Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 337: Jugoslavia- Beauty and The Horns (Fillmore)

Transcript

EP 337: Jugoslavia- Beauty and The Horns (Fillmore) · Sandman Stories Presents

0:25
Welcome back listeners to Sam Man's Stories Presents, a folk
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tale podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next story.
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I'm your host, Dustin. And if you want more tales that
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are too hot for TV, go ahead and slide over to Sam Man's Stories
0:37
After Dark on Patreon. You can get everything for free
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and it's just a bit too spicy to be here on the main feed.
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Today we are back in the book of Yugoslavian folklore.
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In this story, we see a boy who is tempted by hearing about a
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beauty, and it nearly costs him his life.
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I hope he learned his lesson. OK, let's begin.
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Beauty and the horns. There was once a rich man who,
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when he was on his deathbed, called his son to him and said,
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Danilo, my son, I'm leaving you my riches.
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The only thing I ask of you is this close your ears to all
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reports of an enchanted maiden who is known as the Peerless
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Beauty. And when the time comes for you
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to marry, please choose a quiet, sensible girl of your native
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village for a wife. Now if the father had not
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mentioned Peerless Beauty, all might have been well.
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Danilo might never have heard of her, and after a time he
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probably would have fallen in love with some girl of his
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native village and married her, as it was after his father's
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death. He kept saying to himself,
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Peerless beauty, the enchanted maiden of whom my father warned
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me. I wonder if she really is as
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beautiful as all that. I wonder where she lives.
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He thought about her until he could think of nothing else.
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Peerless beauty, Peerless beauty.
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Oh, I must see this enchanted maiden, even if it costs me my
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life. His father had a brother, a wise
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old man who was supposed to know how everything went in the
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world. I will go tell my uncle, said
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the young man. Perhaps he will tell me where I
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can find Peerless Beauty. So I went to his uncle and said,
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My dear uncle, my father, as he lay dying, told me about a
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wonderful maiden called Peerless Beauty.
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Can you tell me where she lives? Because I want to see her for
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myself and judge whether she really is beautiful, as father
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said. His uncle looked at him gravely
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and shook his head. My poor boy, how can I tell you
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where that enchanted maiden lives when I know it will mean
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death to you if you even saw her?
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Think no more about her, but go find some suitable maid in the
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village and marry her like a sensible young man.
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But his uncle's words, far from dissuading Danilo, only excited
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him more. If my uncle knows where Peerless
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Beauty lives, he thought other men must know also.
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So one by, when he went to all the old men in the village and
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asked them what they knew of the Peerless Beauty.
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One by one they shook their heads and told him that Peerless
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Beauty was no maiden for him to be thinking about.
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Pour her out of your mind, they said.
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These enchanted maidens are a snare to young men.
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What you want to do is marry some quiet, industrious girl in
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here in a village, and settle down like a sensible young man.
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The more Danilo heard this advice, the more firmly
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convinced he became that it was just not what he wanted to do.
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Time enough to settle down after I've seen peerless beauty, he
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told himself. She must be beautiful indeed, or
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else all these old men would not be so anxious to keep me from
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seeing her. Well, if they won't tell me
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where she is, I'll go out in the world and find her for myself.
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So he put on rich clothes as befitted his wealth, and took a
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bag of gold his father had left him, and mounted his horse, and
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rode off into the world. Everywhere he went he made
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inquiries about peerless beauty, and everywhere he found old men
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who knew about the enchanted maiden, but would tell him
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nothing. Every one of them advised him to
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go home like a sensible young man, and think no more about
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her. But all they said only made him
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more determined to see the maiden for himself.
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Finally, one day, as evening approached, he came to a little
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Hut in the woods. At the door of the Hut sat the
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poor old woman. She held out her hand as he
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passed and begged for alms. Danilo, being a kind hearted
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young man, gave her a gold piece.
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May God reward you, said the old woman.
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Granny Danilo asked. Can you tell me the way to the
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peerless beauty? I my son that I can, but he is a
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rash youth who seeks that maiden.
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It is better for you to turn back than to go on, But I'm not
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going to turn back, Danilo declared.
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Whatever the outcome, I'm going to find the Peerless Beauty and
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see her for myself. Why all men fear her?
