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Tale of Little Pig Robinson-Beatrix Potter · Bully and Bawly No-Tail (the Jumping Frogs)

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one of the Tail of Little Pig Robinson by
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  Speaker 1: Beatrix Potter. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domean. For our information or to
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  Speaker 1: volunteer pleads, visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Rachel Chapter one.
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  Speaker 1: When I was a child, I used to go to
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  Speaker 1: the seaside for the holidays. We stayed in a little
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  Speaker 1: town where there was a harbor and fishing boats and fishermen.
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  Speaker 1: They sailed away to catch herrings in nets. When the
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  Speaker 1: boats came back home again, some had only caught a
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  Speaker 1: few herrings, others had caught so many that they could
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  Speaker 1: not be all unloaded on to the quay. The horses
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  Speaker 1: and carts were driven into the shallow water at low
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  Speaker 1: tide to meet the heavily laden boats. The fish were
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  Speaker 1: shoveled over the side of the boat into the carts
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  Speaker 1: and taken to the railway station where a special train
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  Speaker 1: of fish trucks was waiting. Was the excitement when the
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  Speaker 1: fishing boats returned with a good catch of herrings. Half
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  Speaker 1: the people in the town ran down to the quay,
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  Speaker 1: including cats. There was a white cat named Susan who
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  Speaker 1: never missed meeting the boats. She belonged to the wife
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  Speaker 1: of an old fisherman named Sam. The wife's name was Betsy.
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  Speaker 1: She had rheumatics, and she had no family except Susan
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  Speaker 1: and five hens. Betsy sat by the fire, her back ached.
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  Speaker 1: She said, ow ow whenever she had to put coal
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  Speaker 1: on and stir the pot. Susan sat opposite to Betsy.
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  Speaker 1: She felt sorry for Betsy. She wished she knew how
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  Speaker 1: to put the coal on and stir the pot. All
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  Speaker 1: day long they sat by the fire while Sam was
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  Speaker 1: away fishing. They had a cup of tea and some milk.
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  Speaker 1: Susan said, Betsy, I can hardly stand up. Go to
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  Speaker 1: the front gate and look out for master's boat. Susan
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  Speaker 1: went out and came back three or four times. She
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  Speaker 1: went out into the garden. At last, late in the afternoon,
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  Speaker 1: she saw the sails of the fishing fleet coming in
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  Speaker 1: over the sea. Go down to the harbor. Ask Master
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  Speaker 1: for six herrings. I will cook them for supper. Take
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  Speaker 1: my basket, Susan. Susan took the basket. Also, she borrowed
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  Speaker 1: Betsy's bonnet and a little plaid shawl. I saw her
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  Speaker 1: hurrying down to the harbor other cats were coming out
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  Speaker 1: of the cottages and running down the steep streets that
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  Speaker 1: lead to the seafront. Also ducks, I remember that they
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  Speaker 1: were most peculiar ducks with top knots that looked like
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  Speaker 1: tamil shanter caps. Everybody was hurrying to meet the boats,
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  Speaker 1: nearly everybody. I only met one person, a dog called Stumpy,
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  Speaker 1: who was going the opposite way. He was carrying a
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  Speaker 1: paper parcel in his mouth. Some dogs do not care
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  Speaker 1: for fish. Stumpy had been to the butcher's to buy
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  Speaker 1: mutton chops for himself and Bob and Percy and Miss Rose.
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  Speaker 1: Stumpy was a large, serious, well behaved brown dog with
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  Speaker 1: a short tail. He lived with Bob the retriever, and
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  Speaker 1: Percy the cat, and Miss Rose, who kept house. Stumpy
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  Speaker 1: had belonged to a very rich old gentleman, and when
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  Speaker 1: the old gentleman died, he left money to Stumpy ten
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  Speaker 1: shillings a week for the rest of Stumpy's life. So
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  Speaker 1: that was why Stumpy and Bob and Percy the cat
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  Speaker 1: all lived together in a pretty little house. Susan with
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  Speaker 1: her basket met Stumpy at the corner of Broad Street.
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  Speaker 1: Susan made a curtsy. She would have stopped to inquire
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  Speaker 1: after Percy, only she was in a hurry to meet
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  Speaker 1: the boat. Percy was lame. He had hurt his foot.
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  Speaker 1: It had been trapped under the wheel of a milk cart.
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  Speaker 1: Stumpy looked at Susan out of the corner of his eye.
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  Speaker 1: He wagged his tail, but he did not stop. He
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  Speaker 1: could not bow or say good after, for fear of
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  Speaker 1: dropping the parcel of mutton chops. He turned out of
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  Speaker 1: Broad Street into Woodbine Lane, where he lived. He pushed
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  Speaker 1: open the front door and disappeared into a house. Presently
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  Speaker 1: there was a smell of cooking, and I have no
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  Speaker 1: doubt that Stumpy and Bob and Miss Rose enjoyed their
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  Speaker 1: mutton chops. Percy could not be found at dinner time.
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  Speaker 1: He had slipped out of the window, and like all
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  Speaker 1: the other cats in the town, he had gone to
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  Speaker 1: meet the fishing boats. Susan hurried along Broad Street and
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  Speaker 1: took the short cut to the harbor, down the steep
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  Speaker 1: flight of steps. The ducks had wisely gone another way
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  Speaker 1: round by the sea front. The steps were too steep
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  Speaker 1: and slippery for anyone less surefooted than a cat. Susan
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  Speaker 1: went down quickly and easily. There were forty three steps,
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  Speaker 1: rather dark and slimy, between high backs of houses. A
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  Speaker 1: smell of ropes and pitch, and a good deal of
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  Speaker 1: noise came up from below. At the bottom of the
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  Speaker 1: steps was the key or landing place, beside the inner harbor.
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  Speaker 1: The tide was out. There was no water. The vessels
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  Speaker 1: rested on the dirty mud. Several ships were moored beside
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  Speaker 1: the quay. Others were anchored inside the breakwater. Near the steps,
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  Speaker 1: coal was being unloaded from two grimy colliers, named the
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  Speaker 1: Marjory Daw of Sunderland and the Jennie Jones of Cardiff.
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  Speaker 1: Men ran along planks with wheelbarrefols of coal, coal scoops
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  Speaker 1: were swung ashore by cranes and emptied with loud thumping
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  Speaker 1: and rattling. Farther along the key, another ship called the
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  Speaker 1: Pound of Candles was taking a mixed cargo on board. Bales, casks,
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  Speaker 1: packing cases, barrels. All manner of goods were being stowed
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  Speaker 1: into the hold. Sailors and steve doors shouted, chains, rattled
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  Speaker 1: and clanked. Susan waited for an opportunity to slip past
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  Speaker 1: the noisy crowd. She watched a cask of sided that
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  Speaker 1: bobbed and swung in the air its passage from the
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  Speaker 1: quay to the deck of the Pound of Candles. A
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  Speaker 1: yellow cat, who sat in the rigging was also watching
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  Speaker 1: the cask. The rope ran through the pulley. The cask
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  Speaker 1: went down bobbity on to the deck, where a sailorman
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  Speaker 1: was waiting for it, said the sailor down below. Look out,
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  Speaker 1: mind your head, young sir, stand out of the way.
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  Speaker 1: Wee oe oee grunted a small pink pig scampering round
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  Speaker 1: the deck of the Pound of Candles. The yellow cat
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  Speaker 1: and the rigging watched the small pink pig. The yellow
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  Speaker 1: cat in the rigging looked across at Susan on the key.
