Welcome back to our latest Tale for Our Time. Listeners seemed to enjoy Part One of our story. Marc, a First Day Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, writes:
No one does it better! Thank you, Mark!
On the other hand, Nicola Timmerman in Eastern Ontario is a bit worried about where all this is headed:
Sorry to hear you didn't do the Q & A for health reasons but you sounded great in this recitation. The Shadow seems kind of creepy. Let's hope the tale doesn't end too badly.
Well, we're about to find out, Nicola. Herewith, the concluding episode of The Shadow by Hans Christian Andersen:
The days passed. The years went by. And the shadow called again. "How goes it?" he asked.
"Alack," said the scholar, "I still write about the true, the good, and the beautiful, but nobody cares to read about such things. I feel quite despondent, for I take it deeply to heart..."
"You don't know the ways of the world, and that's why your health suffers. You ought to travel. I'm taking a trip this summer. Will you come with me? I'd like to have a traveling companion. Will you come along as my shadow? It would be a great pleasure to have you along, and I'll pay all the expenses."
"No, that's a bit too much," said the scholar.
He doesn't know the half of it. Members of The Mark Steyn Club can hear me read the conclusion of The Shadow simply by clicking here and logging-in. Part One can be found here.
Thank you so much for your compliments about Tales for Our Time during these hellish times. Some like the ripping yarns for boys, some the more genteel social comedy for girls, and some of you even enjoy our ventures into summer whimsy from yours truly. But of the tales in totality all seem to be in favour.
If you've yet to hear any of our Tales, you can enjoy seven years' worth of audio adventures - by Conan Doyle, Kafka, Conrad, Gogol, Dickens, Baroness Orczy, P G Wodehouse, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Robert Louis Stevenson and more - by joining The Mark Steyn Club. For details on membership, see here - and, if you're seeking the perfect gift for a fan of classic fiction, don't forget our Steyn Club Gift Membership. Sign up that special someone today!
See you later this month for a brand new Tale for Our Time - and in the coming week in the English High Court.