Song | Enchanted Tales |
Artist | Audrey Hepburn |
Album | Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales |
Download | Image LRC TXT |
[00:03.75] | New Millennium Audio presents |
[00:07.74] | Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted tales |
[00:15.43] | I'm an old woman now |
[00:17.86] | So old that all these past gets mixed up in my mind with what is now. |
[00:24.67] | When I remember my childhood, what I remember most is him. |
[00:31.56] | No memory is without Maurice Ravel, that small |
[00:36.89] | And elegant man who was to me the greatest composer who ever lived. |
[00:43.82] | In those years between 1906 and 1908, |
[00:48.07] | He would've come often to la Grand Gate, our country house near Paris, to visit my parents. |
[00:55.21] | One day he came, very excited. |
[00:57.29] | "I had written a piano piece, and I think you would like to meet me", he said.. |
[01:02.16] | "It's called Ma mère l'Oye. My Mother Goose" |
[01:07.85] | It was old stories I love best told in music. |
[01:12.73] | And then he showed me the front page, it was dedicated to my brother and to me. |
[01:20.95] | And now I sit, an old woman, outside in the orange late summer morning. |
[01:27.85] | The music in my mind is starting to play. |
[01:30.65] | I think of my wonderful Monsieur Ravel. |
[01:34.75] | I've heard her live in a castle. It was covered with roses”; Monsieur Ravel says to me. |
[01:40.51] | "Ah! The gasp of the sleeping princess", I cried. |
[01:43.85] | "It is perhaps my favorite story of all! Oh, tell it to me please!" |
[01:50.11] | He smiles, draws me onto his lap and begins the story of the Sleeping Princess. |
[01:57.99] | Once upon a time, a magic time, in a fair far green country, lived the King and Queen. |
[02:08.88] | They've longed to have a child. |
[02:10.71] | And finally on one bright morning in June, a daughter was born to them. |
[02:15.58] | "We must give her the grandest christening that ever was", the Queen said, |
[02:20.03] | "We must even use the golden plates." |
[02:22.88] | And the King, who did not agree to much she suggested, agreed to this. |
[02:29.44] | Everyone in the land, all the town's people were invited to the christening. |
[02:35.97] | But the most special guest of all were the six good fairies of the kingdom, |
[02:41.00] | The godmothers of the little Princess. |
[02:45.00] | One by one, these fairies passed by the royal cradle |
[02:49.14] | And gave the baby a blessing and a gift. |
[02:53.19] | One promised the princess beauty; One a bright mind; |
[02:58.57] | One an even brighter spirit; One a voice of charm; One a loving heart. |
[03:06.53] | But just as the last fairy was about to present her gift, |
[03:11.91] | A quick angry draft suddenly blew the door open. |
[03:15.21] | "Why? It's just the wind",laughed the king. |
[03:19.45] | But it wasn't wind. It was a little old woman, thin as wind perhaps. |
[03:26.72] | But (she was) so powerful the door the guest shrank back in fear of her.???? |
[03:31.47] | "Melusine", someone whispered:" Melusine!" |
[03:36.15] | The chocked cry went around. |
[03:38.26] | Melusine was an evil fairy. |
[03:43.26] | She had disappeared from the kingdom many years before. |
[03:46.42] | And no one knew what had become of her. |
[03:49.00] | The King, hiding his surprise and fear, |
[03:52.64] | Invited her in and hastily made a place for her at the high table. |
[03:58.00] | But he couldn't give her one of the golden plates. |
[04:00.66] | But it was simply not enough. |
[04:02.56] | Melusine looked at the china plate given her instead, |
[04:05.92] | And she smiled, a very thin and awful smile. |
[04:14.20] | Hobbling up to the baby's cradle, |
[04:16.54] | She touched the child's cheek with her papery hand. |
[04:21.67] | "I too have a gift for you, my precious" the fairy whispered:" And here it is: |
[04:30.93] | One day you will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and died!" |
[04:38.96] | The guests shrank back screaming. |
[04:41.21] | The Queen fainted. |
[04:43.23] | Only the last of the six fairies had come. |
[04:47.65] | She came forward slowly and faced Melusine. |
[04:52.00] | "I have not yet given my blessing to the princess", she said softly. |
[04:57.05] | "Alas. I cannot undo the fairy curse, but I can surely soften it. |
[05:04.00] | The princess will indeed prick her finger on a spindle, but she will not die. |
[05:10.23] | She will only sleep for a hundred years until a prince shall come and wake her." |
[05:16.24] | 17 years pasted, and the Princess was now a young woman. |
[05:24.00] | She was beautiful, with little golden hair and flecked green eyes. |
[05:30.49] | She was honest and courageous, curious, tender, marry, and a little clumsy. |
[05:38.91] | Her favorite game was to explore the huge castle |
[05:43.03] | And make up stories with the queer things she found there. |
[05:48.43] | One morning in May, the Princess was exploring a wing she had not been in before, |
[05:53.25] | And she came up on a funny little room, |
[05:58.14] | Inside sat an old woman spinning. |
[06:00.76] | The Princess was enchanted by the strange site. |
[06:04.98] | "What are you doing? Oh do let me try!" |
[06:07.12] | She cried and rush forward. |
[06:09.15] | In an instant her finger pricked the spindle. |
[06:11.50] | She gave a scream and saint lifeless on the floor. |
[06:17.63] | The old woman smiled, the cold thin smile of the fairy Mellusine, and melted into icy wind. |
[06:28.42] | The moment the Princess touched the spindle and fell into a sleep, |
[06:33.96] | A strange thing began to happen-the whole palace began to sleep as well. |
[06:41.99] | The king was in the throne room making a new law, |
[06:46.53] | Nodded off, still holding his quill pen; |
[06:50.40] | The Queen, having her hair brushed by her lady in waiting, |
[06:54.00] | Fell asleep at the dressing table; |
[06:57.00] | The lady in waiting fell asleep in mid brush stroke; |
[07:01.39] | And on and on, until finally the whole palace was still, heavy, and filled with dreamers. |
[07:10.52] | And then darkness came to those who dreamed. |
[07:14.94] | For up, up. Back away of green grew the brambles, climbing and folding huge thorns raised. |
[07:25.41] | Up the vines grew, protectively fiercely, |
[07:29.00] | Until finally the whole castle was suckled in her arms. |
[07:35.80] | And then, even the brambles slept too. |
[07:40.54] | They slept for a hundred years, |
[07:44.35] | Slept through wars, and warm harvests, and marriages, and new fashions, |
[07:50.97] | Slept through the crown of the kingdom passing to a new family, |
[07:54.90] | Slept through the birth of a new little prince. |
[07:59.69] | The prince's name is not important. |
[08:02.68] | What is important about him is his curiosity. |
[08:07.14] | From the time the Prince was tiny, |
[08:09.95] | He has wondered and wondered about the huge castle in the kingdom, |
[08:14.32] | The one that was all covered with brambles. |
[08:17.28] | "Who lives there?" he asked. |
[08:19.67] | And when he was told the legend of the Sleeping Princess, he had smiled. |
[08:24.46] | "Ah", he said: “I should be the one to awaken her." |
[08:28.54] | But everyone laughed at him because he was only a tiny child, |
[08:33.08] | And his thumb wasn't even as big as one of the brambles that guarded the castle. |
[08:38.28] | But time passed, and one day the Prince was no longer a child, |
[08:44.89] | He had grown into a man, well-favored, and well-liked, |
[08:49.68] | But with a certain sadness always about him. |
[08:54.13] | The sadness was the strongest when he rode into the woods, |
[08:57.30] | And stood at the gates of that mysterious castle, |
[09:01.66] | Thinking of the Princess who lay inside. |
[09:05.48] | Many ladies in the kingdom were in love with the Prince, |
[09:09.00] | But he could not return their love, |
[09:11.54] | For he had a strange image always before his eyes, |
[09:15.41] | The image of a bright-face child, |
[09:17.91] | Whose hair was tangled yellow, and whose eyes were flecked with green. |
[09:24.72] | On his 21st birthday, the prince left the celebration, |
[09:29.11] | And rode as usual to the bramble covered castle. |
[09:33.03] | As he stood looking, the longing filled him so much, he began to weep. |
[09:39.41] | "Let the bramble tear me apart", he thought. |
[09:42.82] | "If I must die, let me die trying to find the princess." |
[09:49.19] | The Prince climbed the gate, rusted by years of disuse, |
[09:53.79] | And as he took his first step into the garden, something wonderful happened- |
[10:00.71] | The thorns, would have been so angry and sharp only a moment before, |
[10:05.83] | melted into piles of rose petals at his feet. |
[10:10.62] | And the Prince rushed into the palace, thus he saw everywhere- |
[10:15.74] | Gloomy spider webs and piles of sleeping people. |
[10:19.59] | He run upstairs and searched the whole castle, |
[10:22.60] | And there, in the little backroom, |
[10:25.65] | He found his princess, still lying beside the spinning wheel. |
[10:31.29] | He smiled when he saw her, |
[10:32.95] | For this was the girl who had lived in his mind all these years. |
[10:39.18] | He bend forward and kissed her. |
[10:41.75] | And when he draw back, a pair of marry tender flecked green eyes were looking at him. |
[10:49.88] | "I was just dreaming about you", the Princess said. |
[10:52.00] | Down in the hallway bellow, the king yawned and stretched, |
[10:58.02] | "Huh...I must have dozed off", he said: “I have a law to finish." |
[11:03.66] | "Ouch!" the Queen said, as the hair maid combing her hair pulled to sharply on a curl. |
[11:09.01] | The whole palace was stirring now, all wondering: amazed! |
[11:16.29] | "Are you ready, Princess?" the Prince asked. |
[11:21.33] | "Yes" she said. |
[11:22.79] | And hand in hand, they slowly and started down the long curving staircase. |
[11:35.74][music] | |
[13:04.17] | I'm remembering a winter day. |
[13:08.59] | I gazed into the fire, |
[13:11.07] | And there, the pictures of the past are dancing. |
[13:15.53] | It is December, right before Christmas. |
[13:19.25] | Monsieur Ravel comes to visit us. |
[13:22.05] | He has dressed in a new dark green topcoat. |
[13:26.02] | And his arms are full of gifts. |
[13:28.44] | There're something dull in adult for my parents, |
[13:32.81] | New music for my brother, |
[13:35.90] | And for me, the most wonderful little man made out of tin. |
[13:41.35] | When he's wound up, he can walk all around the table. |
[13:44.90] | Monsieur Ravel loves these mechanical marvels. |
[13:48.32] | He laughs at the little tin man as loud as my own. |
[13:52.79] | "I know a story about a boy who was this tiny", he says to me. |
[13:58.78] | "Oh he was not made out of tin, he was as real as you or I!" |
[14:04.09] | So I jump onto his lap and beg him to tell me the story of Tom Thumb. |
[14:11.90] | Once upon a time, deep in a forest, there lived a woodcutter and his wife. |
[14:18.37] | They had seven children, all red-hair boys. |
[14:22.99] | When business was going well, |
[14:25.41] | The wood cutter was delighted with his large family. |
[14:28.82] | But when things were going poorly, he was not so happy. |
[14:33.55] | "There're too many bellies to feed", he would complain. |
[14:37.11] | "Too many feet to keep shod; |
[14:39.51] | Too many backs to covered with clothing; |
[14:42.30] | And not enough money to do it." |
[14:46.39] | One cold winter, things became unbearable. |
[14:50.89] | Meals got plainer and leaner, |
[14:54.05] | Clothes got smaller and more patched, |
[14:57.25] | And the wood cutter got more and more miserable. |
[15:02.90] | "Wife", he said one night: “I cannot sit by and watch my sons starve. |
[15:09.82] | Tomorrow, when I take them out into the forest, |
[15:13.21] | I would leave them there. |
[15:15.48] | Perhaps a wealthy merchant will find them |
[15:18.34] | And provide a better home." |
[15:20.87] | "Huh!" the wife wept and refused to go along the plan at first, |
[15:26.44] | But finally she too gave in. |
[15:29.92] | The woodcutter went to sleep, |
[15:32.13] | Not feeling at all happy with himself, |
[15:34.93] | But believing that he was doing the only thing he could. |
[15:40.03] | What he did not know |
[15:41.99] | Was that one of the sons had overheard every word he said. |
[15:46.92] | This was the youngest son-Tom. |
[15:49.82] | Now everyone, including the woodcutter, thought Tom was foolish, |
[15:54.57] | Simply because he never spoke. |
[15:56.94] | And everyone also thought Tom was a weakling, |
[16:00.12] | Simply because he was small. |
[16:02.71] | When he was born, in fact |
[16:04.14] | Tom had been no bigger than a man's thumb, |
[16:07.05] | And so everyone called him Tom Thumb. |
[16:12.66] | When Tom heard his father's plans, |
[16:15.23] | He realized he had to save his brothers and himself. |
[16:19.69] | He sneaked out of the house, |
[16:21.84] | And went to the stream that lays beside it. |
[16:26.09] | In the moonlight, |
[16:27.40] | The white stones on the bank |
[16:29.39] | Glittered like a treasure chest full of undersea jewels. |
[16:34.80] | Tom filled his pockets with stones and returned to bed. |
[16:38.52] | The next morning, the woodcutter took his seven sons deep into the forest. |
[16:45.21] | Every few feet, Tom took a pebble out of his pocket, |
[16:49.34] | In the daytime they look like ordinary brown rocks, |
[16:52.51] | And dropped it on the ground. |
[16:54.54] | At noon, the woodcutter gave each boy a piece of bread and left them. |
[16:59.80] | "For a while", he said. |
[17:02.33] | None of the brothers except Tom noticed him weeping as he said it. |
[17:07.47] | The little while turned into hours, |
[17:12.06] | And soon it was night. |
[17:14.35] | The brothers came to realize that their father was not coming back, |
[17:18.54] | And they began to weep. |
[17:20.74] | Tom waited politely until they were finished, |
[17:23.86] | and then he said: “Don’t cry, I will save you." |
[17:29.38] | His brothers had never heard Tom speak before, |
[17:32.75] | And they were amazed! |
[17:35.49] | Tom pointed proudly to the stones he had dropped. |
[17:38.75] | In the moonlight, they shone like a path of fallen stars. |
[17:43.72] | He and his brothers followed the path and soon they were back home! |
[17:47.65] | The woodcutter, who had feel terribly guilty at what he had done, was glad to see them. |
[17:53.82] | And his wife nearly fainted with joy. |
[17:58.00] | "No matter how poor we become", the woodcutter said, |
[18:01.71] | "We will all stay together. I had learned my lesson." |
[18:06.45] | But unfortunately, he forget again soon afterwards. |
[18:14.57] | February came, |
[18:16.15] | The iciest, hungriest, most wolf-like February that had ever been. |
[18:24.96] | There was no work, no money, no food. |
[18:30.16] | "I can't stand seeing the children go hungry", the woodcutter roared. |
[18:35.33] | "Tomorrow I'm taking the children out and leaving them in the forest." |
[18:40.03] | Again his wife pleaded and wept; |
[18:43.64] | Again he was stubborn; |
[18:46.27] | And Again, little Tom heard every word. |
[18:51.35] | Tom went outside in the freezing night, |
[18:53.99] | Looking for more stones, |
[18:56.02] | But the snow had fall so heavily that stoned were buried beneath it, |
[19:00.47] | And he could not find even one. |
[19:04.04] | So he creeped back to the house, not knowing what he was going to do. |
[19:12.16] | The next morning, the mother gave the children each a slice of bread for breakfast. |
[19:18.29] | Tom put his in his pocket. |
[19:20.78] | When the father took the boys out into the forest, |
[19:23.97] | Tom crushed his bread in his hands, |
[19:27.05] | And every few feet, he threw down a few crumbs. |
[19:31.42] | Again the father let the children deep into the woods; |
[19:35.46] | Again he said he would return in a little while; |
[19:39.29] | And again he brushed away tears as he said it. |
[19:44.01] | When night fell, and no father came, |
[19:47.71] | The boys all began to cry. |
[19:50.91] | Except Tom. |
[19:52.61] | "Don't be frightened", he said. |
[19:54.34] | "I will show you the way back." |
[19:57.13] | He looked for the trail of bread crumbs, |
[19:59.37] | But it was no longer there! |
[20:01.90] | The birds in the forest had pounced on the crumbs, and had eaten them, everyone! |
[20:09.35] | So the seven children had to find their own way home. |
[20:13.58] | They walked and they walked, through the heavy freezing night. |
[20:19.81] | Suddenly Tom cried: “I see a light!" |
[20:23.51] | Yes, it was a small flickering light through the trees! |