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  Speaker 1: The yellow cat winked. Susan was surprised to see a
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  Speaker 1: pig on board a ship, but she was in a hurry.
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  Speaker 1: She threaded her way along the quay amongst coal and cranes,
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  Speaker 1: and men wheeling hand trucks, and noises and smells. She
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  Speaker 1: passed the fish auction and fists, boxes and fish sorders
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  Speaker 1: and barrels that women were filling with herrings and salt.
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  Speaker 1: Seagulls swooped and screamed of fish boxes and tons of
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  Speaker 1: fresh fish were being loaded into the hold of a
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  Speaker 1: small steamer. Susan was glad to get away from the
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  Speaker 1: crowd down a much shorter flight of steps on to
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  Speaker 1: the shore of the outer harbor. The ducks arrived soon afterwards,
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  Speaker 1: waddling and quacking, and Old Sam's boat, the Betsy Timmins,
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  Speaker 1: last of the herring fleet and heavy laden, came in
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  Speaker 1: round the breakwater and drove her blunt nose into the shingle.
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  Speaker 1: Sam was in high spirits. He had had a big catch.
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  Speaker 1: He and his mate and two lads commenced to unload
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  Speaker 1: their fish into carts as the tide was too low
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  Speaker 1: to float the fishing boat up to the quay. The
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  Speaker 1: boat was full of herrings, but good luck or bad luck,
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  Speaker 1: Sam never failed to throw a handful of herrings to Susan.
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  Speaker 1: Here's for the two old girls and a hot supper.
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  Speaker 1: Catch them, Susan, honest, now here's a broken fish for you.
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  Speaker 1: Now take the others to Betsy. The ducks were dabbling
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  Speaker 1: and gobbling, the seagulls were screaming and swooping. Susan climbed
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  Speaker 1: the steps with her basket of herrings and went home.
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  Speaker 1: By the back streets. Old Betsy cooked two herrings for herself,
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  Speaker 1: and Susan another two for Sam's supper when he came in.
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  Speaker 1: Then she went to bed with a hot bottle wrapped
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  Speaker 1: in a finnel petticoat to help her rheumatics. Sam ate
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  Speaker 1: his supper and smoked a pipe by the fire, and
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  Speaker 1: then he went to bed. But Susan sat a long
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  Speaker 1: time by the fire, considering. She considered many things, fish
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  Speaker 1: and ducks, and Percy with the lame foot, and dogs
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  Speaker 1: that eat mutton chops, and the yellow cat on the ship,
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  Speaker 1: and the pig. Susan thought it strange to see a
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  Speaker 1: pig upon a ship called the Pound of Candles. The
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  Speaker 1: mice peeped out under the cupboard door, the sinews fell
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  Speaker 1: together on the hearth. Susan purred gently in her sleep
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  Speaker 1: and dreamed of fish and pigs. She could not understand
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  Speaker 1: that pig on board a ship, but I know all
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  Speaker 1: about him. End of chapter one, Chapter two of the
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  Speaker 1: Tale of Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter. This LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Read by Rachel Chapter two.
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  Speaker 1: You remember the song about the owl and the pussy cat,
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  Speaker 1: and their beautiful pea green boat. How they took some
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  Speaker 1: honey and plenty of money wrapped up in a five
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  Speaker 1: pound note. They sailed away for a year and a
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  Speaker 1: day to the land where the bong tree grows. And
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  Speaker 1: there in a wood a piggy wig stood with a
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  Speaker 1: ring at the end of his nose. His nose with
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  Speaker 1: a ring at the end of his nose. Now, I
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  Speaker 1: am going to tell you the story of that pig
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  Speaker 1: and why he went to live in the land of
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  Speaker 1: the bong tree. When that pig was little, he lived
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  Speaker 1: in Devonshire with his aunts, Miss Dorcas and Miss Porchis,
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  Speaker 1: at a farm called Piggery Porcomb. Their cozy thatched cottage
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  Speaker 1: was in an orchard at the top of a steep
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  Speaker 1: red Devonshire lane. The soil was red, the grass was green,
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  Speaker 1: and far away below in the distance they could see
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  Speaker 1: red cliffs and a bit of bright blue sea. Ships
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  Speaker 1: with white sails sailed over the sea into the harbor
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  Speaker 1: of Steimau. I have often remarked that Devonshire farms have
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  Speaker 1: very strange names. If you had ever seen Piggery Porcomb,
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  Speaker 1: you would think that the people who lived there were
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  Speaker 1: very queer too. At Dorcas was a stout speckled pig
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  Speaker 1: who kept hens at Porkiss was a large, smiling black
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  Speaker 1: pig who took in washing. We shall not hear very
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  Speaker 1: much about them in this story. They led prosperous, uneventful lives,
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  Speaker 1: and their end was bacon. But their nephew, Robinson, had
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  Speaker 1: the most peculiar adventures that ever happened to a pig.
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  Speaker 1: Little pig Robinson was a charming little fellow, pinky white,
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  Speaker 1: with small blue eyes, fat cheeks, and a double chin,
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  Speaker 1: and a turned up nose with a real silver ring
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  Speaker 1: in it. Robinson could see that ring if he shut
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  Speaker 1: one eye and squinted sideways. He was always contented and happy.
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  Speaker 1: All day long. He ran about the farm, singing little
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  Speaker 1: songs to himself and grunting wee wee weee. His aunts
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  Speaker 1: missed those little songs sadly after Robinson had left them.
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  Speaker 1: Wee wee weee, he answered, when anybody spoke to him,
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  Speaker 1: wee wee wee, listening with his head on one side
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  Speaker 1: and one eye screwed up. Robinson's old aunts fed him
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  Speaker 1: and petted him and kept him on the trot. Robinson
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  Speaker 1: Robinson called Aunt Dorcas come quick, I hear a hen clucking,
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  Speaker 1: fetch me the egg. Don't break it now. Wee wee oee,
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  Speaker 1: answered Robinson, like a little french man Robinson, Robinson, I've
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  Speaker 1: dropped a clothes peg. Come and pick it up for me.
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  Speaker 1: Call Aunt Porcus from the drawing green. She being almost
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  Speaker 1: too fat to stoop down and pick up anything. Wee
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  Speaker 1: wee wee, answered Robinson. Both the ants were very, very stout,
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  Speaker 1: and the stiles in the neighborhood of Stymouth are narrow.
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  Speaker 1: The footpath from Piggery Porcombe crosses many fields, a red
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  Speaker 1: trodden track between short green grass and daisies. And wherever
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  Speaker 1: the footpath crosses over from one field to another field,
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  Speaker 1: there is sure to be a style in the hedge.
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  Speaker 1: It is not me that is too stout. It is
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  Speaker 1: the stiles that are too thin, said Aunt Dorcas to
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  Speaker 1: Aunt Porcas. Could you manage to squeeze through them? If
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  Speaker 1: I stayed at home? I could not not For two
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  Speaker 1: years I could not, replied Aunt Porcas, aggravating. It is
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  Speaker 1: aggravating of that carrier man to go and upset his
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  Speaker 1: donkey cart the day before market day and eggs at
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  Speaker 1: two and tuppence a dozen. How far do you call
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  Speaker 1: it to walk all the way round by the road
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  Speaker 1: instead of crossing the fields? Four miles if it's one,
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  Speaker 1: sighed Aunt Porcas and me using my last bed of soap. However,
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  Speaker 1: shall we get our shopping done? The donkey says, the
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  Speaker 1: cart will take him weak to mend. Don't you think
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  Speaker 1: you could squeeze through the stiles if he went before dinner? No?
