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30 - At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald · At the Back of the North Wind

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thirty Nannie's dream. Nanny was not fit to be moved
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: for some time yet, and Diamond went to see her
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: as often as he could, but being more regularly engaged
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: now seeing he went out every day for a few
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: hours with old Diamond, and had his baby to mind
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and one of the horses to attend to, he could
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: not go so often as he would have liked. One evening,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: as he sat by her bedside, she said to him,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: I've had such a beautiful dream, Diamond, I should like
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: to tell it to you, Oh do, said Diamond. I'm
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: so fond of dreams. She must have been to the
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: back of the North wind. He said to himself. It
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: was a very foolish dream, you know, but somehow it
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: was so pleasant. What a good thing it is that
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: you believe the dream all the time you are in it.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: My readers must not suppose that poor Nanny was able
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: to say what she meant so well as I put
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: it down here. She had never been to school and
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: had heard very little else than Vulgar's Beach until she
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: came to the hospital. But I have been to school,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: and although that could never make me able to dream
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: so well as Nannie, it has made me able to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: tell her dream better than she could herself. And I
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: am the more desirous of doing this for her that
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: I have already done the best I could for Diamond's dream.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: And it would be a shame to give the boy
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: all the advantage. I will tell you all I know
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: about it, said Nanny. The day before yesterday, a lady
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: came to see us, a very beautiful lady, and very
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: beautifully dressed. I heard the matron say to her that
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: it was very kind of her to come in blue
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: and gold, and she answered that she knew we didn't
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: like dull colors. She had such a lovely shawl on,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: just like redness, tipped in milk, and all worked over
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: with flowers of the same color. It didn't shine much
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: it was silk, but it kept in the shine. When
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: she came to my bedside, she sat down just where
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: you are sitting, Diamond, and laid her hand on the counterpane.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I was sitting up with my table before me, ready
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: for my tea. Her hand looked so pretty in its
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: blue glove that I was tempted to stroke it. I
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: thought she wouldn't be angry for everybody that comes to
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the hospital is kind. It's only in the streets they
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: ain't kind. But she drew her hand away, and I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: almost cried, for I thought I had been rude. Instead
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: of that, however, it was only that she didn't like
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: giving me her glove to stroke, for she drew it
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: off and then laid her hand where it was before.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I wasn't sure, but I ventured to put out my
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: ugly hand. Your hand ain't ugly, nanny, said Diamond. But
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Nanny went on and I stroked it again, and then
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: she stroked mine. Think of that. And there was a
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: ring on her finger, and I looked down to see
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: what it was like, and she drew it off and
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: put it upon one of my fingers. It was a
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: red stone, and she told me they called it a ruby.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Oh that is funny, said Diamond. Our new horse is
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: called Ruby. We've got another horse, a red one. Such
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: a beauty. But Nanny went on with her story. I
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: looked at the ruby all the time the lady was
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: talking to me. It was so beautiful, and as she talked,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: I kept seeing deeper and deeper into the stone. At last,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: she rose to go away, and I began to pull
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the ring off my finger and what do you think,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: she said, wear it all night if you like, only
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: you must take care of it. I can't give it
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: to you, for some one gave it to me. But
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: you may keep it till tomorrow. Wasn't it kind of her?
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I could hardly take my tea. I was so delighted
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: to hear it, and I do think it was the
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: ring that set me dreaming. For after I had taken
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: my tea, I leaned back, half lying and half sitting,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: and looked at the ring on my finger. By degrees,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: I began to dream. The ring grew larger and larger,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: until at last I found that I was not looking
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: at a red stone, but at a red sunset, which
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: shone in at the end of a long street near
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: where Grannie lives. I was dressing rags as I used
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: to be, and I had great holes in my shoes
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: at which the nasty mud came through to my feet.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: I didn't used to mind it before, but now I
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: thought it horrid. And there was the great red sunset
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: with streaks of green and gold between standing looking at me.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Why couldn't I live in the sunset instead of that dirt?
