Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / 07 - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - L Frank Baum

Transcript

07 - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - L Frank Baum · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Adulthood, Chapter six, The Wickedness of the Oguas. I must
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: now tell you something about the Ogas, that terrible race
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of creatures which caused our good claws so much trouble,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and nearly succeeded in robbing the children of the world
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: of their earliest and best friend. I do not like
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: to mention the Ogas, but they are a part of
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: this history and cannot be ignored. They were neither mortals
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: nor immortals, but stood midway between those classes of beings.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The Oguas were invisible to ordinary people, but not to immortals.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: They could pass swiftly through the air from one part
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: of the world to another, and had the power of
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: influencing the minds of human beings to do their wicked will.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: They were of gigantic stature and had coarse, scowling countenances,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: which showed plainly their hatred of all mankind. They possessed
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: no conc chiances whatever, and delighted only in evil deeds.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Their homes were in rocky, mountainous places, from whence they
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: sallied forth to accomplish their wicked purposes. The one of
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: their number that could think of the most horrible deed
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: for them to do was always elected the king Ogua,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and all the race obeyed his orders. Sometimes these creatures
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: lived to become a hundred years old, but usually they
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: fought so fiercely among themselves that many were destroyed in combat,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and when they died, that was the end of them.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Mortals were powerless to harm them, and the immortals shuddered
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: when the Oguas were mentioned and always avoided them. So
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: they flourished for many years unopposed and accomplished much evil.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: I am glad to assure you that these vile creatures
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: have long since perished and passed from the earth. But
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: in the days when Claws was making his first toys,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: they were a numerous and powerful tribe. One of the
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: principal sports of the Aguas was to inspire angry passions
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: in the hearts of little children, so that they quarreled
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: and fought with one another. They would tempt boys to
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: eat of unripe fruit and then delight in the pain
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: they suffered. They urged little girls to disobey their parents,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: and then would laugh when the children were punished. I
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: do not know what causes a child to be naughty
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: in these days, but when the Oguas were on earth,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: naughty children were usually under their influence. Now, when Claws
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: began to make children happy, he kept them out of
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: the power of the Oguas. For children possessing such lovely
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: playthings as he gave them had no wish to obey
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the evil thoughts the Aguas tried to thrust into their minds. Therefore,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: one year, when the wicked tribe was to elect a
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: new king, they chose in Agua, who proposed to destroy
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: clar and take him away from the children. There are,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: as you know, fewer naughty children in the world since
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Claws came to the Laughing Valley and began to make
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: his toys, said the new king, as he squatted upon
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: a rock and looked around at the scowling faces of
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: his people. Why Bessie Blithesome has not stamped her foot
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: once this month, nor has Mary's brother slapped his sister's
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: face or thrown the puppy into the rain barrel. Little
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Weekham took his bath last night without screaming or struggling,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: because his mother had promised he should take his toy
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: cat to bed with him. Such a condition of affairs
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: is awful for any agua to think of. And the
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: only way we can direct the naughty actions of children
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: is to take this person, Claws away from them. Good good,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: cried the big oguas in a chorus, and they clapped
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: their hands to applaud the speech of the king. But
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: what shall we do with him, asked one of the creatures.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: I have a plan, replied the wicked king. And what
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: his plan was you will soon discover. That night, Claws
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: went to bed feeling very happy, for he had completed
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: no less than four pretty toys during the day, and
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: they were sure he thought to make four little children happy.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: But while he slept, the band of invisible aguas surrounded
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: his bed, bound him with stout cords, and then flew
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: away with him to the middle of a dark forest
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: in far off ethop, where they had laid him down
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: and left him. When morning came, Claws found himself thousands
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: of miles from any human being, a prisoner in the
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: wild jungle of an unknown land. From the limb of
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: a tree above his head swayed a huge python, one
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: of those reptiles that are able to crush a man's
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: bones in their coils. A few yards away, crouched a
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: savage panther, its glaring red eyes fixed full on the
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: helpless claws. One of those monstrous spotted spiders whose sting
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: is death, crept stealthily toward him over the matted leaves,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: which shriveled and turned black at its very touch. But
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Claws had been reared in Burzee and was not afraid.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: Come to me, ye nooks of the forest, he cried,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: and gave the low, peculiar whistle that the knooks snow.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: The panther, which was about to spring upon its victim,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: turned and slunk away. The python swung itself into the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: tree and disappeared among the leaves. The spider stopped short
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: in its advance and hid beneath a rotting log. Claws
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: had no time to notice them, for he was surrounded
