Hello my dear friend and welcome back to Drift Off.
I'm your host Joanne.
And tonight's story is one I've been looking forward to sharing with you.
A golden key.
A Soft Dreamlike Fairy Tale by George MacDonald We'll be enjoying this one in two parts.
So tonight is part one of our journey together.
I don't know what kind of day you've had or where in the world you're listening from right now.
But for the next little while,
None of that needs to matter.
This is your time.
So dim the lights if you can.
Sink into your pillow.
And let's begin to set the day down.
Let's take a slow breath together.
Breathe in.
And out.
Feel your body grow soft and heavy where it rests.
Let your forehead smooth.
Let your hands grow still and loose.
There's nothing to hold onto right now.
Not a single thing.
With every breath out.
Picture the day quietly closing behind you.
Like a door easing shut at the end of a long hallway.
You don't need to look back at it.
It's done.
You did enough.
You are safe here.
You are held here.
And there is nowhere else you need to be but exactly where you are.
Let your eyelids grow heavy.
Let your thoughts grow slow and far away.
And let my voice be the only thing left to follow.
Tonight we wander into a quiet golden wood,
Where a small key glints in the grass.
Waiting for someone curious enough to follow where it leads.
We'll only go partway tonight and pick up the rest of the path next week.
So when you're ready.
Let your eyes close.
And let's begin.
There was a boy who used to sit in the twilight and listen to his great-aunt's stories.
She told him that if he could reach the place where the end of the rainbow stands,
He would find there a golden key.
And what is the key for?
The boy would ask.
What is the key of?
What will it open?
That nobody knows,
His aunt would reply.
He has to find that out.
I suppose being gold,
" the boy once said thoughtfully,
That I could get a good deal of money for it if I sold it.
Better never find it than sell it,
Returned his aunt.
And the boy went to bed and dreamed about the golden key.
Not all that his great-aunt told the boy about the Golden Key would have been nonsense,
Had it not been that their little house stood on the borders of Fairyland.
For it is perfectly well known that out of Fairyland Nobody ever can find where the rainbow stands.
The creature takes such good care of its golden key.
Always flitting from place to place,
Lest anyone should find it.
But in Fairyland it is quite different.
Things that look real in this country look very thin indeed in Fairyland.
While some of the things that here cannot stand still for a moment will not move there.
So it was not in the least absurd of the old lady to tell her nephew such things about the golden key.
Did you ever know anybody find it?
" he asked one evening.
Yes,
Your father,
I believe,
Found it.
And what did he do with it?
Can you tell me?
He never told me.
What was it like?
He never showed it to me.
How does a new key come there always?
I don't know.
There it is.
Perhaps it is the rainbow's egg.
Perhaps it is.
You'll be a happy boy if you find the nest.
Perhaps it comes tumbling down the rainbow from the sky.
Perhaps it does.
One evening in summer.
He went into his own room and stood at the lattice window,
And gazed into the forest which fringed the outskirts of Fairyland.
It came close up to his great-aunt's garden and,
Indeed,
Sent some straggling trees into it.
The forest lay to the east,
And the sun,
Which was setting behind the cottage,
Looked straight into the dark wood with its level red eye.
The trees were all old and had few branches below.
So that the son could see a great way into the forest,
And the boy,
Being keen-sighted,
Could see almost as far as the sun.
The trunks stood like rows of red columns in the shine of the red sun.
And he could see down aisle after aisle in the vanishing distance.
And as he gazed into the forest.
He began to feel as if the trees were all waiting for him.
And had something they could not go on with till he came to them.
That he was hungry and wanted his supper.
So he lingered.
Suddenly,
Far among the trees,
As far as the sun could shine,
He saw a glorious thing.
It was the end of a rainbow,
Large and brilliant.
He could count all seven colors,
And could see shade after shade beyond the violet,
While before the red stood a color more gorgeous and mysterious still.
It was a color he had never seen before.
Only the spring of the rainbow arch was visible.
He could see nothing of it above the trees.
The golden key,
He said to himself.
