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Grandma Knight's Tales - Various · Fiction Library

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one of Grandma Knight's Tales Briar Rose by the
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  Speaker 1: Grim Brothers, also known as the Brother's Grim. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Briar Rose a king and queen once upon a time
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  Speaker 1: reigned in a country a great way off, where there
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  Speaker 1: were in those days fairies. Now this king and queen
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  Speaker 1: had plenty of money, and plenty of fine clothes to wear,
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  Speaker 1: and plenty of good things to eat and drink, and
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  Speaker 1: a coach to ride out in every day. But though
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  Speaker 1: they had been married many years, they had no children,
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  Speaker 1: and this grieved them very much. Indeed, But one day,
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  Speaker 1: as the queen was walking by the side of the
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  Speaker 1: river at the bottom of the garden, she saw a
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  Speaker 1: poor little fish that had thrown itself out of the
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  Speaker 1: water and lay gasping and nearly dead on the bank.
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  Speaker 1: Then the queen took pity on the little fish and
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  Speaker 1: threw it back again into the river. And before it
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  Speaker 1: swam away, it lifted its head out of the water
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  Speaker 1: and said, I know what your wish is, and it
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  Speaker 1: shall be fulfilled. In return for your kindness to me,
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  Speaker 1: you will soon have a daughter. What the little fish
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  Speaker 1: had foretold soon came to pass, and the queen had
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  Speaker 1: a little girl, so very beautiful that the king could
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  Speaker 1: not cease looking on it for joy, and said he
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  Speaker 1: would hold a great feast and make merry and show
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  Speaker 1: the child to all the land. So he asked his
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  Speaker 1: kingsmen and nobles, and friends and neighbors. But the queen said,
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  Speaker 1: I will have the fairies also, that they might be
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  Speaker 1: kind and good to our little daughter. Now there were
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  Speaker 1: thirteen fairies in the kingdom, but as the king and
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  Speaker 1: queen had only twelve golden dishes for them them to
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  Speaker 1: eat out of, they were forced to leave one of
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  Speaker 1: the fairies without asking her. So twelve fairies came, each
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  Speaker 1: with a high red cap on her head, and red
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  Speaker 1: shoes with high heels on her feet, and a long
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  Speaker 1: white wand in her hand. And after the feast was over,
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  Speaker 1: they gathered round in a ring and gave all their
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  Speaker 1: best gifts to the little princess. One gave her goodness,
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  Speaker 1: another beauty, another riches, and so on till she had
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  Speaker 1: all that was good in the world, just as eleven
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  Speaker 1: of them had done blessing her. A great noise was
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  Speaker 1: heard in the courtyard, and word was brought that the
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  Speaker 1: thirteenth fairy was come with a black cape on her head,
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  Speaker 1: and black shoes on her feet, and a broomstick in
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  Speaker 1: her hand, And presently up she came into the dining hall. Now,
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  Speaker 1: as she had not been asked to the feast, she
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  Speaker 1: was very amy, and scolded the King and Queen very much,
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  Speaker 1: and set to work to take her revenge. So she
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  Speaker 1: cried out, the King's daughter shall in her fifteenth year
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  Speaker 1: be wounded by a spindle and fall down dead. Then
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  Speaker 1: the twelfth of the friendly fairies, who had not yet
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  Speaker 1: given her gift, came forward and said that the evil
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  Speaker 1: wish must be fulfilled, but that she could soften its mischief.
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  Speaker 1: So her gift was that the King's daughter, when the
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  Speaker 1: spindle wounded her, should not really die, but should only
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  Speaker 1: fall asleep for a hundred years. However, the king hoped
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  Speaker 1: still to save his dear child altogether from the threatened evil,
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  Speaker 1: so he ordered that all the spindles in the kingdom
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  Speaker 1: should be bought up and burnt. But all the gifts
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  Speaker 1: of the first eleven fairies were in the meantime fulfilled.
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  Speaker 1: For the princess was so beautiful, full and well behaved,
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  Speaker 1: and good and wise that everyone who knew her loved her.
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  Speaker 1: It happened that on the very day she was fifteen
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  Speaker 1: years old, the King and Queen were not at home,
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  Speaker 1: and she was left alone in the palace. So she
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  Speaker 1: roved about by herself and looked at all the rooms
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  Speaker 1: and chambers, till at last she came to an old tower,
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  Speaker 1: to which there was a narrow staircase ending with a
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  Speaker 1: little door. In the door there was a golden key,
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  Speaker 1: and when she turned it, the door sprang open, and
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  Speaker 1: there sat an old lady spinning away very busily. Why
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  Speaker 1: how now, good mother, said the princess. What are you
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  Speaker 1: doing there spinning? Said the old lady, and nodded her head,
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  Speaker 1: humming a tune while buzz went the wheel. How prettily
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  Speaker 1: that thing turns round, said the princess, and took the
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  Speaker 1: spindle and began to try and spend. But scarcely had
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  Speaker 1: she touched it before the fairy's prophecy was fulfilled. The
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  Speaker 1: spindle wounded her, and she fell down lifeless on the ground. However,
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  Speaker 1: she was not dead, but had only fallen into a
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  Speaker 1: deep sleep, and the King and Queen, who had just
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  Speaker 1: come home, and all their court fell asleep too, And
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  Speaker 1: the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs in
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  Speaker 1: the court, the pigeons on the housetop, and the very
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  Speaker 1: flies slept on the walls. Even the fire on the
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  Speaker 1: hearth left off blazing and went to sleep. The jack stopped,
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  Speaker 1: and the spit that was turning about with a goose
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  Speaker 1: upon it for the king's dinner, stood still. And the cook,
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  Speaker 1: who was at that moment pulling the kitchen boy by
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  Speaker 1: the hare to give him a box on the ear
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  Speaker 1: for something he had done amiss, let him go, and
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  Speaker 1: both fell asleep. The butler, who was slyly tasting the ale,
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  Speaker 1: fell asleep with the jug at his lips. And thus
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  Speaker 1: everything stood still and slept soundly. A large hedge of
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  Speaker 1: thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year it
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  Speaker 1: became higher and thicker, till at last the old palace
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  Speaker 1: was surrounded and hidden, so that not even the roof
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  Speaker 1: or the chimneys could be seen. But there went a
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  Speaker 1: report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping briar rose.
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  Speaker 1: For so the king's daughter was called so that from
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  Speaker 1: time to time several kings sons came and tried to
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  Speaker 1: break through the thicket into the palace. This, however, none
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  Speaker 1: of them could ever do, for the thorns and bushes
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  Speaker 1: laid hold of them, as it were, with hands, and
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  Speaker 1: there they stuck fast and died wretchedly. After many many years,
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  Speaker 1: there came a king's son into that land, and an
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  Speaker 1: old man told him the story of the thicket of thorns,
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  Speaker 1: and how a beautiful palace stood behind it, and how
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful princess called briar Rose lay in it asleep
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  Speaker 1: with all her court. He told too, how he had
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  Speaker 1: heard from his grandfather that many many princes had come
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  Speaker 1: and tried to break through the thicket, but that they
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  Speaker 1: had all stuck fast in it and died. Then the
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  Speaker 1: young prince said, all this shall not frighten me. I
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  Speaker 1: will go and see this Briar Rose. The old man
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  Speaker 1: tried to hinder him, but he was bent upon going.
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  Speaker 1: Now that very day, the hundred years were ended, and
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  Speaker 1: as the prince came to the thicket, he saw nothing
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  Speaker 1: but beautiful flowering shrubs, through which he went with ease,
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  Speaker 1: and they shut in after him as thick as ever
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  Speaker 1: Then he came at last to the palace, and there
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  Speaker 1: in the court lay the dogs asleep, and the horses
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  Speaker 1: were standing in the stables, and on the roof sat
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  Speaker 1: the pigeons fast asleep with their heads under their wings.
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  Speaker 1: And when he came into the palace, the flies were
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  Speaker 1: sleeping on the walls. The spit was standing still, the
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  Speaker 1: butler had the jug of ale at his lips, going
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  Speaker 1: to drink a draft. The maid sat with a fowl
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  Speaker 1: in her lap, ready to be plucked, and the cook
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  Speaker 1: in the kitchen was still holding up her hand as
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  Speaker 1: if she was going to beat the boy. Then he
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  Speaker 1: went on still farther, and all was so still that
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  Speaker 1: he could hear every breath he drew, till at last
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  Speaker 1: he came to the old tower and opened the door
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  Speaker 1: of the little room in which Briar Rose was, and
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  Speaker 1: there she lay fast asleep on a couch by the window.
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  Speaker 1: She looked so beautiful that he could not take his
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  Speaker 1: eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her
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  Speaker 1: a kiss. But the moment he kissed her, she opened
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  Speaker 1: her eyes and awoke and smiled upon him, and they
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  Speaker 1: went out together, and soon the King and Queen also awoke,
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  Speaker 1: and all the court and gazed on each other with
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  Speaker 1: great wonder. And the horses shook themselves, and the dogs
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  Speaker 1: jumped up and barked. The pigeons took their heads from
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  Speaker 1: under their wings and looked about, and flew into the fields.
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  Speaker 1: The flies on the walls buzzed again. The fire in
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  Speaker 1: the kitchen blazed up. Round went the jack, and round
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  Speaker 1: went the spit with the goose for the king's dinner
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  Speaker 1: upon it, the butler finished his draft of ale, the
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  Speaker 1: maid went on plucking the fowl, and the cook gave
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  Speaker 1: the boy the box on his ear. And then the
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  Speaker 1: Prince and briar Rose were married, and the wedding feast
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  Speaker 1: was given, and they lived happily together all their lives.
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  Speaker 1: Long End of Briar Rose by the Brother's grim. This
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  Speaker 1: has been a LibriVox recording recorded by Deborah Knight October
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  Speaker 1: twenty third, two thousand thirteen, Section two of Gramma Knight's Tales.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Grandmother by
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  Speaker 1: Hans Christian Andersen. Grandmother is very old. Her face is
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  Speaker 1: wrinkled and her hair is quite white. But her eyes
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  Speaker 1: are like two stars, and they have a mild gentle
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  Speaker 1: expression in them when they look at you, which does
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  Speaker 1: you good. She wears a dress of heavy, rich silk
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  Speaker 1: with large flowers worked on it, and it rustles when
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  Speaker 1: she moves, and then she can tell the most wonderful stories.
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  Speaker 1: Grandmother knows a great deal, for she was alive before
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  Speaker 1: father and mother, that's quite certain. She has a hymn
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  Speaker 1: book with large silver clasps, in which she often reads.
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  Speaker 1: And in the book, between the leaves lies a rose,
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  Speaker 1: quite flat and dry. It is not so pretty as
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  Speaker 1: the roses which are standing in the glass, And yet
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  Speaker 1: she smiles at it most pleasantly, and tears even come
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  Speaker 1: into her eyes. I wonder why grandmother looks at the
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  Speaker 1: withered flower in the old book that way. Do you
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  Speaker 1: know why? When Grandmother's tears fall upon the rose and
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  Speaker 1: she is looking at it, the rose revives and fills
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  Speaker 1: the room with its fragrance. The walls vanish as in
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  Speaker 1: a mist, and all around her is the glorious green wood,
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  Speaker 1: where in summer the sunlight streams through thick foliage. And Grandmother,
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  Speaker 1: why she is young again, a charming maiden, fresh as
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  Speaker 1: a rose, with round rosy cheeks, fair bright ringlets, and
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  Speaker 1: a figure pretty and graceful. But the eyes, those mild,
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  Speaker 1: saintly eyes, are the same. They have been left to Grandmother.
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  Speaker 1: At her side sits a young man, tall and strong.
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  Speaker 1: He gives her a rose, and she smiles. Grandmother cannot
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  Speaker 1: smile like that now. Yes, she is smiling at the
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  Speaker 1: memory of that day and many thoughts and recollections of
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  Speaker 1: the past. But the handsome young man is gone, and
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  Speaker 1: the rose has withered in the old book, and Grandmother
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  Speaker 1: is sitting there again, an old woman, looking down upon
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  Speaker 1: the withered rose in the book. Grandmother is dead now.
