0:15

Welcome back to another Sleepy Drift

0:17

Off episode. I'm your

0:19

host Joanne and tonight's

0:22

storytelling is titled Lady

0:24

Daffodilah, which is one of

0:26

the 8 fairy tales from the book The Other

0:28

Side of the Sun, penned by

0:30

Evelyn Sharp. If

0:33

you're enjoying the show, please consider

0:35

subscribing to help support this labor

0:38

of love while also

0:40

helping me keep this Bedtime Story

0:42

Podcast ad-free. You'll

0:44

find all those details and links in the

0:46

show notes. Now

0:49

before we delve into the

0:51

silly, whimsical world of Lady

0:54

Daffodilah and Prince Brilliant, let

0:57

us take a moment to relax and

1:00

welcome the tranquility of this moment.

1:08

Find a cozy spot to settle into,

1:11

whether it's sinking into the softness of

1:14

your comfy bed, or

1:17

whether it's wrapping yourself in a warm

1:19

blanket and sinking

1:21

down into the coziness of your favorite

1:23

chair. Close

1:29

your eyes if you wish, and

1:33

to begin, take

1:35

a slow, comfortable breath. And

1:40

as you exhale, release

1:43

the weight of the day out with a breath,

1:47

and give your body permission to

1:49

soften and relax. And

1:56

again, take a full deep breath

1:58

in. Feeling

2:02

your lungs comfortably, and

2:04

as you exhale, feel

2:08

that tension melting away, leaving

2:13

behind a feeling of calmness and peace.

2:20

Now you might imagine yourself in

2:24

a beautiful lush garden, where

2:28

the trees and flowers dance in the

2:30

moonlight. Perhaps

2:36

you might notice the sensation of a soft

2:38

breeze, lightly

2:40

caressing your skin and hair. The

2:48

sound of rustling leaves as

2:51

tree branches sway in the breeze, and

2:58

the sweet smell of flowers in bloom.

3:05

It is peaceful here, and

3:09

you feel safe, relaxed,

3:14

and completely at ease. And

3:20

so, my friend, snuggle

3:24

down even more under those cozy

3:26

blankets, bringing

3:29

this feeling of relaxation with you now

3:32

as we step into the Land of Dreams,

3:35

andceful sleep. Confused

3:38

by Satsang, Nan, flows through the becoming of this journey. More exploration Cra

3:40

integral and more No

4:05

one in the whole kingdom was

4:07

so idle or so careless or

4:09

so thoughtless as the lady Darcedelia.

4:13

The only thing she had done ever since she

4:15

was born was to grow and grow and grow

4:18

so that

4:20

although she was only twelve years old,

4:23

she was quite as tall as the Countess,

4:25

her mother. In

4:28

fact, she was tall enough

4:30

to be conceited about it, which,

4:33

of course, was extremely

4:35

foolish of her, for she

4:37

had certainly had nothing to do with it

4:39

herself. You

4:42

are a whole year older than I am, but

4:44

I am a head taller than you, was

4:47

what she said to Prince Brilliant, when

4:49

he came to play with her one day. She

4:53

was perched on the garden wall at the time,

4:56

so she was able to look down on

4:58

the little prince even more than usual. Hush,

5:02

said the Countess, who was drinking tea

5:04

on the lawn. That

5:07

is not the way to speak to a prince. Prince

5:11

Brilliant stuck his chin into the air and

5:13

tried to make the most of his height.

5:17

I don't care a bit, he said. I

5:20

wouldn't have silly long legs like yours

5:22

for anything. It's

5:24

much better to know things and only

5:26

think of all the things I know that you never

5:29

heard of. You couldn't

5:31

even say the exports and imports of the

5:33

airland without looking in the book first now,

5:35

could you? Hush,

5:38

said his Queen Mother, who

5:40

was also drinking tea on the lawn. That

5:44

is not the way to speak to a little lady. The

5:48

Lady Daffodilia stooped a little and

5:50

smoothed out the creases in her

5:52

black silk stockings, just to

5:54

show that she had not forgotten how much

5:57

longer her legs were than the prince's. The

6:00

Prince pretended not to see. "'What

6:04

you say is very true,' then,"

6:06

said Daffodilia, who was always fair,

6:09

even when she was most aggravating. "'But

6:12

I am better off than you, all the same.

