The Blue Light

{
  "cleanup_version": "v3",
  "cleanup_mode": "child_simplification",
  "source_file": "story.json",
  "source_v1_file": "story_v1.json",
  "source_sha256": "4b2ed508646709c81299bd6bac2283257b64098417a8d967605e96df83579363",
  "source_v1_sha256": "566c032cc8415425a8ec468fe552b845dbcf5adc136221e9e0722aa52a16336e",
  "source_title": "The Blue Light",
  "tts_title": "The Blue Light",
  "speech_safe_title": "The Blue Light",
  "kind": "story",
  "canonical_url": "https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/089.txt",
  "slug": "the-blue-light",
  "story_dirname": "089-the-blue-light",
  "section_slug": null,
  "title": "The Blue Light",
  "author": null,
  "publisher_label": null,
  "source_version": null,
  "content_type": null,
  "language": null,
  "summary": null,
  "clean_summary": null,
  "body": [
    "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"",
    "Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.",
    "The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\" The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"",
    "In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.",
    "The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\" When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.",
    "Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.",
    "Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him. \"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"",
    "His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\" Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife."
  ],
  "body_text": "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"\n\nNext day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.\n\nThe poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\" The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"\n\nIn a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.\n\nThe soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\" When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.\n\nNext morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.\n\nNext morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him. \"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.\n\nNext morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"\n\nHis comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\" Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife.",
  "clean_body": [
    "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"",
    "Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.",
    "The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\" The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"",
    "In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.",
    "The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\" When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.",
    "Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.",
    "Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him. \"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"",
    "His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\" Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife."
  ],
  "clean_text": "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"\n\nNext day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.\n\nThe poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\" The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"\n\nIn a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.\n\nThe soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\" When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.\n\nNext morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.\n\nNext morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him. \"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.\n\nNext morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"\n\nHis comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\" Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife.",
  "tts_chunks": [
    "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier?",
    "Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"",
    "Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.",
    "The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\"",
    "The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"",
    "In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.",
    "The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\"",
    "When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.",
    "Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all.",
    "At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.",
    "Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him.",
    "\"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"",
    "His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\"",
    "Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife."
  ],
  "speech_safe_body": [
    "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"",
    "Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.",
    "The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\" The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"",
    "In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.",
    "The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\" When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.",
    "Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.",
    "Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him. \"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"",
    "His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\" Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife."
  ],
  "speech_safe_text": "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"\n\nNext day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.\n\nThe poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\" The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"\n\nIn a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.\n\nThe soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\" When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.\n\nNext morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.\n\nNext morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him. \"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.\n\nNext morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"\n\nHis comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\" Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife.",
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    "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier?",
    "Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"",
    "Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.",
    "The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\"",
    "The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"",
    "In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.",
    "The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\"",
    "When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.",
    "Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all.",
    "At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.",
    "Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him.",
    "\"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"",
    "His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\"",
    "Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife."
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    "There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had received. The king said to him, \"You may return to your home, I need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me serve for them.\" Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. \"Do give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,\" said he to her, \"or I shall starve.\" \"Oho,\" she answered, \"who gives anything to a run-away soldier?",
    "Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish.\" \"What do you wish?\" said the soldier. \"That you should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.\" The soldier consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it by the evening. \"I see well enough,\" said the witch, \"that you can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and chop it small.\" The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. \"Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again.\"",
    "Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from him. \"No,\" said he, perceiving her evil intention, \"I will not give you the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.\" The witch fell into a passion, let him fall again into the well, and went away.",
    "The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him. He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. \"This shall be my last pleasure,\" thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and said, \"Lord, what are your commands?\" \"What my commands are?\" replied the soldier, quite astonished. \"I must do everything you bid me,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier, \"then in the first place help me out of this well.\"",
    "The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, \"Now go and bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge.\"",
    "In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the little man re-appeared. \"It is all done,\" said he, \"and the witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands has my lord,\" inquired the dwarf. \"At this moment, none,\" answered the soldier, \"You can return home, only be at hand immediately, if I summon you.\" \"Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.\" Thereupon he vanished from his sight.",
    "The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible. When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black mannikin and said, \"I have served the king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my revenge.\" \"What am I to do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed, bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for me.\" The mannikin said, \"That is an easy thing for me to do, but a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you will fare ill.\"",
    "When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. \"Aha, are you there?\" cried the soldier, \"Get to your work at once. Fetch the broom and sweep the chamber.\" When she had done this, he ordered her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Pull off my boots,\" and then he threw them in her face, and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them. She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition, silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed, the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her in her bed.",
    "Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father, and told him that she had had a very strange dream. \"I was carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,\" said she, \"and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just as tired as if I really had done everything.\" \"The dream may have been true,\" said the king, \"I will give you a piece of advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will fall out and leave a track in the streets.\" But unseen by the king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that, and heard all.",
    "At night when the sleeping princess was again carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.",
    "Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track, but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were sitting, picking up peas, and saying, \"It must have rained peas, last night.\" \"We must think of something else,\" said the king, \"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I will soon contrive to find it.\" The black mannikin heard this plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him.",
    "\"Do what I bid you,\" replied the soldier, and again this third night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket. And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by. The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came up, said to him, \"Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing it.\"",
    "His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and summoned the black mannikin. \"Have no fear,\" said the latter to his master. \"Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what they will, only take the blue light with you.\" Next day the soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he begged a last favor of the king. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way.\" \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king, \"but do not imagine that I will spare your life.\"",
    "Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his hand, and said, \"What does my lord command?\" \"Strike down to earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not the king who has treated me so ill.\" Then the mannikin fell on them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth, and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his daughter to wife."