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Why was it so far away always? Why did it
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: never come into our wretched street. It faded away, as
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the sunsets always do, and at last went out altogether.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Then a cold wind began to blow and flutter all
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: my rags about. That was the north wind herself, said Diamond. Eh,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: said Nanny, and went on with her story. I turned
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: my back to it and wandered away. I did not
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: know where I was going, only it was warmer to
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: go that way. I don't think it was a north wind,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: for I found myself in the west End at last.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: But it doesn't matter in a dream which wind it was.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: I don't know that, said Diamond. I believe north wind
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: can get into our dreams, yes, and blow in them.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Sometimes she has blown me out of a dream altogether.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you mean, Diamond, said Nanny. Never mind,
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: answered Diamond. Two people can't always understand each other. They'd
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: both be at the back of the north wind directly,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: and what would become of the other places without them?
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: You do talk so oddly, said Nanny. I sometimes think
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: they must have been right about you. What did they
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: say about me, asked Diamond. They called you God's baby?
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: How kind of them? But I knew that, did you
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: know what it meant, though, it meant that you were
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: not right in the head. I feel all right, said Diamond,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: putting both hands to his head, as if it had
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: been a globe he could take off and set on again. Well,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: as long as you are pleased, I am pleased, said nanny.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Nanny, do go on with your story. I
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: think I like dreams even better than fairy tales. But
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: they must be nice ones, like yours. You know. Well.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I went on, keeping my back to the wind until
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: I came to a fine street on the top of
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: a hill. How it happened, I don't know. But the
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: front door of one of the houses was open, and
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: not only the front door, but the back door as well,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: so that I could see right through the house. And
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: what do you think, I saw a garden place with
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: green grass and the moon shining upon it. Think of
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: that there was no moon in the street, but through
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the house there was the moon. I looked, and there
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: was nobody here. I would not do any harm, and
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: the grass was so much nicer than the mud. But
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: I couldn't think of going on the grass with such
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: dirty shoes. I kicked them off in the gutter and
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: ran in on my bare feet up the steps and
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: through the house and on to the grass. And the
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: moment I came into the moonlight, I began to feel better.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: That's why north wind blew you there, said Diamond. It
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: came of mister Raymond's story about Princess Daylight, returned Nanny. Well,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I lay down upon the grass in the moonlight, without
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: thinking how I was to get out again. Somehow the
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: moon suited me exactly. There was not a breath of
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the north wind you talk about. It was quite gone.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: You didn't want her any more? Just then. She never
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: goes where she is not wanted, said Diamond. But she
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: blew you into the moonlight anyhow, Well, we won't dispute
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: about it, said Nanny. You've got a tile loose, you know,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: suppose I have returned Diamond. Don't you see it may
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: let in the moonlight, or the sunlight for that matter.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Perhaps yes, perhaps no, said Nanny. And you've got your
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: dreams too, Nanny, yes, but I know their dreams, so
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: do I. But I know besides they are something more
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: as well. Oh do you rejoined, Nanny? I don't, all right,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: said Diamond. Perhaps you will some day, Perhaps I won't,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: said nanny. Diamond held his peace, and Nanny resumed her story.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: I lay a long time, and the moonlight got in
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: at every tear in my clothes and made me feel
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: so happy there, I tell you, said Diamond, what do
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: you tell me, returned Nanny north Wind. It was the moonlight,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I tell you, persisted Nanny, And again Diamond held his peace.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: All at once, I felt that the moon was not
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: shining so strong. I looked up and there was a cloud,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: all creepy and fluffy, trying to drown the beautiful creature.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: But the moon was so round, just like a whole plate,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: that the cloud couldn't stick to her. She shook it
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: off and sat there and shone out, clearer and brighter
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: than ever. But up came a thicker cloud. And you shan't,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: said the moon, And I will, said the cloud. But
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: it couldn't out shone the moon quite, laughing at its impudence.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I knew her ways, for I've always been used to
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: watch her. She's the only thing worth looking at in
