The Secret Language

Pinna! Pinna! Hi, my name is Adam Gidwitz. I'm an author. I'm also a storyteller. I like telling all kinds of stories, but I especially like telling grim fairy tales. You may think you know grim fairy tales, and you may think that they are sweet and boring. But listen, those tales you heard were the cute, happy, little kid bedtime versions of the grim tales. The original grim fairy tales aren't like that at all. They're weird, and sometimes gross, and often scary. In other words, they're grim. And I'm about to walk into a classroom and tell one of the original grim grim tales to a bunch of kids. Do you want to join me? Do you want to hear a grim fairy tale? Let me help you decide. On a scale of grim, grimmer, and grimmest, this episode is grimmer. There's no blood or gore, but the main characters get taken away by a very bad person to a very creepy place. If I get to a part of the story and you start to feel scared or uncomfortable, this is what you could do. You could turn down the volume and count to five. Then turn the volume back up. If it still seems like a part you don't want to hear, just turn the volume down and count to five again. You know how much weird and gross and scary you're ready for. You know what you need. Okay, I'm at the classroom door now. There are kids inside waiting to hear a grim fairy tale. So, are you coming in? Grim, grimmer, grimmest. All right. This story is by Franz Xaver von Schoenwurt. It's called The Secret Language. Once upon a time, in a small house in a meadow, there lived four children, three sisters and their little brother. They loved each other, as siblings do. And they played together, as siblings do. And they fought sometimes, because siblings do that too. I never fight with my sibling. That's amazing. That's very rare. I'll tell the number of how many times my sister and me have fought. I think we've been fighting since, like, I think more than 133 times. That's a lot of fights. Maybe more than that. Now, the three girls had a secret language, a code that they could speak to one another when they didn't want anyone else to understand them. Do any of you have a secret code that you use either with sibling or friends? Uh, like, I use my Spanish words when I talk to them, yeah. It's not with my sibling, it's actually with my friends. It's called Ziegelswork. That's really cool. Me and this person over here have a code together that we call. It's not really a code, it's a language and a couple of people are involved, like three of us. Call it Upper Be Gone. And there's like, we only figure out a few words. One of them is, um, Unseh. Unseh which means hi. And then something for, that means, it's like a, that means hello good friend. It's Unseh, Unseh, Unseh. Ah. Okay, when I was growing up, my brother and I had a secret code. And it would go like this. We would just say words backwards to each other. What? We would say them backwards. Yes? That's Pig Latin. It's kind of like Pig Latin. Pig Latin, you take a letter and you put it at the end and you add an A to it. So mine, we would just reverse all the letters. For example, the word brother in reverse would be retorb. Retorb. Retorb. Can you imagine how retorb is backwards of brother? Reh. Reh. R-E-H. Torb. T-O-R-B. Retorb. Retorb. So that was the same as the three girls' code. And the brother wanted to learn it too, but the girls wouldn't teach it to him because he was younger and a boy and siblings can be that way. And one day, the children were all playing together in the meadow near their home. But the girls kept speaking in their secret code, and the little boy couldn't understand them at all. Then they started to talk about him in their secret code, and laughing. Like the older sister would say, Rulo Retorb C. Erev Tros. What does that mean? Which meant, our brother is very short. And the middle sister would say... You want to try that one? Um, so, I think the last word is looking. Great! And the first words were the same as the previous one. Oh yeah, brother, our brother is funny looking. Nailed it. Which meant, our brother is very funny looking. And then the youngest sister said... Oh, ruo retorb sii lautka i terp i ta. Which meant? They don't like him. Which meant our brother is actually pretty cute. Aw, that's so sweet. Yeah, they weren't saying anything that mean. But just the fact that they were talking about him and he couldn't understand them made the girls laugh. And he, how do you think it made him feel? Upset. Upset. Upset? Sad. Um, maybe a little lonely and sad. Yeah, a little lonely and sad. Like, embarrassed? Yeah, and he got so embarrassed and upset and lonely and mad that he ran away. What? Like, he never, like, he ran away, like, forever? Nope, he just ran behind their house. And he sulked, which meant he