke to them. I'm Peter's son.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: Who's Peter? Peter the miner, I don't know him. I
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: am his son, though, And why should the goblins mind you? Pray?
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: Because I don't mind them. I'm you, s to them?
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: What difference does that, Mike? If you're not afraid of them,
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: they're afraid of you. I'm not afraid of them, that's all.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: But it's all that's wanted up here, that is, it's
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: a different thing down there. They won't always mind that song,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: even down there. If anyone sings it, there's TND grinning
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: at him awfully. And if he gets frightened and misses
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: a word or says a wrong one. They oh, don't
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: they give it him? What do they do to him,
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: asked Irene, with a trembling voice. Don't go frightening the princess,
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: said the nurse. The princess, repeated the little miner, taking
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: off his curious cap. I beg your pardon. But you
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: oughtn't to be out so late. Everybody knows that's against
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: the law. Yes, indeed it is, said the nurse, beginning
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: to cry again. And I shall have to suffer for it.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: What does that matter, said the boy. It must be
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: your fault. It's the princess who will suffer for it.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Hope they didn't hear you call her the princess. If
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: they did, they're sure to know her again. They're awful sharp.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: LOOTI lootie, cried the princess. Take me home. Don't go
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: on like that, said the nurse to the boy, almost fiercely.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: How could I help it? I lost my way. You
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: shouldn't have been out so late. You wouldn't have lost
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: your way if you hadn't been frightened, said the boy.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: Go along, I'll soon set you right again. I carry
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: your a little Highness, I'm certinans, murmured the nurse, but
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: she did not say it out loud, for she thought
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: if she made him angry, he might take his revenge
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: by telling some one belonging to the house, and then
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: it would be sure to come to the king's ears. No,
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: thank you, said Irene. I can walk very well, though
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: I can't run as fast as Nursey. If you will
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: give me one hand, Lucy will give me another, and
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: then I shall get on famously. They soon had her
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: between them, holding a hand of each. Now let's run,
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: said the nurse. No, no, said the little miner. That's
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: the worst thing you can do. If you hadn't run before,
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: you would not have lost your way. And if you
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: run now, they'll be after you in a moment. I
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: don't want to run, said Irene. You don't think of me,
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: said the nurse. Yes I do, Lootie. The boy says,
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: they won't touch us if we don't run. Yes, but
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: he's they now at the house that I kept you
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: out so late. I shall be turned away and that
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: would break my heart. Turned away, Lootie, who would turn
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: you away? Your papa child? But I'll tell him it
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: was all my fault, and you know it was Lootie.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: They won't mind that. I'm sure he won't. Then I'll
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: cry and go down on my knees to him and
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: beg him not to take away my own dear Lootie.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: The nurse was comforted at hearing this and said no more.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: They went on walking pretty fast, but taking care not
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: to run a step. I want to talk to you,
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: said Irene to the little miner. But it's so awkward,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: and I don't know your name. My name's Curdy, little princess.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: What a funny name, Curdie more Keeredy Peterson. What's your name? Pease? Irene?
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: What more? I don't know? What more? What more is
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: my name? Lootie? Princesses haven't got more than one name.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: They don't want it. Oh, then, Curdie, you must call
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: me just Irenia. No more now, indeed, said the nurse indignantly.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: He shall do no such thing. What shall he call me? Then, Lootie,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: your royal highness, my royal highness? What's that? No, No, Lootie.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: I won't be called names. I don't like them. You
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: told me once yourself. It's only rude children that call names.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure, Curdie wouldn't be rude, Curdie. My name
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: is Irene. Well Irene, said Curdie, with a glance at
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: the nurse, which showed he enjoyed teasing her. It's very
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: kind of you to let me call you anything. I
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: like your name very much. He expected the nurse to
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: interfere again, but he's soon saw that she was too
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: frightened to speak. She was staring at something a few
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: yards before them, in the middle of the path when
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: it narrowed between rocks so that only one could pass
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: at a time. It's very much kinder of you to
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: go out of your way to take us home, said Irene.
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: I'm not going out of my way yet, said Curdie.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: It's on the other side of those rocks. The path
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: turns off to my father's. You wouldn't think of leaving
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: us till we're safe home, I'm sure, gasped the nurse.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: Of course not, said Curdie. You dear, good kind Curdie.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: I'll give your kiss when we get home, said the princess.
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: The nurse gave her a great pull by the hand
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: she held, but at that instant, something in the middle
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: of the way which had looked like a great lump
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: of earth brought down by the rain began to move
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: one after another. It shot out four long things like
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: two arms and two legs, but it was now too
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: dark to tell what they were. The nurse began to
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: tremble from head to foot. Irene clasped Curdie's hand yet faster,
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: and Curdie began to sing again. A one two hit
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: and who three four blast and moore five six, there's
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: a fixed seven eight, hold it straight nine ten hit again. Hurry, scurry,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: bother Smothie, there's a toad in the road. Smash it,
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: squash it, try it, try it. You're another up and off.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: There's enough ha. As he uttered the last words, Curdie
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: let go his hold of his companion and rushed at
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: the thing in the roads as if he would trample
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: it under his feet. He gave a great spring and
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: ran straight up one of the rocks like a huge spider.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: Curdie turned back, laughing and took Irene's hand again. She
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: grasped his very tight, but said nothing till they had
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: passed the rocks a few yards more, and she found
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: herself on a part of the road she knew, and
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: was able to speak again. Do you know, Curdie, I
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: don't quite like your song? It sounds to me rather,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: she said, Well, perhaps it is, answered Curdie. I never
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: thought of that. That's the way we have. We do
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: it cause they don't like it. Who don't like it?
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: The cobs as we called them, don't, said the nurse.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: Why not, said Curdie, I beg you won't, please don't. Oh,
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: if you ask me that way, of course they won't.
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: They don't a bit. No, why look there, do the
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: lights of your gate house down below? You'll be at
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: home in five minutes now. Nothing more happened. They reached
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: home in safety. Nobody had missed them or even known
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: they had gone out, and they arrived at the door
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: belonging to their part of the house without any one
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: seeing them. The nurse rushed in with a hurried and
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: not over gracious good night to Curdie. But the princess
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: pulled her hand from hers and was just throwing her
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: arms round Curdie's neck when she caught her again and
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: dragged her away. Looty, Lootie, I promised to kiss, said Irene.
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: A princess mustn't give kisses. It's not at all proper,
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: said Lootie. But I promised, said the princess. There's no occasion.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: He's only a minor boy. He's a good boy and
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: a brave boy, and he's been very kind to us,
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: Lootie Lootie, I promised. Then you shouldn't have promised, Lootie.
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: I promised him a kiss. Your Royal Highness, said Lootie,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: suddenly grown very respectful. Must come in directly, nurse. A
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: princess must not break her word, said Irene, drawing herself
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: up and standing stock still. Lootie did not know which
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: the king might count the worst, to let the princess
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: be out after sunset or to let her kiss a
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: miner boy. She did not know that, being a gentleman,
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: as many kings have been, he would have counted neither
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: of them the worst. However much he might have disliked
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: his daughter to kiss the miner boy, he would not
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: have had her break her word, and for all the
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: goblins in creation. But as I say, the nurse was
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: not lady enough to understand this, and so she was
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: in a great difficulty. For if she insisted, some one
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: might hear the princess cry and run to sea, and
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: then all would come out. But here Curdie came again
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: to the rescue. Never mind, Princess, Irene. He said, you
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: mustn't kiss me tonight. Bet you shan't break your word.
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: I will come another time. You may be sure I will. Oh,
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: thank you, Curdie, said the princess, and stopped crying. Good night, Irene.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: Good night, Lootie, said Curdie, and turned and was out
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: of sight in a moment. I should like to see him,
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: muttered the nurse, as she carried the princess to the nursery.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: You will see him, said Irene. You may be sure
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: Curdie will keep his word. He's sure to come again.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: I should like to see him, repeated the nurse, and
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: said no more. She did not want to open a
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: new cause of strife with the princess by saying more
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: plainly what she meant. Glad enough that she had succeeded
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: both in getting home unseen and in keeping the princess
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: from kissing the miner's boy, she resolved to watch her
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: far better in future. Her carelessness had already doubled the
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: danger she was in. Formerly, the goblins were her only fear.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: Now she had to protect her charge from Curdie as well.
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: End of chapter six, Chapter seven the Mines, Curdie went
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: home whistling. He resolved to say nothing about the princess
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: for fear of getting the nurse into trouble. For while
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: he enjoyed teasing her, because of her absurdity, he was
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: careful not to do her any harm. He saw no
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: more of the goblins, and was soon fast asleep in
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: his bed. He woke in the middle of the night
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: and thought he heard curious noises outside. He sat up
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: and listened, then got up and opening the door, they
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: quietly went out. When he peeped round the corner, he
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: saw under his own window a group of stumpy creatures,
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: whom he at once recognized by their shape. Hardly, however,
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: had he begun his or want two three when they
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: broke asunder, scurried away and were out of sight. He
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: returned laughing, got into bed again, and was fast asleep.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: In a moment. Reflecting a little over the matter in
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: the morning, he came to the conclusion that, as nothing
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: of the kind had ever happened before, they must be
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: annoyed with him for interfering to protect the princess. By
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: the time he was dressed, however, he was thinking of
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: something quite different, for he did not value the enmity
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: of the goblins in the least. As soon as they
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: had had breakfast, he set off with his father for
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: the mine. They entered the hill by a natural opening
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: under a huge rock, where a little stream rushed out.
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: They followed its course for a few yards, when the
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: passage took a turn and sloped deeply into the heart
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: of the hill, with many angles and windings and branchings,
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: often sometimes with steps. Where it came upon a natural gulf.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: It led them deep into the hill before they arrived
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: at the place where they were at present digging out
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: the precious oree. This was of various kinds, for the
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: mountain was very rich in the better sorts of metals,
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: with flint and steel and tinder box. They lighted their lamps,
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: then fixed them on their heads, and were soon hard
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: at work with their pickaxes and shovels and hammers. Father
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: and son were at work near each other, but not
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: in the same gang. The passages out of which the
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: oar was dug they called gangs, for when the load
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: or vein of ore was small, one miner would have
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: to dig away alone in a passage no bigger than
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: gave him just room to work, sometimes in uncomfortable, cramped positions.
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: If they stopped for a moment, they could hear everywhere
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: about them, some near owned, some farther off, the sounds
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: of their companions burrowing away in all directions in the
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: inside of the great mountain, some boring holes in the
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: rock in order to blow it up with gunpowder, others
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: shoveling the broken oar into baskets to be carried to
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: the mouth of the mine, others hitting away with their pickaxes. Sometimes,
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: if the miner was in a very lonely part, he
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: would hear only a tap tapping, no louder than that
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: of a woodpecker, for the sound would come from a
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: great distance off through the solid mountain rock. The work
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: was hard at best, for it is very warm underground,
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: but it was not particularly unpleasant, and some of the miners,
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: when they wanted to earn a little more money for
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: a particular purpose, would stop behind the rest and work
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: all night. But you could not tell night from day
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: down there, except from feeling tired and sleepy, for no
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: light of the sun ever came into those gloomy regions.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: Some who had thus remained behind during the night, although
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: certain that there were none of their companions at work,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: would declare the next morning that they heard, every time
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: they halted for a moment to take breath, a tap
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: tapping all about them, as if the mountain were then
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: more full of miners than ever it was during the day.
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: And some, in consequence would never stay overnight, for all
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: knew those were the sounds of the goblins. They worked
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: only at night, for the miner's night was the goblins day. Indeed,
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: the greater number of the miners were afraid of the goblins,
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: for there were strange stories well known among them of
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: the treatment some had received, whom the goblins had surprised
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: at their work during the night. The more courageous of them, however,
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: among them Peter Peterson and Curdie, who in this took
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: after his father, had stayed in the mine all night,
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: again and again, and although they had several times encountered
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: a few stray goblins, had never yet failed in driving
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: them away. As I have indicated already, the chief defense
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: against them was verse, for they hated verse of every kind,
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: and some kinds they could not endure at all, I
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: suspect they could not make any themselves, and that was
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: why they disliked it so much. At all events, those
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: who were most afraid of them were those who could
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: neither make verses themselves nor remember the verses that other
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: people made for them, while those who were never afraid
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: were those who could make verses for themselves. For although
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: there were certain old rhymes which were very effectual, yet
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: it was well known that a new rhyme, if of
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: the right sort, was even more distasteful to them, and
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: therefore more effectual in putting them to flight. Perhaps my
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: readers may be wondering what the goblins could be about
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: working all night long, seeing they never carried up the
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: ore and sold it. But when I have informed them
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: concerning what Curdie learned the very next night, they will
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: be able to understand. For Curdie had determined if his
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: father would permit him to remain there alone this night,
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: and that for two reasons. First, he wanted to get
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: extra wages that he might buy a very warm red
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: petticoat for his mother, who had begun to complain of
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: the cold of the mountain air sooner than usual this
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: autumn and second, he had just a faint hope of
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: finding out what the goblins were about under his window
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: the night before. When he told his father, he made
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: no objection, for he had great confidence in his boy's
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: courage and resources. Ah, I'm sorry, I can't stay with you,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: said Peter. But I want to go and pay the
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: bus and a visit this evening. And besides, I've had
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: a bit of a headache all day. Ah sorry for that, father,
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. Oh it's not much. You'll be sure to
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: take care of yourself, won't you, Yes, father, I will.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: I'll keep a sharp lookout, I promise you. Curdie was
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: the only one who remained in the mine. About six
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: o'clock the rest went away, every one bidding him good
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: night and telling him to take care of himself, for
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: he was a great favorite with them all. Don't forget
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: your rhymes, said one. No, no, answered Curdie. It's no
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: matter if he does, said another. Wait only after mike.
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: No one yes, But he mightn't be able to make
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: it fast enough, said another. And while he was cooking
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: in heat head, they won't take a mean advantage and
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: set upon him. I'd do my best, said Curdy, I'm
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: not afraid. We all know that they returned and left him.
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: End of chapter seven, Chapter eight the Goblins. For some time,
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: Curdie worked away briskly, throwing all the awe he had
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: disengaged on one side behind him to be ready for
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: carrying out. In the morning, he heard a good deal
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: of goblin tapping, but it all sounded far away in
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: the hill, and he paid it little heed to a midnight,
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: he began to feel rather hungry, so he dropped his pickaxe,
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: got out a lump of bread, which in the morning
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: he had laid in a damp hole in the rock,
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: sat down on a heap of ore and ate his supper.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: Then he leant back for five minutes rest before beginning
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: his work again, and laid his head against the rock.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: He had not kept the position for one minute before
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: he heard something which made him sharpen his ears. It
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: sounded like a voice inside the rock. After a while
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: he heard it again. It was a goblin voice. There
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: could be no doubt about that, and this time he
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: could make out the words. Hadn't we better be moving?
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: It said? A rougher and deeper voice replied, there's no
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: hurry that wretched little mull won't be stew to night
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: if he works ever so hard. He's not by any
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: means at their dinnis place. But you still think the
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: noad does come through into our house, said the first voice. Yes,
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: but a good bit farther on, and he's got to yet.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: If he had struck a stroke more to the side,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: just here, said the goblin, tapping the very stone as
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: it seemed to Curdie against which his head lay, he
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: would have been through Bury's a couple of yards past
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: it now, and if he follows the load, it will
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: be a week before it leads him in. You'll see
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: him back there long way. Still, perhaps in case of accidents,
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: it would be as well to be getting out of
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: this Alpha. He'll take the great chest. That's your business,
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: you know, yes, Dad, but you must help me to
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: get it on my back. It's awfully heavy, you know. Well.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: It isn't just a beg of smoke, I admit. But
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: you're as strong as a mountain Alpha, you say so, Dad,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: I think myself. I'm all right, but I could carry
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: ten times as much if it wasn't for my feet.
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: That's your weak point, I'll confess, my boy. Ain't it
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: yours too? Father? Well, to be honest, it's a goblin weakness.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: Why they comes, how soft? I declare iron? And are
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: there especially when your head's so hard, you know? Father? Yes,
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: my boys, and the goblin's glory as his head. To
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: think how the feather's up above there have to put
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: on helmets and things when they go fighting. But why
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: don't we wear shoes like them? Father? I should like it,
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: especially when I've got a chest like that on my head. Well,
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: you see, it's not the fashion. The king never wears shoes.
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: The queen does, yes, but that's for distinction. The first queen,
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, the king's first wife, wore shoes, of course,
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: because she came from upstairs, and so when she died,
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: the next queen would not be inferior to hers, she
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: called it, and would wear shoes too. It was all pride.
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: She's hardest in forbidding them to the rest to the women,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: I'm sure I wouldn't wear them. No, not for that
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: that I wouldn't, said the first voice, which was evidently
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: that of the mother of the family. I can't think
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: what either of them should did not tell you the
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: first was from upstairs, said the other. That was the
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: only silly thing I ever knew, his Majesty guilty of
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: Why should he marry an outlandish woman like that? One
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: of our natural enemies too? I suppose he fell in
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: love with her. Whoo, he's just as happy now with
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: one of his own people. Did she die very soon?
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: They didn't tease her to death? Did they? Oh? Dear? No,
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: A keen worshiped hervy footmarks? What made her die? Then?
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: Didn't the air agree with her? She died when the
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: young prince was born? That silly offer, We never do that.
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: It must have been because she wore shoes? Oh? Or
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: don't know that? Whether they wear shoes up there? Ah?
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: Now that's a sensible question, and I will answer it.
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: But in order to do so, I must first tell
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: you a secret. Ah. I once saw the Queen's feet
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: without her shoes. Here without her shoes? Now did you
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: how was it? Whatever whom mine was? She didn't know?
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: I saw them? More? You think they had toes toes?
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: What's that? Who may well ask? Or should never have known?
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: If I hadn't seen the queen's feet, Just imagine the
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: ends of her feet were split up into five or
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: sixteen pieces. Ah, horrid. How could the king have fallen
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: in love with her? Oh, forget that she wore shoes.
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: That's just why she wore them. That's what all of
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: me and women two upstairs wear shoes. They can't bear
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: the sight of their own feet without them. No, no,
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: I understand. If you ever wish for shoes again, help
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: her on it your feet, I will No. No, mother,
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: pray don't then, don't you? But with such a big
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: box on my head? A horrid scream followed, which Curdie
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: interpreted us in reply to a blow from his mother
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: upon the feet of her eldest goblin. Well, I never
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: knew sow much before, remarked a fourth voice. Your knowledge
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: is not universal quite yet, said the father. You were
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: only fifty last month. One, you see to the bed
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: and the bedding. Soon as we've finished our supper, we'll
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: be up and going ha ha, What are you laughing at? Husband?
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: I'm laughing to think what a mess of mine as
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: we'll find themselves in somewhere before this day eight ten years.
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: What do you mean laughing? If you do mean something,
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: you always do mean something. It's more new do than wife.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: That may be, but it's not one I find out.
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: You know you're a short one or a mother you
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: got elpha? Yes, father, Well, I suppose I must tell
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: you they're all at the palace consulting about at night,
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: and as soon as we got away from this thin place,
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: I'm going there to hear what night they fix upon.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: I should like to see that young ruffian there on
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: the other side, struggling in the agonies of He dropped
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: his voice so low that Curdie could only hear a growl.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: The growl went on in a low base for a
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: good while, as inarticulate, as if the goblin's tongue had
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: been a sausage, and it was not until his wife
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: spoke again that it rose again to its former pitch.
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: But what shall we do when you're at the palace,
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: she asked. I'll see you safe in the new house.
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: I've been digging for you for the last two months. Bodge.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: You are the table and chairs, I'll commit them to
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: your care. The table has seven legs, he's cheer three.
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: I shall require them all at your ends. After this
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: arose a confused conversation about the various household goods and
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: their transport, and Curdie heard nothing more that was of
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: any importance. He now knew at least one of the
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: reasons for the constant sound of the goblin hammers and
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: pickaxes at night. They were making new houses for themselves
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: to which they might retreat when the miners should threaten
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: to break into their dwellings. But he had learnt two
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: things of far greater importance. The first was that some
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: grievous calamity was preparing and almost ready to fall upon
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: the heads of the miners. The second was the one
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: weak point of a goblin's body. He had not known
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: that their feet were so tender, as he now had
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: reason to suspect. He had heard it said that they
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: had no toes. He had never had opportunity of inspecting
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: them closely enough in the dusk in which they always
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: appeared to satisfy himself whether it was a correct report. Indeed,
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: he had not been able even to satisfy himself as
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: to whether they had no fingers, although that was also
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: commonly said to be the fact. One of the miners, indeed,
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: who had more schooling than the rest, was wont to
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: argue that such must have been the primordial condition of humanity,
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: and that education and handicraft had developed both toes and fingers,
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: with which proposition Curdie had once heard his father sarcastically agree,
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: alleging in support of it, the probability that baby's gloves
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: were a traditional remnant of the old state of things,
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: while the stockings of all ages no regard being paid
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: in them. To toes pointed in the same direction. But
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: what was of importance was the fact concerning the softness
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: of the goblin feet, which he foresaw might be useful
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: to all miners. What he had to do in the meantime, however,
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: was to discover, if possible, the special evil designs the
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: goblins had now in their heads. Although he knew all
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: the gangs and all the natural galleries with which they
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: communicated in the mind part of the mountain, he had
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: not the least idea of where the palace of the
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: King of the Nomes was, Otherwise he would have set
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: out at once on the enterprise of discovering what the
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: said design was. He judged and rightly that it must
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: lie in a farther part of the mountain, between which
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: and the mine there was as yet no communication. There
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: must be one nearly completed, however, for it could be
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 1: but a thin partition which now separated them. If only
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: he could get through in time to follow the goblins
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: as they retreated. A few blows would doubtless be sufficient
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: just where his ear now lay, But if he attempted
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: to strike there with his pickaxe, he would only hasten
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: the departure of the family, put them on their guard,
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 1: and perhaps lose their involuntary guidance. He therefore began to
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: feel the wall with his hands, and soon found that
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: some of the stones were loose enough to be drawn
• 1:10:14
  Speaker 1: out with little noise. Laying hold of a large one
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: with both his hands, he drew it gently out and
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: let it down softly. What was that noise, said the
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: goblin Father Curdie blew out his light lest it should
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: shine through. He must be that one miner that stayed
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: behind the wrist, said the mother. Nah, he's been gone
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: a good wall. I've heard a blow over an hour.
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: Sarge wasn't like that then, I suppose it must have
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: been a stone carried down by the brook inside. Perhaps
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: he'd had more room Barmbau. Curdie kept quite still after
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: a little while, hearing nothing but the sounds of their preparations.
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: For departure, mingled with the occasional word of direction, and
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: anxious to know whether the removal of the stone had
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: made an opening into the goblin's house. He put in
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: his hand to feel it went in a good way,
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: and then came into contact with something soft. He had
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: but a moment to feel it over. It was so
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: quickly withdrawn it was one of the tallest goblin feet.
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: The owner of it gave a cry of fright. What's
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: the matter, Helper asked his mother. A beast came out
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: of the wall and licked my foot. Nonsense, were no
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: wild beasts in our country, said his father, But it
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: was father, I felt it. Nonsense, I say, will you
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: malign your native realms and reduce them to a level
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: with the country upstairs that swarming with wild beasts of
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: every description? But I did feel it farther. I'll tell
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: you to hold your tongue. You'll no patriot. Curdie suppressed
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: his laughter and lay as still as a mouse, but
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: no stiller For ever moment he kept nibbling away with
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: his fingers at the edges of the hole. He was
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: slowly making it bigger, For here the rock had been
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: very much shattered with the blasting. There seemed to be
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: a good many in the family, to judge from the
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: mass of confused talk which now and then came through
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: the hole. But when all were speaking together, and just
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: as if they had bottle brushes at least one in
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: their throats, it was not easy to make out much
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: that was said. At length he heard once more what
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: the father Goblin was saying. Now, then he said, get
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: your bundles on your backs. Here, Alpha, all help you
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: up with your chest. I wish it was my chest. Father.
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: Your turn will come in good time. Enough, make haste,
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: or must go to the meeting at the palace to night.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: When that's over we can come back and clear out
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: the last of the things. Pore our enemies return in
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: the morning. Now, now your torches and come along. What
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: a distinction it is for avide our own night, instead
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: of being dependent on a thing hung up in the air.
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: A most disagreeable contrivance, intended no doubt to blind us
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: when we venture out under its bileful influence. Quart glaring
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: and vulgar are call it, though now doubt useful to
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: poor creatures who haven't the wit to make lat for themselves.
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: Curdie could hardly keep himself from calling through to know
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: whether they made fire to light their torches by. But
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: a moment's reflection showed him that they would have said
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: they did inasmuch as they struck two stones together, and
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: the fire came. End of Chapter eight, Chapter nine, the
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: Hall of the Goblin Palace. A sound of many soft
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: feet followed, but soon ceased. Then Curdie flew at the
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: hole like a tiger, and tore and pulled. The sides
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: gave way, and it was soon large enough for him
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: to crawl through. He would not betray himself by rekindling
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: his lamp, but the torches of the retreating company, which
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: he found departing in a straight line up a long
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: avenue from the door of their cave, threw back light
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: enough to afford him a glance round the deserted home
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: of the goblins. To his surprise, he could discover nothing
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 1: to distinguish it from an ordinary natural cave in the rock,
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: upon many of which he had come with the rest
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: of the miners. In the progress of their excavations. The
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: goblins had talked of coming back for the rest of
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: their household gear. He saw nothing that would have made
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: him suspect a family had taken sheltered there for a
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: single night. The floor was rough and stony, the walls
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: full of projecting corners, the roof in one place twenty
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: feet high in another, endangering his forehead, while on one
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: side a stream no thicker than a needle, it is true,
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: but still sufficient to spread a wide dampness over the
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: wall flowed down the face of the rock. But the
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: troop in front of him was toilet under heavy burdens.
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: He could distinguish helfer now and then in the flickering
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: light and shade, with his heavy chest on his bending shoulders,
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: while the second brother was almost buried in what looked
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: like a great feather bed. Where did he get the feathers?
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: Thought Curdie. But in a moment the troop disappeared at
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: a turn of the way, and it was now both
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 1: safe and necessary for Curdie to follow them, lest they
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: should be round the next turning before he saw them again,
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: for so he might lose them altogether. He darted after
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: them like a greyhound. When he reached the corner and
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: looked cautiously round, he saw them again at some distance
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: down another long passage. None of the galleries he saw
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: that night bore signs of the work of man or
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: of Goblin. Either. Stalactites far older than the mines, hung
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: from their roofs, and their floors were rough with boulders
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: and large round stones, showing that there water must once
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: have run. He waited again at this corner till they
• 1:15:58
  Speaker 1: had disappeared round the next, and so followed them a
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: long way through one passage after another. The passages grew
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: more and more lofty, and were more and more covered
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: in the roof with shining stalactits. It was a strange
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: enough procession which he followed, but the strangest part of
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: it was the household animals which crowded among the feet
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: of the goblins. It was true they had no wild
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: animals down there, at least they did not know of any,
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: But they had a wonderful number of tame ones. I must, however,
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: reserve any contributions towards the natural history of these for
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 1: a later position in my story. At length, turning a
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: corner too abruptly, he had almost rushed into the middle
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: of the Goblin family, for there they had already set
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: down all their burdens on the floor of a cave
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: considerably larger than that which they had left. They were
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: as yet too breathless to speak, else he would have
• 1:16:54
  Speaker 1: had warning of their arrest. He started back, however, before
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 1: anyone saw him, and retreating a good way, they stood
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: watching till the father should come out to go to
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: the palace. Before very long, both he and his son
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: Helfer appeared and kept on in the same direction as before,
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: while Curdie followed them again with renewed precaution. For a
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: long time he heard no sound except something like the
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: rush of a river inside the rock. But at length
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: what seemed the far off noise of a great shouting
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: reached his ears, which, however, presently ceased. After advancing a
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: good way further, he thought he heard a single voice.
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: It sounded clearer and clearer as he went on, until
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: at last he could almost distinguish the words. In a
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: moment or two. Keeping after the goblins round another corner,
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: he once more started back, this time in amazement. He
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: was at the entrance of a magnificent cavern of an
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: oval shape, once probably a huge natural reservoir of water,
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: now the great Palace hall of the Goblins. It rose
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 1: to a tremendous height but the roof was composed of
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 1: such shining materials, and the multitude of torches carried by
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: the goblins who crowded the floor lighted up the place
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: so brilliantly that Curdie could see to the top quite well.
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: But he had no idea how immense the place was
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: until his eyes got accustomed to it, which was not
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: for a good many minutes. The rough projections on the
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: walls and the shadows thrown upwards from them by the torches,
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: made the sides of the chamber look as if they
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: were crowded with statues upon brackets and pedestals reaching in
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: irregular tiers from floor to roof. The walls themselves were
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: in many parts of gloriously shining substances, some of them
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: gorgeously colored, besides which powerfully contrasted with the shadows. Curdie
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: could not help wondering whether his rhymes would be of
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: any use against such a multitude of goblins as filled
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: the floor of the hall, and indeed felt considerably tempted
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: to begin his shout over one twoth tree, But as
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: there was no reason for routing them, and much for
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: endeavoring to discover their designs, he kept himself perfectly quiet,
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: and peering round the edge of the doorway, listened with
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: both his sharp ears. At the other end of the hall,
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: high above the heads of the multitude, was a terrace
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: like ledge of considerable height, caused by the receding of
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: the upper part of the cavern wall. Upon this sat
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: the King and his court. The king on a throne
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 1: hollowed out of a huge block of green copper ore,
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: and his court upon lower seats round it. The King
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: had been making them a speech. The applause which followed
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 1: it was what Curdie had heard. One of the court
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: was now addressing the multitude. What he heard him say
• 1:19:43
  Speaker 1: was to the following effect. Hence, it appears that two
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: plans have been for some time together working in the
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: strong head of His Majesty for the deliverance of his people.
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: Regardless of the fact that we were the first possessors
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: of the regions which they now in, Regardless equally of
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: the fact that we abandoned that region from the loftiest motives.
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: Regardless also of the self evident fact that we excel
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 1: them so far in mental ability as they excel us
• 1:20:13
  Speaker 1: in stature. They look upon us as a degraded race
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: and make a mockery of all our finer feelings. But
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: the time has almost arrived when, thanks to His Majesty's
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 1: inventive genius, it will be in our power to take
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: a thorough revenge upon them once for all, in respect
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: of their unfriendly behavior. May it please Your majesty? Cried
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: a voice close by the door, which Curdie recognized as
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: that of the goblin he had followed. Who is he
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: that interrupts the chancellor? Cried another from near the throne.
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: Gump answered several voices. He is our trusty subject, said
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: the King himself, in a slow and stately voice. Let
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: him come forward and speak. Elaine was parted through the crowd,
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: and Glump, having ascended the platform and bowed to the King,
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: spoke as follows, Sire, I would have held my peace
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: had I not known that. I only knew how near
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: was the moment to which the Chancellor had just referred.
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 1: In all probability, before another days pasted, the enemy will
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: have broken through into my house. The partition between being
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: even now not more than afoot in thickness. Not quite
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: so much, thought Curdie to himself, this very evening, I
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 1: have had to remove my household effects. Therefore, the sooner
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: we are ready to carry out the plan for the
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: execution of which His Majesty has been making such magnificent precarations,
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: the better. I may add that, within the last few
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: days I have perceived a small outbreak in my dining room, which,
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: combined with observations upon the course of the river escaping
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: where evil men enter, has convinced me that close to
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: the spot must be a deep gulf in its channel.
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: This discovery will, I trust, add considerably to the otherwise
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: immense forces his Majesty's disposal. He ceased, and the King
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: graciously acknowledged his speech with the bend of his head,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: whereupon Glump, after a bow to his Majesty, slid down
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: among the rest of the undistinguished multitude. Then the Chancellor
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: arose and resumed the information which the worthy Glump has
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: given us. He said, might have been a considerable import
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: at the present moment, but for that other design already
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: referred to, which naturally takes recedence. His Majesty, unwilling to
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 1: proceed to extremities, and well aware that such measures sooner
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: or later result in violent reactions, has ex coddid a
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: more fundamental and comprehensive measure, of which I need say
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: no more. Should his majesty be successful, who dares to doubt,
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: then a peace, all to the advantage of the Goblin
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: kingdom will be established for our generation, at least, rendered
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: absolutely secure by the pledge which is Royal Highness the
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: Prince will have and hold for the good behavior of
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: her relatives. Should his majesty fail, which you shall dare
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: even to imagine in his most secret thoughts, then will
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: be the time for carrying out with rigor the design
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: to which Glunt referred, and for which our preparations are
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 1: even now all but completed. The failure of the former
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: will render the latter imperative. Curdie, perceiving that the assembly
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 1: was drawing to a close and that there was little
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: chance of either plan being more fully discovered, now thought
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: it prudent to make his escape before or the goblins
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: began to disperse, and slipped quietly away. There was not
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: much danger of meeting any goblins, for all the men
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: at least were left behind him in the palace, but
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: there was considerable danger of his taking a wrong turning,
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 1: for he had now no light and had therefore to
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: depend upon his memory and his hands. After he had
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: left behind him the glow that issued from the door
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: of Glump's new abode, he was utterly without guide so
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: far as his eyes were concerned. He was most anxious
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: to get back through the hull before the goblins should
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 1: return to fetch the remains of their furniture. It was
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: not that he was in the least afraid of them,
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 1: but as it was of the utmost importance that he
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: should thoroughly discover what the plans they were cherishing were,
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: he must not occasion the slightest suspicion that they were
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: watched by a miner. He hurried on, feeling his way
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: along the walls of rock. Had he not been very courageous,
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: he must have been very anxious, for he could not
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: but know that if he lost his way, it would
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: be the most difficult thing in the world to find
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: it again. Morning would bring no light into these regions,
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: and towards him, least of all, who was known as
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: a special rhymster and persecutor. Could goblins be expected to
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 1: exercise courtesy? Well? Might he wish that he had brought
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: his lamp and tinder box with him, of which he
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: had not thought when he crept so eagerly after the goblins.
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: He wished it all the more when after a while
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: he found his way blocked up and could get no farther.
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: It was of no use to turn back, for he
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: had not the least idea where he had begun to
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: go wrong mechanically, however, he kept feeling about the walls
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: that hemmed him in his hand came upon a place
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: where a tiny stream of water was running down the
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 1: face of the rock. Ah, what a stupid I am,
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: he said to himself. Am actually at the end of
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: my journey, And there are the goblins coming back to
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: fetch their things, he added, as the red glimmer of
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: their torches appeared at the end of the long avenue
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: that led up to the care. In a moment, he
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: had thrown himself on the floor and wriggled backwards through
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: the hole. The floor on the other side was several
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: feet lower, which made it easier to get back. It
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: was all he could do to lift the largest stone
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: he had taken out of the hole, but he did
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: manage to shove it in again. He sat down on
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: the ore heap and thought he was pretty sure that
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 1: the latter plan of the goblins was to inundate the
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: mine by breaking outlets for the water accumulated in the
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: natural reservoirs of the mountain, as well as running through
• 1:26:30
  Speaker 1: portions of it. While the part hollowed by the miners
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 1: remained shut off from that inhabited by the goblins, they
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: had had no opportunity of injuring them. Thus, but now
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 1: that a passage was broken through, and the goblin's part
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: proved the higher in the mountain, it was clear to
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: Curdie that the mine could be destroyed in an hour.
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: Water was always the chief danger to which the miners
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: were exposed. They met with a little choke damp sometimes,
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: but never with the explosive of fire damp so common
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: in coal mines. Hence they were careful as soon as
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: they saw any appearance of water. As the result of
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: his reflections, while the goblins were busy in their old home,
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: it seemed to Curdie that it would be best to
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 1: build up the whole of this gang, filling it with
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: stone and clay or lie, so that there should be
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: not the smallest channel for the water to get into.
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: There was not, however, any immediate danger, for the execution
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: of the goblin's plan was contingent upon the failure of
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: that unknown design which was to take precedence of it,
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: and he was most anxious to keep the door of
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: communication open that he might, if possible, discover what the
• 1:27:39
  Speaker 1: former plan was. At the same time, they could not
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: resume their intermittent labour for the inundation without his finding
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: it out, when, by putting all hands to the work,
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: the one existing outlet might in a single night be
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: rendered impenetrable to any weight of water, for by filling
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: the gang entirely up, their embankment would be buttressed by
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: the side of the mountain itself. As soon as he
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: found that the goblins had again retired, he lighted his
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: lamp and proceeded to fill the hole he had made
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: with such stones as he could withdraw when he pleased.
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: He then thought it better, as he might have occasion
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: to be up a good many nights after this, to
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 1: go home and have some sleep. How pleasant the night
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: air felt upon the outside of the mountain, after what
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: he had gone through in the inside of it. He
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: hurried up the hill without meeting a single goblin on
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: the way, and called and tapped at the window until
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: he woke his father, who soon rose and let him in.
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: He told him the whole story, and just as he
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: had expected, his father thought it best to work that
• 1:28:42
  Speaker 1: load no farther, but at the same time to pretend
• 1:28:45
  Speaker 1: occasionally to be at work there still, in order that
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: the goblins might have no suspicions. Both father and son
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: then went to bed and slept soundly until the morning
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 1: end of to nine, chapter ten the Princess's king Papa.