And darted out of the house and into the woods.
He had not gone far before the sun set.
But the rainbow only glowed the brighter.
For the rainbow of Fairyland is not dependent upon the sun as ours is.
The trees welcomed him.
The bushes made way for him.
The rainbow grew larger and brighter.
And at length,
He found himself within two trees of it.
It was a grand sight,
Burning away there in silence,
With its gorgeous,
Its lovely,
Its delicate colors,
Each distinct all combining He could now see a great deal more of it.
It rose high into the blue heavens,
But bent so little that he could not tell how high the crown of the arch must reach.
It was still only a small portion of a huge bowl.
He stood gazing at it till he forgot himself with delight.
Even forgot the key which he had come to seek.
And as he stood,
It grew more wonderful still.
For in each of the colors,
Which was as large as the column of a church.
He could faintly see beautiful forms slowly ascending as if by the steps of a winding stair.
The forms appeared regularly.
Now one.
Now many.
Now several.
Now none.
Men and women and children.
All different.
All beautiful.
He drew nearer to the rainbow.
It vanished.
He started back a step in dismay.
It was there again,
As beautiful as ever.
So he contended himself with standing as near it as he might.
And watching the forms that ascended the glorious colors towards the unknown height of the arch,
Which did not end abruptly,
But faded away in the blue air,
So gradually that he could not say where it ceased.
When the thought of the golden key returned.
The boy very wisely proceeded to mark out in his mind the space covered by the foundation of the rainbow,
In order that he might know where to search,
Should the rainbow disappear.
It was based chiefly upon a bed of moss.
Meantime,
It had grown quite dark in the wood.
The rainbow alone was visible by its own light.
But the moment the moon rose,
The rainbow vanished.
Nor could any change of place restore the vision to the boy's eyes.
So he threw himself down upon the mossy bed.
To wait till the sunlight would give them a chance of finding the key.
There he fell,
Fast asleep.
When he woke in the morning.
The sun was looking straight into his eyes.
He turned away from it.
And the same moment saw a brilliant little thing lying on the moss within a foot of his face.
It was the golden key.
The pipe of it was of plain gold,
As bright as gold could be.
The handle was curiously wrought and set with sapphires.
In a tear of delight.
He put out his hand and took it,
And had it.
He lay for a while.
Turning it over and over and feeding his eyes upon its beauty.
Then he jumped to his feet,
Remembering that the pretty thing was of no use to him yet.
Where was the lock to which the key belonged?
It must be somewhere.
For how could anybody be so silly as make a key for which there was no lock?
Where should he go look for it?
He gazed about him.
Up into the air,
Down to the earth,
But saw no keyhole in the clouds,
In the grass,
Or in the trees.
Just as he began to grow disconsolate,
However.
He saw something glimmering in the wood.
It was a mere glimmer that he saw.
But he took it for a glimmer of rainbow.
And went towards it.
And now I will go back to the borders of the forest.
Not far from the house where the boy had lived.
There was another house.
The owner of which was a merchant,
Who was much away from home.
He had lost his wife some years before and had only one child,
A little girl,
Whom he left to the charge of two servants who were very idle and careless.
So she was neglected and left untidy,
And was sometimes ill-used besides.
Now it is well known that the little creatures commonly known as fairies,
Though there are many different kinds of fairies in Fairyland,
Have an exceeding dislike to untidiness.
Indeed,
They are quite spiteful to slovenly people.
Being used to all the lovely ways of the trees and flowers,
And to the neatness of the birds and all woodland creatures.
It makes them feel miserable.
Even in their deep woods and on their grassy carpets.
To think that within the same moonlight lies a dirty,
Uncomfortable,
Slovenly house.
And this makes them angry with the people that live in it.
And they would gladly drive them out of the world if they could.
They want the whole earth nice and clean.
So they pinch the maids black and blue and play them all manner of uncomfortable tricks.
But this house was quite a shame,
And the fairies in the forest could not endure it.
They tried everything on the maids without effect.
