Latest / Classic Science Fiction Books / 04 - The House of Arden - E Nesbit
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter two, The Mouldiwarp Part two. Thus encouraged Elfrida said,
- 0:08Speaker 1: very slowly and carefully, Oh, moldywarp. I think it would
- 0:13Speaker 1: rather be called that than mold don't you, Oh moldywarp,
- 0:17Speaker 1: do please come out and show us how to set
- 0:19Speaker 1: about it? That means the treasure. I hope it'll understand.
- 0:24Speaker 1: That's not poetry, said Edred, Yes it is if you
- 0:28Speaker 1: say it right on, Oh moldywarp, do please come out
- 0:32Speaker 1: and show us how to set about it? There ought
- 0:37Speaker 1: to be some more, said Edred, rather impressed. All the same,
- 0:41Speaker 1: there is, said Elfrida. Oh wait a minute, I shall
- 0:45Speaker 1: remember directly it. What I mean is how to find
- 0:48Speaker 1: the treasure and make Edred braven wise and kind. I'm
- 0:51Speaker 1: kind enough if it comes to that, said Lord Arden.
- 0:54Speaker 1: Oh I know you are. But poetry has to rhyme,
- 0:57Speaker 1: you know it has. I expect poets often have to
- 0:59Speaker 1: say what they don't mean because of that. Well say
- 1:03Speaker 1: it straight through, said Edred, and Elfrida said, obediently, Oh, moldywarp,
- 1:09Speaker 1: do please come out and show us how to set
- 1:13Speaker 1: about it. What I mean is how to find the
- 1:16Speaker 1: treasure and make Edred brave and wise and kind. I'll
- 1:21Speaker 1: write it down if you've got a pencil Edred produced
- 1:24Speaker 1: a piece of pink chalk, but he had no paper,
- 1:26Speaker 1: so Elfrida had to stretch out her white petticoat, put
- 1:29Speaker 1: a big stone on the hem, and hold it out
- 1:31Speaker 1: tightly with both hands while Edred wrote at her dictation.
- 1:35Speaker 1: Then Edred studiously repeated the lines again and again, as
- 1:38Speaker 1: he was accustomed to repeat the Battle of Ivory, till
- 1:41Speaker 1: at last he was able to stand up and say, oh, mouldywarp,
- 1:46Speaker 1: do please come out and show me how to set
- 1:49Speaker 1: about it. What I mean is how to find the
- 1:52Speaker 1: treasure and make me brave and wise. And if you
- 1:56Speaker 1: don't mind, he added, And instantly there was the white mole.
- 2:01Speaker 1: What do you want now, it said very crossly. Indeed,
- 2:05Speaker 1: and call that poetry. It's the first I ever made,
- 2:09Speaker 1: said Elfrida of the hot ears. Perhaps it'll be better
- 2:12Speaker 1: next time. We want you to do what the spell says,
- 2:16Speaker 1: said Edred, make you brave and wise. That can't be
- 2:19Speaker 1: done all in a minute. That's a long job, that is,
- 2:23Speaker 1: said the mole viciously. Don't be so cross, dear, said Elfrida.
