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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Sleepy Stories. I'm your host, Lucy,

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and my friends and I will be reading you a

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sleepy bedtime story every week to relax you and to

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help you to drift off into a RESTful sleep. From

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time to time, we will also read you a relaxing,

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peaceful meditation that will take you somewhere beautiful and calming.

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Once we have read the stories, we will then read

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them a second time, but this time they will be

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ready even slower. This will help you to relax even more.

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Before we begin, I would like you to close your

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eyes and breathe in and out nice and deeply. Take

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a few seconds to inhale, and then hold your breath

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for a few seconds more and then release and breathe out.

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Do this a few times if you need to. While

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you listen to the music and you listen to my voice,

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give yourself time to let your body relax and your

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mind settle. It's important that we allow time for us

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cells to feel safe, cozy, and completely at ease. And

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now it's time for this week's story.

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Speaker 2: The old house in the street up there was an

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old and very old house. It was almost three hundred

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years old. For that might be known by reading the

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great beam on which the date of the year was carved,

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together with tulips and hoppins. There were whole verses spelled

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as in former times, and over every window was a

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distorted face cut out in the beam. The one story

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stood forward a great way over the other, and directly

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under the eaves was a leaden spout with a dragon's head.

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The rain water should have run out of the mouth,

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but it ran out of the belly, for there was

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a hole in the spout. All the other houses in

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the street were so new and so neat, with large

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window panes and smooth walls, one could easily see that

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they would have nothing to do with the old house.

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They certainly thought, how long is that old, decayed thing

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to stand here as a spectacle in the street. And

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then the projecting windows stand so far out that no

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one can see from our windows what happens in that direction.

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The steps are as broad as those of a palace

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and as high as to a church tower. The iron

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railings looked just like the door to an old family vault.

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And then they have brass tops. That's so stupid. On

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the other side of the street were also new and

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neat houses, and they thought just as the others did.

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But at the window opposite the old house there sat

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a little boy with fresh rosy cheeks and bright beaming eyes.

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He certainly liked the old house best, and that both

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in sunshine and moonshine. And when he looked across at

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the wall where the mortar had fallen out, he could

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sit and find out there the strangest figures imaginable, exactly

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as the street had appeared before, with steps, projecting windows

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and pointed gables. He could see soldiers with halberds, and

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spouts where the water ran like dragons and serpents. That

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was a house to look at. And there lived an

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old man who wore plush breeches, and he had a

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coat with large brass buttons, and a wig that one

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could see was a real wig. Every morning there came

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an old fellow to him, who put his rooms in

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order and went on errands. Otherwise, the old man in

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the plush breeches was quite alone in the old house now.

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And then he came to the window and looked out,

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and the little boy nodded to him, and the old

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man nodded again, and so they became acquaintances, and then

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they were friends, although they had never spoken to each other,

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but that made no difference. The little boy heard his

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parents say, the old man opposite is very well off,

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but he is so very very lonely. The sunday following,

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the little boy took something and wrapped it up in

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a piece of paper, went downstairs and stood in the doorway,

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and when the man who went on errands came past,

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he said to him, I say, master, will you give

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this to the old man over the way from me?

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I have two pewter soldiers. This is one of them,

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and he shall have it, for I know he is

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so very very lonely. And the old errand man looked

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quite pleased, nodded, and took the pewter soldier over to

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the old house. Afterwards there came a message. It was

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to ask if the little boy himself had not a

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wish to come over and pay a visit. And so

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he got permission of his parents, and then went over

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to the old house. In the brass balls on the

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iron railings shone much brighter than ever one would have thought.

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They were polished on account of the visit, and it

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was as if the carved out trumpeters. For there were

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trumpeters who stood in tulips carved out on the door,

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blew with all their might. Their cheeks appeared so much

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rounder than before. Yes, they blew Tretatra. The little boy

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comes Tretatra. And then the door opened. The whole passage

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was hung with portraits of knights and armor and ladies

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and silken gowns. And the armor rattled, and the silken

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gowns rustled. And then there was a flight of stairs

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which went a good way upwards and a little way downwards.

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And then one came on a balcony which was in

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a very dilapidated state, sure another with large holes and

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long crevices. But grass grew there and leaves out of

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them altogether. For the whole balcony outside the yard, and

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the walls were overgrown with so much green stuff that

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it looked like a garden, only a balcony. Here stood

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old flower pots with faces and asses ears, and the

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flowers grew just as they liked. One of the pots

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was quite overrun on all sides with pinks, that is

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to say, with the green part. Shoot stood by shoot,

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and it said, quite distinctly, the air has cherished me.

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The sun has kissed me and promised me a little

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flower on Sunday, Little flower on Sunday. And then they

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entered a chamber where the walls were covered with hog's

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leather and printed with gold flowers. The gilding decays, but

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hog's leather stays, said the walls. And there stood easy

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chairs with such high backs and so carved out, and

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with arms on both sides. Sit down, Sit down, said they. Oh,

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how I creak. Now, I shall certainly get the gout

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like the old clothes. Press off. And then the little

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boy came into the room where the projecting windows were

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and where the old man sat. I thank you for

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the pewter soldier, my little friend, said the old man.