  ],
  "child_friendly_title": "The Blue Light",
  "child_friendly_body": [
    "Once upon a time, there was a soldier who had fought bravely for the king for many years. But when the war ended, he could not keep fighting because of his many hurts. The king told him, \"You can go home now. I do not need you anymore. You will not get any more money, because I only pay people who work for me.\" The soldier did not know how to earn food or a home. He felt very sad and walked all day. When the sun went down, he saw a little light. He walked toward it and found a small house where a kind woman lived. \"Please let me stay here for one night,\" he asked her gently. \"And please give me some food and water, or I will be very hungry.\" The woman looked at him and said, \"Oh, I do not help people who run away from their work.",
    "I will be kind and let you stay, if you do what I ask,\" she said. \"What do you want?\" asked the soldier. \"I need you to dig all around my garden tomorrow,\" she said. The soldier agreed. He worked very hard all day, but he could not finish by the evening. \"I can see you are tired,\" said the witch. \"You can stay one more night. In return, you must chop a big pile of wood for me tomorrow.\" The soldier worked all day chopping the wood. In the evening, the witch asked him to stay one more night. \"Tomorrow, you only have to do a very small job,\" she said. \"Behind my house, there is an old, dry well. My blue light fell into it. It burns bright and never goes out. You must bring it back up for me.",
    "The next day, the kind old woman took him to the deep well. She lowered him down in a basket. He found the glowing blue light and made a signal to pull him back up. She pulled him up, but when he got close to the top, she reached down to grab the light from him. \"No!\" said the boy. He saw she had a mean plan. \"I will not give you the light until I am standing safely on the ground.\" The witch got very angry. She let him fall back into the dark well and walked away.",
    "The poor soldier fell softly onto the soft grass. The blue light kept shining, but it did not help him at all. He knew he could not get out of the dark well. He sat there for a little while, feeling very sad. Then, he felt in his pocket and found his pipe. It was still half full of tobacco. \"This will be my last treat,\" he thought. He pulled it out and lit it with the blue light. He started to smoke. When the smoke floated around the cave, a little black dwarf appeared. He looked at the soldier and asked, \"Sir, what do you need?\" \"What do I need?\" asked the soldier, who was very surprised. \"I will do anything you ask,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier. \"Then, first, help me get out of this well.",
    "The little man held his hand tight. They walked down a dark tunnel together. The dwarf showed the soldier shiny gold and gems hidden there. The soldier picked up as much as he could hold. Soon, they came out into the fresh air. The soldier smiled at the little man and said, \"Now go and tie up the old witch. We must take her to the judge.",
    "Soon, she came flying by like the wind. She was riding on a wild cat and making a loud, happy sound. The little man came back very quickly. \"It is all finished,\" he said. \"The witch is safe now. She is not in any trouble.\" \"What else do you need, my lord?\" asked the dwarf. \"For now, nothing,\" answered the soldier. \"You can go home, but please stay close. I might call you back.\" \"That is all I need,\" said the dwarf. \"Just light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear right in front of you.\" Then, he disappeared from sight.",
    "The soldier went back to the town he had left. He went to the best inn and bought nice new clothes. Then he asked the landlord to give him a room that was just as nice. When the room was ready, the soldier called his little black helper. He said, \"I was good to the king, but he let me go hungry. Now I want to get my revenge.\" \"What should I do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the princess is sleeping in her bed, bring her here. She will do my chores for me.\" The little man said, \"That is easy for me, but it is very dangerous for you. If they find out, you will be in big trouble.",
