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Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tales it spun - Catulle Mendes · Classic Children's Stories Collection

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Speaker 1: Chapter one of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and details its spun.
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Speaker 1: This is a librifox recording. All Liberfox recordings are in
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Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or the volunteer, please
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Speaker 1: visit librifox dot org. Recording by phone The Fairy Spinning
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Speaker 1: Wheel and Details Its Spun by Cachul Mendez, translated by
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Speaker 1: Thomas John Drevivian eighteen fifty five to nineteen twenty five.
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Speaker 1: A word of introduction. Who has visited the pill islands
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Speaker 1: where it snows jasmine flowers, or has wandered through the
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Speaker 1: forest of brociliand where the fairy Oriana, once upon a
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Speaker 1: time bridge the dewdrops with oaten straws to save the
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Speaker 1: caterpillars from whetting their velvet feet. Who knows the boundaries
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Speaker 1: of the Kingdom of Ormus, can tell the sea in
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Speaker 1: which glistens the Golden Isle, the name of the last
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Speaker 1: Emperor of Trebizond, or describe the lost glories of Mattekin.
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Speaker 1: Who has heard of this silver winged Organda Urgula or Melazine,
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Speaker 1: of their pale sister Habondi, or of the wicked outcast Melandrine.
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Speaker 1: There may be some travelers along the byways of fancy
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Speaker 1: who have landed on these elusive shores. And doubtless there
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Speaker 1: are students of the recondite who have made the acquaintance
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Speaker 1: of the shadowy monarchs and flitting elves. But to the
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Speaker 1: great bulk of readers, even to those of fairy stories,
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Speaker 1: all this is new country with stranger people. For this reason,
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Speaker 1: if for none other, this version of Le Conte Duulet
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Speaker 1: of Catumndez should be made welcome. But there are other
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Speaker 1: reasons why the stories may claim a place among the
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Speaker 1: treasured records of fairydom. For their delicate play of imagination,
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Speaker 1: for their jauntiness, their sudden turns of situation, their unexpected
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Speaker 1: twists of praise, and for their general sweetness and lovability.
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Speaker 1: Then too, fairy stories as they are in that they
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Speaker 1: deal with the airy creatures of times and places that
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Speaker 1: never were and never could be, they have often a
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Speaker 1: deeper significance than appears on their surface. And behind their
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Speaker 1: quips and wonders there lies a lesson quaint, severe, or pathetic,
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Speaker 1: as was the mood of the story spinner, as he wrote.
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Speaker 1: For all of these reasons, and for many that are untold,
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Speaker 1: the fairy spinning Wheel and the tills it spun is
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Speaker 1: set out in its English dress, with some misgiving that
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Speaker 1: much of the first hand delicacy may have been lost
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Speaker 1: in the process of a change of language, but with
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Speaker 1: none as to the charm of the original. Thomas J. Vivian,
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Speaker 1: New York, October eighteen ninety eight, end of introduction, Chapter.
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Speaker 2: One of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tales It Spun.
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Speaker 2: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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Speaker 2: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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Speaker 2: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Emma Baker. The Fairy's
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Speaker 2: Spinning Wheel and the Tells It's Fun by Catul Mendayes,
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Speaker 2: translated by Thomas Johndrey Vivian, eighteen fifty five to nineteen
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Speaker 2: twenty five. The Sleeping Beauty. Serious history is not the
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Speaker 2: only thing that has been written in a slipshod fashion.
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Speaker 2: There has been a good deal of blundering in fairy
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Speaker 2: tales as well, and even the most careful and best
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Speaker 2: informed story tellers have not always set down things exactly
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Speaker 2: as they happened. For instance, although we have believed up
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Speaker 2: to this time that the eldest of Cinderella's wicked sisters
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Speaker 2: went to the prince's ball in a dress of red
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Speaker 2: velvet draped with English lace. The fact is that she
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Speaker 2: wore a scarlet robe embroidered with silver pathmentary and golden cords.
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Speaker 3: Sir too.
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Speaker 2: While it is true that of all the monarchs invited
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Speaker 2: to the wedding of the White Cat, some did come
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Speaker 2: in said anchairs, others in coaches, and others from distant
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Speaker 2: countries mounted upon elephants, tigers and eagles. While all this
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Speaker 2: is true, the other fact has not been stated, that
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Speaker 2: the King of mata Quinn made his entry into the
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Speaker 2: court of the palace seated between the wings of a
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Speaker 2: great dragon, from whose nostrils there came flames of jewels.
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Speaker 2: You may perhaps be curious to find out how I
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Speaker 2: come to know so much upon these very important points,
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Speaker 2: and I will tell you. Some time ago, I used
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Speaker 2: to visit a hut which stood beside a field, where
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Speaker 2: there lived a very old woman, old enough to be
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Speaker 2: a fairy, And indeed I always suspected her of being one.
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Speaker 2: After I had once or twice kept her company while
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Speaker 2: she warmed herself in the sunshine before her little cottage.
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Speaker 2: She took a liking to me, and a few days
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Speaker 2: before she died or returned to her mysterious country, I
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Speaker 2: don't know which, she offered me a keepsake, an old
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Speaker 2: spinning wheel. It was an extraordinary spinning wheel, for every
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Speaker 2: time I turned the wheel, it began to talk, or
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Speaker 2: rather to sing, using a sweet, little shaky voice, something
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Speaker 2: like that of a grandmother who during the day had
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Speaker 2: prattled more than she should. What it said or sang
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Speaker 2: was a number of pretty stories. Some of these no
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Speaker 2: one else knew of, and others it knew better than
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Speaker 2: any one else. And in the latter case it took
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Speaker 2: a sort of mischievous pleasure in pointing out and correcting
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Speaker 2: the mistakes made by those who had busied themselves in
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Speaker 2: writing these stories. You see, then, that I had a
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Speaker 2: teacher of a very remarkable sort. And let me say, well,
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Speaker 2: I think of it. You would be wonderfully astonished if
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Speaker 2: I were to tell you of all the things and
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Speaker 2: changes and additions that the wheel had revealed to me.
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Speaker 2: You imagine, I have no doubt that you know each
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Speaker 2: detail of the story of the princess, who, having pricked
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Speaker 2: her hand with a spindle, fell into a sleep so
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Speaker 2: sound that nothing could rouse her, And who was laid
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Speaker 2: in the castle in the middle of a wood, upon
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Speaker 2: a bed of gold and silver embroidery. Well, now I
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Speaker 2: am sorry to tell you that you do not know
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Speaker 2: the true ending of the story at all. Yes, yes,
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Speaker 2: purred the wheel. It is true enough that the princess
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Speaker 2: slept for a hundred years. When a young prince, moved
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Speaker 2: by love and glory, resolved to penetrate the wood and
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Speaker 2: awaken her. The great trees, the thorns, and the brambles
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Speaker 2: opened of themselves to let him pass. He walked toward
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Speaker 2: the castle, which he saw at the end of a
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Speaker 2: long avenue, and soon entered it. What surprised him not
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Speaker 2: a little was to find that not one of his
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Speaker 2: retinue had been able to follow him, the trees crowding
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Speaker 2: themselves together again as soon as he had passed. At last,
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Speaker 2: when he had crossed several courts paved with marble, passing
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Speaker 2: on his way a number of red nosed lackeys, who
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Speaker 2: slept beside their cups, in which were still some drops
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Speaker 2: of wine. When he had rambled down endless passages and
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Speaker 2: mounted great staircases, on which were guards snoring with carbines
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Speaker 2: on their shoulders. After passing all these things and persons,
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Speaker 2: he found himself in a golden chamber and saw, upon
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Speaker 2: a bed whose curtains were open on all sides the
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Speaker 2: most beautiful sight that had ever met his eyes. It
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Speaker 2: was a princess who seemed to be about sixteen or
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Speaker 2: seventeen years of age, and whose beauty was beyond words.
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Speaker 2: I am willing to admit, said the Wheel, that these
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Speaker 2: things happened just so, and that up to this point
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Speaker 2: the story tellers have not strayed away from the truth.
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Speaker 2: But nothing can be more misleading than the rest of
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Speaker 2: the story. And I must contradict the statement that the
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Speaker 2: sleeping beauty, when awakened, looked lovingly at the prince, and
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Speaker 2: that she said, is that you, my lord? You have
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Speaker 2: been long waited for. You want to know what really
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Speaker 2: did happen? Listen? The princess stretched one white arm, then
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Speaker 2: the other half opened her eyes, shut them again, as
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Speaker 2: though troubled by the light, yawned a little, while Puff,
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Speaker 2: her lap dog, awakened, also snapped and bristled with anger.
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Speaker 2: Who is there, the daughter of the fairies, asked at length,
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Speaker 2: and what is wanted? The prince fell upon his knees,
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Speaker 2: and replied, he who is here adores you and has
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Speaker 2: braved the greatest perils. He was something of a boaster,
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Speaker 2: you see, to relieve you from the enchantment in which
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Speaker 2: you have so long been held captive, leave this bed
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Speaker 2: on which you have been sleeping for a hundred years,
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Speaker 2: Give me your hand, and let us return together to
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Speaker 2: light and life. Astonished at these words, she looked attentively
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Speaker 2: at him and could not keep back a smile, for
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Speaker 2: he was a young and shape plea prince with the
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Speaker 2: loveliest eyes in the world, and he spoke in a
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Speaker 2: very sweet and pleasant manner. It is really true, then
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Speaker 2: she asked, putting back her hair, that the hour has
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Speaker 2: come in which I am to be delivered from my
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Speaker 2: long sleep. It is answered the prince, ah said she.
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Speaker 2: She thought, awhile, and then said, what will happen to
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Speaker 2: me if I leave this shadow land and go back
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Speaker 2: to life? Can you not guess? Asked the prince, have
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Speaker 2: you forgotten that you are the daughter of a king.
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Speaker 2: You will see your people running to meet you, crying
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Speaker 2: out for joy and waving banners of every color. Women
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Speaker 2: and children will kiss the hem of your robe. In
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Speaker 2: a word, you will be the most powerful and petted
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Speaker 2: of all the queens of the yeast. It would please
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Speaker 2: me to be a queen, she said, What else would happen?
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Speaker 2: You would live in a palace that glistened like gold,
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Speaker 2: replied the prince. And in mounting the steps of your throne,
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Speaker 2: you would walk upon inlaid patterns of precious stones. Courtiers
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Speaker 2: grouped about would sing your praises, and the oldest and
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Speaker 2: wisest heads would be bowed before the power and grace
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Speaker 2: of your smile. To be praised and obeyed is charming,
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Speaker 2: said she Would I have any other pleasure? Waiting maids
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Speaker 2: clever as fairies, would clothe you in dresses of the
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Speaker 2: tints of the sun and moon. You would powder your
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Speaker 2: hair with diamond dust, and you would have a mantle
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Speaker 2: of golden cloth trailing yards behind you. That would be charming,
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Speaker 2: said she. I always did like fine clothes, pages as
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Speaker 2: lovely as humming birds would offer you the fire candies
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Speaker 2: in beautiful comfort boxes, and would pour perfumed wine into
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Speaker 2: your cup. That pleases me, said she I always had
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Speaker 2: a sweet tooth. Would these be all my joys? Another pleasure,
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Speaker 2: the greatest of all, yet awaits you said the prince.
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Speaker 2: What is it You will be beloved, he replied, by
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Speaker 2: whom by me? That is, if you do not think
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Speaker 2: me unworthy to aspire to your affection, Well, said she,
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Speaker 2: You are a prince of good appearance, and your clothes
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Speaker 2: that you well. If, continued the Prince, you deign not
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Speaker 2: to send me away, I will give you my whole
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Speaker 2: heart as another kingdom, of which you will be the sovereign,
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Speaker 2: and I will never cease to be the obedient slave
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Speaker 2: of your most wilful caprices. Oh what happiness you promise me,
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Speaker 2: exclaimed the princess. Rise then, dearest, and follow me. Follow
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Speaker 2: you already, wait a moment, said the princess. I must
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Speaker 2: think a little. You have certainly hold out more than
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Speaker 2: one tempting promise, But as you see, I must be
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Speaker 2: sure first that I am not leaving what is better
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Speaker 2: behind me. What do you mean, princess, exclaimed the Prince.
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Speaker 2: I have slept for a hundred years, it is true.
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Speaker 2: But it is also true that for a hundred years
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Speaker 2: I have been dreaming. I am a queen in my dreams,
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Speaker 2: and of what a lovely, lovely kingdom. My dream palace
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Speaker 2: has walls of light for courtiers, I have angels who
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Speaker 2: treat me to music of delightful sweetness. When I walk,
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Speaker 2: it is upon pathways strewn with stars. Then if you
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Speaker 2: could only know of the beautiful dream robes that I
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Speaker 2: and of the delicious fruits that are set on my table,
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Speaker 2: and of the honeyed wines in which I dip my lips.
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Speaker 2: And as to love, believe me, I'm not without it.
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Speaker 2: For in my dreams I am adored by a lover
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Speaker 2: more handsome than any of the princes of the earth,
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Speaker 2: one who has been faithful to me for a hundred years.
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Speaker 2: All things considered, my Lord, I do not think I
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Speaker 2: should gain anything by coming out of my enchantment. I
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Speaker 2: pray you, sir, wish me good day, and let me
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Speaker 2: go to sleep again. Whereupon she turned her pretty face
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Speaker 2: toward the wall, spread her hair over her eyes, and
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Speaker 2: once more renewed her long sleep. While Puff stopped yelping,
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Speaker 2: crooked in his legs, and laid his muzzle on his paws.
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Speaker 2: The prince withdrew in high displeasure, And since that time,
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Speaker 2: thanks to the protection of the good fairies, no one
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Speaker 2: has troubled the rest of the sleeping beauty in the woods.
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Speaker 2: End of Sleeping.
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Speaker 4: Beauty, Chapter three of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the
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Speaker 4: Tails It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
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Speaker 4: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
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Speaker 4: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by David Derrida.
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Speaker 4: The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails It Spun by
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Speaker 4: Catul Mendez, translated by Thomas Jeanrey Vivianne from eighteen fifty
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Speaker 4: five nineteen twenty five. Chapter three, The Three Sowars three
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Speaker 4: young companions set out to see the world. As the
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Speaker 4: season was winter. It rained and blew and snowed all
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Speaker 4: over the surrounding country, but the road along which the
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Speaker 4: three passed was golden with sunshine, while each time the
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Speaker 4: hawthorn bloom swayed in the gentle breeze, a swarm of
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Speaker 4: butterfly flies and bees rose from it into the air.
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Speaker 4: This was because the three companions were youths of sixteen
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Speaker 4: and it being springtime. In their hearts, it was springtime
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Speaker 4: all about them. In the same way, if an old
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Speaker 4: man goes into a garden on a rosy morning of May,
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Speaker 4: the daylight seems to fade out the sky grows cloudy,
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Speaker 4: and the white honeysuckles look like so many snowflakes. So
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Speaker 4: these three walked along, just following the road, and that,
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Speaker 4: after all, is the best way to walk. One of
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Speaker 4: these youths was named Honrat, the other was called Chrysler,
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Speaker 4: while the third and youngest was called Alloys. They were
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Speaker 4: all three handsome, with the freshness of health upon their cheeks,
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Speaker 4: and with curly hair blown here and there by the wind.
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Speaker 4: Seeing them thus walking along that sunny road, you would
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Speaker 4: scarcely have noticed any difference between them. But a close
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Speaker 4: and examination would have shown that Honrat had the proudest air,
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Speaker 4: that was quiet and shrewd, and that Alloys was the
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Speaker 4: most gentle and timid. What they seemed to be on
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Speaker 4: the outside, they were within. For the body is but
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Speaker 4: the casing of the soul. Only men have had the
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Speaker 4: bad habit of wearing this envelope the wrong side out. Honrat,
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Speaker 4: in his fancies, pictured himself as the son of some
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Speaker 4: most powerful king, poor hungry child of fortune, eating the
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Speaker 4: crusts thrown to them from the windows of the rich,
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Speaker 4: drinking water from the springs of the hollow of his hand,
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Speaker 4: and sleeping in the shelter of barns. He yet dreamed
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Speaker 4: of being surrounded by power and glory. He dreamed too,
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Speaker 4: of courtiers, gorgeous with lace, kneeling before him in a
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Speaker 4: throne room, supported on pillars of jasper and marble, while
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Speaker 4: through wild folding doors ambassadors entered hastening from foreign lands.
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Speaker 4: Behind them, coming African slaves cland in red satin and
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Speaker 4: bearing chests in which bore marvelous and charming jewels, fine pearls, silks,
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Speaker 4: and brocade, the humble offerings of the Emperor Tabizondae and
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Speaker 4: the King of Sera, Nagon or else. He imagined that
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Speaker 4: he was leading an innuberbal army to victory, putting the
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Speaker 4: troops of the enemy to flight with his flashing sword,
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Speaker 4: and then that his loving people bore him in triumph,
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Speaker 4: underneath arches decorated with flapping banners over which glory spread
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Speaker 4: her wings. Chryser dreamed of things less heroic. His thoughts
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Speaker 4: ran to money, great sums of money, always money, to
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Speaker 4: gold and silver, especially to gold, to diamonds without count,
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Speaker 4: any one of which would be worth all the treasures
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Speaker 4: of the richest monarchs. The gold of his visions was
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Speaker 4: forever sparkling before his eyes and flowing between his fingers,
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Speaker 4: even when he held out his hands to passers by
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Speaker 4: and was thankful for copper cent So great was his
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Speaker 4: love for gold. Indeed, that had he been placed between
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Speaker 4: two doors, one leading to paradise and the other to
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Speaker 4: a treasure chamber, I do not believe he would have
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Speaker 4: opened that which led to paradise. As to little alloys,
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Speaker 4: better looking and more delicate than his companions. He troubled
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Speaker 4: himself nothing about palaces, courtiers, ambassadors, or armies. In place
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Speaker 4: of a table laden with a service of gold, he
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Speaker 4: would have preferred a corner in a flowery meadow. With
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Speaker 4: his youthful appearance, an appearance in fact, almost like that
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Speaker 4: of a young girl than like that of a lad.
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Speaker 4: He kept his eyes fixed on the ground, watching the
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Speaker 4: lady birds climbing up on the blades of grass and
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Speaker 4: raising them only to admire the rosy dawn on the
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Speaker 4: crimson sunset. The only pleasure he desired, and he really
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Speaker 4: enjoyed it, was to sing as he walked, to sing
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Speaker 4: in the morning the song he had composed in the
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Speaker 4: evening before, a song of pretty shyness set to a
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Speaker 4: pleasant tune which the birds of the bushes took up
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Speaker 4: and sang back as a chorus. So it happened that
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Speaker 4: if in the night time, in the clear silence of
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Speaker 4: the stars, they heard one of those strange noises which
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Speaker 4: are but the size of nature, in her sleep, if
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Speaker 4: one of those noises were heard, listen, honorrat would say,
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Speaker 4: is that not the sound of a trumpet? Chrysler, on
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Speaker 4: the other hand, would ask, is that not the distant
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Speaker 4: sound of a piece of gold rolling into a drawer,
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Speaker 4: while alloys would murmur, I fancy it must be the
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Speaker 4: chirping of some little birds in their nests, chirping before
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Speaker 4: they go to sleep again.
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Speaker 5: One day, an old woman who was.
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Speaker 4: Digging out a narrow furrow in a barren field, saw
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Speaker 4: these three young youths coming along the road. She was
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Speaker 4: so old and so ragged that you might have taken
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Speaker 4: her for long ago in tatters, And she was as
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Speaker 4: ugly as she was old. One yellow eye was gone,
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Speaker 4: and the other half was covered with a film. Three
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Speaker 4: tufts of gray hair stuck out from the folds of
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Speaker 4: a dirty, old cotton handkerchief wound round her head. Her
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Speaker 4: skin was red and wrinkled, and her lips went foot
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Speaker 4: flap over her toothless gums every time she breathed. Any
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Speaker 4: One who met her would have hurried away, anxious to
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Speaker 4: see a rose or a pretty child to make him
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Speaker 4: forget her ugliness. She was, however, only a fairy in disguise,
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Speaker 4: and no sooner did she see the three young companions
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Speaker 4: hon her at Christ, her and alloys, than she transformed
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Speaker 4: herself into a lovely self, clad in gorgeous robes, the
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Speaker 4: skirts of which were so embroidered in flowers and precious
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Speaker 4: stones that butterflies came floating about her, thinking that the
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Speaker 4: whole of April was stopping in this barren field. What ho,
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Speaker 4: my pretty youths, said the fairy, stop. I pray you.