- 2:28Speaker 1: And if it's going to be so long. Hadn't you
- 2:30Speaker 1: better begin? I ain't a goin to do no more'n
- 2:34Speaker 1: my share, said the mole, somewhat softened, though perhaps by
- 2:37Speaker 1: the dear You tell me what you want, and perhaps
- 2:40Speaker 1: I'll do it. I know what I want, said Edred,
- 2:44Speaker 1: but I don't know whether you can do it, ha,
- 2:47Speaker 1: laughed the mole contemptuously. I got it out of a
- 2:50Speaker 1: book Elfrida got on my birthday, Edred, said, the children
- 2:54Speaker 1: in it went into the past. I'd like to go
- 2:56Speaker 1: into the past and find that treasure. Choose your period,
- 3:01Speaker 1: said the mole, wearily. Choose your period? What time you'd
- 3:06Speaker 1: like to go back to? If you don't choose, before
- 3:08Speaker 1: i'd counted ten, it's all off one, two, three, four,
- 3:14Speaker 1: It counted ten through a blank silence, nine ten, it ended, Oh,
- 3:19Speaker 1: very well, then you'll have to take your luck. That's
- 3:21Speaker 1: all bother, said Edred. I couldn't think of anything except
- 3:26Speaker 1: all the dates of all the kings of England, all
- 3:27Speaker 1: at once. Lucky to know em, said the mole, and
- 3:31Speaker 1: so plainly not believing that he did know them, that
- 3:33Speaker 1: Edred found himself saying under his breath, William the first
- 3:36Speaker 1: ten sixty six, William the Second ten eighty seven, Henry
- 3:40Speaker 1: the First eleven hundred. The mole yawned, which, of course
- 3:43Speaker 1: was very rude of it. Don't be cross, dear, said
- 3:46Speaker 1: Elfrida again, you help us your own way. Now you're talking,
- 3:51Speaker 1: said the mole, which, of course Elfrida knew. Well, I'll
- 3:54Speaker 1: give you a piece of advice. Don't you be nasty
- 3:56Speaker 1: to each other for a whole day, and then you
- 4:00Speaker 1: needn't talk, said Edred, still under his breath. Very well,
- 4:04Speaker 1: said the mole, whose ears were sharper than his eyes.
- 4:07Speaker 1: I won't, oh, don't, sighed Elfrida. What is it we
- 4:12Speaker 1: are to do when we've been nice to each other
- 4:14Speaker 1: for a whole day. Well, when you've done that, said
- 4:18Speaker 1: the mole, Look for the door. What door, asked Elfrida.
- 4:22Speaker 1: The door, said the mole. But where is it, Edred asked,
- 4:28Speaker 1: in the house it be, of course, said the mole.
- 4:30Speaker 1: Where else to gracious should it be? And it ran
- 4:33Speaker 1: with mouselike quickness across the grass and vanished down what
- 4:36Speaker 1: looked like a rabbit hole. Now said Elfrida triumphantly. You've
- 4:41Speaker 1: got to believe in the mole, yes, said Edred, and
- 4:45Speaker 1: you've got to be nice to me for a whole day,
- 4:47Speaker 1: or it's no use my believing. Aren't I generally nice?
- 4:51Speaker 1: The girl pleaded, and her lips trembled. Yes, said her brother. Yes,
- 4:56Speaker 1: lady Arden, And now I'm going to be nice too,
- 4:59Speaker 1: And where shall we look for the door? This problem
- 5:02Speaker 1: occupied them till tea time. After tea, they decided to
- 5:06Speaker 1: paint with the new paint box and the beautiful new brushes.
- 5:09Speaker 1: Elfrida wanted to paint mister Miller's illustrations in the Amulet,
- 5:13Speaker 1: and Edred wanted to paint them too. This could not be,
- 5:16Speaker 1: as you will see if you have the book. Edred
- 5:19Speaker 1: contended that they were his paints. Elfrida reminded him that
- 5:22Speaker 1: it was her book. The heated discussion that followed ended
- 5:25Speaker 1: quite suddenly and breathlessly. I wouldn't be a selfish pig,
- 5:30Speaker 1: said Edred. No more would, I said Elfrida. Oh, Edred?
- 5:35Speaker 1: Is this being nice to each other for twenty four hours? Oh?
- 5:38Speaker 1: Said Edred? Yes? Well, all right, never mind will begin
- 5:43Speaker 1: again tomorrow. But it is much more difficult than you
- 5:46Speaker 1: would think to be really nice to your brother or
- 5:48Speaker 1: sister for a whole day. Three days passed before the
- 5:51Speaker 1: two Ardens could succeed in this seemingly so simple thing.
- 5:54Speaker 1: The days were not dull ones at all. There were
- 5:57Speaker 1: beautiful things in them that I wish I had time
- 5:59Speaker 1: to tell you about, such as climbings and discoveries, and
- 6:02Speaker 1: books with pictures, and a bureau with a secret drawer.
