Welcome,
Dear Premium listeners,
To Drift Off Bedtime Stories.
I'm so glad you've joined me for this special Halloween bedtime story.
Tonight,
We have a delightful tale perfect for this cozy,
Magical evening.
The Pumpkin Giant,
By Mary E.
Wilkins Freeman.
It's a whimsical adventure,
Filled with charm,
And a light-hearted touch perfect for Halloween,
But nothing too spooky,
Just right for helping you unwind and drift off into a peaceful night's sleep.
Before we begin,
Let's take a few moments to relax and ease into the calm,
Restful space that will carry you gently to sleep.
As always,
This time is just for you.
Let's start by getting nice and comfortable.
Feel the weight of the day melt away as you sink into your bed.
Close your eyes and take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose,
And then exhale gently through your mouth,
Releasing any tension you may be holding.
Take another slow breath in,
And as you breathe out,
Allow your shoulders to relax,
Letting go of any tightness.
Now,
Take a moment to feel your body settling into the bed beneath you.
Feel how soft and supportive it is,
Cradling you in comfort.
Notice how each part of your body begins to unwind,
Starting with your feet.
Feel them soften and grow heavy,
And then allow that feeling to travel up through your legs,
Relaxing your muscles as it moves upward.
Let your back and shoulders loosen,
Letting go of any tension or stress you may have carried throughout the day.
Feel your arms resting gently at your sides,
And relax your hands and fingers,
Releasing any remaining tension.
Now soften the muscles in your face.
Let your forehead smooth out,
Your eyes gently close,
And your jaw relax.
Take a few moments to enjoy the stillness,
Bringing in calm,
And exhaling any worries or lingering thoughts.
As you lie here,
Wrapped in warmth and comfort,
Know that this is your time to rest.
You are safe,
Peaceful,
And ready for a good night's sleep.
If any thoughts come up,
Simply acknowledge them,
And let them drift away,
Like fluffy clouds floating across a vast blue sky.
Take one more deep breath in,
Hold briefly at the top,
And slowly breathe out,
Letting your whole body relax fully.
Now,
As we begin our Halloween story,
Feel free to let your mind wander,
And let the soothing rhythm of the words carry you into sleep.
This is a light-hearted tale about a mischievous giant,
And how a clever family outwits him,
All set in the magical time when pumpkins didn't exist yet.
So settle in,
And allow yourself to drift off,
As we journey into the world of the Pumpkin Giant.
A very long time ago,
Before the time of our grandmother's grandmother,
Or even her grandmother,
There were no pumpkins.
People had never eaten a pumpkin pie,
Or even stewed pumpkin,
And that was the time when the Pumpkin Giant flourished.
There have been a great many giants who have lived since the world began,
And although a select few of them have been good giants,
Most of them have been so bad that their crimes,
Even more than their size,
Have made them notorious.
The Pumpkin Giant was an uncommonly bad one,
And his appearance and behavior were such as to make one shudder in a way you would hardly believe possible.
The trembling caused by merely hearing his name,
Or even thinking of him,
In people who were especially sensitive,
Was called the Giant's Shakes.
The Pumpkin Giant was extremely tall.
He probably would have over-topped most of the giants you've heard of.
The giant who lived on the Beanstalk,
Whom Jack visited,
Was probably nothing compared to him.
In fact,
The Pumpkin Giant would not have been able to accept an invitation to the Beanstalk Giant's home for tea,
Because he wouldn't have fit through the door,
No matter how much he stooped.
The Pumpkin Giant had a very large yellow head,
Which was also smooth and shiny.
His eyes were big and round,
And they glowed like coals of fire.
It almost seemed as though his head was lit from inside by candles.
There was even a rumor among the common people that this was true,
But of course,
It was nonsense,
And none of the more enlightened class believed it for a second.
His mouth was stretched halfway around his head,
Was lined with rows of pointed teeth,
And he was never known to keep it closed.
It was always wide open.
As is expected,
The Pumpkin Giant lived in a castle.
Giants don't live in ordinary houses.
How uninteresting it would be to see a giant in a two-story house with green blinds and a picket fence,
Or even a brownstone if he could get into it,
Which he couldn't.