[20:28.40] | The boys rushed forward and found themselves with the door of a huge dark house. |
[20:34.19] | They knocked, and the door was open by a woman. |
[20:37.84] | She had once been pretty, |
[20:40.50] | But fear had chased all her good-looks away. |
[20:45.31] | "Oh! Children! You must go!" she said. |
[20:48.37] | "You've come to the house of a terrible ogre! |
[20:51.47] | A monster who eats little boys!" |
[20:55.51] | Tom sighed:" Madam, we have just come from a forest, |
[21:01.06] | Which is full of wolves who also eats little boys. |
[21:05.50] | I would rather take my chances with the ogre." |
[21:09.18] | The ogre's wife, for that was who she was, sighed. |
[21:15.20] | "My husband is out for a little while", she said, |
[21:17.95] | "Come inside and at least warm yourselves before the fire." |
[21:22.13] | The seven boys ran inside. |
[21:24.14] | And what a joy it was to rest exhausted legs in the huge castle, |
[21:29.24] | And warm the chilly back to the big fire. |
[21:31.84] | The ogre's wife warned them to stay awake, |
[21:35.65] | But they're tired of spoke in a louder voice, and soon they were fast asleep. |
[21:41.79] | Suddenly, there was a huge wind and a huge earthquake, |
[21:46.23] | And each little boy found themselves caught up in a giant's fist, |
[21:50.84] | And gazing into a giant glaring eye. |
[21:55.12] | The ogre had returned. |
[21:59.51] | "What is this!" the ogre roared, “human boys? |
[22:05.35] | What a good woman you are, wife! |
[22:07.93] | You have caught me a fine supper." |
[22:11.46] | The wife was very frightened, but she pretended to go along with the ogre's idea. |
[22:17.51] | "Thank you, husband", she said, “but I meant these boys to be for your breakfast. |
[22:22.62] | As you can see, they are too thin and frozen for you to enjoy now. |
[22:27.64] | I thought that if they were given a good dinner and a good night sleep, |
[22:32.03] | They will be delicious with your pancakes tomorrow. |
[22:36.06] | The giant was disappointed, but he agreed, |
[22:39.87] | Because his wife was really an excellent cook, |
[22:42.57] | And she knew best about these things. |
[22:45.46] | The ogre's wife winked at Tom, and he winked back. |
[22:49.24] | She gave the boys an excellent dinner and Put them to bed. |
[22:53.21] | After a sleep of several hours, Tom woke and nudged his brothers. |
[22:58.76] | "Let's go", he said. |
[23:00.64] | And the seven children escaped. |
[23:03.36] | The ogre was light sleeper, however. |
[23:05.43] | And he felt in his giant bones that something was wrong. |
[23:11.28] | In the middle of the night, he tiptoed in and found that his breakfast had escaped. |
[23:18.49] | Furious, he put on his boots and ran out of the house to search for them. |
[23:24.74] | Tom and his brothers had been running as fast as they could. |
[23:27.78] | But when Tow saw the ogre coming up so quickly behind them, |
[23:31.22] | He knew it was useless to keep on. |
[23:33.00] | He pushed his brothers and himself inside an old hollow log and waited. |
[23:39.28] | The ogre was getting tired from all his chasing. |
[23:43.19] | And as a log came ahead him, |
[23:45.24] | He sat down to rest on the same hollow log where the boys were hiding. |
[23:50.66] | He felt so good to sit down that he took of his boots, |
[23:55.31] | Lay them beside him, |
[23:57.16] | And had a little nap. |
[24:00.58] | Tom crept out of the hollow log, |
[24:03.36] | And stepped into the boots himself. |
[24:07.90] | Now don't ask me how his feet fit the same boot that the ogre's feet has also fit. |
[24:15.07] | These boots were very magic, I suppose. |
[24:18.50] | But in a few moments, Tom was striding away, |
[24:22.15] | Across the fields, and was back at the ogre's castle. |
[24:26.82] | "Oh, Mrs. Ogre", he said to the wife, |
[24:29.40] | "your husband has sent me with a terrible message. |
[24:32.50] | He has been attacked by robbers. |
[24:34.87] | And he says, that the less you give me all your jewels and plate and gold coins to give to them, |
[24:42.57] | He will be killed." |
[24:45.20] | The wife was terrified, and she gave him all that he asked for. |
[24:50.78] | Tom returned to his brothers, |
[24:52.93] | Got them out of the wood, |
[24:54.35] | And they all returned home with the ogre's treasure. |
[24:58.54] | Their parents were overjoyed to see them. |
[25:02.92] | The family was rich now, |
[25:04.71] | And there was no more talk about leaving the children to be raised by others. |
[25:09.31] | And as for the ogre, he may still be napping on the hollow log. |
[25:13.81] | So watch out next time you go into the woods. |
[25:19.69] | |
[25:22.80][music] | |
[28:26.00] | |
[28:27.36] | The afternoon is getting quite windy, |
[28:29.94] | Perhaps I should get a little walk later on. |
[28:32.48] | I love to walk in the wind. |
[28:34.63] | Monsieur Ravel used to love to walk as well. |
[28:37.30] | He did not enjoyed the wind as I did. |
[28:41.05] | I remember one day in particular. |
[28:44.15] | I had been reading a book about pythoness. |
[28:48.31] | I was a walking along, and a twig snapped by my foot. |
[28:52.57] | I screamed, imagining it was a dread python come to devour me. |
[28:58.37] | Monsieur Ravel tried to reassure me, |
[29:00.40] | But I was still terrified. |
[29:02.94] | Finally he said he knew a story about a very wonderful green snake. |
[29:08.77] | And if I would only please stop carrying on, |
[29:12.06] | He could tell it to me. |
[29:13.66] | My crying stopped instantly. |
[29:16.20] | We sat down together on a bank full of wild flours, |
[29:19.80] | And he began to tell me the story |
[29:22.76] | Of...Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas |
[29:31.55] | Once upon a time, there lived a good hearted King and Queen, |
[29:36.29] | Who had twin baby girls. |
[29:39.39] | When it was time for them to be christened, |
[29:41.74] | All the important people and fairies in the kingdom were invited. |
[29:46.30] | But, as so often happen when people plan a big event, |
[29:50.74] | Something gets forgotten. |
[29:53.25] | And what got forgotten in this case, |
[29:55.90] | Was the fairy Magotine |
[29:59.63] | Magotine was the most black-hearted and sour fairy in the world. |
[30:04.83] | And even though she was not invited to the christening, |
[30:07.30] | She came anyway, |
[30:09.46] | In a black sour puff of smoke. |
[30:13.89] | All the fairies but one have already offer their wished to the baby princesses. |
[30:18.95] | When Magotine appeared, |
[30:20.98] | She hobbled up to the cradle, |
[30:23.22] | Touched one of the babies on the cheek and cried: |
[30:26.82] | "My wish for you is perfect ugliness." |
[30:32.34] | And then she disappeared. |
[30:34.76] | The queen cried and screamed |
[30:37.15] | Until the last fairy, |
[30:38.52] | The one who has not to give her wish said: |
[30:41.35] | "Your Majesty, maybe I can help. |
[30:44.80] | Here is my gift to the Princess: |
[30:47.79] | Although she will be ugly, she will still find great happiness." |
[30:54.01] | And the Queen had to be happy with that. |
[30:58.41] | Time passed, and the two little Princesses grow up. |
[31:03.42] | The pretty one, Bellet, was as ??? and freshly-colored as her rose; |
[31:10.29] | But the other one, Laideronnette, |
[31:13.37] | Grow up to be so hideous that no one could bear to look at her. |
[31:19.15] | Finally, when she was 18 years old, she said to her parents: |
[31:24.37] | " I love you so much, but I cannot stand living here anymore. |
[31:29.00] | Please let me live as mistress of the castle by the sea. |
[31:33.07] | I should be all by myself there. |
[31:35.64] | And there will be nobody's eyes to remind me how ugly I am." |
[31:39.73] | The King and Queen grieved, |
[31:42.45] | But they love their daughter, |
[31:44.21] | But they let her go. |
[31:50.68][music] | |
[32:02.91] | Laideronnette was happy at the castle. |
[32:05.25] | She was not lonely, |
[32:06.98] | For she had books to read, |
[32:08.67] | Walks to take, |
[32:10.24] | Her harps to go to play, |
[32:11.98] | And her pet kitten to giggle at. |
[32:15.63] | One day she was taking her favorite walk through a leafy forest, |
[32:18.87] | When suddenly a huge green squirmy serpent rear up in front of her. |
[32:25.91] | She screamed in terror and ran shuddering back to the castle. |
[32:30.59] | She never took the leafy forest walk again. |
[32:34.12] | The following week, Laideronnette decided to take a swim at the seashore. |
[32:40.36] | Suddenly, as she was swimming, a wicked storm struck. |
[32:45.14] | The waves grew larger and larger, |
[32:47.82] | And Laideronnette was afraid she was going to drown! |
[32:51.15] | Luckily, she saw a green log floating there. |
[32:54.65] | She reached the log, threw herself up, |
[32:57.46] | And to a horror, felt the log move under her! |
[33:02.02] | It was none other than a green serpent! |
[33:05.96] | Laidernnette fainted. |
[33:08.40] | The next thing she knew, |
[33:11.06] | She was lying on a couch, |
[33:13.19] | In a splendid white bedroom she had never seen before. |
[33:17.76] | And around her, smiling, were dozens of tiny creatures. |
[33:24.32] | They looked like Chinese idles. |
[33:27.63] | When she sat up they bowed and curtsied to her. |
[33:31.08] | The bells on the little hats chimed most adorably. |
[33:35.87] | "We are the Pagodas", they said. |
[33:37.59] | "We are here to make you happy." |
[33:40.04] | And they danced and sang for Laideronnette, |
[33:42.03] | And she was enchanted. |
[33:44.90] | They led her to an even more beautiful apartment, |
[33:48.06] | Which they said it was for her. |
[33:49.78] | And they told her to call them anytime she needed anything. |
[33:53.25] | Laideronnette remained in Pagoda, for that was the name of the country. |
[33:58.18] | For several months, she was very happy there. |
[34:02.47] | But the longer she stayed, the more curious she became. |
[34:06.54] | "Who is your ruler?" she asked one day. |
[34:11.56] | "The King!" the Pagoda said, |
[34:14.74] | "It is he who told us to take such good care of you!" |
[34:18.56] | "I would like to meet him and thank him", Laideronnette said. |
[34:22.59] | The next day, she was taken to the throne room of the Palace. |
[34:27.33] | The room was very grand, but the great throne was empty. |
[34:34.02] | "I hear you wish to see me", said a beautiful voice. |
[34:39.98] | "But it cannot be, because the fairy Magotine had put a curse on me. |
[34:47.09] | For seven years, no one can see me. |
[34:50.55] | Five of the years have already past, |
[34:53.11] | And there are two to go. |
[34:55.31] | I have been watching you these weeks, Laideronnette", he went on, |
[34:59.45] | "And I have grown to love you. |
[35:02.81] | Will you be my wife?" |
[35:06.91] | Laideronnette was very pleased by his offer, |
[35:09.72] | And said that if she was given a chance to know him better, |
[35:12.65] | She might agree to it. |
[35:15.59] | For the next few weeks, she spent a lot of time with the King. |
[35:19.77] | Laideronnette never saw him, |
[35:21.86] | But his voice was so beautiful and kind, |
[35:25.63] | His word so intelligent, |
[35:27.41] | That she finds herself falling in love. |
[35:31.80] | The night before the wedding, |
[35:33.49] | The King said to her: “Remember the curse, my dear, |
[35:38.02] | For two more years I must stay invisible. |
[35:42.02] | If you try to see me before then, |
[35:44.06] | A terrible thing would happen. |
[35:46.82] | Do you understand?" |
[35:49.14] | "Oh, yes", she said: “I promise not to be curious." |
[35:53.16] | It was an easy promise to make, |
[35:55.91] | But it was not an easy promise to keep. |
[35:59.92] | For as the months ??? on, |
[36:01.91] | And Laideronnette grew to love her husband more and more, |
[36:05.94] | More and more she wishes to see him. |
[36:09.10] | One day, she was in the garden gathering roses, |
[36:12.68] | And the King was behind a trellis. |
[36:15.50] | Laideronnette slipped quietly up and peeped through at him. |
[36:19.76] | And then she shrieked with terror and fell back, |
[36:23.14] | For there was her husband, the green serpent. |
[36:29.92] | "You have betrayed me!" he cried in a sad terrible voice. |
[36:35.11] | And then he disappeared |
[36:38.34] | Miserable and ashamed of herself, Laideronnette left the castle. |
[36:43.69] | For two years, she wondered around at Pagoda. |
[36:47.81] | One winter night, exhausted, she came to a small stream. |
[36:53.74] | A Tiny fairy stood beside it. |
[36:56.37] | "This is the stream of discretion" the fairy said, |
[37:01.57] | "If you drink from it, you will one second be beautiful." |
[37:07.09] | But Laideronnette was no longer interested in being beautiful. |
[37:12.77] | "The steam of discretion" she said. |
[37:15.51] | "If I had had discretion 2 years ago, I would have never broken my promise; |
[37:21.36] | I would never had looked at my husband; |
[37:24.11] | I would never have brought this tragedy upon us. |
[37:28.13] | Discretion is something I need. |
[37:31.34] | Perhaps the stream can give it to me." |
[37:34.64] | So she thanked and drank. |
[37:38.11] | And the fairy smiled: |
[37:40.72] | "I'm very pleased with you, Laideronnette", she said, |
[37:44.78] | "Instead of caring about being beautiful, |
[37:47.64] | Your only thought was to be a better person. |
[37:51.33] | And so you shall be rewarded." |
[37:54.91] | Laideronnette was given two wonderful rewards. |
[37:58.27] | The first was when she saw her reflection in the water, |
[38:01.61] | She gasped at the sight: |
[38:03.85] | She was absolutely beautiful now! |
[38:07.01] | Golden and pink and perfect. |
[38:10.37] | And the second reward was the young man who came up and kneed beside her, |
[38:16.46] | As he spoke through happy tears, |
[38:19.13] | Laideronnette recognized him by his voice. |
[38:22.18] | He was her lost and loved husband. |
[38:26.58] | The two of them embraced and cried and kissed. |
[38:31.01] | And they are happy together until the end of their time. |
[38:36.66][music] | |
[42:06.22] | |
[42:09.07] | It is nearly evening now, |
[42:11.77] | My servant has brought in tea, |
[42:14.14] | And my cat Sido has snuggled up by my side. |
[42:18.58] | Sido is old too, |
[42:20.88] | She loves warms and peace and memories as I do. |
[42:26.30] | When I was a child, |
[42:28.00] | I had another cat, Heras. |
[42:31.45] | Heras was small and slick and he kept himself very dapper. |
[42:37.23] | "He is like me", Monsieur Havel used to say. |
[42:41.04] | It was he who gave this cat to me. |
[42:43.70] | One summer, he was planning to go away on a trip, |
[42:47.61] | And we would not be seeing him for several months. |
[42:51.10] | One the day he left, |
[42:52.98] | I was in tears. |
[42:55.53] | "Cheer up, little Mimi", he said, |
[42:58.44] | "What present would you like me to bring back to you from travels?" |
[43:02.98] | "A cat!", I answered. |
[43:05.56] | And sure enough, the day Monsieur Ravel Returned, |
[43:09.82] | Heras was with him. |
[43:12.76] | We sat, that afternoon, the three of us, in the nursery room, |
[43:17.25] | The cat curling on my lap, |
[43:19.49] | And Ravel stretched out alongside as on a rock. |
[43:24.17] | "I know a story about another girl who was asked to choose her own present." he said. |
[43:31.60] | "But she chooses something very different from a cat." |
[43:35.32] | "What did she choose?" I asked him eagerly. |
[43:38.35] | And, propping himself on one elbow, |
[43:42.08] | He began the tale of Beauty and the Beast. |
[43:52.42] | Once upon a time, |
[43:54.00] | In the days when France was covered with dark woods and darker mysteries, |
[43:59.28] | There lived a merchant with his three daughters. |
[44:02.79] | He has once been a wealthy man, |
[44:04.90] | And his daughters had worn the finest dresses in the kingdom. |
[44:08.65] | But recently, several of the ships have been lost at sea, |
[44:12.68] | And now all the money was gone. |
[44:15.98] | The two oldest daughters could not bear to be poor, |
[44:19.99] | And they did nothing but whine and complain. |
[44:23.51] | But the youngest daughter, Beauty, |
[44:26.62] | Simply hung up her fine dresses and went to work. |
[44:30.69] | She scrubbed, she cleansed, she prepared the meals, |
[44:34.12] | And she comforted her poor father and his sadness. |
[44:39.25] | Then one day, he came to her with wonderful news. |
[44:43.59] | "Beauty", he said, “A miracle has happened. |
[44:46.85] | One of my ships has returned to port. |
[44:49.24] | A fortune has been restored. |
[44:51.56] | We will be rich again!" |
[44:53.71] | He set off for the town at once. |
