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

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it's time for this week's story.

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Speaker 2: The Legend of the Wooden Shoe. In years long gone

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too many for the almanac to tell of, or for

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clocks and watches to measure. Millions of good fairies came

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down from the sun and went into the earth. There

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they changed themselves into roots and leaves and became trees.

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There were many kinds of these as they covered the earth,

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but the pine and birch, and ash and oak were

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the chief ones that made holland. The fairies that lived

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in the trees bore the name of moss maidens or

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tree trenches, which is the Dutch pet name for Kate

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or Catherine. The oak was the favorite tree for people

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lived then on acorns, which they ate, roasted, boiled, or mashed,

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or made into meal, from which something like bread was

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kneaded and baked with oak bark. Men tanned hides and

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made leather, and from its timber boats and houses. Under

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its branches. Near the trunk, people laid their sick, hoping

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for help from the gods. Beneath the oak boughs. Also,

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warriors took oaths to be faithful to their lords. Women

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made promises or wives joined hand in hand around its girth,

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hoping to have beautiful children. Up among its leafy branches,

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the new babies lay before they were found in the

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cradle by the other children to make a young child

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grow up to be strong and healthy. Mothers drew them

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through a split sapling or young tree. Even more wonderful

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as medicine for the country itself, the oak had power

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to heal the new land sometimes suffered from disease called

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the vow or fall. When sick with the vow, the

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ground sunk. Then people, houses, churches, barns, and cattle all

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went down out of sight and were lost forever in

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a flood of water. But the oak, with its mighty

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roots held the soil firm. Stories of dead cities that

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had tumbled beneath the waves, and of the famous forest

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of reeds covering a hundred villages which disappeared in one night,

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were known only too well. Under the birch tree, lovers

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met to plight their vows, and on its smooth bark

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was often cut the figure of two hearts joined in one.

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In summer, the forest furnace shade, and in winter warmth

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from the fire. In the springtime, the new leaves were

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a wonder and in autumn the pigs grew fat on

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the mast or the acorns that had dropped on the ground.

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So for thousands of years, when men made their home

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in the forest and wanted nothing else. The trees were sacred.

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But by and by, when cows came into the land

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and sheep and horses multiplied, more open ground was needed

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for pasture, grain fields and meadows. Fruit trees bearing apples

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and pears, peaches and cherries were planted, and grass, wheat, rye,

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and barley were grown. Then, instead of dark woods, men

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liked to have their gardens and orchards open to the sunlight.

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Still the people were very rude, and all they had

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on their bare feet were rough bits of hard leather

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tied on through their toes, though most of them went barefooted.

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The forests had to be cut down. Men were so

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busy with the axe that in a few years the

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woodland was gone. Then the new Holland, with its people

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and red roofed houses, with its chimneys and windmills and

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dykes and storks, took the place of the old olt

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land of many trees. Now there was a good man,

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a carpenter and very skillful way his tools, who so

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loved the oak that he gave himself and his children

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after him the name of Ak, which is pronounced Ike

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and is Dutch for oak. When before his neighbors and friends.

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According to the beautiful Dutch custom, he called his youngest

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born child to lay the cornerstone of his new house,

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and bestowed upon her before them all the name of

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Nelgy of Neljay or Nellie van Ike. The carpenter Daddy

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continued to mourn over the loss of the forests. He

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even shed tears, fearing lest by and by there should

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not one oak tree be left in the country. Moreover,

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he was frightened at the thought that the new land

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made by pushing back the ocean and building dikes might

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sink down again and go back to the fishes. In

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such a case, all the people, the babies and their mothers, men, women,

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horses and cattle would be drowned. The Dutch folks were

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a little too fast, he thought, in winning their acres

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from the sea. One day, while sitting on his doorstep

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brooding sorrowfully, a moss maiden and a tree elf appeared,

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skipping a long hand in hand. They came up to

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him and told him that his ancestral oak had a

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message for him. Then they laughed and ran away. Van Eyke,

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which was now the man's full family name, went into

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the forest and stood under the grand oak tree, which

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his father's loved, and which he would allow none to

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cut down. Looking up, the leaves of the tree rustled,

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and one big branch seemed to sweep near him. Then