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And I thank you because you come over to me.

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Thank gee, thank gee, or cranky cranky sounded from all

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the furniture. There was so much of it that each

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article stood in the other's way to get a look

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at the little boy. In the middle of the wall

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hung a picture representing a beautiful lady, so young, so glad,

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but dressed quite as in former times, with clothes that

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stood quite stiff, and with powder in her hair. She

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neither said thankee, thankee, nor cranky cranky, but looked with

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her mild eyes at the little boy, who directly asked

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the old man, where did you get her? Yonder at

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the broker's, said the old man, where there are so

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many pictures hanging. No one knows or cares about them,

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for they are all of them buried. But I knew

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her in by gone days, and now she has been

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dead and gone these fifty years. Under the picture, in

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a glazed frame, there hung a bouquet of withered flowers.

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They were almost fifty years old. They looked so very old.

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The pendulum of the great clock went to and fro,

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and the hands turned, and everything in the room became

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came still older. But they did not observe it. They

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say at home, said the little boy, that you are

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so very very lonely. Oh, said he the old thoughts,

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with what they may bring with them, come and visit me.

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And now you also come. I am very well off.

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Then he took a book with pictures in it down

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from the shelf. There were whole long processions and pageants

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with the strangest characters which one never sees nowadays, Soldiers

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like the knave of clubs, and citizens with waving flags.

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The tailors had theirs with a pair of shears held

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by two lions, and the shoemaker's theirs without boots, but

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with an ear that had two heads. For the shoemakers

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must have everything so that they can say it is

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a pair. Yes, that was a picture book. The old

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man now went into the other room to fetch preserves,

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apples and nuts. Yes, it was delightful over there in

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the old house. I cannot bear it any longer, said

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the pewter soldier who sat on the drawers. It is

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so lonely and melancholy here. But when one has been

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in a family circle, one cannot accustom one's self to

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this life. I cannot bear it any longer. The whole

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day is so long, and the evenings are still longer.

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Speaker 1: Here.

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Speaker 2: It is not at all as it is over the

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way at your home, where your father and mother spoke

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so pleasantly, and where you and all your sweet children

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made such a delightful noise. Nay, how lonely the old

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man is. Yes, do you think that he gets kisses?

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Do you think he gets mild eyes or a Christmas tree?

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He will get nothing but a grave. I can bear

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it no longer. You must not let it grieve you

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so much, said the little boy. I find it so

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very delightful here. And then all the old thoughts, with

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what they may bring with them, they come and visit here. Yes,

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it's all very well, but I see nothing of them,

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and I don't know them, said the pewter soldier. I

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cannot bear it, but you must, said the little boy.

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Then in came the old man with the most pleased

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and happy face, the most delicious preserves apples and nuts,

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And so the little boy thought no more about the

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pewter soldier. The little boy returned home, happy and please,

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and weeks and days passed away, and nods were made

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to the old house and from the old house, and

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then the little boy went over there again. The carved

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trumpeters blew, They're a triatra, there is the little boy.

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They're a triatra. And the swords and armor on the

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knight's portraits rattled, and the silk gowns rustled, the hog's

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leathers spoke, and the old chairs had the gout in

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their legs and rheumatism in their backs. Ah, it was

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exactly like the first time. For over there, one day,

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an hour was just like another. I cannot bear it,

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said the pewter soldier. I have shed pewter tears. It

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is too melancholy. Rather, let me go to the wars

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and lose arms and legs. It would at least be

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a change. I cannot bear it longer. Now I know

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what it is to have a visit from one's old thoughts,

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with what they may bring with them. I have had

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a visit from mine, and you may be sure it

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is no pleasant thing. In the end, I was at

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last about to jump down from the drawers. I saw

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you all over there at home, so distinctly as if

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you really were here. It was again that Sunday morning.

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All you children stood before the table and sung your psalms,

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as you do every morning. You stood devoutly with folded hands,

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and father and mother were just as pious. And then

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the door was opened, and little sister Mary, who is

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not two years old yet, and who always dances when

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she hears music or singing of whatever kind it may be,

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was put into the room, though she ought not to

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have been there. And then she began to dance, but

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could not keep time because the tones were so long.

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And then she stood first on the one leg and

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bent her head forwards, and then on the other leg

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and bent her head forwards. But all would not do.

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You stood very seriously all together, although it was difficult enough.

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But I laughed to myself, and then I fell off

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the table and got a bump, which I have still,

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for it was not right of me to laugh. But

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the whole now passes before me again in thought and

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everything that I have lived to see. And these are

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the old thoughts, with what they may bring with them.

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Tell me, if you still sing on sundays, tell me

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something about little Mary, and how my comrade, the other

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pewter soldier lives. Yes, he is happy enough, that's sure.