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  Speaker 1: I don't I would stick fast, and so would you.
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  Speaker 1: Don't you think we might venture? Commenced Aunt Dorcas. Venture
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  Speaker 1: to send Robinson by the footpath to Stymouth finished, Aunt
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  Speaker 1: porkis wee wee wee, answered Robinson. I scarcely like to
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  Speaker 1: send him alone, though he is sensible for his size.
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  Speaker 1: Wee wee wee, answered Robinson. But there is nothing else
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  Speaker 1: to be done, said Aunt Dorcas. So Robinson has popped
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  Speaker 1: into the wash tub with the last bed of soap.
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  Speaker 1: He was scrubbed and dried and polished as bright as
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  Speaker 1: a new pin. Then he was dressed in a little
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  Speaker 1: blue cotton frock and knickers and instructed to go shopping
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  Speaker 1: to Steyemouth with a big market basket. In the basket
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  Speaker 1: were two dozen eggs, a bunch of daffodils, two spring colliflowers.
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  Speaker 1: Also Robinson's dinner of bread and jam, sandwiches, the eggs
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  Speaker 1: and flowers and vegetables he must sell in the market
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  Speaker 1: and bring back various other purchases from shopping. Now take
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  Speaker 1: care of yourself and styemouth, Nephew Robinson, beware of gunpowder
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  Speaker 1: and ship's cooks, and pantac naneaons and sausages, and shoes
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  Speaker 1: and ships and sealing wax. Remember the blue bag, the soap,
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  Speaker 1: the darning wool. What was that other thing, said Aunt Dorcas.
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  Speaker 1: The darning wool, the soap, the blue bag, the yeast.
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  Speaker 1: What was the other thing, said Aunt Porkis. Wee wie oee,
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  Speaker 1: answered Robinson. The blue bag, the soap, the yeast, the
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  Speaker 1: darning wool, the cabbage seed. That's five, and there ought
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  Speaker 1: to be six. It was two more than four, because
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  Speaker 1: it was too many to tie knots in the corners
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  Speaker 1: of his hanky to remember six to buy it should be,
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  Speaker 1: I have it, said Aunt Porkis. It was tea blue bag, soap,
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  Speaker 1: darning wool, yeast, cabbage seed. You will buy most of
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  Speaker 1: them at mister Mumby's explain about the carrier. Robinson tell
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  Speaker 1: him we will bring the washing and some more vegetables
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  Speaker 1: next week. Wee wee oee, answered Robinson, setting off with
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  Speaker 1: the big basket. Aunt Dorcas and Aunt Porcas stood in
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  Speaker 1: the porch. They watched him safely out of sight, down
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  Speaker 1: the field and through the first of the many styles.
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  Speaker 1: When they went back to their household tasks, they were
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  Speaker 1: grunty and sappy with each other because they were uneasy
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  Speaker 1: about Robinson. I wish we had not let him go,
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  Speaker 1: You and your tiresome blue bag, said Aunt Dorcas blue bag.
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  Speaker 1: Indeed it was your darning wool and eggs, grumbled Aunt
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  Speaker 1: Porcis bother that carrier man and his donkey cart? Why
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  Speaker 1: could he not keep out of the ditch until after
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  Speaker 1: market day? End of chapter two, Chapter three of the
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Tale of Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter. This LibriVox
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: recording is in the Public domean read by Rachel Chapter three.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: The walk to Steymouth was a long one, in spite
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  Speaker 1: of going by the fields. But the footpath ran downhill
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  Speaker 1: all the way, and Robinson was merry. He sang his
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  Speaker 1: little song for joy of the fine morning, and he chuckled.
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  Speaker 1: Wee wee weee. Larks were singing too high overhead, and
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  Speaker 1: higher still, high up against blue sky. The great white
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  Speaker 1: gulls sailed in wide circles. Their hoarse cries came softened
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  Speaker 1: back to earth from a great way up above. Important
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  Speaker 1: rooks and lively jackdaws strutted about the meadows amongst the
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  Speaker 1: daisies and buttercups. Lambs skipped and bad. The sheep looked
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  Speaker 1: round at Robinson. Mind yourself in stymouth, little pigs, said
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  Speaker 1: a motherly ewe. Robinson trotted on until he was out
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  Speaker 1: of breath and very hot. He had crossed five big fields,
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  Speaker 1: and ever so many styles, stiles with steps, ladder stiles,
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  Speaker 1: stiles of wooden posts, Some of them were very awkward.
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  Speaker 1: With a heavy basket, The farm of piggery Porcomb was
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  Speaker 1: no longer in sight. When he looked back in the
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  Speaker 1: distance before him, beyond the farm lands and cliffs, never
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  Speaker 1: any nearer, the dark blue sea rose like a wall.
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  Speaker 1: Robinson sat down to rest beside a hedge in a
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  Speaker 1: sheltered sunny spot. Yellow pussy willow catkins were in flower.
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  Speaker 1: Above his head. There were primroses and hundreds on the bank,
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  Speaker 1: and a warm smell of moss and grass and steaming
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  Speaker 1: moist red earth. If I eat my dinner now I
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  Speaker 1: shall not have to carry it. Wee wee, said Robinson.
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  Speaker 1: The walk had made him so hungry he would have
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  Speaker 1: liked to eat an egg as well as the jam sandwiches,
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  Speaker 1: but he had been too well brought up. It would
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  Speaker 1: spoil a dozen, said Robinson. He picked a bunch of
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  Speaker 1: primroses and tied them up with a bit of darning
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  Speaker 1: wool that Aunt Dorcas had given him for a pattern.
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  Speaker 1: I will sell them in the market for my very
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  Speaker 1: own self and buy sweeties with my pennies. How many
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  Speaker 1: pennies have I got, said Robinson, feeling his pocket. One
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  Speaker 1: for Aunt Dorcas, and one for Mount Porkis, and one
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  Speaker 1: for my primroses for my very own self. Oh wee,
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  Speaker 1: oie oe, there is somebody trotting along the road. I
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  Speaker 1: shall be late for market. Robinson jumped up and pushed
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  Speaker 1: his basket through a very narrow style where the footpath
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  Speaker 1: crossed into the public road. He saw a man on horseback.
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  Speaker 1: Old mister Pepperrell came up riding a chestnut horse with
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  Speaker 1: white legs. His two tall greyhounds ran before him. They
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  Speaker 1: looked through the bars of the gates into every field
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  Speaker 1: that they passed. They came bounding up to Robinson, very
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  Speaker 1: large and friendly. They licked his face and asked what
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  Speaker 1: he had got in that basket. Mister Pepperrell called them here, pirate, here, postboy,
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  Speaker 1: come here, sir. He did not wish to be answerable
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  Speaker 1: for the eggs. The road had recently been covered with
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  Speaker 1: sharp new flints. Mister Pepperrell walked the chestnut horse on
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  Speaker 1: the grass edge and talked to Robinson. He was a
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  Speaker 1: jolly old gentleman, very affable, with a red face and
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  Speaker 1: white whiskers. All the green fields and red plowland between
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  Speaker 1: Steymouth and Pickery Porcombe belonged to him. Hullo, hullo. And
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: where are you off to, little pig Robinson? Please, mister Pepperrell, sir,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: I'm going to market. Wee wee wee, said Robinson. What
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: all by yourself? Where am miss Dorcas and miss Porchus?
