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010 - Chapter 18 · Princess and the Goblin

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  Speaker 1: Section ten of The Princess and the Goblin. This is
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  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Lizzie Driver. The Princess and the Goblin by
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  Speaker 1: George mac donald, Chapter eighteen, Curdie's clue. Curdie was as
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  Speaker 1: watchful as ever, but was almost getting tired of his
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  Speaker 1: ill success. Every other night or so he followed the
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  Speaker 1: goblins about as they went on, digging and boring, and
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  Speaker 1: getting as near them as he could. Watched them from
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  Speaker 1: behind stones and rocks, but as yet he seemed no
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  Speaker 1: nearer finding out what they had in view. As at
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  Speaker 1: first he always kept hold of the end of his
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  Speaker 1: string while his pickaxe left just outside the hole by
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  Speaker 1: which he entered the goblins country from the mine, continued
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  Speaker 1: to serve as an anchor and hold fast to the
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  Speaker 1: other end. The goblins, hearing no more noise in that quarter,
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  Speaker 1: had ceased to apprehend an immediate invasion, and kept no watch.
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  Speaker 1: One night, after dodging about and listening till he was
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  Speaker 1: nearly falling asleep with weariness, he began to roll up
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  Speaker 1: his ball, for he had resolved to go home to bed.
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  Speaker 1: It was not long, however, before he began to feel bewildered.
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  Speaker 1: One after another he passed goblin houses, caves that is
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  Speaker 1: occupied by goblin families, and at length was sure that
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  Speaker 1: there were many more than he had passed. As he came,
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  Speaker 1: he had to use great caution to pass unseen they
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  Speaker 1: lay so close together. Could his string have led him wrong?
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  Speaker 1: He still followed winding it, and still it led him
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  Speaker 1: into more thickly populated quarters, until he became quite uneasy,
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  Speaker 1: and indeed apprehension, For although he was not afraid of
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  Speaker 1: the cobs, he was afraid of not finding his way out.
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  Speaker 1: But what could he do. It was of no use
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  Speaker 1: to sit down and wait for the morning. The morning
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  Speaker 1: made no difference here. It was dark and always dark,
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  Speaker 1: and if his string failed him, he was helpless. He
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  Speaker 1: might even arrive within a yard of the mine and
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  Speaker 1: never know it. Seeing he could do nothing better, he
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  Speaker 1: would at least find where the end of string was, and,
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  Speaker 1: if possible, how it had come to play him such
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  Speaker 1: a trick. He knew by the size of the ball
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  Speaker 1: that he was getting pretty near the last of it.
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  Speaker 1: When he began to feel a tugging and pulling at it.
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  Speaker 1: What could it mean? Turning a sharp corner, he thought
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  Speaker 1: he heard strange sounds. These grew as he went on,
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  Speaker 1: to a scuffling and growling and squeaking, and the noise increased,
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  Speaker 1: until turning a second sharp corner, he found himself in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of it, and the same moment tumbled over
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  Speaker 1: a wallowing mass which he knew must be a knot
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  Speaker 1: of the COB's creatures. Before he could recover his feet,
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  Speaker 1: he had caught several great scratches on his face and
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  Speaker 1: several severe bites on his legs and arms. But as
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  Speaker 1: he scrambled to get up, his hand fell upon his pickaxe,
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  Speaker 1: and before the horrid beasts could do him any serious harm,
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  Speaker 1: he was laying about with it right and left in
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  Speaker 1: the dark. The hideous cries which followed gave him the
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  Speaker 1: satisfaction of knowing that he had punished some of them
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  Speaker 1: pretty smartly for their rudeness, and by their scampering and
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  Speaker 1: their retreating hels, he perceived that he had rooted them.
