The Storyteller (1987–1989): Season 1, Episode 8 - The Heartless Giant - full transcript
Young Prince Leo learns about a heartless giant imprisoned long ago by his father the king somewhere in his castle. The boy tries to befriend the giant, but the giant tricks Leo into setting him free. The other princes set out to recapture the giant but are turned to stone instead. Ridden by guilt, Leo decides to seek out the giant's heart instead.
[Cawing]
[Storyteller]
When people told themselves
their past with stories,
explained their present
with stories,
foretold the future
with stories,
the best place by the fire
was kept for...
[Clinks]
The storyteller.
[Whimpering]
Beginning, as I do,
at the beginning,
and starting, as I must,
at the start,
let me show you fate
through the round
of this ring.
The girl whose finger
fits this ring,
she'll become queen.
The law decrees it.
"What a lucky girl,"
you might think.
Hmm?
Oh, no.
[Clinking]
[Storyteller]
A king had 3 daughters:
2 were bad, one was good.
Long without a wife,
the king's only joy had been
the joy of the proud father.
But the girls
were growing up.
Soon there would be suitors.
Soon the palace
would be empty.
"I must find myself a wife
to comfort me," he thinks.
The wedding ring,
passed on from queen to queen,
finger to finger,
since any could remember.
Only when the ring fits,
can the king marry.
[Hammering]
She who wishes
to wed our king
must come forward
and try the ring!
The lucky bride
will want for nothing.
He can't do that!
Why, he's too old
to be getting married.
He ought to be
dying shortly.
I don't think
he's too old.
What? What's she
wittering on about?
No. I know
what will happen.
Some harpy
will step forward,
and the ring will fit,
and they'll get married.
And then he'll die
and she'll get everything.
That's what'll happen!
[Gasping]
The more the sisters sulked
at the prospect
of a stepmother,
the viler they were
to sapsorrow, their sister.
When their father set off
to find his bride,
they teased, taunted,
and tormented her.
They starved her.
Ah, ah, ah.
You're too fat.
They'd say,
stealing from her plate.
They're vile,
those sisters.
Indeed, but they reckoned
without her friends,
the creatures who lived
in sapsorrow's pockets,
under her bed,
perched on her chair.
When she went to her room,
she'd find berries
and all kinds of nuts
and fruits.
Delicious things.
[Sisters laughing]
[King laughing]
Daddy,
we missed you!
We cried every night.
Are our eyes
bloodshot?
They are,
I know.
No bride, then?
No. The ring
was a cruel shape.
None could wear it.
Oh, it's fate.It's not intended.
Perhaps.
I don't know.
You don't need a wife
when you've got us.
Don't we love
you enough, daddy?
I know. I know.
Where's your sister?
Well, who knows?
[Badsister #1]
Flirting with the guards!
Stuffing herself!
[Chamberlain]
No. Next!
It's bound to fit
someone eventually.
How disgusting.
I mean, we should
be queens, actually.
Together.
I know.
I mean, what if the ring
were to fit you?
Or me?
Then what?
[Bell ringing]
[Chamberlain]
That's enough.
Too late! Too late!
Can't you control these women?
Get them out of here!
Well, he wouldn't want
to marry us,
but then he couldn't
marry anybody.
Which is even better.
Come on.
[Sighing]
Oh, oh, look
it's hopeless.
Well, you try.
You've got fat fingers.
I have not.
Ow, ow.
Ow! It's stuck!
Oh!
Ow!
It's completely stuck!
Ow! Ow! Well,
do something!
Well, what?
All the blood's
getting stuck!
Look, it's swelling. Ow!
[Sapsorrow]
Can I help?Help me.
No, go away. Go on.
Well, let her.
She's better than you
at these things.
Huh, huh!
[Ring clinking]
[King]
Hello?
Is everybody all right?
Fine, papa.
Well, w-what was
all the hue and cry?
Hue and cry,
daddy?
There were cries coming
from this room.
I heard them.
Pick it up.
[King]
Well?
And then little sapsorrow
does a thing
she will long regret.
Obediently,
she bends and, oh, folly,
she stoops and, oh, rash!
She picks up the royal ring
and slips it on
for safe keeping.
What?
I know.
Where's your mother's ring?
Well, she was playing
with it, father.
Yes. We didn't want
to sneak.
I wasn't.