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Not ill I trust? Robinson explained about the narrow styles.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Dear dear, too fat, too fat, So you are going
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: all alone? Why don't you aunts keep a dog? To
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: run errands. Robinson answered all mister Pepperrell's questions very sensibly
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: and prettily. He showed much intelligence and quite a good
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: knowledge of vegetables for one so young. He trotted along
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: almost under the horse, looking up at its shiny chestnut
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: coat and the broad white girth and mister Pepperrell's gaiters
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: and brown leather boots. Mister Pepperrell was pleased with Robinson.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: He gave him another penny. At the end of the flints,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: he gathered up the reins and touched the horse with
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: his heel. Well, good day, little pig kind regards to
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the ants, mind yourself in Steymouth. He whistled for his
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: dogs and trotted away. Robinson continued to walk along the road.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: He passed by an orchard where seven thin, dirty pigs
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: were grubbing. They had no silver rings in their noses.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: He crossed Stifored Bridge without stopping to look over the
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: parapet at the little fishes swimming head up stream balanced
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: in the sluggish current, or the white ducks that dabbled
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: amongst floating masses of water Crow's foot. At Stiford Mill,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: he called to leave a message from Aunt dorcas to
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: the miller about meal. The miller's wife gave him an apple.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: At the house beyond the mill, there is a big
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: dog that barks. But the big dog, Gipsy, only smiled
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and wagged his tail at Robinson. Several carts and gigs
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: overtook him. First two old farmers who screwed themselves round
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: to stare at Robinson. They had two geese, a stack
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of potatoes, and some cabbages sitting on the back seat
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: of their gig. Then an old woman passed in a
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: donkey cart with several hens and the long pink bundles
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: of rhubarb that had been grown in straw under apple barrels.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Then with a rattle and a jingle of cans, came
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Robinson's cousin, Little Tom Pig, driving a strawberry r own
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: pony in a milk float. He might have offered Robinson
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: a lift, only he happened to be going in the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: opposite direction. In fact, the strawberry roan pony was running
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: away home. This little pig went to market, shouted Little
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Tom Pig gaily as he rattled out of sight in
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: a cloud of dust, leaving Robinson standing in the road.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Robinson walked on along the road, and presently he came
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: to another style in the opposite hedge, where the footpath
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: followed the fields again. Robinson got his basket through the style.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: For the first time, he felt some apprehension. In this
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: field there were cows, big, sleek, divon cattle dark red
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: like their native soil. The leader of the herd was
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: a vicious old cow with brass balls screwed on to
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: the tips of her horns. She stared disagreeably at Robins.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: He sidled across the meadow and got out through the
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: farther style as quickly as he could. Here, the new
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: trodden footpath followed round the edge of a crop of
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: young green wheat. Someone let off a gun with a
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: bang that made Robinson jump and cracked one of Aunt
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Dorcas's eggs in the basket. A cloud of rooks and
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: jackdaws rose, cawing and scolding from the wheat. Other sounds
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: mingled with their cries, noises of the town of Steymouth
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: that had began to come in sight through the elm
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: trees that bordered the fields, Distant noises from the station,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: whistling of an engine, the bump of trucks, shunting, noise
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: of workshops, the hum of a distant town, the hooter
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: of a steamer entering the harbor. High overhead came the
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: hoarse cry of the gulls, and the squabbling cawing of
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: rooks old and young in their rookery up in the
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: elm trees. Robinson left the fields for the last time,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: enjoying the stream of country people on foot and in carts,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: all going to Steymouth Market, end of chapter three, chapter
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: four of The Tail of Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the Public Demean read by
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: Rachel Chapter four. Steymouth is a pretty little town situated
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: at the mouth of the river Pigstye, whose sluggish waters
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: slide gently into a bay sheltered by high red headlands.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: The town itself seems to be sliding downhill in a
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: basin of hills, all slipping seaward into Steimouth Harbor, which
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: is surrounded by keys and the outer breakwater. The outskirts
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: of the town are untidy, as is frequently the case
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: with seaports. A straggling suburb on the western approach is
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: inhabited principally by goats and persons who deal in old
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: iron rags, tarred rope and fishing nets. There are rope
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: walks and washing that flaps on waggling lines above banks
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: of stony shingle littered with seaweed, welk shells and dead crabs,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: very different from Aunt Porcus's clothes lines over the clean
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: green grass. And there are marine stores that sell spyglasses
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: and sowesters and onions. And there are smells and curious
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: high sheds shaped like sentry boxes where they hang up
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: herring nets to dry, and loud talking inside dirty houses.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: It seemed a likely place to meet a pantaschenon Robinson
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: kept in the middle of the road. Somebody in a
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: public house shouted at him through the window, Come in,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: fat pig, Robinson took to his heart. The town of
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Steimouth itself is clean, pleasant, picturesque and well behaved, always
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: excepting the harbor. But it is extremely steep downhill. If
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Robinson had started one of Aunt Dorcas's eggs rolling at
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: the top of high Street, it would have rolled all
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the way down to the bottom, only it would have
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: got broken, certainly against the doorstep or underfoot. There were
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: crowds in the streets as it was market day. Indeed,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: it was difficult to walk about without being pushed off
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: the pavement. Every old woman that Robinson met seemed to
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: have a basket as big as his own. In the
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: roadway were fish barrows, apple barrows, stalls with crockery and hardware,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: cocks and hens riding in pony carts, donkeys with panniers,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: and farmers with wagon loads of hay. Also, there was
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: a constant string of coal carts coming up from the docks.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: To a country bred pig, the noise was confusing and fearful,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Robinson kept his head very creditably until he got into
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: four Street, where a drover's dog was trying to turn
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: three bullocks into a yard, assisted by Stumpy and half
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the other dogs of the town. Robinson and two other
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: little pigs with baskets of asparagus bolted down an alley
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: and hid in a doorway until the noise of bellowing
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: and barking had passed. When Robinson took courage to come
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: out again into four Street, he decided to follow close
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: behind the tail of a donkey who was carrying panniers
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: piled high with spring Broccoly, there was no difficulty in
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: guessing which road led to market. But after all these delays,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: it was not surprising that the church clock struck eleven.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Although it had been opened since ten, there were still
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: plenty of customers buying and wanting to buy. In the
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: market hall. It was a large airy light, cheerful covered
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: in place with glass in the roof. It was crowded,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: but safe and pleasant compared with the jostling and racket
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: outside in the cobble paved streets. At all events, there
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: was no risk of being run over. There was a
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: loud hum of voices. Market folk cried their wares, Customers
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: elbowed and pushed round the stalls. Dairy produce, vegetables, fish
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: and shellfish were displayed upon the flat boards on trestles.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Robinson had found a standing place at one end of
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: a stall where Nanny Nettegot was selling parawinkles winkle winkle
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: wink wink wink mat mat bleeded nanny winkles were the
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: only thing that she offered for sale, so she felt
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: no jealousy of Robinson's eggs and primroses. She knew nothing
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: about his cauliflowers. He had the sense to keep them
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: in the basket under the table. He stood on an
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: empty box, quite proud and bold behind the trestle tape,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: singing eggs, new laid, fresh, new laid eggs. Who will