6:15

I can go and look in the book if

6:17

I want to know all those tiresome stuffy things

6:19

you think such a lot about. But

6:22

all the books in the world won't make you as

6:24

tall as I am.'" The

6:27

Prince was much annoyed, for

6:30

there was no doubt that the Lady Daffodilia

6:32

had the best of the argument. He

6:36

aimed a most unprincially kick at

6:38

a harmless geranium plant that, like

6:41

the Lady Daffodilia, had

6:43

never done anything in its life but grow,

6:46

and he turned very red in the face.

6:49

"'You're only a girl,' he

6:51

said, and girls think too much of

6:54

themselves. That's what my professor

6:56

says.' "'If

6:58

you were a girl,' laughed the

7:00

Lady Daffodilia, it

7:02

would not matter about your being such a little bit

7:04

of a thing. Is

7:06

it not very unpleasant to be so short

7:09

when you're a boy?' The

7:12

Prince turned and walked quickly towards the

7:15

garden gate. It

7:17

was true that he was a Prince and

7:19

could not therefore be rude to the

7:21

Lady Daffodilia, but he

7:23

was a boy, too, and if

7:25

he had stopped another minute, he was quite

7:27

certain he would have lifted her down from

7:29

the wall and given her a good shaking.

7:33

"'Where are you going?' she cried after him,

7:36

and laughed more than ever when she saw

7:38

how cross she had made him. "'Where

7:41

are you going?' echoed the Queen and

7:43

the Countess. Prince

7:46

brilliant, when he reached the gate and faced

7:48

the mall with a resolute look on his

7:52

small round face. "'I am going

7:54

to find out the way to grow tall,' he said.

7:57

I shall not come back until I am as

7:59

tall as I am.' Lady Daffodilia. Then

8:03

he went through the gate and slammed it behind

8:05

him and marched away

8:07

down the hot, dusty road. The

8:11

Queen and the Countess only smiled,

8:14

for they did not suppose he had gone for

8:16

good. But the

8:18

Lady Daffodilia slipped down from the

8:20

wall and on to the grass

8:23

lawn and began to weep. I

8:26

have sent away my favourite Prince, she

8:29

sobbed, and I shall never have him

8:31

to play with again. Do

8:34

not cry, little daughter, said

8:36

the Countess, soothingly. Your Prince

8:38

will come back soon. You

8:42

do not know him so well as I

8:44

do, said Daffodilia. He

8:46

always means what he says, and

8:49

since it is quite certain that nothing can ever

8:51

make him as tall as I am, it is

8:53

quite certain that he will never come back any

8:56

more. It

8:58

seemed as though her words were likely to

9:00

come true, for

9:02

the Prince had not returned by bedtime,

9:06

and although the King's messengers

9:08

rode out that very night and

9:10

hunted the whole country up and

9:13

down for days and weeks and

9:15

years, not a

9:17

trace was ever found of the little Prince

9:20

who had gone to learn the way to grow

9:22

tall. So

9:25

the kingdom was left without an

9:27

heir to the throne, and the

9:29

Lady Daffodilia was left without a

9:31

playfellow. It

9:34

was not her way, however, to

9:37

sit down and cry about it, besides

9:39

which she had found something really

9:42

important to do at last. If

9:45

the Prince has gone away to grow as tall

9:47

as I am, she said, I will

9:50

stay at home and grow as clever as he

9:52

is. So

9:55

she shut herself up in the Countess

9:57

Library with a pile of dusty books.

