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Fisherman and His Soul (Version 2)-Oscar Wilde · Love and Friendship

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  Speaker 1: Part one of the Fisherman and His Soul. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Phil Schinevert Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Fisherman and
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  Speaker 1: His Soul by Oscar Wilde, Part one to Her Serene Highness, Alice,
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  Speaker 1: Princess of Monaco. Every evening the young fisherman went out
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  Speaker 1: upon the sea and threw his nets into the water.
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  Speaker 1: When the wind blew from the land, he caught nothing,
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  Speaker 1: or but little at best, for it was bitter and
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  Speaker 1: a black waned wind, and rough waves rose up to
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  Speaker 1: meet it. But when the wind blew to the shore,
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  Speaker 1: the fish came in from the deep and swam into
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  Speaker 1: the meshes of his nets. And he took them to
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  Speaker 1: the market place and sold them. Every evening he went
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  Speaker 1: out upon the sea, and one evening the net was
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  Speaker 1: so heavy that hardly could he draw it into the boat.
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  Speaker 1: And he laughed and said to himself, surely I have
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  Speaker 1: caught all the fish that swim or snared some dull
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  Speaker 1: monster that will be a marvel to men, or some
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  Speaker 1: thing of horror that the great Queen will desire. And
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  Speaker 1: putting forth all his strength, he tugged at the coarse rope,
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  Speaker 1: still like lines of blue enamel round a vasive bronze.
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  Speaker 1: The long veins rose up on his arms. He tugged
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  Speaker 1: at the thin ropes, and nearer and nearer came the
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  Speaker 1: circle of flat corks, and the net rose at last
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  Speaker 1: to the top of the water. But no fish at
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  Speaker 1: all was in it, nor any monster or thing of horror,
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  Speaker 1: but only a little mermaid, lying fast asleep. Her hair
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  Speaker 1: was as a wet fleece of gold, and each separate
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  Speaker 1: hair as a thread of fine gold in a cup
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  Speaker 1: of glass. Her body was as white ivory, and her
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  Speaker 1: tail was of silver and pearl. Silver and pearl was
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  Speaker 1: her tail, and the green weeds of the sea coiled
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  Speaker 1: round it, And like seashells were her ears, and her
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  Speaker 1: lips were like sea coral. The coal waves dashed over
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  Speaker 1: her coal breasts, and the salt glistened upon her eyelids.
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  Speaker 1: So beautiful was she that when the young fisherman saw her,
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  Speaker 1: he was filled with wonder, and he put out his
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  Speaker 1: hand and drew the net close to him, and leaning
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  Speaker 1: over the side, he clasped her in his arms, and
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  Speaker 1: when he touched her, she gave a cry like a
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  Speaker 1: startled seek all, and woke and looked at him in
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  Speaker 1: terror with her mauve amethyst eyes, and struggled that she
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  Speaker 1: might escape, but he held her tightly to him and
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  Speaker 1: would not suffer her to depart. And when she saw
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  Speaker 1: that she could in no way escape from him, she
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  Speaker 1: began to weep and said, I pray thee let me go,
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  Speaker 1: for I am the only daughter of a king and
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  Speaker 1: my father's age and alone. But the young fisherman answered,
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  Speaker 1: I will not let thee go. Save thou makest me
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  Speaker 1: a promise that whenever I call thee, thou wilt come
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  Speaker 1: and sing to me. For the fish delight to listen
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  Speaker 1: to the song of the sea folk, and so shall
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  Speaker 1: my nets be full. Wilt thou, in very truth let
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  Speaker 1: me go if I promise thee, This cried the mermaid
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  Speaker 1: in very truth, I will let thee go, said the
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  Speaker 1: young fisherman. So she made him the promise he desired,
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  Speaker 1: and swear to it by the oath of the sea folk.
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  Speaker 1: And he loosened his arms from about her, and she
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  Speaker 1: sank down into the water. Trembling with a strange fear.
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  Speaker 1: Every evening the young fisherman went out upon the sea
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  Speaker 1: and called to the mermaid. And she rose out of
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  Speaker 1: the water and sang to him. Round and round her
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  Speaker 1: swam the dolphins and the wild gulls wheeled above her head,
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  Speaker 1: and she sang a marvelous song. For she sang of
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  Speaker 1: the sea folk who drive their flocks from cave to cave,
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  Speaker 1: and carry the little calves on their shoulders, of the
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  Speaker 1: tritons who have long green beards and hairy breasts, and
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  Speaker 1: blow through twisted conks when the king passes by. Of
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  Speaker 1: the palace of the King, which is all of amber
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  Speaker 1: with a roof of clear emerald, and the pavement of
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  Speaker 1: bright pearl, And of the gardens of the sea, where
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  Speaker 1: the great Philigraine fans of coral wave all day long,
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  Speaker 1: and the fish dart about like silver birds, and the
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  Speaker 1: anemones cling to the rocks, and the pinks version in
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  Speaker 1: the ribbed yellow sand. She sang of the big whales
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  Speaker 1: that come down from the north seas and have sharp
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  Speaker 1: icicles hanging to their fins, of the sirens who tell
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  Speaker 1: of such wonderful things that the merchants have to stop
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  Speaker 1: their ears with wax, lest they should hear them and
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  Speaker 1: leap into the water and be drowned. Of the sunken
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  Speaker 1: galleys with their tall masts, and the frozen sailors clinging
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  Speaker 1: to the rigging, and the mackerels swimming in and out
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  Speaker 1: of the open portholes, Of the little barnacles, who are
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  Speaker 1: great travelers and cling to the keels of the ships
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  Speaker 1: and go round and round the world world. And of
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  Speaker 1: the cuttlefish who live in the sides of the cliffs
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  Speaker 1: and stretch out their long black arms, and can make
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  Speaker 1: night come when they will it. She sang of the nautilus,
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  Speaker 1: who has a boat of her own that is carved
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  Speaker 1: out of an opal and steered with a silken sail.
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  Speaker 1: Of the happy murman, who play upon harps and can
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  Speaker 1: charm the great kraken to sleep. Of the little children
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  Speaker 1: who catch hold of the slippery porpoises and ride laughing
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  Speaker 1: upon their backs. Of the mermaids who lie in the
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  Speaker 1: white foam and hold out their arms to the mariners.
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  Speaker 1: And of the sea lions with their curved tusks, and
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  Speaker 1: the seahorses with their floating manes. And as she sang,
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  Speaker 1: all the tinny fish came in from the deep to
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  Speaker 1: listen to her, and the young fishermen threw his nets
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  Speaker 1: round them and caught them, and others he took with
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  Speaker 1: a spear, And when his boat was well oh laden,
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  Speaker 1: the mermaid was sink down into the sea, smiling at him.
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  Speaker 1: Yet would she never come near him, that he might
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  Speaker 1: touch her. Oftentimes he called to her and prayed of her,
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  Speaker 1: but she would not, and when he sought to seize her,
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  Speaker 1: she dived into the water as a seal might dive.
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  Speaker 1: Nor did he see her again that day, and each
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  Speaker 1: day the sound of her voice became sweeter to his ears.
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  Speaker 1: So sweet was her voice that he forgot his nets
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  Speaker 1: and his cunning, and had no care of his craft.
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  Speaker 1: Vermilion finned and with eyes of bossy gold, The tunnies
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  Speaker 1: went by in shoals, but he heeded them not. His
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  Speaker 1: spear lay by his side unused, and his baskets of
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  Speaker 1: plaited osier were empty, with lips parted and eyes dim
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  Speaker 1: with wonder. He sat idle in his boat and listened,
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  Speaker 1: listening till the sea mists crept round him, and the
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  Speaker 1: wandering moon stained his brown limbs with silver, and one evening,
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  Speaker 1: he called to her and said, little mermaid, Little mermaid,
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  Speaker 1: I love thee. Take me for thy bridegroom, for I
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  Speaker 1: love thee. But the mermaid shook her head. Thou hast
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  Speaker 1: a human soul, she answered, If only thou wouldst send
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  Speaker 1: away thy soul, then could I love thee. And the
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  Speaker 1: young fisherman said to himself, of what use is my
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  Speaker 1: soul to me? I cannot see it, I may not
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  Speaker 1: touch it, I do not know it. Surely I will
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  Speaker 1: send it away from me, and much gladness shall be mine.
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  Speaker 1: And a cry of joy broke from his lips, and
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  Speaker 1: standing up in the painted boat, he held out his
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  Speaker 1: arms to the mermaid. I will send my soul away,
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  Speaker 1: he cried, And you shall be my bride, and I
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  Speaker 1: will be thy bridegroom. And in the depths of the
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  Speaker 1: sea we will dwell together. And all that thou hast sung,
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  Speaker 1: of thou shalt show me, and all that thou desirest,
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  Speaker 1: I will do, nor shall our lives be divided. And
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  Speaker 1: the little mermaid laughed for pleasure and hid her face
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  Speaker 1: in her hands. But how shall I send my soul
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  Speaker 1: from me? Cried the young fisherman. Tell me how I
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  Speaker 1: may do it, and lo it shall be done, alas
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  Speaker 1: I know not, said the little mermaid. The sea folk
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  Speaker 1: have no souls, and she sank down into the deep,
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  Speaker 1: looking wistfully at him. Now, early on the next morning,
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  Speaker 1: before the sun was the span of a man's hand
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  Speaker 1: above the hill, the young fisherman went to the house
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  Speaker 1: of the priest and knocked three times at the door.