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it whispered in his ear. Do not mourn, for your descendants,

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even many generations hence shall see greater things than you

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have witnessed. I and my fellow oak trees shall pass away,

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but the sunshine shall be spread over the land and

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make it dry. Then, instead of its falling down like

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acorns from the trees, more and better food shall come

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up from out of the earth where green fields now spread,

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and the cities grow where the forests were. We shall

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come to life again, but in another form, when most needed,

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we shall furnish you and your children and children's children

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with warmth, comfort, fire, light, and wealth. Nor need you

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fear for the land that it will fall, For even

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while living, we and all the oak trees that are left,

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and all the birch, beech and pine trees, shall stand

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on our heads for you. We shall hold up your

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houses lest they fall into the ooze, And you shall

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walk and run over our heads as truly as when,

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as truly as when rooted in the soil. We will

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do this. Believe what we tell you, and be happy.

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We shall turn ourselves upside down for you. I cannot

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see how all these things can be, says van Eyke,

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said van Iyke, fear not. My promise will endure. The

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leaves of the branch rustled for another moment. Then all

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was still, until the moss maiden and Trenchy the tree elf,

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again hand in hand, as they tripped along merrily, appeared

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to him. We shall help you and get our friends

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the elves to do the same. Now, do you take

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some oak wood and saw off two pieces, each a

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foot long, see that they are well dried, then set

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them on the kitchen table to night when you go

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to bed. After saying this, and looking at each other

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and laughing just as girls do, they disappeared. Pondering on

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what all this might mean, van Ike went to his

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wood shed and sawed off the oak timber. At night,

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after his wife had cleared the supper table, he laid

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the foot long pieces in their place. When van Iyke

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woke up in the morning, he recalled his dream, and

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before he was dressed, hurried to the kitchen. There on

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the table lay a pair of neatly made wooden shoes.

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Not a sign of tools or shavings could be seen,

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but the clean wood and pleasant odor made him glad.

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When he glanced again at the wooden shoes, he found

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them perfectly smooth, both inside and out. They had heels

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at the bottom and were nicely pointed at the toes,

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and altogether they were very inviting to the foot. He

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tried them on and found that they fitted him exactly.

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He tried to walk on the kitchen floor, which his

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wife kept scrubbed and polished, and then sprinkled with white

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clean and then sprinkled with clean white sand with broomstick

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ripples scored in the layers. But for van Eyke it

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was like walking on ice. After slipping and balancing himself

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as if on a tight rope, and nearly breaking his

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nose against the wall, he took off the wooden shoes

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and kept them off while inside the house. However, when

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he went out doors, he found his new shoes very light,

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pleasant to the feet, and easy to walk in. It

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was not so much like trying to skate as it

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had been in the kitchen. At night, in his dreams,

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he saw two elves come through the window into the kitchen.

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One a kabuoter, dark and ugly, had a box of tools.

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The other, a light faced elf, seemed to be the guide.

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The kabuter at once got out his sawtchet augur, long

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chosl like knife and smoothing plane. At first the two

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elves seemed to be quarreling as to who should be boss.

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Then they settled down quietly to work. The kabooter took

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the wood and shaped it on the outside. Then he

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hollowed out from inside of it a pair of shoes,

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which the elf smoothed and polished. Then one elf put

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his little feet in them and tried to dance, but

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he only slipped on the smooth floor and flattened his nose.

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But the other fellow pulled the nose straight again, so

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it was all right. They waltzed together upon the wooden shoes,

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then took them off, jumped out the window, and ran away.

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When Vanyke put the wooden shoes on, he found that

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out in the fields, in the mud and on the

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soft soil and in sloppy places, this sort of foot

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gear was just the thing. They did not sink in

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the mud, and the man's feet were comfortable even after

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hours of labor. They did not draw his feet, and

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they kept out the water far better than leather possibly could.

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When the van eyke Frow and the children saw how

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happy Daddy was, they each wanted a pair. Then they

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asked him what he called them. Clumpin', said he in

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good Dutch, and clompin' or clumps they are to this day.

