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This episode is brought to you by Gold Coinage. Tonight, we'll read the opening to The Treasure Seeker, an adventurous fairy tale found in the Crimson Fairy book compiled by Andrew Lang and published in 1903. The conclusion episode will air next week. This episode first aired back in the year 2020. In this story, some shepherds sit around one night telling of the strange things that happen to them in their youth. One of their stories is more exciting than expected, regarding a mysterious spirit known as the the treasure seeker of the mountain.

Let's get cozy. Close your eyes. Relax your body into the softness of your bed. Now take a few deep breaths. treasure seeker. Once long ago, in a little town that lay in the midst of high hills and wild forests, a party of shepherds sat down one night in the kitchen of the inn, talking over old times, and telling of the strange things that had befallen them in their youth. Presently, upspoke the silver-haired father, Martin. Comrades said he, You have had wonderful times, wonderful adventures, but I will tell you something still more astonishing that happened to myself. When I was a young lad, I had no home and no one to care for me. And I wandered from village to village all over the country with my knapsack on my back. But as soon as I was old enough, I took service with a shepherd in the mountains and helped him for three years. One autumn evening as we drove the flock homeward, Ten sheep were missing, and the master bait me go and seek them in the forest. I took my dog with me, but he could find no trace of them, Though we searched among the bushes till night fell, and then, As I did not know the country and could not find my way home in the dark, I decided to sleep under a tree. At midnight, my dog became uneasy and began to whine and creep close to me with his tail between his legs. By this I knew that something was wrong, and looking about, I saw in the bright moonlight a figure standing beside me. It seemed to be a man with shaggy hair and a long beard which hung down to his knees. He had a garland upon his head and a girdle of oak leaves around his body, and carried an uprooted furtry in his right hand. I shook like an aspen leaf at the sight, the strange being back end with his hand that I should follow him, but as I did not stir from the spot, he spoke in a horse-grading voice. De Courage, faint-hearted shepherd, I am the treasure-seeker of the mountain. If you will come with me, you shall dig up much gold. Though I was still deadly cold with terror, I plucked up my courage and said, Get away from me, evil spirit. I do not desire your treasures. At this, the specter grinned in my face and cried mockingly. Simpled in. Do you scorn your good fortune? Well then, remain a rag-a-muffin all your days."

He turned as if to go away from me, then came back again and said, Be think yourself. Be think yourself, Rogue. I will fill your knapsack. I will fill your pouch. A way from me, monster, I answered. I will have nothing to do with you." When the apparition saw that I gave no heed to him, he ceased to urge me, saying only, Someday you will rule this, and looked at me sadly, then he cried,

Listen to what I say, and lay it well to heart. It may be of use to you when you come to your senses. A vast treasure of gold and precious stones lies in safety deep under the earth, at twilight and at high noon it is hidden, but at midnight it may be dug up. For 700 years I have watched over it, but now my time has come. It is common property. Let him find it who can. So I thought to give it into your hand, having a kindness for you, because you feed your flock upon my mountain. Thereupon the specter told me exactly where the treasure lay and how to find it. It might be only yesterday, so well do I remember every word he spoke. Go towards the little mountains," said he, and ask there for the black King's valley. And when you come to a tiny brook, follow the stream, till you reach the stone bridge beside the sawmill. Do not cross the bridge, but keep to your right along the bank till a high rock stands before you. A bowshot from that you will discover a little hollow like a grave. When you find this hollow dig it out, but it will be hard work. For the earth has been pressed down into it with care. Still, work away till you find solid rock on all sides of you, and soon you will come to a square slab of stone, force it out of the wall, and you will stand at the entrance of the treasure house. Into this opening you must crawl, holding a lamp in your mouth. Keep your hands free, lest you knock your nose against a stone, for the way is steep and the stone's sharp. If it bruises your knees, never mind. You are on the road to fortune. Do not rest till you reach a wide stairway, down which you will go till you come into a spacious hall, in which there are three doors. Two of them stand open. The third is fastened with locks and bolts of iron. Do not go through the door to the right, lest you disturb the bones of the lords of the treasure.

Neither must you go through the door to the left. It leads to the snake's chamber, where adders and serpents lodge. But open the fast closed door by means of the well-known spring-root, which you must on no account, forget to take with you, where all your trouble will be for not, for no crowbar or mortal tools will help you. If you want to procure the root, ask a woodseller, it's a common thing for hunters to need, and it is not hard to find. If the door bursts open suddenly, with great crackings and groanings, do not be afraid. The noise is caused by the power of the magic root, and you will not be hurt. Now trim your lamp that it may not fail you.

For you will not be hurt. Now trim your lamp that it may not fail you. For you will be nearly blinded by the flash and glitter of the gold and precious stones of the walls and pillars of the vault. But where, how you stretch out a hand towards the jewels, in the midst of the cavern stands a copper chest. In that, you will find gold and silver, enough, and to spare, and you may help yourself to your heart's content. If you take as much as you can carry, you will have sufficient to last your lifetime, and you may return three times. But woe but hide you if you venture to come a fourth time. You would have your trouble for your pains, and you would be punished for your greediness by falling down the stone step,

do not neglect each time to heap back the loose earth, which concealed the entrance of the King's treasure chamber. As the apparition left off, speaking, my dog pricked up his ears and began to bark. I heard the crack of a Carter's whip, and the noise of wheels in the distance.