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  Speaker 1: The novice looked out through the wicket, and when he
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  Speaker 1: saw who it was, he drew back the latch and
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  Speaker 1: said to him, and sure. And the young fisherman passed
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  Speaker 1: in and knelt down on the sweet smelling rushes of
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  Speaker 1: the floor, and cried to the priest, who was reading
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  Speaker 1: out of the Holy Book, and said to him, father,
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  Speaker 1: I am in love with one of the sea folk,
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  Speaker 1: and my soul hindereth me from having my desire. Tell
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  Speaker 1: me how I can send my soul away from me,
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  Speaker 1: for in truth I have no need of it. Of
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  Speaker 1: what value is my soul to me? I cannot see it,
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  Speaker 1: I may not touch it. I do not know it.
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  Speaker 1: And the priest beat his breast and answered, a lack lack,
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  Speaker 1: thou art mad or hast eaten of some poisonous herb.
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  Speaker 1: For the soul is the noblest part of man, and
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  Speaker 1: was given to us by God that we should nobly
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  Speaker 1: use it. There is no thing more precious than a
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  Speaker 1: human soul, nor any earthly thing that can be weighed
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  Speaker 1: with it. It is worth all the gold that is
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  Speaker 1: in the world, and is more precious than the rubies
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  Speaker 1: of the kings. Therefore, my son, think not any more
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  Speaker 1: of this matter, for it is a sin that may
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  Speaker 1: not be forgiven. And as for the sea folk, they
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  Speaker 1: are lost, and they who would traffic with them are lost.
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  Speaker 1: Also they are the beasts of the fields, that know
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  Speaker 1: not good from evil. And for them the Lord has
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  Speaker 1: not died. The young fisherman's eyes filled with tears when
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  Speaker 1: he heard the bitter words of the priest, and he
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  Speaker 1: rose up from his knees and said to him Father,
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  Speaker 1: the fawns live in the forest and are glad. And
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  Speaker 1: are the rocks sit the mermiin with their harps of
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  Speaker 1: red gold. Let me be as they are. I beseech THEE,
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  Speaker 1: for their days are as the days of flowers. And
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  Speaker 1: as for my soul, what doth my soul profit me?
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  Speaker 1: If it stand between me and the thing that I love?
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  Speaker 1: The love of the body is vile, cried the priest,
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  Speaker 1: knitting his brows. And vile and evil are the pagan
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  Speaker 1: things God suffers to wander through his world. A cursed
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  Speaker 1: be the fawns of the woodland, and a cursed be
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  Speaker 1: the singers of the seal. I have heard them at
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  Speaker 1: night time, and they have sought to lure me from
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  Speaker 1: my beads. They tap at the window and laugh. They
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  Speaker 1: whisper into my ears the tail of their perilous joys.
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  Speaker 1: They tempt me with temptations, and when I would pray,
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  Speaker 1: they make mouths at me. They are lost. I tell
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  Speaker 1: THEE they are lost. For them there is no heaven
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  Speaker 1: nor hell, and in neither shall they praise God's name. Father,
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  Speaker 1: cried the young fisherman. Thou knowest not what thou sayest.
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  Speaker 1: Once in my net, I snare the daughter of a king.
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  Speaker 1: She is fairer than the morning star and whiter than
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  Speaker 1: the moon. For her body I would give my soul,
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  Speaker 1: and for her love I would surrender Heaven. Tell me
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  Speaker 1: what I ask of THEE, and let me go in peace.
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  Speaker 1: Away away, cried the priest. Thy leman is lost, and
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  Speaker 1: thou shalt be lost with her, And he gave him
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  Speaker 1: no blessing, but drove him from his door. And the
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  Speaker 1: young fisherman went down into the market place. And he
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  Speaker 1: walked slowly and with bowed head, as one who is
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  Speaker 1: in sorrow. And when the merchants saw him coming, they
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  Speaker 1: began to whisper to each other, and one of them
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  Speaker 1: came forth to meet him, and called him by name,
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  Speaker 1: and said to him, what hast thou to sell? I
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  Speaker 1: will sell THEE my soul? He answered, I pray THEE
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  Speaker 1: bite of me, for I am weary of it. Of
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  Speaker 1: what use is my soul? To me? I cannot see it,
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  Speaker 1: I may not touch it. I do not know it.
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  Speaker 1: But the merchants mocked at him, and said, of what
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  Speaker 1: use is a man's soul? To us? It is not
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  Speaker 1: worth a clipped piece of silver. Sell us thy body
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  Speaker 1: for a slave, and we will clothe thee in sea
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  Speaker 1: purple and put a ring upon thy finger, and make
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  Speaker 1: THEE dominion of the great Queen. But talk not of
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  Speaker 1: the soul, for to us it is naught, nor has
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  Speaker 1: it any value for our service. And the young fisherman
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  Speaker 1: said to himself, how strange a thing this is. The
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  Speaker 1: priest telleth me that the soul is worth all the
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  Speaker 1: gold in the world, and the merchants say that it
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  Speaker 1: is not worth a clipped piece of silver. Then he
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  Speaker 1: passed out of the marketplace and went down to the
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  Speaker 1: shore of the sea, and began to ponder on what
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  Speaker 1: he should do. And at noon he remembered how one
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  Speaker 1: of his companions, who was a gatherer of sapphire, had
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  Speaker 1: told him of a certain young witch who dwelt in
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  Speaker 1: a cave at the head of the bay, and was
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  Speaker 1: very cunning in her witcheries. And he set to and ran,
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  Speaker 1: so eager was he to get rid of his soul,
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  Speaker 1: And a cloud of dust followed him as he sped
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  Speaker 1: round the sand of the shore. By the itching of
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  Speaker 1: her palm, the young witch knew his coming, and she
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  Speaker 1: laughed and let down her red hair. With her red
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  Speaker 1: hair falling around her, she stood at the opening of
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  Speaker 1: the cave, and in her hand she had a spray
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  Speaker 1: of wild hemlock that was blossoming. What de'l ac, what
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  Speaker 1: del ac, she cried as he came panting up the
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  Speaker 1: steep and bent down before her fish for thy net.
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  Speaker 1: When the wind is foul, I have a little reed pipe,
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  Speaker 1: and when I blow on it the mullet comes sailing
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  Speaker 1: into the bay. But it has a price, pretty boy,
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  Speaker 1: it has a price. What do you lack? What do
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  Speaker 1: you lack? A storm to wreck the ships and washed
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  Speaker 1: the chests of rich treasure ashore. I have more storms
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  Speaker 1: than the wind has, for I sir, one who was
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  Speaker 1: longer than the wind. And with a sieve and a
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  Speaker 1: pail of water, I can send the great galleys to
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  Speaker 1: the bottom of the sea. But I have a price,
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  Speaker 1: pretty boy, I have a price. What do you ac?
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  Speaker 1: What do you act? I know a flower that grows
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  Speaker 1: in the valley. None knows it but I It has
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  Speaker 1: purple leaves and a star in its heart, and its
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  Speaker 1: juice is as white as milk. Shouldt thou touch with
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  Speaker 1: this flour the hard lips of the queen? She would
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  Speaker 1: follow thee all over the world. Out of the bed
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  Speaker 1: of the king she would rise, and over the whole world,
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  Speaker 1: she would follow thee. And it has a price, pretty boy,
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  Speaker 1: it has a price. What do youlac? What do you act?
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  Speaker 1: I can pound a toad in a mortar and make
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  Speaker 1: broth of it, and stir the broth with a dead
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  Speaker 1: man's hand, sprinkle it on thine enemy, while he sleeps,
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  Speaker 1: and he will turn into a black viper, and his
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  Speaker 1: own mother will slay him with the wheel. I can
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  Speaker 1: draw the moon from heaven, and in a crystal, I
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  Speaker 1: can show thee death. What do you lack? What do
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  Speaker 1: you lack? Tell me thy desire, and I will give
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  Speaker 1: it to thee, and thou shalt pay me a price.
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  Speaker 1: Pret dee boy, thou shalt pay me a price. My
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  Speaker 1: desire is but for a little thing, said the young fisherman.
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  Speaker 1: Yet hath the priest been wroth with me and driven
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  Speaker 1: me forth? It is but for a little thing, and
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  Speaker 1: the merchants have mocked at me and denied me. Therefore
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  Speaker 1: am I come to THEE. Though men call THEE evil?
