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030 - Trusty John · Blue Fairy Book

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  Speaker 1: Trusted John, The Blue Fairy Book. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information all to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. This
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  Speaker 1: reading by Lucy Burgoyne. The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty Trusted John. Once upon a time there was
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  Speaker 1: an old king who was so ill that he thought
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  Speaker 1: to himself, I am most likely on my death bed.
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  Speaker 1: Then he said, send Trusty John to me. Now, Trusted
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  Speaker 1: John was his favorite servant, and was so called because
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  Speaker 1: all his life he had served him so faithfully. When
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  Speaker 1: he approached the beard, the king spoke to him, most
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  Speaker 1: Trusted John, I feel my end is drawing near, and
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  Speaker 1: I could face it without a care were it not
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  Speaker 1: for my son. He is still too young to decide
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  Speaker 1: everything for himself. And unless you promise me to instruct
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  Speaker 1: him in all he should know, and to be to
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  Speaker 1: him as a father, I shall not close my eyes
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  Speaker 1: in peace. Then Trusted John answer, I will never desert him,
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  Speaker 1: and will serve him faithfully, even though it should cost
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  Speaker 1: me my life. Then the old king said, now I
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  Speaker 1: die comforted and in peace. And then he went on.
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  Speaker 1: After my death you must show him the whole castle,
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  Speaker 1: all the rooms and apartments and vaults, and all the
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  Speaker 1: treasures that lie in them. But you must not show
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  Speaker 1: him the last room in the long passage, where the
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  Speaker 1: picture of the Princess of the Golden Roof is hidden.
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  Speaker 1: When he beholds that picture, he will fall violently in
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  Speaker 1: love with it and go off into a dead faint.
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  Speaker 1: And for her sake he will encounter many dangers. You
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  Speaker 1: must guard him from this. And when Trusted John had
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  Speaker 1: again given the king his hand upon it, the old
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  Speaker 1: man became silent, laid his head on the pillow, and died.
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  Speaker 1: When the old king had been carried to his grave,
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  Speaker 1: trusted John told the young king what he had promised
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  Speaker 1: his father on his death bed, and added, and I
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  Speaker 1: shall assuredly keep my word, and shall be faithful to
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  Speaker 1: you as I have been to him, even though it
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  Speaker 1: should cost me my life. Now, when the time of
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  Speaker 1: morning was over, Trusty John said to him, it is
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  Speaker 1: time you should see your inheritance. I will show you
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  Speaker 1: your ancestral castle. So he took him over everything and
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  Speaker 1: let him see all the riches and splendid apartments, only
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  Speaker 1: the one room where the picture was He did not open,
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  Speaker 1: but the picture was placed so that if the door opened,
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  Speaker 1: you gazed straight upon it, and it was so beautifully
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  Speaker 1: painted that you imagined it lived and moved, and that
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  Speaker 1: it was the most lovable and beautiful thing in the
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  Speaker 1: whole world. But the young King noticed that Trusted John
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  Speaker 1: always missed one door and said, why do you never
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  Speaker 1: open this one for me? There is something inside that
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  Speaker 1: would appall you, he answered, But the king replied, I
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  Speaker 1: have seen the whole castle and shall find out what
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  Speaker 1: is in there. And with these words he approached the
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  Speaker 1: door and wanted to force it open, but Trusted John
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  Speaker 1: held him back and said, I promised your father before
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  Speaker 1: his death that you shouldn't see what that room contains.
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  Speaker 1: It might bring both you and me to great grief.
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  Speaker 1: Ah No, answered the young king. If I don't get in,
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  Speaker 1: it will be my certain destruction. I should have no
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  Speaker 1: peace night all day till I had seen what was
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  Speaker 1: in the room with my own eyes. Now I don't
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  Speaker 1: budge from the spot till you have opened the door.
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  Speaker 1: Then Trusted John saw there was no way out of it,
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  Speaker 1: so with a heavy heart and many sighs, he took
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  Speaker 1: the key from the big bunch. When he had opened
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  Speaker 1: the door. He stepped in first and thought to cover
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  Speaker 1: the likeness so that the king might not perceive it.
