August 20, 2025 • 10 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty eight, How a little burden may grow to
be a grievous one, story of a man with a
monkey in his hood, My terrible suffering concerning the awful
panic that seized upon the Colti Corps, my visit to
the deserted ice Palace, and what happened to Fuffkuja end
of his brief but strange career a frozen kiss on
(00:22):
a blade of horn, Or how Shneboulay chose a husband, Ah,
little princess. How easy was it for thee to say
that I would soon grow accustomed to the slender burden,
And note it no more? How prone are we to
call light the burdens which we lay upon the shoulders
of others for our own benefit. True, Fuffkujo was not
as long as a horse, nor as broad as an ox.
(00:44):
And when in accordance with the King's decree, the hood
had been completed, and the little animal who stowed away
therein close against my back, so as to get a
goodly share of the warmth of my body, it seemed
to me that Shneboulay was right, that I would soon
become accustomed to the load, and noted no, And so
it seemed the second and third day, but not on
the fourth, for on that day the little load appeared
(01:06):
to have gained somewhat in weight, and although I was
quick to feign that it was not so, when Princess
Shneboulet quizzed me, saying, dear little Baron, did I not
tell thee that thou wouldst soon? Forget that Fuffkujak slept
on thy shoulders, and in my heart I felt that
he really had grown a mite heavier. On the fifth day,
Bulgar and I were bidden to a merry making at
(01:26):
the Palace of Ice, and as I rose from my
divan to betake me thither, methought, I was strangely heavy hearted,
and so did Bulgar, for he made several efforts to
draw a smile or a cheery tone from me, but
in vain. Suddenly I realized that there was a weight
pressing against my back. No, not a heavy weight, but
a weight all the same. And then I whispered to myself,
(01:48):
why if I am going to be a merry making,
I'll cast it off? And then I wakened from my
deep abstraction and murmured, how strange that I should have
forgotten the Fuffkuja was in my hood, and so I
went to the merry making with Fuffkuja nestled between my shoulders,
and the Colti corpse laughed at the little baron and
his child, as they called him, and drew near and
(02:09):
raised the flap and peeped in at the curious creature
within the hood. And when Fuffkujov felt their icy breasths,
he buried his nose in the fir and sighed and whimpered.
Then for a moment, when the Princess Shnebule came and
sat beside me and praised me for my readiness to
carry out her wishes, and thanked me so sweetly for
my goodness to her, I forgot all about the little
(02:29):
load laid upon me, and I ate the frozen tidbits
from the royal kitchen and laughed and joked with Lord's
frosty Fizz and glacier Boy, just as had been my
wont before Gelidus had decreed that Fuffkujo should make his
bed on my shoulders. But when the fete was over,
and I stepped from the broad portal of the Ice
Palace and looked up at the mighty lens set in
the mountain side, through which the moonlight of the outer
(02:51):
world was streaming in subdued but glorious splendor. I suddenly
felt my legs bend under me. I staggered from right
to left. I clutched at shadows. I was, it seemed
to me, about to be crushed beneath a terrible burden.
I quickened my pace, I broke into a run. I
threw my arms into the air, as if I would
cast off the wake that was smothering me. And so
(03:12):
I came to my lodging, puffing, panting, gasping. Why What
a fool? Was my first word when I had got
my breath. It's only little fuff could john my back?
Stowed away in my fur hood, I must be beside
myself to a thought that a great monster was seated there,
and that he was gradually pressing me down, crushing the
life out of me by degrees, flattening me to the
(03:35):
very ground, and I not able to escape from his
terrible embrace or to squirm out from under his awful
limbs wrapped around my neck and body. All night long,
this monster was clinging to me and urging me to
a faster pace. Up and down, across and around I
knew not where, on bootless errands, ending only to begin
again on searches after nothing hidden nowhere, trying a thousand
(03:57):
lids and finding every one law, returning home, only to
go forth again, up and away and out on interminable highways,
vanishing in a point far on ahead, with that grievous
burden forever on my shoulders, growing heavier and heavier, till
it seemed that I must go down with it into
the dust. But no, it knew full well that it
must not ride me to death. So when I was
(04:18):
ready to drop, it throw off part of its weight
to give me courage to begin again. When the morning came,
my pulse was galloping, and my cheeks were on fire.