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Speaker 4: I've wished to do you a favor, first because you
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Speaker 4: are young, which is a charming thing in itself, and
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Speaker 4: next because I have noticed that you always take care
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Speaker 4: when walking not to crush the poor little insects as
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Speaker 4: they crossed the lane. Come here and sow whatever seed
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Speaker 4: you have in this furrow, which I have just dug out.
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Speaker 4: Do this, and on my honor as a fairy, this field, barren,
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Speaker 4: though it seems to be, will give you back a
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Speaker 4: hundredfold all of that you've put into it. I leave
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Speaker 4: you to think how charmed the three travelers were to
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Speaker 4: see so sweet a creature and to hear her speak
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Speaker 4: such pleasant words. At the same time, they found themselves
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Speaker 4: very much embarrassed, being so poor that they had not
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Speaker 4: the faintest thing in the world to put into the
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Speaker 4: fairy furrow. Alas Madame said Honorat, after having talked a
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Speaker 4: moment with Chrysler and Alloy, we have nothing which we
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Speaker 4: would wish to see return a hundredfold unless it be
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Speaker 4: our dreams, and they will never bear fruit. How do
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Speaker 4: you know that asked the fairy, shaking out her hair
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Speaker 4: to drive away a butterfly which was very naturally, mistaking
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Speaker 4: her for a bed of pinks. How do you know
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Speaker 4: that she repeated, so your dreams into the open ground,
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Speaker 4: and we will see what will come up. Then Honorat
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Speaker 4: knelt down, and, putting his mouth to the furrow, began
23:05
Speaker 4: to whisper into all his ambitious fancies. He told the
23:09
Speaker 4: furrow about the place of Jasper and marble, crowded with
23:13
Speaker 4: courtiers and fine laces of ambassadors, entering by the royal
23:17
Speaker 4: doors of Negroes, borne down beneath the burden of tributes
23:21
Speaker 4: and of armies and dryumphs. He had not time to
23:24
Speaker 4: finish all of his story when troops of horsemen in
23:27
Speaker 4: golden breastplates and with eagles wings for crests came galloping
23:30
Speaker 4: over the plain, proclaiming it aloud that they sought for
23:33
Speaker 4: the son of the dead monarch, to conduct him into
23:35
Speaker 4: his kingdom. As soon as they saw Honarath, they cried,
23:39
Speaker 4: it is he, and carried him off as their master,
23:42
Speaker 4: with sounds of joy, to his marble palaces, to his
23:44
Speaker 4: battles and his spoils. Having seen this, Chrysler did not
23:49
Speaker 4: long delay to kneel down and sew into the soil
23:52
Speaker 4: his dream wishes for riches, for money, for jewels. Scarcely
23:57
Speaker 4: had he spoken twenty words before the furrow was filled
23:59
Speaker 4: with gold and silver, with diamonds and pearls. Drunk with joy,
24:04
Speaker 4: he leaped upon these treasures, grasped in his hands, filled
24:08
Speaker 4: his pockets and even his mouth with them, and went
24:10
Speaker 4: off the richest of the wretch, seeking for some hiding
24:13
Speaker 4: place in which to conceal his treasures. Well, Alloys, said
24:18
Speaker 4: the fairy, what are you thinking about? Why do not
24:23
Speaker 4: follow the example of your companions. He did not reply
24:28
Speaker 4: at first, having scarcely taken any notice of what had passed,
24:32
Speaker 4: his attention having been given to a myrtle bush, round
24:34
Speaker 4: which a wild clemantis was lovingly twining itself. Why should I,
24:40
Speaker 4: he replied at length, There is nothing I wish for
24:43
Speaker 4: except to listen to the nightingale sing in the evening,
24:46
Speaker 4: and to hear the crickets chirping in the hot noon day.
24:50
Speaker 4: All that I could do would be to sing a
24:51
Speaker 4: song into the furrow. Well sing, it, replied the fairy.
24:57
Speaker 4: Perhaps the seed of a song is worth more than
24:59
Speaker 4: anything else. So Alloys sang his song into the furrow,
25:04
Speaker 4: and as he began his second verse, a beautiful maiden
25:07
Speaker 4: came out of the opening earth, and, linking her arms
25:10
Speaker 4: in his, said, ah, how sweetly you sing. Let me
25:14
Speaker 4: be your friend and new companion. Thus did the good
25:18
Speaker 4: Fairy come to the aid of three wandering mutes, who
25:21
Speaker 4: had been walking along the sunlit road, heedless of where
25:24
Speaker 4: they went. But when a little time had passed there
25:28
Speaker 4: came about such results to two of the utes, as
25:30
Speaker 4: were sad indeed beaten by an obstinate enemy. After doing
25:35
Speaker 4: wonders of courage, King Honorat was obliged to quit his
25:39
Speaker 4: capital and to take a refuge in a monastery, where
25:42
Speaker 4: they cut off his hair. After having first taken away
25:46
Speaker 4: his crown. A band of robbers discovered the hiding place
25:49
Speaker 4: where Chryser the Rich had stood away his treasures, stole
25:53
Speaker 4: it and left them to beg for alms on the highways.
25:57
Speaker 4: Alloys alone was happy for the maiden, who loved his songs,
26:01
Speaker 4: soon loved him also, and married him, so that she
26:03
Speaker 4: might be with him always. End of chapter three. Recording
26:11
Speaker 4: by David Derrida.
26:18
Speaker 2: Chapter four of The Fairies Spinning Will and the Tales
26:21
Speaker 2: It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
26:25
Speaker 2: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
26:31
Speaker 2: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Emma Charlotte. The
26:38
Speaker 2: Fairies Spinning Will and the Tells It Spun by Catul Mendes,
26:43
Speaker 2: translated by Thomas Johndrey Vivian eighteen fifty five to nineteen
26:48
Speaker 2: twenty five. The Princess Birdie, though she was so small
26:53
Speaker 2: that she might easily have been taken for the elder
26:56
Speaker 2: sister of her doll, the daughter of the King of
26:59
Speaker 2: the Golden Isle was the prettiest princess you ever saw.
27:04
Speaker 2: When she arrived at young womanhood, her father asked her
27:08
Speaker 2: if she had any objections to being married. Oh, none
27:12
Speaker 2: at all, she replied. In that case, said her father,
27:19
Speaker 2: I shall give a grand feast and invite to it
27:22
Speaker 2: all the young princes of the neighboring countries, from whom
27:27
Speaker 2: you may make a choice that will be worthy of
27:29
Speaker 2: yourself and me. Do not take so much trouble, father,
27:35
Speaker 2: said the princess. It would simply be putting you to
27:39
Speaker 2: a great deal of unnecessary expense. For a long time
27:43
Speaker 2: I have had a sweetheart, and there is nothing more
27:47
Speaker 2: that I could wish for than that you should give
27:50
Speaker 2: me for a husband. The nightingale who warbles every evening
27:54
Speaker 2: in the rose bush that climbs about my window. The King,
28:01
Speaker 2: as you may well imagine, had all he could do
28:04
Speaker 2: to remain as serious as a king should always be.
28:08
Speaker 2: What cried he, you wish to marry a bird? Do
28:12
Speaker 2: you to present me with a feathered son in law
28:15
Speaker 2: and live in a cage? A charming idea, I must say.
28:21
Speaker 2: These mocking speeches hurt the princess so cruelly that she
28:26
Speaker 2: retired to her room with a bursting heart. In the evening,
28:31
Speaker 2: she leaned out of her window while the nightingal sang
28:36
Speaker 2: in the hawthorn Ah, beautiful bird. She cried, this is
28:43
Speaker 2: not the time to be happy, for my father will
28:46
Speaker 2: not consent to our marriage. But to this, the nightingal replied,
28:53
Speaker 2: do not sorrow, dear princess. Everything will be well because
28:58
Speaker 2: we love each other, and he consoled her by singing
29:03
Speaker 2: all the sweetest songs that he knew about. This time,
29:10
Speaker 2: free giants, who were also very famous magicians, laid siege
29:15
Speaker 2: to the capital of the Kingdom of the Golden Isle.
29:19
Speaker 2: They had no need of any army, so strong and
29:23
Speaker 2: cruel were they. They marched up to the city walls
29:28
Speaker 2: and announced in voices, like so many tempests, that if
29:33
Speaker 2: in three days the city were not delivered over to them,
29:38
Speaker 2: they would destroy it to the very foundations and kill
29:42
Speaker 2: all the inhabitants. The terror caused by this announcement was
29:49
Speaker 2: so great that all the mothers ran about the streets,
29:53
Speaker 2: pressing their weeping children in their arms, while many of
29:57
Speaker 2: the courtiers talked of submitting to the free magicians without
30:01
Speaker 2: striking a blow as a means of saving himself in
30:07
Speaker 2: this terrible peril, The king sent couriers to all the
30:11
Speaker 2: neighboring princes, announcing that he would give his daughter in
30:16
Speaker 2: marriage to whomsoever would deliver him from these giants. But
30:21
Speaker 2: the princes, notwithstanding the promised recompense, kept away, believing the
30:28
Speaker 2: combat to be too unequal. On hearing this, all the
30:33
Speaker 2: people looked forward to perishing in the ruins of the city.
30:38
Speaker 2: When it happened that, just before the evening of the
30:41
Speaker 2: third day, two soldiers who were watching on the walls,
30:47
Speaker 2: saw the free giants dash out of the tent where
30:51
Speaker 2: they had been taking an afternoon's nap, and dart off,
30:56
Speaker 2: howling like mad folks. The general joy was now as
31:03
Speaker 2: great as the general despair had been. Yet no one
31:07
Speaker 2: could guess the cause of so unforeseen a deliverance. Father,
31:15
Speaker 2: said the princess to the king. It is the bird
31:19
Speaker 2: I love, to whom you must render thanks for this
31:21
Speaker 2: happy event. He flew into the tent of the chance
31:25
Speaker 2: while they slept, and pecked their eyes out with his beak.
31:31
Speaker 2: You will, of course keep your promise and let me
31:33
Speaker 2: marry the nightingale who sings in the climbing rose tree.
31:40
Speaker 2: But the king begged his daughter not to trouble him
31:43
Speaker 2: with such foolish fancies, and turned his back upon her
31:48
Speaker 2: in a very angry humor. That evening, when the nightingirl
31:53
Speaker 2: sang among the flowers and leaves, Ah, beautiful bird whom
31:59
Speaker 2: I love, said the princess, this is not the time
32:03
Speaker 2: to rejoice, for although you have delivered us from the giants,
32:09
Speaker 2: my father will not consent to our marriage. The nightingale replied,
32:15
Speaker 2: do not trouble yourself, dear princess. All will yet be
32:20
Speaker 2: well because we love each other, and he consoled her
32:24
Speaker 2: by singing new songs which he had just composed. Some
32:30
Speaker 2: time after this, the treasurer of the palace disappeared, without
32:34
Speaker 2: any one being able to imagine what had become of him,
32:38
Speaker 2: and at the same time, the great coffer of cedar
32:41
Speaker 2: and gold was found empty, without so much as a
32:46
Speaker 2: rubied diamond or pearl left in any of its corners.
32:50
Speaker 2: The king, who was a very greedy man, showed himself
32:54
Speaker 2: extremely put out about this loss, and went around Bemoni
33:00
Speaker 2: like a beggar that had been robbed of his pennies.
33:04
Speaker 2: At last, he sent out heralds to all the neighboring kingdoms,
33:09
Speaker 2: announcing that he would give his daughter in marriage to
33:12
Speaker 2: the man prince or no prince, who should find out
33:18
Speaker 2: whether robber was and bring back the jewels. All this
33:23
Speaker 2: went for nothing, however, and many days passed without any
33:27
Speaker 2: news of the treasurer or treasure. But one morning, when
33:33
Speaker 2: the king gloomily opened the coffer, he uttered a cry
33:38
Speaker 2: of joy, for there were all the pearls, the rubies,
33:43
Speaker 2: and the diamonds back again. You would have said that
33:48
Speaker 2: the room were full of stars, so great was the
33:51
Speaker 2: brilliancy of the precious stones. You can easily picture the
33:56
Speaker 2: satisfaction of the king, and he immediate set about finding
34:01
Speaker 2: out who had brought back the jewels. Father, said, the princess,
34:07
Speaker 2: It is the bird I loved, to whom you must
34:09
Speaker 2: give thanks for this happy recovery. He had watched and
34:12
Speaker 2: followed the robber, and knew where the treasure was hidden.
34:17
Speaker 2: During many days and during many nights, with great trouble.
34:23
Speaker 2: Carrying a ruby in his left claw, a pearl in
34:26
Speaker 2: his right, and a diamond in his beak, he has
34:30
Speaker 2: flown from the hidden treasure to the coffer. I held
34:34
Speaker 2: the window open for him while you slept or while
34:37
Speaker 2: you were hunting. You surely now will keep your promise
34:41
Speaker 2: and let me marry the nightingale. But the king was
34:45
Speaker 2: as obstinate as he was greedy. He grew angry and
34:49
Speaker 2: threatened to lock her in a tower if she ever
34:51
Speaker 2: spoke to him again of marriage with such a husband.
34:55
Speaker 2: That evening, while the nightingale sang in the moonlight, Ah,
35:01
Speaker 2: beautiful bird whom I love, said the princess, this is
35:06
Speaker 2: not the time to rejoice, for though you have restored
35:10
Speaker 2: my father's treasure, he will not consent to our marriage.
35:15
Speaker 2: The nightingal replied, do not trouble yourself, princess, for all
35:22
Speaker 2: will yet be well with us, since we love each other,
35:27
Speaker 2: and he consoled her by singing the most charming song
35:30
Speaker 2: she had ever heard. Notwithstanding the nightingale's songs, the princess
35:38
Speaker 2: languished and died of a broken heart. To carry her
35:43
Speaker 2: to the royal tomb, she was laid upon a mass
35:46
Speaker 2: of white carnations and roses, where she lay whiter even
35:51
Speaker 2: than the flowers. She was followed by a crowd in tears,
35:57
Speaker 2: the king marching beside the perthume, uttering cries of grief
36:03
Speaker 2: that would have moved a heart of marble. When they
36:07
Speaker 2: had arrived at the cemetery and were about to lay
36:11
Speaker 2: the body in the tiny grave, a nightingale fluttered by, and,
36:17
Speaker 2: perching himself upon the branch of a yew tree, said, King,
36:22
Speaker 2: what will you do for him? Who shall give you
36:25
Speaker 2: back the princess alive? I will give him the princess herself,
36:30
Speaker 2: cried the king. Ay, and with half of my kingdom.
36:38
Speaker 2: Keep your kingdom, replied the nightingale. Your daughter is all
36:43
Speaker 2: I want. But beware lest you break your oath. At
36:48
Speaker 2: these words, the nightingale flew down from the tree, and,
36:53
Speaker 2: perching himself upon the chin of the dead, placed a
36:57
Speaker 2: blade of grass between her lips with his beak. Immediately,
37:02
Speaker 2: the princess sat up, alive and wealth. Oh, father, said she.
37:09
Speaker 2: Surely now you will keep your promise and permit me
37:12
Speaker 2: to marry the nightingale. Alas, the king forgot his oath,
37:20
Speaker 2: and no sooner did he hold his living daughter in
37:23
Speaker 2: his arms once more than he ordered his courtiers to
37:28
Speaker 2: chase away the impertinent bird. Then there came to pass
37:33
Speaker 2: a wonderful thing. The little daughter of the king began
37:38
Speaker 2: to grow smaller and smaller, like a flake, of snow,
37:43
Speaker 2: mounting in the sunshine until she was a tiny winged creature,
37:48
Speaker 2: no bigger than a baby's fist. The loveliest of princesses
37:54
Speaker 2: had become the loveliest of birds. And while her father
37:58
Speaker 2: too late repented of his ingratitude and held out his
38:04
Speaker 2: arms in despair, she flew away with the nightingale to
38:08
Speaker 2: the neighboring woods. End of the Prince Hurs Burdi, Chapter
38:18
Speaker 2: five of The Fairy's Spinning Wheel and the Tales It Spun.
38:22
Speaker 2: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings were in
38:26
Speaker 2: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
38:30
Speaker 2: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Emma Charlotte. The Fairy
38:37
Speaker 2: Spinning Wheel and the Tails It Spun by Catulo Mendes,
38:41
Speaker 2: translated by Thomas Johndre Vivian eighteen fifty five to nineteen
38:47
Speaker 2: twenty five. Chapter five. There was once another kingdom in
38:51
Speaker 2: which no mirror could be found. All looking glasses, those
38:56
Speaker 2: to be hung upon the wall, those to be held
38:59
Speaker 2: in hand, and those that had been formerly carried at
39:03
Speaker 2: the girdle, all had been broken to atoms by the
39:08
Speaker 2: order of the Queen. The discovery of the smallest looking glass,
39:13
Speaker 2: or the smallest piece of a looking glass in any
39:17
Speaker 2: house meant the punishment of those who owned it with
39:21
Speaker 2: the most fearful pains. The reason for this most extraordinary
39:26
Speaker 2: state of affairs was as follows ugly, so ugly that
39:31
Speaker 2: the most hideous monsters seemed charming beside her. The Queen
39:37
Speaker 2: not only wished never to see herself, but was also
39:41
Speaker 2: determined that no one else should have the chance of
39:45
Speaker 2: finding out how pretty his or her face was when
39:49
Speaker 2: compared with that of her own. You may easily believe
39:53
Speaker 2: that these laws by no means satisfied the girls and
39:57
Speaker 2: young women of that country. Of what use was it
40:01
Speaker 2: to have beautiful eyes, a mouth as fresh as roses,
40:06
Speaker 2: or to put flowers in your hair? If you could
40:09
Speaker 2: not see how all these things looked, you could not
40:14
Speaker 2: even admire yourself in a stream or in a lake.
40:18
Speaker 2: For all the rhyths and ponds had been covered over
40:21
Speaker 2: with closely fitting slabs of stone. Water was drawn from
40:27
Speaker 2: wells so deep that no one could see their liquid surface,
40:32
Speaker 2: and kept in dark, flat dishes in which there was
40:36
Speaker 2: no reflection. The people of that kingdom were in fact
40:42
Speaker 2: in despair, especially those who were vain, and there were
40:47
Speaker 2: vain persons in that country as well as there are
40:51
Speaker 2: in this. All of this pleased the Queen, who was
40:54
Speaker 2: happy to know that her subjects were as much dissatisfied
40:58
Speaker 2: at not being able to see themselves else as she
41:01
Speaker 2: was furious whenever she caught a glimpse of her own
41:04
Speaker 2: hideous face. It happened, however, that in a certain suburb
41:09
Speaker 2: of the royal city, there was a young girl called Jacintha,
41:14
Speaker 2: who was less disturbed than many of the others about
41:17
Speaker 2: the looking glass floor because of a sweetheart whom she had.
41:23
Speaker 2: When some one finds you pretty and is always telling
41:26
Speaker 2: you so, there is no need of a mirror. Now
41:31
Speaker 2: tell me, truly, she would say, The color of my
41:35
Speaker 2: eyes does not displease you. They alike forget me, not
41:40
Speaker 2: in each of which has fallen a drop of clear amber.
41:44
Speaker 2: Her lover would reply, I have not a dark skin.
