Latest / Genetic Studies of Genius: The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses / Cecil's Own Book - Ann Hawkshaw

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Cecil's Own Book - Ann Hawkshaw · Genetic Studies of Genius: The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses

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  Speaker 1: Part one of Cecil's Own Book by Anne Hawkshaw. This
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  Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Cecil's Own Book by Granny Missus Hawkshaw,
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  Speaker 1: printed for private circulation eighteen seventy one to the memory
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  Speaker 1: of Mary, mother of Cecil. The Wonderful Adventures of Hassan
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  Speaker 1: the Younger, the son of Hassan al Alfhi, the camel driver.
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  Speaker 1: When the Caliph Omar reigned in Baghdad, there lived by
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  Speaker 1: the wells of Musa a certain camel driver called hassanel Alfi,
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  Speaker 1: who had seven sons, and the youngest was named Hassan
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  Speaker 1: the Little or Hassan the Younger, to distinguish him from
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  Speaker 1: his father. The six elder sons went long journeys with
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  Speaker 1: their father across the desert, but the little Hassan went not,
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  Speaker 1: but remained at home with an old woman who had
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  Speaker 1: been his nurse. And he played in the garden by
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  Speaker 1: the fountains, and amused himself on the sea shore, gathering shells,
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  Speaker 1: of which there were many of strange shapes and of
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  Speaker 1: most beautiful colors. One day, when his father and brothers
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  Speaker 1: were absent, the old woman said to Hassan, I must
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  Speaker 1: go away for two days to buy some clothes of
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  Speaker 1: which I am in need. Go not away at the
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  Speaker 1: sea shore, but stay in the house and the garden,
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  Speaker 1: for it may happen that thy father and thy brothers
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  Speaker 1: may return in my absence. And if they come back
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  Speaker 1: and found no one to prepare them food, they would
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  Speaker 1: be greatly displeased. So Hassan promised the old woman he
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  Speaker 1: would remain in the garden till she returned. So she departed,
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  Speaker 1: taking a bottle of water to drink and some dates
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  Speaker 1: to eat on her journey, and Hassan sat down under
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  Speaker 1: the tall palm trees by the side of the large
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  Speaker 1: fountain to read in the Koran, for his father would
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  Speaker 1: not allow his sons to remain ignorant of the arts
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  Speaker 1: of reading and writing. When he had finished reading, he
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  Speaker 1: looked up, and to his great astonishment, he saw an
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  Speaker 1: old man standing by the fountain, for he had heard
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  Speaker 1: no one come up to the garden. The old man
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  Speaker 1: had a long white beard that reached down to his girdle.
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  Speaker 1: His dress was a long linen tunic fastened with a
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  Speaker 1: leather belt, from which hung a small red earthen dish,
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  Speaker 1: like a little shallow basin. He had in one hand
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  Speaker 1: a bottle made of the same sort of red earth,
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  Speaker 1: and in the other a long bamboo stick, on which
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  Speaker 1: he leaned heavily, as if he had walked long in
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  Speaker 1: the desert, and was weary. Now Hassan knew at once
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  Speaker 1: that he was a holy man who had been a
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  Speaker 1: pilgrimage to the tomb of the prophets. And he laid
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  Speaker 1: aside his book and rose up from under the trees
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  Speaker 1: where he had been sitting, and saluted the old man
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  Speaker 1: by bowing down with his face to the ground, and said,
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  Speaker 1: my father, would you drink of the waters of Mousa
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  Speaker 1: and repose under the aged palm trees where our great
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  Speaker 1: answers to Ishmael Hath sat. And the old man replied,
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  Speaker 1: I will.
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  Speaker 2: My son.
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  Speaker 1: Then Hassan spread a mat under the tree, and fetched
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  Speaker 1: water from the well, and hastened and put dates and
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  Speaker 1: oranges and custard apples in a basket made of palm leaf,
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  Speaker 1: and strewed sweet scented henneflowers over them. And when he
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  Speaker 1: had brought them to the pilgrim, he said, eat my father,
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  Speaker 1: and leave a blessing on the house of Hassan al Alfi,
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  Speaker 1: even the blessing of one who hath prayed at the
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  Speaker 1: tomb of the Prophet praised be Allah, For so he
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  Speaker 1: had been taught by his father to welcome all holy
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  Speaker 1: men when they came to drink of the wells of
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  Speaker 1: the desert. So the old man ate and drank, and
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  Speaker 1: lay down and slept under the cool shade of the
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  Speaker 1: palm trees, overcome by the fatigue of his long journey,
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  Speaker 1: and by the heat of the day.
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  Speaker 2: For the sky was without a.
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  Speaker 1: Cloud, and of the color of burnished copper, and the
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  Speaker 1: fierce heat of the sun was like the heat of
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  Speaker 1: a great oven. And the long leaves of the palm
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  Speaker 1: trees moved not, for there was not a breath of
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  Speaker 1: air to stir them, and the sweet scented flowers drooped
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  Speaker 1: as if they were dying. And the bundles of hay
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  Speaker 1: ready for the camels when they came home, were dry
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  Speaker 1: as the shavings of wood, and the sand of the
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  Speaker 1: desert that surrounded the gardens, and the wells glistened and
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  Speaker 1: shone in the glare of that terrible noonday heat. Even
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  Speaker 1: the lizards clung to the mud walls, silent and sleepy,
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  Speaker 1: and did not run nimbly about and in and out
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  Speaker 1: of the cracks, as if they were playing at hide
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  Speaker 1: and seek with one another, as is the wont of
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  Speaker 1: lizards to do. There was not a sound of man
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  Speaker 1: or beast, or bird, or insect, wind or water, for
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  Speaker 1: the silence was complete.
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  Speaker 2: All things seemed.
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  Speaker 1: Burnt to brick and baked into hardness, and Hassan, as
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  Speaker 1: well as the old man, overpowered by the heat, slept
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  Speaker 1: till the sun began to go down in the west,
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  Speaker 1: and a breeze began to stir the branches of the trees,
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  Speaker 1: and the flowers revived in the pleasant coolness. Then Hassan
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  Speaker 1: awoke and looked to see if the pilgrim was sleeping,
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  Speaker 1: but lo, he was gone. But on the mat where
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  Speaker 1: he had slept were two leather bags tied with strings.
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  Speaker 1: Then Hassan got up with haste and ran round the
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  Speaker 1: garden and looked in the garden house built by the
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  Speaker 1: great fountain, but he could not find the old man.
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  Speaker 1: Then he climbed to the top of a tall tree,
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  Speaker 1: from which he could see for miles into the desert,
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  Speaker 1: but he saw nothing but a great dust, which he
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  Speaker 1: knew must be caused by a troop of camels. And
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  Speaker 1: he rejoiced at the sight, and his heart was glad,
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  Speaker 1: for he thought it must be his father and brothers
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  Speaker 1: who were coming home. So he came down quickly and
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  Speaker 1: prepared the hay for the camels to eat, and water
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  Speaker 1: for them to drink, and spread a mat for his father,
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  Speaker 1: and got ready food for supper. And when all things
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  Speaker 1: were in a state of readiness, he remembered the bags
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  Speaker 1: that the old man had left and opened one to
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  Speaker 1: see what was in it. And when he had looked
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  Speaker 1: into it, he was amazed, for it was full of
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  Speaker 1: pieces of gold. Then he opened the other, and behold
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  Speaker 1: it was full of diamonds and rubies and emeralds. Then
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  Speaker 1: Hassan clapped his hands and danced round the bags with delight,
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  Speaker 1: and cried, I would go to Baghdad and live as
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  Speaker 1: doth the weeezer of the Caliph, and wear a robe
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  Speaker 1: of silk, and drink sherbet out of a golden cup.
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  Speaker 1: Then he took out some of the diamonds and rubies
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  Speaker 1: and emeralds, and admired greatly the beautiful colors and held
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  Speaker 1: up the diamonds to the light to see how they glittered.
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  Speaker 1: And whilst he was searching amongst them, he saw there
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  Speaker 1: was a piece of paper with some words written thereon,
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  Speaker 1: And looking with attention, he perceived that it was addressed
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  Speaker 1: unto himself, for on the outside was written in beautiful
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  Speaker 1: Arabic writing to Hassan the Little, the son of Hassan
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  Speaker 1: al Alfhi. Then he unrolled the paper, and then he
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  Speaker 1: saw that there was more writing inside, and he composed
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  Speaker 1: himself attentively to read. And the words were as follows.
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  Speaker 1: The blessing of the old man, even the aged pilgrim
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  Speaker 1: from Mecca, who was wearied with journeying and fainting for
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  Speaker 1: lack of bread and of water, and who drank of
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  Speaker 1: the wells of Musa and eat of the fresh dates
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  Speaker 1: of the garden, and slept safely under the palm trees
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  Speaker 1: in the hot noontide, rest on the house of Hassan
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  Speaker 1: al Ala. And a double blessing rest on the head
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  Speaker 1: of Hassan the Little, for he reverenced the aged man,
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  Speaker 1: even the aged pilgrim from Mecca, and made obeisance unto him,
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  Speaker 1: and tended him like a son. Now the old man,
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  Speaker 1: believing that the boy Hassan is one in whose heart
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  Speaker 1: dwelleth truth, leaveth in his care two leather bags filled
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  Speaker 1: with precious treasure, until he cometh again to claim them.
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  Speaker 1: And at the time appointed by Allah, he will come
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  Speaker 1: again and ask of Hassan the little to deliver up
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  Speaker 1: the gold and the gems. He also giveth to Hassan
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  Speaker 1: a ring that is sewed up in a small bag
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  Speaker 1: of silk of Damascus, which is concealed at the bottom
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  Speaker 1: of the bag of gold. Praised be Allah. Now, when
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  Speaker 1: Hassan had read these words, he emptied the bag of
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  Speaker 1: gold onto the mat and found at the bottom a
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  Speaker 1: small silken bag, such as the writing had discos, and
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  Speaker 1: it was carefully sewed up. Then he took from his
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  Speaker 1: belt a knife and cut the stitches, and there appeared
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  Speaker 1: at the bottom of the bag a ring. Then Hassan
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  Speaker 1: took out the ring, and behold, it was but a
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  Speaker 1: ring of copper. And he threw it down on the
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  Speaker 1: ground and said, it is but a ring of copper,
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  Speaker 1: such as the very water carriers of Cairo would not
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  Speaker 1: gather out of the dust. And when he looked at
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  Speaker 1: the gold and the precious stones, he despised the copper
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  Speaker 1: ring and left it lying on the ground, and sat
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  Speaker 1: silent and sad. Now near him was a henner tree
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  Speaker 1: covered with white, sweet scented blossoms, and a bird of
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  Speaker 1: dull plumage that had no beauty came and perched upon
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  Speaker 1: the branches and began to sing. And it sang these
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  Speaker 1: words to the great astonishment of Hassan as he sat
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  Speaker 1: with all the treasure of the sacks poured out around him,
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  Speaker 1: and the ring thrown down on the mats. Look not
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  Speaker 1: upon the treasure, Hassan, hide it quickly from thy sight.
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  Speaker 1: Watch me as I float away far above these realms
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  Speaker 1: of nights homelyiest things are not the meanness, and the
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  Speaker 1: dull can change to bright. Watch me as I float
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  Speaker 1: away to the skies of pearly lights. After that, the
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  Speaker 1: bird with the dusky wings flew away, And as it
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  Speaker 1: flew far away, it seemed to Hassan no more a bird,
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  Speaker 1: but a perry with wings of gold and asia. Then
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  Speaker 1: Hassan arose before the words of the wonderful creature had
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  Speaker 1: escaped his memory, and gathered all the gold and the
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  Speaker 1: precious stones, and put them into the bags, and tied
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  Speaker 1: them with the strings and sat down on the mat.
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  Speaker 1: But he was sad and sighed frequently, and said, of
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  Speaker 1: what use is all this treasure to an old man
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  Speaker 1: whose time on this earth will be shure, and whose
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  Speaker 1: days are spent in pilgrimage to the holy places and
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  Speaker 1: in ceaseless prayers to Allah, and the bread and water
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  Speaker 1: sufficeth for food. I will take the bags and hide
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  Speaker 1: them in the earth. And when some weeks have passed by,
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  Speaker 1: and my father and my brothers are about again to depart,
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  Speaker 1: I will secrete some of the treasure in my belt,
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  Speaker 1: and I will go with them. And when I reach
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  Speaker 1: some great city, I will leave my father and my
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  Speaker 1: brothers and will sell the precious stones and buy silk
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  Speaker 1: robes and a palace like the palace of.
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  Speaker 2: The Weezer, and no one will know.
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  Speaker 1: And when I want more money, I will return hither
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  Speaker 1: secretly and take more of the treasure. And he rose
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  Speaker 1: and prepared to carry away the bags and hide them.
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  Speaker 1: But again he heard words come from the henna tree,
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  Speaker 1: and he stopped and beheld, and there sat a bird
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  Speaker 1: of the most brilliant plumage in the branches. Its wings
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  Speaker 1: glittered like the jewels in the turban of the Caliph,
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  Speaker 1: and Hassan was astonished at its great beauty, and it said,
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  Speaker 1: take the treasure. Take it, Hassan, it will make thee
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  Speaker 1: rich and great. There is no one here to see thee.
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  Speaker 1: I will not the deed relate, Am I not of
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  Speaker 1: wondrous beauty? Wouldst thou like to share my fate? Take
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  Speaker 1: the treasure, seize it quickly, and for ever be my mates.
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  Speaker 1: Then Hassan began to dig a hole to bury the bags,
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  Speaker 1: And while he did so, he thought he heard a
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  Speaker 1: laugh of derision from the glittering creature, and he was
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  Speaker 1: afraid and trembled exceedingly, for he knew he was doing
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  Speaker 1: an evil deed in taking the treasure of the old
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  Speaker 1: man to be his own. Now it was the hour
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  Speaker 1: of sunset, and he remembered he had not washed. So
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  Speaker 1: he put down the bags and washed in the well,
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  Speaker 1: and spread his carpet and knelt down to pray with
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  Speaker 1: his face to all Mecca. And as he prayed, the
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  Speaker 1: bird changed its form and became a loathsome creature with
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  Speaker 1: wings like a bat, and long sharp claws on its feet,
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  Speaker 1: and round, staring eyes that were like sparks of fire
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  Speaker 1: that scorched Hassan as he looked at it, and its
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  Speaker 1: voice became like the voice of the cruel hyena of
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  Speaker 1: the desert, and Hassan was terrified beyond measure, and he said,
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  Speaker 1: I will not take the treasure of the old man.
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  Speaker 1: I will only take the ring that he gave me,
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  Speaker 1: and the blessing he inscribed on the paper will rest
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  Speaker 1: on me and on the house of my father. And
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  Speaker 1: he sought for the ring and put it on the
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  Speaker 1: forefinger of his right hand, And when he did so,
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  Speaker 1: the ugly creature gave a loud scream and flew away,
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  Speaker 1: and Hassan shuddered with exceeding fear. Then he took the
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  Speaker 1: bags into the garden house and sat down to wait
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  Speaker 1: till his father and brothers should arrive. And his heart
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  Speaker 1: was at peace. And now outside the hedge of the
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  Speaker 1: garden he heard the loud voices of men, and the
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  Speaker 1: voices were not the voices of his brothers, but those
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  Speaker 1: of strangers. And their words were violent, and they uttered
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  Speaker 1: not the name of Allah, and Hassan was afraid, and
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  Speaker 1: he sat still on the mat and trembled. Then six
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  Speaker 1: men entered the garden and took the hay and the
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  Speaker 1: water that Hassan had prepared for his father's camels, and
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  Speaker 1: gave them to their own camels. And when they had
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  Speaker 1: taken the loads of the beasts, they left them fastened
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  Speaker 1: to a palm tree outside the garden, and came themselves
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  Speaker 1: to the place where Hassan sat. Now, they were fierce
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  Speaker 1: robbers from the desert, who feared not Allah and had
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  Speaker 1: no pity on any living thing. When they saw Hassan,
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  Speaker 1: they said, Oh, here is a slave who will procure
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  Speaker 1: as food and water. P doubt us see hath them
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  Speaker 1: by him? For is not this the house and garden
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  Speaker 1: of Hassan al Alfi, the rich camel driver, whom we
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  Speaker 1: robbed on the way to Baghdad. Then he who is
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  Speaker 1: the chief, said to Hassan, a little rise and bring
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  Speaker 1: us quickly some food and water, and spread mats under
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  Speaker 1: the trees, for we will rest and eat in this place.
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  Speaker 1: And afterwards thou shalt go with us and be our slave,
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  Speaker 1: and attent to the camels. Then poor Hassan the little
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  Speaker 1: rose trembling and went to fetch water and food. And
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  Speaker 1: he wept and said, alas alas I shall see my
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  Speaker 1: father and my brothers no more but must be a
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  Speaker 1: slave to the robers of the desert. And he wrung
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  Speaker 1: his hands and wept bitterly. But the men had no
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  Speaker 1: pity on him, but said, if thou makest not haste,
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  Speaker 1: o slave, we will beat thee as the carpets are
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  Speaker 1: beaten in.
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  Speaker 2: The palace of the caliph.
