A Little Princess, Part 1 of 15

Before we get started tonight, I wanted to let you in on a little secret. For the best sleep, there's nothing better than the sleepy bookshelf's premium feed. You'll have ad-free access to the entire catalogue, so you don't have to listen to things like this. Plus exclusive bonus stories in between our longer books. Follow the link in the show notes to learn more and start your 7-day free trial tonight. Aisha owns a bistro. She loves it, but the admin, not so much. Luckily, her Monzo business bank account takes some of the strain, like expensing, with real-time visibility and spend limits all managed in one app. So she's free to cook up a storm without having to make a meal of the admin. Make the switch and join over 800,000 other UK businesses already banking with us. Search Monzo business today. Team plan starts from £25 a month. UK soul traders are limited company directors only. Teas and seas apply. 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As a special bonus for our podcast listeners, we have an exclusive offer just for you guys. You can get the White Noise Deep Sleep Sounds app now in the Apple App Store or Google Play, and get 30 days free access to all of the premium content. To redeem your free bonus, just go to deepsleepsounds.com forward slash bookshelf. That's deepsleepsounds.com forward slash bookshelf. Good evening and welcome to the Sleepy Bookshelf, where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book. I'm Elizabeth, your host, and it's lovely to have you here with me tonight. Because this evening we will be beginning a little princess, which has been highly requested after the Secret Garden. Not to age myself too much, but I'm certain I had these in a double VHS in the 90s and delighted in them both. The book, however, was first published in 1905 and tells the story of Sarah Crue, a wealthy and imaginative young girl, sent to Miss Mention Select Seminary Boarding School in London. After a tragedy befalls her, she is left paneless and reduced from a pampered student to a servant at the school. Despite this hardship, Sarah clings to her belief in behaving like a princess in spirit. And don't worry, the ending is a happy one, and I know this story will be perfect to help you drift off to sleep. If this is your first visit to the Sleepy Bookshelf, then welcome. Don't worry if you drop off before I finish this part of the story. At the beginning of the next episode I'll give you a thorough recap. That way you can rest easy without worrying about missing anything important. Also keep in mind that all of the books on the show are selected and edited to help you fall asleep. We keep the plot lines, protagonists and antagonists, and moments of tension, but we do remove anything that might be startling or upsetting to ensure you always get a good night's rest. That's what makes this the Sleepy Bookshelf. As always, let's take some time to put the day behind us. Inhale and have a nice, big stretch. And on your exhale, just relax and allow your limbs to fall heavy. Let go of any tension you are holding in your muscles. And with every exhale, sink deeper and deeper into your bed. Let's take another deep breath and this time hold it for a moment before exhaling loudly and completely, allowing any lingering thoughts to dissolve into the air. Now all you need to do is listen to the sound of my voice as you make your way into a peaceful sleep. And while you do that, I'll turn to the first pages of A Little Princess. A Little Princess Chapter 1 Sarah Sarah Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night. An odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfare. She sat with her feet tucked under her and leaned against her father, who held her in his arm as she stared out of the window at the passing people with a queer, old-fashioned thoughtfulness in her big eyes. She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child of twelve and Sarah Crew was only seven. The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time. At this moment, she was remembering the voyage she had just made from Bombay with her father, Captain Crew. She was thinking of the big ship of the Laskers passing silently to and fro on it, of the children playing about on the hot deck and of some young officers' wives who used to try to make her talk to them and laugh at the things she said. Principally, she was thinking of what a queer thing it was, that at one time one was in India, in the blazing sun, and then in the middle of the ocean, and then driving in a strange vehicle through strange streets where the day was as dark as the night. She found this so puzzling that she moved closer to her father. Papa, she said in a low, mysterious little voice which was almost a whisper. Papa? What is it, darling? Captain Crew answered, holding her closer and looking down into her face. What is Sarah thinking of? Is this the place? Sarah whispered, cuddling still closer to him. Is it, Papa? Yes, little Sarah. It is. We have reached it at last. And though she was only seven years old, she knew that he felt sad when he said it. It seemed to her many years since he had begun to prepare her mind for the place, as she always called it. Her mother had died when she was born, so she had never known or missed her. Her young, handsome, rich, petting father seemed to be the only relation she had in the world. They had always