41:49
Speaker 2: Your forehead is purer than snow, and your cheeks are
41:53
Speaker 2: like pale roses. What do you think of my mouth,
41:57
Speaker 2: she went on, It is like a ripe raspberry, and
42:03
Speaker 2: my teeth, if you please, they are like grains of rice,
42:09
Speaker 2: said the youth, And what about my ears. Have I
42:13
Speaker 2: any cause to be unhappy about them? Yes, he replied,
42:19
Speaker 2: if one need be uneasy about having two little pink
42:23
Speaker 2: shells nestling against her hair. So they talked. She charmed
42:29
Speaker 2: to listen, and he to see and speak. One day
42:33
Speaker 2: he asked her to marry him, and she blushed and consented. Unfortunately,
42:39
Speaker 2: the news of the coming marriage reached the ears of
42:42
Speaker 2: the wicked queen, whose sole pleasure it was to destroy
42:46
Speaker 2: the happiness of others, and Jacintha, being prettier than any
42:52
Speaker 2: one else, was hated all the more for it. Some
42:58
Speaker 2: days before the wedding, Sail was walking in her mother's
43:01
Speaker 2: orchard when an old hag drew near and asked for arms,
43:08
Speaker 2: and then started back with a cry, as though she
43:11
Speaker 2: had trodden upon a toad. Heaven preserve us, screamed the
43:16
Speaker 2: old hag. What do I see? Why do you cry out?
43:21
Speaker 2: And what have you seen? My good woman, asked Jacintha.
43:26
Speaker 2: What do I see? Said the bell dame? Why the
43:31
Speaker 2: ugliest thing on earth? Then you certainly do not mean me,
43:36
Speaker 2: said Jacintha, smiling Alas, yes, my poor child, I do
43:43
Speaker 2: mean you. I have been long in this world, but
43:47
Speaker 2: never yet have I met with any one so frightful
43:50
Speaker 2: as you are. A frightful exclaimed Jacintha, A hundred times
43:59
Speaker 2: more so than I can describe. What do you mean
44:03
Speaker 2: by saying such things? Said the girl, half crying. Look
44:07
Speaker 2: at my eyes, they are mud colored, said the hag.
44:12
Speaker 2: But that would not matter so much if you had
44:15
Speaker 2: not such a horrible squint my skin. From its appearance,
44:21
Speaker 2: I should say that you had been rubbing charcoal on
44:24
Speaker 2: your cheeks and forehead. My mouth, stammered poor Jacintha. It
44:31
Speaker 2: is as colorless as a faded flower of autumn, said
44:35
Speaker 2: the wretched old woman. My teeth, If great yellow fangs
44:39
Speaker 2: are lovely teeth, then I never saw any lovelier than yours,
44:44
Speaker 2: at least my ears, Jacintha began. Your ears are so big,
44:51
Speaker 2: red and hairy, interrupted the groane, that I shudder to
44:55
Speaker 2: look at them. And I know that I am not
44:57
Speaker 2: pretty to look at myself. But I think I should
45:00
Speaker 2: die of shame if I had a mouth like that.
45:03
Speaker 2: Upon this, the hag, who was a wicked fairy and
45:07
Speaker 2: consequently a friend of the wicked Queen, trotted off with
45:11
Speaker 2: a burst of mocking laughter, while Jacintha dropped weeping upon
45:16
Speaker 2: a seat underneath the apple trees. Nothing could turn Jacyntha
45:21
Speaker 2: from greezing over her affliction. I am ugly, I am ugly,
45:26
Speaker 2: she unceasingly cried. It was in vain that her lover
45:30
Speaker 2: assured her to the contrary. Leave me, she begged, You
45:35
Speaker 2: are not telling me the truth just because you pity me.
45:39
Speaker 2: That poor old woman had no interest in deceiving me.
45:43
Speaker 2: It is true, I am ugly, I know it. To
45:47
Speaker 2: set her right, he brought a number of his friends
45:50
Speaker 2: to her house, every one of whom told Jacintha that
45:54
Speaker 2: it was a pleasure to look upon her. All. This, however,
45:58
Speaker 2: was of no use. She insisted that they only said
46:02
Speaker 2: so to soothe her, and that she knew she was affright.
46:07
Speaker 2: Then the youth asked her to fix the day of
46:09
Speaker 2: their marriage. I become your wife, she cried, Never, I
46:15
Speaker 2: think too tenderly of you to make you a present
46:17
Speaker 2: of such a shocking looking thing as I am. Driven
46:22
Speaker 2: to his wits, and the young man saw that the
46:26
Speaker 2: only way to undo the evil which the haggard done
46:30
Speaker 2: was to get a mirror to show Jacintha the truth.
46:33
Speaker 2: But where could a mirror be found? There was not
46:36
Speaker 2: one in the whole kingdom, and the terror of the
46:40
Speaker 2: queen was such that no workman could be induced to
46:43
Speaker 2: make one to the court. Then, cried the youth, cruel
46:48
Speaker 2: as our queen is, she cannot fail to be moved
46:51
Speaker 2: by my tears and by Jacintha's beauty. If it is
46:54
Speaker 2: only for a few hours, she will withdraw this cruel
46:57
Speaker 2: law from which all our griefs have come, and let
47:01
Speaker 2: me show Jacyntha the true picture of her own lovely face.
47:06
Speaker 2: It was not without much trouble that the girl could
47:09
Speaker 2: be prevailed upon to go to the palace, but at
47:12
Speaker 2: last she consented. What is it? What is it? Asked
47:18
Speaker 2: the wicked queen in her shrill, harsh voice. Who ah
47:23
Speaker 2: these people? And what do they wish? Some one tell me,
47:27
Speaker 2: and tell me quickly, Your majesty, replied the youth. You
47:33
Speaker 2: have before you the most unhappy of lovers. Well, I
47:37
Speaker 2: must say that is indeed a good reason for coming
47:40
Speaker 2: to me, sneered the Queen. Do not be pitiless, pleaded
47:46
Speaker 2: the young man. Why what have I to do with
47:50
Speaker 2: your trouble? Snarled the queen, If you would only permit
47:55
Speaker 2: me to have a mirror, The youth began at these
47:59
Speaker 2: words the Queen rose, trembling with anger. You have dared
48:04
Speaker 2: to speak to me of mirrors, she cried, grinding her teeth.
48:10
Speaker 2: Don't be angry, your majesty, begged the youth. Deign to
48:15
Speaker 2: hear me. This young girl, whom you see before you,
48:19
Speaker 2: so fresh and beautiful, has fallen into a most singular error.
48:25
Speaker 2: She imagines that she is ugly, so she hears, shouted
48:29
Speaker 2: the Queen with a ferocious laugh. For I must say,
48:34
Speaker 2: I don't think I ever saw so odious an object.
48:39
Speaker 2: At these words, Jacinthia nearly died with grief. It was
48:45
Speaker 2: not possible now to doubt any longer, since both the
48:48
Speaker 2: Queen and the beggar woman had said precisely the same thing. Slowly,
48:55
Speaker 2: she closed her eyes and then fell fainting upon the
48:58
Speaker 2: steps of the throne. Furious with rage at the Queen's cruelty,
49:04
Speaker 2: the youth cried out loudly that her majesty was insane
49:09
Speaker 2: unless she had some reason for lying. So he had
49:14
Speaker 2: no time to add another word before the guards threw
49:17
Speaker 2: themselves upon him and bound him. The Queen gave the sign,
49:26
Speaker 2: and the executioner, who was always kept at the side
49:29
Speaker 2: of the throne, advanced towards the youth. Do your duty,
49:35
Speaker 2: screamed the queen, pointing to the unfortunate young man who
49:39
Speaker 2: had insulted her. Cut his head off before I capt free.
49:45
Speaker 2: The executioner quietly drew his bright sword. When Jacintha feebly
49:50
Speaker 2: beat the air with her hands and opened her eyes.
49:55
Speaker 2: At that instant, two different cries were heard. One a
50:01
Speaker 2: cry of joy, for in the polished, naked still Jacintha
50:06
Speaker 2: saw herself and saw that she was sweetly pretty. The
50:12
Speaker 2: other a cry of agony, because the wicked queen broke
50:16
Speaker 2: her heart with shame and rage at seeing her foul
50:21
Speaker 2: face reflected in the truthful mirror of the gleaming sword,
50:26
Speaker 2: side by side with that of the lovely Jacintha. End
50:31
Speaker 2: of chapter five. Recording by Amma Charlotte.
50:40
Speaker 1: Chapter six of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and It Tals
50:43
Speaker 1: Its Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
50:47
Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
50:51
Speaker 1: please visit librifox dot org. Recording by phone The Fairy
50:55
Speaker 1: Spinning Wheel and A Tials Its Spun by Gatul Mendez,
50:59
Speaker 1: translated by Thomas John drey Vivian eighteen fifty five to
51:03
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five Snowhart. There was once a kingdom in
51:09
Speaker 1: which lived the princess, so lovely that all the world
51:12
Speaker 1: agreed that nobody as perfect as she had ever been
51:15
Speaker 1: seen in it. Before her beauty was altogether thrown away. However,
51:20
Speaker 1: because she would love no one, notwithstanding the prayers of
51:23
Speaker 1: her parents, she disdainfully refused all suitors who came to
51:27
Speaker 1: ask her hand. When the nephews of kings or the
51:30
Speaker 1: sons of emperors came to the court to propose for her,
51:33
Speaker 1: she did not even condescend to look upon them, no
51:36
Speaker 1: matter how handsome or young they might be. What is
51:40
Speaker 1: the use of troubling me about such trifles, she would say,
51:44
Speaker 1: turning her pretty head away. At last, on account of
51:47
Speaker 1: the coldness which she showed to all persons that all time,
51:51
Speaker 1: the princess was named Snowhart in Vain. Her nurse, a
51:55
Speaker 1: good old woman of great experience, spoke to her as follows,
51:58
Speaker 1: with tears in her eyes. Take care what you are doing,
52:03
Speaker 1: said Dan. It is not right to answer those who
52:06
Speaker 1: love us with all their heart with cold and cruel words.
52:10
Speaker 1: Do you mean to tell me that among all these
52:12
Speaker 1: handsome youths who are so desirous to obtain you in marriage.
52:16
Speaker 1: There is not one toward whom you feel some tenderness.
52:20
Speaker 1: Take care, I tell you, the good fairies who have
52:23
Speaker 1: granted you your splendid beauty will some day or other
52:27
Speaker 1: grow angry if you continue to show yourself a miser
52:30
Speaker 1: of their gift. For what they have given you, they
52:33
Speaker 1: wish that you should share with others. The more you
52:36
Speaker 1: are worth, the more you owe. Our gifts must be
52:39
Speaker 1: measured by your riches, but which you do little one
52:43
Speaker 1: if your protectors, angry at your indifference, should abandon you
52:47
Speaker 1: to the wickedness of certain fairies who only rejoice in
52:50
Speaker 1: doing evil, and who are constantly hovering about young princesses
52:54
Speaker 1: to find the chance to carry out their wicked intentions.
52:59
Speaker 1: But it's no heart took no account of these good counsels.
53:02
Speaker 1: She only shrugged her white shoulders and admired herself in
53:05
Speaker 1: a mirror, an occupation in which he found all the
53:07
Speaker 1: employment she needed. As to the King and Queen, they
53:11
Speaker 1: grieved more than any one else over the indifference of
53:14
Speaker 1: their daughter. At last, they came to the conclusion that
53:17
Speaker 1: some evil spirit had taken possession of her, and they
53:20
Speaker 1: sent out heralds to all the countries of the world,
53:23
Speaker 1: proclaiming that they would give the princes herself to whomsoever
53:27
Speaker 1: should deliver her from the magician of whose power she
53:30
Speaker 1: was the victim. Now it happened about the same time
53:34
Speaker 1: that there lived in a great forest nearby a hideous
53:37
Speaker 1: wood chopper, crooked in every part of him, and who
53:40
Speaker 1: limped when he walked because of the weight of the
53:42
Speaker 1: hump on his back. He was the terror of all
53:45
Speaker 1: the country round. For most of the time, he paid
53:48
Speaker 1: but little attention to wood chopping, and hid in a
53:50
Speaker 1: dark ravine, waiting for unwaried travelers, springing on them, and
53:55
Speaker 1: then cutting off their heads with his axe at a
53:57
Speaker 1: single stroke. That du he would empty the pockets of
54:01
Speaker 1: the corpse, and with the money found there would buy
54:04
Speaker 1: food and wine, with which he stuffed himself in his hut,
54:08
Speaker 1: yelling for joy all the time. In fact, this wicked
54:11
Speaker 1: man was foar happier at times than many honest persons.
54:15
Speaker 1: That is, so long as travelers passed through the forest.
54:19
Speaker 1: But the forest soon grew to have so bad a
54:21
Speaker 1: name that even the bravest people went far out of
54:24
Speaker 1: their way rather than passed through it. Deprived of his
54:28
Speaker 1: horrible means of living, the wood chopper nearly perished. For
54:32
Speaker 1: several days. He managed to exist on the fragments of
54:35
Speaker 1: his feasts, gnawing the bones and licking out a few
54:38
Speaker 1: drops left in the bottom of empty bottles. As you
54:41
Speaker 1: may imagine, this was but poor fare for such a
54:44
Speaker 1: drunkard and glutton as he. And then the rigors of
54:47
Speaker 1: winter came and filled up the measure of his discomfort.
54:51
Speaker 1: Crouched in his hut, through which the wind blew and
54:54
Speaker 1: into which the snow fell, he almost died of cold
54:57
Speaker 1: and hunger, while he dared not seek help from the
55:00
Speaker 1: people of the neighboring village because of the hate which
55:03
Speaker 1: they bore him. You may ask why he did not
55:06
Speaker 1: make a fire with the dried branches and leaves that
55:09
Speaker 1: lay about him. He did not because both the wood
55:12
Speaker 1: and leaves were so full of frost that there was
55:14
Speaker 1: no way of lighting them. One would suppose, indeed, that
55:18
Speaker 1: in order to punish this wicked man, an unknown power
55:21
Speaker 1: prevented the fuel from taking fire. However that might be,
55:25
Speaker 1: the wood shopper passed many unhappy days and still more
55:28
Speaker 1: wretched nights near his empty cupboard and cooled fireside, And
55:33
Speaker 1: to see him thus thin and shivering, you would surely
55:36
Speaker 1: have pitied him, had you not known how truly he
55:39
Speaker 1: deserved his present misery by his past crimes. However, there
55:44
Speaker 1: was somebody who took pity on him, a wicked fairy
55:47
Speaker 1: called Melandrine. It was her pleasure to witness evil, and
55:51
Speaker 1: so it was but natural that she should love those
55:53
Speaker 1: who did it. One night, while he was most forlorn
55:57
Speaker 1: and desolate, his teeth chattering with cold, and his fingers
56:01
Speaker 1: crippled with chilblains, Melandrine appeared before him, coming up out
56:05
Speaker 1: of the ground. She was not a beautiful fairy with
56:09
Speaker 1: garlands of flowers in her hair, nor did she wear
56:11
Speaker 1: a dress of brocade covered with dazzling embroidery of precious stones.
56:16
Speaker 1: She was ugly, bald, as hump backed as he, and
56:19
Speaker 1: as ragged as a pauper. You would surely have taken
56:22
Speaker 1: her for an old beggar woman on the highway, For
56:25
Speaker 1: when one is wicked, one cannot be pretty, even if
56:28
Speaker 1: a fairy. Don't be cast down. My poor man, she said,
56:34
Speaker 1: I am come to aid. You follow me. Very much
56:38
Speaker 1: astonished at this, apparition, the woodcutter followed Melandrine to a
56:42
Speaker 1: clearing in the wood, where he saw great drifts of
56:44
Speaker 1: snow heaped all around. Now, then said she light a fire. Ah,
56:52
Speaker 1: he cried, shivering, snow will not burn. That's just where
56:58
Speaker 1: you are mistaken, he cried. Take this sprig of wild
57:02
Speaker 1: bean which I have brought you, and you need only
57:05
Speaker 1: touch any of these snow drifts to have as jolly
57:07
Speaker 1: a fire as you wish. He did as she directed,
57:11
Speaker 1: and judge of his astonishment when scarcely had the sprig
57:15
Speaker 1: of wild being come near the snow, than the white
57:17
Speaker 1: flakes leaped into flame as though they had been made
57:20
Speaker 1: of tow, while all the clearing was illuminated by the
57:23
Speaker 1: merry light. From this moment, the wood chopper, although he
57:27
Speaker 1: still continued to be hungry, no longer suffered from the cold.
57:30
Speaker 1: For no sooner did he feel the slightest shiver than
57:33
Speaker 1: he gathered up a heap of snow, whether in his
57:35
Speaker 1: hut or on the road, touched it with his wand,
57:39
Speaker 1: and warmed himself at the strange fireside. Several days after
57:44
Speaker 1: this adventure, there was a great to do in the
57:46
Speaker 1: capital of the kingdom. The court of the king's palace
57:49
Speaker 1: was filled with hobberders, who clanked their pikes upon the pavement,
57:52
Speaker 1: and everywhere there was excitement and agitation. It was in
57:56
Speaker 1: the throne room, however, that his bustle was at his height,
58:00
Speaker 1: for there the most powerful princes of the earth were
58:02
Speaker 1: gathered to engage in a struggle of courtesy. As to
58:05
Speaker 1: whom she conquer snow Heart. First came the nephew of
58:09
Speaker 1: the Emperor of Trebizond, and bend the knee. I command
58:14
Speaker 1: more armed men, said he, than there are leaves in
58:17
Speaker 1: all the forests, and in my coffers there are more
58:19
Speaker 1: pearls than there are stars in the sky. Will you,
58:22
Speaker 1: my princes, reign over my people, and adorn yourself with
58:26
Speaker 1: my pearls?
58:28
Speaker 6: What is it?
58:29
Speaker 1: He says, asked the princess pettishly, and that was all
58:33
Speaker 1: the notice she took of him. Next came the son
58:36
Speaker 1: of the King of Matchikan, and knelt before her young
58:40
Speaker 1: as I am, said he, I have already conquered the
58:43
Speaker 1: most powerful knights in Turney, and with the single stroke
58:46
Speaker 1: of my sword, I have cut off the hundred heads
58:49
Speaker 1: of a dragon which devoured all the newborn babes and
58:51
Speaker 1: maidens of my kingdom. O, princes, will you share my
58:55
Speaker 1: glory which with you will grow yet brighter? He has
59:00
Speaker 1: spoken so low, said the princess, yawning that I really
59:04
Speaker 1: don't know what he has talked about. Then came other princes,
59:09
Speaker 1: boasting on their power, their riches, and their glory. Following
59:12
Speaker 1: these came poets with tender words, sung to a sweet
59:16
Speaker 1: accompaniment upon the guitar knights who had fought in perilous
59:20
Speaker 1: fights that preserve fair women and pages almost as beautiful
59:23
Speaker 1: as the princes herself. What do all these people want?
59:28
Speaker 1: Asked no Hart crossly. I wish somebody would ask them
59:32
Speaker 1: to leave their chatter. Wearies me and I long to
59:35
Speaker 1: be alone, that I may admire myself in the mirror. Ah,
59:40
Speaker 1: little one, little one, said the nurse. Be careful, you
59:44
Speaker 1: do not irritate the good fairies. At this moment there
59:48
Speaker 1: advanced a miserable lout, hideous in face, crooked in person,
59:53
Speaker 1: and limping beneath the way of an enormous hump. The courtiers,
59:56
Speaker 1: who were at the foot of the throne stepped forward
59:59
Speaker 1: to drive him away, but he continued to draw nearer,
1:00:02
Speaker 1: and with the end of a sprigue of wild bean,
1:00:04
Speaker 1: he touched the cold bosom of snow heart. At the touch,
1:00:08
Speaker 1: the princess instantly started to her feet. I love him,
1:00:12
Speaker 1: I love him, she cried, as she felt her heart
1:00:15
Speaker 1: take fire and knelt in tenderness. You can easily imagine
1:00:20
Speaker 1: the excitement that followed. But the king for once kept
1:00:23
Speaker 1: his word and allowed his daughter to follow the hideous
1:00:26
Speaker 1: wood chopper to the withered forest. There they lived most
1:00:29
Speaker 1: unhappily together, for her love did not blind her so
1:00:33
Speaker 1: much that you could not see how unworthy was the
1:00:35
Speaker 1: wretched creature who had warmed her heart at last. And
1:00:39
Speaker 1: this was the punishment of snow Heart. End of chapter
1:00:43
Speaker 1: six chapter seven of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the
1:00:52
Speaker 1: Tails Its Button. This is a LibriVox according All Libervox
1:00:56
Speaker 1: accordings are in the public domain. From more information or
1:01:00
Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit librivoux dot org. Recording by phone
1:01:05
Speaker 1: The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Chills It Spun by
1:01:07
Speaker 1: Cachul Mendez, translated by Thomas John Drevivian eighteen fifty five
1:01:13
Speaker 1: to nineteen twenty five. The Fatal Wish with bare feet
1:01:19
Speaker 1: and with hair floating in the wind a beggar lad
1:01:22
Speaker 1: passed along the road before the King's palace. Beggar though
1:01:25
Speaker 1: he was, he was very handsome, with golden curls, big
1:01:29
Speaker 1: black eyes, and mouth as fresh as a rose after rain.
