Latest / Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales & Short Stories Vol. 1 / 019 - The Elf of the Rose

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019 - The Elf of the Rose · Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales & Short Stories Vol. 1

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  Speaker 1: Section nineteen of Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales in Short Stories,
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  Speaker 1: Volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Ginger Cuckolo. Hans
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  Speaker 1: Christian Andersen Fairy Tales in Short Stories, Volume one, eighteen
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  Speaker 1: thirty five to eighteen forty two by Hans Christian Andersen,
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  Speaker 1: translated by H. P. Paul. The Elf of the rose
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of a garden grew a rose tree
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  Speaker 1: in full blossom, and in the prettiest of all the roses,
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  Speaker 1: lived in elk. He was such a little wee thing
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  Speaker 1: that no human eye could see him. Behind each leaf
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  Speaker 1: of the rose, he had a sleeping chamber. He was
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  Speaker 1: as well formed and as beautiful as a little child
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  Speaker 1: could be, and had wings that reached from his shoulders
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  Speaker 1: to his feet. Oh, what sweet fragrance there was in
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  Speaker 1: his chambers, And how clean and beautiful were the walls,
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  Speaker 1: for they were the blushing leaves of the rose. During
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  Speaker 1: the whole day he enjoyed himself in the warm sunshine,
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  Speaker 1: flew from flower to flower, and danced on the wings
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  Speaker 1: of the flying butterflies. Then he took it into his
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  Speaker 1: head to measure how many steps he would have to
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  Speaker 1: go through. The roads and cross roads that are on
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  Speaker 1: the leaf of a linden tree, what we call the
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  Speaker 1: veins on a leaf he took for roads, aye, and
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  Speaker 1: very long roads. They were for him, for before he
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  Speaker 1: had half finished his task, the sun went down. He
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  Speaker 1: had commenced his work too late. It became very cold,
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  Speaker 1: the dew fell and the wind blew, so he thought
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  Speaker 1: the best thing he could do would be to return home.
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  Speaker 1: He hurried himself as much as he could, but he
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  Speaker 1: found the roses all closed up, and he could not
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  Speaker 1: get in. Not a single rose stood open. The poor
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  Speaker 1: little elf was very much frightened. He had never before
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  Speaker 1: been out at night, but had always slumbered secretly behind
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  Speaker 1: the warm rose leaves. Oh, this would certainly be his death.
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  Speaker 1: At the other end of the garden, he knew there
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  Speaker 1: was an arbor over with beautiful honeysuckles. The blossoms looked
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  Speaker 1: like large painted horns, and he thought to himself he
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  Speaker 1: would go and sleep in one of these till the morning.
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  Speaker 1: He flew thither, but hush. Two people were in the arbor.
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  Speaker 1: A handsome young man and a beautiful lady. They sat
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  Speaker 1: side by sight and wished that they might never be
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  Speaker 1: obliged to part. They loved each other much more than
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  Speaker 1: the best child can love its father and mother. But
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  Speaker 1: we must part, said the young man. Your brother does
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  Speaker 1: not like our engagement, and therefore he sends me so
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  Speaker 1: far away on business over mountains and seas. Farewell, my
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  Speaker 1: sweet bride, for so you are to me. And then
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  Speaker 1: they kissed each other, and the girl wept and gave
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  Speaker 1: him a rose. But before she did so, she pressed
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  Speaker 1: a kiss upon it so fervently that the flower opened.
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  Speaker 1: Then the little el flew in and leaned his head
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  Speaker 1: on the delicate, fragrant walls. Here he could plainly hear
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  Speaker 1: them say farewell, farewell, and he felt that the rose
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  Speaker 1: had been placed on the young men man's breast. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: how his heart did beat. The little elf could not
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  Speaker 1: go to sleep, it thumped so loudly. The young man
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  Speaker 1: took it out as he walked through the darkwood alone,
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  Speaker 1: and kissed the flower so often and so violently, that
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  Speaker 1: the little elf was almost crushed. He could feel through
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  Speaker 1: the leaf how hot the lips of the young man
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  Speaker 1: were and the rose had opened as if from the
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  Speaker 1: heat of the noonday sun. There came another man who
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  Speaker 1: looked gloomy and wicked. He was a wicked brother of
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  Speaker 1: the beautiful maiden. He drew out a sharp knife, and
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  Speaker 1: while the other was kissing the rose, the wicked man
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  Speaker 1: stabbed him to death. Then he cut off his head
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  Speaker 1: and buried it with the body in the soft earth
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  Speaker 1: under the linden tree. Now he is gone and will
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  Speaker 1: soon be forgotten, thought the wicked brother. He will never
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  Speaker 1: come back again. He was going on a long journey
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  Speaker 1: over mountains and seas. It is easy for a man
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  Speaker 1: to lose his life in such a journey. My sister
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  Speaker 1: will suppose he is dead, for he cannot come back,
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  Speaker 1: and she will not dare to question me about him.