    "When the clock struck twelve, the door flew open. The little man carried the princess inside. \"Aha! Are you there?\" cried the soldier. \"Get to work right away. Fetch the broom and sweep the room.\" After she swept, he told her to come sit by his chair. Then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Take off my boots.\" But instead of taking them off, he threw them right in her face! He made her pick them up and clean them until they shone. She did everything he asked, without saying a word, with her eyes half closed. When the first rooster crowed, the little man carried her back to the palace. He gently laid her in her soft bed.",
    "The next morning, the princess woke up and went to her father. She told him about a very strange dream. \"I was flying through the streets so fast,\" she said, \"and then I went into a soldier's room. I had to wait on him like a servant. I swept his room and cleaned his boots. I did all kinds of hard work. It was only a dream, but I am just as tired as if I really did it all.\"\n\n\"The dream might have been true,\" said the King. \"I will give you some advice. Fill your pocket with peas and make a tiny hole in it. If you are carried away again, the peas will fall out and leave a trail on the ground.\"\n\nBut the little man was standing right there, unseen by the King. He heard everything they said.",
    "That night, the sleeping princess was carried through the streets again. Some peas fell out of her pocket, but they made no tracks. The little man had just sprinkled peas in every street. The princess had to do hard work until the rooster crowed.",
    "The next morning, the king sent his people out to look for the track. But they could not find it. Every street was full of poor children. They were sitting on the ground, picking up peas. They were saying, \"It must have rained peas last night.\"\n\n\"We must think of something else,\" said the king. \"Keep your shoes on when you go to bed. And before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there. I will find it very soon.\"\n\nThe little black man heard this plan. At night, when the soldier asked him to bring the princess, the little man told him everything. He said he did not know how to stop this trick. He said that if the shoe was found in the soldier's house, it would be very bad for him.",
    "Do what I tell you,\" said the soldier. Again, on the third night, the princess had to work very hard like a servant. But before she left, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "The next morning, the king had the whole town looked for the glass shoe. They found it at the soldier's house. The soldier had gone out the gate, but the dwarf asked him to come back. So, the guards brought him back and put him in a dark prison. The soldier had left his best things behind, like the blue light and the gold. He only had one coin left in his pocket. Now, he was in chains and standing by the window of his cell. He saw a friend walking by. The soldier tapped on the glass. When his friend came close, he said, \"Please go to the inn and get my small bundle for me. I will give you a coin for your help.",
    "His friend ran to get it for him. When the soldier was alone, he lit his pipe and called for the little black man. \"Don't be scared,\" the little man said. \"Just take the blue light with you. Go wherever they take you, and let them do what they want.\" The next day, the soldier was put on trial. Even though he had done nothing wrong, the judge said he had to die. When they led him out to the end, he asked the king for one last favor. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"I just want to smoke one last pipe on my way,\" he said. \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king. \"But do not think I will save your life.",
    "The soldier lit his pipe at the blue light. Soon, a little man appeared with a small stick. He asked, \"What do you wish, my lord?\" The soldier said, \"Please make the bad judge fall to the ground. And his helper, too. Do not hurt the king, though. He was not very nice to me.\" The little man moved very fast. He hit the judge and the helper with his stick. They fell down and could not get up. The king was very scared. He begged the soldier to let him live. The king gave the soldier his kingdom and his daughter to be his wife."