felt sad. At just that moment, an old lady came walking through the meadow, and she came across the three girls. Oh! The old lady said, I'm so glad I found somebody. Will you please help me? No. The old lady seemed very upset. So the oldest girl said, Oh, don't worry. We'll help you. You're so sweet. I'm trying to mend my clothes, but my eyesight has become so dim and my old hands are so shaky that I can't manage to thread my needles. Won't you be so kind as to do it for me? And she produced, from a sewing bag she had around her neck, three needles and three spools of thread. I would just say stranger danger, no. Stranger danger, no, totally. When someone walks up to you and says, here, take these three needles, I would say no. Good call, good policy, I like it. So each girl took a spool of thread and a needle, and because their eyesight was good and their hands were deft, each easily threaded a needle, and then they handed the needles back to the old lady. You've fallen under my spell, silly girls! Now follow me! And indeed, they could not resist her command. They followed behind her, across the meadow, through the woods, and out the other side. There was another clearing, but this was not a meadow. It was a graveyard filled with dozens of tombs. Of deadness. Tombs of deadness I think she a witch Why did they listen to an old woman who needs help sewing in the first place That peculiar It was very peculiar. Who knows what a tomb is? It means like a kind of thing like, you know, like in those little vampire movies, like what vampires sleep in. Oh, I know what tombs are. They're like those vampire beds and that's sometimes where vampires, if they like died or something, or if they're sleepy, they go in there and then they close themselves in it. Exactly. So a coffin is usually made of wood, but a tomb is like a coffin made of stone. Exactly. The girls stared at the tombs, and they wanted to run away, but they could not, for they were under the spell of the old lady. In the center of the cemetery was a stone house, and the old lady brought the girls inside, and she told the girls, Now you'll live with me and be my magical helpers. Isn't that fun. The girls did not want to. They begged to go home. Please let us go home. We don't want to stay here. Please let us leave. But the old lady laughed. Be quiet. And they could not resist the power of her spell. The old lady gave each girl her own room, and she taught each girl a different spell. She gave the eldest girl a needle and thread. She gave the middle girl a wine bottle filled with sand and a bucket. And she taught the youngest girl a magic word. A little while later, a visitor came to the stone house in the middle of the cemetery. The old lady was watching out the window, and she saw him coming. He was a peddler of pots and pans, selling his wares door to door. Well, he shouldn't have come to this door. When he arrived, the old lady was all smiles. Welcome, fair stranger. Come, come in. Won't you stay a while and meet my three clever and beautiful daughters? Uh, I just wanted to sell you some pots and pans. Oh, of course. I'd love to buy some. But first, you must meet my clever and beautiful daughters. Is he really going to meet her kind and clever daughters? No. He's going to die. So she brought the peddler into the eldest girl's room, and the eldest daughter said, Welcome, fair stranger. And then she held up a needle and a spool of thread. Will you help me thread my needle? You need help threading a needle? Yes. Will you please help me? So the peddler took the needle and the spool of thread, and he threaded the needle. Now let's go visit my middle sister. said the oldest girl. And even if he had wanted to resist, he couldn't. For now he was under her power. So he followed the eldest girl to the middle girl's room. The middle girl had a... Who remembers what the middle girl had? A wine cup with sand and a bucket. Yes, not a wine cup with sand, but a wine... Bucket. A bucket and a wine... Wine bottle. The middle girl had a bottle filled with sand and a bucket. Will you help me, fair stranger? Will you pour the sand in this bottle into this bucket? And the peddler said, Um, what? Just pour the sand into this bucket. Why would you want me to do that? But the eldest sister said, Do it. And because he was under her spell, the peddler had no choice. He emptied the sand from the bottle into the bucket, and he became incredibly, irresistibly sleepy. Now, let's go visit my youngest sister, said the eldest girl, and she brought him to the youngest girl's room. In this room, there was a large feather bed. The youngest girl said, Come, you look so sleepy. Lie down on this bed. The peddler was very sleepy indeed. thanks to the middle girl's spell. But everything that was happening to him was very