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  Speaker 1: He stood for a little while weighing his battle axe
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  Speaker 1: in his hand, as if it had been the most
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  Speaker 1: precious lump of metal. But indeed no lump of gold
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  Speaker 1: itself could have been so pressed at that time as
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  Speaker 1: that common tool. Then untied the end of the string
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  Speaker 1: from it, put the ball in his pocket, and still
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  Speaker 1: stood thinking. It was clear that the COB's creatures had
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  Speaker 1: found his axe, had between them carried it off, and
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  Speaker 1: had so led him. He knew not where, but for
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  Speaker 1: all his thinking he could not tell what he ought
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  Speaker 1: to do, until suddenly he became aware of a glimmer
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  Speaker 1: of light in the distance. Without a moment's hesitation, he
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  Speaker 1: set out for it as fast as the unknown and
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  Speaker 1: rugged way would permit. Yet again, turning a corner, led
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  Speaker 1: by the dim light, he spied something quite new in
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  Speaker 1: his experience of the underground regions, a small, irregular shape
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  Speaker 1: of something shining. Going up to it, he found it
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  Speaker 1: was a piece of mica or muscovy glass, called sheep
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  Speaker 1: silver in Scotland, and the light flickered as if from
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  Speaker 1: a fire behind it. After trying in vain for some
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  Speaker 1: time to discover an entrance to the place where it
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  Speaker 1: was burning, he came at length to a small chamber
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  Speaker 1: in which an opening high in the wall revealed a
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  Speaker 1: glow beyond to this opening, he managed to scramble up,
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  Speaker 1: and then he saw a strange sight. Below sat a
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  Speaker 1: little group of goblins around a fire, the smoke of
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  Speaker 1: which vanished in the darkness far aloft. The sides of
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  Speaker 1: the cave were full of shining minerals like those of
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  Speaker 1: the palace hall, and the company was evidently of a
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  Speaker 1: superior order, for every one wore stones about head, or
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  Speaker 1: arms or waist, shining dull, gorgeous colors in the light
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  Speaker 1: of the fire. Nor had Curdie looked long before he
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  Speaker 1: recognized the king himself, and found that he had made
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  Speaker 1: his way into the inner apartment of the royal family.
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  Speaker 1: He had never had such a good chance of hearing something.
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  Speaker 1: He crept through the hole as softly as he could,
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  Speaker 1: scrambled a good way down the wall towards them without
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  Speaker 1: attracting attention, and then sat down and listened the king.
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  Speaker 1: Evidently the Queen, and probably the Crown Prince and the
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister were talking together. He was sure of the
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  Speaker 1: Queen by her shoes, for as she warmed her feet
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  Speaker 1: at the fire, he saw them quite plainly. That will
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  Speaker 1: be fun, said to the one he took for the
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  Speaker 1: crown prince. It was the first whole sentence he heard.
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  Speaker 1: I don't see why you should think it such a
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  Speaker 1: grand affair, said his stepmother, tossing her head backward. You
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  Speaker 1: must remember, my spouse interposed his majesty as if making
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  Speaker 1: excuse for his son. He has got the same blood
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  Speaker 1: in him his mother. Don't talk to me of his mother.
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  Speaker 1: You positively encourage his unnatural fancies. Whatever belongs to that
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  Speaker 1: mother ought to be cut out of him. You forget yourself,
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  Speaker 1: my dear, said the King. I don't, said the Queen,
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  Speaker 1: nor you either. If you expect me to approve of
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  Speaker 1: such coarse tastes, you will find yourself mistaken. I don't
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  Speaker 1: wear shoes for nothing. You must acknowledge, however, said the King,
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  Speaker 1: with a little groan, that this at least is no
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  Speaker 1: whim of hair lips, but a matter of state policy.
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  Speaker 1: You are well aware that his gratification comes purely from
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  Speaker 1: the pleasure of sacrificing himself to the public good. Does
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  Speaker 1: it not hair lip? Yes, father, of course it does.
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  Speaker 1: Only it will be nice to make a cry. I'll
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  Speaker 1: have the skin taken off between her toes and tie
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  Speaker 1: them up till they grow together. Then a fee to
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  Speaker 1: be like other people's, and there'll be no occasion for
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  Speaker 1: her to wear shoes. Do you mean to insinuate I've
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  Speaker 1: got toes, you unnatural wretch, cried the Queen, and she
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  Speaker 1: moved angery rely towards helep. The counselor, however, who was
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  Speaker 1: betwixt them, leaned forward so as to prevent her touching him,
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  Speaker 1: but only as if to address the prince. Your royal highness,
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  Speaker 1: he said, possibly requires to be reminded that you have
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  Speaker 1: got three toes yourself, one on one foot, two on
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  Speaker 1: the other. Ha ha, shouted the queen triumphantly. The counselor,
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  Speaker 1: encouraged by this mark of favor, went on, it seems
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  Speaker 1: to me, your Royal Highness, it would greatly endear you
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  Speaker 1: to your future people, proving to them that you are
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  Speaker 1: not the less one of themselves, that you had the
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  Speaker 1: misfortune to be born of a son mother, if you
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  Speaker 1: were to command upon yourself the comparatively slight operation which
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  Speaker 1: in a more extended form you so wisely meditate with
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  Speaker 1: regard to your future princess. Ha, laughed the Queen louder
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  Speaker 1: than before, and the King and the ministers joined in
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  Speaker 1: the laugh. Halip growled, and for a few moments the
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  Speaker 1: others continued to express their enjoyment of his discomfiture. The
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  Speaker 1: queen was the only one Curdie could see with any distinctness.
