Welcome,
Dear listeners,
To this premium episode of Drift Off.
Tonight we continue the tale of The Gypsy Cup by Mary DeMorgan as we delve into Part 3 of this enchanting and emotional story.
To recap Part 2,
The potter's wife,
Under the spell of the gypsy's enchanted cup,
Grew cold and distant toward her husband,
Who left on a journey to undo the harm.
Struggling through winter,
She took in a dying gypsy woman,
The cup's creator,
Who crafted one final enchanted cup to reverse the damage.
Upon drinking from it,
The potter's wife realized her love for her husband remained strong,
And she now hopes to reunite with him.
As we step into Part 3,
We'll follow her journey and see how her love and regret guide her actions as she weaves a message of reconciliation into her work.
But before we begin,
Let's take a moment to unwind and settle in.
Close your eyes,
If you'd like,
And find a comfortable position.
Take a deep breath in,
And exhale slowly.
With each breath,
Feel your body beginning to relax,
Your shoulders softening,
Your arms resting heavy at your sides.
Now imagine yourself in a quiet countryside at the break of dawn.
The world is still and peaceful,
With the first rays of sunlight painting the horizon in soft shades of pink and gold.
Hear the gentle rustling of leaves as a cool breeze blows through the trees.
A cool morning breeze sweeps across the landscape,
Carrying with it the scent of fresh earth and wildflowers.
In the distance,
You see a small cottage nestled among the trees.
Smoke curls from its chimney,
And the faint sound of a loom weaving cloth echoes softly.
And as you step closer,
Feel the warmth of the sun on your face,
And the peaceful energy of a new day full of promise and hope.
And so,
My friend,
Allow yourself to feel calm and ready to drift into tonight's story.
The potter journeyed far into the world,
And wherever he went,
He asked if any gypsy had been near there,
And if there happened to be a gypsy camp in the neighborhood.
He went to it at once,
And asked for a gypsy woman with red beads and gold chains in her hair,
Or for a gypsy man who carried a brown cup with him.
But though he saw hundreds of gypsies,
Yet he never again saw the girl who had thrown the cup,
And none of the men knew anything about the man,
Nor could tell him anything about the little brown bowl.
Then he went to the shops in the big towns,
Where jars and bowls are sold,
And asked for a cup that had a spell in it,
For he thought if they sold such a one,
They might know how to help him to undo the work of the gypsy's bowl.
But everywhere,
The people only laughed at him.
So he went through strange countries,
Seeing strange things,
But none of them gave him any pleasure,
Since he was always thinking of his wife at home.
Then he returned to his native land,
And pondered whether he should go back to his own cottage,
But his heart failed him,
And he kept far from the little village where it stood.
It would be little use to go home,
He said,
For if my wife is not glad to see me,
It is no home to me,
And she will not be glad to see me till I can find the gypsy and know how the charm can be broken.
One night,
He went into a booth,
Where there were a number of men drinking,
And amongst them,
There was one who looked like a gypsy,
A dark,
Savage-looking fellow who was talking loud,
And boasting much of all he had done.
The potter sat and listened to their talk,
And presently,
They began quarrelling,
And talking about who was the most beautiful woman in the world.
The gypsy cried out that he knew the most beautiful,
And that she had given him a parting gift,
And wished him Godspeed,
And now he was going back to her,
For he knew now the way to make her love him,
And he meant to wed her and have her for his wife.
Upon this,
The others laughed and jeered,
And said,
Was it likely that such a beautiful woman would care for such a rough,
Ill-favored fellow as he,
And declared that they didn't think much of her beauty,
If she was willing to marry him and to be his wife.
Then,
Another man,
Standing near,
Said that he knew where lived the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth,
Though he did not believe that she would ever be wife of his.
Still all the same,
It would be hard to beat her for loveliness,
And she was a clever worker too,
For she it was who worked the mats that lay under the feet in the cart he drove.
Upon this,
They all began to wrangle,
And their words grew high.
And if the beautiful woman loved you so,
Cried one man to the gypsy,
How could you come away and leave her?
The gypsy laughed.