1:01:33
Speaker 1: The sun seemed to take a particular pleasure in looking
1:01:36
Speaker 1: at him, and there was really more light and brightness
1:01:38
Speaker 1: round about his rags than lay upon the satins fell
1:01:41
Speaker 1: with some brocades of the gentlemen and noble ladies lounging
1:01:44
Speaker 1: in the court of honor. Oh how lovely she is,
1:01:49
Speaker 1: exclaimed the beggar, suddenly stopping. He had seen the Princess Rosalind,
1:01:53
Speaker 1: who was sitting at her window, And truly it was
1:01:56
Speaker 1: impossible to find anything more lovely than she was, motionless
1:02:01
Speaker 1: with his arms raised towards the window, as though towards
1:02:04
Speaker 1: an opening in the sky, through which he caught a
1:02:06
Speaker 1: glimpse of paradise. The beggar would have remained dust until
1:02:10
Speaker 1: evening if a guard had not chased him away with
1:02:12
Speaker 1: the butt of a halberd, and with hard words. He
1:02:16
Speaker 1: went away, holding down his head. It seemed to him
1:02:19
Speaker 1: that now everything was gloomy before him and around him,
1:02:23
Speaker 1: the horizon dark, and the trees but shadows. Unable to
1:02:26
Speaker 1: see Rosalind, he believed the sun was dead. Sitting down
1:02:30
Speaker 1: under an oak at the edge of a wood, he
1:02:32
Speaker 1: began to cry, Well, well, young fellow, why are you
1:02:36
Speaker 1: sorrowing in this fashion? Asked an old woman woodpicker, who
1:02:40
Speaker 1: just then came out of the wood, her back bend
1:02:43
Speaker 1: beneath a faggot of dried sticks. What good would it
1:02:46
Speaker 1: be to tell you? Said he. You can do nothing
1:02:49
Speaker 1: for me, my poor woman. Perhaps you are mistaken about that,
1:02:54
Speaker 1: said the groan. While speaking, she straightened herself up and
1:02:59
Speaker 1: threw away her burden. She was no longer a woodpicker,
1:03:02
Speaker 1: but a fairy, beautiful as to day, dressed in a
1:03:05
Speaker 1: robe of silver lace, and with her hair garlanded with
1:03:08
Speaker 1: precious stones. As to the dead branches, immediately she threw
1:03:13
Speaker 1: them away that took flight, covering themselves with green leaves,
1:03:17
Speaker 1: and returning to the trees from which they had fallen,
1:03:19
Speaker 1: while the birds sang for joy to welcome the branches back, Oh,
1:03:24
Speaker 1: my lady fairy, cried the beggar lad, falling on his knees.
1:03:29
Speaker 1: Take pity on my misfortune, since I saw the princess
1:03:32
Speaker 1: at the window. My heart no longer belongs to me,
1:03:35
Speaker 1: and I feel that I shall never, never love any
1:03:38
Speaker 1: one but her. Well, said the fairy, there is no
1:03:42
Speaker 1: great misfortune in that, oh, cried he. Could there be
1:03:47
Speaker 1: a greater for me? Do you understand that I shall
1:03:51
Speaker 1: die if I do not marry the princess? Well, what
1:03:55
Speaker 1: is to hinder you from marrying her, said the fairy.
1:03:58
Speaker 1: She is not engaged, I believe, oh madame. Look at
1:04:03
Speaker 1: my rags, see my bare feet. I am but a
1:04:06
Speaker 1: poor fellow who begs upon the road. That does not matter,
1:04:11
Speaker 1: said the fairy. Nothing can hinder one from being loved
1:04:14
Speaker 1: who loves sincerely. Such is the sweet and eternal law
1:04:18
Speaker 1: of life. The King and Queen will repulse you with disdain,
1:04:22
Speaker 1: and the courtiers will ridicule you. But if your love
1:04:25
Speaker 1: for the princess is true, she will be touched by
1:04:28
Speaker 1: it and will give you her pity. The young fellow
1:04:32
Speaker 1: shook his head. He could not believe that such a
1:04:34
Speaker 1: miracle was possible. Take care, said the fairy, or your
1:04:39
Speaker 1: want of fate will be punished in a way that
1:04:41
Speaker 1: will be anything but pleasant. However, as you are suffering,
1:04:45
Speaker 1: I am willing to come to your aid. Make a
1:04:48
Speaker 1: wish and I will grant it. I wish, replied the youth, promptly,
1:04:54
Speaker 1: to be the most powerful prince on earth, so that
1:04:56
Speaker 1: I may carry the princes whom I adore. Dear me,
1:05:00
Speaker 1: dear me, said the fairy, Why don't you go instead
1:05:04
Speaker 1: and sing a love song underneath her window and not
1:05:07
Speaker 1: trouble yourself with the cares which your wish will bring you.
1:05:11
Speaker 1: But since I have promised it shall be as you desire,
1:05:15
Speaker 1: let me, however, first wind you of one thing. When
1:05:18
Speaker 1: you have ceased to be what you are now. No enchanter,
1:05:21
Speaker 1: no fairy, not even myself will be able to restore
1:05:24
Speaker 1: you to your first condition. Once become a prince, and
1:05:28
Speaker 1: you will remain a prince forever. Do you think, answered
1:05:33
Speaker 1: the youth, that your royal husband of the Princess Rosalind
1:05:36
Speaker 1: will ever wish to be again a beggar upon the highway? Well,
1:05:41
Speaker 1: I only hope you may be happy, said the fairy,
1:05:44
Speaker 1: with a sigh. Then with a golden wand she touched
1:05:48
Speaker 1: him upon the shoulder, and in the twinkling of an eye,
1:05:51
Speaker 1: the beggar became a magnificent lord, glittering in silks and jewels,
1:05:55
Speaker 1: riding upon an Arabian courser at the head of a
1:05:58
Speaker 1: train of plumed courtiers and a throng of warriors and
1:06:01
Speaker 1: golden armor. A prince of such magnificence could only be
1:06:05
Speaker 1: received at the king's court in one way. He was
1:06:08
Speaker 1: welcomed with fuss and bustle, and for a whole week
1:06:11
Speaker 1: there were feastings, bulls, and FETs of every conceivable kind
1:06:15
Speaker 1: in his honor. But it was not in these pleasures
1:06:18
Speaker 1: that the prince was occupied. And every hour of the
1:06:21
Speaker 1: day and night he thought of Rosamond. When he saw her,
1:06:25
Speaker 1: he felt his heart bound with joy. When he heard
1:06:28
Speaker 1: her speak, he thought he was listening to foldless music,
1:06:31
Speaker 1: and he almost fainted with delight when she gave him
1:06:34
Speaker 1: her hand to dance a minute. But one thing worried
1:06:38
Speaker 1: him somewhat. She, whom he loved, seemed to pay but
1:06:41
Speaker 1: little heed to all his attentions. She remained silent and
1:06:45
Speaker 1: went about with a melancholy air. At length, he asked
1:06:49
Speaker 1: the royal parents for their daughter's hand in marriage, and
1:06:53
Speaker 1: as may be supposed, they took care not to refuse
1:06:56
Speaker 1: so splendid an offer. So the beggar of a little
1:06:59
Speaker 1: while ago was going to possess the loveliest princes in
1:07:02
Speaker 1: the world, and so extraordinary was his happiness on receiving
1:07:05
Speaker 1: the parent's consent that he felt as though he could
1:07:08
Speaker 1: have danced the minuet by himself before all the court. Alas,
1:07:13
Speaker 1: his joy was but short lived. No sooner was Rosalind
1:07:17
Speaker 1: told of her parents wishes than she fell in a
1:07:19
Speaker 1: swoon in the arms of her ladies of honor. And
1:07:22
Speaker 1: when she came to herself, it was to say, with
1:07:25
Speaker 1: tears and with ringing of hands, that she did not
1:07:27
Speaker 1: wish to marry, and that she would kill herself before
1:07:30
Speaker 1: she became the wife of the prince. More in despair
1:07:34
Speaker 1: than can well be described, the unhappy Prince ran into
1:07:37
Speaker 1: the room to which the princes had been carried and
1:07:40
Speaker 1: fell on his knees before her cruel one. He cried,
1:07:45
Speaker 1: take back your words. She slowly opened her eyes and replied,
1:07:50
Speaker 1: weakly but firmly, Prince, nothing can break down my resolution.
1:07:56
Speaker 1: I shall never marry you. What he cried? Have you
1:08:01
Speaker 1: the barbarity to wound a heart that is all yours?
1:08:05
Speaker 1: What crime have I committed to deserve such a punishment?
1:08:09
Speaker 1: Do you doubt, my love? Do you fear that I
1:08:12
Speaker 1: shall ever cease to worship you. Ah, if you could
1:08:15
Speaker 1: read my inmost thoughts, you would have neither those doubts
1:08:18
Speaker 1: nor fears. He did not stop there, but said everything
1:08:22
Speaker 1: which a great grief could inspire, and said it so
1:08:25
Speaker 1: well that Rosalin was moved to tenderness, but not of
1:08:28
Speaker 1: the kind that you wished. Unhappy Prince, she said, if
1:08:34
Speaker 1: my pity is any consolation to you, I willingly accorded
1:08:38
Speaker 1: I am moreover the readier to sympathize with you, because
1:08:41
Speaker 1: I feel just the same sort of pain and sorrow
1:08:44
Speaker 1: that you do. What do you mean, Princess, he asked,
1:08:48
Speaker 1: in wonder I mean. She replied that I refused you
1:08:53
Speaker 1: because I am hopelessly in love with a beggar lad
1:08:55
Speaker 1: who with bare feet and uncovered head, passed one day
1:08:59
Speaker 1: before my father Castle, who stood to look at me,
1:09:02
Speaker 1: but who went away and has never come back again.
1:09:07
Speaker 1: End of chapter seven.
1:09:14
Speaker 7: Chapter eight of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails
1:09:18
Speaker 7: It Spun. This is a livervox recording. All livervox recordings
1:09:23
Speaker 7: are in the public domain. For more information are to volunteer,
1:09:28
Speaker 7: please visit livervox dot org. The Fairy Spinning Wheel and
1:09:33
Speaker 7: the Tails It Spun by Catil Menindez, translated by Thomas
1:09:38
Speaker 7: Jarry Vivian read by Karla Patten, Chapter eight, a poor diet.
1:09:45
Speaker 7: There was great distress at the court and throughout the kingdom,
1:09:49
Speaker 7: because for four days the king's son had taken nothing
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Speaker 7: to eat. If he had had a fever or some
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Speaker 7: other melee, no one would have been christ at this
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Speaker 7: long fast. But all the doctors agreed in saying that
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Speaker 7: the prince was as well as possible, except for the
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Speaker 7: weakness caused by going so long without food. But why
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Speaker 7: should he thus deprive himself of food? Nothing else was
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Speaker 7: talked of by the courtiers and even the common people, who,
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Speaker 7: instead of saying good day to each other, inquired has
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Speaker 7: he eaten this morning? No one, however, was as anxious
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Speaker 7: as the king. This was not because he felt any
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Speaker 7: remarkable affection for his son, for the young man had
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Speaker 7: caused him a great deal of discontent. Although more than
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Speaker 7: sixteen years old, The prince showed the greatest dislike for
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Speaker 7: both politics and arms. When he assisted at the Council
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Speaker 7: of Ministers. He yarned during the finest speeches in a
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Speaker 7: very impolite way, and once when sent out at the
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Speaker 7: head of an army to chast tight a horde of rebels.
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Speaker 7: He had returned before evening with a sword, garland with
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Speaker 7: morning glories, and his soldiers bearing handfuls of volets and honeysuckle,
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Speaker 7: given its reason, that he had found a lovely wooded
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Speaker 7: dell on the way, and that it was much more
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Speaker 7: amusing to pick flowers than to kill men. He loved
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Speaker 7: to walk along beneath the trees of the Royal Park,
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Speaker 7: and found it a pleasure to listen to the songs
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Speaker 7: of the nightingales when the moon rose. The few people
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Speaker 7: whom he allowed to enter his apartments told the others
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Speaker 7: that they had seen there books spread all over the carpet,
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Speaker 7: with instruments of music, staltrees and mandolin, and that at
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Speaker 7: night he passed long hours gazing with moist eyes at
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Speaker 7: the stars. Add to this that he was pale and
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Speaker 7: slight as a young girl, and that instead of wearing armor,
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Speaker 7: he clothed himself in garments of clear silk. And you
1:12:11
Speaker 7: can understand why the king was out of continence in
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Speaker 7: having such a sun. But as the prince was the
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Speaker 7: sole heir to the crown, his health was of great
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Speaker 7: consequence to the state, and it was necessary that everything
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Speaker 7: possible should be done to keep him from dying of hunger.
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Speaker 7: He was entreated, he was supplicated to eat, but only
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Speaker 7: shook his head without reply. Cooks of splendid skill brought
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Speaker 7: him the most tempting dishes, the most appetizing fish, the
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Speaker 7: most savory meats, the most delicate early vegetables, salmon trout,
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Speaker 7: hunches of venison, bear's paws, heads of suckling wild boar, hares, pheasants,
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Speaker 7: cross quail snipes, all loaded the table at each meal. Then,
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Speaker 7: thinking him tired of ordinary meats and common vegetables, they
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Speaker 7: brought him to lay a bison loreins of Chinese dog
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Speaker 7: dressed in swallows nests, breschettes of humming birds, slices of
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Speaker 7: grilled monkey, and young shoots of panel cooked in antelope fat.
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Speaker 7: But the young prince made signs that he was not hungry,
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Speaker 7: and motioned the servants away with a slight gesture of weariness.
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Speaker 7: Things had arrived at this past, and the king was
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Speaker 7: almost in despair when the youth, scarcely able to hold
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Speaker 7: himself up and whiter than a lily, spoke as follows, father,
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Speaker 7: if you do not wish to see me die. Give
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Speaker 7: me leave to quit your kingdom and to go wherever
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Speaker 7: I think fit, and without being accompanied by a single person. Why,
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Speaker 7: replied the king, in your feeble state, you would faint
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Speaker 7: before taking the third step, My son, it is to
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Speaker 7: recover my strength that I wished to leave here, The
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Speaker 7: prince replied, Have you ever read the story of Taboo,
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Speaker 7: the rhymer who was made prisoner by the fairies. It
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Speaker 7: is not my custom to read anything, said his father,
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Speaker 7: very hauntily. I am a king, and I don't re read.
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Speaker 7: Let me tell you, then, said the son, that while
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Speaker 7: with the fairies, Taboo lived a happy, happy life, and
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Speaker 7: that he was, above all things, delighted when the hours
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Speaker 7: for meals came, as the little pages, who were really gnomes,
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Speaker 7: served him for soup a drop of dew upon an
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Speaker 7: acacia leaf, for rose, a butterfly's wings brawled in the
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Speaker 7: rays of the sunshine, and for dessert, a bee's kiss
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Speaker 7: upon a pedal of rose. A pretty thin dinner, said
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Speaker 7: the king, who could not resist smiling, notwithstanding his cares.
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Speaker 7: It is the only one, though, replied the son, that
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Speaker 7: I wish for. I can't eat the flesh of killed
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Speaker 7: animals are vegetables nourished in mud, the same as other fellows.
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Speaker 7: Allow me please to go to the fairies, and if
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Speaker 7: they invite me to their repast, I shall eat, satisfy
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Speaker 7: my hunger, and then return full of health. What would
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Speaker 7: you have done had you been in the king's place?
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Speaker 7: What the king did was that, seeing his only son
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Speaker 7: already on the point of dying, he thought it best
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Speaker 7: to humor him and so let him go. Now the
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Speaker 7: kingdom being near the farrest of Brasilian, the youth had
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Speaker 7: not far to go in order to reach the fairies home.
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Speaker 7: They received him with right hearty welcome, not however, because
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Speaker 7: he was the son of a powerful monarch, but because
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Speaker 7: he had found pleasure in listening to the nightingale's song
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Speaker 7: when the moon rose, and in leaning on the window
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Speaker 7: sill watching the distant stars. A fete was given in
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Speaker 7: his honor, and a vast haul having walls of rose marble,
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Speaker 7: lit up with diamonds. While to please him, the loveliest
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Speaker 7: fairies danced the scarf dance in a circle. This so
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Speaker 7: charmed the young man that, though he suffered the cruel
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Speaker 7: pains of hunger, he wished the dance might last forever. However,
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Speaker 7: he grew feebler and still more feeble, and he felt
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Speaker 7: that unless he took some nourishment, he would soon die.
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Speaker 7: He confided his condition to one of the fairies, and
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Speaker 7: even dared to ask at what hour they sucked?
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Speaker 1: Why?
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Speaker 7: Whenever you please, said the fairy. She at once gave
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Speaker 7: an order. When a little gnome brought the prince for
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Speaker 7: his soup a drop of dew upon an acacia leaf.
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Speaker 7: What splendid soup, said the prince, and declared he had
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Speaker 7: not imagined anything more delicious. Next, for the roast, another
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Speaker 7: gnome brought him a butterfly's wing, grilled in the sun
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Speaker 7: and served on a thorn by way of a secure
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Speaker 7: This he ate with delight at a single swallow. But
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Speaker 7: what most charmed the prince was the dessert, which was
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Speaker 7: the trace of a bee's kiss upon a rose leaf. Well,
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Speaker 7: asked the fairy, are you satisfied? He nodded his head
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Speaker 7: to answer yes, But his head fell further forward, and
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Speaker 7: the poor prince died guide of weakness. End of chapter
1:18:11
Speaker 7: chapter nine of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails
1:18:14
Speaker 7: It Spun. This is a levervox recording all livervox recordings
1:18:20
Speaker 7: are in the public domain. For more information are to volunteer,
1:18:25
Speaker 7: please visit liverbox dot org. The Fairy Spinning Wheel and
1:18:29
Speaker 7: the Tails It Spun by CATL. Menindez, translated by Thomas
1:18:35
Speaker 7: Jarry Viven Bread by Carla Patten, Chapter nine, The Money Box.
1:18:41
Speaker 7: Once upon a time there was a poor beggar girl
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Speaker 7: named Jocelyn. She begged upon a road along which no
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Speaker 7: one passed, so that no elms ever fell into the small,
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Speaker 7: thin hand, which grew tired from being held out so long.