And at last resolved upon making a clean riddance,
Beginning with the child.
They ought to have known that it was not her fault.
But they have little principle and much mischief in them.
And they thought that if they could get rid of her,
The maids would be sure to be turned away.
So one evening,
The poor little girl having been put to bed early before the sun was down,
The servants went off to the village,
Locking the door behind them.
The child did not know she was alone,
And lay contentedly,
Looking out of her window towards the forest,
Of which,
However,
She could not see much,
Because of the ivy and other creeping plants which had straggled across her window.
All at once,
She saw an ape making faces at her out of the mirror.
And the heads carved upon a great old wardrobe grinning fearfully.
Then two old spider-legged chairs came forward in the middle of the room and began to dance a strange old-fashioned dance.
This set her laughing.
And she forgot the ape and the grinning heads.
So the fairies saw they had made a mistake.
And sent the chairs back to their places.
But they knew that she had been reading the story of Silverhair all day.
So the next moment,
She heard the voices of the three bears upon the stair.
Big voice,
Middle voice,
And little voice.
And she heard their soft,
Heavy tread,
As if they had stockings over their boots,
Coming nearer and nearer to the door of her room,
Till she could bear it no longer.
She did just as Silverhair did,
And as the fairies wanted her to.
She darted to the window.
Hold it open.
God upon the ivy,
And so scrambled to the ground.
She then fled to the forest as fast as she could run.
Now,
Although she did not know it,
This was the very best way she could have gone,
For nothing is ever so mischievous in its own place as it is out of it,
And besides,
These mischievous creatures were only the children of Fairyland as it were,
And there are many other beings there as well.
And if a wanderer gets in among them.
The good ones will always help more than the evil ones will be able to hurt him.
The sun was now set.
And the darkness came on.
But the child thought of no danger but the bears behind her.
If she had looked round,
However,
She would have seen that she was followed by a very different creature from a bear.
It was a curious creature,
Made like a fish,
But covered instead of scales with feathers of all colors,
Sparkling like those of a hummingbird.
It had fins,
Not wings,
And swam through the air as a fish does through the water.
Its head was like the head of a small owl.
After running a long way,
And as the last of the light was disappearing,
She passed under a tree with drooping branches.
It dropped its branches to the ground all about her and caught her as in a trap.
She struggled to get out,
But the branches pressed her closer and closer to the trunk She was in great terror and distress when the airfish,
Swimming into the thicket of branches,
Began tearing them with its beak.
They loosen their hold at once.
And the creature went on attacking them.
Till at length,
They let the child go.
Then the airfish came from behind her and swam on in front,
Glittering and sparkling all lovely colors,
And she followed.
It led her gently along till all at once it swam in at a cottage door.
The child followed still.
There was a bright fire in the middle of the floor,
Upon which stood a pot without a lid,
Full of water that boiled and bubbled furiously.
The arrowfish swam straight to the pot and into the boiling water where it lay quiet.
A beautiful woman rose from the opposite side of the fire and came to meet the girl.
She took her up in her arms and said,
Ah,
You are come at last.
I have been looking for you a long time.
She sat down with her on her lap.
And there the girl sat staring at her.
She had never seen anything so beautiful.
She was tall and strong,
With white arms and neck,
And a delicate flush on her face.
The child could not tell what was the color of her hair,
But could not help thinking it had a tinge of dark green.
She had not one ornament upon her.
But she looked as if she had just put off quantities of diamonds and emeralds.
Yet,
Here she was in this simplest,
Poorest little cottage,
Where she was evidently at home.
She was dressed in shining green.
The girl looked at the lady.
And the lady looked at the girl.
What is your name?
Asked the lady.
The servants always call me Tangle.
Ah,
That was because your hair was so untidy.
But that was their fault,
The naughty women.
Still,
It is a pretty name.
And I will call you Tangle too.
You must not mind my asking you questions,
For you may ask me the same questions,
Every one of them,
And any others that you like.
How old are you?
10,
Answer tangle.
You don't look like it,
" said the lady.
How old are you?