- 6:05Speaker 1: It had nothing in it but a farthing and a
- 6:07Speaker 1: bit of red tape. Secret drawers never have, but it
- 6:10Speaker 1: was a very nice secret drawer for all that. And
- 6:13Speaker 1: at last a day came when each held its temper
- 6:15Speaker 1: with a strong bit. They began by being very polite
- 6:18Speaker 1: to each other, and presently it grew to seem like
- 6:20Speaker 1: a game. Let's call each other Lord and Lady Arden
- 6:24Speaker 1: all the time and pretend that we're no relation, said Elfrida.
- 6:28Speaker 1: And really that helped tremendously. It is wonderful how much
- 6:31Speaker 1: more polite you can be to outsiders than you can
- 6:33Speaker 1: to your own relations, who are, when all's said and done,
- 6:37Speaker 1: the people you really love. As the time went on,
- 6:40Speaker 1: they grew more and more careful. It was like building
- 6:42Speaker 1: a house of cards. As hour after hour of blameless
- 6:45Speaker 1: politeness was added to the score, they grew almost breathlessly
- 6:49Speaker 1: anxious if after all this some natural annoyance spoil everything,
- 6:54Speaker 1: I do hope, said Edred, towards tea time that you
- 6:58Speaker 1: won't go and do anything tiresome. Oh, dear, I do
- 7:01Speaker 1: hope I shan't, said Elfrida. And this was just like them. Both.
- 7:06Speaker 1: After tea they decided to read, so as to lessen
- 7:09Speaker 1: the chances of failure. They both wanted the same book,
- 7:12Speaker 1: Treasure Island it was, and for a moment the niceness
- 7:15Speaker 1: of both hung in the balance. Then, with one accord,
- 7:18Speaker 1: each said no, you have it, and the matter ended
- 7:21Speaker 1: in each taking a quite different book that it didn't
- 7:23Speaker 1: particularly want to read. At bedtime, Edred lighted Elfrida's candle
- 7:28Speaker 1: for her, and she picked up the matches for him
- 7:30Speaker 1: when he dropped them. Bless their hearts, said missus Honeysett.
- 7:35Speaker 1: In the passage they parted with the heartfelt remark, we've
- 7:39Speaker 1: done it this time now. Of course, in the three
- 7:42Speaker 1: days when they had not succeeded in being nice to
- 7:45Speaker 1: each other, they had looked for the door, but as
- 7:47Speaker 1: the mole had not said where it was nor what
- 7:50Speaker 1: kind of a door, their search had not been fruitful.
- 7:53Speaker 1: Most of the rooms had several doors, and as there
- 7:55Speaker 1: were a good many rooms, the doors numbered fifty seven,
- 7:58Speaker 1: counting cupboards, and among these there were none that seemed
- 8:01Speaker 1: worthy to rank above all others as the door. Many
- 8:05Speaker 1: of the doors in the old part of the house
- 8:06Speaker 1: looked as though they might be the one, but since
- 8:09Speaker 1: there were many, no one could be sure. How shall
- 8:12Speaker 1: we know, Edred asked next morning, through his egg and toast.
- 8:17Speaker 1: I suppose it's like when people fall in love, said
- 8:19Speaker 1: Elfrida through hers. You see the door and you know
- 8:22Speaker 1: at once that it is the only princess in the
- 8:24Speaker 1: world for you. I mean door, of course, she added,
- 8:27Speaker 1: And when breakfast was over, they stood up and looked
- 8:30Speaker 1: at each other. Now they said, together, we'll look at
- 8:34Speaker 1: every single door. Perhaps they'll be magic riding on the door,
- 8:37Speaker 1: come out in the night like mushrooms, said the girl.
- 8:41Speaker 1: More likely that mole was kidding us, said the boy.
