(Sound of the fire in the fireside)
The Granddaughter:
Grandpa, please tell me a story!
The Grandfather:
But I already told you plenty of stories,
I can't even count them anymore!
The Granddaughter:
But it ain't late yet, Grandpa... !
The Grandfather:
Hm, okay, me gal, but don't interrupt me!
'Cos the story that I'll tell you
Is a little bit different from all those
You've ever heard before!
(The Granddaughter looks up to her Grandfather reverentially.)
The Grandfather:
Now listen well, my child,
You'll surely learn something.
It was not so long ago...
Once there was a Druid in an old oak-tree
Cutting a mistletoe skilfully, carefully
Moonlight sparkled an his golden sickle
From leaf to leaf a dewdrop trickled
One night a wizard crossed his way
Just before the break of day
The Wizard:
I've been wandering around the world
That has become grey
And I've been wondering if colours
Are able to decay
But this, my friend, is no surprise
With so many quacks beneath the skies
Palm off their gewgaw on the folk
And their gains are tremendous, as the people told
I've got the Old Book of the Masters
Therein the ultimate recipe
Your knowledge of plants is in high repute
And the whole world knows your lights
The Druid:
Now, that's a thing I realized
Empty heads and empty eyes
The cold is creeping through the streets
And they don't realize that it's help they need
Now don't let us wait any longer
I've got some ingredients we can take:
Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme
Chervil and ginger, crimson and clover
Over and over...
The Wizard:
I've got the rhyme
And you've got the thyme
We don't need no tail of a lizard
Used in rites of a pseudo wizard
'Cos that would be our decline
Let us slouch into my shanty
To make this fantasy
Become reality
The Druid:
Thyme, thyme, thyme to put into the potion
The Wizard:
Rhyme, rhyme, ryhme to give it some emotion
The Druid:
A terrible thing that I detect
Our potion has no effect
The Wizard:
It's not as warm as it should be
We need a flame of great lucidity
A voice in the Wizard's Head:
His Highness lord is majesticly waiting
That you find him not exasperating
He carries the valley of a swallow
The great X you have to follow
The path is steep and sudorific
The view is wide, the place is mystic
If you see the green water in full size
Where two ugly towers to heaven rise
And if Eskiniwach comes to sight
Then don't leave the water to your right
Do you notice the sulphur's smell
That comes from the jaws of hell ?
Pass it by towards a village in the distance
The solution is ninety-two for your assistance
Eleven down, cross seas of rocks
Until you find a heavy boulder that blocks
The way that you have to take
To reach the white feather lake
The Druid:
This must be the place, but I can't see the Elf
See the shadows grow
I think the best for ourselves
Is to pass the night ashore
( The early morning the next day )
The Wizard:
Look at the lake
There's a shimmering shining, a glittering light
The Druid:
It must be a fire
That seems to be signing and it's flickering bright
The Elf:
Come a little closer
I'm not a will-o'-the-wisp
You have solved the poser
And found to my lake very brisk
So you ask me to heal the world, to warm the potion
I will follow you over the hills and across the ocean
We will save mankind from suffer
Let's begin to make the supper
The Druid:
Thyme, thyme, thyme to put into the potion
The Wizard:
Rhyme, rhyme, ryhme to give it some emotion
The Elf:
Sun, sun, sun to heat up the beverage
The Druid:
A terrible thing that I detect
Our potion has not enough effect
The Wizard:
It doesn't taste disgusting
But we should use a pot not rusting
The chattering owner:
Welcome to the world of flashing light
In the chamber of the endless night
See a dead palm-tree in the glaring sun
Join the jumping jester, jolly joker's sharing fun
A voice in the crowd:
Oh, there's a multi-coloured rainbow
With rapidly decaying colours on a white wall
It casts my shadow on the floor of this sight ball
Another voice:
There are slowly bending-down, pale black bloaters
Fenced by moveless stony statues on the plateaus
The chattering owner:
Welcome to the world of fleshing might
In the cattle-market, please take a sight!
See styled cackling geese made of rocks
Waiting for peacocks, who are the foxes
(The Magicians approached the hut and knocked on the door.)
The Coppersmith:
Who is there before my hut,
A trouble-maker, or even more?
The Wizard:
A friend that has a single wish,
Perhaps a little more
(The Coppersmith opened the door and faced the Magicians.)
The Coppersmith:
I'm just a young coppersmith
My dexterity ain't no myth
The Wizard:
Why do you hide your light
Under a bushel, my friend
I've seen your work before
The Coppersmith:
Then come in and close the door!