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Speaker 7: Now and then the leaves of some fading flower were
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Speaker 7: strewn upon her from a branch shaken by the wind,
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Speaker 7: and occasionally too a swallow fluttering by on niseless wings
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Speaker 7: gave her a little chirp. But these offerings, the only
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Speaker 7: ones she received, were not of the sort which we
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Speaker 7: need to buy things to eat and drink, or for
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Speaker 7: clothes to wear. As Joscelyn well new to her sorrow,
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Speaker 7: her lot was indeed a hard one. She was born,
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Speaker 7: she did not know where or when, her first recollection
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Speaker 7: being that of awakening one Sunday morning under a bush
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Speaker 7: by the roadside. Her life had never been like that
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Speaker 7: of other young girls who each winter's evening returned to
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Speaker 7: the cheerful cottage around which was the smell of a
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Speaker 7: good meal being cooked, who held up their foreheads at
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Speaker 7: night for a kiss from father and mother, and who
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Speaker 7: then slept in a warm bed facing the fire, which
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Speaker 7: soon blinked and went to sleep. Also, what Joscelyn had
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Speaker 7: to do each evening, as soon as the dark came on,
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Speaker 7: was to clamb into some big elm or oak tree
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Speaker 7: and sleep upon a branch near the squirrels, who knew
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Speaker 7: her so well that they leaped about her arms, shoulders,
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Speaker 7: and head and played with their little paws and her
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Speaker 7: tangled hair, which was the color of gold and was
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Speaker 7: so bright that it gleamed in the darkness of the branches,
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Speaker 7: like a light set down in a big room. When
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Speaker 7: the nights were chilled, she would willingly have curled herself
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Speaker 7: up in some black bird our finch's nest, had she
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Speaker 7: not been too big to get into it. Her dress
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Speaker 7: was made of an old linen bag, which she had
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Speaker 7: chanced to find one day by the roadside. Each springtime
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Speaker 7: she patched up this with green leaves, and as she
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Speaker 7: was pretty and sweet looking, with fresh and blooming cheeks.
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Speaker 7: You would have taken her for a roll set amen
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Speaker 7: its leaves. For food, she contented herself with nuts from
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Speaker 7: the woods and berries from the lanes, although now and
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Speaker 7: then she managed to indulge in a grand feast of
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Speaker 7: grasshoppers toasted before a fire of dry grass. You can see,
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Speaker 7: can't you, that Joscelyn was one of the poorest little girls.
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Speaker 7: It is possible to imagine. And if her condition was
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Speaker 7: cruel in the summer, when there was warmth in the
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Speaker 7: air and fruit upon the trees, think what it must
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Speaker 7: have been when the cold breeze whistled about the dry
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Speaker 7: nut trees and chilled her skin through the thin covering
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Speaker 7: of dead leaves. One day, just as she had returned
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Speaker 7: from picking a mess of berries, she saw a fairy
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Speaker 7: dressed in tissue of gold, coming out of a flowering thicket.
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Speaker 7: Joscelyn said the fairy in a sweet and musical voice.
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Speaker 7: Because your heart is as good as your face is charming,
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Speaker 7: I am going to make you a present. You see
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Speaker 7: this little money box, of the color and shape of
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Speaker 7: an opening pink. It is yours. Don't fail to put
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Speaker 7: into it everything that you have. Why that you ever
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Speaker 7: get that is most precious, and when you break it,
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Speaker 7: it will give back to you one hundredfold what it
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Speaker 7: has received. Thereupon the fairy vanished like a flame blown
1:22:48
Speaker 7: out by Augusta Wynd and Joscelyn, who had indulged in
1:22:53
Speaker 7: a momentary hope of relief on seeing the fairy, felt
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Speaker 7: sadder than ever. That could not have been a good fairy,
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Speaker 7: she said, for what could be more cruel than to
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Speaker 7: give a money box to a poor girl who has
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Speaker 7: neither a scent nor a stitch to her name? What
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Speaker 7: can I put in it? If I have nothing to
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Speaker 7: call my own? At first she was tempted to smash
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Speaker 7: the present among the rocks, but she thought better of this,
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Speaker 7: and then, feeling very sad, she began to cry, her
1:23:28
Speaker 7: tears falling one by one into the poor little money box,
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Speaker 7: which now looked like a full blown pink, and which
1:23:37
Speaker 7: was no bigger. Another day she experienced a pleasure, which,
1:23:42
Speaker 7: after it had passed, left her still more unhappy than ever.
1:23:46
Speaker 7: Along this road on which no one had heretofore passed,
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Speaker 7: there happened to come the King's son, on his return
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Speaker 7: from a hunt, mounted on a horse which shook its
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Speaker 7: snow white mane at each step, with a falcon on
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Speaker 7: his wrists. Clad in blue satin shot with silver, and
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Speaker 7: with a proud and sunny face, the prince looked so
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Speaker 7: beautiful that the poor beggar girl thought he must surely
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Speaker 7: be an angel in the dress of a nobleman. With
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Speaker 7: starry eyes and open mouth. She stretched out her arms
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Speaker 7: towards him, and as she did so, she felt something
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Speaker 7: which seemed to be her heart, going out of her
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Speaker 7: and following him alas he passed by, without even having
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Speaker 7: seen her alone as before more so, indeed, from having
1:24:40
Speaker 7: one brief instant ceased to be so. She dropped helplessly
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Speaker 7: into the ditch by which she had stood, closing her
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Speaker 7: eyes tightly so that nothing should replace the charming vision
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Speaker 7: she had just seen. When she opened them, all wet
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Speaker 7: with tears, she saw beside her the poor little money box.
1:25:02
Speaker 7: Seizing it as the only companion of her misery, she
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Speaker 7: kissed it with feavor. But the fairies present was no
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Speaker 7: more moved by this gentle, sad caress than a stone
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Speaker 7: would be if brushed by a rose. From this day on,
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Speaker 7: Joscelyn experienced such grief that nothing she had hitherto endured
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Speaker 7: could be compared with it, she recalled as though they
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Speaker 7: had been happy hours, those times when she had only
1:25:34
Speaker 7: suffered from hunger and cold to go to sleep, and
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Speaker 7: the chilling wind was nothing to this. Now she knew
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Speaker 7: what real sorrow was. She thought of other girls, of
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Speaker 7: the fine ladies at the court, less pretty than you,
1:25:54
Speaker 7: said the mirror of the stream. Each hour she could
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Speaker 7: see the handsome prince with his bright face. She pictured
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Speaker 7: him approaching these fine ladies, walking with one, smiling with that,
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Speaker 7: and then as being married to some glorious young princess
1:26:14
Speaker 7: come from Tresbiyond in a litter carried by a white
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Speaker 7: elephant with a gilded trunk. She, however, the poor beggar
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Speaker 7: girl of the deserted road, she would continue to live
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Speaker 7: in the same loneliness, in the same misery, far away
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Speaker 7: from him, whom she loved so tenderly, and she would never, never,
1:26:40
Speaker 7: never see him again. Still, there was no anger in
1:26:45
Speaker 7: her grief, and her bitterest pain was to think that
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Speaker 7: possibly the king's son would not be as tenderly loved
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Speaker 7: by the Princess of Tresbyond as he was by her.
1:26:59
Speaker 7: At last, one bitter snowy day, she resolved to end
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Speaker 7: her suffering. She felt that she could no longer endure
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Speaker 7: all her misery, and decided to throw herself into the lake,
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Speaker 7: which stood in the middle of the forest. So accustomed
1:27:17
Speaker 7: she was through the icy air that she was sure
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Speaker 7: she would not feel the coldness of the water. Shivering,
1:27:26
Speaker 7: she started for the lake as fast as she could.
1:27:30
Speaker 7: It was one of those gray mornings when the air
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Speaker 7: was thick with snowflakes, and when the sky is covered
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Speaker 7: by lead colored clouds. Amidst all the sad surrounding of
1:27:45
Speaker 7: the whitening earth, the bare trees, and the mournful looking
1:27:50
Speaker 7: hills in the distance, nothing seemed bright except her golden hair,
1:27:55
Speaker 7: and one would have said that even on this dull morning,
1:27:59
Speaker 7: a little glimpse of sunshine rested there. She walked quicker
1:28:04
Speaker 7: and quicker, but when she reached the edge of the lake,
1:28:08
Speaker 7: her rags were covered with snow, so that she looked
1:28:12
Speaker 7: as though adorned in a white robe of a bride. Goodbye,
1:28:17
Speaker 7: she cried, her last thought being of the prince. Just However,
1:28:23
Speaker 7: as she was about to throw herself into the water,
1:28:26
Speaker 7: the same fairy, clad in a long golden veil, came
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Speaker 7: out from the branches of a thicket. Jocelyn asked the fairy,
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Speaker 7: what are you going to do. I'm going to drown myself,
1:28:40
Speaker 7: she replied, And why do you wish to die? Asked
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Speaker 7: the spirit. You know well enough, wicked fairy answered the
1:28:50
Speaker 7: poor girl that I am unhappy. The most wretched death
1:28:56
Speaker 7: would be sweeter to me than life. But the fairy
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Speaker 7: only laughed a pleasant little laugh. Before drowning yourself, she said,
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Speaker 7: you ought to at least to break that money box.
1:29:10
Speaker 7: Of what use would it be, said Joscelyn, Since being
1:29:14
Speaker 7: so poor as I am, I have had nothing to
1:29:17
Speaker 7: put in it. Well break it just the same, said
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Speaker 7: the fairy. Joscelyn hardly dared to disobey, and then, having
1:29:28
Speaker 7: drawn the useless little present from underneath her rags, she
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Speaker 7: broke it against the stone. Immediately, the wintry forest turned
1:29:37
Speaker 7: into a magnificent palace of marble with a blue roof
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Speaker 7: studded with gold stars, while the handsome prince appeared from
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Speaker 7: the fragments of the money box, took the beggar girl
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Speaker 7: in his arms and kissed her right royally. Then, while
1:29:54
Speaker 7: Joscelyn wept with joy, he asked her if she would
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Speaker 7: be his bride so that the good little money box
1:30:01
Speaker 7: did indeed give back one hundred fold, for it changed
1:30:05
Speaker 7: her sorrowful kiss into the princess caress, and it turned
1:30:09
Speaker 7: her tears of sadness into those of joy. End of chapter.
1:30:19
Speaker 6: Chapter ten of The Fairy Spinning whel and the Tales
1:30:22
Speaker 6: It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
1:30:27
Speaker 6: are in the public domain. For more information, ought to volunteer,
1:30:31
Speaker 6: please visit LibriVox dowtalk The Fairy Spinning Will and the
1:30:37
Speaker 6: Tales It Spun by a Tuman Death, translated by Thomas
1:30:42
Speaker 6: Seanrie Vivian eighteen fifty five to nineteen twenty five. A
1:30:50
Speaker 6: wonderful attraction. When the Princess Athilde was born, people were
1:30:55
Speaker 6: struck with admiration and astonishment. With admiration because she was
1:31:00
Speaker 6: the sweetest little darling that you could ever dream of.
1:31:03
Speaker 6: With astonishment because she was scarcely any larger than a
1:31:06
Speaker 6: full blown rose, or longer than your finger, lying in
1:31:11
Speaker 6: a cradle, no bigger than your hand, you would have
1:31:14
Speaker 6: said she was a little featherless bird in its nest.
1:31:17
Speaker 6: The King and Queen were never tired of admiring the
1:31:20
Speaker 6: baby's tiny limbs, her pink feet, which you might have
1:31:23
Speaker 6: put into a dull stocking, her little body like a
1:31:26
Speaker 6: white mouse, or her face, which you might have covered
1:31:29
Speaker 6: with a daisy. To be sure, there was somewhat troubled
1:31:34
Speaker 6: to see her so very, very very small, and wouldn't
1:31:37
Speaker 6: believe that their little daughter was a dwarf. What they
1:31:41
Speaker 6: hoped was that she would grow and grow without losing
1:31:44
Speaker 6: her cunningness. They were very much deceived in their expectations. However,
1:31:50
Speaker 6: she remained cunning and sweet as ever. But she grew
1:31:53
Speaker 6: so very little that when she was five years old,
1:31:57
Speaker 6: she was scarcely higher than a good sized blade of grass,
1:32:00
Speaker 6: and in playing in the garden paths she was obliged
1:32:03
Speaker 6: to stand on tiptoe to plug the violets. Famous doctors
1:32:07
Speaker 6: were brought to the palace and were promised the richest
1:32:10
Speaker 6: rewards if they succeeded in even adding a few inches
1:32:14
Speaker 6: to the height of the princes. They consulted together with gravity,
1:32:18
Speaker 6: crossing their hands over their stomachs, and shutting their eyes
1:32:22
Speaker 6: behind their spectacles. They invented medicines which a field was
1:32:27
Speaker 6: obliged to drink, and unfailing ointments with which she was
1:32:31
Speaker 6: to be rubbed every morning and evening, or was labor lost.
1:32:35
Speaker 6: The princess remained a charming dwarf, so small that when
1:32:39
Speaker 6: she was playing with a favorite lapdock, she could pass
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Speaker 6: between its paws without having to bend her head. The
1:32:45
Speaker 6: King and Queen then sought the fairies, with whom they
1:32:48
Speaker 6: had always been in excellent terms. They came at once,
1:32:52
Speaker 6: sum in litters of golden cloth with fringes of precious stones,
1:32:56
Speaker 6: carried by naked africans, others in crystals drawn by four unicorns.
1:33:02
Speaker 6: Some who found it more convenient to come in by
1:33:05
Speaker 6: the window or the chimney, appeared as birds of paradise
1:33:08
Speaker 6: or blue winged jays. But who directly they lighted on
1:33:12
Speaker 6: the floor of the drawing room turned into lovely ladies,
1:33:15
Speaker 6: all clothed and satin. One after the other. They touched
1:33:20
Speaker 6: the field with their wants, took her in their hands.
1:33:23
Speaker 6: She was no heavier than a lug, kissed her, breathed
1:33:26
Speaker 6: on her hair, and made signs on her forehead, while
1:33:30
Speaker 6: they murmured strange words. But the charms of the fairies
1:33:33
Speaker 6: had no more effect than the medicines of the doctors,
1:33:37
Speaker 6: And at sixteen, the princess was so small that one
1:33:40
Speaker 6: morning she was caught in a trap that had been
1:33:42
Speaker 6: set in the park for nightingales. The courtiers did their
1:33:47
Speaker 6: best to console the royal parents. They declared that nothing
1:33:51
Speaker 6: was more ridiculous than a large figure, that to be
1:33:54
Speaker 6: tall was simply to be deformed, and that as for them,
1:33:58
Speaker 6: they wished they were only six inch high. The ladies
1:34:01
Speaker 6: of honor gave up their high heels, and the chamberlains
1:34:04
Speaker 6: never came near the throne except on their knees. But
1:34:08
Speaker 6: the ingenious flatterers didn't always succeed in consoling the King
1:34:11
Speaker 6: and Queen, and many times the parents could scarcely keep
1:34:14
Speaker 6: from crying as they kissed their little daughter with the
1:34:17
Speaker 6: tips of their lips, for fear of swallowing her. But
1:34:21
Speaker 6: they kept back their tears so that she mightn't be
1:34:24
Speaker 6: drowned in them. As for a filled she didn't appear
1:34:28
Speaker 6: at all put out by her misfortune, and indeed seemed
1:34:31
Speaker 6: to take great pleasure in admiring her pretty little person
1:34:35
Speaker 6: in a hand mirror cut from a single diamond. As
1:34:38
Speaker 6: time went on, however, the King and Queen grew less sad,
1:34:42
Speaker 6: and there is not much doubt that the time would
1:34:45
Speaker 6: have arrived when they would not have grieved at all
1:34:48
Speaker 6: over their daughter's misfortune if something hadn't occurred to renew
1:34:51
Speaker 6: their sorrow. The report of the Princess Ofthil's beauty reached
1:34:55
Speaker 6: the young Emperor of Siranagan, and he thereupon sat ambassador,
1:35:00
Speaker 6: asking her in marriage. You easily understand the trouble which
1:35:05
Speaker 6: was caused by this proposal. What married this little doll
1:35:09
Speaker 6: no bigger than a parakeet? Why it was not to
1:35:12
Speaker 6: be thought of?
1:35:14
Speaker 8: Then?
1:35:14
Speaker 3: Too?
1:35:14
Speaker 6: The demand of the Emperor Saranagan was all the more
1:35:17
Speaker 6: dreadful because he was an enormous figure. He was not
1:35:21
Speaker 6: only the handsomest of princes, he was also the biggest
1:35:25
Speaker 6: giant of the whole countryside. On the day of his birth,
1:35:29
Speaker 6: it had been impossible to find a cradle big enough
1:35:31
Speaker 6: for the enormous baby prince, and he was put to
1:35:34
Speaker 6: bed on the thick carpets of the throne room. At
1:35:38
Speaker 6: three years of age, he had to stoop to steal
1:35:40
Speaker 6: the bird's nest from the top branches of the oak trees.
1:35:44
Speaker 6: His parents, like those of a fild, had vainly consulted
1:35:47
Speaker 6: the doctors and fairies. He had grown and grown after
1:35:51
Speaker 6: a fashion that was out of all reason, And when
1:35:54
Speaker 6: his subjects, in celebrating his first victory, had put up
1:35:58
Speaker 6: arches of triumph over this, the prince was obliged to
1:36:01
Speaker 6: get off his horse to pass under them, and even
1:36:04
Speaker 6: then he struck the silver dragon on his hammered and
1:36:07
Speaker 6: nearly knocked it off. Naturally, the king and Queen informed
1:36:11
Speaker 6: the ambassadors that such a marriage was impossible. But when
1:36:15
Speaker 6: the young Emperor heard this reply, he was furious. The
1:36:20
Speaker 6: story Overthil's littleness. He declared to be an absurd story,
1:36:23
Speaker 6: and he clapped on his helmet with its shining silver wings,
1:36:27
Speaker 6: crying out that he would sweep the kingdom with fire
1:36:30
Speaker 6: and blood to avenge such a trick. The young Emperor
1:36:34
Speaker 6: kept his word. There were terrible battles. Towns were destroyed,
1:36:38
Speaker 6: and their entire population put to the edge of the sword,
1:36:42
Speaker 6: so that at last the king and Queen came to
1:36:44
Speaker 6: the conclusion that nothing would be left of their kingdom.
1:36:47
Speaker 6: And thus they came to terms with the gigantic conqueror,
1:36:51
Speaker 6: who was marching towards the capital, leaving behind him a
1:36:54
Speaker 6: train of cities wrecked in forests in flame. They therefore
1:36:58
Speaker 6: sent to him, asking for peace and promising the hand
1:37:01
Speaker 6: of their daughter in marriage. They did this the more
1:37:04
Speaker 6: readily because they were confident that the Emperor would give
1:37:07
Speaker 6: up his idea as soon as he saw failed and
1:37:10
Speaker 6: march back to his own country with his victorious army.
1:37:14
Speaker 6: The day was then set for the first interview, which
1:37:17
Speaker 6: was held in the park, the Emperor, not being able
1:37:19
Speaker 6: to stand up in any of the holes of the palace, well,
1:37:23
Speaker 6: said the Emperor. I don't see the princess, Will she
1:37:26
Speaker 6: soon come? Look down at your feet, said the King.
1:37:31
Speaker 6: There she was, indeed, scarcely higher than the borders of
1:37:34
Speaker 6: the garden walk, so slender and so pretty in her
1:37:37
Speaker 6: little golden robe, with glistening stones about her forehead, and
1:37:41
Speaker 6: looking so much the smaller beside the young and magnificent Emperor.
1:37:46
Speaker 6: Alas said he, for he was grieved, indeed to see
1:37:49
Speaker 6: her down there, so charming but so small. Alas said
1:37:54
Speaker 6: she in her turn, for she was grieved, indeed to
1:37:57
Speaker 6: see him up there, so beautiful but so beak. Tears
1:38:01
Speaker 6: came into the eyes of both, into hers as she
1:38:04
Speaker 6: looked up, and into his as he looked down. Sire
1:38:08
Speaker 6: then said the King, you see that you cannot possibly
1:38:12
Speaker 6: marry my daughter. I am grieved. I am sure to
1:38:15
Speaker 6: have to give up the owner. He didn't finish his sentence,
1:38:19
Speaker 6: and mute with astonishment. He stood staring at the princess
1:38:23
Speaker 6: and the Emperor. As he looked, she began to grow,
1:38:27
Speaker 6: and the young emperor to shrink. For love, more powerful
1:38:31
Speaker 6: than the fairies, drew them one to the other. Soon
1:38:35
Speaker 6: they were nearly of the same height, and then their
1:38:38
Speaker 6: lips touched, like two roses on the same stem. End
1:38:43
Speaker 6: of chapter ten.