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When the old woman saw that Danilo was determined, she gave
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up pleading with him and pointed out a faint trail into the
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forest, which she told him would lead to the Peerless Beauty's
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castle. He slept that night in the old
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woman's Hut, and early the next morning he set out on the forest
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trail. By afternoon he reached the
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castle. What do you want?
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The guards demanded roughly. I'm here to see Peerless Beauty.
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Have you got any gold? They asked him.
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Danilo showed him his big bag of ducats.
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They led him to a hall of the castle and told him to put his
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gold on the table. If he did so, perhaps Peerless
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Beauty would show herself, or perhaps she wouldn't.
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Danilo did as the guards directed and then faced a
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curtain behind him, which they told him Peerless Beauty was
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seated. The curtain opened a little, but
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instead of showing her face, Peerless Beauty extended only
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one finger. However, that finger was so
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ravishingly beautiful that Danilo almost fainted with
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delight. He would have stayed gazing at
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that one enchanted finger for hours if the guards had not
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taken him roughly by their shoulders and thrown him out of
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the castle. Come again when you got more
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gold? They shouted after him like a
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man in a dream. Danilo rode back to the old
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woman's Hut. Now, my son, are you satisfied?
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She asked him. Are you ready now to go home and
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settle down like a sensible young man?
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Oh, Granny Donolo raved such a finger.
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I must see that finger again if it cost me my whole fortune.
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He slept that night in the old woman's Hut, and the next day he
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returned to his native village. There he got another bag of gold
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which his father had left him, and at once he set off for the
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castle of the Peerless Beauty. This time that heartless maiden
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stripped him of his gold again, showed him two of her enchanting
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fingers, and as before, had her guards throw him out of the
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castle. Come back again when you got
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more gold, they shouted after him.
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That's exactly what the poor man did.
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He went back and back until the fortune that his father had left
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him was entirely squandered, and all he had seen of peerless
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beauty up to this time were the fingers of one hand.
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Shouldn't you suppose that now, with all of his wealth lost, he
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would get over his foolish infatuation?
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Well, he didn't. I must go back again, he kept
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telling himself. His gold was gone, but he still
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had his father's house. It was a big old house with
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garrets and Cellars. Perhaps if I hunt I shall find
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some treasures hidden away in an odd corner, said Danilo.
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So he haunted upstairs and down. He opened old boxes and rummaged
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about it through dark rafters. One day he came to a funny
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looking little cap. I wonder who this was, he
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thought to himself. He went to the mirror and tried
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the cap on. Then a strange thing happened.
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The moment the cap touched his head, Danilo disappeared.
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Ah, he cried. It's a magic cap, and the moment
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I put it on, I become invisible. Now I can slip into the Peerless
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Beauty's chamber and see her lovely face.
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With his magic cap pulled tightly over his forehead, he
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set off once more for the Peerless Beauty's castle.
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Sure enough, he was able to get past the guards on the scene,
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and he was able to go boldly into the Great Hall and beyond
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it, through the curtain, into the peerless Beauty's own
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chamber. The beauty was seated with her
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back to the curtain, and a serving maid was coming out her
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hair for the night. It was lovely hair, and it fell
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down over the beauty's shoulders like a mantle of gold.
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At mere sight of it. Danilo was so overcome with
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emotion that he sighed. What's that?
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The beauty cried. There must be somebody in my
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chamber. The serving maid looked under
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the bed and checked the chairs and in the corners.
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There is no one here, my lady. That's strange, Beauty said.
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I feel as though someone were looking at me.
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When Danilo saw the actual face of the enchanted maiden, it was
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all he could do to keep from crying aloud.
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She was so unspeakably beautiful that he almost swooned away in
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ecstasy. Presently the maiden went to bed
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and fell into an uneasy sleep. The light of a single candle
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shed a faint radiance over her face, making it lovelier than
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ever. Through all the long hours of
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night, Danilo stood perfectly still, gazing at her, afraid
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almost to breathe lest he should disturb her.
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Unless I win her for my wife, he thought to himself, I shall
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never be happy. When morning came, the maiden
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awoke with a start and said, There's someone looking at me.
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Who is it? Who is it?
