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37 - At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald · At the Back of the North Wind

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  Speaker 1: Once more. The next night, Diamond was seated by his
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  Speaker 1: open window with his head on his hand, rather tired
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  Speaker 1: but so eagerly waiting for the promised visit that he
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  Speaker 1: was afraid he could not sleep. But he started suddenly
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  Speaker 1: and found that he had been already asleep. He rose, and,
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  Speaker 1: looking out of the window, saw something white against his
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  Speaker 1: beech tree. It was north wind. She was holding by
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  Speaker 1: one hand to a top ranch. Her hair and her
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  Speaker 1: garments went floating away behind her, over the tree, whose
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  Speaker 1: stop was swaying about, while the others were still. Are
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  Speaker 1: you ready, Diamond, she asked, Yes, answered Diamond, quite ready.
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  Speaker 1: In a moment she was at the window, and her
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  Speaker 1: arms came in and took him. She sailed away so
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  Speaker 1: swiftly that he could at first mark nothing but the
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  Speaker 1: speed with which the clouds above and the dim earth
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  Speaker 1: below went rushing past. But soon he began to see
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  Speaker 1: that the sky was very lovely, with muttled clouds all about,
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  Speaker 1: the moon, on which she threw faint colors like those
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  Speaker 1: of mother of Pearl or an Opal. The night was warm,
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  Speaker 1: and in the lady's arms he did not feel the wind,
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  Speaker 1: which down below was making waves in the ripe corn
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  Speaker 1: and ripples on the rivers and lakes. At length they
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  Speaker 1: descended on the side of an open, earthy hill, just
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  Speaker 1: where from beneath a stone a spring came bubbling out.
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  Speaker 1: I am going to take you along this little brook,
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  Speaker 1: said north Wind. I'm not wanted for anything else to night,
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  Speaker 1: so I can give you a treat. She stooped over
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  Speaker 1: the stream, and, holding Diamond down close to the surface
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  Speaker 1: of it, glided a long level with its floe as
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  Speaker 1: it ran down the hill, and the song of the
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  Speaker 1: brook came up into Diamond's ears and grew and grew
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  Speaker 1: and changed. With every turn. It seemed to Diamond to
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  Speaker 1: be singing the story of its life to him, and
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  Speaker 1: so it was. It began with a musical tinkle, which
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  Speaker 1: changed to a babel, then to a gentle rushing. Sometimes
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  Speaker 1: its song would almost cease and then break out again, tinkle, babel, tinkle, babel,
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  Speaker 1: and rush, all at once. At the bottom of the
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  Speaker 1: hill they came to a small river into which the
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  Speaker 1: brook flowed with a muffled but merry sound along the
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  Speaker 1: surface of the river, darkly clear below them in the moonlight.
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  Speaker 1: They floated now where it widened out into a little lake.
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  Speaker 1: They would hover for a moment over a bed of
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  Speaker 1: water lilies and watch them swing about, folded in sleep,
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  Speaker 1: as the water on which they leaned swayed in the
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  Speaker 1: presence of north Wind. And now they would watch the
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  Speaker 1: fishes asleep among their roots below. Sometimes she would hold
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  Speaker 1: diamond over a deep hollow curving into the bank, that
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  Speaker 1: he might look far into the cool stillness. Sometimes she
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  Speaker 1: would leave the river and sweep across a clover field
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  Speaker 1: the bees were all at home and the clover was asleep.