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  Speaker 1: But it was hopeless. The King stood on tiptoe and
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  Speaker 1: looked over his shoulder, and when he saw the picture
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  Speaker 1: of the maid, so beautiful and glittering with gold and
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  Speaker 1: precious stones, he fell swooning to the ground. Trusty John
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  Speaker 1: lifted him up, carried him to bed, and thought, sorrowfully,
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  Speaker 1: the curses come upon us, Gracious Heaven, what will be
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  Speaker 1: the end of it all? Then he poured wine down
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  Speaker 1: his throat till he came to himself again. The first
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  Speaker 1: words he spoke were, Oh, who is the original of
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  Speaker 1: the beautiful picture? She is the princess of the Golden roof.
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  Speaker 1: Answer Trusty John. Then the king continued, My love for
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  Speaker 1: her is so great that if all the leaves on
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  Speaker 1: the trees had tongues, they could not express it. My
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  Speaker 1: very life depends on my winning her. You are my
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  Speaker 1: most trusty John. You must stand by me. The faithful
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  Speaker 1: servant pondered long how they were to set about the matter,
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  Speaker 1: for it was said to be difficult even to get
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  Speaker 1: into the presence of the princess. At length, he hit
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  Speaker 1: upon a plan, and spoke to the king. All the
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  Speaker 1: things she has about her, tables, chairs, dishes, goblets, bowls,
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  Speaker 1: and all her household furniture are made of gold. You
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  Speaker 1: have in your treasure five tons of gold. Let the
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  Speaker 1: goldsmiths of your kingdom manufacture them into all manner of
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  Speaker 1: vases and vessels, into all sorts of birds and game
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  Speaker 1: and wonderful beasts that will please her. We shall go
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  Speaker 1: to her with them and try our luck. The king
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  Speaker 1: summoned all his goldsmiths, and they had to work hard
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  Speaker 1: day and night, till at length the most magnificent things
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  Speaker 1: were completed. When a ship had been laden with them,
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  Speaker 1: the faithful John disguised himself as a merchant, and the
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  Speaker 1: King had to do the same, so that they should
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  Speaker 1: be quite unrecognizable. And so they crossed the seas and
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  Speaker 1: journeyed till they reached the town where the Princess of
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  Speaker 1: the Golden Roof dwelt. Trusted Jon made the king remain
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  Speaker 1: behind on the ship and await his return. Perhaps he said,
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  Speaker 1: I may bring the princess back with me, so see
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  Speaker 1: that everything is in order. Let the gold ornaments be
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  Speaker 1: arranged and the whole ship decorated Then he took a
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  Speaker 1: few of the gold things in his apron, went ashore
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  Speaker 1: and proceeded straight to the palace. When he came to
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  Speaker 1: the courtyard, he found a beautiful maiden standing at the
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  Speaker 1: well drawing water with two golden pails, And as she
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  Speaker 1: was about to carry away the glittering water, she turned
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  Speaker 1: round and saw the stranger and asked him who he was.
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  Speaker 1: Then he replied, I am a merchant, and opening his apron,
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  Speaker 1: he let her peep in. Oh my, she cried, what
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  Speaker 1: beautiful gold wears. She set down her pails and examined
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  Speaker 1: one thing after the other. Then she said, the princess
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  Speaker 1: must see this. She has such a fancy for gold
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  Speaker 1: things that she will buy up all you have. She
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  Speaker 1: took him by the hand and let him into the palace,
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  Speaker 1: for she was the lady's maid. When the princess had
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  Speaker 1: seen the wares, she was quite enchanted and said, they
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  Speaker 1: are all so beautifully made that I shall buy everything
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  Speaker 1: you have. But trusty John said, I am only the
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  Speaker 1: servant of a rich man merchant. What I have here
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  Speaker 1: is nothing compared to what my master has on his ship.
