January 24, 2025 • 49 mins
In this episode, we journey with Kilwee, a humble woodcutter, who finds himself entranced by a mystical game of goban played by mountain fairies in a tale that spans centuries. So snuggle up in your blankets and have sweet dreams.
The music in this episode is Morning Light Serenade by Martin Landh.
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Dreamful is produced and hosted by Jordan Blair. Edited by Katie Sokolovska. Theme song by Joshua Snodgrass. Cover art by Jordan Blair. ©️ Dreamful LLC
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to Dreamful Podcast bedtime stories for
slumber.
I have just gotten back from apodcast conference where I
talked to hundreds and hundredsof people and I got sick, so I
cannot record a full episodethis week, so instead I am going
to be sharing with you asubscriber-only episode that I
(00:42):
really enjoyed from about a yearago.
I hope you love the Woodmen andthe Mountain Fairies just as
much as I do.
So snuggle up in your blanketsand have sweet dreams.
¶¶.
(01:44):
Over half thousand years agothere lived in a northern
village a woodcutter namedKilwee.
He owned a sturdy bull thatcarried on its back the fuel
which he daily cut on themountains and sold on the main
street of his village.
At the fair which was heldevery fifth day, the docile
brute could carry a load ofsticks and brushwood, piled many
(02:06):
feet high over his head andtied down with ropes so that at
a distance nothing but his legswere visible.
This beast, also huge, was thegentlest creature imaginable.
The children were all very fondof the big fellow and were
(02:28):
accustomed to play with him asif he were one of them, or at
least like a pet dog.
The reason of this was thatwhen but a week old, the bull
calf had been taken from his cowmother and brought up in the
family with the girls and boys.
Only the puppy dog that alsooccupied the house with the
(02:53):
young folks was a great favorite.
On a fine summer morning,kielwee, leaving his beast
behind, went up on the mountainand cut enough wood to load up
and bring down on another day,told him to be sure and be home
(03:24):
in time for supper, for theireldest son had gone a-fishing
and a good string of perch wasexpected.
Shouldering his axe, he startedup the mountain path.
He had to go pretty far fornear towns or cities, although
timber had long since been cutaway.
(03:46):
Every year the woodmen have tosearch farther afield to find
fuel.
Arriving in the woods wherethere was a clearing, kiel Wee
prepared to wield his trusty axe.
He was about to take off hisbig hat and outer coat and lay
(04:11):
about him when he spied at somedistance off two fairy-like
beings.
They had long hair, looked verywise and were dressed in
costume of the Chao dynasty of2,000 years ago.
They sat on stones and playedthe game of goban.
(04:34):
Coming near, the woodmen, tooka respectful attitude and,
looking on, soon becameinterested in the moves of the
players.
So, far from being at alldisconcerted at the presence of
a stranger, the two fairiesseemed by eye-winks to invite
(04:57):
him to look on.
Feeling quite proud to be thushonored, kiu-wi, leaning his
chin upon the handle of his axe,became absorbed in the game and
, by and by, grew quite excited.
Forgetting himself and hismanners, he stretched forth his
(05:20):
right hand to move one of thepieces.
His right hand to move one ofthe pieces At once, the fairy
nearest to him gave him a crackon the fingers for his impudence
and jerked Kiwi's arm away.
Then, without saying a word, hetook out from his wallet
(05:42):
something that looked like apersimmon seed and put it in the
woodman's mouth.
After this, all three wereperfectly quiet.
Hour after hour, the gameproceeded and the players grew
(06:04):
more intensely interested.
As for QI, his eyes neverwinked.
So hard did he look at theyellow board covered with the
black and white pieces Severaltimes when he thought he saw how
the fairy on his right couldbeat in the game or the one on
(06:27):
his left make a better move.
He felt like telling one of theother.
So when, however, he tried tomove his tongue, he found he
could not speak or utter a cry.
Somehow he felt as if he werein a dream.
(06:47):
Yet all the time he became moreand more wrapped up in the game
, so that he determined to seethe end of it and know which
player had beaten.
He forgot that with mountainspirits there is no night or
morning or passing of the hours,nor do they care anything about
(07:13):
clocks or bells, because inFairyland there is no time.
All the while, kielwee wasleaning with his chin on the
stout axe handle, holding itwith both hands under his neck.
He took no note of the sun orstars, daylight or darkness, and
(07:37):
he felt no hunger.
Suddenly, the timber of his axeseemed to turn to dust and his
chin fell.
The next thing he knew he hadlost his support.
(07:59):
Down went his head and forwardfell his body as he tumbled over
, upsetting the checkerboard,breaking up the game and
scattering the round pieceshither and yon over the ground.
Awaking as out of a sleep andthoroughly ashamed of himself
for his impoliteness, he triedto pick himself up and humbly
(08:22):
apologized for the accidentwhich he had caused by his own
rudeness.
He expected and was ready for agood scolding, but when he
looked up, the fairies were gone.
Nothing whatever was seen ofthem, or of the playboard and
checkers, nor any signs of themhaving been there, except that
(08:47):
when he put his hand on the flatstones which they had used as
seats, he found them warm to histouch.
But where was his axe handle?
And what had happened when hehad left home?
He had come straight from thebarber shop with his face,
(09:09):
smooth and clean-shaven.
Now he put his hand to hisbreast and found that he had
grown a long white beard.
As for the iron axe head, itwas there, but rusty and half
buried in the ground.
He had worn one of the bigfarmer's hats which, when turned
(09:33):
upside down, might hold abushel or two of turnips and,
when fastened to his head,spread over his shoulders like a
roof.
Where could it be?
He looked about him to find it,but saw only the bits of the
slats inside the frame and a fewscraps of what remained, for
(09:56):
the rest had long ago rottedaway.
