Welcome to Drift Off,
Where tonight we have a beautiful fairy tale to lull you to sleep.
I'm Joanne your host,
And I'm so happy to have you here with me.
In tonight's episode,
I'll be reading a story called The Rain Maiden by Mary DeMorgan.
This enchanting tale weaves together elements of nature,
Love,
And mystery with a kind of gentle storytelling perfect for drifting off into peaceful sleep.
Now,
Let's take a moment to settle in.
Close your eyes if you wish,
And when you're ready,
Take a deep,
Soothing breath in.
And slowly release it.
Feel the weight of your body sinking into your bed,
Letting go of the day's worries,
And bringing yourself fully into this present moment.
Imagine a soft,
Gentle rain falling outside.
Each drop creating a calming rhythm that helps ease you into a state of deep relaxation.
Imagine the air is fresh,
And the sound of the rain brings a sense of peace,
Washing away any lingering tension.
And so,
My friend,
As you settle in and enjoy tonight's story,
Give yourself permission to fully relax and let go,
And drift off into a peaceful slumber.
Once upon a time,
There lived a shepherd and his wife,
Who lived in a very lonely little cottage far from town or village,
Near some mountains.
It was a wild neighborhood,
And the wind blew across the mountains fiercely,
And the rain often fell so heavily that it seemed as if the cottage would be washed away.
One evening,
When the shepherd was out,
There came on a great storm of rain,
Which beat against the doors and the windows violently.
As the shepherd's wife sat listening to it by the fire,
It seemed to her as if it sounded louder than she had ever heard it before,
And the raindrops sounded like the knock of a hand that was knocking to gain admittance.
It went on for a little while,
Till the shepherd's wife could bear to listen to it no longer,
And she rose and went to the door to open it,
Though she knew that she would let the wind and rain into the room.
As she opened the door,
A gust of rain was blown in her face,
And then she saw that in the doorway stood a woman who had been knocking.
She was a tall woman,
Wrapped in a gray cloak,
With long hair falling down her back.
Thank you,
She said,
And though her voice was very low,
The shepherd's wife could hear it plainly through all the storm.
Thank you for opening the door to me.
Many would have let me stand outside.
Now may I come into your cottage and rest?
How wet you must be,
Cried the shepherd's wife.
Come in and rest,
And let me give you food.
Have you come from far?
No,
I come from quite near,
Said the woman,
And she came into the cottage as she spoke,
And sat down in a chair near the door.
And I want no food,
Only a glass of water.
I must go directly,
But I have not far to go,
And I shall be no wetter than I am now.
The shepherd's wife stared in surprise,
For she saw that apparently the woman's clothes were not wet at all,
And what was stranger still,
Though she had thought she was only clad in a dull gray cloak,
Now she saw that she was covered with jewelry,
Clear stones like diamonds,
With many flashing colors,
And she also saw that all her clothes were of the finest.
She gave her a glass of water,
And begged that as well she might give her other food,
But the woman shook her head and said no,
Water was all she needed.
When she had drunk the water,
She gave back the glass to the shepherd's wife and said,
And so this is your home.
Have you all that you want in life?
Are you happy?
Aye,
We are happy enough,
Said the shepherd's wife,
Save indeed for one thing.
Ten years ago my little baby girl died,
And I have no other children.
I long for one sorely,
That I might take care of it and make it happy while it is little,
And then in turn,
When I am old,
It would love and care for me.
And if you had a little child,
Said the woman,
Rising up and standing before the shepherd's wife,
You think you would really love it better than anything in the world?
Many women say that,
But few do it.
Before long,
A little child will be born to you,
And as long as you love it better than anything in the world,
It will remain with you,
But when you love anything else better than your little daughter and her happiness,
It will go from you.
So remember my words.
Good-bye.
And the woman walked to the door,
And went quietly out into the rain,
And the shepherd's wife saw her disappearing,
And the rain pelting around her,
But her clothes were not blown about,
Neither did the rain seem to wet her.
A year passed away,
And the shepherd's wife had a tiny daughter,
A lovely little baby with the bluest eyes and the softest skin.
The evening she was born,
The wind howled,
And the rain fell as fiercely as on the night when the grey woman had come into the shepherd's cottage.