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It's only your poor Danilo, a voice answered Danilo, who is
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Danilo? The youth whom you've been
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treating so cruelly. But though you have treated me
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cruelly, I still love you if you love me still, the maiden said.
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Let me see you. Danilo took off the magic cap
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and there he stood, a handsome youth at the foot of her bed.
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Then the crafty maiden spoke to him fair, and Danilo told her
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about the magic cap, and when she said to him that she
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repented for having treated him so cruelly, and asked him to let
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her see the cap, the poor young man was so dazzled by her beauty
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and her seeming kindness that he handed it to her at once.
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Instantly she clapped on her head and disappeared.
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Then she laughed in derision and called out loudly to the guards.
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Oh, there, take out this young man and drive him forth.
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Let him return when he has another treasure to offer me.
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So the guards dragged Inola out and drove him away.
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With no more gold and no more magic cap, Danilo returned to
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his father's house. Perhaps there are other
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treasures hidden away, he thought.
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I'll search further. In his search he came upon an
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old pitcher, and thinking it might be silver, he began
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rubbing it. Instantly there was a clap of
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Thunder and a company of soldiers appeared.
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Their captain saluted Danilo respectfully and said, We are
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the servants of that magic pitcher.
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What does our master wish? Magic pitcher, Stammered Danilo.
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And I'm your master, the captain said.
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Yes, you are our master. As long as you hold the magic
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pitcher in your hands, you may disappear now, Danilo said.
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I will rub the pitcher when I need you.
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Delighted with this unexpected good fortune, he hurried off to
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the woods of the Hut of the old woman who had befriended him
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before. He showed her the picture and
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demonstrated for how it worked. Then he asked her to carry a
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message to the peerless beauty, He said, Tell her that unless
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she consents to marry me at once, I will lead a mighty army
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against her, take her captive, and then send her off an exile
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to that howling wilderness which people call the donkey's
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paradise. I will deliver your message, the
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old woman said, on the condition that you promised me to be on
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your guard this time. Don't let the maiden trick you
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again. She is under an enchantment that
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makes her cruel and crafty, and the enchantment will never be
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broken until she meets a man upon whom her Wiles have no
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effect. Trust me this time, Donilo said.
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I have learned my lesson. So the old woman delivered the
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message, and when Peerless Beauty received it with scorn,
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Donilo at once set out for the castle.
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With the magic pitcher in his hand he began rubbing, and every
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time he rubbed a company of soldiers appeared.
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Soon the castle was surrounded by a great army, and in
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frightened dismay, Peerless Beauty sent out word that she
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was ready to make an unconditional surrender.
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When Danilo entered the castle, he found her humble and meek.
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I have treated you cruelly, she said.
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Now I'm in your power, Do with me what you will.
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And she began weeping softly until the sight of her tears
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drove Danilo distracted. Weep no more, dear lady, he
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cried. You have nothing to fear from
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me. I love you.
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I'm your slave. The Peerless One slowly dried
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her tears. If you love me as you say you
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do, you will tell me by what magic you have raised this great
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army. Then Danilo, forgetting the old
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woman's warning, took the magic picture out of his shirt and
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showed the maiden how it worked. Ha, ha, ha ha, she murmured
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wonderingly. It looks like any old pitcher.
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Please, Danilo, let me see it in my own hands.
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Danilo handed her the pitcher, and quick as a flash, she rubbed
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it. There was a clap of Thunder and
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a company of soldiers appeared, and their captain saluted her
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respectfully, saying, What does the mistress of the pitcher
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want? Danilo cried.
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No, I own the pitcher, not her. We are the servants.
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Who? Whoever holds the pitcher, the
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captain said. At that Peerless Beauty laughed
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loud and scornfully till the castle rang with her merriment.
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Seize that Wretch, she said, pointing to Danilo.
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Tie his hands and drive him out into exile, into donkey's
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paradise. Let him stay there until he has
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another treasure to present to me.