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: The weather continued fine for weeks, and the little princess
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 1: went out every day. So long a period of fine
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: weather had indeed never been known upon that mountain. The
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: only uncomfortable thing was that her nurse was so nervous
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: and particular about being in before the sun was down,
• 1:29:23
  Speaker 1: that often she would take to her heels when nothing
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: worse than a fleecy cloud crossing the sun through a
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: shadow on the hillside. And many an evening there were
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: home a full hour before the sunlight had left the
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 1: weather cock on the stables. If it had not been
• 1:29:37
  Speaker 1: for such odd behavior, Irene would by this time have
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: almost forgotten the goblins. She never forgot Curdie, but him
• 1:29:45
  Speaker 1: she remembered for his own sake, and indeed would have
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: remembered him, if only because a princess never forgets her
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: debts until they are paid. One splendid, sunshiny day, about
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: an hour afternoon, Irene, who playing on a lawn in
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: the garden, heard the distant blast of a bugle. She
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: jumped up with the cry of joy, for she knew
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: by that particular blast that her father was on his
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: way to see her. This part of the garden lay
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: on the slope of the hill and allowed a full
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 1: view of the country below. So she shaded her eyes
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: with her hand and looked far away to catch the
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: first glimpse of shining armor. In a few moments, a
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: little troop came glittering round the shoulder of a hill.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: Spears and helmets were sparkling and gleaming, banners were flying,
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: horses prancing, and again came the bugle dust, which was
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: to her like the voice of her father, calling across
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: the distance, Irene, I'm coming. On. And on they came,
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 1: until she could clearly distinguish the king. He rode a
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 1: white horse and was taller than any of the men
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: with him. He wore a narrow circle of gold set
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: with jewels around his helmet, and as he came still
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 1: nearer Irene, he could dissert and the flashing of the
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: stones in the sun. It was a long time since
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: he had been to see her, and her little heart
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: beat faster and faster as the shining troop approached, For
• 1:31:10
  Speaker 1: she loved her King Papa very dearly, and was nowhere
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 1: so happy as in his arms. When they reached a
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: certain point, after which she could see them no more
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: from the garden, she ran to the gate and there
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: stood till up they came, clanging and stamping, with one
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: more bright bugle blast, which said, Irene, I am come.
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 1: By this time the people of the house were all
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: gathered at the gate, but Irene stood alone in front
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: of them. When the horseman pulled up, she ran to
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: the side of the white horse and held up her arms.
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: The king stopped and took her hands. In an instant
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: she was on the saddle and clasped in his great
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: strong arms. I wish I could describe the king so
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: that you could see him in your mind. He had
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: gentle blue eyes, but a nose that made him look
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 1: like eagle, a long dark beard streaked with silvery lines,
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: flowed from his mouth almost to his waist, and as
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: Irene sat on the saddle and hid her glad face
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: upon his bosom, it mingled with the golden hair which
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: her mother had given her, and the two together were
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: like a cloud with streaks of the sun woven through it.
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 1: After he had held her to his heart for a minute,
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: he spoke to his white horse, and the great beautiful creature,
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: which had been prancing so proudly a little while before,
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: walked as gently as a lady, for he knew that
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: he had a little lady on his back. Through the
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: gate and up to the door of the house. Then
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: the king set her on the ground, and, dismounting, took
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: her hand and walked with her into the great hall,
• 1:32:45
  Speaker 1: which was hardly ever entered except when he came to
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: see his little princess. There he sat down with two
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: of his counselors, who had accompanied him to have some refreshment,
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: and Irene sat on his right hand and drank her
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: milk out of a wooden bowl curiously carved. After the
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: king had eaten and drunk, he turned to the princess
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: and said, stroking her hair, and now, my child, what
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: shall we do next? This was the question he almost
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: always put to her first after their meal together, and
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: Irene had been waiting for it with some impatience. For
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: now she thought she should be able to settle a
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: question which constantly perplexed her. I should like you to
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: take me to see my great old grandmother. The King
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: looked grave and said, what does my little daughter mean.
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: I mean the Queen Irene that lives up in Nata,
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: the very old lady, you know, with the long hair
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: of silver. The King only gazed at his little princess
• 1:33:47
  Speaker 1: with a look which she could not understand. She's got
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: her crown in her bedroom, she went on, But I've
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: not been in there yet. You know she's there, don't you. No,
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: said the King very quietly. Then it must all be
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: a dream, said Irene. I half thought it was, but
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: I couldn't be sure. Now I'm sure of it. Besides,
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: I couldn't find her the next time I went up.
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 1: At that moment, a snow white pigeon flew in at
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 1: an open window and settled upon Irene's head. She broke
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: into a merry laugh, cowered a little, and put up
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: her hands to her head, saying, dear dovey don't peck me.
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 1: You'll pull out my hair with your long claws if
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: you don't mind. The king stretched out his hand to
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 1: take the pigeon, but it spread its wings and flew
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: again through the open window. When its whiteness made one
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: flash in the sun and vanished, the King laid his
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 1: hand on his princess's head, held it back a little,
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 1: gazed in her face, smiled half a smile, and sighed
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: half a sigh. Come, my child, we'll have a walk
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 1: in the garden together, he said, you won't come up
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: and see my huge, great beautiful grows and mother. Then
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 1: King Papa said the princess, not this time, said the
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: king very gently. She has not invited me, you know,
• 1:35:09
  Speaker 1: and great old ladies like her do not choose to
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: be visited without leave asked and given. The garden was
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 1: a very lovely place, being upon a mountain side. There
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: were parts in it where the rocks came through in
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 1: great masses, and all immediately about them remained quite wild.
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: Tufts of heather grew upon them another hardy mountain plants
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: and flowers, while near them would be lovely roses and
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: lilies and all pleasant garden flowers. This mingling of the
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 1: wild mountain with the civilized garden was very quaint, and
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: it was impossible for any number of gardeners to make
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 1: such a garden look formal and stiff. Against one of
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 1: these rocks was a garden seat, shadowed from the afternoon
• 1:35:53
  Speaker 1: sun by the overhanging of the rock itself. There was
• 1:35:56
  Speaker 1: a little winding path up to the top of the
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: rock and on to another seat, but they sat on
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 1: the seat at its foot because the sun was hot,
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: and there they talked together of many things at length.
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: The King said, you were out late one evening, Irene, Yes, Papa,
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: it was my fault, and Lootie was very sorry. I
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: must talk to Lootie about it, said the King. Don't
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 1: speak loud to her, please, Papa, said, Irene, she's been
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: so afraid of being late ever since. Indeed, she has
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: not been naughty. It was only a mistake for once
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: once might be too often, murmured the King to himself,
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: as he stroked his child's head. I can't tell you
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: how he had come to know. I'm sure Curdie had
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: not told him. Some One about the palace must have
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 1: seen them. After all. He sat for a good while
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 1: thinking there was no sound to be heard, except that
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 1: of a little stream which ran merrily out of an
• 1:36:58
  Speaker 1: opening in the rock by where they and sped away
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: down the hill through the garden. Then he rose, and,
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: leaving Irene where she was, went into the house and
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: sent for Lootie, with whom he had a talk that
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: made her cry. When in the evening he rode away
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: on his great white horse, he left six of his
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: attendants behind him, with orders that three of them should
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: watch outside the house every night, walking round and round
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: it from sunset to sunrise. It was clear he was
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 1: not quite comfortable about the princess. End of chapter ten,
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: Chapter eleven, the old Lady's bedroom. Nothing more happened worth telling.
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 1: For some time. The autumn came and went by. There
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: were no more flowers in the garden. The wind blew
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: strong and howled among the rocks. The rain fell and
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 1: drenched the few yellow and red leaves that could not
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: get up the bare branches. Again and again there would
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 1: be a glorious morning followed by a pouring afternoon, and
• 1:38:08
  Speaker 1: sometimes for a week together there would be rain, nothing
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 1: but rain all day, and then the most lovely cloudless night,
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: with the sky all out in full blown stars, not
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 1: one missing, but the princess could not see much of them,
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: for she went to bed early. The winter drew on,
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: and she found things growing dreary. When it was too
• 1:38:30
  Speaker 1: stormy to go out and she had got tired of
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 1: her toys, Lootie would take her about the house, sometimes
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: to the housekeeper's room, where the housekeeper, who was a
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: good kind old woman, made much of her. Sometimes to
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 1: the servants hall or the kitchen, where she was not
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 1: princess merely but absolute queen and ran a great risk
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: of being spoiled. Sometimes she would run off herself to
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: the room where the men at arms whom the king
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 1: had left sat, and they showed her their arms and
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 1: accouterments and did what they could to amuse her. Still,
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: at times she found it very dreary, and often and
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: often wished that her huge great grandmother had not been
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: a dream. One morning, the nurse left her with the
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: housekeeper for a while. To amuse her, she turned out
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: the contents of an old cabinet. Upon the table. The
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: little princess found her treasures, queer, ancient ornaments, and many
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: things the use of which she could not imagine, far
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: more interesting than her own toys and sat playing with
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: them for two hours or more, but at length, in
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: handling a curious old fashioned brooch, she ran the pin
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: of it into her thumb and gave a little scream
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: with the sharpness of the pain, but would have thought
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 1: little more of it. Had not, the pain increased and
• 1:39:48
  Speaker 1: her thumb began to swell. This alarmed the housekeeper greatly.
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: The nurse was fetched, the doctor was sent for. Her
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: hand was poulticed, and long before her usual time, she
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 1: was put to bed. The panes still continued, and although
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: she fell asleep and dreamt a good many dreams, there
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 1: was the pain always in every dream. At last it
• 1:40:09
  Speaker 1: woke her up. The moon was shining brightly into the room.
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 1: The boultice had fallen off her hand, and it was
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: burning hot. She fancied if she could hold it into
• 1:40:20
  Speaker 1: the moonlight that would cool it, so she got out
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 1: of bed without waking the nurse, who lay at the
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: other end of the room, and went to the window.
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 1: When she looked out, she saw one of the men
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: at arms walking in the garden, with the moonlight glancing
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: on his armor. She was just going to tap on
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: the window and call him, for she wanted to tell
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 1: him all about it. When she bethought herself that that
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: might wake Lootie and she would put her into her
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: bed again, So she resolved to go to the window
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: of another room and call him from there. It was
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: so much nicer to have somebody to talk to than
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: to lie awake in bed with the burning Paine in
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 1: her hand. She opened the door very gently and went
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: through the nursery, which did not look into the garden,
• 1:41:05
  Speaker 1: to go to the other window. But when she came
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: to the foot of the old staircase, there was the
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: moon shining down from some window high up, and making
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 1: the worm eaten oak look very strange and delicate and lovely.
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: In a moment, she was putting her little feet one
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 1: after the other in the silvery path up to the stair,
• 1:41:25
  Speaker 1: looking behind as she went to see the shadow they
• 1:41:29
  Speaker 1: made in the middle of the silver. Some little girls
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: would have been afraid to find themselves thus alone in
• 1:41:35
  Speaker 1: the middle of the night, but Irene was a princess.
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: As she went slowly up the stair, not quite sure
• 1:41:43
  Speaker 1: that she was not dreaming, suddenly a great longing woke
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: up in her heart to try once more whether she
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 1: could not find the old lady with the silvery hair.
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 1: If she is a dream, she said to herself, then
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 1: I am the likelier to find her if I am dreaming.
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 1: So up and up she went, stare after stair until
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 1: she came to the many rooms, all just as she
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: had seen them before, through passage after passage. She softly sped,
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 1: comforting herself that if she should lose her way would
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: not matter much, because when she woke, she would find
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 1: herself in her own bed, with Lootie not far off,
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: But as if she had known every step of the way.
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 1: She walked straight to the door at the foot of
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: the narrow stair that led to the tower. What if
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: I should rarely find my beautiful old grandmother up there,
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: she said to herself, as she crept up the steep steps.
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: When she reached the top, she stood a moment, listening
• 1:42:38
  Speaker 1: in the dark, for there was no moon there. Yes
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: it was, it was the hum of the spinning wheel.
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: What a diligent grandmother to work both day and night.
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 1: She tapped gently at the door, Come in, Irene, said
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 1: the sweet voice. The princess opened the door and entered.
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: There was the moonlight street at the window, and in
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 1: the middle of the moonlight sat the old lady in
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 1: her black dress with the white lace and her silvery
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: hair mingling with the moonlight, so that you could not
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: have told which was which. Come in, Irene, she said again,
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 1: can you tell me what I am spinning? She speaks,
• 1:43:20
  Speaker 1: thought Irene, just as if she had seen me five
• 1:43:23
  Speaker 1: minutes ago or yesterday at the farthest No, she answered,
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you're spinning. Please? I thought you
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 1: were a dream. Why couldn't I find you before? Great
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: great grandmother that you are hardly old enough to understand,
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: But you would have found me sooner if you hadn't
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 1: come to think that I was a dream. I will
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 1: give you one reason, though, why you couldn't find me.
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 1: I didn't want you to find me. Why, please, Because
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 1: I did not want Lootie to know I was here.
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: But you told me to tell Lootie. Yes, but I
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 1: knew Lootie would not believe you. If she were to
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 1: see me sitting spinning here, she wouldn't believe me either.
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: Why Because she couldn't. She would rub her eyes and
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 1: go away and say she felt queer and forget half
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: of it and more, and then say it had all
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: been a dream. Just like me, said Irene, feeling very
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: much ashamed of herself. Yes, a good deal like you,
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: but not just like you, for you've come again, and
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: Lootie wouldn't have come again. She would have said no, no,
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: she had had enough of such nonsense. Is it naughty
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: of Lootie, then it would be naughty of you. I've
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 1: never done anything for Lootie, and you did wash my
• 1:44:52
  Speaker 1: face and hands for me, said Irene, beginning to cry.
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: The old lady smiled a sweet smile and said, I'm
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: not vexed with you, my child, nor with Lootie either.
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: But I don't want you to say anything more to
• 1:45:07
  Speaker 1: Lootie about me. If she should ask you, you must
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 1: just be silent. But I do not think she will
• 1:45:14
  Speaker 1: ask you. All the time they talked, the old lady
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: kept on spinning. You haven't told me yet what I
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: am spinning, she said, because I don't know. It's very
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 1: pretty stuff. It was indeed very pretty stuff. There was
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 1: a good bunch of it on the distaff attached to
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: the spinning wheel, and in the moonlight it shone like
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: what shall I say? It was like it was not
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: white enough for silver. Yes, it was like silver. But
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 1: Jon gray rather than white, and glittered only a little.
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: And the thread the old lady drew out from it
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: was so fine that Irene could hardly see it. I
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: am spinning this for you, my child, for me. What
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 1: am I to do with it? Please? I will tell
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 1: you by and by, But first I will tell you
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: what it is. It is spider web of a particular kind.
• 1:46:08
  Speaker 1: My pigeons bring it me from over the great sea.
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: There is only one forest where the spiders live, who
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 1: make this particular kind the finest and strongest of any.
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: I have nearly finished my present job. What is on
• 1:46:23
  Speaker 1: the rock now will be enough. I have a week's
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: work there yet, though, she added, looking at the bunch,
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: do you work all day and all night? Too? Great, great,
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: great great grandmother, said the princess, thinking to be very
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: polite with so many greats. I'm not quite so great
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: as all that, she answered, smiling almost merrily. If you
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 1: call me grandmother, that will do. No. I don't work
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: every night, only moonlit nights, and then no longer than
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 1: the moon shines upon my wheel. I sha'n't work much
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: longer to night. And what will you do next, grandmother?
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 1: Go to bed? Would you like to see my bedroom. Yes,
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 1: that I should. Then I think I won't work any
• 1:47:09
  Speaker 1: longer to night, I shall be in good time. The
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 1: old lady rose and left her wheel standing just as
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: it was. You see, there was no good in putting
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: it away, for where there was not any furniture, there
• 1:47:21
  Speaker 1: was no danger of being untidy. Then she took Irene
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: by the hand, but it was her bad hand, and
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: Irene gave a little cry of pain. Oh, my child,
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 1: said her grandmother, What is the matter? Irene held her
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: hand into the moonlight that the old lady might see it,
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 1: and told her all about it, at which she looked grave.
• 1:47:43
  Speaker 1: But she only said, give me your other hand, And
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: having led her out upon the little dark landing, opened
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: the door on the opposite side of it. What was
• 1:47:53
  Speaker 1: Irene's surprise to see the loveliest room she had ever
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 1: seen in her life. It was large and lofty, dome shaped.
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: From the center hung a lamp as round as a ball,
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: shining as if with the brightest moonlight, which made everything
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 1: visible in the room, though not so clearly that the
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 1: princess could tell what many of the things were. A
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 1: large oval bed stood in the middle, with a coverlet
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 1: of rose color. And velvet curtains all round it of
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 1: a lovely pale blue. The walls were also blue, spangled
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: all over with what looked like stars of silver. The
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 1: old lady left her and, going to a strange looking cabinet,
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 1: opened it and took out a curious silver casket. Then
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: she sat down on a low chair, and, calling Irene,
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 1: made her kneel before her while she looked at her hand.
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: Having examined it, she opened the casket and took from
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 1: it a little ointment. The sweetest odor filled the room,
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: like that of roses and lilies. As she rubbed the
• 1:48:56
  Speaker 1: ointment gently all over the hot, swollen hand. Her touch
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: was so pleasant and cool that it seemed to drive
• 1:49:03
  Speaker 1: away the pain and heat wherever it came. Oh, grandmother,
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: it's so nice, said Irene. Thank you, thank you. Then
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: the old lady went to a chest of drawers and
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 1: took out a large handkerchief of gossamerlike cambric, which she
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 1: tied round her hand. I don't think I can let
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: you go away to night, she said, Would you like
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 1: to sleep with me? Oh? Yes, yes, dear grandmother, said Irene,
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 1: and would have clapped her hands forgetting that she could
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 1: not you won't be afraid then to go to bed
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 1: with such an old woman. No, you're so beautiful, grandmother,
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: But I am very old, and I suppose I am
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: very young. You won't mind sleeping with such a very
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: young woman, grandmother, you sweet little bertness, said the old lady,
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 1: and drew her towards her and kissed her on the
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 1: forehead and the cheek and the mouth. When she got
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: a large silver basin, and having poured some water into it,
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: made Irene sit on the chair and washed her feet.
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 1: This done, she was ready for bed, And oh what
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: a delicious bed it was, into which her grandmother laid her.
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 1: She could hardly have told she was lying upon anything.
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 1: She felt nothing but the softness the old lady, having
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 1: undressed herself, lay down beside her. Why don't you put
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 1: out your moon, asked the princess that never goes out
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 1: night or day? She answered, in the darkest night. If
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: any of my pigeons are out on a message, they
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: always see my moon and know where to fly to.
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 1: But if somebody besides the pigeons were to see it,
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: somebody about the house, I mean, they would come to
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 1: look what it was and find you. The better for
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: them then, said the old lady. But it does not
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: happen above five times in a hundred years that any
• 1:50:58
  Speaker 1: one does see it. The greater part of those who
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 1: do take it for a meteor, wink their eyes and
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 1: forget it again. Besides, nobody could find the room except
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 1: I pleased. Besides, again, I will tell you a secret.
• 1:51:12
  Speaker 1: If that light were to go out, you would fancy
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: yourself lying in a bare garret on a heap of
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: old straw, and would not see one of the pleasant
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: things round about you all the time. I hope it
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: will never go out, said the princess. I hope not.
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 1: But it's time we both went to sleep. Shall I
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 1: take you in my arms? The little princess nestled close
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 1: up to the old lady, who took her in both
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 1: her arms and held her close to her bosom. Oh, dear,
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 1: this is so nice, said the princess. I didn't know
• 1:51:45
  Speaker 1: anything in the world could be so comfortable. I should
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: like to lie here for ever you may, if you will,
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 1: said the old lady. But I must put you to
• 1:51:56
  Speaker 1: one trial, not a very hard one. I hope this
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 1: night week you must come back to me. If you don't,
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 1: I do not know when you may find me again,
• 1:52:05
  Speaker 1: and you will soon want me very much. Oh please
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: don't let me forget. You shall not forget. The only
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 1: question is whether you will believe I am anywhere, whether
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 1: you will believe I am anything but a dream. You
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 1: may be sure. I will do all I can to
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: help you to come, but it will rest with yourself.
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 1: After all, on the night of next Friday, you must
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 1: come to me mine. Now, I'll try, said the princess.
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 1: Then good night, said the old lady, and kissed the
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: forehead which lay in her bosom. In a moment more,
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 1: the little princess was dreaming in the midst of the
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 1: loveliest dreams of summer seas and moonlight, and mossy springs
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 1: and great murmuring trees and beds of wild flowers, with
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 1: such odors as she had never smelt before. But after all,
• 1:53:00
  Speaker 1: no dream could be more lovely than what she had
• 1:53:02
  Speaker 1: left behind. When she fell asleep in the morning, she
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: found herself in her own bed. There was no handkerchief
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 1: or anything else on her hand. Only a sweet odor
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: lingered about it. The swelling had all gone down, the
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: prick of the brooch had vanished. In fact, her hand
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 1: was perfectly well. End of chapter eleven. Chapter twelve a
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: short chapter about Curdie. Curdie spent many nights in the mine.
• 1:53:35
  Speaker 1: His father and he had taken Missus Peterson into the secret,
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 1: for they knew mother could hold her tongue, which was
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: more than could be said of all the miners wives.
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: But Curdie did not tell her that every night he
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: spent in the mine, part of it went in earning
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 1: a new red petticoat for her. Missus Peterson was such
• 1:53:53
  Speaker 1: a nice, good mother. All mothers are nice and good,
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 1: more or less. But Missus Peterson was nice and good
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 1: all more and no less. She made and kept a
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 1: little heaven in that poor cottage on the high hill
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: side for her husband and son to go home to,
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 1: out of the low and rather dreary earth in which
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 1: they worked. I doubt if the princess was very much
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: happier even in the arms of her huge great grandmother,
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 1: than Peter and Curdie were in the arms of Missus Peterson. True,
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: her hands were hard and chapped and large, but it
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: was with work for them, and therefore in sight of
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: the angels, her hands were so much the more beautiful.
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: And if Curdie worked hard to get her a petticoat.
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: She worked hard every day to get him comforts which
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 1: he would have missed much more than she would a
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 1: new petticoat, even in winter. Not that she and Curdie
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 1: ever thought of how much they worked for each other,
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: that would have spoiled everything. When left alone in the mine.
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 1: Curdie always worked on for an hour or two at first,
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: following the load, which according to Glump, would lead at
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: last into the deserted habitation. After that he would set
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: out on a reconnoitering expedition in order to manage this,
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: or rather the return from it, better than the first time.
• 1:55:09
  Speaker 1: He had bought a huge ball of fine string, having
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: learnt the trick from hop O my Thumb, whose history
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 1: his mother had often told him. Not that hopp of
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: my Thumb had ever used a ball of string. I
• 1:55:21
  Speaker 1: should be sorry to be supposed to be so far
• 1:55:23
  Speaker 1: out in my classics. But the principle was the same
• 1:55:26
  Speaker 1: as that of the pebbles. The end of this string
• 1:55:29
  Speaker 1: he fastened to his pick axe, which he figured no
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 1: bad anchor, and then, with the ball in his hand,
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: unrolling it as he went, set out in the dark
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: through the natural gangs of the goblins territory. The first
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 1: night or two he came upon nothing worth remembering, save
• 1:55:45
  Speaker 1: only a little of the home life of the Cobs
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: in the various caves they called houses, failed in coming
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 1: upon anything to cast light on the foregoing design, which
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: kept the inundation for the present in the background. But
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: at length, I think, on the third or fourth night,
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: he found, partly guided by the noise of their implements,
• 1:56:04
  Speaker 1: a company of evidently the best sappers and miners amongst
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: them hard at work. What were they about? It could
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 1: not well be the inundation, seeing that had in the
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: meantime been postponed to something else. Then what was it?
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: He lurked and watched every now and then, in the
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 1: greatest risk of being detected, but without success he had
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 1: again and again to retreat in haste. A proceeding rendered
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 1: the more difficult that he had to gather up his
• 1:56:33
  Speaker 1: string as he returned upon its course. It was not
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 1: that he was afraid of the goblins, but that he
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 1: was afraid of their finding out that they were watched,
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 1: which might have prevented the discovery at which he aimed.
• 1:56:45
  Speaker 1: Sometimes his haste had to be such that when he
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: reached home towards morning, his string, for lack of time
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 1: to wind it up as he dodged the Cobs, would
• 1:56:55
  Speaker 1: be in what seemed most hopeless entanglement. But after a
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 1: good sleep so a short one, he always found his
• 1:57:02
  Speaker 1: mother had got it right again. There it was, wound
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: in a most respectable ball, ready for use the moment
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 1: he should want it. I can't think how you do it, mother,
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 1: he would say, they followed the thread, She would answer,
• 1:57:16
  Speaker 1: just as you do. In the main. She never had
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: more to say about it. But the less clever she
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: was with her words, the more clever she was with
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 1: her hands. And the less his mother said, the more
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 1: Curdie believed what she had to say. But still he
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: made no discovery as to what the goblin miners were about.
• 1:57:37
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twelve, Chapter thirteen The COB's Creatures. About
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: this time, the gentleman whom the King had left behind
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 1: him to watch over the princess, had each occasion to
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: doubt the testimony of his own eyes. For more than
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: strange were the objects to which they would bear witness.
• 1:57:58
  Speaker 1: They were of one sort creatures, but so grotesque and
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: misshapen as to be more like a child's drawings upon
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: his slate than anything natural. They saw them only at night,
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: while on guard about the house. The testimony of the
• 1:58:12
  Speaker 1: man who first reported having seen one of them was
• 1:58:15
  Speaker 1: that as he was walking slowly round the house, while
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: yet in the shadow, he caught sight of a creature
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 1: standing on its hind legs in the moonlight, with its
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: fore feet upon a window ledge, staring in at the window.
• 1:58:28
  Speaker 1: Its body might have been that of a dog or wolf,
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 1: he thought, but he declared on his honor that its
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 1: head was twice the size it ought to have been
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: for the size of its body, and as round as
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 1: a ball, while the face which it turned upon him
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: as it fled was more like one carved by a
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 1: boy upon the turnip inside which he is going to
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: put a candle, than anything else he could think of.
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: It rushed into the garden. He sent an arrow after it,
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 1: and thought he must have struck it, for it gave
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: an unearthly howl, and he could not find his arrow
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: any more than the beast, though he searched all about
• 1:59:01
  Speaker 1: the place where it vanished. They laughed at him until
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 1: he was driven to hold his tongue, and said he
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: must have taken too long a pull at the ale jug.
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: But before two nights were over he had one to
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: side with him, for he too had seen something strange,
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: only quite different from that reported by the other. The
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: description the second man gave of the creature he had
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: seen was yet more grotesque and unlikely. They were both
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: laughed at by the rest, But night after night another
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: came over to their side, until at last there was
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 1: only one left to laugh at all his companions. Two
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: nights more passed and he saw nothing. But on the
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 1: third he came rushing from the garden to the other
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 1: two before the house, in such an agitation that they declared,
• 1:59:45
  Speaker 1: for it was their turn. Now that the band of
• 1:59:48
  Speaker 1: his helmet was cracking under his chin, with the rising
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: of his hair inside it. Running with him into that
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 1: part of the garden which I have already described, they
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: saw a score of creatures to not want, one of
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 1: which they could give a name, and not one of
• 2:00:02
  Speaker 1: which was like another, hideous and ludicrous at once, gamboling
• 2:00:06
  Speaker 1: on the lawn in the moonlight, the supernatural or rather
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 1: subnatural ugliness of their faces, the length of legs and
• 2:00:14
  Speaker 1: necks in some, the apparent absence of both, or either
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 1: in others made The spectators, although in one consent as
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: to what they saw, yet doubtful, as I have said
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 1: of the evidence of their own eyes and ears, as well,
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 1: for the noises they made, although not loud, were as
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: uncouth and varied as their forms, and could not be
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 1: described neither as grunts nor squeaks, nor roars, nor howls,
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 1: nor barks, nor yells, nor screams, nor croaks, nor hisses,
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: nor muse nor shrieks, but only as something like all
• 2:00:45
  Speaker 1: of them mingled in one horrible dissonance. Keeping in the shade,
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 1: the watchers had a few moments to recover themselves before
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 1: the hideous assembly suspected their presence, but all at once,
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: as if by common consent, they scampered off in the
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: direction of a great rock, and vanished before the men
• 2:01:03
  Speaker 1: had come to themselves sufficiently to think of following them.
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: My readers will suspect what these were, but I will
• 2:01:09
  Speaker 1: now give them full information concerning them. They were, of course,
• 2:01:13
  Speaker 1: household animals belonging to the goblins, whose ancestors had taken
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: their ancestors many centuries before from the upper regions of
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: Light into the lower regions of darkness. The original stocks
• 2:01:26
  Speaker 1: of these horrible creatures were very much the same as
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: the animals now seen about farms and homes in the country,
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: with the exception of a few of them, which had
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: been wild creatures such as foxes and indeed wolves and
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: small bears, which the goblins, from their proclivity towards the
• 2:01:42
  Speaker 1: animal creation, had caught when cubs and tamed. But in
• 2:01:47
  Speaker 1: the course of time all had undergone even greater changes
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 1: than had passed upon their owners. They had altered, that is,
• 2:01:54
  Speaker 1: their descendants had altered into such creatures as I have
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 1: not attempted to describe, except in the vaguess manns, the
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 1: various parts of their bodies, assuming in an apparently arbitrary
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 1: and self willed manner, the most abnormal developments. Indeed, so
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: little did any distinct type predominate in some of the
• 2:02:12
  Speaker 1: bewildering results that you could only have guessed at any
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: known animal as the original, and even then what likeness
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 1: remained would be more one of general expression than of
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: definable conformation. But what increased the gruesomeness tenfold was that
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 1: from constant domestic or indeed rather family association with the goblins,
• 2:02:33
  Speaker 1: their countenance had grown in grotesque resemblance to the human.
• 2:02:37
  Speaker 1: No one understands animals who does not see that every
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 1: one of them, even among the fishes, it may be
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 1: with a dimness and vagueness, infinitely remote, yet shadows the human.
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 1: In the case of these, their human resemblance had greatly increased.
• 2:02:52
  Speaker 1: While their owners had sunk towards them, they had risen
• 2:02:56
  Speaker 1: towards their owners. But the conditions of subterranean life being
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: equally unnatural for both. While the goblins were worse, the
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 1: creatures had not improved by the approximation, and its result
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: would have appeared far more ludicrous than consoling to the
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 1: warmest lover of animal nature. I shall now explain how
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 1: it was that just then these animals began to show
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 1: themselves about the King's country house. The goblins, as Curdie
• 2:03:23
  Speaker 1: had discovered, were mining on that worked both day and
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 1: night in divisions, urging the scheme after which he lay
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: in wait. In the course of their tunneling, they had
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 1: broken into the channel of a small stream, but the
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: break being in the top of it, no water had
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: escaped to interfere with their work. Some of the creatures,
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: hovering as they often did, about their masters had found
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 1: the whole, and had, with the curiosity which had grown
• 2:03:48
  Speaker 1: to a passion from the restraints of their unnatural circumstances,
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 1: proceeded to explore the channel. The stream was the same
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: which ran out by the seat on which Irene and
• 2:03:58
  Speaker 1: her king Papa had seen sat as I have told,
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 1: and the goblin creatures found it jolly fun to get
• 2:04:04
  Speaker 1: out for a romp on a smooth lawn, such as
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 1: they had never seen in all their poor, miserable lives.
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: But although they had partaken enough of the nature of
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 1: their owners to delight in annoying and alarming any of
• 2:04:16
  Speaker 1: the people whom they met on the mountain, they were
• 2:04:19
  Speaker 1: of course incapable of designs of their own, or of
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: intentionally furthering those of their masters. For several nights after
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 1: the men at arms were at length of one mind
• 2:04:29
  Speaker 1: as to the fact of the visits of some horrible creatures,
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 1: whether bodily or spectral, They could not yet say they
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 1: watched with special attention that part of the garden where
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 1: they had last seen them. Perhaps indeed they gave in
• 2:04:42
  Speaker 1: consequence too little attention to the house. But the creatures
• 2:04:46
  Speaker 1: were too cunning to be easily caught, Nor were the
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 1: watchers quick eye enough to descry the head or the
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 1: keen eyes in it, which from the opening, whence the
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 1: stream issued would watch them in turn, ready the moment
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 1: they should leave the lawn to report the place clear
• 2:05:04
  Speaker 1: end of chapter thirteen, Chapter fourteen. That night week, During
• 2:05:12
  Speaker 1: the whole of the week, Irene had been thinking every
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 1: other moment of her promise to the old lady, although
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: even now she could not feel quite sure that she
• 2:05:20
  Speaker 1: had not been dreaming. Could it really be that an
• 2:05:23
  Speaker 1: old lady lived up in the top of the house
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: with pigeons and a spinning wheel and a lamp that
• 2:05:28
  Speaker 1: never went out. She was, however, none the less determined
• 2:05:32
  Speaker 1: on the coming Friday to ascend the three stairs, walk
• 2:05:35
  Speaker 1: through the passages with the many doors, and try to
• 2:05:38
  Speaker 1: find the tower in which she had either seen or
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 1: dreamt her grandmother. Her nurse could not help wondering what
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 1: had come to the child she would sit so thoughtfully silent,
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: and even in the midst of a game with her,
• 2:05:51
  Speaker 1: would so suddenly fall into a dreamy mood. But Irene
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: took care to betray nothing whatever efforts Lootie might make
• 2:05:58
  Speaker 1: to get at her thoughts and Lootie had to say
• 2:06:01
  Speaker 1: to herself, what an odd child she is, and give
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: it up at length. The long for Friday arrived, and
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: lest Lootie should be moved to watch her, Irene endeavored
• 2:06:13
  Speaker 1: to keep herself as quiet as possible. In the afternoon,
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: she asked for her doll's house and went on arranging
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 1: and rearranging the various rooms and their inhabitants for a
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 1: whole hour. Then she gave a sigh and threw herself
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 1: back in her chair. One of the dolls would not sit,
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: and another would not stand, and they were all very tiresome. Indeed,
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 1: there was one who would not even lie down, which
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: was too bad. But it was now getting dark, and
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: the darker it got, the more excited Irene became, and
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 1: the more she felt it necessary to be composed. I'll
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 1: say you want your tea, princess, said the nurse. I'll
• 2:06:51
  Speaker 1: go and get it. The room feels close. I'll open
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 1: the window a little. The evening's mild. It won't hurt you.
• 2:06:58
  Speaker 1: There's no fear of that loot she said Irene, wishing
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 1: she had put off going for the tea till it
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 1: was darker, when she might have made her attempt with
• 2:07:06
  Speaker 1: every advantage. I fancied Lootie was longer in returning than
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 1: she had intended. For. When Irene, who had been lost
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: in thought, looked up, she saw it was nearly dark,
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 1: and at the same moment caught sight of a pair
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 1: of eyes bright with a green light, glowering at her
• 2:07:24
  Speaker 1: through the open window. The next instant, something leapt into
• 2:07:28
  Speaker 1: the room. It was like a cat, with legs as
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: long as a horse's, Irene said, But its body no bigger,
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 1: and its legs no thicker than those of a cat.
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 1: She was too frightened to cry out, but not too
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: frightened to jump from her chair and run from the room.
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: HiT's plain enough to every one of my readers what
• 2:07:48
  Speaker 1: she ought to have done, And indeed Irene thought of
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: it herself. But when she came to the foot of
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 1: the old stair, just outside the nursery door, she imagined
• 2:07:57
  Speaker 1: the creature running up all those long ascents after her
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: and pursuing her through the dark passages, which after all,
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 1: might lead to no tower. That thought was too much.
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: Her heart failed her, and turning from the stair, she
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 1: rushed along to the hall, whence, finding the front door open,
• 2:08:14
  Speaker 1: she darted into the court, pursued, at least she thought so,
• 2:08:18
  Speaker 1: by the creature, no one happening to see her. On
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 1: she ran, unable to think for fear, and ready to
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 1: run anywhere to elude the awful creature with the still legs.
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 1: Not daring to look behind her, she rushed straight out
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: of the gate and up the mountain. It was foolish, indeed, thus,
• 2:08:35
  Speaker 1: to run farther and farther from all who could help her,
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 1: as if she had been seeking a fit spot for
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: the goblin creature to eat her in his leisure. But
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: that is the way fear serves us. It always sides
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 1: with the thing we're afraid of. The princess was soon
• 2:08:50
  Speaker 1: out of breath with running up hill, but she ran on,
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 1: for she fancied the horrible creature just behind her, forgetting
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 1: that had it been after her such long legs as
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: those must have overtaken her long ago. At last, she
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 1: could run no longer, and fell, unable even to scream,
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 1: by the roadside, where she lay for some time, half
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: dead with terror, But finding nothing lay hold of her,
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 1: and her breath beginning to come back, she ventured at
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 1: length to get half up and peer anxiously about her.
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 1: It was now so dark she could see nothing. Not
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: a single star was out. She could not even tell
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 1: in what direction the house lay, and between her and home,
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: she fancied the dreadful creature lying ready to pounce upon her.
• 2:09:36
  Speaker 1: She saw now that she ought to have run up
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 1: the stairs at once. It was well she did not scream,
• 2:09:41
  Speaker 1: for although very few of the goblins had come out
• 2:09:44
  Speaker 1: for weeks, a stray idler or two might have heard her.
• 2:09:48
  Speaker 1: She sat down upon a stone, and nobody but one
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: who has done something wrong, could have been more miserable.
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 1: She had quite forgotten her promise to visit her grandmother.
• 2:09:58
  Speaker 1: A rain drop fell on her face. She looked up,
• 2:10:01
  Speaker 1: and for a moment her terror was lost in astonishment.
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 1: At first, she thought the rising moon had left her
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: place and drawn nigh to see what could be matter
• 2:10:10
  Speaker 1: with the little girl sitting alone without hat or cloak
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 1: on the dark, bare mountain. But she soon saw she
• 2:10:17
  Speaker 1: was mistaken, for there was no light on the ground
• 2:10:20
  Speaker 1: at her feet, and no shadow anywhere. But a great
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 1: silver globe was hanging in the air, And as she
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: gazed at the lovely thing, her courage revived. If she
• 2:10:31
  Speaker 1: were but indoors again. She would fear nothing, not even
• 2:10:34
  Speaker 1: the terrible creature with the long legs. But how was
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 1: she to find her way back? What could that light be?