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  Speaker 1: Then he scattered the dry leaves over the light earth
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  Speaker 1: with his foot and went home through the darkness. But
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  Speaker 1: he went not alone, as he thought. The little elf
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  Speaker 1: accompanied him. He sat in a dry, rolled up linden
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  Speaker 1: leaf which had fallen from the tree on to the
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  Speaker 1: wicked man's head as he was digging the grave. The
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  Speaker 1: hat was on the head now, which made it very dark,
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  Speaker 1: and the little elf shuddered with fright and indignation at
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  Speaker 1: the wicked dean. It was the dawn of morning before
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  Speaker 1: the wicked man reached home. He took off his hat
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  Speaker 1: and went into his sister's room. There lay the beautiful
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  Speaker 1: blooming girl, dreaming of him, whom she loved so and
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  Speaker 1: who was now she supposed traveling far away over mountain
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  Speaker 1: and sea. Her wicked brother stopped over her and laughed
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  Speaker 1: hideously as fiends only can laugh. The dry leaf fell
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  Speaker 1: out of his hair upon the counterpane, but he did
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  Speaker 1: not notice it and went to get a little sleep
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  Speaker 1: during the early morning hours. But the elf slipped out
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  Speaker 1: of the withered leaf, placed himself by the of the
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  Speaker 1: sleeping girl, and told her, as in a dream of
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  Speaker 1: the horrid murder, described the place where her brother had
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  Speaker 1: slain her lover and buried his body, and told her
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  Speaker 1: of the linden tree in full blossom that stood close by.
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  Speaker 1: That you may not think this is only a dream
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  Speaker 1: that I have told you, He said, you will find
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  Speaker 1: on your bed a withered leaf. Then she awoke and
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  Speaker 1: found it there. Oh, what bitter tears she shed, and
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  Speaker 1: she could not open her heart to any one for relief.
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  Speaker 1: The window stood open the whole day, and the little
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  Speaker 1: elf could easily have reached the roses or any of
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  Speaker 1: the flowers, but he could not find it in his
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  Speaker 1: heart to leave one so afflicted. And the window stood
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  Speaker 1: a bush bearing monthly roses. He seated himself in one
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  Speaker 1: of the flowers and gazed on the poor girl. Her
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  Speaker 1: brother often came into the room and would be quite
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  Speaker 1: cheerful in spite of his base conduct, so she dared
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  Speaker 1: not say a word to him of her heart's grief.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as night came on, she slipped out of
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  Speaker 1: the house and went into the wood to the spot
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  Speaker 1: where the linden tree stood, And after removing the leaves
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  Speaker 1: from the earth, she turned it up, and there found
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  Speaker 1: him who had been murdered. Oh how she wept and
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  Speaker 1: prayed that she also might die gladly. Would she have
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  Speaker 1: taken the body home with her, but that was impossible.
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  Speaker 1: So she took up the poor head with the closed eyes,
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  Speaker 1: kissed the cold lips, and shook the mold out of
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  Speaker 1: the beautiful hair. I will keep this, said she, And
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  Speaker 1: as soon as she had covered the body again with
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  Speaker 1: the earth and leaves, she took the head and a
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  Speaker 1: little sprig of jasmine that bloomed in the wood nearer
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  Speaker 1: the spot where he was buried, and carried them home
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  Speaker 1: with her. As soon as she was in her room,
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  Speaker 1: she took the largest flower pot she could find, and
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  Speaker 1: in this she placed the head of the dead man,
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  Speaker 1: covered it up with her, and planted the twig of
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  Speaker 1: jasmine in it. Farewell, farewell, whispered the little elf. He
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  Speaker 1: could not any longer endure to witness all this agony
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  Speaker 1: of grief. He therefore flew away to his own rose
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  Speaker 1: in the garden. But the rose was faded. Only a
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  Speaker 1: few dry leaves still clung to the green hedge behind it. Alas,
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  Speaker 1: how soon all that is good and beautiful passes away,
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  Speaker 1: sighed the elf. After a while he found another rose,
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  Speaker 1: which became his home, for among its delicate, fragrant leaves,
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  Speaker 1: he could dwell in safety. Every morning he flew to
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  Speaker 1: the window of the poor girl, and always found her
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  Speaker 1: weeping by the flower pot. The bitter tears fell upon
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  Speaker 1: the jasmine twig, and each day, as she became paler
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  Speaker 1: and paler, the sprig appeared to grow greener and fresher.