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  Speaker 1: She had been sitting in her arm chair telling us
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  Speaker 1: a long, beautiful tale, And when it was finished, she
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  Speaker 1: said she was tired and leaned her head back to sleep,
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  Speaker 1: awhile we could hear her gentle breathing. As she slept.
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  Speaker 1: Gradually it became quieter and calmer, and on her countenance
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  Speaker 1: beamed happiness and peace. It was as if lighted up
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  Speaker 1: with a ray of sunshine. She smiled once more, and
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  Speaker 1: then people said she was dead. She was laid in
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  Speaker 1: a black coffin, looking mild and beautiful in the white
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  Speaker 1: folds of the shrouded linen, though her eyes were closed.
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  Speaker 1: But every wrinkle had vanished, Her hair looked white and silvery,
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  Speaker 1: and around her mouth lingered a sweet smile. We did
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  Speaker 1: not feel it all afraid to look at the corpse
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  Speaker 1: of her, who had been such a dear, good grandmother.
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  Speaker 1: The hymn book in which the rose still lay was
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  Speaker 1: placed under her head, for so she had wished it.
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  Speaker 1: And then they buried grandmother on the grave close by
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  Speaker 1: the churchyard wall. They planted a rose tree. It was
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  Speaker 1: soon full of roses, and the nightingale set among the
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  Speaker 1: flowers and sang over the grave. From the organ in
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  Speaker 1: the church sounded the music and the words of the
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  Speaker 1: beautiful psalms which were written in the old book under
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  Speaker 1: the head of the dead one. The moon shone down
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  Speaker 1: upon the grave, but the dead was not there. Every
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  Speaker 1: child could go safely, even at night, and pluck a
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  Speaker 1: rose from the tree by the churchyard wall. The dead
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  Speaker 1: no more than we do who are living. They know
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  Speaker 1: what a terror would come upon us if such a
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  Speaker 1: strange thing were to happen, as the the appearance of
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  Speaker 1: a dead person among us. They are better off than
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  Speaker 1: we are. The dead return no more. The earth has
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  Speaker 1: been heaped on the coffin, and it is earth only
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  Speaker 1: that lies within it. The leaves of the hymn book
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  Speaker 1: are dust, and the rose, with all its recollections, has
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  Speaker 1: crumbled to dust also. But over the grave, fresh roses bloom,
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  Speaker 1: the nightingale sings, and the organ sounds, and there still
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  Speaker 1: lives a remembrance of old Grandmother, with the loving, gentle
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  Speaker 1: eyes that always looked. Young eyes can never die. Ours
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  Speaker 1: will once again behold dear Grandmother, young and beautiful as
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  Speaker 1: when for the first time she kissed the fresh red
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  Speaker 1: rose that is now dust in the grave. End of Grandmother.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Deborah Knight, October twenty fourth, two thousand thirteen,
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  Speaker 1: Section three of Grammall Knight's Tales. This LibriVox recording is
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  Speaker 1: in the public domain. Little Tiny or Thumbillina. There once
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  Speaker 1: was a woman who wished very much to have a child,
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  Speaker 1: But she could not obtain her wish. At last she
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  Speaker 1: went to a fairy and said, I should so very
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  Speaker 1: much like to have a child. Can you tell me
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  Speaker 1: where I can find one? Oh, that can be easily managed,
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  Speaker 1: said the fairy. Here is a barleicorn, of a different
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  Speaker 1: kind to those which grow in the farmer's fields, at
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  Speaker 1: which the chickens eat, put it into a flower pot,
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  Speaker 1: and see what will happen. Thank you, said the woman,
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  Speaker 1: and she gave the fairy twelve shillings, which was the
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  Speaker 1: price of the barleycorn. Then she went home and planted it,
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  Speaker 1: and immediately there grew up a large, handsome flower, something
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  Speaker 1: like a tulip in appearance, but with its leaves tightly closed,
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  Speaker 1: as if it were still a bud. It is a
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  Speaker 1: beautiful flower, said the woman, and she kissed the red
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  Speaker 1: and golden colored leaves, and while she did so, the
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  Speaker 1: flower opened, and she could see that it was a
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  Speaker 1: real tulip. Within the flower upon the green velvet stamonds
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  Speaker 1: set a very delicate and graceful little maiden. She was
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  Speaker 1: scarcely half as long as a thumb, and they gave
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  Speaker 1: her the name of thumb Billina, or tiny, because she
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  Speaker 1: was so small. A walnut shell, elegantly polished, served her
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  Speaker 1: for a cradle. Her bed was formed of blue violet leaves,
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  Speaker 1: with a rose leaf for a counterpane. Here she slept
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  Speaker 1: at night, but during the day she amused herself on
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  Speaker 1: a table where the woman had placed a plate full
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  Speaker 1: of water. Round this plate were wreaths of flowers with
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  Speaker 1: their stems in the water, and upon it floated a
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  Speaker 1: large tulip leaf, which served Tiny for a boat. Here
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  Speaker 1: the little maiden sat and rowed herself from side to
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  Speaker 1: side with two oars made of white horsehair. It really
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  Speaker 1: was a very pretty sight. Tiny could also sing so
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  Speaker 1: softly and sweetly that nothing like her singing had ever
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  Speaker 1: before been heard. One night, while she lay in her
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  Speaker 1: pretty bed, a large, ugly, wet toad crept through a
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  Speaker 1: broken pane of glass in the window and leaped right
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  Speaker 1: upon the table where Tiny lay sleeping under her rose
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  Speaker 1: leaf quilt. A pretty little wife. This would make for
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  Speaker 1: my son, said the toad, and she took up the
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  Speaker 1: walnut shell in which little Tiny lay asleep, and jumped
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  Speaker 1: through the window with it into the garden. In the
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  Speaker 1: swampy margin of a broad stream. In the garden lived
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  Speaker 1: the toad with her son. He was uglier even than
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  Speaker 1: his mother, and when he saw the pretty little maiden
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  Speaker 1: in her elegant bed, he could only cry, croak, croak, croak.
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  Speaker 1: Don't speak so loud, or she will wake, said the toad,
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  Speaker 1: and then she might run away, for she is as
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  Speaker 1: light as swan's down. We will place her on one
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  Speaker 1: of the water lily leaves out in the stream. It
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  Speaker 1: will be like an island to her. She is so
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  Speaker 1: light and small, and then she cannot escape. And while
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  Speaker 1: she is away, we will make haste and prepare the
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  Speaker 1: state room under the marsh in which you are to
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  Speaker 1: live when you were married. Far out in the stream
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  Speaker 1: grew a number of water lilies with broad green leaves,
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  Speaker 1: which seemed to float on top of the water. The
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  Speaker 1: largest of these leaves appeared farther off than the rest,
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  Speaker 1: and the old toad swam out to it with the
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  Speaker 1: walnut shell in which little Tiny lay still asleep. The
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  Speaker 1: tiny little creature woke very early in the morning and
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  Speaker 1: began to cry bitterly when she found where she was,
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  Speaker 1: for she could see nothing but water on every side
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  Speaker 1: of the large green leaf, and no way of reaching
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  Speaker 1: the land. Meanwhile, the old toad was very busy under
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  Speaker 1: the marsh, decking her room with rushes and wild yellow
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  Speaker 1: flowers to make it look pretty for her new daughter
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  Speaker 1: in law. Then she swam out with her ugly son
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  Speaker 1: to the leaf on which she had placed Little Tiny.
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  Speaker 1: She wanted to fetch the pretty bed that she might
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  Speaker 1: put it in the bridle chamber to be ready for her.
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  Speaker 1: The old toad bowed low to her in the water
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  Speaker 1: and said, here is my son. He will be your husband,
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  Speaker 1: and you will live happily in the marsh by the stream. Croak, croak, croak,
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  Speaker 1: was all her son could say for himself. So the
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  Speaker 1: toad took up the elegant little bed and swam away
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  Speaker 1: with it, leaving Tiny all alone on the green leaf,
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  Speaker 1: where she sat and wept. She could not bear to
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  Speaker 1: think of living with the old toad and having her
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  Speaker 1: ugly son for a husband. The little fishes who swam
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  Speaker 1: about in the water beneath had seen the toad and
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  Speaker 1: heard what she said, so they lifted their heads above
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  Speaker 1: the water to look at the little maiden. As soon
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  Speaker 1: as they caught sight of her. They saw she was
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  Speaker 1: very pretty, and it made them very sorry to think
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  Speaker 1: that she must go and live with the ugly toads. No,
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  Speaker 1: it must never be. So they assembled together in the
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  Speaker 1: water round the green stalk which held the leaf on
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  Speaker 1: which the little maiden stood, and gnawed it away at
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  Speaker 1: the root with their teeth. Then the leaf floated down
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  Speaker 1: the stream, carrying Tiny far away out of reach of land.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Tiny sailed past many towns and the little birds in
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: the bushes saw her and sang, what a lovely little creature.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: So the leaf swam away with her, farther and farther,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: till it brought her to other lands. A graceful little
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: white butterfly constantly fluttered round her, and at last alighted
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: on the leaf. Tiny pleased him, and she was glad
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: of it, for now the toad could not possibly reach her,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: and the country through which she sailed was beautiful, and
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: the sun shone upon the water till it glittered like
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: liquid gold. She took off her girdle and tied one
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: end of it round the butterfly, and the other end
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: of the ribbon she fastened to the leaf, which now
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: glided on much faster than ever, taking Little Tiny with it.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: As she stood presently, a large cockschiffer flew by the
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: moment he caught sight of her, he seized her round
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: her delicate waist with his claws and flew her into
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: a tree. The green leaf floated away on the brook,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: and the butterfly flew with it, for he was fastened
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: to it and could not get away. Oh how frightened
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: little Tiny felt when the cockschiffer flew with her to
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: the tree. But especially was she sorry for the beautiful
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf, for
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: if he could not free himself, he would die of hunger.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: But the cockshiffer did not trouble himself at all about
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: the matter. He seated himself beside her on a large
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: green leaf, gave her some honey from the flowers to eat,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: and told her she was very pretty, though not in
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: the least like a cockshiffer. After a time, all the
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: cockshiffers turned up their feelers and said, she has only
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: two legs. How ugly that looks. She has no feelers,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: said another. Her waist is quite slim. Who she is
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: like a human being? Oh, she is ugly, said all
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: the lady cockshiffers, Although tiny was very pretty. Then the
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: cockshiffer who had run away with her believed all the
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: others when they said she was ugly, and would have
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: nothing more to say to her, and told her she
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: might go where she liked. Then he flew down with
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: her from the tree and placed her on a daisy,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: and she wept at the thought that she was so
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: ugly that even the cockshiffers would have nothing to say
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: to her, and all the while she was really the
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: loveliest creature that one could imagine, and as tender and
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: delicate as a beautiful rose leaf. During the whole summer,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: poor little Tiny lived quite alone in the wide forest.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: She wove herself a bed with blades of grass and
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: hung it up under a broad leaf to protect herself
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: from the rain. She sucked the honey from the flowers
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: for food, and drank the dew from their leaves every morning.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: So passed away the summer and the autumn, and then
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: came the winter, the long cold winter. All the birds
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: who had sung to her so sweetly were flown away,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: and the trees and the flowers had withered. A large
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: clover leaf under the shelter of which she had lived,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: was now rolled together and shriveled up. Nothing remained but
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: a yellow, withered stalk. She felt dreadfully cold, for her
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: clothes were torn, and she was herself so frail and
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: delicate that poor Little Tiny was nearly frozen to death.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: It began to snow, too, and the snowflakes, as they
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: fell upon her, were like a whole shovelful falling upon
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: one of us, for we are tall, but she was
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: only an inch high. Then she wrapped herself up in
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: a dry leaf, but it cracked in the middle and
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: could not keep her warm, and she shivered with cold.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Near the wood in which she had been living lay
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: a corn field, But the corn had been cut a
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: long time. Nothing remained but the bare, dry stubble standing
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: up out of the frozen ground. It was to her
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: like struggling through a large wood. Oh, how she shivered
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: with the cold. She came at last to the door
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: of a field mouse, who had a little den under
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: the corn stubble. There dwelt the field mouse in warmth
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: and comfort, with a whole roomful of corn, a kitchen,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: and a beautiful dining room. Poor little Tiny stood before
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: the door, just like a little beggar girl, and begged
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: for a small piece of barley corn, for she had
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: been without a morsel to eat for two days. You,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: poor little creature, said the field mouse, who was really
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: a good old field mouse, Come into my warm room
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and dine with me. She was very pleased with Tiny,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: so she said, you are quite welcome to stay with
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: me all the winter if you like, but you must