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  Speaker 1: She sat sideways to him, and the light of the
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  Speaker 1: fire shone full upon her face. He could not consider
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  Speaker 1: a handsom. Her nose was certainly broader at the end
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  Speaker 1: than its extreme length, and her eyes, instead of being horizontal,
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  Speaker 1: were set up like two perpendicular eggs, one on the
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  Speaker 1: broad the other on the small end. Her mouth was
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  Speaker 1: no bigger than a small button hole, until she laughed
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  Speaker 1: when it stretched from ear to ear. Only to be
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  Speaker 1: sure her ears were very nearly in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: her cheeks. Anxious to hear everything they might say, Curdie
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  Speaker 1: ventured to slide down a smooth part of the rock
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  Speaker 1: just under him, to a projection below upon in which
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  Speaker 1: he thought to rest. But whether he was not careful enough,
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  Speaker 1: all the projection gave way down he came with a
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  Speaker 1: rush on the floor of the cavern, bringing with him
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  Speaker 1: a great rumbling shower of stones. The goblins jumped from
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  Speaker 1: their seats in more anger than consternation, for they had
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  Speaker 1: never yet seen anything to be afraid of in the palace.
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  Speaker 1: But when they saw Curdie with his pick in his hand,
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  Speaker 1: their rage was mingled with fear, for they took him
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  Speaker 1: for the first of an invasion of miners. The king, notwithstanding,
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  Speaker 1: drew himself up to his full height of four feet,
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  Speaker 1: spread himself to his full breadth of three and a half,
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  Speaker 1: for he was the handsomest and squarest of all the goblins,
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  Speaker 1: and strutting up to Curdie, planted himself with outspread feet
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  Speaker 1: before him, and said, with dignity, pray, what right have
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  Speaker 1: you in my palace? The right of necessity, Majesty, answered Curdie.
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  Speaker 1: I lost my way and did not know where I
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  Speaker 1: was wondering to how did you get in by a
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  Speaker 1: hole in the mountain, But you are a miner. Look
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  Speaker 1: at your pickaxe, Curdie did, look at it answering. I
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  Speaker 1: came upon it lying on the ground a little way
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  Speaker 1: from here. I tumbled over some wild beasts who were
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  Speaker 1: playing with it. Look, your majesty, and Curdie showed him
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  Speaker 1: how it was scratched and bitten. The king was pleased
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  Speaker 1: to find him behave more politely than he had expected
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  Speaker 1: from what his people had told him concern in the miners,
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  Speaker 1: for he attributed it to the power of his own presence.
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  Speaker 1: But he did not therefore feel friendly to the intruder.
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  Speaker 1: You will oblige me by walking out of my dominions
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  Speaker 1: at once, he said, well, knowing what a mockery lay
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  Speaker 1: in the words, with pleasure. If your majesty will give
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  Speaker 1: me a guide, said Curdie, I will give you a thousand,
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  Speaker 1: said the king, with a scoffing air of magnificent liberality.
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  Speaker 1: One will be quite sufficient, said Curdie. But the King
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  Speaker 1: uttered a strange shout, half halloo, half raw, and in
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  Speaker 1: rush to goblins, till the cave was swarming. He said
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  Speaker 1: something to the first of them which Curdie could not hear,
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  Speaker 1: and it was passed from one to another, till in
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  Speaker 1: a moment the farthest in the crowd had evidently heard
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  Speaker 1: and understood it. They began to gather about him in
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  Speaker 1: a way. He did not relish, and he retreated towards
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  Speaker 1: the wall. They pressed upon him. Stand back, said Curdie,
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  Speaker 1: grasping his pickaxe tighter by his knee. They only grinned
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  Speaker 1: and pressed closer. Curdie bethought himself and began to rhyme
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  Speaker 1: ten twenty thirty, you are also very dirty twenty thirty four.