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  Speaker 1: And whatever be thy price, I shall pay it. What
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  Speaker 1: wouldst thou? Asked the witch, coming near to him. I
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  Speaker 1: would send my soul away from me, answered the young fisherman,
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  Speaker 1: which grew pale and shuddered and hid her face in
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  Speaker 1: her blue mantle. Pretty boy, pretty boy, she muttered, that
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  Speaker 1: is a terrible thing to do. He tossed his brown
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  Speaker 1: curls and laughed. My soul is naught to me, he answered.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I
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  Speaker 1: do not know it. What wilt thou give me if
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  Speaker 1: I tell thee, asked the witch, looking down at him
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  Speaker 1: with her beautiful eyes. Five pieces of gold, he said,
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  Speaker 1: and my nets, and the wattled house where I live,
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  Speaker 1: and the painted boat in which I sail. Only tell
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  Speaker 1: me how to get rid of my soul, and I
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  Speaker 1: shall give THEE all that I possess. She laughed mockingly
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  Speaker 1: at him, and struck him with the spray of hemlock.
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  Speaker 1: I can turn thee autumn leaves into gold, she answered,
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  Speaker 1: And I can weave the pale moonbeams into silver. I
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  Speaker 1: will it. He whom I serve, is richer than all
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  Speaker 1: the kings of this world, and has their dominions. What
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  Speaker 1: then shall I give thee? He cried? If thy price
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  Speaker 1: be neither gold nor silver. The witch stroked his hair
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  Speaker 1: with her thin white hand. Thou must dance with me,
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  Speaker 1: pretty boy, she murmured, and she smiled at him as
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  Speaker 1: she spoke. Naught but that, cried the young fisherman in wonder,
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  Speaker 1: as he rose to his feet. Naught but that, she answered,
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  Speaker 1: and she smiled at him again. Then at sunset, in
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  Speaker 1: some secret place, we shall dance together, he said. And
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  Speaker 1: after that we have danced, Thou shalt tell me the
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  Speaker 1: thing which I desire to know. She shook her head.
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  Speaker 1: When the moon is full. When the moon is full,
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  Speaker 1: she muttered. Then she peered all round and listened. A
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  Speaker 1: blue bird rose screaming from its nest and circled over
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  Speaker 1: the dunes, and three spotted birds rustled through the coarse
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  Speaker 1: gray grass and whistled to each other. There was no
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  Speaker 1: other sound save the sound of a wave fretting the
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  Speaker 1: smooth pebbles below. So she reached out her hand and
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  Speaker 1: drew him near to her, and put her dry lips
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  Speaker 1: close to his ear. To night, thou must come to
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  Speaker 1: the top of the mountain, she whispered. It is a sabbath,
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  Speaker 1: and he will be there. The young fisherman started and
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  Speaker 1: looked at her, and she showed her white teeth and laughed.
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  Speaker 1: Who is he of whom thou speakest? He asked, It
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  Speaker 1: matters not, she answered, Go thou to night, and stand
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: under the branches of the horn beam, and wait for
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: my coming. If a black dog run towards thee, strike
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: it with a rod of willow, and it will go away.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: If an owl speak to thee, make no answer. When
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: the moon is full, I shall be with thee, and
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: we will dance together on the grass. But wilt thou
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: swear to me to tell me how I may send
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: my soul from me? He made a question. She moved
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: out into the sunlight, and through her red hair rippled
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the wind by the hoofs of the goat, I swear,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: she made answer. Thou art the best of the witches,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: cried the young fisherman, and I will surely dance with
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: thee to night on the top of the mountain. I
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: would indeed that thou hast asked me of either gold
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: or silver. But such as thy price is, thou shalt
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: have it, for it is but a little thing. And
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: he doffed his captain her and bent his head low,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: and ran back to the town, filled with a great joy.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: And the witch watched him as he went, And when
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: he had passed from her sight, she entered her cave, and,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: having taken a mirror from a box of carved cedar wood,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: she set it up on a frame and burned vervin
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: on lighted charcoal before it, and peered through the coils
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: of smoke. And after a time she clenched her hands
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: in anger. He should have been mine, she muttered, I
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: am as fair as she is. And that evening, when
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the moon had risen, the young fisherman climbed up to
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the top of the mountain and stood under the branches
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: of the hornbeam like a targe of polished metal. The
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: round sea laid his feet, and the shadows of the
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: fishing boats moved in the little bay. A great owl
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: with yellow sulfurous eyes called to him by his name,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: but he made no answer. A black dog ran towards
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: him and snarled. He struck it with a rod of willow,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: and it went away whining. At midnight, the witches came
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: flying through the air like bats pew. They cried as
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: they lit upon the ground. There is some one here,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: we know not, And they sniffed about and chattered to
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: each other and made signs. Last of all came the
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: young witch, with her red hair streaming in the wind.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: She wore a dress of gold tissue embroidered with peacock's eyes,
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: and a little cap of green velvet was on her head.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: Where is he? Where is he? Shrieked the witches when
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: they saw her, But she only laughed and ran to
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: the hornbeam, and taking the fisherman by the hand. She
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: let him out into the moonlight and began to dance
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: round and round. They whirled, and the young witch jumped
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: so high that he could see the scarlet heels of
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: her shoes. Then right across the dancers came the sound
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: of the galloping of a horse, but no horse was
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: to be seen, and he felt afraid. Faster, cried the witch,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: and she threw her arms about his neck, and her
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: breath was hot upon his face. Faster, faster, she cried,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: and the earth seemed to spin beneath his feet, and
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: his brain grew troubled, and a great terror fell upon him,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: as of some evil thing that was watching him. And
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: at last he became aware that under the shadow of
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: a rock there was a figure that had not been
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: there before. It was a man dressed in a suit
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: of black velvet cut in the Spanish fashion. His face
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: was strangely pale, but his lips were like a proud
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: red flower. He seemed weary, and was leaning back, toying
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: in a listless manner, with the pommel of his dagger
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: on the grass. Beside him lay a plumed hat and
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: a pair of riding gloves. Gauntleted with gilt lace and
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: sung with seed pearls wrought into a curious device. A
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: sharp cloak lined with sables hung from his shoulder, and
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: his delicate white hands were gemmed with rings. Heavy eyelids
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: drooped over his eyes. The young fisherman watched him as
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: one snared in a spell. At last their eyes met,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: and wherever he danced, it seemed to him that the
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: eyes of the man were upon him. He heard the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: witch laugh and caught her by the waist, and whirled
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: her madly round and round. Suddenly a dog bayed in
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: the wood, and the dancer stopped, and, going up two
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: by two, knelt down and kissed the man's hands. As
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: they did so, little smile touched his proud lips as
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: a bird's wing touches the water and makes it laugh.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: But there was disdain in it. He kept looking at
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the young fisherman. Come let us worship, whispered the witch.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: And she let him up, and a great desire to
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: do as she besought him seized on him, and he
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: followed her. But when he came close, and without knowing
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: why he did it, he made on his breast the
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: sign of the cross, and called upon the Holy name.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: No sooner had he done so than the witches screamed
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: like hawks and flew away, and the pallid face that
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: had been watching him twitched with a spasm of pain.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: The man went over to a little wood and whistled.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: A jennet with silver trappings came rushing to meet him.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: As he leaped upon the saddle, he turned round and
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: looked at the young fisherman sadly, and the witch with
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: the red hair tried to fly away also, but the
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: fisherman caught her by her wrists and held her fast
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: loose me, she cried, and let me go, for thou
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: hast named which should not be named, and shown the
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: sign that may not be looked at. Nay, he answered,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: but I will not let thee go till thou hast
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: told me the secret? What secret? Said the witch, wrestling
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: with him like a wild cat and biting her foam
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: flecked lips, Thou knowest he made answer. Her grass green
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: eyes grew dim with tears, and she said to the fisherman,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: ask me anything but that. He laughed and held her
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: all the more tightly, And when she saw that she
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: could not free herself, she whispered to him, surely, I
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: am as fair as the daughters of the sea, and
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: as comely as those that dwell in the blue waters.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: And she fall and put her face close to his.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: But he thrust her back, frowning, and said to her,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: if thou keepest not the promise that thou madest to me,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I will slay thee for a false witch. She grew
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: gray as a blossom of the Judas tree, and shuddered.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Be it so she muttered, it is thy soul, and
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: not mine. Do with it as thou wilt. And she
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: took from her girdle a little knife that had a
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: handle of green viper's skin, and gave it to him.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: What shall this serve me, he asked of her, wondering.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: She was silent for a few moments, and a look
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: of terror came over her face. Then she brushed her
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: hair back from her forehead, and, smiling strangely, she said
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: to him what men call the shadow of the body
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: is not the shadow of the body, but is the
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: body of the soul. Stand on the seashore with thy
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: back to the moon, and cut away from around thy
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: feet thy shadow, which is thy soul's body, And bid
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: thy soul leave THEE, and it will do so. The
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: young fisherman trembled. Is this true? He murmured, It is true,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: and I would that I had not told THEE of it.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: She cried, and she clung to his knees, weeping. He
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: put her from him and left her in the rank grass,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and going to the edge of the mountain, he placed
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: the knife in his belt and began to climb down.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: And his soul that was within him called out to
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: him and said, Lo, I have dwelt with THEE for
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: all these years and have been thy servant. Send me
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: not away from THEE now, for what evil have I
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: done THEE? And the young fisherman laughed, thou hast done
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: me no evil? But I no need of THEE. He answered.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: The world is wide, and there is Heaven also, and Hell,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: and that dim twilight house that lies between. Go wherever
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: thou wilt. But trouble me not, for my love is
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: calling to me. And his soul besought him piteously, but
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: he heeded it not, but leapt from crag to crag,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: being sure footed as a wild gooat, and at last
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: he reached the level ground and the yellow shore of
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: the sea. Bronze, limbed and well knit, like a statue
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: wrought by Agrecian. He stood on the sand with his
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: back to the moon, and out of the foam came
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: white arms that beckoned to him, and out of the
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: waves rose dim forms that did him homage. Before him
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: lay his shadow, which was the body of his soul,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: and behind him hung the moon in the honey colored air.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: And his soul said to him, if indeed thou must
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: drive me from THEE, send me not forth without a heart.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: The world is cruel. Give me thy heart to take
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: with me. He tossed his head and smiled, with what
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: should I love my love if I gave THEE my heart?