She wasn't.
Stay out of it, you.
Little one?
I wasn't.
That's not fair.
What's that
on your finger?
Oh, no!
Not on your ring finger.
It fits!
It fits.
It fits.
No sooner done,
no sooner said, the news
is a fire in the palace,
sweeping the corridors.
The ring fits
the king's daughter.
I cannot marry
my father.
You cannot ignore the law.
But we cannot ignore
the law.
You cannot marry your father!
But I cannot shame
the king.
But you cannot marry
your father!
But the ring...
Is the ring, is the ring.
Sire, it is the law
of the land.
The ring fits
your child's finger.
You must marry her.
Then I should
cut off my finger.
Why did you
play with the ring?
Why did you tamper with it?
The ceremony.
When must it take place?
[Minister]
As soon as
the preparations allow.
Then first find me a dress
of the palest silk,
the color of the moon.
I will not wed
till I have it.
[Minister]
Very well.
We will find this dress.
[Storyteller]
The Princess, in her woe,
plans a plan
and schemes a scheme.
"To find such
a gown will take time,
and, meantimes,
you must all help me."
[Knocking]
Beautiful.
But now I must have
one of sparkling silver,
like the stars.
For my trousseau.
Sire, where would
we find such a dress?
Do as she bids.
All in silver,
sparkling with stars.
[Storyteller]
And off, again,
went the king's men,
scouring the land
for such a dress.
And all the while,
in sapsorrow's room,
another garment
is being made,
more marvelous,
more magical.
Beautiful, beautiful.
Just like the stars.
Sire,
the council wait on you,
your people grow impatient.
When do you marry?
Daughter?
This gown is for
the wedding feast,
the first one
for the procession.
But now I must have
one for the church.
Gold, it should be.
Gold as the sun.
Bring me such a dress
and the next day we shall wed.
Gold she says,
all gold like the sun.
Bring her such a dress,
they shall be married
on the morrow.
[Mocking]
Gold.
So spoiled! Oh!
[Storyteller]
And while the tailors
cut cloth spun with pure gold,
sapsorrow stayed shut up
in her room.
She never appeared.
Only her creatures flying in,
slithering out, busy, busy,
scurrying about.
[Pigeons cooing]
Princess?
[Sapsorrow]
Yes?
I have here a dress
such as none before has seen,
of gold.
Dazzling!
A 100 hands have sewn it.
[Sapsorrow]
It is what I asked for.
Very like the sun.
Then we must marry
on the morrow.
We must.
We marry...
On the morrow.
They can't!
They can't get married.
Well, the law says they must.
[Storyteller]
And the girl has
the 3 gowns she asked for.
No, the ring fits.
The feast is prepared.
Married on the morrow...
Listen, bells toll.
The streets fill.
Only sapsorrow stays silent
in her room.
[Minister]
Your highness, come out.
The king awaits you.
[Storyteller]
Yes, it's sapsorrow,
a strange thing
of fur and feathers.
For such has been
the secret work
of the past weeks.
This creature.
There she is,
the ill-fated Princess,
hurrying away,
her past discarded,
her future,
who knows?
2 years later,
a poor creature
of fur and feathers
tended geese
in a king's garden,
and scrubbed the pots
in his kitchen.
That's the Princess.
Princess of slops,
yes, Princess of peelings,
perhaps.
Princess of the kitchen floor,
certainly.
And one day,
this Princess meets a prince.
Where's the cook,
do you know?
You don't know.
Can you speak?
Never mind.
Give the cook
a message, will you?
Tonight there's
a great ball
at the palace.
I've seen the menu
and want goose added.
He knows how I like it.
Roast goose with orange,
baked in pastry.
What's that look?
It's a look.
If there was
a tax on looking,
we'd all be beggars, sire.
What's your name?
No name.
They call me
the straggletag.
Well, miss straggletag,
you don't stare at princes.
It's not polite
in one so low,
or one so ugly.
Why eat geese?
They don't harm you.
I happen
to like geese.
So do I.
That's why
I don't eat them.
Pass on my message
and take that
for your manners.
Roast goose
with orange.
A dozen.
[Storyteller]
That night they sat,
the geese,
12 cold stares
on the royal table.
While around them
many danced,
many daughters wore
their mother's pearls.
And the prince was there,
handsome, admired, separate.