- 8:44Speaker 1: Oh no, said the girl. And we must look at
- 8:47Speaker 1: them on both sides. Every one. I do wonder what's
- 8:51Speaker 1: inside the door, don't you? Bluebeard's wives I shouldn't wonder,
- 8:55Speaker 1: said the boy. With their heads. If you don't stop,
- 8:59Speaker 1: said the girl, putting her fingers in her ears. I
- 9:01Speaker 1: won't look for the door at all. No, I don't
- 9:03Speaker 1: mean to be aggravating, but please, don't you know I
- 9:06Speaker 1: hate it. Come on, said Edred, and don't be a duffer,
- 9:10Speaker 1: Old Chap. The proudest moments fel Frida's life were when
- 9:14Speaker 1: her brother called her old Chap. So they went and
- 9:18Speaker 1: looked at all the fifty seven doors, one after the other,
- 9:21Speaker 1: on the inside and on the outside. Some were painted
- 9:24Speaker 1: and some were grained. Some were carved and some were plain.
- 9:27Speaker 1: Some had panels and others had none. But they were
- 9:30Speaker 1: all of them doors, just doors, and nothing more. Each
- 9:34Speaker 1: was just a door, and none of them had any
- 9:36Speaker 1: claim at all to be spoken of as the door.
- 9:39Speaker 1: And when they had looked at all the fifty seven
- 9:41Speaker 1: on the inside and on the outside, there was nothing
- 9:43Speaker 1: for it but to look again. So they looked again,
- 9:46Speaker 1: very carefully, to see if there were any magic writing
- 9:48Speaker 1: that they hadn't happened to notice. And there wasn't. So
- 9:51Speaker 1: then they began to tap the walls to try to
- 9:53Speaker 1: discover a door with a secret spring. And that was
- 9:56Speaker 1: no good either. There isn't any old door, said Ei.
- 10:00Speaker 1: I told you that mole was pulling our leg I'm
- 10:03Speaker 1: sure there is, said Elfrida, sniffing a little from prolonged anxiety.
- 10:08Speaker 1: Look here, let's play it like the willing game. I'll
- 10:11Speaker 1: be blindfolded and you hold my hand and will me
- 10:13Speaker 1: to find the door. I don't believe in the willing game,
- 10:16Speaker 1: said Edred disagreeably. No more do, I said Elfrida. But
- 10:21Speaker 1: we must do something. You know. It's no good sitting
- 10:23Speaker 1: down and saying there isn't any door. There isn't all
- 10:27Speaker 1: the same, said Edred. Well, come on, So Elfrida was
- 10:31Speaker 1: blindfolded with her best silk scarf, the blue one with
- 10:34Speaker 1: the hem stitched ends, and Edred took her hands, and
- 10:38Speaker 1: at once this happened in the library where they'd found
- 10:40Speaker 1: the spell. Elfrida began to walk in a steady and
- 10:43Speaker 1: purposeful way. She crossed the hall and went through the
- 10:46Speaker 1: green based door into the other house, went along its
- 10:49Speaker 1: corridor and up its dusty stairs, up and up and up.
- 10:54Speaker 1: We've looked everywhere here, said Edred. But Elfrida did not
- 10:58Speaker 1: stop for that. I know I'm going straight to it.
- 11:01Speaker 1: She said, Oh, do try to believe a little, or
- 11:03Speaker 1: we shall never find anything, and went on along the
- 11:07Speaker 1: corridor where the spiders had draped the picture frames with
- 11:09Speaker 1: their gray crape curtains. There were many doors in this corridor,
- 11:13Speaker 1: and Elfrida stopped suddenly at one of them, a door
- 11:16Speaker 1: just like the others. This, she said, putting her hand
- 11:20Speaker 1: out till it rested on the panel, all spread out
- 11:23Speaker 1: like a pink starfish. This is the door. She felt
- 11:27Speaker 1: for the handle, turned it and went in, still pulling
- 11:30Speaker 1: at Edred's hand, and with the blue scarf still in
- 11:33Speaker 1: her eyes. Edred followed, I say, he said, and then
- 11:38Speaker 1: she pulled off the scarf. The door closed itself very
- 11:42Speaker 1: softly behind them. They were in a long attic room,
- 11:45Speaker 1: close under the roof, a room that they had certainly
- 11:48Speaker 1: and all their explorings never found before. There were no windows,
- 11:52Speaker 1: The roof sloped down at the sides, almost to the floor.