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So they drove Danilo out into the wilderness and left him
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there. He wandered about for many days,
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hungry and thirsty, subsisting on roots and berries and
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drinking only the water that was collected in the hoofprints of
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wild beasts. See what I've come to, he cried
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aloud. Why didn't I heed that old
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woman's warning? If I had, I should have broken
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the evil enchantment that binds my peerless beauty, and all
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would have been well. One day, as he wandered, he came
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upon a vine that was laden with great clusters of luscious red
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grapes. He fell upon them ravenously and
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ate bunch after bunch. Suddenly he felt something in
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his hair, and lifting his hands, he found that horns had grown
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out all over his head. Fine grapes these are, he
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exclaimed, To bring out horns on a person's head.
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However, he was so hungry that he kept on eating until his head
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was one mass of horns. The next day he found a vine
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that had a cluster of white grapes.
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He began eating the white grapes and he hadn't finished a bunch
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before the horns all fell off his head.
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Ha, he said the red grapes put horns on and the white grapes
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take the horns off. That's a trick worth knowing.
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He took some reeds and fashioned 2 baskets of which he filled
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with red grapes and the other with white grapes.
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Then straining his face with dark juice of a leaf until he
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looked brown and sunburnt like a countryman, he went back to
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Peerless Beauty's castle. There he marched up and down
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below the Peerless one's window, crying his wares like a
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huckster. Sweet grapes for sale.
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Who wants my fresh sweet grapes now?
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It was not the season for grapes, so Peerless Beauty when
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she heard the cry was surprised and said to her serving maid, Go
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quickly and buy me some grapes from that huckster and mind you,
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don't eat one for yourself. The serving maid hurried out to
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Danilo and he sold her some of the red grapes.
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As she carried them in, she couldn't resist the temptation
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of slipping a few into her mouth.
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Instantly some horns grew out of her head.
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That's to punish me for disobeying my mistress.
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The poor girl cried. Oh dear, what shall I do?
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She was afraid to show herself to Peerless Beauty, so she
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pretended that she had taken sick and went to the bed and
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pulled the sheet over her head and sent the grapes in by
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another serving maid. Peerless Beauty ate them all
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before she discovered their frightful property.
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Then there was a great to do, and cries of anger and a fright,
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and a quick sending out of the guards to find the huckster.
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But the huckster disappeared. What could Peerless Beauty do
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now? She tried to pull the horns out,
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but they wouldn't come. She tried to cut them off, but
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they resisted the edge of the sharpest knife.
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She was too proud to show herself off with the horns, so
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she swansed her head with jewels and ribbons and pretended she
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was wearing an elaborate headdress.
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Then she sent Harold's to the land, offering a huge reward to
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any man who could cure the her serving maid of some strange
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horns that had grown out of her head.
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You see, she thought that she could get a hold of someone who
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could cure the maid, and then she could make him cure her too.
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Well, doctors and quacks and all sorts of people came and tried
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every kind of remedy, but all in vain.
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The horn stayed firmly rooted. A whole week went by, and then
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when the last of the quacks had come and gone, Danilo, disguised
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as an old physician, presented himself and craved an audience
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with the Peerless. 1 He carried out two small jars in his hands,
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one of which was made from conserve from the white grapes,
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and the other one a conserve made from the red grapes.
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Peerless beauty, her horns swathed in silk and gleaming
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with jewels, received them coldly.
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Are you one more quack? She asked.
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Not a quack, he said, bowing low, but a man who has happened
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upon a strange secret of nature. I can cure your serving maid of
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her horns, provided she confesses to me all her
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misdeeds, and hands over to me anything that does not belong to
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her. Peerless Beauty had him shown to
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the room where the serving maid lay in bed.
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The poor frightened girl at once confessed that she had stolen a
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few of her mistress's grapes and eaten them.
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Danilo spoke kindly to her, gave her some of the white grape
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conserve, and as soon as she had tasted it, the horns, of course,
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dropped off. Thereupon, Peerless Beauty LED
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Danilo to her own chamber, ordered all her people out, and
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then acknowledged that she too was suffering from horns.
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I'm sure I can cure you, Danila told her.
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Provided you confess to me all your misdeeds and hand over to
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me whatever you have that belongs to someone else.
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I cheated A foolish young man out of five bags of gold,
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Peerless Beauty said. Here they are in this chest,
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take them. Danila opened the chest and took
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out the 5 bags of gold. Is that all?
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He asked. Yes, that is all.
