1
00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:04,280
[Cawing]

2
00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:12,160
[Storyteller]
When people told themselves
their past with stories,

3
00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,640
explained their present
with stories,

4
00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,560
foretold the future
with stories,

5
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,800
the best place by the fire
was kept for...

6
00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,200
The storyteller.

7
00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,240
Humph, story...

8
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,880
Imagine a cold night

9
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:57,680
and a dark night,

10
00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,760
a night like this one.

11
00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,520
And imagine a bed
with a farmer and his wife
fast asleep,

12
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,440
snuggling up for warmth.

13
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,440
And in this bed,
the farmer, shivering,

14
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,920
reaches out
for his wife.

15
00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:14,040
But instead of a head,
he finds a foot

16
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,200
because his missus is rubbing
noses with their dog,

17
00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,960
who sleeps every night
at the end of the bed.

18
00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:22,760
What kind of dog?

19
00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,440
I don't know. A dog,
some kind of dog.

20
00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,680
Some kind of dog?
Terrific story.

21
00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:30,840
Should I bark?

22
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,120
Oh, no!

23
00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,160
[Wife]
Just for tonight.

24
00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:36,840
Don't be dense, woman.

25
00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,600
One night won't hurt.
It might work.

26
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,640
Sleeping upside down?
What good's that gonna do?

27
00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,160
Midwife said
it sometimes helps.

28
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,600
You're not
gonna get a child.

29
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,960
If you want company,
get a widow woman
up from the village.

30
00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:53,440
Now come up this end.

31
00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,160
I'm proper frozen.

32
00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,680
[Linen rustling]

33
00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,840
But the farmer's wife
didn't want no widow
for company,

34
00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:03,960
she wanted a baby.

35
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,400
And she'd wanted this child
for what seemed a lifetime

36
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,080
until she couldn't bear
to watch the lambs born,

37
00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,320
or the calves come,
or the eggs hatch.

38
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,080
It hurt her so.

39
00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,640
And she drove the farmer mad
with her cranky books,

40
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,240
and her cranky charms,
and remedies.

41
00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:21,840
[Farmer]
This stinks!

42
00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:23,040
That's good.

43
00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:25,600
It's good?

44
00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:27,000
I'm making you
a nice tonic and all.

45
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,400
To be drunk,
night and morning.

46
00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,440
I want a child.

47
00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:33,400
I wouldn't care
if it were a strange thing

48
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,280
made of marzipan
or porridge,

49
00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,600
if it were ugly
as a hedgehog.

50
00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:41,080
I want a baby
to wrap in a bundle

51
00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,800
and sing to and snoodle with

52
00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:45,560
and hug to bits.

53
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,200
Now, to say you wouldn't care
when you want something

54
00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,160
is a dangerous thing.

55
00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:59,280
That woman wanted a baby
so bad she couldn't care
what she got.

56
00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,920
If she got a hedgehog,
she'd bring its snout
to her breast.

57
00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,240
Ears twitch
that shouldn't be listening.

58
00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,440
And no sooner said
than done,

59
00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,720
she'd got her wish,
the farmer's wife.

60
00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:12,400
She's all swollen stomach

61
00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:14,200
and thinks it's the baths
she took,

62
00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:15,840
or the sleeping
upside down.

63
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:17,480
But in fact,
of course,

64
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,960
it's the saying,
"you wouldn't care
what you got,"

65
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,560
what gets you jiggered.

66
00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,800
As everyone knows
what heard a proper story.

67
00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:26,080
She has her boy,

68
00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,120
and straight away
there he is,

69
00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,920
little ball
as ugly as sin

70
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,640
with a pointed nose
and sprouting hair everywhere.

71
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,880
Hedgehogs do not
have hair,

72
00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:40,160
they have quills.

73
00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,560
[Creaking]

74
00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,240
[Storyteller]
But this hedgehog baby had
quills as soft as feathers.

75
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,160
And his mother held him
to her breast

76
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,440
and wrapped him in a bundle
and snoodled him,

77
00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,320
and hugged him to bits.