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I'll make a fortune out of this, said Vanyke. I'll

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set up a clump winkle shop for wooden shoes at once. So,

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going out to the blacksmith shop in the village, he

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had the man who pounded iron fashioned for him on

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his anvil a set of tools exactly like those used

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by the Kabuter and the Elf which he had seen

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in his dream. Then he hung out a sign marked

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wooden blocks for shoes. He made clumps for the little

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folks just out of the nursery, for boys and girls,

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for grown men and women, and for all who walked

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out of doors in the street or in the fields.

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Soon clumps came to be the fashion in all the

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country places. It was good manners when you went into

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a house to take off your wooden shoes and leave

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them at the door, Even in the towns and cities.

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Ladies wore wooden slippers, especially when walking or working in

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the garden. Clumps also set the fashion for soft, warm

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socks and stockings made from sheep's wool. Soon a thousand

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needles were clicking to put a soft cushion between one's

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soles and toes, and the wood women knitted even while

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they walked to the market or gossiped on the streets.

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The clump winkles or shops of the shoe carpenters were

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seen in every village. When rich beyond his day dreams,

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Van Nike had another joyful night vision. The next day.

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He wore a smiling countenance. Everybody who met him him

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on the street saluted him and asked, in a neighborly way,

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good morning mine year bloy mdigg, mister cheerful, how do

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you sail today? That's the way the Dutch talk, not

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how do you do? But in their watery country it

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is this, how do you sail? Or else? Ho get

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how ho got het? Huel? How goes it with you? Already?

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Then van Eyke told his dream it was this the

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moss maiden and Trenchey, the wood elf came to him

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again at night and danced. They were lively and happy.

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What now, asked the dreamer, smilingly of his two visitors.

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The kabooter took the wood and shaped it on the

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air inside. He had hardly got the question out of

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his mouth when in walked a kabuter, all smutty with

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blacksmith work. In one hand he grasped his toolbox. In

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the other he held a curious looking machine. It was

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a big lump of iron set in a frame with

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ropes to pull it up and let it fall down

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with a thump. What is it, asked van Eyke. It's

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a hay or pile driver, said the Kabuter, showing him

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how to use it. When men say to you on

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the street tomorrow, how do you sail? Laugh at them,

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said the moss maiden herself, laughing yes. And now you

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can tell the people how to build cities with mighty

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churches and lofty towers, and high with and with high

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houses like those in other lands. Take the trees, trim

238
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the branches off, sharpen the tops, turned them upside down,

239
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and pound them deep in the ground. Did not the

240
00:22:24,279 --> 00:22:28,119
ancient oak promise that the trees would be turned upside

241
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,519
down for you. Did they not say you could walk

242
00:22:32,599 --> 00:22:37,400
on top of them? By this time van Eyke had

243
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:42,200
asked so many questions and kept the elves so long

244
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:48,160
that the moss maiden peeped anxiously through the window, seeing

245
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,640
the day breaking. She and Trenchy and the kibuter flew

246
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:57,000
away so as not to be petrified by the sunrise.

247
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I'll make another fortune out of this, also said the

248
00:23:03,599 --> 00:23:10,079
happy man, who next morning was saluted as mineheer blid shop,

249
00:23:10,839 --> 00:23:16,200
mister joyful. At once van Eyke set up a factory

250
00:23:16,319 --> 00:23:21,839
for making pile drivers, sending men into the woods who

251
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:27,119
chose the tall, straight trees. He had their branches cut off.

252
00:23:28,519 --> 00:23:32,640
Then he sharpened the trunks at one end, and these

253
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:38,960
were driven by the pile driver down far and deep

254
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:44,440
into the ground. So a foundation as good as stone

255
00:23:45,319 --> 00:23:50,119
was made in the soft and spongy soil, and well

256
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:55,880
built houses up rose by the thousands. Even the lofty

257
00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:01,960
walls of churches stood firm, the spires unshaken in the storm.