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: our street at night. Don't call it your street, said Diamond.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: You're not going back to it, You're coming to us.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: You know that's too good to be true, said Nanny.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: There are very few things good enough to be true,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: said Diamond. But I hope this is too good to
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: be true. It can't be isn't true good? And isn't
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: good good? And how then can anything be too good
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: to be true? That's like old sal to say that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Don't abuse Grannie, Diamond. She's a horrid old thing, she
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: and her gin bottle. But she'll repent some day, and
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: then you'll be glad not to have said anything against her. Why,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: said Diamond, Because you'll be sorry for her. I am
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: sorry for her now very well. That's right. She'll be
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: sorry too, and there'll be an end of it. All right,
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: you come to us, said Diamond. Where was I, said
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Nannie telling me how the moon served the clouds. Yes,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: but it wouldn't do all of it. Up came the
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: clouds in the clouds, and they came faster and faster
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: until the moon was covered up. You couldn't expect her
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: to throw off a hundred of them at once, could you,
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: certainly not, said Diamond. So it grew very dark, and
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: a dog began to yelp in the house. I looked
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: and saw that the door to the garden was shut
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: presently It was opened not to let me out, but
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: to let the dog in, yelping and bounding. I thought
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: if he caught sight of me, I was in for
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: a biting first, and the police after. So I jumped
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: up and ran for a little summer house in the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: corner of the garden. The dog came after me, but
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: I shut the door in his face. It was well,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: it had a door, wasn't it. You dreamed of the
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: door because you wanted it, said Diamond. No, I didn't.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: It came of itself. It was there in the true dream.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: There I've caught you, said Diamond. I knew you believed
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: in the dream as much as I do. Oh well,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: if you will lay traps for a body, said Naananny. Anyhow,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I was safe inside a summer house. And what do
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: you think? There was the moon beginning to shine again,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: but only through one of the panes, And that one
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: was just the color of the ruby. Wasn't it funny? No,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: not a bit funny, said Diamond. If you will be contrary,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: said Nanny. No, no, said Diamond. I only meant that
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: was the very pain I should have expected her to
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: shine through. Oh very well, returned Nanny. What Diamond meant,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I do not pretend to say he had curious notions
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: about things, And now, said Nanny. I didn't know what
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: to do, for the dog kept barking at the door,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: and I couldn't get out. But the moon was so
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: beautiful that I couldn't keep from looking at it through
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: the red pane. And as I looked, it got larger
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and larger, till it filled the whole pain and out
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: grew it so that I could see it through the
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: other panes, and it grew till it filled them too,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: in the whole window, so that the summer house was
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: nearly as bright as day. The dog stopped barking, and
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I heard a gentle tapping at the door, like the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: wind blowing a little branch against it. Just like her,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: said Diamond, who thought everything strange and beautiful must be
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: done by north wind. So I turned from the window
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: and opened the door. And what do you think I saw,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: a beautiful lady, said Diamond. No, the moon itself, as
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: big as a little house and as round as a ball,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: shining like yellow silver. It stood on the grass, down
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: on the very grass. I could see nothing else for
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: the brightness of it, And as I stared and wondered.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: A door opened in the side of it, near the ground,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: and a curious little old man with a crooked thing
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: over his shoulder looked out and said, come along, nanny.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: My lady wants you. We're come to fetch you. I
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: wasn't a bit frightened. I went up to the beautiful,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: bright thing, and the old man held down his hand,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: and I took hold of it and gave a jump,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: and he gave me a lift, and I was inside
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: the moon. And what do you think it was like?
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: It was such a pretty little house, with blue windows
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and white curtains. At one of the windows sat a
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: beautiful lady with her head leaning on her hand, looking out.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: She seemed rather sad, and I was sorry for her,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: and stood staring at her. You didn't think I had
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: such a beautiful mistress, as that, said the queer little man. No, indeed,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: I answered, who would have thought it? Ah? Who indeed?
