Speaker 1: Catskin written by Flora Annie Steele. Once upon a time
Speaker 1: there lived a gentleman who own't find lands and houses.
Speaker 1: He wanted to have a son to be heir to them,
Speaker 1: so when his wife gave birth to a daughter, he said,
Speaker 1: let me never see her face. So she grew up
Speaker 1: to be a beautiful girl, though her father never set
Speaker 1: eyes on her till she was eighteen years old and
Speaker 1: was ready to be married. Then her father said roughly,
Speaker 1: she shall marry the first that comes for her. Now,
Speaker 1: when this became known, who should come along and be first?
Speaker 1: But an old man. So she didn't know what to do,
Speaker 1: and went to the hen wife and asked her advice.
Speaker 1: The hen wife said, say you will not marry him
Speaker 1: unless they gave you a coat of silver cloth. Well,
Speaker 1: they gave her a coat of silver cloth, But she
Speaker 1: wouldn't marry him for all that, but went again to
Speaker 1: the hen wife, who said, say you will not marry
Speaker 1: him unless they gave you a coat of beaten gold.
Speaker 1: Well they gave her a coat of beaten gold, but
Speaker 1: still she would not marry the old man. She went
Speaker 1: again to the hen wife, who said, say you will
Speaker 1: not marry him unless they give you a coat made
Speaker 1: of the feathers of all the birds of the air.
Speaker 1: So they sent out a man with a great heap
Speaker 1: of peas, and the man cried to all the birds
Speaker 1: of the air, Each bird take a peet and put
Speaker 1: down a feather. And they took all the feathers and
Speaker 1: made a coat of them and gave it to her.
Speaker 1: But still she would not marry the old man, but
Speaker 1: asked the hen wife once again what she was to do,
Speaker 1: And the hen wife said, say, they must first make
Speaker 1: you a coat of cat's skin. Then they made her
Speaker 1: a coat of cat's skin, and she put it on
Speaker 1: and tied up her other coats into a bundle, and
Speaker 1: when it was nighttime, ran away with it into the words.
Speaker 1: Now she went along till add the end of the forest,
Speaker 1: where she saw a fine castle. Then she hid her
Speaker 1: fine dresses by a crystal waterfall and went up to
Speaker 1: the castle gates and asked for work. The lady of
Speaker 1: the castle saw her and told her, I'm sorry, I
Speaker 1: have no better place, but if you like, you may
Speaker 1: be our kitchen servant. So down she went into the kitchen,
Speaker 1: and they called her cat's skin because of her dress.
Speaker 1: But the cook was very cruel to her, and she
Speaker 1: led sad life. Soon after that, it happened that the
Speaker 1: young Lord of the castle came home and there was
Speaker 1: to be a grand party in honor of the occasion.
Speaker 1: And when they were speaking about it among the servants,
Speaker 1: dear missus Kirk said, cat Skin, shall I go to
Speaker 1: the party? What your dirty girl? Said the cook, You
Speaker 1: go among all the fine lords and ladies with your
Speaker 1: filthy cat skin? A fine figure you'd cut. And with
Speaker 1: that she took a basin of water and dashed it
Speaker 1: into cat's Skin's face. But Katskin only shook her ears
Speaker 1: and said nothing. Now. When the day of the party arrived,
Speaker 1: Katskin slipped out of the house and went to the
Speaker 1: edge of the forest where she had hidden her dresses.
Speaker 1: Then she bathed herself in a crystal waterfall and put
Speaker 1: on her coat of silver cloth, and hastened away to
Speaker 1: the ball. As soon as she entered, all were amazed
Speaker 1: by her beauty and grace, while the young lord at
Speaker 1: once lost his heart to her. He asked her to
Speaker 1: be his partner for the first dance, and he would
Speaker 1: dance with none other the live long night. When it
Speaker 1: came to parting time, the young Lord said, please tell
Speaker 1: me where you live. But Katskin curtsied and said, kind sir,
Speaker 1: if the truth I must tell at the sign of
Speaker 1: the basin of water, I dwell. Then she flew from
Speaker 1: the castle and donned her catskin robe again and slipped
Speaker 1: into the kitchen. Unbeknown to the cook. The young lord
Speaker 1: went the very next day and searched for the sign
Speaker 1: of the basin of water, but he could not find it.