10:00

and tried her very best to

10:02

learn the exports and imports of

10:04

Fairyland. But

10:07

as fast as she learned one, she

10:09

forgot the other, and she ended

10:11

by completely jumbling them up, which

10:14

was really a serious matter, for

10:17

it is quite evident that the things we

10:19

give to Fairyland are not at all the

10:21

same things as Fairyland gives to us. And

10:26

then, long before the Lady

10:28

Daffodilia had grown as clever as

10:30

the prince, the people

10:32

came and clapped her into prison. They

10:36

said, it is your fault that

10:38

the heir to the throne is lost. It

10:43

is true that they did not put

10:45

her into a very unpleasant prison, for

10:48

it was a nice, comfortable old

10:50

castle in the middle of a green

10:52

plain, but there was

10:54

no one to play with and no one to

10:57

tease, so it was

10:59

most decidedly a prison. Added

11:03

to this, the Lady Daffodilia

11:05

seemed to have stopped growing at

11:07

last, for she never

11:09

grew another inch after the prince went

11:11

away, and as

11:14

this robbed her of her only occupation,

11:17

she began for the first time in her

11:19

life to long for something to do, and

11:22

she grew so tired of looking

11:24

at the same green plain day

11:26

after day that she

11:28

determined to make it into a garden for

11:31

a change. And

11:33

the flowers and the shrubs were so

11:36

proud of being planted by such dainty

11:38

white hands that they

11:40

tried their very hardest to grow up

11:42

nicely and be a credit to her,

11:45

and the result was that the

11:47

little lady in the castle soon

11:49

became known as the most wonderful

11:52

gardener in the kingdom. Now

11:56

when Prince Brilliant ran away from

11:58

the Lady Daffodilia, He

12:00

found the road so hot and so

12:03

dusty that he was obliged to keep

12:05

near the hedge at the side. And

12:09

he had not run very far before

12:11

he pushed his head through a very

12:13

elegant spider's web. The

12:16

spider was exceedingly cross and

12:18

grumbled, but the daddy

12:21

long legs that tumbled out of her

12:23

web was very much pleased with himself.

12:27

Well, my little friend, he said to the

12:29

prince, where are you

12:31

running so fast this fine morning? Now,

12:36

one of the things the prince had

12:38

learned from his professor was

12:40

the way to speak to a daddy long legs.

12:44

So before another five minutes had passed,

12:47

he had told him the whole of his trouble.

12:51

Do you know the way to make your legs

12:53

roll long? asked the prince at the end of

12:55

the story. Well,

12:58

said the daddy long legs, that

13:00

is certainly one of the things I am generally

13:03

supposed to know. But

13:05

if I show you the way, do you

13:07

think you will have patience to do everything I

13:09

tell you? It may take

13:11

a very long time. I

13:14

can wait years and years and years and

13:16

years, said the prince, in his

13:19

determined way. And

13:21

the daddy long legs had the sense to see

13:23

that he meant what he said. Right

13:27

you are, he said. Then

13:30

jump straight into that hedge, and

13:32

the more spider's webs you break on the way, the

13:34

better. Nasty, choky,

13:37

stuffy things. What

13:40

shall I do when I get there? asked the prince. Oh,

13:43

you haven't got to do anything, said the daddy

13:45

long legs, with a chockal. Just

13:49

wait there until I come to you. All

13:52

right, but you won't be long, will you, said

13:54

the prince? Then

13:56

he tucked his crown under his arm and shut

13:58

his eyes to the ground. tight and

14:01

jumped straight into the thorny prickly

14:03

hedge. When

14:06

he opened his eyes, he

14:08

found himself in a strange new

14:10

country that was all made

14:12

of rose-colored dreams and

14:15

filled with rose-colored air and

14:17

lighted with rose-colored sunbeams. There

14:21

were no people or trees or mountains

14:23

or rivers to be seen, but

14:26

before the little prince had time to notice

14:28

this, his mind was

14:31

filled with rose-colored thoughts, and

14:33

so he forgot the Lady Daffodilia in

14:36

his own crossness and everything that had

14:38

made him unhappy when he was in

14:40

the real world. "'Hello?