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: But you see, you don't know everything. The little man
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: closed the door and began to pull out a rope
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: which hung behind it with a weight at the end.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: After he had pulled a while, he said, there that
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: will do. We're all right now. Then he took me
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: by the hand, and opened a little trap in the
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: floor and led me down to or three steps, and
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: I saw like a great hole below me. Don't be frightened,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: said the little man. It's not a hole, It's only
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: a window. Put your face down and look through. I
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: did as he told me, and there was the garden
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: in the summer house far away, lying at the bottom
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: of the moonlight there, said the little man. We've brought
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: you off. Do you see the little dog barking at
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: us down there in the garden? I told him I
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: couldn't see anything so far. Can you see anything so
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: small and so far off? I said, bless you child,
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: said the little man. I could pick up a needle
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: out of the grass if I had only a long
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: enough arm. There's one lying by the door of the
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: cellar house. Now I looked at his eyes. They were
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: very small, but so bright that I think he saw
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: by the light that went out of them. Then he
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: took me up and up again by a little stair
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: in a corner of the room, and through another trap door,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: and there was one great round window above us. And
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: I saw the blue sky and the clouds and such
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: loss of stars, all so big and shining as hard
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: as ever they could. The little girl angels had been
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: polishing them, said Diamond. What nonsense you do talk, said nanny.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: But my nonsense is just as good as yours. Nannie,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: When you have done, I'll tell you my dream. The
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: stars are in it, not the moon. Though she was
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: away somewhere. Perhaps she was gone to fetch you. Then,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: I don't think that, though, for my dream was longer
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: ago than yours. She might have been to fetch some
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: one else, though, for we can't fancy it's only us
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: that gets such fine things done for them. But do
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: tell me what came next. Perhaps one of my child
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: readers may remember whether the moon came down to fetch
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: him or her the same night that Diamond had his dream.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: I cannot tell, of course. I know she did not
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: come to fetch me, though I did think I could
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: make her follow me when I was a boy, not
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: a very tiny one either. The little man took me
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: all round the house and made me look out of
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: every window. Oh it was beautiful there, we were, all
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: up in the air in such a nice clean little house.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Your work will be to keep the windows bright, said
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: the little man. You won't find it very difficult, for
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: there ain't much dust up here. Only the frost settles
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: on them sometimes, and the drops of rain leave marks
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: on them. I can easily clean them inside, I said,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: But how am I to get to frost and rain
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: off the outside of them? Oh, he said, it's quite easy.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: There are ladders all about. You've only got to go
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: out at the door and climb about. There are a
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: great many windows you haven't seen yet, and some of
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: them look into places you don't know anything about. I
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: used to clean them myself, but I'm getting rather old,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: you see, ain't I now? I can't tell, I answered,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: you see, I never saw you in you were younger.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Never saw the man in the moon, said he not
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: very near. I answered, not to tell how young or
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: how old he looked. I have seen the bundle of
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: sticks on his back, for Jim had pointed that out
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: to me. Jim was very fond of looking at the
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: man in the moon. Poor Jim, I wonder he hasn't
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: been to see me. I'm afraid he's ill too. I'll
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: try to find out, said Diamond, And let you know.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Thank you, said nanny. You and Jim ought to be friends.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: But what did the man in the moon. Say, when
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: you told him you had seen him with a bundle
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: of sticks on his back, he laughed, But I thought
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: he looked offended too. His little nose turned up sharper,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: and he drew the corners of his mouth down from
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: the tips of his ears into his neck. But he
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: didn't look cross, you know, didn't he say anything? Oh? Yes,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: he said, that's all nonsense. What you saw was my
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: bundle of dusters. I was going to clean the windows.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: It takes a good many you know. Really, what do
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: they say if they're superior's down there? It's only because
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: they don't know better, I ventured to say. Of course,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: of course, said a little man. Nobody ever does know better. Well,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: I forgive them, and that sets it all right. I
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: hope it's very good of you, I said, No, said he,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: it's not in the least good of me. I couldn't
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: be comfortable otherwise. After this, he said nothing for a while,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: and I laid myself on the floor of his garret