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  Speaker 1: Now one of the robbers went into the garden house
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  Speaker 1: to see if there he could find clothes or money
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  Speaker 1: to carry away. And as he was searching, he ha
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  Speaker 1: spied the two bags that Hassan had put on the divan,
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  Speaker 1: and he took them and carried them to the other
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  Speaker 1: robbers under the palm trees. And they said, oh, what
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  Speaker 1: have we here? What hath this boy hidden in these
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  Speaker 1: leather bags that are so carefully tied up? And when
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  Speaker 1: they had opened them and saw the treasure, they rejoiced
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  Speaker 1: excessively and said, this exceedeth all the treasure we have
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  Speaker 1: taken from the caravans this year. Then the Sheikh said,
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  Speaker 1: tie up the bags, and tomorrow, when we rest at noon,
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  Speaker 1: I will divide the gold and the precious stones to
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  Speaker 1: each his right proportion. But the boy I will keep
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  Speaker 1: to be my slave. When Hassan heard these words, he
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  Speaker 1: fell on his face and entreated them not to carry
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  Speaker 1: him away nor to take the bags. And he told
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  Speaker 1: them the whole story about the old man, and he
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  Speaker 1: showed them the writing to prove that he spoke words
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  Speaker 1: of truth. And they read the paper and saw that
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  Speaker 1: it was as he had said. Then they laughed and
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  Speaker 1: mocked at Hassan and said, let us look at this ring.
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  Speaker 1: And when they saw it, they laughed yet the louder,
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  Speaker 1: and the Sheikh said, thou mayst keep thy copper ring,
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  Speaker 1: for it is fit only for the finger of a slave.
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  Speaker 1: But we will have the bags, and I will keep
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  Speaker 1: the writing, for it may be a charm of great value,
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  Speaker 1: as is the writing of a dervish. And when Hassan
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  Speaker 1: entreated them to have pity on him, they beat him
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  Speaker 1: with a bamboo cane, put him into the garden house
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  Speaker 1: and fastened the door. And he wept all night and
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  Speaker 1: could not sleep, and continually lamented and said, oh, my father,
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  Speaker 1: oh my brothers. And as he sat weeping and lamenting,
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  Speaker 1: behold the ring came off his finger, and it rolled
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  Speaker 1: along the floor. And as it rolled it grew bigger
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  Speaker 1: and brighter, till it shone like molten iron. And grew
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  Speaker 1: yet larger and larger, and then it fell over, and
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  Speaker 1: Hassan was sitting in the center of the great circle
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  Speaker 1: that it made, and it appeared like fire all around him,
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  Speaker 1: but it scorched him not. And outside the circle of
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  Speaker 1: fire he saw the vile creature that tempted him to
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  Speaker 1: take the bags, and also evil genie, and ugly crawling creatures,
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  Speaker 1: and loathsome animals that tried to get at him, but
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  Speaker 1: they could not because of the wonderful belt of flame
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  Speaker 1: that surrounded him. So after a time they fled away,
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  Speaker 1: And when they were gone, the ring shrunk again to
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  Speaker 1: its former size and appeared but as a ring of copper,
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  Speaker 1: and Hassan took it up and put it on his finger,
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  Speaker 1: and said, doubtless, this ring hath wonderful properties and is
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  Speaker 1: a talisman of great value, praised be Allah, and he
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  Speaker 1: rejoiced that the robbers had despised it, and that they
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  Speaker 1: had left it with him. And after that his heart
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  Speaker 1: was less sorrowful, and he slept and was refreshed. Now
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  Speaker 1: early in the morning, the robbers unfastened the door of
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  Speaker 1: the garden house and called to Hassan to come out
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  Speaker 1: and to load the camels, and when all was ready,
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  Speaker 1: they took the two bags of treasure and departed. The
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  Speaker 1: Sheikh rode on a fleet Dromedary, and he made Hassan
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  Speaker 1: lead the camels that were laden with water, for they
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  Speaker 1: had filled all their water skins with the sweet water
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  Speaker 1: from the wells of Musa. For they were going many
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: days journey into the desert, where they would find no water,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: nor grass, nor herbs, save the bitter herbs of the
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: wilderness that no man can eat. They took the way
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: to the Red Sea, and at noon they stopped to
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: shelter from the ex stream heat of the sun under
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: a great rock, and the camels lay down to rest.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Then the Shikh said, bring the sacks, and I will
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: divide the gold and the precious stones. And Hassan was
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: compelled to bring them. And they opened first the sack
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: that contained the gold, and lo, instead of gold, it
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: was filled with sand. Then they opened the other that
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: contained the diamonds and the emeralds and the rubis, and lo,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: they have been changed into little white and colored pebbles,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: such as are on the sea shore. Then the Shaikh said,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: it is thou that hast done this, Oh, Hassan, a
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: little thou shalt die, thou deceitful and wicked slave, if
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: thou dost not immediately reveal where thou hast hidden the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: treasure that was in these sacks yesterday. Then Hassan replied, oh,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: my master, I know not how this hath taken place.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: I am ignorant of what have become of the treasure.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: But they would not believe him, and were exasperated beyond
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: measure because the treasure was gone. So they took up
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Hassan and threw him into the sea, and he sank
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: out of their sight in the clear water, and they
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: left the bags under the rock and departed on their journey.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: Now Hassan, at the first when he was thrown into
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: the sea, was stunned, and his mind was confused with fear.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: But after a while he found, to his great joy
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: and extreme wonder, that he could live in the water
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: as well as on the land. And he went down
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: to the bottom of the sea, and it was as
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: a lovely garden. The corals and the sea plants, amongst
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: which the shining little fishes swam or rested, were beautiful
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: to his sight, and the coolness of the water was refreshing.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: To his heated limbs, and he said, praise to be Allah,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: who hath bestows owed on me this wonderful ring. For
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: it is no doubt by its power that I have
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: been preserved and that I can live at the bottom
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: of the sea. I will sit awhile on this ledge
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: of rock that looks like a couch with a carpet
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: of ispahans spread over it, For this sea moss as
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: beautiful as embroidered work from the looms of Iran. And
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I will watch the strange creatures of the sea as
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: they swim about me. So he sat down on the rock,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: and the water was like a vault of emerald above him.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: And he saw the oysters opening and shutting their shells,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: and he saw the pearls glistening within them. And he
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: watched the sea hedgehogs moving about. And he gathered shells
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: of great beauty, such he had never found on the shore,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: whose colors were like the colors of the rainbow, in
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: which one color mingles with another. And Hassan said to himself,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: this place as lovely as the gardens of Damascus, of
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: which my father hath told me. Then he found a
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: large shell that resembled a trumpet, and he put it
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: to his mouth and blew into it, and it produced
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: a sound like that of a silver trumpet. And he
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: amused himself with blowing into it. But after he had
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: amused himself so for some time, he heard a similar
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: sound proceeding from a distance. And the sound came nearer
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: and nearer, and he beheld a troop of creatures coming
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: towards him. Their faces were beautiful as the moon, and
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: their eyes lovely as the eyes of the gazelles in
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: the desert. And their arms were fair as alabaster, but
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: from their waist they resembled fishes. Now they were the
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: sons and daughters of the old merman who lived in
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: the cavern underneath the rock on which Hassan was sitting.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: They had heard the sound of the trumpet shell that
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: he had been playing upon, and had come up to
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: see who it was that had taken one of their
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: instruments of music. It may be, Hassan heard them say,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: as they came on, one of our cousins from Iran,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: who has brought us the large pearls that our uncle
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: promised us so long ago. Or perchance it is a
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: messenger from the sea King to inquire after the health
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: of our father, for he is now the oldest and
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: most venerated of all the sons of the sea. But
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: when they saw Hassan, they were overcome with astonishment and
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: wonder and were silent from amazement. After a while they
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: recovered from their great surprise and swam close up to him,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: And one of them said, this is one of the
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: strange creatures who live on the land, to whom Allah
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: hath not granted a tale, but to move about on
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: two pegs. And they began to laugh immoderately, and they said,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: let us take the tailorless creature to our father. It
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: will amuse him greatly to see him. Then one of
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: them said to Hassan, canst thou speak, O thou tail
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: this creature? Or art thou dumb like the fishes?
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: What is thy name?
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Then Hassan said, I am called Hassan the little and
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: the name of my father is Hassan al Alfi, the
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: camel driver. And because of a charm I have about me,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: I can live in the water, and I will go
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: with you, For though you are but sea monsters, and
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: I am of the superior race of men, I think
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: you are kind in heart, and will not hurt me.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Then they said, no, we will not hurt thee. But
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: they laughed excessively when they heard him call them sea monsters,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: and said, this poor creature from the land hath not
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: much intelligence. For ye think of he is greater and
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: wiser than the moor men, who have tails covered with
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: shining scales of gold and green and asia. But Allah
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: hath not granted to all creatures the same amount of sense,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: So we will have pity on him. When they saw
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Hassan stand on his two legs, they laughed again and said,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: do all the creatures on the land move as thou
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: doest on two pegs? And Hassan answered, no, some of
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: them go on for and they laughed again, more immoderately,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: and said, certainly, the old Man of the sea, who
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: composeth the songs and the histories, never imagined any creatures
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: so strange as these of whom this mortal speaketh. And
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: he hath lived for a thousand years and is the
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: most learned of all the children of the sea. We
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: think in this matter thou tell us not the truth,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: oh Hassan, the little But now we will go to
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: our father, the old Man of the sea. Then Hassan
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: floated with them through the clear water till they came
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: to a cavern, and they swam into it, and Hassan
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: was oppressed and bewildered with the extreme beauty of the place.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: When he examined it. There were on each hand a
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: thousand pillars of emerald that supported the roof that was
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: inlaid with the scales of gold and silver fishes curiously
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: wrought together, and between each pillar was suspended a globe
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: of pure white crystal, filled with the phosphorescence of the sea,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: which gave light to the hall of the thousand pillars.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: The floor was of pale pink coral of the most
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: delicate color, and the divan was formed of mother of pearl,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: and on it reclined at the upper end of the hall.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: The wise old Man of the Sea, then the merman
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: and mermaidens brought Hassan to him and said, oh, our father,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: we have found this strange creature of the land, and
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: have brought him that thou mayest amuse thyself with him,
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: and he shall tell us his history. Though he is
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: not beautiful to behold, and seemeth to lack intelligence. Then
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: the old Merman regarded Hassan and said, SoSE thy story,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: and after I have heard THEE speak, I can judge
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: of thy sense. And Hassan told them all his history.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: He disguised nothing, And when he had finished, the old
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Merman said, I am the oldest son of the sea.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Yet I cannot decide whether the things thou tellest, o,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: son of the land, are truth or falsehood. I will
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: consider the matter for a whole moon, and thou shalt
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: dwell here with my sons and my daughters, and no
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: one shall say that thou art a liar or shall
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: mock thee. And his children were abashed before him, for
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: they knew he was wise, with the wisdom of many years,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: and they were very young. Yet had they given an
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: opinion immediately they had seen Hassan that he was a
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: creature of little sense and spoke falsehoods. But their father
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: had decided he must consider the subject for one whole moon.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: And they said, one to another, we will not laugh
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: any more at the taleless creature, but will call him
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Hassan as he saith, that is his name. So they
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: were kind to him, and his heart was at peace,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: and they showed him every day. Some new plant or
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: new creature of the sea. And he was every day
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: more astonished at the wonderful things he saw. And when
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: a moon was nearly past, Hassan said to one of
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: the maidens of the sea, who was the most loved
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: of them all, I wonder not, oh, dear maiden of
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: the Sea, that thy brothers believed in their hearts that
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: I spoke falsehoods when I told them of the strange
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: creatures of the land. For if any one had informed
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: me when I dwelt by the wells of Musa of
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: the strange things that I see here day by day,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: I should have said that they spoke not the truth
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: received that it becometh the young and the ignorant to
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: be silent and to learn. Now at the end of
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: a full moon, the old merman of the Hall of
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: the Thousand Pillars sent for Hassan and said to him, O,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: son of the Land, I have pondered over thy words,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: and have observed thy deeds for one whole moon, and
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: I am convinced that thou speakest the truth. So dwell
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: with us as long as thou art content to do so,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: and tell us of the strange adventures that have come
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: to thy knowledge respecting the children.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Of the land.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: So Hassan was glad that his words were believed. And
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: he told them of his home by the wells of Musa,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: and of the beautiful things he had heard described by
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: his friends who had visited strange countries. And when he
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: had finished, some of the children of the sea sighed
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: and said, it were better to live on the land
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: than in the sea. But the old wise man said, Allah,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: whose name be praised, are appointed to all creatures the
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: lot that is best for them, And a change will
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: come for you, o, you children of the sea. Then
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the sea maiden, who was the best beloved, said, yes, oh,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: my father, we shall assuredly go to the isle of
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: the sweet fountains when the time that Allah hath appointed
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: shall come. Now it came to pass that in seven
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: days the dear maiden of the sea, who was the
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: most beloved, died, and they all lamented for her bitterly.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: And Hassan also, though he was not of their race
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: nor of their kindred, wept for the loss of the
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: maiden of the pure and loving heart. And the Hall
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: of the Thousand Pillars became sad to him, and he
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: wandered from it, until he lost all means of finding
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: his way back again. And he floated into the deep
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: ocean and sank deeper and deeper into its silent and
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: measureless abysses. And he became afraid as he went downward
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: and downward into his silent depths. For as he descended
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: lower and lower, all the beautiful things he had seen
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: in the hall of the murmur disappeared, and the silence
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: and the solitude became insupportable to Hassan, and his heart
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: became as a stone within him as he sank deeper
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: and deeper, and he said, perchance, it is ordained that
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: I am to live for ever amid these silent waters.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: Oh that I had died like the dear maiden of
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: the sea. But his lamenting was of no avail, for
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: he sank yet deeper and deeper, till at last his
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: feet rested on a vast mountain that rose from the
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: bottom of the nethermost ocean. And he was glad even
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: of that change, though the mountain was full of deep
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: pits and horrible caverns, and he would have rejoiced at
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: the sight of the smallest fish, or of a piece
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: of sea weed, clinging to the rocks, but there was
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: no living thing to be seen. But he said, perchance,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: in that immense cavern that I see in the side
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: of the mountain, there may dwell some kind creatures of
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: the race of the Merman, who will direct me how
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: to find my way to the land. For I wish
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: now to return to my father's house. So he descended
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: and looked into the cavern, and he could not move
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: from the spot, but stood like one entranced, and his
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: eyes were dilated with astonishment and wonder and fear. He
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: saw that the cavern was of great extent, and was
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: supported on pillars of adamant, and the floor and the
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: roof were of marble, black as the night sky when
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: no stars shine in it. To each pillar was a
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: ring and an iron chain. At the further end of
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: the cave was a door of open iron, curiously wrought
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: with figures of a serpent with a crown of gold
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: and of carbuncles on his head. And through the open
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: work of the door he saw another cave more wonderful
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: than the first, for in the middle was a fountain
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: of fire, and the flames kept shooting upward and then
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: falling down again. Like streams of liquid amber. And by
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: the light of the fire fountain, Hassan saw reclining on
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: a divan of black stone, the great Sea serpent King.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: And he knew who he was, because the wise old
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: man of the sea had spoken of him, but always
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: with a borrence, because he did evil to the mermen
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: and enchanted them, and they avoided him and feared him greatly.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Hassan could not see his great length, for he was
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: coiled round and round, till he formed as many circles
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: as sailors make of a thousand fathoms of cordage. But
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: he saw that he had on his head a great
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: crown of gold, and had round his neck a collar
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: of carbuncles the size of ostrich eggs. And they glimmered
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: and shone in the light of the Fountain of Fire.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: When Hassan had observed all these things, he said, this
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: is a vile place, and this is an evil disposed creature.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: I will not tarry any longer near him, though I
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: perceive that he is asleep now. But if he wakes,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: he may entrance me and turn me into a pillar
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: of adamant. For now I see that all the pillars
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: in this cave are in the likeness of living things
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: of the sea or of the land, and doubtless by
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: his magic he hath entranced them. So Hassan turned and
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: fled quickly. Now, as he was passing out, he saw
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: that there were two strange sea monsters chained by their
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: necks to the two pillars nearest the entrance. And as
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: he looked on them, he saw that they were weeping.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: And they opened them their mouths as if they would
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: fain speak to him, But they could not utter a sound,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: but they continued to gaze at him with eyes full
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: of tears. Now Hassan was compassionate, and he said, who
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: are ye? But they only looked the more sorrowfully and
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: beseechingly at him, but could not utter a word. Then
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: Hassan perceived that they were dumb, but that they were
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: not without intelligence, And he said, I will at the
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: least unchain them, and perchance they will find, by the
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: mercy of Allah, some way out of their enchantment. So
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: he went to the one on the right hand and
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: undid his chain. And while he did so, he touched
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: the strange creature with his ring, and lo it was
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: changed immediately into a young merman. Then Hassan was glad
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: and unfastened the one on the left hand and touched
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: it also with his ring, and lo it became a
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: beautiful maiden of the sea. And they said, oh, beneficent one,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: let us hasten away from this abominable cave. Praised be Allah,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: who hath had pity on us, and sent thee to
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: deliver us. For we have been enchanted for many years,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: and hope of deliverance had died in our hearts. So
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: they and Hassan went out of the cave and began
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: to float upward through the waters. But they grew weary
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: and decided to rest. So they reposed on a ledge
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: of the great mountain, at the foot of which was
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: the Hall of Adamant. And while they reclined on the rock,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Hassan said, tell me your adventure, oh ye children of
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: the sea, and by what misfortune ye became enchanted? And
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: they replied to him, oh, good creature of the land.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: We are of the children of the sea, who dwell
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: in the Gulf of Oran. And our home is in
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: the palace of Pearl, for it is built of mother
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: of pearl that glistens in the clear waters. But the
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: colors of the rainbow, and it is surrounded by a
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: grove of pink coral beautiful to behold. Now it happened
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: by the disposal of Allah, whose name be praised, that
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: our father said, take these pearls to our cousins, the
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: children of the Old Man of the Sea, who dwelleth
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: in the Hall of the Thousand Pillars. Then Hassan interrupted
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: them and said, my heart is glad, and I rejoice
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: greatly that I have delivered you from your enchantment in
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: the hall of the Serpent's King. For you are the
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: relations of those whom I respect greatly, and with whom
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: I have dwelt more than one whole moon. But proceed
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: with your adventures, for I would fain hear them to
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: the conclusion, Oh, benevolent stranger. They said, we took the
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: pearls from our father, and we replied, O Father to
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: hear is to obey.