258
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,880
Old Holland had not fertile soil like France, or vast

259
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:14,279
flocks of sheep producing wool like England, or armies of

260
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:20,599
weavers as in the Belgic lands. Yet soon there rose

261
00:24:20,839 --> 00:24:26,839
large cities with splendid mansions and town halls as high

262
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:32,440
toward heaven as the cathedrals and towers in other lands,

263
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:37,200
which had rock for foundation. Her brick churches rose in

264
00:24:37,279 --> 00:24:42,440
the air on top of the forest. Trees driven deep

265
00:24:42,599 --> 00:24:46,880
into the sand and clay. Dams and dikes were built

266
00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:52,400
that kept out the ocean. So instead of the old

267
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,799
two thousand square miles, there were in the realm, in

268
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:03,920
the course of years twelve thousand, rich in green fields

269
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,119
and cattle. Then for all the boys and girls that

270
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:14,400
travel in this land of quaint customs, Holland was a delight.

271
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:39,640
The legend of the wooden shoe, in years long gone

272
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,599
too many for the almanac to tell of, wore for

273
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:49,200
clocks and watches to measure. Millions of good fairies came

274
00:25:49,279 --> 00:25:54,759
down from the sun and went into the earth. There

275
00:25:54,799 --> 00:25:59,880
they changed themselves into roots and leaves, and became trees.

276
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,079
There were many kinds of these as they covered the earth,

277
00:26:06,079 --> 00:26:10,400
But the pine and birch, and ash and oak were

278
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:15,839
the chief ones that made Holland. The fairies that lived

279
00:26:15,839 --> 00:26:19,920
in the trees bore the name of moss maidens or

280
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,519
tree trenches, which is the Dutch pet name for Kate

281
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:33,319
or Catherine. The oak was the favorite tree for people

282
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:40,039
lived then on acorns, which they ate, roasted, boiled, or mashed,

283
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:45,200
or made into meal, from which something like bread was

284
00:26:45,279 --> 00:26:51,000
kneaded and baked with oak bark. Men tanned hides and

285
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:58,400
made leather, and from its timber boats and houses Under

286
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:03,720
its branches. Near the true people laid their sick, hoping

287
00:27:03,799 --> 00:27:09,720
for help from the gods. Beneath the oak boughs. Also,

288
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:14,799
warriors took oaths to be faithful to their lords. Women

289
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:20,279
made promises, or wives joined hand in hand around its girth,

290
00:27:21,079 --> 00:27:27,039
hoping to have beautiful children. Up among its leafy branches,

291
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,960
the new babies lay before they were found in the

292
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,960
cradle by the other children. To make a young child

293
00:27:36,039 --> 00:27:40,480
grow up to be strong and healthy, mothers drew them

294
00:27:40,559 --> 00:27:47,079
through a split sapling or young tree. Even more wonderful

295
00:27:47,839 --> 00:27:52,440
as medicine for the country itself, the oak had power

296
00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:58,319
to heal the new land sometimes suffered from disease called

297
00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:03,960
the vow or fall. When sick with the vow, the

298
00:28:04,039 --> 00:28:12,319
ground sunk. Then people, houses, churches, barns, and cattle all

299
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:18,880
went down out of sight. And were lost forever in

300
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:23,599
a flood of water. But the oak, with its mighty

301
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:29,759
roots held the soil firm. Stories of dead cities that

302
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,599
had tumbled beneath the waves, and of the famous forest

303
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:41,279
of reeds covering a hundred villages which disappeared in one night,

304
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:50,240
were known only too well. Under the birch tree, lovers

305
00:28:50,359 --> 00:28:54,559
met to plight their vows, and on its smooth bark

306
00:28:54,720 --> 00:29:00,759
was often cut the figure of two hearts joined in one.

307
00:29:01,039 --> 00:29:06,559
In summer the forest furnace shade, and in winter warmth

308
00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:12,240
from the fire. In the springtime, the new leaves were

309
00:29:12,359 --> 00:29:16,920
a wonder and in autumn the pigs grew fat on

310
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,519
the mast or the acorns that had dropped on the ground.

311
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,319
So for thousands of years, when men made their home

312
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:34,440
in the forest and wanted nothing else, the trees were sacred.

