1 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. A short 2 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: message for grown ups. If you get value from our stories, 3 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: please consider subscribing to sleep Type Premium. With sleep Type Premium, 4 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: you receive four stories per week, plus super long sleep sounds, 5 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: guided meditations, music for sleep, and more. Visit sleep Typepremium 6 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: dot com to subscribe. A link can also be found 7 00:00:45,920 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: in our show notes. Thank you, Little Betta and the 8 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: Lame Giant. Near the top of a high, high mountain 9 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: there lived a great giant. He was a very wonderful giant. Indeed, 10 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: from the door of his rocky cave, he could look 11 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: into the distance and see for miles and miles over 12 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: the surrounding country, even to the point where the land 13 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: touched the great Ocean, yet so clearly that he could 14 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: observe the smile or the frown on a child's face 15 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: three miles away. More wonderful, still, he could look through 16 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: the darkest cloud whichever covered they, and see the sun 17 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: still shining beyond and above it. And then his hands, Oh, 18 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: how I wish you could have seen his hands. They 19 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: were so large and strong, such wonderful hands too. With 20 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: them he could lift up a rock as big as 21 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: this room, and set it to one side. Sometimes his 22 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: fingers could make the sweetest kind of music come from 23 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:44,799 Speaker 1: a rough violin which he had made for himself. Then two, 24 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: he knew so much, and he knew it well. I 25 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: don't believe that ten of the wisest men that our 26 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: universities ever sent out could have told you such extra 27 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: ordinary things. He knew all about every plant which grew 28 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: on the mountain, and just where the rich mines of 29 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: gold and silver were hidden inside the mountain. He could 30 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: have pointed out to you which pebbles could be polished 31 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: into emeralds and topazes and sapphires, and which were worthless. 32 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: Had you asked him, he could have taken you to 33 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: the secret springs from which flowed the sparkling stream of 34 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: healing waters sought by all the sick folks in the 35 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: country round. He was such a wonderful giant that it 36 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: would take me the whole day to tell you of 37 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: all the things which he could do. But he was 38 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: not able to walk well, and somehow could never get 39 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: down the mountain to where the ordinary people lived. So 40 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: for ages he had been alone upon his mountaintop, seeing 41 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:18,119 Speaker 1: all the people below him, loving them with all his heart, 42 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: and knowing just what would help them, yet never being 43 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: able to come near to them. In one of the 44 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: valleys of the great Mountain lived a girl called Betta. 45 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: She was so small that most people thought her a 46 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: young child, and so weak that she could not even 47 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: carry a bucket of water from the well to the house. 48 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: Her mother used to say to her, my dear daughter, 49 00:04:53,880 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: you must learn to be useful to others. Girl often 50 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 1: wondered how she was to be of any use to 51 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: the people about her. She would say to herself, I 52 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: have no money to give to them, my hands are 53 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: not skilled enough to do much work for them, and 54 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: my brain is not very quick. Therefore I cannot give 55 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: them beautiful thoughts which will help them. Still, she was 56 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,559 Speaker 1: a loving hearted little girl who always found a way 57 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: to be helpful. One day, it occurred to her that 58 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: she could gather some wild flowers and take them to 59 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: the old woman who lived all alone at the end 60 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: of the village, and who was so deaf that nobody 61 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: ever tried to talk to her. With this thought in mind, 62 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: she started out in search of the brightest flowers she 63 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 1: could find. She climbed the mountainside and gathered a whole 64 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: armful of beautiful yellow golden rod and purple asters and 65 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: red Indian pinks. These she carried joyfully to the little 66 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: house at the end of the village. They made the 67 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: dingy old room take on a look of warmth and happiness. 68 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: Bright as they were, however, the face of the old 69 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: deaf woman was brighter still, as she said, bless you, 70 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: my child, bless you. Who but little Betta would ever 71 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: have thought of bringing flowers to me. The next day, 72 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: Betta thought she would take some flowers to the blind 73 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: weaver who made all the carpets that the villagers used. 74 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: This time, she said to herself, I must hunt for 75 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: the flowers which have a sweet smell, as he cannot 76 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: see their bright colors. So she gathered some wild roses, 77 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: and some sweet scented violets, and some witch hazel. As 78 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: she entered his small shop, he lifted his head from 79 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: his work and said, ah me, what is this I smell? 