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: and stared up and around at the great blue beautifulness.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I had forgotten him almost when at last he said,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: ain't you done yet? Done what I asked? Done? Saying
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: your prayers says he. I wasn't saying my prayers. I answered, oh, yes,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: you were, said he, though you didn't know it. And
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: now I must show you something else. He took my
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: hand and let me down the stairs again, and through
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: a narrow passage, and through another, and another and another.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I don't know how there could be room for so
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: many passages in such a little house. The heart of
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: it must be ever so much farther from besides than
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: they are from each other. How could it have an
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: inside that was so independent of its outside? There's the point.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: It was funny, wasn't it, Diamond. No, said Diamond. He
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: was going to say that that was very much the
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: sort of thing at the back of the north Wind,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: but he checked himself and only added, all right, I
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: don't see it. I don't see why the inside should
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: depend on the outside. It ain't so with the crabs.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: They creep out of their outsides and make new ones.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: Mister Raymond told me so. I don't see what that
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: has got to do with it, said Nanny. Then go
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: on with your story, please, said Diamond. What did you
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: come to after going through all those winding passages into
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: the heart of the moon. I didn't say they were windinges.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I said, they were long and narrow. They didn't mind.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: They went by corners. That's worth knowing, remarked Diamond, for
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: who knows how soon he may have to go there.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: But the main thing is what did you come to?
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: At last we came to a small box against the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: wall of a tiny room. The little man told me
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: to put my ear against it. I did so and
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: heard a noise something like the purring of a cat,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: only not so loud and much sweeter. What is it,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: I asked, don't you know the sound? Returned the little man. No,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I answered, don't you know the sound of bees? He said,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: I had never heard bees and could not know the
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: sound of them. Those are my lady's bees, he went on.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: I had heard that bees gather honey from the flowers.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: But where are the flowers for them? I asked. My
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: lady's bees gather their honey from the sun and the stars,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: said the little Man. Do let me see them? I said, no,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I daren't do that. He answered, I have no business
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: with them. I don't understand them. Besides, they are so
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: bright that if one were to fly into your eye,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: it would blind you altogether. Then you have seen them. Oh, yes,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: once or twice, I think, but I don't quite know.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: They are so very bright, like buttons of lightning. Now
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: I've shown you all I can to night, and we'll
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: go back to the room. I followed him, and he
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: made me sit down under a lamp that hung from
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: the roof, and gave me some bread and honey. The
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: lady had never moved. She sat with her forehead leaning
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: on her hand, gazing out of the little window hung
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: like the rest with white, cloudy curtains. From where I
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: was sitting. I looked touch of it too, but I
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: could see nothing. Her face was very beautiful and very white,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: and very still, and her hand was as white as
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the forehead that leaned on it. I did not see
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: her whole face, only the side of it, for she
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: never moved to turn it full upon me, or even
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: to look at me. How long I sat after I
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: had eaten my bread and honey, I don't know. The
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: little man was busy about the room, pulling a string here,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: in a string there, but chiefly the string at the
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: back of the door. I was thinking, with some uneasiness
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: that he would soon be wanting me to go out
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: and clean the windows, and I didn't fancy the job.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: At last he came up to me with a great
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: armful of dusters. It's time you set about the windows,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: he said, for there's rain coming, and if they're quite
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: clean before then, the rain can't spoil them. I got
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: up at once. You needn't be afraid, he said. You
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: won't tumble off, only you must be careful. Always hold
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: on with one hand while you rub with the other.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: As he spoke, he opened the door. I started back
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: in a terrible fright, for there was nothing but blue
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: air to be seen under me, like a great water
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: without a bottom as all. But what must be must,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: and to live up here was so much nicer than
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: down in the mud with holes in my shoes, that
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: I never thought of not doing as I was told.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: The little man showed me how and where to lay
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: hold while I put my foot round the edge of
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: the door on to the first round of a ladder.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Once you're up, he said, you'll see how you have