[44:56.16] | As he was leaving, he hugged his daughters to him. |
[44:59.78] | "What would you like for a present?" he asked. |
[45:03.05] | "A fine dress", said the first. |
[45:06.51] | "A rich jewel", said the second. |
[45:10.25] | But Beauty only smiled. |
[45:13.03] | "a rose", she said, “only a rose." |
[45:20.63] | The merchant rode to the city |
[45:23.49] | And found that the miracle had not happen after all. |
[45:27.03] | Yes, one of his ships had come into port, |
[45:29.63] | But the spices and fabrics on board had been ruined by the salt water. |
[45:34.63] | So he started home again, even poorer then when he had set out. |
[45:40.17] | On the way home, he had to ride through a thorny black wood. |
[45:44.87] | A huge thunderstorm suddenly struck. |
[45:48.28] | And the merchant, already lost, became terrified. |
[45:52.08] | "I'll never find the way out", he thought. “I’ll never see my daughters again" |
[45:56.92] | At that moment, a golden lightening shuddered through the sky. |
[46:03.01] | And the merchant could clearly see what lay in front of him. |
[46:06.76] | It was a castle, enormous and black. |
[46:10.77] | With his last bit of strength, he rode towards it. |
[46:14.75] | When the merchant reached the castle, |
[46:17.11] | He know he had entered a strange fairy land indeed. |
[46:22.50] | He was welcomed into the great hall; |
[46:25.03] | His dripping cloak was taken away; |
[46:27.64] | His horse was stapled; |
[46:29.53] | He's given an elegant dinner. |
[46:31.90] | And he was put to bed in a soft sheet. |
[46:36.18] | But in all the deed, he did not see a single soul. |
[46:41.50] | All the works were done by ghostly unseen hands. |
[46:46.45] | And he felt the breath of spirit all about him. |
[46:50.13] | In the morning, the merchant woke early. |
[46:53.44] | Afraid of the magic around him, he wanted to get back home as soon as possible. |
[46:58.52] | He dressed quickly, left the castle, |
[47:00.88] | And found his horse, beautifully groomed, waiting for him. |
[47:05.99] | But as the merchant was riding away through the garden, |
[47:09.14] | His eyes fell upon a wonderful rose tree. |
[47:12.62] | He thought of Beauty and her wish for a rose. |
[47:16.06] | So he bent and picked one. |
[47:19.29] | There was a sudden roar, a roar terribly loud as last night's thunderstorm. |
[47:26.78] | The merchant looked up and screamed. |
[47:29.12] | For there, in the path, |
[47:31.91] | Dressed in velvet and silks like a couture, |
[47:36.07] | Was the most hideous beast he had ever seen. |
[47:41.18] | The great monster came closer, |
[47:44.52] | "This is how you repay my hospitality?" the animal roared. |
[47:49.56] | "I give you shelter, dinner, a bed, and you steal my rose. |
[47:55.58] | For that, you will die." |
[47:58.28] | "Oh, spare me!" the merchant cried. |
[48:00.98] | "I only wanted the rose for one of my daughters." |
[48:04.96] | A cunning look came into the beast's face. |
[48:08.28] | "You have daughters? |
[48:10.17] | Well then, I will give you a choice. |
[48:12.83] | If one of your daughters is willing to come back here in your place, |
[48:16.16] | I will spare your life. |
[48:17.63] | If they refuse, |
[48:19.02] | Then you will return here to die. |
[48:21.76] | And do not think you can escape, |
[48:24.78] | For I have enchanted your horse. |
[48:27.77] | You will return here in three days, |
[48:30.19] | With either your daughter, or yourself." |
[48:33.36] | The miserable merchant got on his horse and rode home. |
[48:37.75] | When he told his daughters the story of what had happened, |
[48:41.07] | The two oldest cried and run and screamed. |
[48:44.68] | But Beauty was very calm. |
[48:49.59] | "The matter's very simply", she said. |
[48:52.87] | "The whole thing is my fault. |
[48:54.24] | And so I will go back into the Beast's castle in your place." |
[48:59.05] | The merchant would not hear of the idea. |
[49:02.09] | But on the third morning, |
[49:03.68] | before he was even awake, |
[49:05.46] | Beauty stole out of the house and jumped on the back of the horse. |
[49:10.76] | And by late afternoon, she was at the castle of the beast. |
[49:15.70] | She found herself as the same strange fairytale as her father had. |
[49:21.18] | She was taken inside the castle by unseen hands, |
[49:24.46] | And led to a beautiful bedroom. |
[49:27.57] | The closet was full of lovely dresses, |
[49:30.53] | The shelves full of delicate treasures and interesting books. |
[49:35.02] | Beauty spend the day wondering around the grand castle and ??????grounds. |
[49:40.12] | But still she saw nobody. |
[49:42.21] | That evening, when the clock struck seven, |
[49:46.70] | She was led by unseen hands into the dining hall. |
[49:50.97] | She sat down and waited. |
[49:55.21] | "Welcome, Beauty", said a low voice, |
[49:59.54] | And in walked the Beast. |
[50:03.57] | Beauty was too kind to show the beast how much his ugliness frightened her, |
[50:09.12] | So she neither screamed nor ran away. |
[50:11.68] | She only thanked him politely for his kindness in making her so comfortable. |
[50:17.72] | He jointed her at the table, and they talked through the meal. |
[50:22.71] | She was surprised to see what an interesting and amusing companion he was! |
[50:27.60] | At the end of dinner, he turned to her and said, |
[50:32.39] | "With a look of great lonely sadness, Beauty, will you marry me?" |
[50:39.79] | As kind as Beauty was, there was still only one answer. |
[50:45.10] | "No, Beast, I could never marry you." |
[50:50.62] | In silence, he walked away. |
[50:53.95] | The months had passed in the same way. |
[50:57.98] | Beauty's days were filled with loveliness, |
[51:01.38] | But also with loneliness. |
[51:03.99] | So, more and more, she began to look forward to her evening with the Beast. |
[51:10.59] | How kind he was. |
[51:12.32] | How they laugh together. |
[51:14.41] | How interesting he was to talk to. |
[51:17.74] | But every night he asked the same question, |
[51:20.58] | "Beauty, will you marry me?" |
[51:24.10] | And his voice seems to grow sadder and more hopeless every time he said it. |
[51:33.28] | And she hated to hurt him. |
[51:35.73] | But still her answer was always the same, |
[51:39.27] | "No, my Beast, I could never marry you." |
[51:46.53] | As time went on, Beauty began to miss her family. |
[51:51.39] | One day, she asked the Beast if she could go home for a visit. |
[51:55.40] | The Beast grew very sad, |
[51:58.72] | But he gave his permission. |
[52:00.56] | "You must promise to come back in a month though, Beauty." |
[52:04.32] | He told her with a strange smile, |
[52:06.75] | "Or I shall die of a broken heart." |
[52:11.18] | Beauty promised and went home. |
[52:14.08] | Her family were thought her dead long ago. |
[52:16.54] | What an over joy to see her. |
[52:18.83] | And she, in turn, was thrilled to find them in happy circumstances. |
[52:23.43] | Since she had been gone, |
[52:25.46] | Two of her father's ships had come in and the family was rich again. |
[52:29.36] | Beauty had a wonderful visit. |
[52:32.90] | It was so busy and so marry that never once she think of the Beast. |
[52:38.11] | And then one night, a month the day that Beauty had left the castle, |
[52:42.17] | She had a dream. |
[52:44.67] | She dreamed she saw the Beast, |
[52:47.39] | He was lying by the fountain in front of the castle, |
[52:50.90] | And he was dying. |
[52:53.25] | She heard him whisper, “Beauty..." |
[52:58.35] | And she knew that his heart has broken, |
[53:01.41] | Because she had not returned to him. |
[53:03.71] | Beauty woke from the dream, sprang out of bed, and dressed quickly. |
[53:07.86] | "Where are you going", her sisters demanded. |
[53:10.16] | "I'm going to my Beast!" |
[53:12.38] | Within minutes, she said Goodbye to her father and got on her horse |
[53:17.98] | And was riding through the dark forest towards the castle. |
[53:22.13] | By day which she founded, chilly and damp as in her dream, |
[53:26.88] | And there, lying by the fountain, was the still form of the Beast. |
[53:33.31] | "Beast!" she screamed. |
[53:35.40] | But it was too late. |
[53:37.30] | He didn't answer. |
[53:39.30] | She ran to him and held his heavy hairy head in her arms. |
[53:46.00] | She looked at his face, |
[53:48.16] | The face that when she first seen it, |
[53:51.03] | She had thought it was the ugliest in the world. |
[53:54.43] | But now all she could see in it, |
[53:57.13] | Was his kindness and his gentleness and his love for herself. |
[54:04.05] | "Beast", she wept. |
[54:07.28] | And her tears fell on his fur. |
[54:10.48] | "Beast, you mustn’t die. |
[54:14.17] | You must live, live, so we can be married, |
[54:18.39] | For I love you and I want to be with you always." |
[54:24.52] | With those words, the Beast's eyes opened. |
[54:31.29] | And still weeping, Beauty lean forward and kissed him. |
[54:36.60] | And when she did, something wonderful happened. |
[54:42.70] | For suddenly, the Beast began to change! |
[54:47.12] | The furry body dissolved away, |
[54:49.83] | And there, lying in Beauty's arms, was not a hideous monster, |
[54:55.97] | But a radiant young prince. |
[55:00.16] | The Prince gazed in the Beauty's face |
[55:04.72] | With eyes that were long-last, no longer lonely and sad. |
[55:09.50] | "Thank you, my Beauty", he said, |
[55:13.37] | "You have released me from a terrible spell." |
[55:17.45] | "Not I", she whispered, “it was love. And it released us both." |
[59:44.75][music] | |
[59:41.27] | |
[59:43.10] | I fell asleep just now, before the fire, and had a strange dream. |
[59:50.04] | I found myself in a beautiful garden. |
[59:53.03] | The most beautiful garden I had ever seen. |
[59:57.31] | I had the left the coming from in front of me, |
[60:00.23] | So I walked forward until I came to a large lounge. |
[60:05.25] | It was full of people. |
[60:07.22] | I felt very shy, so I quickly stepped backwards and hide behind a tree. |
[60:13.25] | What a wonderful sight it was. |
[60:17.35] | All the fairy folks were there. |
[60:21.50] | I saw Tom Thumb and his brothers sitting comfortably by the Ogre and his wife! |
[60:27.33] | They were all laughing at some joke. |
[60:29.51] | I saw Beauty, one arm around her father, one arm around her Beast Prince, |
[60:35.69] | Never to be separated from each other again. |
[60:38.95] | I saw the Sleeping Princess coming down the castle steps, hand in hand with her prince. |
[60:46.04] | And I saw Laideronnette and her King, laughing at the dances of a hundred tiny Pagodas. |
[60:53.60] | And then suddenly, one Pagoda looked over right at me and pointed. |
[61:00.65] | All the faces turned toward me, smiling, curious. |
[61:06.81] | Shy and ashamed, I came out from my hiding place. |
[61:13.35] | Two of the Pagodas took me by the hands and led me across the lounge to a large tree. |
[61:19.25] | And there, sitting on a chair beneath the tree, was my dear Maurice Ravel. |
[61:28.67] | "Hallo, little Mimi", he said without surprise. |
[61:33.43] | "I have a story to tell you." |
[61:36.52] | I got on his lap, and he began. |
[61:40.32] | "Once upon a time..." |
[61:45.05] |
[00:03.75] | New Millennium Audio presents |
[00:07.74] | Audrey Hepburn' s Enchanted tales |
[00:15.43] | I' m an old woman now |
[00:17.86] | So old that all these past gets mixed up in my mind with what is now. |
[00:24.67] | When I remember my childhood, what I remember most is him. |
[00:31.56] | No memory is without Maurice Ravel, that small |
[00:36.89] | And elegant man who was to me the greatest composer who ever lived. |
[00:43.82] | In those years between 1906 and 1908, |
[00:48.07] | He would' ve come often to la Grand Gate, our country house near Paris, to visit my parents. |
[00:55.21] | One day he came, very excited. |
[00:57.29] | " I had written a piano piece, and I think you would like to meet me", he said.. |
[01:02.16] | " It' s called Ma me re l' Oye. My Mother Goose" |
[01:07.85] | It was old stories I love best told in music. |
[01:12.73] | And then he showed me the front page, it was dedicated to my brother and to me. |
[01:20.95] | And now I sit, an old woman, outside in the orange late summer morning. |
[01:27.85] | The music in my mind is starting to play. |
[01:30.65] | I think of my wonderful Monsieur Ravel. |
[01:34.75] | I' ve heard her live in a castle. It was covered with roses" Monsieur Ravel says to me. |
[01:40.51] | " Ah! The gasp of the sleeping princess", I cried. |
[01:43.85] | " It is perhaps my favorite story of all! Oh, tell it to me please!" |
[01:50.11] | He smiles, draws me onto his lap and begins the story of the Sleeping Princess. |
[01:57.99] | Once upon a time, a magic time, in a fair far green country, lived the King and Queen. |
[02:08.88] | They' ve longed to have a child. |
[02:10.71] | And finally on one bright morning in June, a daughter was born to them. |
[02:15.58] | " We must give her the grandest christening that ever was", the Queen said, |
[02:20.03] | " We must even use the golden plates." |
[02:22.88] | And the King, who did not agree to much she suggested, agreed to this. |
[02:29.44] | Everyone in the land, all the town' s people were invited to the christening. |
[02:35.97] | But the most special guest of all were the six good fairies of the kingdom, |
[02:41.00] | The godmothers of the little Princess. |
[02:45.00] | One by one, these fairies passed by the royal cradle |
[02:49.14] | And gave the baby a blessing and a gift. |
[02:53.19] | One promised the princess beauty One a bright mind |
[02:58.57] | One an even brighter spirit One a voice of charm One a loving heart. |
[03:06.53] | But just as the last fairy was about to present her gift, |
[03:11.91] | A quick angry draft suddenly blew the door open. |
[03:15.21] | " Why? It' s just the wind", laughed the king. |
[03:19.45] | But it wasn' t wind. It was a little old woman, thin as wind perhaps. |
[03:26.72] | But she was so powerful the door the guest shrank back in fear of her.???? |
[03:31.47] | " Melusine", someone whispered:" Melusine!" |
[03:36.15] | The chocked cry went around. |
[03:38.26] | Melusine was an evil fairy. |
[03:43.26] | She had disappeared from the kingdom many years before. |
[03:46.42] | And no one knew what had become of her. |
[03:49.00] | The King, hiding his surprise and fear, |
[03:52.64] | Invited her in and hastily made a place for her at the high table. |
[03:58.00] | But he couldn' t give her one of the golden plates. |
[04:00.66] | But it was simply not enough. |
[04:02.56] | Melusine looked at the china plate given her instead, |
[04:05.92] | And she smiled, a very thin and awful smile. |
[04:14.20] | Hobbling up to the baby' s cradle, |
[04:16.54] | She touched the child' s cheek with her papery hand. |
[04:21.67] | " I too have a gift for you, my precious" the fairy whispered:" And here it is: |
[04:30.93] | One day you will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and died!" |
[04:38.96] | The guests shrank back screaming. |
[04:41.21] | The Queen fainted. |
[04:43.23] | Only the last of the six fairies had come. |
[04:47.65] | She came forward slowly and faced Melusine. |
[04:52.00] | " I have not yet given my blessing to the princess", she said softly. |
[04:57.05] | " Alas. I cannot undo the fairy curse, but I can surely soften it. |
[05:04.00] | The princess will indeed prick her finger on a spindle, but she will not die. |
[05:10.23] | She will only sleep for a hundred years until a prince shall come and wake her." |
[05:16.24] | 17 years pasted, and the Princess was now a young woman. |
[05:24.00] | She was beautiful, with little golden hair and flecked green eyes. |
[05:30.49] | She was honest and courageous, curious, tender, marry, and a little clumsy. |
[05:38.91] | Her favorite game was to explore the huge castle |
[05:43.03] | And make up stories with the queer things she found there. |
[05:48.43] | One morning in May, the Princess was exploring a wing she had not been in before, |
[05:53.25] | And she came up on a funny little room, |
[05:58.14] | Inside sat an old woman spinning. |
[06:00.76] | The Princess was enchanted by the strange site. |
[06:04.98] | " What are you doing? Oh do let me try!" |
[06:07.12] | She cried and rush forward. |
[06:09.15] | In an instant her finger pricked the spindle. |
[06:11.50] | She gave a scream and saint lifeless on the floor. |
[06:17.63] | The old woman smiled, the cold thin smile of the fairy Mellusine, and melted into icy wind. |
[06:28.42] | The moment the Princess touched the spindle and fell into a sleep, |
[06:33.96] | A strange thing began to happenthe whole palace began to sleep as well. |
[06:41.99] | The king was in the throne room making a new law, |