Parents looked on and hoped,
but the prince stood
and smiled but did not dance.
Until, late,
unannounced, mysterious,
a woman enters
in a dazzling gown,
pale silk, like the moon.
And what could he do,
the prince,
but walk towards her?
What could he do
but lead her to the floor?
And they danced.
It was meant,
as left to right,
morning to night,
dark to light,
they belonged.
But when the music stops...
[Prince]
Wait, I don't know
your name. Wait!
[Storyteller]
Oh, my dears,
the prince is left mystified,
excited, tingling!
He's hooked.
Line and sinker.
The prince has sent down
for clean towels.
Where is everybody?
Upstairs.
They're all busy.
Another ball so soon...
We've bare' recovered
from the last one.
Oi, thing.
You go, then.
You sent down
for towels.
I hope they're clean.
I'm sorry.
Do I disgust you?
You amaze me.
Look,
cats chase mice,
hens lay eggs.
And what does
that mean?
It means some things
have to do
with other things.
I have nothing
to do with you.
You don't disgust me
because I don't think
about you.
I see.
Now, go away,
and keep below stairs.
And stop gawking!
[Storyteller]
No, he can't see
for the feathers,
this prince,
he can't see for the fur.
That night,
the 2nd ball,
beauties come
and beauties go,
dances are danced,
but the prince stands alone.
Hoping,
staring at the great doors.
But nothing. No sign.
Then, 'shh' a hush,
then a dividing of the room,
and there she is,
in a dress sparkling
with silver like the stars.
I must go.
Don't. Please.
I think of nothing
but you.
I find that
hard to believe.
It's true.
I can't sleep.
[Prince]
Where do you live
that I might find you?
[Sapsorrow]
I live where hens catch mice
and cats lay eggs.
What?
Please, don't go.
[Sapsorrow]
What's the matter?
What?
You look so sad.
[Sighs]
No one, no one else
in the whole palace,
in the whole kingdom,
speaks to me like this.
Are you in love?
Is that the problem?
You couldn't possibly
understand what I'm feeling.
Or are you worried you might
only love your sweetheart
for her beautiful gowns?
Were she
in the humblest rags,
were she the poorest,
absolutely...
For you see,
my darling has eyes like...
Yes?
They're perfect.
A voice like...
Huh?
It's perfect.
It's not her gowns.
Well, how can you
possibly understand?
Then you should
marry her.
I want to.
I want to,
but I can't find her.
I see.
I...
I have a problem
like yours.
What advice
would you give me?
Well, I don't know
your Beau.
What's he like?
Um, handsome,
rich,
really?
Proud.
Ah.
You see,
when I think about him,
it makes my head hurt,
and my tummy ache,
and my skin tingle,
and my heart
do little somersaults.
Me, too! Me, too!
Oh, yes! We're in love.
And it's terrible.
Oh, I don't think
I'm in love.
No, you're
definitely in love.
Little somersaults?
Tingling skin?
Ha!
Definitely...
[Chief parlor maid]
Straggletag! Straggletag!
Where the devil
have you got to?
I have to go.
Yes, and listen,
don't tell anyone
we've spoken.
As you wish.
Well, it's just, you know.
Prince and...
[Chief parlor maid]
Straggletag!
Prince and straggletag.
[Storyteller]
Oh, yes, the prince
is lovesick all right.
Even before it's dark,
he's there on the terrace
in front of the ballroom.
Tonight, he shivers,
"I'll see my love tonight."
She still hasn't come,
and this is
the last of them.
Could I, please,
have the dishes?
Look at this one!
What's the hurry?
Meeting a sweetheart?
[Servant]
That's why the prince
is still waiting.
She hasn't
finished the dishes.
[Servants laugh]
ª[piano playing]
[Storyteller]
It's wonderful,
but bells toll, evenings end.
[Bell tolling]
Next day,
a proclamation rings out
around the palace.
The prince will
marry the girl who
fits the golden slipper.
Heh!
"Well," she thinks,
"what was true of the
finger is true of the foot."
She was cursed by the ring,
can she be blessed
with the slipper?
[Footsteps on stairs]
[Servant #1]
There's a queue now,
but it fits nobody.
[Servant #2]
I might try.
You never know.
You!
You've got feet
like a Yorkshire pudding.
I have not.
And what about
our little beauty?