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: keep my rooms clean and neat, and tell me stories,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: for I shall like to hear them very much. And
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Tiny did all the field mouse asked her, and found
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: herself very comfortable. We shall have a visitor soon, said
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: the field mouse. One day. My neighbor pays me a
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: visit once a week. He is better off than I am.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: He has large rooms and wears a beautiful black velvet coat.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: If you could only have him for a husband, you
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: would be well provided for. Indeed, but he is blind,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: so you must tell him some of your prettiest stories.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: But Tiny did not feel at all interested about this neighbor,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: for he was a mole. However, he came and paid
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: his visit, dressed in his black velvet coat. He is
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: very rich and learned, and his house is twenty times
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: larger than mine, said the field mouse. He was rich
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: and learned, no doubt, But he always spoke slightingly of
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: the sun and the pretty flowers, because he had never
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: seen them. Tiny was a blade to sing to him ladybird, ladybird,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: fly away home, and many other pretty songs. And the
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: mole fell in love with her because she had such
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: a sweet voice. But he said nothing yet, for he
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: was very cautious. A short time before, the mole had
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: dug a long passage under the earth which led from
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: the dwelling of the field mouse to his own, and
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: here she had permission to walk with Tiny whenever she liked.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: But he warned them not to be alarmed at the
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: sight of a dead bird which lay in the passage.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: It was a perfect bird, with a beak and feathers,
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: and was just lying where the mole had made his passage.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: The mole took a piece of phosphorescent wood in his mouth,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: and it glittered like fire in the dark. Then he
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: went before them to light them through the long dark passage.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: When they came to the spot where lay the dead bird,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: the mole pushed his broad nose through the ceiling. The
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: earth gave way so that there was a large hole,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: and the daylight shone into the passage. In the middle
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: of the floor lay a dead swallow, his beautiful wings
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: pulled close to his sides, his feet, and his head
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: drawn up under his feathers. The poor bird had evidently
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: died of the cold. It made little Tiny very sad
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: to see it. She did so love the little birds.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: All the summer they had sung and twittered for her
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: so beautifully. But the mole pushed it aside with his
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: crooked legs and said, he will sing no more. Now,
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: how miserable it must be to be borne a little bird.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I am thankful that none of my children will ever
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: be birds, for they can do nothing but cry, tweet, tweed,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: and always die of hunger in the winter. Yes, you
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: may well say that as a clever man, exclaimed the
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: field mouse. What is the use of his twittering, for
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: when winter comes he must either starve or be frozen
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: to death. Still, birds are very high bred. Tiny said nothing,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: but when the two others had turned their backs on
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the soft
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: feathers which covered the head, and kissed the closed eyelids.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Perhaps this was the one who sang to me so
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: sweetly in the summer, she said, And how much pleasure
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: it gave me, you, dear pretty bird. The mole now
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: stopped up the hole through which the daylight shone, and
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: then accompanied the lady home. But during the night Tiny
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: could not sleep, so she got out of bed and
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: wove a large, beautiful carpet of hay. Then she carried
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: it to the dead bird and spread it over him
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: with some down from the flowers which she had found
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: in the field mouse's room. It was as soft as wool,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: and she spread some of it on each side of
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: the bird, so that he might lie warmly in the
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: cold earth. Farewell, you pretty little bird, said she. Farewell,
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: thank you for your delightful singing during the summer, when
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: all the trees were green and the warm sun shone
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: upon us. Then she laid her head on the bird's breast.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: But she was alarmed immediately, for it seemed as if
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: something inside the bird went thump, thump. It was the
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: bird's heart. He was not really dead, only benumbed with
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: the cold, and the warmth had restored him to life.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: In autumn, all the swallows fly away into warm countries,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: but if one happens to linger, the cold seizes it.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: It becomes frozen and falls down, as if dead. It
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: remains where it fell, and the cold snow covers it.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Tiny trembled very much. She was quite frightened, for the
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: bird was large, a great deal larger than herself. She
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: was only an inch high. But she took courage laid
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: the wool more thickly over the poor swallow, and then
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: took a leaf which she had used for her own counterpane,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: and laid it over the head of the poor bird.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: The next morning, she again stole out to see him.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: He was alive, but very weak. He could only open
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: his eyes for a moment to look at Tiny, who
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: stood by holding a piece of decayed wood in her hand,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: for she had no other lantern. Thank you, pretty little maiden,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: said the sick swallow. I have been so nicely warmed.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: I shall soon regain my strength and be able to
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: fly about again in the warm sunshine. Oh, said she,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: It is cold out of doors now it snows and freezes.
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Stay in your warm bed. I will take care of you.
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Then she brought the swallow some water in a flower leaf,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: and after he had drank, he told her that he
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: had wounded one of his wings in a thorn bush
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: and could not fly as fast as the others, who
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: were soon far away on their journey to warm countries.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Then at last he had fallen to the earth and
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: could remember no more, nor how he came to be
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: where she had found him. The whole winter, the swallow
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: remained underground, and Tiny nursed him with care and love.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Neither the mole nor the field mouse knew anything about it,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: for they did not like swallows. Very soon the spring
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: time came and the sun warmed the earth. Then the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: swallow bade farewell to Tiny, and she opened the hole
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: in the ceiling which the mole had made. The sun
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: shone in upon them so beautifully that the swallow asked
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: her if she would go with him. She could sit
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: on his back, he said, and he would fly away
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: with her into the green woods. But Tiny knew it
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: would make the field mouse very grieved if she left
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: her in that manner, so she said, no, I cannot farewell.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: Then farewell you, good, pretty little maiden, said the swallow,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: and he flew out into the sunshine. Tiny looked after him,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: and the tears rose in her eyes. She was very
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: fond of the poor swallow. Tweet tweet, sang the bird
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: as he flew out into the green woods, and Tiny
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: felt very sad she was not allowed to go out
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: into the warm sunshine. The corn which had been sown
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: in the field over the house of the field mouse,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: had grown up high into the air and formed a
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: thick wood. To Tiny, who was only an inch in height,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: you are going to be married. Tiny said the field mouse.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: My neighbor has asked for you. What good fortune for
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: a poor child like you. Now we will prepare your
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: wedding clothes. They must be both woolen and linen. Nothing
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: must be wanting when you are the mole's wife. Tiny
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: had to turn the spindle, and the field mouse hired
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: four spiders who were to weave day and night. Every evening,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: the mole visited her and was continually speaking of the
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: time when the summer would be over. Then he would
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: keep his wedding day with Tiny. But now the heat
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: of the sun was so great that it burned the
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: earth and made it quite hard like a stone. As
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: soon as the summer was over, the wedding should take place.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: But Tiny was not at all pleased, for she did
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: not like the tiresome mole. Every morning, when the sun rose,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: and every evening when it went down, she would creep
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: out at the door, and as the wind blew aside
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: the ears of corn, so that she could see the
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: blue sky. She thought how beautiful and bright it seemed
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: out there, and wished so much to see her dear
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: swallow again. But he never returned, for by this time
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: he had flown far away into the lovely green forest.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: When autumn arrived, Tiny had her outfit quite ready, and
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: the field mouse said to her, in four weeks the
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: wedding must take place. Then Tiny wept and said she
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: would not marry the disagreeable mole. Nonsense, replied the field mouse.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: Now don't be so obstinate, or I shall bite you
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: with my white teeth. He is a very handsome mole.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: The queen herself does not wear more beautiful velvets and furs.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: His kitchen and sewers are quite full. You ought to
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: be very thankful for such good fortune. So the wedding
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: day was fixed on which the mole was to fetch
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Tiny way to live with him deep under the earth,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: and never again to see the warm sun, because he
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: did not like it. The poor child was very unhappy
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: at saying goodbye to the beautiful sun, and as the
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: field mouse had given her permission to stand at the door,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: she went to look at it once more. Farewell, bright son,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: she cried, stretching out her arms towards it, And then
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: she walked a short distance from the house, for the
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: corn had been cut and only the dry stubble remained
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: in the fields. Farewell, farewell, she repeated, twining her arms
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: round a little red flower that grew just by her side.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Greet the little swallow from me if you should see
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: him again. Tweet tweet sounded over her head. Suddenly she
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: looked up, and there was the swallow himself, flying close by.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: As soon as he spied Tiny, he was delighted. And
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: then she told him how unwilling she felt to marry
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: the ugly mole and to live always beneath the earth,
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: and never to see the bright sun any more. And
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: as she told him, she wept. Cold. Winter is coming,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: said the swallow, and I am going to fly away
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: into warmer countries. Will you go with me? You can
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: sit on my back and fasten yourself on with your sash.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Then we can fly away from the ugly mole and
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: his gloomy rooms, far away over the mountains, into warmer
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: countries where the sun shines more brightly than here, where
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: it is always summer, and the flowers bloom in greater beauty.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: Fly now with me, dear little Tiny, you saved my
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: life when I lay frozen in that dark passage. Yes
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: I will go with you, said Tiny, and she seated
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: herself on the bird's back, with her feet on his
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: outstretched wings, and tied her girdle to one of his
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: strongest feathers. Then the swallow rose in the air and
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: flew over forest and over sea, high above the highest mountains,
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: covered with eternal snow. Tiny would have been frozen in
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: the cold air, but she crept under the bird's warm feathers,
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: keeping her little head uncovered so that she might admire
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: the beautiful lands over which they passed. At length they
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: reached the warm countries, where the sun shines brightly, and
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: the sky seemed so much higher above the earth. Here
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: on the hedges and by the wayside grew purple green
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: and white grapes. Lemons and oranges hung from the trees
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: in the woods, and the air was fragrant with myrtles
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: and orange blossoms. Beautiful children ran along the country lanes,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: playing with large gay butterflies, and as the swallow flew
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: farther and farther, every place appeared still more lovely. At
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: last they came to a blue lake, and by the
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: side of it, shaded by trees of the deepest green,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: stood a palace of dazzling white marble built in the
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: olden times. Vines clustered round its lofty pillars, and at
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: the top were many swallows nests, and one of these
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: was the home of the swallow who carried Tiny. This
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: is my house, said the swallow, But it would not
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: do for you to live there. You would not be comfortable.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: You must choose for yourself one of those lovely flowers,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: and I will put you down upon it, and then
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: you shall have everything that you can wish to make
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: you happy. That will be delightful, she said, and clapped
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: her little hands for joy. A large marble pillar lay
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: on the ground, which in falling, had been broken into
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: three pieces. Between these pieces grew the most beautiful, large
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: white flowers. So the swallow flew down with Tiny and
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: placed her on one of the broad leaves. But how
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: surprised she was to see in the middle of the
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: flower a tiny little man, as white and transparent as
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: if he had been made of crystal. He had a
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: gold crown on his head, and delicate wings at his shoulders,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: and was not much larger than Tiny herself. He was
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: the angel of the flower. For a tiny man and
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: a tiny woman dwell in every flower. And this was
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: the king of them all. Oh, how beautiful he is,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: whispered Tiny to the swallow. The little prince was at
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: first quite frightened at the bird, who was like a
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: giant compared to such a delicate little creature as himself.