The giant's castle sat on a mountain just as it should.
There was the usual courtyard in front,
And the customary moat.
Only this moat was full of bones,
And they were not mutton bones.
Many details of this story are too harrowing to share.
To spare the feelings of our audience,
We will state in advance that the story ends well so readers can enjoy it without unpleasant suspense.
The Pumpkin Giant was particularly fond of little boys and girls,
But he had a special preference for little boys,
Especially fat ones.
The fear and horror of this giant spread throughout the entire country.
Even the king,
Sitting on his throne,
Was so afflicted with the giant's shakes that he had to have his throne propped up to keep it from toppling over during one of his shaking fits.
The king had good reason to shake,
His only daughter.
The princess Ariadne Diana was probably the fattest princess in the world at that time.
She was so fat that she had never walked a step in the twelve years of her life,
Being completely unable to move except by rolling,
And it was a beautiful sight to see her,
In her cloth of gold rolling suit,
Faced with green velvet and edged with ermine,
With her glittering crown on her head,
Trundling along the royal garden paths which were carpeted for her.
While this might have pleased the king under other circumstances,
It now filled his heart with anxiety.
The princess was never allowed to leave the palace without a bodyguard of fifty knights,
The finest soldiers in the kingdom,
With lances in hand,
But despite all these precautions,
The king still shook.
Among the common folk who could not afford to send a bodyguard to fifty armed knights with their children,
The terror caused by the pumpkin giant was even greater.
It seemed that there would soon be very few little fat girls left,
And no fat little boys at all.
Worse still,
The giant had recently started taking a tonic to increase his appetite.
Finally,
The king,
In desperation,
Issued a proclamation.
He would knight anyone,
Noble or common,
Who could cut off the head of the pumpkin giant.
The king frequently knighted people for brave deeds,
As it was a cheap reward,
And everyone liked being a knight.
When the king issued his proclamation,
Every man in the kingdom who wasn't already a knight tried to think of ways to kill the pumpkin giant,
But there was one obstacle.
They were all too afraid.
Every one of them had the giant's shakes so badly that they wouldn't have been able to hold a knife steady enough to cut off the giant's head,
Even if they dared to get close.
There was one man,
A poor farmer named Patroclus,
Who lived near the giant's castle.
His only wealth was a potato field and a cottage.
He had a twelve-year-old son,
Anais,
Who was as fat as the princess.
Since he couldn't afford a bodyguard for his son,
Patroclus and his family lived in constant terror.
The poor mother,
Daphne,
Had been bedridden for two years with the giant's shakes.
Patroclus barely made a living from his potato field,
And most of their potatoes were eaten by Anais.
The family's situation was pitiful.
One morning,
Patroclus and Anais were out in the field digging potatoes.
The ground trembled violently,
And they looked up to see the pumpkin giant approaching,
With his mouth wide open.
Get behind me,
My dear son,
Cried Patroclus.
Anais obeyed,
But his chubby cheeks still stuck out from behind his father.
Patroclus wasn't a particularly brave man,
But he became brave in the face of danger.
The pumpkin giant opened his mouth wider and wider as he came closer.
Just as he was about to reach them,
Patroclus picked up a large potato and threw it straight into the giant's mouth.
The giant choked,
Gasped,
And finally collapsed dead.
Patroclus and Anais ran into the house and locked the door.
They watched from the window as the giant lay still.
When they were sure he was truly dead,
Patroclus sharpened the carving knife,
And they all went out to the field.
They chopped off the giant's head,
And Anais claimed it as a toy.
Patroclus and Anais ran into the house and locked the door.
The king was overjoyed when he heard the news.
His shaking stopped,
And the princess was allowed to go out without her fifty knights.
But the king forgot to knight Patroclus,
Although he had promised.
Patroclus felt hurt about it,
And Daphne wished she could have been made a lady.
But Anais didn't care at all.
He had the giant's head to play with,
And that was enough for him.
The next spring,
Vines sprouted all over Patroclus' potato field,
And by fall,
Hundreds of giant's heads,
What we now call pumpkins,
Appeared.
People were frightened at first,
Thinking that more giants were coming.