Returned Tangle.
Thousands of years old,
Answered the lady.
You don't look like it's a tangle.
Don't I?
I think I do.
Don't you see how beautiful I am?
And her great blue eyes looked down on Little Tangle as if all the stars in the sky were melted in them to make their brightness.
Ah,
But,
" said Tangle,
When people live long they grow old.
At least I always thought so.
I have no time to grow old,
" said the lady.
I am too busy for that.
It is very idle to grow old.
But I cannot have my little girl so untidy.
Do you know I can't find a clean spot on your face to kiss?
Perhaps,
Suggested Tangle,
Feeling ashamed,
But not too much to say a word for herself.
Perhaps that is because the tree made me cry so.
My poor darling,
Said the lady,
Looking now as if the moon were melted in her eyes,
And kissing her little face,
Dirty as it was.
The naughty tree must suffer for making a girl cry.
And what is your name?
Asked Tangle.
Grandmother,
Answered the lady.
Is it really?
Yes,
Indeed.
I never tell stories,
Even in fun.
How good of you!
I couldn't if I tried.
It would come true if I said it.
And then I should be punished enough.
And she smiled like the sun through a summer shower.
But now,
She went on,
I must.
.
.
I must get you washed and dressed,
And then we shall have some supper.
Oh,
I had supper long ago,
Said Tangle.
Yes,
Indeed you had,
Answered the lady,
Three years ago.
You don't know that it is three years since you ran away from the bears.
You are 13 and more now.
Tangle could only stare.
She felt quite sure it was true.
You will not be afraid of anything I do with you,
Will you?
" said the lady.
I will try very hard not to be,
But I can't be certain,
You know,
" replied Tangle.
I like your saying so,
And I shall be quite satisfied,
" answered the lady.
She took off the girl's nightgown,
Rose with her inner arms,
And going to the wall of the cottage opened a door.
The entangle saw a deep tank,
The size of which were filled with green plants which had flowers of all colors.
There was a roof over it,
Like the roof of the cottage.
It was filled with beautiful clear water in which swam a multitude of such fishes as the one that had lettered to the cottage.
It was the light their colors gave that showed the place in which they were.
The lady spoke some words Tangle could not understand and threw her into the tank.
The fishes came crowding about her.
Two or three of them got under her head and kept it up.
The rest of them rubbed themselves all over her,
And with their wet feathers,
Washed her quite clean.
Then the lady,
Who had been looking on all the time,
Spoke again,
Whereupon some thirty or forty of the fishes rose out of the water underneath Tangle,
And so bore her up to the arms the lady held out to take her.
She carried her back to the fire and,
Having dried her well,
Opened a chest,
And taking out the finest garments,
Smelling of grass and lavender,
Put them upon her,
And over all a green dress,
Just like her own,
Shining like hers,
And soft like hers,
And going into just such lovely folds from the waist,
Where it was tied with a brown cord to her bare feet.
Won't you give me a pair of shoes too,
Grandmother Sittangle?
No,
My dear,
No shoes.
Look here.
I wear no shoes.
So saying,
She lifted her dress a little,
And there were the loveliest white feet,
But no shoes.
Then Tangle was content to go without shoes too.
And the lady sat down with her again and combed her hair and brushed it.
And then left it to dry while she got the supper.
First,
She got bread out of one hole in the wall.
Then milk out of another.
And several kinds of fruit out a third.
And then she went to the pot on the fire and took out the fish,
Now nicely cooked,
And as soon as she had pulled off its feathered skin,
Ready to be eaten.
But,
Exclaimed Tangle,
And she stared at the fish and could say no more.
I know what you mean,
Return the lady.
You do not like to eat the messenger that brought you home.
But it is the kind return you can make.
The creature was afraid to go until it saw me put the pot on and heard me promise it should be boiled the moment it returned with you.
Then it darted out of the door at once.
You saw it go into the pot of itself the moment it entered,
Did you not?
I did,
Answered Tangle,
And I thought it very strange,
But then I saw you and forgot all about the fish.