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: But when he saw Tiny, he was delighted and thought
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: her the prettiest little maiden he had ever seen. He
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: took the gold crown from his head and placed it
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: on hers, and asked her name, and if she would
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: be his wife and queen over all the flowers. This
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: certainly was a very different sort of husband to the
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: son of a toad or the mole with my black
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: velvet and fur. So she said yes to the handsome prince.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: Then all the flowers opened, and out of each came
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: a little lady or a tiny lord, all so pretty
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: it was quite a pleasure to look at them. Each
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: of them brought Tiny a present, But the best gift
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: was a pair of beautiful wings, which had belonged to
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: a large white fly, and they fastened them to tiny shoulders,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: so that she might fly from flower to flower. Then
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: there was much rejoicing, and the little swallow, who sat
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: above them in his nest, was asked to sing a
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: wedding song, which he did as well as he could,
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: But in his heart he felt sad, for he was
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: very fond of Tiny, and would have liked never to
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: part from her again. You must not be called Tiny
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: any more, said the spirit of the flowers to her.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: It is an ugly name, and you are so very pretty.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: We will call maya farewell. Farewell, said the swallow with
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: a heavy heart, as he left the warm countries to
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: fly back into Denmark. There he had a nest over
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: the window of a house in which dwelt the writer
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: of fairy tales. The swallow sang tweet tweet, and from
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: his song came the whole story. End of Little Tiny
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: or Thumbellina by Hans Christian Andersen, read by Deborah Knight,
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: October thirty first, two thousand thirteen, Section four of Grandma
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Knight's Tales. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: The old Man and his Grandson. There once was a
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: very old man whose eyes had become dim, his ears
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: dull of hearing. His knee trembled, and when he sat
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: at table, he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: the broth upon the tablecloth, or let it run out
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: of his mouth. His son and his son's wife were
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: disgusted at this, So the old grandfather at last had
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: gave him his food in an earthware and bowl, and
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: not even enough of it, and he used to look
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: towards the table with his eyes full of tears. Once, too,
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: his trembling hands could not hold the bowl, and it
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: but he said nothing and only sighed. Then they brought
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: him a wooden bowl for a few halfpence, out of
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: which he had to eat. They were once sitting thus
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: when the little grandson of four years old, began to
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. What
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: are you doing there, asked the father. I am making
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: a little trough, answered the child, for father and mother
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: to eat out of when I am big. The men
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: and his wife looked at each other for a while,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: and presently began to cry. Then they took the old
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: grandfather to the table, and henceforth always let him eat
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: with them, and likewise said nothing if he did spill
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: a little of anything. End of the old man and
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: his grandson, by the Brother's Grim also known as The
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: Grim Brothers, read by Deborah Night, October thirty, first, two
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: thousand thirteen, section five of Gramma Knight's Tales. This LibriVox
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. She was good for nothing.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: The mayor stood at the open window. He looked smart
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: for his shirt frill in which he had stuck a
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: breast pin, and his ruffles were very fine. He had
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: shaved his chin uncommonly smooth, although he had cut himself slightly,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: and had stuck a piece of newspaper over the place. Hark,
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: ye youngster, cried. He the boy to whom he spoke
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: was no other than the son of a poor washerwoman
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: who was just going past the house. He stopped and
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: respectfully took off his cap. The peak of this cap
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: was broken in the middle, so that he could easily
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: roll it up and put it in his pocket. He
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: stood before the mayor in his poor but clean and
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: well mended clothes, with heavy wooden shoes on his feet,
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: looking as humble as if it had been the king himself.
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: You are a good and civil boy, said the mayor.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: I suppose your mother is busy washing the clothes down
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: the river, and you are going to carry that thing
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: to her that you have in your pocket. It is
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: very bad for your mother. How much have you got
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: in it? Only half a quarteron, stammered the boy in
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: a frightened voice. And she has had just as much
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: this morning already. No, it was yesterday, replied the boy.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: Two halves make a hole, said the mare. She's good
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: for nothing. What a sad thing it is with these people.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: Tell your mother she ought to be ashamed of herself.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Don't you become a drunkard? But I expect you will, though,
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: poor child, There go now. The boy went on his
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: way with his cap in his hand, while the wind
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: fluttered his golden hair till the locks stood up straight.
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: He turned round the corner of the street into the
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: little lane that led to the river, where his mother
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: stood in the water by her washing bench, beating the
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: linen with a heavy wooden bar. The floodgates at the
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: mill had been drawn up, and as the water rolled
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: rapidly on, the sheets were dragged along by the stream
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: and nearly overturned the bench, so that the washerwoman was
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: obliged to lean against it to keep it steady. I
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: have been very nearly carried away she said, it is
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: a good thing that you are come for. I want
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: something to strengthen me. It is cold in the water,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: and I have stood here six hours. Have you brought
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: anything for me? The boy drew the bottle from his pocket,
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: and the mother put it to her lips and drank
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: a little. Ah. How much good that does, and how
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: it warms me, she said, it is as good as
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: a hot meal, and not so dear, drink a little,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: my boy. You look quite pale. You are shivering in
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: your thin clothes, and autumn has really Oh, how cold
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: the water is. I hope I shall not be ill,
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: But no, I must not be afraid of that. Give
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: me a little more, and you may have a sip too,
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: But only a sip. You must not get used to it,
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: my poor dear child. She stepped up to the bridge
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: on which the boy stood. As she spoke and came
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: on shore. The water dripped from the straw mat which
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: she had bound round her body and from her gown.
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: I work hard and suffer pain with my poor hands,
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: said she, But I do it willingly that I may
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: be able to bring you up honestly and truthfully, my
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: dear boy. At the same moment, a woman rather older
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: than herself came towards them. She was a miserable looking object,
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: lame of one leg, and with a large false curl
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: hanging down over one of her eyes, which was blind.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: This curl was intended to conceal the blind eye, but
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: it made the defect only more visible. She was a
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: friend of the laundress and was called among the neighbors
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: Lame Martha with the curl. Oh, you poor thing, how
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: you do work? Standing there in the water, She exclaimed,
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: You really do need something to give you a little warmth,
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: And yet spiteful people cry out about the few drops
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: you take. And then Martha repeated to the laundress in
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: a very few minutes all that the mayor had said
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: to her boy, which she had overheard. And she felt
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: very angry that any man could speak as he had
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: done of a mother to her own child about the
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: few drops she had taken. And she was still more
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: angry because on that very day the mayor was going
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: to have a dinner party, at which there would be wine, strong,
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: rich wine, drunk by the bottle. Many will take more
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: than they ought, but they don't call that drinking. They
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: are all right, you are good for nothing, indeed, cried
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: Martha indignantly. And so he spoke to you in that way,
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: did he? My child, said the washerwoman, and her lips
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: trembled as she spoke. He says you have a mother
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: who is good for nothing. Well, perhaps he is right,
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: but he should not have said it to my child.
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: How much has happened to me from that house, yes,
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: said Martha. I remember you were in service there and
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: lived in the house when the Mayor's parents were alive.
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: How many years ago? That is? Bushels of salt have
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: been eaten since then, and people may well be thirsty,
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: and Martha smiled. The mayor's great dinner party to day
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: ought to have been put off, but the news came
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: too late. The footman told me. The dinner was already
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: cooked when a letter came to say that the mayor's
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: younger brother in Copenhagen is dead. Dead, cried the laundress,
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: turning pale as death. Yes, certainly, replied Martha, But why
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: do you take it so much to heart. I suppose
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: you knew him years ago when you were in service
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: there is he dead? She exclaimed? Oh, he was such
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: a kind, good hearted man there are not many like him.
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: And the tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke.
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: Then she cried, oh, dear me, I feel quite ill.
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: Everything is going round me. I cannot bear it is
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: the bottle empty. And she leaned against the plank. Dear me,
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: you are ill, indeed, said the other woman. Cheer up,
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: Perhaps it will pass off. No, indeed, I see you
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: are really ill. The best thing for me to do
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: is to lead you home. But my washing yonder. I
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: will take care of that. Come give me your arm.
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: The boy can stay here and take care of the linen,
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: and I'll come back and finish the washing. It is
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: but a trifle. The limbs of the laundress shook under her,
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: and she said, I have stood too long in the
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: cold water, and I have had nothing to eat the
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: whole day since the morning. Oh, kind Heaven, help me
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: to get home. I am in a burning fever. Oh,
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: my poor child. And she burst into tears, and he
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: poor boy, wept also, as he sat alone by the
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: river near to and watching the damp linen. The two
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: women walked very slowly. The laundress slipped and tottered through
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: the lane and round the corner into the street. Where
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: the mayor lived, and just as she reached the front
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: of his house, she sank down upon the pavement. Many
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: persons came round her, and lame Martha ran into the
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: house for help. The mayor and his guests came to
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: the window. Oh it is the laundress, said he. She
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: has had a little drop too much. She is good
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: for nothing. It is a sad thing for her pretty
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: little son. I like the boy very well, but the
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: mother is good for nothing. After a while, the laundress
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: recovered herself, and they led her to her poor dwelling
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: and put her to bed. Kind Martha warmed a mug
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: of beer for her, with butter and sugar. She considered
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: this the best medicine, and then hastened to the river,
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: washed and rinsed badly enough to be sure, but she
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: did her best. Then she drew the linen ashore, wet
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: as it was, and laid it in a basket. Before
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: evening she was sitting in the poor little room with
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: the laundress. The mayor's cook had given her some roasted
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: potatoes and a beautiful piece of fat for the sick woman.
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: Martha and the boy enjoyed these good things very much.
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: But the sick woman could only say that the smell
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: was very nourishing. She thought, By and by the boy
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: was put to bed in the same bed as the
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: one in which his mother lay, but he slept at
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: her feet, covered with an old quilt made of blue
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: and white patchwork. The laundress felt a little better by
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: this time. The warm beer had strengthened her, and the
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: smell of the good food had been pleasant to her.
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: Many thinks you, good soul, she said to Martha. Now
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: the boy is asleep. I will tell you all he
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: is soon asleep. How gentle and sweet he looks as
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: he lies there with his eyes closed. He does not
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: know how his mother has suffered, and Heaven grant he
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: never may know it. I was in service at the counselor's,
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: the father of the mayor, and it happened that the
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: youngest of his sons, the Student, came home. I was
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: a young wild girl then, but honest that I can
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: declare in the sight of Heaven. The Student was merry
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: and gay, brave and affectionate. Every drop of blood in
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: him was good and honorable. A better man never lived
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: on earth. He was the son of the house, and
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: I was only a maid. But he loved me truly
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: and honorably, and he told his mother of this. She
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: was to him as an angel upon earth. She was
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: so wise and loving. He went to travel, and before
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: he started he placed a gold ring on my finger.
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: And as soon as he was out of the house,
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: my mistress sent for me gently and earnestly. She drew
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: me to her and spake as if an angel were speaking.
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: She showed me clearly in spirit and in truth, the
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: difference there was between him and me. He is pleased now,
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: she said, with your pretty face. But good looks do
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: not last long. You have not been educated like he has.
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: You are not equals in mind and rank, and therein
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: lies the misfortune. I esteem the poor, she added, in
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: the sight of God, they may occupy a higher place
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: than many of the rich. But here upon earth we
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: must beware of entering upon a false track, lest we
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: are overturned in our plans, like a carriage that travels
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: by a dangerous road. I know a worthy man, an Artesian,
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: who wishes to marry you. I mean Eric, the glove maker.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: He is a widower without children, and in a good position.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: Will you think it over? Every word? She said, pierced
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: my heart like a knife. But I knew she was right,
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: and the thought pressed heavily upon me. I kissed her
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: hand and wept bitter tears, and I wept still more
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: when I went to my room and threw myself on
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: my bed. I passed through a dreadful night. God knows
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: what I suffered and how I struggled. The following Sunday,
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: I went to the House of God to pray for
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: light to direct my path. It seemed like a providence
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: that as I stepped out of church, Eric came towards me.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: And then there remains not a doubt in my mind
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: we were suited to each other in rank and circumstances.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: He was even then a man of good means. I
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: went up to him and took his hand and said,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: do you still feel the same for me? Yes, ever,
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: and always said he will you then marry a maiden
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: who honors and esteems you, although she cannot offer you
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: her love, but that may come. Yes, it will come,
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: said he. And we joined our hands together, and I
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: went home to my mistress. The gold ring which her
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: son had given me I wore next to my heart.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: I could not place it on my finger during the daytime,
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: but only in the evening when I went to bed.