1:38:49
Speaker 8: Chapter eleven of the Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails
1:38:52
Speaker 8: It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
1:38:56
Speaker 8: are in the public domain. For more information or to voluntar,
1:39:00
Speaker 8: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Anthony Gergis. The
1:39:06
Speaker 8: Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails Had Spun by Catune Mendez,
1:39:09
Speaker 8: translated by Thomas Jan lau Viviee. Eighteen fifty five to
1:39:13
Speaker 8: nineteen twenty five. Chapter eleven, The Lame Angel. One summer's morning,
1:39:19
Speaker 8: the son of the King of the Pale Islands was
1:39:21
Speaker 8: walking in the snow, for in that country it snows
1:39:24
Speaker 8: even in high summer. The flakes coming down in full
1:39:27
Speaker 8: view of a warm sun, and turning as they fall
1:39:29
Speaker 8: into jasmine blossoms and lilies. While thus walking, the Prince
1:39:34
Speaker 8: saw on the ground before him something glittering like pure silver,
1:39:37
Speaker 8: and trembling gently, like a harpstring just touched by the
1:39:40
Speaker 8: fingers of a musician. If it had been smaller, this glittering,
1:39:44
Speaker 8: trembling thing might have been a dove's wing covered with
1:39:46
Speaker 8: pearls of dew. But being as large as it was,
1:39:49
Speaker 8: and with the tips of its feathers still tinged with
1:39:51
Speaker 8: the lovely blue it had doubtless gained in sweeping through
1:39:55
Speaker 8: the skies, it could be nothing else than an angel's wing.
1:39:59
Speaker 8: On seeing it, the Prince became very sad. Here he thought,
1:40:03
Speaker 8: his opinion, that has been wrenched from some divine messenger.
1:40:06
Speaker 8: Perhaps it has been lost in a battle with some
1:40:08
Speaker 8: dark spirit. Perhaps it has been blown off in some
1:40:11
Speaker 8: gusts from the underworld. Or perhaps it has been cut
1:40:14
Speaker 8: from him as a punishment for some crime committed against
1:40:17
Speaker 8: the rulers of Heaven. Whatever may have been the case,
1:40:20
Speaker 8: there is no doubt the poor angel must be in
1:40:22
Speaker 8: great trouble over his loss. No longer could he fly
1:40:25
Speaker 8: with the rest of his brothers being now unbalanced and lame.
1:40:29
Speaker 8: For surely, the prince went on thinking he must be lame,
1:40:32
Speaker 8: since angels are not bodily creatures, but are simply souls
1:40:35
Speaker 8: with winks, and therefore could not be lame afoot, but
1:40:38
Speaker 8: must be lame of wink. In thinking of this probable
1:40:41
Speaker 8: grief of the unfortunate angel, the Prince of the Pale
1:40:44
Speaker 8: Islands felt his compassion much moved, and he resolved to
1:40:47
Speaker 8: give back the wing of the angel who had lost it.
1:40:50
Speaker 8: But this was a plan more easily formed than carried out.
1:40:53
Speaker 8: The chief difficulty was how to find the suffering angels.
1:40:56
Speaker 8: Paradise is not a place where one can come and
1:40:58
Speaker 8: go as one might wish, nor would dupe to placard
1:41:01
Speaker 8: the city walls in all the kingdom, announcing that if
1:41:04
Speaker 8: any cherub or seraff had lost the precious object, he
1:41:07
Speaker 8: might recover the same by applying at the palace of
1:41:09
Speaker 8: the king, for angels are not in the habit of
1:41:12
Speaker 8: walking up and down the streets like human loungers. Thinking
1:41:15
Speaker 8: of these and of many other things, the young prince
1:41:18
Speaker 8: was sore perplexed, and he decided that the best thing
1:41:21
Speaker 8: he could do was to consult with the little sweetheart
1:41:23
Speaker 8: of his who lived in the forest. Tucking the wing
1:41:26
Speaker 8: under his arm, he forthwith went to see her, and
1:41:29
Speaker 8: as chance would have it, he met her at the
1:41:31
Speaker 8: very border of the wood, apparently walking to meet him. Ah,
1:41:35
Speaker 8: little One said, he, I bring you sad news. What
1:41:39
Speaker 8: is it, she asked, anxiously see He said, what I
1:41:43
Speaker 8: have found? An angel has lost one of his white wings.
1:41:46
Speaker 8: She blushed, but did not seem surprised. You'd almost have said,
1:41:50
Speaker 8: in fact, that she was already aware of the unfortunate accident,
1:41:53
Speaker 8: And when he added, I have resolved to give it
1:41:55
Speaker 8: back to him, she lowered her eyes and blushed the deeper. Now, then, Sweetheart,
1:42:00
Speaker 8: said he, you are the only one I know of
1:42:02
Speaker 8: who can tell me just how to manage this. You
1:42:05
Speaker 8: are so pretty and so innocent that the celestial spirits
1:42:07
Speaker 8: meet each day in your thoughts and lodge each night
1:42:10
Speaker 8: in your dreams. It seems to me impossible that, while
1:42:13
Speaker 8: listening to them both day and night, as you surely must,
1:42:16
Speaker 8: you have not heard them speak of what has happened
1:42:18
Speaker 8: to one of them. Alas, said she, I already know
1:42:21
Speaker 8: as much of the accent as I possibly can, For
1:42:24
Speaker 8: it is none other than my guardian angel, who has
1:42:26
Speaker 8: thus lost one of his wings. What cried the Prince,
1:42:29
Speaker 8: your guardian angel, What a singular coincidence. But tell me, please,
1:42:33
Speaker 8: how this unfortunate loss came about. It was by your fault,
1:42:37
Speaker 8: I assure you, said the little Maiden. Do you remember
1:42:40
Speaker 8: that walk we took the other evening under the orange trees?
1:42:44
Speaker 8: That evening, I mean, when we thought that the stars
1:42:47
Speaker 8: looked like golden fruit? Remember, it, cried the prince. How
1:42:50
Speaker 8: do you think I can ever forget it? It was
1:42:52
Speaker 8: on that evening that you allowed me for the first
1:42:54
Speaker 8: time to kiss you since when, by the way, my
1:42:57
Speaker 8: mouth has been perfumed as though I had eaten rose. Yes,
1:43:01
Speaker 8: she replied, it was on that evening you kissed me.
1:43:04
Speaker 8: But while to me and to you that kiss might
1:43:06
Speaker 8: have been sweet, it was cruel. To the angel who
1:43:09
Speaker 8: followed me among the orange branches at that moment that
1:43:12
Speaker 8: you kissed me, one of his wings fell from him.
1:43:15
Speaker 8: And why, asked the Prince, in amazement, Because, answered his sweetheart.
1:43:20
Speaker 8: The law among the guardian angels is that they must
1:43:23
Speaker 8: be the first to suffer for any errors or mistakes
1:43:26
Speaker 8: or indiscretions committed by those over whom it is their
1:43:29
Speaker 8: duty to watch what an unjust law, said the Prince.
1:43:34
Speaker 8: And how your poor maimed angel must have suffered more
1:43:37
Speaker 8: than you can imagine, she replied, ashamed and hurt, Unable
1:43:41
Speaker 8: to return to the skies even if he dared to,
1:43:44
Speaker 8: he does nothing but weep insigh. As for me, I
1:43:48
Speaker 8: can scarcely sleep at night, however greatly I might wish
1:43:51
Speaker 8: to dream of you so much. Do his lamentations keep
1:43:54
Speaker 8: me from closing my eyes? Very well, then, exclaimed the Prince,
1:43:58
Speaker 8: Nothing remains but for us to give him back his wing.
1:44:01
Speaker 8: I do not see how I can repent for what
1:44:03
Speaker 8: I have done, but I would willingly find out any
1:44:05
Speaker 8: way by which the fault might be repaired. I think
1:44:09
Speaker 8: there is one such way, said she let me know
1:44:11
Speaker 8: it at once. Then he cried, What we must do,
1:44:14
Speaker 8: she said, and she spoke so low that he could
1:44:17
Speaker 8: scarcely hear her. What we must do is to restore
1:44:20
Speaker 8: things to the exact condition in which they were before
1:44:24
Speaker 8: we took the walk under the orange trees. My guardian
1:44:27
Speaker 8: angel lost his wing because I received your kiss. He
1:44:30
Speaker 8: would regain his wing, no doubt, if if what exclaimed
1:44:35
Speaker 8: the Prince, if she whispered, if I gave the kiss
1:44:39
Speaker 8: back to you, And so she did. And as she
1:44:43
Speaker 8: did so, there was a movement in the branches behind them.
1:44:46
Speaker 8: It was the angel who flew upward, joyfully flapping his wings.
1:44:49
Speaker 8: Only those two wings, which had been white, were now
1:44:52
Speaker 8: rose colored. End of chapter.
1:44:56
Speaker 1: Eleven Chapter twelve of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the
1:45:07
Speaker 1: Tails Its Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All libervox
1:45:12
Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
1:45:16
Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by phone.
1:45:22
Speaker 1: The Fairy Spinning Wheel and It Tails Its Spun by
1:45:25
Speaker 1: Cachil Mendez, translated by Thomas John Dray Vivian eighteen fifty
1:45:30
Speaker 1: five to nineteen twenty five. The two daisies, Lambert and Landry,
1:45:39
Speaker 1: resolved to start out into the world to seek their fortunes.
1:45:42
Speaker 1: They were, in fact obliged to their parents, being very
1:45:46
Speaker 1: poor people and quite unabled to offer them any promise
1:45:49
Speaker 1: of better days. So early one spring morning, the two
1:45:53
Speaker 1: youths set out on their way. Landry was but fifteen
1:45:58
Speaker 1: years old, while Lambert had just turned sixteen. They were
1:46:02
Speaker 1: therefore very young to dust throw themselves on fate's unsteady care.
1:46:08
Speaker 1: And while I had much hope, they also felt some
1:46:10
Speaker 1: little anxiety as to the future. But as it happened,
1:46:15
Speaker 1: they were strangely comforted by an adventure which came about
1:46:18
Speaker 1: almost at the beginning of their journey. It was in
1:46:22
Speaker 1: this wise, as they paused by the edge of a
1:46:25
Speaker 1: little wood, who should come out to meet them but
1:46:27
Speaker 1: a lady and lady Deckford flowers from top to toe,
1:46:32
Speaker 1: golden cups and pimpernels were in her hair. Her gown
1:46:35
Speaker 1: was trimmed with convolvulous blossoms and fell down to two
1:46:39
Speaker 1: tiny slippers of moss, which looked like green velvet, while
1:46:43
Speaker 1: her eyes were like two blue corn flowers. It was
1:46:47
Speaker 1: the fairy Springshime, whom you may sometimes see and hear
1:46:50
Speaker 1: about April tripping and singing across the flowering meadows and
1:46:55
Speaker 1: through the budding woods, stopping the youths. She said, I've
1:47:00
Speaker 1: been watching you, and as you are about to start
1:47:04
Speaker 1: out on a long journey, I'm going to make each
1:47:06
Speaker 1: of you a present. Here, Landry take this daisy, and
1:47:11
Speaker 1: to you Lambert, I give a daisy.
1:47:13
Speaker 4: Also.
1:47:14
Speaker 1: All you will need at any time is to pluck
1:47:17
Speaker 1: one of the petals of these flowers, and throw the
1:47:20
Speaker 1: leaf from you in order to secure that which you
1:47:23
Speaker 1: most ardently wish for. Now, go and try to make
1:47:27
Speaker 1: good use of springtime's presents. The youths thanked the fairy
1:47:33
Speaker 1: with all the politeness at their command, and then, with
1:47:36
Speaker 1: light hearts, set out on their way once more. But
1:47:40
Speaker 1: scarcely had they arrived at the cross roads than a
1:47:42
Speaker 1: disagreement sprang up between them. Lambert wished to turn to
1:47:47
Speaker 1: the right, landry to the left. When to settle the dispute,
1:47:51
Speaker 1: they decided that each should go as he pleased, and
1:47:53
Speaker 1: so separated with an affectionate shake of the hands. Perhaps,
1:47:58
Speaker 1: after all, each brother was not particularly disappointed at being alone,
1:48:02
Speaker 1: in order that he might the more freely dispose of
1:48:05
Speaker 1: the present made him by the flower clad fairy. On
1:48:09
Speaker 1: entering the first village she came to, Luandry saw a
1:48:12
Speaker 1: young girl leaning from a window, at sight of whom
1:48:15
Speaker 1: he started with pleasure. Never had he seen so lovely
1:48:18
Speaker 1: a creature, Never, in fact, had he dreamed that any
1:48:22
Speaker 1: such existed. Still little more than a child with hair
1:48:26
Speaker 1: so fine and so blond that one could scarce distinguish
1:48:29
Speaker 1: it from the sunny air about her. Her face was
1:48:32
Speaker 1: delicately pink and white, and lily as to the forehead,
1:48:36
Speaker 1: and a rose to the cheeks. Her eyes were like
1:48:39
Speaker 1: a bed of violets in which a few raindrops lingered,
1:48:43
Speaker 1: and you had only to look at her mouth to
1:48:45
Speaker 1: wish that you were a bee. Landry did not hesitate long.
1:48:50
Speaker 1: He tore off and threw away the first of the
1:48:52
Speaker 1: daisy's petals, and the wind had scarcely taken up the
1:48:55
Speaker 1: frail leaf before the girl had smiled at him from
1:48:58
Speaker 1: the window, and the next instant had run down and
1:49:01
Speaker 1: placed her hand in his. Landry soon grew tired of
1:49:06
Speaker 1: his pretty playmate, but each leaf brought him another. Indeed,
1:49:11
Speaker 1: his only aim in life was to find the way
1:49:13
Speaker 1: of tasting all of its pleasures. Whatever he saw he
1:49:17
Speaker 1: longed for, and whatever he longed for he had each day,
1:49:21
Speaker 1: each hour. In fact, the daisy lost one of its petals,
1:49:25
Speaker 1: and the breeze could scarcely find time the stirred branches
1:49:28
Speaker 1: of the rose trees, so much was it occupied in
1:49:31
Speaker 1: wafting about the leaves of the Fairi's gift brother Lambert
1:49:36
Speaker 1: adopted an entirely different plan. He was a saving young man,
1:49:41
Speaker 1: one for whom it would be impossible to waste the treasure.
1:49:45
Speaker 1: As soon as he found himself alone on the road,
1:49:48
Speaker 1: he decided to carefully treasure the Fairi's gift. For so
1:49:52
Speaker 1: he reasoned, with himself, no matter how numerous the daisy's
1:49:56
Speaker 1: leaves that might be, if he were to tear one
1:49:58
Speaker 1: off for every woman, the day would soon come in
1:50:01
Speaker 1: which there would be no more leaves to pluck. He decided,
1:50:05
Speaker 1: therefore to prudently reserve the wonderful flower until some future time. So,
1:50:11
Speaker 1: when he reached the next town, he bought a little box,
1:50:14
Speaker 1: very solid and fastening, with the well made block. In
1:50:18
Speaker 1: this box he placed the daisy, resolving never to look
1:50:21
Speaker 1: at it, so that it might be out of temptations.
1:50:24
Speaker 1: Way sensible, methodical, and troubling himself only about serious matters.
1:50:31
Speaker 1: Lambert became a merchant and soon amassed large sums of money.
1:50:35
Speaker 1: He had nothing but contempt for those neglectful people who
1:50:38
Speaker 1: passed their time in feastings and folics, caring nothing for
1:50:42
Speaker 1: the morrow. Nor did he ever fail to preach good
1:50:45
Speaker 1: round sermons to such triflers whenever the opportunity offered. So
1:50:51
Speaker 1: it came about that he was looked up to by
1:50:53
Speaker 1: all honest folk, and that his life was spoken of
1:50:56
Speaker 1: as an example for all to follow. He continued to
1:51:01
Speaker 1: grow respected and rich, working from early morn till late
1:51:05
Speaker 1: at night, and each day rolling up his wealth. But
1:51:09
Speaker 1: truth to tell, he was not so happy as he
1:51:11
Speaker 1: had hoped to be. He could not help thinking of
1:51:14
Speaker 1: those pleasures which he so persistently denied himself. Yet he
1:51:19
Speaker 1: had but to open the little box and throw a
1:51:21
Speaker 1: petal to the wind, to have as many pleasures as
1:51:24
Speaker 1: his brother had enjoyed. But he setfastly turned away from
1:51:29
Speaker 1: such dangerous thoughts and decided to wait. There was plenty
1:51:33
Speaker 1: of time, He said, he would enjoy himself when he
1:51:36
Speaker 1: was older and more settled. The breeze, while whisking by him, whispered,
1:51:43
Speaker 1: come throw me a leaf, Throw me just one, so
1:51:46
Speaker 1: that I may bring you at least one pleasureful day,
1:51:50
Speaker 1: and that I may see you smile for once. But
1:51:54
Speaker 1: he turned a deaf ear to the entreaty, and the
1:51:56
Speaker 1: breeze went off to stir the branches of the rose trees. Now,
1:52:02
Speaker 1: after many years had passed, it happened one day that Lambert,
1:52:05
Speaker 1: while visiting one of his country properties chanced to meet
1:52:08
Speaker 1: a ragged man making his way across the clover field.
1:52:13
Speaker 1: Well Well, exclaimed he, throwing up his hands. Are you not,
1:52:16
Speaker 1: by brother Landry? I am, certainly, he replied the other.
1:52:23
Speaker 1: Why what a wretched state you are in, said Lambert.
1:52:26
Speaker 1: I am sadly afraid that you have made but poor
1:52:29
Speaker 1: use of the fairy springtime's gift. Well, said Landry. I
1:52:34
Speaker 1: did perhaps throw away the petals too quickly. Still, though
1:52:39
Speaker 1: I am now but badly off, I do not repent
1:52:41
Speaker 1: of my youthful thoughtlessness. Ah, brother Lambert, I may have
1:52:46
Speaker 1: been wasteful, but I was very happy as long as
1:52:49
Speaker 1: the flower lasted. Pooh, pooh, said Lambert. There is little
1:52:55
Speaker 1: comfort in that fact for your present condition. Now just
1:52:58
Speaker 1: look at me here. I am rich and prosperous. Yet
1:53:02
Speaker 1: I have but to make a single move to enjoy
1:53:04
Speaker 1: all the pleasures which you have wasted. Is that possible,
1:53:09
Speaker 1: said Landry. It is, replied his rich brother, because I
1:53:14
Speaker 1: have kept the fairies present intact. Aha, he went on,
1:53:19
Speaker 1: I can still have all the good times that I
1:53:21
Speaker 1: wish when I wish so much for being economical, Come,
1:53:26
Speaker 1: he added, and I will show you my untouched flower.
1:53:32
Speaker 1: They soon reached a place where Lambert kept his treasure, and,
1:53:35
Speaker 1: selecting a small key from a big bunch, he opened
1:53:38
Speaker 1: the tiny box. There, he exclaimed, with an air of triumph,
1:53:44
Speaker 1: See how I have kept my flower. But he suddenly
1:53:49
Speaker 1: turned pale and staggered back, for instead of the fresh
1:53:52
Speaker 1: blooming daisy which he had locked away so many years ago,
1:53:56
Speaker 1: there was no nothing before his eyes but the little
1:53:59
Speaker 1: heap of gray dust, like a pinch of ashes. Ah,
1:54:04
Speaker 1: cursed fairy, he cried, you have played me a wretched trick. Indeed,
1:54:10
Speaker 1: as he said this, the fairy Springtime herself stood before them,
1:54:14
Speaker 1: I have played you no trick, she said, neither you
1:54:18
Speaker 1: nor your brother. Those two daisies were not real flowers.