The shepherd and his wife both loved their little daughter very dearly,
As well they might,
As no fairer child was ever seen.
But as she grew older,
Some things about her frightened her mother,
And she had some ways of which she could not cure her.
She would never go near a fire,
However cold she was.
Neither did she love the sunshine,
But always ran from it and crept into the shade.
But when she heard the rain pattering against the window panes,
She would cry,
Listen,
Mother,
Listen to my brothers and sisters dancing.
And then she would begin to dance,
Too,
In the cottage.
Her little feet pattering upon the boards,
Or,
If she possibly could,
She would run out onto the moor and dance,
With the rain falling upon her,
And her mother had much ado to get her to come back into the cottage.
Yet she never seemed to get very wet,
Nor did she catch cold.
A river ran near the cottage,
And by it she would go and sit for hours dabbling her feet in the water and singing sweet little songs to herself.
Still,
In all other ways,
She was a good,
Affectionate girl,
And did all that her mother told her,
And seemed to love both her parents tenderly.
And the shepherd's wife would say to herself,
My only trouble is that when she is grown up she will want to marry and leave me,
And I shall have to do without her.
Time passed,
And the old shepherd died,
But his wife and daughter still lived on in the little cottage,
And the daughter grew to be a most beautiful young maiden.
Her eyes were clear light blue,
Like the color of the far-off sea,
But it was difficult to say what was the color of her hair,
Save that it was very light,
And hung in heavy masses over her brow and shoulders.
Once or twice her mother felt sorely frightened about her.
It was when spring showers were falling,
And the young girl had gone into the little garden in front of the cottage to let the rain fall upon her head and face,
As she loved to do in spite of all her mother could say.
Then she began to dance,
As she always did when the rain fell,
And as she danced the sun came out while the rain was yet falling.
Her mother watched her from the cottage window,
But while she watched her,
It seemed to her as if her daughter was covered with jewels of every color,
Clear and bright.
They hung around her in chains,
And made her look more like a king's daughter than a shepherd's girl.
Come in,
Child,
Come in,
Called the shepherd's wife,
And when the young girl came in the cottage,
All traces of the jewels had gone,
And when her mother upbraided her for going out to dance in the rain,
She only answered,
It hurts no one,
My mother,
And it pleases me.
Why should you stop me?
A little way from the cottage on the mountain side stood an old castle,
Where formerly the kings of the land used to come and stay,
But which now had not been used for very many years.
One day,
However,
The shepherd's wife saw great preparations were being made to beautify and adorn it,
And she knew that the king and his son were coming to stay there again.
Soon after they had arrived,
The shepherd's daughter went down to the river,
As was her want,
And sat on the bank,
Dipping her feet in the ripples.
Suddenly there came up a boat,
And it was a grand young man dressed all in velvet and gold who leaned over the side to fish.
Who are you,
And what are you doing here?
Cried the shepherd's daughter,
For she was afraid of no one.
I am the king's son,
Said he,
And I am coming here to fish.
Who are you,
And where do you come from?
For I have never seen such a beautiful maiden in my life.
When he looked at her,
And could scarce speak,
So beautiful did she seem to him.
It is cruel to take the fishes out of the water,
Cried the shepherd's daughter.
Leave them alone,
And come and dance on the bank with me.
And she went under the shade of a large tree,
And began to dance,
And the king's son watched her,
And again he thought so beautiful a maid there had never been.
Day after day he came down to the river to fish,
And day after day he left the line and tackle to sit and watch the shepherd's daughter,
And each time found her more enchanting.
Once he tried to kiss her hand,
But she sprang from him,
And left him sitting in his boat alone.
At last a day came when the prince said to his father,
My father,
You want me to wed so that I may have an heir to the throne,
But there is only one woman that can ever be my wife,
And that is the daughter of the poor woman who lives in the little cottage out yonder.
At first the old king was very rough,
But he loved his son well,
And knew that nothing would shake him from his word.
So he told him that if he would bring home his bride,
He too would rejoice and love her as his daughter,
Even though she be a beggar maid.