(The two men and the elf stepped inside.)
The Wizard:
We want you to hammer a cauldron for us
But not a wrought-iron pot
The Druid:
You know, something special that doesn't rust
Of a metal that doesn't rot
The Copppersmith:
I know exactly what you want to have
It's not the first time I hear these words
Two years ago, two men like you
A visit that seldom occurs
I made them a small copper cauldron
The tall one said, it would suffice
A lot of money I earned meanwhile
But full happiness is still to rise
The Druid:
So do your best
And soon we'll test
What your skilful hands produced
The Elf:
Take your time
'Til the Days of Nine
Be sure, your work will be well-used
(The Magicians left the hut. In front of the small house
they want to say good-bye to the Coppersmith.)
The Wizard:
Oh, by the way: A relative of yours
An old friend of mine, congenial, you know...
The Coppersmith:
I know, a wizard he wanted to be
But drowned in inconsistency
(The two men and the Elf turned around
and disappeared between the tree trunks.)
The Coppersmith:
Sparks will fly, the anvil cry
I'll move the ladle made of maple
And with the help of wind and coal
The breath of men gone long ago
This piece of work, it will be done
Sooner than you'll know
The Druid:
Thyme, thyme, thyme to put into the potion
The Wizard:
Rhyme, rhyme, ryhme to give it some emotion
The Elf:
Sun, sun, sun to heat up the beverage
The Coppersmith:
Time, time, time to put the brew in motion
The Druid:
A very sad thing that I detect,
our potion has not enough effect
The Wizard:
We should have an active spell
to reach the subtlest smell
The Druid:
I've heard of a young man
Who's living in the North
Where the lands are low
This one we should ask
'Cos it's said he's very versed
In producing such a brew
The Coppersmith:
I know him slightly
'Cos I've met the mighty!
He already worked for another company
And I guess they earned success
The Elf:
Then go and look
'Til the effort it took
Has led you to him
And this one to us
(The Druid left his companions and started to go in search
of the Sorcerer of the Lowlands.)
The Sorcerer (in his log cabin):
Though I worked my fingers to the bones
The other ones left me here alone
I sit here with my magic wand
And boredom's blowing through my haunt
Is there anybody out there
Who needs my skill?
Anybody out there who needs still...
The magic of the kind
No one can find
'Cos we lost it long ago
(During his journeys the Sorcerer
discovers the Magicians' hut.)
The Sorcerer:
Open the gate, maybe it's too late!
Is there anybody in there?
Who needs my skill?
Anybody in there
Who needs still?
I've gotta get in
'Cos we've gotta get out!
(After a few weeks, the Druid returned.)
The Druid:
It's exasperating -
This man's not to be found!
I stood there in front of his cabin
But me, nobody let me in
Meanwhile, I knew his domicile
Interimly, I forgot
Recently, I travelled to him
The Wizard:
He must have heard of us
Now, don't you mind that he's afraid
He even stood before this place
But nobody opened him in this case
The Druid:
Then I'll go on
Resume my search
(Just a couple of days later)
The Druid:
I've got some good news for you, my friends!
All the others:
Will he be there in the end?
The Druid:
No more than ninty hours
And he'll present his power
The Druid:
It takes thyme to put into the potion
The Wizard:
I say a rhyme to give it some emotion
The E1f:
I am the sun to heat up the beverage
The Coppersmith:
It takes time to put the brew in motion
The Sorcerer:
I make pun lest the effect is average
The Druid:
Do you realize the potion's smell
As it's spreading ell by ell ?
Your inside burns
The 1ight returns
Sends the grey day back to hell
The Wizard:
Look out, see the children's faces
Shimmering spirits leaving traces
Coloured skies
Children's eyes
With bright and burning hazes
The Elf:
Still there're strange sounds in the air
But our work is tasted everywhere
Cowed pa1e quacks
Making tracks
They're leaving here, there, everywhere
The Coppersmith:
Finally, we did succeed
A different future is what I read
That is real:
Now they feel
And that's what the people need
The Sorcerer:
The next thing that we've gotta do
It's our duty to renew the brew
Concoct again
And who knows when
We'll finally be freed to get back home !
Now we gave you a taste of our work
Our task's fulfilled
Today may our brew act on you
That's our only will
Hoping good feelings are in your mind
We can pack our bags
Hoping to leave no sorrow behind
Maybe we'll come back
Far we roamed
Going home...