1:54:22
Speaker 1: They were your youth, your youth, Landry, which you passed
1:54:25
Speaker 1: in the pursuit of caprice and pleasure. Your youth, Lambert,
1:54:30
Speaker 1: which you have allowed to wither and fade, without ever
1:54:33
Speaker 1: having enjoyed or valued it at all. Landry, it is true,
1:54:37
Speaker 1: wasted his youth by recklessly plucking off and throwing away
1:54:41
Speaker 1: its many chances. But you, Lambert, have not even the
1:54:45
Speaker 1: remembrance of having had any youth at all. End of
1:54:51
Speaker 1: the two Daisies recording by phone.
1:55:02
Speaker 8: Chapter thirteen of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tales
1:55:05
Speaker 8: It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
1:55:10
Speaker 8: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
1:55:14
Speaker 8: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Anthony Gurgis. The
1:55:20
Speaker 8: Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tales It Spun by Catiu Mendez,
1:55:25
Speaker 8: translated by Thomas Jondro Vivienne, eighteen fifty five to nineteen
1:55:30
Speaker 8: twenty five. Chapter thirteen, The Deer Departed. The whole kingdom
1:55:36
Speaker 8: was plunged in grief, the reason being that since the
1:55:40
Speaker 8: young king had become a widower, he no longer occupied
1:55:43
Speaker 8: himself with anything concerning the state, but passed his days
1:55:47
Speaker 8: and night weeping before a portrait of the Deer Departed.
1:55:51
Speaker 8: This portrait was his own work, the king having learned
1:55:54
Speaker 8: to paint expressly for the purpose of reproducing her face,
1:55:57
Speaker 8: and it was now his only consolation. He never could
1:56:01
Speaker 8: keep back his tears when looking at the picture, but
1:56:04
Speaker 8: he would not have exchanged the bitterness of these tears
1:56:06
Speaker 8: for the happiest smiles in vain. His cabinet minister said
1:56:11
Speaker 8: to him sire, we have received disquieting news. The new
1:56:15
Speaker 8: King of Ormis is raising a numberless army to invade
1:56:19
Speaker 8: your estates. He made believe not to have heard them,
1:56:22
Speaker 8: and remained with his eyes fixed upon the beloved image.
1:56:26
Speaker 8: One day, he became so angry with one of his
1:56:28
Speaker 8: chamberlains that he almost killed him. The poor courtier having
1:56:32
Speaker 8: ventured to hint that grief, however sharp and real, should
1:56:36
Speaker 8: not last forever, and that his royal master would do
1:56:39
Speaker 8: well to think of marrying some young girl, no matter
1:56:42
Speaker 8: whether she might be the niece of an emperor or
1:56:45
Speaker 8: the daughter of a peasant monster, cried the inconsolable widore.
1:56:50
Speaker 8: How dare you give me such base counsel. You advise
1:56:53
Speaker 8: me to be unfaithful to the most loving of queens
1:56:56
Speaker 8: out of my sight, or you shall die by my hand.
1:56:59
Speaker 8: But bef for leaving, learn and tell everyone the same thing,
1:57:03
Speaker 8: that no woman shall ever share my throne unless she
1:57:06
Speaker 8: resembles in every particular the treasure whom I have lost.
1:57:11
Speaker 8: In saying this, the young king was convinced that he
1:57:14
Speaker 8: was making an engagement whose conditions could never be met.
1:57:18
Speaker 8: Even as her picture looked in its frame of gold,
1:57:21
Speaker 8: the poor, dead young queen appeared so beautiful that nowhere
1:57:25
Speaker 8: in the world could her equal be found. A brunette
1:57:28
Speaker 8: with long hair which flowed down over her shoulders like
1:57:32
Speaker 8: liquid ebony, with a high forehead of the color of
1:57:35
Speaker 8: old ivory, with deep eyes of a midnight blackness, with
1:57:39
Speaker 8: a full mouth opened in a smile which showed her teeth.
1:57:42
Speaker 8: She defied all comparisons or resemblances. Not even a princess,
1:57:47
Speaker 8: who might have received in her cradle all the most
1:57:50
Speaker 8: precious gifts of good fairies could have such glorious dark hair,
1:57:54
Speaker 8: such deep brown eyes, so intelligent a forehead, or so
1:57:58
Speaker 8: sweet a mouth. Many months went by, Indeed, a whole
1:58:02
Speaker 8: year passed without bringing any happy change to the sad
1:58:06
Speaker 8: state of affairs. The news from Ormas became more and
1:58:09
Speaker 8: more alarming, but the king never gave one moment's heed
1:58:12
Speaker 8: to the approaching danger. It is true that his ministers
1:58:16
Speaker 8: raised war taxes in his name, but as they put
1:58:19
Speaker 8: the money in their own pockets instead of employing it
1:58:22
Speaker 8: to raise an equip an army, the country suffered all
1:58:25
Speaker 8: the horrors of war after having paid to be preserved
1:58:28
Speaker 8: from them. As a consequence, the king's subjects gathered every
1:58:32
Speaker 8: day and all the day about the palace with complaints
1:58:36
Speaker 8: and petitions, But the young King paid no heed to these,
1:58:39
Speaker 8: and remained shut up in his melancholy, his only occupation
1:58:44
Speaker 8: being to seek the silent charm of the portrait of
1:58:47
Speaker 8: the late Queen. Now, one day it happened that through
1:58:50
Speaker 8: the window he heard a passing song, a song so
1:58:53
Speaker 8: fresh and clear, so joyful and full of the morning,
1:58:56
Speaker 8: that it sounded like the warbling of a lark. Up
1:59:00
Speaker 8: to the Windowpane, astonished, pressed his face against the glass
1:59:04
Speaker 8: and looked out. As he did so, he could scarcely
1:59:08
Speaker 8: keep back a cry of pleasure. Never, he thought, had
1:59:11
Speaker 8: he seen anything quite so charming as this little shepherd
1:59:14
Speaker 8: as driving her flock of sheep out to the fields.
1:59:18
Speaker 8: She was blond, so blond that her hair seemed to
1:59:21
Speaker 8: gild the sun rather than to be gilded by it.
1:59:25
Speaker 8: Her forehead was a trifle low and tinged with pink
1:59:28
Speaker 8: like the young honeysuckle. Her blue eyes were as bright
1:59:32
Speaker 8: as the morning, while her rosebud of a mouth was
1:59:34
Speaker 8: so small that, even when opened in song, one could
1:59:38
Speaker 8: see but the tips of two or three little pearls.
1:59:41
Speaker 8: Within The young King, charmed as he was, drew away
1:59:45
Speaker 8: from the sight, covering his eyes with his hands. Then,
1:59:48
Speaker 8: ashamed to think that he should have for one instant
1:59:50
Speaker 8: turned aside from the deer departed, he went back to
1:59:53
Speaker 8: the portrait and knelt before it in tears. Ah, he sobbed,
1:59:57
Speaker 8: You know, my treasure, that my morning heart is yours forever,
2:00:01
Speaker 8: since no woman lives who in any way resembles you. Now.
2:00:05
Speaker 8: The next day, while admiring the portrait of the dead Queen,
2:00:08
Speaker 8: he felt a painful surprise. This is very strange, said he.
2:00:13
Speaker 8: It must be that this room is damp, and that
2:00:15
Speaker 8: the air is affecting the painting. I am sure, quite sure,
2:00:20
Speaker 8: he continued, that my darling's hair was not so dark
2:00:24
Speaker 8: as it looks there. It had not anything of that
2:00:27
Speaker 8: blackness which resembles liquid ebony. I remember perfectly well that
2:00:32
Speaker 8: there were bright gleams in it. Here and there. He
2:00:34
Speaker 8: ordered his pallet and brushes brought, and soon corrected the
2:00:38
Speaker 8: faults in the portrait which had been caused by the
2:00:41
Speaker 8: damp air. Ah, he cried. When he had finished these alterations,
2:00:45
Speaker 8: there we have the golden hair which I loved so dearly,
2:00:48
Speaker 8: and which I shall love forever. Then full of a bitter,
2:00:52
Speaker 8: sweet joy, he knelt before the portrait, now so like
2:00:56
Speaker 8: the beloved model, and renewed his vows of eternal constancy.
2:01:00
Speaker 8: But surely some wicked spirit must have been amusing itself
2:01:04
Speaker 8: within him, for three days had scarcely passed when he
2:01:07
Speaker 8: was convinced that the portrait had undergone other damaging changes.
2:01:12
Speaker 8: What was the meaning of this? How did it happen
2:01:15
Speaker 8: that the picture showed him a high forehead the color
2:01:18
Speaker 8: of old ivory. He thanked his stars that his memory,
2:01:21
Speaker 8: at any rate had not changed, for he recollected perfectly
2:01:25
Speaker 8: well that the forehead of his dear queen was rather low,
2:01:29
Speaker 8: and that there was a blush upon it, like that
2:01:31
Speaker 8: of the young honeysuckle. Once more, the brushes and palate
2:01:35
Speaker 8: were seized, and with a few strokes he brought the
2:01:38
Speaker 8: golden hair down over the forehead and gave the temples
2:01:41
Speaker 8: a bright pink tinge. His work completed, He felt his
2:01:45
Speaker 8: heart full of a great tenderness towards the restored picture.
2:01:49
Speaker 8: But the next day it was worse still. There was
2:01:52
Speaker 8: no doubt about it. Both the eyes and the mouth
2:01:55
Speaker 8: of the portrait had been changed by some mysterious power,
2:01:59
Speaker 8: or else by some wretched accident. Never had the deer
2:02:02
Speaker 8: departed had such dark eyes as these, nor that wide mouth,
2:02:06
Speaker 8: which showed nearly all the teeth in a smile. To
2:02:09
Speaker 8: the contrary, indeed, cried the young King, Heaven's own mourning
2:02:13
Speaker 8: blue scarcely equaled the azure of those eyes with which
2:02:16
Speaker 8: she used to look upon me. While as to her mouth,
2:02:19
Speaker 8: it was such a rose bud that even when she
2:02:22
Speaker 8: opened it to sing, one could see within but the
2:02:25
Speaker 8: tips of a few tiny pearls. The young King's anger
2:02:29
Speaker 8: rose hot against this absurd portrait, which was constantly contradicting
2:02:33
Speaker 8: his dear recollections. And if he could only have had
2:02:36
Speaker 8: in his grasp the miserable enchanter who had caused these transformations,
2:02:41
Speaker 8: for surely there must be some enchantment at work, he
2:02:44
Speaker 8: would have been avenged of him in a terrible way. However,
2:02:48
Speaker 8: in a little while he calmed down, taking some consolation
2:02:51
Speaker 8: in the fact that the injuries could be undone, he
2:02:54
Speaker 8: set to work with the remembrance of the deer Departed
2:02:57
Speaker 8: before his mind's eye, and a few hours left later.
2:03:00
Speaker 8: There upon the canvas was seen a maiden's face with
2:03:04
Speaker 8: eyes as blue as the coming morning, and with a
2:03:06
Speaker 8: mouse so small that, had it been a flower, it
2:03:09
Speaker 8: would scarcely have held three dewdrops. Then as he looked
2:03:13
Speaker 8: at the new portrait of the Queen, he was filled
2:03:16
Speaker 8: with a sweet sorrow. It is she. Indeed, it is she,
2:03:20
Speaker 8: he sighed. And so satisfied was he that when the chamberlain,
2:03:25
Speaker 8: whose habit it was to peep through the keyhole, advised
2:03:28
Speaker 8: him to take for a wife a pretty little shepherdess
2:03:31
Speaker 8: who passed singing each morning before the palace, the young
2:03:34
Speaker 8: king made no objection, finding her in every respect like
2:03:39
Speaker 8: the portrait of the deer departed, except that perhaps she
2:03:44
Speaker 8: was a little prettier. End of chapter thirteen.
2:03:56
Speaker 5: Chapter fourteen of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails
2:03:59
Speaker 5: It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
2:04:04
Speaker 5: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
2:04:08
Speaker 5: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Jimney Knobber. The
2:04:13
Speaker 5: Very Spinning Wheel and the Tails It Spun by Catul Mendez,
2:04:17
Speaker 5: translated by Thomas Jeandre Vivian eighteen eighty five to nineteen
2:04:22
Speaker 5: twenty five. Chapter fourteen, Lord Rowland's grief. Once upon a time,
2:04:29
Speaker 5: it happened that Lord Roland, while returning from fighting against
2:04:33
Speaker 5: the Moors, was told a dreadful story by a shepherd.
2:04:37
Speaker 5: The Knight had halted for a minute in a rocky
2:04:39
Speaker 5: pass of the Pyrenees to give his horse a rest,
2:04:42
Speaker 5: and the story told by the shepherd was that not
2:04:45
Speaker 5: far from where they had met, there lived an enchanter
2:04:48
Speaker 5: who was hated by all the countryside for his cruelty
2:04:52
Speaker 5: and tyranny. On hearing this, Roland's horse pricked up its ears,
2:04:57
Speaker 5: shook its mane, and was ready to gallop away, for
2:05:00
Speaker 5: it knew that, generally speaking, its noble master allowed but
2:05:04
Speaker 5: little time to pass between hearing of such ill doers
2:05:08
Speaker 5: and going to punish them. But the Knight was particularly
2:05:12
Speaker 5: patient that day, and asked the shepherd a number of
2:05:15
Speaker 5: curious questions. In reply, he learned many strange things. The
2:05:21
Speaker 5: wicked magician, he was told, lived in a castle near
2:05:24
Speaker 5: the sea, and made a daily practice of killing all
2:05:28
Speaker 5: travelers who passed that way, of laying waste the fields,
2:05:32
Speaker 5: setting fire to the villages, of murdering the old men
2:05:36
Speaker 5: and carrying away the children. He had overthrown all the
2:05:40
Speaker 5: knights and warriors who had sought to put an end
2:05:43
Speaker 5: to his barbarous practices, and he had caused the bravest
2:05:47
Speaker 5: of them to bite the dust. Nor were those who
2:05:50
Speaker 5: wished to escape able to do so. All along in
2:05:54
Speaker 5: front of the castle, on each side, which rolled in
2:05:57
Speaker 5: a furious sea, there were in enormous heaps of bones
2:06:02
Speaker 5: gnawed bare by the wild beasts and bleached by the reins,
2:06:06
Speaker 5: while a huge flock of ravens all the time floated
2:06:10
Speaker 5: and sailed about the top of the tower like a
2:06:13
Speaker 5: black flag. Roland could not forbear smiling when he heard
2:06:18
Speaker 5: of these terrible things. The idea that a wicked sorcerer
2:06:23
Speaker 5: could have overthrown so many valiant knights, encased as they
2:06:27
Speaker 5: were in steel and with lance or sword in hand,
2:06:31
Speaker 5: was simply absurd. Either the shepherd did not know what
2:06:34
Speaker 5: he was talking about, or else those who had defied
2:06:37
Speaker 5: the magician of the castle were cowards, unworthy the name
2:06:41
Speaker 5: of knights, or perhaps young pages playing at fighting. My lord,
2:06:47
Speaker 5: said the shepherd. It is not because of his courage
2:06:50
Speaker 5: that the enchanters able to overthrow all his enemies. Why
2:06:54
Speaker 5: is it, then, asked Roland. It is, replied the shepherd,
2:06:59
Speaker 5: because by his infernal science, he has invented a weapon
2:07:03
Speaker 5: the like of which was never seen before, a weapon
2:07:06
Speaker 5: which can kill at a distance without danger to the
2:07:10
Speaker 5: one using it. What's that, inquired Roland with surprise. It
2:07:15
Speaker 5: is just as I tell you, replied the shepherd. He
2:07:18
Speaker 5: takes good care never to come down into the plain
2:07:21
Speaker 5: to meet his enemies, for well he knows that even
2:07:25
Speaker 5: were his breast covered with bronze, some spear would instantly
2:07:29
Speaker 5: find entrance there. He keeps himself hidden behind his walls,
2:07:34
Speaker 5: or behind those heaps of bleached bones. And then from
2:07:38
Speaker 5: this hiding place there comes a sharp noise, a flame
2:07:41
Speaker 5: leaps out, and before one has time to say the
2:07:44
Speaker 5: shortest prayer, the poor knight falls to the ground with
2:07:48
Speaker 5: a ghastly wound in his throat or head. Now by,
2:07:53
Speaker 5: Saint George, cried the nephew of Charlemagne. I never yet
2:07:57
Speaker 5: have heard of such a cowardly way of fighting. Truly,
2:08:01
Speaker 5: it is fortunate that I have halted in this desert place,
2:08:04
Speaker 5: for by tomorrow, if the saints lend me their aid
2:08:07
Speaker 5: and the castle is not too far off, I shall
2:08:10
Speaker 5: have properly punished this wretch. But tell me frankly, what
2:08:15
Speaker 5: sort of thing is this diabolical weapon, well, said the shepherd.
2:08:20
Speaker 5: They tell me that it is made of a moderately
2:08:23
Speaker 5: long tube, at one end of which a piece of
2:08:25
Speaker 5: saltpeter is set fire to, while from the other end
2:08:29
Speaker 5: there rushes out a little ball of some metal, which
2:08:33
Speaker 5: cleaves through the air and goes straight to its mark
2:08:36
Speaker 5: with all the quickness of lightning. Roland stayed to hear
2:08:40
Speaker 5: no more, but gathering the reins together, he gripped the
2:08:44
Speaker 5: saddle with his knees until the armor creaked, while the horse,
2:08:48
Speaker 5: with flying mane, went galloping towards the sea. Roland, however,
2:08:53
Speaker 5: kept his head bowed down all during the ride. It
2:08:57
Speaker 5: hurt him to think that he should have to soil
2:08:59
Speaker 5: his with the blood of a coward, and for the
2:09:02
Speaker 5: first time in his life he went into a fight
2:09:06
Speaker 5: without pleasure. The sunset clouds lay red upon the sea
2:09:11
Speaker 5: when the castle came into view, and one might have
2:09:14
Speaker 5: believed that the horizon was crimsoned with the blood of
2:09:18
Speaker 5: all the crimes that had been committed in this terrible place.
2:09:22
Speaker 5: Roland halted, looking at the horrible habitation, towards which a
2:09:27
Speaker 5: flock of croaking birds was slowly flying, he sought out
2:09:31
Speaker 5: a path amidst the bones which lay all around, but
2:09:35
Speaker 5: could find none so thick and numerous where the human remains,
2:09:40
Speaker 5: that it was impossible to reach the castle without walking
2:09:43
Speaker 5: on death. Ah. Noble warriors, exclaimed Roland, come here from
2:09:50
Speaker 5: all parts of the world to meet this miserable enchanter. You,
2:09:54
Speaker 5: who have been cowardly struck down at a distance by
2:09:58
Speaker 5: a miserable adversary, How I mourn and honor you, And
2:10:03
Speaker 5: how I suffered to hear your unburied bones being crunched
2:10:07
Speaker 5: beneath my horse's hoofs. As he thought of these things,
2:10:11
Speaker 5: a fierce anger arose in his heart, and the duty
2:10:15
Speaker 5: of avenging his comrades took possession of him like a fury.
2:10:20
Speaker 5: With his famous sword Durandeal, firmly grasped in his hand,
2:10:24
Speaker 5: he spurred on his horse and galloped across the bone
2:10:28
Speaker 5: strewn plain. As he did so, a flame suddenly shot
2:10:33
Speaker 5: out from between the stones of the castle. There was
2:10:36
Speaker 5: a loud noise which rolled and rumbled in echoes amid
2:10:40
Speaker 5: the hills, while something went whistling by the chevalier's ear.
2:10:45
Speaker 5: The sorcerer had used his treacherous invention, but he had
2:10:49
Speaker 5: not the opportunity to use it a second time. Leaping
2:10:53
Speaker 5: from his horse, rollin through himself against the great castle door,
2:10:58
Speaker 5: which creaked and cracked, and then crashed heavily inward, pulling
2:11:03
Speaker 5: down a mass of stones and mortar in its fall.