78
00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,880
And she gave him
the name, hans.

79
00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,800
"Hans my hedgehog,"
she called him.

80
00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,080
Oh yes, the mother
loved her baby all right.

81
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,280
But not everybody did.

82
00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:10,960
[Woman
Is it a hedgehog?

83
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:12,080
[Woman
What is this?

84
00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:13,120
[People cackling]

85
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,480
We're a laughing stock.

86
00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,320
[People chattering]

87
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,000
[People sneering]

88
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:23,560
[Farmer yelling]

89
00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,000
We're going home.

90
00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:26,440
What about our chores?

91
00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,920
That's the end of parading
ourselves in public.

92
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:30,200
[Hooves clomping]

93
00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:31,960
Don't cry, my sweet.

94
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,040
He don't even cry
like a proper baby.

95
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:35,800
[Squealing]

96
00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:37,520
Can't you shut
that squealing?

97
00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:38,520
Ow!

98
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,600
And the farmer
grew to hate his son,

99
00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,480
hans, the hedgehog boy.

100
00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:48,880
Out in the field
he chopped and scythed,

101
00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:50,360
and bundled and milked.

102
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:52,920
But all the while
the shame of what
had befallen him

103
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,360
turned a knot in his heart.

104
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,760
One moment the rage
welling up in him,
the next, tears.

105
00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,280
Huge tears
splashing his boots.

106
00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:05,440
And time passed by.

107
00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,000
Day following day,
week chasing week.

108
00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,040
And the hedgehog boy
grew up.

109
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:12,280
[Boy
Hey, beastie!

110
00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:13,480
[Boy
Hey, critterchops!

111
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:14,680
[Boy
Hey, prickle back!

112
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:16,280
Hoghead! Grovelhog!

113
00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,440
[Boys]
Grovelhog!
Grovelhog!

114
00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,000
[Storyteller]
And hans my hedgehog
learned he was strange,

115
00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,640
and he learned he was ugly,
and he learned to be sad,

116
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,560
and he learned the name
that was given him:

117
00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,120
[Boy]
Grovelhog!

118
00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:38,920
[Grunting]

119
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,120
That's enough! Out!

120
00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:49,320
Out!

121
00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:50,840
Husband!

122
00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,120
From now on
you'll eat out there
with the other beasts!

123
00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:03,640
Hans!

124
00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:06,520
Hans!

125
00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,160
[Farmer]
Come home!

126
00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,960
[Storyteller]
Hans heard them
but he wouldn't answer.

127
00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:19,360
He lay there all night,
his rooster for company,

128
00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,040
and thought and thought
until he thought
a hole in the ground.

129
00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:24,600
And his mother
couldn't sleep,

130
00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:26,960
and his father wandered
the dark hours,

131
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,160
a great needle
in his heart.

132
00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,760
In the morning, weary,
the farmer returned.

133
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,960
By the step asleep
was his son, the grovelhog.

134
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,280
I've trudged
all night for you.

135
00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:42,880
You'll not eat
for a week off my food.

136
00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,840
Father, I want you
to do some things for me.

137
00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:47,480
You what?

138
00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,080
I want you to go
to the village

139
00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,360
and have me a saddle made
for my rooster,

140
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:52,720
so I can ride him.

141
00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:54,320
And I want
some of your sheep,

142
00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:55,800
and some hens,
and some pigs.

143
00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:58,160
Oh, do you now?
Fancy fine.

144
00:06:58,200 --> 00:06:59,880
I know which ones
I'd like.

145
00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:01,760
And they would be happy
to come with me.

146
00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,080
Come with you?
Come with you where?

147
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,280
Where I go,
which is away.

148
00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,320
Which is to somewhere
where I can't hurt anyone

149
00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,640
and no one
can hurt me.

150
00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,040
And when are you
planning this gad
to away and somewhere?

151
00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,400
When I have
the saddle.

152
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,280
Thou can't
go nowhere.

153
00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,800
What would your mother say?
Her who dotes on you?