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I cannot bear it any longer. You are given away

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as a present, said the little boy. You must remain.

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Can you not understand that the old man now came

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with a drawer in which there was much to be seen,

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both tin boxes and balsam boxes, old cards, so large

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and so gilded, such as one never sees them now.

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And several drawers were opened, and the piano was opened.

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It had landscapes on the inside of the lid, and

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it was so hoarse when the old man played on it.

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And then he hummed a song yes, she could sing, that,

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said he, and nodded to the portrait which he had

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bought at the broker's. And the old man's eyes shone

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so bright. I will go to the wars. I will

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go to the wars, shouted the pewter soldier as loud

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as he could, and threw himself off the drawers, right

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down on the floor. What became of him? The old

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man sought, and the little boy sought. He was away,

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and he stayed away. I shall find him, said the

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old man, But he never found him. The floor was

239
00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:23,200
too open. The pewter soldier had fallen through a crevice,

240
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:29,319
and there he lay as in an open tomb. That

241
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,160
day passed, and the little boy went home, and that

242
00:18:33,319 --> 00:18:38,839
week passed, and several weeks too. The windows were quite frozen.

243
00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,839
The little boy was obliged to sit and breathe on

244
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,119
them to get a peep hole over to the old house.

245
00:18:44,519 --> 00:18:46,640
And there the snow had been blown into all the

246
00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,880
carved work and inscriptions. It lay quite up over the steps,

247
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,680
just as if there was no one at home. Nor

248
00:18:54,839 --> 00:18:58,720
was there any one at home. The old man was dead.

249
00:19:00,079 --> 00:19:03,240
In the evening there was a hearse scene before the door,

250
00:19:03,759 --> 00:19:07,000
and he was borne into it in his coffin. He

251
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,200
was now to go out into the country to lie

252
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,839
in his grave. He was driven out there, but no

253
00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:19,000
one followed. All his friends were dead, and the little

254
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,640
boy kissed his hand to the coffin as it was

255
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:27,480
driven away. Some days afterwards there was an auction at

256
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,319
the old house, and the little boy saw from his

257
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,119
window how they carried the old knights and the old

258
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,160
ladies away, the flower pots with the long ears, the

259
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:43,039
old chairs, and the old clothes presses. Something came here,

260
00:19:43,599 --> 00:19:47,599
and something came there. The portrait of her, who had

261
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,319
been found at the brokers, came to the brokers again,

262
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,279
and there it hung, for no one knew her more.

263
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,039
No one cared about the old picture. In the spring

264
00:19:58,279 --> 00:20:00,920
they pulled the house down for it, as people said,

265
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,519
it was a ruin. One could see from the street

266
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,839
right into the room, with a hog's leather hanging which

267
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,359
was slashed and torn, and the green grass and leaves

268
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,079
about the balcony hung quite wild about the falling beams.

269
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,279
And then it was put to rights. There was a relief,

270
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:22,720
said the neighboring houses. A fine house was built there,

271
00:20:22,839 --> 00:20:28,000
with large windows and smooth white walls. But before it,

272
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:32,039
where the old house had in fact stood, was a

273
00:20:32,039 --> 00:20:36,640
little garden laid out, and a wild grape vine ran

274
00:20:36,759 --> 00:20:40,680
up the wall of the neighboring house. Before the garden

275
00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:44,119
there was a large iron railing with an iron door.

276
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,920
It looked quite splendid, and people stood still and peeped in,

277
00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,559
and the sparrows hung by scores in the vine and

278
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,119
chattered away at each other as well as they could.

279
00:20:55,519 --> 00:20:58,200
But it was not about the old house, for they

280
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,519
could not remember it. So many years had passed, so

281
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,920
many that the little boy had grown up to a

282
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,240
whole man, yes, a clever man, and a pleasure to

283
00:21:08,279 --> 00:21:12,160
his parents. And he had just been married, and together

284
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,680
with his little wife, had come to live in the

285
00:21:14,759 --> 00:21:18,599
house here where the garden was. And he stood by

286
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:23,079
her there whilst she planted a field flower that she

287
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:27,240
found so pretty. She planted it with her little hand

288
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,960
and pressed the earth around it with her fingers. Oh

289
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:39,400
what was that she had stuck herself? There sat something

290
00:21:39,519 --> 00:21:45,319
pointed straight out of the soft mold. It was yues

291
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:50,880
guess it was the pewter soldier he that was lost

292
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,680
up at the old man's and had tumbled and turned

293
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,599
about amongst the timber and the rubbish, and had at

294
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,599
last laid for many years in the ground. The young

295
00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:07,039
wife wiped the dirt off the soldier, first with a

296
00:22:07,039 --> 00:22:12,160
green leaf, and then with her fine handkerchief. It had

297
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,319
such a delightful smell that it was to the pewter

298
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,559
soldier just as if he had awaked from a trance.

