Alexandre Dumas — Countess Bertha's Porridge, Part 2

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Alexandre Dumas's fairy tale reaches its end. Three champions have come to conjure the spirit of Countess Bertha, and all three are still to be tested: the giant braggart Hans de Warburg, who has a lance that pierces whatever it touches and a sword that cuts whatever it strikes — and whose courage is of a very different temper from his weapons; the fair young Torald, who comes armed only with a prayer; and, behind them both, the love of Hermann of Rosemberg and Hilda of Eisenfeld, and the treasure that lies hidden where no living hand has reached for a hundred years. First the castle is haunted in earnest: the porcelain flies, the chains drag through the halls, and a hand of fire writes its warning on the wall of the baron Wilbold's own chamber. Disclosure: this performance is narrated by AI-generated voices. What Part Two holds: the wager for Hilda's hand; the flaming hand's verse, read out in council; the night ride to the haunted castle, when the doors of Wistgaw open of their own accord; the king of the dwarfs in green velvet and his crown of seven points; the distaff that beats a liar until he tells the truth; and the wall of the great hall opening at last upon a hundred years of treasure. Countess Bertha's Porridge is told whole, in two parts, in a translation made fresh from Dumas's French for this season; Part One carries the legend of Wistgaw, the cobolds, the stolen honey porridge, and the embassy of Hermann of Rosemberg. Chapters: Introduction — 0:35 Chapter Eleven — The Chevalier Hans de Warburg — 1:46 Chapter Twelve — Hilda — 5:34 Chapter Thirteen — The Hand of Fire — 10:44 Chapter Fourteen — The Chevalier Torald — 13:40 Chapter Fifteen — The Conjurors of Spirits — 16:29 Chapter Sixteen — The Knight of the Distaff — 39:14 Chapter Seventeen — The Treasure — 45:48 Conclusion — 49:47 Narrated by Lulu. Theme music: "Virtuoso Trio in Motion". Background music: "Vienna Farewell Oboe". Source: Alexandre Dumas, "La Bouillie de la comtesse Berthe" (1845), in the Bibliothèque électronique du Québec text (Collection « À tous les vents », vol. 565) — translated fresh for this recording. KacheliTV — World Classics, Read Aloud.