Are you gonna try?
I might.
[Storyteller]
So, up she goes
and, blow me,
who's trying
on the royal slipper?
I think, if I just--
if I just...
[Badsister #2 grunting]
I've done it!
I've done it!
It fits!
That's absurd.It fits!
You're not the one.I am.
It fits. Look!
I claim this
handsome prince
for my husband!
[Page]
According to the proclamation,
the prince must marry
the woman who can
wear the golden slipper.
Princess badsister.
Princess badsister.
From?
From faraway.
From faraway.
Daughter of?
Of nobody.
We have no parents, you see.
Mummy died a long time ago
and daddy died last year.
Well, he was ancient.
Princess badsister
of faraway,
daughter of nobody.
She will marry the prince
on the morrow.
Hurray!
Now, can I just take
this silly shoe off, please.
Why?
Well, it doesn't match.
And it's a
teensy-weensy bit tight.
Just a pinch.
Ouchy-wouchy!
In fact, I think
I may just have to have
a tiny, baby scream.
Ah!
Sister,
do you think,
you could possibly help me
to take this lovely slipper
off my footsie-wootsie,
because I am going
to have to scream
very loudly, shortly,
and I think my leg
is turning a little bit
on the maroon side.
It is.
[Screams]
Get this shoe off my foot!
[Sapsorrow]
Sire, I claim my right
to try the slipper.
[Badsister #1]
Ladies, darling,
I think, not creatures.
What is it?Get it out of here.
Get rid of it.
She's called
straggletag.
So? May I?
Very well.
[Exclaiming disgustedly]
[All gasping]
[Badsister #1]
It fits.
[Badsister #2]
It can't.
It does fit.
Will you keep your promise?
Don't be ridiculous.
You can't.
You can't marry that thing.
Yes.
I'll marry you.
I'll keep my promise.
Sapsorrow!
My Princess.
It's you.
[Storyteller]
"Darling, darling,"
they repeated to each other.
"Dearest, dearest."
And what the prince
didn't know, he very soon did.
They talked and talked,
explaining this
and explaining that,
stories of rings,
stories of fur and feathers,
and they wept for her
dear father,
smiled for poor straggletag,
forgave the bad sisters,
danced for a day
without going away,
and--and, well,
after that they were
so out of breath,
they lay down and slept.
And, glory be,
if I don't wake them soon,
they'll never get wed.
[Storyteller]
When people told themselves
their past with stories,
explained their present
with stories,
foretold the future
with stories,
the best place by the fire
was kept for...
[Clinks]
The storyteller.
[Whimpering]
Beginning, as I do,
at the beginning,
and starting, as I must,
at the start,
let me show you fate
through the round
of this ring.
The girl whose finger
fits this ring,
she'll become queen.
The law decrees it.
"What a lucky girl,"
you might think.
Hmm?
Oh, no.
[Clinking]
[Storyteller]
A king had 3 daughters:
2 were bad, one was good.
Long without a wife,
the king's only joy had been
the joy of the proud father.
But the girls
were growing up.
Soon there would be suitors.
Soon the palace
would be empty.
"I must find myself a wife
to comfort me," he thinks.
The wedding ring,
passed on from queen to queen,
finger to finger,
since any could remember.
Only when the ring fits,
can the king marry.
[Hammering]
She who wishes
to wed our king
must come forward
and try the ring!
The lucky bride
will want for nothing.
He can't do that!
Why, he's too old
to be getting married.
He ought to be
dying shortly.
I don't think
he's too old.
What? What's she
wittering on about?
No. I know
what will happen.
Some harpy
will step forward,
and the ring will fit,
and they'll get married.
And then he'll die
and she'll get everything.
That's what'll happen!
[Gasping]
The more the sisters sulked
at the prospect
of a stepmother,
the viler they were
to sapsorrow, their sister.
When their father set off
to find his bride,
they teased, taunted,
and tormented her.
They starved her.
Ah, ah, ah.
You're too fat.
They'd say,
stealing from her plate.
They're vile,
those sisters.
Indeed, but they reckoned
without her friends,
the creatures who lived
in sapsorrow's pockets,
under her bed,
perched on her chair.
When she went to her room,
she'd find berries
and all kinds of nuts
and fruits.
Delicious things.
[Sisters laughing]
[King laughing]
Daddy,
we missed you!