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: But when we had left.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: Him and were swimming on to the Hall of the
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: Thousand Pillars, we said to each other, what use is
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: it to go directly to the Old Man of the sea.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: Let us amuse ourselves by going downwards to see what
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: things and creatures are in the abysses of the great Ocean,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: for doubtless they are many and wonderful to behold. But alas,
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: after a time we lost all power over our motions,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: and were drawn down rapidly with great force, till we
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: reached the hall of Adamant, and were drawn by enchantment
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: into it, and up to the place where reclined the
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: Serpent King of the Sea. And he hissed at us
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: and said, oh, disobedient children of the sea, ye are
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: in my power now, and I will enchant you, and
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: ye shall lose all that is beautiful about you and
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: become monstrous. Then we feared greatly and wept, but he
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: only laughed and hissed at us, and he looked at
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: us with his bread fiery eyes. We felt ourselves changed
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: into the ugly creatures thou sowest o good stranger. And
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: then he chained us to the pillars at the entrance
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: of the cave, and the power of speech was taken
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: from us. We could only weep and lament our fate
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: in our hearts, for it was not in the power
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: of the evil serpent king to change our minds. And
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: though we could not utter words, we could pray to
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Allah in our thoughts and entreat him to have compassion
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: on us. But our hearts grew every moon more sorrowful,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: and we despaired of deliverance. When thou camest and released us,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: O beneficent stranger, wilt thou tell us thy name, that
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: we may retain it for ever in our memories, and
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: inscribe it on the most honorable place of the palace
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: of Pearl. And he said, my name is Hassan, the
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: Little the son of Hassan al Alfi, the camel driver
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: of the wells of Musa. And they replied to him,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: during the whole of our existence, we will not forget
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: thee Oh Hassan, for the ungrateful are an abomination to Allah.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: Then they proceeded upwards, and at last the children of
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: the sea uttered a cry of joy and said, we
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: know that we are not far from our home, for
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: these rocks are familiar to us. And they parted from
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Hassan with many kind words and thanks, and he continued
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: his way towards the shores of Arabia. It was at
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the time of sunset when he came to the top
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: of the sea, and he saw, at a little distance
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: from him, an island beautiful as the gardens of Paradise.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: At first he thought it was only the reflection of
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: the gold and purple and rose colors of the sky
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: which made the appearance of a glorious island of light
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: in the clear waters of the sea. But as he
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: considered it with attention, he became convey that it was
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: the island of the sweet fountains that the deer maiden
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: of the sea loved to converse about. And he said,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I will go and examine more nearly the island of
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: beauty and loveliness that Allah hath placed in the sea.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: And he drew near and landed in a garden where
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: all the flowers of the world were blooming, and where
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: the sound of fountains that fell into marble basins curiously carved,
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: and the murmuring of running streams were heard perpetually. And
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: Hassan's heart was dilated with joy at the sight of
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: the garden, and he said, I will repose here one
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: night before I proceed to my father's house. I am
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: astonished that I never heard from any of the dwellers
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: by the wells of Musa of this beautiful island, For
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: it seemeth to me very nigh to the land of
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: the sons of Ishmael, and it was even so, But
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: to the generality of persons it only appeared as the
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: color of the sunset, and they passed it by with indifference.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: So Hassan wandered about the garden and drank from the fountains,
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: and lay down to sleep. And when he awoke from
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: a sweet and refreshing slumber, the full moon was shining.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: And he looked up and lo beside him stood a
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: beautiful creature of the children of the Genie. Her eyes
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: were like the eyes of the gazelle of the desert,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: and her form was like the palm tree, and his
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: beauty and grace. And Hassan arose and bowed with his
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: face to the ground and made abeisance, for he was
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: overwhelmed with astonishment and wonder and reverence. Then he heard
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: a voice, sweet as the wind of the south, through
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: the curves of a seashell, that said, Hassan, son of
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: Hassan al Alfy, dost thou not know me? And he
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: gazed on the beautiful genie, and he knew in its
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: heart that it was the dear maiden of the sea,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: whom he had loved so much when he lived in
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: the Hall of the Thousand Pillars. Now she was changed
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: into wondrous beauty and loveliness. But it was only the
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: change from the sea to the full grown flower. So
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Hassan knew her to be the same dear maiden who
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: had been so kind to him before. She was changed
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: and became one of the genie of the Island of
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: Sweet Fountains, And his heart was filled with joy that
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: found no words to express itself. So he only gazed
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: at her with pleasure in his eyes, and with his
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: hands clasped in reverence, for he felt he was in
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: the presence of a being greatly superior to himself. And
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: he remembered with shame how often he had despised the
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: discourse he had heard from her of the things that
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: would be in the Island of the Sweet Fountains, to
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: which she always said she should go after her life
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: as a maiden of the sad sea had finished. For
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: the words had seemed to him, but as fables. Now
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: he bowed before her and was silent. Then she smiled
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: on him and said, softly, I know what thou hast
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: done for the disobedient children of the sea. Whom thou
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: hast released from a long enchantment, the blessing of Allah,
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: whose name be praised beyond.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: Thee, Hassan.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: And now thou must return to thy father's house and
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: perform all the duties that pertain to thy station as
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: the son of the good camel driver Hassan Alalfi, whose
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: misfortunes have been many and grievous. And when thy task
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: is completed, thou wilt see me again. Then Hassan found
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: words to speak, and said, O, beautiful daughter of the Genie,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: cannot I benefit THEE in some measure? Can I not
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: go to the Hall of the thousand Pillars and bring
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: THEE tokens of the welfare of thy father and of
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: those whom thou lovest? Then replied the lovely child of
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: the Genie, with a smile that made the heart happy.
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: As a ray of.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: Sunshine maketh gladsome a dark cavern. It is good that
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: thou hast thought of this, or Hassan, but I need
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: it not. Every day I see them and know of
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: their welfare. For when the last ray of the sun
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: toucheth the sea, I go down upon it and visit
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: to my kindred they are not aware of my presence,
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: for so Allah Hath decreed, except that they feel in
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: their hearts an ineffable calm for which they can assign
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: no reason. And I shall watch over them till the
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: time that is fixed shall come, and they too shall
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: join me in the island of the sweet fountains, And
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: the time will not be long. When she sees speaking,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: Hassan felt a wonderful drowsiness come over him, and he
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: fell into a deep sleep. How long he slept he
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: never could discover. But when he awoke, it was noonday,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: and he was laid under the rocks where the robbers
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: had examined the sacks and found them full of stones
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: and sand, and where they had determined to throw Hassan
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: into the sea. And now when he had opened his eyes,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: behold he saw the two sacks beside him. And he
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: was overwhelmed with astonishment, and said, the beautiful child of
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: the genie Hath conveyed me hither during the night. Now,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: I will return immediately, as she desired me to do,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: on to the wells of Musa and serve and comfort
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: my father. And he prepared to depart, when lo he
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: saw before him the aged Pilgrim, who had given him
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: the ring and the bags. So he bowed to the
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: ground and said, I have nothing to offer THEE, Holy Dervish,
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: not even a couple water. For my adventures have been
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: strange since I entertained THEE at my father's house, and
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: I am straitened in my heart because I have not
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: fulfilled the trust thou gave ust to me. Here are
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: the bags committed to my keeping, but they are filled
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: with sand and pebbles. Then the old man touched the
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: bags with his staff and said, open the bags, O, Hassan,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: the little let us see the change that has befallen
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: the treasure. So Hassan opened them, and they were filled
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: with gold and diamonds and rubies and emeralds as before,
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: and he was silent with wonder and joy. Then he said,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: I restore to THEE, oh Holy Pilgrim, that thou leftest
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: with me, and I thank THEE above all for this
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: wonderful talisman that thou gavest me, which has been the
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: means of teaching me many things I should not have
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: discovered without it. Then the dervish said, I give THEE
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: the sacks of treasure, but thou must give me the ring,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: for I need it to give to others of thy
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: age who required to be taught as thou hast been.
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: So Hassan took the copper ring from his finger and
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: gave it to the dervish, and he blessed him and departed,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: and Hassan saw him no more. Then Hassan took a
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: few pieces of gold from one of the sacks and
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: put them in his sash. And he hid the bags
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: of treasure in a hole in the rocks, and departed
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: to the house of his father. And the way was toilsome,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: over the hot sand of the desert. And when he
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: arrived he found no one there, and the garden was
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: overrun with weeds, and the channels for the water round
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: the garden of herbs was dry, for no one had
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: replenished them from the well since he had been taken
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: away by the robbers. And the fence was broken down,
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: and the ripe dates were dropping from the trees, for
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: there was no one to gather them. The only thing
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: that remained unchanged was the great well, for the water
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: still bubbled up in it and ran over the side
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: of the basin into a little canal that had made
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: for itself, and along the side of this channel, the
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: flowers and the trees were green and beautiful. So Hassan
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: drank of the water and did eat of the fruit,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: and was refreshed, and lay down to rest in the
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: garden house. Now Hassan arose as soon as it was
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: day and began to draw water and pour it into
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: the channels to refresh the trees and the herbs. And
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: while he was at work, a family came by of
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: poor Arabs, who had been robbed of all they possessed
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: by the bedowinds of the desert. And the father and
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: his three sons asked charity of Hassan in the name
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: of Allah, and he gave them some more dates to eat,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: and gave them water from the well. And then he said,
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: be content to abide here and to assist me to
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: restore the garden to its former state of usefulness and beauty.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: And I will pay you with liberality for your work,
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: for I am desirous to have it in order before
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: the return of my father, who hath long been absent.
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: And I, too, though I am so young, have had
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: strange adventures and have been far away from this place
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: where I was born perchance some day, if ye consent
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: to dwell with me, I may tell you of the
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: wonderful events that have occurred to me. Then the men
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: rejoiced and said, we will stay at work for thee
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: your master, and thou shalt pay us for our labor.
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: Then the work of restoring all things to perfection proceeded rapidly,
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: And after a while Hassan went to the place where
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: he had hid the sacks and took out more gold,
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: and bought camels and sheep and carpets to cover the divans,
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: and made all ready to receive his father and his brothers.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: But they came, not neither had he any tidings of them.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: And he went out and sat down in the desert
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: and wept, and said, alas my father, alas my brothers.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: And as he sat and lamented, there came to him
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: a poor man whose robe was torn and tattered, and
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: whose face betokened hunger and sickness. But he no sooner
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: saw Hassan than he cried out, Oh, Hassan, my son,
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: And he embraced him, and they wept for joy, for
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: it was Hassan al Alfhi, the father of Hassan the Little.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: Then he reverently led his father home and brought him
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: water to wash, and took off his soiled robe and
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: put on him one of silk, and made him recline
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: on the divan, And the servants came and served him
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: with food and sherbets. When he was refreshed, Hassan inquired
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: respect the welfare of his brothers, and his father answered, alas,
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: my son, we have been robbed of all we possessed,
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: and thy brothers were compelled to hire themselves as servants
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: to a rich merchant of Baghdad. But I was too
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: old to work, so they gave me some water and
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: food for my journey.
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: And I have, with.
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: Great toil and labor, traveled home. And I am greatly
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: astonished at all the abundance and beauty that I see
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: around me, and I know not from whence it hath come.
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: Then Hassan the younger told his father of all his
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: strange adventures, and the night was far advanced before he
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: had narrated them all. Then they praised Allah and lay
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: down to sleep. On the morrow, Hassan sent two of
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: the servants with camels and gold and jewels toad for
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: his brothers, that they might be relieved from their servitude,
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: and at the end of two moons they returned, and
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: there was rejoicing in the house of Hassan al Alfi
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: such as had not been remembered by any man that
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: dwelt by the wells of Musa. End of Part one,
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Part two of Cecil's own book by Anne Hawkshaw. This
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: liveryvox recording is in the public domain. The Selfish Toad.
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: There was once an old toad lived under a stone.
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: He had lived there for years, all alone, all alone.
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: Sometimes he went out to look for a dinner. He
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: knew when time came because he was thinner, So when
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: he had eaten a few worms and snails, he quickly
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: munched them up, heads, bodies and tails. He slowly crawled
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: back to his home by the stone, and said, it
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: is pleasant to live here alone. I've no one to
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: tease me, and no one to feed. To live all
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: for oneself is a very good creed. There's that drudge
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: of a field mouse with six babies to keep. I
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: wonder if ever she gets a night's sleep. I wish
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: that their house was away from my door. They're squeaking
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: for breakfast when I want to snore, And there are
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: the bees, the ridiculous things, always working and buzzing and
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: shaking their wings. I've got an attack of the nerves
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: with their humming. It's almost as bad as the woodpecker's
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: drumming around me. Is ever this worry and din then
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: I live in a fright that my floor will fall in,
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: for engineer Male, with his sharp scratching claws, is making
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: a tunnel right under my paws. Just then a small
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: voice from underground said, good Morrow, old grumbler, I'm under
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: your bed. When you miscall your neighbors so loudly, don't speak.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: I have very good hearing, though my sight's rather weak.
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: He has scarcely done talking. When down from the hill
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: came sliding some gravel, and when it stood still, it
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: had filled up the doorway of mister Toad's house and
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: fastened him in as a trap holds a mouse. He
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: panted and struggled and thought he must die. When up
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: came the mole at his piteous cry, Oh, dame, mister mole,
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: said the toad with a groan. Can you tunnel away
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: from under this stone? Oh? Ou oh, said the mole.
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: You are growing polite when you want me to help you.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: Hear out of your fright. I've heard that your people
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: can live in a stone. You would like that, No
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: doubt you like living alone. Oh dear mister mole, don't
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: stand talking, but try to make a hole out.
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: Are sure they shall die?
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: Well? Well, said the mole. I will do what I can,
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: and to scratch your way out in right earnest began,
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: and after a great deal of panting and puffing and
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: squeezing and groaning and sighing and huffing, the toad made
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: his way through the dark, narrow hole, and waving his paw, said, oh,
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: dear mister mole, you're the cleverest and kindest of creatures.
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 57:57
  Speaker 2: I wish I had more than mere thanks to snow.
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: But one thing I've learnt it's a good thing to
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: work and never enably action to shirk. And the field
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: mice may squeak, and the bees they may hum, and
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: you may make tunnels, and I will be dumb. The
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: discontented stream far away amid the mountains, underneath an aged thorn,
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: mid a tuft of emerald greenness. Once a tiny stream
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: was borne with no noise. It bubbled upward, then it
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: gently slid away hollowing out its rocky channel through long ages,
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: day by day, sometimes round the stones it fretted, turning,
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: twisting here and there, sometimes over pebbles, rippling making them
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: as jewels fair, then again twas almost hidden by the
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: heather and the fern, and the shy birds of the
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: moorland drank from out the tiny burn. Wider grown through fields,
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: it wandered, and beside its grassy edge, the reed warblers
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: built their nests among the bulrush and the sedge, underneath
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: moss covered bridges, past the village and the farm. Still
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: it hurried onward, onward, never resting, never calm, from its home,
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: amid the mountains, underneath the old thorn tree, through the
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: moorland and the meadow on it went.
• 59:34
  Speaker 2: To find the sea.
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: Thus, for ages, long, long ages, it had wandered on
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: its way. When one hot and sultry summer, the reed
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: warblers heard it say, ever flowing, ever, flowing to the
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: wild and solemn sea, Am I never to be tranquil?
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: All things seemed to rest, But me I am weary
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: of this movement, of this never ceasing. I should like
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: to stop and listen, or watch the flowers and rushes grow.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: Then A voice came, murmuring softly from the willow overhead.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: Think not of thy pleasure streamlet. Thus the bending branches,
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: said thou wert made for ceaseless motion ever to the
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: sea to tend. I was made, nor murmur at it
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: all my life, o'er.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 2: Thee to bend.
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: But the stream still murmured sadly, would, oh, would that
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: I might rest to lie? Stagnant, dull and weedy streamlet
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: would not make thee blest, said the yellow glow flowers
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: to it as it hurried, murmuring passed. But the day
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: so longed for, hoped for, till the streamlet came. At
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: last it was turned into a hollow, banked and hidden
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: from the view, and no more the waving willow or
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: the wild flower hours near it grew.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 2: It was still and.