14:43

Where am I?' he cried. "'You

14:47

are in the world of dreams, to be sure,' said

14:50

a voice in his ear. "'Where

14:52

else should you be at your time of life?' "'But

14:56

who lives here?' asked Prince Brilliant. A

14:59

great many voices answered him. "'We

15:02

live here, of course,' they said. We

15:06

are really nice dreams, we are, and

15:08

when children are the right sword, like yourself,

15:12

they come here to stay with us until they

15:14

are grown up.' "'May

15:16

I play with you then?' asked the prince. In

15:20

the real world, he had been too fond of

15:22

books to play much, but

15:24

here he felt as though he must do

15:26

nothing but play all day long. "'Of

15:30

course you may,' answered the dream voices. "'That

15:33

is what you are here for.' Prince

15:37

Brilliant was soon the happiest boy

15:39

possible. Some

15:41

people might think too dull to have playfellows

15:43

who could not be seen, but

15:46

the prince thought that nothing could be more

15:49

delightful than to live in the midst of

15:51

dreams for the rest of his life. It

15:55

is true that he was fast forgetting

15:57

everything that his professor had taught him.

16:00

But this was hardly surprising, for

16:03

there's no room in a very small head

16:05

for serious thoughts as well as rose-coloured ones.

16:10

It is doubtful whether the prince would have ever

16:12

wanted to go back to the real world again

16:15

if he had not met the daddy-long legs one

16:17

day as he was strolling along with

16:20

his favourite dream. Hello,

16:23

said daddy-long legs, chuckling.

16:26

I see it is time for you to go back

16:28

into the real world. What?

16:31

Already? Explained the prince? Why,

16:34

you said I should have to wait years

16:36

and years and years and… You

16:39

have been here exactly seven years,

16:41

interrupted the daddy-long legs, and

16:44

it is time for you to meet the waking

16:46

dream. The

16:49

prince suddenly began to remember

16:51

things. When

16:54

shall I be as tall as Lady Daffodilia?

16:56

he cried. But

16:58

the daddy-long legs had no time

17:00

to do anything but chuckle before

17:02

the waking dream came and seized

17:04

hold of the prince, and

17:07

he found himself falling, falling,

17:09

falling, down, down,

17:11

down, until he

17:13

dropped with a thud on a soft grass

17:16

lawn and found himself in

17:18

the middle of the most beautiful garden in

17:20

the world. A

17:23

little way off stood an old grey

17:25

castle, and as he

17:27

lay looking at it, the gate swung

17:30

open, an outstep

17:32

to dainty, winsome little lady.

17:36

The prince suddenly began to

17:38

remember things. The

17:41

prince sprang to his feet with

17:43

a shout and held out his arms,

17:46

and the Lady Daffodilia ran

17:49

straight into them without stopping

17:51

so much as to think.

17:55

How did you learn to grow so

17:57

tall? she asked, looking up at him.

18:01

Well," said the Prince, truthfully, I just

18:04

went into the world of dreams and waited till

18:06

I was grown up. You

18:09

see, I was a boy and

18:11

not a girl all the time, so

18:14

I was not in such a hurry as you

18:16

to get my growing done early. I

18:19

tried to grow as clever as

18:21

you, sighed Daphidylia, but

18:23

nothing would stop in my head. I

18:26

couldn't even say the exports and imports

18:28

of Fairyland without looking in the book

18:30

first. Never

18:33

mind, laughed the Prince. I

18:36

don't believe there are any imports, for

18:39

I am sure we have nothing good

18:41

enough to send there. And as

18:43

for the exports, there

18:45

is only one thing that Fairyland has

18:47

sent into this country that is worth

18:49

remembering. And

18:51

what is that? She asked anxiously. It

18:54

is something that is not very tall

18:57

and not very serious, answered the Prince.

19:00

But it is sweet and merry and charming,

19:03

and it is called the Lady

19:06

Daphidylia. Sweet

19:12

dreams, my friend. Sleep well. Sleep

19:58

well. Thank you. Thank

20:30

you. Thank

21:00

you. Thank

21:30

you. Thank

22:00

you. Thank

22:30

you. Thank

23:00

you. Thank

23:30

you. Thank

24:00

you. Thank

24:30

you. Thank

25:00

you. Thank

25:30

you. Thank

26:00

you. Thank

26:30

you. Thank

27:00

you. Thank

27:30

you. Thank

28:00

you. Thank

28:30

you. Thank

29:00

you. Thank

29:30

you.