• 2:10:41
  Speaker 1: Could it be? No, it couldn't, But what if it
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 1: should be? Yes, it must be her great great grandmother's lamp,
• 2:10:50
  Speaker 1: which guided her pigeons home through the darkest night. She
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: jumped up. She had but to keep that light in view,
• 2:10:57
  Speaker 1: and she must find the house. Her heart grew strong,
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 1: speedily yet softly, she walked down the hill, hoping to
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 1: pass the watching creature. Unseen. Dark as it was, there
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: was little danger now of choosing the wrong road, And
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 1: which was most strange, the light that filled her eyes
• 2:11:15
  Speaker 1: from the lamp, instead of blinding them for a moment
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 1: to the object upon which they next fell, enabled her
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 1: for a moment to see it despite the darkness. By
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 1: looking at the lamp and then dropping her eyes, she
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 1: could see the road for a yard or to in
• 2:11:30
  Speaker 1: front of her, and this saved her from several falls,
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 1: for the road was very rough, but all at once,
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 1: to her dismay, it vanished, and the terror of the beast,
• 2:11:40
  Speaker 1: which had left her the moment she began to return again,
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 1: laid hold of her heart. The same instant, however, she
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 1: caught the light of the windows and knew exactly where
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 1: she was. It was too dark to run, but she
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 1: made what haste she could, and reached the gate in safety.
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: She found the house door still open through the hall,
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: and without even looking into the nursery, bounded straight up
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 1: the stair, and the next and the next, then, turning
• 2:12:07
  Speaker 1: to the right, ran through the long avenue of silent rooms,
• 2:12:10
  Speaker 1: and found her way at once to the door at
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 1: the foot of the tower stair. When first the nurse
• 2:12:16
  Speaker 1: missed her, she fancied she was playing her a trick,
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 1: and for some time took no trouble about her. But
• 2:12:22
  Speaker 1: at last, getting frightened, she had begun to search, and
• 2:12:25
  Speaker 1: when the princess entered, the whole household was hither and
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 1: thither over the house, hunting for her. A few seconds
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 1: after she reached the stair of the tower, they had
• 2:12:34
  Speaker 1: even begun to search the neglected rooms in which they
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: would never have thought of looking, had they not already
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: searched every other place they could think of in vain.
• 2:12:43
  Speaker 1: But by this time she was knocking at the old
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 1: lady's door. End of Chapter fourteen, Chapter fifteen woven and
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 1: then spun. Come in, Irene, said the silvery voice of
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 1: her grandmother. The princess opened the door and peeped in,
• 2:13:05
  Speaker 1: but the room was quite dark, and there was no
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 1: sound of the spinning wheel. She grew frightened once more,
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 1: thinking that although the room was there, the old lady
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: might be a dream. After all, every little girl knows
• 2:13:17
  Speaker 1: how dreadful it is to find a room empty when
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 1: she thought somebody was. But Irene had to fancy for
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: a moment that the person she came to find was
• 2:13:26
  Speaker 1: nowhere at all. She remembered, however, that at night she
• 2:13:30
  Speaker 1: spun only in the moonlight, and concluded that that must
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 1: be why there was no sweet beaike humming. The old
• 2:13:37
  Speaker 1: lady might be somewhere in the darkness. Before she had
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 1: time to think another thought, she heard the voice again, saying,
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 1: as before, come in, Irene. From the sound, she understood
• 2:13:48
  Speaker 1: at once that she was not in the room beside her.
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: Perhaps she was in her bedroom. She turned across the passage,
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: feeling her way to the other door, when her hand
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 1: fell on the lock again. When the old lady spoke,
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 1: shut the other door behind you, Irene, I always closed
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 1: the door of my workroom when I go to my chamber,
• 2:14:09
  Speaker 1: Irene wondered to hear her voice so plainly through the door.
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: Having shut the other, she opened it and went in. Oh,
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 1: what a lovely haven to reach from the darkness and
• 2:14:19
  Speaker 1: fear through which she had come. The soft light made
• 2:14:22
  Speaker 1: her feel as if she were going into the heart
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 1: of the milkiest pearl, while the blue walls and their
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: silver stars, for a moment perplexed her with the fancy
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: that they were in reality the sky, which she had
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: left outside a minute ago, covered with rain clouds. I've
• 2:14:39
  Speaker 1: lighted a fire for you, Irene. You're cold and wet,
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 1: said her grandmother. Then Irene looked again and saw that
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 1: what she had taken for a huge bouquet of red
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 1: roses on a low stand against the wall, was in
• 2:14:52
  Speaker 1: fact a fire which burned in the shapes of the
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: loveliest and reddest roses, glowing gorgeously between the heads and
• 2:14:59
  Speaker 1: wings of two cherubs of shining silver. And when she
• 2:15:03
  Speaker 1: came nearer, she found that the smell of roses with
• 2:15:06
  Speaker 1: which the room was filled came from the fire. Roses
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: on the hearth. Her grandmother was dressed in the loveliest
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 1: pale blue velvet, over which her hair no longer white
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 1: but of a rich golden color, streamed like a cataract, here,
• 2:15:20
  Speaker 1: falling in dull gathered heaps, there, rushing away in smooth,
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 1: shining falls, and ever as she looked, the hair seemed
• 2:15:28
  Speaker 1: pouring down from her head and vanishing in a golden
• 2:15:32
  Speaker 1: mist ere it reached the floor. Its fledge of a
• 2:15:35
  Speaker 1: circle of shining silver, set with alternated pearls and opals.
• 2:15:40
  Speaker 1: On her dress was no ornament whatever, Neither was there
• 2:15:43
  Speaker 1: a ring on her hand, or a necklace, or a
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 1: carcanet about her neck. But her slippers glimmered with the
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 1: light of the milky way, for they were covered with seed,
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 1: pearls and opals in one mass. Her face was that
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 1: of a woman of three and twenty. The princess was
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: so bewildered with astonishment and admiration that she could hardly
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: thank her, and drew nigh with timidity, feeling dirty and uncomfortable.
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 1: The lady was seated on a low chair by the
• 2:16:12
  Speaker 1: side of the fire, with hands outstretched to take her,
• 2:16:16
  Speaker 1: but the princess hung back with a troubled smile. Why,
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: what's the matter asked her grandmother. You haven't been doing
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 1: anything wrong. I know that by your face, though it's
• 2:16:27
  Speaker 1: rather miserable. What's the matter, my dear, And she still
• 2:16:32
  Speaker 1: held out her arms. Dear grandmother said, Irene, I'm not
• 2:16:37
  Speaker 1: so sure that I haven't done something wrong. I ought
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: to have run up to you at once when the
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 1: long legged cat came in at the window, instead of
• 2:16:44
  Speaker 1: running out on the mountain and making myself such a fright.
• 2:16:48
  Speaker 1: You were taken by surprise, my child, and you're not
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 1: likely to do it again. It's when people do wrong
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: things wilfully that they're the more likely to do them again.
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: Come and still she held out her arms. But grandmother,
• 2:17:03
  Speaker 1: you're so beautiful and grand with your crown on, and
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 1: I'm so dirty with mud and rain. I should quite
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 1: spoil your beautiful blue dress. With a merry little laugh,
• 2:17:13
  Speaker 1: the lady sprung from her chair, more likely far than
• 2:17:16
  Speaker 1: Irene herself could, and caught the child to her bosom,
• 2:17:20
  Speaker 1: and kissing the tear stained face over and over, sat
• 2:17:23
  Speaker 1: down with her in her lap. Oh, grandmother, you'll make
• 2:17:27
  Speaker 1: yourself such a mess, cried Irene, clinging to her. You, darling,
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 1: do you think I care more for my dress than
• 2:17:34
  Speaker 1: for my little girl. Besides, look here, as she spoke,
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 1: she set her down, and Irene saw, to her dismay
• 2:17:42
  Speaker 1: that the lovely dress was covered with the mud of
• 2:17:44
  Speaker 1: her fall on the mountain road. But the ladies stooped
• 2:17:48
  Speaker 1: to the fire, and, taking from it by the stalk
• 2:17:51
  Speaker 1: in her fingers, one of the burning roses passed it
• 2:17:54
  Speaker 1: once and again and a third time over the front
• 2:17:57
  Speaker 1: of her dress, and when Irene looked, not a single
• 2:18:00
  Speaker 1: stain was to be discovered there, said her grandmother. You
• 2:18:05
  Speaker 1: won't mind coming to me now, But Irene again hung back,
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 1: eyeing the flaming rose which the lady held in her hand.
• 2:18:14
  Speaker 1: You're not afraid of the rose, are you, she said,
• 2:18:17
  Speaker 1: about to throw it on the hearth again. Oh don't, please,
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 1: cried Irene. Won't you hold it to my frock and
• 2:18:24
  Speaker 1: my hands and my face? And I'm afraid my feet
• 2:18:27
  Speaker 1: and my knees want it too. No, answered her grandmother,
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: smiling a little sadly, as she threw the rose from her.
• 2:18:36
  Speaker 1: It's too hot for you, yet, it would set your
• 2:18:39
  Speaker 1: frock in a flame. Besides, I don't want to make
• 2:18:42
  Speaker 1: you clean to night. I want your nurse and the
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 1: rest of the people to see you as you are,
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: for you will have to tell them how you ran
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 1: away for fear of the long legged cat. I should
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: like to wash you, but they would not believe you. Then,
• 2:18:55
  Speaker 1: do you see that bath behind you? The princess looked
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 1: and saw a large oval tub of silver shining brilliantly
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 1: in the light of the wonderful lamp. Go and look
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 1: into it, said the lady. Irene went and came back,
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 1: very silent, with her eyes shining. What did you see,
• 2:19:16
  Speaker 1: asked her grandmother, The sky and the moon and the stars.
• 2:19:20
  Speaker 1: She answered, it looked as if there was no bottom
• 2:19:22
  Speaker 1: to it. The lady smiled a pleased, satisfied smile, and
• 2:19:27
  Speaker 1: was silent also for a few moments. Then she said,
• 2:19:32
  Speaker 1: any time you want a bath, come to me. I
• 2:19:35
  Speaker 1: know you have a bath every morning, but sometimes you
• 2:19:39
  Speaker 1: want one at night too. Thank you, Grandmother. I will,
• 2:19:43
  Speaker 1: I will, indeed, answered Irene, and was again silent for
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 1: some moments. Thinking. Then she said, how was it, Grandmother,
• 2:19:51
  Speaker 1: that I saw your beautiful lamp, Not the light of
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 1: it only, but the great round, silvery lamp itself, hanging
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 1: alone in the great open air high up. It was
• 2:20:01
  Speaker 1: your lamp I saw, wasn't it? Yes, my child, it
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 1: was my lamp. Then how was it? I don't see
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 1: a window all round? When I please, I can make
• 2:20:12
  Speaker 1: the lamp shine through the walls, shine so strong that
• 2:20:16
  Speaker 1: it melts them away before the sight and shows itself
• 2:20:19
  Speaker 1: as you saw it. But as I told you, it's
• 2:20:22
  Speaker 1: not everybody can see it. How is it that I can? Then?
• 2:20:27
  Speaker 1: I'm sure I don't know. It's a gift born with you,
• 2:20:32
  Speaker 1: and one day I hope everybody will have it. But
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 1: how do you make it shine through the walls? Ah,
• 2:20:39
  Speaker 1: that you would not understand if I were to try
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 1: ever so much to make you. Not yet, not yet,
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: But added the lady rising, You must sit in my
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 1: chair while I get you the present I have been
• 2:20:53
  Speaker 1: preparing for you. I told you my spinning was for you.
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: It's finished now, and I'm going to fetch it. I've
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: been keeping it warm under one of my brooding pigeons.
• 2:21:04
  Speaker 1: Irene sat down in the low chair, and her grandmother
• 2:21:07
  Speaker 1: left her, shutting the door behind her. The child sat
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: gazing now at the rose fire, now at the starry walls,
• 2:21:16
  Speaker 1: now at the silver light, and a great quietness grew
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 1: in her heart. If all the long legged cats in
• 2:21:22
  Speaker 1: the world had come rushing at her, then she would
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 1: not have been afraid of them for a moment. How
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 1: this was she could not tell. She only knew there
• 2:21:30
  Speaker 1: was no fear in her, and everything was so right
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 1: and safe that it could not get in. She had
• 2:21:36
  Speaker 1: been gazing at the lovely lamp for some minutes, fixedly.
• 2:21:39
  Speaker 1: Turning her eyes, she found the wall had vanished, for
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: she was looking out on the dark, cloudy night. But
• 2:21:45
  Speaker 1: though she heard the wind blowing, none of it blew
• 2:21:48
  Speaker 1: upon her. In a moment more, the clouds themselves parted,
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: or rather vanished, like the wall, and she looked straight
• 2:21:56
  Speaker 1: into the starry herds flashing gloriously in the dark blue
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: Who it was. But for a moment the clouds gathered
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 1: again and shut out the stars. The wall gathered again
• 2:22:06
  Speaker 1: and shut out the clouds, And there stood the lady
• 2:22:09
  Speaker 1: beside her, with the loveliest smile on her face and
• 2:22:13
  Speaker 1: a shimmering ball in her hand, about the size of
• 2:22:16
  Speaker 1: a pigeon's egg. There, Irene, there is my work for you,
• 2:22:21
  Speaker 1: she said, holding out the ball to the princess. She
• 2:22:25
  Speaker 1: took it in her hand and looked at it all over.
• 2:22:29
  Speaker 1: It sparkled a little and shone here and there, but
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 1: not much. It was a sort of gray whiteness, and
• 2:22:36
  Speaker 1: something like spun glass. Is this all your spinning? Grandmother?
• 2:22:41
  Speaker 1: She asked, all, since you came to the house, there
• 2:22:45
  Speaker 1: is more there than you think. How pretty it is?
• 2:22:49
  Speaker 1: What am I to do with it? Please? That I
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 1: will now explain to you, answered the lady, turning from
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 1: her and going to her cabinet. She came back with
• 2:22:58
  Speaker 1: a small ring in her hand. Then she took the
• 2:23:01
  Speaker 1: ball from Irene's and did something with the ring. Irene
• 2:23:05
  Speaker 1: cannot tell what. Give me your hand, she said. Irene
• 2:23:10
  Speaker 1: held up her right hand. Yes, that's the hand I want,
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 1: said the lady, and put the ring on the forefinger
• 2:23:17
  Speaker 1: of it. What a beautiful ring, said Irene. What is
• 2:23:21
  Speaker 1: this stone called? It's a fire opal. Please am I
• 2:23:26
  Speaker 1: to keep it always? Oh? Thank you, grandmother. It's prettier
• 2:23:31
  Speaker 1: than anything I ever saw except those of all colors
• 2:23:34
  Speaker 1: in your please? Is that your crown? Yes, it is
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: my crown. The stone in your ring is of the
• 2:23:42
  Speaker 1: same sort, only not so good. It has only red,
• 2:23:46
  Speaker 1: but mine have all colors. You see, Yes, grandmother, I
• 2:23:50
  Speaker 1: will take such care of it, but she added, hesitating,
• 2:23:55
  Speaker 1: But what, asked her grandmother. What am I to say
• 2:23:59
  Speaker 1: when Lootie asks me where I got it? You will
• 2:24:03
  Speaker 1: ask her where you got it, answered the lady, smiling.
• 2:24:07
  Speaker 1: I don't see how I can do that. You will, though,
• 2:24:11
  Speaker 1: of course I will if you say so. But you
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 1: know I can't pretend not to know. Of course not.
• 2:24:18
  Speaker 1: But don't trouble yourself about it. You will see when
• 2:24:21
  Speaker 1: the time comes, so saying, the lady turned and threw
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 1: the little ball into the rose fire. Oh, grandmother, exclaimed Irene.
• 2:24:30
  Speaker 1: I thought you had spun it for me. So I did,
• 2:24:33
  Speaker 1: my child, and you've got it. Oh, it's burns in
• 2:24:37
  Speaker 1: the fire. The lady put her hand in the fire,
• 2:24:41
  Speaker 1: brought out the ball, glimmering as before, and held it
• 2:24:44
  Speaker 1: towards her. Irene stretched out her hand to take it,
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 1: but the lady turned and, going to her cabinet, opened
• 2:24:51
  Speaker 1: a drawer and laid the ball in it. Have I
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 1: done anything to vex you, grandmother, said Irene pitifully. No,
• 2:24:59
  Speaker 1: my darling, but you must understand that no one ever
• 2:25:02
  Speaker 1: gives anything to another properly and really without keeping it.
• 2:25:07
  Speaker 1: That ball is yours. Oh I'm not to take it
• 2:25:11
  Speaker 1: with me. You're going to keep it for me. You
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: are going to take it with you. I fasten the
• 2:25:17
  Speaker 1: end of it to the ring on your finger. Irenely
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 1: looked at the ring. I can't see it there, grandmother,
• 2:25:25
  Speaker 1: she said. Feel a little way from the ring towards
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 1: the cabinet, said the lady. I do feel it, exclaimed
• 2:25:34
  Speaker 1: the princess. But I can't see it, she added, looking
• 2:25:39
  Speaker 1: close to her outstretched hand. No, the thread is too
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 1: fine for you to see it. You can only feel it. Now.
• 2:25:47
  Speaker 1: You can fancy how much spinning that took, although it
• 2:25:50
  Speaker 1: does seem such a little ball. But what use can
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 1: I make of it? If it lies in your cabinet?
• 2:25:56
  Speaker 1: That is what I will explain to you. It would
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 1: be of no use to you. It wouldn't be yours
• 2:26:01
  Speaker 1: at all if it did not lie in my cabinet.
• 2:26:04
  Speaker 1: Now listen, if ever you find yourself in any danger,
• 2:26:09
  Speaker 1: such for example, as you were this same evening, you
• 2:26:12
  Speaker 1: must take off your ring and put it under the
• 2:26:15
  Speaker 1: pillar of your bed. Then you must lay your finger
• 2:26:18
  Speaker 1: the same that wore the ring upon the thread, and
• 2:26:21
  Speaker 1: follow the thread wherever it leads you. Oh, how delightful
• 2:26:25
  Speaker 1: it will lead me to you, grandmother. I know, yes,
• 2:26:29
  Speaker 1: but remember it may seem to you a very roundabout
• 2:26:32
  Speaker 1: way indeed, and you must not doubt the thread of
• 2:26:36
  Speaker 1: one thing. You may be sure that while you hold it,
• 2:26:40
  Speaker 1: I hold it too. It's very wonderful, said Irene thoughtfully, Then,
• 2:26:45
  Speaker 1: suddenly becoming aware, she jumped up, crying, oh, grandmother, have
• 2:26:49
  Speaker 1: I been sitting all this time in your chair and
• 2:26:51
  Speaker 1: you standing? I beg your pardon. The lady laid her
• 2:26:56
  Speaker 1: hand upon her shoulder and said, sit down again, Irene.
• 2:27:00
  Speaker 1: Nothing pleases me better than to see any one sit
• 2:27:03
  Speaker 1: in my chair. I'm only too glad to stand so
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 1: long as any one will sit in it. How kind
• 2:27:09
  Speaker 1: of you, said the princess, and sat down again. It
• 2:27:13
  Speaker 1: makes me happy, said the lady, But said Irene, still puzzled.
• 2:27:19
  Speaker 1: Won't the thread get in somebody's way and be broken?
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 1: If the one end is fast to my ring and
• 2:27:23
  Speaker 1: the other lady in your cabinet, you will find all
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: that arrange itself. I'm afraid it's time for you to go, mind,
• 2:27:32
  Speaker 1: I stay and sleep with you to night, grandmother, No,
• 2:27:35
  Speaker 1: not to night. If I had meant you to stay
• 2:27:38
  Speaker 1: to night, I should have given you a bath. But
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 1: you know everybody in the house is miserable about you,
• 2:27:43
  Speaker 1: and it would be cruel to keep them so all night.
• 2:27:46
  Speaker 1: You must go downstairs. I'm so glad, grandmother, you didn't
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 1: say go home, for this is my home. Mayn't I
• 2:27:54
  Speaker 1: call this my home? You may, my child, and I
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: trust you will always think it is your home. Now come,
• 2:28:02
  Speaker 1: I must take you back without anyone seeing you. Please,
• 2:28:05
  Speaker 1: I want to ask you one question, more, said Irene.
• 2:28:09
  Speaker 1: Is it because you have your crown on that you
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 1: look so young? No child answered her grandmother. It is
• 2:28:16
  Speaker 1: because I felt so young this evening that I put
• 2:28:19
  Speaker 1: my crown on, and I thought you would like to
• 2:28:21
  Speaker 1: see your old grandmother in her best Why do you
• 2:28:25
  Speaker 1: call yourself old? You're not old, grandmother. I am very old. Indeed,
• 2:28:30
  Speaker 1: it's so silly of people. I don't mean you for
• 2:28:33
  Speaker 1: your such a tiny and couldn't know better. But it
• 2:28:36
  Speaker 1: is so silly of people to fancy that old age
• 2:28:39
  Speaker 1: means crookedness and witheredness and feebleness and sticks and spectacles
• 2:28:43
  Speaker 1: and rheumatism and forgetfulness. It's so silly. Old age has
• 2:28:47
  Speaker 1: nothing whatever to do with all that. The right old
• 2:28:51
  Speaker 1: age means strength, and beauty, and mirth, and courage and
• 2:28:55
  Speaker 1: clear eyes and strong, painless limbs. I am older than
• 2:28:59
  Speaker 1: you are able to and look at you, grandmother cried Irene,
• 2:29:03
  Speaker 1: jumping up and flinging her arms about her neck. I
• 2:29:06
  Speaker 1: won't be so silly again, I promise you. At least.
• 2:29:09
  Speaker 1: I'm rather afraid to promise. But if I am, I
• 2:29:12
  Speaker 1: promise to be sorry for it. I do. I wish
• 2:29:14
  Speaker 1: I were as old as you, Grandmother. I don't think
• 2:29:17
  Speaker 1: you're ever afraid of anything, not for long at least
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: my child. Perhaps by the time I'm two thousand years
• 2:29:25
  Speaker 1: of age, I shall indeed never be afraid of anything.
• 2:29:28
  Speaker 1: But I confess I have sometimes been afraid about my children,
• 2:29:32
  Speaker 1: sometimes about your Irene. Oh, I'm so sorry, grandmother, to night.
• 2:29:37
  Speaker 1: I suppose you mean, yes, a little to night, but
• 2:29:41
  Speaker 1: a good deal when you had all but made up
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: your mind that I was a dream and no real
• 2:29:46
  Speaker 1: Great great grandmother, you mustn't suppose I'm blaming you for that.
• 2:29:50
  Speaker 1: I dare say you couldn't help it. I don't know, grandmother,
• 2:29:54
  Speaker 1: said the princess, beginning to cry. I can't always do
• 2:29:58
  Speaker 1: myself as I should like, and I don't always try
• 2:30:01
  Speaker 1: I'm very sorry. Anyhow, the lady stooped, lifted her in
• 2:30:06
  Speaker 1: her arms, and sat down with her in her chair,
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 1: holding her close to her bosom. In a few minutes,
• 2:30:12
  Speaker 1: the princess had sobbed herself to sleep. How long she
• 2:30:16
  Speaker 1: slept I do not know. When she came to herself.
• 2:30:19
  Speaker 1: She was sitting in her own high chair at the
• 2:30:21
  Speaker 1: nursery table with her doll's house before her end of
• 2:30:27
  Speaker 1: chapter fifteen, Chapter sixteen the ring. The same moment, her
• 2:30:35
  Speaker 1: nurse came into the room, sobbing. When she saw her
• 2:30:38
  Speaker 1: sitting there, she started back with a loud cry of
• 2:30:40
  Speaker 1: amazement and joy. Then running to her, she caught her
• 2:30:44
  Speaker 1: in her arms and covered her with kisses. My precious
• 2:30:47
  Speaker 1: darning princess, where have you been? What happened to you?
• 2:30:51
  Speaker 1: We've all been crying our eyes out and searching the
• 2:30:54
  Speaker 1: house from top to bottom for you. Not quite from
• 2:30:58
  Speaker 1: the top, thought Irene to herself. And she might have
• 2:31:01
  Speaker 1: added not quite to the bottom perhaps if she had
• 2:31:05
  Speaker 1: known all, But the one she would not, and the
• 2:31:07
  Speaker 1: other she could not say. Oh, Lootie, I've had such
• 2:31:10
  Speaker 1: a dreadful adventure, she replied, and told her all about
• 2:31:14
  Speaker 1: the cat with the long legs, and how she ran
• 2:31:17
  Speaker 1: out upon the mountain and came back again. But she
• 2:31:20
  Speaker 1: said nothing of her grandmother or her lamp. And there
• 2:31:23
  Speaker 1: we've been searching for you all over the house for
• 2:31:26
  Speaker 1: more than an hour and a half, exclaimed the nurse.
• 2:31:29
  Speaker 1: But that's no matter. Now we've got you, only, princess,
• 2:31:32
  Speaker 1: I must say, she added, her mood changing. What you
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 1: ought to have done was to call for your own
• 2:31:39
  Speaker 1: Lootie to come and help you, instead of running out
• 2:31:42
  Speaker 1: of the house and up the mountain in that wild
• 2:31:44
  Speaker 1: I must say, foolish fashion, Well, Lootie, said Irene quietly.
• 2:31:51
  Speaker 1: Perhaps if you had a big cat or legs running
• 2:31:54
  Speaker 1: at you, you might not exactly know what was the
• 2:31:57
  Speaker 1: wisest thing to do at the moment. Now, I wouldn't
• 2:32:00
  Speaker 1: run up the mountain anyhow, returned Lootie, Not if you
• 2:32:05
  Speaker 1: had time to think about it. But when those creatures
• 2:32:08
  Speaker 1: came at you that night on the mountain, you were
• 2:32:11
  Speaker 1: so frightened yourself that you lost your way home. This
• 2:32:15
  Speaker 1: put a stop to Lootie's reproaches. She had been on
• 2:32:18
  Speaker 1: the point of saying that the long legged cat must
• 2:32:21
  Speaker 1: have been a twilight fancy of the princesses. But the
• 2:32:24
  Speaker 1: memory of the horrors of that night, and of the
• 2:32:27
  Speaker 1: talking to which the king had given her in consequence,
• 2:32:29
  Speaker 1: prevented her from saying what. After all, she did not
• 2:32:33
  Speaker 1: half believe, having a strong suspicion that the cat was
• 2:32:36
  Speaker 1: a goblin, for she knew nothing of the difference between
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 1: the goblins and their creatures, she counted them all just goblins.
• 2:32:44
  Speaker 1: Without another word, she went and got some fresh tea
• 2:32:47
  Speaker 1: and bread and butter for the princess. Before she returned,
• 2:32:51
  Speaker 1: the whole household, headed by the housekeeper, burst into the
• 2:32:55
  Speaker 1: nursery to exult over their darling. The gentleman at arms
• 2:32:59
  Speaker 1: followed and were ready enough to believe all she told
• 2:33:02
  Speaker 1: them about the long legged cat. Indeed, though wise enough
• 2:33:06
  Speaker 1: to say nothing about it, they remembered with no little
• 2:33:08
  Speaker 1: horror just such a creature amongst those they had surprised
• 2:33:12
  Speaker 1: at their gambols on the princess's lawn. In their own hearts,
• 2:33:16
  Speaker 1: they blamed themselves for not having kept better watch, and
• 2:33:19
  Speaker 1: their captain gave orders that from this night the front
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 1: door and all the windows on the ground floor should
• 2:33:25
  Speaker 1: be locked immediately the sunset, and opened after upon no
• 2:33:29
  Speaker 1: pretense whatever the men at arms redoubled their vigilance, and
• 2:33:34
  Speaker 1: for some time there was no further cause of alarm.
• 2:33:38
  Speaker 1: When the princess woke the next morning, her nurse was
• 2:33:41
  Speaker 1: bending over her. Now your ring does low this morning, Princess,
• 2:33:46
  Speaker 1: just like a fiery rose, she said, does it? Lootie?
• 2:33:51
  Speaker 1: Returned Irene, who gave me the ring, Lootie, I know
• 2:33:55
  Speaker 1: I've had it for a long time, But where did
• 2:33:57
  Speaker 1: I get it? I don't remember. I think it must
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 1: have been your mother gave it to you, Princess, But really,
• 2:34:04
  Speaker 1: for as long as you want it, I don't remember
• 2:34:06
  Speaker 1: that ever, I heard, answered her nurse. I will ask
• 2:34:11
  Speaker 1: my King Papa the next time he comes, said Irene.
• 2:34:17
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter sixteen, Chapter seventeen. Springtime, the spring so
• 2:34:26
  Speaker 1: dear to all creatures young and old, came at last,
• 2:34:29
  Speaker 1: and before the first few days of it had gone,
• 2:34:32
  Speaker 1: the king rose through its budding valleys to see his
• 2:34:35
  Speaker 1: little daughter. He had been at a distant part of
• 2:34:38
  Speaker 1: his dominions all the winter, for he was not in
• 2:34:40
  Speaker 1: the habit of stopping in one great city, or of
• 2:34:43
  Speaker 1: visiting only his favorite country houses. But he moved from
• 2:34:47
  Speaker 1: place to place that all his people might know him.
• 2:34:50
  Speaker 1: Wherever he journeyed, he kept a constant lookout for the
• 2:34:53
  Speaker 1: ablest and best men to put into office, And wherever
• 2:34:57
  Speaker 1: he found himself mistaken, and those he had appointed incapable
• 2:35:01
  Speaker 1: or unjust, he removed them at once. Hence, you see,
• 2:35:05
  Speaker 1: it was his care of the people that kept him
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 1: from seeing his princess so often as he would have liked.
• 2:35:11
  Speaker 1: You may wonder why he did not take her about
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 1: with him, but there were several reasons against his doing so,
• 2:35:16
  Speaker 1: and I suspect her great great grandmother had had a
• 2:35:19
  Speaker 1: principal hand in preventing it. Once more, Irene heard the
• 2:35:24
  Speaker 1: bugle blast, and once more she was at the gate
• 2:35:27
  Speaker 1: to meet her father as he rode up on his
• 2:35:29
  Speaker 1: great white horse. After they had been alone for a
• 2:35:32
  Speaker 1: little while, she thought of what she had resolved to
• 2:35:35
  Speaker 1: ask him. Please, King Papa, she said, will you tell
• 2:35:40
  Speaker 1: me where I got this pretty ring? I can't remember?
• 2:35:44
  Speaker 1: The King looked at it a strange, beautiful smile spread
• 2:35:48
  Speaker 1: like sunshine over his face, and an answering smile, but
• 2:35:52
  Speaker 1: at the same time, a questioning one spread like moonlight
• 2:35:55
  Speaker 1: over Irene's. It was your queen, Mamma's. Once, he said,
• 2:36:02
  Speaker 1: and why isn't it hers now, asked Irene. She does
• 2:36:07
  Speaker 1: not want it now, said the king, looking grave. Why
• 2:36:12
  Speaker 1: doesn't she want it now? Because she's gone where all
• 2:36:15
  Speaker 1: those rings are made? And when shall I see her,
• 2:36:20
  Speaker 1: asked the princess. Not for some time yet, answered the king,
• 2:36:25
  Speaker 1: and the tears came into his eyes. Irene did not
• 2:36:30
  Speaker 1: remember her mother, and did not know why her father
• 2:36:33
  Speaker 1: looked so and why the tears came into his eyes.
• 2:36:36
  Speaker 1: But she put her arms round his neck and kissed him,
• 2:36:39
  Speaker 1: and asked no more questions. The King was much disturbed
• 2:36:43
  Speaker 1: on hearing the report of the gentlemen at arms concerning
• 2:36:46
  Speaker 1: the creatures they had seen, and I presume would have
• 2:36:49
  Speaker 1: taken Irene with him that very day, but for what
• 2:36:52
  Speaker 1: the presence of the ring on her finger assured him of.
• 2:36:56
  Speaker 1: About an hour before he left, Irene saw him go
• 2:36:59
  Speaker 1: up the old stair, and he did not come down
• 2:37:02
  Speaker 1: again until they were just ready to start, and she
• 2:37:05
  Speaker 1: thought with herself that he had been up to see
• 2:37:08
  Speaker 1: the old lady. When he went away, he left another
• 2:37:11
  Speaker 1: six gentlemen behind him, that there might be six of
• 2:37:15
  Speaker 1: them always on guard. And now, in the lovely spring weather,
• 2:37:20
  Speaker 1: Aadne was out on the mountain in the greater part
• 2:37:22
  Speaker 1: of the day. In the warmer hollows, there were lovely primroses,
• 2:37:26
  Speaker 1: and not so many that she ever got tired of them.
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 1: As often as she saw a new one opening an
• 2:37:32
  Speaker 1: eye of light in the blind earth, she would clap
• 2:37:34
  Speaker 1: her hands with gladness, and unlike some children I know,
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 1: instead of pulling it, would touch it as tenderly as
• 2:37:41
  Speaker 1: if it had been a new baby, and having made
• 2:37:44
  Speaker 1: its acquaintance, would leave it as happy as she found it.
• 2:37:48
  Speaker 1: She treated the plants on which they grew like birds nests.
• 2:37:52
  Speaker 1: Every fresh flower was like a new little bird to her.
• 2:37:55
  Speaker 1: She would pay visits to all the flower nests she knew,
• 2:37:58
  Speaker 1: remembering each by it. She would go down on her
• 2:38:01
  Speaker 1: hands and knees beside one and say, good morning, are
• 2:38:05
  Speaker 1: you all smelling very sweet this morning? Good bye? And
• 2:38:09
  Speaker 1: then she would go to another nest and say the same.
• 2:38:12
  Speaker 1: It was a favorite amusement with her. There were many
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 1: flowers up and down, and she loved them all, but
• 2:38:19
  Speaker 1: the primroses were her favorites. They're not too shy, and
• 2:38:23
  Speaker 1: they're not a bit forward, she would say to Lootie.
• 2:38:26
  Speaker 1: There were goats too about over the mountain, and when
• 2:38:30
  Speaker 1: the little kids came, she was as pleased with them
• 2:38:32
  Speaker 1: as with the flowers. The goats belonged to the miners,
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 1: mostly a few of them to Curdies mother, but there
• 2:38:39
  Speaker 1: were a good many wild ones that seemed to belong
• 2:38:41
  Speaker 1: to nobody. These the goblins counted theirs, and it was
• 2:38:46
  Speaker 1: upon them partly that they lived. They set snares and
• 2:38:50
  Speaker 1: dug pits for them, and did not scruple to take
• 2:38:53
  Speaker 1: what tame ones happened to be caught, but they did
• 2:38:56
  Speaker 1: not try to steal them in any other manner, because
• 2:38:58
  Speaker 1: they were afraid of the dogs. The hill people kept
• 2:39:01
  Speaker 1: to watch them, for the knowing dogs always tried to
• 2:39:04
  Speaker 1: bite their feet. But the goblins had a kind of
• 2:39:07
  Speaker 1: sheep of their own, very queer creatures, which they drove
• 2:39:10
  Speaker 1: out to feed at night. And the other goblin creatures
• 2:39:13
  Speaker 1: were wise enough to keep good watch over them, for
• 2:39:16
  Speaker 1: they knew they should have their bones by and bye.
• 2:39:22
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter seventeen. Chapter eighteen Curdie's clue. Curdie was
• 2:39:31
  Speaker 1: as watchful as ever, but was almost getting tired of
• 2:39:34
  Speaker 1: his ill success. Every other night or so he followed
• 2:39:38
  Speaker 1: the goblins about as they went on digging and boring,
• 2:39:41
  Speaker 1: and getting as near to them as he could, watched
• 2:39:44
  Speaker 1: them from behind stones and rocks, but as yet he
• 2:39:47
  Speaker 1: seemed no nearer finding out what they had in view.
• 2:39:51
  Speaker 1: As at first, he always kept hold of his string,
• 2:39:54
  Speaker 1: while his pickaxe, left just outside the hole by which
• 2:39:57
  Speaker 1: he entered the goblin's country from the mine, continued to
• 2:40:01
  Speaker 1: serve as an anchor and hold fast the other end.
• 2:40:04
  Speaker 1: The goblins, hearing no more noise in that quarter, had
• 2:40:08
  Speaker 1: ceased to apprehend an immediate invasion, and kept no watch.
• 2:40:12
  Speaker 1: One night, after dodging about and listening till he was
• 2:40:15
  Speaker 1: nearly falling asleep with weariness, he began to roll up
• 2:40:19
  Speaker 1: his ball, for he had resolved to go home to bed.
• 2:40:23
  Speaker 1: It was not long, however, before he began to feel bewildered.
• 2:40:26
  Speaker 1: One after another, he passed goblin houses, caves that is
• 2:40:31
  Speaker 1: occupied by goblin families, and at length were sure there
• 2:40:34
  Speaker 1: were many more than he had passed. As he came,
• 2:40:38
  Speaker 1: he had to use great caution to pass unseen they
• 2:40:40
  Speaker 1: lay so close together. Could his string have led him wrong?
• 2:40:45
  Speaker 1: He still followed winding it, and still it led him
• 2:40:48
  Speaker 1: into more thickly populated quarters, until he became quite uneasy,
• 2:40:53
  Speaker 1: and indeed apprehensive, for although he was not afraid of
• 2:40:56
  Speaker 1: the cobs, he was afraid of not finding his way out.
• 2:41:01
  Speaker 1: But what could he do? It was of no use
• 2:41:03
  Speaker 1: to sit down and wait for the morning. The morning
• 2:41:06
  Speaker 1: made no difference here. It was dark and always dark,
• 2:41:10
  Speaker 1: and if his string failed him, he was helpless. He
• 2:41:14
  Speaker 1: might even arrive within a yard of the mine and
• 2:41:16
  Speaker 1: never know it. Seeing he could do nothing better, he
• 2:41:19
  Speaker 1: would at least find where the end of his string was, and,
• 2:41:23
  Speaker 1: if possible, how it had come to play him such
• 2:41:25
  Speaker 1: a trick. He knew by the size of the ball
• 2:41:28
  Speaker 1: that he was getting pretty near the last of it.