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: Black and silent. Slimy weeds upon it spread Loathsome newts
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: and tadpoles filled it. But fair creatures from its fled.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: Wicked jack O'Lanterns loved it, and on dark and misty
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: nights danced and gamboled round and o'er it with their
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: false and flitting lights. And if poor benighted wanderers, thinking
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: it was cottage fire trusting followed the bad elphins. They
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: were lost amid the mire noisome vapors o'er it hovered,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: and men shunned the doleful spots. Thus was lost the
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: mountain streamlet that had murmured at its lot. End of
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: Part two, Part three of Cecil's Own Book by Anne Hawkshaw.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Little Prince
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: be Petted by All. Once upon a time there lived
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: a little boy who was called Prince be petted by All.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: His house was in one of the fairy lands. For
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: you must know that there are a great many fairy
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: lands besides that you read of in the dear old
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: books that children love so much, all except those very
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: dull boys and girls who can only read the very
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: biggest fact print and can never look inside anything. Oh, yes,
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: there is the fairyland of the dear old books, where
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: the trees are made of emeralds and the apples are gold,
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: and where the lady fairies sleep on rose leaves, and
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: the baby fairies swing in hammocks of gossamer, and the
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: fairy soldiers have arms of thistledown and ride on dragonflies
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: when they go to battle. Then there is the fairyland,
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: the brave hearted Northmen, where the palaces are built of
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: glittering icebergs, and the little gnomes dig and hammer in
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: the mines of silver and gold, and laugh and grin
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: at any unlucky mortal who has strayed into their caverns,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: and threaten some poor molten metal down his throat, or
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: to pinch off his nose with their hot tongs. All
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: in joke, you know, For they have very good natured
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: little dwarfs, after all, with their big heads and funny,
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: short crooked legs, at which they laugh themselves quite as
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: much as they laugh at anybody else. Oh, they are merry,
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: mischievous little fellows, these gnomes of the northern mountains. And
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: they watch year by year the beautiful metals and the
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: glittering crystals as they grow deep down in the caverns
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: of the rocks, and they dig them out and make
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: jewels and drinking cups of them for the King of
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: the Nomes, who lives in the middle of a mountain
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: near the north Pole. And sometimes they make channels in
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: the mountains and pour metal into them, and then if
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: any men find it, they dig it out and are
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: very glad they have discovered it. And one learned man
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: says it was made so and so, and another learned
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: man contradicts him and says, no, these rocks and metals
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: have been made.
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 2: So and so.
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: And they get angry and quarrel about it. And all
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: the time the little gnomes laugh and chuckle, and say,
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: listen to these mortals who think themselves so wise, what
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: nonsense they talk? And how they quarrel and contradict each other. Sometimes,
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: when they are in a very good humor, they will
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: take a pocket full of precious stones and pour them
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: into a stream, or put them in a hole for
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: some poor man to find and sell to buy food
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: for his little children.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, they are not.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: Bad fellows, the little crooked legged gnomes.
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 2: The fairyland is.
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: The fairyland of the greedy children, where the houses are
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: built of sugar candy, and the walls are of hard
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: bake and butterscotch, and the trees are all of barley sugar,
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: and the streams are ginger beer and cowslip wine, and
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: the snow turns to whipped cream and the rain to
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: new milk. But that fairyland is very near the country
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: of physiccome headache. A very ugly place, indeed, where the
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: sand is Gregory's powder, and the lakes are filled with
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: black draft and smell worse than the Thames, or the
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: Cammack Cambridge, or the fountains in Kensington Gardens note written
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: before the improvements. And last of all, there is the
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: country of all roundabout us, the most lovely of all
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: the fairylands. Only so many people who live there are
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: blind and never see any of the beautiful things that
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: surround them, or hear the sweet sounds that are for
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: ever murmuring round them. For the winds make Eolian harps
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: of the trees and play, oh such pleasant music on them,
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: and the mountain streams do the same with the rocks
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: they run over. And the flowers talk to each other,
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: especially in an evening, just before they go to sleep
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: in the twilight. The little blue forgets me not. On
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: the edges of the still calm lakes sing songs to
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: the beautiful water lilies as they float near them, And
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: the words are about those who used to love them,
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: perhaps most of all for their sweet name. And when
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: the oldest the pink ones have sung a verse, all
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: the young blue ones then join in a chorus and
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 1: sing forget me not, forget me not, And the water
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: lilies say, no, we will not forget you, for you
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: tell us of those who have passed away to the
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: land of all blessedness, those who always understand the music
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: of the fairy land in which they dwelt while here.
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: And so they all talk about the things they like
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: the best and that they think the most about, and
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 1: sam are very merry and sing such funny songs. But
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: it is only the very good tempered and happy children
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: who can hear them. The red poppies throw their scarlet
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: caps at the blue corn flowers when the harvest moon
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: is shining bright and clear, and say, come, you little
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: blue jokers, practice the harvest home song, and let us
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: have a night of it. And then they get so
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: noisy and play each other such jokes that the grave
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: ripe corn, especially the barley, which ought to be serious,
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: you know, for it is bearded like a patriarch, can
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: scarcely get any sleep. And then the trees and flowers
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: and waters in the land of all round about us
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: are so clever. They always tell the tales and sing
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: the songs that suit the people best. Who can hear them.
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: I told you many people never can hear them, not
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: in all their life, and will not believe that any
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: one hears them. I wonder if you will hear their
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: pleasant talk. I hope so, for it is a great pleasure. Well,
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: I was saying, they are so clever in always talking
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: at the right time and about the right things. They
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: never tell sad stories to happy little boys and girls,
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: nor joking ones to those who are in sorrow. They
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: speak gently, oh so gently, and sadly to those whose
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: dear ones have gone away, and who will see them
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: no more till after many tears have been wept. Nor
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: do they tell laughing tales to those who are studying
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: the nature of wonderful plants and rocks. And to some
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: they sing grand hymns about the beginning of things. And
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: to some they tell the story of the past, of
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: the long ages gone, of that far off time when
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: monstrous creatures alone lived on this earth, and men there
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: were none. But I was going to tell you about
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: the little prince be petted by all, and instead of that,
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: I have been telling you about fairy lands. So now
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: I will begin again and tell you about him. Well,
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: I think it must have been in the land of
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: all roundabout us that he lived, he had a great
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: many people to take care of him. As a little
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: prince be petted by all, was sure to have, and
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: better far than most little princes. He had a great
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: many people who loved him. There were the three head governments,
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: the first of whom was the lady Cecilia, who saw
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: that he was properly clothed and fed. He was never
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: allowed to go into the land of greedy children to
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: chip bits off the rocks of hard bake and break
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: the branches of the sugar candy trees, because if he
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: had a creature all covered with black cloth, who drove
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: about in a sort of chariot, would have carried him
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: away to the land of physiccome headache, and perhaps have
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: kept him there for several days, or even it might
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: be weeks, for it is often very hard, indeed, to
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: get away from that ugly country. She had also to
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: watch lest the ice king or the frost giant should
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: touch him and pinch his hands and feet till they
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: were stiff and red, which they will do if they
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: can catch little children out of doors at Christmas without
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: their warm gaiters and mittens on and if the North
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 1: wind or his worst brother, the East Wind, came hollooing
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: by frightening all the poor little spring flowers that had
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: just peeped out of the ground to look at the
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: sun and say good day, little be petted by all.
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: Lady ce Celia would say, you must ride on your
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: rocking horse to day, and I will tell you stories,
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: But you must not go out to fight with the
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: north wind. Why he has just come back from freezing
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: the sea for the ice King at the north Pole,
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: and getting his fleet of icebergs ready for him to
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: sail down and crush the whale ships once they nearly
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: crushed to pieces the ship in which one of your
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: uncles was going to a country a long way from here.
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: So we do not like the ice King's fleet, though
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: they are beautiful.
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 2: To look at.
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: Then there was the lady Pianeimee, who taught him what
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: things he might play with and what things he was
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: not to touch. And soon he learned to know that
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: he was not to take the king his father's books
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: off the shelves in the library and build houses of them,
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: as he did with his wooden bricks. And she taught
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: him too not to begin to scream when he saw
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: the Sioux gouvenunt Mannonetta descend the staircase to conduct him
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: to his own apartments. The lady rosine as principal duty,
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: was to play and sing to him when he was
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: too tired to care for his toys. He had a
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: wonderful animal on which he rode when the weather was fine.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: It had four legs and a long tail to switch
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: off the flies, and soft, short gray hair, and a
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: brown mark across its shoulders, and rather long ears. I'm
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: obliged to say that it had not a pleasant voice,
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: but be petted by all was very fond of it,
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: though sometimes I'm sorry to say if he had a
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: cane in his hand, for he did not always carry
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: a scepter about with him, as little princes do in
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: the fairy lands of the dear old books. No, he
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: only carried a cane, and sometimes he struck ass swooy,
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: that was the animal's name, a sharp blow on its
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: head that made it put its rather long ears down
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: and start off quite suddenly, so fast that Prince be
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: petted by all, would fall upon its neck and have
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: to clutch at the housings that covered it, lest he
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: should come tumbling down upon the ground, and you may
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: imagine what a fright he looked, doubled up on Asswoolly's back,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: like a bundle made of a pillow and a hat
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: and a jacket and a pair of boots. Then Lady
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: Bianimee would say to him, you are justly punished for
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: being so unkind, And I hope whenever you are cruel
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: as you were just now, that Asswally will treat you
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 1: in the same way. But I think he was not
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: often unkind to anything, or the beautiful little creature with
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: wings that lived in the grove near the palace would
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: not have come to him. Yet it did so, and
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: whenever he came near its home, it was spread out
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: its pretty wings and come to look at him and
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: speak to him. Its voice was very sweet, but he
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: could not understand what it said, because it belonged to
• 1:13:57
  Speaker 1: another world, not to his world, of which he had
• 1:14:01
  Speaker 1: not yet learned the language, but he liked its pleasant voice.
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: Sometimes he was taken for a short time to stay
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: in the city of the world, and Immen's city and
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: containing more wonderful things than were to be found in
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: the cities of the Arabian nights. I think even Simbad,
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: who had seen so many strange places, would have been
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: astonished if he had been taken by some jin and
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: put down in the middle of the city of the world,
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: and would have exclaimed, by Allah, this is wonderful. The
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: noise of this multitude of people is like the sound
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: made by the army of the King of the Djinns
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: as they pass over the desert. But the soft low
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: voices of the land of all round about us are
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: almost lost in the great sounds of that mighty city.
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: And I think the little Prince, when he was very young,
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: liked better to be in his own fairy land, amongst
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 1: the trees and flowers.
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 2: That he understood.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: I think this is all I can tell at present
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: about Prince. Be petted by all. He is now growing
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: so tall that I fear he will soon have to
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 1: leave his own pleasant land. And if he does, I
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: hope he will go and live in the country that
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: many of his relations inhabit, which is a very beautiful
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: land too, and where he can listen to the stories
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: that the rocks and the forests tell. End of Part three,
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: Part four of Cecil's Own Book by Anne Hawkshaw. This
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The noontide dream.
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 1: A little child sat on the grass, and as he
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: watched the shadows pass from the clouds above his head,
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: softly to himself, he said, I do not like the
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 1: shadows flitting, or the place where I am sitting, chasing
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: the sunbeams up the hill and making all so sad
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: and chill. What were clouds made for? I wonder are
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: they meant to hold? The thunder or palaces the rain
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: king makes and the angry north wind breaks when the
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: ice king sends him forth from his snow lands in
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 1: the north, where the warrus has its home, and the
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 1: savage white bears roam softly to himself, thus talking, while
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: the shadows danced and played. Sleep came o'er him, gently
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: stealing on the time his head was laid, And a
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: thousand fairy faces that were ever changing places, dancing here
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 1: and resting there, flitted round him, whispering wonders that they
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: saw on land and sea, where Niagara foams and thunders.
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: Thus they say, at home are we on the crest
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 1: of ocean billows on the dancing stream, where willows in
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: the summer noontide quiver on the dew drops of the
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: morning that the gossamer hath strung. When the autumn day
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: is dawning, we can dance. But if our king far away,
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: the clouds will fling, for we vanish one and all.
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: When cloud shadows o'er us fall, all the flowers our
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: empire own, pale and colorless and weak, they will tell
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: you they must be without us. Could you hear them speak? Listen,
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: mortal child, and try to hear the voices passing by,
• 1:17:46
  Speaker 1: voices that for ever sound. All this wondrous whirled around.
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: Then he saw them hand in hand on the bank
• 1:17:55
  Speaker 1: beside him stand. One was clothed in robe of blue,
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 1: and had the roses hue, and for ever mixing, blending
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: each to each her colors, lending till at last they
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: all were blent in one dazzling element. And they, smiling,
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: sped away. And a warm and sunny ray woke the
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: child from out his sleep that had been so soft
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: and deep. The squirrel that forgot that it would be winter.
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 1: A story of Hollicoomb in eighteen sixty six. There was
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 1: a little squirrel once lived in a tulip tree, as
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: merry a little fellow, as ever you did see his
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 1: tail was long and bushy, His fur was thick and soft,
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: and he had a nest within a hole, and the
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: branches up aloft. All summer he had played about, and
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: never food had wanted. Though he did not meddle with
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: the trees that Grandpapa had planted. He did not nibble
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: off the shoots of Dolly's cedar tree, or nor the
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: wellingtonia the dear cecils is to be. But he cracked
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: the nice sweet beech nuts, and scampered o'er the grass,
• 1:19:12
  Speaker 1: and gathered up the acorns brown. But then, alas, alas,
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: he quite forgot that summer days and autumn nuts don't last,
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: and quite forgot how he must live when the pleasant
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: time was past. November days were short and chill, But
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: yet upon the ground an acorn or a chestnut. By
• 1:19:34
  Speaker 1: searching well he found. But after that December came, and
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: the wind sighed wild and drear. He listened, but no
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: robin song could little frisky hear nought but the sighing
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: of the wind, the leafless branches through, or the whirring
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: of the pheasant cock as passed his hole it flew.
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: Then Christmas came, and white and thick the snow lay
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 1: on the ground, and not an acorn or a nut
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: could anywhere be found. He tried to sleep, but in
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: the morn a faint and sickly ray of sunshine crept
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: into his hole and told him it was day. So
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: down the tree he slowly came, and crept along the
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: snow and all the lawn, and o'er the fence, to
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: where the beech trees grow beside the croquet ground. For
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 1: there his cousin Flosky dwelt and very humbly on the snow.
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: Poor little Frisky knelt. I am very hungry, cousin, Floss,
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: and you have such a store of nuts and acorns
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: in your hole, do let me have a score. I'll
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: pay them back next year, dear, cause I will, indeed,
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: and try not to forget. In summer days, how quickly
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: they go by. When Flosky heard his cousin call, he
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: never said a word, pretending to be fast asleep, and
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: that he nothing heard. He crept down farther in his
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 1: hole among the nice, warm hay, and thought, I will
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: not make a noise, and then he'll go away. Poor
• 1:21:13
  Speaker 1: Frisky listened, but in vain he pricked up both his ears.
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: His heart grew very sad. Indeed his eyes were full
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 1: of tears. He wiped them with his furry tail, and
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: then he said, I'll try to find a bit of
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: twig to eat. None can be that deny, So slowly
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: o'er the fence he crept, and o'er the lawn again.
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 1: He was so hungry and so cold to walk was
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 1: quite a pain, but frisky. When he reached his home,
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: screamed out in pure delight, and clapped his little paws
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: and danced quite frantic with delight. For Bridger, with his broom,
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: had swept a place quite clean and bare, and Grandpapa
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: had put a heap of maize and barley there. He
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: ate a little barley first, and then he tried the maize.
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: Oh dear, he said, I have not had such food
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: for many days. Then up into his hole he took
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: a store to last till spring, when well he knew,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 1: the buds would burst, and the little birds would sing,
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: and the sunshine on the soft green leaves would play
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: and rest by turn, and noiselessly unfolding too would grow
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: the lady fern. How good he said it was to
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: put that nice, sweet food for me I'll never nibble
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: off a shoot again of any tree. The ambitious water
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: lily one sembozsomed by high mountains on which giant pine
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: trees grew, who lay a lovely, quiet lakelet, with its
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: waters of deep blue water. Fowl from many countries built
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 1: their nests upon its shore, For by manta was unfrequented
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: nor disturbed by dipping oar. On one side, high crags
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: enclosed it that the ivies clothed with green, and in
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: every nook and crevice tufts of feathery fern were seen.
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: Stones that centuries had rounded were upon the other hand,
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: and like gold dust in the sunshine glittered the low
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: banks of sand. There the brambles, shining berries and its
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 1: graceful leaves were spread, while the hardy mountain ashes waved
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: their branches overhead. But though mortal never crossed it, oft
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: was seen a fairy boat by the wild birds in
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: the twilight o'er its stilly waves. To float in it
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: stood a tiny lady, not more beautiful than she were
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: the daughters of the genie or the peries of the sea,
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: shining glistening in the sunset, gleaming pale when moonlight fell
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: skimmed her pearly vessel onward, fashioned like an ocean shell.
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: All things knew her, All things loved her, birds and
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: wild flowers of the glen, all like her that lived
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: with nature, far away from haunts of men. In the
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 1: shallows of the lakelet was the water Lili's home.
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 2: There.
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: For years had she been floating, and had never wished
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: to roam. But one day she drooped in sorrow, closed
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: her flowers, and sighing, said, wasted life to dwell for
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 1: ever on this lake's unnoticed bed, Lily of these lovely waters,
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: art thou weary of thy lot that all other flowers
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 1: have envied? Said the meek, forget me not, ah, thou
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: know'st not simple floweret, said the water lily. Then that
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: my kinsfolk live in splendor where a found the haunts
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: of men. One wears a crown imperial, one is royal,
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: the proud fleer de oli, a sultan's cap, and other boasts.