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: by a band of harsh, featured nooks, more crooked and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: deformed in appearance than any he had ever seen. Who
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: are you that call on us, demanded one in a
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: gruff voice. The friend of your brothers in Burzie, answered Claws.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I have been brought here by my enemies, the oguas,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: and left to perish miserably. Yet now I implore your
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: help to release me and to send me home again,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Have you the sign asked another, Yes, said Claws. They
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: cut his bonds, and with his free arms he made
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: the secret sign of the knooks. Instantly they assisted him
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: to stand upon his feet, and they brought him food
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: and drink to strengthen him. Our brothers of Berzi make
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: queer friends, grumbled an ancient knook, whose flowing beard was
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: pure white. But he who knows our secret sign and
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: signal is entitled to our help, whoever he may be.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Close your eyes, stranger, and we will conduct you to
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: your home. Where shall we seek? It tis in the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: laughing valley, answered Claws, shutting his eyes. There is but
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: one laughing valley in the known world, so we cannot
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: go astray, remarked the knook. As he spoke, the sound
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: of his voice seemed to die away, so Claws opened
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: his eyes to see what caused the change. To his astonishment,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: he found himself seated on the bench by his own door,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: with the laughing valley spread out before him. That day
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: he visited the wood Nymphs and related his adventure to
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: queens Erline and Nesille. The Aguas have become your enemies,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: said the lovely Queen thoughtfully, so we must do all
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: we can to protect you from their power. It was
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: cowardly to bind him while he slept, remarked Necile with indignation.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: The evil ones are ever cowardly, answered Zerline. But our
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: friend's slumber shall not be disturbed again. The Queen herself
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: came to the dwelling of Claws that evening and placed
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: her seal on every door and window to keep out
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: the Oguas. And under the seal of Queen Zerline was
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: placed the seal of the Fairies, and the seal of
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: the Rylls, and the seals of the knooks. That the
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: charm might become more powerful. And Claws carried his toys
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: to the children again, and made many more of the
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: little ones happy. You may guess how angry the King
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Ogua and his fierce band were when it was known
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: to them that Claws had escaped from the forest of Athop.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: They raged madly for a whole week, and then held
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: another meeting among the rocks. It is useless to carry
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: him where the knooks rain, said the king, for he
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: has their protection. So let us cast him into a
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: cave of our own mountains, where he will surely perish.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: This was promptly agreed to, and the wicked band set
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: out that night to seize Claws. But they found his
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: dwelling guarded by the seals of the immortals, and were
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: obliged to go away, baffled and disappointed. Never mind, said
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: the king, he does not sleep always. Next day, as
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Claws traveled to the village across the plain, where he
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: intended to present a new toy squirrel to a lame boy,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: he was suddenly set upon by the oguas, who seized
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: him and carried him away to the mountains. There they
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: thrust him within a deep cavern and rolled many huge
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: rocks against the entrance to prevent his escape. Deprived thus
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: of light and food, and with little air to breathe,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: our Claws was indeed in a pitiable plight. But he
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: spoke the mystic words of the fairies, which all always
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: command their friendly aid, and they came to his rescue
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: and transported him to the Laughing Valley in the twinkling
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: of an eye. Thus the oguas discovered they might not
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: destroy one who had earned the friendship of the immortals.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: So the evil band sought other means of keeping Claws
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: from bringing happiness to children and so making them obedient.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Whenever Claw set out to carry his toys to the
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: little ones, an ogua, who had been set to watch
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: his movements, sprang upon him and snatched the toys from
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: his grasp, And the children were no more disappointed than
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: was Claws when he was obliged to return home. Disconsolate, still,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: he persevered and made many toys for his little friends,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: and started with them for the villages. And always the
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: oguas robbed him as soon as he had left the valley.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: They threw the stolen playthings into one of their lonely caverns,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: and quite a heap of toys accumulated before Claws became
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: discouraged and gave up all attempts to leave the valley.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Then children began coming to him, since they found he
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: did not go to them, but the wicked oguas flew
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: around them and caused their steps to stray and the
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: path to become crooked, so never a little one could
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: find a way into the laughing valley. Lonely days now
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: fell upon Claws, for he was denied the pleasure of
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: bringing happiness to the children whom he had learned to love.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Yet he bore up bravely, for he thought surely the
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: time would come when the Oguas would abandon their evil
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: designs to injure him. He devoted all his hours to
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: toy making, and when one plaything had been completed, he
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: stood it on a shelf he had built for that purpose.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: When the shelf became filled with rows of toys, he
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: made another one and filled that also, so that in
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: time he had many shelves filled with gay and beautiful