[06:46.53] | Nodded off, still holding his quill pen |
[06:50.40] | The Queen, having her hair brushed by her lady in waiting, |
[06:54.00] | Fell asleep at the dressing table |
[06:57.00] | The lady in waiting fell asleep in mid brush stroke |
[07:01.39] | And on and on, until finally the whole palace was still, heavy, and filled with dreamers. |
[07:10.52] | And then darkness came to those who dreamed. |
[07:14.94] | For up, up. Back away of green grew the brambles, climbing and folding huge thorns raised. |
[07:25.41] | Up the vines grew, protectively fiercely, |
[07:29.00] | Until finally the whole castle was suckled in her arms. |
[07:35.80] | And then, even the brambles slept too. |
[07:40.54] | They slept for a hundred years, |
[07:44.35] | Slept through wars, and warm harvests, and marriages, and new fashions, |
[07:50.97] | Slept through the crown of the kingdom passing to a new family, |
[07:54.90] | Slept through the birth of a new little prince. |
[07:59.69] | The prince' s name is not important. |
[08:02.68] | What is important about him is his curiosity. |
[08:07.14] | From the time the Prince was tiny, |
[08:09.95] | He has wondered and wondered about the huge castle in the kingdom, |
[08:14.32] | The one that was all covered with brambles. |
[08:17.28] | " Who lives there?" he asked. |
[08:19.67] | And when he was told the legend of the Sleeping Princess, he had smiled. |
[08:24.46] | " Ah", he said: " I should be the one to awaken her." |
[08:28.54] | But everyone laughed at him because he was only a tiny child, |
[08:33.08] | And his thumb wasn' t even as big as one of the brambles that guarded the castle. |
[08:38.28] | But time passed, and one day the Prince was no longer a child, |
[08:44.89] | He had grown into a man, wellfavored, and wellliked, |
[08:49.68] | But with a certain sadness always about him. |
[08:54.13] | The sadness was the strongest when he rode into the woods, |
[08:57.30] | And stood at the gates of that mysterious castle, |
[09:01.66] | Thinking of the Princess who lay inside. |
[09:05.48] | Many ladies in the kingdom were in love with the Prince, |
[09:09.00] | But he could not return their love, |
[09:11.54] | For he had a strange image always before his eyes, |
[09:15.41] | The image of a brightface child, |
[09:17.91] | Whose hair was tangled yellow, and whose eyes were flecked with green. |
[09:24.72] | On his 21st birthday, the prince left the celebration, |
[09:29.11] | And rode as usual to the bramble covered castle. |
[09:33.03] | As he stood looking, the longing filled him so much, he began to weep. |
[09:39.41] | " Let the bramble tear me apart", he thought. |
[09:42.82] | " If I must die, let me die trying to find the princess." |
[09:49.19] | The Prince climbed the gate, rusted by years of disuse, |
[09:53.79] | And as he took his first step into the garden, something wonderful happened |
[10:00.71] | The thorns, would have been so angry and sharp only a moment before, |
[10:05.83] | melted into piles of rose petals at his feet. |
[10:10.62] | And the Prince rushed into the palace, thus he saw everywhere |
[10:15.74] | Gloomy spider webs and piles of sleeping people. |
[10:19.59] | He run upstairs and searched the whole castle, |
[10:22.60] | And there, in the little backroom, |
[10:25.65] | He found his princess, still lying beside the spinning wheel. |
[10:31.29] | He smiled when he saw her, |
[10:32.95] | For this was the girl who had lived in his mind all these years. |
[10:39.18] | He bend forward and kissed her. |
[10:41.75] | And when he draw back, a pair of marry tender flecked green eyes were looking at him. |
[10:49.88] | " I was just dreaming about you", the Princess said. |
[10:52.00] | Down in the hallway bellow, the king yawned and stretched, |
[10:58.02] | " Huh... I must have dozed off", he said: " I have a law to finish." |
[11:03.66] | " Ouch!" the Queen said, as the hair maid combing her hair pulled to sharply on a curl. |
[11:09.01] | The whole palace was stirring now, all wondering: amazed! |
[11:16.29] | " Are you ready, Princess?" the Prince asked. |
[11:21.33] | " Yes" she said. |
[11:22.79] | And hand in hand, they slowly and started down the long curving staircase. |
[11:35.74][music] | |
[13:04.17] | I' m remembering a winter day. |
[13:08.59] | I gazed into the fire, |
[13:11.07] | And there, the pictures of the past are dancing. |
[13:15.53] | It is December, right before Christmas. |
[13:19.25] | Monsieur Ravel comes to visit us. |
[13:22.05] | He has dressed in a new dark green topcoat. |
[13:26.02] | And his arms are full of gifts. |
[13:28.44] | There' re something dull in adult for my parents, |
[13:32.81] | New music for my brother, |
[13:35.90] | And for me, the most wonderful little man made out of tin. |
[13:41.35] | When he' s wound up, he can walk all around the table. |
[13:44.90] | Monsieur Ravel loves these mechanical marvels. |
[13:48.32] | He laughs at the little tin man as loud as my own. |
[13:52.79] | " I know a story about a boy who was this tiny", he says to me. |
[13:58.78] | " Oh he was not made out of tin, he was as real as you or I!" |
[14:04.09] | So I jump onto his lap and beg him to tell me the story of Tom Thumb. |
[14:11.90] | Once upon a time, deep in a forest, there lived a woodcutter and his wife. |
[14:18.37] | They had seven children, all redhair boys. |
[14:22.99] | When business was going well, |
[14:25.41] | The wood cutter was delighted with his large family. |
[14:28.82] | But when things were going poorly, he was not so happy. |
[14:33.55] | " There' re too many bellies to feed", he would complain. |
[14:37.11] | " Too many feet to keep shod |
[14:39.51] | Too many backs to covered with clothing |
[14:42.30] | And not enough money to do it." |
[14:46.39] | One cold winter, things became unbearable. |
[14:50.89] | Meals got plainer and leaner, |
[14:54.05] | Clothes got smaller and more patched, |
[14:57.25] | And the wood cutter got more and more miserable. |
[15:02.90] | " Wife", he said one night: " I cannot sit by and watch my sons starve. |
[15:09.82] | Tomorrow, when I take them out into the forest, |
[15:13.21] | I would leave them there. |
[15:15.48] | Perhaps a wealthy merchant will find them |
[15:18.34] | And provide a better home." |
[15:20.87] | " Huh!" the wife wept and refused to go along the plan at first, |
[15:26.44] | But finally she too gave in. |
[15:29.92] | The woodcutter went to sleep, |
[15:32.13] | Not feeling at all happy with himself, |
[15:34.93] | But believing that he was doing the only thing he could. |
[15:40.03] | What he did not know |
[15:41.99] | Was that one of the sons had overheard every word he said. |
[15:46.92] | This was the youngest sonTom. |
[15:49.82] | Now everyone, including the woodcutter, thought Tom was foolish, |
[15:54.57] | Simply because he never spoke. |
[15:56.94] | And everyone also thought Tom was a weakling, |
[16:00.12] | Simply because he was small. |
[16:02.71] | When he was born, in fact |
[16:04.14] | Tom had been no bigger than a man' s thumb, |
[16:07.05] | And so everyone called him Tom Thumb. |
[16:12.66] | When Tom heard his father' s plans, |
[16:15.23] | He realized he had to save his brothers and himself. |
[16:19.69] | He sneaked out of the house, |
[16:21.84] | And went to the stream that lays beside it. |
[16:26.09] | In the moonlight, |
[16:27.40] | The white stones on the bank |
[16:29.39] | Glittered like a treasure chest full of undersea jewels. |
[16:34.80] | Tom filled his pockets with stones and returned to bed. |
[16:38.52] | The next morning, the woodcutter took his seven sons deep into the forest. |
[16:45.21] | Every few feet, Tom took a pebble out of his pocket, |
[16:49.34] | In the daytime they look like ordinary brown rocks, |
[16:52.51] | And dropped it on the ground. |
[16:54.54] | At noon, the woodcutter gave each boy a piece of bread and left them. |
[16:59.80] | " For a while", he said. |
[17:02.33] | None of the brothers except Tom noticed him weeping as he said it. |
[17:07.47] | The little while turned into hours, |
[17:12.06] | And soon it was night. |
[17:14.35] | The brothers came to realize that their father was not coming back, |
[17:18.54] | And they began to weep. |
[17:20.74] | Tom waited politely until they were finished, |
[17:23.86] | and then he said: " Don' t cry, I will save you." |
[17:29.38] | His brothers had never heard Tom speak before, |
[17:32.75] | And they were amazed! |
[17:35.49] | Tom pointed proudly to the stones he had dropped. |
[17:38.75] | In the moonlight, they shone like a path of fallen stars. |
[17:43.72] | He and his brothers followed the path and soon they were back home! |
[17:47.65] | The woodcutter, who had feel terribly guilty at what he had done, was glad to see them. |
[17:53.82] | And his wife nearly fainted with joy. |
[17:58.00] | " No matter how poor we become", the woodcutter said, |
[18:01.71] | " We will all stay together. I had learned my lesson." |
[18:06.45] | But unfortunately, he forget again soon afterwards. |
[18:14.57] | February came, |
[18:16.15] | The iciest, hungriest, most wolflike February that had ever been. |
[18:24.96] | There was no work, no money, no food. |
[18:30.16] | " I can' t stand seeing the children go hungry", the woodcutter roared. |
[18:35.33] | " Tomorrow I' m taking the children out and leaving them in the forest." |
[18:40.03] | Again his wife pleaded and wept |
[18:43.64] | Again he was stubborn |
[18:46.27] | And Again, little Tom heard every word. |
[18:51.35] | Tom went outside in the freezing night, |
[18:53.99] | Looking for more stones, |
[18:56.02] | But the snow had fall so heavily that stoned were buried beneath it, |
[19:00.47] | And he could not find even one. |
[19:04.04] | So he creeped back to the house, not knowing what he was going to do. |
[19:12.16] | The next morning, the mother gave the children each a slice of bread for breakfast. |
[19:18.29] | Tom put his in his pocket. |
[19:20.78] | When the father took the boys out into the forest, |
[19:23.97] | Tom crushed his bread in his hands, |
[19:27.05] | And every few feet, he threw down a few crumbs. |
[19:31.42] | Again the father let the children deep into the woods |
[19:35.46] | Again he said he would return in a little while |
[19:39.29] | And again he brushed away tears as he said it. |
[19:44.01] | When night fell, and no father came, |
[19:47.71] | The boys all began to cry. |
[19:50.91] | Except Tom. |
[19:52.61] | " Don' t be frightened", he said. |
[19:54.34] | " I will show you the way back." |
[19:57.13] | He looked for the trail of bread crumbs, |
[19:59.37] | But it was no longer there! |
[20:01.90] | The birds in the forest had pounced on the crumbs, and had eaten them, everyone! |
[20:09.35] | So the seven children had to find their own way home. |
[20:13.58] | They walked and they walked, through the heavy freezing night. |
[20:19.81] | Suddenly Tom cried: " I see a light!" |
[20:23.51] | Yes, it was a small flickering light through the trees! |
[20:28.40] | The boys rushed forward and found themselves with the door of a huge dark house. |
[20:34.19] | They knocked, and the door was open by a woman. |
[20:37.84] | She had once been pretty, |
[20:40.50] | But fear had chased all her goodlooks away. |
[20:45.31] | " Oh! Children! You must go!" she said. |
[20:48.37] | " You' ve come to the house of a terrible ogre! |
[20:51.47] | A monster who eats little boys!" |
[20:55.51] | Tom sighed:" Madam, we have just come from a forest, |
[21:01.06] | Which is full of wolves who also eats little boys. |
[21:05.50] | I would rather take my chances with the ogre." |
[21:09.18] | The ogre' s wife, for that was who she was, sighed. |
[21:15.20] | " My husband is out for a little while", she said, |
[21:17.95] | " Come inside and at least warm yourselves before the fire." |
[21:22.13] | The seven boys ran inside. |
[21:24.14] | And what a joy it was to rest exhausted legs in the huge castle, |
[21:29.24] | And warm the chilly back to the big fire. |
[21:31.84] | The ogre' s wife warned them to stay awake, |
[21:35.65] | But they' re tired of spoke in a louder voice, and soon they were fast asleep. |
[21:41.79] | Suddenly, there was a huge wind and a huge earthquake, |
[21:46.23] | And each little boy found themselves caught up in a giant' s fist, |
[21:50.84] | And gazing into a giant glaring eye. |
[21:55.12] | The ogre had returned. |
[21:59.51] | " What is this!" the ogre roared, " human boys? |
[22:05.35] | What a good woman you are, wife! |
[22:07.93] | You have caught me a fine supper." |
[22:11.46] | The wife was very frightened, but she pretended to go along with the ogre' s idea. |
[22:17.51] | " Thank you, husband", she said, " but I meant these boys to be for your breakfast. |
[22:22.62] | As you can see, they are too thin and frozen for you to enjoy now. |
[22:27.64] | I thought that if they were given a good dinner and a good night sleep, |
[22:32.03] | They will be delicious with your pancakes tomorrow. |
[22:36.06] | The giant was disappointed, but he agreed, |
[22:39.87] | Because his wife was really an excellent cook, |
[22:42.57] | And she knew best about these things. |
[22:45.46] | The ogre' s wife winked at Tom, and he winked back. |
[22:49.24] | She gave the boys an excellent dinner and Put them to bed. |
[22:53.21] | After a sleep of several hours, Tom woke and nudged his brothers. |
[22:58.76] | " Let' s go", he said. |
[23:00.64] | And the seven children escaped. |
[23:03.36] | The ogre was light sleeper, however. |
[23:05.43] | And he felt in his giant bones that something was wrong. |
[23:11.28] | In the middle of the night, he tiptoed in and found that his breakfast had escaped. |
[23:18.49] | Furious, he put on his boots and ran out of the house to search for them. |
[23:24.74] | Tom and his brothers had been running as fast as they could. |
[23:27.78] | But when Tow saw the ogre coming up so quickly behind them, |
[23:31.22] | He knew it was useless to keep on. |
[23:33.00] | He pushed his brothers and himself inside an old hollow log and waited. |
[23:39.28] | The ogre was getting tired from all his chasing. |
[23:43.19] | And as a log came ahead him, |
[23:45.24] | He sat down to rest on the same hollow log where the boys were hiding. |
[23:50.66] | He felt so good to sit down that he took of his boots, |
[23:55.31] | Lay them beside him, |
[23:57.16] | And had a little nap. |
[24:00.58] | Tom crept out of the hollow log, |
[24:03.36] | And stepped into the boots himself. |
[24:07.90] | Now don' t ask me how his feet fit the same boot that the ogre' s feet has also fit. |
[24:15.07] | These boots were very magic, I suppose. |
[24:18.50] | But in a few moments, Tom was striding away, |
[24:22.15] | Across the fields, and was back at the ogre' s castle. |
[24:26.82] | " Oh, Mrs. Ogre", he said to the wife, |
[24:29.40] | " your husband has sent me with a terrible message. |
[24:32.50] | He has been attacked by robbers. |
[24:34.87] | And he says, that the less you give me all your jewels and plate and gold coins to give to them, |
[24:42.57] | He will be killed." |
[24:45.20] | The wife was terrified, and she gave him all that he asked for. |
[24:50.78] | Tom returned to his brothers, |
[24:52.93] | Got them out of the wood, |
[24:54.35] | And they all returned home with the ogre' s treasure. |
[24:58.54] | Their parents were overjoyed to see them. |
[25:02.92] | The family was rich now, |
[25:04.71] | And there was no more talk about leaving the children to be raised by others. |
[25:09.31] | And as for the ogre, he may still be napping on the hollow log. |
[25:13.81] | So watch out next time you go into the woods. |
[25:19.69] | |
[25:22.80][music] | |
[28:26.00] | |
[28:27.36] | The afternoon is getting quite windy, |
[28:29.94] | Perhaps I should get a little walk later on. |
[28:32.48] | I love to walk in the wind. |
[28:34.63] | Monsieur Ravel used to love to walk as well. |
[28:37.30] | He did not enjoyed the wind as I did. |
[28:41.05] | I remember one day in particular. |
[28:44.15] | I had been reading a book about pythoness. |
[28:48.31] | I was a walking along, and a twig snapped by my foot. |
[28:52.57] | I screamed, imagining it was a dread python come to devour me. |
[28:58.37] | Monsieur Ravel tried to reassure me, |
[29:00.40] | But I was still terrified. |
[29:02.94] | Finally he said he knew a story about a very wonderful green snake. |
[29:08.77] | And if I would only please stop carrying on, |
[29:12.06] | He could tell it to me. |
[29:13.66] | My crying stopped instantly. |
[29:16.20] | We sat down together on a bank full of wild flours, |
[29:19.80] | And he began to tell me the story |