played together and been fond of each other. She only knew he was rich because she had heard people say so when they thought she was not listening. And she had also heard them say that when she grew up, she would be rich too. She did not know all that being rich meant. She had always lived in a beautiful bungalow and had been used to seeing many servants who made salams to her and called her Mississa Hebe and gave her her own way in everything. She had had toys and pets and an ire who worshipped her. And she had gradually learned that people who were rich had these things. That, however, was all she knew about it. During her short life, only one thing had troubled her, and that thing was the place she was to be taken to someday. The climate of India was very bad for children, and as soon as possible they were sent away from it, generally to England and to school. She had seen other children go away and had heard their fathers and mothers talk about the letters they received from them. She had known that she would be obliged to go also. And though sometimes her father's stories of the voyage and the new country had attracted her, she had been troubled by the thought that he could not stay with her. Couldn't you go to that place with me, Papa? She had asked when she was five years old. Couldn't you go to school too? I would help you with your lessons. But you will not have to stay for a very long time, little Sarah. He had always said, you will go to a nice house where there will be a lot of little girls, and you will play together, and I will send you plenty of books. And you will grow so fast that it will seem scarcely a year before you are big enough and clever enough to come back and take care of Papa. She had liked to think of that, to keep the house for her father, to ride with him and sit at the head of his table when he had dinner parties, to talk to him and read his books. That would be what she would like most in the world. And if one must go away to the place in England to attain it, she must make up her mind to go. She did not care very much for other little girls, but if she had plenty of books, she could console herself. She liked books more than anything else, and was in fact always inventing stories of beautiful things and telling them to herself. Sometimes she had told them to her father, and he had liked them as much as she did. Well, Papa, she said softly, if we are here, I suppose we must be resigned. He laughed at her old fashioned speech and kissed her. He was really not at all resigned himself, though he knew he must keep that a secret. His quaint little Sarah had been a great companion to him, and he felt he should be a lonely fellow when on his return to India, he went into his bungalow, knowing he need not expect to see the small figure, and its white frock come forward to meet him. So he held her very closely in his arms as the cab rolled into the big, dull square, in which stood the house which was their destination. It was a big, dull brick house, exactly like all the others in its row. But that on the front door there shone a brass plate, on which was engraved in black letters. Miss Minchin, select seminary for young ladies. Here we are, Sarah, said Captain Crew, making his voice sound as cheerful as possible. Then he lifted her out of the cab, and they mounted the steps and rang the bell. Sarah often thought afterward that the house was somehow exactly like Miss Minchin. It was respectable and well furnished, but everything in it was ugly, and the very armchairs seemed to have hard bones in them. In the hall everything was hard and polished. Even the red cheeks of the moon face on the tall clock in the corner had a severe, varnished look. The drawing room into which they were ushered was covered by a carpet with a square pattern upon it. The chairs were square, and a heavy marble timepiece stood upon the heavy marble mantle. As she sat down in one of the stiff, mahogany chairs, Sarah cast one of her quick looks about her. I don't like it, Papa, she said. But then I dare say soldiers, even brave ones, don't really like going into battle. Captain Crew laughed outright at this. He was young and full of fun, and he never tired of hearing Sarah's queer speeches. Little Sarah, he said, What shall I do when I have no one to say solemn things to me? No one else is as solemn as you are. But why do solemn things make you laugh so? Inquired Sarah, Because you were such fun when you say them. He answered, laughing still more. And then, suddenly, he swept her into his arms and kissed her very hard, stopping laughing all at once, and looking almost as if tears had come into his eyes. It was just then that Miss Min Chin entered the room. She was very like her house, Sarah felt. Tall and dull, and respectable, and ugly. She had large, cold, fishy eyes, and a large, cold, fishy smile. It spread itself into a very large smile when she saw Sarah and Captain Crew. She had heard a great many desirable things of the young soldier from the lady who had recommended her school to him. Among other things, she had heard that he was a rich father, who was willing to spend a great deal of money on his little daughter. It will be a great privilege to have charge of such a beautiful and promising child, Captain Crew. She said, taking Sarah's hand and stroking it. Lady Meredith has told me of her unusual cleverness. A clever child is a great treasure