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: toys representing horses, dogs, cats, elephants, lambs, rabbits, and deer,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: as well as pretty dolls of all sizes, and balls
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: and marbles of baked clay painted in gay colors. Often,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: as he glanced at this array of childish treasures, the
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: heart of good old Claws became sad, so greatly did
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: he long to carry the toys to his children. And
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: at last, because he could bear it no longer, he
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: ventured to go to the great Ak, to whom he
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: told the story of his persecution by the Aguas, and
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: begged the master Woodsman to assist him. End of chapter six,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Chapter seven, the Great Battle between Good and Evil. Ak
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: listened gravely to the recital of Claws stroking his beard
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the while with the slow, graceful motion that betokened deep thought.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: He nodded approvingly when Claws told how the knooks and
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: fairies had saved him from death, and frowned when he
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: heard how the og was had stolen the children's toys.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: At last, he said, from the beginning, I have approved
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the work you are doing among the children of men,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: and it annoys me that your good deeds should be
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: thwarted by the ogas. We immortals have no connection whatever
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: with the evil creatures who have attacked you. Always have
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: we avoided them, and they in turn have hitherto taken
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: care not to cross our pathway. But in this matter
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: I find they have interfered with one of our friends,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: and I will ask them to abandon their persecutions, as
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: you are under our protection. Claws thanked the master woodsmen
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: most gratefully and returned to his valley. While Akh, who
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: never delayed carrying out his promises, at once traveled to
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: the mountains of the Aguas. There, standing on the bare rocks,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: he called on the king and his people to appear. Instantly,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: the place was filled with throngs of the scowling Aguas,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: and their king, perching himself on a point of a rock,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: demanded fiercely, who dares call on us? It is I,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: the master woodsmen of the world, responded, AC. Here are
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: no forests for you to claim, cried the king angrily.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: We owe no allegiance to you, nor to any immortal,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: That is true, replied Ac calmly. Yet you have ventured
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: to interfere with the actions of Claws, who dwells in
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the Laughing Valley and is under our protection. Many of
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: the Aguas began muttering at this speech, and their king
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: turned threateningly on the master woodsmen. You are set to
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: rule the forests, but the plains and the valleys are ours,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: he shouted. Keep to your own, dark woods. We will
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: do as we please with Claws. You shall not harm
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: our friend in any way, replied AC, shall we not,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: asked the king impudently. You will see our powers are
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: vastly superior to those of mortals, and fully as great
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: as those of immortals. It is your conceit that misleads you,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: said Ac sternly, You are a transient race, passing from
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: life into nothingness. We who live forever pity, But despise you.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: On earth, you are scorned by all, and in heaven
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: you have no place. Even the mortals, after their earth
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: life enter another existence for all time, and so are
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: your superiors. How, then, dare you, who are neither mortal
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: nor immortal, refuse to obey my wish. The Agua sprang
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: to their feet with menacing gestures, but their king motioned
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: them back. Never before, he cried to Ak, while his
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: voice trembled with rage, has an immortal declared himself, the
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Master of the Oguas, never shall an immortal venture to
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: interfere with our actions again, For we will avenge your
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: scornful words by killing your friend Claus within three days.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Nor you nor all the immortals can save him from
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: our wrath. We defy your powers. Begone, master, woodsmen of
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the world. In the country of the Aguas, you have
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: no place. It is war, declared Ac with flashing eyes.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: It is war, returned the king savagely. In three days,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: your friend will be dead. The Master turned away and
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: came to his forest of Burzi, where he called a
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: meeting of the immortals and told them of the defiance
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: of the Oguas and their purpose to kill claws within
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: three days. The little folk listened to him quietly. What
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: shall we do, asked Ak. These creatures are of no
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: benefit to the world, said the Prince of the Knooks.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: We must destroy them. Their lives are devoted only to
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: evil deeds, said the Prince of the Rials. We must
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: destroy them. They have no conscience and endeavor to make
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: all mortals as bad as themselves. Said the Queen of
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: the Fairies. We must destroy them. They have defied the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: great Act and threatened the life of our adopted son,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: said beautiful Queen Zurl, we must destroy them. The master
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: woodsman smiled. You speak well, said he. These Oguas we
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: know to be a powerful race, and they will fight desperately.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Yet the outcome is certain, for we who live can
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: never die, even though conquered by our enemies. While every
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: Agua who is struck down is one foe, the less
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: to oppose us. Prepare then for battle, and let us
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: resolve to show no mercy to the wicked. Thus arose
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: that terrible war between the immortals and the spirits of evil,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: which is sung of in Fairyland to this very day.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: The King Agua and his band determined to carry out
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: the threat to destroy Claws. They now hated him for
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: two reasons. He made children happy and was a friend
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: of the Master Woodsman. But since Act's visit, they had
