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013 - Chapter 22 · Princess and the Goblin

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  Speaker 1: Section thirteen of The Princess and the Goblin. 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 Lizzie Driver. The Princess and the Goblin by
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  Speaker 1: George mac donald, Chapter twenty two. The old Lady and
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  Speaker 1: Curdie up the stair. Then they went, and the next,
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  Speaker 1: and the next, and through the long rows of empty rooms,
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  Speaker 1: and up the little tower stair, Irene growing happier and
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  Speaker 1: happier as she ascended. There was no answer when she
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  Speaker 1: knocked at length at the door of the workroom, nor
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  Speaker 1: could she hear any sound of the spinning wheel, and
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  Speaker 1: once more her heart sunk within her, but only for
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  Speaker 1: a moment, as she turned and knocked at the other door.
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  Speaker 1: Come in, answered the sweet voice of her grandmother, and
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  Speaker 1: Irene opened the door and entered, followed by Curdie. You darling,
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  Speaker 1: cried the lady, who was seated by the fire of
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  Speaker 1: red roses mingled with white. I've been waiting for you,
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  Speaker 1: and indeed getting a little anxious about you, and beginning
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  Speaker 1: to think whether i'd not better go and fetch you myself.
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  Speaker 1: As she spoke, she took the little princess in her
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  Speaker 1: arms and placed her upon her lap. She was dressed
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  Speaker 1: in white now and looking, if possible, more lovely than ever.
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  Speaker 1: I've brought Curdie, Grandmother. He wouldn't believe what I told him,
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  Speaker 1: and so I have brought him. Yes, I see him.
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  Speaker 1: He is a good boy, Curdie, and a brave boy.
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  Speaker 1: Aren't you glad you've got him out? Yes, Grandmother, But
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't very good of him not to believe me
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  Speaker 1: when I was telling him the truth. People must believe
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  Speaker 1: what they can, and those who believe more must not
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  Speaker 1: be hard upon those who believe less. I doubt if
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  Speaker 1: you would have believed it at all yourself, if you
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  Speaker 1: hadn't seen some of it. Ah, Yes, Grandmother, I dare say.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure you are right. But he'll believe now. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know that, replied her grandmother. Won't you Curdie, said Irene,
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  Speaker 1: looking round at him as she asked the question. He
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  Speaker 1: was standing in the middle of the floor, staring and
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  Speaker 1: looking strangely bewildered. This, she thought, came of his astonishment
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  Speaker 1: at the beauty of the lady. Make a bow to
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  Speaker 1: my grandmother, Curdie, she said, I don't see any grandmother,
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  Speaker 1: answered Curdie rather gruffly. Don't see my grandmother when I'm
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  Speaker 1: sitting in her lap, exclaimed the princess. No I don't,
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  Speaker 1: reiterated Curdie in an offended tone. Don't you see the
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  Speaker 1: lovely fire of roses, white ones amongst them this time,
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  Speaker 1: asked Irene, almost as bewildered as he. No, I don't,
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  Speaker 1: answered Curdie, almost sulkily. Nor the blue bed, nor the
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  Speaker 1: rose colored counterpane, not the beautiful light like the moon
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  Speaker 1: hanging from the roof. You're making game of me, your
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  Speaker 1: Royal highness, and after what we have come through together
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  Speaker 1: this day, I don't think it is kind of you,
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  Speaker 1: said Curdie, feeling very much hurt. Then what do you see?
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  Speaker 1: Asked Irene, who perceived at once that for her not
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  Speaker 1: to believe him was at least as bad as for
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  Speaker 1: him not to believe her. I see a big, bare
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  Speaker 1: garret room like the one in mother's cottage, only big
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  Speaker 1: enough to take the cottage itself in and leave a
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  Speaker 1: good margin all round, answered Curdie. And what more do
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  Speaker 1: you see? I see a tub and a heap of
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  Speaker 1: musty straw and are withered apple, and a ray of
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  Speaker 1: sunlight coming through a hole in the middle of the
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  Speaker 1: roof and shining on your head and making all the
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  Speaker 1: place look a curious, dusky brown. I think you had
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  Speaker 1: better drop it, princess, and go down to the nursery
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  Speaker 1: like a good girl. But don't you hear my grandmother
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  Speaker 1: talking to me, asked Irene, almost crying. No, I hear
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  Speaker 1: the cooing of a lot of pigeons. If you won't
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  Speaker 1: come down, I will go without you. I think that
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  Speaker 1: will be better anyhow, For I'm sure nobody who met
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  Speaker 1: us would believe a word we said to them. They
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  Speaker 1: would think we made it all up. I don't expect
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  Speaker 1: anybody but my own father and mother to believe me.
