Latest / Short Ghost and Horror Stories Collection / The Man Who Wanted To Be Safe

Transcript

The Man Who Wanted To Be Safe · Short Ghost and Horror Stories Collection

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The man who wanted to be safe by Alice Brown.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: There was once a man who wanted to be safe,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: even when he was a little boy, who was so
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: careful about being safe that all his playthings knew it
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and tried to be safe too. His marbles never dropped
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: into the gutter, and his hoop always stopped rolling just
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: before it reached a rough piece of ground. As for
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: his top, it would spin only a very little while
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: because it was afraid it might not have breadth to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: spin with another time. And his wheelbarrow trundled very moderately
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: lest the pebbles should fly up in mart's shiny sides.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: And when the boy grew into a man, he kept
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: on wanting to be safe. Only the older he grew,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the more he wanted it. He lived in a beautiful
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: place where there were woods and rivers and waterfalls and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: red sunsets and gold and silver underground. There were the
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: most delightful people to play and work with, and they
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: were always begging the man to come out and work
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: or play with them. Come and dig up some of
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the gold and silver, the men would say to him,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: But he shook his head no, said he we should
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: have to work very hard to get any at all,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: and hard work will make us grow old. Nonsense, said
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: the other men. We shall grow old anyway, and we
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: might as well keep our blood moving. Besides, said the man,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: I have gold and silver enough. My father dug it
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: for me. Ah, said the other men. Then you could
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: dig for the temple. What temple, asked the man. The
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: temple to the Unknown God. It has an altar, and
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: on the altar are vessels of gold and silver. And
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: in the track that leads up to the altar are
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: statues of gold and silver. And however many statues are made,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: there are never enough. So we must work very hard,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: all of us, to make more.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Why, asked the man.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: The other men wrinkled their brows and stood leaning on
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: their picks and spades.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Why said they Why.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Then their brows lightened, because it is the temple of
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: the unknown God. So they went away, singing and talking
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: to their work, and left the man alone. Then came
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: three maidens, very beautiful, and said to him, come dance
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: with us. The man looked at them attentively because they
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: pleased him, and one most of all.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: But he shook his head.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I am sorry, said he, but it really is not
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: best for me to go. Why isn't it best, asked
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the most beautiful of all, And she said it wistfully.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know where you intend to dance. They all
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: laughed together in a way they had Why we don't
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: know either, They said, we shall just dance into the
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: woods and out again, and maybe we shall dance on
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: to the waterfall. Haven't I heard of a lion in
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: those woods, asked the man. Oh, dear, yes, said the maidens.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: There are several, But if you dance very hard, they
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: put down their tails and go off to find somebody
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: who isn't moving so fast. Then, as to the waterfall,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: didn't I hear of a man falling over and getting drowned? Ah?
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: But that was a poet.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: He was looking at the sky and hearing the roar
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: of the water, and he was chanting what he read
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: in the sky and trying to fit it into the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: sound of the water, And so he forgot the earth,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and the water took him. But it didn't really drown him.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: It only carried him along the river to the sea.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: All this seems to me very embarrassing, said the man.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't want to be taken along.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: The river to the sea.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: So the maidens went off by themselves, and the man
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: was sorrowful because he really liked them, and one most
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: of all. By and by, when she had gone a
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: little way, she left the others and came back. She
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: looked half ashamed, as if it were not customary to
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: come back. The red ran into her cheeks, and she
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: gazed down at her shoe. But that only made her.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: The more beautiful.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Perhaps, she said, in a low tone, we may only
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: go as far as the meadow. Then maybe you would
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: be willing to dance. The man shook his head. He
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: had to shake it very hard to keep himself from going.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: I am sure I am doing the wise thing, said he.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: The meadow seems safe, but it is quite near the wood,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and we must remember the lions are there. The maiden
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: looked at him more wistfully. Still, he almost thought there
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: were tears in her eyes, but he tried to believe
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: it was not so, because tears are so likely to
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: make one do foolish things. But suppose you do meet
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: a lion, said she. You are very strong, yes, said
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: the man. That is true, But there would be two
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: of us, you see, and you are not strong, and
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I should have to look out for you.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: The maid put up her head quite proudly.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: He saw he must have been mistaken in thinking there
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: were tears in her eyes. No, said she, you would
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: not have to look out for me. I can look
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: out for myself, well, said the man, You must be careful.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Then she began to sing, and as she danced away
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: after the others, and the man wondered because he had
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: never heard her voice when it sounded so loud and shrill.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: They were all three singing as they danced along, and
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: by and by the woods closed in on them, and
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: he was alone. Well, said he at length. That's over,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: and he went in and shut the door behind him. Now,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: as the years went on, the man grew more and
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: more determined to be safe. He seldom stepped beyond his
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: own dooryard, though he was still quite young. But it
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: did not seem to him as if the house even
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: was safe enough. So he traced a circle to enclose
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: his land, and built a fence about it. But in
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: a year it seemed to him that a great many