[29:22.76] | Of... Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas |
[29:31.55] | Once upon a time, there lived a good hearted King and Queen, |
[29:36.29] | Who had twin baby girls. |
[29:39.39] | When it was time for them to be christened, |
[29:41.74] | All the important people and fairies in the kingdom were invited. |
[29:46.30] | But, as so often happen when people plan a big event, |
[29:50.74] | Something gets forgotten. |
[29:53.25] | And what got forgotten in this case, |
[29:55.90] | Was the fairy Magotine |
[29:59.63] | Magotine was the most blackhearted and sour fairy in the world. |
[30:04.83] | And even though she was not invited to the christening, |
[30:07.30] | She came anyway, |
[30:09.46] | In a black sour puff of smoke. |
[30:13.89] | All the fairies but one have already offer their wished to the baby princesses. |
[30:18.95] | When Magotine appeared, |
[30:20.98] | She hobbled up to the cradle, |
[30:23.22] | Touched one of the babies on the cheek and cried: |
[30:26.82] | " My wish for you is perfect ugliness." |
[30:32.34] | And then she disappeared. |
[30:34.76] | The queen cried and screamed |
[30:37.15] | Until the last fairy, |
[30:38.52] | The one who has not to give her wish said: |
[30:41.35] | " Your Majesty, maybe I can help. |
[30:44.80] | Here is my gift to the Princess: |
[30:47.79] | Although she will be ugly, she will still find great happiness." |
[30:54.01] | And the Queen had to be happy with that. |
[30:58.41] | Time passed, and the two little Princesses grow up. |
[31:03.42] | The pretty one, Bellet, was as ??? and freshlycolored as her rose |
[31:10.29] | But the other one, Laideronnette, |
[31:13.37] | Grow up to be so hideous that no one could bear to look at her. |
[31:19.15] | Finally, when she was 18 years old, she said to her parents: |
[31:24.37] | " I love you so much, but I cannot stand living here anymore. |
[31:29.00] | Please let me live as mistress of the castle by the sea. |
[31:33.07] | I should be all by myself there. |
[31:35.64] | And there will be nobody' s eyes to remind me how ugly I am." |
[31:39.73] | The King and Queen grieved, |
[31:42.45] | But they love their daughter, |
[31:44.21] | But they let her go. |
[31:50.68][music] | |
[32:02.91] | Laideronnette was happy at the castle. |
[32:05.25] | She was not lonely, |
[32:06.98] | For she had books to read, |
[32:08.67] | Walks to take, |
[32:10.24] | Her harps to go to play, |
[32:11.98] | And her pet kitten to giggle at. |
[32:15.63] | One day she was taking her favorite walk through a leafy forest, |
[32:18.87] | When suddenly a huge green squirmy serpent rear up in front of her. |
[32:25.91] | She screamed in terror and ran shuddering back to the castle. |
[32:30.59] | She never took the leafy forest walk again. |
[32:34.12] | The following week, Laideronnette decided to take a swim at the seashore. |
[32:40.36] | Suddenly, as she was swimming, a wicked storm struck. |
[32:45.14] | The waves grew larger and larger, |
[32:47.82] | And Laideronnette was afraid she was going to drown! |
[32:51.15] | Luckily, she saw a green log floating there. |
[32:54.65] | She reached the log, threw herself up, |
[32:57.46] | And to a horror, felt the log move under her! |
[33:02.02] | It was none other than a green serpent! |
[33:05.96] | Laidernnette fainted. |
[33:08.40] | The next thing she knew, |
[33:11.06] | She was lying on a couch, |
[33:13.19] | In a splendid white bedroom she had never seen before. |
[33:17.76] | And around her, smiling, were dozens of tiny creatures. |
[33:24.32] | They looked like Chinese idles. |
[33:27.63] | When she sat up they bowed and curtsied to her. |
[33:31.08] | The bells on the little hats chimed most adorably. |
[33:35.87] | " We are the Pagodas", they said. |
[33:37.59] | " We are here to make you happy." |
[33:40.04] | And they danced and sang for Laideronnette, |
[33:42.03] | And she was enchanted. |
[33:44.90] | They led her to an even more beautiful apartment, |
[33:48.06] | Which they said it was for her. |
[33:49.78] | And they told her to call them anytime she needed anything. |
[33:53.25] | Laideronnette remained in Pagoda, for that was the name of the country. |
[33:58.18] | For several months, she was very happy there. |
[34:02.47] | But the longer she stayed, the more curious she became. |
[34:06.54] | " Who is your ruler?" she asked one day. |
[34:11.56] | " The King!" the Pagoda said, |
[34:14.74] | " It is he who told us to take such good care of you!" |
[34:18.56] | " I would like to meet him and thank him", Laideronnette said. |
[34:22.59] | The next day, she was taken to the throne room of the Palace. |
[34:27.33] | The room was very grand, but the great throne was empty. |
[34:34.02] | " I hear you wish to see me", said a beautiful voice. |
[34:39.98] | " But it cannot be, because the fairy Magotine had put a curse on me. |
[34:47.09] | For seven years, no one can see me. |
[34:50.55] | Five of the years have already past, |
[34:53.11] | And there are two to go. |
[34:55.31] | I have been watching you these weeks, Laideronnette", he went on, |
[34:59.45] | " And I have grown to love you. |
[35:02.81] | Will you be my wife?" |
[35:06.91] | Laideronnette was very pleased by his offer, |
[35:09.72] | And said that if she was given a chance to know him better, |
[35:12.65] | She might agree to it. |
[35:15.59] | For the next few weeks, she spent a lot of time with the King. |
[35:19.77] | Laideronnette never saw him, |
[35:21.86] | But his voice was so beautiful and kind, |
[35:25.63] | His word so intelligent, |
[35:27.41] | That she finds herself falling in love. |
[35:31.80] | The night before the wedding, |
[35:33.49] | The King said to her: " Remember the curse, my dear, |
[35:38.02] | For two more years I must stay invisible. |
[35:42.02] | If you try to see me before then, |
[35:44.06] | A terrible thing would happen. |
[35:46.82] | Do you understand?" |
[35:49.14] | " Oh, yes", she said: " I promise not to be curious." |
[35:53.16] | It was an easy promise to make, |
[35:55.91] | But it was not an easy promise to keep. |
[35:59.92] | For as the months ??? on, |
[36:01.91] | And Laideronnette grew to love her husband more and more, |
[36:05.94] | More and more she wishes to see him. |
[36:09.10] | One day, she was in the garden gathering roses, |
[36:12.68] | And the King was behind a trellis. |
[36:15.50] | Laideronnette slipped quietly up and peeped through at him. |
[36:19.76] | And then she shrieked with terror and fell back, |
[36:23.14] | For there was her husband, the green serpent. |
[36:29.92] | " You have betrayed me!" he cried in a sad terrible voice. |
[36:35.11] | And then he disappeared |
[36:38.34] | Miserable and ashamed of herself, Laideronnette left the castle. |
[36:43.69] | For two years, she wondered around at Pagoda. |
[36:47.81] | One winter night, exhausted, she came to a small stream. |
[36:53.74] | A Tiny fairy stood beside it. |
[36:56.37] | " This is the stream of discretion" the fairy said, |
[37:01.57] | " If you drink from it, you will one second be beautiful." |
[37:07.09] | But Laideronnette was no longer interested in being beautiful. |
[37:12.77] | " The steam of discretion" she said. |
[37:15.51] | " If I had had discretion 2 years ago, I would have never broken my promise |
[37:21.36] | I would never had looked at my husband |
[37:24.11] | I would never have brought this tragedy upon us. |
[37:28.13] | Discretion is something I need. |
[37:31.34] | Perhaps the stream can give it to me." |
[37:34.64] | So she thanked and drank. |
[37:38.11] | And the fairy smiled: |
[37:40.72] | " I' m very pleased with you, Laideronnette", she said, |
[37:44.78] | " Instead of caring about being beautiful, |
[37:47.64] | Your only thought was to be a better person. |
[37:51.33] | And so you shall be rewarded." |
[37:54.91] | Laideronnette was given two wonderful rewards. |
[37:58.27] | The first was when she saw her reflection in the water, |
[38:01.61] | She gasped at the sight: |
[38:03.85] | She was absolutely beautiful now! |
[38:07.01] | Golden and pink and perfect. |
[38:10.37] | And the second reward was the young man who came up and kneed beside her, |
[38:16.46] | As he spoke through happy tears, |
[38:19.13] | Laideronnette recognized him by his voice. |
[38:22.18] | He was her lost and loved husband. |
[38:26.58] | The two of them embraced and cried and kissed. |
[38:31.01] | And they are happy together until the end of their time. |
[38:36.66][music] | |
[42:06.22] | |
[42:09.07] | It is nearly evening now, |
[42:11.77] | My servant has brought in tea, |
[42:14.14] | And my cat Sido has snuggled up by my side. |
[42:18.58] | Sido is old too, |
[42:20.88] | She loves warms and peace and memories as I do. |
[42:26.30] | When I was a child, |
[42:28.00] | I had another cat, Heras. |
[42:31.45] | Heras was small and slick and he kept himself very dapper. |
[42:37.23] | " He is like me", Monsieur Havel used to say. |
[42:41.04] | It was he who gave this cat to me. |
[42:43.70] | One summer, he was planning to go away on a trip, |
[42:47.61] | And we would not be seeing him for several months. |
[42:51.10] | One the day he left, |
[42:52.98] | I was in tears. |
[42:55.53] | " Cheer up, little Mimi", he said, |
[42:58.44] | " What present would you like me to bring back to you from travels?" |
[43:02.98] | " A cat!", I answered. |
[43:05.56] | And sure enough, the day Monsieur Ravel Returned, |
[43:09.82] | Heras was with him. |
[43:12.76] | We sat, that afternoon, the three of us, in the nursery room, |
[43:17.25] | The cat curling on my lap, |
[43:19.49] | And Ravel stretched out alongside as on a rock. |
[43:24.17] | " I know a story about another girl who was asked to choose her own present." he said. |
[43:31.60] | " But she chooses something very different from a cat." |
[43:35.32] | " What did she choose?" I asked him eagerly. |
[43:38.35] | And, propping himself on one elbow, |
[43:42.08] | He began the tale of Beauty and the Beast. |
[43:52.42] | Once upon a time, |
[43:54.00] | In the days when France was covered with dark woods and darker mysteries, |
[43:59.28] | There lived a merchant with his three daughters. |
[44:02.79] | He has once been a wealthy man, |
[44:04.90] | And his daughters had worn the finest dresses in the kingdom. |
[44:08.65] | But recently, several of the ships have been lost at sea, |
[44:12.68] | And now all the money was gone. |
[44:15.98] | The two oldest daughters could not bear to be poor, |
[44:19.99] | And they did nothing but whine and complain. |
[44:23.51] | But the youngest daughter, Beauty, |
[44:26.62] | Simply hung up her fine dresses and went to work. |
[44:30.69] | She scrubbed, she cleansed, she prepared the meals, |
[44:34.12] | And she comforted her poor father and his sadness. |
[44:39.25] | Then one day, he came to her with wonderful news. |
[44:43.59] | " Beauty", he said, " A miracle has happened. |
[44:46.85] | One of my ships has returned to port. |
[44:49.24] | A fortune has been restored. |
[44:51.56] | We will be rich again!" |
[44:53.71] | He set off for the town at once. |
[44:56.16] | As he was leaving, he hugged his daughters to him. |
[44:59.78] | " What would you like for a present?" he asked. |
[45:03.05] | " A fine dress", said the first. |
[45:06.51] | " A rich jewel", said the second. |
[45:10.25] | But Beauty only smiled. |
[45:13.03] | " a rose", she said, " only a rose." |
[45:20.63] | The merchant rode to the city |
[45:23.49] | And found that the miracle had not happen after all. |
[45:27.03] | Yes, one of his ships had come into port, |
[45:29.63] | But the spices and fabrics on board had been ruined by the salt water. |
[45:34.63] | So he started home again, even poorer then when he had set out. |
[45:40.17] | On the way home, he had to ride through a thorny black wood. |
[45:44.87] | A huge thunderstorm suddenly struck. |
[45:48.28] | And the merchant, already lost, became terrified. |
[45:52.08] | " I' ll never find the way out", he thought. " I' ll never see my daughters again" |
[45:56.92] | At that moment, a golden lightening shuddered through the sky. |
[46:03.01] | And the merchant could clearly see what lay in front of him. |
[46:06.76] | It was a castle, enormous and black. |
[46:10.77] | With his last bit of strength, he rode towards it. |
[46:14.75] | When the merchant reached the castle, |
[46:17.11] | He know he had entered a strange fairy land indeed. |
[46:22.50] | He was welcomed into the great hall |
[46:25.03] | His dripping cloak was taken away |
[46:27.64] | His horse was stapled |
[46:29.53] | He' s given an elegant dinner. |
[46:31.90] | And he was put to bed in a soft sheet. |
[46:36.18] | But in all the deed, he did not see a single soul. |
[46:41.50] | All the works were done by ghostly unseen hands. |
[46:46.45] | And he felt the breath of spirit all about him. |
[46:50.13] | In the morning, the merchant woke early. |
[46:53.44] | Afraid of the magic around him, he wanted to get back home as soon as possible. |
[46:58.52] | He dressed quickly, left the castle, |
[47:00.88] | And found his horse, beautifully groomed, waiting for him. |
[47:05.99] | But as the merchant was riding away through the garden, |
[47:09.14] | His eyes fell upon a wonderful rose tree. |
[47:12.62] | He thought of Beauty and her wish for a rose. |
[47:16.06] | So he bent and picked one. |
[47:19.29] | There was a sudden roar, a roar terribly loud as last night' s thunderstorm. |
[47:26.78] | The merchant looked up and screamed. |
[47:29.12] | For there, in the path, |
[47:31.91] | Dressed in velvet and silks like a couture, |
[47:36.07] | Was the most hideous beast he had ever seen. |
[47:41.18] | The great monster came closer, |
[47:44.52] | " This is how you repay my hospitality?" the animal roared. |
[47:49.56] | " I give you shelter, dinner, a bed, and you steal my rose. |
[47:55.58] | For that, you will die." |
[47:58.28] | " Oh, spare me!" the merchant cried. |
[48:00.98] | " I only wanted the rose for one of my daughters." |
[48:04.96] | A cunning look came into the beast' s face. |
[48:08.28] | " You have daughters? |
[48:10.17] | Well then, I will give you a choice. |
[48:12.83] | If one of your daughters is willing to come back here in your place, |
[48:16.16] | I will spare your life. |
[48:17.63] | If they refuse, |
[48:19.02] | Then you will return here to die. |
[48:21.76] | And do not think you can escape, |
[48:24.78] | For I have enchanted your horse. |
[48:27.77] | You will return here in three days, |
[48:30.19] | With either your daughter, or yourself." |
[48:33.36] | The miserable merchant got on his horse and rode home. |
[48:37.75] | When he told his daughters the story of what had happened, |
[48:41.07] | The two oldest cried and run and screamed. |
[48:44.68] | But Beauty was very calm. |
[48:49.59] | " The matter' s very simply", she said. |
[48:52.87] | " The whole thing is my fault. |
[48:54.24] | And so I will go back into the Beast' s castle in your place." |
[48:59.05] | The merchant would not hear of the idea. |
[49:02.09] | But on the third morning, |
[49:03.68] | before he was even awake, |
[49:05.46] | Beauty stole out of the house and jumped on the back of the horse. |
[49:10.76] | And by late afternoon, she was at the castle of the beast. |
[49:15.70] | She found herself as the same strange fairytale as her father had. |
[49:21.18] | She was taken inside the castle by unseen hands, |
[49:24.46] | And led to a beautiful bedroom. |
[49:27.57] | The closet was full of lovely dresses, |
[49:30.53] | The shelves full of delicate treasures and interesting books. |
[49:35.02] | Beauty spend the day wondering around the grand castle and ?????? grounds. |
[49:40.12] | But still she saw nobody. |
[49:42.21] | That evening, when the clock struck seven, |
[49:46.70] | She was led by unseen hands into the dining hall. |
[49:50.97] | She sat down and waited. |
[49:55.21] | " Welcome, Beauty", said a low voice, |
[49:59.54] | And in walked the Beast. |
[50:03.57] | Beauty was too kind to show the beast how much his ugliness frightened her, |
[50:09.12] | So she neither screamed nor ran away. |
[50:11.68] | She only thanked him politely for his kindness in making her so comfortable. |
[50:17.72] | He jointed her at the table, and they talked through the meal. |
[50:22.71] | She was surprised to see what an interesting and amusing companion he was! |
[50:27.60] | At the end of dinner, he turned to her and said, |
[50:32.39] | " With a look of great lonely sadness, Beauty, will you marry me?" |
[50:39.79] | As kind as Beauty was, there was still only one answer. |
[50:45.10] | " No, Beast, I could never marry you." |
[50:50.62] | In silence, he walked away. |
[50:53.95] | The months had passed in the same way. |