Meanwhile he had discoveredthat his joints were stiff and
he felt like an old man.
His clothes were a mass of rags, his hemp sandals were no more,
and on both fingers and toeshad grown long nails like burr's
(10:21):
claws.
His hair had burst its topknotstring and hung down his back
like a woman's.
Only it was grayish-white.
Wondering what it all meant,kielwee hobbled down the
(10:41):
mountain and found the road thatran into the main street of his
village.
Rocks and hills, rivers andrills were there.
But what a change.
Instead of the two grinningidle posts of male and female
faces carved out of trunks andtrees with sawed-out teeth
(11:06):
painted white and artificial earflaps of wood nailed on, there
was a line of high thick poleswith iron wires stretching from
one to the other and for milesin the distance.
These, he found out afterwards,were called telegraph poles.
(11:27):
In place of the rambling andsprawling three-sided thatched
houses and yards divided offwith mats hung from sticks,
there was a well-built butodd-looking office of painted
wood with openings through whichhe saw young men sitting.
They were dressed in strangeclothes and were fingering
(11:53):
outlandish-looking clickinginstruments.
His curiosity prompted him to goup and look more closely when
something bumped against hisnose and nearly knocked him over
.
When he tried again to getcloser, his face was flattened,
(12:15):
his nose nearly broken and hislips knocked against his teeth
so that they swelled.
Feeling with his hands to solvethe mystery, he touched
something hard which he couldyet see through.
Just then he heard a young maninside shout to him here you,
(12:39):
mountain daddy, leave that glassalone.
Glass, glass, glass.
Thought to kill.
We leave that glass alone,glass glass, thought Kilwi.
What is that?
Yet he could not speak.
He had hardly drawn a longbreath when, looking down along
(13:02):
two lines of shining iron in thestreet, he saw a house on
wheels coming right at him.
There was no horse, no donkey,no bull, no man pulling or
pushing it, but overhead was along pole at the end of which
were a touch of string, as hethought, but it was an iron wire
(13:26):
, was something that looked likea squirrel.
It was going round and round asif turning somersaults, and
seemed to be pushing the movinghouse along.
Inside, near the same stuffwhich he had already heard was
glass, sat a dozen or so people,the whole thing wheels and all
(13:56):
nearly ran him over as itthundered by and his mouth
opened in wonder, while a man onthe end shouted rudely Hello
old goblin, where did you getyour pumpkin mouth?
Look out on your small the moon, get out of the way of the
trolley.
Thus did the man they calledconductor or guard make fun of
(14:23):
the poor old fellow, for indeed,he did look like one of the
mummers who, on New Year's Eve,amuse or scare the children by
putting on their shoulders thehuge round devil heads and false
faces, masks shaped like amelon with cut out eyes, nose
and mouth, like those whichAmerican boys have fun with on
(14:46):
All Hallows' Eve.
This was just the trouble thewoodman in tatters with no
topknot, long hair down his backand a white beard floating over
his breast, leaning on a longwhite stick as he hobbled down
the street.
It looked just like one of them.
(15:11):
When one of these mountain menodd creatures that were
half-savage in dress and wayscame into town, all the children
laughed and the big dogs barkedwhile the little ones ran away,
for the sight was so unusual.
(15:32):
Even the bulls bellowed, thedonkeys balked and the pigs
squeaked.
As Kilwee came near, no wonderhe was taken for a mountain grad
daddy or a bumpkin dressed likeone, for few of the city or
village folks had really everseen one of the mountain men,
any more than they had seentigers that are plentiful
(15:53):
farther away but which only thehunters ever caught sight of.
More and more bewildered,kielwee wended his way further
into the town.
He saw that the men no longerwore top knots, nor did the lads
(16:15):
have a long braid down theirback which showed that they were
youths but not married.
Yet.
Just then, some rough boys,supposing that maybe some rustic
gawk had mistaken the time ofyear, jeered at him and cried
Hello hermit, do you think it'sNew Year's Eve?
(16:38):
Kilwee thought he had betterask some questions.
So, catching sight of adignified-looking gentleman in
black, broad-brimmed hat andflowing white clothes, who was
coming down the street andtoward him, kilwi bowed his head
(16:59):
low, almost to the ground.
As he did so, the stone put inhis mouth by the fairies dropped
out and his tongue was loosened.
He inquired, exalted Sir, canyou tell me where may be the
(17:19):
wretched hut of my miserablewife and children?
She was the daughter of Ji Kim,and your contemptible slave is
Kiel Wee.
The gentleman whose dress showedthat he was a scholar and a
person of rank, looked long andhard at the questioner to
(17:39):
satisfy himself that he was notbeing mocked or imposed upon by
a jester, and then cried Heavensman, are you a beggar spirit of
the mountains?
Your speech sounds like thedialect spoken in these parts
five hundred years ago.
(18:00):
In that time such a familylived here, but the head of it,
a woodcutter, is reported tohave gone up into the mountains
and was eaten up by a tigerYonder.
In the graveyard are buried tenor more generations of his
descendants.
Tell me, kind, sir, what hashappened here since King Wang
(18:26):
died?
It was under his reign that Iwas born and lived in this
village.
Still eyeing the questioner asif expecting to see him jump out
of his rags and declare himselfa mummer and the whole affair a
joke, the kindly gentlemanproceeded to give an outline the
(18:50):
history.
During the previous 500 yearsthere have been many kings and
great wars.
The most recent was just overand now people rode in cars,
talked hundreds of miles overwires and traveled over iron
(19:10):
rails as fast as a dragon couldfly, drawn by a steel horse that
drank water and fed on wood andblack stones that burned.
In a word, it was the era ofcivilization.
This was too much for Kilwi.