She didn't love me then,
He said,
But she will now,
For I am taking her a charm which will make her love me more than anyone on earth.
She has only to drink out of the cup I carry here,
And she will be mine for life.
Upon this,
They all laughed and derided him still more.
Then,
Let everyone believe that what I say is true,
Cried the gypsy,
And from his bosom,
He took out a small brown bowl and waved it in the air,
And here is the cup to prove it.
And the potter's heart almost stood still,
For he recognized the cup which the gypsy girl had made for him years before.
The other man laughed scornfully.
That proves nothing,
He said.
I might take the mat out from the cart and ask to say if I spoke the truth,
But mats and cups have no tongues to speak with,
Though my mat can say more than your cup,
For there is a rhyme on it with a pattern of a cup.
Moreover,
The rhyme is about a gypsy too.
Let us see it,
Cried they all.
Then the man went out to his cart and fetched in a white and brown straw mat,
Covered with a pattern of made cups,
And he read the rhyme which was written upon it.
From the gypsy's cup I drank for love,
From the gypsy's cup I drank for hate,
And when she gave me that cup again,
My love was gone and I drank too late.
On hearing this,
The potter jumped and dashed into their midst and seized the cup.
The gypsy speaks truth,
He cried,
When he says she is the most beautiful woman in the world,
But he speaks false when he says that she will ever love him,
For he has stolen that cup and I shall take it from him,
And if he tries to stop me,
Why,
Then I will fight him and let everyone see who is the better fellow of the two.
But when the gypsy had seen the rhyme upon the mat,
He stood and stared as if he were made of stone,
And said no word to the potter,
And indeed scarcely seemed to notice that he had taken away the cup from him.
Then the potter turned to the man who owned the mat and said,
If you will sell me your mat,
I will pay you handsomely for it,
And I beg you to tell me who made it and where you got it,
For I would like to buy some more like it.
The traveller was much astonished,
But he told the potter that it was made by a woman who lived in a village a little way off,
And she sat by her doorway and wove mats with a gypsy boy to help her,
And she was the loveliest woman he had ever seen on earth,
With eyes just like blue cornflowers and hair like golden corn.
Then the potter took his bowl and the mat and started to go home,
But the gypsy slunk out of the room and went into the night,
And nobody noticed him.
Meantime,
The potter's wife continued to grieve and lament,
For in spite of her taking the gypsy boy's advice and telling all things that she loved her husband and wished him back,
He did not come back to her,
And though she wove her into every mat that she made,
She despaired of the potter ever seeing one.
The only thing which seemed to console her was the little brown clay cup that the gypsy woman had thrown for her before she died.
As it had never been baked in the oven,
The clay was dry and hard and cracked,
And it was a sorry thing to look at,
But still,
The potter's wife kept it beside her and would drink out of nothing else,
And from time to time she kissed it and laid her cheek against it.
The gypsy boy said to her,
If I were you,
I should watch for my husband all day.
I would weave my mats in the doorway and look up the road both ways for more until night,
Otherwise your husband will come back and go past the cottage and you will never know.
So she took her loom and sat by the roadway and watched and looked over the hill and to the right and left for whoever might come,
And often the gypsy boy would watch too and look from the other side of the cottage while the potter's wife sat in the front.
One day the gypsy boy ran round to her and said,
There is someone coming up the road who will come here,
But it is not your husband,
It is my father and he will want to take me away and he will beat me as he did my mother,
And if he gets hold of the cup that my mother made for you,
He knows all her charms and he can undo what she did and perhaps can throw some evil spell on us all so that your husband will never return again,
So the best thing will be for you to give me the cup and let me hide myself with it and then you must tell him that you do not know where I am and if he asks tell him that the cup is gone and when he's gone I will come back again,
But promise that you will not give me up to him.
So the potter's wife promised that she would never give up the little boy and she bid him take the cup and run quickly and hide himself and then she took her little girl by the hand and sat and waited for the gypsy man to come though she trembled with fear and wished him far away.
Presently the gypsy man came up to the front of the cottage where the potter's wife sat and bid her good day.
I was here before he said and you gave me something to eat and drink.
Is your husband come back for he was away then?