I could feel the blood pounding against my temples, and
it was natural that my face should be crimsoned over
with the flush of fever. Half in a daze, I
walked forth toward the grand staircase leading up to the
(04:39):
Ice Palace, when suddenly I was startled by a fearful scream.
I halted and looked up when another and another burst
upond my ears. The terrified colti quarts were fleeing before
me in every direction, shrieking as they fled. Fly, brothers Fly.
The little baron is burning. The little baron is burning. Fly,
brothers Fly. In a few moments, terror had seized upon
(05:02):
every living creature in the icy domain of King Gelidas.
They fled from me in mad haste, taking refuge in
the distant caverns and corridors, filling the air with their
wild outcries, no one being brave enough to halt and
take a second look. My inflamed countenance filled them with
such awful terror that they could only tear along and cry, Fly,
brothers fly. The little baron is burning. The little baron
(05:25):
is burning. With bulgar at my heels, I turned and
sprang up the staircase, with the intention of seeking out
King Gelidas and explaining the matter to him. But he
too had fled, and with him every sentinel and serving man,
every courtier and counselor. The palace was as still as death.
I hastened through its silent corridors, calling out, Schnebeleh, Princess Schnebeley,
(05:48):
Surely there are not afraid of me. Turn back, I
will not harm thee I'm not burning. Turn back, Oh,
turn back with this I reached the throne room, not
a living creature was to be seen. The vast chamber
was still as death. I staggered to a divan, and,
pillowing my poor aching head on a cushion, I fell
into a sound and refreshing sleep. When I awoke, I
(06:10):
rubbed my eyes and looked about me, and at first
I thought that I was still alone in the great
round chamber with its walls of ice. But no there
on the divan sat Schnebuleh, and she smiled and said,
in mock displeasure, thou art not a very watchful nurse,
little Baron, For in thy sleep thou didst squeeze fuff
Guja so tightly against a cushion, and he crawled out
from thy hood and nestled in my arms in thy arm, Schneebuleh,
(06:33):
I exclaimed breathlessly, for I feared for the worst, and
springing up, I drew aside the soft belt which she
had wrapped around fuff Guja, and there they dead. Poor
little beast had been so happy to crawl into the
arms of one he loved so dearly, and had cuddled
up closer and closer to her in search of greater warmth,
but only to come nearer and nearer to a heart
that could not warm him. And so the insidious chill
(06:56):
of death, which bringeth sweet and pleasant drowsiness with it,
had stole over him, and he had died. And Schnebule's tears,
freezing as they fell, now showered like the gentle hail
of tiny gems upon the little lead beasts. No longer
fuff Cujay, but once again the little man with the
frozen smile. Presently the Colti corps were recovered from their
(07:19):
senseless fear, and first one by one, then group wise
they returned to their homes, King Gelidus and his court,
coming back too, to the fair palace which they had
abandoned in their wild fright. When the cry had gone up,
the little baron was burning. Everybody was sorry to hear
that fuff Cuja had died the second time. And many
were the frozen tears that dropped from the chilly cheeks
(07:41):
of the Colti corpse as they looked upon the little
man with a frozen smile as he lay on the
white pelt beside the Princess Schnebelet. That day we bore
him back to the ice grotto, and having laid him
in the hollow molded by his body in the crystal block,
it was closed again so skillfully by the king's quarrymen
that no eye was keen enough to note where the
cleavage had been, and the same uncanny glint was in
(08:04):
his eyes. And when the Colti corps saw this, their
icy hearts felt a cold shiver of satisfaction. For not
only was the little man with a frozen smile, back
in his crystal cell again, but all the fears and
dreadful fancies which his coming to life again had given
rise to, were past and gone forever in peace and
quiet and sweet contentment rained throughout the icy realm of
(08:25):
his frigid Majesty Galadas, King of the Colti Corpse. Now
nothing remained to make his cold heart crack with joy
but to see his beloved child Sneeberly make choice of
a husband, and he had not long to wait for
one day. Upon entering the palace, she saw a youth
lying at the foot of the stairway, overcome with sleep.