• 2:41:30
  Speaker 1: When he began to feel a tugging and pulling at it,
• 2:41:33
  Speaker 1: what could it mean? Turning a sharp corner, he thought
• 2:41:37
  Speaker 1: he heard strange sounds. These grew as he went on,
• 2:41:41
  Speaker 1: to a scuffling and growling and squeaking, and the noise increased,
• 2:41:44
  Speaker 1: until turning a second sharp corner, he found himself in
• 2:41:48
  Speaker 1: the midst of it, and the same moment tumbled over
• 2:41:50
  Speaker 1: a wallowing mass, which he knew must be a knot
• 2:41:53
  Speaker 1: of the COB's creatures. Before he could recover his feet,
• 2:41:56
  Speaker 1: he had caught some great scratches on his face and
• 2:41:59
  Speaker 1: several severe bites on his legs and arms. But as
• 2:42:03
  Speaker 1: he scrambled to get up, his hand fell upon his pickaxe,
• 2:42:06
  Speaker 1: and before the horrid beasts could do him any serious harm,
• 2:42:09
  Speaker 1: he was laying about with it right and left in
• 2:42:12
  Speaker 1: the dark. The hideous cries which followed gave him the
• 2:42:16
  Speaker 1: satisfaction of knowing that he had punished some of them
• 2:42:19
  Speaker 1: pretty smartly for their rudeness, and by their scampering and
• 2:42:22
  Speaker 1: their retreating howls, he perceived that he had routed them.
• 2:42:26
  Speaker 1: He stood for a little weighing his battle axe in
• 2:42:29
  Speaker 1: his hand as if it had been the most precious
• 2:42:31
  Speaker 1: lump of metal, but indeed no lump of gold itself
• 2:42:35
  Speaker 1: could have been so precious at the time as that
• 2:42:37
  Speaker 1: common tool. Then untied the end of the string from it,
• 2:42:41
  Speaker 1: put the ball in his pocket, and still stood thinking.
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 1: It was clear that the Cobs creatures had found his axe,
• 2:42:49
  Speaker 1: had between them carried it off, and had so led him.
• 2:42:52
  Speaker 1: He knew not where, but for all his thinking he
• 2:42:55
  Speaker 1: could not tell what he ought to do, until suddenly
• 2:42:58
  Speaker 1: he became aware of a glimmer of light in the distance.
• 2:43:02
  Speaker 1: Without a moment's hesitation, he set out for it as
• 2:43:05
  Speaker 1: fast as the unknown and rugged way would permit. Yet again,
• 2:43:10
  Speaker 1: turning a corner led by the dim light, he spied
• 2:43:13
  Speaker 1: something quite new in his experience of the underground regions,
• 2:43:17
  Speaker 1: a small, irregular shape of something shining. Going up to it,
• 2:43:22
  Speaker 1: he found it was a piece of mica or muskerby glass,
• 2:43:26
  Speaker 1: called sheep silver in Scotland, and the light flickered as
• 2:43:30
  Speaker 1: if from a fire behind it. After trying in vain
• 2:43:34
  Speaker 1: for some time to discover an entrance to the place
• 2:43:36
  Speaker 1: where it was burning, he came at last to a
• 2:43:39
  Speaker 1: small chamber in which an opening high in the wall
• 2:43:42
  Speaker 1: revealed a glow beyond. To this opening he managed to
• 2:43:45
  Speaker 1: scramble up, and then he saw a strange sight. Below
• 2:43:50
  Speaker 1: sat a little group of goblins around a fire, the
• 2:43:53
  Speaker 1: smoke of which vanished in the darkness far aloft. The
• 2:43:57
  Speaker 1: sides of the cave were full of shining minerals like
• 2:44:00
  Speaker 1: those of the palace hall, and the company was evidently
• 2:44:03
  Speaker 1: of a superior order, for every one wore stones about head,
• 2:44:08
  Speaker 1: or arms or waist, shining dull, gorgeous colors in the
• 2:44:11
  Speaker 1: light of the fire. Nor had Curdie looked long before
• 2:44:15
  Speaker 1: he recognized the king himself, and found that he had
• 2:44:18
  Speaker 1: made his way into the inner apartment of the royal family.
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 1: He had never had such a good chance of hearing something.
• 2:44:26
  Speaker 1: He crept through the hole as softly as he could,
• 2:44:28
  Speaker 1: scrambled a good way down the wall towards them without
• 2:44:31
  Speaker 1: attracting attention, and then sat down and listened the king.
• 2:44:35
  Speaker 1: Evidently the Queen, and probably the Crown Prince and the
• 2:44:38
  Speaker 1: Prime Minister were talking together. He was sure of the
• 2:44:42
  Speaker 1: Queen by her shoes, for as she warmed her feet
• 2:44:45
  Speaker 1: at the fire, he saw them quite plainly. That will
• 2:44:48
  Speaker 1: be fun, said the one he took for the Crown Prince.
• 2:44:52
  Speaker 1: It was the first whole sentence he heard. I don't
• 2:44:56
  Speaker 1: see why you should think it such a grand affair,
• 2:44:58
  Speaker 1: said his stepmother, tossing her head backward. You must remember,
• 2:45:03
  Speaker 1: my spouse, interposed his majesty, as if making excuse for
• 2:45:08
  Speaker 1: his son. He has got the same blood in him
• 2:45:11
  Speaker 1: his mother. Don't talk to me or his mother. He
• 2:45:15
  Speaker 1: positively encourage his unnatural fancies. Whatever beliester that mother ought
• 2:45:19
  Speaker 1: to be cut out of him. You forget yourself, my dear,
• 2:45:23
  Speaker 1: said the king. I don't, said the queen, nor you either.
• 2:45:28
  Speaker 1: If you expect me to approve of such coarse taste,
• 2:45:31
  Speaker 1: you will find yourself mistaken. I don't wear shoes for nothing.
• 2:45:35
  Speaker 1: You must acknowledge, However, the King said, with a little groan,
• 2:45:39
  Speaker 1: that this at least is no whim of Hernips, but
• 2:45:43
  Speaker 1: a matter of state policy. You are well aware that
• 2:45:47
  Speaker 1: his gratification comes purely from the pleasure of sacrificing himself
• 2:45:51
  Speaker 1: to the public good, does it not Hernip his father?
• 2:45:57
  Speaker 1: Of course he does, and need will be nigh to
• 2:46:00
  Speaker 1: make her cry. I'll have the skin taken off between
• 2:46:04
  Speaker 1: her toes and tie them up till they grow together.
• 2:46:08
  Speaker 1: Then her feet will be like other deeples, and there
• 2:46:11
  Speaker 1: will be no occasion for it with shoes. Do mean
• 2:46:15
  Speaker 1: to insenuate I've got toes? You unnatural rich, cried the Queen,
• 2:46:20
  Speaker 1: and she moved angrily towards Harelip. The councilor, however, who
• 2:46:24
  Speaker 1: was betwixt them, leaned forward so as to prevent her
• 2:46:27
  Speaker 1: touching him, but only as if to address the prince.
• 2:46:31
  Speaker 1: Your royal highness, sir, he said, possibly requires to be
• 2:46:35
  Speaker 1: reminded that you have got three toes yourself, one on
• 2:46:40
  Speaker 1: one foot, two on the other. Ha ha ha, shouted
• 2:46:44
  Speaker 1: the queen triumphantly. The Councilor, encouraged by this mark of favor,
• 2:46:48
  Speaker 1: went on, it seems to me, your Royal highness, it
• 2:46:53
  Speaker 1: will greatly endear you to your future people, proving to
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 1: them that you are not the less one of them selves,
• 2:47:00
  Speaker 1: that you had the misfortune to be born of a
• 2:47:03
  Speaker 1: son mother. If you were to command upon yourself the
• 2:47:06
  Speaker 1: comparatively slight operation, which in a more extended form you
• 2:47:12
  Speaker 1: say wisely meditate, would regard to your future princess laughed
• 2:47:18
  Speaker 1: the Queen louder than before, and the King and the
• 2:47:21
  Speaker 1: minister joined in the laugh. Hair lip growled, and for
• 2:47:24
  Speaker 1: a few moments the others continued to express their enjoyment
• 2:47:28
  Speaker 1: of his discomfiture. The Queen was the only one Curdie
• 2:47:31
  Speaker 1: could see with any distinctness. She sat sideways to him,
• 2:47:35
  Speaker 1: and the light of the fire shone full upon her face.
• 2:47:38
  Speaker 1: He could not consider her handsome. Her nose was certainly
• 2:47:42
  Speaker 1: broader at the end than its extreme length, and her eyes,
• 2:47:46
  Speaker 1: instead of being horizontal, were set up like two perpendicular eggs,
• 2:47:50
  Speaker 1: one on the broad and the other on the small end.
• 2:47:53
  Speaker 1: Her mouth was no bigger than a small buttonhole, until
• 2:47:56
  Speaker 1: she laughed when it stretched from ear to ear, only
• 2:48:00
  Speaker 1: to be sure her ears were very nearly in the
• 2:48:02
  Speaker 1: middle of her cheeks. Anxious to hear everything they might say,
• 2:48:07
  Speaker 1: Curdie ventured to slide down a smooth part of the
• 2:48:10
  Speaker 1: rock just under him, to projection below upon which he
• 2:48:13
  Speaker 1: thought to rest. But whether he was not careful enough
• 2:48:16
  Speaker 1: or the projection gave way down, he came with a
• 2:48:20
  Speaker 1: rush on the floor of the cavern, bringing with him
• 2:48:22
  Speaker 1: a great, rumbling shower of stones. The goblins jumped from
• 2:48:26
  Speaker 1: their seats in more anger than consternation, for they had
• 2:48:29
  Speaker 1: never yet seen anything to be afraid of in the palace.
• 2:48:33
  Speaker 1: But when they saw Curdie with his pick in his hand,
• 2:48:36
  Speaker 1: their rage was mingled with fear, for they took him
• 2:48:39
  Speaker 1: for the first of an invasion of miners. The king, notwithstanding,
• 2:48:43
  Speaker 1: drew himself up to his full height of four feet,
• 2:48:46
  Speaker 1: spread himself to his full breadth of three and a half,
• 2:48:50
  Speaker 1: for he was the handsomest and squarest of all the goblins,
• 2:48:53
  Speaker 1: and strutting up to Curdie, planted himself with outspread feet
• 2:48:57
  Speaker 1: before him, and said, with dignity, pray, what right have
• 2:49:01
  Speaker 1: you in my palace the right of necessity, your majesty,
• 2:49:05
  Speaker 1: answered Curdie. I lost my way and I did not
• 2:49:08
  Speaker 1: know where. I was wondering to how did you get
• 2:49:11
  Speaker 1: in pay a hole in the mountain, But you are
• 2:49:16
  Speaker 1: a miner. Look at your pickanks, Curdie did, look at
• 2:49:20
  Speaker 1: it answering. I came upon it lying on the ground
• 2:49:23
  Speaker 1: a little way from here. I tumbled over some wild
• 2:49:26
  Speaker 1: beasts who were playing with it. Look, your majesty, and
• 2:49:30
  Speaker 1: Curdie showed him how he was scratched and bitten. The
• 2:49:34
  Speaker 1: king was pleased to find him behave more politely than
• 2:49:36
  Speaker 1: he had expected from what his people had told him
• 2:49:39
  Speaker 1: concerning the miners, for he attributed it to the power
• 2:49:43
  Speaker 1: of his own presence. But he did not therefore feel
• 2:49:46
  Speaker 1: friendly to the intruder. You will oblige me by walking
• 2:49:50
  Speaker 1: out of my dominions at once, he said, well, knowing
• 2:49:54
  Speaker 1: what a mockery lay in the words with pleasure. If
• 2:49:58
  Speaker 1: your Majesty will give me a guy, said Curdie, and
• 2:50:02
  Speaker 1: we'll give you a thousand, said the king, with a
• 2:50:06
  Speaker 1: scoffing air of magnificent liberality. One will be quite sufficient,
• 2:50:11
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. But the king uttered a strange shout, half halloo,
• 2:50:15
  Speaker 1: half roar, and in rushed goblins till the cave was swarming.
• 2:50:19
  Speaker 1: He said something to the first of them which Curdie
• 2:50:21
  Speaker 1: could not hear, and it was passed from one to another,
• 2:50:25
  Speaker 1: till in a moment the farthest in the crowd had
• 2:50:27
  Speaker 1: evidently heard and understood it. They began to gather about
• 2:50:31
  Speaker 1: him in a way. He did not relish, and he
• 2:50:33
  Speaker 1: retreated towards the wall. They pressed upon him. Stand back,
• 2:50:38
  Speaker 1: said Curdie, grasping his pickaxe tighter by his knee. They
• 2:50:42
  Speaker 1: only grinned and pressed closer. Curdie bethought himself and began
• 2:50:47
  Speaker 1: to rhyme ten twenty thirty, you're all so dirty twenty
• 2:50:52
  Speaker 1: thirty forty. You're also thick and snorty thirty forty fifty.
• 2:50:58
  Speaker 1: You're also puff and snifty forty fifty sixty, beast and
• 2:51:02
  Speaker 1: man so mixty fifty sixty, seventy mixty, maxty leventy sixty,
• 2:51:08
  Speaker 1: seventy eighty, all your cheeks so slaty seventy eighty ninety,
• 2:51:13
  Speaker 1: only your hands so flinty eighteen ninety hundred. Altogether, Dundred.
• 2:51:20
  Speaker 1: The goblins fell back a little when he began, and
• 2:51:22
  Speaker 1: made horrible grimaces all through the rhyme, as if eating
• 2:51:26
  Speaker 1: something so disagreeable that it set their teeth on edge
• 2:51:29
  Speaker 1: and gave them the creeps. But whether it was that
• 2:51:32
  Speaker 1: the rhyming words were most of them no words at all,
• 2:51:35
  Speaker 1: for a new rhyme, being considered the most efficacious, Curdie
• 2:51:38
  Speaker 1: had made it up on the spur of the moment,
• 2:51:41
  Speaker 1: or whether it was that the presence of the King
• 2:51:43
  Speaker 1: and Queen gave them courage, I cannot tell. But the
• 2:51:46
  Speaker 1: moment the rhyme was over, they crowded on him again
• 2:51:49
  Speaker 1: and outshot one hundred long arms, with a multitude of thick,
• 2:51:52
  Speaker 1: nailless fingers at the ends of them, to lay hold
• 2:51:55
  Speaker 1: upon him. Then Curdie heaved up his axe, but being
• 2:51:59
  Speaker 1: as gener as courageous, and not wishing to kill any
• 2:52:02
  Speaker 1: of them, he turned the end, which was square and blunt,
• 2:52:05
  Speaker 1: like a hammer, and with that came down a great
• 2:52:08
  Speaker 1: blow on the head of the goblin nearest him, hard
• 2:52:11
  Speaker 1: as the heads of all goblins are. He thought he
• 2:52:14
  Speaker 1: must feel that, and so he did, no doubt, But
• 2:52:17
  Speaker 1: he only gave a horrible cry and sprang at Curdie's throat. Curdie, however,
• 2:52:22
  Speaker 1: drew back in time, and just at that critical moment,
• 2:52:25
  Speaker 1: remembered the vulnerable part of the goblin body. He made
• 2:52:29
  Speaker 1: a sudden rush at the king and stamped with all
• 2:52:31
  Speaker 1: his might on his majesty's feet. The king gave a
• 2:52:35
  Speaker 1: most unkingly howl and almost fell into the fire. Curdie
• 2:52:39
  Speaker 1: then rushed into the crowd, stamping right and left. The
• 2:52:42
  Speaker 1: goblins drew back, howling on every side as he approached,
• 2:52:46
  Speaker 1: but they were so crowded that few of those he
• 2:52:48
  Speaker 1: attacked could escape his tread. And the shrieking and roaring
• 2:52:52
  Speaker 1: that filled the cave would have appalled Curdie but for
• 2:52:54
  Speaker 1: the good hope it gave him. They were tumbling over
• 2:52:57
  Speaker 1: each other in heaps in their eagerness to rush from
• 2:53:00
  Speaker 1: the cave, when a new assailant suddenly faced him. The queen,
• 2:53:04
  Speaker 1: with flaming eyes and expanded nostrils, her hair standing half
• 2:53:08
  Speaker 1: up from her head, rushed at him. She trusted in
• 2:53:12
  Speaker 1: her shoes. They were of granite, hollowed like French sabots.
• 2:53:16
  Speaker 1: Curdie would have endured much rather than her to woman,
• 2:53:18
  Speaker 1: even if she was a goblin. But here was an
• 2:53:21
  Speaker 1: affair of life and death forgetting her shoes. He made
• 2:53:24
  Speaker 1: a great stamp on one of her feet, but she
• 2:53:27
  Speaker 1: instantly returned it with very different effect, causing him frightful
• 2:53:31
  Speaker 1: pain and almost disabling him. His only chance with her
• 2:53:35
  Speaker 1: would have been to attack the granite shoes with his
• 2:53:37
  Speaker 1: pick axe, but before he could think of that, she
• 2:53:40
  Speaker 1: had caught him up in her arms and was rushing
• 2:53:43
  Speaker 1: with him across the cave. She dashed him into a
• 2:53:45
  Speaker 1: hole in the wall with a force that almost stunned him.
• 2:53:48
  Speaker 1: But although he could not move, he was not too
• 2:53:51
  Speaker 1: far gone to hear her great cry, and the rush
• 2:53:54
  Speaker 1: of multitudes of soft feet, followed by the sounds of
• 2:53:57
  Speaker 1: something heaved up against the rock, after which a multitudinous
• 2:54:01
  Speaker 1: patter of stones falling near him. The last had not
• 2:54:05
  Speaker 1: ceased when he grew very faint, for his head had
• 2:54:08
  Speaker 1: been badly cut, and at last insensible. When he came
• 2:54:13
  Speaker 1: to himself, there was perfect silence about him, and utter darkness,
• 2:54:17
  Speaker 1: but for the merest glimmer in one tiny spot. He
• 2:54:21
  Speaker 1: crawled to it and found that they had heaved a
• 2:54:24
  Speaker 1: slab against the mouth of a hole, past the edge
• 2:54:26
  Speaker 1: of which a poor little gleam found its way from
• 2:54:29
  Speaker 1: the fire, he could not move it a hair breadth,
• 2:54:32
  Speaker 1: for they had piled a great heap of stones against it.
• 2:54:36
  Speaker 1: He crawled back to where he had been lying, in
• 2:54:38
  Speaker 1: the faint hope of finding his pickaxe. But after a
• 2:54:42
  Speaker 1: vain search, he was at last compelled to acknowledge himself
• 2:54:45
  Speaker 1: in an evil plight. He sat down and tried to think,
• 2:54:50
  Speaker 1: but soon he fell asleep. End of Chapter eighteen, Chapter
• 2:54:59
  Speaker 1: nineteen Goblin Councils. He must have slept a long time,
• 2:55:05
  Speaker 1: for when he awoke he felt wonderfully restored, indeed almost well,
• 2:55:09
  Speaker 1: and very hungry. There were voices in the outer cave
• 2:55:13
  Speaker 1: once more. Then it was night, For the goblins slept
• 2:55:16
  Speaker 1: during the day and went about their affairs during the night.
• 2:55:20
  Speaker 1: In the universal and constant darkness of their dwelling. They
• 2:55:23
  Speaker 1: had no reason to prefer the one arrangement to the other,
• 2:55:27
  Speaker 1: but from aversion to the sun people, they chose to
• 2:55:29
  Speaker 1: be busy when there was least chance of their being met,
• 2:55:32
  Speaker 1: either by the miners below when they were burrowing, or
• 2:55:35
  Speaker 1: by the people of the mountain above when they were
• 2:55:37
  Speaker 1: feeding their sheep or catching their goats. And indeed it
• 2:55:41
  Speaker 1: was only when the sun was away that the outside
• 2:55:44
  Speaker 1: of the mountain was sufficiently like their own dismal regions
• 2:55:47
  Speaker 1: to be endurable to their mole eyes. So thoroughly had
• 2:55:50
  Speaker 1: they become unaccustomed to any light beyond that of their
• 2:55:53
  Speaker 1: own fires and torches. Curdie listened and soon found that
• 2:55:58
  Speaker 1: they were talking of himself. How long will it take,
• 2:56:02
  Speaker 1: asked harelip In not many days, I should think, answered
• 2:56:06
  Speaker 1: the king. They are poor, feeble creatures that those some
• 2:56:10
  Speaker 1: people and want always to be eating. We can go
• 2:56:14
  Speaker 1: a week at a time in their food and be
• 2:56:16
  Speaker 1: all the better for it. But I've been told I
• 2:56:19
  Speaker 1: eat two or three times every day. Can you believe it?
• 2:56:24
  Speaker 1: They must be quite hollow inside, not at all like us.
• 2:56:28
  Speaker 1: Nine tenths of a fool's bark is solid flesh and bone. Yes,
• 2:56:33
  Speaker 1: I judge a week of starvation we'll do for him,
• 2:56:36
  Speaker 1: if I may be allowed a word, interposed the Queen,
• 2:56:40
  Speaker 1: and I think I ought to have some voice in
• 2:56:42
  Speaker 1: the matter. The wretch is entirely at your disposal, mar spouse,
• 2:56:47
  Speaker 1: interrupted the King. He is your property. You caught him yourself.
• 2:56:51
  Speaker 1: We should never have done it. The queen laughed. She
• 2:56:54
  Speaker 1: seemed in a far better humor than the night before
• 2:56:57
  Speaker 1: I was about to say, she resumed wound that he
• 2:57:01
  Speaker 1: does seem a pity to waste so much fresh meat.
• 2:57:04
  Speaker 1: Why are you thinking of, my love, said the king.
• 2:57:08
  Speaker 1: The very notion of starving him implies that we are
• 2:57:11
  Speaker 1: not going to give him any meat, either salt or fresh.
• 2:57:14
  Speaker 1: I'm not such as stupid as that comes to, returned
• 2:57:18
  Speaker 1: her majesty. What I mean is by the time he
• 2:57:21
  Speaker 1: has starved, there there will hardly be a picking upon
• 2:57:24
  Speaker 1: his bones. The king gave a great laugh. Well, my spouse,
• 2:57:29
  Speaker 1: you may have him when you like, he said. I
• 2:57:33
  Speaker 1: don't fancy him for my part. I'm pretty sure he
• 2:57:36
  Speaker 1: is tough eating. That would be too honor instead of
• 2:57:39
  Speaker 1: punish his insolence, returned the queen. But why should our
• 2:57:43
  Speaker 1: poor creatures be deprived of so much nourishment? Our little
• 2:57:47
  Speaker 1: dogs and cats and pigs and small bears would enjoy
• 2:57:50
  Speaker 1: him very much. You are the best of housekeepers, my
• 2:57:54
  Speaker 1: lovely queen, said her husband. Let it be so by
• 2:57:58
  Speaker 1: all means. Let us have our people in and gets
• 2:58:01
  Speaker 1: him out and kill him at once. He deserves it.
• 2:58:04
  Speaker 1: The mischief he might have brought upon us, knowing that
• 2:58:07
  Speaker 1: he had penetrated as far as our most retired citadel
• 2:58:11
  Speaker 1: is incalculable. Or rather, let us tie him hand and
• 2:58:14
  Speaker 1: foot and have the pleasure of seeing him torn to
• 2:58:17
  Speaker 1: pieces by full tort light in the Great hall. Bitter
• 2:58:21
  Speaker 1: and bitter, said the Queen and the Prince together, both
• 2:58:25
  Speaker 1: of them clapping their hands, and the Prince made an
• 2:58:28
  Speaker 1: ugly noise with his hair lip, just as if he
• 2:58:31
  Speaker 1: had intended to be one at the feast. But added
• 2:58:34
  Speaker 1: the Queen, bethinking herself, he's so troublesome for poor creatures
• 2:58:40
  Speaker 1: as they are. There is something about those sun people
• 2:58:43
  Speaker 1: that is very troublesome. I cannot imagine how it is that,
• 2:58:47
  Speaker 1: with such superior strength and skill and understanding as ours,
• 2:58:52
  Speaker 1: we permit them to exist at all? Why do we
• 2:58:55
  Speaker 1: not destroy them entirely and use their cattle and the
• 2:58:59
  Speaker 1: grazing land that our pleasure. Of course, we don't want
• 2:59:02
  Speaker 1: to live in there, or in country. It's far too
• 2:59:06
  Speaker 1: glaring for our quieter and more refine tastes. But we
• 2:59:10
  Speaker 1: might use it as a sort of old house. You know,
• 2:59:13
  Speaker 1: even our creatures eyes might get used to it. And
• 2:59:17
  Speaker 1: if they did grow blind, that would be of no consequence,
• 2:59:20
  Speaker 1: provided they grew fat as well. We might even keep
• 2:59:24
  Speaker 1: their great cows and other creatures, and then we should
• 2:59:27
  Speaker 1: have a few more luxuries, such as cream and cheese,
• 2:59:31
  Speaker 1: which are presently only taste occasionally when our brave men
• 2:59:34
  Speaker 1: have succeeded in carrying off some from their farms. It
• 2:59:38
  Speaker 1: is worth thinking of, said the King. And I don't
• 2:59:42
  Speaker 1: know why you should be the first to suggest it,
• 2:59:45
  Speaker 1: except you have a positive genius for conquest. But still,
• 2:59:49
  Speaker 1: as you say, there is something very troublesome about them,
• 2:59:53
  Speaker 1: and it would be better, as I understand you, to
• 2:59:55
  Speaker 1: suggest that we should starve him for a day or
• 2:59:58
  Speaker 1: two first, so that he may be a little less
• 3:00:01
  Speaker 1: frisky when we take him out. Whence there was a
• 3:00:05
  Speaker 1: goblin living in the hole, pussy, he was a coblin
• 3:00:08
  Speaker 1: a shoe without a sole. Bay came a bear adye goblin?
• 3:00:12
  Speaker 1: What ye do gobble at the sturdy upper let the shoe?
• 3:00:17
  Speaker 1: What's the good o that? Sir? Said the little bird way.
• 3:00:20
  Speaker 1: It's very pat sir. Plain without a world where tis
• 3:00:24
  Speaker 1: all a hole? Sir? Never can be holes? Why should
• 3:00:28
  Speaker 1: their shoes have soles, sir? When they've got no soles?
• 3:00:31
  Speaker 1: What's that horrible noise? Cried the Queen, shuddering from pot
• 3:00:36
  Speaker 1: metal head to granite shoes. I de clare, said the
• 3:00:41
  Speaker 1: King with solemn indignation. It's the sun creature in the hole.
• 3:00:46
  Speaker 1: Stop that disgusting noise, cried the crown Prince, valiantly, getting
• 3:00:51
  Speaker 1: up and standing in front of the heap of stones
• 3:00:54
  Speaker 1: with his face towards Curdie's prison. Do now, or I'll
• 3:00:57
  Speaker 1: break your head away, shouted Curdie and began singing again. Oh,
• 3:01:04
  Speaker 1: once there was a goblin living in the hall. I
• 3:01:08
  Speaker 1: really cannot bear it, said the Queen, If I could
• 3:01:11
  Speaker 1: only get it his only toes with my slippers again,
• 3:01:15
  Speaker 1: I think we had better go for bed, said the King.
• 3:01:18
  Speaker 1: It's not time to go to bed, said the Queen.
• 3:01:22
  Speaker 1: I would if I were you, said Curdie. Impertinent witch,
• 3:01:26
  Speaker 1: said the Queen, with the utmost scorn in her voice.
• 3:01:30
  Speaker 1: And impossible if said his majesty with dignity quite returned
• 3:01:36
  Speaker 1: Curdie and began singing again. Go to bed, goblin, do
• 3:01:41
  Speaker 1: help the Queen take off her shoe. If you do,
• 3:01:44
  Speaker 1: it will disclose a horrid set of sprouting toes. What
• 3:01:48
  Speaker 1: a lie, roared the Queen in a rage. But why
• 3:01:53
  Speaker 1: that reminds me said the King that, for as long
• 3:01:56
  Speaker 1: as we have been married, I have never seen your feet. Queen,
• 3:02:01
  Speaker 1: I think you might take off your shoes when you
• 3:02:03
  Speaker 1: go to behead they positively hurt me. Sometimes I will
• 3:02:08
  Speaker 1: do as I like, retorted the Queen sulkily. You ought
• 3:02:12
  Speaker 1: to do as your own Harby wishes you, said the King.
• 3:02:16
  Speaker 1: I will not, said the Queen. That I insist on it,
• 3:02:20
  Speaker 1: said the King. Apparently his majesty approached the Queen for
• 3:02:24
  Speaker 1: the purpose of following the advice given by Curdie. For
• 3:02:27
  Speaker 1: the latter heard a scuffle and then a great roar
• 3:02:29
  Speaker 1: from the King. Will you be quiet, then, said the
• 3:02:33
  Speaker 1: queen wickedly. Yes, yes, Queen, I only meant to coax you.
• 3:02:38
  Speaker 1: Hands off, cried the Queen triumphantly. I am going to bed.
• 3:02:43
  Speaker 1: You may come and you like, but as long as
• 3:02:45
  Speaker 1: I am Queen, I will sleep in my shoes. It
• 3:02:48
  Speaker 1: is my royal privilege. Harelip, go to bed. I'm going,
• 3:02:53
  Speaker 1: said Harelip sleepily, so am, I said the king. Come along, then,
• 3:02:59
  Speaker 1: said the Queen, and mind you'll coold 'orohile, Oh no,
• 3:03:03
  Speaker 1: no no, screamed the King in the most supplicating of tones.
• 3:03:08
  Speaker 1: Curdie heard only a muttered reply in the distance, and
• 3:03:11
  Speaker 1: then the cave was quite still. They had left the
• 3:03:14
  Speaker 1: fire burning, and the light came through brighter than before.
• 3:03:18
  Speaker 1: Curdie thought it was time to try again if anything
• 3:03:21
  Speaker 1: could be done, But he found he could not get
• 3:03:23
  Speaker 1: even a finger through the chink between the slab and rock.
• 3:03:27
  Speaker 1: He gave a great rush with his shoulder against the slab,
• 3:03:30
  Speaker 1: but it yielded no more than if it had been
• 3:03:32
  Speaker 1: part of the rock. All he could do was sit
• 3:03:35
  Speaker 1: down and think again. By and by he came to
• 3:03:38
  Speaker 1: the resolution to pretend to be dying, in the hope
• 3:03:41
  Speaker 1: that they might take him out before his strength was
• 3:03:44
  Speaker 1: too much exhausted to let him have a chance. Then,
• 3:03:47
  Speaker 1: for the creatures, if he could but find his axe again,
• 3:03:50
  Speaker 1: he would have no fear of them, and if it
• 3:03:52
  Speaker 1: were not for the Queen's horrid shoes, he would have
• 3:03:55
  Speaker 1: no fear at all. Meanwhile, until they should come again
• 3:03:59
  Speaker 1: at night, there was nothing for him to do but
• 3:04:01
  Speaker 1: forge new rhymes. Now his only weapons. He had no
• 3:04:05
  Speaker 1: intention of using them at present, of course, but it
• 3:04:08
  Speaker 1: was as well to have a stock, for he might
• 3:04:11
  Speaker 1: live to want them, and the manufacture of them would
• 3:04:14
  Speaker 1: help to while away the time end of chapter nineteen,
• 3:04:22
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty Irene's clue. That same morning, early the princess
• 3:04:28
  Speaker 1: woke in a terrible fright. There was a hideous noise
• 3:04:31
  Speaker 1: in her room, creatures snarling and hissing and rocketing about
• 3:04:35
  Speaker 1: as if they were fighting. The moment she came to herself,
• 3:04:38
  Speaker 1: she remembered something she had never thought of again, what
• 3:04:42
  Speaker 1: her grandmother told her to do when she was frightened.
• 3:04:45
  Speaker 1: She immediately took off her ring and put it under
• 3:04:47
  Speaker 1: her pillow. As she did so, she fancied she felt
• 3:04:51
  Speaker 1: a finger and thumb take it gently from under her palm.
• 3:04:55
  Speaker 1: It must be by grandmother, she said to herself, and
• 3:04:59
  Speaker 1: the thought gave her so much courage that she stopped
• 3:05:01
  Speaker 1: to put on her dainty little slippers before running from
• 3:05:04
  Speaker 1: the room. While doing this, she caught sight of a
• 3:05:07
  Speaker 1: long cloak of sky blue thrown over the back of
• 3:05:10
  Speaker 1: a chair by the bedside. She had never seen it before,
• 3:05:14
  Speaker 1: but it was evidently waiting for her. She put it on,
• 3:05:18
  Speaker 1: and then, feeling with the forefinger of her right hand,
• 3:05:21
  Speaker 1: soon found her grandmother's thread, which she proceeded at once
• 3:05:25
  Speaker 1: to follow, expecting that it would lead her straight up
• 3:05:28
  Speaker 1: the old stair. When she reached the door, she found
• 3:05:32
  Speaker 1: it went down and ran along the floor, so that
• 3:05:34
  Speaker 1: she had almost a crawl in order to keep a
• 3:05:37
  Speaker 1: hold of it. Then, to her surprise and somewhat to
• 3:05:40
  Speaker 1: her dismay, she found that instead of leading her towards
• 3:05:43
  Speaker 1: the stair, it turned in quite the opposite direction. It
• 3:05:48
  Speaker 1: led her through certain narrow passages towards the kitchen, turning
• 3:05:52
  Speaker 1: aside there she reached it and guiding her to a
• 3:05:54
  Speaker 1: door which communicated with a small back yard. Some of
• 3:05:58
  Speaker 1: the maids were already up, and this door was standing
• 3:06:01
  Speaker 1: open across the yard. The thread still ran along the
• 3:06:05
  Speaker 1: ground until it brought her to a door in the
• 3:06:07
  Speaker 1: wall which opened upon the mountain side. When she had
• 3:06:11
  Speaker 1: passed through, the thread rose to about half her height,
• 3:06:14
  Speaker 1: and she could hold it with ease as she walked.
• 3:06:17
  Speaker 1: He led her straight up the mountain. The cause of
• 3:06:21
  Speaker 1: her alarm was less frightful than she supposed. The cook's
• 3:06:24
  Speaker 1: great black cat, pursued by the housekeeper's terrier, had bounced
• 3:06:28
  Speaker 1: against her bedroom door, which had not been properly fastened,
• 3:06:31
  Speaker 1: and the two had burst into the room together and
• 3:06:34
  Speaker 1: commenced a battle. Royal. How the nurse came to sleep through.
• 3:06:37
  Speaker 1: It was a mystery, but I suspect the old lady
• 3:06:40
  Speaker 1: had something to do with it. It was a clear,
• 3:06:43
  Speaker 1: warm morning. The wind blew deliciously over the mountain side.
• 3:06:48
  Speaker 1: Here and there she saw a late primrose, but she
• 3:06:51
  Speaker 1: did not stop to call upon them. The sky was
• 3:06:54
  Speaker 1: mottled with small clouds. The sun was not yet up,
• 3:06:58
  Speaker 1: but some of their fluffy air had caught his light
• 3:07:01
  Speaker 1: and hung out orange and gold colored fringes upon the air.
• 3:07:05
  Speaker 1: The dew lay in round drops upon the leaves, and
• 3:07:08
  Speaker 1: hung like tiny diam and ear rings from the blades
• 3:07:11
  Speaker 1: of grass about her path. How lovely that bit of
• 3:07:15
  Speaker 1: gossamer is, thought the princess, looking at a long, undulating
• 3:07:19
  Speaker 1: line that shone at some distance from her up the hill.
• 3:07:23
  Speaker 1: It was not the time for gossamers, though, and Irene
• 3:07:26
  Speaker 1: soon discovered that it was her own thread which she
• 3:07:29
  Speaker 1: saw shining on before her in the light of the morning.
• 3:07:32
  Speaker 1: It was leading her. She knew not whither, but she
• 3:07:35
  Speaker 1: had never in her life been out before sunrise, and
• 3:07:38
  Speaker 1: everything was so fresh and cool and lively and full
• 3:07:41
  Speaker 1: of something coming that she felt too happy to be
• 3:07:44
  Speaker 1: afraid of anything. After leading her up a good distance.
• 3:07:48
  Speaker 1: The thread turned to the left and down the path
• 3:07:51
  Speaker 1: upon which she and Lootie had met Curdie. But she
• 3:07:54
  Speaker 1: never thought of that. For now, in the morning light,
• 3:07:56
  Speaker 1: with its far outlook over the country, no path could
• 3:08:00
  Speaker 1: have been more open and airy and cheerful. She could
• 3:08:03
  Speaker 1: see the road almost to the horizon along which she
• 3:08:06
  Speaker 1: had so often watched her King Papa and his troop
• 3:08:09
  Speaker 1: come shining with the bugle blast cleaving the air before them,
• 3:08:13
  Speaker 1: and it was like a companion to her. Down and
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 1: down the path went, then up, and then down, and
• 3:08:20
  Speaker 1: then up again, getting rugged and more rugged as it went.
• 3:08:24
  Speaker 1: And still along the path went the silvery thread, And
• 3:08:27
  Speaker 1: still along the thread went Irene's little rosy tipped forefinger.
• 3:08:32
  Speaker 1: By and by she came to a little stream that
• 3:08:34
  Speaker 1: jabbered and prattled. Down the hill and up the side
• 3:08:37
  Speaker 1: of the stream went both path and thread. And still
• 3:08:41
  Speaker 1: the path grew rougher and steeper, and the mountain grew wilder,
• 3:08:45
  Speaker 1: till Irene began to think she was going a very
• 3:08:48
  Speaker 1: long way from home. And when she turned to look back,
• 3:08:51
  Speaker 1: she saw that the level country had vanished, and the rough,
• 3:08:54
  Speaker 1: bare mountain had closed in about her. But still on
• 3:08:58
  Speaker 1: went the thread, and on went the princess. Everything around
• 3:09:03
  Speaker 1: her was getting brighter and brighter as the sun came nearer,
• 3:09:06
  Speaker 1: till at last his first rays all at once alighted
• 3:09:09
  Speaker 1: on the top of a rock before her, like some
• 3:09:12
  Speaker 1: golden creature fresh from the sky. Then she saw that
• 3:09:16
  Speaker 1: the little stream ran out of a hole in that rock,
• 3:09:19
  Speaker 1: that the path did not go past the rock, and
• 3:09:22
  Speaker 1: that the thread was leading her straight up to it.