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: unpleasant things might happen in so large a space, And
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: inside the circle he traced a very little one, and
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: about that he built a fence, and inside the fence
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: he made a moat, and outside the fence he set
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: a thick hedge of the bushes that grow very fast
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and never stop growing. Then he sat down in his
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: house with the key of his gate in his pocket.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Now said he, I believe I am safe. So the
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: years went on again, and the water in the moat
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: grew stagnant, and the hedge kept growing, and the man
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: sat indoors and thought how safe he was. No one
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: came to see him now, because whenever anyone came and
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: called over the hedge, he had called back again. The
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: gate doesn't open. You must go away. Once a day
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: the baker came and passed a loaf of bread in
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: through a hole in the hedge, and the man paid
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: him out of the gold he had by him. And
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: this went on and on until the man was not young,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: nor even middle aged, and sat alone in his house thinking.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: About the last of all.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: He was sitting there one Jean day, when the sky
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: sparkled and the trees were all a wavy green, when
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: he heard a voice calling him, and went out of
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: his door to listen. If it is anybody to attack me,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: he thought it had better be on open ground, but
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the voice was tremulous and sweet.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: He thought he had heard it before, though.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: The one he remembered was young, and this was certainly old.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Who are you, he called?
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Do you remember the day I came back and asked
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: you to dance with us? It answered, and he thought
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: it sounded pleadingly, just as.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: It had those years ago. His heart gave a leap.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Of course, I remember, he said, Are you dancing still?
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: No, said the voice.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: I have walked quite slowly for a long time, but
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: every day I have been walking toward you. Now, the
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: man was more moved than he had been for many years.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: But he did not like that at all, because it
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: seemed to him hardly safe for his heart to beat
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: so hard. Did you have to walk far? He asked,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: against his will, No, said the voice, I was never
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: far away. But I have been going about your house
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: in circles, nearer and nearer, and now they have brought
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: me to your gate. Well, said he. I am sorry,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: but the gate won't open. The lock has rusted, and
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: to tell the truth, I've lost the key. Yes, I know, it,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: said the voice. But I have brought an axe with
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: me and I want to cut down the hedge. What
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: said the man, Do you want to come in so
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: badly as that? Oh? No, said the voice, I don't
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: want to get in at all. I only want you
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: to be able to come out. Then he was indeed surprised,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: for in all these years he had forgotten that there
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: was anyone different from himself. Why said he? What on
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: earth should I want to go out for? To see
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: the sunset? Said the voice? It is very beautiful. Why
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: said the man.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: You must be mistaken.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: The sky hasn't been read for years and years, and
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the sunrise, said the voice, this morning the sky was
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: as red as a rose. Now, said the man, quite crossly.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: If the sky had been read, don't you suppose I
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: should have known it? No, said the voice. Your hedge
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: is too thick and too high. And the woods they
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: are all carpeted with bloom. And the cataract it sings
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: its old song, only a thousand times more wonderful, and
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: the poets meet beside it and sing and sing. What nonsense,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: said the man. The cataract has been still for many years.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Everything is growing still, all except a little watch I
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: hear ticking somewhere. That bothers me very much. Sometimes it hurries,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: and I don't like that at all, but I believe
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: it's growing fainter. Come out, said the voice, and listen
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: to the cataract. Undrown yourself in its glory. That's it,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: said the man, peevishly. Drown Why people used to be drowned?
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: There by the dozen on the pathway to the temple,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: it is all lined with golden statues. They shine so
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: that you can see them for miles and miles. Now
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: I ask you, said the man, What has become of
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: the men that made the statues and the men that
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: dug the gold for them?
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Dead? Said the voice joyously.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: They died at their task in the mine, or before
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: the smelting furnace. Bless God there, said the man. I
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: knew you'd have to own it, and I'll warrant. They
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: haven't even a monument, few of them, said the voice.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Some lie within the temple, but most of them are
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: unregarded dust there, said the man.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: You see.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: But the voice broke now and said, as if through tears,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: I beseech you to let me cut down the hedge
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: about your house. You're too old to chop, said the man,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: because he could find no other reason. No, no, cried
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: the voice. I am old, indeed, but I have strength
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: enough for that. And I tempered and sharpened my axe myself.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I beseech you to let me do it. I forbid, you,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: cried the man. I forbid you.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: To touch my hedge.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Alas said the voice, I cannot touch it unless you
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: give me leave. And I forbid you to tell people,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I answered you. I won't have them coming here, spying
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: on me and disturbing me. No, said the voice sorrowfully.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Only two will come after I have gone away. Only two.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: One of them is old age. He is here now.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Who is the other?
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Death?
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Then there was silence for a time, and the june
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: breeze rustling in the hedge.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Made a sound like winter. Where are you?
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Cried the man. There was no answer. Everywhere it was
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: very still. Only he could hear the beating of his heart,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: and that too, seemed to him fainter that he had.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Ever heard it before.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: And of the man who wanted to be safe,