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Danila gave her some of the red grape conserve, and of course,
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instead of the horns already on her head falling off, more grew
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on. You're not telling me the truth.
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Danilo said. And I can't carry you.
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There's no use in treating you further.
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He turned to go, and peerless beauty and great fright begged
20:05
him to stay. I do remember another misdeed.
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She confessed. I stole a magic pitcher from the
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same foolish young man. She gave Danilo the pitcher and
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he hid it in his shirt. Is that all?
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Yes, that is all. Danilo gave her some more of the
20:23
red grape conserve, and, of course more horns grew on her
20:25
head. Then he pretended to get angry.
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How can you expect to be cured when you won't tell me the
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truth? I told you I could not cure you
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unless you confessed. All peerless beauty wanted very
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much to keep the magic cap, but when the strange physician
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thundered and scowled and threatened her again to leave
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her more horned than ever, she acknowledged, too, that she had
20:47
taken the cap and handed it over.
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This time Danilo gave her some of the white grape conserve, and
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as soon as she had eaten it all the horns fell off and her head
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shimmered and shone like before with her beautiful hair.
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Then Danilo told her who he was, and at once the maiden sought to
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ensnare him again with her Wiles.
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What a wonderful man you are, Danilo.
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I could love you now, of course, if you loved me, But I know, of
21:14
course, that you will never love me again after the cruel way
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I've treated you. But I do love you.
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Danilo cried. I do love you.
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No, you don't. She said, and she pretended to
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weep. If you did love me, you'd tell
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me where you found those red grapes and what this magic can
21:30
serve is made of. But of course you don't love me
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enough to tell me. Because she looked more
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beautiful than ever with the tears on her cheeks, Danilo was
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about to tell her what she wanted to know when he
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remembered the old woman's warning.
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That was enough. He hardened his heart and
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declared, No, I'll never tell you, do you hear me?
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I'll never tell you. She wept and implored him and
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used all of her Wiles. But Danilo, remembering the
21:59
past, was firm, and presently he had the reward that a man always
22:04
has when he's firm. For as soon as it was evident
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that she could no longer fool him, the evil enchantment that
22:11
bound her broke with a snap, and Peerless Beauty became a human
22:14
maiden, as gentle and sweet and loving as she was beautiful.
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She knelt at Dinilo's feet and humbly begged his pardon and
22:22
promised if he would still marry her, she would make him the most
22:26
beautiful wife in the world. So Dinilo married Peerless
22:29
Beauty, and with the servants of the magic pitcher, transported
22:33
her and her castle and her riches, together with the old
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woman who had befriended them both, to his own native village.
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There he still lives, happy and prosperous.
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His uncle and all the old men in the village take credit to
22:46
themselves for the success of his adventures.
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It is due entirely to us. They tell anyone who will listen
22:53
to them that Danilo went out in search of the peerless beauty in
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the 1st place. When he came to us and asked our
23:00
advice, we said to him, go by all means, you are young and
23:05
brave, and of course you'll win her.
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If we hadn't urged him to go, he probably would have settled down
23:11
here, married some quiet village girl, and never been heard of
23:15
again. That's how the old men talk now,
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but we know what they really did say at the time.
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Yet after all that, it doesn't matter.
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All that matters is that Danilo and Peerless Beauty love each
23:29
other and are happy. The end.
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Wow, when I first read this story I thought about another
24:02
story with brothers that kept going to this pretty lady and
24:04
dropping all sorts of money and jewels on her only to have her
24:07
take everything. I wonder if the moral of the
24:09
story is that you shouldn't just go on your first impressions and
24:13
lust, but rather look at the whole person.
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I enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to another dozen
24:19
or so. And the podcast shout out is to
24:22
1M Black History. This is a show that I've loved
24:25
for the longest and country Boy does a great job of getting
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lesser known black history out there and it's good for year
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round lessons. Black history year y'all, not
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month all year round. And the listener shout out is to
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the capital of Guinea, Conakry, a city whose population shut up
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after independence from France. It has a few different tourist
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attractions, but I'd love to go see the Grand Mosque.
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And so now my listener in Conakry, I say in Susu Inuwali
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and Wotan Kiffe, thank you and you are sleeping.