• 3:09:25
  Speaker 1: A shudder ran through her from head to foot. When
• 3:09:28
  Speaker 1: she found that the thread was actually taking her into
• 3:09:30
  Speaker 1: the hole out of which the stream ran. It ran
• 3:09:34
  Speaker 1: out babbling joyously, but she had to go in. She
• 3:09:37
  Speaker 1: did not hesitate. Right into the hole, she went, which
• 3:09:41
  Speaker 1: was high enough to let her walk without stooping. For
• 3:09:44
  Speaker 1: a little way there was a brown glimmer, but at
• 3:09:47
  Speaker 1: the first turn it all but ceased, and before she
• 3:09:49
  Speaker 1: had gone many paces she was in total darkness. Then
• 3:09:53
  Speaker 1: she began to be frightened. Indeed, every moment she kept
• 3:09:57
  Speaker 1: feeling the thread backwards and forwards, And as she she
• 3:10:00
  Speaker 1: went farther and farther into the darkness of the great
• 3:10:02
  Speaker 1: Hollow Mountain, she kept thinking more and more about her
• 3:10:06
  Speaker 1: grandmother and all that she had said to her, and
• 3:10:09
  Speaker 1: how kind she had been, and how beautiful she was,
• 3:10:12
  Speaker 1: and all about her lovely room, and the fire of roses,
• 3:10:15
  Speaker 1: and the great lamp that sent its light through stone walls.
• 3:10:19
  Speaker 1: And she became more and more sure that the thread
• 3:10:21
  Speaker 1: could not have gone there of itself, and that her
• 3:10:24
  Speaker 1: grandmother must have scent it. But it tried her dreadfully
• 3:10:28
  Speaker 1: when the path went down very steep, and especially when
• 3:10:31
  Speaker 1: she came to places where she had to go down
• 3:10:34
  Speaker 1: rough stairs, and even sometimes a ladder. Through one narrow
• 3:10:38
  Speaker 1: passage after another, over lumps of rock and sand and clay,
• 3:10:42
  Speaker 1: the thread guided her until she came to a small
• 3:10:45
  Speaker 1: hole through which she had to creep, finding no change
• 3:10:49
  Speaker 1: on the other side. Shall I ever get back? She thought,
• 3:10:53
  Speaker 1: over and over again, wondering at herself that she was
• 3:10:56
  Speaker 1: not ten times more frightened, and often feeling as if
• 3:10:59
  Speaker 1: she were only walking in the story of a dream.
• 3:11:02
  Speaker 1: Sometimes she heard the noise of water, a dull gurgling
• 3:11:06
  Speaker 1: inside the rock. By and by she heard the sound
• 3:11:09
  Speaker 1: of blows, which came nearer and nearer, But again they
• 3:11:13
  Speaker 1: grew duller and almost died away. In a hundred directions.
• 3:11:17
  Speaker 1: She turned obedient to the guiding thread. At last she
• 3:11:22
  Speaker 1: spied a dull red shine, and came up to the
• 3:11:25
  Speaker 1: mica window, and then away and round about and right
• 3:11:29
  Speaker 1: into a cavern, where glowed the red embers of a fire.
• 3:11:32
  Speaker 1: Here the thread began to rise. It rose as high
• 3:11:35
  Speaker 1: as her head, and higher still. What should she do
• 3:11:38
  Speaker 1: if she lost her hold she was pulling it down,
• 3:11:41
  Speaker 1: She might break it. She could see it far up,
• 3:11:44
  Speaker 1: glowing as red as her far open in the light
• 3:11:47
  Speaker 1: of the embers. But presently she came to a huge
• 3:11:51
  Speaker 1: heap of stones piled in a slope against the wall
• 3:11:54
  Speaker 1: of the cavern. On these she climbed and soon recovered
• 3:11:58
  Speaker 1: the level of the thread, only, however, to find the
• 3:12:01
  Speaker 1: next moment that it vanished through the heap of stones
• 3:12:04
  Speaker 1: and left her standing on it, with her face to
• 3:12:06
  Speaker 1: the solid rock. For one terrible moment, she felt as
• 3:12:11
  Speaker 1: if her grandmother had forsaken her. The thread, which the
• 3:12:14
  Speaker 1: spiders had spun far over the seas, which her grandmother
• 3:12:18
  Speaker 1: had sat in the moonlight and spun again for her,
• 3:12:21
  Speaker 1: which she had tempered in the rose fire and tied
• 3:12:23
  Speaker 1: to her opal ring, had left her, had gone where
• 3:12:27
  Speaker 1: she could no longer follow it had brought her into
• 3:12:30
  Speaker 1: a horrible cavern, and there left her. She was forsaken. Indeed,
• 3:12:35
  Speaker 1: when shall I wake? She said to herself in an agony.
• 3:12:39
  Speaker 1: But the same moment knew that it was no dream.
• 3:12:42
  Speaker 1: She threw herself on the heap and began to cry.
• 3:12:46
  Speaker 1: It was well. She did not know what creatures, one
• 3:12:48
  Speaker 1: of them with stone shoes on her feet, were lying
• 3:12:51
  Speaker 1: in the next cave, but neither did she know who
• 3:12:54
  Speaker 1: was on the other side of the slab. At length,
• 3:12:58
  Speaker 1: the thought struck her that at least she could followed
• 3:13:00
  Speaker 1: the thread backwards and thus get out of the mountain
• 3:13:02
  Speaker 1: and home. She rose at once and found the thread,
• 3:13:06
  Speaker 1: But the instant she tried to feel it backwards, it
• 3:13:09
  Speaker 1: vanished from her touch. Forwards, it led her hand up
• 3:13:13
  Speaker 1: to the heap of stones. Backwards, it seemed nowhere neither
• 3:13:18
  Speaker 1: could she see it as before in the light of
• 3:13:20
  Speaker 1: the fire. She burst into a wailing cry, and again
• 3:13:24
  Speaker 1: threw herself down on the stones. End of Chapter twenty
• 3:13:32
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one, the escape. As the princess lay and sobbed,
• 3:13:38
  Speaker 1: she kept feeling the thread, mechanically, following it with her
• 3:13:41
  Speaker 1: finger many times up to the stones, in which it
• 3:13:44
  Speaker 1: disappeared by and by. She began, still mechanically, to poke
• 3:13:48
  Speaker 1: her finger in after it between the stones as far
• 3:13:52
  Speaker 1: as she could. All at once it came into her
• 3:13:55
  Speaker 1: head that she might remove some of the stones and
• 3:13:58
  Speaker 1: see where the thread went next. Almost laughing at herself,
• 3:14:02
  Speaker 1: and never having thought of this before, she jumped to
• 3:14:04
  Speaker 1: her feet. Her fear vanished once more. She was certain
• 3:14:08
  Speaker 1: her grandmother's thread could not have brought her there, just
• 3:14:11
  Speaker 1: to leave her there. Then she began to throw away
• 3:14:14
  Speaker 1: the stones from the top as fast as she could,
• 3:14:17
  Speaker 1: sometimes two or three at a handful, sometimes taking both
• 3:14:20
  Speaker 1: hands to lift one. After clearing them away a little,
• 3:14:24
  Speaker 1: she found that the thread turned and went straight downwards. Hence,
• 3:14:28
  Speaker 1: as the heap sloped a good deal, growing, of course,
• 3:14:31
  Speaker 1: wider towards its base, she had to throw away a
• 3:14:34
  Speaker 1: multitude of stones to follow the thread. But this was
• 3:14:37
  Speaker 1: not all, for she soon found that the thread, after
• 3:14:40
  Speaker 1: going straight down for a little way, turned first sideways
• 3:14:44
  Speaker 1: in one direction, then sideways in another, and then shot
• 3:14:48
  Speaker 1: at various angles hither and thither inside the heap, so
• 3:14:52
  Speaker 1: that she began to be afraid that to clear the
• 3:14:54
  Speaker 1: thread she must remove the whole huge gathering. She was
• 3:14:58
  Speaker 1: dismayed at the very eye deer, but losing no time.
• 3:15:02
  Speaker 1: Set to with a will, and with aching back and
• 3:15:04
  Speaker 1: bleeding fingers and hands, she worked on, sustained by the
• 3:15:08
  Speaker 1: pleasure of seeing the heap slowly diminish and begin to
• 3:15:11
  Speaker 1: show itself on the opposite side of the fire. Another
• 3:15:15
  Speaker 1: thing which helped to keep up her courage was that
• 3:15:18
  Speaker 1: as often as she uncovered a turn of the thread,
• 3:15:21
  Speaker 1: instead of lying loose upon the stone, it tightened up.
• 3:15:24
  Speaker 1: This made her sure that her grandmother was at the
• 3:15:27
  Speaker 1: end of it somewhere. She had got about half way
• 3:15:30
  Speaker 1: down when she started, and nearly fell with fright close
• 3:15:34
  Speaker 1: to her ears as it seemed a voice broke out, singing, Jabber, jabber, smash,
• 3:15:39
  Speaker 1: She'll have it all in a crash. Jabber smash, bather,
• 3:15:42
  Speaker 1: you'll have it the worst of the bother smash, bather, jabber.
• 3:15:47
  Speaker 1: Here Curdie stopped, either because he could not find a
• 3:15:50
  Speaker 1: grime to jabber, or because he remembered what he had
• 3:15:53
  Speaker 1: forgotten when he woke up at the sound of Irene's labors.
• 3:15:57
  Speaker 1: That his plan was to make the goblins think he
• 3:15:59
  Speaker 1: was getting weak. But he had uttered enough to let
• 3:16:02
  Speaker 1: Irene know who he was. It's Curdie, she cried joyfully. Hush, hush,
• 3:16:09
  Speaker 1: came Curdie's voice again from somewhere, Speak softly. Why you
• 3:16:15
  Speaker 1: were singing loud? Said Irene. Yes, but they know I'm
• 3:16:19
  Speaker 1: here and they don't know you are. Who are ye?
• 3:16:23
  Speaker 1: I'm Irene, answered the princess. I know who you are
• 3:16:26
  Speaker 1: quite well, and you're Curdie. Why however did you come here, Irene?
• 3:16:32
  Speaker 1: My great great grandmother sent me, and I think I've
• 3:16:35
  Speaker 1: found out why you can't get out. I suppose no,
• 3:16:39
  Speaker 1: I can't. But what are you doing clearing away a
• 3:16:42
  Speaker 1: huge heap of stones? There's a princess, exclaimed Curdie, in
• 3:16:48
  Speaker 1: a tone of delight, but still speaking in little more
• 3:16:51
  Speaker 1: than a whisper. I can't think how you got here,
• 3:16:54
  Speaker 1: though my grandmother sent me after her thread. I don't
• 3:16:59
  Speaker 1: know what you mean, said Curdie. But so you there,
• 3:17:02
  Speaker 1: It doesn't much matter. Oh yes it does, returned Irene.
• 3:17:06
  Speaker 1: I should never have been here but for her. M
• 3:17:09
  Speaker 1: You can tell me all about it when we get out.
• 3:17:11
  Speaker 1: Then there's no time to lose now, said Curdie, and
• 3:17:15
  Speaker 1: Irene went to work as fresh as when she began
• 3:17:19
  Speaker 1: there's such a lot of stones, she said, it will
• 3:17:21
  Speaker 1: take me a long time to get them all away.
• 3:17:24
  Speaker 1: How far on have you got, asked Curdie. I've got
• 3:17:28
  Speaker 1: about the half away, but the other half is ever
• 3:17:30
  Speaker 1: so much bigger. No, I don't think you'll have to
• 3:17:33
  Speaker 1: move the lower half. Do you see a slab laid
• 3:17:36
  Speaker 1: up against the wall? Irene looked and felt about with
• 3:17:39
  Speaker 1: her hands, and soon perceived the outlines of the slab. Yes,
• 3:17:44
  Speaker 1: she answered, I do, then, I think, rejoined Curdie. When
• 3:17:48
  Speaker 1: you have cleared the slab about half way down or
• 3:17:51
  Speaker 1: em a bit more, I shall be able to push
• 3:17:53
  Speaker 1: it over. I must follow my thread, returned Irene. Whatever
• 3:17:58
  Speaker 1: I do, what you exclaimed Curdie, you'll see when you
• 3:18:03
  Speaker 1: get out, answered the princess, and went on harder than ever.
• 3:18:08
  Speaker 1: But she was soon satisfied that what Curdie wanted done
• 3:18:11
  Speaker 1: and what the thread wanted done were one and the
• 3:18:13
  Speaker 1: same thing, For she not only saw that by following
• 3:18:16
  Speaker 1: the turns of the thread, she had been clearing the
• 3:18:18
  Speaker 1: face of the slab, but that a little more than
• 3:18:21
  Speaker 1: half way down the thread went through the chink between
• 3:18:24
  Speaker 1: the slab and the wall into the place where Curdie
• 3:18:27
  Speaker 1: was confined so that she could not follow it any
• 3:18:30
  Speaker 1: farther until the slab was out of the way. As
• 3:18:33
  Speaker 1: soon as she found this, she said in a right
• 3:18:35
  Speaker 1: joyous whisper. Now, Curdie, I think if you were to
• 3:18:39
  Speaker 1: give a great push, the slab would tumble over. Stand
• 3:18:43
  Speaker 1: quite clear of it, then, said Curdie, and let me
• 3:18:46
  Speaker 1: know when you're ready, Irene. He got off the heap
• 3:18:49
  Speaker 1: and stood on one side of it. Now, Curdie, she cried.
• 3:18:54
  Speaker 1: Curdie gave a great rush with his shoulder against it.
• 3:18:57
  Speaker 1: Out tumbled the slab on the heap, and out crept
• 3:19:00
  Speaker 1: Curdie over the top of it. You've saved my life, Irene,
• 3:19:05
  Speaker 1: he whispered. Oh, Curdie, I'm so glad. Let's get out
• 3:19:09
  Speaker 1: of this horrid place as fast as we can. That's
• 3:19:12
  Speaker 1: easier said than done, returned he. Oh, no, it's quite easy,
• 3:19:18
  Speaker 1: said Irene. We have only to follow my thread. I'm
• 3:19:21
  Speaker 1: sure that it's going to take us out now. She
• 3:19:23
  Speaker 1: had already begun to follow it over the fallen slab
• 3:19:26
  Speaker 1: into the hole while Curdie was searching the floor of
• 3:19:29
  Speaker 1: the cabin for his big axe. Ah, here it is,
• 3:19:33
  Speaker 1: he cried, nuh no, it's not, he added in a
• 3:19:36
  Speaker 1: disappointed tone. What can it be? Then, I declare it's
• 3:19:41
  Speaker 1: a torch. That's jolly. It's better almost than my big axe,
• 3:19:45
  Speaker 1: much better if it weren't for those stone shoes, he
• 3:19:48
  Speaker 1: went on, as he lighted the torch by blowing the
• 3:19:51
  Speaker 1: last embers of the expiring fire. When he looked up,
• 3:19:56
  Speaker 1: with the lighted torch casting a glare into the great
• 3:19:58
  Speaker 1: darkness of the huge he caught sight of Irene disappearing
• 3:20:03
  Speaker 1: in the hole out of which he had himself. Just come,
• 3:20:06
  Speaker 1: where are you going there? He cried? That's not the
• 3:20:09
  Speaker 1: way oot, that's where I couldn't get out. I know that,
• 3:20:13
  Speaker 1: whispered Irene. But this is the way my thread goes,
• 3:20:16
  Speaker 1: and I must follow it. What nonsense the child talks,
• 3:20:21
  Speaker 1: said Curdie to himself. I must follow her, though, and
• 3:20:25
  Speaker 1: see that she comes to no harm. She'll soon find
• 3:20:27
  Speaker 1: she can't get hold that way, and then she'll come
• 3:20:30
  Speaker 1: with me. So he crept over the slab once more
• 3:20:33
  Speaker 1: into the hole with his torch in his hand. But
• 3:20:36
  Speaker 1: when he looked about in it, he could see her nowhere.
• 3:20:40
  Speaker 1: And now he discovered that although the hole was narrow,
• 3:20:43
  Speaker 1: it was much longer than he had supposed, for in
• 3:20:46
  Speaker 1: one direction, the roof came down very low, and the
• 3:20:49
  Speaker 1: hole went off in a narrow passage of which he
• 3:20:52
  Speaker 1: could not see the end. The princess must have crept
• 3:20:55
  Speaker 1: in there. He got on his knees in one hand,
• 3:20:58
  Speaker 1: holding the torch with the other, and crept after her.
• 3:21:02
  Speaker 1: The hole twisted about, in some parts so low that
• 3:21:05
  Speaker 1: he could hardly get through, in others so high that
• 3:21:08
  Speaker 1: he could not see the roof. But everywhere it was narrow,
• 3:21:12
  Speaker 1: far too narrow for a goblin to get through. So
• 3:21:15
  Speaker 1: I presume they never thought that Curdie might. He was
• 3:21:18
  Speaker 1: beginning to feel very uncomfortable lest something should have befallen
• 3:21:22
  Speaker 1: the princess when he heard her voice, almost close to
• 3:21:25
  Speaker 1: his ear, whispering, aren't you coming, Curdie? And when he
• 3:21:29
  Speaker 1: turned the next corner, there she stood waiting for him.
• 3:21:33
  Speaker 1: I know you couldn't go wrong in that narrow hole,
• 3:21:35
  Speaker 1: but now you must keep by me, for here is
• 3:21:37
  Speaker 1: a great wide place, she said. I can't understand it,
• 3:21:43
  Speaker 1: said Curdie, half to himself, half to Irene. Never mind,
• 3:21:47
  Speaker 1: she returned, wait till we get out. Curdie utterly astonished,
• 3:21:52
  Speaker 1: that she had already got so far and by a
• 3:21:55
  Speaker 1: path he had known nothing of. Thought it better to
• 3:21:58
  Speaker 1: let her do as she pleased. At all events, he
• 3:22:01
  Speaker 1: said again to himself, I know nothing about the way
• 3:22:05
  Speaker 1: Miner as I am, and she seems to think she
• 3:22:07
  Speaker 1: does know something about it, though who she could passes
• 3:22:11
  Speaker 1: my comprehension. So she's just as likely to find her
• 3:22:15
  Speaker 1: way as I am. And as she insists on taking
• 3:22:17
  Speaker 1: the lead, arms follow, we can't be much worse off
• 3:22:20
  Speaker 1: than we are anyhow, Reasoning thus, he followed her a
• 3:22:24
  Speaker 1: few steps and came out in another great cavern, across
• 3:22:27
  Speaker 1: which Irene walked in a straight line, as confidently as
• 3:22:31
  Speaker 1: if she knew every step of the way. Curdie went
• 3:22:34
  Speaker 1: on after her, flashing his torch about and trying to
• 3:22:37
  Speaker 1: see something of what lay around them. Suddenly he started
• 3:22:41
  Speaker 1: back a pace as the light fell upon something close
• 3:22:44
  Speaker 1: by which Irene was passing. It was a platform of rock,
• 3:22:48
  Speaker 1: raised a few feet from the floor and covered with
• 3:22:51
  Speaker 1: sheep skins, upon which lay two horrible figures asleep, at
• 3:22:55
  Speaker 1: once recognized by Curdie as the King and Queen of
• 3:22:58
  Speaker 1: the Goblins, he lowered his torch instantly lest the light
• 3:23:02
  Speaker 1: should await them. As he did so, it flashed upon
• 3:23:05
  Speaker 1: his pickaxe, lying by the side of the queen, whose
• 3:23:08
  Speaker 1: hand lay close by the handle of it. Start one moment,
• 3:23:12
  Speaker 1: he whispered, hold that torch and don't let the light
• 3:23:15
  Speaker 1: on their faces. Irene, he shuddered when she saw the
• 3:23:18
  Speaker 1: frightful creatures whom she had passed without observing them. But
• 3:23:22
  Speaker 1: she did as he requested, and, turning her back, held
• 3:23:25
  Speaker 1: the torch low in front of her. Curdie drew his
• 3:23:28
  Speaker 1: pickaxe carefully away, and as he did so, spied one
• 3:23:32
  Speaker 1: of her feet projecting from under the skins. The great
• 3:23:36
  Speaker 1: clumsy granite shoe exposed. Thus to his hand was the
• 3:23:39
  Speaker 1: temptation not to be resisted. He laid hold of it
• 3:23:43
  Speaker 1: and with cautious efforts, drew it off. The moment he succeeded,
• 3:23:48
  Speaker 1: he saw to his astonishment that what he had sung
• 3:23:51
  Speaker 1: in ignorance to annoy the queen was actually true. She
• 3:23:54
  Speaker 1: had six horrible toes. Overjoyed at his success, and seeing
• 3:23:59
  Speaker 1: by the huge bump in the sheepskins where the other
• 3:24:02
  Speaker 1: foot was, he proceeded to lift them gently, for if
• 3:24:05
  Speaker 1: he could only succeed in carrying away the other shoe
• 3:24:08
  Speaker 1: as well, he would be no more afraid of the
• 3:24:11
  Speaker 1: goblins than of so many flies. But as he pulled
• 3:24:14
  Speaker 1: at the second shoe, the Queen gave a growl and
• 3:24:17
  Speaker 1: sat up in bed. The same instant the King of
• 3:24:20
  Speaker 1: Oak also and sat up beside her. Run. Ireni cried Curdie,
• 3:24:25
  Speaker 1: for though he was now not in the least afraid
• 3:24:27
  Speaker 1: for himself, he was for the princess. Irene looked once round,
• 3:24:32
  Speaker 1: saw the fearful creatures awake, and like the wise princess,
• 3:24:35
  Speaker 1: she was dashed the torch on the ground and extinguished it, crying, here, Curdie,
• 3:24:41
  Speaker 1: take my hand. He darted to her side, forgetting neither
• 3:24:45
  Speaker 1: the Queen's shoe nor his pickaxe, and caught hold of
• 3:24:48
  Speaker 1: her hand. As she spared fearlessly where her thread guided her.
• 3:24:52
  Speaker 1: They heard the queen gave a great bellow. But they
• 3:24:55
  Speaker 1: had a good start, for it would be some time
• 3:24:57
  Speaker 1: before they could get torches lighted to pursue them. Just
• 3:25:00
  Speaker 1: as they thought, they saw a gleam behind them. The
• 3:25:03
  Speaker 1: thread brought them to a very narrow opening, through which
• 3:25:06
  Speaker 1: Irene crept easily and Curdie with difficulty. Now said Curdie,
• 3:25:11
  Speaker 1: I think we shall be safe. Of course we shall returned, Irene.
• 3:25:16
  Speaker 1: Why do you think so, asked Curdie, Because my grandmother
• 3:25:20
  Speaker 1: is taking care of us. That's all nonsense, said Curdie.
• 3:25:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you mean. Then if you don't
• 3:25:28
  Speaker 1: know what I mean, what right have you to call
• 3:25:30
  Speaker 1: it nonsense, asked the princess, a little offended. I beg
• 3:25:35
  Speaker 1: your pardon, Irene, said Curdie. I did not mean to
• 3:25:38
  Speaker 1: vex you, of course not, returned the princess. But why
• 3:25:42
  Speaker 1: do you think we shall be safe? Because the king
• 3:25:45
  Speaker 1: and Queen are fartu stout to get through that hole?
• 3:25:49
  Speaker 1: There might be ways round, said the princess. To be sure,
• 3:25:53
  Speaker 1: the might. We're not out of it yet, acknowledged Curdie.
• 3:25:57
  Speaker 1: But what do you mean by the king and queen?
• 3:26:00
  Speaker 1: Asked the princess. I should never call such creatures as
• 3:26:03
  Speaker 1: those a king and a queen their own people do, though,
• 3:26:07
  Speaker 1: answered Curdie. The princess asked more questions, and Curdie, as
• 3:26:11
  Speaker 1: they walked leisurely along, gave her a full account not
• 3:26:15
  Speaker 1: only of the character and habits of the goblins so
• 3:26:18
  Speaker 1: far as he knew them, but of his own adventures
• 3:26:20
  Speaker 1: with them, beginning from the very night after that in
• 3:26:23
  Speaker 1: which he had met her and Lootie upon the mountain.
• 3:26:27
  Speaker 1: When he had finished, he begged Irenes to tell him
• 3:26:30
  Speaker 1: how it was that she had come to his rescue.
• 3:26:33
  Speaker 1: So Irene too had to tell a long story, which
• 3:26:36
  Speaker 1: she did in rather a roundabout manner, interrupted by many
• 3:26:39
  Speaker 1: questions concerning things she had not explained. But her tale,
• 3:26:43
  Speaker 1: as he did not believe more than half of it,
• 3:26:46
  Speaker 1: left everything as unaccountable to him as before, and he
• 3:26:50
  Speaker 1: was nearly as much perplexed as to what he must
• 3:26:52
  Speaker 1: think of the princess. He could not believe that she
• 3:26:55
  Speaker 1: was deliberately telling stories, and the only conclusion he could
• 3:26:59
  Speaker 1: come to was that Lootie had been playing the child tricks,
• 3:27:02
  Speaker 1: inventing no end of lies to frighten her for her
• 3:27:05
  Speaker 1: own purposes. But however, did Lootie come to let you
• 3:27:09
  Speaker 1: go to the mountains alone? He asked. Lootie knows nothing
• 3:27:13
  Speaker 1: about it. I left her fast asleep, at least I
• 3:27:16
  Speaker 1: think so. I hope my grandmother won't let her get
• 3:27:19
  Speaker 1: into trouble, for it wasn't her fault at all, as
• 3:27:22
  Speaker 1: my grandmother very well knows. But how did you find
• 3:27:26
  Speaker 1: your way to me? Persisted Curdie, I told you already,
• 3:27:31
  Speaker 1: answered Irene, By keeping my finger upon my grandmother's thread
• 3:27:36
  Speaker 1: as I'm doing now, you don't mean you've got the
• 3:27:39
  Speaker 1: thread here? Of course I do. I've told you so
• 3:27:42
  Speaker 1: ten times already. I have hardly, except when I was
• 3:27:45
  Speaker 1: removing the stones, taken my finger off it there, she added,
• 3:27:50
  Speaker 1: guiding Curdie's hand to the thread. You feel it yourself,
• 3:27:53
  Speaker 1: don't you. I feel nothing at all, replied Curdie. Then
• 3:27:58
  Speaker 1: what can be the matter with your finger? I feel
• 3:28:01
  Speaker 1: it perfectly, to be sure. It's very thin, and in
• 3:28:04
  Speaker 1: the sunlight looks just like the thread of a spider,
• 3:28:06
  Speaker 1: though there are many of them twisted together to make it.
• 3:28:09
  Speaker 1: But for all that, I can't think why you shouldn't
• 3:28:12
  Speaker 1: feel it as well as I do. Curdie was too
• 3:28:15
  Speaker 1: polite to say he did not believe there was any
• 3:28:17
  Speaker 1: thread there at all. What he did say was, well,
• 3:28:21
  Speaker 1: I can make nothing of it. I can, though, and
• 3:28:25
  Speaker 1: you must be glad of that, for it will do
• 3:28:26
  Speaker 1: for both of us. We're not out yet, said Curdie.
• 3:28:31
  Speaker 1: We soon shall be returned Irene confidently. And now the
• 3:28:35
  Speaker 1: thread went downwards and led Irene's hand to a hole
• 3:28:38
  Speaker 1: in the floor of the cavern. Whence came a sound
• 3:28:41
  Speaker 1: of running water, which they had been hearing for some time.
• 3:28:45
  Speaker 1: It goes into the ground. And now, Curdie, she said, stopping,
• 3:28:49
  Speaker 1: he had been listening to another sound, which his practiced
• 3:28:52
  Speaker 1: ear had caught long ago, and which had also been
• 3:28:55
  Speaker 1: getting louder. It was the noise the goblin miners made
• 3:28:59
  Speaker 1: at their work, and they seemed to be at no
• 3:29:01
  Speaker 1: great distance. Now Irene heard it the moment she stopped.
• 3:29:06
  Speaker 1: What is that noise, she asked, Do you know, Curdie, Yes,
• 3:29:12
  Speaker 1: it is the goblins, digging and burrowing, he answered, And
• 3:29:16
  Speaker 1: you don't know what they do it for. No, I
• 3:29:19
  Speaker 1: haven't the least idea. Would you like to see them,
• 3:29:23
  Speaker 1: he asked, wishing to have another try after their secret.
• 3:29:27
  Speaker 1: If my thread took me there, I shouldn't much mind.
• 3:29:30
  Speaker 1: But I don't want to see them, and I can't
• 3:29:32
  Speaker 1: leave my thread. It leads me down into the hole,
• 3:29:36
  Speaker 1: and we'd better go at once. Very well. I I
• 3:29:39
  Speaker 1: go first, said Curdie. No, better not. You can't feel
• 3:29:44
  Speaker 1: the thread, she answered, stepping down through a narrow break
• 3:29:48
  Speaker 1: in the floor of the cavern. Oh, she cried, I'm
• 3:29:52
  Speaker 1: in the water. It's running strong, but it's not deep,
• 3:29:55
  Speaker 1: and there is just room to walk. Make haste, Curdy,
• 3:29:59
  Speaker 1: he but the hole was too small for him to
• 3:30:02
  Speaker 1: get in. Go on a little bit, he said, shouldering
• 3:30:06
  Speaker 1: his pickaxe. In a few moments he had cleared a
• 3:30:09
  Speaker 1: larger opening and followed her. They went on down and
• 3:30:13
  Speaker 1: down with the running water, Curdie getting more and more
• 3:30:16
  Speaker 1: afraid it was leading them to some terrible gulf in
• 3:30:19
  Speaker 1: the heart of the mountain. In one or two places
• 3:30:22
  Speaker 1: he had to break away the rock to make room
• 3:30:24
  Speaker 1: before even Irene could get through, at least without hurting herself.
• 3:30:29
  Speaker 1: But at length they spied a glimmer of light, and
• 3:30:32
  Speaker 1: in a minute more they were almost blinded by the
• 3:30:34
  Speaker 1: full sunlight into which they emerged. It was some little
• 3:30:38
  Speaker 1: time before the princess could see well enough to discover
• 3:30:41
  Speaker 1: that they stood in her own garden, close by the
• 3:30:44
  Speaker 1: seat on which she and her king Papa had sat
• 3:30:47
  Speaker 1: that afternoon. They had come out by the channel of
• 3:30:50
  Speaker 1: the little stream. She danced and clapped her hands with delight. Now, Curdie,
• 3:30:55
  Speaker 1: she cried, won't you believe what I told you about
• 3:30:58
  Speaker 1: my grandmother and her thread? For she had felt all
• 3:31:01
  Speaker 1: the time that Curdie was not believing what she told him.
• 3:31:05
  Speaker 1: There don't you see it shining on before us? She added,
• 3:31:10
  Speaker 1: they don't see anything, persisted Curdie. Then you must believe
• 3:31:14
  Speaker 1: without seeing, said the princess, for you can't deny it
• 3:31:18
  Speaker 1: has brought us out of the mountain. I can't deny
• 3:31:21
  Speaker 1: it but out of the mountain. And I should be
• 3:31:23
  Speaker 1: very ungrateful, indeed, to deny that you had brought me
• 3:31:26
  Speaker 1: out of it. I couldn't have done it but for
• 3:31:28
  Speaker 1: the thread, persisted, Irene. That's the part I don't understand. Well,
• 3:31:34
  Speaker 1: come along and Lootie will get you something to eat.
• 3:31:37
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you must want it very much, indeed I do.
• 3:31:41
  Speaker 1: But my father and mother will be so anxious about me.
• 3:31:44
  Speaker 1: I must make haste burst up the mountain to tell
• 3:31:47
  Speaker 1: my mother, and then down into the mine again to
• 3:31:50
  Speaker 1: let my father know very well. Curdie, but you can't
• 3:31:54
  Speaker 1: get out without coming this way, and I will take
• 3:31:56
  Speaker 1: you through the house, for that is nearest. They met
• 3:31:59
  Speaker 1: no one by the way, for indeed, as before, people
• 3:32:02
  Speaker 1: were here and there and everywhere searching for the princess.
• 3:32:07
  Speaker 1: When she got in, Irene found that the thread, as
• 3:32:09
  Speaker 1: she had half expected, went up the old staircase, and
• 3:32:13
  Speaker 1: a new thought struck her as she turned to Curdie
• 3:32:16
  Speaker 1: and said, my grandmother wants me. Do come up with
• 3:32:19
  Speaker 1: me and see her. Then you will know that I've
• 3:32:22
  Speaker 1: been telling you the truth. Do come to please me, Curdie.
• 3:32:26
  Speaker 1: I can't bear that you should think what I say
• 3:32:28
  Speaker 1: is not true. I never doubted you believed what you said,
• 3:32:32
  Speaker 1: returned Curdie. I only thought you had some fancy in
• 3:32:35
  Speaker 1: your head that was not correct. But do come, dear Curdie.
• 3:32:40
  Speaker 1: The little miner could not withstand this appeal, and though
• 3:32:43
  Speaker 1: he felt shy in what seemed to him a huge
• 3:32:45
  Speaker 1: grand house, he yielded and followed her up the stair
• 3:32:51
  Speaker 1: end of chapter twenty one. Chapter twenty two. The old
• 3:32:57
  Speaker 1: lady and Curdie up the step. Then they went, and
• 3:33:01
  Speaker 1: the next, and the next, and through the long rows
• 3:33:04
  Speaker 1: of empty rooms and up the little tower stair. Irene
• 3:33:08
  Speaker 1: growing happier and happier as she ascended. There was no
• 3:33:11
  Speaker 1: answer when she knocked at length at the door of
• 3:33:13
  Speaker 1: the work room, nor could she hear any sound of
• 3:33:16
  Speaker 1: the spinning wheel, and once more her heart sank within her,
• 3:33:20
  Speaker 1: but only for one moment, as she turned and knocked
• 3:33:23
  Speaker 1: at the other door. Come in, answered the sweet voice
• 3:33:27
  Speaker 1: of her grandmother, and Irene opened the door and entered,
• 3:33:31
  Speaker 1: followed by Curdie. You darling, cried the lady, who was
• 3:33:35
  Speaker 1: seated by a fire of red roses mingled with white.
• 3:33:39
  Speaker 1: I've been waiting for you, and indeed getting a little
• 3:33:41
  Speaker 1: anxious about you, and beginning to think whether I had
• 3:33:45
  Speaker 1: not better go and fetch you myself. As she spoke,
• 3:33:48
  Speaker 1: she took the little princess in her arms and placed
• 3:33:51
  Speaker 1: her upon her lap. She was dressed in white now
• 3:33:54
  Speaker 1: and looking, if possible, more lovely than ever. I've brought Curdie, Grandmother.
• 3:34:00
  Speaker 1: He wouldn't believe what I told him, and so I've
• 3:34:02
  Speaker 1: brought him. Yes, I see him. He's a good boy, Curdie,
• 3:34:07
  Speaker 1: and a brave boy. Aren't you glad you've got him out? Yes, Grandmother,
• 3:34:12
  Speaker 1: But it wasn't very good of him not to believe
• 3:34:14
  Speaker 1: me when I was telling him the truth. People must
• 3:34:17
  Speaker 1: believe what they can, and those who believe more must
• 3:34:21
  Speaker 1: not be hard upon those who believe less. I doubt
• 3:34:24
  Speaker 1: if you would have believed it all yourself, if you
• 3:34:27
  Speaker 1: hadn't seen some of it. Ah, Yes, grandmother, I dare say,
• 3:34:31
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you're right, but he'll believe now. I don't
• 3:34:35
  Speaker 1: know that, replied her grandmother. Won't you Curdie, said Irene,
• 3:34:40
  Speaker 1: looking round at him as she answered the question. He
• 3:34:44
  Speaker 1: was standing in the middle of the floor and looking
• 3:34:46
  Speaker 1: strangely bewildered. This, she thought came of his astonishment at
• 3:34:50
  Speaker 1: the beauty of the old lady. Make about my grandmother, Curdie,
• 3:34:54
  Speaker 1: she said, I don't see any grandmother, answered Curdie, rather gruffly.
• 3:34:59
  Speaker 1: Don't you see my grandmother when I'm sitting in her lap?
• 3:35:02
  Speaker 1: Exclaimed the princess. No, I don't, reiterated Curdie in an
• 3:35:08
  Speaker 1: offended tone. Don't you see the lovely fire of roses,
• 3:35:11
  Speaker 1: white ones among them? This time, asked Irene, almost as
• 3:35:15
  Speaker 1: bewildered as he. No, I don't, answered Curdie, almost sulkily.
• 3:35:21
  Speaker 1: Nor the blue bed, nor the rose colored counterpane, nor
• 3:35:24
  Speaker 1: the beautiful light like the moon hanging from the roof.
• 3:35:27
  Speaker 1: You're making game a mere royal highness, And after what
• 3:35:31
  Speaker 1: we've come through together this day, I don't think it's
• 3:35:33
  Speaker 1: kind of you, said Curdie, feeling very much hurt. Then
• 3:35:37
  Speaker 1: what do you see asked Irene, who perceived at once
• 3:35:42
  Speaker 1: that for her not to believe him was at least
• 3:35:44
  Speaker 1: as bad as for him not to believe her. I'll
• 3:35:47
  Speaker 1: see a big bear garre's room, like the one in
• 3:35:50
  Speaker 1: mother's cottage, only big enough to take the cottage itself
• 3:35:53
  Speaker 1: in and leave a good mounsion all round, answered Curdie.