299
00:22:19,839 --> 00:22:25,039
Let me see him, said the young man. He laughed,

300
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,400
and then shook his head. Nay, it cannot be he

301
00:22:30,039 --> 00:22:33,240
but he reminds me of a story about a pewter

302
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,119
soldier which I had when I was a little boy.

303
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,319
And then he told his wife about the old house

304
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,079
and the old man, and about the pewter soldier that

305
00:22:42,319 --> 00:22:44,839
he sent over to him because he was so very

306
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,400
very lonely, And he told it as correctly as it

307
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,440
had really been, so that the tears came into the

308
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,000
eyes of his young wife on account of the old

309
00:22:54,039 --> 00:22:58,200
house and the old man. It may possibly be, however,

310
00:22:58,319 --> 00:23:03,079
that it is the same pewter soul, said she. I

311
00:23:03,079 --> 00:23:05,799
will take care of it and remember all that you

312
00:23:05,839 --> 00:23:09,680
have told me, But you must show me the old

313
00:23:09,759 --> 00:23:14,680
man's grave. That I do not know it, said he.

314
00:23:16,319 --> 00:23:19,480
And no one knows it all his friends were dead.

315
00:23:19,599 --> 00:23:21,880
No one took care of it. And I was then

316
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,240
a little boy. How very very lonely he must have been,

317
00:23:26,599 --> 00:23:32,279
said she, very very lonely, said the pewter soldier. But

318
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:37,880
it is delightful not to be forgotten. Delightful shouted something

319
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,400
close by, But no one except the pewter soldier saw

320
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,960
that it was a piece of the hog's leather hangings.

321
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,880
It had lost all its gilding. It looked like a

322
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,680
piece of wet clay. But it had an opinion, and

323
00:23:54,759 --> 00:24:00,680
it gave it. The guilding decays, but hog's leather stays this.

324
00:24:00,839 --> 00:24:52,359
The pewter soldier did not believe. The old house in

325
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:59,640
the street up there was an old, very old house.

326
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:05,480
It was almost three hundred years old, for that might

327
00:25:05,519 --> 00:25:08,200
be known by reading the great beam, on which the

328
00:25:08,279 --> 00:25:13,920
date of the year was carved, together with tulips and hoppins.

329
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:19,000
There were whole verses spelled as in former times, and

330
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:23,319
over every window was a distorted face cut out in

331
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:27,839
the beam. The one story stood forward a great way

332
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,359
over the other, and directly under the eaves was a

333
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,359
leaden spout with a dragon's head. The rain water should

334
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:37,880
have run out of the mouth, but it ran out

335
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,880
of the belly, for there was a hole in the spout.

336
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,440
All the other houses in the street were so new

337
00:25:44,519 --> 00:25:48,559
and so neat, with large window panes and smooth walls,

338
00:25:49,079 --> 00:25:51,880
one could easily see that they would have nothing to

339
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,279
do with the old house. They certainly thought, how long

340
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,200
is that old, decayed thing to stand here as a

341
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:03,359
spectacle in the street. And then the projecting windows stand

342
00:26:03,519 --> 00:26:06,240
so far out that no one can see from our

343
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,440
windows what happens in that direction. The steps are as

344
00:26:10,599 --> 00:26:14,200
broad as those of a palace, and as high as

345
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,839
to a church tower. The iron railings looked just like

346
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,400
the door to an old family vault. And then they

347
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:29,000
have brass tops. That's so stupid. On the other side

348
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,319
of the street were also new and neat houses, and

349
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,519
they thought just as the others did. But at the

350
00:26:36,559 --> 00:26:39,680
window opposite the old house there sat a little boy

351
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:46,119
with fresh rosy cheeks and bright beaming eyes. He certainly

352
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:51,000
liked the old house best, and that both in sunshine

353
00:26:51,279 --> 00:26:54,559
and moonshine, And when he looked across at the wall

354
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,400
where the mortar had fallen out, he could sit and

355
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,759
find out there the strangest figures imaginable exactly as the

356
00:27:01,759 --> 00:27:07,200
street had appeared before, with steps, projecting windows and pointed gables.

357
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,519
He could see soldiers with halberds, and spouts where the

358
00:27:10,559 --> 00:27:15,000
water ran like dragons and serpents. That was a house

359
00:27:15,079 --> 00:27:18,440
to look at. And there lived an old man who

360
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,000
wore plush breeches, and he had a coat with large

361
00:27:22,039 --> 00:27:25,119
brass buttons, and a wig that one could see was

362
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,680
a real wig. Every morning there came an old fellow

363
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,200
to him, who put his rooms in order and went

364
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:36,960
on errands. Otherwise, the old man in the plush breeches

365
00:27:37,559 --> 00:27:42,160
was quite alone in the old house now. And then

366
00:27:42,319 --> 00:27:44,599
he came to the window and looked out, and the

367
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,599
little boy nodded to him, and the old man nodded again,

368
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,039
and so they became acquaintances, and then they were friends,

369
00:27:51,319 --> 00:27:55,200
although they had never spoken to each other, but that