(19:33):
He now realized that he hadlived ten times longer than the
average man, so, hobbling overto the graveyard, he stumbled
among the mounds until he foundthat one of his clan, where the
(19:53):
bones of his wife and children,lay.
The next morning, all that wasseen of Kilwi was a mass of dust
, rags, some bones and much longwhite hair.
Yet when they buried him, theresprang up around and on his
(20:17):
grave strange flowers that noone had ever seen in city or
village but which bloomed onlyon the high mountains.
(20:39):
Over half thousand years agothere lived in a northern
village a woodcutter namedKilwee.
He owned a sturdy bull thatcarried on its back the fuel
which he daily cut on themountains and sold on the main
street of his village at thefair which was held every fifth
(21:03):
day.
The docile brute could carry aload of sticks and brushwood,
piled many feet high over hishead and tied down with ropes so
that at a distance nothing buthis legs were visible.
This beast, also huge, was thegentlest creature imaginable.
(21:26):
The children were all very fondof the big fellow and were
accustomed to play with him asif he were one of them, or at
least like a pet dog.
The reason of this was thatwhen but a week old, the bull
calf had been taken from his cowmother and brought up in the
(21:49):
family with the girls and boys,only the puppy dog that also
occupied the house with theyoung folks was a great favorite
.
On a fine summer morning,kielwee, leaving his beast
(22:09):
behind, went up on the mountainand cut enough wood to load up
and bring down on another day.
His wife, as she shoutedgoodbye, told him to be sure and
be home in time for supper, fortheir eldest son had gone
(22:30):
a-fishing and a good string ofperch was expected.
Shouldering his axe, he startedup the mountain path.
He had to go pretty far fornear towns or cities, although
timber had long since been cutaway.
Every year the woodmen have tosearch farther afield to find
(22:56):
fuel.
Arriving in the woods wherethere was a clearing keel, we
prepared to wield his trusty axe.
He was about to take off hisbig hat and outer coat and lay
about him when he spied, somedistance off, two fairy-like
(23:21):
beings.
They had long hair, looked verywise and were dressed in
costume of the Chao dynasty oftwo thousand years ago.
They sat on stones and playedthe game of goban.
Coming near, the woodman took arespectful attitude and,
(23:44):
looking on, soon becameinterested in the moves of the
players.
So, far from being at alldisconcerted at the presence of
a stranger, the two fairiesseemed, by eye-winks, to invite
him to look on.
Feeling quite proud to be thushonored, kiyo-wi leaning his
(24:08):
chin upon the handle of his axe,became absorbed in the game and
by and by grew quite excited.
Forgetting himself and hismanners, he stretched forth his
right hand to move one of thepieces.
At once, the fairy nearest tohim gave him a crack on the
(24:33):
fingers for his impudence andjerked Kiyoi's arm away.
Then, without saying a word, hetook out from his wallet
something that looked like apersimmon seed and put it in the
woodman's mouth.
After this, all three wereperfectly quiet.
(25:01):
Hour after hour, the gameproceeded and the players grew
more intensely interested.
As for QIU, his eyes neverwinked so hard did he look at
the yellow board covered withthe black and white pieces,
covered with the black and whitepieces.
(25:22):
Several times when he thoughthe saw how the fairy on his
right could beat in the game orthe one on his left make a
better move.
He felt like telling one or theother.
So when, however, he tried tomove his tongue, he found he
(25:47):
could not speak or utter a cry.
Somehow he felt as if he werein a dream.
Yet all the time he became moreand more wrapped up in the game
, so that he determined to seethe end of it and know which
player had beaten.
He forgot that with mountainspirits there is no night or
(26:09):
morning or passing of the hours,nor do they care anything about
clocks or bells, because inFairyland there is no time.
Because in fairyland there isno time.
All the while Kielwee wasleaning with his chin on the
stout axe handle, holding itwith both hands under his neck,
(26:37):
he took no note of the sun orstars, daylight or darkness, and
he felt no hunger.
Suddenly, the timber of his axeseemed to turn to dust and his
chin fell.
The next thing he knew he hadlost his support.
(26:57):
Down went his head and forwardfell his body as he tumbled over
, upsetting the checkerboard,breaking up the game and
scattering the round pieceshither and yon over the ground.
Awaking as out of a sleep andthoroughly ashamed of himself
(27:20):
for his simple lightness, hetried to pick himself up and
humbly apologized for theaccident which he had caused by
his own rudeness.
He expected and was ready for agood scolding, but when he
looked up, the fairies were gone.
Nothing whatever was seen ofthem or of the playboard and
(27:45):
checkers, nor any signs of themhaving been there, except that
when he put his hand on the flatstones which they had used as
seats.
He found them warm to his touch, but where was his axe handle?
And what had happened when hehad left home?
(28:13):
He had come straight from thebarber shop with his face,
smooth and clean-shaven.
Now he put his hand to hisbreast and found that he had
grown a long white beard.
As for the iron axe head, itwas there, but rusty and half
buried in the ground.
He had worn one of the bigfarmer's hats which, when turned
(28:36):
upside down, might hold abushel or two of turnips and,
when fastened to his head,spread over his shoulders like a
roof.
Where could it be?
He looked about him to find it,but saw only the bits of the
slats inside the frame and a fewscraps of what remained, for
(28:59):
the rest had long ago rottedaway.
Meanwhile he had discoveredthat his joints were stiff and
he felt like an old man.
His clothes were a mass of rags, his hemp sandals were no more,
and on both fingers and toeshad grown long nails like burrs
(29:24):
claws.
His hair had burst its topknotstring and hung down his back
like a woman's.
Only it was grayish white.
Wondering what it all meant,kielwee hobbled down the
(29:44):
mountain and found the road thatran into the main street of his
village.
Rocks and hills, rivers andrills were there.