in an establishment like mine. Sarah stood quietly, with her eyes fixed upon Miss Min Chin's face. She was thinking something odd, as usual. Why does she say I am a beautiful child? She was thinking. I'm not beautiful at all. Colonel Grange's little girl, Isabelle, is beautiful. She has dimples, and rose-colored cheeks, and long hair the colour of gold. I have short, black hair, and green eyes besides which I'm a thin child, and not fair in the least. I'm one of the ugliest children I ever saw. She's beginning by telling a story. She was mistaken, however, in thinking she was an ugly child. She was not in the least like Isabelle Grange, who had been the beauty of the regiment. But she had an odd charm of her own. She was a slim, supple creature, rather tall for her age, and had an intense, attractive little face. Her hair was heavy, and quite black, and only curled the tips. Her eyes were greenish-gray, it is true. But they were big, wonderful eyes, with long, black lashes. And though she herself did not like the colour of them, many other people did. Still, she was very firm in her belief that she was an ugly little girl, and she was not at all elated by Miss Minchin's flattery. I should be telling a story if I said she was beautiful, she thought, and I should know I was telling a story. I believe I am as ugly as she is, in my way. What did she say that for? After she had known Miss Minchin longer, she learned why she had said it. She discovered that she said the same thing to each papa and mama who brought a child to her school. Sarah stood near her father and listened while he and Miss Minchin talked. She had been brought to the seminary because Lady Meredith's two little girls had been educated there, and Captain Crue had a great respect for Lady Meredith's experience. Sarah was to be what was known as a parlour border, and she was to enjoy even greater privileges than parlour borders usually did. She was to have a pretty bedroom and sitting room of her own. She was to have a pony and a carriage and a maid to take the place of the ire who had been her nurse in India. I'm not in the least anxious about her education, Captain Crue said with his gay laugh as he held Sarah's hand and pattered it. The difficulty will be to keep her from learning too fast and too much. She's always sitting with her little nose burrowing into books. She doesn't read them, Miss Minchin. She gobbles them up as if she were a little wolf instead of a little girl. She's always starving for new books to gobble, and she wants grown-up books. Great big fat ones, French and German as well as English, history and biography and poets and all sorts of things. Drag her away from her books when she reads too much. Make her ride the pony in the row or go out and buy a new doll. She ought to play more with dolls. Papa said Sarah, You see, if I went out and bought a new doll every few days, I should have more than I could be fond of. Dolls ought to be intimate friends. Emily is going to be my intimate friend. Captain Crue looked at Miss Minchin and Miss Minchin looked at Captain Crue. Who is Emily? She inquired. Tell us, Sarah. Captain Crue said, smiling. Sarah's green, grey eyes looked very solemn and quite soft as she answered. She is a doll I haven't got yet, she said. She is a doll Popeye is going to buy for me. We are going out together to find her. I have called her Emily. She is going to be my friend when Popeye is gone. I want her to talk to you about him. Miss Minchin's large, fishy smile became very flattering indeed. What an original child. She said, What a darling little creature. Yes, said Captain Crue, drawing Sarah close. She is a darling little creature. Take great care of her for me, Miss Minchin. Sarah stayed with her father at his hotel for several days. In fact, she remained with him until he sailed away again to India. They went out and visited many big shops together and bought a great many things. They bought indeed a great many more things than Sarah needed. But Captain Crue was a rash, innocent young man, and wanted his little girl to have everything she admired and everything he admired himself. So between them they collected a wardrobe much too grand for a girl of seven. There were velvet dresses trimmed with costly furs and lace dresses and embroidered ones and hats with great soft ostrich feathers and ermine coats and muffs and boxes of tiny gloves and handkerchiefs and silk stockings in such abundant supplies that the polite young women behind the counters whispered to each other that the odd little girl with the big, solemn eyes must be at least some foreign princess, perhaps the little daughter of an Indian raja. And at last they found Emily. But they went to a number of toy shops and looked at a great many dolls before they discovered her. I want her to look as if she wasn't a doll really, Sarah said. I want her to look as if she listens when I talk to her. The trouble with dolls, Papa, and she put her head on one side and reflected as she said it. The trouble with dolls is that they never seemed to hear. So they looked at big ones and little ones, at dolls with black eyes and dolls with blue, at dolls with brown curls and dolls with golden braids, dolls dressed and dolls undressed. You see, Sarah said when they were examining one who had no clothes. If when I find her she has no frocks, we can take her to a dressmaker and have her things made to