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: to go. Well enough, I did as he told me
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: and crept out very carefully. Then the little man handed
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: me the bundle of dusters, saying I always carry them
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: on my reaping hook. But I don't think you can
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: manage it properly. You shall have it if you like.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't take it, however, for it looked dangerous. I
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: did the best I could with the dusters and crawled
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: up to the top of the moon. But what a
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: grand sight it was. The stars were all over my head,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: so bright and so near that I could almost have
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: laid hold of them. The round ball to which I
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: clung went bobbing and floating away through the dark blue
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: above and below and on every side. It was so
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: beautiful that all fear left me, and I set to
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: work diligently. I cleaned window after window. At length I
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: came to a very little one, in at which I peeped.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: There was the room with a box of bees in it.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: I laid my ear to the window and heard the
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: musical hum quite distinctly. A great longing to see them
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: came upon me, and I opened the window and crept in.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: The little box had a door like a closet. I
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: opened it the tiniest crack, when out came the light,
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: with such a sting that I closed it again in terror.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Not however, before three bees had shot out into the room,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: where they darted about like flashes of lightning. Terribly frightened,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: I tried to get out of the window again, but
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: I could not. There was no way to the outside
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: of the moon but through the door, and that was
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: in the room where the lady sat. No sooner had
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: I reached the room than the three bees which had
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: followed me, flew at once to the lady and settled
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: upon her hair. Then first I saw her move. She started,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: put up her hand and caught them, then rose, and,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: having held them into the flame of the lamp, one
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: after the other, turned to me. Her face was not
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: so sad now as stern. It frightened me much. Nanny,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: you have got me into trouble, she said. You have
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: been letting out my bees, which it is all I
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: can do to manage. You have forced me to burn them.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: It is a great loss, and there will be a storm.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: And she spoke. The clowns had gathered all about us.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: I could see them come, crowding up white about the windows.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: I am sorry to find, said the lady, that you
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: are not to be trusted. You must go home again.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: You won't do for us. Then came a great clap
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: of thunder, and the moon rocked and swayed. All grew
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: dark about me, and I fell on the floor and
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: lay half stunned. I could hear everything, but could see nothing.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Shall I throw her out of the door, my lady,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: said a little man, No, she answered, she's not quite
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: bad enough for that. I don't think there's much harm
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: in her. Only she'll never do for us. She would
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: make dreadful mischief up here. She is only fit for
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the mud. It's a great pity. I am sorry for her.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Just take that ring off her finger. I am sadly
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: afraid she has stolen it. The little man caught hold
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: of my hand, and I felt him tugging at the ring.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: I tried to speak what was true about it, but
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: after a terrible effort, only gave a groan. Other things
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: began to come into my head. Somebody else had hold
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: of me. The little man wasn't there. I opened my
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: eyes at last and saw the nurse. I had cried
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: out in my sleep, and she had come and waked me.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: But Diamond for all, it was only a dream. I
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: cannot help being ashamed of myself yet for opening the
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: lady's box of bees. You wouldn't do it again, would you?
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: If she were to take you back, said Diamond. No,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: I don't think any anything would ever make me do
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: it again. But where's the good I shall never have
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: the chance. I don't know that, said Diamond, You silly baby.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: It was only a dream, said Nanny. I know that, Nanny, dear,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: But how can you tell you mayn't dream it again.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: That's not a bit likely. I don't know that, said Diamond.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: You're always saying that, said Nanny. I don't like it,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: then I won't say it again. If I don't forget,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: said Diamond. But it was such a beautiful dream, wasn't it, Nanny.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: What a pity you opened that door and let the
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: bees out. You might have had such a long dream
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: and such nice talks with the moon lady. Do try
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: to go again, Nanny, I do so want to hear more.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: But now the nurse came and told him it was
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: time to go, and Diamond went saying to himself, I
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: can't help thinking that north Wind had something to do
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: with that dream. It would g Tarzan to lie there
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: all day and all night too, without dreaming. Perhaps if
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: she hadn't done that, the moon might have carried her
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: to the back of the North Wind who Knows End
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: of Chapter thirty? Recording by Mary Selcuy