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: come and buy my eggs and daffidilies? I will sure,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: said a large brown dog with a stumpy tail. I'll
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: buy a dozen. My miss Rose has sent me to
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: market on purpose to buy eggs and butter. I am
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: so sorry I have no butter, mister stumpy, but I
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: have beautiful culliflowers, said Robinson, lifting up the basket after
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: a cautious glance round at Nanny Nittigot, who might have
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: tried to nibble them. She was busy measuring parawinkles in
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: a pewter mug for a duck customer and a Tamil
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: shanter cap. They are lovely brown eggs, except one that
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: got cracked. I think that white pussy cat at the
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: opposite stall is selling butter. They are beautiful culliflowers. I'll
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: buy a cauliflower. Lovey bless his little turned up nose.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: Did he grow them in his own garden? Said old Betsy,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: bustling up her rheumatism was better. She had left Susan
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to keep house. No, lovey, I don't want any eggs.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: I can't pens myself a cauliflower and a bunch of
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: daffodils for a bell pop, please, said Betsy. Wee oe oee,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: replied Robinson. Here, Missus Perkins, come here, Look at this
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: little pig stuck up at a stall all by himself.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Well I don't know, exclaimed Missus Perkins, pushing through the crowd,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: followed by two little girls. Well I never are they
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: quite new laid Sonny, won't go off pop and spoil
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: my Sunday dress like the egg. Missus Wyandott took first
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: prize with at five flower shows till they popped and
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: spoiled the judge's black silk dress. Not duck eggs stained
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: with coffee. That's another trick of flower shows, new laid guaranteed.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Only you see one is cracked. Now I call that real, honest,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: it's no worse for frying. I'll have the dozen eggs
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: and a cauliflower, please, Look, Sarah Polly, look at his
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: silver nose ring. Sarah Polly and her little girl friend
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: went into fits of giggling. So that Robinson blushed. He
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: was so confused that he did not notice a lady
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: who wanted to buy his last cauliflower till she touched him.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: There was nothing else left to sell but a bunch
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: of primroses. After more giggling and some whispering, the two
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: little girls came back and bought the primroses. They gave
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: him a peppermint as well as the penny, which Robinson accepted,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: but without enthusiasm and with a preoccupied manner. The trouble
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: was that no sooner had he parted with a bunch
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: of primroses than he realized that he had also sold
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Aunt Porcis's pattern of darning wool. He wondered if he
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: ought to ask for it back, but Missus Perkins and
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: Sarah Polly and her little girlfriend had disappeared. Robinson, having
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: sold everything, came out of the market hall, sucking the peppermint.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: There were still numbers of people coming in. As Robinson
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: came out upon the steps, his basket got caught in
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the shawl of an elderly sheep who was pushing her
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: way up. While Robinson was disentangling, yet Stumpy came out.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: He had finished his marketing his basket was full of
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: heavy purchases. A responsible, trustworthy, obliging dog was Stumpy, glad
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: to do a kindness to anybody. When Robinson asked him
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: the way to mister Mumby's, Stumpy said, I am going
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: home by Broad Street. Come with me and I will
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: show you. Wee wee wee. Oh, thank you, Stumpy, said Robinson.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: End of chapter four, Chapter five of the Tale of
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter. This LibriVox recording is
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Read by Rachel Chapter five. Old
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: mister Bumby was a deaf old man in spectacles who
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: kept a general store. He sold almost anything you can
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: imagine except ham, a circumstance much approved by Aunt Dorcas.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: It was the only general store in Steymouth where you
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: would not find displayed upon the counter a large dish
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: containing strings of thin, pale colored, repulsively uncooked sausages and
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: rolled bacon hanging from the ceiling. What a pleasure, said
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Aunt Dorcas feelingly. What possible pleasure can there be in
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: entering a shop where you knock your head against a ham?
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: A ham that may have belonged to a dear second
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: cousin Therefore the aunts bought their sugar and tea, their
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: blue bag, their soup, their frying pans, matches and mugs
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: from old mister Mumby. All these things he sold, and
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: many more besides, and what he did not keep in
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: stock he would obtain to order. But yeast requires to
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: be quite fresh, he did not sell it. He advised
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Robinson to ask for yeast at a baker's shop. Also,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: he said it was too late in the season to
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: buy cabbage seed. Everybody had finished sewing vegetable seeds this year,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: worsted for darning. He did sell, but Robinson and had
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: forgotten the color. Robinson bought six sticks of delightfully sticky
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: barley sugar with his pennies, and listened carefully to mister
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: Mumby's messages for Aunt Dorcas and Aunt Porcis, how they
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: were to send some cabbages next week when the donkey
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: cart would be mended, and how the kettle was not
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: repaired yet, and there was a new patent box iron
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: he would like to recommend to Aunt Porcis. Robinson said,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: wee wee wee, and listened, and little dog Tipkins, who
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: stood on the stool behind the counter tying up grocery
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: parcels in blue paper bags. Little dog Tipkins whispered to Robinson.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Were there any rats this spring in the barn at
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Piggery porkmb And what would Robinson be doing on Sunday afternoon?
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Wee wee wee, answered Robinson. Robinson came out of mister
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: Mumby's heavily laden. The barley sugar was comforting, but he
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: was troubled about the darning wool, the yeast and the
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: cabbage seed. He was looking about rather anxiously when again
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: he met Old Betsy, who exclaimed, blessed the little piggy
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: not gone home yet. Now it must not stop in
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Steymouth till it gets his pocket picked. Robinson explained his
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: difficulty about the darning wool. Kind Old Betsy was ready
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: with help. Why I noticed the wool round the little
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: primrose poesy. It was blue gray color, like the last
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: pair of socks that I knitted for Sam. Come with
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: me to the wool shop, Leasy Flock's wool shop. I
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: remember the color well, I do, said Betsy. Missus Flock
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: was the sheep that had run against Robinson. She had
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: bought herself three turnips and come straight home from market
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: for fear of missing customers while his shop was locked up.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Such a shop, such a jumble wool, all sorts of colors,
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: thick wool, thin wool, fingering wool and rug wool, bundles
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: and bundles, all jumbled up, and she could not put
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: her hoof on anything. She was so confused and slow
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: at finding things that Betsy got in patient. No, I
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: don't want wool for slippers, darning wool, flecy darning wool
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: same color as I bought for my Sam's socks, bless me. No,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: not knitting needles darning wool? Bah bah? Did you say
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: white or black? Um? The reply was it? Oh, dear me,
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: gray darning wool on cards, not heather mixture. I know
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: I have it somewhere, said Fleecy Flock, helplessly jumbling up
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: the skeins and bundles. Sim Ram came in this morning
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: with part of the Ewhampton clip. My shop is completely
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: cluttered up. It took half an hour to find the wool.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: If Betsy had not been with him, Robinson never would
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: have got it. It's that late. I must go home,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: said Betsy. My Sam is on shore to day for dinner.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: If you take my advice, you will leave that big
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: heavy basket with the Miss Goldfinches and hurry with your shopping.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: It's a long uphill walk home to piggery Porcomb. Robinson,
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: anxious to follow old Betsy's advice, walked toward the Miss Goldfinches.
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: On the way he came to a baker's, and he
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: remembered the yeast. It was not the right sort of baker's. Unfortunately,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: there was a nice bakery smell and pastry in the window,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: but it was an eating house or cook shop. When
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: he pushed the swinging door open, a man in an
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: apron and a square white cap turned round and said,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: hullo is this a pork pie walking on its hind legs?