In one hand he held an alabaster lamp, and in
(08:46):
the other a new wick, which he was about to
fit into it for the youth was a lamp trimmer
in the ice palace of King Galidas, And when the
Princess Sneberile saw him lying there, overcome with sleep, she
stooped and kissed him on the cheek, and passed on
without another thought about the matter, one way or the other.
And the kiss froze on the cheek of the lamp trimmer,
(09:06):
where Schnebilet had pressed it. Presently, King Gelidas came tramping
into the hallway with his breath white upon his beard,
and he saw the youth lying there, and the frozen
kiss on his cheek, and he bade glacier boy scrape
the delicate frost crystals from the youth's face with a
blade of polished horn. What hast there, father of mine,
asked the princess, when she saw him bearing the blade
(09:27):
of horn along so carefully a kiss which some one
pressed upon the cheek of one of my lamp tremmers,
now lying on the staircase overcome with sleep, replied King Gilidas,
in ringing icy tones. Why, father of mine, exclaimed the
Princess Snebulet, Now that thou speakest of it, I really
believe the kiss is milling, for I recollect kissing someone.
(09:47):
As I entered the palace, I was deep in thought,
but no doubt the youth pleased me as he lay
there asleep, with lamp in one hand and wick in
the other, and that lamp tremor trimmed no more lamps
in the ice palace of his frigid magic Ste Gelidus,
King of the Colti Corpse. No doubt he made Schneebily
a very good husband, and I am quite sure that
she made him a good wife. I would have been
(10:08):
glad to tarry for the nuptial feast, but that was
out of the question. I had stayed too long already.
End of Chapter twenty eight.
Chapter twenty eight, How a little burden may grow to
be a grievous one, story of a man with a
monkey in his hood, My terrible suffering concerning the awful
panic that seized upon the Colti Corps, my visit to
the deserted ice Palace, and what happened to Fuffkuja end
of his brief but strange career a frozen kiss on
(00:22):
a blade of horn, Or how Shneboulay chose a husband, Ah,
little princess. How easy was it for thee to say
that I would soon grow accustomed to the slender burden,
And note it no more? How prone are we to
call light the burdens which we lay upon the shoulders
of others for our own benefit. True, Fuffkujo was not
as long as a horse, nor as broad as an ox.
(00:44):
And when in accordance with the King's decree, the hood
had been completed, and the little animal who stowed away
therein close against my back, so as to get a
goodly share of the warmth of my body, it seemed
to me that Shneboulay was right, that I would soon
become accustomed to the load, and noted no, And so
it seemed the second and third day, but not on
the fourth, for on that day the little load appeared
(01:06):
to have gained somewhat in weight, and although I was
quick to feign that it was not so, when Princess
Shneboulet quizzed me, saying, dear little Baron, did I not
tell thee that thou wouldst soon? Forget that Fuffkujak slept
on thy shoulders, and in my heart I felt that
he really had grown a mite heavier. On the fifth day,
Bulgar and I were bidden to a merry making at
(01:26):
the Palace of Ice, and as I rose from my
divan to betake me thither, methought, I was strangely heavy hearted,
and so did Bulgar, for he made several efforts to
draw a smile or a cheery tone from me, but
in vain. Suddenly I realized that there was a weight
pressing against my back. No, not a heavy weight, but
a weight all the same. And then I whispered to myself,
(01:48):
why if I am going to be a merry making,
I'll cast it off? And then I wakened from my
deep abstraction and murmured, how strange that I should have
forgotten the Fuffkuja was in my hood, and so I
went to the merry making with Fuffkuja nestled between my shoulders,
and the Colti corpse laughed at the little baron and
his child, as they called him, and drew near and
(02:09):
raised the flap and peeped in at the curious creature
within the hood. And when Fuffkujov felt their icy breasths,
he buried his nose in the fir and sighed and whimpered.