In Fairyland,
Resume the lady as they sat down to the table.
The ambition of the animals is to be eaten by the people.
For that is their highest end in that condition.
But they are not therefore destroyed.
Out of the pot comes something more than the dead fish,
You will see.
Tangle now remarked that the lid was on the pot.
But the lady took no further notice of it till they had eaten the fish.
Which Tangle found nicer than any fish he'd ever tasted before.
It was as white as snow and as delicate as cream.
And the moment she had swallowed a mouthful of it.
A change she could not describe began to take place in her.
She heard a murmuring all about her.
Which became more and more articulate.
And at length,
As she went on eating,
Grew intelligible.
By the time she had finished her share.
The sounds of all the animals in the forest came crowding through the door to her ears,
For the door still stood wide open,
Though it was pitch dark outside,
And they were no longer sounds only,
They were speech,
And speech that she could understand.
She could tell what the insects in the cottage were saying to each other too.
She had even a suspicion that the trees and flowers all about the cottage were holding midnight communications with each other.
But what they said she could not hear.
As soon as the fish was eaten,
The lady went to the fire and took the lid off the pot.
A lovely little creature in human shape with large white wings rose out of it and flew round and round the roof of the cottage,
Then dropped,
Fluttering,
And nestled in the lap of the lady.
She spoke to it in some strange words,
Carried it to the door,
And threw it out into the darkness.
Tangle heard the flapping of its wings die away in the distance.
Now have we done the fish any harm she said returning No,
Answered Tangle.
I do not think we have.
I should not mind eating one every day.
They must wait their time,
Like you and me too,
My little Tangle.
And she smiled a smile which the sadness in it made more lovely.
But she continued,
I think we may have one for supper tomorrow.
So saying,
She went to the door of the tank and spoke,
And now Tangle understood her perfectly.
I want one of you,
" she said,
The wisest.
Thereupon the fishes got together in the middle of the tank,
With their heads forming a circle above the water,
And their tails a larger circle beneath it.
They were holding a council in which their relative wisdom should be determined.
At length,
One of them flew up into the lady's hand,
Looking lively and ready.
You know where the rainbow stands,
She asked.
Yes mother,
Quite well,
Answered the fish.
Bring home a young man you will find there who does not know where to go.
The fish was out of the door in a moment.
Then the lady told Hangle it was time to go to bed,
And opening another door on the side of the cottage.
Showed her a little arbor,
Cool and green,
With a bed of purple heath growing in it,
Upon which she threw a large wrapper made of the feather skins of the wise fishes,
Shining gorgeous in the firelight.
Tangle was soon lost in the strangest,
Loveliest dreams,
And the beautiful lady was in every one of her dreams.
In the morning,
She awoke to the rustling of leaves over her head and the sound of running water,
But,
To her surprise,
She could find no door,
Nothing but the moss-grown wall of the cottage.
So she crept through an opening in the arbor and stood in the forest.
Then she bathed in a stream that ran merrily through the trees and felt happier,
For having once been in her grandmother's pond,
She must be clean and tidy ever after,
And having put on her green dress felt like a lady.
She spent that day in the wood,
Listening to the birds and beasts and creeping things.
She understood all that they said,
Though she could not repeat a word of it,
And every kind had a different language,
While there was a common,
Though more limited understanding between all the inhabitants of the forest.
She saw nothing of the beautiful lady,
But she felt that she was near her all the time,
And she took care not to go out of sight of the cottage.
It was round like a snow hut.
And she could see neither door nor window in it.
The fact was,
It had no windows.
And though it was full of doors.
They all opened from the inside and cannot even be seen from the outside.
She was standing at the foot of a tree in the twilight,
Listening to a quarrel between a mole and a squirrel,
In which the mole told the squirrel that the tail was the best of him,
And the squirrel called the mole spade fists.
When the darkness heaven deepened around her,
She became aware of something shining in her face.
And looking around.
Saw that the door of the cottage was open.
And the red light of the fire flowing from it like a river through the darkness.