strange, and suddenly he felt like he should leave this house and leave it now. I think I should... I should just go. But the eldest girl said, Lie down. And because he was under her spell, he could not resist. He lay down, and instantly he fell asleep. The youngest girl leaned over him and said, Rest in peace. Which is just what the old lady had taught her to say. Oh no, he's dying. And the peddler turned to stone. What? Ah! Cackle the old lady. Sorry, I think I scared you. You keep doing that. I keep doing it and it keeps working, I love it. Rest in peace, buddy. Rest in peace, buddy. The old lady had come into the room to admire the girl's handiwork. Then she commanded them to carry the peddler out into the cemetery. They brought his stone body to a stone tomb, and they laid the peddler on top of the lid. And he looked just like a stone effigy, which is one of those statues that lie on top of tombs. Except this was the most realistic stone effigy in the history of the world. because it's realistic because it's... Real. Exactly right. A real person. A real person, exactly right. Wait, if the... Why did the witch do that? Because generally the witches do something that will benefit them, but this witch is like just plain mean. Plain mean? Is there any reason you can imagine that she would... So he now looks like the most realistic stone effigy in the history of the world. any reason that you can imagine why she would be doing this. I guess she wants decorative toons. She wants decorative toons, maybe. Yeah, she just wants to decorate her backyard or something. She wants to decorate her backyard. Some people buy plastic flamingos or little gnomes. No, I kill people. She kills people and puts them on toons. The girls were horrified at what they had done, and they wanted to run away, but they could not. They were under the old lady's spell. What's going on with the boy? Does he, like, ever stop sulking and, like, look around for the girls because he's their brother? Great question. Let's find out. Meanwhile, back at the house in the meadow, the little boy stopped sulking and went to find his sisters. And he couldn't find them anywhere. He ran to his parents, but they didn't know what had happened to the girls either, and everyone became very afraid that something terrible had happened and that the girls had been kidnapped by evil people. And that's exactly what happened. The boy swore he would find them. But he was just a little boy, and his parents were afraid that he would be kidnapped too. So they left the house in the meadow and moved into town. And the boy grew up there, sad and lonely, missing his sisters terribly. Each year on his birthday, the boy asked if he could go and find his sisters. But every year his parents said no. They didn't want him to disappear too. The years went by and soon the boy had grown into a young man, as boys do. And eventually his parents could no longer keep him at home. He swore that he would go out into the world and find his sisters. He would take no job, no wife, no home until he found them. So he set out. He walked and walked and walked. He searched every town he came to, but he did not find them. He searched every forest he entered, but he did not find them. He searched every cave and shack and barn, but he did not find them. The longer he searched, the more discouraged he became. What a foolish task this was. They been gone for years They were probably dead And even if they were alive they could be anywhere And if he saw them would he even recognize them No I don't think he would because it's been years. Maybe they turned old or something. But he did not give up. He had left his parents. He had taken no job, no wife, no home. Searching was all he had. And then, one day, he searched the hundredth wood and did not find them, and he came through the other side and found himself in an utterly enormous graveyard. There were hundreds and hundreds of tombs, and on top of each tomb was a stone effigy, statues of people as if lying on a bed of stone. The boy approached a tomb and marveled. The tomb effigies were so incredibly realistic, Like a real person captured in stone. Because they are. Because they are. He looked up. He was surrounded by them. Like a boat in the middle of the sea. What do you think that means? Why are there hundreds of stone effigies in this graveyard? Because now the, like, sisters were under the spell. And then they had to introduce the spells to everyone. So then they had to turn those hundred stone peas. And I think now that they forgot who the real mother is. Maybe so. And then, off in the distance, beyond the hundreds of tombs, he saw a small stone house. The boy started for it. I think when the brother comes to the house, they're not going to recognize him, and they're going to do the