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: And I am what alas for me? I am but
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 1: nymphia alba, only the white maiden of the lake. And
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 1: what sweeter dearer title could men give? What couldst thou take?
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 1: But who told thee of thy kindred and about the
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 1: homes of men. I have come all down the burnside
• 1:25:40
  Speaker 1: from the source above the glen, and I have never
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: heard these histories. Then the lily waved with pride and
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: turned scornfully and proudly from the pale flower at her side.
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: What shouldst thou knowe of the great world? Who would
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 1: care to tell to thee of the lands o'er which
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 1: they wander o the wondrous things they see? When the
• 1:26:03
  Speaker 1: wild geese came last season to encamp beside our lake,
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: one of them came swimming near me. First he bowed,
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: and then he spake, Princess. Yes, he called me, princess.
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: What a dreary lot is thine? I should pine away
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: and perish in a month if it were mine? Then
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: he told me of the countries where my noble kinsfolk
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 1: dwell in the garden of the rose Queen, for she
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: loves them passing well. And he said that I was
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: fairer than the fairest of them, all lovelier than the
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 1: royal lily, though perhaps not quite so tall. So it
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: was the wild goose told thee of the countries far away,
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: if they are so grand and glorious, had he not
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: there better stay, do not listen to his gossip babbler
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: he hath ever been. Then she paused, see down the water,
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: as comes our lovely fairy queen. It is well, the
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: lily answered, I will ask of her a boon, and
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: if granted in the great world, oh what joy I
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: shall be soon. When the queen heard her petition mournfully,
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: she turned away, sighing, said, thy boon, oh lily, shall
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: be granted in a day. The next morning, down the mountains,
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: ere the flowers were half awake, came a man, the
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: first that ever had approached that lovely lake. Eagerly he
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: seized the lily. Then for miles and miles he sped,
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: till at last, he, smiling, placed it in a garden,
• 1:27:44
  Speaker 1: a fountain's bed. Dark and muddy was the water, thick
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: and sutty was the air, for the smoky giant city
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: blighted all of beauty. There. One by one, the lilies
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: petals browned, and with that ere they spread, and its
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: leaves discolored, shriveled, sank within their muddy bed, And the
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: owner of the garden seized and flung it o'er the
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 1: wall and amid a bed of nettles did the water
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 1: lily fall there, It very soon had perished, But a
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: little boy, I think it might be Cecil, saw and
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: took it to a pretty brooklet's brink, and there threw
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: it in the water, where it grew. But never more
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 1: did it bloom in snowy beauty as beside the still
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: lake's shore. End of Part four, Part five of Cecil's
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: own book by Anne Hawkshaw. This liverriyvox recording is in
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: the public domain. The fairy gift or the iron bracelets.
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: Once on a time, that is the way all fairy
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: stories used to begin. Once upon a time there lived
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: a little boy called Fritz. His home was on the
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: banks of the beautiful stream that came tumbling over the
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 1: rocks at the back of the hut in which he
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: and his grandfather dwelt. For Fritz had no parents, but
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: had always lived with his grandfather, who earned his livelihood
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 1: by catching fish in the stream and selling it to
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: the great lords and ladies who lived in the castles
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 1: in the neighborhood. When he was not fishing, he cultivated
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 1: a small garden, in which Fritz helped him. That was
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: their work in summer. But after all the vegetables had
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: been stowed away, and the dried fish had been hung
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: up on the rafters of the hut, for it was
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: but a hut in which they lived, though it was
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: always very clean. They sat by the fire during the
• 1:29:52
  Speaker 1: long evenings, making wood and toys for children. But Fritz
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: never found it dull, for his kind old grandfather told
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: him stories of all the wonderful countries he had seen
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: when he was a young man and a soldier. He
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: taught Fritz to read and to write, as well as
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: to make the little wooden toys, which he sold in
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: the spring to the children at the castles around. And
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: Fritz was very obedient to his dear old grandfather, whom
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: he loved very much. He had one pet, a beautiful cat.
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: He had found it one day when it was a kitten,
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 1: nearly starved and half drowned, for some cruel person had
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: thrown it into the stream, But it had fallen amongst
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: the reeds and rushes near the bank, and so Fritz
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: was able to get it out. It was nearly dead,
• 1:30:44
  Speaker 1: with wet and hunger and fright, but he took it
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 1: home and gave it some warm milk and wrapped it
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: up in an old jacket and put it near the fire,
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: and it soon got well and grew to be the
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 1: most beautiful cat that was ever seen in that country.
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: And the cruel man who had thrown it into the
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: stream wanted to buy it that he might give it
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: to the wife of the great lord under whom he lived,
• 1:31:08
  Speaker 1: in order to gain her favor. But Fritz would not
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 1: part with his favorite for any money, though he was
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: poor and money would have bought him many things he
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: would have liked to have. It happened one day, as
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: Fritz was playing by the side of the stream, he
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: saw something bright, glittering in the sun. It was hanging
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: on a reed by the edge of the river, where
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: he was just able to reach it with a little
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: stick he had in his hand. When he got it
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: on to the bank and looked at it, he clapped
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: his hands and quite shouted for joy. It was a
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: small gold girdle, most beautifully made. Fritz was as soft
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 1: and flexible as a ribbon. Though it was set with
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: the finest diamonds and emeralds and rubies. Fritz knew that
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: they were precious stones, for sometimes when he went to
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: sell fish or toys at the castle, he saw the
• 1:32:01
  Speaker 1: great lady there, and she wore a girdle round her
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: waist and a circlet on her head, set with pearls
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: that were very beautiful, but they were not to be
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 1: compared with these. It was not likely that they should be,
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: for this tiny belt belonged to the Queen of the
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: fairyland nearest to Fritz's home, and the gnomes of the
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: mountains had been twenty years collecting them for her. But
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: Fritz did not know that till long afterwards. He only
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: thought what a great deal of money he could sell
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: them for, and what a nice cottage he would build
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: for himself and his grandfather, and how he would hire
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: a man to fish and to dig the garden, and
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: let the poor old man rest all the remainder of
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: his life. So he took the beautiful girdle and wrapped
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: it up in his blouse and ran home as fast
• 1:32:53
  Speaker 1: as ever he could. His grandfather had gone to a
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: town some miles off to buy twine to make fishing
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: nets of and would not return that night, so Fritz
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: had no one to show his treasure to but Pussy,
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: who was asleep on his grandfather's easy chair. He called
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 1: out as soon as he got into the house. Wake up,
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: Silky Paws, that was her name. Wake up and see
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: what I've found. And when I've sold the gems, you
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: shall have a red collar with a silver bell to
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: it that you shall dear old silky Paws. And Pussy
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: got up and poured and opened her great ground eyes
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: and stared as he shook the glittering thing before her.
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 1: But I do not think she understood anything about it,
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: and would have thought an eye shining fish just caught
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 1: in the stream.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 2: A much lovelier.
• 1:33:44
  Speaker 1: Sight for a cat, however handsome and good it may be,
• 1:33:48
  Speaker 1: can only have a cat's mind and a cat's taste.
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 1: Finding that Pussy did not care to look at his treasure,
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: he took it into the little closet in which he
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 1: slept and put it on the window seat close to
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: his bed, and then gave Silky Paws her supper, which
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 1: she liked much better than the fine jewels. It was
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: a beautiful moonlight night, and the last thing Fritz saw
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: before going to sleep was the moonlight streaming through the
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 1: window and falling on the fairy girdle. He had not
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: been long asleep before he was awakened by someone quite
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: close to him, repeating his name. The voice was very
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: low and sweet, yet it awoke him completely, and he
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: started up in bed and looked in the direction from
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: which the sound came, and in the window seat where
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 1: lay the girdle, he saw, standing upon the moonbeam on
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: which she had glided down from Cloudland, where she had
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 1: been to visit some of her distant relations, the fairy
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: Queen herself. She was so beautiful and smiled so sweetly
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: that Fritz was not at all afraid, though he had
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: never seen any lady before, so very, very small aw
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 1: dressed in such curious clothes. For her robe was of gossamer,
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 1: worn over a petticoat of the rarest pink rose petals.
• 1:35:12
  Speaker 1: Her mantle was of the richest purple heart seas, trimmed
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: with the white silky down of the marsh cotton grass.
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: Necklace of dew drops with a photograph suspended from it
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: of the Fairy King done on water by a new process.
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: Head dress of humming bird plumes, train of the phosphorescence
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: of the sea, a perfectly new discovery of the court
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: milliner's hair powdered with star dust to give the fashionable tint.
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: I know I am quite correct about her costume, for
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: it had appeared in the Fairy Court Journal just before.
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: Fritz waited respectfully for her to speak first, and at length,
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: she said, after looking at the girdle at her feet,
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: I have come, little boy, to ask you to give
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: me back the girdle that you found by the river
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: to day. Frit is mine. Fritz ventured to say, but, Madam,
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: who told you I had found it? There was no
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 1: person near when I took it off the reeds. Oh,
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: she replied, I do not need mortals to tell me
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: what I want to know. I am the fairy Queen,
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 1: and I understand the language of the birds and the insects,
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: and the flowers and the trees, and I asked them
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: when I want to know anything. A kingfisher, who was
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 1: standing on a stone in the middle of the river
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: watching for minnows, saw me drop my girdle as I
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: was floating past to visit my cousins in Sunset Land.
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: As it was nothing he could eat. The greedy creature,
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: he told the water oozel about it, and he, glad
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: to have a bit of news to repeat, told it
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 1: to the skylark, who was just quitting her nest to
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 1: take her daily exercise, high up in the soft evening air,
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: and she waited to tell me as I came down,
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 1: for though she fl eyes high, she cannot reach cloudland
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: as we fairies can. But when I came to the river,
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: my girdle was gone. So I inquired of the reeds
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: what had become of it. But the reeds are more
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: clever at singing or sighing than observing, and they sung
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: something of which the only words I could distinguish were lost, Lost, Lost.
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: So I turned from them to the bright, wide awake
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 1: yellow water lilies that keep their heads above water and
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: their eyes open, and they told me at once that
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: the little boy Fritz, who lived in the huts close by,
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: had taken it away. Fritz thought, I will pull up
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 1: those tattling water lilies tomorrow and throw them on the
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 1: bank for telling. But he did not dare to say so.
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: And it was wrong of him to want to keep
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: the jewel, now that he knew to whom it belonged.
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: But you see, it was a great temptation for him
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: to wish to keep it, for he was very poor
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: and wished so much to get nice things for his
• 1:38:01
  Speaker 1: old grandfather. But it was only for a moment or
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: two that these bad thoughts remained in his mind, and
• 1:38:09
  Speaker 1: he took up the girdle and held it to the fairy, saying,
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: it is yours. I must not keep what is not
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: my own. Then she smiled very pleasantly on him and
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 1: clasped it round her waist and said, I will leave
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 1: you a gift which you must never part with until
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: you are a very old man. And then she glided
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: up the moonbeam and was gone. When she was out
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 1: of sight, Fritz jumped out of bed to see what
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: she had left him instead of the beautiful belt, and
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: he was very much disappointed and ready to cry when
• 1:38:42
  Speaker 1: he saw it was only an iron bracelet. It was
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 1: made with great care, but still it was only iron.
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 1: He threw it down on the ground at first, but
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: after a while he thought the fairy queen would not
• 1:38:57
  Speaker 1: give me a thing that was worthless. She is too
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: good to ridicule and insult me. When I have given
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: her back the girdle. She prizes so much, I will
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: do as she told me and put this bracelet on
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 1: and never part with it till I am a very
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 1: old man, too old to work. So Fritz clasped it
• 1:39:17
  Speaker 1: on his right arm, and fell asleep again and dreamed
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 1: wonderful dreams of golden gems hidden in the mountains of
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 1: which he was filling a basket. When with tremendous noise,
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: a side of the cavern fell down, and a door
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: made all of one diamond flashed on him, And he
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: awoke with a great start, and found the morning sun
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: shining full on his face through the little window, and
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 1: his grandfather knocking with his big oak stick on the door.
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 1: Then Fritz jumped up quickly and opened the door for
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: the old man, who wondered to have found him asleep
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: after the sun had risen, for he did not know
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 1: the boy had been kept awake in the night talking
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 1: to the fairy. Now it happened some weeks after this
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: that the old fisherman died, and Fritz was left all
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: alone in the hut, with no one in the whole
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: world to care for him. And after the people in
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 1: the valley had buried his grandfather, he sat down by
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: the fire, very sad, wondering what he must do. At last,
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: he determined to go to the castle and ask if
• 1:40:24
  Speaker 1: they would give him work. He did not mind how
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: hard he worked if he could only earn enough to
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 1: buy him food and clothing, for he was strong and
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 1: hated to be idle. But during that night a terrible
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 1: thunder storm came on and the river, swollen by the
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 1: heavy rain, overflowed its banks, and the water began to
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: pour into the hut, and at the same time a
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 1: flash of lightning set fire to the thatch. Poor Fritz
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: had only just time to escape through the window and
• 1:40:57
  Speaker 1: began to scramble up the rocky hill at the back
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: of the house when he saw Silky Paws near the door,
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: who was so terrified at the sight of the water
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 1: that she could not move for fear, but stood on
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: a stone, mewing piteously. Fritz saw her from the place
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 1: he had climbed to and could not bear to watch
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: his poor favorite perish, so he slid down the hill
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: again and waded to where she was. He was only
• 1:41:25
  Speaker 1: just in time to save her, for the water was
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 1: commencing to wash over the stone on which he stood,
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: and in a few minutes she would have been drowned.
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 1: The water reached now as high as Fritz's knees, and
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 1: he sometimes feared he should be washed away, but he
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 1: struggled on and at last got to the top of
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: the hill and sat down to rest. The sun had
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: just risen, and Fritz took off his wet clothes and
• 1:41:51
  Speaker 1: spread them on a rock to dry. And then he
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 1: looked round to see if there was any way for
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: him to cross the valley, But he could discover it
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: looked like a great lake instead of the fertile place
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: he knew so well. All the corner had been washed away,
• 1:42:09
  Speaker 1: and great trees torn up by the roots. The torrents
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: were dashing down with a frightful noise, and soon he
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 1: saw his old home, where he had been so happy
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 1: for years, washed down and whirled away by the roaring waters.
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 1: From the top of the rocky hill, up which Fritz
• 1:42:30
  Speaker 1: with difficulty climbed, stretched a wild, desolate plain, covered with
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: broken masses of stone, among which grew here and there
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 1: furze bushes, tufts of heather, and some plants of bilberries,
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: whose fruit was then ripe. It was a dreary prospect
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: Fritz had to look at when the sun was high
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 1: enough in the sky for him to see objects distinctly.
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 1: On one side, the roaring, foaming waters twirling round the
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: uprooted pine trees that had got fast together in great heaps,
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 1: or bearing onward fragments of peasants cottages that had been
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: washed away. On the other side of him, further than
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: his eye could reach, lay the barren pathless heath, quite
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: unknown to him, but which was nevertheless his only way
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 1: of safety. But he was a brave boy and had
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 1: been accustomed to a life of hardship. So when the
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 1: sun had dried his clothes, he put them on, and,
• 1:43:28
  Speaker 1: taking Pussy under his arm, he started off. In the
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 1: pocket of his jacket he found a piece of bread,
• 1:43:36
  Speaker 1: and when he was tired with walking, he sat down
• 1:43:39
  Speaker 1: on the dry heather, and, having gathered some bilberries, made
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: a hearty meal, at least he thought it. One silky
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: paws sat on a stone in the sunshine, pourring so
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: contentedly that I suspect she had found a dinner of
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: a field mouse or a little bird. However I cannot
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: be sure about that. All events, she did not seem
• 1:44:01
  Speaker 1: to want any of her masters. Then they trudged on again,
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 1: and after some hours walking they found a narrow footpath.
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: The sight of it cheered Fritz, for he thought rightly
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 1: that it must lead to some dwelling, and so it did.
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: After a while, it became wider and more trodden, and
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 1: just as it began to grow dark, he saw before
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: him a bright light, such a light as he had
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: never seen before. His grandfather had told him of burning
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: mountains that he had seen when he was in distant countries,
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: and at first he thought the flames he saw shooting
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 1: up to the dark sky must come from a volcano.
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: But as he drew nearer, he saw it was not
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: a mountain, but a large building that was before him,
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 1: and the fire came from large furnaces. He crept slowly
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: and quietly to the door and peeped in. He saw
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: a number of men watching the iron that was being
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: melted in the furnaces, big strong men with faces and
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 1: hands very black. Indeed, Fritz was at first rather frightened
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: when he saw them, but he had become very cold
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 1: and hungry, and so at last he ventured in and asked,
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: very humbly if he might warm himself near one of
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: the fires. One of the men asked him gruffly what
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: he wanted and where he came from. So he told
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 1: them his sad little story and showed them his beautiful pussy,
• 1:45:30
  Speaker 1: who had jumped out of his arms and was sitting
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 1: winking with her large green eyes at the great fire.