154
00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,560
Father, all night
I lay outdoor

155
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,080
to understand why
you don't love me.

156
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,560
And I've thought
until I've thought
a hole in the grass.

157
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:35,200
And now
it's all right.

158
00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,480
When I have the saddle,
I'll go.

159
00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,760
And the farmer felt ashamed.

160
00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:43,520
And he brought home a saddle
for the rooster,

161
00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,840
and he herded up the animals
his son had asked for,

162
00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:47,800
and he told his wife,
"pack a packed lunch,"

163
00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,520
and all the while
the grovelhog sat
on the stoop and waited.

164
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,800
When all was done
he went to his mother
and she kissed him,

165
00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,000
and then to his dad
and hugged him.

166
00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,000
And the farmer knew
for the first time,

167
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,200
how soft he was.

168
00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:06,160
They watched him until
he was a faint smudge
in the distance.

169
00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,280
And his mother felt
a crack in her heart
like a tiny pencil line.

170
00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,240
And each day after
the pencil line
got thicker and thicker.

171
00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:15,520
And one day,
not long after,

172
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:17,160
her heart split in half

173
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,640
and she died.

174
00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,840
20 years later,
a king got lost
in a great forest.

175
00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,400
And after he got lost
he got more lost,

176
00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,160
until he was so lost
he began to tug his ear,

177
00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,400
which is a sure sign
of big trouble,

178
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:34,920
when he heard a sound,

179
00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,200
which was a bitter sound
and a sweet sound
all at once.

180
00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,920
Which began like hello
and ended like goodbye.

181
00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,400
And tugging his ear
like Billy-o,

182
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,640
he followed the sound
until he came to a clearing.

183
00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:49,240
And the palace
the king saw before him

184
00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,600
was the most
extraordinary palace
in your whole born.

185
00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:06,200
[Grunting]

186
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:07,320
[Clearing throat]

187
00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,320
I, uh, I am very lost,

188
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,840
and I am very hungry.

189
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,480
And, uh, somewhere,
back there,

190
00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,600
a long time ago,
I was a king.

191
00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,680
But now, so lost
and so hungry,

192
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,280
you would knock
at a beast's house?

193
00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,480
We-well...

194
00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,120
You are welcome
in my house, sir,
and at my table.

195
00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,880
[Storyteller]
And the king sat
at the grovelhog's table

196
00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,840
and ate
of the greenest Greens
and the sweetest sweets,

197
00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,720
and the juiciest juices.

198
00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:42,720
Oh, how very, very kind.

199
00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,720
And after, his host
took up the bagpipes

200
00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,760
and played old songs,
which were bitter and sweet
all at once,

201
00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,720
and began like hello
and ended like goodbye.

202
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,640
And before he could think,
"I'm full now and found,"

203
00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,680
the king was asleep.

204
00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,120
Well, this king woke up
the next morning,

205
00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,000
after a night
of the kind of dreams
you only dream about.

206
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:07,960
And he opened his eyes
and almost yanked off his ear

207
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:09,800
because he found himself
under a tree,

208
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:11,960
which certainly wasn't
where he'd fallen asleep,

209
00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:13,480
and more confusing,

210
00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,440
it was a tree
from which he could see
the edge of his kingdom.

211
00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:18,960
And he began to dance

212
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,720
as only kings once lost
and then found can dance.

213
00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:23,800
A jig, a jiggle-joggle
and a leap--

214
00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:25,560
I've heard
this story

215
00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,480
and you're telling it
all wrong. Humph!

216
00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:29,680
What happens is,

217
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,320
the king wants to give
the grovelhog a reward

218
00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:34,560
for all his help,
and so he says,

219
00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,480
"name anything."

220
00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:38,720
And the hogthing says,

221
00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:40,880
"give me the first thing
to greet you

222
00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,560
when you arrive
in your kingdom."

223
00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:45,080
[Dog]
And the king agrees

224
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,400
because he knows
the first thing to greet him

225
00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,000
will be his faithful,
flop-eared w-w-wagger,

226
00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:52,600
the royal dog.