Then the young prince rode down to the cottage,
And went in and told the shepherd's wife how he had seen her daughter,
And loved her,
And wished to make her his wife,
So that she would be queen of the country.
The shepherd's wife went nearly wild with joy.
To think that my daughter should be the queen,
She said to herself,
And when her daughter came into the cottage,
She did not know how to contain herself,
But folded her inner arms and kissed her,
Crying and declaring that never was a woman so blessed.
Why,
What has happened to my mother,
And what has pleased you so,
Said her daughter,
While still the shepherd's wife rejoiced and wept for joy?
It is the king's son,
My girl,
The king's own son,
And he has just been here,
And he loves you,
And he will marry you and make you queen of all the land.
Was there ever such luck for a poor woman?
But the daughter only said,
But I don't want to marry the king's son,
Mother,
Or anyone.
I will never be the wife of any man.
I will stay with you and nurse you when you are old and sick,
For I can live in no house but this cottage,
And have no friend but my mother.
On hearing this,
The shepherd's wife became very angry,
And told her daughter that she must be mad,
And that she must wait for a day or two,
And she would be only too thankful for the love of the king's son,
And for the honor he was going to do her in making her his queen.
But still the daughter shook her head and said quietly,
I will never be the wife of the king's son.
The shepherd's wife did not dare tell the king's son what her daughter had said,
But told him that he had better speak to her himself if he wished to make her his wife.
Then when he was again sitting in the boat on the river,
And the maiden on the bank,
The king's son told her how much he loved her,
And that he would share with her all that he had in this world.
But the shepherd's daughter only shook her head and said,
I will never live at the palace.
I will never be a queen.
The old king had ordered great preparations to be made for the wedding,
Which was to take place immediately,
And all sorts of fine clothes were ordered for the shepherd's daughter,
That she might appear properly as the wife of the prince.
But for the few days just before the wedding,
The rain fell as it had never been known to have fallen.
It beat through the roofs of the cottages,
And the river swelled and overflowed its banks.
No one was frightened,
Save indeed the shepherd's daughter,
Who went out into the wet,
And danced as was her want,
Letting the torrents fall upon her head and shoulders.
The evening before the wedding day,
She knelt beside her mother's side.
Dear mother,
She said,
Let me stop with you and nurse you when you are old.
Do not send me away to the palace to live with the king's son.
Then the mother was very angry,
And told her daughter that she was very ungrateful,
And she ought to be thankful that such luck had come in her way,
And who was she,
The daughter of a poor shepherd,
That she should object to marrying the king's son?
All night long the rain fell in torrents,
And when next day the shepherd's daughter was dressed in all her finery,
It was through the pools on the ground that she had to step into the grand carriage which the king had sent to fetch her.
And while the marriage service was being read,
The priest's voice could scarcely be heard for the pattering of the drops upon the roof.
And when they went into the castle to the banquet,
The water burst through the doors opened to receive them,
So that the king and the wedding guests had hard ado to keep dry.
It was a grand feast,
And the king's son sat at one end of the table,
And his young wife was beside him dressed in white and gold.
All the courtiers and all the fine guests declared that surely the world had never contained such a beautiful young woman as their future queen.
But just when the goblets were filled with wine,
To drink to the health of the bride and bridegroom,
There came a cry.
The floods!
The floods!
And the servants ran into the hall,
Crying out that the waters were pouring in,
And in one moment the rooms were filled with water,
And no one thought of anything but to save themselves.
When the hurricane had subsided,
And the waters gone down,
They looked around for the prince's wife,
Who was nowhere to be found.
Everyone said that she had been swept away by the torrents,
And that she had been drowned in all her youth and beauty.
Only the shepherd's wife wept alone,
And remembered the words of the woman who came to her on the night of the storm.
When you love aught on earth better than your daughter and her happiness,
She will go from you.
The king's son mourned his wife,
And for long would not be comforted.
But when many years had passed,
He married a beautiful princess,
And with her lived very happily.
Only when the rain fell in torrents,
And beat against the window panes,
It would seem to him as if he heard the sound of dancing feet,
And a voice that called out,
Come and dance with me,
Come and dance with me and my brothers and sisters,
O king's son,
And feel our drops upon your face.
Sweet dreams,
My friend.