• 3:35:57
  Speaker 1: And what more do you see? I see a tub
• 3:36:00
  Speaker 1: and a heap of musty straw, and a with an apple,
• 3:36:04
  Speaker 1: and hurray of sunlight coming through a hole in the
• 3:36:06
  Speaker 1: middle of the roof and shining on your head and
• 3:36:09
  Speaker 1: making all the place look a curious dusky brown. I
• 3:36:13
  Speaker 1: think you'd better drop it, princess, and go down to
• 3:36:15
  Speaker 1: the nursery like a good gal. But don't you hear
• 3:36:18
  Speaker 1: my grandmother talking to me, asked Irene, almost crying. No,
• 3:36:23
  Speaker 1: I hear the cooing of a lot of pigeons. If
• 3:36:26
  Speaker 1: you won't come down, I'll go without you. I think
• 3:36:29
  Speaker 1: that'll be better anyhow, for I'm sure nobody who met
• 3:36:32
  Speaker 1: us would believe a word we said to them. They
• 3:36:34
  Speaker 1: think we made it all up. I don't expect anybody
• 3:36:37
  Speaker 1: but my own father and mother to believe me. They
• 3:36:40
  Speaker 1: know I wouldn't tell a story, and yet you won't
• 3:36:43
  Speaker 1: believe me, Curdie expostulated, the princess, now fairly crying with
• 3:36:48
  Speaker 1: vexation and sorrow at the gulf between her and Curdie. No,
• 3:36:52
  Speaker 1: I can't and I can't help it, said Curdie, turning
• 3:36:55
  Speaker 1: to leave the room. What shall I do, grandmother, sobbed
• 3:36:59
  Speaker 1: the princess, turning her face round upon the lady's bosom
• 3:37:03
  Speaker 1: and shaking with suppressed sobs. You must give him time,
• 3:37:07
  Speaker 1: said her grandmother, And you must be content not to
• 3:37:10
  Speaker 1: be believed for a while. It's very hard to bear,
• 3:37:14
  Speaker 1: but I have had to bear it, and shall have
• 3:37:16
  Speaker 1: to bear it many a time. Yet I will take
• 3:37:19
  Speaker 1: care of what Curdie thinks of you in the end.
• 3:37:21
  Speaker 1: You must let him go. Now you're not coming, are you,
• 3:37:26
  Speaker 1: asked Curdie. No, Curdy, my grandmother says, I must let
• 3:37:29
  Speaker 1: you go. Turn to the right when you get to
• 3:37:32
  Speaker 1: the bottom of all the stairs, and that will take
• 3:37:34
  Speaker 1: you to the hall where the great door is. Oh,
• 3:37:37
  Speaker 1: I don't TOWTA can find a way without you, princess
• 3:37:41
  Speaker 1: or your old Grannie's thread either, said Curdie, quite rudely. Oh,
• 3:37:45
  Speaker 1: Curdie Curdy. Now I wish i'd gone home at once.
• 3:37:49
  Speaker 1: I'm very much obliged to our in you for getting
• 3:37:51
  Speaker 1: me out of that hole, but I wish you hadn't
• 3:37:54
  Speaker 1: made a fool of me Afterwards. He said this as
• 3:37:57
  Speaker 1: he opened the door, which he left open, and without
• 3:38:00
  Speaker 1: another word, went down the stair. Irene listened with dismay
• 3:38:04
  Speaker 1: to his departing footsteps, then turning again to the lady.
• 3:38:08
  Speaker 1: What does it all mean, grandmother? She sobbed, and burst
• 3:38:12
  Speaker 1: into fresh tears. It means, my love, that I did
• 3:38:16
  Speaker 1: not mean to show myself. Curdie is not yet able
• 3:38:20
  Speaker 1: to believe some things. Seeing is not believing. It's only seeing.
• 3:38:24
  Speaker 1: You must remember I told you that if Lootie were
• 3:38:27
  Speaker 1: to see me, she would rub her eyes, forget the
• 3:38:29
  Speaker 1: half she saw, and call the other half nonsense. Yes,
• 3:38:34
  Speaker 1: but I should have thought, Curdie. You're right. Curdie is
• 3:38:38
  Speaker 1: much farther on than Lootie, and you will see what
• 3:38:41
  Speaker 1: will come of it. But in the meantime you must
• 3:38:44
  Speaker 1: be content, I say, to be misunderstood for a while.
• 3:38:47
  Speaker 1: We are all very anxious to be understood, and it's
• 3:38:50
  Speaker 1: very hard not to be. But there is one thing
• 3:38:53
  Speaker 1: much more necessary. What's that, grandmother, to understand other people? Yes, Grandmother,
• 3:39:01
  Speaker 1: I must be fair, for if I'm not fair to
• 3:39:03
  Speaker 1: other people, I'm not worth being understood myself. I see.
• 3:39:07
  Speaker 1: So as Curdie can't help it, I will not be
• 3:39:10
  Speaker 1: vexed with him. But just wait, there's my own dear child,
• 3:39:14
  Speaker 1: said her grandmother, and pressed her clothes to her bosom.
• 3:39:17
  Speaker 1: Why weren't you in your work room when we came up,
• 3:39:20
  Speaker 1: grandmother asked Irene, after a few moments silence. If I
• 3:39:25
  Speaker 1: had been there, Curdie would have seen me well enough.
• 3:39:28
  Speaker 1: But why should I be there rather than in this
• 3:39:31
  Speaker 1: beautiful room? I thought you would be spinning. I've nobody
• 3:39:35
  Speaker 1: to spin for just at present. I never spin without
• 3:39:39
  Speaker 1: knowing for whom I'm spinning. That reminds me. There's one
• 3:39:43
  Speaker 1: thing that puzzles me, said the princess. How are you
• 3:39:46
  Speaker 1: going to get the thread out of the mountain again?
• 3:39:49
  Speaker 1: Surely you won't have to make another for me? That
• 3:39:52
  Speaker 1: would be such a trouble. The lady set her down
• 3:39:55
  Speaker 1: and rose and went to the fire. Putting in her hand,
• 3:39:59
  Speaker 1: she drew it out again and held up the shining
• 3:40:02
  Speaker 1: ball between her finger and thumb. I've got it now,
• 3:40:05
  Speaker 1: you see, she said, coming back to the princess, all
• 3:40:09
  Speaker 1: ready for you when you want it. Going to her cabinet,
• 3:40:13
  Speaker 1: she laid it in the same drawer as before. And
• 3:40:16
  Speaker 1: here's your ring, she added, taking it from the little
• 3:40:19
  Speaker 1: finger of her left hand and putting it on the
• 3:40:22
  Speaker 1: forefinger of Irene's right hand. Oh, thank you, grandmother, I
• 3:40:26
  Speaker 1: feel so safe. Now. You're very tired, my child, The
• 3:40:30
  Speaker 1: lady went, on, your hands are hurt with the stones,
• 3:40:34
  Speaker 1: and I have counted nine bruises on you. Just look
• 3:40:37
  Speaker 1: what you're like, and she held up to her a
• 3:40:40
  Speaker 1: little mirror which she had brought from the cabinet. The
• 3:40:43
  Speaker 1: princess burst into a merry laugh at the sight. She
• 3:40:46
  Speaker 1: was so draggled with the stream and dirty with creeping
• 3:40:49
  Speaker 1: through narrow places, that if she had seen the reflection,
• 3:40:52
  Speaker 1: without knowing it was a reflection, she would have taken
• 3:40:55
  Speaker 1: herself for some gipsy child whose face was washed and
• 3:40:58
  Speaker 1: hair combed about once in a month. The lady laughed too, and,
• 3:41:02
  Speaker 1: lifting her again upon her knee, took off her cloak
• 3:41:05
  Speaker 1: and nightgown. Then she carried her to the side of
• 3:41:08
  Speaker 1: the room. Irene wondered what she was going to do
• 3:41:11
  Speaker 1: with her, but asked no questions, only starting a little
• 3:41:15
  Speaker 1: when she found she was going to lay her in
• 3:41:17
  Speaker 1: the large silver bath, for as she looked into it again,
• 3:41:20
  Speaker 1: she saw no bottom but the stars shining miles away,
• 3:41:24
  Speaker 1: as it seemed in a great blue gulf. Her hands
• 3:41:27
  Speaker 1: closed involuntarily on the beautiful arms that held her, and
• 3:41:31
  Speaker 1: that was all. The lady pressed her once more to
• 3:41:34
  Speaker 1: her bosom, saying, do not be afraid, my child. No
• 3:41:39
  Speaker 1: grandmother answered the princess with a little gasp, and the
• 3:41:43
  Speaker 1: next instant she sank in the clear, cool water. When
• 3:41:47
  Speaker 1: she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but a strange,
• 3:41:50
  Speaker 1: lovely blue over and beneath and all about her. The
• 3:41:54
  Speaker 1: lady in the beautiful room had vanished from her sight,
• 3:41:57
  Speaker 1: and she seemed utterly alone. But instead of being afraid,
• 3:42:00
  Speaker 1: she felt more than happy, perfectly blissful. And from somewhere
• 3:42:04
  Speaker 1: came the voice of the lady, singing a strange, sweet
• 3:42:07
  Speaker 1: song of which she could distinguish every word, but of
• 3:42:11
  Speaker 1: the sense she had only a feeling, no understanding, nor
• 3:42:15
  Speaker 1: could she remember a single line after it was gone.
• 3:42:18
  Speaker 1: It vanished like the poetry in a dream, as fast
• 3:42:21
  Speaker 1: as it came in. After years. However, she would sometimes
• 3:42:25
  Speaker 1: fancy that snatches of melody suddenly rising in her brain
• 3:42:29
  Speaker 1: must be little phrases and fragments of the air of
• 3:42:32
  Speaker 1: that song, and the very fancy would make her happier
• 3:42:35
  Speaker 1: and abler to do her duty. How long she lay
• 3:42:39
  Speaker 1: in the water, she did not know. It seemed a
• 3:42:42
  Speaker 1: long time, not from weariness but from pleasure. But at
• 3:42:46
  Speaker 1: last she felt the beautiful hands lay hold of her,
• 3:42:49
  Speaker 1: and through the gurgling water, she was lifted out into
• 3:42:52
  Speaker 1: the lovely room. The lady carried her to the fire
• 3:42:55
  Speaker 1: and sat down with her in her lap, and dried
• 3:42:58
  Speaker 1: her tenderly with the softest towel. It was so different
• 3:43:02
  Speaker 1: from Lootie's drying. When the lady had done, she stooped
• 3:43:06
  Speaker 1: to the fire and drew from it her night gown
• 3:43:08
  Speaker 1: as white as snow. How delicious, exclaimed the princess. It
• 3:43:14
  Speaker 1: smells of all the roses in the world. I think.
• 3:43:17
  Speaker 1: When she stood up on the floor, she felt as
• 3:43:19
  Speaker 1: if she had been made over again. Every bruise and
• 3:43:22
  Speaker 1: all weariness were gone, and her hands were soft and
• 3:43:26
  Speaker 1: whole as ever. Now I'm going to put you to
• 3:43:29
  Speaker 1: bed for a good sleep, said her grandmother. But what
• 3:43:33
  Speaker 1: will Lootie be thinking? And what am I to say
• 3:43:35
  Speaker 1: to her? When she asked me where I've been. Don't
• 3:43:38
  Speaker 1: trouble yourself about it. You'll find it'll all come right,
• 3:43:43
  Speaker 1: said her grandmother, and laid her into the blue bed
• 3:43:46
  Speaker 1: under the rosy counterpane. There's just one thing more, said Irene.
• 3:43:52
  Speaker 1: I'm a little anxious about Curdie. As i'd brought him
• 3:43:55
  Speaker 1: into the house. I ought to have seen him safe
• 3:43:57
  Speaker 1: on his way home. I took care of all that,
• 3:44:00
  Speaker 1: answered the lady. I told you to let him go,
• 3:44:03
  Speaker 1: and therefore I was bound to look after him. Nobody
• 3:44:06
  Speaker 1: saw him, and he is now eating a good dinner
• 3:44:09
  Speaker 1: in his mother's cottage far up in the mountain. Then
• 3:44:13
  Speaker 1: I will go to sleep, said Irene, and in a
• 3:44:16
  Speaker 1: few minutes she was fast asleep. End of chapter twenty two.
• 3:44:24
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty three Curdie and his mother. Curdie went up
• 3:44:29
  Speaker 1: the mountain neither whistling nor singing, for he was vexed
• 3:44:31
  Speaker 1: with Irene for taking him in, as he called it,
• 3:44:34
  Speaker 1: and he was vexed with himself for having spoken to
• 3:44:37
  Speaker 1: her so angrily. His mother gave a cry of joy
• 3:44:40
  Speaker 1: when she saw him, and at once set about getting
• 3:44:42
  Speaker 1: him something to eat, asking him questions all the time,
• 3:44:45
  Speaker 1: which he did not answer, so cheerfully as usual. When
• 3:44:49
  Speaker 1: his meal was ready, she left him to eat it
• 3:44:51
  Speaker 1: and hurried to the mind to let his father know
• 3:44:53
  Speaker 1: he was safe. When she came back, she found him
• 3:44:57
  Speaker 1: fast asleep upon her bed, nor did he waken till
• 3:45:00
  Speaker 1: his father came home in the evening. Now, Curdedy, his
• 3:45:04
  Speaker 1: mother said, as they sat at supper, tell us the
• 3:45:07
  Speaker 1: whole story, from beginning to end, just as it all happened.
• 3:45:11
  Speaker 1: Curdie obeyed and told everything to the point where they
• 3:45:14
  Speaker 1: came out upon the lawn in the garden of the
• 3:45:16
  Speaker 1: king's house. Then what happened after that? Asked his mother.
• 3:45:21
  Speaker 1: You haven't told us all. You're to be very happy
• 3:45:24
  Speaker 1: at having got away from those demons, and instead of that,
• 3:45:27
  Speaker 1: and never saw you so gloomy. There must be something more. Besides,
• 3:45:32
  Speaker 1: you do not speak of that lovely child as I
• 3:45:35
  Speaker 1: should like to hear you. She saved your life at
• 3:45:38
  Speaker 1: the risk of her own, and yet somehow you don't
• 3:45:40
  Speaker 1: seem to think much of it. She taught such nonsense,
• 3:45:44
  Speaker 1: answered Curdie, and told me a pack of things that
• 3:45:46
  Speaker 1: weren't a bit true, and I can't get over it.
• 3:45:49
  Speaker 1: What were they asked his father. Your mother may be
• 3:45:52
  Speaker 1: able to throw some light upon them. They all sat
• 3:45:55
  Speaker 1: silent for some time, pondering the strange tale. At last,
• 3:46:00
  Speaker 1: Curdie's mother spoke, You confess, my boy. She said that
• 3:46:04
  Speaker 1: there's something about the whole affair you did not understand. Yes,
• 3:46:08
  Speaker 1: of course, mother, he answered, I cannot understand how a child,
• 3:46:13
  Speaker 1: knowing nothing about the mountain, or even that I was
• 3:46:15
  Speaker 1: shut up in it, should come all that way alone,
• 3:46:18
  Speaker 1: straight to where I was, and then, after getting me
• 3:46:21
  Speaker 1: out of the hole, lead me out of the mountain too,
• 3:46:24
  Speaker 1: when I should not have known a step of the
• 3:46:25
  Speaker 1: wave there'd been as light as in the open air.
• 3:46:29
  Speaker 1: Then you have no right to say what she told
• 3:46:31
  Speaker 1: you was not true. She did take you out, and
• 3:46:34
  Speaker 1: she must have had something to guide her. Find not
• 3:46:37
  Speaker 1: a thread as well as a rule for anything else. No,
• 3:46:40
  Speaker 1: something you cannot explain, and her explanation may be the
• 3:46:43
  Speaker 1: right one. It's no explanation at all, mother, and I
• 3:46:46
  Speaker 1: can't believe it. There may be only because you do
• 3:46:49
  Speaker 1: not understand it. If you did, you would probably find
• 3:46:53
  Speaker 1: it was an explanation and believe it thoroughly. I won't
• 3:46:57
  Speaker 1: name you her not being able to believe it, but
• 3:46:59
  Speaker 1: I do amy for fancying such a child would try
• 3:47:02
  Speaker 1: to deceive you. Why should she depend upon it? She
• 3:47:06
  Speaker 1: told you all, she knew that till you'd found a
• 3:47:10
  Speaker 1: better way of a countain for it all, you might
• 3:47:12
  Speaker 1: at least have been more sparing of your judgment. That's
• 3:47:17
  Speaker 1: what something inside me has been saying all the time,
• 3:47:20
  Speaker 1: said Curdie, hanging down his head. But what you make
• 3:47:23
  Speaker 1: of the grandmother, that's what I can't get over. To
• 3:47:26
  Speaker 1: take me up to an old garret and try to
• 3:47:29
  Speaker 1: persuade me, against the sight of my own eyes that
• 3:47:31
  Speaker 1: it was a beautiful room with blue walls and silver
• 3:47:34
  Speaker 1: stars and no end of things in it, When there
• 3:47:37
  Speaker 1: was nothing there but an old tub, and with an
• 3:47:40
  Speaker 1: apple and a heap of thrown a sunbeam. Tre was
• 3:47:42
  Speaker 1: too bad. She might have had some old woman there
• 3:47:45
  Speaker 1: at least to pass for her precious grandmother. Yes, that
• 3:47:50
  Speaker 1: that's what bothers me. You would have thought that she
• 3:47:52
  Speaker 1: really meant it, and believed that she saw every one
• 3:47:55
  Speaker 1: of the things she talked about, not one of them there.
• 3:47:58
  Speaker 1: It was too bad. I say, perhaps some people can
• 3:48:02
  Speaker 1: see things other people can't, Curdie said his mother very gravely.
• 3:48:07
  Speaker 1: I think I will tell you something I saw myself once,
• 3:48:10
  Speaker 1: only perhaps you won't believe me either, Oh mother, Mardaa,
• 3:48:14
  Speaker 1: cried Curdie, bursting into tears. I don't deserve that, surely.
• 3:48:19
  Speaker 1: But what I'm going to tell you is very strange,
• 3:48:22
  Speaker 1: persisted his mother. And if having heard it, you were
• 3:48:25
  Speaker 1: to say I must have been dreaming, I do know
• 3:48:27
  Speaker 1: that I should have any right to be vexed with ye. No,
• 3:48:30
  Speaker 1: I know at least that I was not asleep. Do
• 3:48:33
  Speaker 1: tell me, mother, Perhaps it will help me to think
• 3:48:35
  Speaker 1: better of the princess. That's why I'm tempted to tell you,
• 3:48:39
  Speaker 1: replied his mother. But first I may as well mention that,
• 3:48:43
  Speaker 1: according to all whispers, there's something more than common about
• 3:48:47
  Speaker 1: the king's family, and the queen was of the same blood,
• 3:48:50
  Speaker 1: for they were cousins of some degree. There were strange
• 3:48:54
  Speaker 1: stories told concerning them, all good stories, but strange, very strange.
• 3:49:00
  Speaker 1: What they were? Can I tell? For I only remember
• 3:49:03
  Speaker 1: the faces of my grandmother and my mother as they
• 3:49:06
  Speaker 1: talked together about them. There was wonder and all no
• 3:49:10
  Speaker 1: fear in their eyes, and they whispered and never spoke aloud,
• 3:49:15
  Speaker 1: but what I saw myself was this you. Father was
• 3:49:20
  Speaker 1: going to work in the mine one night, and I
• 3:49:22
  Speaker 1: had been down with his supper. It was soon after
• 3:49:25
  Speaker 1: we were married, and not very long before you were born.
• 3:49:29
  Speaker 1: He came with me to the mouth of the mine
• 3:49:31
  Speaker 1: and left me to go home alone for a new
• 3:49:34
  Speaker 1: way or must as well as the floor of our
• 3:49:36
  Speaker 1: own cottage. It was pretty dark, and in some parts
• 3:49:40
  Speaker 1: of the road where the rocks overhung nearly quite dark.
• 3:49:44
  Speaker 1: But I got along perfectly well, never thinking of being afraid,
• 3:49:49
  Speaker 1: and till he reached a spot you know well enough, Cardi,
• 3:49:52
  Speaker 1: where the path has to make a sharp turn off
• 3:49:55
  Speaker 1: to the way of a great rock on the right
• 3:49:57
  Speaker 1: hand side. When I got I was suddenly surrounded by
• 3:50:02
  Speaker 1: but half a dozen of the corbs, the first I
• 3:50:04
  Speaker 1: had ever seen, would heard tell of them often enough.
• 3:50:08
  Speaker 1: One of them blocked up the path, and they all
• 3:50:10
  Speaker 1: began toll venting me and teasing me in a way
• 3:50:13
  Speaker 1: that it makes me shudder to think of even now,
• 3:50:16
  Speaker 1: if I had only been with you, cried father and
• 3:50:19
  Speaker 1: son in the breath. The mother gave a funny little
• 3:50:22
  Speaker 1: smile and went on. They had some of their horrible
• 3:50:26
  Speaker 1: creatures with them too, and I must confess I was
• 3:50:29
  Speaker 1: dreadfully frightened. They had torn my clothes very much, and
• 3:50:33
  Speaker 1: I was afraid they were going to tear myself to pieces.
• 3:50:37
  Speaker 1: When suddenly a great, white, soft light shone upon me.
• 3:50:41
  Speaker 1: I looked up. A broad rail, like a shining road,
• 3:50:46
  Speaker 1: came down from a large globe of silvery light, not
• 3:50:49
  Speaker 1: very high up, indeed not quite sir hare as a horizon,
• 3:50:53
  Speaker 1: so he could not have been a new star, or
• 3:50:56
  Speaker 1: another moon, nor anything of that sort. The corbs robbed,
• 3:51:00
  Speaker 1: persecuting me and looked dazed, and I thought they were
• 3:51:03
  Speaker 1: going to run away, but presently they began again. The
• 3:51:08
  Speaker 1: same moment, however, down the path from the globe of
• 3:51:11
  Speaker 1: light came a bird shining like silver in the sun.
• 3:51:16
  Speaker 1: He gave a few rapid flaps first, and then with
• 3:51:19
  Speaker 1: its wings straight out shots, sliding on the slope of light.
• 3:51:24
  Speaker 1: It looked to me just like a white pigeon, but
• 3:51:27
  Speaker 1: whatever it was, when the cobs caught sight of it
• 3:51:29
  Speaker 1: coming straight down upon them, they took to their heels
• 3:51:32
  Speaker 1: and scampered away across the mountain, leaving me safe, only
• 3:51:36
  Speaker 1: much frightened. As soon as it had sent them off.
• 3:51:40
  Speaker 1: The bird went gliding up against the light, and the
• 3:51:43
  Speaker 1: moment it reached the globe, the light disappeared, just as
• 3:51:47
  Speaker 1: if a shutter had been closed over a window, and
• 3:51:50
  Speaker 1: I saw it no more. But I had no more
• 3:51:53
  Speaker 1: trouble with the Cobs that night or ever after. How strange,
• 3:51:58
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Curdie. Yes, it was strange, but can't help believing
• 3:52:03
  Speaker 1: it with you do or not, said his mother. That's
• 3:52:07
  Speaker 1: exactly as your mother told it to me the very
• 3:52:10
  Speaker 1: next mornin, said his father. You don't think I'm doting
• 3:52:14
  Speaker 1: my own mother, cried Curdie. There are rather people in
• 3:52:17
  Speaker 1: the world quite as well worth believing as your own mother,
• 3:52:21
  Speaker 1: said his mother. I don't know that she's so much
• 3:52:24
  Speaker 1: the fitter to be believed that she happens to be
• 3:52:26
  Speaker 1: your mother, mister Curdy. There are mother's far more likely
• 3:52:30
  Speaker 1: to tell lies than the little girl I saw talking
• 3:52:33
  Speaker 1: to the Primroses a few weeks ago. If she were
• 3:52:36
  Speaker 1: to lie, I should begin to doubt my own word.
• 3:52:40
  Speaker 1: But princesses have told lies as well as other people,
• 3:52:43
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. Yes, but not princesses like that child. She's
• 3:52:48
  Speaker 1: a good girl, I'm certain, and that's more than being
• 3:52:51
  Speaker 1: a princess. Depend upon it. You'll have to be sorry
• 3:52:55
  Speaker 1: for behaving so to her. Curdy, you ought at least
• 3:52:58
  Speaker 1: to have held your tongue. I'm sorry now, answered Curdie.
• 3:53:04
  Speaker 1: You ought to go and tell her so then. I
• 3:53:07
  Speaker 1: don't see how I could manage that. They wouldn't let
• 3:53:09
  Speaker 1: her mind a boy like me have a word with
• 3:53:11
  Speaker 1: her alone, and I couldn't tell her before that nurse
• 3:53:14
  Speaker 1: of hers. She'd be asking of her so many questions,
• 3:53:17
  Speaker 1: and I don't know how many the little princess would
• 3:53:20
  Speaker 1: like me to answer. She told me that Lootie didn't
• 3:53:23
  Speaker 1: know anything about her coming to get me out of
• 3:53:25
  Speaker 1: the mountain. I'm certain she would have prevented her somehow
• 3:53:28
  Speaker 1: if she had known it. But I may have a
• 3:53:31
  Speaker 1: chance before long, and meantime I must try to do
• 3:53:34
  Speaker 1: something for her. I think, father, I've got on the
• 3:53:37
  Speaker 1: track at last, have you indeed? My boy, said Peter,
• 3:53:41
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you deserve some success. You've worked very hard
• 3:53:45
  Speaker 1: for it. What have you found out? It's difficult, you know, father,
• 3:53:49
  Speaker 1: inside the mountain, especially in the dark, and not knowing
• 3:53:52
  Speaker 1: what turns you've taken to tell the lie of things
• 3:53:54
  Speaker 1: outside impossible my boy with it a shot or east
• 3:53:59
  Speaker 1: a compass, returned his father. Well, I think I've nearly
• 3:54:03
  Speaker 1: discovered in what direction the cobs are mining. If I'm right,
• 3:54:07
  Speaker 1: I know something else that I can put to it,
• 3:54:10
  Speaker 1: and then one and one will make three. Nay, very
• 3:54:13
  Speaker 1: often do curdars. We miners ought to be very well aware.
• 3:54:17
  Speaker 1: No tell us, my boy, what the two things are,
• 3:54:20
  Speaker 1: and whether we can guess at the same third as you.
• 3:54:24
  Speaker 1: I don't see what that has to do with the princess,
• 3:54:27
  Speaker 1: interposed his mother. I'll soon let you see that. Mother.
• 3:54:31
  Speaker 1: Perhaps you may think me foolish, but until I'm sure
• 3:54:33
  Speaker 1: there's nothing in my present fancy, I'm more determined than
• 3:54:37
  Speaker 1: ever to go on with my observations. Just as we
• 3:54:40
  Speaker 1: came to the channel by which we got out, I
• 3:54:43
  Speaker 1: heard the miners at work somewhere near I think down
• 3:54:46
  Speaker 1: below us. Now. Since I began to watch them, they've
• 3:54:49
  Speaker 1: mine a good half mile in a straight line. As
• 3:54:52
  Speaker 1: far as I'm aware. They're working in no other part
• 3:54:54
  Speaker 1: of the mountain, but I can never tell in what
• 3:54:57
  Speaker 1: direction they were going out in the King's garden. However,
• 3:55:02
  Speaker 1: I thought at once whether it was possible they were
• 3:55:04
  Speaker 1: working towards the King's house. And what I want to
• 3:55:08
  Speaker 1: do to night is to make sure whether they are
• 3:55:10
  Speaker 1: or not. I'll take a night with me, Oh, Curdy,
• 3:55:13
  Speaker 1: cried his mother. Then they will see you. I'm no
• 3:55:17
  Speaker 1: more afraid of them now than I was before rejoined Curdie.
• 3:55:21
  Speaker 1: Notice I've got this precious shoe. They can't make another
• 3:55:24
  Speaker 1: such an hurry, and one barefoot will do for my purpose.
• 3:55:28
  Speaker 1: Woman as she may be, I won't spare her next time,
• 3:55:31
  Speaker 1: but I shall be careful with my night, for I
• 3:55:33
  Speaker 1: don't want them to see me. I've won't ticket in mahar.
• 3:55:37
  Speaker 1: Go on then, and tell us what you mean to do.
• 3:55:40
  Speaker 1: I mean to take a bit of paper with me
• 3:55:42
  Speaker 1: and a pencil and go in at the mouth of
• 3:55:44
  Speaker 1: the stream by which we came out. I shall mark
• 3:55:47
  Speaker 1: on the paper as near as I can the angle
• 3:55:49
  Speaker 1: of every turning I take, until I find the cobs
• 3:55:52
  Speaker 1: at work, and so get a good idea in what
• 3:55:55
  Speaker 1: direction they're going. If it should prove to be nearly
• 3:55:58
  Speaker 1: parallel with the stream, I shall know it's towards the
• 3:56:01
  Speaker 1: King's house they're working. And what if he should how
• 3:56:05
  Speaker 1: much wiser will you be? Then? Wait a minute, mother, dear,
• 3:56:09
  Speaker 1: I told you that when I came upon the royal
• 3:56:12
  Speaker 1: family in the cave, they were talking of their prince Harelip.
• 3:56:16
  Speaker 1: They called them marrying a sun woman. That means one
• 3:56:19
  Speaker 1: of us, one with toes to her feet. Now, in
• 3:56:23
  Speaker 1: the speech one of them made that night at their
• 3:56:25
  Speaker 1: grand gathering, of which I heard only a part, he
• 3:56:28
  Speaker 1: said that peace would be secured for a generation, at
• 3:56:31
  Speaker 1: least by the pledge the prince would hold for the
• 3:56:33
  Speaker 1: good behavior of her relatives. That's what he said, and
• 3:56:37
  Speaker 1: he must have meant the sun woman the prince was
• 3:56:39
  Speaker 1: to marry. I'm quite sure the King is much too
• 3:56:42
  Speaker 1: proud to wish his son to marry any but a princess,
• 3:56:45
  Speaker 1: and much too knowing to fancy that his having a
• 3:56:48
  Speaker 1: peasant woman for a wife would be any great advantage
• 3:56:51
  Speaker 1: to them. I see what you're driving at now, said
• 3:56:55
  Speaker 1: his mother. But said his father, Ol King, would dig
• 3:56:59
  Speaker 1: them mount and to the plain, for he would have
• 3:57:01
  Speaker 1: his princess the wife of a cob if you were
• 3:57:04
  Speaker 1: ten times a prince. Yes, but they think so much
• 3:57:08
  Speaker 1: of themselves, said his mother. Small creatures always do. The
• 3:57:13
  Speaker 1: bantam is the proudest cock in my little yard. And
• 3:57:16
  Speaker 1: I fancy, said Curdie that if once they got her,
• 3:57:20
  Speaker 1: they would tell the King they would kill her, except
• 3:57:22
  Speaker 1: he consented to their marriage. They might say so, said
• 3:57:26
  Speaker 1: his father, But they wouldn't kill her. They will keep
• 3:57:29
  Speaker 1: her alive for the sake of the hold it gave
• 3:57:31
  Speaker 1: moveral King. Whatever he did to them, they would threaten
• 3:57:35
  Speaker 1: to do the same to the princess. And ne're bad
• 3:57:38
  Speaker 1: enough to torment her for just for their own amusement.
• 3:57:41
  Speaker 1: I know that, said his mother. Anyway, I'll keep a
• 3:57:45
  Speaker 1: watch on them and see what they're up to, said Curdie.
• 3:57:48
  Speaker 1: It's too horrible to think. I darn't let myself do it.
• 3:57:51
  Speaker 1: But they shan't have her, at least if I can
• 3:57:54
  Speaker 1: help it. So, mother, dear my clothes, all right, Will
• 3:57:58
  Speaker 1: you get me a bit of paper and a pencil,
• 3:58:00
  Speaker 1: so an a lump of bees pudding, and now set
• 3:58:02
  Speaker 1: out at once. I saw a place where I can
• 3:58:04
  Speaker 1: climb over the wall of the garden quite easily. You
• 3:58:07
  Speaker 1: must mind and keep out of the way of the
• 3:58:09
  Speaker 1: men on the watch, said his mother. That I will.
• 3:58:13
  Speaker 1: I don't want them to know anything about it. They
• 3:58:15
  Speaker 1: would spoil it. All The Cobs would only try some
• 3:58:17
  Speaker 1: Mother plan. They're such obstinate creatures. I shall take good care, mother.
• 3:58:23
  Speaker 1: They won't kill and eat me either if they should
• 3:58:25
  Speaker 1: come upon me, so you needn't mind them. His mother
• 3:58:28
  Speaker 1: got him what he had asked for, and Curdie set
• 3:58:31
  Speaker 1: out close beside the door by which the princess left
• 3:58:34
  Speaker 1: the garden. For the mountain stood a great rock, and
• 3:58:37
  Speaker 1: by climbing it, Curdie got over the wall. He tied
• 3:58:41
  Speaker 1: his clue to a stone just inside the channel of
• 3:58:43
  Speaker 1: the stream, and took his pickaxe with him. He had
• 3:58:47
  Speaker 1: not gone far before he encountered a horrid creature coming
• 3:58:50
  Speaker 1: towards the mouth. The spot was too narrow for two
• 3:58:53
  Speaker 1: of almost any size or shape, and besides, Curdie had
• 3:58:56
  Speaker 1: no wish to let the creature pass. Not being able
• 3:59:00
  Speaker 1: to use his pickaxe, however, he had a severe struggle
• 3:59:02
  Speaker 1: with him, and it was only after receiving many bites
• 3:59:05
  Speaker 1: so on them bad, that he succeeded in killing him
• 3:59:09
  Speaker 1: with his pocket knife. Having dragged him out, he made
• 3:59:12
  Speaker 1: haste to get in again before another should stop up
• 3:59:15
  Speaker 1: the way. I need not follow him, father in this
• 3:59:18
  Speaker 1: Knight's Adventures. He returned to his breakfast, satisfied that the
• 3:59:22
  Speaker 1: goblins were mining in the direction of the palace, on
• 3:59:26
  Speaker 1: so low a level that their intention must, he thought,
• 3:59:29
  Speaker 1: be to burrow under the walls of the King's house
• 3:59:32
  Speaker 1: and rise up inside it, in order, he fully believed,
• 3:59:36
  Speaker 1: to lay hands on the little princess and carry her
• 3:59:39
  Speaker 1: off for a wife to their horrid hair lip end
• 3:59:44
  Speaker 1: of chapter twenty three. Chapter twenty four, Irene behaves like
• 3:59:51
  Speaker 1: a princess. When the princess awoke from the sweetest of sleeps,
• 3:59:56
  Speaker 1: she found her nurse bending over her, the housekeeper looking
• 3:59:59
  Speaker 1: over the nurses shoulder, and the laundry maid looking over
• 4:00:02
  Speaker 1: the housekeepers. The room was full of women servants, and
• 4:00:06
  Speaker 1: the gentlemen at arms, with the long column of servants
• 4:00:08
  Speaker 1: behind them, were peeping or trying to peep in at
• 4:00:11
  Speaker 1: the door of the nursery. Are those horrid creatures gone?
• 4:00:16
  Speaker 1: Asked the princess, remembering first what had terrified her in
• 4:00:19
  Speaker 1: the morning. You naughty, naughty little princess, cried Lootie. Her
• 4:00:24
  Speaker 1: face was very pale, with red streaks in it, and
• 4:00:27
  Speaker 1: she looked as if she were going to shake her,
• 4:00:30
  Speaker 1: But Irene said nothing, only waited to hear what should
• 4:00:33
  Speaker 1: come next. How could you get under the clothes like
• 4:00:36
  Speaker 1: that and make us all fancy you were lost, and
• 4:00:39
  Speaker 1: keep it up all day too. You are the most
• 4:00:41
  Speaker 1: obstinate child. It's anything but fun to us. I can
• 4:00:44
  Speaker 1: tell you it was the only way the nurse could
• 4:00:47
  Speaker 1: have count for her disappearance. I didn't do that, lootie,
• 4:00:52
  Speaker 1: said Irene, very quietly. Don't tell stormies, cried her nurse,
• 4:00:57
  Speaker 1: quite rudely. I shall tell you nothing at all, said Irene.
• 4:01:02
  Speaker 1: That's just as bad, said the nurse. Just as bad
• 4:01:07
  Speaker 1: to say nothing at all as to tell stories, exclaimed
• 4:01:10
  Speaker 1: the princess. I will ask my Papa about that. He
• 4:01:13
  Speaker 1: won't say so, and I don't think he will like
• 4:01:16
  Speaker 1: you to say so. Tell me directly what you mean
• 4:01:19
  Speaker 1: by it, screamed the nurse, half wild with anger at
• 4:01:23
  Speaker 1: the princess and fright at the possible consequences to herself.
• 4:01:27
  Speaker 1: When I tell you the truth, lootie, said the princess,
• 4:01:30
  Speaker 1: who somehow did not feel at all angry. You say
• 4:01:33
  Speaker 1: to me, don't tell stories. It seems I must tell
• 4:01:37
  Speaker 1: stories before you will believe me. You are very rude, princess,
• 4:01:42
  Speaker 1: said the nurse. You are so rude, looty, that I
• 4:01:46
  Speaker 1: will not speak to you again until you are sorry.
• 4:01:49
  Speaker 1: Why should I when I know you will not believe me,
• 4:01:52
  Speaker 1: returned the princess, for she did know perfectly well that
• 4:01:55
  Speaker 1: if she were to tell Lootie what she had been about,
• 4:01:58
  Speaker 1: the more she went on to tell, the less would
• 4:02:01
  Speaker 1: she believe her. You are the most provoking child, cried her. Nurse.
• 4:02:06
  Speaker 1: You deserved me. Well punish me your wicked behavior. Please, missus, housekeeper,
• 4:02:13
  Speaker 1: said the princess. Will you take me to your room
• 4:02:16
  Speaker 1: and keep me till my king Papa comes. I will
• 4:02:19
  Speaker 1: ask him to come as soon as he can. Everyone
• 4:02:22
  Speaker 1: stared at these words. Up to this moment, they had
• 4:02:25
  Speaker 1: all regarded her as little more than a baby. But
• 4:02:29
  Speaker 1: the housekeeper was afraid of the nurse and sought to
• 4:02:31
  Speaker 1: patch matters up, saying, I'm sure Princess and Nursey did
• 4:02:36
  Speaker 1: not mean to be rude to you. I do not
• 4:02:40
  Speaker 1: think my Papa would wish me to have a nurse
• 4:02:42
  Speaker 1: who spoke to me as Lootie does. If she thinks
• 4:02:45
  Speaker 1: I tell lies, she had better either say so to
• 4:02:48
  Speaker 1: my papa or go away. Sir Walter, will you take
• 4:02:52
  Speaker 1: charge of me with the greatest pleasure, princess answered the
• 4:02:58
  Speaker 1: Captain of the gentleman at arms, walking with his great
• 4:03:01
  Speaker 1: stride into the room. The crowd of servants made eager
• 4:03:05
  Speaker 1: way for him, and he bowed low before the little
• 4:03:07
  Speaker 1: princess's bed. I shall send my servant at once on
• 4:03:11
  Speaker 1: the fastest horse in the stable, to tell your King
• 4:03:14
  Speaker 1: Papa that your Royal Highness deserves his presence. When you
• 4:03:18
  Speaker 1: have chosen one of these under servants to wait upon you,
• 4:03:21
  Speaker 1: I shall order the room to be cleared. Thank you
• 4:03:25
  Speaker 1: very much, Sir Walter, said the princess, and her eye
• 4:03:29
  Speaker 1: glanced towards a rosy cheeked girl who had lately come
• 4:03:32
  Speaker 1: to the house as a scullery maid. But when Lootie
• 4:03:35
  Speaker 1: saw the eyes of her dear princess going in search
• 4:03:38
  Speaker 1: of another instead of her, she fell upon her knees
• 4:03:41
  Speaker 1: by the bedside and burst into a great cry of distress.