And when I looked again the specter had disappeared. So when did the shepherd's tail? And the landlord, who was listening with the rest, said truthfully, tell us now, Father Martin, Did you go to the mountain and find what the Spirit promised you? Or is it a fable? Nay, nay, answered the greybeard. I cannot tell if the specter lied. For never a step did I go towards finding the hollow, two reasons. One was that my neck was too

precious for me to risk it, and such a snare is that. The other, that no one could ever tell me where the spring-root was to be found, then blaze, another aged shepherd lifted up his voice.

Tis a pity, Father Martin, that your secret has grown old with you.

It's... Another aged shepherd lifted up his voice. Tis a pity, Father Martin, that your secret has grown old with you. If you had told it forty years ago, truly you would not long have been lacking the spring root. Even though you will never climb the mountain now, I'll tell you for a joke how it is to be found. The easiest way to get it is by the help of a black woodpecker. Look in the spring where she builds her nest in a hole in a tree. And when the time comes for her brood to fly off, block up the entrance to the nest with a hard sawd and lurk and ambush behind the tree till the bird returns to feed her nestlings. When she perceives as she cannot get into her nest, she will fly around the tree and then dart off toward the sun-setting. When you see her do this, take a scarlet cloak, or if that be lacking to you by a few yards of scarlet cloth, and hurry back to the tree before the woodpecker returns with the spring root in her beak. So soon as she touches with the root, the sod that blocks the nest, it will fly violently out of the hole. Then spread the red cloth quickly under the tree. Some people really light a fire and strew spike-nard blossoms in it. But that's a clumsy method, for if the flames do not shoot up at the right moment away, we'll fly the woodpacker, carrying the root with her. The party had listened with interest to this speech, but by the time it was ended, the hour was late, and they went their ways homeward, leaving only one man who had sat unheated in the corner the whole evening through. Peter Block had once been a prosperous inkeeper and a master cook, but he had gone steadily down in the world for some time and was now quite poor. Formerly he had been a Maryfellow, fond of a joke, and in the art of cooking had no equal in the town. He could make fish jelly, and quince fritters, and even wafer cakes, and he gilded the ears of all his boars' heads. Peter had looked about him for a wife early in life, but on luckily his choice fell upon a woman whose evil tongue was well known in the town. Ilsa was hated by everybody, and the young folks would go miles out of their way rather than meet her, for she had some ill-word for everyone. Therefore, when Master Peter came along and let himself be taken in by her boasted skill as a housewife, she jumped at his offer, and they were married the next day. they had not got home before they began to quarrel. In the joy of his heart Peter had tasted freely of his own good wine, and as the bride hung upon his arm he stumbled and fell, dragging her down with him, whereupon she beat him soundly, and the neighbors said truly that things did not promise well for Master Peter's comfort. Even when the ill-matched couple were presently blessed with children, his happiness was but short-lived. The savage temper of his quarrelsome wife seemed to blight them from the first. Though Master Peter had no great wealth to leave behind him, still it was sad to him to be childless, and he would bemoan himself to his friends, when he laid one baby after another in the grave, saying, The lightning has been among the cherry blossoms again, so there will be no fruit to grow ripe. But, buy and buy, he had a little daughter so strong and healthy that neither her mother's temper nor her father's spoiling could keep her from growing up tall and beautiful. Meanwhile the fortunes of the family had changed. From his youth up, Master Peter had hated trouble. When he had money, he spent it freely, and fed all the hungry folk who asked him for bread. If his pockets were empty, he borrowed of his neighbors, but he always took good care to prevent his scolding wife from finding out that he had done so. His motto was, it will all come right in the end. But what it did come was to ruin for Master Peter. He was at his wit's end to know how to earn and honest living. For try as he might, a luck seemed to pursue him, and he lost one post after another. Till it last all he could do was to carry sacks of corn to the mill for his wife, who scolded him well if he was slow about it, and grudged him his portion of food. This grieved the tender heart of his pretty daughter, who loved him dearly, and was the comfort of his life. Peter was thinking of her as he sat in the in-kitchen and heard the shepherds talking about the buried treasure. And for her sake he resolved to go and seek for it. Before he rose from the landlord's armchair, his plan was made. And Master Peter went home more joyful and full of hope than he had been for many a long day. But on the way, he suddenly remembered that he was not yet possessed of the magic spring route, and he stole into the house with a heavy heart, and threw himself down upon his heart's straw-bed. He could neither sleep nor rest, but as soon as it was light, he got up and wrote down exactly all that was to be done to find the treasure, that he might not forget anything. And when it lay clear and plain before his eyes, he comforted himself with a thought that, though he must do the rough work for his wife during one more winter at least, he would not have to tread the path to the mill for the rest of his life. Soon he heard his wife's harsh voice singing its morning song as she went about her household affairs, scolding her daughter the while. She burst open his door while he was still dressing. Well, topper, was her greeting. Here you've been drinking all night, wasting money that you steal from my housekeeping for shame, drunkard. Peter, who was well used to this sort of talk, did not disturb himself, but waited till the storm blew over. Then he said calmly, Do not be annoyed, dear wife. I have a good piece of business in hand, which may turn out well for us. You with a a good business, cry-che, you're good for nothing but talk. I am making my will," said he, that when my hour comes my house may be in order. These unexpected words cut his daughter to the heart. She remembered that all night long she had dreamed of a newly dug grave, and at this thought she broke out into loud lamentations. But her mother only cried, wretch, have you not wasted goods in possessions, and now do you talk of making a will? And she seized him like a fury, and tried to scratch out his eyes. But by and by the quarrel was patched up, and everything went on as before. From that day Peter saved up every penny that his daughter Lucia gave him on slide, and brighed the boys of his acquaintance to spy out a black woodpeckers' nest for him. He sent them into the woods and fields, but instead of looking for a nest, they only played pranks on him. They let him miles over hill and veil, stock and stone, to find a Ravensbrood, or a nest of squirrels in a hollow of a tree. And when he was angry with them, they laughed in his face and ran away. This went on for some time, but at last one of the boys, bite out a woodpecker in the metallands among the wood pigeons, and when he had found her and her nest in the half dead altar tree, he came running to Peter with the news of his discovery. Peter could hardly believe his good fortune and went quickly to see for himself if it was really true. And when he reached the tree, there certainly was a bird flying in and out as if she had a nest in it. was overjoyed at this fortunate discovery and instantly set himself to obtain a red cloak. Now, in the whole town there was only one red cloak, and that belonged to a man of whom nobody ever willingly asked a favor. Master hammering the hangman. It cost Master Peter many struggles before he could bring himself to visit such a person, but there was no help for it. And little as he liked it, he ended up making his request to the hangman, who was flattered that so respectable a man as Peter should borrow his robe of office and willingly lent it to him. Peter now had all that was necessary to secure the magic root. He stopped up the entrance to the nest, and everything fell out exactly as blaze had foretold. As soon as the woodpecker came back with the root in her beak, outrushed Master Peter from behind the tree, and displayed the fiery red cloak so adroitly that the terrified bird dropped the root just where it could be seen easily. All Peter's plans had succeeded, and he actually held in his hand the magic route. That master key, which would unlock all doors, and bring its possessor unheard of luck. His thoughts now turn to the mountain, and he secretly made preparations for his journey. He took with him only a staff, a strong sack, and a little box which his daughter, Lucia, had given him. It happened that on the very day Peter had chosen for setting out, Lucia and her mother went off early to the town, leaving him to guard the house. But in spite of that, he was on the point of making his departure, when it occurred to him that it might be as well first to test the much-vonted powers of the magic root for itself. Dame Ilsa had a strong cupboard with seven locks built into the wall of her room, in which she capped all the money she had saved, and she wore the key of it always hung about her neck. Master Peter had no control at all of the money affairs of the household, so the contents of the secret hoard were quite unknown to him, and this seemed to be a good opportunity for finding out what they were. He held the

