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07 - William Tell Told Again by P G Wodehouse · William Tell Told Again

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Intense excitement instantly reigned their suspense over. The crowd cheered
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: again and again, shook hands with one another, and flung
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: their caps into the air. Everyone was delighted, For everyone
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: was fond of Tell and Walter. It also pleased them
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: to see the governor disappointed. He had had things his
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: own way for so long that it was a pleasant
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: change to see him baffled in this manner. Knot since
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Switzerland became a nation had the meadow outside the city
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: gates been the scene of such rejoicings. Walter had picked
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: up the apple with the arrow piercing it, and was
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: showing it proudly to all his friends. I told you so,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: he kept saying, I knew Father wouldn't hurt me. Father's
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: the best shot in all Switzerland. That was indeed a shot,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: exclaimed Ulric the Smith. It will ring through the ages
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: while the mountains stand, will the tale of Tell. The
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: bowman betold Rudolf to Harris took the apple from Walter
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and showed it to Gessler, who had been sitting transfixed
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: on his horse. See, he said, the arrow has passed
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: through the very center. It was a master shot. It
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: was very nearly a master Walters shot, said russelmand the priest,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: severely fixing the governor with a stern eye. Gesler made
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: no answer. He sat looking moodily at Tell, who had
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: dropped his crossbow and was standing motionless, still gazing in
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: the direction in which the arrow had sped. Nobody liked
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: to be the first to speak to him, well, said
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Rudolf to Harris, breaking an awkward silence. I suppose it's
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: all over now, may as well be moving, eh. He
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: bit a large piece out of the apple which he
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: still held. Walter uttered a piercing scream as he saw
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the mouth disappear. Up till now, he had shown no
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: signs of dismay in spite of the peril which he
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: had had to face. But when he watched Rudolf eating
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: the apple, which he naturally looked upon as his own property,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: he could not keep quiet any longer. Rudolf handed him
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: the apple with an apology, and he began to munch
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: it contentedly. Come with me to your mother, my boy,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: said Russellmund. Walter took no notice, but went on eating
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: the apple. Tell came to himself with a start, looked
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: round for Walter and began to lead him away in
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the direction of his home. Deaf to all the cheering
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: that was going on around him, Gessler leaned forward in
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: his saddle. Tell, he said, a word with you. Tell
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: came back, your excellency, Before you go, I wish you
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: to explain one thing, a thousand, your excellency, No, only one.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: When you were getting ready to shoot at the apple,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: you placed an arrow in the string and a second
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: arrow in your belt. A second arrow. Tell pretended to
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: be very much astonished, but the pretense did not deceive
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the governor. Yes, a second arrow. Why was that? What
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: did you intend to do with that arrow? Tell? Tell
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: looked down uneasily and twisted his bow about in his hands.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: My lord, he said, at last, it is a bowman's custom.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: All archers place a second arrow in their belt. No, Tell,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: said Gessler. I cannot take that answer as the truth.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I know there was some other meaning in what you did.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Tell me the reason without concealment. Why was it? Your
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: life is safe, whatever it was, so speak out. Why
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: did you take out that second arrow? Tells stopped fidgeting
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: with his bow and met the Governor's eye with a
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: steady gaze. Since you promise me my life your excellency,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: he replied, drawing himself up, I will tell you. He
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: drew the arrow from his belt and held it up.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: The crowd pressed forward, hanging on his words. Had my
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: first arrow, said Tell, slowly, pierced my child, and not
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: the apple, this would have pierced you, my lord. Had
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: I missed with my first shot, be sure, my lord,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: that my second would have found its mark. A murmur
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: of approval broke from the crowd. As Tail thrust the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: arrow back into the quiver and faced the governor with
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: folded arms and burning eyes. Gessler turned white with fury.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Seize that man, he shouted, my lord, bethink you, whispered
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Rudolf deir hairis. You promised him his life? Tell fly,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: he cried. Tell did not move. Seize that man and
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: bind him, roared Gessler. Once more. If he resists, cut
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: him down. I shall not resist, said Tell scornfully. I
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: should have known the folly of trusting to a tyrant
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  Speaker 1: to keep his word. My death will at least show
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: my countrymen the worth of their governor's promises. Not so,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: replied Gessler. No man shall say I ever broke my
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: knightly word. I promised you your life, and I will
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: give you your life. But you are a dangerous man. Tell,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: and against such must I guard myself. You have told
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  Speaker 1: me your murderous purpose. I must look to it that
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: that purpose is not fulfilled. Life I promised you, and
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: life I will give you, but a freedom I said nothing.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: In my castle at Cusnacht there are dungeons where no
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: ray of sun or moon ever falls chained hand and
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: foot in one of these. You will hardly aim your
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: arrows at me. It is rash. Tell to threaten those
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: who have power over you. Soldiers, Bind him and lead
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: him to my ship. I will follow, and will myself
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: conduct him to Kusnacht. The soldier's tide tells hands. He
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: offered no resistance, and amidst the groans of the people,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: he was led away to the shore of the lake,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: where Gessler's ship lay at anchor. So our last chance
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: is gone, said the people to one another. Where shall
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: we look now for a leader? Chapter fourteen. The castle