• 4:03:46
  Speaker 1: I think, Sir Walter, said the princess. I will keep Lootie,
• 4:03:51
  Speaker 1: but I put myself under your care, and you need
• 4:03:54
  Speaker 1: not trouble my King Papa until I speak to you again.
• 4:03:57
  Speaker 1: Will you all please go away. I'm quite safe and well,
• 4:04:01
  Speaker 1: and I did not hide myself for the sake either
• 4:04:04
  Speaker 1: of amusing myself or of troubling my people, Lootie, will
• 4:04:09
  Speaker 1: you please to dress me? End of chapter twenty four.
• 4:04:17
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty five, Curdie comes to grief. Everything was for
• 4:04:22
  Speaker 1: some time quiet above ground. The king was still away
• 4:04:25
  Speaker 1: in a distant part of his dominions. The men at
• 4:04:28
  Speaker 1: arms kept watching about the house. They had been considerably
• 4:04:32
  Speaker 1: astonished by finding at the foot of the rock in
• 4:04:34
  Speaker 1: the garden the hideous body of the goblin creature killed
• 4:04:38
  Speaker 1: by Curdie, but they came to the conclusion that it
• 4:04:41
  Speaker 1: had been slain in the mines and had crept out
• 4:04:43
  Speaker 1: there to die, And except an occasional glimpse of a
• 4:04:47
  Speaker 1: live one, they saw nothing to cause alarm. Curdie kept
• 4:04:51
  Speaker 1: watching in the mountain, and the goblins kept burrowing deeper
• 4:04:54
  Speaker 1: into the earth. As long as they went deeper there was,
• 4:04:58
  Speaker 1: Curdie judged no immediate danger to Irene. The summer was
• 4:05:03
  Speaker 1: as full of pleasure as ever, and for a long time.
• 4:05:06
  Speaker 1: Although she often thought of her grandmother during the day
• 4:05:09
  Speaker 1: and often dreamt about her at night, she did not
• 4:05:12
  Speaker 1: see her. The kids and the flowers were as much
• 4:05:15
  Speaker 1: her delight as ever, and she made as much friendship
• 4:05:18
  Speaker 1: with the miners children she met on the mountain, as
• 4:05:20
  Speaker 1: Lootie would permit. But Lootie had very foolish notions concerning
• 4:05:25
  Speaker 1: the dignity of a princess, not understanding that the truest
• 4:05:29
  Speaker 1: princess is just the one who loves all her brothers
• 4:05:32
  Speaker 1: and sisters best, and who is most able to do
• 4:05:34
  Speaker 1: them good by being humble towards them. At the same time,
• 4:05:39
  Speaker 1: she was considerably altered for the better in her behavior
• 4:05:42
  Speaker 1: to the princess. She could not help seeing that she
• 4:05:45
  Speaker 1: was no longer a mere child, but wiser than her
• 4:05:48
  Speaker 1: age would account for. She kept foolishly whispering to the servants, however,
• 4:05:53
  Speaker 1: sometimes that the princess was not right in her mind,
• 4:05:57
  Speaker 1: sometimes that she was too good to live, and other
• 4:05:59
  Speaker 1: nonsense of the same sort. All this time Curdie had
• 4:06:03
  Speaker 1: to be sorry, without a chance of confessing that he
• 4:06:06
  Speaker 1: had behaved so unkindly to the princess. This perhaps made
• 4:06:10
  Speaker 1: him the more diligent in his endeavors to serve her.
• 4:06:13
  Speaker 1: His mother and he often talked on the subject, and
• 4:06:16
  Speaker 1: she comforted him and told him she was sure he
• 4:06:19
  Speaker 1: would some day have the opportunity he so much desired. Here,
• 4:06:23
  Speaker 1: I should like to remark, for the sake of princes
• 4:06:26
  Speaker 1: and princesses in general, that it is a low and
• 4:06:29
  Speaker 1: contemptible thing to refuse to confess a fault or even
• 4:06:32
  Speaker 1: an error. If a true princess has done wrong, she
• 4:06:36
  Speaker 1: is always uneasy until she has had an opportunity of
• 4:06:40
  Speaker 1: throwing the wrongness away from her by saying, I did it,
• 4:06:43
  Speaker 1: and I wish I had not, and I am sorry
• 4:06:45
  Speaker 1: for having done it. So you see, there is some
• 4:06:48
  Speaker 1: ground for supposing that Curdie was not a miner only,
• 4:06:51
  Speaker 1: but a prince as well. Many such instances have been
• 4:06:55
  Speaker 1: known in the world's history. At length, however, he began
• 4:06:59
  Speaker 1: to see signs of a change in the proceedings of
• 4:07:02
  Speaker 1: the Goblin excavators. They were going no deeper, but had
• 4:07:06
  Speaker 1: commenced running on a level, and he watched them therefore
• 4:07:09
  Speaker 1: more closely than ever. All at once one night, coming
• 4:07:13
  Speaker 1: to the slope of very hard rock, they began to
• 4:07:16
  Speaker 1: ascend along the inclined plane of its surface. Having reached
• 4:07:20
  Speaker 1: its top, they went on again on a level for
• 4:07:23
  Speaker 1: a night or two, after which they began to ascend
• 4:07:26
  Speaker 1: once more, and kept on at a pretty steep angle.
• 4:07:30
  Speaker 1: At length, Curdie judged it time to transfer his observation
• 4:07:34
  Speaker 1: to another quarter, and the next night he did not
• 4:07:37
  Speaker 1: go to the mine at all, but, leaving his pickaxe
• 4:07:40
  Speaker 1: and clue at home, and taking only his usual lumps
• 4:07:43
  Speaker 1: of bread and peas pudding, went down the mountain to
• 4:07:46
  Speaker 1: the King's house. He climbed over the wall and remained
• 4:07:50
  Speaker 1: in the garden the whole night, creeping on hands and
• 4:07:53
  Speaker 1: knees from one spot to the other, and lying at
• 4:07:56
  Speaker 1: full length with his ear to the ground, listening. But
• 4:07:59
  Speaker 1: he heard nothing except the tread of the men at
• 4:08:02
  Speaker 1: arms as they marched about whose observation. As the night
• 4:08:06
  Speaker 1: was cloudy and there was no moon, he had little
• 4:08:08
  Speaker 1: difficulty in avoiding. For several following nights he continued to
• 4:08:13
  Speaker 1: haunt the garden and listen, but with no success. At length,
• 4:08:18
  Speaker 1: early one evening, whether it was that he had got
• 4:08:20
  Speaker 1: careless of his own safety, or that the growing moon
• 4:08:23
  Speaker 1: had become strong enough to expose him, his watching came
• 4:08:27
  Speaker 1: to a sudden end. He was creeping from behind the
• 4:08:30
  Speaker 1: rock where the stream ran out, for he had been
• 4:08:32
  Speaker 1: listening all round it in the hope that it might
• 4:08:35
  Speaker 1: convey to his ear some indication of the whereabouts of
• 4:08:38
  Speaker 1: the Goblin miners. When just as he came into the
• 4:08:41
  Speaker 1: moonlight on a lawn, A whizz in his ear and
• 4:08:44
  Speaker 1: a blow upon his legs startled him. He instantly squatted
• 4:08:48
  Speaker 1: in the hope of eluding further notice, but when he
• 4:08:50
  Speaker 1: heard the sound of running feet, he jumped up to
• 4:08:53
  Speaker 1: take the chance of escape by flight. He fell, however,
• 4:08:56
  Speaker 1: with a keen shoot of pain, for the bolt of
• 4:08:59
  Speaker 1: a crossbow had wounded his leg, and the blood was
• 4:09:02
  Speaker 1: now streaming from it. He was instantly laid hold of
• 4:09:05
  Speaker 1: by two or three of the men at arms. It
• 4:09:08
  Speaker 1: was useless to struggle, and he submitted in silence. He's
• 4:09:12
  Speaker 1: a boy, cried several of them together in a tone
• 4:09:15
  Speaker 1: of amazement, or thought he was one of those damons?
• 4:09:19
  Speaker 1: Are you about here? Going to have a bit of
• 4:09:21
  Speaker 1: rough usage? Apparently, said Curdie, laughing, as the men shook
• 4:09:25
  Speaker 1: him impertinence. We do you no good. You have no
• 4:09:28
  Speaker 1: business here in the King's grounds. And if you don't
• 4:09:31
  Speaker 1: give a true account of yourself usual there as a thief,
• 4:09:35
  Speaker 1: why what else could he be? Said one? He might
• 4:09:39
  Speaker 1: have been after a lost kid, you know, suggested another.
• 4:09:43
  Speaker 1: Was he no good in trying to excuse him? He
• 4:09:45
  Speaker 1: has no business here anyhow, let me go away then,
• 4:09:49
  Speaker 1: if you please, said Curdie. But we don't please, not
• 4:09:53
  Speaker 1: except you can give a good account of yourself. I
• 4:09:55
  Speaker 1: don't feel quite sure whether I can trust you, said Curdie.
• 4:10:00
  Speaker 1: We are the king's own men at arms, said the
• 4:10:03
  Speaker 1: captain courteously, for he was taken with Curdie's appearance and courage. Well,
• 4:10:09
  Speaker 1: I will tell you bout it. If you promised to
• 4:10:11
  Speaker 1: listen to me and not do anything rash, now call
• 4:10:15
  Speaker 1: that cool, said one of the party, laughing. He'll tell
• 4:10:18
  Speaker 1: us what mischief he was about. If we promised to
• 4:10:21
  Speaker 1: do as he pleases him, there's a boat. No mischief,
• 4:10:25
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. But ere he could say more, he turned
• 4:10:28
  Speaker 1: faint and fell senseless on the grass. Then first they
• 4:10:32
  Speaker 1: discovered that the bolt they had shot taking him from
• 4:10:34
  Speaker 1: one of the goblin creatures had wounded him. They carried
• 4:10:38
  Speaker 1: him into the house and laid him down in the hall.
• 4:10:40
  Speaker 1: The report spread that they had caught a robber, and
• 4:10:43
  Speaker 1: the servants crowded in to see the villain. Amongst the
• 4:10:46
  Speaker 1: rest came the nurse. The moment she saw him, she exclaimed,
• 4:10:50
  Speaker 1: with indignation, I declare it's the same rascal of a
• 4:10:53
  Speaker 1: miner that was route to me and the princess on
• 4:10:55
  Speaker 1: the mountain. He actually wanted to kiss the princess. I
• 4:11:00
  Speaker 1: took care of that. The wretch, and he was prowling about.
• 4:11:03
  Speaker 1: Was he just like his impudence? The princess being fast asleep,
• 4:11:09
  Speaker 1: she could misrepresent at her pleasure. When he heard this,
• 4:11:13
  Speaker 1: the captain, although he had considerable doubt of its truth,
• 4:11:17
  Speaker 1: resolved to keep Curdie a prisoner until they could search
• 4:11:19
  Speaker 1: into the affair. So, after they had brought him round
• 4:11:23
  Speaker 1: a little and attended to his wound, which was rather
• 4:11:25
  Speaker 1: a bad one, they laid him, still exhausted from the
• 4:11:29
  Speaker 1: loss of blood, upon a mattress in a disused room,
• 4:11:32
  Speaker 1: one of those so often mentioned, and locked the door
• 4:11:35
  Speaker 1: and left him. He passed a troubled night, and in
• 4:11:39
  Speaker 1: the morning they found him talking wildly. In the evening,
• 4:11:43
  Speaker 1: he came to himself, but felt very weak and his
• 4:11:46
  Speaker 1: leg was exceedingly painful. Wondering where he was, and seeing
• 4:11:51
  Speaker 1: one of the men at arms in the room, he
• 4:11:53
  Speaker 1: began to question him and soon recalled the events of
• 4:11:56
  Speaker 1: the preceding night. As he was himself unable to watch
• 4:12:00
  Speaker 1: any more, he told the soldier all he knew about
• 4:12:03
  Speaker 1: the goblins, and begged him to tell his companions and
• 4:12:06
  Speaker 1: stir them up to watch with tenfold vigilance. But whether
• 4:12:10
  Speaker 1: it was that he did not talk quite coherently, the
• 4:12:14
  Speaker 1: whole thing appeared incredible. Certainly, the man concluded that Curdie
• 4:12:18
  Speaker 1: was only raving still and tried to coax him into
• 4:12:21
  Speaker 1: holding his tongue. This, of course annoyed Curdie dreadfully, who
• 4:12:26
  Speaker 1: now felt in his turn what it was not to
• 4:12:28
  Speaker 1: be believed. And the consequence was that his fever returned,
• 4:12:32
  Speaker 1: and by the time when at his persistent entreaties the
• 4:12:35
  Speaker 1: captain was called, there could be no doubt he was raving.
• 4:12:40
  Speaker 1: They did for him what they could, and promised everything
• 4:12:42
  Speaker 1: he wanted, but with no intention of fulfillment. At last
• 4:12:47
  Speaker 1: he went to sleep, and when at length his sleep
• 4:12:50
  Speaker 1: grew profound and peaceful, they left him, locked the door
• 4:12:53
  Speaker 1: again and withdrew, intending to revisit him early in the morning.
• 4:13:00
  Speaker 1: End of chapter twenty five. Chapter twenty six the Goblin miners.
• 4:13:09
  Speaker 1: The same night, several of the serpents were having a
• 4:13:11
  Speaker 1: chat together before going to bed. What won't that noise
• 4:13:15
  Speaker 1: be said one of the housemaids, who had been listening
• 4:13:18
  Speaker 1: for a moment or two. I've eerd it's the last
• 4:13:21
  Speaker 1: two nights, said the cook. If they're weary near about
• 4:13:25
  Speaker 1: the place, I should have taken it for rats, But
• 4:13:29
  Speaker 1: so my Tom keeps them fair enough. Have heard thou,
• 4:13:33
  Speaker 1: said the scullery maid, that rats move about in thy companies.
• 4:13:37
  Speaker 1: Sometimes there may be an army of them invading us.
• 4:13:40
  Speaker 1: I've heard the noises yesterday and to day too. It
• 4:13:44
  Speaker 1: will be great fun then for my Tom and for
• 4:13:47
  Speaker 1: missus Housekeeper's Bob, said the cook. They were friends for
• 4:13:52
  Speaker 1: once in their lives, and fight on the same side.
• 4:13:55
  Speaker 1: I'll engage Tom and to Bob. Together we'll put fright
• 4:13:59
  Speaker 1: to any number of rats. It seems to me, said
• 4:14:03
  Speaker 1: the nurse, that the noises are much too loud for that.
• 4:14:07
  Speaker 1: Or heard them all die, And my princesses asked me
• 4:14:10
  Speaker 1: several times what they could be. Sometimes they sound like
• 4:14:13
  Speaker 1: distant thunder, and sometimes like the noises you were in
• 4:14:17
  Speaker 1: the mountain from those rain miners underneath. I shouldn't wonder,
• 4:14:22
  Speaker 1: said the cook, if it was to mind us. After all,
• 4:14:26
  Speaker 1: they may have come on some oulins a mountain through
• 4:14:30
  Speaker 1: which the noises reached to us. They allays boring at
• 4:14:34
  Speaker 1: the blasting and the breaking. You know, as he spoke
• 4:14:38
  Speaker 1: there came a great rolling rumble beneath them, and the
• 4:14:41
  Speaker 1: house quivered. They all started up in a fright, and
• 4:14:45
  Speaker 1: rushing to the hall, found the gentlemen at arms in consternation. Also.
• 4:14:50
  Speaker 1: They had sent to wake their captain, who said from
• 4:14:53
  Speaker 1: the description that it must have been an earthquake, and
• 4:14:56
  Speaker 1: the currents, which although very rare in that country, had
• 4:14:59
  Speaker 1: taken place almost within the century. And then they went
• 4:15:02
  Speaker 1: to bed again, strange to say, and fell fast asleep
• 4:15:05
  Speaker 1: without once thinking of Curdie or associating the noises they
• 4:15:09
  Speaker 1: had heard with what he had told them. He had
• 4:15:12
  Speaker 1: not believed Curdie. If he had, he would at once
• 4:15:15
  Speaker 1: have thought of what he had said, and would have
• 4:15:17
  Speaker 1: taken precautions. As they heard nothing more, they concluded that
• 4:15:22
  Speaker 1: Sir Walter was right, and that the danger was over
• 4:15:25
  Speaker 1: for perhaps another hundred years. The fact, as discovered afterwards,
• 4:15:29
  Speaker 1: was that the goblins had, in working up a second
• 4:15:32
  Speaker 1: sloping face of stone, arrived at a huge block which
• 4:15:36
  Speaker 1: lay under the cellars of the house, within the line
• 4:15:38
  Speaker 1: of the foundations. It was so round that when they
• 4:15:41
  Speaker 1: succeeded after hard work in dislodging it without blasting, it
• 4:15:46
  Speaker 1: rolled thundering down the slope with a bounding, jarring roll
• 4:15:50
  Speaker 1: which shook the foundations of the house. The Goblins were
• 4:15:54
  Speaker 1: themselves dismayed at the noise, for they knew, by careful
• 4:15:58
  Speaker 1: spying and measuring, that they must now be very near,
• 4:16:01
  Speaker 1: if not under, the King's house, and they feared giving
• 4:16:04
  Speaker 1: an alarm. They therefore remained quiet for a while, and
• 4:16:08
  Speaker 1: when they had begun to work again, they no doubt
• 4:16:11
  Speaker 1: thought themselves very fortunate in coming upon a vein of
• 4:16:14
  Speaker 1: sand which filled a winding fissure in the rock on
• 4:16:17
  Speaker 1: which the house was built. By scooping this away, they
• 4:16:20
  Speaker 1: came out in the King's wine cellar. No sooner did
• 4:16:24
  Speaker 1: they find where they were, than they scurried back again
• 4:16:27
  Speaker 1: like rats into their holes, and running at full speed
• 4:16:30
  Speaker 1: to the Goblin palace, announced their success to the King
• 4:16:33
  Speaker 1: and Queen with shouts of triumph. In a moment, the
• 4:16:37
  Speaker 1: Goblin royal family and the whole Goblin people were on
• 4:16:40
  Speaker 1: their way in hot haste up to the King's house,
• 4:16:43
  Speaker 1: each eager to have a share in the glory of
• 4:16:45
  Speaker 1: carrying off. That same night, the Princess Irene. The Queen
• 4:16:50
  Speaker 1: went stumping along in one shoe of stone and one
• 4:16:53
  Speaker 1: of skin. This could not have been pleasant, and my
• 4:16:56
  Speaker 1: readers may wonder that with such skillful workmen about her,
• 4:17:00
  Speaker 1: she had not yet replaced the shoe carried off by Curdie.
• 4:17:04
  Speaker 1: As the King, however, had more than one ground of
• 4:17:07
  Speaker 1: objection to her stone shoes, He no doubt took advantage
• 4:17:11
  Speaker 1: of the discovery of her toes and threatened to expose
• 4:17:14
  Speaker 1: her deformity if she had another maid. I presume he
• 4:17:18
  Speaker 1: insisted on her being content with skin shoes, and allowed
• 4:17:21
  Speaker 1: her to wear the remaining granite one on the present occasion,
• 4:17:25
  Speaker 1: only because she was going out to war. They soon
• 4:17:28
  Speaker 1: arrived in the King's wine cellar, and, regardless of its
• 4:17:31
  Speaker 1: huge vessels, which they did not know the use, proceeded
• 4:17:35
  Speaker 1: at once but as quietly as they could, to force
• 4:17:38
  Speaker 1: the door that led upwards end of Chapter twenty six.
• 4:17:46
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty seven, The Goblins in the King's House. When
• 4:17:51
  Speaker 1: Curdie fell asleep, he began at once to dream. He
• 4:17:55
  Speaker 1: thought he was ascending the mountain side from the mouth
• 4:17:57
  Speaker 1: of the mine, whistling and singing DoD bang, when he
• 4:18:01
  Speaker 1: came upon a woman and child who had lost their way.
• 4:18:05
  Speaker 1: And from that point he went on dreaming everything that
• 4:18:07
  Speaker 1: had happened to him since he thus met the princess
• 4:18:10
  Speaker 1: and Lootie, how he had watched the goblins, how he
• 4:18:13
  Speaker 1: had been taken by them, how he had been rescued
• 4:18:16
  Speaker 1: by the princess, everything indeed until he was wounded, captured,
• 4:18:20
  Speaker 1: and imprisoned by the men at arms. And now he
• 4:18:23
  Speaker 1: thought he was lying wide awake where they had laid him,
• 4:18:26
  Speaker 1: when suddenly he heard a great thundering sound. The cobs
• 4:18:31
  Speaker 1: are coming, he said. They didn't believe a where They
• 4:18:34
  Speaker 1: told them the cobs'll be carrying off the princess from
• 4:18:37
  Speaker 1: under their stupid noses. But they shan't that they shan't.
• 4:18:42
  Speaker 1: He jumped up, as he thought, and began to dress,
• 4:18:44
  Speaker 1: but to his dismay, found that he was still lying
• 4:18:47
  Speaker 1: in bed. Now, then I will, he said, He'll goes
• 4:18:51
  Speaker 1: com up now, But yet again he found himself snug
• 4:18:55
  Speaker 1: in bed. Twenty times he tried, and twenty times he failed,
• 4:18:59
  Speaker 1: for in fact, he was not awake, only dreaming that
• 4:19:02
  Speaker 1: he was at length in an agony of despair, fancying
• 4:19:06
  Speaker 1: he heard the goblins all over the house. He gave
• 4:19:08
  Speaker 1: a great cry. Then there came, as he thought, a
• 4:19:12
  Speaker 1: hand upon the lock of his door. It opened, and
• 4:19:16
  Speaker 1: looking up he saw a lady with white hair, carrying
• 4:19:19
  Speaker 1: a silver box in her hand, enter the room. She
• 4:19:22
  Speaker 1: came to his bed, he thought, and stroked his head
• 4:19:25
  Speaker 1: and face with cool, soft hands, took the dressing from
• 4:19:28
  Speaker 1: his leg, rubbed it with something that smelt like roses,
• 4:19:32
  Speaker 1: and then waved her hands over him three times. At
• 4:19:36
  Speaker 1: the last wave of her hands, everything vanished. He felt
• 4:19:40
  Speaker 1: himself sinking into the profoundest slumber, and remembered nothing more
• 4:19:44
  Speaker 1: until he woke in earnest. The setting moon was throwing
• 4:19:48
  Speaker 1: a feeble light through the casement, and the house was
• 4:19:51
  Speaker 1: full of uproar. There was a soft, heavy, multitudinous stamping,
• 4:19:55
  Speaker 1: a clashing and clanging of weapons, the voices of men
• 4:19:59
  Speaker 1: and the cries of women mixed with a hideous bellowing
• 4:20:02
  Speaker 1: which sounded victorious. The cobs were in the house. He
• 4:20:06
  Speaker 1: sprang from his bed, hurried on some of his clothes,
• 4:20:09
  Speaker 1: not forgetting his shoes, which were armed with nails. Then
• 4:20:13
  Speaker 1: spying an old hunting knife or short sword hanging on
• 4:20:16
  Speaker 1: the wall, he caught it and rushed down the stairs
• 4:20:19
  Speaker 1: guided by the sounds of strife, which grew louder and louder.
• 4:20:23
  Speaker 1: When he reached the ground floor, he found the whole
• 4:20:26
  Speaker 1: place swarming. All the goblins of the mountain seemed gathered there.
• 4:20:30
  Speaker 1: He rushed amongst them, shouting one, two, hit and hew, three, four,
• 4:20:35
  Speaker 1: blast and moore, And with every rhyme he came down
• 4:20:38
  Speaker 1: a great stamp upon a foot, cutting at the same
• 4:20:40
  Speaker 1: time their faces, executing, indeed a sword dance of the
• 4:20:44
  Speaker 1: wildest description. Away scattered the goblins in every direction, into closets, upstairs,
• 4:20:50
  Speaker 1: into chimneys, up on rafters, and down to the cellars.
• 4:20:54
  Speaker 1: Curdie went on stamping and slashing and singing, but saw
• 4:20:58
  Speaker 1: nothing of the people of the house until he came
• 4:21:00
  Speaker 1: to the great hall, in which the moment he entered
• 4:21:03
  Speaker 1: it arose a great goblin shout the last of the
• 4:21:07
  Speaker 1: men at arms. The captain himself was on the floor,
• 4:21:10
  Speaker 1: buried beneath a wallowing crowd of goblins. For while each
• 4:21:15
  Speaker 1: knight was busy defending himself as well he could by
• 4:21:18
  Speaker 1: stabs in the thick bodies of the goblins, for he
• 4:21:21
  Speaker 1: had soon found their heads all but invulnerable. The queen
• 4:21:24
  Speaker 1: had attacked his legs and feet with her horrible granite shoe,
• 4:21:28
  Speaker 1: and he was soon down, But the captain had got
• 4:21:32
  Speaker 1: his back to the wall and stood out longer. The
• 4:21:34
  Speaker 1: goblins would have torn them all to pieces, but the
• 4:21:37
  Speaker 1: king had given orders to carry them away alive and
• 4:21:41
  Speaker 1: over each of them in twelve groups, was standing a
• 4:21:43
  Speaker 1: knot of goblins, while as many as could find room
• 4:21:46
  Speaker 1: were sitting upon their prostrate bodies. Curdie burst in, dancing
• 4:21:51
  Speaker 1: and gyrating and stamping and singing like a small incarnate whirlwind.
• 4:21:56
  Speaker 1: Where tis all the hold, Sir? Never can be holes?
• 4:21:59
  Speaker 1: Why should their shoes have soles, Sir, when they've got
• 4:22:01
  Speaker 1: no soles? But she upon her foot, Sir, has a
• 4:22:04
  Speaker 1: granite shoe, the strongest leather boots. Sir six would soon
• 4:22:08
  Speaker 1: be through. The Queen gave a howl of rage and dismay,
• 4:22:12
  Speaker 1: and before she recovered her presence of mind, Curdie, having
• 4:22:15
  Speaker 1: begun with the group nearest him, had eleven of the
• 4:22:18
  Speaker 1: knights on their legs again stamp on their feet. He
• 4:22:22
  Speaker 1: cried as each man rose, and in a few minutes
• 4:22:24
  Speaker 1: the hall was nearly empty, the goblins running from it
• 4:22:28
  Speaker 1: as fast as they could, howling and shrieking and limping
• 4:22:31
  Speaker 1: and cowering every now and then as they ran to
• 4:22:33
  Speaker 1: cuddle their wounded feet in their hard hands, or to
• 4:22:36
  Speaker 1: protect them from the frightful stamps stamp of the armed men.
• 4:22:41
  Speaker 1: And now Curdie approached the group, which, in trusting in
• 4:22:44
  Speaker 1: the queen and her shoe, kept their guard over the
• 4:22:47
  Speaker 1: prostrate captain. The king sat upon the captain's head, but
• 4:22:51
  Speaker 1: the Queen stood in front like an infuriated cat, with
• 4:22:54
  Speaker 1: her perpendicular eyes gleaming green, and her hair standing half
• 4:22:59
  Speaker 1: up from her worried head. Her heart was quaking, however,
• 4:23:03
  Speaker 1: and she kept moving about her skin shod foot with
• 4:23:06
  Speaker 1: nervous apprehension. When Curdie was within a few paces, she
• 4:23:10
  Speaker 1: rushed at him, made one tremendous stamp at his opposing foot,
• 4:23:14
  Speaker 1: which happily he withdrew in time, and caught him round
• 4:23:17
  Speaker 1: the waist to dash him on the marble floor. But
• 4:23:20
  Speaker 1: just as she caught him, he came down with all
• 4:23:22
  Speaker 1: the weight of his iron shod shoe upon her skin
• 4:23:25
  Speaker 1: shod foot, and with a hideous howl, she dropped him,
• 4:23:29
  Speaker 1: squatted on the floor, and took her foot in both
• 4:23:31
  Speaker 1: her hands. Meanwhile, the rest rushed on the king, and
• 4:23:35
  Speaker 1: the bodyguard sent them flying and lifted the prostrate captain,
• 4:23:39
  Speaker 1: who was all but pressed to death. It was some
• 4:23:41
  Speaker 1: moments before he recovered breath and consciousness. Where's the princess,
• 4:23:47
  Speaker 1: cried Curdie again and again no one knew, and off
• 4:23:51
  Speaker 1: they all rushed in search of her. Through every room
• 4:23:54
  Speaker 1: in the house they went, but nowhere was she to
• 4:23:57
  Speaker 1: be found. Neither was one of the servants be seen.
• 4:24:01
  Speaker 1: But Curdie, who had kept to the lower part of
• 4:24:03
  Speaker 1: the house, which was now quiet enough, began to hear
• 4:24:06
  Speaker 1: a confused sound, as of a distant hubbub, and set
• 4:24:09
  Speaker 1: out to find out where it came from. The noise
• 4:24:12
  Speaker 1: grew as his sharp ears guided him to a stair,
• 4:24:15
  Speaker 1: and so to the wine cellar. It was full of goblins,
• 4:24:19
  Speaker 1: whom the butler was supplying with wine as fast as
• 4:24:22
  Speaker 1: he could draw it. While the queen and her party
• 4:24:25
  Speaker 1: had encountered the men at arms, Harelip with another company,
• 4:24:28
  Speaker 1: had gone off to search the house. They captured everyone
• 4:24:31
  Speaker 1: they met, and when they could find no more, they
• 4:24:34
  Speaker 1: hurried away to carry them safe to the caverns below.
• 4:24:37
  Speaker 1: But when the butler, who was amongst them, found that
• 4:24:40
  Speaker 1: their path lay through the wine cellar. He bethought himself
• 4:24:43
  Speaker 1: of persuading them to taste the wine, and as he
• 4:24:46
  Speaker 1: had hoped, they no sooner tasted than they wanted more.
• 4:24:50
  Speaker 1: The routed goblins on their way below joined them, and
• 4:24:53
  Speaker 1: when Curdie entered, they were all with out stretched hands,
• 4:24:57
  Speaker 1: in which were vessels of every description, from saucepan the
• 4:25:00
  Speaker 1: silver cup, pressing round the butler, who sat at the
• 4:25:03
  Speaker 1: top of a huge cask, filling and filling. Curdie cast
• 4:25:07
  Speaker 1: one glance around the place before commencing his attack, and
• 4:25:11
  Speaker 1: saw in the farthest corner a terrified group of the domestics,
• 4:25:14
  Speaker 1: unwatched but cowering without the courage to attempt their escape.
• 4:25:19
  Speaker 1: Among them was the terror stricken face of Lootie. But
• 4:25:22
  Speaker 1: nowhere could he see the princess, seized with the horrible
• 4:25:25
  Speaker 1: conviction that Harelip had already carried her off. He rushed
• 4:25:29
  Speaker 1: amongst them, unable for wrath to sing any more, but
• 4:25:32
  Speaker 1: stamping and cutting with greater fury than ever, Stamp on
• 4:25:37
  Speaker 1: their feet. Stamp on their feet, he shouted, and in
• 4:25:40
  Speaker 1: a moment the goblins were disappearing through the hole in
• 4:25:43
  Speaker 1: the floor like rats. And mice. They could not vanish
• 4:25:47
  Speaker 1: so fast, however, but that many more goblin feet had
• 4:25:50
  Speaker 1: to go limping back over the underground ways of the
• 4:25:53
  Speaker 1: mountain That morning. Presently, however, they were reinforced from above
• 4:25:57
  Speaker 1: by the King and his party, with the redoubtable Queen
• 4:26:00
  Speaker 1: at their head. Finding Curdie again busy among her unfortunate subjects,
• 4:26:05
  Speaker 1: she rushed at him once more with the rage of despair,
• 4:26:08
  Speaker 1: and this time gave him a bad bruise on the foot.
• 4:26:11
  Speaker 1: Then a regular stamping fight got up between them, Curdie
• 4:26:15
  Speaker 1: with the point of his hunting knife keeping her from
• 4:26:18
  Speaker 1: clasping her mighty arms about him as he watched his
• 4:26:21
  Speaker 1: opportunity of getting once more a good stamp at her
• 4:26:24
  Speaker 1: skin shod foot. But the Queen was more wary as
• 4:26:28
  Speaker 1: well as more agile than hitherto the rest. Meantime, finding
• 4:26:33
  Speaker 1: their adversary thus matched for the moment, paused in their
• 4:26:36
  Speaker 1: headlong hurry, and turned to the shivering group of women
• 4:26:39
  Speaker 1: in the corner. As if determined to emulate his father
• 4:26:43
  Speaker 1: and have a sun woman of some sort to share
• 4:26:45
  Speaker 1: his future throne. Harelip rushed at them, caught up Lootie
• 4:26:49
  Speaker 1: and sped with her to the hole. She gave a
• 4:26:52
  Speaker 1: great shriek, and Curdie heard her and saw the plight
• 4:26:55
  Speaker 1: she was in. Gathering all his strength, he gave the
• 4:26:58
  Speaker 1: queen a sudden cut across the face with his weapon,
• 4:27:01
  Speaker 1: came down as she started back with all his weight
• 4:27:04
  Speaker 1: on the proper foot, and sprang to Lootie's rescue. The
• 4:27:08
  Speaker 1: prince had two defenseless feet, and on both of them
• 4:27:11
  Speaker 1: Curdie stamped. Just as he reached the hole, he dropped
• 4:27:14
  Speaker 1: his burden and rolled, shrieking into the earth. Curdie made
• 4:27:18
  Speaker 1: one stab at him as he disappeared, caught hold of
• 4:27:21
  Speaker 1: the senseless Lootie, and having dragged her back to the
• 4:27:24
  Speaker 1: corner there, mounted guard over her, preparing once more to
• 4:27:28
  Speaker 1: encounter the queen. Her face streaming with blood and her
• 4:27:32
  Speaker 1: eyes flashing green lightning through it. She came on with
• 4:27:35
  Speaker 1: her mouth open and her teeth grinning like a tiger's,
• 4:27:39
  Speaker 1: followed by the king and her bodyguard of the thickest goblins.
• 4:27:43
  Speaker 1: But the same moment in rushed the captain and his
• 4:27:45
  Speaker 1: men and ran at them, stamping furiously. They dared not
• 4:27:49
  Speaker 1: encounter such an onset away. They scurried the queen foremost,
• 4:27:54
  Speaker 1: of course, the right thing would have been to take
• 4:27:56
  Speaker 1: the King and queen prisoners and hold them hostages for
• 4:27:59
  Speaker 1: the prince. Yes, but they were so anxious to find
• 4:28:02
  Speaker 1: her that no one thought of detaining them until it
• 4:28:04
  Speaker 1: was too late. Having thus rescued the servants, they set
• 4:28:08
  Speaker 1: about searching the house once more. None of them could
• 4:28:11
  Speaker 1: give the least information concerning the princess. Lootie was almost
• 4:28:16
  Speaker 1: silly with terror, and although scarcely able to walk, would
• 4:28:19
  Speaker 1: not leave Curdie's side for a single moment. Again. He
• 4:28:23
  Speaker 1: allowed the others to search the rest of the house,
• 4:28:26
  Speaker 1: where except a dismayed goblin lurking here and there, they
• 4:28:29
  Speaker 1: found no one. While he requested Lootie to take him
• 4:28:32
  Speaker 1: to the princess's room, she was as submissive and obedient
• 4:28:36
  Speaker 1: as if he had been the king. He found the
• 4:28:39
  Speaker 1: bedclothes tossed about, and most of them on the floor,
• 4:28:42
  Speaker 1: while the princess's garments were scattered all over the room,
• 4:28:45
  Speaker 1: which was in the greatest confusion. It was only too
• 4:28:48
  Speaker 1: evident that the goblins had been there, and Curdie had
• 4:28:52
  Speaker 1: no longer any doubt that she had been carried off
• 4:28:54
  Speaker 1: at the very first of the inroad. With a pang
• 4:28:58
  Speaker 1: of despair, he saw how wrong they had been in
• 4:29:00
  Speaker 1: not securing the King and Queen and prince. But he
• 4:29:03
  Speaker 1: determined to find and rescue the princess as she had
• 4:29:07
  Speaker 1: found and rescued him, or beat the worst fate to
• 4:29:10
  Speaker 1: which the goblins could doom him. End of Chapter twenty seven,
• 4:29:19
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty eight, Curdie's Guide. Just as the consolation of
• 4:29:24
  Speaker 1: this resolve dawned upon his mind, and he was turning
• 4:29:27
  Speaker 1: away for the cellar to follow the goblins into their hole,
• 4:29:30
  Speaker 1: something touched his hand. It was the slightest touch, and
• 4:29:34
  Speaker 1: when he looked he could see nothing. Feeling and peering
• 4:29:38
  Speaker 1: about in the gray of the dawn, his fingers came
• 4:29:41
  Speaker 1: upon a tight thread. He looked again and narrowly, but
• 4:29:44
  Speaker 1: still could see nothing. It flashed upon him that this
• 4:29:48
  Speaker 1: must be the princess's thread. Without saying a word, for
• 4:29:52
  Speaker 1: he knew no one would believe him any more than
• 4:29:54
  Speaker 1: he had believed the princess. He followed the thread with
• 4:29:57
  Speaker 1: his finger, contrived to give Lootie the s and was
• 4:30:01
  Speaker 1: soon out of the house and on the mountain side.