313
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,480
But by and by, when cows came into the land

314
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,279
and sheep and horses multiplied, more open ground was needed

315
00:29:45,319 --> 00:29:52,319
for pasture, grain fields and meadows. Fruit trees bearing apples

316
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:58,960
and pears, peaches and cherries were planted, and grass, wheat, rye,

317
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:05,200
and barley were grown. Then, instead of dark woods, men

318
00:30:05,359 --> 00:30:10,839
liked to have their gardens and orchards open to the sunlight. Still,

319
00:30:11,599 --> 00:30:15,440
the people were very rude, and all they had on

320
00:30:15,519 --> 00:30:19,920
their bare feet were rough bits of hard leather tied

321
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:25,480
on through their toes, though most of them went barefooted.

322
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,559
The forests had to be cut down. Men were so

323
00:30:32,839 --> 00:30:36,240
busy with the axe that in a few years the

324
00:30:36,279 --> 00:30:42,680
woodland was gone. Then the new Holland, with its people

325
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:48,200
and red roofed houses, with its chimneys and windmills and

326
00:30:48,359 --> 00:30:52,839
dykes and storks, took the place of the old old

327
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:58,000
land of many trees. Now there was a good man,

328
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,440
a carpenter and very skillful with his tools, who so

329
00:31:03,759 --> 00:31:08,079
loved the oak that he gave himself and his children

330
00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:13,680
after him the name of Ak, which is pronounced Ike

331
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:20,960
and is Dutch for oak. When before his neighbors and friends,

332
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:26,440
according to the beautiful Dutch custom, he called his youngest

333
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,680
born child to lay the cornerstone of his new house,

334
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:36,039
and bestowed upon her before them all the name of

335
00:31:36,279 --> 00:31:44,640
Nelchy of Neltjay or Nellie van Ike. The carpenter Daddy

336
00:31:44,799 --> 00:31:49,359
continued to mourn over the loss of the forests. He

337
00:31:49,519 --> 00:31:55,240
even shed tears, fearing lest by and by there should

338
00:31:55,359 --> 00:31:59,799
not one oak tree be left in the country. Moreover,

339
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,240
he was frightened at the thought that the new land

340
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:08,839
made by pushing back the ocean and building dikes might

341
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:13,880
sink down again and go back to the fishes. In

342
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:20,400
such a case, all the people, the babies and their mothers, men, women,

343
00:32:20,799 --> 00:32:26,039
horses and cattle would be drowned. The Dutch folks were

344
00:32:26,079 --> 00:32:30,160
a little too fast, he thought, in winning their acres

345
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:36,119
from the sea. One day, while sitting on his doorstep

346
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:42,240
brooding sorrowfully, a moss maiden and a tree elf appeared,

347
00:32:43,119 --> 00:32:47,200
skipping a long hand in hand. They came up to

348
00:32:47,279 --> 00:32:51,079
him and told him that his ancestral oak had a

349
00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:58,160
message for him. Then they laughed and ran away. Van Iyke,

350
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:03,200
which was now the man's full family name, went into

351
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:08,720
the forest and stood under the grand oak tree, which

352
00:33:08,759 --> 00:33:12,759
his father's loved, and which he would allow none to

353
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:19,440
cut down. Looking up, the leaves of the tree rustled,

354
00:33:20,519 --> 00:33:25,720
and one big branch seemed to sweep near him. Then

355
00:33:26,039 --> 00:33:33,000
it whispered in his ear, do not mourn, for your descendants,

356
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:38,079
even many generations hence shall see greater things than you

357
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:43,720
have witnessed. I and my fellow oak trees shall pass away,

358
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,640
But the sunshine shall be spread over the land and

359
00:33:48,799 --> 00:33:55,079
make it dry. Then, instead of its falling down like

360
00:33:55,240 --> 00:34:00,279
acorns from the trees, more and better food shall come

361
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:05,559
up from out of the earth where green fields now spread,

362
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:10,400
and the cities grow where the forests were. We shall

363
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:17,639
come to life again, but in another form. When most needed,

364
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:22,800
we shall furnish you and your children and children's children

365
00:34:23,519 --> 00:34:31,840
with warmth, comfort, fire, light, and wealth. Nor need you

366
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:36,320
fear for the land that it will fall, for even

367
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:41,559
while living, we and all the oak trees that are left,

368
00:34:42,079 --> 00:34:47,320
and all the birch, beech and pine trees, shall stand

369
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,920
on our heads for you. We shall hold up your

370
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,159
houses lest they fall into the ooze, and you shall

371
00:34:55,239 --> 00:35:00,480
walk and run over our heads as truly as when,

372
00:35:03,039 --> 00:35:06,440
as truly as when rooted in the soil. We will

373
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:11,039
do this. Believe what we tell you, and be happy.