227
00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,920
So the king says, "yes."
And the hogthing says,

228
00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,240
"I'll collect my reward
in a year and a day."

229
00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,480
And off he goes
on his ridiculous rooster.

230
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,000
But

231
00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,120
things don't go
as he planned, do they?

232
00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,080
And it's not w-w-wagger
who gets there first.

233
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,640
[King exulting]

234
00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:19,840
[Storyteller]
And the king lets go
of the Princess

235
00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,280
of sweetness and cherry pie
and his face clouds over.

236
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,360
But then he shrugs
and turns back
to his daughter and dog

237
00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,400
and walks away
for a year and a day.

238
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:40,000
Here we are, dearie-o's
in the king's great hall.

239
00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,600
And lo and behold,
a handsome storyteller

240
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,680
has been summoned to court
to entertain the royal family.

241
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,480
King.

242
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,560
Now, of course, the king here
has been counting the days
off his calendar

243
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:56,400
and it is a year ago today,
you see,

244
00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,080
since he made his rash promise
to the grovelhog.

245
00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:02,040
And tomorrow,
you'll remember, is the day

246
00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,920
when the grovelhog
is due to arrive
to collect his reward.

247
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,520
Princess...

248
00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,320
I'm very good at this.

249
00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,280
Hey!

250
00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,240
Get rid of him! Fool! Idiot!
Throw him in the dungeon!

251
00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:27,120
Feed him inch by inch
to my royal sharks!

252
00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,240
And what they won't eat,
give to his dog!

253
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,920
[Storyteller]
No, help! No, no,
put me down! Put me down!

254
00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,240
[Sighs]

255
00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,960
[Servant]
Your majesty, a huge army
appears at the gates!

256
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:38,080
[King]
Oh, does it?

257
00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,480
Not men, but animals, sire.

258
00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:41,600
Told you.

259
00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:42,680
Sire?

260
00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,120
I heard you!
Let them in.

261
00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:46,440
[Door opening]

262
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,200
[Animals grunting]

263
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,080
Get off! Get off!
Give a fellow some space!
I want to hear this.

264
00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:52,920
[Rooster clucking]

265
00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:54,840
[Grovelhog]
Do you remember me?

266
00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:56,840
[King]
I do.

267
00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,560
A year and a day have passed
since last we met.

268
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,200
Will you keep
your promise to me?

269
00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:03,640
I will.

270
00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,040
He will?

271
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,440
[Door opens]

272
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,240
Do you know of me, lady?

273
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:15,920
I do, sir.

274
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,000
You saved my father
and he owes you his life.

275
00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,160
Do you know
of his promise to me?

276
00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,440
He promised you
the first thing to greet him

277
00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,880
on his return.

278
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,440
And what was that?

279
00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:32,640
Hmm?

280
00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:34,720
Me, sir.

281
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:39,440
I am yours.

282
00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,920
Then I want you
to be my wife

283
00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,000
and come live with me
in the forest.

284
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,120
I want you to be my Princess
of sweetness and cherry pie.

285
00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,400
I want to catch you up
and sing to you.

286
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:55,200
I want you to love me.

287
00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:56,880
Yes, sir.

288
00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,360
Do you find me
very ugly?

289
00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,320
No, sir.

290
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,120
Not so ugly as going back
on a promise.

291
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,600
[Jailor]
Come on, shift yourselves!

292
00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,080
There's a royal wedding
and you're all to be pardoned,

293
00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,680
though I don't know why,
I'm sure. Well, come on!

294
00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,120
And I don't know
about wedding.

295
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,880
Up there,
it's more like a funeral.

296
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:19,920
Good, good, good, good.
A wedding.

297
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,400
I might even be asked
to tell a story or 2.
Who knows?

298
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,480
It's on days like these,
that artists come
into their own.

299
00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:28,440
[People chattering]

300
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,120
[Church bells ringing]

301
00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,200
[People gasping]

302
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,000
[Priest]
Ahem.