magic root to the keyhole, and to his astonishment hurt all the seven locks creaking and turning. the door flew open suddenly, and his greedy wife's store of gold pieces lay before his eyes. He stood still in sheer amazement, not knowing which to rejoice over most. This unexpected find, or the proof of the magic root real power. But at last he remembered that it was quite time to be starting on his journey, so filling his pockets with the gold, he carefully locked the empty cupboard again and left the house without further delay. When Dei Milsa and her daughter returned, they wondered to find the house door shut and Master Peter nowhere to be found. knocked and called, but nothing stirred within, but the house cat, and at last the blacksmith had to be fetched to open the door. Then the house was searched from Garrett to Celler, but no Master Peter was to be found. Who knows? Crytame Ilsa at last. The wretch may have been idling in some tavern since early morning. Then, a sudden thought startled her, and she felt for her keys. Supposedly, they had fallen into her good for nothing, husband's hands, and he had helped himself to her treasure. But no, the keys were safe in their usual place, and the cover looked quite untouched. Midday came, then evening, then midnight, and still no master Peter arrived, and the matter became really serious. DeMilsa knew right away what a torment she had been to her husband, and remorse caused her the gloomiest for boatings. Allusha, she cried. I greatly fear that your father has done himself a mischief. And they sat till morning weeping over their own fancies. As soon as it was light, they searched every corner of the house again, and examined every nail in the wall and every beam. But luckily, Master Peter was not hanging from any of them. After that, the neighbors went out with long poles to fish in every ditch and pond, but they found nothing. And then, Demilsa gave up the the idea of ever seeing her husband again, and very soon consoled herself,

only wondering how the sacks of corn were to be carried to the mill in the future. Thank you.