But when nothing happened,
They relaxed,
And life returned to normal.
One day,
Anais,
Curious as always,
Cut a piece from one of the pumpkins and tasted it.
It was sweet and delicious.
His mother Daphne cooked it,
And soon the family was eating pumpkin pies every day.
One bright autumn morning,
The king and his entourage were out hunting in the royal forest.
After a long day of chasing game,
The king and his knights began to grow tired and hungry.
As they rode back toward the palace,
The king suddenly caught a whiff of the most tantalizing smell wafting through the crisp air.
It was warm,
Sweet,
And utterly irresistible.
What is that marvelous smell,
The king exclaimed,
Reigning in his horse.
His knights sniffed the air as well,
All of them nodding in agreement.
Find out where it's coming from,
The king ordered his page.
The page dismounted and followed the scent until it reached the humble cottage of Patroclus and Daphne.
There,
Through the open kitchen window,
He saw Daphne busy at work,
Baking her now famous pumpkin pies.
The air around the cottage was filled with the sweet aroma of cinnamon,
Nutmeg,
And freshly baked pumpkin.
The page returned to the king and said,
Your Majesty,
The delicious smell is coming from a cottage nearby.
The housewife is baking pies made from the giant's heads.
Giant's heads,
You say,
Said the king,
His eyes widening in surprise and curiosity.
Well,
Bring me one at once.
The page hurried back to the cottage and knocked on the door.
Patroclus answered,
His heart pounding with a mix of nervousness and pride,
When he saw the royal page standing before him.
The king requests one of your pies,
Said the page.
Daphne,
Hearing this from the kitchen,
Quickly fetched her finest pie from the oven.
Its golden crust still steaming,
She handed it to the page who brought it back to the king.
When the pie arrived,
The king's knights tasted it first to ensure it was safe.
After they had all taken a bite and deemed it not only safe but utterly delicious,
The king himself eagerly dug in.
With the first mouthful,
His eyes lit up and a broad smile spread across his face.
By the stars,
The king exclaimed,
I have never tasted anything so magnificent in all my life.
Not even the finest feasts in my palace can compare to this.
He took another large bite,
Savoring the smooth spiced pumpkin filling and the flaky crust.
The king,
In his excitement,
Beckoned for Patroclus and his family to come before him.
When Patroclus,
Daphne,
And Aeneas approached,
The king regarded them with great admiration.
You,
Patroclus,
Have not only rid my kingdom of the dreaded pumpkin giant,
But your wife has created a dish worthy of a king's table.
For your bravery and ingenuity,
I shall reward you at once.
With a grand gesture,
The king unsheathed his jeweled sword.
He tapped Patroclus on both shoulders and proclaimed,
In the name of the kingdom,
I hereby knight you,
Sir Patroclus of the Pumpkin Fields.
Daphne curtsied in awe,
While Aeneas,
Beaming with pride,
Could hardly contain his excitement.
But the king wasn't finished yet.
And you,
Daphne,
Continued the king,
From this day forward,
You shall be the official royal pie maker.
Your pumpkin pies will grace the royal table at every feast and banquet.
Daphne,
Overwhelmed with joy,
Nodded gratefully,
Tears of happiness welling in her eyes.
She had never dreamed she would one day cook for the king himself.
The king's eyes then fell on Aeneas,
Who stood proudly beside his parents.
And as for you,
Young Aeneas,
The king said with a twinkle in his eye,
It seems only fitting that a boy of such courage and stature should marry none other than my daughter,
Princess Ariadne Diana.
Aeneas blushed as the king smiled warmly at him.
The marriage was arranged,
And soon Aeneas and the princess were wed in a grand ceremony,
Celebrated by all the people of the kingdom.
From that day on,
Daphne's pumpkin pies became famous throughout the land,
And pumpkins,
Once feared as the heads of the terrifying giant,
Were now celebrated as a beloved food.
The royal gardens and parks were filled with pumpkin vines,
And pumpkin pies were served at every royal event.
And so,
The memory of the pumpkin giant faded into legend,
While pumpkins spread far and wide across the kingdom,
A symbol not of fear,
But of joy and abundance.
Sweet dreams,
My friend.
Sleep well.