303
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:52,640
We are gathered here today--

304
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:53,920
[groaning]

305
00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:55,080
[Crashing]

306
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:56,800
[People murmuring]

307
00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,080
[Storyteller]
The most unhappy
wedding party you ever saw...

308
00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,040
And that night,
in her bedchamber

309
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,760
it was a terrified Princess
who lay waiting

310
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,160
for her new husband
to join her.

311
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,000
And lying there,

312
00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:58,720
half sweetness,
half cherry pie,

313
00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:03,120
the Princess could
hardly credit
what she'd seen.

314
00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,160
But creeping to the window,
she looked down

315
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,160
and there,
sure enough, a man,

316
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,240
moving among the animals
in the quiet rain.

317
00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:15,640
And she found herself
going to the abandoned coat
of hair and quills,

318
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,960
and touching it,

319
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,800
soft and warm
and remarkable.

320
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,360
And the first rays of morning
woke her from dreams

321
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,360
of waterfalls
and ice cream.

322
00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,320
And there she was
in her bed.

323
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,520
And by the embers,
the grovelhog,

324
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,360
back again,
beast again.

325
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:42,080
And so, had she dreamed
all this peeling off of skin?

326
00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,640
Surely, she must have.

327
00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,880
But that night,
the same scene,

328
00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:50,360
her husband standing over her
as she pretended to sleep.

329
00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:54,080
The tender touch on her arm,
not prickly, but so smooth

330
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,120
she felt an ache
when he left her.

331
00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,800
And she found herself
going to the skin
and lying against it.

332
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,000
And how comfortable
she found it.

333
00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:08,400
And she felt drowsy
lying there by the fire,
so peaceful.

334
00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,200
She felt herself drifting off
and knew she musn't,

335
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,200
but really
couldn't help herself.

336
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:15,240
[Door opens]

337
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:17,760
[Footstep]

338
00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,920
Sir, I woke
and you had gone.

339
00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,720
And left behind you,
your coat of quills.

340
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:29,760
Which would you have
for a husband?

341
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,280
The man or the creature?

342
00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,080
I have a husband, sir,

343
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:40,560
and he is what he is.
No more and no less.

344
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,400
Then forgive him, madam,
if he returns to his skin.

345
00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,520
For I'm enchanted
and cannot leave it.

346
00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,400
But if you say
nothing of this
for a 3rd night,

347
00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,840
then loyal love
will break the spell

348
00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:54,960
forever.

349
00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:56,760
I promise.

350
00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,280
[Storyteller laughs]

351
00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,480
But we all know
about promises, hmm?
Don't we?

352
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,120
And secrets.

353
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,640
What use are they
when no one knows about them?

354
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,240
[Dishes rattling]

355
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,160
When they twist and turn
and tickle in our stomachs?

356
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,080
When they're tickly
little fish

357
00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:16,280
wriggling into
our conversations?

358
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,640
Now you see,
the Princess had a mother

359
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,280
and mothers have this way
of catching secret-fish

360
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:23,120
and promise-fish.

361
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,560
They eye us with wise eyes
and all our rivers
are glass to them.

362
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,240
Just so with the queen,

363
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:30,520
who that morning
at breakfast

364
00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,080
sees a daughter
skip to the table,

365
00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,400
eat, when for days
no appetite.

366
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:36,760
Hungry?yes.

367
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,560
Laugh, when for days
no laughter.

368
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,040
Sleep well?Yes, thank you.

369
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,800
Not troubled
by the creature?

370
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:45,240
No, mother.

371
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:47,520
And please don't speak
of him as a creature.

372
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:50,800
Listen, daughter,

373
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,720
last night your father and I
went to a wise woman

374
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:55,520
and told of your tragedy.

375
00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,520
And she knows
of these...

376
00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:58,640
Creatures,

377
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,680
these grovelhogs,

378
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:02,760
and knows the remedy.

379
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,960
He is enchanted,
you see.

380
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:07,520
I know.Oh?

381
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,440
I--i mean, i--i knew
that he must be.

382
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:13,760
S-S-Something like that.

383
00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,720
Yes, I see.
He's enchanted.