same thing that they did to the pots and pans man. Inside the house, the old woman, who was an even older woman now, was gazing out her window when she saw the boy coming through her cemetery. Oh, girls, come, come, look. this will make one beautiful effigy. The girls saw the boy and their three hearts dropped down in their three chests all at once. Even though years had passed and he had grown from a boy into a young man they all recognized him instantly. The eldest girl turned to the others and spoke a language she had not spoken in many, many years. You, to some, Eva's Ruo retort. What does that mean? It's our brother. Something about our brother. You're exactly right. What does it say? What do you think ooh could be? He. We. We. To some. Can you figure out what to some would be? Nah. Can you reverse the letters in to some? Must? Yes. We must. Evas. Save. We must save our brother. And even though the girls hadn't heard that language in many years, they instantly knew what their eldest sister meant. We must save our brother. So they went back to their rooms and waited. to koala shine a new kid's story show with crazy adventures taking you all over the world we'll meet peculiar characters hear cool facts and jokes and hopefully learn a thing or two there's even the chance for your kids voices to be on the pod koala shine is mindful fun entertainment on the move designed to broaden minds boost confidence and spark curiosity you might just love it as much as your little ones just search koala shine wherever you get your podcasts. And away we go. Koala Shine. A lot of people remember what they dream about when they go to sleep. But what if you discovered you could move between the world of dreams and real life? That's the story of Dream Breachers, where Evan wakes up on his 12th birthday and realizes that something he dreamed about that night had actually happened. Dream Breachers is a high-stakes sci-fi mystery adventure. And with the help of his friends, a reappearing stranger, and a mysterious organization called the Dream Academy, Evan will discover what it means to be a Dream Breacher. If that sounds like a dream to you, you are in luck, my friend. You can listen to Dream Breachers now, wherever you get your podcasts. Soon the boy was at the door, and the old lady welcomed him with a smile. Come in, come in! The boy asked what he had asked at every home and tavern and shack and barn in every town and county in the land. I'm looking for my long-lost sisters. Have you seen them? And the old lady said, Well, I don't think I've seen your sisters, but I do have three clever and beautiful daughters. Would you like to meet them? But the boy said, I'm looking for my sisters, not your daughters. And he turned to go. No. But the old lady grabbed his elbow and steered him back toward the door. Oh, please, you look so tired and sad. Come in, have a rest, a long, long rest. And she pulled him inside and closed the door. She led him to the eldest girl's room. And he froze, dumbstruck. His sister stood before him. She smiled as if she did not know him. He was about to throw his arms wide and rush at her, but something in her eyes made him hesitate. She held out a needle and a spool of thread. Welcome, fair stranger, she said. And the way she said stranger made the boy certain that something was fishy. Fair stranger, will you help me thread my needle? She handed him the needle and thread, just as the old lady had done to her all those years ago. The boy reached for them. The girl coughed, and as she coughed, she said, The boy stared at her. Oh, excuse me, she said. The boy moved to thread the needle, and his eldest sister coughed again. To nod. Now, the boy had never learned his sister's secret language, but he recognized it. He knew that she was trying to tell him something. He just didn't know what. He took the thread and needle from her hands. He licked the thread. He held the needle up to the light. He moved to put the thread through the eye of the needle. To nod! Will you stop coughing in our guest's face? The old lady snapped. But the boy was staring at his sister. To nod. To nod. To nod. What could that mean? And then he reversed the letters and sounds and then got don't. He got it. He understood their secret language. After all these years, he licked the thread again. He held the needle up to the light again. He moved to put the thread through the eye of the needle. He missed. A little to the left, dear, said the old lady. He tried to thread the needle again and missed A little to the right said the old lady He tried again and missed That was a little high, said the old lady, getting frustrated now. He tried again, and again, he missed. What are you, blind? shouted the old lady. So she grabbed the needle, and she showed him how. by threading