We cried every night.
Are our eyes
bloodshot?
They are,
I know.
No bride, then?
No. The ring
was a cruel shape.
None could wear it.
Oh, it's fate.It's not intended.
Perhaps.
I don't know.
You don't need a wife
when you've got us.
Don't we love
you enough, daddy?
I know. I know.
Where's your sister?
Well, who knows?
[Badsister #1]
Flirting with the guards!
Stuffing herself!
[Chamberlain]
No. Next!
It's bound to fit
someone eventually.
How disgusting.
I mean, we should
be queens, actually.
Together.
I know.
I mean, what if the ring
were to fit you?
Or me?
Then what?
[Bell ringing]
[Chamberlain]
That's enough.
Too late! Too late!
Can't you control these women?
Get them out of here!
Well, he wouldn't want
to marry us,
but then he couldn't
marry anybody.
Which is even better.
Come on.
[Sighing]
Oh, oh, look
it's hopeless.
Well, you try.
You've got fat fingers.
I have not.
Ow, ow.
Ow! It's stuck!
Oh!
Ow!
It's completely stuck!
Ow! Ow! Well,
do something!
Well, what?
All the blood's
getting stuck!
Look, it's swelling. Ow!
[Sapsorrow]
Can I help?Help me.
No, go away. Go on.
Well, let her.
She's better than you
at these things.
Huh, huh!
[Ring clinking]
[King]
Hello?
Is everybody all right?
Fine, papa.
Well, w-what was
all the hue and cry?
Hue and cry,
daddy?
There were cries coming
from this room.
I heard them.
Pick it up.
[King]
Well?
And then little sapsorrow
does a thing
she will long regret.
Obediently,
she bends and, oh, folly,
she stoops and, oh, rash!
She picks up the royal ring
and slips it on
for safe keeping.
What?
I know.
Where's your mother's ring?
Well, she was playing
with it, father.
Yes. We didn't want
to sneak.
I wasn't.
She wasn't.
Stay out of it, you.
Little one?
I wasn't.
That's not fair.
What's that
on your finger?
Oh, no!
Not on your ring finger.
It fits!
It fits.
It fits.
No sooner done,
no sooner said, the news
is a fire in the palace,
sweeping the corridors.
The ring fits
the king's daughter.
I cannot marry
my father.
You cannot ignore the law.
But we cannot ignore
the law.
You cannot marry your father!
But I cannot shame
the king.
But you cannot marry
your father!
But the ring...
Is the ring, is the ring.
Sire, it is the law
of the land.
The ring fits
your child's finger.
You must marry her.
Then I should
cut off my finger.
Why did you
play with the ring?
Why did you tamper with it?
The ceremony.
When must it take place?
[Minister]
As soon as
the preparations allow.
Then first find me a dress
of the palest silk,
the color of the moon.
I will not wed
till I have it.
[Minister]
Very well.
We will find this dress.
[Storyteller]
The Princess, in her woe,
plans a plan
and schemes a scheme.
"To find such
a gown will take time,
and, meantimes,
you must all help me."
[Knocking]
Beautiful.
But now I must have
one of sparkling silver,
like the stars.
For my trousseau.
Sire, where would
we find such a dress?
Do as she bids.
All in silver,
sparkling with stars.
[Storyteller]
And off, again,
went the king's men,
scouring the land
for such a dress.
And all the while,
in sapsorrow's room,
another garment
is being made,
more marvelous,
more magical.
Beautiful, beautiful.
Just like the stars.
Sire,
the council wait on you,
your people grow impatient.
When do you marry?
Daughter?
This gown is for
the wedding feast,
the first one
for the procession.
But now I must have
one for the church.
Gold, it should be.
Gold as the sun.
Bring me such a dress
and the next day we shall wed.
Gold she says,
all gold like the sun.
Bring her such a dress,
they shall be married
on the morrow.
[Mocking]
Gold.
So spoiled! Oh!
[Storyteller]
And while the tailors
cut cloth spun with pure gold,
sapsorrow stayed shut up
in her room.
She never appeared.
Only her creatures flying in,
slithering out, busy, busy,
scurrying about.
[Pigeons cooing]
Princess?
[Sapsorrow]
Yes?
I have here a dress
such as none before has seen,
of gold.
Dazzling!
A 100 hands have sewn it.