But what a change.
Instead of the two grinningidle posts of male and female
faces carved out of trunks andtrees with sawed out teeth
(30:09):
painted white, and artificialear flaps of wood nailed on,
there was a line of high thickpoles with iron wires stretching
from one to the other and formiles in the distance.
These, he found out afterwards,were called telegraph poles.
(30:30):
In place of the rambling andsprawling three-sided thatched
houses and yards divided offwith mats hung from sticks,
there was a well-built butodd-looking office of painted
wood with openings through whichhe saw young men sitting.
They were dressed in strangeclothes and were fingering
(30:56):
outlandish-looking, clickinginstruments clicking instruments
.
His curiosity prompted him to goup and look more closely when
something bumped against hisnose and nearly knocked him over
.
When he tried again to getcloser, his face was flattened,
(31:18):
his nose nearly broken and hislips knocked against his teeth
so that they swelled.
Feeling with his hands to solvethe mystery, he touched
something hard which he couldyet see through.
Just then he heard a young maninside shout to him here you,
(31:42):
mountain daddy, leave that glassalone.
Glass Glass, thought, kill we.
What is that?
Yet he could not speak.
He had hardly drawn a longbreath when, looking down along
(32:05):
two lines of shining iron in thestreet, he saw a house on
wheels coming right at him.
There was no horse, no donkey,no bull, no man pulling or
pushing it, but overhead was along pole, at the end of which
were a touch of string, as hethought, though it was, an iron
(32:28):
wire, was something that lookedlike a squirrel.
It was going round and round asif turning somersaults, and
seemed to be pushing the movinghouse along.
Inside, near the same stuffwhich he had already heard was
glass, sat a dozen or so people,the whole thing wheels and all
(32:55):
nearly ran him over as itthundered by and his mouth
opened in wonder, while a man onthe end shouted rudely Hello
old goblin, where did you getyour pumpkin mouth?
Look out or you'll swallow themoon.
Get out of the way of thetrolley.
(33:17):
Thus did the man they calledconductor or guard make fun of
the poor old fellow, for indeedhe did look like one of the
mummers who, on New Year's Eve,amused or scared the children by
putting on their shoulders thehuge round devil heads and false
faces, masks shaped like amelon with cut out eyes, nose
(33:43):
and mouth, like those whichAmerican boys have fun with on
All Hallows Eve.
This was just the trouble.
The woodman in tatters with notop knot, long hair down his
back and a white beard floatingover his breast, leaning on a
(34:04):
long white stick as he hobbleddown the street, looked just
like one of them.
When one of these mountain men,odd creatures that were half
savage in dress and ways, cameinto town, all the children
laughed and the big dogs barkedwhile the little ones ran away,
(34:29):
for the sight was so unusual.
Even the bulls bellowed, thedonkeys balked and the pigs
squeaked.
As Kilwee came near, no wonderhe was taken for a mountain
granddaddy or a bumpkin dressedlike one, for few of the city or
village folks had really everseen one of the mountain men,
(34:53):
any more than they had seentigers that are plentiful
farther away but which only thehunters ever caught sight of,
but which only the hunter hasever caught sight of.
More and more bewildered,kielwee wended his way further
into the town.
(35:13):
He saw that the men no longerwore top knots, nor did the lads
have a long braid down theirback which showed that they were
youths and not married yet.
Just then, some rough boys,supposing that maybe some rustic
(35:39):
gawk had mistaken the time ofyear, jeered at him and cried
Hello hermit, do you think it'sNew Year's Eve?
Kill Wee thought he had betterask some questions.
So, catching sight of adignified-looking gentleman in
black, broad-brimmed hat andflowing white clothes, who was
(36:00):
coming down the street andtoward him, Kill Wee bowed his
head low, almost to the ground.
As he did so, the stone put inhis mouth by the fairies dropped
out and his tongue was loosened.
He inquired, exalted Sir, canyou tell me where may be the
(36:22):
wretched hut of my miserablewife and children?
She was the daughter of Ji Kim,and your contemptible slave is
Kiel Wee.
The gentleman whose dress showedthat he was a scholar and a
person of rank looked long andhard at the questioner to
(36:42):
satisfy himself that he was notbeing mocked or imposed upon by
a jester and then cried Heavensman, are you a beggar spirit of
the mountains?
Your speech sounds like thedialect spoken in these parts
500 years ago.
(37:03):
In that time such a familylived here, but the head of it,
a woodcutter, is reported tohave gone up into the mountains
and was eaten up by a tiger.
Yonder in the graveyard areburied ten or more generations
of his descendants.
Down during the graveyard areburied ten or more generations
(37:27):
of his descendants.
Tell me kind, sir, what hashappened here since King Wang
died?
It was under his reign that Iwas born and lived in this
village.
(37:47):
Still eyeing the questioner asif expecting to see him jump out
of his rags and declare himselfa mummer and the whole affair a
joke, the kindly gentlemanproceeded to give an outline the
history.
During the previous fivehundred years there had been
many kings and great wars.
The most recent was just overand now.
People rode in cars, talkedhundreds of miles over wires and
(38:12):
traveled over iron rails asfast as a dragon could fly,
drawn by a steel horse thatdrank water and fed on wood and
black stones that burned.
In a word, it was the era ofcivilization.
(38:34):
This was too much for Kilwi.
He now realized that he hadlived ten times longer than the
average man.
So, hobbling over to thegraveyard, he stumbled among the
mounds until he found that oneof his clan where the bones of
(38:57):
his wife and children lay.
The next morning, all that wasseen of Kilwi was a mass of dust
, rags, some bones and much longwhite hair, and much long white
hair.