Then for a moment, when the Princess Shnebule came and
sat beside me and praised me for my readiness to
carry out her wishes, and thanked me so sweetly for
my goodness to her, I forgot all about the little
(02:29):
load laid upon me, and I ate the frozen tidbits
from the royal kitchen and laughed and joked with Lord's
frosty Fizz and glacier Boy, just as had been my
wont before Gelidus had decreed that Fuffkujo should make his
bed on my shoulders. But when the fete was over,
and I stepped from the broad portal of the Ice
Palace and looked up at the mighty lens set in
the mountain side, through which the moonlight of the outer
(02:51):
world was streaming in subdued but glorious splendor. I suddenly
felt my legs bend under me. I staggered from right
to left. I clutched at shadows. I was, it seemed
to me, about to be crushed beneath a terrible burden.
I quickened my pace, I broke into a run. I
threw my arms into the air, as if I would
cast off the wake that was smothering me. And so
(03:12):
I came to my lodging, puffing, panting, gasping. Why What
a fool? Was my first word when I had got
my breath. It's only little fuff could john my back?
Stowed away in my fur hood, I must be beside
myself to a thought that a great monster was seated there,
and that he was gradually pressing me down, crushing the
life out of me by degrees, flattening me to the
(03:35):
very ground, and I not able to escape from his
terrible embrace or to squirm out from under his awful
limbs wrapped around my neck and body. All night long,
this monster was clinging to me and urging me to
a faster pace. Up and down, across and around I
knew not where, on bootless errands, ending only to begin
again on searches after nothing hidden nowhere, trying a thousand
(03:57):
lids and finding every one law, returning home, only to
go forth again, up and away and out on interminable highways,
vanishing in a point far on ahead, with that grievous
burden forever on my shoulders, growing heavier and heavier, till
it seemed that I must go down with it into
the dust. But no, it knew full well that it
must not ride me to death. So when I was
(04:18):
ready to drop, it throw off part of its weight
to give me courage to begin again. When the morning came,
my pulse was galloping, and my cheeks were on fire.
I could feel the blood pounding against my temples, and
it was natural that my face should be crimsoned over
with the flush of fever. Half in a daze, I
walked forth toward the grand staircase leading up to the
(04:39):
Ice Palace, when suddenly I was startled by a fearful scream.
I halted and looked up when another and another burst
upond my ears. The terrified colti quarts were fleeing before
me in every direction, shrieking as they fled. Fly, brothers Fly.
The little baron is burning. The little baron is burning. Fly,
brothers Fly. In a few moments, terror had seized upon
(05:02):
every living creature in the icy domain of King Gelidas.
They fled from me in mad haste, taking refuge in
the distant caverns and corridors, filling the air with their
wild outcries, no one being brave enough to halt and
take a second look. My inflamed countenance filled them with
such awful terror that they could only tear along and cry, Fly,
brothers fly. The little baron is burning. The little baron
(05:25):
is burning. With bulgar at my heels, I turned and
sprang up the staircase, with the intention of seeking out
King Gelidas and explaining the matter to him. But he
too had fled, and with him every sentinel and serving man,
every courtier and counselor. The palace was as still as death.