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of Cusnacht lay on the opposite side of the lake.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: A mighty mass of stone reared on a mightier crag,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: rising sheer out of the waves, which boiled and foamed
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: about its foot. Steep rocks of fantastic shape hemmed it In,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: and many were the vessels that perished on these. Driven
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: thither by the frequent storms that swept over the lake,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Gessler and his men, Tell in their midst, bound and unarmed,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: embarked early in the afternoon at Flullin, which was the
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: name of the harbor where the Governor's ship had been moored.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Fleullin was about two miles from Kusnacht. When they had
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: arrived at the vessel, they went on board and Tell
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: was placed at the bottom of the hold. It was
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: pitch dark, and rats scampered over his body as he lay.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: The ropes were cast off, the sails filled, and the
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: ship made her way across the lake, aided by a
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: favoring breeze. A large number of the Swiss people had
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: followed Tell and his captors to the harbor, and gazing
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: sorrowfully after the ship as it diminished in the distance.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: There had been whispers of an attempted rescue, but nobody
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: had dared to begin it, and the whispers had led
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: to nothing. Few of the people carried weapons, and the
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: soldiers were clad in armor, and each bore a long
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: pipe or a sharp sword as Arnold of Sewa would
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: have said, if he had been present, what the people
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: wanted was prudence. It was useless to attack men so
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: thoroughly able to defend themselves. Therefore, the people looked on
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: and groaned, but did nothing. For some time the ship
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: sped easily on her way and through a calm sea.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: Tell lay below, listening to the trampling of the sailors
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: overhead as they ran about the deck, and gave up
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: all hope of ever seeing his home and his friends again.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: But soon he began to notice that the ship was
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: rolling in pitching more than it had been doing at first,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: and it was not long before he realized that a
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: very violent storm had begun. Storm sprung up very suddenly
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: on the lake and made it unsafe for boats that
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: attempted to cross it. Often. The sea was quite unruffled
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: at the beginning of the crossing, and was rough enough
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  Speaker 1: at the end to wreck the largest ship. Tell welcome
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the storm. He had no wish to live. If life
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: met years of imprisonment in a dark dungel of cassel Kushnacht,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: drowning would be a pleasant fate compared with that. He
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: lay at the bottom of the ship hoping that the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: next wave would dash them onto a rock and send
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: them to the bottom of the lake. The tossing became
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: worse and worse. Upon the deck, Gessler was standing beside
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the helmsman and gazing anxiously across the waters at the
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: rocks that fringed the narrow entrance to the bay a
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: few hundred yards to the east of Castle Kusnacht. This
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: bay was the only spot for miles along the shore
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  Speaker 1: at which it was possible to land safely. For miles
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: on either side, this coast was studded with great rocks,
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  Speaker 1: which would have dashed a ship to pieces in a moment.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: It was to this bay that Gessler wished to direct
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: the ship, but the helmsman told him that he could
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: not make sure of finding the entrance, so great was
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: the cloud of spray which covered it. A mistake would
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: mean shipwreck, my lord, said the helmsman. I have neither
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: strength nor skilled to guide the helm. I do not
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: know which way to turn. What are we to do?
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Asked Rudolf der Harris, who was standing near the helmsman. Hesitated.
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  Speaker 1: Then he spoke, eyeing the governor uneasily tell good steer
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  Speaker 1: us through He said, if your lordship would but give
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: him the helm. Gessler started Tell. He muttered Tell. The
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: ship drew nearer to the rocks. Bring him here, said Gessler.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Two soldiers went down to the hold and released Tell.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: They bade him get up and come with them. Tell
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  Speaker 1: followed them on deck and stood before the governor. Tell
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  Speaker 1: said Gessler. Tell looked at him without speaking. Take the helm, Tell,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: said Gessler, and steer the ship through those rocks into
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: the bay beyond, or instant death shall be your lot.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Without a word, Tell took the helmsman's place, peering keenly
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: into the cloud of foam before him, to right, into left.
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  Speaker 1: He turned the vessel's head and to right again, into
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the very heart of the spray. They were right among
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: the rocks now, but the sh it did not strike
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: on them. Quivering and pitching, she was hurried along until
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: of a sudden the spray cloud was behind her and
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: in front the calm waters of the bay. Gessler beckoned
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: to the helmsman, take the helm again, he said, He
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: pointed a tail. Bind him, he said to the soldiers.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: The soldiers advanced slowly, for they were loath to bind
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the man who had just saved them from destruction. But
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: the governor's orders must be obeyed, so they came towards Tell,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: carrying ropes with which to bind him. Tell moved a
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: step back. The ship was gliding past a lofty rock.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: It was such a rock as Tail had often climbed
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: when hunting the Chamois. He acted with the quickness of
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: the hunter, Snatching up the bow and quiver which lay
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: on the deck. He sprang on to the bulwark of
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: the vessel, and with a mighty leap, gained the rock.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: Another instant and he was out of reach. Gessler roared
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: to his bowmen. Shoot, Shoot, he cried. The bowmen hastily
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: fitted arrow to string. They were too late. Tell was
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: ready before them. There was a hiss as the shaft
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: rushed through the air, and the next moment Gessler, the governor,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: fell dead on the deck, pierced through the heart. Tell's
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: second arrow had found its mark, as his first had done.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter fourteen.