Yet when they buried him theresprang up around and on his
(39:22):
grave strange flowers that noone had ever seen in city or
village, but which bloomed onlyon the high mountains ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶
(41:19):
, ¶¶, ¶¶.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶.
(48:10):
© transcript Emily Beynon.
¶¶, ¶¶, © transcript EmilyBeynon.
Welcome to Dreamful Podcast bedtime stories for
slumber.
I have just gotten back from apodcast conference where I
talked to hundreds and hundredsof people and I got sick, so I
cannot record a full episodethis week, so instead I am going
to be sharing with you asubscriber-only episode that I
(00:42):
really enjoyed from about a yearago.
I hope you love the Woodmen andthe Mountain Fairies just as
much as I do.
So snuggle up in your blanketsand have sweet dreams.
¶¶.
(01:44):
Over half thousand years agothere lived in a northern
village a woodcutter namedKilwee.
He owned a sturdy bull thatcarried on its back the fuel
which he daily cut on themountains and sold on the main
street of his village.
At the fair which was heldevery fifth day, the docile
brute could carry a load ofsticks and brushwood, piled many
(02:06):
feet high over his head andtied down with ropes so that at
a distance nothing but his legswere visible.
This beast, also huge, was thegentlest creature imaginable.
The children were all very fondof the big fellow and were
(02:28):
accustomed to play with him asif he were one of them, or at
least like a pet dog.
The reason of this was thatwhen but a week old, the bull
calf had been taken from his cowmother and brought up in the
family with the girls and boys.
Only the puppy dog that alsooccupied the house with the
(02:53):
young folks was a great favorite.
On a fine summer morning,kielwee, leaving his beast
behind, went up on the mountainand cut enough wood to load up
and bring down on another day,told him to be sure and be home
(03:24):
in time for supper, for theireldest son had gone a-fishing
and a good string of perch wasexpected.
Shouldering his axe, he startedup the mountain path.
He had to go pretty far fornear towns or cities, although
timber had long since been cutaway.
(03:46):
Every year the woodmen have tosearch farther afield to find
fuel.
Arriving in the woods wherethere was a clearing, kiel Wee
prepared to wield his trusty axe.
He was about to take off hisbig hat and outer coat and lay
(04:11):
about him when he spied at somedistance off two fairy-like
beings.
They had long hair, looked verywise and were dressed in
costume of the Chao dynasty of2,000 years ago.
They sat on stones and playedthe game of goban.
(04:34):
Coming near, the woodmen, tooka respectful attitude and,
looking on, soon becameinterested in the moves of the
players.
So, far from being at alldisconcerted at the presence of
a stranger, the two fairiesseemed by eye-winks to invite
(04:57):
him to look on.
Feeling quite proud to be thushonored, kiu-wi, leaning his
chin upon the handle of his axe,became absorbed in the game and
, by and by, grew quite excited.
Forgetting himself and hismanners, he stretched forth his
(05:20):
right hand to move one of thepieces.
His right hand to move one ofthe pieces At once, the fairy
nearest to him gave him a crackon the fingers for his impudence
and jerked Kiwi's arm away.
Then, without saying a word, hetook out from his wallet
(05:42):
something that looked like apersimmon seed and put it in the
woodman's mouth.
After this, all three wereperfectly quiet.
Hour after hour, the gameproceeded and the players grew
(06:04):
more intensely interested.
As for QI, his eyes neverwinked.
So hard did he look at theyellow board covered with the
black and white pieces Severaltimes when he thought he saw how
the fairy on his right couldbeat in the game or the one on
(06:27):
his left make a better move.
He felt like telling one of theother.
So when, however, he tried tomove his tongue, he found he
could not speak or utter a cry.
Somehow he felt as if he werein a dream.
(06:47):
Yet all the time he became moreand more wrapped up in the game
, so that he determined to seethe end of it and know which
player had beaten.
He forgot that with mountainspirits there is no night or
morning or passing of the hours,nor do they care anything about
(07:13):
clocks or bells, because inFairyland there is no time.
All the while, kielwee wasleaning with his chin on the
stout axe handle, holding itwith both hands under his neck.
He took no note of the sun orstars, daylight or darkness, and
(07:37):
he felt no hunger.
Suddenly, the timber of his axeseemed to turn to dust and his
chin fell.
The next thing he knew he hadlost his support.
(07:59):
Down went his head and forwardfell his body as he tumbled over
, upsetting the checkerboard,breaking up the game and
scattering the round pieceshither and yon over the ground.
Awaking as out of a sleep andthoroughly ashamed of himself
for his impoliteness, he triedto pick himself up and humbly
(08:22):
apologized for the accidentwhich he had caused by his own
rudeness.
He expected and was ready for agood scolding, but when he
looked up, the fairies were gone.
Nothing whatever was seen ofthem, or of the playboard and
checkers, nor any signs of themhaving been there, except that
(08:47):
when he put his hand on the flatstones which they had used as
seats, he found them warm to histouch.
But where was his axe handle?
And what had happened when hehad left home?
He had come straight from thebarber shop with his face,
(09:09):
smooth and clean-shaven.
Now he put his hand to hisbreast and found that he had
grown a long white beard.
As for the iron axe head, itwas there, but rusty and half
buried in the ground.
He had worn one of the bigfarmer's hats which, when turned
(09:33):
upside down, might hold abushel or two of turnips and,
when fastened to his head,spread over his shoulders like a
roof.
Where could it be?
He looked about him to find it,but saw only the bits of the
slats inside the frame and a fewscraps of what remained, for
(09:56):
the rest had long ago rottedaway.
Meanwhile he had discoveredthat his joints were stiff and
he felt like an old man.
His clothes were a mass of rags, his hemp sandals were no more,
and on both fingers and toeshad grown long nails like burr's
(10:21):
claws.
His hair had burst its topknotstring and hung down his back
like a woman's.