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: He cried nay, But be merciful, said his soul. Give
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: me thy heart, for the world is very cruel, and
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: I am afraid my heart is my love's. He answered, therefore,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: tarry not, but get THEE gone? Should I not love?
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Also asked his soul. Get THEE gone, for I have
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: no need of thee, cried the young fisherman, And he
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: took the little knife with his handle of green viper
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: skin and cut away his shadow from around his feet,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: and it rose up and stood before him and looked
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: at him, and it was even as himself. End of
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Part one, Part two of The Fisherman and his Soul
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: by Oscar Wilde. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Part two. He crept back and thrust the knife into
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: his belt, and a feeling of awe came over him.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Get thee gone, he murmured, And let me see thy
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: face no more. Nay, but we must meet again, said
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the soul. Its voice was low and flute like, and
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: its lips hardly moved while it spake. How shall we meet,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: cried the young fisherman. Thou wilt not follow me into
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: the depths of the sea. One every year I will
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: come to this place and call to thee, said the soul.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: It may be that thou wilt have need of me.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: What need should I have of thee? Cried the young fisherman.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: But be it as thou wilt. And he plunged into
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: the waters, and the tritons blew their horns, and the
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: little mermaid rose up to meet him and put her
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: And the soul stood on the lonely beach and watched them.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: And when they had sunk down into the sea. It
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: went weeping away over the marshes. After a year was over,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the soul came down to the shore of the sea
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: and called to the young fisherman. And he rose out
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: of the deep and said, why dost thou call to me?
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: And the soul answered, come nearer, that I may speak
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: with thee, for I have seen marvelous things. So he
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: came nearer and crouched in the shallow water, and leaned
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: his head upon his hand and listened. And the soul
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: said to him, when I left thee, I turned my
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: face to the east and journeyed. From the east cometh
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: everything that is wise. Six days I journeyed, and on
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: the morning of the seventh day I came to a hill,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: that is in the country of the Tartars. I sat
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: down under the shade of a tamarisk tree to shelter
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: myself from the sun. The land was dry and burnt
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: up with the heat. The people went to and fro
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: over the plain like flies, crawling upon a disk of
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: polished copper. When it was noon, a cloud of red
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: dust rose up from the flat rim of the land.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: When the Tartars saw it, they strung their painted bows,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: and having leapt upon their little horses, they galloped to
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: meet it. The women fled, screaming, to the wagons, and
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: hid themselves behind the felt curtains. At twilight, the tartars returned,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: but five of them were missing, and of those that
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: came back, not a few had been wounded. They harnessed
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: their horses to the wagons and drove hastily away. Three
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: jackals came out of a cave and peered after them.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: Then they sniffed up the air with their nostrils and
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: trotted off in the opposite direction. When the moon rose,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: I saw a campfire burning on the plane and went
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: towards it. A company of merchants were seated round it
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: on carpets. Their camels were picketed behind them, and the
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: negroes who were their servants were pitching tints of tanned
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: skin upon the sand and making a high wall of
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: the prickly pear. As I came near them, the chief
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: of the merchants rose up and drew his sword and
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: asked my business. I answered that I was a prince
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: in my own land, and that I had escaped from
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: the Tartars who had sought to make me their slave.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: The chief smiled and showed me five heads fixed upon
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: long reeds of bamboo. Then he asked me who was
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: the prophet of God, and I answered him Mohammed. When
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: he heard the name of the false prophet, he bowed
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: and took me by the hand and placed me by
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: his side. A negro brought me some mare's milk and
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: a wooden dish, and a piece of lamb's flesh roasted.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: At daybreak we started on our journey. I rode on
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: a red haired camel by the side of the chief,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: and a runner ran before us carrying a spear. The
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: men of war were on either hand, and the mules
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: followed with the merchandise. There were forty camels in the caravan,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: and the mules were twice forty in number. We went
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: from the country of the Tartars into the country of
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: those who cursed the moon. We saw the griffins guarding
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: their gold on the white rocks, and scaled dragons sleeping
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: in their caves. As we passed over the mountains, we
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: held our breath lest the snows might fall on us,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: and each man tied a veil of gauze before his eyes.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: As we passed through the valleys. The pygmies shot arrows
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: at us from the hollows of the trees, and at
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: night we heard the wild men beating on their drums.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: When we came to the Tower of Apes, we set
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: fruits before them, and they did not harm us. When
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: we came to the Tower of Serpents, we gave them
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: warm milk in bowls of brass, and they let us
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: go by. Three times in our journey we came to
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: the banks of the Oxus. We crossed it on rafts
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: of wood with great bladders of blown hide. The river
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: horses raged against us and sought to slay us. When
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: the camels saw them, they trembled. The kings of each
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: city levied tolls on us, but would not suffer us
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: to enter their gates. They threw us bread over the walls,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: little maize cakes baked in honey, and cakes of fine
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: flour filled with dates. For every hundred baskets, we gave
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: them a bead of amber. When the dwellers of the
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: villages saw us coming, they poisoned the wells and fled
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: to the hill summits. We fought with the magadae, who
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: are born old and grow younger, and younger each year
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: and die when they are little children. And with a Lactroy,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: who say that they are the sons of tigers and
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: paint themselves yellow and black. And with the Arrenties, who
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: bury their death on the tops of trees, and themselves
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: live in dark caverns, lest the Sun, who was their god,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: should slay them. And with the Crimeans, who worship a
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: crocodile and give it ear rings of green glass, and
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: feed it with butter and fresh fowls. And with the
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: agazon Bay who are dog faced, and with the Sibons,
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: who have horses feet and run more swiftly than horses.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: A third of our company died in battle, and a
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: third died of want. The rest murmured against me and
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: said that I had brought them an evil fortune. I
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: took a horned adder from beneath a stone and let
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: it sting me. When they saw that I did not sicken,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: they grew afraid. In the fourth month we reached the
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: city of Illel. It was night time when we came
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: to the grove, that is outside the walls, and the
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: air was sultry, for the moon was traveling in scorpion.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: We took the ripe pomegranates from the trees and brake
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: them and drank their sweet juices. Then we lay down
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: on our carpets and waited for the dawn, And at
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: on we rose and knocked at the gate of the city.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: It was wrought out of red bronze and carved with
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: sea dragons and dragons that have wings. The guards looked
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: down from the battlements and asked us our business. The
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: interpreter of the caravan answered that we had come from
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: the island of Syria with much merchandise. They took hostages
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: and told us that they would open the gate to
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: us at noon, and bade us tarry till then. When
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: it was noon, they opened the gate, and as we
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: entered in, the people came crowding out of the houses
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: to look at us, and a crier went round the
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: city crying through a shell. We stood in the marketplace,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: and the negroes uncarded the bales of figured cloths and
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: opened the carved chests of sycamore. And when they had
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: ended their task, the merchants set forth their strange wares,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: the waxed linen from Egypt and the painted linen from
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: the care of the Ethiops. The purple sponges from tire,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: and the blue hangings from sidon, the cups of cold amber,
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: and the fine vessels of glass, and the curious vessels
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: of burnt clay. From the roof of a house. A
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: company of women watched us. One of them wore a
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: mask of gilded leather. And on the first day the
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: priests came and barted with us, And on the second
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: day came the nobles, and on the third day came
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: the craftsmen and the slaves. And this is their custom
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: with all merchants, as long as they tarry in the city.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: And we tarried for a moon. And when the moon
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: was waning, I wearied and wandered away through the streets
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: of the city, and came to the garden of its god.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: The priests, in their yellow robes, moved silently through the
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: green trees, and on a pavement of black marble stood
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: the rose red house in which the god had his dwelling.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Its doors were of powdered lacquer, and bowls and peacocks
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: were wrought on them in raised and polished gold. The
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: tilted roof was of sea green porcelain, and the jutting
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: eaves were festooned with little bells. When the white doves
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: flew past, they struck the bells with their wings and
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: made them tinkle. In front of the temple was a
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: pool of clear water, paved with veined onyx. We lay
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: down beside it, and with my pale fingers I touched
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: the broad leaves. One of the priests came towards me
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: and stood behind me. He had sandals on his feet,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: one of soft serpent skin and the other of birds plumage.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: On his head was a miter of black felt decorated
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: with silver crescents. Seven yellows were woven into his robe,
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: and his frizzed hair was stained with antimony. After a
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: little while, he spake to me and asked me my desire.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: I told him that my desire was to see the God.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: The God is hunting, said the priest, looking strangely at
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: me with his small, slanting eyes. Tell me in what forest,
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: and I will ride with him, I answered. He combed
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: out the soft fringes of his tunic with his long
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: pointed nails. The God is asleep, he murmured, Tell me
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: on what couch, and I will watch by him. I answered,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: The God is at the feast. He cried, if the
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: wine be sweet, I will drink it with him, and
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: if it be bitter, I will drink it with him.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: Also was my answer. He bowed his head in wonder,
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: and taking me by the hand, he raised me up
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: and led me into the temple. And in the first
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: chamber I saw an idol seated on a throne of jasper,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: boarded with the great Orient pearls. It was carved out
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: of ebony, and in stature was the stature of a man.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: On its forehead was a ruby, and thick oil dripped
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: from his hair on to its thighs. Its feet were
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: red with the blood of a newly slain kid, and
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: its loins girt with a copper belt that was studded
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: with seven barrels. And I said to the priest, is
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: this the God? And he answered me, this is the God.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: Show me the God, I cried, or I will surely
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: slay thee. And I touched his hand and it became withered.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: And the priest besought me, saying, let my lord heal
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: his servant, and I will show him the God. So
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: I breathed with my breath upon his hand, and it
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: became whole again, and he trembled and led me into
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: the second chamber, and I saw an idol standing on
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: a low notice of jade, hung with great emeralds. It
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: was carved out of ivory, and in stature was twice
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: the stature of a man. On its forehead was a chrysolite,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: and its breasts were smeared with mr and cinnamon. In
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: one hand it held a crooked scepter of jade, and
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: in the other a round crystal it ware buskins of brass,
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: and its thick neck was circled with a circle of selenatites.