[50:57.98] | Beauty' s days were filled with loveliness, |
[51:01.38] | But also with loneliness. |
[51:03.99] | So, more and more, she began to look forward to her evening with the Beast. |
[51:10.59] | How kind he was. |
[51:12.32] | How they laugh together. |
[51:14.41] | How interesting he was to talk to. |
[51:17.74] | But every night he asked the same question, |
[51:20.58] | " Beauty, will you marry me?" |
[51:24.10] | And his voice seems to grow sadder and more hopeless every time he said it. |
[51:33.28] | And she hated to hurt him. |
[51:35.73] | But still her answer was always the same, |
[51:39.27] | " No, my Beast, I could never marry you." |
[51:46.53] | As time went on, Beauty began to miss her family. |
[51:51.39] | One day, she asked the Beast if she could go home for a visit. |
[51:55.40] | The Beast grew very sad, |
[51:58.72] | But he gave his permission. |
[52:00.56] | " You must promise to come back in a month though, Beauty." |
[52:04.32] | He told her with a strange smile, |
[52:06.75] | " Or I shall die of a broken heart." |
[52:11.18] | Beauty promised and went home. |
[52:14.08] | Her family were thought her dead long ago. |
[52:16.54] | What an over joy to see her. |
[52:18.83] | And she, in turn, was thrilled to find them in happy circumstances. |
[52:23.43] | Since she had been gone, |
[52:25.46] | Two of her father' s ships had come in and the family was rich again. |
[52:29.36] | Beauty had a wonderful visit. |
[52:32.90] | It was so busy and so marry that never once she think of the Beast. |
[52:38.11] | And then one night, a month the day that Beauty had left the castle, |
[52:42.17] | She had a dream. |
[52:44.67] | She dreamed she saw the Beast, |
[52:47.39] | He was lying by the fountain in front of the castle, |
[52:50.90] | And he was dying. |
[52:53.25] | She heard him whisper, " Beauty..." |
[52:58.35] | And she knew that his heart has broken, |
[53:01.41] | Because she had not returned to him. |
[53:03.71] | Beauty woke from the dream, sprang out of bed, and dressed quickly. |
[53:07.86] | " Where are you going", her sisters demanded. |
[53:10.16] | " I' m going to my Beast!" |
[53:12.38] | Within minutes, she said Goodbye to her father and got on her horse |
[53:17.98] | And was riding through the dark forest towards the castle. |
[53:22.13] | By day which she founded, chilly and damp as in her dream, |
[53:26.88] | And there, lying by the fountain, was the still form of the Beast. |
[53:33.31] | " Beast!" she screamed. |
[53:35.40] | But it was too late. |
[53:37.30] | He didn' t answer. |
[53:39.30] | She ran to him and held his heavy hairy head in her arms. |
[53:46.00] | She looked at his face, |
[53:48.16] | The face that when she first seen it, |
[53:51.03] | She had thought it was the ugliest in the world. |
[53:54.43] | But now all she could see in it, |
[53:57.13] | Was his kindness and his gentleness and his love for herself. |
[54:04.05] | " Beast", she wept. |
[54:07.28] | And her tears fell on his fur. |
[54:10.48] | " Beast, you mustn' t die. |
[54:14.17] | You must live, live, so we can be married, |
[54:18.39] | For I love you and I want to be with you always." |
[54:24.52] | With those words, the Beast' s eyes opened. |
[54:31.29] | And still weeping, Beauty lean forward and kissed him. |
[54:36.60] | And when she did, something wonderful happened. |
[54:42.70] | For suddenly, the Beast began to change! |
[54:47.12] | The furry body dissolved away, |
[54:49.83] | And there, lying in Beauty' s arms, was not a hideous monster, |
[54:55.97] | But a radiant young prince. |
[55:00.16] | The Prince gazed in the Beauty' s face |
[55:04.72] | With eyes that were longlast, no longer lonely and sad. |
[55:09.50] | " Thank you, my Beauty", he said, |
[55:13.37] | " You have released me from a terrible spell." |
[55:17.45] | " Not I", she whispered, " it was love. And it released us both." |
[59:44.75][music] | |
[59:41.27] | |
[59:43.10] | I fell asleep just now, before the fire, and had a strange dream. |
[59:50.04] | I found myself in a beautiful garden. |
[59:53.03] | The most beautiful garden I had ever seen. |
[59:57.31] | I had the left the coming from in front of me, |
[60:00.23] | So I walked forward until I came to a large lounge. |
[60:05.25] | It was full of people. |
[60:07.22] | I felt very shy, so I quickly stepped backwards and hide behind a tree. |
[60:13.25] | What a wonderful sight it was. |
[60:17.35] | All the fairy folks were there. |
[60:21.50] | I saw Tom Thumb and his brothers sitting comfortably by the Ogre and his wife! |
[60:27.33] | They were all laughing at some joke. |
[60:29.51] | I saw Beauty, one arm around her father, one arm around her Beast Prince, |
[60:35.69] | Never to be separated from each other again. |
[60:38.95] | I saw the Sleeping Princess coming down the castle steps, hand in hand with her prince. |
[60:46.04] | And I saw Laideronnette and her King, laughing at the dances of a hundred tiny Pagodas. |
[60:53.60] | And then suddenly, one Pagoda looked over right at me and pointed. |
[61:00.65] | All the faces turned toward me, smiling, curious. |
[61:06.81] | Shy and ashamed, I came out from my hiding place. |
[61:13.35] | Two of the Pagodas took me by the hands and led me across the lounge to a large tree. |
[61:19.25] | And there, sitting on a chair beneath the tree, was my dear Maurice Ravel. |
[61:28.67] | " Hallo, little Mimi", he said without surprise. |
[61:33.43] | " I have a story to tell you." |
[61:36.52] | I got on his lap, and he began. |
[61:40.32] | " Once upon a time..." |
[61:45.05] |
[00:03.75] | New Millennium Audio presents |
[00:07.74] | Audrey Hepburn' s Enchanted tales |
[00:15.43] | I' m an old woman now |
[00:17.86] | So old that all these past gets mixed up in my mind with what is now. |
[00:24.67] | When I remember my childhood, what I remember most is him. |
[00:31.56] | No memory is without Maurice Ravel, that small |
[00:36.89] | And elegant man who was to me the greatest composer who ever lived. |
[00:43.82] | In those years between 1906 and 1908, |
[00:48.07] | He would' ve come often to la Grand Gate, our country house near Paris, to visit my parents. |
[00:55.21] | One day he came, very excited. |
[00:57.29] | " I had written a piano piece, and I think you would like to meet me", he said.. |
[01:02.16] | " It' s called Ma mè re l' Oye. My Mother Goose" |
[01:07.85] | It was old stories I love best told in music. |
[01:12.73] | And then he showed me the front page, it was dedicated to my brother and to me. |
[01:20.95] | And now I sit, an old woman, outside in the orange late summer morning. |
[01:27.85] | The music in my mind is starting to play. |
[01:30.65] | I think of my wonderful Monsieur Ravel. |
[01:34.75] | I' ve heard her live in a castle. It was covered with roses" Monsieur Ravel says to me. |
[01:40.51] | " Ah! The gasp of the sleeping princess", I cried. |
[01:43.85] | " It is perhaps my favorite story of all! Oh, tell it to me please!" |
[01:50.11] | He smiles, draws me onto his lap and begins the story of the Sleeping Princess. |
[01:57.99] | Once upon a time, a magic time, in a fair far green country, lived the King and Queen. |
[02:08.88] | They' ve longed to have a child. |
[02:10.71] | And finally on one bright morning in June, a daughter was born to them. |
[02:15.58] | " We must give her the grandest christening that ever was", the Queen said, |
[02:20.03] | " We must even use the golden plates." |
[02:22.88] | And the King, who did not agree to much she suggested, agreed to this. |
[02:29.44] | Everyone in the land, all the town' s people were invited to the christening. |
[02:35.97] | But the most special guest of all were the six good fairies of the kingdom, |
[02:41.00] | The godmothers of the little Princess. |
[02:45.00] | One by one, these fairies passed by the royal cradle |
[02:49.14] | And gave the baby a blessing and a gift. |
[02:53.19] | One promised the princess beauty One a bright mind |
[02:58.57] | One an even brighter spirit One a voice of charm One a loving heart. |
[03:06.53] | But just as the last fairy was about to present her gift, |
[03:11.91] | A quick angry draft suddenly blew the door open. |
[03:15.21] | " Why? It' s just the wind", laughed the king. |
[03:19.45] | But it wasn' t wind. It was a little old woman, thin as wind perhaps. |
[03:26.72] | But she was so powerful the door the guest shrank back in fear of her.???? |
[03:31.47] | " Melusine", someone whispered:" Melusine!" |
[03:36.15] | The chocked cry went around. |
[03:38.26] | Melusine was an evil fairy. |
[03:43.26] | She had disappeared from the kingdom many years before. |
[03:46.42] | And no one knew what had become of her. |
[03:49.00] | The King, hiding his surprise and fear, |
[03:52.64] | Invited her in and hastily made a place for her at the high table. |
[03:58.00] | But he couldn' t give her one of the golden plates. |
[04:00.66] | But it was simply not enough. |
[04:02.56] | Melusine looked at the china plate given her instead, |
[04:05.92] | And she smiled, a very thin and awful smile. |
[04:14.20] | Hobbling up to the baby' s cradle, |
[04:16.54] | She touched the child' s cheek with her papery hand. |
[04:21.67] | " I too have a gift for you, my precious" the fairy whispered:" And here it is: |
[04:30.93] | One day you will prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and died!" |
[04:38.96] | The guests shrank back screaming. |
[04:41.21] | The Queen fainted. |
[04:43.23] | Only the last of the six fairies had come. |
[04:47.65] | She came forward slowly and faced Melusine. |
[04:52.00] | " I have not yet given my blessing to the princess", she said softly. |
[04:57.05] | " Alas. I cannot undo the fairy curse, but I can surely soften it. |
[05:04.00] | The princess will indeed prick her finger on a spindle, but she will not die. |
[05:10.23] | She will only sleep for a hundred years until a prince shall come and wake her." |
[05:16.24] | 17 years pasted, and the Princess was now a young woman. |
[05:24.00] | She was beautiful, with little golden hair and flecked green eyes. |
[05:30.49] | She was honest and courageous, curious, tender, marry, and a little clumsy. |
[05:38.91] | Her favorite game was to explore the huge castle |
[05:43.03] | And make up stories with the queer things she found there. |
[05:48.43] | One morning in May, the Princess was exploring a wing she had not been in before, |
[05:53.25] | And she came up on a funny little room, |
[05:58.14] | Inside sat an old woman spinning. |
[06:00.76] | The Princess was enchanted by the strange site. |
[06:04.98] | " What are you doing? Oh do let me try!" |
[06:07.12] | She cried and rush forward. |
[06:09.15] | In an instant her finger pricked the spindle. |
[06:11.50] | She gave a scream and saint lifeless on the floor. |
[06:17.63] | The old woman smiled, the cold thin smile of the fairy Mellusine, and melted into icy wind. |
[06:28.42] | The moment the Princess touched the spindle and fell into a sleep, |
[06:33.96] | A strange thing began to happenthe whole palace began to sleep as well. |
[06:41.99] | The king was in the throne room making a new law, |
[06:46.53] | Nodded off, still holding his quill pen |
[06:50.40] | The Queen, having her hair brushed by her lady in waiting, |
[06:54.00] | Fell asleep at the dressing table |
[06:57.00] | The lady in waiting fell asleep in mid brush stroke |
[07:01.39] | And on and on, until finally the whole palace was still, heavy, and filled with dreamers. |
[07:10.52] | And then darkness came to those who dreamed. |
[07:14.94] | For up, up. Back away of green grew the brambles, climbing and folding huge thorns raised. |
[07:25.41] | Up the vines grew, protectively fiercely, |
[07:29.00] | Until finally the whole castle was suckled in her arms. |
[07:35.80] | And then, even the brambles slept too. |
[07:40.54] | They slept for a hundred years, |
[07:44.35] | Slept through wars, and warm harvests, and marriages, and new fashions, |
[07:50.97] | Slept through the crown of the kingdom passing to a new family, |
[07:54.90] | Slept through the birth of a new little prince. |
[07:59.69] | The prince' s name is not important. |
[08:02.68] | What is important about him is his curiosity. |
[08:07.14] | From the time the Prince was tiny, |
[08:09.95] | He has wondered and wondered about the huge castle in the kingdom, |
[08:14.32] | The one that was all covered with brambles. |
[08:17.28] | " Who lives there?" he asked. |
[08:19.67] | And when he was told the legend of the Sleeping Princess, he had smiled. |
[08:24.46] | " Ah", he said: " I should be the one to awaken her." |
[08:28.54] | But everyone laughed at him because he was only a tiny child, |
[08:33.08] | And his thumb wasn' t even as big as one of the brambles that guarded the castle. |
[08:38.28] | But time passed, and one day the Prince was no longer a child, |
[08:44.89] | He had grown into a man, wellfavored, and wellliked, |
[08:49.68] | But with a certain sadness always about him. |
[08:54.13] | The sadness was the strongest when he rode into the woods, |
[08:57.30] | And stood at the gates of that mysterious castle, |
[09:01.66] | Thinking of the Princess who lay inside. |
[09:05.48] | Many ladies in the kingdom were in love with the Prince, |
[09:09.00] | But he could not return their love, |
[09:11.54] | For he had a strange image always before his eyes, |
[09:15.41] | The image of a brightface child, |
[09:17.91] | Whose hair was tangled yellow, and whose eyes were flecked with green. |
[09:24.72] | On his 21st birthday, the prince left the celebration, |
[09:29.11] | And rode as usual to the bramble covered castle. |
[09:33.03] | As he stood looking, the longing filled him so much, he began to weep. |
[09:39.41] | " Let the bramble tear me apart", he thought. |
[09:42.82] | " If I must die, let me die trying to find the princess." |
[09:49.19] | The Prince climbed the gate, rusted by years of disuse, |
[09:53.79] | And as he took his first step into the garden, something wonderful happened |
[10:00.71] | The thorns, would have been so angry and sharp only a moment before, |
[10:05.83] | melted into piles of rose petals at his feet. |
[10:10.62] | And the Prince rushed into the palace, thus he saw everywhere |
[10:15.74] | Gloomy spider webs and piles of sleeping people. |
[10:19.59] | He run upstairs and searched the whole castle, |
[10:22.60] | And there, in the little backroom, |
[10:25.65] | He found his princess, still lying beside the spinning wheel. |
[10:31.29] | He smiled when he saw her, |
[10:32.95] | For this was the girl who had lived in his mind all these years. |
[10:39.18] | He bend forward and kissed her. |
[10:41.75] | And when he draw back, a pair of marry tender flecked green eyes were looking at him. |
[10:49.88] | " I was just dreaming about you", the Princess said. |
[10:52.00] | Down in the hallway bellow, the king yawned and stretched, |
[10:58.02] | " Huh... I must have dozed off", he said: " I have a law to finish." |
[11:03.66] | " Ouch!" the Queen said, as the hair maid combing her hair pulled to sharply on a curl. |
[11:09.01] | The whole palace was stirring now, all wondering: amazed! |
[11:16.29] | " Are you ready, Princess?" the Prince asked. |
[11:21.33] | " Yes" she said. |
[11:22.79] | And hand in hand, they slowly and started down the long curving staircase. |
[11:35.74][music] | |
[13:04.17] | I' m remembering a winter day. |
[13:08.59] | I gazed into the fire, |
[13:11.07] | And there, the pictures of the past are dancing. |
[13:15.53] | It is December, right before Christmas. |
[13:19.25] | Monsieur Ravel comes to visit us. |
[13:22.05] | He has dressed in a new dark green topcoat. |
[13:26.02] | And his arms are full of gifts. |
[13:28.44] | There' re something dull in adult for my parents, |
[13:32.81] | New music for my brother, |
[13:35.90] | And for me, the most wonderful little man made out of tin. |
[13:41.35] | When he' s wound up, he can walk all around the table. |
[13:44.90] | Monsieur Ravel loves these mechanical marvels. |
[13:48.32] | He laughs at the little tin man as loud as my own. |
[13:52.79] | " I know a story about a boy who was this tiny", he says to me. |
[13:58.78] | " Oh he was not made out of tin, he was as real as you or I!" |
[14:04.09] | So I jump onto his lap and beg him to tell me the story of Tom Thumb. |
[14:11.90] | Once upon a time, deep in a forest, there lived a woodcutter and his wife. |
[14:18.37] | They had seven children, all redhair boys. |
[14:22.99] | When business was going well, |
[14:25.41] | The wood cutter was delighted with his large family. |
[14:28.82] | But when things were going poorly, he was not so happy. |