Only it was grayish-white.
Wondering what it all meant,kielwee hobbled down the
(10:41):
mountain and found the road thatran into the main street of his
village.
Rocks and hills, rivers andrills were there.
But what a change.
Instead of the two grinningidle posts of male and female
faces carved out of trunks andtrees with sawed-out teeth
(11:06):
painted white and artificial earflaps of wood nailed on, there
was a line of high thick poleswith iron wires stretching from
one to the other and for milesin the distance.
These, he found out afterwards,were called telegraph poles.
(11:27):
In place of the rambling andsprawling three-sided thatched
houses and yards divided offwith mats hung from sticks,
there was a well-built butodd-looking office of painted
wood with openings through whichhe saw young men sitting.
They were dressed in strangeclothes and were fingering
(11:53):
outlandish-looking clickinginstruments.
His curiosity prompted him to goup and look more closely when
something bumped against hisnose and nearly knocked him over
.
When he tried again to getcloser, his face was flattened,
(12:15):
his nose nearly broken and hislips knocked against his teeth
so that they swelled.
Feeling with his hands to solvethe mystery, he touched
something hard which he couldyet see through.
Just then he heard a young maninside shout to him here you,
(12:39):
mountain daddy, leave that glassalone.
Glass, glass, glass.
Thought to kill.
We leave that glass alone,glass glass, thought Kilwi.
What is that?
Yet he could not speak.
He had hardly drawn a longbreath when, looking down along
(13:02):
two lines of shining iron in thestreet, he saw a house on
wheels coming right at him.
There was no horse, no donkey,no bull, no man pulling or
pushing it, but overhead was along pole at the end of which
were a touch of string, as hethought, but it was an iron wire
(13:26):
, was something that looked likea squirrel.
It was going round and round asif turning somersaults, and
seemed to be pushing the movinghouse along.
Inside, near the same stuffwhich he had already heard was
glass, sat a dozen or so people,the whole thing wheels and all
(13:56):
nearly ran him over as itthundered by and his mouth
opened in wonder, while a man onthe end shouted rudely Hello
old goblin, where did you getyour pumpkin mouth?
Look out on your small the moon, get out of the way of the
trolley.
Thus did the man they calledconductor or guard make fun of
(14:23):
the poor old fellow, for indeed,he did look like one of the
mummers who, on New Year's Eve,amuse or scare the children by
putting on their shoulders thehuge round devil heads and false
faces, masks shaped like amelon with cut out eyes, nose
and mouth, like those whichAmerican boys have fun with on
(14:46):
All Hallows' Eve.
This was just the trouble thewoodman in tatters with no
topknot, long hair down his backand a white beard floating over
his breast, leaning on a longwhite stick as he hobbled down
the street.
It looked just like one of them.
(15:11):
When one of these mountain menodd creatures that were
half-savage in dress and wayscame into town, all the children
laughed and the big dogs barkedwhile the little ones ran away,
for the sight was so unusual.
(15:32):
Even the bulls bellowed, thedonkeys balked and the pigs
squeaked.
As Kilwee came near, no wonderhe was taken for a mountain grad
daddy or a bumpkin dressed likeone, for few of the city or
village folks had really everseen one of the mountain men,
any more than they had seentigers that are plentiful
(15:53):
farther away but which only thehunters ever caught sight of.
More and more bewildered,kielwee wended his way further
into the town.
He saw that the men no longerwore top knots, nor did the lads
(16:15):
have a long braid down theirback which showed that they were
youths but not married.
Yet.
Just then, some rough boys,supposing that maybe some rustic
gawk had mistaken the time ofyear, jeered at him and cried
Hello hermit, do you think it'sNew Year's Eve?
(16:38):
Kilwee thought he had betterask some questions.
So, catching sight of adignified-looking gentleman in
black, broad-brimmed hat andflowing white clothes, who was
coming down the street andtoward him, kilwi bowed his head
(16:59):
low, almost to the ground.
As he did so, the stone put inhis mouth by the fairies dropped
out and his tongue was loosened.
He inquired, exalted Sir, canyou tell me where may be the
(17:19):
wretched hut of my miserablewife and children?
She was the daughter of Ji Kim,and your contemptible slave is
Kiel Wee.
The gentleman whose dress showedthat he was a scholar and a
person of rank, looked long andhard at the questioner to
(17:39):
satisfy himself that he was notbeing mocked or imposed upon by
a jester, and then cried Heavensman, are you a beggar spirit of
the mountains?
Your speech sounds like thedialect spoken in these parts
five hundred years ago.
(18:00):
In that time such a familylived here, but the head of it,
a woodcutter, is reported tohave gone up into the mountains
and was eaten up by a tigerYonder.
In the graveyard are buried tenor more generations of his
descendants.
Tell me, kind, sir, what hashappened here since King Wang
(18:26):
died?
It was under his reign that Iwas born and lived in this
village.
Still eyeing the questioner asif expecting to see him jump out
of his rags and declare himselfa mummer and the whole affair a
joke, the kindly gentlemanproceeded to give an outline the
(18:50):
history.
During the previous 500 yearsthere have been many kings and
great wars.
The most recent was just overand now people rode in cars,
talked hundreds of miles overwires and traveled over iron
(19:10):
rails as fast as a dragon couldfly, drawn by a steel horse that
drank water and fed on wood andblack stones that burned.
In a word, it was the era ofcivilization.
This was too much for Kilwi.
(19:33):
He now realized that he hadlived ten times longer than the
average man, so, hobbling overto the graveyard, he stumbled
among the mounds until he foundthat one of his clan, where the
(19:53):
bones of his wife and children,lay.
The next morning, all that wasseen of Kilwi was a mass of dust
, rags, some bones and much longwhite hair.