[Sapsorrow]
It is what I asked for.
Very like the sun.
Then we must marry
on the morrow.
We must.
We marry...
On the morrow.
They can't!
They can't get married.
Well, the law says they must.
[Storyteller]
And the girl has
the 3 gowns she asked for.
No, the ring fits.
The feast is prepared.
Married on the morrow...
Listen, bells toll.
The streets fill.
Only sapsorrow stays silent
in her room.
[Minister]
Your highness, come out.
The king awaits you.
[Storyteller]
Yes, it's sapsorrow,
a strange thing
of fur and feathers.
For such has been
the secret work
of the past weeks.
This creature.
There she is,
the ill-fated Princess,
hurrying away,
her past discarded,
her future,
who knows?
2 years later,
a poor creature
of fur and feathers
tended geese
in a king's garden,
and scrubbed the pots
in his kitchen.
That's the Princess.
Princess of slops,
yes, Princess of peelings,
perhaps.
Princess of the kitchen floor,
certainly.
And one day,
this Princess meets a prince.
Where's the cook,
do you know?
You don't know.
Can you speak?
Never mind.
Give the cook
a message, will you?
Tonight there's
a great ball
at the palace.
I've seen the menu
and want goose added.
He knows how I like it.
Roast goose with orange,
baked in pastry.
What's that look?
It's a look.
If there was
a tax on looking,
we'd all be beggars, sire.
What's your name?
No name.
They call me
the straggletag.
Well, miss straggletag,
you don't stare at princes.
It's not polite
in one so low,
or one so ugly.
Why eat geese?
They don't harm you.
I happen
to like geese.
So do I.
That's why
I don't eat them.
Pass on my message
and take that
for your manners.
Roast goose
with orange.
A dozen.
[Storyteller]
That night they sat,
the geese,
12 cold stares
on the royal table.
While around them
many danced,
many daughters wore
their mother's pearls.
And the prince was there,
handsome, admired, separate.
Parents looked on and hoped,
but the prince stood
and smiled but did not dance.
Until, late,
unannounced, mysterious,
a woman enters
in a dazzling gown,
pale silk, like the moon.
And what could he do,
the prince,
but walk towards her?
What could he do
but lead her to the floor?
And they danced.
It was meant,
as left to right,
morning to night,
dark to light,
they belonged.
But when the music stops...
[Prince]
Wait, I don't know
your name. Wait!
[Storyteller]
Oh, my dears,
the prince is left mystified,
excited, tingling!
He's hooked.
Line and sinker.
The prince has sent down
for clean towels.
Where is everybody?
Upstairs.
They're all busy.
Another ball so soon...
We've bare' recovered
from the last one.
Oi, thing.
You go, then.
You sent down
for towels.
I hope they're clean.
I'm sorry.
Do I disgust you?
You amaze me.
Look,
cats chase mice,
hens lay eggs.
And what does
that mean?
It means some things
have to do
with other things.
I have nothing
to do with you.
You don't disgust me
because I don't think
about you.
I see.
Now, go away,
and keep below stairs.
And stop gawking!
[Storyteller]
No, he can't see
for the feathers,
this prince,
he can't see for the fur.
That night,
the 2nd ball,
beauties come
and beauties go,
dances are danced,
but the prince stands alone.
Hoping,
staring at the great doors.
But nothing. No sign.
Then, 'shh' a hush,
then a dividing of the room,
and there she is,
in a dress sparkling
with silver like the stars.
I must go.
Don't. Please.
I think of nothing
but you.
I find that
hard to believe.
It's true.
I can't sleep.
[Prince]
Where do you live
that I might find you?
[Sapsorrow]
I live where hens catch mice
and cats lay eggs.
What?
Please, don't go.
[Sapsorrow]
What's the matter?
What?
You look so sad.
[Sighs]
No one, no one else
in the whole palace,
in the whole kingdom,
speaks to me like this.
Are you in love?
Is that the problem?
You couldn't possibly
understand what I'm feeling.
Or are you worried you might
only love your sweetheart
for her beautiful gowns?
Were she
in the humblest rags,
were she the poorest,
absolutely...
For you see,
my darling has eyes like...
Yes?
They're perfect.
A voice like...
Huh?
It's perfect.
It's not her gowns.
Well, how can you
possibly understand?