80 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: It has been many a day since I have been 81 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: near enough to the mountain's own flowers to bring in 82 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: their perfume that had placed them in a mug near 83 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: his loom. And as she ran home, she was very happy, 84 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: yet she hardly knew why. After this, she went daily 85 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: to the mountain to gather flowers for some dear soul 86 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: who could not go out to get them. Sometimes they 87 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: were taken to the gentle mother, who had so many 88 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: children that she never found time to leave her home. 89 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: Sometimes they went to the village tree and made the 90 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: Sunday seem more beautiful than other days. Each time she 91 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: climbed higher and higher, as she had soon learned that 92 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: the rarer and more beautiful flowers could only be found 93 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: far up the mountain. At last, one day, when she 94 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: had climbed farther than she had ever climbed before, she 95 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: suddenly came upon the lame giant, sitting on a large 96 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: stump in front of his cave. In his hand was 97 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: his violin, but he was not playing. His face wore 98 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: a thoughtful, almost sad look. Betta was so frightened that 99 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: the flowers dropped from her hands, and she nearly stopped breathing. 100 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: She had never before, in all her life, seen a real, 101 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: live giant. He was so big that she could hardly 102 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: believe her own eyes as she looked at him. Her 103 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: first impulse was to run down the mountain as quickly 104 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: as possible, But somehow the very sight of such a 105 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: wonderful being held her spellbound, so she stood still, gazing 106 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: at him from behind a huge rock. Soon he put 107 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: his violin in position under his chin, and, taking up 108 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: his bow, began to play. He played so softly and 109 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: sweetly that little Betta felt sure he could not be mean, 110 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: as she had read most giants were. Little by little, 111 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: she came shyly towards him. As soon as he saw her, 112 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: he laid down his violin and held out his hand, 113 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: smiling as he did so. Come near to me, child, 114 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: he said, I will not hurt you. Betta, thus encouraged, 115 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: came slowly forward. Tell me, little one, he said, gently, 116 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: Where did you come from? And how did you find 117 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: your way so far up the mountain side. None but 118 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: strong mountain guides have ever come near my cave before 119 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: I was gathering flowers, answered little Betta, and I thought 120 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: I might find some blue forget me nots among these rocks. 121 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: So you have learned already, have you, that forget me 122 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: notts can best be found near the mountain tops. With that, 123 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: he laughed softly to himself. His laugh was such a 124 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:08,559 Speaker 1: kindly laugh that it took away all fear and made 125 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: Betta feel quite at home with him. What is your name, 126 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: she said, And why do you live up here? Don't 127 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: you get lonely? Sometimes? The great giant did not answer her, 128 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: but began talking about something else. In a short time, 129 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: he had led Betta into telling him all about herself 130 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,679 Speaker 1: and the people of the village and the flower gathering. 131 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: It was not until he rose to point out to 132 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: her where a huge field of forget me nots could 133 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: be found that she noticed he was lame. Soon she 134 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: had gathered a whole apron full of the beautiful flowers, 135 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: and after saying goodbye, she climbed down the mountain, sometimes 136 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: slipping and sliding, but always holding fast to the hem 137 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: of her apron, so that the flowers might not be lost. 138 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: Many times after that she climbed the mountain into the 139 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: cave of the giant and sat on a little stone 140 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 1: at his feet while he told her stories of things 141 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: that had happened in the village long ago. Then, when 142 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: she was tired of stories, he would show her where 143 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: the flowers grew most profusely. Little by little he taught 144 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: her to know the herbs, which were good for sick people. 