Yet when they buried him, theresprang up around and on his
(20:17):
grave strange flowers that noone had ever seen in city or
village but which bloomed onlyon the high mountains.
(20:39):
Over half thousand years agothere lived in a northern
village a woodcutter namedKilwee.
He owned a sturdy bull thatcarried on its back the fuel
which he daily cut on themountains and sold on the main
street of his village at thefair which was held every fifth
(21:03):
day.
The docile brute could carry aload of sticks and brushwood,
piled many feet high over hishead and tied down with ropes so
that at a distance nothing buthis legs were visible.
This beast, also huge, was thegentlest creature imaginable.
(21:26):
The children were all very fondof the big fellow and were
accustomed to play with him asif he were one of them, or at
least like a pet dog.
The reason of this was thatwhen but a week old, the bull
calf had been taken from his cowmother and brought up in the
(21:49):
family with the girls and boys,only the puppy dog that also
occupied the house with theyoung folks was a great favorite
.
On a fine summer morning,kielwee, leaving his beast
(22:09):
behind, went up on the mountainand cut enough wood to load up
and bring down on another day.
His wife, as she shoutedgoodbye, told him to be sure and
be home in time for supper, fortheir eldest son had gone
(22:30):
a-fishing and a good string ofperch was expected.
Shouldering his axe, he startedup the mountain path.
He had to go pretty far fornear towns or cities, although
timber had long since been cutaway.
Every year the woodmen have tosearch farther afield to find
(22:56):
fuel.
Arriving in the woods wherethere was a clearing keel, we
prepared to wield his trusty axe.
He was about to take off hisbig hat and outer coat and lay
about him when he spied, somedistance off, two fairy-like
(23:21):
beings.
They had long hair, looked verywise and were dressed in
costume of the Chao dynasty oftwo thousand years ago.
They sat on stones and playedthe game of goban.
Coming near, the woodman took arespectful attitude and,
(23:44):
looking on, soon becameinterested in the moves of the
players.
So, far from being at alldisconcerted at the presence of
a stranger, the two fairiesseemed, by eye-winks, to invite
him to look on.
Feeling quite proud to be thushonored, kiyo-wi leaning his
(24:08):
chin upon the handle of his axe,became absorbed in the game and
by and by grew quite excited.
Forgetting himself and hismanners, he stretched forth his
right hand to move one of thepieces.
At once, the fairy nearest tohim gave him a crack on the
(24:33):
fingers for his impudence andjerked Kiyoi's arm away.
Then, without saying a word, hetook out from his wallet
something that looked like apersimmon seed and put it in the
woodman's mouth.
After this, all three wereperfectly quiet.
(25:01):
Hour after hour, the gameproceeded and the players grew
more intensely interested.
As for QIU, his eyes neverwinked so hard did he look at
the yellow board covered withthe black and white pieces,
covered with the black and whitepieces.
(25:22):
Several times when he thoughthe saw how the fairy on his
right could beat in the game orthe one on his left make a
better move.
He felt like telling one or theother.
So when, however, he tried tomove his tongue, he found he
(25:47):
could not speak or utter a cry.
Somehow he felt as if he werein a dream.
Yet all the time he became moreand more wrapped up in the game
, so that he determined to seethe end of it and know which
player had beaten.
He forgot that with mountainspirits there is no night or
(26:09):
morning or passing of the hours,nor do they care anything about
clocks or bells, because inFairyland there is no time.
Because in fairyland there isno time.
All the while Kielwee wasleaning with his chin on the
stout axe handle, holding itwith both hands under his neck,
(26:37):
he took no note of the sun orstars, daylight or darkness, and
he felt no hunger.
Suddenly, the timber of his axeseemed to turn to dust and his
chin fell.
The next thing he knew he hadlost his support.
(26:57):
Down went his head and forwardfell his body as he tumbled over
, upsetting the checkerboard,breaking up the game and
scattering the round pieceshither and yon over the ground.
Awaking as out of a sleep andthoroughly ashamed of himself
(27:20):
for his simple lightness, hetried to pick himself up and
humbly apologized for theaccident which he had caused by
his own rudeness.
He expected and was ready for agood scolding, but when he
looked up, the fairies were gone.
Nothing whatever was seen ofthem or of the playboard and
(27:45):
checkers, nor any signs of themhaving been there, except that
when he put his hand on the flatstones which they had used as
seats.
He found them warm to his touch, but where was his axe handle?
And what had happened when hehad left home?
(28:13):
He had come straight from thebarber shop with his face,
smooth and clean-shaven.
Now he put his hand to hisbreast and found that he had
grown a long white beard.
As for the iron axe head, itwas there, but rusty and half
buried in the ground.
He had worn one of the bigfarmer's hats which, when turned
(28:36):
upside down, might hold abushel or two of turnips and,
when fastened to his head,spread over his shoulders like a
roof.
Where could it be?
He looked about him to find it,but saw only the bits of the
slats inside the frame and a fewscraps of what remained, for
(28:59):
the rest had long ago rottedaway.
Meanwhile he had discoveredthat his joints were stiff and
he felt like an old man.
His clothes were a mass of rags, his hemp sandals were no more,
and on both fingers and toeshad grown long nails like burrs
(29:24):
claws.
His hair had burst its topknotstring and hung down his back
like a woman's.
Only it was grayish white.
Wondering what it all meant,kielwee hobbled down the
(29:44):
mountain and found the road thatran into the main street of his
village.
Rocks and hills, rivers andrills were there.
But what a change.
Instead of the two grinningidle posts of male and female
faces carved out of trunks andtrees with sawed out teeth
(30:09):
painted white, and artificialear flaps of wood nailed on,
there was a line of high thickpoles with iron wires stretching
from one to the other and formiles in the distance.