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  Speaker 1: They know I wouldn't tell a story, and yet you
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  Speaker 1: won't believe me, Curdie expostulated the princess, now fairly crying
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  Speaker 1: with vexation and sorrow, add the gulf between her and Curdie. No,
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  Speaker 1: I can't and I can't help it, said Curdie, turning
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  Speaker 1: to leave the room. What shall I do? Grandmother? Sobbed
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  Speaker 1: the princess, turning her face round upon the lady's bosom
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  Speaker 1: and shaking with suppressed sobs. You must give him time,
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  Speaker 1: said her grandmother, And you must be content not to
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  Speaker 1: be believed for a while. It is very hard to bear,
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  Speaker 1: but I have had to bear it, and shall have
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  Speaker 1: to bear it many a time. Yet I will take
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  Speaker 1: care of what Curdie thinks of you in the end.
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  Speaker 1: You must let him go. Now you're not coming, are you,
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  Speaker 1: asked Curdie. Oh, Curdie, my grandmother says, I must let
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  Speaker 1: you go. Turn to the right when you get to
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  Speaker 1: the bottom of all the stairs, and that will take
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  Speaker 1: you to the hall where the great door is. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I don't doubt I can find my way without you, Princess,
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  Speaker 1: or your old granny's thread, either, said Curdie, quite rudely. Oh, Curdie, Curdie,
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  Speaker 1: I wish i'd gone home at once. I'm very much
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  Speaker 1: obliged to you, Irene for getting me out of that hole,
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  Speaker 1: but I wish you hadn't made a fool of me afterwards.
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  Speaker 1: He said this as he opened the door, which he
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  Speaker 1: left open, and without another word, went down the stair.
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  Speaker 1: Irene listened with dismay to his departing footsteps, then turning
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  Speaker 1: again to the lady, What does it all mean, grandmother?
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  Speaker 1: She sobbed and burst into fresh tears. It means, my love,
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  Speaker 1: that I did not mean to show myself. Curdie is
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  Speaker 1: not yet able to believe some things. Seeing is not believing,
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  Speaker 1: It is only seeing. You remember I told you that
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  Speaker 1: if Lootie were to see me, she would rub her eyes,
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  Speaker 1: forget the half she saw and call the other half nonsense. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: but I should have thought, Curdie. You are right. Curdie
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  Speaker 1: is much further on their Lootie, and you will see
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  Speaker 1: what will come of it. But in the meantime you
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  Speaker 1: must be content, I say, to be misunderstood for a while.
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  Speaker 1: We are all very anxious to be understood, and it
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  Speaker 1: is very hard not to be. But there is one
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  Speaker 1: thing much more necessary. What is that, grandmother? To understand
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  Speaker 1: other people? Yes, Grandmother, I must be fair, for if
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  Speaker 1: I'm not fair to other people, I'm not worth being
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  Speaker 1: understood myself. I see. So as Curtie can't help it,
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  Speaker 1: I will not be vexed with him. But just wait,
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  Speaker 1: there's my own dear child, said her grandmother, and presta
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  Speaker 1: close to her bosom, Why weren't you in your work
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  Speaker 1: room when we came up. Grandmother asked Irene, after a
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  Speaker 1: few moments silence, if I had been there, Curdie would
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  Speaker 1: as see me well enough. But why should I be
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  Speaker 1: there rather than in this beautiful room, I thought you
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  Speaker 1: would be spinning. I've nobody to spin for just at present.
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  Speaker 1: I never spin without knowing for whom I am spinning.
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  Speaker 1: That reminds me. There is one thing that puzzles me,
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  Speaker 1: said the princess. How are you to get the thread
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  Speaker 1: out of the mountain again? Surely you won't have to
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  Speaker 1: make another for me. That would be such a trouble.
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  Speaker 1: The lady set her down and rose and went to
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  Speaker 1: the fire. Putting in her hand, she drew it out
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  Speaker 1: again and held up the shining ball between her finger
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  Speaker 1: and thumb. I've got it now, you see, she said,
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  Speaker 1: coming back to the princess, all ready for you when
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  Speaker 1: you want it, go into a cabinet. She laid it
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  Speaker 1: in the same drawer as before. And here is your ring,
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  Speaker 1: she added, taking it from the little finger of her
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  Speaker 1: left hand and putting it on the forefinger of Irene's
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  Speaker 1: right hand. Oh, thank you, grandmother, I feel so safe
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  Speaker 1: now you are very tired, my child. The lady went on.