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: And four rude men in a dining table burst out laughing.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: Robinson left the shop in a hurry. He felt afraid
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: to go into any other baker's shop. He was looking
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: wistfully into another window in four Street when Stumpy saw
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: him again. He had taken his own basket home and
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: come out on another errand he carried Robinson's basket in
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: his mouth and took him to a very safe baker's,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: where he was accustomed to buy dog biscuits for himself. There,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Robinson purchased Aunt Dorcas's yeast. At last, they searched in
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Vain for cabbage seed. They were told that the only
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: likely place was a little store on the quay kept
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: by a pair of wag tails. It is a pity
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: I cannot go with you, said Stumpy. My Miss Rose
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: has sprained her ankle. She sent me to fetch twelve
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: postage stamps, and I must take them home to her
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: before the post goes out. Do not try to carry
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: this heavy basket down and up the steps. Leave it
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: with the Miss Goldfinches. Robinson was very grateful to Stumpy.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: The two Miss Goldfinches kept a tea in coffee tavern,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: which was patronized by Aunt Dorcas and the quieter market people.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Over the door was a sign board upon which was
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: a painted a fat, little green bird called the Contented Siskin,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: which was the name of their coffee tavern. They had
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: a stable where the carrier's donkey rested when it came
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: to Steymouth with the washing on Saturdays. Robinson looked so
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: tired that the elder Miss Goldfinch gave him a cup
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: of tea, but they both told him to drink it
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: up quickly. Wee wee wee, yok yok, said Robinson, scalding
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: his nose. In spite of their respect for Aunt Dorcas,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: the miss Goldfinches disapproved of his solitary shopping, and they
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: said that the basket was far too heavy for him.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: Neither of us could lift it, said the elder Miss Goldfinch,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: holding out a tiny claw. Get your cabbage seat and
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: hurry back. Sim Ram's pony Gig is still waiting in
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: our stable. If you come back before he starts, I
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: feel sure he'll give you a lift. At all events,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: he will make room for your basket under the seat,
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: and he passes piggery porcomb. Run away now, wee wee wee,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: said Robinson. Whatever were they thinking of to let him
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: come alone? He will never get home before dark, said
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the elder Miss Goldfinch. Fly to the stable, Clara, tell
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: sim Ram's pony not to start without the basket. The
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: younger Miss Goldfinch flew across the yard. They were industrious, sprightly,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: little layady birds who kept lump sugar and thistle seed,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: as well as tea and their tea caddies. Their tables
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: in China were spotlessly clean. End of chapter five, Chapter
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: six as the Tail of Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in public domean read by Rachel
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Chapter six Steymouth was full of inns, too full. The
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: farmers usually put up their horses at the Black Bull
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: or the Horse and Ferrier. The smaller market people patronized
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: the Pig and Whistle. There was another inn called the
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: Crown and Anchor, at the corner of four Street. It
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: was much frequented by seamen. Several were lounging about the
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: door with their hands in their pockets. One sailorman in
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: a blue jersey sauntered across the road, staring very hard
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: at Robinson. Said he I say, little pig, do you
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: like snuff? Now? If Robinson had a fault, it was
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: that he could not say no, not even to a
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: hedgehog stealing eggs. As a matter of fact, snuff or
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: tobacco made him sick. But instead of saying no, thank you,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: mister man, and going straight away about his business, he
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: shoveled his feet half closed one eye, hung his head
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: on one side, and grunted the sailor pulled out a
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: horn snuff box and presented a small pinch to Robinson,
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: who wrapped it up in a little bit of paper,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: intending to give it to Aunt Dorcas. Then, not to
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: be outdone in politeness, he offered the sailorman some barley sugar.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: If Robinson was not fond of snuff at all events,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: his new acquaintance had no objection to candy. He ate
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: an alarming quantity. Then he pulled Robinson's ear and complimented
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: him and said he had five chins. He promised to
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: take Robinson to the cabbage seeds shop, and finally he
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: begged to have the honor of showing him over a
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: ship engaged in the ginger trade, commanded by Captain Barnabas Butcher,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: and named the Pound of Candles. Robinson did not very
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: much like the name. It reminded him of tallow of lard,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: of crackle and trimmings of bacon, but he allowed himself
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: to be led away, smiling shyly and walking on his toes.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: If Robinson had only known that man was a ship's cook.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: As they turned down the steep narrow lane out of
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: High Street leading to the harbor. Old mister Mumby at
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: his shop door called out anxiously Robinson Robinson, but there
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: was too much noise of carts and a customer coming
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: into the shop at that moment distracted his attention and
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: he forgot the suspicious behavior of the sailor. Otherwise, out
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: of regard for the family, he would undoubtedly have ordered
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: his dog Tipkins to go and fetch Robinson back. As
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: it was, he was the first person to give useful
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: information to the police when Robinson had been missed, but
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: it was then too late. Robinson and his new friend
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: went down the long flight of steps to the harbor basin.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: Very high steps, steep and slippery. The little pig was
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: obliged to jump from step to step until the sailor
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: kindly took hold of him. They walked along the key
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: hand in hand. Their appearance seemed to cause unbounded amusement.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Robinson looked about him with much interest. He had peeped
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: over those steps before when he had come into Steymouth
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: in the donkey cart, but he had never ventured to
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: go down. Because the sailors are rather rough, and because
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: they frequently have little snarling terriers on guard about their vessels.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: There were ever so many ships in the harbor. The
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: noise and bustle was almost as loud as it had
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: been up above. In the market square, a big three
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: masted ship called the Goldilocks was discharging a cargo of oranges,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: and farther along the quay, a small coasting brig called
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: Little bow Peep of Bristol was loading up with bales
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: of wool belonging to the Sheep of Ewhampton and Lambworthy.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: Old sim Ram, with the sheep bell and big curly horns,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: stood by the gangway, keeping count of the bales. Every
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: time the crane swung round and let down another bale
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: of wool into the hold, with a scuffle of rope
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: through the pulley, Simon Ram nodded his old head and
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: the bell went tinkle tinkle tong, and gave a gruff
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: bleat He was a person who knew Robinson by sight
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: and ought to have warned him. He had often passed
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: Piggery Porcombe when he drove down the lane in his gig,
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: but his blind eye was turned towards the key, and
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: he had been flustered and confused by an argument with
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: the pursers as to whether thirty five bales of woolf
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: had been hoisted on board already or only thirty four.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: So he kept his one useful eye carefully on the
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: wolf and counted it by the notches on his tally stick.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: Another bail, another notch, thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: He hoped the number would come right at the finish.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: His bob tailed sheep dog, Timothy Gyp, was also acquainted
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: with Robinson, but he was busy superintending a dog fight
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: between an airedale terrier belonging to the collier Marjorie Daw
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: and a Spanish dog belonging to the Goldilocks. No one
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: took any notice of their growling and snarling, which ended
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: in both rolling over the side of the quay and
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: falling into the water. Robinson kept close to the sailor
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: and held his hand very tight. The Pound of Candles
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: proved to be a good sized schooner, nearly painted and
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: decorated with certain flags whose significance was not understood by Robinson.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: She lay near the outer end of the jetty. The
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: tide was running up fast, lapping against the ship's sides
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: and straining the thick hawsers by which she was moored
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: to the key. The crew were stowing goods on board
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: and doing things with ropes under the direction of Captain
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: Barnabus Butcher, a lean brown nautical person with a rasping voice.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: He banged things about and grumbled. Parts of his remarks
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: were audible on the key. He was speaking about the
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: tug sea horse at about the spring tide, with the
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: northeast window behind it, and the baker's man and fresh
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: vegetables to be shipped at eleven sharp. Likewise a joint
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: of He stopped short suddenly, and his eye lighted upon
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: the cook and Robinson. Robinson and the cook went on
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: board across the shaky plank. When Robinson stepped on to
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: the deck, he found himself face to face with a
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: large yellow cat who was blacking boots. The cat gave
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: a start of surprise and dropped his blacking brush. It
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: then began to wink and make extraordinary faces at Robinson.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: He had never seen a cat behave in that way before.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: He inquired whether it was ill, whereupon the cook threw
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: a boot at it, and it rushed up into the rigging.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: But Robinson he invited, most affably to descend into the
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: cabin to partake of muffins and crumpets. I do not
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: know how many muffins Robinson consumed. He went on eating
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: them until he fell asleep. And he went on sleeping
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: until his stool gave a lurch, and he fell off
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: and rolled under the table. One side of the cabin
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: floor swung up to the ceiling, and the other side
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: of the ceiling swung down to the floor. Plates danced about,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: and there were shoutings and thumpings, and rattling of chains
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: and other bad sands. Robinson picked himself up, Feeling bumped,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: he scrambled upper sort of a latter staircase, on to
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: the deck. Then he gave squeal upon squeal of horror.