[14:33.55] | " There' re too many bellies to feed", he would complain. |
[14:37.11] | " Too many feet to keep shod |
[14:39.51] | Too many backs to covered with clothing |
[14:42.30] | And not enough money to do it." |
[14:46.39] | One cold winter, things became unbearable. |
[14:50.89] | Meals got plainer and leaner, |
[14:54.05] | Clothes got smaller and more patched, |
[14:57.25] | And the wood cutter got more and more miserable. |
[15:02.90] | " Wife", he said one night: " I cannot sit by and watch my sons starve. |
[15:09.82] | Tomorrow, when I take them out into the forest, |
[15:13.21] | I would leave them there. |
[15:15.48] | Perhaps a wealthy merchant will find them |
[15:18.34] | And provide a better home." |
[15:20.87] | " Huh!" the wife wept and refused to go along the plan at first, |
[15:26.44] | But finally she too gave in. |
[15:29.92] | The woodcutter went to sleep, |
[15:32.13] | Not feeling at all happy with himself, |
[15:34.93] | But believing that he was doing the only thing he could. |
[15:40.03] | What he did not know |
[15:41.99] | Was that one of the sons had overheard every word he said. |
[15:46.92] | This was the youngest sonTom. |
[15:49.82] | Now everyone, including the woodcutter, thought Tom was foolish, |
[15:54.57] | Simply because he never spoke. |
[15:56.94] | And everyone also thought Tom was a weakling, |
[16:00.12] | Simply because he was small. |
[16:02.71] | When he was born, in fact |
[16:04.14] | Tom had been no bigger than a man' s thumb, |
[16:07.05] | And so everyone called him Tom Thumb. |
[16:12.66] | When Tom heard his father' s plans, |
[16:15.23] | He realized he had to save his brothers and himself. |
[16:19.69] | He sneaked out of the house, |
[16:21.84] | And went to the stream that lays beside it. |
[16:26.09] | In the moonlight, |
[16:27.40] | The white stones on the bank |
[16:29.39] | Glittered like a treasure chest full of undersea jewels. |
[16:34.80] | Tom filled his pockets with stones and returned to bed. |
[16:38.52] | The next morning, the woodcutter took his seven sons deep into the forest. |
[16:45.21] | Every few feet, Tom took a pebble out of his pocket, |
[16:49.34] | In the daytime they look like ordinary brown rocks, |
[16:52.51] | And dropped it on the ground. |
[16:54.54] | At noon, the woodcutter gave each boy a piece of bread and left them. |
[16:59.80] | " For a while", he said. |
[17:02.33] | None of the brothers except Tom noticed him weeping as he said it. |
[17:07.47] | The little while turned into hours, |
[17:12.06] | And soon it was night. |
[17:14.35] | The brothers came to realize that their father was not coming back, |
[17:18.54] | And they began to weep. |
[17:20.74] | Tom waited politely until they were finished, |
[17:23.86] | and then he said: " Don' t cry, I will save you." |
[17:29.38] | His brothers had never heard Tom speak before, |
[17:32.75] | And they were amazed! |
[17:35.49] | Tom pointed proudly to the stones he had dropped. |
[17:38.75] | In the moonlight, they shone like a path of fallen stars. |
[17:43.72] | He and his brothers followed the path and soon they were back home! |
[17:47.65] | The woodcutter, who had feel terribly guilty at what he had done, was glad to see them. |
[17:53.82] | And his wife nearly fainted with joy. |
[17:58.00] | " No matter how poor we become", the woodcutter said, |
[18:01.71] | " We will all stay together. I had learned my lesson." |
[18:06.45] | But unfortunately, he forget again soon afterwards. |
[18:14.57] | February came, |
[18:16.15] | The iciest, hungriest, most wolflike February that had ever been. |
[18:24.96] | There was no work, no money, no food. |
[18:30.16] | " I can' t stand seeing the children go hungry", the woodcutter roared. |
[18:35.33] | " Tomorrow I' m taking the children out and leaving them in the forest." |
[18:40.03] | Again his wife pleaded and wept |
[18:43.64] | Again he was stubborn |
[18:46.27] | And Again, little Tom heard every word. |
[18:51.35] | Tom went outside in the freezing night, |
[18:53.99] | Looking for more stones, |
[18:56.02] | But the snow had fall so heavily that stoned were buried beneath it, |
[19:00.47] | And he could not find even one. |
[19:04.04] | So he creeped back to the house, not knowing what he was going to do. |
[19:12.16] | The next morning, the mother gave the children each a slice of bread for breakfast. |
[19:18.29] | Tom put his in his pocket. |
[19:20.78] | When the father took the boys out into the forest, |
[19:23.97] | Tom crushed his bread in his hands, |
[19:27.05] | And every few feet, he threw down a few crumbs. |
[19:31.42] | Again the father let the children deep into the woods |
[19:35.46] | Again he said he would return in a little while |
[19:39.29] | And again he brushed away tears as he said it. |
[19:44.01] | When night fell, and no father came, |
[19:47.71] | The boys all began to cry. |
[19:50.91] | Except Tom. |
[19:52.61] | " Don' t be frightened", he said. |
[19:54.34] | " I will show you the way back." |
[19:57.13] | He looked for the trail of bread crumbs, |
[19:59.37] | But it was no longer there! |
[20:01.90] | The birds in the forest had pounced on the crumbs, and had eaten them, everyone! |
[20:09.35] | So the seven children had to find their own way home. |
[20:13.58] | They walked and they walked, through the heavy freezing night. |
[20:19.81] | Suddenly Tom cried: " I see a light!" |
[20:23.51] | Yes, it was a small flickering light through the trees! |
[20:28.40] | The boys rushed forward and found themselves with the door of a huge dark house. |
[20:34.19] | They knocked, and the door was open by a woman. |
[20:37.84] | She had once been pretty, |
[20:40.50] | But fear had chased all her goodlooks away. |
[20:45.31] | " Oh! Children! You must go!" she said. |
[20:48.37] | " You' ve come to the house of a terrible ogre! |
[20:51.47] | A monster who eats little boys!" |
[20:55.51] | Tom sighed:" Madam, we have just come from a forest, |
[21:01.06] | Which is full of wolves who also eats little boys. |
[21:05.50] | I would rather take my chances with the ogre." |
[21:09.18] | The ogre' s wife, for that was who she was, sighed. |
[21:15.20] | " My husband is out for a little while", she said, |
[21:17.95] | " Come inside and at least warm yourselves before the fire." |
[21:22.13] | The seven boys ran inside. |
[21:24.14] | And what a joy it was to rest exhausted legs in the huge castle, |
[21:29.24] | And warm the chilly back to the big fire. |
[21:31.84] | The ogre' s wife warned them to stay awake, |
[21:35.65] | But they' re tired of spoke in a louder voice, and soon they were fast asleep. |
[21:41.79] | Suddenly, there was a huge wind and a huge earthquake, |
[21:46.23] | And each little boy found themselves caught up in a giant' s fist, |
[21:50.84] | And gazing into a giant glaring eye. |
[21:55.12] | The ogre had returned. |
[21:59.51] | " What is this!" the ogre roared, " human boys? |
[22:05.35] | What a good woman you are, wife! |
[22:07.93] | You have caught me a fine supper." |
[22:11.46] | The wife was very frightened, but she pretended to go along with the ogre' s idea. |
[22:17.51] | " Thank you, husband", she said, " but I meant these boys to be for your breakfast. |
[22:22.62] | As you can see, they are too thin and frozen for you to enjoy now. |
[22:27.64] | I thought that if they were given a good dinner and a good night sleep, |
[22:32.03] | They will be delicious with your pancakes tomorrow. |
[22:36.06] | The giant was disappointed, but he agreed, |
[22:39.87] | Because his wife was really an excellent cook, |
[22:42.57] | And she knew best about these things. |
[22:45.46] | The ogre' s wife winked at Tom, and he winked back. |
[22:49.24] | She gave the boys an excellent dinner and Put them to bed. |
[22:53.21] | After a sleep of several hours, Tom woke and nudged his brothers. |
[22:58.76] | " Let' s go", he said. |
[23:00.64] | And the seven children escaped. |
[23:03.36] | The ogre was light sleeper, however. |
[23:05.43] | And he felt in his giant bones that something was wrong. |
[23:11.28] | In the middle of the night, he tiptoed in and found that his breakfast had escaped. |
[23:18.49] | Furious, he put on his boots and ran out of the house to search for them. |
[23:24.74] | Tom and his brothers had been running as fast as they could. |
[23:27.78] | But when Tow saw the ogre coming up so quickly behind them, |
[23:31.22] | He knew it was useless to keep on. |
[23:33.00] | He pushed his brothers and himself inside an old hollow log and waited. |
[23:39.28] | The ogre was getting tired from all his chasing. |
[23:43.19] | And as a log came ahead him, |
[23:45.24] | He sat down to rest on the same hollow log where the boys were hiding. |
[23:50.66] | He felt so good to sit down that he took of his boots, |
[23:55.31] | Lay them beside him, |
[23:57.16] | And had a little nap. |
[24:00.58] | Tom crept out of the hollow log, |
[24:03.36] | And stepped into the boots himself. |
[24:07.90] | Now don' t ask me how his feet fit the same boot that the ogre' s feet has also fit. |
[24:15.07] | These boots were very magic, I suppose. |
[24:18.50] | But in a few moments, Tom was striding away, |
[24:22.15] | Across the fields, and was back at the ogre' s castle. |
[24:26.82] | " Oh, Mrs. Ogre", he said to the wife, |
[24:29.40] | " your husband has sent me with a terrible message. |
[24:32.50] | He has been attacked by robbers. |
[24:34.87] | And he says, that the less you give me all your jewels and plate and gold coins to give to them, |
[24:42.57] | He will be killed." |
[24:45.20] | The wife was terrified, and she gave him all that he asked for. |
[24:50.78] | Tom returned to his brothers, |
[24:52.93] | Got them out of the wood, |
[24:54.35] | And they all returned home with the ogre' s treasure. |
[24:58.54] | Their parents were overjoyed to see them. |
[25:02.92] | The family was rich now, |
[25:04.71] | And there was no more talk about leaving the children to be raised by others. |
[25:09.31] | And as for the ogre, he may still be napping on the hollow log. |
[25:13.81] | So watch out next time you go into the woods. |
[25:19.69] | |
[25:22.80][music] | |
[28:26.00] | |
[28:27.36] | The afternoon is getting quite windy, |
[28:29.94] | Perhaps I should get a little walk later on. |
[28:32.48] | I love to walk in the wind. |
[28:34.63] | Monsieur Ravel used to love to walk as well. |
[28:37.30] | He did not enjoyed the wind as I did. |
[28:41.05] | I remember one day in particular. |
[28:44.15] | I had been reading a book about pythoness. |
[28:48.31] | I was a walking along, and a twig snapped by my foot. |
[28:52.57] | I screamed, imagining it was a dread python come to devour me. |
[28:58.37] | Monsieur Ravel tried to reassure me, |
[29:00.40] | But I was still terrified. |
[29:02.94] | Finally he said he knew a story about a very wonderful green snake. |
[29:08.77] | And if I would only please stop carrying on, |
[29:12.06] | He could tell it to me. |
[29:13.66] | My crying stopped instantly. |
[29:16.20] | We sat down together on a bank full of wild flours, |
[29:19.80] | And he began to tell me the story |
[29:22.76] | Of... Laideronette, Empress of the Pagodas |
[29:31.55] | Once upon a time, there lived a good hearted King and Queen, |
[29:36.29] | Who had twin baby girls. |
[29:39.39] | When it was time for them to be christened, |
[29:41.74] | All the important people and fairies in the kingdom were invited. |
[29:46.30] | But, as so often happen when people plan a big event, |
[29:50.74] | Something gets forgotten. |
[29:53.25] | And what got forgotten in this case, |
[29:55.90] | Was the fairy Magotine |
[29:59.63] | Magotine was the most blackhearted and sour fairy in the world. |
[30:04.83] | And even though she was not invited to the christening, |
[30:07.30] | She came anyway, |
[30:09.46] | In a black sour puff of smoke. |
[30:13.89] | All the fairies but one have already offer their wished to the baby princesses. |
[30:18.95] | When Magotine appeared, |
[30:20.98] | She hobbled up to the cradle, |
[30:23.22] | Touched one of the babies on the cheek and cried: |
[30:26.82] | " My wish for you is perfect ugliness." |
[30:32.34] | And then she disappeared. |
[30:34.76] | The queen cried and screamed |
[30:37.15] | Until the last fairy, |
[30:38.52] | The one who has not to give her wish said: |
[30:41.35] | " Your Majesty, maybe I can help. |
[30:44.80] | Here is my gift to the Princess: |
[30:47.79] | Although she will be ugly, she will still find great happiness." |
[30:54.01] | And the Queen had to be happy with that. |
[30:58.41] | Time passed, and the two little Princesses grow up. |
[31:03.42] | The pretty one, Bellet, was as ??? and freshlycolored as her rose |
[31:10.29] | But the other one, Laideronnette, |
[31:13.37] | Grow up to be so hideous that no one could bear to look at her. |
[31:19.15] | Finally, when she was 18 years old, she said to her parents: |
[31:24.37] | " I love you so much, but I cannot stand living here anymore. |
[31:29.00] | Please let me live as mistress of the castle by the sea. |
[31:33.07] | I should be all by myself there. |
[31:35.64] | And there will be nobody' s eyes to remind me how ugly I am." |
[31:39.73] | The King and Queen grieved, |
[31:42.45] | But they love their daughter, |
[31:44.21] | But they let her go. |
[31:50.68][music] | |
[32:02.91] | Laideronnette was happy at the castle. |
[32:05.25] | She was not lonely, |
[32:06.98] | For she had books to read, |
[32:08.67] | Walks to take, |
[32:10.24] | Her harps to go to play, |
[32:11.98] | And her pet kitten to giggle at. |
[32:15.63] | One day she was taking her favorite walk through a leafy forest, |
[32:18.87] | When suddenly a huge green squirmy serpent rear up in front of her. |
[32:25.91] | She screamed in terror and ran shuddering back to the castle. |
[32:30.59] | She never took the leafy forest walk again. |
[32:34.12] | The following week, Laideronnette decided to take a swim at the seashore. |
[32:40.36] | Suddenly, as she was swimming, a wicked storm struck. |
[32:45.14] | The waves grew larger and larger, |
[32:47.82] | And Laideronnette was afraid she was going to drown! |
[32:51.15] | Luckily, she saw a green log floating there. |
[32:54.65] | She reached the log, threw herself up, |
[32:57.46] | And to a horror, felt the log move under her! |
[33:02.02] | It was none other than a green serpent! |
[33:05.96] | Laidernnette fainted. |
[33:08.40] | The next thing she knew, |
[33:11.06] | She was lying on a couch, |
[33:13.19] | In a splendid white bedroom she had never seen before. |
[33:17.76] | And around her, smiling, were dozens of tiny creatures. |
[33:24.32] | They looked like Chinese idles. |
[33:27.63] | When she sat up they bowed and curtsied to her. |
[33:31.08] | The bells on the little hats chimed most adorably. |
[33:35.87] | " We are the Pagodas", they said. |
[33:37.59] | " We are here to make you happy." |
[33:40.04] | And they danced and sang for Laideronnette, |
[33:42.03] | And she was enchanted. |
[33:44.90] | They led her to an even more beautiful apartment, |
[33:48.06] | Which they said it was for her. |
[33:49.78] | And they told her to call them anytime she needed anything. |
[33:53.25] | Laideronnette remained in Pagoda, for that was the name of the country. |
[33:58.18] | For several months, she was very happy there. |
[34:02.47] | But the longer she stayed, the more curious she became. |
[34:06.54] | " Who is your ruler?" she asked one day. |
[34:11.56] | " The King!" the Pagoda said, |
[34:14.74] | " It is he who told us to take such good care of you!" |
[34:18.56] | " I would like to meet him and thank him", Laideronnette said. |
[34:22.59] | The next day, she was taken to the throne room of the Palace. |
[34:27.33] | The room was very grand, but the great throne was empty. |
[34:34.02] | " I hear you wish to see me", said a beautiful voice. |
[34:39.98] | " But it cannot be, because the fairy Magotine had put a curse on me. |
[34:47.09] | For seven years, no one can see me. |
[34:50.55] | Five of the years have already past, |
[34:53.11] | And there are two to go. |
[34:55.31] | I have been watching you these weeks, Laideronnette", he went on, |
[34:59.45] | " And I have grown to love you. |
[35:02.81] | Will you be my wife?" |
[35:06.91] | Laideronnette was very pleased by his offer, |
[35:09.72] | And said that if she was given a chance to know him better, |
[35:12.65] | She might agree to it. |
[35:15.59] | For the next few weeks, she spent a lot of time with the King. |
[35:19.77] | Laideronnette never saw him, |
[35:21.86] | But his voice was so beautiful and kind, |
[35:25.63] | His word so intelligent, |
[35:27.41] | That she finds herself falling in love. |