  ],
  "child_friendly_text": "Once upon a time, there was a soldier who had fought bravely for the king for many years. But when the war ended, he could not keep fighting because of his many hurts. The king told him, \"You can go home now. I do not need you anymore. You will not get any more money, because I only pay people who work for me.\" The soldier did not know how to earn food or a home. He felt very sad and walked all day. When the sun went down, he saw a little light. He walked toward it and found a small house where a kind woman lived. \"Please let me stay here for one night,\" he asked her gently. \"And please give me some food and water, or I will be very hungry.\" The woman looked at him and said, \"Oh, I do not help people who run away from their work.\n\nI will be kind and let you stay, if you do what I ask,\" she said. \"What do you want?\" asked the soldier. \"I need you to dig all around my garden tomorrow,\" she said. The soldier agreed. He worked very hard all day, but he could not finish by the evening. \"I can see you are tired,\" said the witch. \"You can stay one more night. In return, you must chop a big pile of wood for me tomorrow.\" The soldier worked all day chopping the wood. In the evening, the witch asked him to stay one more night. \"Tomorrow, you only have to do a very small job,\" she said. \"Behind my house, there is an old, dry well. My blue light fell into it. It burns bright and never goes out. You must bring it back up for me.\n\nThe next day, the kind old woman took him to the deep well. She lowered him down in a basket. He found the glowing blue light and made a signal to pull him back up. She pulled him up, but when he got close to the top, she reached down to grab the light from him. \"No!\" said the boy. He saw she had a mean plan. \"I will not give you the light until I am standing safely on the ground.\" The witch got very angry. She let him fall back into the dark well and walked away.\n\nThe poor soldier fell softly onto the soft grass. The blue light kept shining, but it did not help him at all. He knew he could not get out of the dark well. He sat there for a little while, feeling very sad. Then, he felt in his pocket and found his pipe. It was still half full of tobacco. \"This will be my last treat,\" he thought. He pulled it out and lit it with the blue light. He started to smoke. When the smoke floated around the cave, a little black dwarf appeared. He looked at the soldier and asked, \"Sir, what do you need?\" \"What do I need?\" asked the soldier, who was very surprised. \"I will do anything you ask,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier. \"Then, first, help me get out of this well.\n\nThe little man held his hand tight. They walked down a dark tunnel together. The dwarf showed the soldier shiny gold and gems hidden there. The soldier picked up as much as he could hold. Soon, they came out into the fresh air. The soldier smiled at the little man and said, \"Now go and tie up the old witch. We must take her to the judge.\n\nSoon, she came flying by like the wind. She was riding on a wild cat and making a loud, happy sound. The little man came back very quickly. \"It is all finished,\" he said. \"The witch is safe now. She is not in any trouble.\" \"What else do you need, my lord?\" asked the dwarf. \"For now, nothing,\" answered the soldier. \"You can go home, but please stay close. I might call you back.\" \"That is all I need,\" said the dwarf. \"Just light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear right in front of you.\" Then, he disappeared from sight.\n\nThe soldier went back to the town he had left. He went to the best inn and bought nice new clothes. Then he asked the landlord to give him a room that was just as nice. When the room was ready, the soldier called his little black helper. He said, \"I was good to the king, but he let me go hungry. Now I want to get my revenge.\" \"What should I do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the princess is sleeping in her bed, bring her here. She will do my chores for me.\" The little man said, \"That is easy for me, but it is very dangerous for you. If they find out, you will be in big trouble.\n\nWhen the clock struck twelve, the door flew open. The little man carried the princess inside. \"Aha! Are you there?\" cried the soldier. \"Get to work right away. Fetch the broom and sweep the room.\" After she swept, he told her to come sit by his chair. Then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Take off my boots.\" But instead of taking them off, he threw them right in her face! He made her pick them up and clean them until they shone. She did everything he asked, without saying a word, with her eyes half closed. When the first rooster crowed, the little man carried her back to the palace. He gently laid her in her soft bed.\n\nThe next morning, the princess woke up and went to her father. She told him about a very strange dream. \"I was flying through the streets so fast,\" she said, \"and then I went into a soldier's room. I had to wait on him like a servant. I swept his room and cleaned his boots. I did all kinds of hard work. It was only a dream, but I am just as tired as if I really did it all.\"\n\n\"The dream might have been true,\" said the King. \"I will give you some advice. Fill your pocket with peas and make a tiny hole in it. If you are carried away again, the peas will fall out and leave a trail on the ground.\"\n\nBut the little man was standing right there, unseen by the King. He heard everything they said.\n\nThat night, the sleeping princess was carried through the streets again. Some peas fell out of her pocket, but they made no tracks. The little man had just sprinkled peas in every street. The princess had to do hard work until the rooster crowed.