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  Speaker 1: One shoot after another sprated forth, and little white buds blossomed,
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  Speaker 1: which the poor girl fondly kissed, but her wicked brother
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  Speaker 1: scolded her and asked her if she was going mad.
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  Speaker 1: He could not imagine why she was weeping over that
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  Speaker 1: flower pot, and it annoyed him. He did not know
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  Speaker 1: whose closed eyes were there, nor what red lips were
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  Speaker 1: fading beneath the earth. And one day she sat and
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  Speaker 1: leaned her head against the flower pot, and the little
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  Speaker 1: elf of the rose found her asleep. Then he seated
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  Speaker 1: him self by her ear, talked to her of that
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  Speaker 1: evening in the arbor of the sweet perfume of the rose,
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  Speaker 1: and the loves of the elves. Sweetly she dreamed, And
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  Speaker 1: while she dreamt, her life passed away calmly and gently,
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  Speaker 1: and her spirit was with him whom she loved in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: And the jasmine opened its large white bells and spread
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  Speaker 1: forth its sweet fragrance. It had no other way of
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  Speaker 1: showing its grief for the dead. But the wicked brother
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  Speaker 1: considered the beautiful blooming plant as his own property left
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  Speaker 1: to him by his sister, and he placed it in
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  Speaker 1: his sleeping room, close by his bed. For it was
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  Speaker 1: very lovely in appearance, and the fragrance sweet and delightful.
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  Speaker 1: The little elf of the rose followed it and flew
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  Speaker 1: from flower to flower, telling each little spirit that dwelt
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  Speaker 1: in them the story of the murdered young man, whose
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  Speaker 1: head now formed part of the earth beneath him, and
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  Speaker 1: of the wicked brother and the poorest sister. We know it,
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  Speaker 1: said each little spirit in the flowers. We know it,
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  Speaker 1: for have we not sprung from the eyes and lips
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  Speaker 1: of the murdered one. We know it. We know it.
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  Speaker 1: And the flowers nodded with their heads in a peculiar manner.
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  Speaker 1: The elf of the rose could not understand how they
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  Speaker 1: could rest so quietly in the matter, so he flew
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  Speaker 1: toed the bees who were the gathering honey, and told
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  Speaker 1: them of the wicked brother. And the bees told it
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  Speaker 1: to their queen, who commanded that the next morning they
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  Speaker 1: should go and kill the murderer. But during the night
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  Speaker 1: the first after the sister's death, while the brother was
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  Speaker 1: sleeping in his bed, close to where he had placed
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  Speaker 1: a fragrant jasmine, every flower cup opened, and invisibly the
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  Speaker 1: little spirit stole out, armed with poisonous spears. They placed
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  Speaker 1: themselves by the ear of the sleeper, told him dreadful dreams,
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  Speaker 1: and then flew across his lips and pricked his tongue
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  Speaker 1: with their poisoned spears. Now have we revenge the dead,
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  Speaker 1: said they, and flew back into the white bells of
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  Speaker 1: the jasmine flowers. When the morning came, and as soon
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  Speaker 1: as the window was opened, the rose elf with the
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  Speaker 1: Queen Bee and the whole swarm of bees rushed in
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  Speaker 1: to kill him, but he was already dead. He people
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  Speaker 1: were standing round the bed and saying that the scent
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  Speaker 1: of the jasmine had killed him. Then the Elf of
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  Speaker 1: the Rose understood the revenge of the flowers and explained
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  Speaker 1: it to the Queen Bee, and she with the whole swarm,
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  Speaker 1: buzzed about the flower pot. The bees could not be
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  Speaker 1: driven away. Then a man took it upon to remove it,
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  Speaker 1: and one of the bees stung him in the hand,
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  Speaker 1: so that he let the flower pot fall, and it
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  Speaker 1: was broken to pieces. Then everyone saw the white and skull,
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  Speaker 1: and they knew the dead man in the bed was
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  Speaker 1: a murderer. And the Queen Bee hummed in the air
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  Speaker 1: and sang of the revenge of the flowers and of
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  Speaker 1: the elf of the Rose, and said that behind the
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  Speaker 1: smallest leaf dwells one who can discover evil deeds and
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  Speaker 1: punish them. Also end of the Elf of the Rose,
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  Speaker 1: recording by Ginger Cucolow,