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  Speaker 1: Then she would return and follow the river. It grew
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  Speaker 1: wider and wider as it went. Now the armies of
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  Speaker 1: wheat and of oats would hang over its rush from
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  Speaker 1: the opposite banks. Now the willows would dip low branches
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  Speaker 1: in its still waters. And now it would lead them
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  Speaker 1: through stately trees and grassy banks into a lovely garden,
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  Speaker 1: where the roses and lilies were asleep, the tender flowers
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  Speaker 1: quite folded up, and only a few wide awake and
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  Speaker 1: sending out their life in sweet, strong odors. Wider and
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  Speaker 1: wider grew the stream until they came upon boats lying
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  Speaker 1: along its banks, which rocked a little in the flutter
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  Speaker 1: of north Wind's garments. Then came houses on the banks,
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  Speaker 1: each standing in a lovely lawn with grand trees, And
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  Speaker 1: in parts the river was so high that some of
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  Speaker 1: the grass in the roots of some of the trees
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  Speaker 1: were under water, and Diamond, as they gnided through between
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  Speaker 1: the stems, could see the grass at the bottom of
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  Speaker 1: the water. Then they would leave the river and float
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  Speaker 1: about and over the houses, one after another, beautiful, rich houses, which,
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  Speaker 1: like fine trees, had taken centuries to grow. There was
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  Speaker 1: scarcely a light to be seen, and not a movement
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  Speaker 1: to be heard. All the people in them lay fast asleep.
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  Speaker 1: What a lot of dreams they must be dreaming, said Diamond, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: returned north Wind. They can't surely be all lies, can they?
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  Speaker 1: I should think it depends on who dreams them, suggested Diamond. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: said north Wind. The people who think lies and do
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  Speaker 1: lies are very likely to dream lies. But the people
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  Speaker 1: who love what is true will surely now and then
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  Speaker 1: dream true things. But then something depends on whether the
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  Speaker 1: dreams are home grown or whether the seed of them
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  Speaker 1: is blown over somebody else's garden. Wall Ah, there's some
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  Speaker 1: one awake in this house. They were floating past the
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  Speaker 1: window in which a light was burning. Diamond heard a
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  Speaker 1: moan and looked up anxiously in north Wind's face. It's
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  Speaker 1: a lady, said north Wind. She can't sleep for pain.
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  Speaker 1: Couldn't you do something for her? Said Diamond. No, I can't,
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  Speaker 1: but you could. What could I do? Sing a little
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  Speaker 1: song to her? She wouldn't hear me. I will take
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  Speaker 1: you in and then she will hear you. But that
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  Speaker 1: would be rude, wouldn't it. You can go where you please,
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  Speaker 1: of course, but I should have no business in her room.
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  Speaker 1: You may trust me, Diamond, I shall take good care
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  Speaker 1: of the lady, as of you. The window is open.
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  Speaker 1: Come by a shaded lamp. A lady was seated in
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  Speaker 1: a white wrapper, trying to read, but moaning every minute.
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  Speaker 1: North Wind floated behind her chair, set Diamond down and
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  Speaker 1: told him to sing something. He was a little frightened,
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  Speaker 1: but he thought, awhile, and then sang. The sun is
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  Speaker 1: gone down, and the moon is in the sky. But
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  Speaker 1: the sun will come up, and the moon be laid by.
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  Speaker 1: The flower is asleep, but it is not dead. When
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  Speaker 1: the morning shines, it will lift its head. When winter comes,
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  Speaker 1: it will die. No, no, it will only hide from
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  Speaker 1: the frost in the snow. Sure is the summer, Sure
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  Speaker 1: is the sun? The night and the winter are shadows
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  Speaker 1: that run. The lady never lifted her eyes from her
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  Speaker 1: book or her head from her hand. As soon as
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  Speaker 1: Diamond had finished, north Wind lifted him and carried him away.
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  Speaker 1: Did the lady hear me? Asked Diamond, when they were
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  Speaker 1: once more floating down the river. Oh yes, she heard you,
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  Speaker 1: answered north Wind. Was she frightened? Then? Oh no? Why
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  Speaker 1: didn't she look to see who it was? She didn't
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  Speaker 1: know you were there? How could she hear me? Then?
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  Speaker 1: She didn't hear you with her ears? What did she
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  Speaker 1: hear me with? With her heart? Where did she think
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  Speaker 1: the words came from? She thought they came out of
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  Speaker 1: the book she was reading. She will search all through
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  Speaker 1: it to morrow to find them, and won't be able
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  Speaker 1: to understand it at all. Oh what fun, said Diamond.