370
00:27:55,359 --> 00:28:00,440
made no difference. The little boy heard his parents say,

371
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,000
the old man opposite is very well off, but he

372
00:28:04,079 --> 00:28:08,599
is so very, very lonely. The sunday following, the little

373
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,799
boy took something and wrapped it up in a piece

374
00:28:11,839 --> 00:28:15,960
of paper, went downstairs and stood in the doorway, And

375
00:28:16,039 --> 00:28:19,480
when the man who went on errands came past, he

376
00:28:19,599 --> 00:28:26,119
said to him. I say, master, will you give this

377
00:28:26,319 --> 00:28:29,039
to the old man over the way from me? I

378
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,720
have two pewter soldiers. This is one of them, and

379
00:28:32,799 --> 00:28:35,359
he shall have it, for I know he is so

380
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:43,839
very very lonely. And the old errand man looked quite pleased, nodded,

381
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,519
and took the pewter soldier over to the old house.

382
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,759
Afterwards there came a message. It was to ask if

383
00:28:52,759 --> 00:28:55,200
the little boy himself had not a wish to come

384
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,119
over and pay a visit. And so he got permission

385
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:05,000
of his parents, and then went over to the old house.

386
00:29:05,759 --> 00:29:09,000
In the brass balls on the iron railings shone much

387
00:29:09,079 --> 00:29:12,240
brighter than ever one would have thought. They were polished

388
00:29:12,279 --> 00:29:16,119
on account of the visit. And it was as if

389
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:21,039
the carved out trumpeters, for there were trumpeters who stood

390
00:29:21,079 --> 00:29:25,559
in tulips carved out on the door, blew with all

391
00:29:25,599 --> 00:29:30,599
their might. Their cheeks appeared so much rounder than before. Yes,

392
00:29:30,759 --> 00:29:39,480
they blew, tretatra, The little boy comes, tretatra. And then

393
00:29:39,519 --> 00:29:44,680
the door opened. The whole passage was hung with portraits

394
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:50,279
of knights and armor and ladies and silken gowns, And

395
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:54,720
the armor rattled, and the silken gowns rustled, and then

396
00:29:54,759 --> 00:29:57,039
there was a flight of stairs which went a good

397
00:29:57,039 --> 00:30:01,079
way upwards and a little way downwards. And then one

398
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,759
came on a balcony which was in a very dilapidated state,

399
00:30:05,119 --> 00:30:10,000
sure enough, with large holes and long crevices. But grass

400
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,319
grew there and leaves out of them altogether. For the

401
00:30:13,359 --> 00:30:17,079
whole balcony outside the yard, and the walls were overgrown

402
00:30:17,119 --> 00:30:20,279
with so much green stuff that it looked like a garden,

403
00:30:21,039 --> 00:30:26,000
only a balcony. Here stood old flower pots with faces

404
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,559
and asses ears, and the flowers grew just as they liked.

405
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,720
One of the pots was quite overrun on all sides

406
00:30:32,759 --> 00:30:35,640
with pinks, that is to say, with the green part.

407
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:40,559
Shoot stood by shoot, and it said, quite distinctly, the

408
00:30:40,599 --> 00:30:44,440
air has cherished me, the sun has kissed me, and

409
00:30:44,519 --> 00:30:49,559
promised me a little flower on Sunday, little flower on Sunday.

410
00:30:51,599 --> 00:30:54,400
And then they entered a chamber where the walls were

411
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,960
covered with hog's leather and printed with gold flowers. The

412
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,720
gilding decay, yes, but hog's leather stays, said the walls.

413
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,880
And there stood easy chairs with such high backs and

414
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:14,119
so carved out, and with arms on both sides. Sit down,

415
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:20,079
Sit down, said they, Oh, how I creak, now, I

416
00:31:20,119 --> 00:31:23,680
shall certainly get the gout like the old clothes press off.

417
00:31:25,759 --> 00:31:29,200
And then the little boy came into the room where

418
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,200
the projecting windows were and where the old man sat.

419
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,480
I thank you for the pewter soldier, my little friend,

420
00:31:37,799 --> 00:31:41,039
said the old man. And I thank you because you

421
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:46,519
come over to me. Thank gee, thank gee, or cranky

422
00:31:46,799 --> 00:31:51,680
cranky sounded from all the furniture. There was so much

423
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,799
of it that each article stood in the other's way

424
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,880
to get a look at the little boy. In the

425
00:32:00,039 --> 00:32:03,160
middle of the wall hung a picture representing a beautiful lady,

426
00:32:03,599 --> 00:32:09,000
so young, so glad, but dressed quite as in former times,

427
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,240
with clothes that stood quite stiff, and with powder in

428
00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:19,400
her hair. She neither said thankee, thankee, nor cranky cranky,

429
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,519
but looked with her mild eyes at the little boy,

430
00:32:23,039 --> 00:32:26,480
who directly asked the old man, where did you get her?

