Latest / Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales & Short Stories Vol. 1 / 017 - The Flying Trunk

Transcript

017 - The Flying Trunk · Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales & Short Stories Vol. 1

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Section seventeen of Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales and Short Stories,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Ginger Cuckolo. Hans
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Christian Andersen Fairy Tales in Short Stories, Volume one, eighteen
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: thirty five to eighteen forty two by Hans Christian Andersen,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: translated by H. P. Paul The Flying Trunk. There was
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: once a merchant who was so rich that he could
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: have paved the whole street with gold, and would even
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: then have had enough for a small alley. But he
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: did not do so. He knew the value of money
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: better than to use it in this way. So clever
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: was he that every shilling he put out brought him
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: a crown, and so he continued till he died. His
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: son inherited his wealth, and he lived a merry life
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: with it. He went to masquerade every night, made kites
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: out of five pound notes, and threw pieces of gold
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: into the sea instead of stones, making ducks and drakes
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: of them. In this manner, he soon lost all his money.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: At last he had nothing left but a pair of slippers,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: an old dressing gown, and four shillings. And now all
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: his friends deserted him. They could not walk with him
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: in the streets. But one of them, who was very
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: good natured, sent him an old trunk with this message
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: pack up. Yes, he said, it is all very well
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to say pack up, but he had nothing left to
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: pack up. Therefore he seated himself in the trunk. It
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: was a very wonderful trunk. No sooner did any one
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: press on the lock than the trunk could fly. He
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: shut the lid and pressed the lot. When away flew
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: the trunk up the chimney, with the merchant's son in it,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: right up into the clouds. Whenever the bottom of the
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: trunk cracked, he was in a great fright, for if
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the trunk fell to pieces, he would have made a
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: tremendous somerset over the trees. However, he got safely in
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: his trunk to the land of Turkey. He hid the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: trunk in the wood under some dry leaves, and then
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: went into the town. He could so this very well,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: for the Turks always go about dressed in dressing gowns
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: and slippers. As he was himself. He happened to meet
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: a nurse with a little child. I say you Turkish nurse,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: cried he. What castle is that near the town with
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the windows placed so high? The King's daughter lives there.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: She replied. It has been prophecy that she will be
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: very unhappy about a lover, and therefore no one is
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: allowed to visit her unless the King and Queen are present.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Thank you, said the merchant's son. So he went back
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: to the wood, seated himself in his trunk, flew up
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to the roof of the castle, and crept through the
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: window into the princess's room. She lay on the sofa asleep,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and she was so beautiful that the merchant's son could
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: not help kissing her. Then she awoke and was very
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: much for But he told her he was a Turkish
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: angel who had come down through the air to see her,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: which pleased her very much. He sat down by her
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: side and talked to her. He said her eyes were
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: like beautiful dark lakes in which the thought swam about
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: like little mermaids. And he told her that her forehead
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: was a snowy mountain which contained splendid halls full of pictures.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: And then he related to her about the stork who
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: brings a beautiful children from the rivers. These were delightful stories,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: and when he asked the princess if she would marry him,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: she consented immediately. But you must come on Saturday, she said,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: for then the King and Queen will take tea with me.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: They will be very proud when they find that I
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: am going to marry a Turkish angel. But you must
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: think of some very pretty stories to tell them, for
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: my parents like to hear stories better than anything. My
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: mother prefers one that is deep and moral, but my
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: father likes something funny to make him laugh. Very well,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: he replied, I shall bring you no other marriage portion
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: than a story. And so they parted. But the princess
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: gave him a sword which was studded with gold coins,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: and these he could use. Then he flew away to
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the town and bought a new dressing gown, and afterwards
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: returned to the wood, where he composed a story so
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: as to be ready for Saturday, which was no easy matter.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: It was ready, however, by Saturday, when he went to
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: see the princess, the King and Queen and the whole
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: court were at tea with the princess, and he was
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: received with great politeness. Will you tell us a story,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: said the queen, one that is instructive and full of
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: deep learning. Yes, but with something in it to laugh at,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: said the king. Certainly, he replied, and commenced at once,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: asking them to listen attentively. There was once a bundle
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: of matches that were exceedingly proud of their high descent.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Their genealogical tree, that is, a large pine tree from
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: which they had been cut, was at one time a
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: large old tree in the wood. The matches now lay
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: between a tinder box and an old iron saucepan, and
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: were talking about their youthful days. Ah. Then we grew
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: on the green boughs and were as green as they.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Every morning and evening we were fed with diamond drops
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: of dew. Whenever the sun shone, we felt his warm rays,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: and the little birds would relate stories to us as
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: they sung. We knew that we were rich, for the
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: other trees only wore their green dress in summer, but
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: our family were able to array themselves in green summer
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and winter. But the woodcutter came like a great revolution,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: and our family fell under the axe. The head of
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: the house, obtained a situation as mainmast in a very
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: fine ship, and can sail round the world when he will.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: The other branches of the family were taken to different places,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: and our office now is to kindle a light for
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: common people. This is how such high born people as
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: we came to be in a kitchen. Mine has been
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: a very different fate, said the iron pot, which stood
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: by the From my first entrance into the world, I
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: have been used to cooking and scarring. I am the
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: first in this house when anything solid or useful is required.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: My only pleasure is to be made clean and shining
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: after dinner, and to sit in my place and have