Then you should
marry her.
I want to.
I want to,
but I can't find her.
I see.
I...
I have a problem
like yours.
What advice
would you give me?
Well, I don't know
your Beau.
What's he like?
Um, handsome,
rich,
really?
Proud.
Ah.
You see,
when I think about him,
it makes my head hurt,
and my tummy ache,
and my skin tingle,
and my heart
do little somersaults.
Me, too! Me, too!
Oh, yes! We're in love.
And it's terrible.
Oh, I don't think
I'm in love.
No, you're
definitely in love.
Little somersaults?
Tingling skin?
Ha!
Definitely...
[Chief parlor maid]
Straggletag! Straggletag!
Where the devil
have you got to?
I have to go.
Yes, and listen,
don't tell anyone
we've spoken.
As you wish.
Well, it's just, you know.
Prince and...
[Chief parlor maid]
Straggletag!
Prince and straggletag.
[Storyteller]
Oh, yes, the prince
is lovesick all right.
Even before it's dark,
he's there on the terrace
in front of the ballroom.
Tonight, he shivers,
"I'll see my love tonight."
She still hasn't come,
and this is
the last of them.
Could I, please,
have the dishes?
Look at this one!
What's the hurry?
Meeting a sweetheart?
[Servant]
That's why the prince
is still waiting.
She hasn't
finished the dishes.
[Servants laugh]
ª[piano playing]
[Storyteller]
It's wonderful,
but bells toll, evenings end.
[Bell tolling]
Next day,
a proclamation rings out
around the palace.
The prince will
marry the girl who
fits the golden slipper.
Heh!
"Well," she thinks,
"what was true of the
finger is true of the foot."
She was cursed by the ring,
can she be blessed
with the slipper?
[Footsteps on stairs]
[Servant #1]
There's a queue now,
but it fits nobody.
[Servant #2]
I might try.
You never know.
You!
You've got feet
like a Yorkshire pudding.
I have not.
And what about
our little beauty?
Are you gonna try?
I might.
[Storyteller]
So, up she goes
and, blow me,
who's trying
on the royal slipper?
I think, if I just--
if I just...
[Badsister #2 grunting]
I've done it!
I've done it!
It fits!
That's absurd.It fits!
You're not the one.I am.
It fits. Look!
I claim this
handsome prince
for my husband!
[Page]
According to the proclamation,
the prince must marry
the woman who can
wear the golden slipper.
Princess badsister.
Princess badsister.
From?
From faraway.
From faraway.
Daughter of?
Of nobody.
We have no parents, you see.
Mummy died a long time ago
and daddy died last year.
Well, he was ancient.
Princess badsister
of faraway,
daughter of nobody.
She will marry the prince
on the morrow.
Hurray!
Now, can I just take
this silly shoe off, please.
Why?
Well, it doesn't match.
And it's a
teensy-weensy bit tight.
Just a pinch.
Ouchy-wouchy!
In fact, I think
I may just have to have
a tiny, baby scream.
Ah!
Sister,
do you think,
you could possibly help me
to take this lovely slipper
off my footsie-wootsie,
because I am going
to have to scream
very loudly, shortly,
and I think my leg
is turning a little bit
on the maroon side.
It is.
[Screams]
Get this shoe off my foot!
[Sapsorrow]
Sire, I claim my right
to try the slipper.
[Badsister #1]
Ladies, darling,
I think, not creatures.
What is it?Get it out of here.
Get rid of it.
She's called
straggletag.
So? May I?
Very well.
[Exclaiming disgustedly]
[All gasping]
[Badsister #1]
It fits.
[Badsister #2]
It can't.
It does fit.
Will you keep your promise?
Don't be ridiculous.
You can't.
You can't marry that thing.
Yes.
I'll marry you.
I'll keep my promise.
Sapsorrow!
My Princess.
It's you.
[Storyteller]
"Darling, darling,"
they repeated to each other.
"Dearest, dearest."
And what the prince
didn't know, he very soon did.
They talked and talked,
explaining this
and explaining that,
stories of rings,
stories of fur and feathers,
and they wept for her
dear father,
smiled for poor straggletag,
forgave the bad sisters,
danced for a day
without going away,
and--and, well,
after that they were
so out of breath,
they lay down and slept.
And, glory be,
if I don't wake them soon,
they'll never get wed.