431
00:32:27,119 --> 00:32:31,720
Yonder at the brokers, said the old man. Where there

432
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:35,359
are so many pictures hanging, no one knows or cares

433
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:37,880
about them, for they are all of them buried. But

434
00:32:38,319 --> 00:32:41,279
I knew her in bygone days, and now she has

435
00:32:41,359 --> 00:32:46,680
been dead and gone these fifty years. Under the picture

436
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:51,200
in a glazed frame there hung a bouquet of withered flowers.

437
00:32:52,119 --> 00:32:57,359
They were almost fifty years old. They looked so very old.

438
00:32:58,759 --> 00:33:02,400
The pendulum of the great went to and fro, and

439
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:07,319
the hands turned, and everything in the room became still older.

440
00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:12,759
But they did not observe it. They say at home,

441
00:33:14,079 --> 00:33:23,640
said the little boy, that you are so very very lumly. Oh,

442
00:33:23,839 --> 00:33:28,119
said he the old thoughts, with what they may bring

443
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:33,519
with them, come and visit me. And now you also come.

444
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,000
I am very well off. Then he took a book

445
00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:42,799
with pictures in it down from the shelf. There were

446
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:48,240
whole long processions and pageants with the strangest characters which

447
00:33:48,359 --> 00:33:53,359
one never sees nowadays, soldiers like the knave of clubs,

448
00:33:53,599 --> 00:33:58,559
and citizens with waving flags. The tailors had theirs with

449
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,480
a pair of shears held by two lions, and the

450
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,119
shoemakers theirs without boots, but with an eagle that had

451
00:34:06,119 --> 00:34:11,159
two heads. For the shoemakers must have everything so that

452
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,440
they can say it is a pair. Yes, that was

453
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:18,199
a picture book. The old man now went into the

454
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:23,639
other room to fetch preserves, apples and nuts. Yes, it

455
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:27,239
was delightful over there in the old house. I cannot

456
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,559
bear it any longer, said the pewter soldier, who sat

457
00:34:30,599 --> 00:34:34,679
on the drawers. It is so lonely and melancholy here.

458
00:34:35,519 --> 00:34:38,840
But when one has been in a family circle, one

459
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,880
cannot accustom one's self to this life. I cannot bear

460
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,440
it any longer. The whole day is so long, and

461
00:34:47,519 --> 00:34:49,239
the evenings are still longer.

462
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:50,440
Speaker 1: Here.

463
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,079
Speaker 2: It is not at all as it is over the

464
00:34:52,119 --> 00:34:55,280
way at your home, where your father and mother spoke

465
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:59,000
so pleasantly, and where you and all your sweet children

466
00:34:59,079 --> 00:35:05,039
made such a delightightful noise. Nay, how lonely the old

467
00:35:05,079 --> 00:35:08,880
man is. Do you think that he gets kisses? Do

468
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,519
you think he gets mild eyes? Or a Christmas tree?

469
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,039
He will get nothing but a grave. I can bear

470
00:35:16,079 --> 00:35:19,159
it no longer. You must not let it grieve you

471
00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:22,239
so much, said the little boy. I find it so

472
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,679
very delightful here. And then all the old thoughts, with

473
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:31,920
what they may bring with them, they come and visit here. Yes,

474
00:35:32,039 --> 00:35:34,920
it's all very well, but I see nothing of them,

475
00:35:35,079 --> 00:35:38,920
and I don't know them, said the pewter soldier. I

476
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:47,320
cannot bear it, but you must, said the little boy.

477
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,840
Then in came the old man, with the most pleased

478
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:58,360
and happy face, the most delicious preserves, apples and nuts.

479
00:35:59,039 --> 00:36:01,440
And so the little boy I thought no more about

480
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,639
the pewter soldier. The little boy returned home, happy and pleased,

481
00:36:06,039 --> 00:36:09,679
And weeks and days passed away, and nods were made

482
00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,000
to the old house and from the old house, and

483
00:36:13,039 --> 00:36:17,000
then the little boy went over there again. The carved

484
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:23,440
trumpeters blew, they're a triatra, there is the little boy.

485
00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:28,639
They're a triatra. And the swords and armor on the

486
00:36:28,679 --> 00:36:33,239
knight's portraits rattled, and the silk gowns rustled, the hog's

487
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:36,239
leathers spoke, and the old chairs had the gout in

488
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,599
their legs and rheumatism in their backs. Ah, it was

489
00:36:39,639 --> 00:36:42,840
exactly like the first time. For over there, one day,

490
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,760
an hour was just like another. I cannot bear it,

491
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:52,320
said the pewter soldier. I have shed pewter tears. It

492
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:56,199
is too melancholy. Rather, let me go to the wars

493
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:59,639
and lose arms and legs. It would at least be

494
00:36:59,679 --> 00:37:04,159
a chee. I cannot bear it longer. Now I know

495
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,400
what it is to have a visit from one's old thoughts,

496
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:11,559
with what they may bring with them. I have had

497
00:37:11,559 --> 00:37:14,599
a visit from mine, and you may be sure it

498
00:37:14,679 --> 00:37:18,599
is no pleasant thing. In the end, I was at

499
00:37:18,679 --> 00:37:23,119
last about to jump down from the drawers. I saw

500
00:37:23,159 --> 00:37:27,519
you all over there at home, so distinctly as if

501
00:37:27,559 --> 00:37:32,400
you really were here. It was again that Sunday morning.