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: All round the shop there were great, big green waves.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: The houses on the quay were like dolls houses, and
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: a high up in land, above the red cliffs and
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: green fields, he could see the farm of Piggery Porcomb,
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: looking no bigger than a postage stamp. A little white
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: patch in the orchard was at Porcis's washing spread out
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: to bleach upon the grass. Near at hand. The black
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: tug sea horse smoked, plunged and rolled. They were winding
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: in the tow rope, which had just been cast loose
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: from the pound of candles. Captain Barnabas stood up in
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: the bows of his schooner. He yelled and shouted to
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: the master of the tug. The sailors shouted also, and
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: pulled with a will and hoisted the sails. The ship
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: heeled over and rushed through the waves, and there was
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: a smell of the sea. As for Robinson, he tore
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: round and round the deck like one distracted, shrieking, very
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: shrill and loud. Once or twice he slipped down, for
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: the deck was extremely slideways, But still he ran and ran.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: Gradually his squeals subsided into singing, but still he kept
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: on running. And this is what he sang, Oh pard
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: pig robit se crew, So oh, how the world could
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: they do so? They have said him of in a
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: horrible boat, Oh poor pig Robinson crusoe. The sailors laughed
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: until they cried. But when Robinson had sung that same
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: verse about fifty times and upset several sailors by rushing
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: between their legs, they began to get angry. Even the
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: ship's cook was no longer civil to Robinson. On the contrary,
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: he was very rude. Indeed, he said that if Robinson
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: did not leave off singing through his nose, he would
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: make him into pork chops. Then Robinson fainted and fell
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: flat upon the deck of the Pound of Candles end
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: of chapter six, Chapter seven of The Tail of Little
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter. This liprivox recording it is
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Read by Rachel Chapter seven. It
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: must not be supposed for one moment that Robinson was
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: ill treated on board ship. Quite the contrary. He was
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: even better fed and more petted on the Pound of
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: Candles than he had been at Piggery Porcomb. So after
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: a few days fretting for his kind old aunts, especially
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: while he was seasick, Robinson became perfectly contented and happy.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: He found what is called his sea legs, and he
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: scampered about the deck until the time when he became
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: too fat and lazy to scamper. The cook was never
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: tired of boiling porridge for him. A whole sack of
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: meal and a sack of potatoes appeared to have been
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: provided especially for his benefit and pleasure. He could eat
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: as much as he pleased. It pleased him to eat
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: a great deal, and to lie on the warm boards
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: of the deck. He got lazier and lazier. As the
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: ship sailed south into warmer weather, the mate made a
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: pet of him, The crew gave him titbits. The cook
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: rubbed his back and scratched his sides. His ribs could
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: not be tickled because he had laid so much fat on.
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: The only persons who refused to treat him as a
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: joke were a yellow tom cat and Captain Barnabus Butcher,
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: who was of a sour disposition. The attitude of the
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: cat was perplexing to Robinson. Obviously, it disapproved of the
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: maize meal porridge business, and it spoke mysteriously about the
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: impropriety of greediness and about the disastrous results of overindulgence.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: But it did not explain what those results might be.
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: And as the cat itself cared neither for yellow meal
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: nor tadies, Robinson thought that its warnings might arise from prejudice.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: It was not unfriendly, It was mournful and foreboding. The
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: cat itself was crossed in love. Its morose and gloomy
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: outlook upon life was partly the result of separation from
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: the owl that sweet hen bird, a snowy owl of Lapland,
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: had sailed upon a northern whaler bound for Greenland, whereas
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: the pound of candles was heading for the tropic seas. Therefore,
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: the cat neglected its duties and was upon the worst
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: of terms with the cook. Instead of blacking boots and
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: valletting the captain, it spent its days and nights in
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: the riggings, serenading the moon. Between times it came down
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: on deck and remonstrated with Robinson. It never told him
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: plainly why he ought not to eat so much, but
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: it referred frequently to a mysterious date which Robinson could
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: never remember, the date of Captain Butcher's birthday, which he
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: celebrated annually by an extra good dinner. That's what they're
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: saving up apples for. The onions are done spouted with
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: the heat. I heard Captain Barnabas tell the cook that
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: onions were of no consequence as long as there were
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: apples for saft. Robinson paid no attention. In fact, he
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: and the cat were both on the side of the
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: ship watching a shoal of silvery fishes. The ship was
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: completely becalmed. The cook strolled across the deck to see
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: what the cat was looking at, and exclaimed joyfully at
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: sight of fresh fish. Presently half the crew were fishing.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: They baited their lines with bits of scarlet wool and
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: bits of biscuit, and the boatswain had a successful catch
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: on a line baited with a shiny button. The worst
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: of button fishing was that so many fish dropped off
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: while being hauled on deck. Consequently, Captain Butcher allowed the
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: crew to launch the Jolly boat, which was let down
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: from some iron contraption called the Davits, on to the
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: glassy surface of the sea. Five sailors got into the boat.
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: The cat jumped in also. They fished for hours. There
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: was not a breath of wind. In the absence of
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: the cat, Robinson fell asleep peacefully upon the warm deck.
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: Later he was disturbed by the voices of the mate
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: and the cook, who had not gone fishing. The farmer
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: was saying, I don't fancy loin of pork with sunstroke.
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: Cooky stir him up, or else throw a piece of
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: sailcloth over him. I was bred on a farm myself.
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: Pigs should never be let sleep in a hot sun
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: as why, inquired the cook. Sunstroke replied the mate. Likewise,
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: it scorches the skin, makes it peely like spoils the
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: look of the crackling. At this point, a rather heavy,
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: dirty piece of sailcloth was flung over Robinson, who struggled
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: and kicked with sudden grunts. Did he hear you, mitie,
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: asked the cook in a lower voice. Don't know, don't matter.
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: He can't get off the ship, replied the mate, lighting
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: his pipe. Light upset his appetite. He's feeding beautiful, said
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: the cook. Presently, the voice of Captain barnabus Bush was heard.
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: He had come upon deck after a siesta below in
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: his cabin, proceed to the crow's nest on the mainmast,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: observed the horizon through a telescope. According to latitude and longitude,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: we ought to be amongst the archipelago by chart and compass,
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: said the voice of Captain Butcher. It reached the ears
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: of Robinson through the sailcloth in muffled tones, but peremptory,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: although it was not so received by the mate, who
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: occasionally contradicted the captain when no one else was listening.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: My corns are very painful, said the mate. Send the
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: cat up, ordered Captain barnabas briefly. The cat is out
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: in the boat fishing. Fetch him in, then, said Captain
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Barnabas losing his temper. He has not blacked my boots
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: for a fortnight. He went below, that is, down a
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: step ladder, into his cabin, where he proceeded to work
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: out the latitude and longitude again in search of the archipelago.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: It's to be hoped that he mends his temper before
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: next Thursday, or he won't enjoy roast pork, said the
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: mate to the cook. They strolled to the other end
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: of the deck to see what fish had been caught.