\n\nThe next morning, the king sent his people out to look for the track. But they could not find it. Every street was full of poor children. They were sitting on the ground, picking up peas. They were saying, \"It must have rained peas last night.\"\n\n\"We must think of something else,\" said the king. \"Keep your shoes on when you go to bed. And before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there. I will find it very soon.\"\n\nThe little black man heard this plan. At night, when the soldier asked him to bring the princess, the little man told him everything. He said he did not know how to stop this trick. He said that if the shoe was found in the soldier's house, it would be very bad for him.\n\nDo what I tell you,\" said the soldier. Again, on the third night, the princess had to work very hard like a servant. But before she left, she hid her shoe under the bed.\n\nThe next morning, the king had the whole town looked for the glass shoe. They found it at the soldier's house. The soldier had gone out the gate, but the dwarf asked him to come back. So, the guards brought him back and put him in a dark prison. The soldier had left his best things behind, like the blue light and the gold. He only had one coin left in his pocket. Now, he was in chains and standing by the window of his cell. He saw a friend walking by. The soldier tapped on the glass. When his friend came close, he said, \"Please go to the inn and get my small bundle for me. I will give you a coin for your help.\n\nHis friend ran to get it for him. When the soldier was alone, he lit his pipe and called for the little black man. \"Don't be scared,\" the little man said. \"Just take the blue light with you. Go wherever they take you, and let them do what they want.\" The next day, the soldier was put on trial. Even though he had done nothing wrong, the judge said he had to die. When they led him out to the end, he asked the king for one last favor. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"I just want to smoke one last pipe on my way,\" he said. \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king. \"But do not think I will save your life.\n\nThe soldier lit his pipe at the blue light. Soon, a little man appeared with a small stick. He asked, \"What do you wish, my lord?\" The soldier said, \"Please make the bad judge fall to the ground. And his helper, too. Do not hurt the king, though. He was not very nice to me.\" The little man moved very fast. He hit the judge and the helper with his stick. They fell down and could not get up. The king was very scared. He begged the soldier to let him live. The king gave the soldier his kingdom and his daughter to be his wife.",
  "child_friendly_chunks": [
    "Once upon a time, there was a soldier who had fought bravely for the king for many years. But when the war ended, he could not keep fighting because of his many hurts. The king told him, \"You can go home now. I do not need you anymore. You will not get any more money, because I only pay people who work for me.\" The soldier did not know how to earn food or a home. He felt very sad and walked all day. When the sun went down, he saw a little light. He walked toward it and found a small house where a kind woman lived. \"Please let me stay here for one night,\" he asked her gently. \"And please give me some food and water, or I will be very hungry.\" The woman looked at him and said, \"Oh, I do not help people who run away from their work.",
    "I will be kind and let you stay, if you do what I ask,\" she said. \"What do you want?\" asked the soldier. \"I need you to dig all around my garden tomorrow,\" she said. The soldier agreed. He worked very hard all day, but he could not finish by the evening. \"I can see you are tired,\" said the witch. \"You can stay one more night. In return, you must chop a big pile of wood for me tomorrow.\" The soldier worked all day chopping the wood. In the evening, the witch asked him to stay one more night. \"Tomorrow, you only have to do a very small job,\" she said. \"Behind my house, there is an old, dry well. My blue light fell into it. It burns bright and never goes out. You must bring it back up for me.",
    "The next day, the kind old woman took him to the deep well. She lowered him down in a basket. He found the glowing blue light and made a signal to pull him back up. She pulled him up, but when he got close to the top, she reached down to grab the light from him. \"No!\" said the boy. He saw she had a mean plan. \"I will not give you the light until I am standing safely on the ground.\" The witch got very angry. She let him fall back into the dark well and walked away.",
    "The poor soldier fell softly onto the soft grass. The blue light kept shining, but it did not help him at all. He knew he could not get out of the dark well. He sat there for a little while, feeling very sad. Then, he felt in his pocket and found his pipe. It was still half full of tobacco. \"This will be my last treat,\" he thought. He pulled it out and lit it with the blue light. He started to smoke. When the smoke floated around the cave, a little black dwarf appeared. He looked at the soldier and asked, \"Sir, what do you need?\" \"What do I need?\" asked the soldier, who was very surprised. \"I will do anything you ask,\" said the little man. \"Good,\" said the soldier. \"Then, first, help me get out of this well.",
    "The little man held his hand tight. They walked down a dark tunnel together. The dwarf showed the soldier shiny gold and gems hidden there. The soldier picked up as much as he could hold. Soon, they came out into the fresh air. The soldier smiled at the little man and said, \"Now go and tie up the old witch. We must take her to the judge.",