- 11:55Speaker 1: There was no ceiling. Old worm eaten roof beams showed
- 11:59Speaker 1: the tiles between, and old tie beams crossed it, so
- 12:02Speaker 1: that as you stared up it looked like a great ladder,
- 12:04Speaker 1: with the rungs very far apart. Here and there, through
- 12:08Speaker 1: the chinks of the tiles, a gold and dusty light
- 12:10Speaker 1: filtered in and outside was the tick tick of moving
- 12:14Speaker 1: pigeon feet, the rustling of pigeon feathers, the kooroo coo
- 12:18Speaker 1: of pigeon voices. The long room was almost bare. Only
- 12:22Speaker 1: along each side, close under the roof was a row
- 12:25Speaker 1: of chests, and no two chests were alike. Oh, said Dred,
- 12:31Speaker 1: I'm kind and wise now I feel it inside me.
- 12:34Speaker 1: So now we've got the treasure, we'll rebuild the castle.
- 12:37Speaker 1: He got to the nearest chest and pushed at the lid,
- 12:40Speaker 1: but Elfrida had to push too before he could get
- 12:42Speaker 1: the heavy thing up. And when it was up, alas,
- 12:45Speaker 1: there was no treasure in the chest, only folded clothes.
- 12:49Speaker 1: So then they tried the next chest, and in all
- 12:52Speaker 1: the chests there was no treasure at all, only clothes, clothes,
- 12:56Speaker 1: and more clothes. Again. Well, never mind, said Elfria, trying
- 13:00Speaker 1: to speak comfortably. They'll be splendid for dressing up in
- 13:04Speaker 1: That's all very well, said Edred. But I want the treasure, perhaps,
- 13:09Speaker 1: said Elfrida with some want of tact. Perhaps you're not
- 13:13Speaker 1: good and wise yet not quite, I mean, she hastened
- 13:16Speaker 1: to add, let's take the things out and look at them.
- 13:19Speaker 1: Perhaps the treasures in the pockets, But it wasn't not
- 13:22Speaker 1: a bit of it, not even a threepenny bit. The
- 13:25Speaker 1: clothes in the first chest were full riding cloaks in
- 13:28Speaker 1: long boots, short waisted dresses, and embroidered scarves, tight breeches,
- 13:32Speaker 1: and coats with bright buttons. There were very interesting waistcoats
- 13:36Speaker 1: and odd shaped hats. One, a little green one, looked
- 13:39Speaker 1: as though it would fit Edred. He tried it on,
- 13:42Speaker 1: and at the same minute Elfrida lifted out a little
- 13:44Speaker 1: straw bonnet trimmed with blue ribbons. Here's one for me,
- 13:48Speaker 1: she said, and put it on. And then it seemed
- 13:51Speaker 1: as though the cooing and rustling of the pigeons came
- 13:53Speaker 1: right through the roof and crowded round them in a
- 13:55Speaker 1: sort of dazzlement, and a cloud of pigeon noises. The
- 13:58Speaker 1: pigeon noises came closer and closer, and garments were drawn
- 14:02Speaker 1: out of the chest and put on the children. They
- 14:04Speaker 1: did not know how it was done any more than
- 14:06Speaker 1: you do, but it seemed somehow that the pigeon noises
- 14:08Speaker 1: were like hands that helped. And presently there were the
- 14:11Speaker 1: two children stood in clothing such as they had never worn.
- 14:15Speaker 1: Elfrida had a short waisted dress of green sprigged cotton
- 14:18Speaker 1: with a long and skimpy skirt. Her square toed brown
- 14:22Speaker 1: shoes were gone, and her feet wore flimsy sandals. Her
- 14:26Speaker 1: arms were bare. A muslin handkerchief was folded across her chest.