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: a little sensible conversation with my neighbors. All of us,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: excepting the water bucket, which is sometimes taken into the courtyard,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: live here together within these four walls. We get our
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: news from the market basket, but he sometimes tells us
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: very unpleasant things about the people and the government. Yes,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: and one day an old pot was so alarmed that
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: he fell down and was broken to pieces. He was
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: a liberal. I can tell you are talking too much,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: said the tinder box. And the steel struck against a
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: flint till some sparks flew out, crying. We want a
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: merry evening, don't we. Yes, of course, said the matches.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Let us talk about those who are the highest born. No,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: I don't like to be always talking of what we are,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: remarked the saucepan. Let us think of some other amusement.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: I will begin. We will tell something that has happened
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: to ourselves. That will be very easy and interesting as
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: well on the Baltic Sea near the Danish shore. What
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: a pretty commencement, said the plates. We shall all like
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: that story. I am sure, yes. Well, in my youth
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: I lived in a quiet family, where the furniture was polished,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: the floor scoured, and clean curtains put up every fortnight.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: What an interesting way you have of relating a story,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: said the carpet broom. It is easy to perceive that
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: you have been a great deal in women's society. There's
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: something so pure runs through what you say. That is
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: quite true, said the water bucket, And he made a
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: spring with joy and splashed some water on the floor.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Then the sauce pan went on with his story, and
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: the end was as good as the beginning. The plates
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: rattled with pleasure, and the carpet. Broom brought some green
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: parsley out of the dust hole and crowned the saucepan,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: for he knew it would vex the others. And he thought,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: if I crown him to day, he will crown me tomorrow.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Now let us have a dance, said the fire tongs,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: And then how they danced and stuck up one leg
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: in the air. The chair cushion in the corner bursts
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: with laughter when she saw it. Shall I be crowned, now,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: asked the fire tong. So the broom found another wreath
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: for the tongs. They were only common people, after all,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: thought the matches. The tea urn was now asked to sing,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: but she said she had a cold and could not
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: sing without boiling heat. They all thought this was affectation,
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: and because she did not wish to sing, excepting in
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the parlor, when on the table with the grand people
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and the window sat an old quill pen, with which
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: the maid generally wrote. There was nothing remarkable about the pen,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: excepting that it had been dipped too diply in the ink,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: But it was proud of that. It's a tea earn.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Won't sing, said the pen. She can leave it alone.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: There is a nightingale in a cage who can sing.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: She has not been taught much, certainly, But we need
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: not say anything this evening about that. I think it
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: highly improper, said the tea kettle, who was kitchen singer
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: and half brother to the tea urn, that a rich
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: foreign bird should be listened to. Here is it patriotic?
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Let the market basket decide what is right. I certainly
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: am vexed, said the basket, inwardly vexed more than any
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: one can imagine. Are we spending the evening properly? Would
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: it not be more sensible to put the house in order?
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: If each were in his own place, I would lead
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: a game. This would be quite another thing. Let us
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: act to play, said they all, at the same moment.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: The door opened and the maid came in. Then not
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: one stirred. They all remained quite still. Yet at the
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: same time there was not a single pot amongst them
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: who had not a high opinion of himself and of
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: what he could do if he chose. Yes, if we
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: had chosen, they each thought we might have spent a
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: very pleasant evening. The maid took the matches and lighted them.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Dear me, how they sputtered and blazed up. Now then
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: they thought, every one will see that we are the first.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: How we shine, What a light we give. Even while
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: they spoke, their light went out. What a capital's story,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: said the queen. I feel as if I were really
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: in the kitchen and could see the matches. Yes, you
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: shall marry our daughter, certainly, said the king. Thou shalt
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: have our daughter. The king said thou to him, because
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: he was going to be one of the family. The
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: wedding day was fixed, and on the evening before the
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: whole city was illuminated. Cakes and sweetmeats were thrown among
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: the people. The street boys stood on tiptoe and shouted Hurrah,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: and whistled between their fingers. Altogether, it was a very
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: splendid affair. I will give them another treat, said the
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: merchant's son. So he went and bought rockets and crackers
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: and all sorts of fireworks that could be thought of,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: packed them in his trunk, and flew up with it
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: into the air. What a whizzing and popping they made
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: as they went off. The turks when they saw such
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: a sight in the air, jumped so high that their
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: slippers flew about their ears. It was easy to believe
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: after this that the princess was really going to marry
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: a Turkish angel. As soon as the merchant's son had
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: come down in his flying trunk to the wood after
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: the fireworks, he thought, I will go back into the
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: town now and hear what they think of the entertainment.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: It was very natural that he should wish to know,
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: and what strange things people did say. To be sure,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: every one whom he questioned had a different tale to tell,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: though they all thought it was very beautiful. I saw
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the Turkish angel, myself, said one. He had eyes like
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: glittering stars, and a head like foaming water. He flew
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: in a mantle of fire, cried another, and lovely little
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: cherubs peeped out from the folds. He heard many more
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: fine things about himself, and that the next day he
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: was to be married. After this, he went back to
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: the forest to rest himself in his trunk. It had disappeared.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: A spark from the fireworks which remained had set it
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: on fire. It was burnt to ashes, so the merchant's
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: son could not fly any more nor go to meet
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: his bride. She stood all day on the roof waiting
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: for him, and most likely she is waiting there still
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: while he wanders through the world, telling fairy tales, but
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: none of them so amusing as the one he related
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: about the matches. End of the Flying Trunk, recorded by
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Ginger Cuckolo,