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: I kissed the ring till my lips almost bled, and
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: then I gave it to my mistress and told her
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: that the bands were to be put up for me
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: and the glove maker the following week. Then my mistress
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: threw her arms round me and kissed me. She did
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: not say that I was good for nothing. Very likely
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: I was better then than I am now, but the
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: misfortunes of this world were unknown to me. Then, at
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: my Calm's we were married, and for the first year
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: everything went well with us. We had a journeyman and
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: an apprentice, and you were our servant. Martha. Ah. Yes,
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: and you are a dear good mistress, said Martha. I
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: shall never forget how kind you and your husband were
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: to me. Yes, those were happy years when you were
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: with us, although we had no children at first. The
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: student I never met again, Yet I saw him once,
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: although he did not see me. He came to his
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: mother's funeral. I saw him, looking pale as death and
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: deeply troubled, standing at her grave, for she was his mother.
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: Some time after, when his father died, he was in
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: foreign lands and did not come home. I know that
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: he never married. I believe he became a lawyer. He
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: had forgotten me, and even had we met, he would
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: not have known me, for I have lost all my
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: good looks, and perhaps that is all for the best.
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: And then she spoke of the dark days of trial,
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: when misfortune had fallen upon them. We had five hundred dollars,
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: she said, and there was a house in the street
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: to be sold for two hundred. So we thought it
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: would be worth our while to pull it down and
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: build a new one in its place. So it was bought.
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: The builder and carpenter made an estimate that the new
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: house would cost ten hundred and twenty dollars to build.
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: Eric had credit, so he borrowed the money in the
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: chief town, but the captain who was bringing it to
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: him was shipwrecked and the money lost. Just about this time,
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: my dear sweet boy, who lies sleeping there, was born,
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: and my husband was attacked with a severe lingering illness.
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 1: For three quarters of a year. I was obliged to
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: dress and undress him. We were backward in our payments.
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: We borrowed more money, and all that we had was
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: lost and sold. And then my husband died. Since then,
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: I have worked, toiled and striven for the sake of
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: the child. I have scrubbed and washed both coarse and
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: fine linen, but I have not been able to make
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: myself better off. And it was God's will. In his
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: own time, he will take me to himself, but I
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: know he will never forsake my boy. Then she fell asleep.
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: In the morning, she felt much refreshed and strong enough
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: as she thought to go on with her work, But
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 1: as soon as she stepped into the cold water, a
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: sudden faintness seized her. She clutched at the air convulsively
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: with her hand, took one step forward, and fell. Her
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: head rested on dry land, but her feet were in
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: the water. Her wooden shoes, which were only tied on
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: by a wisp of straw, were carried away by the stream,
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: and thus she was found by Martha when she came
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: to bring her some coffee. In the meantime, a messenger
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: had been sent to her house by the mayor to
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: say that she must come to him immediately, as he
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: had something to tell her. It was too late. A
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: surgeon had been sent for to open a vein in
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: her arm, but the poor woman was dead. She had
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: strun herself to death, said the cruel mayor. In the
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: letter containing the news of his brother's death, it was
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: stated that he had left in his will a legacy
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: of six hundred dollars to the glove maker's widow, who
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: had been his mother's maid, to be paid with discretion
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: in large or small sums to the widow or her child.
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: There was something between my brother and her, I remember,
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: said the mayor. It is a good thing that she
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: is out of the way. For now the boy will
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: have the hole. I will place him with honest people
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: to bring him up, that he may become a respectable
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: working man. And the blessing of God rested upon these words.
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: The mayor sent for the boy to come to him
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: and promised to take care of him, but most cruelly
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: added that it was a good thing that his mother
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: was dead, for she was good for nothing. They carried
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: her to the churchyard, the churchyard in which the poor
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: were buried. Martha strewed sand on the grave and planted
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: a rose tree upon it, and the boy stood by
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: her side. Oh my poor mother, he cried, while the
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: tears rolled down his cheeks. Is it true what they
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: say that she was good for nothing. No, indeed, it
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: is not true, replied the old servant, raising her eyes
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: to heaven. She was worth a great deal. I knew
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: it years ago, and since the last night of her life,
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: I am more certain of it than ever. I say
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: she was a good and worthy woman, and God, who
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: is in heaven knows. I am speaking the truth, though
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: the world may say even now she was good for nothing,
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 1: and of she was good for nothing. By Hans Christian Andersen,
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: read by Deborah Night, October thirty first, two thousand thirteen,
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: section six of Grandma Knight's Tales. This LibriVox recording is
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: in the public domain. The Emperor's New Suit by Hans
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: Christian Andersen. Many many years ago lived an emperor who
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: thought so much of new clothes that he spent all
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: his money in order to obtain them. His only ambition
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: was to be always well dressed. He did not care
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: for his soldiers, and the theater did not amuse him.
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: The only thing, in fact, he thought anything of was
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: to drive out and show a new suit of clothes.
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: He had a coat for every hour of the day,
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: and as one would say of a king, he is
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: in his cabinet, so one could say of him, the
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: Emperor is in his dressing room. The great city where
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: he resided was very gay. Every day many strangers from
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: all parts of the globe arrived. One day, two swindlers
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: came to this city. They made people believe that they
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: were weavers, and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: to be imagined. Their colors and patterns, they said, were
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: not only exceptionally beautiful, but the cloths made of their
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid.
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: That must be wonderful cloth, thought the Emperor. If I
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth,
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: I should be able to find out which men in
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 1: my empire were unfit for their places, and I could
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: distinguish the clever from the stupid. I must have this
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: cloth woven for me without delay. And he gave a
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: large sum of money to the swindlers in advance that
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: they should set to work without any loss of time.
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: They set up two looms and pretended to be very
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: hard at work, But they did nothing whatever on the looms.
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: They asked for the finest silk and the most precious
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: gold cloth. All they got they did away with and
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: worked at the empty looms till late at night. I
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: should like very much to know how they are getting
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: on with the cloth, thought the emperor. But he felt
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: rather uneasy when he remembered that he who was not
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: fit for his office, could not see it personally. He
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: was of opinion that he had nothing to fear. Yet
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: he thought it advisable to send somebody else first to
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: see how matters stood. Everybody in the town knew what
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: a remarkable quality the stuff possessed, and all were anxious
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: to see how bad or stupid their neighbors were. I
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: shall send my honest old minister to the weavers, thought
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: the Emperor. He can judge best how the stuff looks,
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: for he is intelligent, and nobody understands his office better
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: than he. The good old minister went into the room
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: where the swindlers sat before the empty looms. Heaven preserve us,
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: he thought, and opened his eyes wide. I cannot see
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: anything at all, But he did not say so. Both
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: swindlers requested him to come near, and asked him if
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: he did not admire the exquisite pattern and the beautiful colors.
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: Pointing to the empty looms. The poor old minister tried
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: his very best, but he could see nothing, for there
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: was nothing to be seen. Oh dear, he thought, Can
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: I be so stupid? I should never have thought so,
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: and nobody must know it. Is it possible that I
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: am not fit for my office? No? No, I cannot
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: say that I was unable to see the cloth. Now
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: have you got nothing to say? Said one of the swindlers,
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: while he pretended to be busily weaving. Oh it is
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: very pretty, exceedingly beautiful, replied the old minister, looking through
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: his glasses. What a beautiful pattern, what brilliant colors. I
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: shall tell the Emperor that I like the cloth very much.
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: We are pleased to hear that, said the two weavers,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: and described to him the colors and explain the curious pattern.
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: The old minister listened attentively that he might relate to
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: the Emperor what they said, and so he did. Soon afterwards,
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: the Emperor sent another honest courtier to the weavers to
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: see how they were getting on and if the cloth
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: was nearly finished. Like the old minister, he looked and looked,
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: but could see nothing as there was nothing to be seen.
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: Is it not a beautiful piece of cloth? Asked the
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: two swindlers, showing and explaining the magnificent pattern, which however
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: did not exist. I am not stupid, said the man.
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: It is therefore my good appointment, for which I am
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: not fit. It is very strange, but I must not
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: let anyone know it. And he praised the cloth, which
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: he did not see, and expressed his joy at the
• 1:13:07
  Speaker 1: beautiful colors in the fine pattern. It is very excellent,
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: he said to the Emperor. Everybody in the whole town
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: talked about the precious cloth. At last, the Emperor wished
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: to see it himself, while it was still on the loom,
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: With a number of courtiers, including the two who had
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: already been there. He went to the two clever swindlers,
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: who now worked as hard as they could, but without
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: using any thread. Is it not magnificent? Said the two
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: old statesmen, who had been there before. Your Majesty must
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 1: admire the colors and the pattern. And they pointed to
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: the empty looms, for they imagined the others could see
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: the cloth. What is this, thought the emperor. I do
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: not see anything at all. That is terrible. Am I stupid,
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: am I unfit to be emperor? That would indeed be
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: the most dreadful thing that could happen to me. Really,
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: he said, turning to the weavers, your cloth has our
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: most gracious approval, and nodding contentedly, he looked at the
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 1: empty loom, for he did not like to say that
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 1: he saw nothing. All his attendants who were with him
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: looked and looked, and although they could not see anything
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: more than the others, they said, like the Emperor, it
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: is very beautiful, and all advised him to wear the
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: new magnificent cloths at a great procession which was soon
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: to take place. It is magnificent, beautiful, excellent, one heard
• 1:14:43
  Speaker 1: them say. Everybody seemed to be delighted, and the Emperor
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 1: appointed the two swindlers imperial court weavers. The whole night
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: previous to the day on which the procession was to
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: take place, the swindlers pretended to work and burned more
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: than sixteen candles. People should see that they were busy
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: to finish the Emperor's new suit. They pretended to take
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: the cloth from the loom and worked about in the
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 1: air with big scissors, and sewed with needles without thread,
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: and said at last, The Emperor's new suit is ready. Now.
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: The Emperor and all his barons then came to the hall.
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: The swindlers held their arms up as if they held
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: something in their hands, and said, these are the trousers,
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: this is the coat, and here is the cloak, and
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: so on. They are all as light as a cobweb,
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: and one must feel as if one had nothing at
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: all upon the body. But that is just the beauty
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: of them, indeed, said all the courtiers. But they could
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: not see anything, for there was nothing to be seen.
• 1:15:53
  Speaker 1: Does it please your majesty now to graciously undress, said
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: the swindlers, that we may assist your majesty putting on
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: the new suit before the large looking glass. The Emperor undressed,
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: and the swindlers pretended to put the new suit upon him,
• 1:16:08
  Speaker 1: one piece after another. And the Emperor looked at himself
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: in the glass from every side. How well they look,
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: how well they fit, said all, what a beautiful pattern,
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: what fine colors. That is a magnificent suit of clothes.
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: The master of the ceremonies announced that the bearers of
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: the canopy, which was to be carried in the procession,
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: were ready. I am ready, said the Emperor, does not
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: my suit fit me marvelously? Then he turned once more
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: to the looking glass, that people should think he admired
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: his garments. The chamberlains, who were to carry the train,
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: stretched their hands to the ground as if they lifted
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: up a train, and pretended to hold something in their hands.
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: They did not like people to know that they could
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: not see anything. The Emperor marched in the procession under
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: the beautiful canopy, and all who saw him in the
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: street and out of the windows exclaimed, Indeed, the Emperor's
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: new suit is incomparable, what a long train he has,
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: how well it fits him. Nobody wished to let others
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 1: know he saw nothing, for then he would have been
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: unfit for his office, or too stupid. Never, emperor's clothes
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: were more admired. But he has nothing on it all,
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: said a little child. At last, Good heavens, listen to
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: the voice of an innocent child, said the father, And
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 1: one whispered to the other what the child had said.