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  Speaker 1: His merchandise is more artistic and costly than anything that
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  Speaker 1: has ever been made in gold before. She desired to
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  Speaker 1: have everything brought up to her, but he said, there
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  Speaker 1: is such a quantity of things that it would take
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  Speaker 1: many days to bring them up, and they would take
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  Speaker 1: up so many rooms that you would have no space
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  Speaker 1: for them in your house. Thus her desire and curiosity
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  Speaker 1: were excited to such an extent that at last she said,
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  Speaker 1: take me to your ship. I shall go there myself
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  Speaker 1: and view your master's treasures. Then Trusty John was quite
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  Speaker 1: delighted and brought her to the ship, and the King,
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  Speaker 1: when he beheld her, saw that she was even more
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  Speaker 1: beautiful than her picture, and thought every moment that his
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  Speaker 1: heart would burst. She stepped on to the ship and
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  Speaker 1: the king led her inside, but Trusty John remained behind
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  Speaker 1: with the steersman and ordered the ship to push off,
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  Speaker 1: spread all sail, that we may fly on the ocean
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  Speaker 1: like a bird in the air. Meanwhile, the King showed
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  Speaker 1: the princess inside all his gold wares, every single bit
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  Speaker 1: of it, dishes, goblets, bowls, the birds and game, and
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  Speaker 1: all the wonderful beasts. Many hours passed thus, and she
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  Speaker 1: was so happy that she did not notice that the
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  Speaker 1: ship was sailing away. After she had seen the last thing.
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  Speaker 1: She thanked the merchant and prepared to go home. But
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  Speaker 1: when she came to the ship's side, she saw that
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  Speaker 1: they were on the high seas, far from land, and
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  Speaker 1: that ship was speeding on its way under full canvas. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: she cried in terror. I am deceived, carried away, and
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  Speaker 1: betrayed into the power of a merchant. I would rather
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  Speaker 1: have died. But the king seized her hand and spake,
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  Speaker 1: I am no merchant, but a king of as high
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  Speaker 1: birth as yourself. And it was my great love for
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  Speaker 1: you that made me carry you off by a stratagem.
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  Speaker 1: The first time I saw your likeness, I fell to
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  Speaker 1: the ground in a swoon. When the Princess of the
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  Speaker 1: Golden Roof heard this, she was comforted, and her heart
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  Speaker 1: went out to him, so that she willingly consented to
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  Speaker 1: become his wife. Now it happened one day while they
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  Speaker 1: were sailing on the high seas, that trusted John, sitting
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  Speaker 1: on the forepart of the ship, fiddling away to himself,
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  Speaker 1: observed three ravens in the air flying toward him. He
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  Speaker 1: ceased playing and listened to what they were saying, for
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  Speaker 1: he understood their language. The one croaked ha ha. So
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  Speaker 1: he's bringing the Princess of the Golden Roof home, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: answered the second, But he's not got her yet. Yes
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  Speaker 1: he has, spoke the third, for she's sitting beside him
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  Speaker 1: on the ship. Then number one began again and cried,
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  Speaker 1: that'll not help him. When they reached the land, a
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  Speaker 1: chestnut horse will dash forward to greet them. The king
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  Speaker 1: will wish to mount it, and if he does, it
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  Speaker 1: will gallop away with him and disappear into the air,
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  Speaker 1: and he will never see his bride again. Is there
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  Speaker 1: no escape for him? Asked number two. Oh. Yes, If
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  Speaker 1: some one else man's quickly and shoots the horse dead
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  Speaker 1: with the pistol that is sticking in the holster, then
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  Speaker 1: the young king is saved. But who's to do that?
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  Speaker 1: And anyone who knows it and tells him will be
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  Speaker 1: turned into stone from his feet to his knees. Then
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  Speaker 1: spoke number two. I know more than that, even if
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  Speaker 1: the horse is slain, the young King will still not
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  Speaker 1: keep his bride. When they enter the palace together, they
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  Speaker 1: will find a ready made wedding shirt in a cupboard,
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  Speaker 1: which looks as though it were woven of gold and silver,
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  Speaker 1: but is really made of nothing but sulfur and tar.