• 4:30:03
  Speaker 1: Surprised that if the thread were indeed the grandmother's messenger.
• 4:30:07
  Speaker 1: It should have led the princess, as he supposed it
• 4:30:09
  Speaker 1: must into the mountain, where she would be certain to
• 4:30:12
  Speaker 1: meet the goblins rushing back enrage from their defeat. But
• 4:30:16
  Speaker 1: he hurried on in the hope of overtaking her first.
• 4:30:20
  Speaker 1: When he arrived, however, at the place where the path
• 4:30:23
  Speaker 1: turned off for the mine, he found that the thread
• 4:30:26
  Speaker 1: did not turn with it, but went straight up the mountain.
• 4:30:30
  Speaker 1: Could it be that the thread was leading him home
• 4:30:32
  Speaker 1: to his mother's cottage. Could the princess be there? He
• 4:30:36
  Speaker 1: bounded up the mountain like one of its own goats,
• 4:30:39
  Speaker 1: and before the sun was up, the thread had brought
• 4:30:42
  Speaker 1: him indeed to his mother's door. There it vanished from
• 4:30:45
  Speaker 1: his fingers, and he could not find it such as
• 4:30:48
  Speaker 1: he might. The door was on the latch, and he entered.
• 4:30:52
  Speaker 1: There sat his mother by the fire, and in her
• 4:30:55
  Speaker 1: arms lay the princess, fast asleep. Hush Kharadi said his mother,
• 4:31:00
  Speaker 1: do not weake her. I'm so glad you've come. I
• 4:31:03
  Speaker 1: thought the cobs must have got you again. With a
• 4:31:06
  Speaker 1: heart full of delight, Curdie sat down at a corner
• 4:31:09
  Speaker 1: of the hearth, on a stool opposite his mother's chair,
• 4:31:12
  Speaker 1: and gazed at the princess, who slept as peacefully as
• 4:31:16
  Speaker 1: if she had been in her own bed. All at once,
• 4:31:19
  Speaker 1: she opened her eyes and fixed them on him. Oh, Curdie,
• 4:31:23
  Speaker 1: you've come, she said quietly. I thought you would. Curdie
• 4:31:28
  Speaker 1: rose and stood before her with downcast eyes. HARENI, he said,
• 4:31:33
  Speaker 1: I'm very sorry. I did not believe you. Only ever mind,
• 4:31:37
  Speaker 1: Curdie answered the princess. You couldn't you know? You do
• 4:31:41
  Speaker 1: believe me, now, don't you. I can't help it now.
• 4:31:45
  Speaker 1: I ought to have helped it before. Why can't you
• 4:31:48
  Speaker 1: help it now? Because just as I was going into
• 4:31:52
  Speaker 1: the mountain to look for you, I got hold of
• 4:31:54
  Speaker 1: your thread and he brought me here. Then you've come
• 4:31:57
  Speaker 1: from my house, have you? Yes? I have. I didn't
• 4:32:01
  Speaker 1: know you were there. I've been two or three days,
• 4:32:05
  Speaker 1: I believe, and I never knew it. Then, perhaps you
• 4:32:09
  Speaker 1: can tell me why my grandmother has brought me here.
• 4:32:12
  Speaker 1: I can't think. Something woke me. I don't know what,
• 4:32:15
  Speaker 1: but I was frightened and I felt for the thread,
• 4:32:18
  Speaker 1: and there it was. I was more frightened still when
• 4:32:21
  Speaker 1: it brought me out on the mountain, for I thought
• 4:32:23
  Speaker 1: it was going to take me into it again, and
• 4:32:25
  Speaker 1: I liked the outside of it best. I supposed you
• 4:32:29
  Speaker 1: were in trouble again and I had to get you out,
• 4:32:32
  Speaker 1: but it brought me here instead. And oh, Curdie, your
• 4:32:35
  Speaker 1: mother has been so kind to me, just like my
• 4:32:38
  Speaker 1: own grandmother. Here, Curdie's mother gave the princess a hug,
• 4:32:42
  Speaker 1: and the princess turned and gave her a sweet smile
• 4:32:45
  Speaker 1: and held up her mouth to kiss her. Then you
• 4:32:48
  Speaker 1: didn't see the cobs, asked Curdie. No, I haven't been
• 4:32:53
  Speaker 1: into the mountain. I told you, Curdie, But the cobs
• 4:32:56
  Speaker 1: have been into your house, all over it and into
• 4:32:58
  Speaker 1: your bedroom, making such a row. What did they want there?
• 4:33:02
  Speaker 1: It was very rude of them. They wanted you to
• 4:33:06
  Speaker 1: carry you off into the mountain with them for a
• 4:33:08
  Speaker 1: wife to their prince Harelip. Oh, how dreadful, cried the princess, shuddering.
• 4:33:14
  Speaker 1: But you needn't be afraid. You know your grandmother takes
• 4:33:17
  Speaker 1: care of you. Ah, you do believe in my grandmother. Then,
• 4:33:22
  Speaker 1: I am so glad she made me think you would
• 4:33:24
  Speaker 1: some day. All at once, Curdie remembered his dream and
• 4:33:28
  Speaker 1: was silent, thinking, but how did you come to be
• 4:33:32
  Speaker 1: in my house and me not know it, asked the princess.
• 4:33:36
  Speaker 1: Then Curdie had to explain everything, how he had watched
• 4:33:39
  Speaker 1: for her sake, how he had been wounded and shut
• 4:33:42
  Speaker 1: up by the soldiers, how he heard the noises and
• 4:33:44
  Speaker 1: could not rise, and how the beautiful old lady had
• 4:33:47
  Speaker 1: come to him and all that followed. Poor Curdie to
• 4:33:51
  Speaker 1: lie there, hurt and ill, and me never to know it,
• 4:33:54
  Speaker 1: exclaimed the princess, stroking his rough hand. I would have
• 4:33:58
  Speaker 1: come and nursed you if they had told me it
• 4:34:01
  Speaker 1: didn't see you are a lame, said his mother. Am
• 4:34:04
  Speaker 1: my mother, Yes, I suppose I ought to be. I declare,
• 4:34:08
  Speaker 1: I've never thought of it since I got up to
• 4:34:10
  Speaker 1: go down among the cobbs. Let me see the wound,
• 4:34:14
  Speaker 1: said his mother. He pulled down his stocking when behold,
• 4:34:18
  Speaker 1: except a great scar, his leg was perfectly sound. Curdie
• 4:34:22
  Speaker 1: and his mother gazed in each other's eyes, full of wonder.
• 4:34:26
  Speaker 1: But Irene called out, I thought, so, Curdie, I'm sure
• 4:34:30
  Speaker 1: it wasn't a dream. I'm sure my grandmother has been
• 4:34:32
  Speaker 1: to see you. Don't you smell the roses? It was
• 4:34:35
  Speaker 1: my grandmother healed your leg and sent you to help me. No, Princess, Irene,
• 4:34:41
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. I wasn't good enough to be allowed to
• 4:34:44
  Speaker 1: help you. I didn't believe you. Your old grandmother took
• 4:34:48
  Speaker 1: care of you without me. She sent you to help
• 4:34:51
  Speaker 1: my people. Anyhow, I wish my king Papa would come.
• 4:34:54
  Speaker 1: I do so want to tell him how good you've been.
• 4:34:57
  Speaker 1: But said the mother, we're forgetting, how frightened your people
• 4:35:02
  Speaker 1: must be. You must take the princess home at once, Curdie,
• 4:35:05
  Speaker 1: or at least go and tell them where she is. Yes, mother, only,
• 4:35:09
  Speaker 1: I'm dreadfully hungry. Do let me have some breakfast. First.
• 4:35:13
  Speaker 1: They ought to have listened to me, and then they
• 4:35:14
  Speaker 1: wouldn't have been taken by surprise as they were. That
• 4:35:18
  Speaker 1: is true, Curdie. But it's not for you to blame
• 4:35:20
  Speaker 1: them much, you remember, Yes, mother, I do. Only I
• 4:35:25
  Speaker 1: must really have something to eat. You shall, my boy,
• 4:35:28
  Speaker 1: as fast as I can get it, said his mother,
• 4:35:31
  Speaker 1: rising and setting the princess on her chair. But before
• 4:35:34
  Speaker 1: his breakfast was ready, Curdie jumped up so suddenly as
• 4:35:37
  Speaker 1: to startle both his companions. Mother mother, he cried, I
• 4:35:42
  Speaker 1: was forgetting. You must take the princess home yourself. I
• 4:35:45
  Speaker 1: must go and wake my father. Without a word of explanation,
• 4:35:49
  Speaker 1: he rushed to the place where his father was sleeping.
• 4:35:52
  Speaker 1: Having thoroughly roused him with what he told him, he
• 4:35:55
  Speaker 1: darted out of the cottage en chapter twenty eight, Chapter
• 4:36:03
  Speaker 1: twenty nine mason work. He had all at once remembered
• 4:36:09
  Speaker 1: the resolution of the goblins to carry out their second
• 4:36:11
  Speaker 1: plan upon the failure of the first. No doubt they
• 4:36:15
  Speaker 1: were already busy, and the mine was therefore in the
• 4:36:17
  Speaker 1: greatest danger of being flooded and rendered useless, not to
• 4:36:21
  Speaker 1: speak of the lives of the miners. When he reached
• 4:36:24
  Speaker 1: the mouth of the mine, after rousing all the miners
• 4:36:27
  Speaker 1: within reach, he found his father and a good many
• 4:36:30
  Speaker 1: more just entering. They all hurried to the gang by
• 4:36:33
  Speaker 1: which he had found the way into the Goblin country. There,
• 4:36:37
  Speaker 1: the foresight of Peter had already collected a great many
• 4:36:40
  Speaker 1: blocks of stone with cement ready for building up the
• 4:36:43
  Speaker 1: weak place well enough known to the goblins. Although there
• 4:36:47
  Speaker 1: was not room for more than two to be actually
• 4:36:49
  Speaker 1: building at once, they managed by setting all the rest
• 4:36:52
  Speaker 1: to work in preparing the cement and passing the stones,
• 4:36:56
  Speaker 1: to finish in the course of the day a huge buttress,
• 4:36:58
  Speaker 1: filling the whole gang and supported everywhere by the live rock.
• 4:37:02
  Speaker 1: Before the hour when they usually dropped work, they were
• 4:37:05
  Speaker 1: satisfied that the mine was secure. They had heard goblin
• 4:37:09
  Speaker 1: hammers and pickaxes busy all the time, and at length fancied.
• 4:37:13
  Speaker 1: They heard sounds of water they had never heard before,
• 4:37:17
  Speaker 1: but that was otherwise accounted for when they left the mine,
• 4:37:20
  Speaker 1: for they stepped out into a tremendous storm which was
• 4:37:23
  Speaker 1: raging all over the mountain. The thunder was bellowing, and
• 4:37:27
  Speaker 1: the lightning lancing out of a huge black cloud which
• 4:37:30
  Speaker 1: lay above it and hung down its edges of thick
• 4:37:32
  Speaker 1: mist over its sides. The lightning was breaking out of
• 4:37:36
  Speaker 1: the mountain too, and flashing up into the cloud. From
• 4:37:40
  Speaker 1: the state of the brooks now swollen into raging torrents.
• 4:37:44
  Speaker 1: It was evident that the storm had been storming all day.
• 4:37:48
  Speaker 1: The wind was blowing as it would blow him off
• 4:37:50
  Speaker 1: the mountain. But anxious about his mother and the Princess,
• 4:37:54
  Speaker 1: Curdie darted up through the thick of the tempest. Even
• 4:37:57
  Speaker 1: if they had not set out before the storm came on,
• 4:38:00
  Speaker 1: he did not judge them safe, for in such a storm,
• 4:38:03
  Speaker 1: even their poor little house was in danger. Indeed, he
• 4:38:07
  Speaker 1: soon found that but for a huge rock against which
• 4:38:10
  Speaker 1: it was built, and which protected it both from the
• 4:38:12
  Speaker 1: blasts and the waters, it must have been swept. If
• 4:38:15
  Speaker 1: it was not blown away, for the two torrents into
• 4:38:18
  Speaker 1: which this rock parted, the rush of water behind it
• 4:38:21
  Speaker 1: united again in front of the cottage, two roaring and
• 4:38:24
  Speaker 1: dangerous streams, which his mother and the princess could not
• 4:38:28
  Speaker 1: possibly have passed. It was with great difficulty that he
• 4:38:32
  Speaker 1: forced his way through one of them and up to
• 4:38:34
  Speaker 1: the door. The moment his hand fell on the latch,
• 4:38:38
  Speaker 1: through all the uproar of winds and waters came the
• 4:38:41
  Speaker 1: joyous cry of the princess. There's Curdie, Curdie, Curdie. She
• 4:38:47
  Speaker 1: was sitting wrapped in blankets on the bed his mother,
• 4:38:50
  Speaker 1: trying for the hundredth time to light the fire, which
• 4:38:53
  Speaker 1: had been drowned by the rain that came down the chimney.
• 4:38:56
  Speaker 1: The clay floor was one mass of mud, and the
• 4:38:59
  Speaker 1: whole place looked wretched. But the faces of the mother
• 4:39:02
  Speaker 1: and the princess shone as if their troubles only made
• 4:39:05
  Speaker 1: them the merrier. Curdie burst out laughing at the sight
• 4:39:09
  Speaker 1: of them. I never had such fun, said the princess,
• 4:39:13
  Speaker 1: her eyes twinkling and her pretty teeth shining. How nice
• 4:39:17
  Speaker 1: it must be to live in a cottage on the mountain.
• 4:39:19
  Speaker 1: It only depends on what kind your inside houses, said
• 4:39:24
  Speaker 1: the mother. I know what you mean, said Irene. That's
• 4:39:28
  Speaker 1: the kind of thing my grandmother says. By the time
• 4:39:32
  Speaker 1: Peter returned, the storm was nearly over, but the streams
• 4:39:35
  Speaker 1: were so fierce and so swollen that it was not
• 4:39:38
  Speaker 1: only out of the question for the princess to go
• 4:39:41
  Speaker 1: down the mountain, but most dangerous for Peter even or
• 4:39:44
  Speaker 1: Curdie to make the attempt. In the gathering darkness. They
• 4:39:48
  Speaker 1: will be dreadfully frightened about you, said Peter to the princess.
• 4:39:52
  Speaker 1: But we cannot help it. We must wait till the morrning.
• 4:39:56
  Speaker 1: With Curdie's help, the fire was lighted at last, and
• 4:39:59
  Speaker 1: the mother set about making their supper. And after supper
• 4:40:02
  Speaker 1: they all told the princess stories till she grew sleepy.
• 4:40:06
  Speaker 1: Then Curdie's mother laid her in Curdie's bed, which was
• 4:40:09
  Speaker 1: in a tiny little garret room. As soon as she
• 4:40:12
  Speaker 1: was in bed, through a little window low down in
• 4:40:15
  Speaker 1: the roof, she caught sight of her grandmother's lamp shining
• 4:40:19
  Speaker 1: far away beneath, and she gazed at the beautiful, silvery
• 4:40:22
  Speaker 1: globe until she fell asleep. End of Chapter twenty nine,
• 4:40:31
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty, The King and the Kiss. The next morning,
• 4:40:36
  Speaker 1: the sun rose so bright that Irene said the rain
• 4:40:39
  Speaker 1: had washed his face and let the light out clean.
• 4:40:42
  Speaker 1: The torrents were still roaring down the side of the mountain,
• 4:40:45
  Speaker 1: but they were so much smaller as not to be
• 4:40:47
  Speaker 1: dangerous in the daylight. After an early breakfast, Peter went
• 4:40:51
  Speaker 1: to his work, and Curdie and his mother set out
• 4:40:54
  Speaker 1: to take the princess home. They had difficulty in getting
• 4:40:58
  Speaker 1: her dry across the streams, and Curdie had again and
• 4:41:01
  Speaker 1: again to carry her, but at last they got safe
• 4:41:05
  Speaker 1: on the broader part of the road and walked gently
• 4:41:08
  Speaker 1: down towards the King's house. And what should they see
• 4:41:11
  Speaker 1: as they turned the last corner but the last of
• 4:41:14
  Speaker 1: the King's troop riding through the gate. Oh, Curdie, cried Irene,
• 4:41:19
  Speaker 1: clapping her hands right joyfully, My King Papa is come.
• 4:41:23
  Speaker 1: The moment Curdie heard that, he caught her up in
• 4:41:26
  Speaker 1: his arms and set off at full speed, crying, come on,
• 4:41:29
  Speaker 1: mother Adar, the king may break his heart before he
• 4:41:32
  Speaker 1: knows that she is safe. Irene clung round his neck,
• 4:41:36
  Speaker 1: and he ran with her like a deer. When he
• 4:41:39
  Speaker 1: entered the gate into the court, there sat the king
• 4:41:42
  Speaker 1: on his horse, with all the people of the house
• 4:41:44
  Speaker 1: about him, weeping and hanging their heads. The king was
• 4:41:48
  Speaker 1: not weeping, but his face was as white as a
• 4:41:51
  Speaker 1: dead man's, and he looked as if the life had
• 4:41:54
  Speaker 1: gone out of him. The men at arms he had
• 4:41:56
  Speaker 1: brought with him sat with horror stricken faces but eyes
• 4:42:00
  Speaker 1: flashing with rage, waiting only for the word of the
• 4:42:03
  Speaker 1: king to do something. They did not know what, and
• 4:42:06
  Speaker 1: nobody knew what. The day before, the men at arms
• 4:42:10
  Speaker 1: belonging to the house, as soon as they were satisfied
• 4:42:13
  Speaker 1: the princess had been carried away, rushed after the goblins
• 4:42:16
  Speaker 1: into the hole, but found that they had already so
• 4:42:19
  Speaker 1: skillfully blockaded the narrowest part, not many feet below the cellar,
• 4:42:24
  Speaker 1: that without miners and their tools, they could do nothing.
• 4:42:27
  Speaker 1: Not one of them knew where the mouth of the
• 4:42:29
  Speaker 1: mine lay, and some of those who had set out
• 4:42:32
  Speaker 1: to find it had been overtaken by the storm and
• 4:42:35
  Speaker 1: had not even yet returned poor Sir Walter was especially
• 4:42:39
  Speaker 1: filled with shame, and almost hoped the King would order
• 4:42:43
  Speaker 1: his head to be cut off, for to think of
• 4:42:45
  Speaker 1: that sweet little face down among the goblins was unendurable.
• 4:42:50
  Speaker 1: When Curdie ran in at the gate with the princess
• 4:42:52
  Speaker 1: in his arms, they were all so absorbed in their
• 4:42:55
  Speaker 1: own misery and awed by the king's presence and grief,
• 4:42:59
  Speaker 1: that no one observed his arrival. He went straight up
• 4:43:02
  Speaker 1: to the king, where he sat on his horse. Papa, Papa,
• 4:43:06
  Speaker 1: the princess cried, stretching out her arms to him. Here
• 4:43:10
  Speaker 1: I am, the king started. The color rushed to his face.
• 4:43:15
  Speaker 1: He gave an inarticulate cry. Curdie held up the princess,
• 4:43:19
  Speaker 1: and the King bent down and took her from his arms.
• 4:43:22
  Speaker 1: As he clasped her to his bosom, the big tears
• 4:43:25
  Speaker 1: went dropping down his cheeks and his beard, and such
• 4:43:29
  Speaker 1: a shout arose from all the bystanders that the startled
• 4:43:33
  Speaker 1: horses pranced and capered, and the armor rang and clattered,
• 4:43:37
  Speaker 1: and the rocks of the mountain echoed back the noises.
• 4:43:40
  Speaker 1: The princess greeted them all as she nestled in her
• 4:43:43
  Speaker 1: father's bosom, and the king did not set her down
• 4:43:47
  Speaker 1: until she had told them all the story. But she
• 4:43:50
  Speaker 1: had more to tell about Curdie than about herself, and
• 4:43:53
  Speaker 1: what she did tell about herself none of them could understand,
• 4:43:57
  Speaker 1: except the King and Curdie, who stood by the king
• 4:44:00
  Speaker 1: King's knee, stroking the neck of the great white horse,
• 4:44:03
  Speaker 1: and still as she told what Curdie had done. Sir
• 4:44:06
  Speaker 1: Walter and others added to what she told, even Lootie
• 4:44:10
  Speaker 1: joining in the praises of his courage and energy. Curdie
• 4:44:14
  Speaker 1: held his peace, looking quietly up in the King's face,
• 4:44:18
  Speaker 1: and his mother stood on the outskirts of the crowd,
• 4:44:21
  Speaker 1: listening with delight, for her son's deeds were pleasant in
• 4:44:24
  Speaker 1: her ears. Until the princess caught sight of her. And
• 4:44:29
  Speaker 1: there is his mother, King Papa, She said, see there,
• 4:44:33
  Speaker 1: she's such a nice mother and has been so kind
• 4:44:36
  Speaker 1: to me. They all parted asunder. As the King made
• 4:44:40
  Speaker 1: a sign for her to come forward. She obeyed, and
• 4:44:43
  Speaker 1: he gave her his hand, but could not speak. And
• 4:44:47
  Speaker 1: now King Papa, the princess went on, I must tell
• 4:44:50
  Speaker 1: you another thing. One night long ago, Curdie drove the
• 4:44:54
  Speaker 1: goblins away and brought Lootie and me safe from the mountains,
• 4:44:58
  Speaker 1: and I promised him a kiss when he got home,
• 4:45:00
  Speaker 1: but Lootie wouldn't let me give it him. I don't
• 4:45:03
  Speaker 1: want you to scold Lootie, but I want you to
• 4:45:06
  Speaker 1: tell her that a princess must do as she promises.
• 4:45:10
  Speaker 1: Indeed she must, my child, except it be wrong, said
• 4:45:14
  Speaker 1: the King. There give Curdi a kiss. And as he spoke,
• 4:45:19
  Speaker 1: he held her towards him. The princess reached down, threw
• 4:45:23
  Speaker 1: her arms round Curdie's neck, and kissed him on the mouth, saying, there, Curdie,
• 4:45:27
  Speaker 1: there's the kiss I promised you. Then they all went
• 4:45:31
  Speaker 1: into the house, and the cook rushed to the kitchen,
• 4:45:34
  Speaker 1: and the servants their work. Lootie dressed Irene in her
• 4:45:38
  Speaker 1: shiningest clothes, and the king put off his armor and
• 4:45:41
  Speaker 1: put on purple and gold. And a messenger was sent
• 4:45:45
  Speaker 1: for Peter and all the miners. And there was a
• 4:45:47
  Speaker 1: great and grand feast which continued long after the princess
• 4:45:51
  Speaker 1: was put to bed. End of chapter thirty Chapter thirty one,
• 4:46:00
  Speaker 1: The Subterranean Waters. The king's harpist, who always formed a
• 4:46:05
  Speaker 1: part of his escort, was chanting a ballad which he
• 4:46:08
  Speaker 1: made as he went on playing on his instrument about
• 4:46:11
  Speaker 1: the princess and the goblins and the prowess of Curdie,
• 4:46:15
  Speaker 1: when all at once he ceased with his eyes on
• 4:46:17
  Speaker 1: one of the doors of the hall. Thereupon the eyes
• 4:46:21
  Speaker 1: of the King and his guests turned thitherward. Also. The
• 4:46:24
  Speaker 1: next moment, through the open doorway came the Princess Irene.
• 4:46:29
  Speaker 1: She went straight up to her father with her right
• 4:46:31
  Speaker 1: hand stretched out a little sideways, and her forefinger as
• 4:46:35
  Speaker 1: her father and Curdie understood, feeling its way along the
• 4:46:39
  Speaker 1: invisible thread. The King took her on his knee, and
• 4:46:42
  Speaker 1: she said in his ear, King, Papa, do you hear
• 4:46:46
  Speaker 1: that noise? I hear nothing, said the King. Listen, she said,
• 4:46:52
  Speaker 1: holding up her forefinger. The King listened, and a great
• 4:46:56
  Speaker 1: stillness fell upon the company. Each man sees that the
• 4:47:00
  Speaker 1: king listened listened also, and the harpist sat with his
• 4:47:04
  Speaker 1: heart between his arms and his finger silent upon the strings.
• 4:47:09
  Speaker 1: I do hear a noise, said the king at length,
• 4:47:13
  Speaker 1: A noise as of distant thunder. It is coming nearer
• 4:47:17
  Speaker 1: and nearer. What can it be? They all heard it now,
• 4:47:22
  Speaker 1: and each seemed ready to start to his feet as
• 4:47:24
  Speaker 1: he listened. Yet all sat perfectly still, the noise came
• 4:47:29
  Speaker 1: rapidly nearer. What can it be? Said the King again.
• 4:47:34
  Speaker 1: I think it must be another storm coming over the mountain,
• 4:47:38
  Speaker 1: said Sir Walter. Then Curdie, who at the first word
• 4:47:42
  Speaker 1: of the King had slipped from his seat and laid
• 4:47:44
  Speaker 1: his ear to the ground, rose up quickly, and, approaching
• 4:47:47
  Speaker 1: the King, said, speaking very fast, Please, your majesty, I
• 4:47:51
  Speaker 1: think I know what it is. I've no time to explain,
• 4:47:54
  Speaker 1: for that might make it too late for some of us.
• 4:47:56
  Speaker 1: Will your Majesty give orders that everybody leave the house
• 4:47:59
  Speaker 1: as quickly as possible and get up the mountain. The King,
• 4:48:03
  Speaker 1: who was the wisest man in the kingdom, knew well
• 4:48:06
  Speaker 1: that there was a time when things must be done
• 4:48:08
  Speaker 1: and questions left till afterwards. He had faith in Curdie,
• 4:48:12
  Speaker 1: and rose instantly with Irene in his arms. Every man
• 4:48:16
  Speaker 1: and woman, follow me, he said, and strode out into
• 4:48:20
  Speaker 1: the darkness. Before he had reached the gate, the noise
• 4:48:24
  Speaker 1: had grown to a great thundering roar, and the ground
• 4:48:27
  Speaker 1: trembled beneath their feet. And before the last of them
• 4:48:30
  Speaker 1: had crossed the court, out after them from the Great
• 4:48:33
  Speaker 1: Hall door came a huge rush of turbid water and
• 4:48:37
  Speaker 1: almost swept them away, but they got safe out of
• 4:48:40
  Speaker 1: the gate and up the mountain, while the torrent went
• 4:48:43
  Speaker 1: roaring down the road into the valley beneath. Curdie had
• 4:48:47
  Speaker 1: left the king and the princess to look after his mother,
• 4:48:50
  Speaker 1: whom he and his father, one on each side, caught
• 4:48:53
  Speaker 1: up when the stream overtook them, and carried safe and dry.
• 4:48:57
  Speaker 1: When the King had got out of the way of
• 4:48:59
  Speaker 1: the water up the mountain, he stood with the princess
• 4:49:02
  Speaker 1: in his arms, looking back with amazement on the issuing torrent,
• 4:49:06
  Speaker 1: which glimmered fierce and foamy through the night. There Curdie
• 4:49:10
  Speaker 1: rejoined them. Now, Curdie said the King, what does it mean?
• 4:49:16
  Speaker 1: Is this what you expected? It is, your majesty, said Curdie,
• 4:49:20
  Speaker 1: and proceeded to tell him about the second scheme of
• 4:49:23
  Speaker 1: the goblins, who, fancying the miners of more importance to
• 4:49:27
  Speaker 1: the upper world than they were, had resolved if they
• 4:49:30
  Speaker 1: should fail in carrying off the king's daughter, to flood
• 4:49:33
  Speaker 1: the mine and drown the miners. Then he explained what
• 4:49:36
  Speaker 1: the miners had done to prevent it. The goblins had,
• 4:49:40
  Speaker 1: in pursuance of their design, let loose all the underground
• 4:49:43
  Speaker 1: reservoirs and streams, expecting the water to run down into
• 4:49:47
  Speaker 1: the mine, which was lower than their part of the mountain.
• 4:49:51
  Speaker 1: For they had, as they supposed, not knowing of the
• 4:49:53
  Speaker 1: solid wall close behind, broken a passage threw into it.
• 4:49:58
  Speaker 1: But the readiest outlet the water could fin had out
• 4:50:00
  Speaker 1: to be the tunnel they had made to the King's house,
• 4:50:03
  Speaker 1: the possibility of which catastrophe had not occurred to the
• 4:50:06
  Speaker 1: young miner until he had laid his ear to the
• 4:50:09
  Speaker 1: floor of the hall. What was then to be done?
• 4:50:12
  Speaker 1: The house appeared to be in danger of falling, and
• 4:50:15
  Speaker 1: every moment the torrent was increasing. We must set out
• 4:50:19
  Speaker 1: at once, said the king. But how to get at
• 4:50:22
  Speaker 1: the horses? Shall I see if we can manage that,
• 4:50:25
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. Do, said the king. Curdie gathered the men
• 4:50:30
  Speaker 1: at arms and took them over the garden wall, and
• 4:50:33
  Speaker 1: so to the stables. They found their horses in terror.
• 4:50:36
  Speaker 1: The water was rising fast around them, and it was
• 4:50:39
  Speaker 1: quite time they were got out. But there was no
• 4:50:41
  Speaker 1: way to get them out except by riding them through
• 4:50:44
  Speaker 1: the stream, which was now pouring from the lower windows
• 4:50:47
  Speaker 1: as well as the door. As one horse was quite
• 4:50:50
  Speaker 1: enough for any man to manage through such a torrent.
• 4:50:53
  Speaker 1: Curdie got on the King's white charger, and leading the way,
• 4:50:56
  Speaker 1: brought them all in safety to the rising ground. Look, Curdie,
• 4:51:01
  Speaker 1: cried Irene, the moment that, having dismounted, he led his
• 4:51:05
  Speaker 1: horse up to the king. Curdie did look and saw
• 4:51:09
  Speaker 1: high in the air, somewhere about the top of the
• 4:51:11
  Speaker 1: King's house a great globe of light, shining like the
• 4:51:14
  Speaker 1: purest silver. Oh, he cried in some consternation. That is
• 4:51:19
  Speaker 1: your grandmother's lamp. We must get her out. I'll go
• 4:51:22
  Speaker 1: and find her. The house may fall. You know, my
• 4:51:25
  Speaker 1: grandmother is in no danger, said Irene, smiling. Here, Curdie,
• 4:51:30
  Speaker 1: take the princess while I get on my horse, said
• 4:51:33
  Speaker 1: the King. Curdie took the princess again, and both turned
• 4:51:37
  Speaker 1: their eyes to the globe of light. The same moment
• 4:51:40
  Speaker 1: there shot from it a white bird, which, descending with
• 4:51:44
  Speaker 1: outstretched wings, made one circle round the King and Curdie
• 4:51:48
  Speaker 1: and the princess, and then glided up again. The light
• 4:51:52
  Speaker 1: and the pigeon vanished together. Now, Curdie said the princess,
• 4:51:57
  Speaker 1: as he lifted her to her father's arms. You see
• 4:52:00
  Speaker 1: my grandmother knows all about it and isn't frightened. I
• 4:52:04
  Speaker 1: believe she could walk through that water and it wouldn't
• 4:52:06
  Speaker 1: wet her a bit. But my child, said the King,
• 4:52:11
  Speaker 1: you will be cold if you haven't something more on.
• 4:52:14
  Speaker 1: Run Curdie, my boy, and fetch anything you can lay
• 4:52:16
  Speaker 1: your hands on to keep the princess warm. We have
• 4:52:20
  Speaker 1: a long ride before. Curdie was gone in a moment,
• 4:52:23
  Speaker 1: and soon returned with a great rich fur and the
• 4:52:26
  Speaker 1: news that dead goblins were tossing about in the current
• 4:52:30
  Speaker 1: through the house. They had been caught in their own
• 4:52:32
  Speaker 1: snare instead of the mine. They had flooded their own country.
• 4:52:37
  Speaker 1: Whence they were now swept up drowned. Irene shuddered, but
• 4:52:41
  Speaker 1: the King held her close to his bosom. Then he
• 4:52:45
  Speaker 1: turned to Sir Walter and said, bring Curdie's father and
• 4:52:50
  Speaker 1: mother here. I wish, said the King, when they stood
• 4:52:54
  Speaker 1: before him, to take your son with me. He shall
• 4:52:58
  Speaker 1: enter my bodyguard at once and further promotion. Peter and
• 4:53:02
  Speaker 1: his wife overcome only murmured almost inaudible thanks. But Curdie
• 4:53:07
  Speaker 1: spoke aloud. Please, your majesty, he said, I cannot leave
• 4:53:12
  Speaker 1: my father and mother. That's right, Curdie, cried the princess.
• 4:53:16
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't if I was you. The King looked at
• 4:53:19
  Speaker 1: the princess and then at Curdy, with a glow of
• 4:53:22
  Speaker 1: satisfaction on his countenance. I too think you are right, Curdie,
• 4:53:28
  Speaker 1: he said, and I will not ask you again, but
• 4:53:31
  Speaker 1: I shall have a chance of doing something for you
• 4:53:34
  Speaker 1: some time. Your Majesty has already allowed me to serve you,
• 4:53:39
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. But Curdy said his mother, Why shouldn't you
• 4:53:43
  Speaker 1: go with the king? We can get on very well
• 4:53:46
  Speaker 1: without you, but I can't get on well without you,
• 4:53:50
  Speaker 1: said Curdie. The King is very kind, but I could
• 4:53:53
  Speaker 1: not be half the use to him that I amnto you. Please,
• 4:53:56
  Speaker 1: your Majesty, if you wouldn't mind giving my mother a
• 4:54:00
  Speaker 1: red petticoat, and should have got her one long ago.
• 4:54:03
  Speaker 1: But for the goblin. As soon as we get home,
• 4:54:07
  Speaker 1: said the King, Irene, and I will search out the
• 4:54:11
  Speaker 1: warmest one to be found and send it by one
• 4:54:13
  Speaker 1: of the gentlemen. Yes, that we will, Curdie, said the princess.
• 4:54:18
  Speaker 1: And next summer we'll come back and see you where
• 4:54:21
  Speaker 1: it curt is. Mother, she added, sha'n't we King, Papa? Yes?
• 4:54:25
  Speaker 1: My love. I hope, so said the king. Then, turning
• 4:54:29
  Speaker 1: to the miners, he said, will you do the best
• 4:54:33
  Speaker 1: you can for my servants to night? I hope they
• 4:54:35
  Speaker 1: will be able to return to the house tomorrow. The miners,
• 4:54:39
  Speaker 1: with one voice, promised their hospitality. Then the King commanded
• 4:54:44
  Speaker 1: his servants to mind whatever Curdie should say to them,
• 4:54:47
  Speaker 1: And after shaking hands with him and his father and mother,
• 4:54:51
  Speaker 1: the King and the princess and all their company rode
• 4:54:54
  Speaker 1: away down the side of the new stream, which had
• 4:54:57
  Speaker 1: already devoured half the road into the starry night. End
• 4:55:03
  Speaker 1: of chapter thirty one. Chapter thirty two, the last chapter.
• 4:55:11
  Speaker 1: All the rest went up the mountain and separated in
• 4:55:14
  Speaker 1: groups to the homes of the miners. Curdie and his
• 4:55:17
  Speaker 1: father and mother took Lootie with them, and the whole
• 4:55:20
  Speaker 1: way a light of which all but Lootie understood the origin,
• 4:55:24
  Speaker 1: shone upon their path, but when they looked round they
• 4:55:27
  Speaker 1: could see nothing of the silvery globe. For days and days,
• 4:55:32
  Speaker 1: the water continued to rush from the doors and windows
• 4:55:35
  Speaker 1: of the King's house, and a few goblin bodies were
• 4:55:38
  Speaker 1: swept out into the road. Curdie saw that something must
• 4:55:42
  Speaker 1: be done. He spoke to his father and the rest
• 4:55:45
  Speaker 1: of the miners, and they at once proceeded to make
• 4:55:47
  Speaker 1: another outlet for the waters. By setting all hands to
• 4:55:50
  Speaker 1: the work. Tunneling here and building there, they soon succeeded,
• 4:55:55
  Speaker 1: and having also made a little tunnel to drain the
• 4:55:57
  Speaker 1: water away from under the king's house, they were soon
• 4:56:00
  Speaker 1: able to get into the wine cellar, where they found
• 4:56:03
  Speaker 1: a multitude of dead goblins. Among the rest, the queen
• 4:56:07
  Speaker 1: with the skin shoe gone and the stone one fast
• 4:56:10
  Speaker 1: to her ankle. For the water had swept away the
• 4:56:13
  Speaker 1: barricade which prevented the men at arms from following the goblins,
• 4:56:17
  Speaker 1: and had greatly widened the passage. They built it securely up,
• 4:56:21
  Speaker 1: and then went back to their labors in the mine.
• 4:56:25
  Speaker 1: A good many of the goblins with their creatures escaped
• 4:56:28
  Speaker 1: from the inundation out upon the mountain, but most of
• 4:56:31
  Speaker 1: them soon left that part of the country, and most
• 4:56:34
  Speaker 1: of those who remained grew milder in character, and indeed
• 4:56:38
  Speaker 1: became very much like the Scotch brownies. Their skulls became
• 4:56:42
  Speaker 1: softer as well as their hearts, and their feet grew harder,
• 4:56:46
  Speaker 1: and by degrees they became friendly with the inhabitants of
• 4:56:49
  Speaker 1: the mountain, and even with the miners. But the latter
• 4:56:53
  Speaker 1: were merciless to any of the Cobs creatures that came
• 4:56:55
  Speaker 1: in their way, until at length they all but disappeared.
• 4:57:01
  Speaker 1: The rest of the history of the Princess and Curdie
• 4:57:04
  Speaker 1: must be kept for another volume. End of Chapter thirty
• 4:57:11
  Speaker 1: two and of the Princess and the Goblin by George
• 4:57:16
  Speaker 1: mac donald