fit. They will fit better if they are tried on. After a number of disappointments, they decided to walk and look in at the shop windows and let the cab follow them. They had passed two or three places without even going in, when as they were approaching a shop, which was really not a very large one, Sarah suddenly started and clutched her father's arm. Oh, Papa! she cried. There is Emily. A flush had risen to her face and there was an expression in her grey-green eyes as if she had just recognised someone she was intimate with and fond of. She's actually waiting there for us, she said. Let us go into her. Dear me, said Captain Crew, I feel as if we ought to have someone to introduce us. You must introduce me and I will introduce you, said Sarah. But I knew her the minute I saw her, so perhaps she knew me too. Perhaps she had known her. She had certainly a very intelligent expression in her eyes when Sarah took her in her arms. She was a large doll, but not too large to carry about easily. She had naturally curling golden brown hair, which hung like a mantle about her. And her eyes were a deep, clear grey-blue, with soft, thick eyelashes, which were real eyelashes and not mere painted lines. Of course, said Sarah, looking into her face as she held her on her knee. Of course, Papa. This is Emily. So Emily was bought and actually taken to a children's outfitters shop and measured for a wardrobe as grand as Sarah's own. She had lace frocks too, and velvet and muslin ones, and hats and coats and beautiful lace-trimmed underclothes, and gloves and handkerchiefs and furs. I should like her to always look as if she were a child with a good mother, said Sarah. I'm her mother, though I'm going to make a companion of her. Captain crew would really have enjoyed the shopping tremendously, but that a sad thought kept tugging at his heart. This all meant that he was going to be separated from his beloved, quaint little comrade. He got out of his bed in the middle of that night and went and stood, looking down at Sarah, who lay asleep with Emily in her arms. Her black hair was spread out on the pillow, and Emily's golden brown hair mingled with it. Both of them had lace ruffled nightgowns, and both had long eyelashes, which lay and curled up on their cheeks. Emily looked so like a real child that Captain crew felt glad she was there. He drew a big sigh, and pulled his mustache with a boyish expression. I heard little Sarah, he said to himself, I don't believe you know how much your daddy will miss you. The next day he took her to Miss Mention's and left her there. He was to sail away the next morning. He explained to Miss Mention that his solicitors, Mrs Barrow and Skipworth, had charge of his affairs in England, and would give her any advice she wanted, and that they would pay the bills she sent in for Sarah's expenses. He would write to Sarah twice a week, and she was to be given every pleasure she asked for. She is a sensible little thing, and she never wants anything that isn't safe to give her, he said. Then he went with Sarah into her little sitting room, and they bade each other goodbye. Sarah sat on his knee, and held the lapels of his coat in her small hands, and looked long and hard at his face. Are you learning me by heart, little Sarah? He said, stroking her hair. No, she answered. I know you by heart. You are inside my heart. And then they put their arms around each other, and kissed as if they would never let each other go. When the cab drove away from the door, Sarah was sitting on the floor of her sitting room, with her hands under her chin, and her eyes following it, until it had turned the corner of the square. Emily was sitting by her, and she looked after it too. When Miss Mention sent her sister, Miss Amelia, to see what the child was doing, she found she could not open the door. I have locked it, said a queer, polite little voice from inside. I want to be quite by myself, if you please. Miss Amelia was fat and dumpy, and stood very much in awe of her sister. She was really the better-natured person of the two, but she never disobeyed Miss Mention. She went downstairs again, looking almost alarmed. I never saw such a funny, old-fashioned child sister, she said. She has locked herself in, and she is not making the least particle of noise. What is much better than if she kicked and screamed as some of them do? Miss Mention answered. I expect that a child as much spoiled as she is would set the whole house in uproar. If ever a child was given her own way in everything as she is. I've been opening her trunks and putting her things away, said Miss Amelia. I never saw anything like them. Sable and Irmine on her coats, and real Valencians lace on her underclothing. You have seen some of her clothes. What do you think of them? I think they are perfectly ridiculous, replied Miss Mention sharply. But they were looked very well at the head of the line when we take the schoolchildren to church on Sunday. She has been provided for as if she were a little princess. And upstairs, in the locked room, Sarah and Emily sat on the floor. And stared at the corner around which the cab had disappeared. While Captain Crew looked backward, waving and kissing his hand as if he could not bear to stop. The schoolchildren were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. They were looking at the back of the cab. 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