[35:31.80] | The night before the wedding, |
[35:33.49] | The King said to her: " Remember the curse, my dear, |
[35:38.02] | For two more years I must stay invisible. |
[35:42.02] | If you try to see me before then, |
[35:44.06] | A terrible thing would happen. |
[35:46.82] | Do you understand?" |
[35:49.14] | " Oh, yes", she said: " I promise not to be curious." |
[35:53.16] | It was an easy promise to make, |
[35:55.91] | But it was not an easy promise to keep. |
[35:59.92] | For as the months ??? on, |
[36:01.91] | And Laideronnette grew to love her husband more and more, |
[36:05.94] | More and more she wishes to see him. |
[36:09.10] | One day, she was in the garden gathering roses, |
[36:12.68] | And the King was behind a trellis. |
[36:15.50] | Laideronnette slipped quietly up and peeped through at him. |
[36:19.76] | And then she shrieked with terror and fell back, |
[36:23.14] | For there was her husband, the green serpent. |
[36:29.92] | " You have betrayed me!" he cried in a sad terrible voice. |
[36:35.11] | And then he disappeared |
[36:38.34] | Miserable and ashamed of herself, Laideronnette left the castle. |
[36:43.69] | For two years, she wondered around at Pagoda. |
[36:47.81] | One winter night, exhausted, she came to a small stream. |
[36:53.74] | A Tiny fairy stood beside it. |
[36:56.37] | " This is the stream of discretion" the fairy said, |
[37:01.57] | " If you drink from it, you will one second be beautiful." |
[37:07.09] | But Laideronnette was no longer interested in being beautiful. |
[37:12.77] | " The steam of discretion" she said. |
[37:15.51] | " If I had had discretion 2 years ago, I would have never broken my promise |
[37:21.36] | I would never had looked at my husband |
[37:24.11] | I would never have brought this tragedy upon us. |
[37:28.13] | Discretion is something I need. |
[37:31.34] | Perhaps the stream can give it to me." |
[37:34.64] | So she thanked and drank. |
[37:38.11] | And the fairy smiled: |
[37:40.72] | " I' m very pleased with you, Laideronnette", she said, |
[37:44.78] | " Instead of caring about being beautiful, |
[37:47.64] | Your only thought was to be a better person. |
[37:51.33] | And so you shall be rewarded." |
[37:54.91] | Laideronnette was given two wonderful rewards. |
[37:58.27] | The first was when she saw her reflection in the water, |
[38:01.61] | She gasped at the sight: |
[38:03.85] | She was absolutely beautiful now! |
[38:07.01] | Golden and pink and perfect. |
[38:10.37] | And the second reward was the young man who came up and kneed beside her, |
[38:16.46] | As he spoke through happy tears, |
[38:19.13] | Laideronnette recognized him by his voice. |
[38:22.18] | He was her lost and loved husband. |
[38:26.58] | The two of them embraced and cried and kissed. |
[38:31.01] | And they are happy together until the end of their time. |
[38:36.66][music] | |
[42:06.22] | |
[42:09.07] | It is nearly evening now, |
[42:11.77] | My servant has brought in tea, |
[42:14.14] | And my cat Sido has snuggled up by my side. |
[42:18.58] | Sido is old too, |
[42:20.88] | She loves warms and peace and memories as I do. |
[42:26.30] | When I was a child, |
[42:28.00] | I had another cat, Heras. |
[42:31.45] | Heras was small and slick and he kept himself very dapper. |
[42:37.23] | " He is like me", Monsieur Havel used to say. |
[42:41.04] | It was he who gave this cat to me. |
[42:43.70] | One summer, he was planning to go away on a trip, |
[42:47.61] | And we would not be seeing him for several months. |
[42:51.10] | One the day he left, |
[42:52.98] | I was in tears. |
[42:55.53] | " Cheer up, little Mimi", he said, |
[42:58.44] | " What present would you like me to bring back to you from travels?" |
[43:02.98] | " A cat!", I answered. |
[43:05.56] | And sure enough, the day Monsieur Ravel Returned, |
[43:09.82] | Heras was with him. |
[43:12.76] | We sat, that afternoon, the three of us, in the nursery room, |
[43:17.25] | The cat curling on my lap, |
[43:19.49] | And Ravel stretched out alongside as on a rock. |
[43:24.17] | " I know a story about another girl who was asked to choose her own present." he said. |
[43:31.60] | " But she chooses something very different from a cat." |
[43:35.32] | " What did she choose?" I asked him eagerly. |
[43:38.35] | And, propping himself on one elbow, |
[43:42.08] | He began the tale of Beauty and the Beast. |
[43:52.42] | Once upon a time, |
[43:54.00] | In the days when France was covered with dark woods and darker mysteries, |
[43:59.28] | There lived a merchant with his three daughters. |
[44:02.79] | He has once been a wealthy man, |
[44:04.90] | And his daughters had worn the finest dresses in the kingdom. |
[44:08.65] | But recently, several of the ships have been lost at sea, |
[44:12.68] | And now all the money was gone. |
[44:15.98] | The two oldest daughters could not bear to be poor, |
[44:19.99] | And they did nothing but whine and complain. |
[44:23.51] | But the youngest daughter, Beauty, |
[44:26.62] | Simply hung up her fine dresses and went to work. |
[44:30.69] | She scrubbed, she cleansed, she prepared the meals, |
[44:34.12] | And she comforted her poor father and his sadness. |
[44:39.25] | Then one day, he came to her with wonderful news. |
[44:43.59] | " Beauty", he said, " A miracle has happened. |
[44:46.85] | One of my ships has returned to port. |
[44:49.24] | A fortune has been restored. |
[44:51.56] | We will be rich again!" |
[44:53.71] | He set off for the town at once. |
[44:56.16] | As he was leaving, he hugged his daughters to him. |
[44:59.78] | " What would you like for a present?" he asked. |
[45:03.05] | " A fine dress", said the first. |
[45:06.51] | " A rich jewel", said the second. |
[45:10.25] | But Beauty only smiled. |
[45:13.03] | " a rose", she said, " only a rose." |
[45:20.63] | The merchant rode to the city |
[45:23.49] | And found that the miracle had not happen after all. |
[45:27.03] | Yes, one of his ships had come into port, |
[45:29.63] | But the spices and fabrics on board had been ruined by the salt water. |
[45:34.63] | So he started home again, even poorer then when he had set out. |
[45:40.17] | On the way home, he had to ride through a thorny black wood. |
[45:44.87] | A huge thunderstorm suddenly struck. |
[45:48.28] | And the merchant, already lost, became terrified. |
[45:52.08] | " I' ll never find the way out", he thought. " I' ll never see my daughters again" |
[45:56.92] | At that moment, a golden lightening shuddered through the sky. |
[46:03.01] | And the merchant could clearly see what lay in front of him. |
[46:06.76] | It was a castle, enormous and black. |
[46:10.77] | With his last bit of strength, he rode towards it. |
[46:14.75] | When the merchant reached the castle, |
[46:17.11] | He know he had entered a strange fairy land indeed. |
[46:22.50] | He was welcomed into the great hall |
[46:25.03] | His dripping cloak was taken away |
[46:27.64] | His horse was stapled |
[46:29.53] | He' s given an elegant dinner. |
[46:31.90] | And he was put to bed in a soft sheet. |
[46:36.18] | But in all the deed, he did not see a single soul. |
[46:41.50] | All the works were done by ghostly unseen hands. |
[46:46.45] | And he felt the breath of spirit all about him. |
[46:50.13] | In the morning, the merchant woke early. |
[46:53.44] | Afraid of the magic around him, he wanted to get back home as soon as possible. |
[46:58.52] | He dressed quickly, left the castle, |
[47:00.88] | And found his horse, beautifully groomed, waiting for him. |
[47:05.99] | But as the merchant was riding away through the garden, |
[47:09.14] | His eyes fell upon a wonderful rose tree. |
[47:12.62] | He thought of Beauty and her wish for a rose. |
[47:16.06] | So he bent and picked one. |
[47:19.29] | There was a sudden roar, a roar terribly loud as last night' s thunderstorm. |
[47:26.78] | The merchant looked up and screamed. |
[47:29.12] | For there, in the path, |
[47:31.91] | Dressed in velvet and silks like a couture, |
[47:36.07] | Was the most hideous beast he had ever seen. |
[47:41.18] | The great monster came closer, |
[47:44.52] | " This is how you repay my hospitality?" the animal roared. |
[47:49.56] | " I give you shelter, dinner, a bed, and you steal my rose. |
[47:55.58] | For that, you will die." |
[47:58.28] | " Oh, spare me!" the merchant cried. |
[48:00.98] | " I only wanted the rose for one of my daughters." |
[48:04.96] | A cunning look came into the beast' s face. |
[48:08.28] | " You have daughters? |
[48:10.17] | Well then, I will give you a choice. |
[48:12.83] | If one of your daughters is willing to come back here in your place, |
[48:16.16] | I will spare your life. |
[48:17.63] | If they refuse, |
[48:19.02] | Then you will return here to die. |
[48:21.76] | And do not think you can escape, |
[48:24.78] | For I have enchanted your horse. |
[48:27.77] | You will return here in three days, |
[48:30.19] | With either your daughter, or yourself." |
[48:33.36] | The miserable merchant got on his horse and rode home. |
[48:37.75] | When he told his daughters the story of what had happened, |
[48:41.07] | The two oldest cried and run and screamed. |
[48:44.68] | But Beauty was very calm. |
[48:49.59] | " The matter' s very simply", she said. |
[48:52.87] | " The whole thing is my fault. |
[48:54.24] | And so I will go back into the Beast' s castle in your place." |
[48:59.05] | The merchant would not hear of the idea. |
[49:02.09] | But on the third morning, |
[49:03.68] | before he was even awake, |
[49:05.46] | Beauty stole out of the house and jumped on the back of the horse. |
[49:10.76] | And by late afternoon, she was at the castle of the beast. |
[49:15.70] | She found herself as the same strange fairytale as her father had. |
[49:21.18] | She was taken inside the castle by unseen hands, |
[49:24.46] | And led to a beautiful bedroom. |
[49:27.57] | The closet was full of lovely dresses, |
[49:30.53] | The shelves full of delicate treasures and interesting books. |
[49:35.02] | Beauty spend the day wondering around the grand castle and ?????? grounds. |
[49:40.12] | But still she saw nobody. |
[49:42.21] | That evening, when the clock struck seven, |
[49:46.70] | She was led by unseen hands into the dining hall. |
[49:50.97] | She sat down and waited. |
[49:55.21] | " Welcome, Beauty", said a low voice, |
[49:59.54] | And in walked the Beast. |
[50:03.57] | Beauty was too kind to show the beast how much his ugliness frightened her, |
[50:09.12] | So she neither screamed nor ran away. |
[50:11.68] | She only thanked him politely for his kindness in making her so comfortable. |
[50:17.72] | He jointed her at the table, and they talked through the meal. |
[50:22.71] | She was surprised to see what an interesting and amusing companion he was! |
[50:27.60] | At the end of dinner, he turned to her and said, |
[50:32.39] | " With a look of great lonely sadness, Beauty, will you marry me?" |
[50:39.79] | As kind as Beauty was, there was still only one answer. |
[50:45.10] | " No, Beast, I could never marry you." |
[50:50.62] | In silence, he walked away. |
[50:53.95] | The months had passed in the same way. |
[50:57.98] | Beauty' s days were filled with loveliness, |
[51:01.38] | But also with loneliness. |
[51:03.99] | So, more and more, she began to look forward to her evening with the Beast. |
[51:10.59] | How kind he was. |
[51:12.32] | How they laugh together. |
[51:14.41] | How interesting he was to talk to. |
[51:17.74] | But every night he asked the same question, |
[51:20.58] | " Beauty, will you marry me?" |
[51:24.10] | And his voice seems to grow sadder and more hopeless every time he said it. |
[51:33.28] | And she hated to hurt him. |
[51:35.73] | But still her answer was always the same, |
[51:39.27] | " No, my Beast, I could never marry you." |
[51:46.53] | As time went on, Beauty began to miss her family. |
[51:51.39] | One day, she asked the Beast if she could go home for a visit. |
[51:55.40] | The Beast grew very sad, |
[51:58.72] | But he gave his permission. |
[52:00.56] | " You must promise to come back in a month though, Beauty." |
[52:04.32] | He told her with a strange smile, |
[52:06.75] | " Or I shall die of a broken heart." |
[52:11.18] | Beauty promised and went home. |
[52:14.08] | Her family were thought her dead long ago. |
[52:16.54] | What an over joy to see her. |
[52:18.83] | And she, in turn, was thrilled to find them in happy circumstances. |
[52:23.43] | Since she had been gone, |
[52:25.46] | Two of her father' s ships had come in and the family was rich again. |
[52:29.36] | Beauty had a wonderful visit. |
[52:32.90] | It was so busy and so marry that never once she think of the Beast. |
[52:38.11] | And then one night, a month the day that Beauty had left the castle, |
[52:42.17] | She had a dream. |
[52:44.67] | She dreamed she saw the Beast, |
[52:47.39] | He was lying by the fountain in front of the castle, |
[52:50.90] | And he was dying. |
[52:53.25] | She heard him whisper, " Beauty..." |
[52:58.35] | And she knew that his heart has broken, |
[53:01.41] | Because she had not returned to him. |
[53:03.71] | Beauty woke from the dream, sprang out of bed, and dressed quickly. |
[53:07.86] | " Where are you going", her sisters demanded. |
[53:10.16] | " I' m going to my Beast!" |
[53:12.38] | Within minutes, she said Goodbye to her father and got on her horse |
[53:17.98] | And was riding through the dark forest towards the castle. |
[53:22.13] | By day which she founded, chilly and damp as in her dream, |
[53:26.88] | And there, lying by the fountain, was the still form of the Beast. |
[53:33.31] | " Beast!" she screamed. |
[53:35.40] | But it was too late. |
[53:37.30] | He didn' t answer. |
[53:39.30] | She ran to him and held his heavy hairy head in her arms. |
[53:46.00] | She looked at his face, |
[53:48.16] | The face that when she first seen it, |
[53:51.03] | She had thought it was the ugliest in the world. |
[53:54.43] | But now all she could see in it, |
[53:57.13] | Was his kindness and his gentleness and his love for herself. |
[54:04.05] | " Beast", she wept. |
[54:07.28] | And her tears fell on his fur. |
[54:10.48] | " Beast, you mustn' t die. |
[54:14.17] | You must live, live, so we can be married, |
[54:18.39] | For I love you and I want to be with you always." |
[54:24.52] | With those words, the Beast' s eyes opened. |
[54:31.29] | And still weeping, Beauty lean forward and kissed him. |
[54:36.60] | And when she did, something wonderful happened. |
[54:42.70] | For suddenly, the Beast began to change! |
[54:47.12] | The furry body dissolved away, |
[54:49.83] | And there, lying in Beauty' s arms, was not a hideous monster, |
[54:55.97] | But a radiant young prince. |
[55:00.16] | The Prince gazed in the Beauty' s face |
[55:04.72] | With eyes that were longlast, no longer lonely and sad. |
[55:09.50] | " Thank you, my Beauty", he said, |
[55:13.37] | " You have released me from a terrible spell." |
[55:17.45] | " Not I", she whispered, " it was love. And it released us both." |
[59:44.75][music] | |
[59:41.27] | |
[59:43.10] | I fell asleep just now, before the fire, and had a strange dream. |
[59:50.04] | I found myself in a beautiful garden. |
[59:53.03] | The most beautiful garden I had ever seen. |
[59:57.31] | I had the left the coming from in front of me, |
[60:00.23] | So I walked forward until I came to a large lounge. |
[60:05.25] | It was full of people. |
[60:07.22] | I felt very shy, so I quickly stepped backwards and hide behind a tree. |
[60:13.25] | What a wonderful sight it was. |
[60:17.35] | All the fairy folks were there. |
[60:21.50] | I saw Tom Thumb and his brothers sitting comfortably by the Ogre and his wife! |
[60:27.33] | They were all laughing at some joke. |
[60:29.51] | I saw Beauty, one arm around her father, one arm around her Beast Prince, |
[60:35.69] | Never to be separated from each other again. |
[60:38.95] | I saw the Sleeping Princess coming down the castle steps, hand in hand with her prince. |
[60:46.04] | And I saw Laideronnette and her King, laughing at the dances of a hundred tiny Pagodas. |
[60:53.60] | And then suddenly, one Pagoda looked over right at me and pointed. |
[61:00.65] | All the faces turned toward me, smiling, curious. |
[61:06.81] | Shy and ashamed, I came out from my hiding place. |
[61:13.35] | Two of the Pagodas took me by the hands and led me across the lounge to a large tree. |
[61:19.25] | And there, sitting on a chair beneath the tree, was my dear Maurice Ravel. |
[61:28.67] | " Hallo, little Mimi", he said without surprise. |
[61:33.43] | " I have a story to tell you." |
[61:36.52] | I got on his lap, and he began. |
[61:40.32] | " Once upon a time..." |
[61:45.05] |