She left Mole and Squirrel to settle matters as they might,
And darted off to the cottage.
Entering,
She found the pot boiling on the fire,
And the grand lovely lady sitting on the other side of it.
I've been watching you all day,
" said the lady.
You shall have something to eat by and by,
But we must wait till our supper comes home.
She took Tangle on her knee and began to sing to her.
Such songs has made her wish she could listen to them forever.
But at length,
In rush the shining fish and snuggle down in the pot.
It was followed by a youth who had outgrown his worn garments.
His face was ruddy with health,
And his hand he carried a little jewel,
Which sparkled in the firelight.
The first words the lady said were,
What is in your hand,
Mossy?
Naumasi was the name his companions had given him.
Because he had a favorite stone covered with moss on which he used to sit whole days reading,
And they said the moss had begun to grow upon him too.
Mossy held out his hand.
The moment the lady saw that it was the golden key,
She rose from her chair.
Kissed mossy on the forehead.
Made him sit down on her seat and stood before him like a servant.
Masi could not bear this,
And rose at once.
But the lady begged him,
With tears in her beautiful eyes,
To sit and let her wait on him.
But you are a great,
Splendid,
Beautiful lady,
" said Masi.
Yes,
I am.
But I work all day long.
That is my pleasure.
And you will have to leave me soon.
How do you know that,
If you please,
Madame?
" asked Mosse.
Because you have got the golden key.
But I don't know what it is for.
I can't find the keyhole.
Will you tell me what to do?
You must look for the keyhole.
That is your work.
I cannot help you.
I can only tell you that if you look for it,
You will find it.
What kind of box will it open?
What is there inside?
You must look for the keyhole.
That is your work.
I can only tell you that if you look for it,
You will find it.
What kind of box will it open?
What is there inside?
I do not know.
I dream about it,
But I know nothing.
Must I go at once?
You may stop here tonight and have some of my supper.
But you must go in the morning.
Here is a girl called Tangle who you must take with you.
That would be nice,
Said Mossy.
No,
No,
Said Tangle.
I don't want to leave you.
Please,
Grandmother.
You must go with him,
Tangle.
I am sorry to lose you.
But it will be the best thing for you.
Even the fishes you see have to go into the pot and then out into the dark.
If you fall in with the old man of the sea,
Mind you ask him whether he has not got some more fishes ready for me.
My tank is getting thin.
So saying,
She took the fish from the pot and put the lid on as before.
They sat down and ate the fish.
And then the winged creature rose from the pot.
Circled the roof,
And settled on the lady's lap.
She talked to it.
Carried it to the door,
And threw it out into the dark.
They heard the flap of its wings die away in the distance.
The lady then showed Masi into just such another chamber as that of Tangle.
And in the morning he found a suit of clothes laid beside him.
He looked very handsome in them.
But the wearer of grandmother's clothes never thinks about how he or she looks,
But thinks always how handsome other people are.
Tangle was very unwilling to go.
Why should I leave you?
I don't know the young man,
" she said to the lady.
I am never allowed to keep my children long.
You need not go with him except you please,
But you must go someday.
And I should like you to go with him.
For he has the golden key.
No girl need to be afraid to go with a youth that has a golden key.
You will take care of her,
Masi,
Will you not?
That I will,
" said Mossie.
And Tangle cast a glance at him and thought she should like to go with him.
And,
Said the lady,
If you should lose each other as you go through the.
.
.
The.
.
.
I never can remember the name of that country.
Do not be afraid,
But go on and on.
She kissed Tangle on the mouth and Mossie on the forehead,
Led them to the door,
And waved her hand eastward.
Mossy and Tangle took each other's hand and walked away into the depth of the forest.
And in his right hand,
Masi held the golden key.
And for tonight,
We will pause here.
Leaving mossy entangle as they begin their journey deeper into the unknown.
Will continue their magical adventure very soon,
As their search for the Golden Key leads them into even stranger and more wondrous places.
Until then.
.
.
Sweet dreams,
My friend.
Sleep well.
You you you