These, he found out afterwards,were called telegraph poles.
(30:30):
In place of the rambling andsprawling three-sided thatched
houses and yards divided offwith mats hung from sticks,
there was a well-built butodd-looking office of painted
wood with openings through whichhe saw young men sitting.
They were dressed in strangeclothes and were fingering
(30:56):
outlandish-looking, clickinginstruments clicking instruments
.
His curiosity prompted him to goup and look more closely when
something bumped against hisnose and nearly knocked him over
.
When he tried again to getcloser, his face was flattened,
(31:18):
his nose nearly broken and hislips knocked against his teeth
so that they swelled.
Feeling with his hands to solvethe mystery, he touched
something hard which he couldyet see through.
Just then he heard a young maninside shout to him here you,
(31:42):
mountain daddy, leave that glassalone.
Glass Glass, thought, kill we.
What is that?
Yet he could not speak.
He had hardly drawn a longbreath when, looking down along
(32:05):
two lines of shining iron in thestreet, he saw a house on
wheels coming right at him.
There was no horse, no donkey,no bull, no man pulling or
pushing it, but overhead was along pole, at the end of which
were a touch of string, as hethought, though it was, an iron
(32:28):
wire, was something that lookedlike a squirrel.
It was going round and round asif turning somersaults, and
seemed to be pushing the movinghouse along.
Inside, near the same stuffwhich he had already heard was
glass, sat a dozen or so people,the whole thing wheels and all
(32:55):
nearly ran him over as itthundered by and his mouth
opened in wonder, while a man onthe end shouted rudely Hello
old goblin, where did you getyour pumpkin mouth?
Look out or you'll swallow themoon.
Get out of the way of thetrolley.
(33:17):
Thus did the man they calledconductor or guard make fun of
the poor old fellow, for indeedhe did look like one of the
mummers who, on New Year's Eve,amused or scared the children by
putting on their shoulders thehuge round devil heads and false
faces, masks shaped like amelon with cut out eyes, nose
(33:43):
and mouth, like those whichAmerican boys have fun with on
All Hallows Eve.
This was just the trouble.
The woodman in tatters with notop knot, long hair down his
back and a white beard floatingover his breast, leaning on a
(34:04):
long white stick as he hobbleddown the street, looked just
like one of them.
When one of these mountain men,odd creatures that were half
savage in dress and ways, cameinto town, all the children
laughed and the big dogs barkedwhile the little ones ran away,
(34:29):
for the sight was so unusual.
Even the bulls bellowed, thedonkeys balked and the pigs
squeaked.
As Kilwee came near, no wonderhe was taken for a mountain
granddaddy or a bumpkin dressedlike one, for few of the city or
village folks had really everseen one of the mountain men,
(34:53):
any more than they had seentigers that are plentiful
farther away but which only thehunters ever caught sight of,
but which only the hunter hasever caught sight of.
More and more bewildered,kielwee wended his way further
into the town.
(35:13):
He saw that the men no longerwore top knots, nor did the lads
have a long braid down theirback which showed that they were
youths and not married yet.
Just then, some rough boys,supposing that maybe some rustic
(35:39):
gawk had mistaken the time ofyear, jeered at him and cried
Hello hermit, do you think it'sNew Year's Eve?
Kill Wee thought he had betterask some questions.
So, catching sight of adignified-looking gentleman in
black, broad-brimmed hat andflowing white clothes, who was
(36:00):
coming down the street andtoward him, Kill Wee bowed his
head low, almost to the ground.
As he did so, the stone put inhis mouth by the fairies dropped
out and his tongue was loosened.
He inquired, exalted Sir, canyou tell me where may be the
(36:22):
wretched hut of my miserablewife and children?
She was the daughter of Ji Kim,and your contemptible slave is
Kiel Wee.
The gentleman whose dress showedthat he was a scholar and a
person of rank looked long andhard at the questioner to
(36:42):
satisfy himself that he was notbeing mocked or imposed upon by
a jester and then cried Heavensman, are you a beggar spirit of
the mountains?
Your speech sounds like thedialect spoken in these parts
500 years ago.
(37:03):
In that time such a familylived here, but the head of it,
a woodcutter, is reported tohave gone up into the mountains
and was eaten up by a tiger.
Yonder in the graveyard areburied ten or more generations
of his descendants.
Down during the graveyard areburied ten or more generations
(37:27):
of his descendants.
Tell me kind, sir, what hashappened here since King Wang
died?
It was under his reign that Iwas born and lived in this
village.
(37:47):
Still eyeing the questioner asif expecting to see him jump out
of his rags and declare himselfa mummer and the whole affair a
joke, the kindly gentlemanproceeded to give an outline the
history.
During the previous fivehundred years there had been
many kings and great wars.
The most recent was just overand now.
People rode in cars, talkedhundreds of miles over wires and
(38:12):
traveled over iron rails asfast as a dragon could fly,
drawn by a steel horse thatdrank water and fed on wood and
black stones that burned.
In a word, it was the era ofcivilization.
(38:34):
This was too much for Kilwi.
He now realized that he hadlived ten times longer than the
average man.
So, hobbling over to thegraveyard, he stumbled among the
mounds until he found that oneof his clan where the bones of
(38:57):
his wife and children lay.
The next morning, all that wasseen of Kilwi was a mass of dust
, rags, some bones and much longwhite hair, and much long white
hair.
Yet when they buried him theresprang up around and on his
(39:22):
grave strange flowers that noone had ever seen in city or
village, but which bloomed onlyon the high mountains ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶
(41:19):
, ¶¶, ¶¶.
Speaker 2 (43:26):
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶, ¶¶.
(48:10):
© transcript Emily Beynon.
¶¶, ¶¶, © transcript EmilyBeynon.
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