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  Speaker 1: When the king puts it on, it will burn him
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  Speaker 1: to his marrow and bones. Number three asked, is there
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  Speaker 1: no way of escape? Then? Oh yes, answered number two.
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  Speaker 1: If someone seizes the shirt with gloved hands and throw
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  Speaker 1: it into the fire and lets it burn, then the
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  Speaker 1: young king is saved. But what's the good anyone knowing
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  Speaker 1: this and telling it will have half his body turned
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  Speaker 1: into stone, from his knees to his heart. Then number
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  Speaker 1: three spake, I know yet more, though the bridal shirt
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  Speaker 1: to be burnt, the king hasn't even then secured his bride.
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  Speaker 1: When the dance is held after the wedding and the
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  Speaker 1: young queen is dancing, she will suddenly grow deadily white
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  Speaker 1: and drop down like one dead. And unless someone lifts
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  Speaker 1: her up and draws three drops of blood from her
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  Speaker 1: right side and spits them out again, she will die.
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  Speaker 1: But if anyone who knows this betrays it, he will
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  Speaker 1: be turned into stone from the crown of his head
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  Speaker 1: to the soles of his feet. When the ravens had
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  Speaker 1: thus conversed, they fled onward, But trusted John had taken
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  Speaker 1: it all in and was sad and depressed from that
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  Speaker 1: time forward for if he were silent to his master
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  Speaker 1: concerning what he had heard, he would involve him in misfortune.
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  Speaker 1: But if he took him into his confidence, then he
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  Speaker 1: himself would forfeit his life. At last, he said, I
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  Speaker 1: will stand by my master, though it should be my ruin. Now.
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  Speaker 1: When they drew near the land, it came to pass
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  Speaker 1: just as the ravens had predicted, and a splendid chestnut
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  Speaker 1: horse bounded forward. Capital said the King, this animal shall
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  Speaker 1: carry me to my palace, and was about to mount,
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  Speaker 1: But Trusty John was too sharp for him, and, springing up,
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  Speaker 1: quickly seized the pistol out of the holster, and the
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  Speaker 1: horse dead. Then the other servants of the king, who
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  Speaker 1: had no time, looked favorably on Trusty John, cried out,
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  Speaker 1: what a sin to kill the beautiful beast that was
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  Speaker 1: to bear the king to his palace. But the King
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  Speaker 1: spake silence. Let him alone. He is ever my trusty John,
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  Speaker 1: who knows for what good end he may have done
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  Speaker 1: this thing. So they went on their way and entered
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  Speaker 1: the palace, and there in the hall stood a cupboard
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  Speaker 1: in which lay the ready made bridle shirt, looking for
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  Speaker 1: all the world as though it were made of gold
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  Speaker 1: and silver. The young King went toward it and was
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  Speaker 1: about to take hold of it, but Trusty John, pushing
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  Speaker 1: him aside, seized it with his gloved hands, threw it
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  Speaker 1: hastily into the fire and let it burn. The other
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  Speaker 1: servants commenced grumbling again, and said, see, he's actually burning
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  Speaker 1: the king's bridle shirt. But the young King spoke, who
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  Speaker 1: knows for what good purpose he does it? Let him alone.
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  Speaker 1: He is my most trusty John. Then the wedding was celebrated.
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  Speaker 1: The dance begun and the bride joined in, but Trusty
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  Speaker 1: John watched her countenance carefully. Of a sudden she grew
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  Speaker 1: deadly white and fell to the ground as if she
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  Speaker 1: were dead. He at once sprung hastily toward her, lifted
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  Speaker 1: her up, and bore her to a room, where he
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  Speaker 1: laid her down, and, kneeling beside her, he drew three
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  Speaker 1: drops of blood from her right side and spat them out.