384
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:19,640
He's told you,
hasn't he?

385
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,800
No, really, he hasn't.
I just knew he must be.

386
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,800
And, um, does he
take off his skin?

387
00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:30,560
No, no. He doesn't.

388
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,400
The only way
to break the spell

389
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,240
is to throw the skin
into the fire.

390
00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:37,840
Cast the skin
into the flames

391
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:39,120
and he will be
free of it.

392
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,720
That's not the way.

393
00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,920
So, he has told you!

394
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:48,640
[Door opening]

395
00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:52,960
[Grunting]

396
00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,160
[Snorting]

397
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:01,880
[Chomping]

398
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,040
[Storyteller]
That night, the 3rd,

399
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,440
when everything
happens as before,

400
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:12,560
the Princess is haunted
by her mother's advice.

401
00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:15,720
And oh, dear, oh, dear...

402
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,080
[Crackling]

403
00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:23,560
[Grovelhog screaming]

404
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,320
[Thunder rumbling]

405
00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:27,440
[Gasping]

406
00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:29,920
[Whimpering]

407
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:32,320
[Yelping]

408
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,720
Husband, please!
Please don't go--

409
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:37,920
[roars]

410
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,000
[Knocking on door]

411
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,360
Daughter!

412
00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:47,680
[Storyteller]
And there she sat,

413
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,040
the Princess of sweetness
and cherry pie,

414
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:51,480
weeping into the fire.

415
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:53,960
And she would let
no one see her, not even me,

416
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,720
and I was her favorite.

417
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,600
No, she thought and thought

418
00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,560
until she thought a hole
in the hearth.

419
00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,480
Until she knew
what she must do.

420
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,120
She went
to the blacksmith

421
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,000
and got from him
a pair of iron shoes.

422
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,720
And that night,
when all slept,

423
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:09,400
she slipped out
of the palace

424
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:10,960
and set off
to wander the world

425
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,000
in search of her husband.

426
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:16,920
She walked and walked

427
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,440
until she wore out
the first pair of shoes.

428
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,760
And still no one
had set eyes
on the grovelhog.

429
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,440
And she got a 2nd pair
of shoes and began again,

430
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,280
never stopping,
always hoping.

431
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,800
And the 2nd pair
of shoes wore out.

432
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,080
And still she walked,
always looking, always hoping

433
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,400
to hear a music
both bitter and sweet,

434
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,000
beginning in hello
and ending in goodbye,
but nothing.

435
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,480
Till one day,
weary and wretched,

436
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,320
she came to a stream
and lay down by it.

437
00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:49,520
And saw in the water's mirror

438
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,320
her hair was now quite white.

439
00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:55,840
And she sorrowed
for her red hair
and her husband.

440
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:57,680
Both lost forever.

441
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:05,720
[Cawing]

442
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,360
[Fluttering]

443
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:10,440
[Grunting]

444
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,520
To the health of that
most beautiful woman

445
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,360
who could not
keep her promise
for one more day.

446
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:20,440
Husband?

447
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,920
How did you find me?

448
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,640
I have walked the world
to find you

449
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,000
and have worn the soles
of 3 pairs of iron shoes.

450
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:33,960
My hair
is no longer red,

451
00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,080
but I come
to claim you.

452
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,600
And catch you up
and snoodle you
and hug you to bits.

453
00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:42,720
[Grunting]

454
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:46,960
[Screaming]

455
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,400
[Storyteller]
And so the Princess,

456
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:19,960
who could not
keep her promise,

457
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,040
won back her husband
through looking
without hope of finding

458
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,760
and holding on
for dear life.

459
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:27,760
And in time
her hair grew red again

460
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,880
and there was
another wedding all over.

461
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,200
And we were both invited.

462
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,000
And I told the best story
there is to tell.

463
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:40,200
A story which begins in hello
and ends in goodbye.

464
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:44,000
And for a gift
she gave me a shoe
worn to nothing.

465
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:46,320
And...

466
00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:47,720
Here it is.

467
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:49,680
[Chuckling]