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: But he has nothing on it all, cried at last
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 1: the whole people that made a deep impression upon the Emperor,
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: for it seemed to him that they were right. But
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: he thought to himself, now I must bear up to
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: the end, And the Chamberlain's walk walked with still greater dignity,
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: as if they carried the train which did not exist.
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 1: End of the Emperor's New Suit, read by Deborah Night,
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: November sixth, two thousand thirteen, Section seven of Grandma Knight's Tales.
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Jack and
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: the Beanstalk. Once upon a time there lived a poor
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: widow who had an only son named Jack. She was
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: very poor, for times had been hard, and Jack was
• 1:18:36
  Speaker 1: too young to work. Almost all the furniture of the
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: little cottage had been sold to buy bread, until at
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 1: last there was nothing left worth selling. Only the good cow,
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: milky White, remained, and she gave milk every morning, which
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: they took to market and sold. But one sad day
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 1: milky White gave no milk, and then things looked bad. Indeed,
• 1:19:01
  Speaker 1: never mind, mother said Jack, we must sell milky white.
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: Trust me to make a good bargain. And away he
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: went to the market. For some time he went along
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: very sadly, but after a little he quite recovered his spirits.
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: I may as well ride a walk, said he, so,
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: instead of leading the cow by the halter, he jumped
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: on her back, and so he went whistling along until
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: he met a butcher. Good morning, said the butcher. Good morning, sir,
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: answered Jack. Where are you going, said the butcher. I
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: am going to market to sell the cow. It's lucky
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: I met you, said the butcher. You may save yourself
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: the trouble of going so far with this. He put
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: his hand in his pocket and pulled out five curious
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 1: looking beans. What do you call these, he said, beans?
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: Said Jack, Yes, said he bean. But they're the most
• 1:20:01
  Speaker 1: wonderful beans that ever were known. If you plant them
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 1: over night, by the next morning they'll grow up and
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: reach the sky. But to save you the trouble of
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: going all the way to market, I don't mind exchanging
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: them for that cow of yours. Done, cried Jack, who
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: was so delighted with the bargain that he ran all
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: the way home to tell his mother how lucky he
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: had been. But oh, how disappointed. The poor widow was
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 1: off to bed with you, she cried, And she was
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 1: so angry that she threw the beans out of the
• 1:20:36
  Speaker 1: window into the garden. So poor Jack went to bed
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 1: without any supper, and cried himself to sleep. When he
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: woke up the next morning, the room was almost dark,
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: and Jack jumped out of bed and ran to the
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: window to see what was the matter. The sun was
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: shining brightly outside, but from the ground right up beside
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: his window, there was growing a great beans dog which
• 1:21:01
  Speaker 1: stretched up and up as far as he could see
• 1:21:04
  Speaker 1: into the sky. I'll just see where it leads to,
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 1: thought Jack, and with that he stepped out of the
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: window on to the bean stalk and began to climb upwards.
• 1:21:16
  Speaker 1: He climbed up and up, till after a time his
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: mother's cottage looked a mere speck below. But at last
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 1: the stalk ended, and he found himself in a new
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: and beautiful country. A little way off there was a
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: great castle with a broad road leading straight up to
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: the front gate. But what most surprised Jack was to
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: find a beautiful maiden suddenly standing beside him. Good morning, ma'am,
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: he said, very politely. Good morning, Jack said she, and
• 1:21:49
  Speaker 1: Jack was more surprised than ever, for he could not
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: imagine how she had learned his name. But he soon
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: found that she knew a great deal more about him
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: than his name, for she told him how when he
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: was quite a little baby, his father, a gallant knight,
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: had been slain by the giant who lived in Yonder Castle,
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 1: and how his mother, in order to save Jack, had
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: been obliged to promise never to tell the secret. All
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: that the Giant has is yours. She said, and then disappeared,
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: quite as suddenly as she came. She must be a fairy,
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 1: thought Jack. As he drew near to the castle, he
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: saw the giant's wife standing at the door. If you please, ma'am,
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: said he would you kindly give me some breakfast. I
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: have had nothing to eat since yesterday. Now the giant's wife,
• 1:22:46
  Speaker 1: although very big and very ugly, had a kind heart,
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: so she said, very well, little man, come in, but
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: you must be quick about it, for if my husband,
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 1: the Giant, finds you here, he will eat you up
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 1: bones in awe. So then Jack went and the giant's
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 1: wife gave him a good breakfast. But before he had
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: half finished it, there came a terrible knock at the
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 1: front door, which seemed to shake even the thick walls
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: of the castle. Dear, he me, that is my husband,
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: said the giantess, in a terrible fright. We must hide
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: you somehow, and she lifted Jack up and popped him
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: into the empty kettle. No sooner had the giant's wife
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: opened the door than her husband roared out, fie five
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: foe from I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: he alive or be he dead? I'll grind his bones
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: to make my bread. It's a boy, I'm sure tis,
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 1: he continued. Where is he? I'll have him for my breakfast. Nonsense,
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: said his wife. You must be mistaken. It's the ox
• 1:24:08
  Speaker 1: as high you smell. So he sat down and ate
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: up the greater part of the ox. When he had finished,
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 1: he said, wife, bring me my money bags. So his
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: wife brought him two full bags of gold, and a
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: giant began to count his money, but he was so
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: sleepy that his head soon began to nod, and then
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: he began to snore, like the rumbling of thunder. Then
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: Jack crept out, snatched up the two bags, and though
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: the giant's dog barked loudly, he made his way down
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: the bean stalk back to the cottage before the giant awoke.
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: Jack and his mother were now quite rich, but it
• 1:24:52
  Speaker 1: occurred to him one day that he would like to
• 1:24:55
  Speaker 1: see how matters were going on at the Giant's castle,
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: So while his his mother was away at market, he
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: climbed up and up, and up and up until he
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: got to the top of the beanstalk again. The Giantess
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: was standing at the door, just as before, but she
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: did not know Jack, who of course was more finely
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: dressed than on his first visit. If you please, ma'am,
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 1: said he, will you give me some breakfast? Run away,
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: said she, or my husband, the giant will eat you up,
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: bones and all. The last boy who came here stole
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: two bags of gold off with you. But the Giantess
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: had a kind heart, and after a time she allowed
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: Jack to come into the kitchen, where she set before
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: him enough breakfast to last him a week. Scarcely had
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: he begun to eat than there was a great rumbling,
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: like an earthquake, and the Giantess had only time to
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: bundle Jack into the oven when in came the No
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: sooner was he inside the room than he roared fee
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 1: five foe FuMB, I smell the blood of an Englishman,
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: be ye alive or be ye dead. I'll grind his
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 1: bones to make my bread. But his wife told him
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: he was mistaken, and after breakfasting off a roasted bullock,
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: just as if it were a lark. He called out, wife,
• 1:26:32
  Speaker 1: bring the little brown hen. The giantess went out and
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: brought in a little brown hen, which she placed on
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: the table. Lay, said the giant, and the hen at
• 1:26:44
  Speaker 1: once laid a golden egg, Lay, said the giant. A
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: second time, and she laid another golden egg. Lay, said
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: the giant a third time, and she laid a third
• 1:26:59
  Speaker 1: golden egg. That will do for to day, said he,
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: and stretched himself out to go to sleep. As soon
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 1: as he began to snore, Jack crept out of the oven,
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: went on tiptoe to the table, and, snatching up the
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 1: little brown hen, made a dash for the door. Then
• 1:27:19
  Speaker 1: the hen began to cackle, and the giant began to
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: wake up. But before he was quite awake, Jack had
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: escaped from the castle, and, climbing as fast as he
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 1: could down the beanstalk, got safe home to his mother's cottage.
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: The little brown hen laid so many golden eggs that
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: Jack and his mother had now more money than they
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: could spend. But Jack was always thinking about the beanstalk,
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: and one day he crept out of the window again
• 1:27:51
  Speaker 1: and climbed up and up and up and up until
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: he reached the top. This time, you may be sure
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: he was careful not to be seen. So he crept
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: round to the back of the castle, And when the
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 1: giant's wife went out, he slipped into the kitchen and
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 1: hid himself in the oven. In came the giant roaring
• 1:28:16
  Speaker 1: louder than ever. Fee five foe FuMB I smell the
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: blood of an englishman. Be he alive or be he dead.
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: I'll grind his bones to make my bread. But the
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: giantess was quite sure that she had seen no little
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: boys that morning, and after grumbling a great deal, the
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 1: giant set down to breakfast. Even then he was not
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: quite satisfied, for every now and again he would say,
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: fee five foe fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman.
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 1: And once he got up and looked in the kettle,
• 1:28:56
  Speaker 1: but of course Jack was in the oven all the time.
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: When the giant had finished, he called out, wife, bring
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: me the golden harp. So she brought in the golden
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: harp and placed it on the table, sing, said the giant,
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 1: and the harp at once began to sing the most
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 1: beautiful songs that ever were heard. It sang so sweetly
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: that the giant soon fell fast asleep, and then Jack
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: crept quietly out of the oven, and, going on tiptoe
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: to the table, seized hold of the golden harp. But
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 1: the harp at once called out Master, Master, and the
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 1: giant woke up just in time to catch sight of
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: Jack running out of the kitchen door with a fearful roar.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: He seized his oak tree club and dashed after Jack,
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: who held the harp tight and ran faster than he
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 1: had ever run before. The giant, brandishing his club and
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: taking terribly long strides, gained on Jack at every instant,
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 1: and he would have been caught if the giant hadn't
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: slipped over a boulder before he could pick himself up.
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 1: Jack began to climb down the beanstalk, and when the
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: giant arrived at the edge, he was nearly half way
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: to the cottage. The giant began to climb down too,
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 1: but as soon as Jack saw him coming, he called out, Mother,
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: bring me an axe, and the widow hurried out with
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 1: a chopper. Jack had no sooner reached the ground than
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 1: he cut the beanstalk right in two. Down came the
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 1: giant with a terrible crash, and that you may be
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: sure was the end of him. What became of the
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: giantess in the castle, nobody knows, But Jack and his
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: mother grew very rich and lived happily ever after. End
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: of Jack and the Beanstalk Recording by dep. November eleventh,
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen, Section eight of Grandma Knight's Tales. This
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Little Red riding
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: Hood In a great wide forest, full of beautiful trees
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: and green glades and thorny thickets, there lived a long
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 1: time ago a woodcutter and his wife who had only
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: one child, a little girl. She was so pretty and
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: so good that the sun seemed to shine more brightly
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: when its light fell upon her rosy little face, and
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 1: the birds would seem to sing more sweetly when she
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: was passing by. Her real name was Maisie, but the
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: neighbors round about all called her Little Red riding Hood
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: because of a scarlet riding hood and cloak that her
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 1: kind old grandmother had made for her, and which she
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 1: nearly always wore. She was a happy, merry little child,
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 1: with a smile and a gentle word for everybody, And
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: so you may easily believe that everybody loved her and
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: was glad to catch a glimpse of her golden curls
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: and her scarlet cloak as she tripped along singing under
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: the green boughs. Now, this, let me tell you, before
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 1: I forget, was at the time when all the birds
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: and beasts, or very nearly all could speak just as
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: well as you or I, and nobody was surprised to
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: hear them talk, as I suppose one would be nowadays,
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: well as I was saying. Little Red riding Hood lived
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: with her parents in a little white cottage with a
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: green door and a thatched roof, and red and white
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 1: roses climbing all over the walls and even putting their
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 1: pretty heads in at the latticed windows to peep at
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 1: the child who was so like them. It was on
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: a bright spring morning early in May, when Little Red
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: riding Hood had just finished putting away the breakfast cups,
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: that her mother came bustling in from the dairy. Here's
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: a to do, she said, Farmer Hodge, as this very
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: minute told me that he hears your granny isn't quite well.