I hastened through its silent corridors, calling out, Schnebeleh, Princess Schnebeley,
(05:48):
Surely there are not afraid of me. Turn back, I
will not harm thee I'm not burning. Turn back, Oh,
turn back with this I reached the throne room, not
a living creature was to be seen. The vast chamber
was still as death. I staggered to a divan, and,
pillowing my poor aching head on a cushion, I fell
into a sound and refreshing sleep. When I awoke, I
(06:10):
rubbed my eyes and looked about me, and at first
I thought that I was still alone in the great
round chamber with its walls of ice. But no there
on the divan sat Schnebuleh, and she smiled and said,
in mock displeasure, thou art not a very watchful nurse,
little Baron, For in thy sleep thou didst squeeze fuff
Guja so tightly against a cushion, and he crawled out
from thy hood and nestled in my arms in thy arm, Schneebuleh,
(06:33):
I exclaimed breathlessly, for I feared for the worst, and
springing up, I drew aside the soft belt which she
had wrapped around fuff Guja, and there they dead. Poor
little beast had been so happy to crawl into the
arms of one he loved so dearly, and had cuddled
up closer and closer to her in search of greater warmth,
but only to come nearer and nearer to a heart
that could not warm him. And so the insidious chill
(06:56):
of death, which bringeth sweet and pleasant drowsiness with it,
had stole over him, and he had died. And Schnebule's tears,
freezing as they fell, now showered like the gentle hail
of tiny gems upon the little lead beasts. No longer
fuff Cujay, but once again the little man with the
frozen smile. Presently the Colti corps were recovered from their
(07:19):
senseless fear, and first one by one, then group wise
they returned to their homes, King Gelidus and his court,
coming back too, to the fair palace which they had
abandoned in their wild fright. When the cry had gone up,
the little baron was burning. Everybody was sorry to hear
that fuff Cuja had died the second time. And many
were the frozen tears that dropped from the chilly cheeks
(07:41):
of the Colti corpse as they looked upon the little
man with a frozen smile as he lay on the
white pelt beside the Princess Schnebelet. That day we bore
him back to the ice grotto, and having laid him
in the hollow molded by his body in the crystal block,
it was closed again so skillfully by the king's quarrymen
that no eye was keen enough to note where the
cleavage had been, and the same uncanny glint was in
(08:04):
his eyes. And when the Colti corps saw this, their
icy hearts felt a cold shiver of satisfaction. For not
only was the little man with a frozen smile, back
in his crystal cell again, but all the fears and
dreadful fancies which his coming to life again had given
rise to, were past and gone forever in peace and
quiet and sweet contentment rained throughout the icy realm of
(08:25):
his frigid Majesty Galadas, King of the Colti Corpse. Now
nothing remained to make his cold heart crack with joy
but to see his beloved child Sneeberly make choice of
a husband, and he had not long to wait for
one day. Upon entering the palace, she saw a youth
lying at the foot of the stairway, overcome with sleep.
In one hand he held an alabaster lamp, and in
(08:46):
the other a new wick, which he was about to
fit into it for the youth was a lamp trimmer
in the ice palace of King Galidas, And when the
Princess Sneberile saw him lying there, overcome with sleep, she
stooped and kissed him on the cheek, and passed on
without another thought about the matter, one way or the other.
And the kiss froze on the cheek of the lamp trimmer,
(09:06):
where Schnebilet had pressed it. Presently, King Gelidas came tramping
into the hallway with his breath white upon his beard,
and he saw the youth lying there, and the frozen
kiss on his cheek, and he bade glacier boy scrape
the delicate frost crystals from the youth's face with a
blade of polished horn. What hast there, father of mine,
asked the princess, when she saw him bearing the blade
(09:27):
of horn along so carefully a kiss which some one
pressed upon the cheek of one of my lamp tremmers,
now lying on the staircase overcome with sleep, replied King Gilidas,
in ringing icy tones. Why, father of mine, exclaimed the
Princess Snebulet, Now that thou speakest of it, I really
believe the kiss is milling, for I recollect kissing someone.
(09:47):
As I entered the palace, I was deep in thought,
but no doubt the youth pleased me as he lay
there asleep, with lamp in one hand and wick in
the other, and that lamp tremor trimmed no more lamps
in the ice palace of his frigid magic Ste Gelidus,
King of the Colti Corpse. No doubt he made Schneebily
a very good husband, and I am quite sure that
she made him a good wife. I would have been
(10:08):
glad to tarry for the nuptial feast, but that was
out of the question. I had stayed too long already.
End of Chapter twenty eight.
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