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  Speaker 1: What will she do? I can tell you what she
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  Speaker 1: won't do. She'll never forget the meaning of them, and
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  Speaker 1: she'll never be able to remember the words of them.
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  Speaker 1: If she sees them in mister Raymond's book. It will
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  Speaker 1: puzzle her, won't it, Yes, that it will. She will
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  Speaker 1: never be able to understand it until she gets to
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  Speaker 1: the back of the north Wind, suggested Diamond, until she
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  Speaker 1: gets to the back of the north Wind assented the lady. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: cried Diamond, I know where we are. Oh do let
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  Speaker 1: me go into the old garden and into mother's room
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  Speaker 1: and Diamond's stall. I wonder if the hole is at
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  Speaker 1: the back of my bed still. I should like to
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  Speaker 1: stay there all the rest of the night. It won't
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  Speaker 1: take you long to get home from here, will it,
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  Speaker 1: north Wind? No, she answered, you shall stay as long
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  Speaker 1: as you like. Oh, how jolly, cried Diamond, as north
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  Speaker 1: Wind sailed over the house with him and set him
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  Speaker 1: down on the lawn at the back. Diamond ran about
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  Speaker 1: the lawn for a little while. In the moonlight. He
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  Speaker 1: found part of it cut up into flower beds, and
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  Speaker 1: the little summer house with the colored glass in the
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  Speaker 1: great elm tree gone. He did not like this and
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  Speaker 1: ran into the stable. There were no horses there at all.
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  Speaker 1: He ran upstairs, The rooms were empty. The only thing
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  Speaker 1: left that he cared about was the hole in the
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  Speaker 1: wall where his little bed had stood, and that was
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  Speaker 1: not enough to make him wish to stop. He ran
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  Speaker 1: down the stair again and upon the lawn. There he
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  Speaker 1: threw himself down and began to cry. It was all
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  Speaker 1: so dreary and lost. I thought I liked to play
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  Speaker 1: so much, said Diamond to himself. But I find I
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  Speaker 1: don't care about it. I suppose it's only the people
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  Speaker 1: in it that make you like a place, And when
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  Speaker 1: they're gone, it's dead, and you don't care a bit
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  Speaker 1: about it. North Wind told me I might stop as
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  Speaker 1: long as I liked, and I've stopped longer already, north Wind,
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  Speaker 1: he cried aloud, turning his face towards the sky. The
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  Speaker 1: moon was under a cloud, and all was looking dull
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  Speaker 1: and dismal. A star shot from the sky and fell
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  Speaker 1: in the grasp beside him. The moment it lighted, there
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  Speaker 1: stood north Wind, Oh, cried Diamond joyfully. Were you the
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  Speaker 1: shooting star? Yes, my child? Did you hear me call
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  Speaker 1: you then? Yes? So high up as that? Yes I
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  Speaker 1: heard you quite well. Do take me home? Have you
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  Speaker 1: had enough of your old home already? Yes? More than enough.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't a home at all. Now, I thought that
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  Speaker 1: would be it, said north Wind. Everything dreaming and all
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  Speaker 1: has got a soul in it or else it's worth nothing,
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  Speaker 1: and we don't care a bit about it. Some of
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  Speaker 1: our thoughts are worth nothing because they've got no soul
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  Speaker 1: in them. The brain puts them into the mind, not
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  Speaker 1: the mind into the brain. But how can you know
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  Speaker 1: about that, north Wind? You haven't got a body. If
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  Speaker 1: I hadn't, you wouldn't know anything about me. No creature
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  Speaker 1: can know another without the help of a body. But
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  Speaker 1: I don't care to talk about that. It's time for
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  Speaker 1: you to go home, so saying north Wind lifted Diamond
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  Speaker 1: and bore him away. End of Chapter thirty seven. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by maricel Qui