2:11:07
Speaker 5: Just inside, the Knight saw the magician, and seizing him
2:11:11
Speaker 5: by the throat, Lord Roland strangled him until he spat
2:11:15
Speaker 5: out his soul in a curse, and tumbled in a
2:11:19
Speaker 5: heap on the pavement beside his useless weapon. Just at
2:11:23
Speaker 5: this moment, the Ravens flew away from the castle, while
2:11:27
Speaker 5: the setting sun illumined the tall tower from Dungeon to parapet,
2:11:31
Speaker 5: as though the black flag had at last been replaced
2:11:35
Speaker 5: by a golden banner. Roland smiled at first as he
2:11:39
Speaker 5: looked down upon the dead enchanter, but soon the smile
2:11:44
Speaker 5: faded away, and, pushing the corpse to one side with
2:11:48
Speaker 5: his foot, he stooped, picked up the wonderful weapon and
2:11:53
Speaker 5: examined it. As the shepherd had said, it was a
2:11:57
Speaker 5: tube with two openings. By one of them, death went in,
2:12:02
Speaker 5: and by the other, death came out. Lord Roland looked
2:12:07
Speaker 5: at it long and sadly, when night had quite come,
2:12:12
Speaker 5: Roland walked to the sea. A boat lay there, and
2:12:17
Speaker 5: entering it, he broke the rope, seized the oars in
2:12:21
Speaker 5: his strong hands, and pulled out to the open sea,
2:12:24
Speaker 5: while the polished steel of his armor glittered in the
2:12:28
Speaker 5: starlight with every movement of his body. Where was he going?
2:12:33
Speaker 5: What voyage was he thus undertaking in the shadows? Weary
2:12:37
Speaker 5: of battles? Had he determined to rest in one of
2:12:40
Speaker 5: those miraculous islands where beautiful fairies employ themselves in fanning
2:12:45
Speaker 5: sleeping nights with broad green leaves, Or having heard of
2:12:50
Speaker 5: some peace of injustice done underneath some faraway sky, had
2:12:54
Speaker 5: he resolved to go there and clear the land of
2:12:58
Speaker 5: lies and meanness with his keen sword. He had set
2:13:02
Speaker 5: out to do none of these things. He was simply
2:13:05
Speaker 5: going to complete the work of the day. The enchanter
2:13:09
Speaker 5: was dead, and the castle toppled over lay in ruins,
2:13:13
Speaker 5: like an enormous monument to the many brave knights who
2:13:17
Speaker 5: had been so treacherously slain. All this had been done,
2:13:22
Speaker 5: but it was not enough. This cowardly weapon by which
2:13:27
Speaker 5: an enemy could strike from Afar, must also be destroyed,
2:13:31
Speaker 5: must be cast away where no one would ever be
2:13:35
Speaker 5: able to find it. He had at first decided to
2:13:38
Speaker 5: break it into fragments, but then he thought that some
2:13:41
Speaker 5: wicked creature might gather up the pieces and make another
2:13:44
Speaker 5: weapon out of these, or with these as a model.
2:13:48
Speaker 5: Then he thought about burying it, but the fear that
2:13:52
Speaker 5: someone might chance to dig it up again stood in
2:13:55
Speaker 5: the way of doing this. At last he came to
2:13:58
Speaker 5: the conclusion that the surest way to dispose of it
2:14:02
Speaker 5: was to throw it into the sea far out and
2:14:05
Speaker 5: when the night hid him from everyone, And this was
2:14:09
Speaker 5: why he pulled out towards the open ocean. When he
2:14:13
Speaker 5: was a long way from the shore, and when he
2:14:15
Speaker 5: was certain that he could no longer be seen, when
2:14:18
Speaker 5: indeed he could see nothing except the dark stretch of
2:14:22
Speaker 5: sea and sky, he stood up, seized the diabolical weapon
2:14:27
Speaker 5: in his hands, and then whirled it around and sent
2:14:31
Speaker 5: it whizzing into the sea, where it sank out of sight.
2:14:36
Speaker 5: But even then he was pensive and sad, And as
2:14:40
Speaker 5: he stood balancing himself to the easy movement of the boat,
2:14:45
Speaker 5: his huge stature showing white beneath the stars, he thought
2:14:49
Speaker 5: of many things. He thought that some day or other,
2:14:54
Speaker 5: be the time, near or far off men would surely
2:14:57
Speaker 5: invent other weapons just like that which he had been
2:15:01
Speaker 5: so careful to throw into the sea. He thought of
2:15:05
Speaker 5: the combats in which he had joyously taken part of
2:15:08
Speaker 5: lances broken in the shock of charging steeds, of the
2:15:12
Speaker 5: clash of swords, of struggles chest to chest, of red
2:15:17
Speaker 5: wounds close to the hands of those who inflicted them.
2:15:22
Speaker 5: He thought of these things, and then, as in a
2:15:26
Speaker 5: gloomy vision, he saw a new and strange warfare, where
2:15:31
Speaker 5: the struggle was carried on from a distance, where those
2:15:36
Speaker 5: who struck could not see those they struck at, where
2:15:40
Speaker 5: the most cowardly could kill the bravest, and where chance
2:15:46
Speaker 5: ruled everything. In the midst of smoke and clamor, thinking
2:15:52
Speaker 5: of these things, and looking sadly at his sword, burundel
2:15:56
Speaker 5: Roland wept until the tear drops fell down one by
2:16:01
Speaker 5: one on the gleaming steel of the blade, a weapon
2:16:05
Speaker 5: whose day, like that of knighthood itself, he foresaw, would
2:16:10
Speaker 5: surely pass away. End of chapter fourteen.
2:16:21
Speaker 3: Chapter fifteen of The Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails
2:16:26
Speaker 3: It Spun. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
2:16:30
Speaker 3: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
2:16:34
Speaker 3: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Betty b. The
2:16:40
Speaker 3: Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails It Spun by Catoul Mendez,
2:16:45
Speaker 3: translated by Thomas Jandrey Vivian eighteen fifty five to nineteen
2:16:50
Speaker 3: twenty five. The last of the fairies, seated in a
2:16:55
Speaker 3: carriage made out of the shell of a hazelnut and
2:16:59
Speaker 3: drawn by four or ladybirds. The fairy Oriana, who was
2:17:03
Speaker 3: no bigger than the nail of your little finger, was
2:17:06
Speaker 3: one day returning to the forest of brosso Leande, where
2:17:10
Speaker 3: she had long dwelt with her companions and playfellows. She
2:17:14
Speaker 3: was just getting back from the christening of three young
2:17:17
Speaker 3: robin redbreasts, which had been celebrated in the cranny of
2:17:21
Speaker 3: a wall covered over with honeysuckles in flower. The affair
2:17:26
Speaker 3: had been held in the nest underneath the leaves. The
2:17:30
Speaker 3: sweet chirpings of the baby birds as they fluttered their
2:17:33
Speaker 3: little pink, unfledged wings, had given promise that they would
2:17:37
Speaker 3: one day be excellent singers. The fairies godchildren had behaved
2:17:42
Speaker 3: themselves excellently, and all together Oriana had had a very
2:17:46
Speaker 3: pleasant day of it. She was consequently in an excellent humor.
2:17:51
Speaker 3: And as when we are happy, we want to make
2:17:54
Speaker 3: others so too, she made a point of doing some
2:17:57
Speaker 3: good service by the way to every person and thing
2:18:00
Speaker 3: that she met. She slid handfuls of blackberries into the
2:18:05
Speaker 3: baskets of lads just going to school. She breathed on
2:18:09
Speaker 3: the buds of the sweetbriar to aid them in opening,
2:18:12
Speaker 3: and she laid down oaten straws over the dewdrops, so
2:18:16
Speaker 3: that the little caterpillars might not get drowned in crossing them.
2:18:20
Speaker 3: And as one becomes all the happier for doing good,
2:18:24
Speaker 3: so the fairy Oriana was so full of self satisfaction that,
2:18:29
Speaker 3: if she had not been afraid of overturning her carriage,
2:18:32
Speaker 3: she would have stood up and danced in the nutshell.
2:18:35
Speaker 3: But the hour of her happiness soon came to an end.
2:18:39
Speaker 3: Alas what had happened, she was certain she had followed
2:18:43
Speaker 3: the right road. Yet there where the forest of brosso
2:18:46
Speaker 3: Leonde had formerly waved its green depths in the breeze,
2:18:50
Speaker 3: there now spread nothing but a vast plain, marked here
2:18:54
Speaker 3: and there with a huge building, while overhead the sky
2:18:57
Speaker 3: was grimy with black smoke. Oh, what has become of you,
2:19:02
Speaker 3: dear green and golden glades, cried Oriana glades where we
2:19:06
Speaker 3: used to dance in the clear starlight. And where are
2:19:09
Speaker 3: the clumps of rose bushes, the hawthorn thickets, the grottos
2:19:13
Speaker 3: where we slept upon mosses amid perfumes and music. And
2:19:18
Speaker 3: what has become of the underground palace with its crystal
2:19:21
Speaker 3: walls which we use to light up on fete days,
2:19:25
Speaker 3: with thousands of living jewels. And what has become of
2:19:28
Speaker 3: you Ergondae, Ergola, Alcene, Vivian and Holde and Mellowsne, and
2:19:35
Speaker 3: you Malandra and new Ariel and Mab and Titania. Whatever
2:19:41
Speaker 3: has become of you? All? Ah, poor Oreana, said a
2:19:45
Speaker 3: lizard who was running away to hide himself in the
2:19:48
Speaker 3: rocks in vain. You call crowds of rough and thoughtless
2:19:52
Speaker 3: men have invaded your peaceful solitudes in order that they
2:19:56
Speaker 3: might build those ugly houses and open a passage for
2:20:00
Speaker 3: frightful machines breathing smoke and flames. They have cut down
2:20:04
Speaker 3: your trees, set fire to the rose bushes and hawthorns,
2:20:08
Speaker 3: filled up your mysterious grottoes and crystal palaces with rocks.
2:20:13
Speaker 3: While all the fairies had been killed in the general disaster.
2:20:17
Speaker 3: I saw Habandi, who was trying to escape, die under
2:20:21
Speaker 3: the foot of a workman, as though she had been
2:20:23
Speaker 3: a grasshopper. On hearing this, Oreana began to cry bitterly
2:20:29
Speaker 3: over the unfortunate fate of her dear companions, and about
2:20:33
Speaker 3: her own misfortunes also, for, as you will allow, it
2:20:37
Speaker 3: was a very melancholy thing to be the only fairy
2:20:41
Speaker 3: living in the world. What should she do? Where could
2:20:44
Speaker 3: she hide herself? Who would shield her against the fury
2:20:48
Speaker 3: of wicked men. Her first thought was to flee, to
2:20:51
Speaker 3: get away from this sad place where all her sisters
2:20:54
Speaker 3: had perished, But she soon found that she could not
2:20:58
Speaker 3: do so in a coach, as had been in her custom.
2:21:01
Speaker 3: The four little ladybirds, to whom she had always been
2:21:04
Speaker 3: so kind, having overheard the lizard's story, and taken flight
2:21:08
Speaker 3: with all the ingratitude and speed they were able to
2:21:12
Speaker 3: put into their wings. This behavior was keenly felt by Oreana,
2:21:17
Speaker 3: especially as there was nothing she so much detested as walking.
2:21:22
Speaker 3: She made the best of it, however, and set out gingerly,
2:21:25
Speaker 3: picking her way between blades of grass and weeds which
2:21:29
Speaker 3: were taller than she. She resolved to go back to
2:21:32
Speaker 3: the robin redbreasts in the honeysuckle covered wall. Surely the
2:21:37
Speaker 3: father and mother of her little god children would not
2:21:40
Speaker 3: fail to welcome her, and their nest would be a
2:21:43
Speaker 3: refuge for her at least until the autumn. But Orianna
2:21:47
Speaker 3: could not travel as fast on two little legs as
2:21:50
Speaker 3: she could in a hazel nut, drawn by flying ladybirds,
2:21:54
Speaker 3: and the whole day passed before she saw the flowery wall.
2:21:58
Speaker 3: You could imagine how tired she she was, but she
2:22:01
Speaker 3: knew now that she would soon be at rest. It
2:22:04
Speaker 3: is I, she called out as she drew near. It
2:22:06
Speaker 3: is I, the fairy godmother. Come down and take me
2:22:10
Speaker 3: on your wings, dear birds, and carry me into your
2:22:13
Speaker 3: mossy house. But there was no reply. Not a single
2:22:17
Speaker 3: head was pushed out from between the leaves to see
2:22:21
Speaker 3: who was there, and Oriana, on looking closer, saw that
2:22:25
Speaker 3: some one had stuck a piece of white china in
2:22:27
Speaker 3: the wall and fastened a long piece of wire to it,
2:22:31
Speaker 3: exactly in the place where the nest had been. As
2:22:34
Speaker 3: she turned to go, not knowing what would become of her,
2:22:38
Speaker 3: she saw a woman carrying a basket of wheat in
2:22:41
Speaker 3: her arms, and who was pushing open the door of
2:22:43
Speaker 3: a barn. Ah madam cried, Oriana, if you will take
2:22:48
Speaker 3: me with you and protect me, you will never have
2:22:51
Speaker 3: cause to repent of it. Fairies no better than any
2:22:54
Speaker 3: one else. How to separate the good grain from the
2:22:57
Speaker 3: troublesome tears, and how to win the wheat without any
2:23:01
Speaker 3: fan In me, you would have a servant who would
2:23:04
Speaker 3: be thoroughly useful to you, and who would save you
2:23:07
Speaker 3: much labor. But either the woman did not hear, or
2:23:11
Speaker 3: pretended that she did not. For opening the barn door
2:23:15
Speaker 3: with a swing, she threw the contents of her basket
2:23:18
Speaker 3: into a machine which winnowed it without the aid of
2:23:21
Speaker 3: fairies or any one else. A little further on, Oreana
2:23:26
Speaker 3: came to a river on whose banks stood a number
2:23:29
Speaker 3: of men. They were grouped around a pile of huge bales.
2:23:33
Speaker 3: While in the river lay a ship. Oreanna thought that
2:23:37
Speaker 3: the men did not understand how to get all these
2:23:40
Speaker 3: heavy goods on board, So she said to them, Ah, gentlemen,
2:23:44
Speaker 3: if you will take care of me and protect me,
2:23:47
Speaker 3: you will never be sorry for it. I will call
2:23:50
Speaker 3: together whole troops of sturdy brownies, so strong that they
2:23:54
Speaker 3: could play leap frog with burdens on their backs. And
2:23:57
Speaker 3: they will quickly carry these heavy things on board the
2:24:00
Speaker 3: ship for you. Truly, you would find a good servant
2:24:04
Speaker 3: in me, one who would be very useful to you,
2:24:07
Speaker 3: and who would save you much labor. But the men
2:24:10
Speaker 3: did not hear, or at least made out that they
2:24:13
Speaker 3: did not. Just then, too, a great iron hook, which
2:24:17
Speaker 3: no hand seemed to hold, came slowly down, caught hold
2:24:21
Speaker 3: of one of the bales, and after hoisting it into
2:24:23
Speaker 3: the air, quietly dropped it upon the ship's deck, without
2:24:27
Speaker 3: any brownie having to trouble himself the least bit about it.
2:24:32
Speaker 3: As the day wore on, the little fairy happened to
2:24:35
Speaker 3: see two men sitting in an inn playing cards. The
2:24:39
Speaker 3: darkness was coming, and the men were leaning over the
2:24:42
Speaker 3: table in order to make out the color and value
2:24:45
Speaker 3: of the cards. Ah gentlemen said, Oriana, if you will
2:24:50
Speaker 3: keep me with you and protect me, you will never
2:24:52
Speaker 3: repent of it. I will bring here hundreds of the
2:24:55
Speaker 3: glow worms which light up the woods, and you will
2:24:59
Speaker 3: be able to continue your game with all the pleasure possible. Truly, truly,
2:25:04
Speaker 3: you will find me to be a most useful servant,
2:25:07
Speaker 3: and one who will save you much trouble. The card
2:25:10
Speaker 3: players did not, however, hear Orianna, or at least pretended
2:25:14
Speaker 3: not to. One of them made a sign, and immediately
2:25:18
Speaker 3: three big jets of flame burst out from three iron
2:25:22
Speaker 3: points and lit up the whole inn, much better than
2:25:25
Speaker 3: three thousand glow worms could have done. Orianna could not
2:25:30
Speaker 3: keep back her tears, for she understood now that men
2:25:33
Speaker 3: and women were becoming too wise to have any more
2:25:36
Speaker 3: use of a little fairy. Next day, however, she managed
2:25:41
Speaker 3: to pick up a little hope. She saw a young
2:25:43
Speaker 3: girl watching the swallows from her window, and as Oreanna
2:25:47
Speaker 3: looked at her, she thought, it is very true that
2:25:50
Speaker 3: the people of this world have invented a number of
2:25:53
Speaker 3: extraordinary things, But with all their science and all their strength,
2:25:57
Speaker 3: they have never yet invented anything to take the place
2:26:01
Speaker 3: of love. How stupid of me not to have thought
2:26:04
Speaker 3: of this before. Then, speaking to the maiden, the last
2:26:08
Speaker 3: of the fairy said, if you please, miss, I know
2:26:12
Speaker 3: that in a far off country, there is a handsome youth,
2:26:15
Speaker 3: as handsome as the day is long, who loves you tenderly,
2:26:19
Speaker 3: Although he has never seen you. He is neither a
2:26:22
Speaker 3: prince nor the son of a millionaire. But his hair
2:26:25
Speaker 3: makes a golden crown for his head, and in his
2:26:28
Speaker 3: heart he keeps treasures of tenderness for you. If you consent,
2:26:32
Speaker 3: I will bring him here in a twinkling, and you
2:26:35
Speaker 3: will be the happiest girl that ever lived. That certainly
2:26:39
Speaker 3: is a very charming promise you are making me, said
2:26:42
Speaker 3: the young girl, very much astonished as you may imagine
2:26:46
Speaker 3: at such language from such a little body. I will
2:26:50
Speaker 3: keep it, I assure you, said Oriana. And what will
2:26:53
Speaker 3: you ask of me in return for such service, Oh,
2:26:56
Speaker 3: scarcely anything, replied the fairy. Only that you will allow
2:27:00
Speaker 3: me to hide myself in one of the dimples that
2:27:03
Speaker 3: come about the corners of your mouth whenever you smile.
2:27:07
Speaker 3: And to do this, I will make myself even smaller
2:27:10
Speaker 3: than I am now, as you please, then, said the girl, smiling.
2:27:14
Speaker 3: It's a bargain. The girl had scarcely finished speaking when Oreana,
2:27:19
Speaker 3: no bigger than a little pearl, was snuggled in the
2:27:22
Speaker 3: little rosy nest. Ah, how comfortable it was there, and
2:27:26
Speaker 3: how pleasant it would be to live there always. Now
2:27:29
Speaker 3: she would no longer grieve over the destruction of the
2:27:33
Speaker 3: forest of Brussolande, and she felt that she had a
2:27:37
Speaker 3: home and friend at last. Being a little fairy who
2:27:41
Speaker 3: kept her word, she immediately summoned the handsome youth from
2:27:45
Speaker 3: the far away country. He at once appeared in the room,
2:27:48
Speaker 3: crowned with his golden curls, and knelt before his beloved.
2:27:52
Speaker 3: At that moment, however, there came in a hideous old
2:27:55
Speaker 3: man with bleared eyes and withered lips. But he carried
2:27:59
Speaker 3: in his hands an open coffer, in which glittered precious
2:28:03
Speaker 3: stones to the value of more than a million. Without
2:28:06
Speaker 3: giving another glance at the kneeling youth, the maiden ran
2:28:10
Speaker 3: to the old man and kissed him, smiling so sweetly.
2:28:13
Speaker 3: All the while that poor little Oriana was smothered to
2:28:17
Speaker 3: death in her dimple. End of Section fifteen. End of
2:28:23
Speaker 3: the Fairy Spinning Wheel and the Tails It Spun by
2:28:27
Speaker 3: Catul Mendez, translated by Thomas Chaundry Vivian, eighteen fifty five
2:28:33
Speaker 3: to nineteen twenty five.