145 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: Usually they were very simple looking plants, which she would 146 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: have passed by without noticing. She soon learned how to 147 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: brew these into drinks and medicine for the feeble and 148 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: sick folks of the village. Sometimes, though not often, he 149 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: would play on his violin for her. Each day. When 150 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: she returned to her home, she told the people of 151 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: the village about the wonderful giant who lived so high 152 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: up in the mountain, But they only laughed and said, 153 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: little Beta has been dreaming. Even after they had learned 154 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: to call upon her for herbs to help bruised limbs 155 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: and strengthen weak stomachs or quiet restless fevers, they paid 156 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: no attention to what she said about the giant. Years 157 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: passed by, and the little girl still continued to climb 158 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: the mountain to learn more about the lame giant and 159 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:52,439 Speaker 1: more of what was wonderful and beautiful in the world 160 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: about her. All the climbing in the open air had 161 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:03,439 Speaker 1: made her strong and well. Time wore on. She unconsciously 162 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: made a path up the mountain side, which of course 163 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: caused the climbing to be much easier than in the 164 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: days when she had to scramble over the rocks and 165 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: push aside the underbrush to make her way up. The path, too, 166 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: was firm and smooth now, with no stones suddenly slipping 167 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: from beneath her feet and causing painful falls. At last, 168 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: one day, Betta persuaded two or three of her friends 169 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: to go with her to the cave. Now that there 170 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: was a respectable path, the trip did not seem so 171 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: silly as in the days when Betta had gone scrambling 172 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: up the rocks. So they laughingly agreed to go, more 173 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: to please Betta, whom they had learned to love, than 174 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: with any expectation of seeing a real giant. At the 175 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: end of the journey. They were greatly surprised when, after 176 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: much climbing, a sudden turn in the road brought them 177 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: face to face with a being five times as large 178 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: as any ordinary man, whose strong hands looked as if 179 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: they might easily crush any one of them, yet whose 180 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: kindly face smiled at them. The great giant received them 181 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: pleasantly as they were little Betta's friends, and soon they 182 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: were asking him all sorts of questions. Had he ever 183 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: ridden on the back of Pegasus the Flying horse? Did 184 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: he ever drink from the fountain of Youth, which had 185 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: the power to keep mortals from growing old? Was it 186 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: true that he could change the dirt beneath their feet 187 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: into golden money? All these and many other questions they 188 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: asked him, and to each he gave an answer. That night, 189 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: when they returned to the village, they could talk of 190 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: nothing else but the wonderful Giant, whose home was near 191 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: the mountain top. Next day more of the villagers climbed 192 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: the mountain into the cave, and each following day more 193 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: were persuaded to make the journey, until everybody in the 194 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: little valley, that is, everybody who could climb, had visited 195 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: the lame Giant. Then they began to discuss how they 196 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: could open a road up the mountain to the cave. 197 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: Finally they decided to join together and build a broad, 198 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: winding road, one wide enough to let horses pass each other. 199 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: Then they said, we can take our dear grandfathers and grandmothers, 200 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: and even our little children up to the good Giant, 201 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 1: that he may teach them also. Soon the whole village 202 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: was humming with the sound of pickaxe and spade. Everybody worked, 203 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: and everybody was eager and happy in the work. It 204 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: took a long time several years in fact, before the 205 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: road was finished. But it was done at last, and 206 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: it proved a greater blessing than they had expected. For 207 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: not only could they now drive up the mountain to 208 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: the Giant's cave, but he was able to come down 209 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: to them. This was a thing of which they had 210 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: never dreamed, And great was the celebration when he made 211 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: his first visit. Years passed by, and the little valley 212 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: became the most famous spot on the whole earth. People 213 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,880 Speaker 1: came from all over the land to visit the Giant 214 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: and learn of him some of the old wonderful secrets 215 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:08,640 Speaker 1: which had been hidden for centuries, and all loved him. 216 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: My story would not be complete if I did not 217 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: tell you that the Giant two became less lame, since 218 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 1: the journeys up and down the mountain helped to make 219 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: him much stronger. Perhaps someday you may go to this 220 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: valley yourself and learn how to do many wonderful things 221 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: which now seem impossible to you.