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: And I said to the priest, is this the God?
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: And he answered me, this is the God. Show me
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: the God, I cried, or I will surely slay thee.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: And I touched his eyes and they became blind, and
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: the priest besought me, saying, oh, let my Lord heal
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: his servant, and I will show him the God. So
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: I breathed with my breath upon his eyes, and the
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: sight came back to them. And he trembled again and
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: led me in to the third chamber, and lo, there
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: was no idol in it, nor image of any kind,
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: but only a mirror of round metal set on an
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: altar of stone. And I said to the priest, where
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: is the God? And he answered me, there is no
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: God but this mirror that thou seest. For this is
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: the mirror of wisdom. And it reflecteth all things that
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: are in heaven and on earth, save only the face
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: of him who looketh into it. This it reflecteth not,
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: so that he who looketh into it may be wise.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: Many other mirrors are there, but they are mirrors of opinion.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: This only is the mirror of wisdom. And they who
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: possess this mirror know everything, nor is there anything hidden
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: from them. And they who possess it not have not wisdom.
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: Therefore it is the God, and we worship it. And
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: I looked into the mirror, and it was even as
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: he had said to me. And I did a strange thing.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: But what I did matters not. For in a valley,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: that is but a day's journey from this place, have
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: I hidden the mirror of wisdom. Do but suffer me
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: to enter into thee again, and be thy servant, And
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: thou shalt be wiser than all the wise men, and
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: wisdom shall be thine. Suffer me to enter into thee,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: and none will be as wise as thou. But the
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: young fisherman laughed. Ah, love is better than wisdom, he cried,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: and the little mermaid loves me. Nay, but there is
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: nothing better than wisdom, said the soul. Love is better,
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: answered the young fisherman, and he plunged into the deep,
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: and the soul went weeping away over the marshes. And
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: after the second year was over, the soul came down
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: to the shore of the sea and called to the
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: young fisherman. And he rose out of the deep and said,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: why dost thou call to me? And the soul answered,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: come nearer, that I may speak with thee, for I
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: have seen marvelous things. So he came nearer and crouched
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: in the shallow water, and leaned his head upon his
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: hand and listened. And the soul said to him, when
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: I left thee, I turned my face to the south
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: and journeyed. From the south cometh everything that is precious.
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: Six days I journeyed along the highways that lead to
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: the city of Ashtar, along the dusty, red dyed highways
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: by which the pilgrims are wont to go. Did I journey,
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: And on the morning of the seventh day, I lifted
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: up my eyes, and lo the city lay at my feet,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: for it is in a valley. There are nine gates
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: to this city, and in front of each gate stands
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: a bronze horse that neighs when the Bedouins come down
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: from the mountains. The walls are cased with copper, and
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: the watch towers on the walls are roofed with brass.
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: In every tower stands an archer with a bow in
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: his hand. At sunrise he strikes with an arrow on
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: a gong, and at sunset he blows through a horn
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: of horn. When I sought to enter, the guard stopped
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: me and ask me who I was. I made answer
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: that I was a dervish, and on my way to
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: the city of Mecca, where there was a great veil
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: on which the Koran was embroidered in silver letters by
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: the hands of the angels. They were filled with wonder
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: and entreated me to pass in. Indeed, it is even
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: as a bazaar. Surely thou shouldst have been with me.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: Across the narrow streets, the gay lanterns of paper fluttered
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: like large butterflies. When the wind blows over the roofs,
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: they rise and fall, as painted bubbles do in front
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: of their booths. Sit the merchants on silken carpets. They
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: have straight black beards, and their turbans are covered with
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: golden sequins, and long strings of amberin carved peach stones
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: glide through their cool fingers. Some of them sell galbanum
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: and gnard and curious perfumes from the islands of the
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Indian Sea, and the thick oil of red roses and myrrh,
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: and little nail shaped clothes. When one stops to speak
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: to them, they throw pinches of franken scents upon a
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: charcoal brazier and make the air sweet. I saw a
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: Syrian who held in his hands a thin rod like
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: a reed. Gray threads of smoke came from it, and
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: its odor as it burned, was as the odor of
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: the pink ammon in spring. Others sell silver bracelets embossed
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: all over with creamy blue turquoise stones, and anklets of
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: brass wire fringed with little pearls, and tigers claws setting gold,
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: and the claw of that gilt cat the leopard setting
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: gold also, and ear rings of pierced emerald, and finger
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: rings of hollowed jade. From the tea houses comes the
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: sound of the guitar, and the opium smokers, with their
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: white smiling faces, look out at the passers by. Of
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: a truth, thou shouldst have been with me. The wine
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: cellars elbow their way through the crowd, with great black
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: skins on their shoulders. Most of them sell the wine
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: of shiras, which is as sweet as honey. They serve
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: it in little metal cups and strew rose leaves upon it.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: In the marketplace stand the fruit sellers, who sell all
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: kinds of fruit, ripe figs with their bruised purple flesh,
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: melons smelling of musk and yellow as topazes, citrons and
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: rose apples, and clusters of white grapes, round red gold oranges,
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: and oval lemons of green gold. Once I saw an
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: elephant go by. Its trunk was painted with vermilion and turmeric,
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: and over its ears it had a net of crimson
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: silk cord. It stopped opposite one of the booths and
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: began eating the oranges, and the man only laughed. Thou
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: canst not think how strange a people they are. When
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: they are glad, they go to the bird cellars and
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: buy of them a caged bird and set it free.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: That their joy may be greater, And when they are sad,
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: they scourge themselves with thorns, that their sorrow may not
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: grow less. One evening I met some negroes carrying a
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: heavy palanquin through the bazaar. It was made of gilded bamboo,
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: and the poles were of vermilion lacquers studded with brass peacocks.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: Across the windows hung thin curtains of muslin, embroidered with beetles,
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: wings and with tiny seed pearls. And as it passed by,
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: a pale faced Circassian looked out and smiled at me.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: I followed behind, and the Negroes hurried their steps and scowled,
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: but I did not care. I felt a great curiosity
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: come over me. At last, they stopped at a square
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: white house. There were no windows to it, only a
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: little door, like the door of a tomb. They set
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: down the palanquin and knocked three times with a copper hammer.
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: An Armenian in a caftan of green leather peered through
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: the wicket, and when he saw them, he opened and
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: spread a carpet on the ground, and the woman stepped out.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: As she went in, she turned round and mild at
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: me again. I had never seen anyone so pale. When
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: the moon rose, I returned to the same place and
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: sought for the house, but it was no longer there.
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: When I saw that, I knew who the woman was,
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: and wherefore she had smiled at me. Certainly thou shouldst
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: have been with me. On the feast of the new moon,
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: the young emperor came forth from his palace and went
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: into the mosque to pray. His hair and beard were
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: dyed with rose leaves, and his cheeks were powdered with
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: a fine gold dust. The palms of his feet and
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: hands were yellow with saffron. At sunrise he went forth
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: from his palace in a robe of silver, and at
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: sunset he returned to it again in a robe of gold.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: The people flung themselves on the ground and hid their faces.