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  Speaker 1: She soon breathed again and came to herself. But the
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  Speaker 1: young King had watched the proceeding, and, not knowing my
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  Speaker 1: trusty John had acted as he did, he flew into
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  Speaker 1: a passion and cried throw him into prison. On the
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  Speaker 1: following morning, sentence was passed on Trusty John, and he
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  Speaker 1: was condemned to be hanged. As he stood on the gallows,
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  Speaker 1: he said, every one doomed to death has the right
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  Speaker 1: to speak once before he dies, and I too have
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  Speaker 1: that privilege. Yes, said the King, it shall be granted
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  Speaker 1: to you. So Trusty John spoke, I am unjustly condemned,
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  Speaker 1: for I have always been faithful to you. And he
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  Speaker 1: proceeded to relate how he had heard the ravens conversation
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  Speaker 1: on the sea, and how he had to do all
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  Speaker 1: he did in order to save his master. Then the
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  Speaker 1: King cried, oh, my most trusty John, pardon, pardon, take
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  Speaker 1: him down. But as he uttered the last word, Trusty
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  Speaker 1: John had fallen lifeless to the ground and was as stone.
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  Speaker 1: The King and the Queen were in despair, and the
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  Speaker 1: King spake, ah, how ill have I rewarded such great fidelity,
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  Speaker 1: and made them lift up the stone image and place
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  Speaker 1: it in his bedroom near his bed. As often as
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  Speaker 1: he looked at it, he wept and said, oh, if
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  Speaker 1: I could only restore you to life, my most trusty John.
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  Speaker 1: After a time, the queen gave birth to twins, two
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  Speaker 1: small sons, who throve and grew and were a constant
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  Speaker 1: joy to her. One day, when the Queen was at
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  Speaker 1: church and the two children sat and played with their father,
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  Speaker 1: he gazed again, full of grief, on the stone statue,
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  Speaker 1: and so wailed, Oh, if I could only restore you
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  Speaker 1: to life, my most trusty John. Suddenly the stone began
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  Speaker 1: to speak and said, yes, you can restore me to
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  Speaker 1: life again, if you are prepared to sacrifice what you
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  Speaker 1: hold most dear, And the king cried out, all I
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  Speaker 1: have in the world, will I give up for your sake?
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  Speaker 1: The stone continued, If you cut off with your own
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  Speaker 1: hand the heads of your two children and smear me
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  Speaker 1: with their blood, I shall come back to life. The
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  Speaker 1: king was aghast when he heard that he had himself
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  Speaker 1: to put his children to death, But when he thought
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  Speaker 1: of Trusty John's fidelity and how he had even died
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  Speaker 1: for him, he drew his sword and with his own
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  Speaker 1: hand cut the heads off his children. And when he
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  Speaker 1: had smeared the stone with their blood, life came back,
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  Speaker 1: and Trusty John stood once more, safe and sound before him.
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  Speaker 1: He spake to the King, your loyalty shall be rewarded,
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  Speaker 1: and taking up the heads of the children, he placed
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  Speaker 1: them on their bodies, smeared the wounds with their blood,
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  Speaker 1: and in a minute they were all right again, and
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  Speaker 1: jumping about as if nothing had happened. Then the king
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  Speaker 1: was full of joy, and when he saw the queen coming,
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  Speaker 1: he hid Trusty John and the two children in a
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  Speaker 1: big cupboard. As she entered, he said to her, did
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  Speaker 1: you pray in church? Yes, she answered, but my thoughts
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  Speaker 1: dwelt constantly on Trusty John and of what he has
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  Speaker 1: suffered for us. Then he spake, dear wife, we can
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  Speaker 1: restore him to life, but the price asked is our
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  Speaker 1: two little sons. We must sacrifice them. The queen grew
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  Speaker 1: white and her heart sunk, but she replied, we owe
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  Speaker 1: it to him on account of his great fidelity. Then
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  Speaker 1: he rejoiced that she was of the same mind as
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  Speaker 1: he had been, and going forward, he opened the cupboard
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  Speaker 1: and fetched the two children and Trusty John out, saying,
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  Speaker 1: God be praised. Trusty John is free once more, and
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  Speaker 1: we have our two small sons again. Then he related
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  Speaker 1: to her all that had passed, and they lived together
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  Speaker 1: happily ever afterward. Footnote grim end of footnote end of
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  Speaker 1: story