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Speaker 1: The child's story. Once upon a time, a good many

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years ago, there was a traveler, and he set out

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upon a journey. It was a magic journey, and it

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would seem very long when he began it, and very

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short when he got half way through. He traveled along

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a rather dark path for some little time, without meeting anything,

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until at last he came to a beautiful child. So

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he said to the child, what do you do here?

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And the child said, I am always at play. Come

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and play with me. So he played with the child

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the whole day long, and they were very merry. The

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sky was so blue, the sun was so bright, the

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water was so sparkling, the leaves were so green, and

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they had heard such singing birds and saw so many

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butterflies that everything was beautiful. This was in fine mother.

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When it rained, I loved to watch the falling drops

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and to smell the fresh scents. When it blew, it

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was delightful to listen to the wind, and fancy what

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it said as it came rushing from its home. Where

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was that? They wondered, whistling and howling, driving the clouds

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before it, bending the trees, rumbling in the chimneys, shaking

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the house and making the sea roar and fury. But

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when it snowed, that was the best of all. For

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they liked nothing so well as to look up at

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the white flakes falling fast and thick like down from

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the breasts of millions of white birds, and to see

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how smooth and deep the drift was, and to listen

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to the hush upon the paths and roads. They had

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plenty of the finest toys in the world, and the

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most astonishing picture books, all about scimitars and slippers and

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turbans and dwarfs and giants and genie and fairies and

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bluebeards and beans, stalks and riches and caverns and forests

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and Valentines and orsons, and all new and all true.

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But one day, all of a sudden, the traveler lost

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the child. He called him over and over again, but

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got no answer. So he went upon his road and

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went on for a little while without meeting anything, until

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at last he came to a handsome boy. So he

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said to the boy, what do you do here? And

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the boy said, I'm always learning. Come and learn with me.

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So he learned with that boy about Jupiter and Juno,

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and the Greeks and the romans, and I don't know what,

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and learned more than I could tell were he either,

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for he soon forgot a great deal of it. But

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they were not always learning. They had the merriest of

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games that ever were played. They rode upon the river

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in the summer, and skated on the ice in the winter.

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They were active afoot and active on horseback at cricket

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and all games at bawl, at prisoner's base, hare and

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hounds follow my leader, and more sports than I can

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think of. Nobody could beat them. They had holidays too,

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and twelfth cakes and parties where they danced till midnight,

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and real theaters where they saw palaces of real gold

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and silver rise out of the real earth, and saw

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all the wonders of the world at once. As to friends,

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they had such dear friends, and so many of them

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that I want to reckon them up. They were all

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so young, like the handsome boy, and were never to

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be strange to one another all their lives through. Still,

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one day, in the midst of all these pleasures, the

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traveler lost the boy as he had lost the child,

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and after calling him in vain, went on upon his journey.

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So we went on for a little while without seeing anything,

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until at last he came to a young man. So

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he said to the young man, what do you do here?

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And the young man said, I'm always in love, Come

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and love with me. So he went away with that

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young man, and presently they came to one of the

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prettiest girls that was ever seen, just like Fanny in

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the corner over there. And she had eyes like Fanny,

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and hair like Fanny, and dimples like Fanny's. And she

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laughed and colored just as Fanny does when I'm talking

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about her. So the young man fell in love directly,

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just as somebody I won't mention the first time he

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came here did with Fanny. Well, he was teased sometimes,

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just as somebody used to be by Fanny. And they

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quarreled sometimes, just as somebody and Fanny used to quarrel.

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And they made it up, and sat in the dark

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and wrote letters every day, and never were happy asunder,

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and were always looking out for one another, pretending not to.

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They were engaged at Christmas time and sat close to

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one another by the fire, and were going to be

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married very soon, all exactly like somebody I won't mention

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and Fanny. Hmm. But the traveler lost them one day,

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as he had lost the rest of his friends, and

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after calling them to come back, which they never did,

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went on upon his journey. So he went on for

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a little while without seeing anything, until at last he

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came to a middle aged gentleman. So he said to

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the gentleman, what are you doing here? And his answer was,

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I'm always busy, Come and be busy with me. So

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he began to be very busy with that gentleman, and

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they went on through the wood together. The whole journey

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was through a wood, only it had been open and

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green at first, like a wooden spring, and now began

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to be thick and dark like a wooden summer. Some

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of the little trees that had come out earliest were

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even turning brown. The gentleman was not alone, but had

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a lady of about the same age with him, who

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was his wife, and they had children who were with

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them too. So they all went on together through the wood,

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cutting down the trees and making a path through the

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branches in the fallen leaves, and carrying burdens and working hard.

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Sometimes they came to a long green avenue that opened

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into deeper woods. Then they would hear another very little

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distant voice crying, Father, Father, I am another child, Stop

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for me. And presently they would see a very little figure,

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growing larger as it came along, running to join them.

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When it came up, they all crowded round it, kissed

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and welcomed it, and then they all went on together.

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Sometimes they came to several avenues at once, and then

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they all stood still, and one of the children said, Father,

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I'm going to see and another said, father, I'm going

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to India, and another father, I'm going to seek my

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fortune where I can, and another father, I am going

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to heaven. So, with many tears and parting, they went

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solitary down those avenues, each child upon its way, and

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the child who went to heaven rose into the golden

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air and vanished. Whenever these partings happened, the traveler looked

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at the gentleman and saw him glance up at the

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sky above the trees, where the day was beginning to

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decline in the sunset come on. He saw too that

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his hair was turning gray. But they could never rest long,

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for they had their journey to perform, and it was

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necessary for them to be always busy. At last, there

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had been so many partings that there were no children left,

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and only the traveler, the gentleman, and the lady went

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upon their way in company. And now the wood was yellow,

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not brown, and the leaves, even of the forest trees,

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began to fall. So they came to an avenue that

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was darker than the rest, and were pressing forward on

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their journey without looking down it. When the lady stopped.

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My husband said, the lady, I am called. They listened,

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and they heard a voice a long way down the

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avenue say, mother, Mother. It was the voice of the

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first child who had said I'm going to heaven. And

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the father said, I pray not yet. The sun set

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is very near. I pray not yet. But the voice

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cried mother, Mother, without minding him, though his hair was

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now quite white and tears were on his face. Then

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the mother, who was already drawn into the shade of

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the dark avenue, moving away, with her arms still a

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round his neck, kissed him and said, and my dearest,

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I am summoned, and I go. And she was gone,

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and the traveler and he were left alone together. And

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they went on and on together until they came very

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near the end of the wood, so near that they

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could see the sun set shining red before them through

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the trees. Yet once more, while he broke his way

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among the branches, the traveler lost his friend. He called

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and called, but there was no reply. When he passed

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out of the wood and saw the peaceful sign going

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down upon a white, purple prospect, he came to an

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old man sitting on a fallen tree. So he said

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to the old man, what do you do? And the

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old man said, with a calm smile, I am always remembering.

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Come and remember with me. So the traveler sat down

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by the side of the old man, face to face

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with the serene sunset, and all of his friends came

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softly back and stood around him. The beautiful child, the

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handsome boy, the young man in love, the father, mother,

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and children. Every one of them was there, and he

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had lost nothing. So he loved them all and was

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kind and forbearing with them all, and was always pleased

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to watch them all. And they all honored and loved him.

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And I think the traveler must be yourself, dear grandfather,

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because this won't you do to us? And what we

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do to you? And of the Child's Story by Charles

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Dickens