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: But I would not do so good by the stall
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: of a cellar of dates, and waited. When the emperor
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: saw me, he raised his painted eyebrows and stopped. I
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: stood quite still and made him no obedience. The people
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: marveled at my boldness and counseled me to flee from
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: the city. I paid no heed to them, but went
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: and sat with the cellars of strange gods, who by
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: reason of their craft are abominated. When I told them
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: what I had done, each of them gave me a
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: god and prayed me to leave them. That night, as
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: I lay on a cushion in the tea house, that
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: is in the street of pomegranates, the guards of the
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: Emperor entered and led me to the palace. As I
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: went in, they closed each door behind me and put
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: a chain across it. Inside was a great court, with
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: an arcade running all round. The walls were of white alabaster,
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: set here and there with blue and green tiles. The
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: pillars were of green marble, and the pavement of a
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: kind of peach blossom marble. I had never seen anything
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: like it before. As I passed across the court, two
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: veiled women looked down from a balcony and cursed me.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: The guards hastened on, and the butts of the lances
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: rang upon the polished floor. They opened a gate of
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: wrought ivory, and I found myself in a watered garden
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: of seven terraces. It was planted with tulip cups and moonflowers,
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: and silver studded aloes, like a slim reed of crystal.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: A fountain hung in the dusky air. The cypress trees
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: were like burnt out torches. From one of them, a
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: nightingale was singing. At the end of the garden stood
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: a little pavilion. As we approached it, two eunuchs came
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: out to meet us. Their fat bodies swayed as they walked,
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: and they glanced curiously at me with their yellow lidded eyes.
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: One of them drew aside the captain of the guard
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: and in a low voice, whispered to him. The other
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: kept munching scented pastilles, which he took with an affected gesture,
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: out of an oval box of lilac enamel. After a
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: few moments, the captain of the guard dismissed the soldiers.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: They went back to the palace, the eunuchs following slowly
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: behind and plucking the sweet mulberries from the trees as
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: they passed. Once, the elder of the two turned round
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: and smiled at me with an evil smile. Then the
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: Captain of the guard motioned me towards the entrance of
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: the pavilion. I walked on without trembling, and drawing the
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: heavy curtain aside I entered in. The young Emperor was
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: stretched on a couch of dyed lion skins, and a
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: gerfalcon perched upon his wrist. Behind him stood a brass
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: turb and Nubian, naked down to the waist and with
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: heavy ear rings in his split ears. On a table
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: by the side of the couch lay a mighty scimitar
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: of steel. When the emperor saw me, he frowned and
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: said to me, what is thy name? Knowest thou not
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: that I am emperor of this city? But I made
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: him no answer. He pointed with his finger at the scimitar,
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: and the Nubian seized it, and, rushing forward, struck at
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: me with great violence. The blade whizzed through me and
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: did me no hurt. The man fell sprawling on the floor,
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: and when he rose up, his teeth chattered with terror,
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: and he hid himself behind the couch. The emperor leaped
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: to his feet and taken a lance from a stand
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: of arms. He threw it at me. I caught it
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: in its flight and break the shaft into two pieces.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: He shot at me with an arrow, but I held
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: up my hands and it stopped in mid air. Then
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: he drew a dagger from a belt of white leather
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: and stabbed the Nubian in the throat, lest the slaves
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: should tell of his dishonor. The man writhed like a
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled from his lips.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: As soon as he was dead, the Emperor turned to me,
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: and when he had wiped away the bright sweat from
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: his brow with a little napkin of purfled and purple silk,
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: he said to me, art thou a prophet that I
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: may not harm THEE, or the son of a prophet,
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: that I can do THEE no harm. I pray THEE
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: leave my city tonight, for while thou art in it,
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: I am no longer It's lord. And I answered him,
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: I will go for half of thy treasure. Give me
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: half of thy treasure, and I will go away. He
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: took me by the hand and led me out into
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: the garden. When the captain the guards saw me, he wondered.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: When the eunuchs saw me, their knees shook, and they
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: fell upon the ground in fear. There is a chamber
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: in the palace that has eight walls of red porphyry
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: and a brass sealed ceiling hung with lamps. The Emperor
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: touched one of the walls and it opened, and we
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: passed down a corridor that was lit with many torches
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: in niches. Upon each side stood great wine jars filled
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: to the brim with silver pieces. When we reached the
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: center of the corridor, the Emperor spake the word that
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: may not be spoken, and a granite door swung back
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: on a secret spring, and he put his hands before
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: his face, lest his eyes should be dazzled. Thou couldst
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: not believe how marvelous the place it was. There were
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: huge tortoise shells full of pearls, and hollowed moonstones of
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: great size, piled up with red rubies. The gold was
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: stored in coffers of elephant hide, and the gold dust
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: and leather bottles. There were opals and sapphires, the farmer
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: in cups of crystal, and the latter in cups of jade.
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: Round green emeralds were ranged in ardor upon thin plates
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: of ivory, and in one corner with six bags filled
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: some with tartoise stones and others with beryls. The ivory
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: horns were heaped with purple ambthysts, and the horns of
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: brass with chalcedonies and swords. The pillars, which were of
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: cedar were hung with strings of yellow lynx stones. In
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: the flat oval shields there were carbuncles, both wine colored
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: and colored like grass. And yet I have told thee
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: but a tithe of what was there. And when the
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: Emperor had taken away his hands from before his face,
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: he said to me, this is my house of treasure,
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: and half that is in it is thine, even as
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: I promised to THEE, and I will give three camels
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: and camel drivers, and they shall do thy bidding, and
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: take thy share of the treasure to whatever part of
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: the world thou desirest to go, and the thing shall
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: be done to night. For I would not that the
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: son who is my father should see that there is
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: in my city a man whom I cannot slay. But
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: I answered him, the gold that is here is thine,
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: and the silver also is thine. And thine are the
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: precious jewels and the things of price. As for me,
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: I have no need of these, nor shall I take
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: aught from THEE. But that little ring that thou wearest
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: on the finger of thy hand. And the Emperor frowned.
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: It is but a ring of lead, he cried, nor
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: has it any value. Therefore, take thy half of the treasure,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: and go from my city. Nay, I answered, But I
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: will take naught but that leaden ring, for I know
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: what is written within it, and for what purpose. And
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: the Emperor trembled and besought me, and said, take all
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: the treasure and go from my city. The half that
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: is mine shall be thine also. And I get a
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: strange thing. But what I did matters not, For in
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: a cave that is but a day's journey from this
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: place have I hidden the ring of riches. It is
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: but a day's journey from this place, and it waits
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: for thy coming. He who has this ring is richer
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: than all the kings of the world. Come therefore, and
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: take it, and the world's riches shall be thine. But
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: the young fisherman laughed. Love is better than riches, he cried,
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: And the little mermaid loves me. Nay, but there is
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: nothing better than riches, said the soul. Love is better,
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: answered the young fisherman, and he plunged into the deep,
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: and the soul went weeping away over the marshes. End
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: of Part two, Part three of The Fisherman and his
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: Soul by Oscar Wilde. This LibriVox recording is in the
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: public domain. And after the third year was over, the
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: soul came down to the shore of the sea and
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: called to the young fisherman. And he rose out of
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: the deep and said, why dost thou call to me?
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: And the soul answered, come nearer, that I may speak
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: with thee, for I have seen marvelous things. So he
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: came nearer and crouched in the shallow water, and leaned
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: his head upon his hand and listened. And the soul
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: said to him, in a city that I know of,
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: there is an inn that standeth by a river. I
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: sat there with sailors who drank of two different colored wines,
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: and ate bread made of barley, and little salt fishes
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: served in bay leaves with vinegar. And as we sat
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: and made merry, there entered to us an old man
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: bearing a leathern carpet and a lute that had two
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: horns of amber. And when he had laid out the
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: carpet on the floor, he struck with a quill on
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: the wire strings of his lute, and a girl whose
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: face was veiled, ran in and began to dance before us.
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: Her face was veiled with a veil of gauze, but
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: her feet were naked. Naked were her feet, and they
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: moved over the carpet like little white pigeons. Never have
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: I seen anything so marvelous. And the city in which
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: she dances is but a day's journey from this place. Now,
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: when the young fisherman heard the words of his soul,
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: he remembered that the little mermaid had no feet and
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: could not dance, and a great desire came over him,
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: and he said to himself, it is but a day's journey,
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: and I can return to my love. And he laughed
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: and stood up in the shallow water and strode towards
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: the shore. And when he had reached the dry shore,
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: he laughed again and held out his arms to his soul.
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: And his soul gave a great cry of joy, and
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: ran to meet him and entered into him. And the
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: young fisherman saw stretched before him upon the sand that
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: shadow of the body, that is the body of the soul,
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: and his soul said to him, let us not tarry,
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: but get hints at once, for the sea gods are
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: jealous that have monsters that do their bidding. So they
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: made haste, and all that night they journeyed beneath the
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: moon and all the next day they journeyed beneath the sun,
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: And on the evening of the day they came to
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: a city, and the young fisherman said to his soul,
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: is this the city in which she dances? Of whom
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: thou didst speak to me? And his soul answered him,
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: it is not this city, but another. Nevertheless, let us
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: enter in. So they entered in and passed through the streets.
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: And as they passed through the street of the jewelers,
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: the young fisherman saw a fair silver cup set forth
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: in a booth, and his soul said to him, take
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: that silver cup and hide it. So he took the
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: cup and hid it in the fold of his tunic,
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: and they went hurriedly out of the city. And after
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: that they had gone a leave from the city. The
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: young fisherman frowned and flung the cup away, and said
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: to his soul, why didst thou tell me to take
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: this cup and hide it? For it was an evil
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: thing to do. But his soul answered him, be at peace.