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 1: An I can't leave the cheesemakin this mornin for love
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: or money do you go, my dear, and find out
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 1: how she is, and stay. Take her this little pot
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: of sweet fresh butter, and these two new laid eggs,
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: and these nice tasty little pasties. Maybe they'll tempt her
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: to eat a bit. Here's your basket, and don't be
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: too long away, honey. So the red riding Hood pulled
• 1:33:39
  Speaker 1: her hood over her curls and set off down the
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: sunny green slope with her basket in her hand, at
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: a brisk pace, but as she got deeper into the
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: forest she walked more slowly. Everything was so beautiful. The
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: great trees waved their huge arms over her, The birds
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: were calling to one another from the thorns, all white
• 1:34:01
  Speaker 1: with blossom, and the child began singing as she went.
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: She could not have told why, but I think it
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: was because the beautiful world made her feel glad. The
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: path wound along through the trees, and as it grew whiter.
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 1: After turning a corner, Red riding Hood saw that she
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: was likely to have company on her walk, for where
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: two cross paths divided, there sat a big gray wolf,
• 1:34:28
  Speaker 1: licking his long paws and looking sharply about him. And
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: good morning, Red riding Hood said he good morning, mister wolf,
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: she answered, And where may you be going, sweet lass,
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: said the wolf as he walked beside her. Oh, Grannie
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 1: isn't very well, and mother cannot leave the cheesemaking this morning.
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: So I'm taking her some little dainties in my basket,
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: and I am to see how she is and tell
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: mother when I get back, said the child with a smile,
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: and said the wolf, where does your good granny live?
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: Little lady? Through the copse, and down the hollow, and
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: over the bridge, and three meadows after the mill, does she? Indeed,
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: cried he? Why then, I do believe she is a
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: very dear old friend of mine whom I have not
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: seen for years and years. Now I'll tell you what
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 1: we'll do. You and I I will go by this way,
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: and you shall take that, and whoever gets there first
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: shall be the winner of the game. So the wolf
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 1: trotted off one way, and red riding Hood went the other.
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: And I am sorry to say that she lingered and
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: loitered more than she ought to have done on the road. Well,
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: what with one thing and another. The sun was right
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: up in the very midmost middle of the sky when
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: she crossed the last meadow from the and came in
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: sight of her grandmother's cottage and the big lilac bushes
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: that grew by the garden gate. Oh dear, how I
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: must have lingered, said the child when she saw how
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: high the sun had climbed since she set out on
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: her journey. And pattering up the garden path, she tapped
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 1: at the cottage door. Ooose, there, said a very gruff
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 1: kind of voice from inside. It's only I, Grannie, dear,
• 1:36:30
  Speaker 1: your little Red Riding Hood, with some goodies for you
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: in my basket, answered the child. Then pull the bobbin,
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: cried the voice, and the latch will go up. What
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: a dreadful cold poor Grannie must have to be sure
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: to make her so a horse, thought the child. Then
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 1: she pulled the bobbin, and the latch went up, and
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 1: Red Riding Hood pushed open the door and stepped inside
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: the cottage. It seemed very dark, and there after the
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: bright sunlight outside, and all Red Riding Hood could see
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: was that the window curtains and the bed curtains were
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 1: still drawn, and her grandmother seemed to be lying in bed,
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 1: with the bedclothes pulled almost over her head, and her
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: great white frilled nightcap nearly hiding her face. Now you
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 1: and I have guessed by this time, although poor Red
• 1:37:23
  Speaker 1: riding Hood never even thought of such a thing, that
• 1:37:26
  Speaker 1: it was not her Grannie at all, but the wicked
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: wolf who had hurried to the cottage and put on
• 1:37:32
  Speaker 1: Grannie's nightcap and popped into her bed to pretend that
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 1: he was Grannie herself. And where was Grannie all this time?
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: You will say, well, we shall see presently, Come and
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 1: sit down beside my bed, Dearie, queezed the wolf, and
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 1: let us have a little chat. Then the wolf stretched
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: out his large harry pause, and began to unfasten the basket. Oh,
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 1: said Red Riding Hood, What great arms you have, Grannie,
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 1: All the better to hug you with, said the wolf.
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 1: And what great rough ears you have, Grannie, All the
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 1: better to hear you with, my little dear. And your eyes, Grannie,
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: what great yellow eyes you have. All the better to
• 1:38:35
  Speaker 1: see you with my pet, grinned the wolf. And oh, oh, Grannie,
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 1: cried the child, in a sad fright. What great short
• 1:38:48
  Speaker 1: teeth you have, all the better to eat you with,
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: growled the wolf, springing up suddenly at Red riding Hood.
• 1:38:58
  Speaker 1: But just at that very moment, the door flew open,
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: and two tall woodcutters rushed in with their heavy axes
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 1: and killed the wicked wolf in far less time than
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: it takes me to tell you about it. But where
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: is Grannie asked Little Red riding Hood when she had
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 1: thanked the brave woodcutters. Oh, where can poor Grannie be?
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: Can the cruel wolf have eaten her up? And she
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 1: began to cry and sob bitterly. When who should walk
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: in but Grannie herself, as large as life and as
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: hearty as ever, with her marketing basket on her arm.
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 1: For it was another old dame in the village who
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: was not very well, and Grannie had been down to
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: visit her and give her some of her own famous
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: herb tea. So everything turned out right in the inn,
• 1:39:54
  Speaker 1: and all lived happily ever after. But I promise you
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 1: that Little Red rider Hood never made friends with a
• 1:40:02
  Speaker 1: wolf again. And of Little Red riding Hood. Recording by
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: Deborah Knight, November eleventh, two thousand thirteen, Section nine of
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: Grandma Knight's Tales The Brownies by Julia Horatia Ewing. This
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Part one children
• 1:40:29
  Speaker 1: are a Burden, said the tailor as he sat on
• 1:40:32
  Speaker 1: his bench stitching away. Children are a blessing, said the
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 1: kind lady in the window. It was the tailor's mother
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: who spoke. She was a very old woman and nearly helpless.
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: All day she sat in a large armchair knitting rugs.
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 1: What have my two lads ever done to help me?
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: Continued the tailor, sadly, they do nothing but play. If
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: I send Tommy on an errand he loiters. If I
• 1:41:03
  Speaker 1: ask him to work, he does it so unwillingly that
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 1: I would rather do it myself. Since their mother died,
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: I have indeed had a hard time. At this moment,
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: the two boys came in, their arms full of moss,
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: which they dropped on the floor. Is there any supper,
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: grandmother asked Tommy. No, my child, only some bread for
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 1: breakfast tomorrow. Oh grandmother, we are so hungry, and the
• 1:41:32
  Speaker 1: boy's eyes filled with tears. What can I do for you,
• 1:41:37
  Speaker 1: my poor children, said the good woman. Tell us a story, please,
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 1: so that we can forget we are hungry. Tell us
• 1:41:45
  Speaker 1: about the brownie that used to live in your grandfather's house.
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: What was he like? Like a little man, they say?
• 1:41:54
  Speaker 1: What did he do? He came in early in the
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 1: morning before anyone in the house was a wake, and
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 1: lighted the fire, and swept the room and set out
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 1: the breakfast. He never would be seen and was off
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 1: before they could catch him, but they often heard him
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 1: laughing and playing about the house. Did they give him
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: any wages, Grandmother, No, my dear, he did the work
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 1: for love. They always set a pan of clear water
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 1: for him, and down then a bowl of bread and milk. Oh, grandmother,
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 1: where did he go the old owl in the wood nose?
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: I do not. When I was young, many people used
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: to go to see the old owl at moonrise and
• 1:42:38
  Speaker 1: ask her what they wanted to know. How I wish
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: a brownie would come and live with us, cried Tommy,
• 1:42:46
  Speaker 1: So do I said, Johnny, Will you let us set
• 1:42:50
  Speaker 1: out a pan of water for the brownie. Father asked Tommy,
• 1:42:55
  Speaker 1: you may set out what you like, my lad, but
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 1: you must go to bed now. The boys brought out
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: a pan of water. Then they climbed the ladder to
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 1: the loft over the kitchen. Johnny was soon in the
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 1: land of dreams. But Tommy lay awake thinking how he
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 1: could find a brownie and get him to live in
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: the house. There is an owl that lives in the grove.
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 1: He thought, it may be the old owl herself. When
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: the moon rises, I'll go and find her. Part two.
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: The moon rose like gold and went up in the
• 1:43:30
  Speaker 1: heavens like silver. Tommy opened his eyes and ran to
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: the window. The moon has risen, said he, and it
• 1:43:39
  Speaker 1: is time for me to go downstairs. He crept softly
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 1: and out into the still night. Hoot, hoot, cried a
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 1: voice from the grove near the house. That's the old owl,
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 1: thought Tommy. He ran to a big tree and looked up.
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 1: There he saw the old owl sitting on a branch
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 1: and staring at him with yellow eyes. Oh dear, said Tommy,
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 1: for he did not like the owl very well. Come
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: up here, Come up here, she cried. Tommy climbed the
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: tree and sat face to face with her on the
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 1: big branch. Now what do you want, said the owl? Please,
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 1: said Tommy. I want to know where to find the
• 1:44:29
  Speaker 1: brownies and how to get one to come and live
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: with us. Oho ohoo, said the owl. That's it, is it?
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 1: I know of three brownies. Hurrah, said Tommy. Where do
• 1:44:46
  Speaker 1: they live in your house? Said the owl? In our house? Whereabouts?
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: Why don't they work, cried Tommy. One of them is
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: too little, said the owl. But why don't the other
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: two do something, said Tommy. Nobody does any work at
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: our house except father. They are idle. They are idle,
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: said the old owl. Then we don't want them, said Tommy.
• 1:45:21
  Speaker 1: What is the use of having brownies in the house
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: if they do nothing to help us. Perhaps they don't
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 1: know what to do. I wish you would tell me
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 1: where to find them, said Tommy. I could tell them
• 1:45:35
  Speaker 1: what to do, could you? Could you? Oh? Oh? And
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 1: Tommy could not tell whether the owl was hooting or laughing.
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: Of course I could. They might get up early in
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: the morning and sweep the house and light the fire
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: and spread the table before my father comes downstairs, so
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: they might, said the owl. Well, I can tell you
• 1:46:04
  Speaker 1: where to find one of the brownies, And he could
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: tell you where to find his brother. Go to the
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: north side of the pond, where the moon is shining
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 1: on the water. Turn yourself around three times while you
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: say this charm. Twist me and turn me and show
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: me the elf I looked in the water and saw.
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: Then look in the water and think of a word
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 1: which rhymes with elf, and make the charm complete. Tommy
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 1: knew the place very well. He ran to the north
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 1: side of the pond, and, turning himself around three times,
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 1: he repeated the charm. Then he looked in and saw himself.
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 1: Why there's no one but myself. I can't think of
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: the right word. What can it be? I'll go back
• 1:47:02
  Speaker 1: and ask the old owl, thought Tommy, and back he went.
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 1: There sat the owl as before, Oh, said she, as
• 1:47:12
  Speaker 1: Tommy climbed up. Did you find out the word? No,
• 1:47:18
  Speaker 1: said Tommy. I could find no word that rhymes with
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 1: elf except myself. Well that is the word. Now did
• 1:47:30
  Speaker 1: you know where your brother is in bed in the loft?
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: Said Tommy. Then all your questions are answered. Good night,
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: and the old owl began to shake her feathers. Don't
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: go yet, said Tommy humbly. I don't understand you. I
• 1:47:53
  Speaker 1: am not a brownie, am I? Yes you are, and
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: a very idle unto, said the old owl. All children
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: are brownies. But are there really any brownies except children,
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 1: inquired Tommy in a dismal tone. No, there are not. Now,
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 1: listen to me, Tommy. Little people can do only little things.
• 1:48:24
  Speaker 1: When they are idle and mischievous, they are called boggarts.
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: And they are a burden to the house they live in.