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 1: The men, though they were rough in manners and had
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 1: loud voices, were not unkind in heart. And one of them,
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 1: who had a boy about the age of Fritz, who
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 1: had gone to be a sailor, and who was then
• 1:45:49
  Speaker 1: far away on the seas, felt pity for the poor
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: friendless boy, and said, eh, my lad, sit down on
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 1: this old rug and rest yourself, and you shall have
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: some soup, for I will answer for it that you
• 1:46:02
  Speaker 1: are ready for a good meal, For a crust of
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 1: bread and bilberries makes but a boar dinner. The tears
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 1: came into Fritz's eyes that such unlooked for kindness, and
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: he sat down by the fire and ate his supper,
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: and the good man gave some to silky paws, and
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 1: then told Fritz he might sleep there if he did
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 1: not meddle with anything, which he promised not to do,
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: and soon he was fast asleep. The next morning, the
• 1:46:29
  Speaker 1: master of the workmen came, and, seeing Fritz, asked who
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: he was, and, having heard his story, said he might
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: stay and work for him. At this Fritz was very glad,
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: and though at first he was rather awkward and often
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: got scolded, he tried so hard to do right, and
• 1:46:47
  Speaker 1: was so wishful to please everybody, and was so truthful
• 1:46:50
  Speaker 1: and honest that he became a great favorite with the men,
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 1: and with their master too. Everyone liked him except one surly,
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: dark browed man, who was indeed a thief, though no
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: one suspected him of being one. The reason he hated
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 1: Fritz so much was that one day, when he was
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: hiding some pieces of metal which he intended to take
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 1: away when it was dark, Fritz came by the place,
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 1: and the bad man thought the boy must have seen
• 1:47:20
  Speaker 1: what he was doing and would perhaps tell of him.
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 2: He could not, however, be.
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 1: Quite sure that Fritz did see him, or I am
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: afraid he would have taken some cruel means to have
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: got rid of him that very night, but settled in
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 1: his own mind that he would soon get rid of
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: the poor stranger. Now it happened that Fritz had not
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 1: seen what the man was doing, and was besides so
• 1:47:43
  Speaker 1: honest himself that he never thought of suspecting others of stealing.
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 2: So for some.
• 1:47:49
  Speaker 1: Time everything went on as usual. But one morning there
• 1:47:53
  Speaker 1: was a great consternation at the foundry. The men and
• 1:47:57
  Speaker 1: boys were talking together in groups, and the man master
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: was in earnest conversation with Fritz's enemy in a distant
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: part of the works. Fritz asked one of the boys
• 1:48:07
  Speaker 1: what was the matter, who answered him very rudely, Oh,
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 1: you'll know soon enough, little hypocrite, and then turned away
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 1: from him. At that instant, the man who had been
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 1: first kind to him came up and, with grave and
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 1: sad face, told him to come along the master wanted him.
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: When he came to where the master was, he was
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 1: told in a stern voice that he must instantly quit
• 1:48:33
  Speaker 1: the works. And if it had not been for the
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: entreaties of your good friend, who is one of my
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: best and most honest workmen, I should have sent you
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: to prison, you ungrateful, thievish boy, said the master. Poor
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 1: Fritz was quite amazed and for some time could not speak,
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 1: but at last asked in a trembling voice what he
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 1: had done wrong. Perhaps you do not call it wrong
• 1:48:58
  Speaker 1: to steal? Look at these things, and he showed him
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: several valuable articles, one a hunting knife, beautifully chased and enameled.
• 1:49:07
  Speaker 1: The master had lost some weeks before, and thought he
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 1: had dropped it on his way home from the works
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: at night. Fritz looked at the things but did not
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 1: understand any better than before what it all meant. When turning,
• 1:49:20
  Speaker 1: he saw the eyes of the real thief fixed on
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 1: him with a look of hatred, while a wicked smile
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 1: was on his face, as he said to the poor boy, Oh, oh,
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: my fine lad, you do not know these pretty things now,
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: how they got into your box, tied up in an
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 1: old handkerchief. They did not walk in of themselves, did they?
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 1: Or maybe you will say, missus silky Baws put them there.
• 1:49:45
  Speaker 1: Cats do quite as queer things as that, if all
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: is true that the cooks say about them. And then
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: he gave a cruel little laugh which made poor Fritz's
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: heart sink within him. Indeed, indeed, I do not know
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: how these things got into my box, sir, he said
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: humbly but firmly to his master. But no one believed him,
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 1: and his master told him to be gone instantly, to
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: take his clothes and be off in ten minutes, or
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 1: he should go to prison. Before the ten minutes were passed,
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 1: with his little bundle in his hand and Silky paws,
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 1: walking solemnly beside him, as if she knew he was
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: in sorrow. Poor Fritz again set out on his wanderings.
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: His heart almost burst with indignation when the boys shouted
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: and sneered at him as he passed. But what brought
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: the tears into his eyes was not their rudeness, but
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 1: it was to see his kind old friend shake his
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: head mournfully as he went by. For Fritz had hoped
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 1: till then that he at least would not believe him
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: to be a thief. When he had got out of sight,
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: he sat down on a stone and cried, and thought
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: how forlorn and desolate he was. But that did not
• 1:51:04
  Speaker 1: last long. It is better to be wrongfully blamed, he
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 1: said to himself, than to be suffering now in my
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 1: own mind for having done wrong. I have the Fairy's
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: gift yet, and somehow I think as long as I
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: have that, I shall not starve or be very unhappy.
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 1: So Fritz took up pussy, and, putting a short stick
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 1: through his bundle, he swung it on his shoulder and
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 1: began to ascend a steep, rocky hill. He was soon
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: miles away from the foundry. He felt more cheerful as
• 1:51:36
  Speaker 1: he went along. The day was fine, and the air
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: that came blowing over the wide stony plain he had
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 1: now reached was pure and embracing, And now he felt
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 1: what a good thing it was that he had not
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 1: been brought up in a life of idleness and luxury.
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 1: The homely provisions in his bundle tasted delicious as he
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: sat on a stone at now by a mountain stream,
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: eating his dinner, while Pussy sat washing her face with
• 1:52:05
  Speaker 1: her paws and looking very contented, for she had shared
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: her master's meal. And I have no doubt cats take
• 1:52:13
  Speaker 1: a more cheerful view of cat life when they have
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 1: had a nice, plentiful dinner, and most little boys and
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 1: girls are like them in that respect. One cannot be
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 1: very merry if one be very hungry. Refreshed with his
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 1: dinner and rest, Fritz started again. But the further he went,
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: the wilder the country grew. He was on a great plain,
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 1: strewn with huge pieces of rock, and full of noisy,
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: dashing streams that came down from the mountains that bounded
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 1: his view. After walking a long time, he came to
• 1:52:48
  Speaker 1: a narrow valley which formed an opening in the hills,
• 1:52:51
  Speaker 1: and down, which roared a wide, deep river. He kept
• 1:52:55
  Speaker 1: walking along the side of the water for some hours,
• 1:52:58
  Speaker 1: and as night was comeing on and he saw no
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 1: sign of any human being for the first time, he
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: began to be afraid he should die of hunger and
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: cold in that desolate place. Just as the twilight was
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: darkening into night, and the stars were one after another
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 1: peeping through the clear, dark blue sky, he suddenly came
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: to the end of the valley. The mountains, far too
• 1:53:23
  Speaker 1: high for him to climb, walled it in, and the
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: river on whose banks he had been walking came down
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 1: them with a noise like thunder, and which he had
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 1: thought as he came up the valley was thunder down.
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 1: It rushed from ledge to ledge of rock, foaming and dashing,
• 1:53:40
  Speaker 1: as it had done for thousands of years. He saw
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: there was no getting out of the valley that way,
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: and with a sigh, turned round to retrace his steps.
• 1:53:50
  Speaker 1: When what was his astonishment and terror to see no
• 1:53:54
  Speaker 1: outlet now at the other end. It seemed as if
• 1:53:58
  Speaker 1: the mountains had suddenly closed.
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 2: And fastened him in.
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 1: Now he was really terrified, and the old Eastern stories
• 1:54:07
  Speaker 1: his grandfather used to tell him of wicked gins and
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: Efrit's came into his mind, and he thought some of
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: them must have got out of the bottles in which
• 1:54:16
  Speaker 1: Sulim and the wires had fastened them up to hinder
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 1: them from doing evil. And they have come to live
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: in this dismal place and will make a slave of me,
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: and perhaps will kill poor silky paws. Oh what shall
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 1: I do? And for a while he wrung his hands
• 1:54:33
  Speaker 1: in despair and cried bitterly, But catching a sight of
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: his bracelet, his courage revived the good and beautiful fairy.
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 1: He said to himself, would never have given me this
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 1: if it was not to be of some use to me.
• 1:54:47
  Speaker 1: It must be a talisman against all the horrors of
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 1: this place or of the creatures that.
• 1:54:52
  Speaker 2: Are in it.
• 1:54:53
  Speaker 1: I will walk quite to the end of the valley
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: and see what is there. He did so, and found
• 1:54:59
  Speaker 1: in the side of the mound a large cavern, and
• 1:55:02
  Speaker 1: going into it, saw a passage from it into another
• 1:55:05
  Speaker 1: but smaller cave, into which he went, intending to sleep
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: there and there to try in the morning to find
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: some opening through the mountains. So, putting his little bundle
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 1: under his head for a pillow, he fell asleep He
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 1: was very tired and hungry, but he did not eat
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 1: the piece of bread he had left, because he knew
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: he should want it still more. In the morning, he
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 1: had not been asleep long before he was awakened by
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: a strange noise that seemed to come from some cavern
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: near him. It was a sound of hammers. At first
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: he thought he had been dreaming of working in the foundry,
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: but listening a short time, he became certain it proceeded
• 1:55:50
  Speaker 1: from some place near him. It was now evening and
• 1:55:54
  Speaker 1: twilight outside, but the cave in which he had taken
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 1: shelter was quite dark. He raised his head and then
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: saw at a great distance a light that looked scarcely
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: bigger than a star, and the hammering came from that side.
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: He got up and felt with his hands all round
• 1:56:12
  Speaker 1: the cave till he came to an opening he had
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: not noticed before. It was an archway in the rock,
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 1: and led into a longer and loftier passage than the
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: one he had come by, And at the end he
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 1: saw the light gleaming and heard the noise more distinctly.
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: Feeling his way along the side of the passage very carefully,
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 1: he came at last to a small but beautiful arch
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: made of rock crystal, to which the fire inside gave
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 1: the appearance of ruby. Fritz was very much astonished and
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 1: looked cautiously into the cavern to which the crystal arch
• 1:56:47
  Speaker 1: was the entrance, and there a wonderful sight met his eyes.
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: The cavern was of great size and very lofty, and
• 1:56:56
  Speaker 1: many smaller ones opened into it, and before each of
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 1: these hung curtains of woven gold with borders of glittering gems.
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 1: Fritz thought they were pieces of colored glass when he
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 1: saw them first, but he afterwards learned they were precious stones.
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 1: Found in the middle of the mountains. In the large
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: cavern were many little furnaces. It was from the fires
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: underneath these that the light he had seen came from.
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: Though high above his head, swinging by golden chains, was
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 1: a very large lamp of the clearest crystal, in which
• 1:57:32
  Speaker 1: rock oil was always burning. But it was not these
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 1: strange sights that amazed him the most. It was the
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: curious little beings who were busy working at the furnaces,
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 1: poking at the fires, or taking up ladles full of
• 1:57:46
  Speaker 1: the melted metal to see if it was ready to work.
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: They had big heads short bodies and little crooked legs,
• 1:57:56
  Speaker 1: and they laughed and chattered so much that they never heard,
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 1: for it his footsteps. And he was so surprised at
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: what he saw, and at the funny appearance of the gnomes,
• 1:58:07
  Speaker 1: that he could not help laughing. At last, one of
• 1:58:11
  Speaker 1: them began to dance round and round, waving his ladle
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: over his head, and he looked so comical that Fritz
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: could restrain himself no longer but burst into a loud laugh,
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: which the echoes of the cavern repeated till it seemed
• 1:58:26
  Speaker 1: as if a dozen Fritzes were laughing. Immediately, there was
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 1: a profound silence, and poor Fritz was frightened at what
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 1: he had done and sorry at being so rude. Therefore,
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: mustering all his courage, he walked into the middle of
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: the cavern, and, taking off his cap, made a very
• 1:58:46
  Speaker 1: low bow to the gnomes, who had all left their
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 1: fires and were standing together in a group. Who are you,
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 1: and how did you get into the regions of the
• 1:58:57
  Speaker 1: King of the Nomes?
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 2: Said one.
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 1: Then Fritz told them his story, to which they listened
• 1:59:03
  Speaker 1: very attentively. We must take you to the king and
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 1: he will know whether your story of the fairy Queen's
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: gift is true or not, for he is a great
• 1:59:13
  Speaker 1: friend of hers, and he is acquainted with the sort
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: of gifts she bestows on mortals. It is about time
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: for supper, so we will leave off work and take
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: you to his majesty. Then each one went behind one
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 1: of the golden curtains to wash and dress, and they
• 1:59:30
  Speaker 1: told Fritz where he could find some water to do
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: the same. And by the time the gnomes were ready,
• 1:59:37
  Speaker 1: he had put on his best clothes.
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 2: And the little.
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 1: Dwarfs seemed quite to approve of him, for he was
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 1: a handsome, good natured boy. And they nodded their big
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 1: heads and smiled as much as to say, we think
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 1: he will do. Then they told him to follow them,
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 1: and they passed behind the largest curtain that hung at
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: the upper end of the cave. The calf and they
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 1: now entered, was entirely made of crystals of all colors.
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: In the middle was a small fountain of pale green malachite,
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 1: full of the clearest and purest water. At the end
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: of the cavern sat the king of the Nomes on
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: a throne of gold made in the shape of a dragon.
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 1: Its body made the seat The two wings made the sides,
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 1: and the scaly turned up tailed the back, and on
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: the head with its wide open mouth, the funny nome
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: king rested his little feet. He had a scepter that
• 2:00:35
  Speaker 1: looked exceedingly like a shovel, and the shape of his
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 1: crown was so much like the top of a pair
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 1: of tongs that Fritz could not help thinking that the
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 1: good dwarfs had borrowed the patterns for their regalia from
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 1: the fire irons. Indeed, I believe the mischievous little fellows
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 1: thought it was a good joke to make their sovereign
• 2:00:55
  Speaker 1: have for ornament what they had for use before. Or
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: The king was a table made of lapis lazuli, covered
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: with dishes from which came very savory odors that made
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 1: poor Fritz feel ten times more hungry than before. There
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 1: was a great flagon of wine in the middle of
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: the table, and beautiful cups placed by each plate. They
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 1: were all alike except the kings. He had a goblet
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: that blazed with rubies all the plates and dishes. Indeed,
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: everything on the table was of gold, and of the
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 1: oddest forms. One great dish was like a turtle, and
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: when you took off the upper part you found it
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 1: was full of turtle soup. Another was like an ostrich
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 1: egg in the middle of a dish of sand. It
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: was not sand, but gold dust that had an omelet
• 2:01:49
  Speaker 1: in it. The salt cellar was in the shape of
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 1: a nautilus shell. The pepper box was the head of
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: a man sneezing, as if he had got some of
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 1: the pepper up his nose. A vinegar crewet was like
• 2:02:01
  Speaker 1: a very thin woman with such a long, spiteful cross
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 1: face that one of the nomes, as soon as they
• 2:02:07
  Speaker 1: were seated at table, turned it round and hid it
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 1: with the oil flask, which was a jolly fat little
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 1: puck with a basket of ripe olives. The sight of
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 1: that vinegar face would take away my happy tite, said
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: the gnome, laughing. It was made, you must, now, Master Fritz,
• 2:02:25
  Speaker 1: by my brother Yonder, when he had a fit of
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 1: indigestion from eating too many brandy balls into which pounded
• 2:02:32
  Speaker 1: diamonds had been put for loaf sugar. Fritz looked very
• 2:02:37
  Speaker 1: much astonished at any cook, even in homeland, making such
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: an uner mistake. He had not learned what joking fellows
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: the nomes were, but before they sat down to supper.
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: They all went and bowed to the king one after another.
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: At last came Fritz, rather frightened. Oh ho, said his majesty,
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: whom have we here? How have you found your way
• 2:03:04
  Speaker 1: to my dominions without a guide? I have said no
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: one lately up to that fool's land you come from,
• 2:03:11
  Speaker 1: so you could not have had any one to show
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: you the way down here, young Mastaff. Then Fritz, bowing
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 1: very low, told his story. All the dwarfs stood round
• 2:03:23
  Speaker 1: him and looked very pitiful, and hoped that the king
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 1: would believe him, as they did. Let me look at
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: the bracelet, said the king. So Fritz showed it to him.
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: All right, exclaimed his majesty. I have known that for
• 2:03:39
  Speaker 1: many a year the fairy queen will want it back
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 1: some day. It has come through many hands already. I
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: dare say that the respectable old Antediluvian to Balcane, who
• 2:03:51
  Speaker 1: worked like as in metals, had it once on his
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 1: brawny arm. But now it is time to sup and
• 2:03:58
  Speaker 1: the smell of that soup is enough to give anyone
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 1: an happy tight without a twenty four hours fast like
• 2:04:04
  Speaker 1: thine Fritz. Then they sat down, and such a merry party.