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: Be at peace. And on the evening of the second
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: day they came to a city, and the young fisherman
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: said to his soul, is this the city in which
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: she dances, of whom thou didst speak to me? And
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: his soul answered him, it is not this city, but another. Nevertheless,
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: let us enter in. So they entered in and passed
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: through the streets. And as they passed through the street
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: of the cellars of Sandals, the young fisherman saw a
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: child standing by a jar of water, and his soul
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: said to him, smite that child. So he smote the
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: child till it wept. And when he had done this,
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: they went hurriedly out of the city. And after that
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: they had gone a league from the city. The young
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: fisherman grew wroth and said to his soul, why didst
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: thou tell me to smite the child? For it was
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: an evil thing to do. But his soul answered him,
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: be at peace. Be at peace. And on the evening
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: of the third day they came to a city, and
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: the young fisherman said to his soul, is this the
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: city in which she dances, of whom thou didst speak
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: to me? And his soul answered him, it may be
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: that it is in this city. Therefore, let us enter in.
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: So they entered in and passed through the streets. But
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: nowhere could the young fisherman find the river or the
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: inn that stood by its side, And the people of
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: the city looked curiously at him, and he grew afraid
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: and said to his soul, let us go hence, for
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: she who dances with white feet is not here. But
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: his soul answered nay, but let us tarry, for the
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: night is dark, and there will be robbers on the way.
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: So he sat him down in the marketplace and rested.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: And after a time there went by a hooded merchant
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: who had a cloak of cloth of tartary, and bare
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: a lantern of pierced horn at the end of a
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 1: jointed reed. And the merchant said to him, why dost
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: thou sit in the marketplace, seeing that the booths are
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: closed and the bales gorded. And the young fisherman answered him,
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: I can find no inn in this city, nor have
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: I any kinsman who might give me shelter. Are we
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: not all kinsmen? Said the merchant, and did not one
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: God make us? Therefore, come with me, for I have
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 1: a guest chamber. So the young fisherman rose up and
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: followed the merchant to his house, And when he had
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: passed through a garden of pomegranates, and entered into the house.
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: The merchant brought him rose water in a copper dish
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: that he might wash his hands, and ripe melons that
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: he might quench his thirst, and set a bowl of
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: rice and a piece of roasted kid before him. And
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: after that he had finished, the merchant led him to
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: the guest chamber and bade him sleep and be at rest.
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: And the young fisherman gave him thanks, and kissed the
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: ring that was on his hand, and flung himself down
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: on the carpets of dyed goat's hair. And when he
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: had covered himself with a covering of black lamb's wool,
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: he fell asleep. And three hours before dawn, and while
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: it was still night, his soul wakened him and said
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: to him, rise up, and go to the room of
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: the merchant, even to the room in which he sleepeth,
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 1: and slay him, and take from him his gold, for
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: we have need of it. And the young fisherman rode,
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: rose up, and crept towards the room of the merchant.
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: And over the feet of the merchant there was lying
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: a curved sword, and the tray by the side of
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: the merchant held nine purses of gold, and he reached
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: out his hand and touched the sword. And when he
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: touched it, the merchant started and awoke, and, leaping up,
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: seized himself the sword and cried to the young fisherman,
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: dost thou return evil for good, and pay with the
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: shedding of blood for the kindness that I have shown thee.
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: And his soul said to the young fisherman, strike him.
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: And he struck him so that he swooned. And he
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: seized then the nine purses of gold, and fled hastily
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: through the garden of pomegranates, and set his face to
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: the star that is the star of morning. And when
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: they had gone a league from the city, the young
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: fisherman beat his breast and said to his soul, why
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: didst thou bid me slay the merchant and take his gold?
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: Surely thou art evil? But his soul answered him, be
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: at peace, be at peace. Nay, cried the young fisherman,
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: I may not be at peace for all that thou
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: hast made me do. I hate THEE also I hate
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: and I bid THEE Tell me wherefore thou hast wrought
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: with me? And this wise and his soul answered him.
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: When thou didst send me forth into the world, thou
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: gavest me no heart. So I learned to do all
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: these things and love them. What sayest thou murmured the
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: young fisherman, Thou knowest, answered his soul, Thou knowest it well.
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: Hast thou forgotten that thou gavest me no heart. I
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 1: trow not, and so trouble not thyself nor me. But
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: be at peace, for there is no pain that thou
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: shall not give away, nor any pleasure that thou shalt
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: not receive. And when the young fisherman heard these words,
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 1: he trembled and said to his soul, Nay, but thou
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: art evil, and hast made me forget my love, and
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: hast tempted me with temptations that has set my feet
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: in the ways of sin. And his soul answered him,
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: thou hast not forgotten that when thou didst send me
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: forth into the world, thou gavest me no heart. Come,
• 1:14:36
  Speaker 1: let us go to another city and make merry, for
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 1: we have nine purses of gold. But the young fisherman
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: took the nine purses of gold and flung them down
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: and trampled on them. Nay, he cried, but I will
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: have naught to do with thee, nor will I journey
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: with thee anywhere. But even as I sent thee away before,
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: so will I send THEE away now, For thou hast
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: wrought me no good. And he turned his back to
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: the moon, and with the little knife that had the
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: handle of green viper skin, he strove to cut from
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: his feet that shadow of the body, which is the
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 1: body of the soul. Yet his soul stirred not from him,
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: nor paid heed to his command, but said to him
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: the spell that the witch told thee avails thee no more.
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 1: For I may not leave thee, nor mayest thou drive
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: me forth. Once in his life may a man send
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: his soul away. But he who receiveth back his soul
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: must keep it with him forever. And this is his
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: punishment and his reward. And the young fisherman grew pale
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: and clenched his hands, and cried, she was a false
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: witch in that she told me, not that nay answered
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: his soul. But she was true to him she worships,
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: and whose servant she will be ever. And when the
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: young fisherman knew that he could no longer get rid
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 1: of his soul, and that it was an evil soul
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: and would abide with him always. He fell upon the ground,
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: weeping bitterly. And when it was day, the young fisherman
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: rose up and said to his soul, I will bind
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: my hands that I may not do thy bidding, and
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: close my lips that I may not speak thy words.
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: And I will return to the place where she whom
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: I love has her dwelling even to the sea. Will
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: I return, and to the little bay where she is
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: wont to sing, And I will call to her and
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: tell her the evil I have done, and the evil
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: thou hast wrought on me. And his soul tempted and said,
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: who ist thy love, that thou shouldst return to her?
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: The world has many fairer than she is. There are
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: dancing girls of Samaras, who dance in the manner of
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: all kinds of birds and beasts. Their feet are painted
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: with hennah, and in their hands they have little copper bells.
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: They laugh while they dance, and their laughter is as
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 1: clear as the laughter of water. Come with me, and
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: I will show them to thee. For what is this
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: trouble of thine about the things of sin? Is that
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: which is pleasant to eat? Not made for the eater.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: Is there poison in that which is sweet to drink?
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: Trouble not thyself, but come with me to another city.
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 1: There is a little city hard by, in which there
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: is a garden of tutub trees, And there dwell in
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: this comely garden. White peacocks, and peacocks that have blue breasts.
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: Their tails, when they spread them to the sun, are
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: like disks of ivory, and like gilt discs. And she
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: who feeds them dances for their pleasure. And sometimes she
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: dances on her hands, and at other times she dances
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: with her feet. Her eyes are colored like stibium, and
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: her nostrils are shaped like the wings of a swallow.
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: From a hook. In one of her nostrils hangs a
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 1: flower that is carved out of a pearl. She laughs
• 1:18:27
  Speaker 1: while she dances, and the silver rings that are about
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: her ankles tinkle like bells of silver. And so trouble
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: not thyself any more, but come with me to this city.
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: But the young fisherman answered, not his soul. He closed
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 1: his lips with the seal of silence, and with a
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: tight cord bound his hands, and journeyed back to the
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: place from which he had come even to the little
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: bay where his love had been wont to sing. And
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: ever did his soul tempt him by the way, but
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: he made it no answer, nor would he do any
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: of the wickedness that it sought to make him to do.
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: So great was the power of the love that was
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: within him. And when he had reached the shore of
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: the sea, he loosened the cord from his hands, and
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: took the seal of silence from his lips, and called
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: to the little mermaid. But she came not to his call,
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: though he called to her all day long and besought her.
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: And his soul mocked him, and said, surely, thou hast
• 1:19:38
  Speaker 1: but little joy out of thy love. Thou art as
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: one who in time of death pours water into a
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: broken vessel. Thou givest away what thou hast, and naught
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: is given to thee in return. It were better for
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: thee to come with me, for I know where the
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: valley of pleasure lies, and what things are wrought there.
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 1: But the young fisherman answered not his soul. But in
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: a cleft of the rock he built himself a house
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: of wattles, and abode there for the space of a year.