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  Speaker 1: Your hands are hurt with the stones, and I have
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  Speaker 1: counted nine bruises on you. Just look what you are like.
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  Speaker 1: And she held up to her a little mirror which
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  Speaker 1: she had brought from the cabinet. The princess burst into
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  Speaker 1: a merry laugh at the sight. She was so draggled
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  Speaker 1: with the stream and dirty with creeping through narrow places,
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  Speaker 1: that if she had seen the reflection, without knowing it
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  Speaker 1: was a reflection, she would have taken herself from some
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  Speaker 1: gipsy child whose face was washed and hair combed about
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  Speaker 1: once a month. The lady laughed too, and, lifting her
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  Speaker 1: up again upon her knee, took off her cloak and
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  Speaker 1: night gown. Then she carried her to the side of
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  Speaker 1: the room. Irene wondered what she was going to do
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  Speaker 1: with her, but asked no questions, only starting a little
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  Speaker 1: when she found that she was going to lay her
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  Speaker 1: in the large silver bath, for as she looked into
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  Speaker 1: it again, she saw no bottom but the star shining
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  Speaker 1: miles away, as it seemed in a great blue gulf.
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  Speaker 1: Her hands closed involuntarily on the beautiful arms that held her,
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  Speaker 1: and that was all. The lady pressed her once more
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  Speaker 1: to a bosom, saying do not be afraid, my child.
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  Speaker 1: No grandmother answered the princess with a little gasp, and
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  Speaker 1: the next instant she sank into the clear, cool water.
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  Speaker 1: When she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but a strange,
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  Speaker 1: lovely blue over and beneath and all about her. The
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  Speaker 1: lady and the beautiful room had vanished from her sight,
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  Speaker 1: and she seemed utterly alone. But instead of being afraid,
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  Speaker 1: she felt more than happy, perfectly blissful. And from somewhere
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  Speaker 1: came the voice of the lady, singing a strange, sweet song,
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  Speaker 1: of which she could distinguish every word, but of the
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  Speaker 1: sense she had only a feeling, no understanding, nor could
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  Speaker 1: she remember a single line. After it was gone, it vanished,
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  Speaker 1: like the poetry in a dream, as fast as it
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  Speaker 1: came in. After years, however, she would sometimes fancy that
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  Speaker 1: snatches of melody suddenly rising in her brain must be
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  Speaker 1: little phrases in fragments of the air of that song,
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  Speaker 1: and the very fancy would make her happier and abler
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  Speaker 1: to do her duty. How long she lay in the water,
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  Speaker 1: she did not know. It seemed a long time, not
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  Speaker 1: from weariness but from pleasure. But at last she felt
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  Speaker 1: the beautiful hands lay hold of her, and through the
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  Speaker 1: gurgling water, she was lifted out into the lovely room.
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  Speaker 1: The lady carried her to the fire and sat down
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  Speaker 1: with her in a lap, and dried her tenderly with
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  Speaker 1: the softest towel. It was so different from Lootie's trying.
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  Speaker 1: When the lady had done, she stooped to the fire
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  Speaker 1: and drew from it her night gown as white as snow.
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  Speaker 1: How delicious, exclaimed the princess. It smells of all the
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  Speaker 1: rises in the world. I think. When she stood up
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  Speaker 1: on the floor, she felt as if she'd be made
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  Speaker 1: over again. Every bruise and all weariness were gone, and
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  Speaker 1: her hands were soft and whole as ever. Now, I
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  Speaker 1: am going to put you to bed for a good sleep,
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  Speaker 1: said her grandmother. But what all to be thinking? And
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  Speaker 1: what am I to say to her when she asks
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  Speaker 1: me where I've been. Don't trouble yourself about it. You
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  Speaker 1: will find it all. Come right, said her grandmother, and
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  Speaker 1: laid her into the blue bed under the rosy counterpane.
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  Speaker 1: There is just one thing more, said Irene. I am
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  Speaker 1: a little anxious about Curdie as I brought him into
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  Speaker 1: the house. I ought to have seen him safe on
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  Speaker 1: his way home. I took care of all that, answered
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  Speaker 1: the lady, I told you to let him go, and
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  Speaker 1: therefore I was bound to look after him. Nobody saw him,
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  Speaker 1: and he is now eating a good dinner in his
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  Speaker 1: mother's cottage far up in the mountain. Then I will
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  Speaker 1: go to sleep, said Irene, and in a few minutes
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  Speaker 1: she was fast asleep. End of Section thirteen.