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: They were, how they did laugh and told such funny
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 1: stories of the tricks they had played ill natured people
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 1: when they went up on the earth. They never teased
• 2:04:21
  Speaker 1: the kind and good ones. We will pay off thy
• 2:04:24
  Speaker 1: old enemy some day, Fritz, said one of them. But
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: he answered that he had rather they would help the
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: workman who had been so good to him. Oh thou
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: shalt do that thyself, s die if thou canst keep
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 1: thy bracelet, said the king. Fritz thought it was very
• 2:04:41
  Speaker 1: unlikely that he should ever be able to assist anyone,
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: But as it would have been unpolite for a boy
• 2:04:47
  Speaker 1: like him to contradict the Nome king, he contented himself
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: with thinking it only at last this merry supper was over,
• 2:04:57
  Speaker 1: and as Fritz was wondering who would clear away the things,
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 1: and was going to offer to do it himself, he
• 2:05:04
  Speaker 1: saw the table move itself gently on one side. A
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: table running about was not at all a wonderful thing
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 1: down in homeland, but as Fritz did not live in
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 1: our country and had never heard of mister Home, he
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 1: was very much astonished. As soon as the table was
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: on a nice slope, all the dishes began to move
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: off the great soup dish went flapping and floundering away. First,
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 1: then the omelet dish rolled off, but went so fast
• 2:05:34
  Speaker 1: that it knocked over a neat little frog dish that
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: was hopping quite gracefully away. The fowl dishes flew off
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: so they could have done without the table being tilted.
• 2:05:46
  Speaker 1: The cruet tumbled head over heels as if he were
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: a real Robin goodfellow. The pepper and mustard went one
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: after the other sulkily, and the sour faced binning a
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 1: cruet marched off alone. The salt cellar sailed past her
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: without notice. You see, these five were often compelled to
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: be together against their inclinations. Indeed, they had often to
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: be beaten to make them agree at all. When all
• 2:06:14
  Speaker 1: had gone off to the pantry, the table turned itself
• 2:06:17
  Speaker 1: upside down, slowly ascended to the top of the cave,
• 2:06:21
  Speaker 1: and rested there till it should be wanted again next day.
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 1: How very convenient it would be in small London rooms
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: if the furniture would put itself away, as it does
• 2:06:32
  Speaker 1: in Homeland, and give people a little more space at
• 2:06:35
  Speaker 1: evening parties. When the table was gone, Fritz saw a
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: gold couch walk in from a cavern behind the king's seat,
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: which was indeed his dressing room, but it was so
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 1: small that he could only use it after the couch
• 2:06:50
  Speaker 1: had come out. As soon as the couch had jumped
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 1: and wriggled itself into the front of the throne, all
• 2:06:57
  Speaker 1: the dwarfs bowed to the king and went to bed,
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 1: and Fritz with them, and in ten minutes he was
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 1: fast asleep, which as well for him, or the snoring
• 2:07:08
  Speaker 1: of his Majesty might have kept him awake. The Nomes
• 2:07:12
  Speaker 1: were used to it and snored in a lower key.
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 1: So ended Fritz's first evening in the cave of the Nomes.
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: The next morning, before breakfast, the dwarfs began to work.
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 1: They were making a gold dinner service for the Fairy Queen,
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: and as the time for her annual visit was drawing near,
• 2:07:34
  Speaker 1: they were working very hard to get it finished before
• 2:07:37
  Speaker 1: her arrival. Fritz stood and watched them for some time,
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: and then offered to do anything he could to help them.
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: He thought he could do some of the coarser parts
• 2:07:48
  Speaker 1: of the manufacture, and at least, he said, I can
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: attend to the fires. So every day for many months
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: he lived with them, and they taught him to work
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: in metals, and as he was intelligent and industrious, he
• 2:08:02
  Speaker 1: soon became a skillful workman, and was happy and contented.
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: But sometimes he sighed and said to himself that he
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 1: should like to go up to his own world again
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 1: after a while. But he did not say it to
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 1: the kind little dwarfs, fearing they might think him ungrateful
• 2:08:20
  Speaker 1: for all their goodness to him.
• 2:08:23
  Speaker 2: At last, the.
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 1: Dinner set, which was to be a present from the
• 2:08:26
  Speaker 1: King of the Nomes to the Queen of the Fairies,
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 1: was finished, and very beautiful it was.
• 2:08:32
  Speaker 2: You, I dare say, if you had.
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 1: Seen it, would have thought it a doll's dinner service.
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: It was so small, but it was quite large enough
• 2:08:41
  Speaker 1: for fairies. They are so tiny, you know. The plate
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 1: chests were made of ivory, bound with bands of gold,
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 1: and lined with quilted satin. A beautiful salamandrine had done
• 2:08:52
  Speaker 1: that for the Nomes, because they could not sew. She
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 1: was a great friend of theirs, and often came to
• 2:08:59
  Speaker 1: see them when the weather was warm, for she could
• 2:09:02
  Speaker 1: not bear cold, as you may imagine when I tell
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 1: you that she lived inside a volcano, and instead of
• 2:09:07
  Speaker 1: water to bathe in, used fire, just sitting down in
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: the flames when she thought she wanted a bath. Fritz
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 1: was very anxious to see her. He had heard the
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 1: dwarfs talk so much about her goodness and wonderful beauty.
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 1: And one day, when he had made a very bright
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 1: fire and the flames were blazing up by a fissure
• 2:09:28
  Speaker 1: in the rock that served for a chimney, he saw
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: a lovely creature come gliding through them, and then sit
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: down on the edge of the furnace where the gold
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 1: was bubbling and hissing. He knew at once that it
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 1: must be the Salamandrine come to see her friends. As
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 1: soon as they saw her, they all crowded round to
• 2:09:49
  Speaker 1: welcome her, and invited her to come down and sit
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 1: near the king. You shall have your own chair of
• 2:09:56
  Speaker 1: state near his throne, they said to her. We will
• 2:09:59
  Speaker 1: put some burning charcoal in the asbestos cushions to make
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 1: it comfortable, But we cannot join you up there on
• 2:10:06
  Speaker 1: the furnace, they said, laughing. She wore a robe of
• 2:10:10
  Speaker 1: changeable color. Sometimes it looked like flame, sometimes blue, like
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 1: the beautiful colors you see in the fire on a
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 1: frosty night. Her girdle was of diamonds, and she had
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 1: a band of diamonds on her head, and her long
• 2:10:25
  Speaker 1: golden hair fell in ringlets on her shoulders. She was
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 1: tall and slender, and all her movements were graceful, like
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 1: the flames when they bend and wave her around a
• 2:10:36
  Speaker 1: burning piece of wood. Fritz stood gazing at her with
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 1: wonder and delight. He had never seen anything so lovely
• 2:10:44
  Speaker 1: in his life before, and the little dwarf seemed as
• 2:10:48
  Speaker 1: if they would kneel down and worship her. She smiled
• 2:10:52
  Speaker 1: very sweetly, and then said, thanks, kind friends, I will
• 2:10:57
  Speaker 1: come down, though this seat is certainly very warm and pleasant,
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 1: but I want a chat with the King, and I
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 1: have brought you some metal ready melted. I found it
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 1: near my drawing room fire yesterday.
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 2: The fires in my home are rather large, you know.
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 1: And as they have been burning a few thousand years,
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 1: the place is comfortably aired by this time. The Nomes
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 1: laughed and said they thought it must be so. Then
• 2:11:29
  Speaker 1: she stepped down and walked towards the King, four of
• 2:11:32
  Speaker 1: them carrying her chair, which was a large piece of
• 2:11:35
  Speaker 1: furniture for them to carry, and had taken them a
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 1: long time to make. But they thought nothing of trouble
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: that they could do for their favorites. The little King
• 2:11:45
  Speaker 1: jumped up in such a hurry when he saw the
• 2:11:48
  Speaker 1: salamandrine coming that he let his scepter fall and knocked
• 2:11:52
  Speaker 1: his crown all awry. She smiled, and after she and
• 2:11:57
  Speaker 1: the king had shaken hands, she sat down in her
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: chair of state and told him what was going on
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 1: in the volcano in which she had her palace, and
• 2:12:06
  Speaker 1: about her last visit to Iceland to see her relations
• 2:12:10
  Speaker 1: who lived in Mount Hecla, and of the delicious baths
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 1: she had while there in the hot springs. Then refreshments
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 1: were brought, but the wine was so hot that the
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 1: poor king scalded his tongue while drinking her health. But
• 2:12:25
  Speaker 1: she sipped it and said it was delicious. Then she
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: examined the Fairy Queen's dinner service and admired it very much,
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 1: but said gold dishes would not do for her. They
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: would melt in her warm kitchen, even her crystal was
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 1: often cracked with the heat. Then, bidding them all good bye,
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 1: she stepped on to the furnace and ascended with flames
• 2:12:49
  Speaker 1: through the fissure in the rocks. The beautiful fire spirit
• 2:12:55
  Speaker 1: had scarcely gone away before a noise was heard in
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 1: the long passage leading to the caverns. What can that be,
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: said Fritz. It sounds like the buzzing of bees. And
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 1: he went to the entrance to look. And who should
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 1: he see but the good fairy Queen and all her train.
• 2:13:14
  Speaker 1: Such a long procession, but all so small. First came
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 1: six outriders mounted on wasps, which they had tamed and
• 2:13:23
  Speaker 1: rendered gentle. Then the Queen in her pearl chariot, drawn
• 2:13:28
  Speaker 1: by eight dragonflies, whose beautiful gauzy wings of blue and
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 1: green and gold made the buzzing noise Fritz had heard,
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: and they flew swiftly along with the carriage. They were
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 1: difficult steeds to drive, but the coachman could keep them
• 2:13:44
  Speaker 1: in order. Troublesome as they were, he was a cunning
• 2:13:48
  Speaker 1: old mosquito from Java, and if they would not obey him,
• 2:13:52
  Speaker 1: he would just let them feel his sting, which did
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: better than a whip. The footmen were butterflies. There would
• 2:13:59
  Speaker 1: not have been room for three to stand, but they
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 1: kept their wings shut when behind their mistress, and only
• 2:14:06
  Speaker 1: showed their gorgeous liveries when they flew down to open
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: the chariot door with their antennae for the queen to alight.
• 2:14:15
  Speaker 1: The damp would have spoiled their feather coats, so it
• 2:14:18
  Speaker 1: was convenient for two reasons. It saved her Majesty the
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: expense of waterproof overcoats and carriage umbrellas. After the royal
• 2:14:27
  Speaker 1: chariot came six more, each with four small dragonflies to
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 1: draw them, filled with the lords and ladies in waiting,
• 2:14:36
  Speaker 1: and then a long train of little covered wagons formed
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 1: of some kind of nut, drawn by slow, hard working beetles,
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 1: Squirrel and company with the Queen's car trites. I just
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 1: name it as a sort of advertisement for that active firm.
• 2:14:54
  Speaker 1: As soon as Fritz saw who was coming, he ran
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 1: quickly to tell the gnomes, and then there was hurry,
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 1: scurry to get everything in order for the reception of
• 2:15:03
  Speaker 1: her Majesty of Fairyland. One ran to tell the king
• 2:15:07
  Speaker 1: who was taking his nap after dinner, and shake him awake,
• 2:15:11
  Speaker 1: and then put on his crown properly and straighten out
• 2:15:14
  Speaker 1: his robe. Others began to arrange the gold dinner service
• 2:15:18
  Speaker 1: for the queen to inspect. Royal people always inspect things.
• 2:15:23
  Speaker 1: They do not look at them like ordinary men and women,
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 1: at least the newspapers say. So, some hurried away to
• 2:15:30
  Speaker 1: put on their best clothes and told Fritz to do
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: the same. One or two tumbled over each other in
• 2:15:37
  Speaker 1: their haste, And what with running, tumbling, screaming and laughing,
• 2:15:41
  Speaker 1: there had not been such a hurly burly in Homeland
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 1: for many a day. However, just as the outriders came
• 2:15:49
  Speaker 1: up to the door with a buzz and a flourish,
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 1: all was ready, and the dwarf standing in two rows
• 2:15:55
  Speaker 1: at the entrance. The King came to within six inches
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 1: and a half of the archway and stood until the
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 1: carriage door was opened, and then advanced and offered his
• 2:16:05
  Speaker 1: hand to lead the Queen to the throne prepared for
• 2:16:08
  Speaker 1: her on the right side of his You will wonder, perhaps,
• 2:16:12
  Speaker 1: how they knew court ceremonials so correctly, living down in
• 2:16:16
  Speaker 1: their underground country so much, and never having been presented
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 1: at a drawing room. But the queen's chamberlain had sent
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 1: them a book of court etiquette he had written. It
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: was considered by his friends a masterpiece, for it regulated
• 2:16:32
  Speaker 1: to within half an inch the distance each person was
• 2:16:34
  Speaker 1: to approach her Majesty, and the number of words they
• 2:16:38
  Speaker 1: might use in answering her questions. The Nomes had much
• 2:16:42
  Speaker 1: fun about this book. But sometimes one would pretend to
• 2:16:46
  Speaker 1: be the queen and would say, what do you think
• 2:16:48
  Speaker 1: of the weather? And then they would look in the
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 1: book for the proper number of words to reply to it.
• 2:16:55
  Speaker 1: One would give too many, another too few, And then
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: they laughed till the cavern echoed with their merriment.
• 2:17:01
  Speaker 2: And then their.
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: Jolly little king would call out to know what they
• 2:17:04
  Speaker 1: were so merry about, and they had to act it
• 2:17:07
  Speaker 1: over again before him, and he would laugh as loudly
• 2:17:11
  Speaker 1: as the rest. For you see, they lived down there
• 2:17:14
  Speaker 1: more like one family than like a court and a
• 2:17:16
  Speaker 1: king and subjects well. At last the queen was seated,
• 2:17:22
  Speaker 1: and her people standing behind her. The king told the
• 2:17:26
  Speaker 1: dwarfs to bring in the chests of plate, and after
• 2:17:29
  Speaker 1: they had been inspected by her majesty, they were taken
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 1: to the wagons and put in. Then she very gracefully
• 2:17:37
  Speaker 1: thanked the Nomes for the trouble they had taken in
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 1: making such beautiful things, and the king for his costly gift.
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: After that, she ate some preserved rose leaf and tasted
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: the conserve of violence, and sipped some dissolved dewdrops, and
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 1: then prepared to return to her own country. But before
• 2:17:58
  Speaker 1: she left, the King said for Fritz, whom the queen
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 1: recollected at once, and, pointing to the bracelet, said, thou
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 1: must keep that for many years. Yet I can bestow
• 2:18:09
  Speaker 1: many gifts on mortals, but none equal to thine Fritz.
• 2:18:16
  Speaker 1: Then she and her long train departed, and things went
• 2:18:20
  Speaker 1: on as usual till Fritz had grown to be a tall,
• 2:18:24
  Speaker 1: strong young man and a very skillful workman. One day
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 1: the king sent for him and all the dwarfs and said,
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: it is time now that thou shouldst return to thine
• 2:18:35
  Speaker 1: own land. We shall miss they good Fritz, but thou
• 2:18:39
  Speaker 1: must come to see us sometimes and bring us any
• 2:18:42
  Speaker 1: news of what the mortals are doing up there, and
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 1: whether they are getting any wisdom into their dull heads.
• 2:18:49
  Speaker 1: Fritz was glad to hear that he might return to
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 1: the upper world, though very sorry to leave his kind,
• 2:18:55
  Speaker 1: merry little friends. But how am I to find my
• 2:18:59
  Speaker 1: way down to you again?
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 2: He asked.
• 2:19:02
  Speaker 1: Then they told him that in a lonely place they
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 1: described to him on the moor that he knew, there
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 1: was a rock that looked like the tower of a castle,
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 1: and behind it was a flat, smooth stone, which, when
• 2:19:14
  Speaker 1: struck with a hammer, gave out a metallic sound. When
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 1: you want to visitors, they said, you must strike that
• 2:19:22
  Speaker 1: stone with your hammer, and it will be lifted up
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: like a trap door, and you will see a flight
• 2:19:27
  Speaker 1: of stone steps. You must come down them, and you
• 2:19:31
  Speaker 1: will arrive here. And they showed him a little opening
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: in the King's dressing room, which he had never seen
• 2:19:37
  Speaker 1: because a curtain was always hung before it. You need
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 1: not bring a light, they said, for the rock oil
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 1: has been burning there for years and lightens the passage beautifully.
• 2:19:50
  Speaker 1: And now, said the king, let us have the best
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 1: supper you can give, and some of our oldest wine
• 2:19:56
  Speaker 1: to drink to the success of friend Fritz, other wise
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: Baron von arbite. So they had a merry supper, and
• 2:20:07
  Speaker 1: the next morning Fritz took his leave with tears in
• 2:20:10
  Speaker 1: his eyes and many thanks for all their goodness to him.
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: Two of the nomes took him up the secret staircase,
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: and when they got to the top, they struck the
• 2:20:20
  Speaker 1: stone with their hammers and it opened, and Fritz saw
• 2:20:25
  Speaker 1: he was on the moor where the foundry was, where
• 2:20:27
  Speaker 1: he used to work. When he looked round to say
• 2:20:31
  Speaker 1: farewell to his good little friends. They were not to
• 2:20:34
  Speaker 1: be seen, and the stone was in its place again.
• 2:20:38
  Speaker 1: But he carefully observed everything around that he might know
• 2:20:41
  Speaker 1: it again, for it would have made him very sad,
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 1: indeed to think he should never see the kind gnomes
• 2:20:47
  Speaker 1: and their merry crooked legged king any more. He sat
• 2:20:51
  Speaker 1: down beside the rock, thinking for a long time, and
• 2:20:55
  Speaker 1: rather bewildered, for the earth and sky were unfamiliar to him.
• 2:20:59
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: At length, as he saw by the sun it was noonday,
• 2:21:04
  Speaker 1: he rose and walked in the direction of the foundry.