the needle herself. And then she got spelled herself. I think she forgot about the spell, so now she's getting cursed. The eldest sister said to the boy, Now let's go visit my middle sister. They went to the middle sister's room. She was waiting there with a bottle full of sand and a bucket. She said, Hello, fair stranger. Will you help me? This bottle is very heavy. Will you pour the sand from it into this bucket for me? He took the bottle from his sister, and as he did, she coughed. Tnod! And he replied, Yakko! Yakko. Okay. And the middle sister broke out into the widest smile she'd smiled in many years. The old lady did not know what was going on, but she did not like it. Go on! Won't you help my poor daughter pour her sand into this bucket? And the boy wanted to say, Why on earth would I do that? Because that's a really weird thing to ask a guest to do, right? But he didn't say anything. He just took the bottle and started to pour the sand on the floor. A little to the left, dear. The boy poured more sand onto the floor. A little to the right, dear. The boy poured more sand onto the floor. What is the matter with you? She shouted. She grabbed the bottle from him and said, Look, you do it like this! And she poured the sand into the bucket. I knew it! She's always going to miss it, and then the lady's going to try, and then she's going to turn to eat the stone all the time. And the old lady began to feel very sleepy. The eldest girl said, Now let's go visit my youngest sister. And she took the boy and the old lady, who was looking really, really sleepy, to the youngest girl's room. The old lady said to the youngest girl, Won't you talk this boy into bed? And she sounded very sleepy when she said it. The youngest girl said to the boy, Would you like to go to sleep? And then she added, To nod. And the boy replied, To nod, you row. What's that mean? Don't? Don't worry. That's right. But then the boy said, I am very tired, and I would like to go to sleep. The youngest sister looked horrified as she watched the boy lie down on the floor. You missed the bed, you moron! Shut the old lady. Oh, sorry, said the boy. He stood up walked to the other side of the bed and lay down on the floor over there She shrieked So the boy stood up and he lay down under the bed Oh, you're the dumbest boy I've ever seen in my life! Don't you know how to lie on a bed? The two eldest girls were standing in the door we were watching. The eldest girl said, Mother, why don't you show him how to lie on a bed? And the middle girl said, Yes, you seem very tired. And because of the magic spells, the old lady did exactly what they asked. She lay down on the bed. She said to the boy, Look, how hard was it? And instantly she fell asleep. And the youngest girl came and stood over her and said, Rest in peace. And the old lady turned to stone. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! The moment she did, her spells were all broken. The girls were no longer under her power, and all the stone effigies in the cemetery turned back into people and began to yawn and stretch as if they'd taken the best naps of their lives. And the boy and his sisters threw their arms around each other and headed for home. where they lived happily ever after. The end. When I grow up, I'm going to live with my best friend, Hazel, and a cat, a black cat, if I can find it, named Wendy. That's a great plan. I love that. And also, since black cat is unlucky, I might also call him Tornado. Because tornadoes are unlucky. Tornadoes are unlucky. The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy, hard-boiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the intrepid Chaotix Detective Agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying, action-packed adventure will take them across the world, fighting for every clue they can find. It's one heck of a tale. Which is good, because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Well, if that's all, I can just dispose of you. Wait, what? All will be revealed in... Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotix Case Files. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. The Chaotix are on the case. last one standing without breaking the rules. Every episode is packed with laughter, silly sounds, and maybe even a unicorn or two. Hosted by the awesome Carly Shiraki, this Parents' Choice Recommended Award winner is guaranteed to tickle your kids' funny bones. Don't break the rules. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. by Molly Barton and Carly Migliori. Production support by Devin Shepard, characters voiced by Tria Leong, Rojean Rashidan, Rob Moreta, and Charlotte Wilson Langley. Special thanks to all the kids who joined us in Staten Island and Brooklyn for our storytelling sessions. You guys are awesome.