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: reason to fear the opposition of the immortals, and they
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: dreaded defeat. So the king sent swift messengers to all
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: parts of the world to summon every evil creature to
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: his aid. And on the third day after the declaration
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: of war, a mighty army was at the command of
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the King Ogua. There were three hundred asiatic dragons, breathing
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: fire that consumed everything it touched. These hated mankind and
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: all good spirits. And there were the three eyed giants
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: of Tattery, a host in themselves who liked nothing better
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: than to fight. And next came the black demons from Patalonia,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: with great spreading wings like those of a bat, which
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: swept terror and misery through the world as they beat
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: upon the air. And joined to these were the gooselgoblins,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: with long talons as sharp as swords, with which they
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: clawed the flesh from their foes. Finally, everye mountain agua
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: in the world had come to participate in the great
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: battle with the immortals. The King Agua looked around upon
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: this vast army, and his heart beat high with wicked pride,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: for he believed he would surely triumph over his gentle enemies,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: who had never before been known to fight. But the
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: master Woodmen had not been idle. None of his people
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: was used to warfare. Yet now that they were called
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: upon to face the hosts of evil, they willingly prepared
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: for the fray. Ac had commanded them to assemble in
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the Laughing Valley, where Claws, ignorant of the terrible battle
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: that was to be waged on his account, was quietly
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: making toys. Soon the entire valley from hill to hill
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: was filled with the little immortals. The master Woodsmen stood first,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: bearing a gleaming axe that shone like burnished silver. Next
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: came the rills, with sharp thorns from bramble bushes, Then
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: the nooks, bearing the spears they used when they were
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: forced to prod their savage beasts into submission. The fairies,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: dressed in white gauze with rainbow hued wings, bore golden wands,
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: and the wood nymphs, in their uniforms of oak leaf green,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: carried switches from ash trees as weapons. Loud, laughed the
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Agua king when he beheld the size and the arms
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: of his floes. To be sure, the mighty axe of
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: the woodsmen was to be dreaded. But the sweet faced
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: nymphs and pretty fairies, the gentle rills and crooked knooks,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: were such harmless folk that he almost felt shame at
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: having called such a terrible host to oppose them. Since
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: these fools dare fight, he said to the leader of
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: the Tattery giants, I will overwhelm them with our evil powers.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: To begin the battle, he poised a great stone in
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: his left hand and cast it full against the sturdy
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: form of the master Woodsmen, who turned it aside with
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: his axe. Then rushed the three eyed giants of Tattery
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: upon the knooks, and the gooselgoblins upon the rills, and
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the fire breathing dragons upon the sweet fairies. Because the
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: nymphs were Ax's own people, the band of Agua sought
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: them out, seeking to overcount them with ease. But it
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: is the law that while evil unopposed may accomplish terrible deeds,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: the powers of good can never be overthrown when opposed
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: to evil. Well, had it been for the king Agua,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: had he known the law, his ignorance cost him his existence.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: For one flash of the axe, borne by the master
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: woodsmen of the world, cleft the wicked king in twain
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and rid the earth of the vilest creature it contained.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Greatly marveled the tattery giants when the spears of the
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: little nooks pierced their thick walls of flesh and sent
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: them reeling to the ground with howls of agony. Woe
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: came upon the sharp taloned goblins when the thorns of
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: the rills reached their savage hearts and let their life
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: blood sprinkle all the plane, and afterward from every drop
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: a thistle grew. The dragons paused, astonished before the fairy winds,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: from whence rushed a power that caused their fiery breaths
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: to flow back on themselves, so that they shriveled away
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and died. As for the oguas, they had scant time
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: to realize how they were destroyed, for the ash switches
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: of the nymphs bore a charm unknown to any Ogua,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: and turned their foes into clods of earth at the
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: slightest touch. When ac leaned upon his gleaming axe, and
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: turned to look over the field of battle. He saw
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: the few giants who were able to run disappearing over
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: the distant hills on their return to Tattery. The goblins
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: had perished every one, as had the terrible dragons, while
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: all that remained of the wicked Oguas was a great
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: number of earthen hillocks dotting the plain. And now the
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: immortals melted from the valley like dew at sunrise to
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: resume their duties in the forest. While Ak walked slowly
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: and thoughtfully to the house of Claws and entered. You
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: have many toys ready for the children, said the woodsmen,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: and now you may carry them across the plain to
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: the dwellings and the villages without fear. Will not the
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Oguas harm me, asked Claws eagerly. The Oguas said, ac
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: have perished. Now I will gladly have done with wicked
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: spirits and with fighting and bloodshed. It was not from
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: choice that I told you of the Aguas and their allies,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: and of their great battle with the immortals. They were
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: part of this history and could not be avoided. End
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: of Chapter seven