502
00:37:33,119 --> 00:37:36,440
All you children stood before the table and sung your psalms,

503
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:41,280
as you do every morning. You stood devoutly with folded hands,

504
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:46,039
and father and mother were just as pious. And then

505
00:37:46,039 --> 00:37:49,119
the door was opened, and little sister Mary, who is

506
00:37:49,199 --> 00:37:52,840
not two years old yet, and who always dances when

507
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:56,320
she hears music or singing of whatever kind it may be,

508
00:37:57,119 --> 00:38:01,079
was put into the room, though she ought not to

509
00:38:01,159 --> 00:38:05,000
have been there. And then she began to dance, but

510
00:38:05,079 --> 00:38:08,599
could not keep time because the tones were so long.

511
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,920
And then she stood first on the one leg and

512
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,679
bent her head forwards, and then on the other leg

513
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:20,639
and bent her head forwards. But all would not do.

514
00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:26,679
You stood very seriously all together, although it was difficult enough.

515
00:38:28,119 --> 00:38:31,000
But I laughed to myself, and then I fell off

516
00:38:31,039 --> 00:38:34,519
the table and got a bump, which I have still,

517
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:40,119
for it was not right of me to laugh. But

518
00:38:40,199 --> 00:38:43,880
the whole now passes before me again in thought and

519
00:38:44,039 --> 00:38:47,400
everything that I have lived to see. And these are

520
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:51,599
the old thoughts with what they may bring with them.

521
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:56,159
Tell me if you still sing on Sundays, tell me

522
00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:01,000
something about Little Mary and how my comrade, the other

523
00:39:01,079 --> 00:39:05,480
pewter soldier lives. Yes, he is happy enough, that's sure.

524
00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,639
I cannot bear it any longer. You are given away

525
00:39:09,679 --> 00:39:14,320
as a present, said the little boy. You must remain.

526
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:19,519
Can you not understand that? The old man now came

527
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,440
with a drawer in which there was much to be seen,

528
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:29,360
both tin boxes and balsam boxes, old cards, so large

529
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,480
and so gilded, such as one never sees them now.

530
00:39:33,639 --> 00:39:36,760
And several drawers were opened, and the piano was opened.

531
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,000
It had landscapes on the inside of the lid, and

532
00:39:40,079 --> 00:39:42,440
it was so hoarse when the old man played on it.

533
00:39:43,679 --> 00:39:47,000
And then he hummed a song. Yes she could sing, that,

534
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,480
said he, and nodded to the portrait which he had

535
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,639
bought at the broker's. And the old man's eyes shone

536
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,599
so bright. I will go to the wars. I will

537
00:39:57,599 --> 00:40:00,880
go to the wars, shouted the pewter soul as loud

538
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,760
as he could, and threw himself off the drawers, right

539
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:08,960
down on the floor. What became of him? The old

540
00:40:09,039 --> 00:40:14,199
man sought, and the little boy sought he was away,

541
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:19,400
and he stayed away. I shall find him, said the

542
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:24,559
old man, but he never found him. The floor was

543
00:40:24,639 --> 00:40:28,719
too open. The pewter soldier had fallen through a crevice,

544
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:34,840
and there he lay as in an open tomb. That

545
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,679
day passed, and the little boy went home, and that

546
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:44,360
week passed, and several weeks too. The windows were quite frozen.

547
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,559
The little boy was obliged to sit and breathe on them,

548
00:40:47,639 --> 00:40:49,639
to get a peep hole over to the old house,

549
00:40:50,039 --> 00:40:52,159
and there the snow had been blown into all the

550
00:40:52,199 --> 00:40:57,400
carved work and inscriptions. It lay quite up over the steps,

551
00:40:57,519 --> 00:41:00,280
just as if there was no one at home. Nor

552
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:04,239
was there anyone at home. The old man was dead.