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: And every morning he called to the mermaid, and every
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: noon he called to her again, and at night time
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: he spake her name. Yet never did she rise out
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: of the sea to meet him, Nor in any place
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 1: of the sea could he find her, though he sought
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: for her in the caves and in the green water,
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: in the pools of the tide, and in the wells
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 1: that are at the bottom of the deep. And ever
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: did his soul tempt him with evil and whisper of
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: terrible things, Yet did it not prevail against him, So
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 1: great was the power of his love. And after the
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: year was over, the soul thought within himself, I have
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: tempted my master with evil, and his love is stronger
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 1: than i am. I will tempt him now with good,
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: and it may be that he will come with me.
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 1: So he spake to the young fisherman and said, I
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: have told thee of the joy of the world, and
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: thou hast turned a deaf ear to me. Suffer me
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: now to tell THEE of another world's pain, And it
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: may be that thou wilt hearken, for of a truth.
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 1: Pain is the lord of this world, nor is there
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: any one who escapes from its net. There be some
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: who lack raiment, and others who lack bread. There be
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: widows who sit in purple, and widows who sit in rags.
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: To and fro over the fins go the lepers, and
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: they are cruel to each other. The beggars go up
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: and down on the highways, and their wallace are empty.
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: Through the streets of the cities walk famine, and the
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: plague sits at their gates. Come, let us go forth
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: and mend these things, and make them not to be.
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: Wherefore shouldst thou tarry here calling to thy love, seeing
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: she comes not to thy call? And what is love
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: that thou shouldst set this high store upon it? But
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: the young fisherman answered, it's naught. So great was the
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: power of his love. And every morning he called to
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: the mermaid, and every noon he called to her again,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: and at nighttime he spake her name. Yet never did
• 1:22:30
  Speaker 1: she rise out of the sea to meet him, Nor
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: in any place of the sea could he find her,
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 1: though he sought for her in the rivers of the sea,
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: and in the valleys that are under the waves, in
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: the sea that the night makes purple, and in the
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: sea that the dawn leaves gray. And after the second
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: year it was over, the soul said to the young
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: fisherman at nighttime, and as he sat in the wattle
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 1: house alone, Lo, now I have tempted THEE with evil,
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 1: and I have tempted THEE with good, And thy love
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: is stronger than I am. Wherefore will I tempt THEE
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: no longer. But I pray THEE to suffer me to
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 1: enter into thy heart, that I may be one with THEE.
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: Even as before, Surely thou mayest enter, said the young fisherman.
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: For in the days when with no heart thou didst
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: go through the world, thou must have much suffered, alas
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: cried his soul, I can find no place of entrance.
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 1: So compassed about with love is this heart of thine.
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: Yet I would that I could help THEE, said the
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: young fisherman. And as he spake, there came a great
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 1: cry of mourning from the sea, even the cry that
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 1: men here when one of the sea folk is dead.
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: And the young fisherman leapt up and left his waddled
• 1:23:54
  Speaker 1: house and ran down to the shore. And the black
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: waves came hurrying to the shore, bearing with them a
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: burden that was whiter than silver, white as the surf.
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: It was, and like a flower, it tossed on the waves,
• 1:24:11
  Speaker 1: and the surf took it from the waves, and the
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: foam took it from the surf, and the shore received it.
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: And lying at his feet, the young fisherman saw the
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: body of the little mermaid dead at his feet was
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: it lying weeping as one smitten with pain. He flung
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: himself down beside it, and he kissed the cold red
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: of the mouth, and toyed with the wet ember of
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: the hair. He flung himself down beside it on the sand,
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: weeping as one trembling with joy. And in his brown
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: arms he held it to his breast, cold with the lips,
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: yet he kissed them. Salt was the honey of the hair,
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: yet he tasted it with a bitter joy. He kissed
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: the clothes dyelids, and the wild spray that lay upon
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: their cups was less salt than his tears. And to
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: the dead thing he made confession. Into the shells of
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: its ears, he poured the harsh whine of his tail.
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 1: He put the little hands round his neck, and with
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: his fingers he touched the thin reed of the throat. Bitter,
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: bitter was his joy, and full of strange gladness was
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: his pain. The black sea came nearer, and the white
• 1:25:32
  Speaker 1: foam moaned like a leper with white claws of foam.
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 1: The sea grabbed at the shore. From the palace of
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 1: the sea king came the cry of mourning again, and
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: far out upon the sea the great tritons blew hoarsely
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: upon their horns. Flee away, said his soul, For ever
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: doth the sea come nigher, and if thou tereest will
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 1: slay thee, flee away, for I am afraid, seeing that
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: thy heart is closed against me by reason of the
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: greatness of thy love. Flee away to a place of safety.
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: Surely thou wilt not send me without a heart into
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 1: another world. But the young fisherman listened not to his soul,
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: but called on the little mermaid, and said, love is
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 1: better than wisdom, and more precious than riches, and fairer
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: than the feet of the daughters of men. The fires
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 1: cannot destroy it, nor can the waters quench it. I
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 1: called upon thee at dawn, and thou didst not come
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: to my call. The moon heard thy name. Yet hast
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: thou no heed of me? For evily had I left
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 1: thee and to my own hurt, had I wandered away,
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: Yet ever did thy love abide with me, and never
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 1: was it strong, nor did aught prevail against it. Though
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: I have looked upon evil and looked upon good. And
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: now that thou art dead, surely I will die with
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: thee also. And his soul besought him to depart, but
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 1: he could not, so great was his love. And the
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: sea came nearer and sought to cover him with his waves.
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 1: And when he knew that the inn was at hand,
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: he kissed with mad lips the cold lips of the mermaid,
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 1: and the heart that was within him brake, And as
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: though the fullness of his love his heart did break,
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: the soul found an entrance and entered in, and was
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: won with him even as before, And the sea covered
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: the young fisherman with his waves. And in the morning
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: the priest went forth to bless the sea, for it
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 1: had been troubled. And with him went the monks and
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 1: the musicians, and the candle bearers, and the swingers of censers,
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: and a great company. And when the priest reached the shore,
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: he saw the young fisherman lying drowned in the surf,
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 1: and clasp in his arms was the body of the
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: little mermaid, and he drew back, frowning, And having made
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 1: the sign of the cross, he cried aloud and said,
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 1: I will not bless the sea nor anything that is
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 1: in it. A curse to be the sea folk, and
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: a cursed be all they who traffic with them. And
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: as for him who, for Love's sake forsook God, and
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: so lieth here with his leemen slain by God's judgment,
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: take up his body and the soul of his leemen,
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: and bury them in the corner of the field of
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: the Fullers, and set no mark above them, nor a
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: sign of any kind, that none may know the place
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: of their resting. For a curse they were in their lives,
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: and a curse they shall be in their deaths also.
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: And the people did as he commanded them. And in
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 1: the corner of the field of where no sweet herbs grew,
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 1: they dug a deep pit and laid the dead things
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: within it. And when the third year was over, and
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 1: on a day that was a holy day, the priest
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: went up to the chapel that he might show to
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: the people the wounds of the Lord and speak to
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: them about the wrath of God. And when he had
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: robed himself with his robes, and entered in and bowed
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: himself before the altar. He saw that the altar was
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: covered with strange flowers that never had been seen before.
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: Strange were they to look at, and of curious beauty,
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: and their beauty troubled him, and their odor was sweet
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 1: in his nostrils, and he felt glad, and understood not
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: why he was glad. And after that he had opened
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: the tabernacle and incensed the monstrance that was in it,
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: and shown the fair wafer to the people, and hid
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: it again behind the veil of veils. He began to
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: speak to the people, desiring to speak to them of
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: the wrath of God. But the beauty of the white
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: flowers troubled him, and their odor was sweet in his nostrils.
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: And there came another word into his lips, and he
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 1: spake not of the wrath of God, but of the
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: God whose name is Love. And why he so spake
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 1: he knew not. And when he had finished his word,
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: the people wept, and the priest went back to the sacristy,
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: and his eyes were full of tears. And the deacons
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: came in and began to unrobe him, and took from
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: him the alb and the girdle, the mandible, and the stole,
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: and he stood as one in a dream. And after
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: that they had unrobed him, he looked at them and said,
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: what are the flowers that stand on the altar? And
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: whence do they come? And they answered him, what flowers
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 1: they are? We cannot tell well, but they come from
• 1:31:01
  Speaker 1: the corner of the Fuller's field. And the priest trembled
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: and returned to his own house and prayed. And in
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: the morning, while it was still dawn, he went forth
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: with the monks and the musicians, and the candle bearers,
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: and the swingers of censers, and a great company, and
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: came to the shure of the sea, and blessed the
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 1: sea and all the wild things that are in it.
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: The fawns also he blessed, and the little things that
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: dance in the woodland, and the bright eyed things that
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 1: peer through the leaves. All the things in God's world
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 1: he blessed. And the people were filled with joy and wonder.
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: Yet never again in the corner of the Fuller's field
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: grew flowers of any kind, But the field remained barren
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: even as before, Nor came the sea folk into the bay,
• 1:31:57
  Speaker 1: as they had been wont to do, for they went
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: to another part of the sea. End of the Fisherman
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: and His Soul by Oscar Wilde, recording by Phil schinever Veton, Rouge, Louisiana,
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: November two thousand eighteen,