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: When they are thoughtful and useful, they are brownies and
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: are a blessing to every one. I'll be a brownie,
• 1:48:48
  Speaker 1: said Tommy. I won't be a boggart. Now I'll go
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 1: home and tell Johnny. I'll take you home, said the owl,
• 1:48:58
  Speaker 1: And in a moment, Tommy found himself in bed, with
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: Johnny sleeping by his side. How quickly we came, said
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: Tommy to himself. But is it morning? That is very strange.
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 1: I thought the moon was shining. Come, Johnny, get up,
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 1: I have a story to tell you. Part three. While
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: his brother was rubbing his eyes, Tommy told him of
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 1: his visit to the old owl in the grove. Is
• 1:49:29
  Speaker 1: that all true, asked Johnny. It is all just as
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: I tell you. And if we don't want to be boggarts,
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: we must get up and go to work. I won't
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 1: be a boggart, said Johnny, And so the two brownies
• 1:49:45
  Speaker 1: crept softly down the ladder into the kitchen. I will
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: light the fire, said Tommy, and you, Johnny, can dig
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 1: some potatoes to roast for breakfast. They swept the room
• 1:49:58
  Speaker 1: and laid the table just as they were putting the
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: potatoes in a dish, they heard footsteps. There's father, said, Tommy,
• 1:50:06
  Speaker 1: we must run. The poor tailor came wearily down the stairs.
• 1:50:12
  Speaker 1: Morning after morning he had found an untidy room and
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 1: an empty table. But now when he entered the kitchen
• 1:50:20
  Speaker 1: he looked around in great surprise. He put his hand
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 1: out to the fire to see if it was really warm.
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 1: He touched the potatoes and looked at the neat room.
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: Then he shouted, mother, Mother, boys, boys, the brownie has come.
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 1: There was great excitement in the small house, but the
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 1: boys said nothing All day. The tailor talked about the brownie.
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: I have often heard of little people, he said, but
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 1: this is wonderful to come and do the work for
• 1:50:53
  Speaker 1: a pan of cold water. Who would have believed it.
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: The boys said nothing until they were both in bed.
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 1: Then Tommy said, the old owl was right, and we
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: must stick to the work if we don't want to
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 1: be boggarts. But I don't like to have father thinking
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 1: that we are still idle. I wish he knew that
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 1: we are the brownies, So do I said Johnny. Day
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 1: after day went by, and still the boys rose early,
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: and each day they found more and more to do.
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: The brownies were the joy of the tailor's life. One
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 1: day a message came for the tailor to go to
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 1: a farmhouse several miles away. The farmer gave him an
• 1:51:39
  Speaker 1: order for a suit of clothes and paid him at once.
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 1: Full of joy at his good fortune, he hurried home.
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: As he came near the house, he saw that the
• 1:51:49
  Speaker 1: garden had been weeded. It's that brownie, he said, And
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: I shall make a suit of clothes for him. If
• 1:51:58
  Speaker 1: you make clothes for the brownie, he will leave the house,
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: said the grandmother. Not if the clothes are a good fit, mother,
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: I shall measure them by Tommy, for they say the
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: brownies are about his size. At last, a fine new
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 1: suit with brass buttons was finished and laid out for
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 1: the brownie. Don't the clothes look fine, said Tommy when
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 1: he came down in the morning. I'll try them on.
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 1: The tailor rose earlier than usual that day, for he
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: wished to catch a glimpse of the brownies. He went
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: softly downstairs. There was Johnnie sweeping the floor and Tommy
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: trying on the new suit. What does this mean, shouted
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 1: the father. It's the brownies, said the boys. This is
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: no joke, cried the tailor angrily. Where are the real brownies?
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 1: I say, we are the only brownies, father said, Tommy,
• 1:53:00
  Speaker 1: I can't understand this. Who has been sweeping the kitchen lately?
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 1: I should like to know? We have, said the boys,
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: who gets breakfasts and puts things in order? We do?
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: We do, they shouted, But when do you do it?
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 1: Early in the morning, before you come down. But if
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: you do the work, where is the brownie? Here? Cried
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 1: the boys. We are the brownies, and we are sorry
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: that we were bogged so long. The father was delighted
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 1: to find how helpful his boys had become. The grandmother, however,
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: could hardly believe that a real brownie had not been
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: in the house. But as she sat in her chair
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 1: day after day watching the boys at their work, she
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 1: often repeated her favorite saying, children are a blessing. In
• 1:53:59
  Speaker 1: a The Brownies narrated by Deborah Knight, December ninth, two
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: thousand thirteen, Section ten of Grandma Knight's Tales. This LibriVox
• 1:54:13
  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. The Three Bears. Little
• 1:54:19
  Speaker 1: Goldilocks was a pretty girl who lived once upon a
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 1: time in a far off country. One day she was
• 1:54:27
  Speaker 1: sitting on the hearth rug playing with her two kittens,
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: And you would have thought she was as happy as
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 1: a queen, and quite contented to stay where she was
• 1:54:36
  Speaker 1: instead of wanting to run about the world meddling with
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 1: other people's property. But it happened that she was a
• 1:54:43
  Speaker 1: rather mischievous little maid and could not resist teasing her pets.
• 1:54:48
  Speaker 1: So one of them scratched her, and then she would
• 1:54:52
  Speaker 1: play with them no longer. She got up and trotted
• 1:54:56
  Speaker 1: away into the wood behind her mother's house. And it
• 1:54:59
  Speaker 1: was so such a warm, pleasant day that she wandered
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: on and on until she came into a part of
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: the wood where she had never been before. Now, in
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 1: this wood there lived a family of three bears. The
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 1: first was a great big bear, the second was a
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: middling sized bear, and the third was a little, teeny
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: tiny bear. And they all lived together in a funny
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: little house, and very happy they were. Goldilock stopped when
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 1: she came to the bear's house and began to wonder
• 1:55:36
  Speaker 1: who lived there. I'll just look in and see, she said,
• 1:55:42
  Speaker 1: and so she did, but there was no one there,
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: for the bears had all gone out for a morning walk,
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 1: whilst the soup they were going to have for dinner.
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: Cooled upon the table, Goldilocks was rather hungry after her walk,
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 1: and the soup smelt so good that she began to
• 1:56:00
  Speaker 1: wish the people of the house would come home and
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 1: invite her to have some. But although she looked everywhere
• 1:56:08
  Speaker 1: under the table and into the cupboards, she could find
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 1: no one, and at last she could resist no longer,
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 1: but made up her mind to take just a little
• 1:56:18
  Speaker 1: sip to see how the soup tasted. The soup had
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 1: been put into three bowls, a great big bowl for
• 1:56:26
  Speaker 1: the great big bear, a middling sized bowl for the
• 1:56:30
  Speaker 1: middling sized bear, and a teeny tiny bowl for the
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: teeny tiny bear. Beside each bowl lay a spoon, and
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 1: Goldilocks took one and helped herself to a spoonful of
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: soup from the great big bowl. Uugh, how it burnt
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 1: her mouth. It was so hot with pepper that she
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 1: did not like it at all. Still, she was very hungry,
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: so she thought she would try again. This time, she
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: took a sip of the middling sized bear's soup, but
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: she liked that no better, for it was too salt.
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: But when she tasted the teeny tiny bear's soup. It
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 1: was just as she liked it, so she ate it
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 1: up every drop without thinking twice about it. When she
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 1: had finished her dinner, she noticed three chairs standing by
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: the wall. One was a great big chair, and she
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: climbed upon that and sat down. Oh dear, how hard
• 1:57:35
  Speaker 1: it was. She was sure she could not sit there
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 1: for long, so she climbed up on the next, which
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: was only a middling sized chair, But that was too
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: soft for her taste, so she went on to the last,
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: which was a teeny tiny chair and suited her exactly.
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 1: It was so comfortable that she set on and on until,
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 1: if you'll belie leave it, she actually set the bottom out. Then,
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: of course, she was comfortable no longer, so she got
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: up and began to wonder what she should do next.
• 1:58:12
  Speaker 1: There was a staircase in the Bears's house, and Goldilocks
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 1: thought she would go up it and see where it
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 1: led to. So up she went, and when she reached
• 1:58:22
  Speaker 1: the top she laughed outright, for the Bears's bedroom was
• 1:58:26
  Speaker 1: the funniest she had ever seen. In the middle of
• 1:58:30
  Speaker 1: the room stood a great big bed. On one side
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 1: of it there was a middling sized bed, and on
• 1:58:37
  Speaker 1: the other side there was a teeny tiny bed. Goldilocks
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: was sleepy, so she thought she would lie down and
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 1: have a little nap. First, she got up on the
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 1: great big bed, but it was just as hard as
• 1:58:51
  Speaker 1: the great big chair had been. So she jumped off
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 1: and tried the middling sized bed, But it was so
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: soft that she sank right down into the feather cushions
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 1: and was nearly smothered. I will try the teeny tiny bed,
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: she said, and so she did, and it was so
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: comfortable that she soon fell fast asleep. Whilst she lay there,
• 1:59:19
  Speaker 1: dreaming of all sorts of pleasant things. The three bears
• 1:59:23
  Speaker 1: came home from their walk, very hungry and quite ready
• 1:59:27
  Speaker 1: for their dinners. But oh, dear me, how cross the
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: great big bear looked when he saw his spoon had
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: been used and thrown under the table. Who has been
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: tasting my soup, he cried in a great big voice.
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 1: And who has been tasting mine? Cried the middling sized
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: bear in a middling sized voice. But who has been
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 1: tasting mine? And tasted it all up? Cried poor little
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 1: teeny tiny bear in a teeny tiny voice, with the
• 2:00:05
  Speaker 1: tears running down his teeny tiny face. When the great
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 1: big bear went to sit down in his great big chair.
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: He cried out in his great big voice, who has
• 2:00:17
  Speaker 1: been sitting on my chair? And the middling sized bear
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 1: cried in a middling sized voice, who has been sitting
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: on my chair? But the teeny tiny bear cried out
• 2:00:32
  Speaker 1: in a teeny tiny voice of anger, who has been
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 1: sitting on my chair? And set up bottom out. By
• 2:00:40
  Speaker 1: this time, the bears were sure that someone had been
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 1: in their house quite lately, so they looked about to
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 1: see if someone were not there. Still, there was certainly
• 2:00:51
  Speaker 1: no one downstairs, so they went up the staircase to
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: their bedroom. As soon as the great big bear looked
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: at his bed, he cried out in his great big voice,
• 2:01:02
  Speaker 1: who has been lying on my bed? And the middling
• 2:01:06
  Speaker 1: sized bear, seeing that the coverlet was all rumpled, cried
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 1: out in a middling sized voice, who has been lying
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: on my bed? But the teeny tiny bear cried out
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 1: in a teeny tiny voice of astonishment, who has been
• 2:01:23
  Speaker 1: lying on my bed? And lies there still? Now? When
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 1: the great big bear began to speak, Goldilocks dreamt that
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: there was a bee buzzing in the room, and when
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 1: the middling sized bear began to speak, she dreamt that
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 1: it was flying out of the window, But when the
• 2:01:42
  Speaker 1: teeny tiny bear began to speak, she dreamt that the
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: bee had come back and stung her on the ear,
• 2:01:49
  Speaker 1: and up she jumped. Oh, how frightened she was when
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 1: she saw the three bears standing beside her. She hopped
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 1: out of bed and in a second was out through
• 2:01:59
  Speaker 1: the open window, never stopping to wonder if the fall
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 1: had hurt her. She got up and ran, and ran
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: and ran until she could go no farther, always thinking
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 1: that the bears were close behind her. And when at
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 1: length she fell down in a heap on the ground
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: because she was too tired to run any more. It
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: was her own mother who picked her up, because in
• 2:02:24
  Speaker 1: her fright, she had run straight home without knowing it.
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: End of the Three Bears and end of Grandma Knight's Tales,
• 2:02:36
  Speaker 1: Recordings by Deborah Knight in the year two thousand thirteen.