    "Soon, she came flying by like the wind. She was riding on a wild cat and making a loud, happy sound. The little man came back very quickly. \"It is all finished,\" he said. \"The witch is safe now. She is not in any trouble.\" \"What else do you need, my lord?\" asked the dwarf. \"For now, nothing,\" answered the soldier. \"You can go home, but please stay close. I might call you back.\" \"That is all I need,\" said the dwarf. \"Just light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear right in front of you.\" Then, he disappeared from sight.",
    "The soldier went back to the town he had left. He went to the best inn and bought nice new clothes. Then he asked the landlord to give him a room that was just as nice. When the room was ready, the soldier called his little black helper. He said, \"I was good to the king, but he let me go hungry. Now I want to get my revenge.\" \"What should I do?\" asked the little man. \"Late at night, when the princess is sleeping in her bed, bring her here. She will do my chores for me.\" The little man said, \"That is easy for me, but it is very dangerous for you. If they find out, you will be in big trouble.",
    "When the clock struck twelve, the door flew open. The little man carried the princess inside. \"Aha! Are you there?\" cried the soldier. \"Get to work right away. Fetch the broom and sweep the room.\" After she swept, he told her to come sit by his chair. Then he stretched out his feet and said, \"Take off my boots.\" But instead of taking them off, he threw them right in her face! He made her pick them up and clean them until they shone. She did everything he asked, without saying a word, with her eyes half closed. When the first rooster crowed, the little man carried her back to the palace. He gently laid her in her soft bed.",
    "The next morning, the princess woke up and went to her father. She told him about a very strange dream. \"I was flying through the streets so fast,\" she said, \"and then I went into a soldier's room. I had to wait on him like a servant. I swept his room and cleaned his boots. I did all kinds of hard work. It was only a dream, but I am just as tired as if I really did it all.\"\n\n\"The dream might have been true,\" said the King. \"I will give you some advice. Fill your pocket with peas and make a tiny hole in it. If you are carried away again, the peas will fall out and leave a trail on the ground.\"\n\nBut the little man was standing right there, unseen by the King. He heard everything they said.",
    "That night, the sleeping princess was carried through the streets again. Some peas fell out of her pocket, but they made no tracks. The little man had just sprinkled peas in every street. The princess had to do hard work until the rooster crowed.",
    "The next morning, the king sent his people out to look for the track. But they could not find it. Every street was full of poor children. They were sitting on the ground, picking up peas. They were saying, \"It must have rained peas last night.\"\n\n\"We must think of something else,\" said the king. \"Keep your shoes on when you go to bed. And before you come back from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there. I will find it very soon.\"\n\nThe little black man heard this plan. At night, when the soldier asked him to bring the princess, the little man told him everything. He said he did not know how to stop this trick. He said that if the shoe was found in the soldier's house, it would be very bad for him.",
    "Do what I tell you,\" said the soldier. Again, on the third night, the princess had to work very hard like a servant. But before she left, she hid her shoe under the bed.",
    "The next morning, the king had the whole town looked for the glass shoe. They found it at the soldier's house. The soldier had gone out the gate, but the dwarf asked him to come back. So, the guards brought him back and put him in a dark prison. The soldier had left his best things behind, like the blue light and the gold. He only had one coin left in his pocket. Now, he was in chains and standing by the window of his cell. He saw a friend walking by. The soldier tapped on the glass. When his friend came close, he said, \"Please go to the inn and get my small bundle for me. I will give you a coin for your help.",
    "His friend ran to get it for him. When the soldier was alone, he lit his pipe and called for the little black man. \"Don't be scared,\" the little man said. \"Just take the blue light with you. Go wherever they take you, and let them do what they want.\" The next day, the soldier was put on trial. Even though he had done nothing wrong, the judge said he had to die. When they led him out to the end, he asked the king for one last favor. \"What is it?\" asked the king. \"I just want to smoke one last pipe on my way,\" he said. \"You may smoke three,\" answered the king. \"But do not think I will save your life.",
    "The soldier lit his pipe at the blue light. Soon, a little man appeared with a small stick. He asked, \"What do you wish, my lord?\" The soldier said, \"Please make the bad judge fall to the ground. And his helper, too. Do not hurt the king, though. He was not very nice to me.\" The little man moved very fast. He hit the judge and the helper with his stick. They fell down and could not get up. The king was very scared. He begged the soldier to let him live. The king gave the soldier his kingdom and his daughter to be his wife."
  ],
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  "v3_flags": []
}