• 2:21:08
  Speaker 1: When he came in sight of it, he was surprised
• 2:21:11
  Speaker 1: to see no smoke coming out of the chimneys, and
• 2:21:14
  Speaker 1: on going up to it, he found it was deserted,
• 2:21:17
  Speaker 1: the fires all gone out, and not a living thing
• 2:21:20
  Speaker 1: to be seen. Fritz then went to find the hut
• 2:21:24
  Speaker 1: in which the kind workman lived, who had been his
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 1: friend when he had no other in the world. He
• 2:21:30
  Speaker 1: found him digging in his little garden, but the place
• 2:21:34
  Speaker 1: looked very desolate. There was scarcely any furniture in the
• 2:21:38
  Speaker 1: hut and no fire on the hearth, and the poor
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: children were all huddled together on some straw trying to
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: keep each other warm. When Hans, that was the name
• 2:21:50
  Speaker 1: of the father, saw Fritz, he took off his old
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: cap and made a low bow. But Fritz ran up
• 2:21:57
  Speaker 1: to him and said, do you not know me, my
• 2:21:59
  Speaker 1: dear old friend, I am Fritz. The man stared without speaking,
• 2:22:05
  Speaker 1: he was so astonished at the change in Fritz, who
• 2:22:08
  Speaker 1: had grown into a strong, handsome young man. At last,
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 1: Fritz convinced him who he was, and, then, saying he
• 2:22:16
  Speaker 1: would return soon, walked as fast as he could to
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 1: the nearest town, where he hired a cart and put
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: into it plenty of food and clothing and beds for
• 2:22:26
  Speaker 1: the poor children, with a pile of wood for a fire,
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: and a bottle of good wine for Hans, who was
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 1: almost worn out with poverty and hard work. Oh what
• 2:22:37
  Speaker 1: rejoicing there was when the cart stopped at the door,
• 2:22:41
  Speaker 1: and one big basket after another was carried into the hut.
• 2:22:46
  Speaker 1: The children helped to make the fire, and Hans cooked
• 2:22:49
  Speaker 1: the supper, and Fritz poured out the wine into a
• 2:22:52
  Speaker 1: cup of gold of his own, designing that the Dwarfs
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 1: had given him at parting. And then they sat down,
• 2:23:00
  Speaker 1: Fritz on a cask turned upside down, and Hans on
• 2:23:03
  Speaker 1: an old wheelbarrow, the two boys and three girls on
• 2:23:07
  Speaker 1: billets of firewood, and the huge fire they had made
• 2:23:11
  Speaker 1: blazed up the chimney and gave them plenty of light,
• 2:23:15
  Speaker 1: and the big logs crackled, and the children laughed, and
• 2:23:18
  Speaker 1: handsome Fritz talked together, and I think they were as
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: merry as the dwarfs. And Fritz the first night he
• 2:23:25
  Speaker 1: sucked in the cavern. Then the children arranged their beds
• 2:23:30
  Speaker 1: and felt so deliciously comfortable in warm blankets that they
• 2:23:34
  Speaker 1: soon went to sleep. But Fritz and Hans sat talking
• 2:23:38
  Speaker 1: by the fire for many hours, for they had long
• 2:23:41
  Speaker 1: histories to tell each other. Fritz told his wonderful adventures first,
• 2:23:46
  Speaker 1: and then Hans told him how nothing at the foundry
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 1: prospered after he was turned away, for the master believed
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: all the lies the bad workmen told him, and all
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: the best men and boys went away, and at last
• 2:24:00
  Speaker 1: it had to be deserted and was to be sold,
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 1: but no one would buy it, and everything had gone
• 2:24:06
  Speaker 1: to ruin. I will purchase it, said Fritz, and you
• 2:24:10
  Speaker 1: shall be my partner. The good little Nomes had given
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 1: Fritz plenty of gold, so the next day he bought
• 2:24:18
  Speaker 1: the foundry and all the more round it, and Hans
• 2:24:22
  Speaker 1: soon collected plenty of the old men and boys to work,
• 2:24:25
  Speaker 1: and the great fires blazed again in the furnaces, and
• 2:24:29
  Speaker 1: the workmen had nice cottages and gardens, and everyone was
• 2:24:33
  Speaker 1: contented and happy, and so things went on for many years,
• 2:24:40
  Speaker 1: and Fritz married Gretchen with the golden hair and blue eyes,
• 2:24:45
  Speaker 1: the eldest daughter of Hans, and he built a beautiful
• 2:24:49
  Speaker 1: chateau and was called Baron von Arbite. You must not
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 1: think that he ever forgot his kind old friends in
• 2:24:57
  Speaker 1: the mountain. He often went to see them, and never
• 2:25:00
  Speaker 1: came back without some beautiful jewels for his wife or
• 2:25:04
  Speaker 1: a fine cup for his boys. And so years passed,
• 2:25:10
  Speaker 1: and Fritz and Gretchen were keeping their golden wedding, and
• 2:25:13
  Speaker 1: all their children and grandchildren were assembled at the castle,
• 2:25:17
  Speaker 1: and the work people were having a great feast at
• 2:25:20
  Speaker 1: the works. The master and mistress sat in two high
• 2:25:24
  Speaker 1: back chairs on a dais at the end of the
• 2:25:26
  Speaker 1: great hall, and their relations and friends stood near them.
• 2:25:30
  Speaker 1: And in the middle of the hall was a large
• 2:25:32
  Speaker 1: table on which were put all the beautiful cups and
• 2:25:36
  Speaker 1: dishes the Nomes had given Fritz, they had made him
• 2:25:40
  Speaker 1: one for that day expressly. On one side was a
• 2:25:44
  Speaker 1: young man working in a field, on the other an
• 2:25:48
  Speaker 1: old man sitting under a tree. And round the rim
• 2:25:51
  Speaker 1: of the cup was written at eventide rest, when all
• 2:25:56
  Speaker 1: were assembled, Fritz and Gretchen stood up, and their eldest
• 2:26:01
  Speaker 1: son brought them the golden wedding cup full of wine,
• 2:26:05
  Speaker 1: and they drunk the health of all their sons and daughters,
• 2:26:08
  Speaker 1: and of their grandchildren, and their relations and friends. And
• 2:26:13
  Speaker 1: when they said friends, they smiled to each other, for
• 2:26:17
  Speaker 1: they remembered their kindest of all friends, the good little
• 2:26:20
  Speaker 1: Gnomes of the mountain. And they knew by the designs
• 2:26:25
  Speaker 1: and the motto and the cup, that the time had
• 2:26:27
  Speaker 1: come for Fritz to take off the bracelet he had
• 2:26:30
  Speaker 1: worn so long, and that the Nomes would fetch it
• 2:26:34
  Speaker 1: that night to return it to the fairy Queen. So
• 2:26:39
  Speaker 1: dear beautiful old Gretchen, with the silver hair now unclasped
• 2:26:43
  Speaker 1: the iron armlet and laid it on the table, and
• 2:26:47
  Speaker 1: they saw inside the words truth and industry. End of
• 2:26:55
  Speaker 1: Part five, Part six of Cecil's Own Book by Anne Hawkshaw.
• 2:27:13
  Speaker 1: This libriyvox recording is in the public domain, change, not death.
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: There was a bright cloud in the west, rosy and
• 2:27:26
  Speaker 1: golden and addressed. It seemed an island of the blessed.
• 2:27:31
  Speaker 1: I gazed upon it as it lay, and wished it
• 2:27:34
  Speaker 1: there would ever stay and never never melt away. But
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: the sun went down, and each glorious dye faded away
• 2:27:43
  Speaker 1: from the darkening sky, and I was sad.
• 2:27:47
  Speaker 2: I knew not why.
• 2:27:49
  Speaker 1: There was a bird whose pleasant song all day had
• 2:27:53
  Speaker 1: sounded the reeds among where the still deep river flowed along.
• 2:27:58
  Speaker 1: But there came a time when it must fly to
• 2:28:01
  Speaker 1: warmer lands or stay and die. When wintry winds swept
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 1: fiercely by, and one soft, warm autumnal day, it stretched
• 2:28:12
  Speaker 1: its wings and flew away, and I heard no more
• 2:28:16
  Speaker 1: its cheerful lay. There was a plant whose snow white
• 2:28:20
  Speaker 1: flower burst into splendor at twilight's hour, and beauty and
• 2:28:25
  Speaker 1: perfume filled the bower. And when the gazers at midnight came,
• 2:28:30
  Speaker 1: the Queen of the night was still the same. And
• 2:28:32
  Speaker 1: to gather its blossoms, they said, was shame, So in
• 2:28:37
  Speaker 1: its beauty they left it there to fill with scent
• 2:28:40
  Speaker 1: the midnight air, with the stars to gleam on its
• 2:28:44
  Speaker 1: petals rare, But in the morning they found it dead.
• 2:28:49
  Speaker 1: Beauty and perfume alike had fled, and a withering mass
• 2:28:53
  Speaker 1: was there instead. But the glittering sunbeams and the rain
• 2:28:58
  Speaker 1: many cloud isle will build again air. Another moon shall
• 2:29:03
  Speaker 1: wax and wane, and the bird will come back from
• 2:29:07
  Speaker 1: across the sea when the young buds are bursting on
• 2:29:10
  Speaker 1: plants and tree, and the air will be filled with
• 2:29:13
  Speaker 1: its melody. And the summer sun will revive the flower,
• 2:29:18
  Speaker 1: and beauty and perfume fill the bower from the soft,
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 1: calm twilight to midnight hour. Thus life and death go
• 2:29:27
  Speaker 1: on forever naught. May the twofold cord dissever tis change,
• 2:29:33
  Speaker 1: unceasing destruction. Never Earth's waters. Which of all Earth's waters
• 2:29:44
  Speaker 1: dost thou love the best? The stream that runneth softly
• 2:29:48
  Speaker 1: by the water ousel's nest, Or the wide and solemn
• 2:29:52
  Speaker 1: river that telleth not of glee, but of forces irresistible
• 2:29:57
  Speaker 1: man cannot stop or flee. Or the quiet pool where
• 2:30:01
  Speaker 1: groweth the lily and the reed, and where the spotless
• 2:30:05
  Speaker 1: water birds in the twilight come to feed. Or the
• 2:30:09
  Speaker 1: mountain lake that mirrreth the eagle as he soars, and
• 2:30:13
  Speaker 1: the storm clouds as they gather, when the mighty thunder roars, Oh,
• 2:30:19
  Speaker 1: best of all Earth's waters. I love the mountain stream.
• 2:30:24
  Speaker 1: It speaketh to me ever of the past's bright, tender dream,
• 2:30:30
  Speaker 1: When by its dancing waters five happy children played, and
• 2:30:34
  Speaker 1: their ringing laughter mingled with the music that it's made
• 2:30:39
  Speaker 1: O mountain stream, Thou babbelest still ever gaily on the
• 2:30:44
  Speaker 1: music of that laughter from me, and Earth has gone
• 2:30:51
  Speaker 1: the birds of passage, a sound of countless wings, a
• 2:30:57
  Speaker 1: dark and wavy line across the sky. And then the
• 2:31:01
  Speaker 1: birds of passage sped away before the gazer's eye, over
• 2:31:06
  Speaker 1: the rivers and the pathless sea, o'er the silent desert,
• 2:31:10
  Speaker 1: and o'er the treeless plain, where the scorched grass was
• 2:31:14
  Speaker 1: crackling in the sun, waiting for autumn rain. Onward, still
• 2:31:20
  Speaker 1: on they go, nor swerve nor hesitate about their way,
• 2:31:25
  Speaker 1: And on the self same path they will return some
• 2:31:28
  Speaker 1: coming day and find their former haunts and build their nests.
• 2:31:33
  Speaker 1: Beneath the cottage thatch the harbingers of sunny days. For
• 2:31:38
  Speaker 1: them shall village children watch, Oh wondrous law, that through
• 2:31:44
  Speaker 1: unnumbered ages nought hath broken. Sure as Ebb and flow
• 2:31:49
  Speaker 1: of ocean's wave, unwritten and unspoken homes of the flowers
• 2:31:58
  Speaker 1: upon the mountain's bow. The bright blue Gentians have their
• 2:32:02
  Speaker 1: home buried beneath the drifting snow of many a winter's storm,
• 2:32:08
  Speaker 1: rooted in desert sand or on the barren shore, and
• 2:32:11
  Speaker 1: wet by spray. The tamarisk to the lonely wanderer, says,
• 2:32:16
  Speaker 1: go hopeful on thy way. The cocoa palm trees wave
• 2:32:21
  Speaker 1: their pendent leaves above the coral isle, while at their
• 2:32:24
  Speaker 1: route the insect makers work tomb and memorial pile. On
• 2:32:30
  Speaker 1: Afric's arid plains, a strange, weird plant spreads out its
• 2:32:35
  Speaker 1: tattered leaves, more like a monster of the deep than
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 1: aught that life from Earth receives. In the dim, dripping
• 2:32:44
  Speaker 1: cave where sunbeams die in twilight, settled gloom, where the
• 2:32:49
  Speaker 1: shy seal finds for itself a home, lulled by the
• 2:32:53
  Speaker 1: sea waves of a lasting boom, grows the bright fern
• 2:32:57
  Speaker 1: that will not bear a change or other winds than
• 2:33:01
  Speaker 1: ocean waves to fan its glossy fronds, but slowly withering
• 2:33:06
  Speaker 1: dies beside the haunts of man upon the ruined tower,
• 2:33:11
  Speaker 1: where feudal banners waved in days of old. The scented
• 2:33:16
  Speaker 1: wallflower opens to the sun its tufts of brown and gold,
• 2:33:21
  Speaker 1: while on the chalky cliffs its purple sister shares the
• 2:33:25
  Speaker 1: beetling height with wearied swallows. Resting ere, they take to
• 2:33:30
  Speaker 1: their old haunts. Their flight scarcely a spot of earth,
• 2:33:35
  Speaker 1: but is a home for you, fair gentle things, to
• 2:33:39
  Speaker 1: the sad exile many a tender thought. Sight of your
• 2:33:43
  Speaker 1: beauty brings o wise and gracious low that upon matter
• 2:33:49
  Speaker 1: nature hath impress'd awaking living beauty ceaselessly from Earth's dead breast.
• 2:34:01
  Speaker 1: In memoriam. Once, in a far off northern home, five
• 2:34:06
  Speaker 1: happy children played. They ran beside the mountain streams and
• 2:34:11
  Speaker 1: through the pine woods, strayed, or watched the wild birds
• 2:34:15
  Speaker 1: on the hills from morn to evening shade. One made
• 2:34:20
  Speaker 1: a mill wheel in a stream. Another read his book
• 2:34:23
  Speaker 1: stretched on the sweet time covered bank. But oft away
• 2:34:28
  Speaker 1: would look to where his youngest brother fished for minnows
• 2:34:31
  Speaker 1: in the brook, and ever by the brother's side kept
• 2:34:35
  Speaker 1: the two sisters deer and borne upon the mountain breeze.
• 2:34:40
  Speaker 1: Their laugh came soft and clear to where the mother sat.
• 2:34:45
  Speaker 1: Her heart had not then learned to fear, For though
• 2:34:49
  Speaker 1: within her distant grave, one fair young sister slept, though
• 2:34:54
  Speaker 1: softly still they breathed her name. Though still the mother
• 2:34:58
  Speaker 1: wept and hid in her heart of hearts, that pure,
• 2:35:02
  Speaker 1: sweet memory kept death is contented with that one. Such
• 2:35:09
  Speaker 1: was the mother's dream, that bud of beauty. Will it
• 2:35:12
  Speaker 1: not my other flowers redeem? Oh foolish was that mother's
• 2:35:17
  Speaker 1: thought beside the mountain stream. But then these young lives
• 2:35:23
  Speaker 1: were so glad, their hearts so good and pure. They
• 2:35:27
  Speaker 1: filled one home so full of love. It seemed it
• 2:35:31
  Speaker 1: must endure, For to fill up such.
• 2:35:35
  Speaker 2: Void on earth, what solace or what cure?
• 2:35:41
  Speaker 1: There came a change through highland glen walked quietly, but
• 2:35:46
  Speaker 1: for or talked with whispered words within the heather covered bower,
• 2:35:52
  Speaker 1: or gathered for the sick boy's room, green fern or
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: autumn flower. There, with fair browns sunny hair, upon his
• 2:36:01
  Speaker 1: couch he lay patience and loving to the last, and
• 2:36:06
  Speaker 1: as he passed away, giving sweet words of love to her,
• 2:36:10
  Speaker 1: who wept in wild dismay amid the scenes he loved
• 2:36:16
  Speaker 1: so well. There is a little grave, the giant hills
• 2:36:20
  Speaker 1: behind it tower before it Cornfield's wave, And there, with
• 2:36:26
  Speaker 1: bitter tears they laid to rest their good and brave.
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 1: Time passed, and then there were but three who wept
• 2:36:37
  Speaker 1: in speechless woe. The young wife mother. Must she die? O, God,
• 2:36:44
  Speaker 1: must this be? So? It must be but a hideous dream.
• 2:36:49
  Speaker 1: They could not let her go. Beside the village church,
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 1: A cross tells where that dear one sleeps. Her boy
• 2:37:00
  Speaker 1: treads gently there, and love, untiring vigil keeps, and years
• 2:37:06
  Speaker 1: go by of good and ill. But still that mother weeps.
• 2:37:15
  Speaker 1: End of Part six end of Cecil's Own Book by
• 2:37:19
  Speaker 1: Anne Hawkshaw, read by Phil Benson