- 14:30Speaker 1: Edred wore very white trousers that came right up under
- 14:33Speaker 1: his arms, a blue coat with brass buttons, and a
- 14:36Speaker 1: sort of frilly tucker round his neck. I say, they
- 14:40Speaker 1: both said, when the pigeon noises had taken themselves away,
- 14:43Speaker 1: and they were face to face in the long empty room,
- 14:46Speaker 1: that was funny. Edred added, let's go down and show
- 14:49Speaker 1: missus Honeyset. But when they got out of the door
- 14:52Speaker 1: they saw that Missus Honeyset or some one else must
- 14:55Speaker 1: have been very busy while they were on the other
- 14:57Speaker 1: side of it, for the floor of the gallery was
- 14:59Speaker 1: neatly swept, polished. A strip of carpet, worn but clean,
- 15:03Speaker 1: ran along it, and Prince hung straight and square on
- 15:05Speaker 1: the cleanly whitewashed walls, and there was not a cobweb
- 15:08Speaker 1: to be seen anywhere. The children opened the gallery doors
- 15:12Speaker 1: as they went along, and every room was neat and clean,
- 15:15Speaker 1: no dust, no tattered curtains, only perfect neatness and a
- 15:19Speaker 1: sort of rather bare comfort showed in all the rooms.
- 15:22Speaker 1: Missus Honeyset was in none of them. There were no
- 15:24Speaker 1: workmen about. Yet. The bay's door was gone, and in
- 15:27Speaker 1: its stead was a door of old wood, very shaky
- 15:30Speaker 1: and crooked. The children ran down the passage to the
- 15:33Speaker 1: parlor and burst open the door, looking for Missus Honeyset.
- 15:37Speaker 1: There sat a very upright old lady and a very
- 15:40Speaker 1: upright old gentleman, and their clothes were not the clothes
- 15:43Speaker 1: people wear nowadays. They were like the clothes the children
- 15:46Speaker 1: themselves had on. The old lady was hemming a fine
- 15:49Speaker 1: white frill. The old gentleman was reading what looked like
- 15:52Speaker 1: a page from some newspaper. Hoity toity, said the old
- 15:56Speaker 1: lady very severely. We forget our man. I think, make
- 16:01Speaker 1: your curtsy. Miss Elfrida made one as well as she could,
- 16:06Speaker 1: to teach you respect for your elders, said the old gentleman.
- 16:10Speaker 1: You had best get by heart one of doctor Watt's
- 16:12Speaker 1: divine and moral songs. I leave you to see to it,
- 16:15Speaker 1: my lady. He laid down the sheet and went out,
- 16:18Speaker 1: very straight and dignified, and without quite knowing how it happened.
- 16:22Speaker 1: The children found themselves sitting on two little stools in
- 16:25Speaker 1: a room that was and was not the parlor in
- 16:28Speaker 1: which they had had that hopeful, eggy breakfast, each holding
- 16:31Speaker 1: a marbled side of Doctor Watts's hymns. You will commit
- 16:35Speaker 1: to memory the whole of the one commencing happy the
- 16:39Speaker 1: child whose youngest years receive instruction well, and you will
- 16:43Speaker 1: be deprived of pudding with your dinners, remarked the old lady,
- 16:47Speaker 1: I say, murmured Edred. Hush, said Elfrida, as the old
- 16:53Speaker 1: lady carried her cambric frills to the window seat. But
- 16:56Speaker 1: I won't stand it, whispered Edred. I'll tell Aunt Edith,
- 17:00Speaker 1: and oh she anyhow. He glowered at the old lady
- 17:03Speaker 1: across the speckless carpet. Don't you understand, Elfrida whispered back.
- 17:09Speaker 1: We've got turned into somebody else, and she is our grandmamma.
- 17:13Speaker 1: I don't know how it was that Elfrida saw this
- 17:15Speaker 1: and Edred didn't, perhaps because she was a girl, perhaps
- 17:19Speaker 1: because she was two years older than he. They looked
- 17:21Speaker 1: hopelessly at the bright sunlight outside, and then at the
- 17:25Speaker 1: dull small print of the marble backed book. Edred said,
- 17:29Speaker 1: the old lady, hand me the paper. She pointed at
- 17:33Speaker 1: the sheet on the brightly polished table. He got up
- 17:36Speaker 1: and carried it across to her. And as he did so,
- 17:39Speaker 1: he glanced at it and saw the Times June sixteenth,
- 17:43Speaker 1: eighteen o seven. And then he knew, as well as
- 17:47Speaker 1: Elfrida did, exactly where he was and when end of
- 17:53Speaker 1: Section four