My husband is away still she said but soon I hope he will be here.
Then the gypsy took one of her mats which lay on the ground beside her and looked at it.
You are clever with your loom he said but what do you mean by the little verse you put on all these mats?
It is a little verse which can be rightly read by one person she answered and if he sees it it will not matter whether others understand it or no.
And have you been here all alone since I came by asked the gypsy.
Have no other gypsies been passed for I want to join some of my own people and perhaps you can tell me which way they are gone.
One came not so long ago answered the potter's wife but she was so tired with tramping far that she could go no further so she stayed and rests in the churchyard.
She was a gypsy woman with red beads and coins in her hair and I kept her and let her die in peace and wrapped her in a cloth of white and gold.
And did she do nothing while she rested here asked the gypsy man?
Did she make you no present to pay you for your trouble?
She made me a present which paid me for my trouble well said the woman though it was only a little cup of clay that was gray and wet and she gave me this ring and bid me to give it to her husband if he came by here and tell him that it was useless for him to seek her further.
The gypsy man looked at the ring she held out to him and he turned pale and knit his brows and where is that cup he asked and where is your little boy for I will take him with me into the world.
I don't know where he's gone said the potter's wife as for the cup he took it with him when he went.
Meantime the gypsy boy had hidden in a haystack quite close to the cottage from where he could see the roadways all around and he looked to the right and left for who should pass for he was still half afraid that his father might come and search for him and take him away by force.
As he lay and watched he saw a man coming over the hill who looked spent and tired as if he had walked far.
He seemed to know the path well and he came straight to the cottage but he did not come in but waited near as if he wanted to see who was there.
Then the gypsy boy said to himself perhaps this is the potter himself whom she has been looking for all this time.
So he slid down and ran to the man and began to pretend to beg.
The man looked at him and said you are a gypsy child where do you come from?
Are you living under a hedge or do you come from a gypsy's camp near?
It is true I am a gypsy's child answered the boy but I am living under no hedge but in that little cottage for the woman who lives there keeps me for the love of my mother who helped her when she was in trouble.
And what did your mother do for the woman asked the man.
Who was no other than the potter.
It must have been a great service that she should be willing to take you and keep you.
She saved her from an evil charm that had been cast upon her answered the boy and taught her to love her husband again and she waits his return now and longs for him to come.
Therefore she promised to keep me with her but now I dare not go into the cottage because my father who is a gypsy is there and I am afraid lest he may take me away with him.
When the potter heard that the gypsy man was there he would have run straight into the cottage but the boy implored him to listen first and hear what he was saying.
So they crept round to the side of the cottage and they heard the gypsy man growing angry and threatening the potter's wife that if she did not tell him where his boy had gone he would seize her by the hair and wring her throat in spite of her being so fair a woman.
At this the potter waited no longer but burst into the cottage and seized the gypsy and hurled him out of the house with all his might but he and his wife never looked to see if he was hurt or no for they looked at nothing but each other and the little child that the potter's wife held by the hand and the gypsy man ran away and they never heard of him again.
Then the potter's wife showed her husband the gypsy boy and told him of her promise to his mother and of all he had done for her and begged him that he would let her keep him with them and the potter promised that she should and said that when he grew up to be a man he would teach him his trade and make him a potter like himself.
So they all lived happily together and the gypsy boy learned to make cups and bowls and was very clever at doing them but they were cups and bowls that carried no charms with them and so could do no one any harm that drank from them.
Thank you so much for joining me tonight for part three of the gypsy's cup.
I hope this enchanting tale has brought you a sense of calm and wonder as you prepare to drift off to sleep.
As you settle in for the night take a moment to let your body relax even more deeply and deeply.
Feel the weight of your head sinking into your pillow,
Your limbs growing heavy and still.
With each breath imagine yourself surrounded by a soft warm glow like the gentle light of a candle in a quiet room.
Allow this peaceful feeling to wrap around you,
Easing your mind and carrying you into a restful slumber.
Know that you are safe,
Calm and exactly where you need to be in this moment.
Good night dear listener,
Sleep well and until next time,
Sweet dreams.