374
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:19,320
We shall turn ourselves upside down for you. I cannot

375
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:23,239
see how all these things can be, says van Eyke,

376
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:33,079
said van Eyke, fear not. My promise will endure. The

377
00:35:33,159 --> 00:35:38,800
leaves of the branch rustled for another moment. Then all

378
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:44,880
was still, until the moss maiden and trenchy the tree

379
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:49,679
elf again hand in hand as they tripped along merrily

380
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,639
appeared to him. We shall help you and get our

381
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:59,800
friends the elves to do the same. Now, do you

382
00:36:00,199 --> 00:36:04,639
take some oak wood and saw off two pieces, each

383
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:10,079
a foot long, See that they are well dried, then

384
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,519
set them on the kitchen table tonight when you go

385
00:36:13,559 --> 00:36:18,440
to bed. After saying this and looking at each other

386
00:36:18,639 --> 00:36:26,400
and laughing just as girls do, they disappeared. Pondering on

387
00:36:26,559 --> 00:36:30,480
what all this might mean, van Ike went to his

388
00:36:30,559 --> 00:36:36,559
woodshed and sawed off the oak timber. At night, after

389
00:36:36,679 --> 00:36:40,400
his wife had cleared the supper table, he laid the

390
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:46,239
foot long pieces in their place. When van Ike woke

391
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:50,800
up in the morning, he recalled his dream, and before

392
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:56,039
he was dressed, hurried to the kitchen. There on the

393
00:36:56,159 --> 00:37:02,480
table lay a pair of neatly made wooden shoes. Not

394
00:37:02,639 --> 00:37:08,119
a sign of tools or shavings could be seen, but

395
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:14,119
the clean wood and pleasant odor made him glad. When

396
00:37:14,119 --> 00:37:17,719
he glanced again at the wooden shoes, he found them

397
00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:24,039
perfectly smooth both inside and out. They had heels at

398
00:37:24,079 --> 00:37:29,039
the bottom and were nicely pointed at the toes, and

399
00:37:29,199 --> 00:37:33,760
all together they were very inviting to the foot. He

400
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,960
tried them on and found that they fitted him exactly.

401
00:37:39,679 --> 00:37:42,599
He tried to walk on the kitchen floor, which his

402
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:47,320
wife kept scrubbed and polished, and then sprinkled with white

403
00:37:47,519 --> 00:37:53,719
clean and then sprinkled with clean white sand with broomstick

404
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:58,480
ripples scored in the layers. But for van Eyke it

405
00:37:58,639 --> 00:38:04,639
was like walking on ice. After slipping and balancing himself

406
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,880
as if on a tight rope, and nearly breaking his

407
00:38:09,039 --> 00:38:13,000
nose against the wall, he took off the wooden shoes

408
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:20,079
and kept them off while inside the house. However, when

409
00:38:20,079 --> 00:38:24,199
he went outdoors he found his new shoes very light,

410
00:38:25,039 --> 00:38:30,039
pleasant to the feet, and easy to walk in. It

411
00:38:30,159 --> 00:38:33,320
was not so much like trying to skate as it

412
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:39,079
had been in the kitchen. At night, in his dreams,

413
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:43,519
he saw two elves come through the window into the kitchen.

414
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:50,559
One a kabuter, dark and ugly, had a box of tools.

415
00:38:51,599 --> 00:38:57,199
The other, a light faced elf, seemed to be the guide.

416
00:38:57,679 --> 00:39:03,039
The kabuter at once got out his saw hatchet, augur,

417
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:10,840
long chosl like knife and smoothing plane. At first, the

418
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,519
two elves seemed to be quarreling as to who should

419
00:39:14,559 --> 00:39:20,719
be boss. Then they settled down quietly to work. The

420
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:25,800
kabooter took the wood and shaped it on the outside.