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: The boat was coming back, as the weather was perfectly calm.
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: It was left over night upon the glassy sea, tied
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: below a port hole or ship's window, at the stern
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: of the Pound of Candles. The cat was sent up
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: the mast with a telescope. It remained there for some time.
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: When it came down, it reported quite untruthfully that there
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: was nothing in sight. No particular watch or lookout was
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: kept that night upon the Pound of Candles because the
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: ocean was so calm, the cat was supposed to watch
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: if anybody did. All the rest of the ship's company
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: played cards, not so the cat or Robinson. The cat
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: had noticed a slight movement under the sailcloth. It found
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: Robinson shivering with fright and in floods of tears. He
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: had overheard the conversation about pork. I'm sure I have
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: given you enough hints, said the cat to Robinson. What
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: do you suppose they were feeding you up for now?
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: Don't start squealing, you little fool. It's as easy as snuff.
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: If you will listen and stop crying, you can row
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: after a fashion. Robinson had been out fishing occasionally and
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: had caught several crabs. Well, you have not far to go.
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: I could see the top of the bong tree on
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: an island north northeast when I was up the mast.
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: The straits of the archipelago are too shallow for the
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: pound of candles, and I'll scuttle all the other boats.
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: Come along and do what I tell you, said the cat.
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: The cat, actuated partly by unselfish friendship and partly by
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: a grudge against the cook and Captain Barnabas Butcher, assisted
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: Robinson to collect a varied assortment of necessaries shoes, sealing wax,
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: a knife, and an arm chair, fishing tackle, a straw hat,
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: a saw fly, papers, a potato pot, a telescope, a kettle,
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: a compass, a hammer, a barrel of flour, another of meal,
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: a keg of fresh water, a tumbler, a teapot, nails,
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: a bucket, a screwdriver. That reminds me, said the cat,
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: And what did it do but go round the clock
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: with a gimlet and bore large holes in the three
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: boats that remained on board the pound of candles. By
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: this time there began to be ominous sounds below. Those
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: of the sailors who had had bad hands were beginning
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: to be tired of carting. So the cat took a
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: hasty farewell of Robinson, pushed him over the ship's side,
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: and he slid down the rope into the boat. The
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: cat unfastened the upper end of the rope and threw
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: it after him. Then it ascended the rigging and pretended
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: to sleep upon its watch. Robinson stumbled somewhat in taking
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: his seat at the oars. His legs were short for rowing.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: Captain Barnabas in the cabin, suspended his deal a card
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: in his hand. Listening, the cook took the opportunity to
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: look under the card. Then he went on slapping down
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: the cards, which drowned the sound of oars upon the
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: placid sea. After another hand, two sailors left the cabin
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: and went on deck. They noticed something having the appearance
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: of a large black beetle in the distance. One of
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: them said it was an enormous cockroach swimming with its
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: hind legs. The others said it was a dulphinium. They
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: disputed rather loudly. Captain Barnabas, who had had a hand
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: with no trumps at all. After the cook dealing, Captain
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: Barnabas came on deck and said, bring me my telescope.
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: The telescope had disappeared, likewise the shoes, the ceiling wax,
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: the compass, the potato pot, the straw hat, the hammer,
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: the nails, the bucket, the screwdriver, and the arm chair.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: Take the jolly boat and see what it is, ordered
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: Captain Butcher. All jolly fine, But suppose it is a dolphinium,
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: said the mate mutinously. Why bless my life, the jolly
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: boat is gone, exclaimed a sailor. Take another boat, Take
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: all the three other boats. It's that pig and that cat,
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: roared the captain. Nay, Sir the cat's up in the
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: rigging asleep. Bother the cat, get the pig back. The
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: apple sauce will be wasted, shrieked the cook, dancing about
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: and brandishing a knife and fork. The davits were swung out.
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  Speaker 1: The boats were let down with a swish and a splash.
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  Speaker 1: All the sailors tumbled in and rowed frantically, and most
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: of them were glad to row frantically back to the
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: pound of candles. For every boat leaked badly thanks to
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: the cat. End of chapter seven chapter eight of The
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: Tail Upig Robinson by Beatrix Potter. This LibriVox recording is
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: in the Public Demean read by Rachel. Chapter eight, Robinson
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: rode away from the pand of candles. He tugged steadily
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: at the oars. They were heavy for him. The sun
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: had set, but I understand that in the tropics, I
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: have never been there. There was a phosphorescent light upon
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: the sea. When Robinson lifted his oars, the sparkling water
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: dripped from the blades like diamonds, and presently the moon
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: began to arise above the horizon, rising like half a
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: great silver plate. Robinson rested on his oars and gazed
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: at the ship, motionless in the moonlight on a sea
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: without a ripple. It was at this moment he being
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: a quarter of a mile away, but the two sailors
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: came on deck and thought his boat was a swimming beetle.
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: Robinson was too far away to see or hear the
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: uproar on board the pound of candles, but he did
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: presently perceive that three boats were starting in pursuit. Involuntarily,
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: he commenced to squeal and rowed frantically. But before he
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: had time to exhaust himself by racing, the ship's boats
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: turned back. Then Robinson remembered the cat's work with the gimlet,
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: and he knew the boats were leaking. For the rest
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: of the night, he rowed quietly without haste. He was
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: not inclined to sleep, and the air was pleasantly cool.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Next day it was hot, but Robinson slept soundly under
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: the sailcloth, which the cat had been careful to send
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: with him in case he wished to rig up a tent.
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: The ship receded from view. You know, the sea is
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: not really flat. First he could not see the hull,
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: Then he could not see the deck, then only part
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: of the masts the nothing at all. Robinson had been
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: steering his course by the ship. Having lost sight of
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: this direction sign, he turned round to consult his compass
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: when bump, bump, the boat touched a sand bank. Fortunately
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: it did not stick. Robinson stood up in the boat,
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: working one ore backwards and gazing around. What should he
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: see but the top of the bonn tree. Half an
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: hour's rowing brought him to the beach of a large
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: and fertile island. He landed in the most approved manner,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: in a convenient sheltered bay, where a stream of boiling
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: water flowed down the silvery strand. The shore was covered
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: with oysters, acid drops, and sweets grew upon the trees. Yams,
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: which are a sort of sweet potato, abounded, ready cooked.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: The bread fruit tree grew iced cakes and muffins ready banked,
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: so no pig needs sigh for porridge. Overhead towered the
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: balm tree. If you want a more detailed description of
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: the island, you must read Robinson Crusoe. The island of
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: the Long Tree was very like Crusoes, only without its drawbacks.
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: I have never been there myself, so I rely upon
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: the report of the owl and the pussy Cat, who
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: visited it eighteen months later and spent a delightful honeymoon there.
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: They spoke enthusiastically about the climate, only it was a
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: little too warm for the owl. Later on, Robinson was
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: visited by Stumpy and Little Dog Tipkins. They found him
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: perfectly contented and in the best of good health. He
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: was not at all inclined to return to Steymouth. For anything,
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: I know he may be living there still upon the island.
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: He grew fatter and fatter and more fatterer, and the
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: ship's cook never found him. End of chapter eight, end
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: of The Tail of Little Pig Robinson by Beatrix Potter.