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  Speaker 1: You're also thick and snorty thirty forty fifty. You're also
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  Speaker 1: puff and snifty forty fifty sixty beast and men so
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  Speaker 1: mixty fifty sixty seventy mixty maxty leventy sixty seventy eighty,
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  Speaker 1: all your cheeks so slighty seventy eighteen ninety, all your
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  Speaker 1: hands so flinty eighteen ninety, A hundred altogether Dundred. The
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  Speaker 1: goblins fell back a little when he began, and made
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  Speaker 1: horrible grimaces all through the rhyme, as if eating something
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  Speaker 1: so disagreeable that it set their teeth on edge and
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  Speaker 1: gave them the creeps. But whether it was that the
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  Speaker 1: rhyming words were most of them no words at all,
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  Speaker 1: for a new rhme being considered the more efficacious Curdie
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  Speaker 1: had made it on the spur of the moment, or
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  Speaker 1: whether it was that the presence of the King and
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  Speaker 1: Queen gave them courage, I cannot tell. But the moment
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  Speaker 1: the rhyme was over, they crowded in on him again
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  Speaker 1: and out shot a hundred long arms with a multitude
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  Speaker 1: of thick nailss fingers at the ends of them till
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  Speaker 1: they hold upon him. Then Curdie heaved up his axe,
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  Speaker 1: but being as gentle as courageous, and not wishing to
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  Speaker 1: kill any of them, he turned to the end, which
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  Speaker 1: was square and blunt like a hammer, and with that
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  Speaker 1: came down a great blow on the head of the
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  Speaker 1: goblin nearest him, hard as the heads of all goblins are.
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  Speaker 1: He thought he must feel that, and so he did,
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  Speaker 1: no doubt, but he only gave a horrible cry and
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  Speaker 1: sprung at Curdie's throat. Curdie, however, drew back in time,
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  Speaker 1: and just at that critical moment, remembered the vulnerable part
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  Speaker 1: of the goblin body. He made a sudden rush at
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  Speaker 1: the king and stamped with all his might on his
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  Speaker 1: majesty's feet. The king gave a most unkingly howl and
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  Speaker 1: almost fell into the fire. Curdie then rushed into the crowd,
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  Speaker 1: stamping right and left. The goblins drew back, howling on
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  Speaker 1: every side as he approached, but they were so crowded
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  Speaker 1: that few of those he attacked could escape his tread,
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  Speaker 1: and the shrieking and roaring that filled the cave would
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  Speaker 1: have appalled Curdie, but for the good hope it gave him.
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  Speaker 1: They were tumbling over each other in heaps in their
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  Speaker 1: eagerness to rush from the cave, when a new assailant
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  Speaker 1: suddenly faced him. The queen, with flaming eyes and expanded nostrils,
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  Speaker 1: her hair standing half up from her head, rushed at him.
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  Speaker 1: She trusted in her shoes. They were of granite, hollowed
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  Speaker 1: like French sabor. Curdie would have endured much rather than
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  Speaker 1: hurt a woman, even if she was a goblin, but
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  Speaker 1: here was an affair of life and death. Forgetting her shoes,
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  Speaker 1: he made a great stamp on one of her feet,
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  Speaker 1: but she instantly returned it with very different effect, causing
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  Speaker 1: him frightful pain and almost disabling him. His only chance
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  Speaker 1: with her would have been to attack the granite shoes
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  Speaker 1: with his pickaxe, but before he could think of that,
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  Speaker 1: she had caught him up in her arms and was
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  Speaker 1: rushing with him across the cave. She dashed him into
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  Speaker 1: a hole in the wall with a force that almost
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  Speaker 1: stunned him. But although he could not move, he was
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  Speaker 1: not too far gone to hear a great cry and
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  Speaker 1: the rush of multitudes of soft feet followed by the
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  Speaker 1: sounds of something heaved up against the rock, after which
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  Speaker 1: came a multitudinous patter of stones falling near him. The
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  Speaker 1: last had not ceased when he grew very faint, for
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  Speaker 1: his head had been badly cut, and at last insensible.
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  Speaker 1: When he came to himself, there was perfect silence about him,
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  Speaker 1: and utter darkness, but for the merest glimmer in one
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  Speaker 1: tiny spot. He crawled to it and found that they
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  Speaker 1: had heaved a slab against the mouth of the hole,
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  Speaker 1: past the edge of which a poor little gleam found
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  Speaker 1: its way from the fire. He could not move it
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  Speaker 1: a hair breadth, for they had piled a great heap
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  Speaker 1: of stones against it. He crawled back to where he
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  Speaker 1: had been lying, in the faint hope of finding his pickaxe,
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  Speaker 1: But after a vain search, he was at last compelled
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  Speaker 1: to acknowledge himself in an evil plight. He sat down
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  Speaker 1: and tried to think, but soon fell fast asleep. End
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  Speaker 1: of Section ten.