421
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:30,280
Then he hollowed out from inside of it a pair

422
00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:37,320
of shoes, which the elf smoothed and polished. Then one

423
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:41,360
elf put his little feet in them and tried to dance,

424
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:46,119
But he only slipped on the smooth floor and flattened

425
00:39:46,159 --> 00:39:51,239
his nose. But the other fellow pulled the nose straight again,

426
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:56,639
so it was all right. They waltzed together upon the

427
00:39:56,679 --> 00:40:01,800
wooden shoes, then took them off, jumped out the window,

428
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:06,679
and ran away. When Vanyke put the wooden shoes on,

429
00:40:07,599 --> 00:40:10,719
he found that out in the fields, in the mud,

430
00:40:11,159 --> 00:40:16,239
and on the soft soil, and in sloppy places, this

431
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:20,679
sort of foot gear was just the thing. They did

432
00:40:20,679 --> 00:40:24,639
not sink in the mud, and the man's feet were comfortable,

433
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:30,280
even after hours of labor. They did not draw his feet,

434
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:33,719
and they kept out the water far better than leather

435
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:39,159
possibly could. When the van Eyke frow and the children

436
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:43,559
saw how happy daddy was, they each wanted a pair.

437
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:50,639
Then they asked him what he called them. Clompin', said

438
00:40:50,679 --> 00:40:55,440
he in good Dutch, and clompin' or clumps they are

439
00:40:55,679 --> 00:40:59,559
to this day. I'll make a fortune out of this,

440
00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:05,000
said van Eyke. I'll set up a clump winkle shop

441
00:41:05,079 --> 00:41:11,280
for wooden shoes at once. So, going out to the

442
00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,840
blacksmith shop in the village, he had the man who

443
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:19,079
pounded iron fashioned for him on his anvil a set

444
00:41:19,119 --> 00:41:23,719
of tools exactly like those used by the Kabuter and

445
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:28,840
the elf which he had seen in his dream. Then

446
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:33,280
he hung out a sign marked wooden blocks for shoes.

447
00:41:35,039 --> 00:41:38,119
He made clumps for the little folks just out of

448
00:41:38,159 --> 00:41:43,159
the nursery, for boys and girls, for grown men and women,

449
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:47,079
and for all who walked out of doors in the

450
00:41:47,119 --> 00:41:52,400
street or in the fields. Soon clumps came to be

451
00:41:52,519 --> 00:41:57,159
the fashion in all the country places. It was good

452
00:41:57,199 --> 00:42:00,159
manners when you went into a house to take take

453
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,239
off your wooden shoes and leave them at the door.

454
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:09,239
Even in the towns and cities, ladies wore wooden slippers,

455
00:42:10,039 --> 00:42:15,960
especially when walking or working in the garden. Clumps also

456
00:42:16,119 --> 00:42:21,239
set the fashion for soft, warm socks and stockings made

457
00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:27,159
from sheep's wool. Soon a thousand needles were clicking to

458
00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:31,159
put a soft cushion between one's soles and toes, and

459
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:36,840
the wood women knitted even while they walked to the

460
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:41,800
market or gossiped on the streets. The clump winkles or

461
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:47,960
shops of the shoe carpenters were seen in every village.

462
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:52,920
When rich beyond his day dreams, van Eyke had another

463
00:42:53,039 --> 00:42:59,079
joyful night vision. The next day. He wore a smiling countenance.

464
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:04,639
Everybody who met him on the street saluted him and asked,

465
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:09,719
in a neighborly way, good morning mine, ear bloy m' digg,

466
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:15,880
mister cheerful, how do you sail to day? That's the

467
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:19,679
way the Dutch talk, not how do you do? But

468
00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,840
in their watery country it is this, how do you sail?