Speaker 1: So he went to his mother, the lady of the castle,
Speaker 1: and declared he would red none other but the lady
Speaker 1: of the silver dress, and would never rest till he
Speaker 1: had found her. So another party was soon arranged in
Speaker 1: hopes that the beautiful girl would appear again. So the
Speaker 1: Catskin said to the cook, dear missus, cook, shall I
Speaker 1: go to the party? The cook screamed out in a rage,
Speaker 1: what you, dirty girl? You would cut a fine figure
Speaker 1: among all the fine lords and ladies. And with that
Speaker 1: she up with the laddle and broke it across Catskin's back.
Speaker 1: But Catskin only shook her ears and ran off to
Speaker 1: the forest, where first of all she bathed, and then
Speaker 1: she put on her coat of beaten gold, and off
Speaker 1: she went to the ballroom. As soon she entered, all
Speaker 1: eyes were upon her, and the young Lord at once
Speaker 1: recognized her as the Lady of the Basin of Water.
Speaker 1: Her hand for the first dance, and did not leave
Speaker 1: her till the last. When that came, he again asked
Speaker 1: her where she lived, But all that she would say was,
Speaker 1: kind sir, if the truth I must tell at the
Speaker 1: sign of the broken laddle, LI dwell. And with that
Speaker 1: she curtsied and flew from the ball off with her
Speaker 1: golden robe, on with her catskin, and into the kitchen
Speaker 1: without the cook. Snowing next day, when the young Lord
Speaker 1: could not find where the sign of the broken laddle was,
Speaker 1: he begged his mother to have another grand party so
Speaker 1: that he might meet the beautiful maid once more. Then
Speaker 1: Katskin said to the cook, oh, how I wish I
Speaker 1: could go to the party. The cook called out, a
Speaker 1: fine figure you It cut and broke the skimmer across
Speaker 1: her head, But Katskin only shook her ears and went
Speaker 1: off to the forest, where she first bathed in the
Speaker 1: crystal spring, and then donned her coat of feathers, and
Speaker 1: so off to the party room. When she entered, everyone
Speaker 1: was surprised at so beautiful a face and formed rest
Speaker 1: in so rich and rare address. But the young lord
Speaker 1: at once recognized his beautiful sweetheart and would dance with
Speaker 1: none but her the whole evening. When the ball came
Speaker 1: to an end, he pressed her to tell him where
Speaker 1: she lived, but all she would answer was, kind sir,
Speaker 1: if the truth I must tell at the sign of
Speaker 1: the broken skimmer, I dwell. And with that she curtsied
Speaker 1: and was off to the forest. But this time the
Speaker 1: young lord followed her and watched her change her fine
Speaker 1: dress of feathers for her catskin dress, and then he
Speaker 1: knew her for his own kitten servant. Next day he
Speaker 1: went to his mother and told her that he wished
Speaker 1: to marry the kitchen servant. Catskin never said, the lady
Speaker 1: of the castle, never, so long as I live well.
Speaker 1: The young lord was so grieved that he took to
Speaker 1: his bed and was very ill. Indeed, the doctor tried
Speaker 1: to cure him, but he would not take any medicine
Speaker 1: unless from the hands of Catskin. At last, the doctor
Speaker 1: went to the mother and said that her son would
Speaker 1: die if she did not consent to his marriage with Catskin,
Speaker 1: so she had to give way. Then she summoned Katskin
Speaker 1: to her, and Katskin put on her coat of beaten
Speaker 1: gold before she went to see the lady, and she
Speaker 1: of course was overcome at once, and was only too
Speaker 1: glad to wed her son to so beautiful a maid.
Speaker 1: So they were married, and they lived happily ever after,