553
00:41:05,559 --> 00:41:08,760
In the evening. There was a hearse seene before the door,

554
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:12,519
and he was borne into it in his coffin. He

555
00:41:12,679 --> 00:41:15,719
was now to go out into the country to lie

556
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:19,320
in his grave. He was driven out there, but no

557
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:24,519
one followed. All his friends were dead, and the little

558
00:41:24,519 --> 00:41:27,159
boy kissed his hand to the coffin as it was

559
00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:32,960
driven away. Some days afterwards there was an auction at

560
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,840
the old house, and the little boy saw from his

561
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:38,639
window how they carried the old knights and the old

562
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:42,679
ladies away the flower pots with the long ears, the

563
00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:48,519
old chairs, and the old clothes presses. Something came here,

564
00:41:49,119 --> 00:41:53,119
and something came there. The portrait of her, who had

565
00:41:53,159 --> 00:41:55,840
been found at the brokers, came to the brokers again,

566
00:41:56,679 --> 00:41:59,800
and there it hung, for no one knew her more,

567
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:03,559
no one cared about the old picture. In the spring

568
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:06,599
they pulled the house down, for as people said, it

569
00:42:06,679 --> 00:42:09,880
was a ruin. One could see from the street right

570
00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,519
into the room, with a hog's leather hanging which was

571
00:42:12,559 --> 00:42:16,159
slashed and torn, and the green grass and leaves about

572
00:42:16,159 --> 00:42:20,320
the balcony hung quite wild about the falling beams. And

573
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,760
then it was put to rights. There was a relief,

574
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:28,239
said the neighboring houses. A fine house was built there,

575
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:33,559
with large windows and smooth white walls. But before it,

576
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:37,559
where the old house had in fact stood, was a

577
00:42:37,559 --> 00:42:42,159
little garden laid out, and a wild grape vine ran

578
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:46,199
up the wall of the neighboring house. Before the garden

579
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:49,639
there was a large iron railing with an iron door.

580
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:54,440
It looked quite splendid, and people stood still and peeped in,

581
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,079
and the sparrows hung by scores in the vine and

582
00:42:58,159 --> 00:43:00,639
chattered away at each other as well as they could.

583
00:43:01,039 --> 00:43:03,719
But it was not about the old house, for they

584
00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:08,039
could not remember it. So many years had passed, so

585
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:10,440
many that the little boy had grown up to a

586
00:43:10,519 --> 00:43:13,760
whole man, yes, a clever man, and a pleasure to

587
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:17,679
his parents. And he had just been married, and together

588
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:20,199
with his little wife, had come to live in the

589
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:24,119
house here where the garden was. And he stood by

590
00:43:24,159 --> 00:43:28,599
her there whilst she planted a field flower that she

591
00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:32,760
found so pretty. She planted it with her little hand

592
00:43:33,519 --> 00:43:37,519
and pressed the earth around it with her fingers. Oh

593
00:43:38,519 --> 00:43:44,920
what was that she had stuck herself? There sat something

594
00:43:45,039 --> 00:43:50,800
pointed straight out of the soft mold. It was, yes,

595
00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:56,400
guess it was the pewter soldier. He that was lost

596
00:43:56,519 --> 00:44:00,280
up at the old man's and had tumbled and turned

597
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:04,119
about amongst the timber and the rubbish, and had at

598
00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:08,119
last laid for many years in the ground. The young

599
00:44:08,199 --> 00:44:12,559
wife wiped the dirt off the soldier, first with a

600
00:44:12,559 --> 00:44:17,679
green leaf, and then with her fine handkerchief. It had

601
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,840
such a delightful smell that it was to the pewter

602
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:24,079
soldier just as if he had awaked from a trance.

603
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:30,559
Let me see him, said the young man. He laughed,

604
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:34,920
and then shook his head. Nay, it cannot be. He

605
00:44:35,559 --> 00:44:39,440
but he reminds me of a story about a pewter soldier,

606
00:44:39,679 --> 00:44:42,800
which I had when I was a little boy. And

607
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:44,960
then he told his wife about the old house and

608
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,920
the old man, and about the pewter soldier that he

609
00:44:48,039 --> 00:44:51,159
sent over to him because he was so very very lonely,

610
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,679
And he told it as correctly as it had really been,

611
00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:57,440
so that the tears came into the eyes of his

612
00:44:57,519 --> 00:45:00,280
young wife on account of the old house and the

613
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:04,280
old man. It may possibly be, however, that it is

614
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:09,280
the same pewter soldier, said she. I will take care

615
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,000
of it and remember all that you have told me,

616
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:17,480
But you must show me the old man's grave. That

617
00:45:17,679 --> 00:45:22,480
I do not know it, said he. And no one

618
00:45:22,599 --> 00:45:25,719
knows it. All his friends were dead, no one took

619
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:28,159
care of it. And I was then a little boy.

620
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:32,519
How very very lonely he must have been, said she,

621
00:45:33,679 --> 00:45:38,239
very very lonely, said the pewter soldier. But it is

622
00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:43,960
delightful not to be forgotten. Delightful shouted something close by,

623
00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:48,239
But no one except the pewter soldier saw that it

624
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:52,079
was a piece of the hog's leather hangings. It had

625
00:45:52,199 --> 00:45:55,840
lost all its gilding. It looked like a piece of

626
00:45:55,920 --> 00:46:00,960
wet clay. But it had an opinion, and it gave it.

627
00:46:01,639 --> 00:46:06,719
The gilding decays, but Hogg's leather stays this. The pewter

628
00:46:06,840 --> 00:46:08,360
soldier did not believe