469
00:43:24,639 --> 00:43:32,119
Or else? Ho get hew ho got het huel? How

470
00:43:32,159 --> 00:43:38,199
goes it with you? Already? Then Vanyke told his dream

471
00:43:39,199 --> 00:43:44,119
it was this. The moss maiden and Trenchey, the wood

472
00:43:44,159 --> 00:43:49,000
elf came to him again at night and danced. They

473
00:43:49,039 --> 00:43:55,639
were lively and happy. What now, asked the dreamer, smilingly,

474
00:43:55,880 --> 00:44:00,239
of his two visitors. The kabooter took the wood and

475
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:05,119
shaped it on the inside. He had hardly got the

476
00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:08,840
question out of his mouth when in walked a kabuter,

477
00:44:09,639 --> 00:44:14,480
all smutty with blacksmith work. In one hand, he grasped

478
00:44:14,519 --> 00:44:18,840
his tool box. In the other, he held a curious

479
00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:24,599
looking machine it was a big lump of iron set

480
00:44:24,639 --> 00:44:28,480
in a frame with ropes to pull it up and

481
00:44:28,639 --> 00:44:32,760
let it fall down with a thump. What is it,

482
00:44:33,559 --> 00:44:40,039
asked van Eyke. It's a hay or pile driver, said

483
00:44:40,039 --> 00:44:44,800
the Kabuter, showing him how to use it. When men

484
00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:48,320
say to you on the street tomorrow, how do you sail?

485
00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:54,840
Laugh at them, said the moss maiden herself, laughing yes,

486
00:44:55,519 --> 00:44:58,760
and now you can tell the people how to build

487
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:04,800
cities with mighty churches and lofty towers, and high with

488
00:45:07,159 --> 00:45:11,559
and with high houses like those in other lands. Take

489
00:45:11,639 --> 00:45:17,199
the trees, trim the branches off, sharpen the tops, turned

490
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:23,280
them upside down, and pound them deep in the ground.

491
00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:28,400
Did not the ancient oak promise that the trees would

492
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:33,079
be turned upside down for you? Did they not say

493
00:45:33,159 --> 00:45:37,760
you could walk on top of them? By this time

494
00:45:38,079 --> 00:45:42,199
van Eyke had asked so many questions and kept the

495
00:45:42,199 --> 00:45:47,039
elves so long that the moss Maiden peeped anxiously through

496
00:45:47,079 --> 00:45:52,760
the window, seeing the day breaking, She and Trenchy and

497
00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:57,360
the Kabooter flew away so as not to be petrified

498
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:03,719
by the sunrise. I'll make another fortune out of this, also,

499
00:46:04,599 --> 00:46:09,800
said the happy man, who next morning was saluted as

500
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:16,760
mineheer blid shop mister joyful. At once van Eyke set

501
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:21,920
up a factory for making pile drivers, sending men into

502
00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:27,079
the woods who chose the tall, straight trees. He had

503
00:46:27,119 --> 00:46:31,960
their branches cut off, then he sharpened the trunks at

504
00:46:32,079 --> 00:46:36,320
one end, and these were driven by the pile driver

505
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:44,199
down far and deep into the ground. So a foundation

506
00:46:44,719 --> 00:46:48,480
as good as stone was made in the soft and

507
00:46:48,679 --> 00:46:54,960
spongy soil, and well built houses up rose by the thousands.

508
00:46:56,119 --> 00:47:01,280
Even the lofty walls of churches stood firm. The spires

509
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:06,480
were unshaken in the storm. Old Holland had not fertile

510
00:47:06,519 --> 00:47:12,320
soil like France, or vast flocks of sheep producing wool

511
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:18,880
like England, or armies of weavers as in the Belgic lands.

512
00:47:20,159 --> 00:47:25,639
Yet soon there rose large cities with splendid mansions and

513
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:30,760
town halls as high toward heaven as the cathedrals and

514
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:37,119
towers in other lands which had rock for foundation. Her

515
00:47:37,159 --> 00:47:41,199
Brick churches rose in the air on top of the

516
00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:47,159
forest trees driven deep into the sand and clay. Dams

517
00:47:47,159 --> 00:47:52,000
and dikes were built that kept out the ocean, so

518
00:47:52,559 --> 00:47:57,639
instead of the old two thousand square miles there were

519
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:02,480
in the realm in the course of years twelve thousand,

520
00:48:03,639 --> 00:48:08,280
rich in green fields and cattle. Then, for all the

521
00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:12,519
boys and girls that travel in this land of quaint customs,

522
00:48:14,159 --> 00:48:15,840
Holland was a delight