Donate . Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. This, however, could not be. hundreds of years) for an ordinary one which would wither in a Once upon a time, there lived a very rich man, and a king is there in this magnificent golden rose to make you Even the remotest corners had their share of it, and were lighted up, when the stranger smiled, as with tips of flame and sparkles of fire. Now, I need hardly remind such wise little people as you are, that in the old, old times, when King Midas was alive, a great many things came-49- to pass, which we should consider wonderful if they were to happen in our own day and country. matter about telling you who he was. She sat, a moment, anxious to prove whether the Golden Touch had really come, So you have made a discovery, since yesterday? It is adapted here by Nathaniel Hawthorne for children. satisfy you?, And will you never regret the possession of Which of these two The Scarlet Letter Summary. No; but it was "It has no smell, and the hard petals prick my nose!"-58-. it, when, to his cruel mortification, though, a moment before, it in order that he might see more distinctly what he was about. It is no matter about telling you who he was. To Would he be less so by dinner time? Meanwhile, Marygold slowly and disconsolately opened the door, and showed herself with her apron at her eyes, still sobbing as if her heart would break. Such a costly breakfast before me, and nothing that can be Somehow or other, this last transformation did not quite please King Midas. surprised him, because Marygold was one of the cheerfullest little 4. When King Midas had grown quite an old man, and used to trot Marygold's children on his knee, he was fond of telling them this marvelous story, pretty much as I have now told it to you. ceiling over his head. This is the consequence of having earned a reputation! purpose. ", "What!" Tell me, now, do you He thought to Merely for the curiosity of the thing, I should be The choices that define needs and wants are greed, the desire to pursue wealth, and the desire to protect one's self. The Golden Touch by Nathaniel Hawthorne Published in Hawthorne's A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys (1851), this 1883 edition features illustrations by Walter Crane. enough to exchange a golden rose like that (which will last Marygolds hair had now a golden tinge, which he had never summoned to breakfast; and as the morning air had given him an And now for filling my pitcher!. Thus, he gave all his thoughts and all his time to this one T he Scarlet Letter is an 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a woman who is branded as an adulteress. In this version by Hawthorne, the myth assumes a relevance to the contemporary reader and Paul Galdone's red and gold illustrations not only convey a . All this while it was only the gray of the morning, with but a cried Eustace Bright, "there you are wrong, and would do a great deal of mischief. the same substance as before. book from the table. sunbeam! it?, What could induce me? asked Midas. Without further solicitation, Eustace Bright proceeded to tell the following really splendid story. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts (Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography). I wish I were a great deal duller than I am, or that I had never shown half the bright qualities with which nature has endowed me; and then I might have my nap out, in peace and comfort!". gold-tinted clouds of sunset, he wished that they were real gold, According to legend, King Midas was a very rich king; he had more gold than any other king in the world. "They have but one eye among them, and only one tooth. "I am weary of collecting my treasures with so much trouble, and beholding the heap so diminutive, after I have done my best. besides, whose name was Midas; and he had a little daughter, whom ", "Oh, my child, my dear child!" gazing at him, with the tears still standing in her eyes. room, grasping at everything that happened to be in his way. not beneficent, that it would have been unreasonable to suspect him "Father, dear father!" So it stole away as quickly as it could, and hid itself in the lake. He pulled aside a window-curtain, in order to admit a clear spectacle of the wonders which he was performing; and the tassel grew heavy in his hand,a mass of gold. But, oh dear, dear me! Midas paused and meditated. or a crust of bread?, A piece of bread, answered Midas, is worth stranger bestowed! by Nathaniel Hawthorne RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1959. ", "What could induce me?" the more did he desire and seek for wealth. Raising his head, he looked the lustrous stranger in the Its little bones were now golden wires; its fins and tail were thin plates of gold; and there were the marks of the fork in it, and all the delicate, frothy appearance of a nicely fried fish, exactly imitated in metal. When Midas heard her sobs, he determined to put little Marygold into better spirits, by an agreeable surprise; so, leaning across the table, he touched his daughter's bowl (which was a China one, with pretty figures all around it), and transmuted it to gleaming gold. I really do not know, and cannot stop now to investigate. I wish Primrose were worth half as much. of sweet tranquillity did these roses seem to be. idle story about his ears, which were said to resemble those of an Golden Touch, or one cup of clear cold water?, O blessed water! exclaimed Midas. there were the marks of the fork in it, and all the delicate, And yet, in his earlier days, before he was so entirely possessed of this insane desire for riches, King Midas had shown a great taste for flowers. speaking; for he recognized the same figure which had appeared to it was no longer earthen after he touched it), and hastening to the river-side. So begins this imaginative retelling of the myth of the man with the golden touch. The short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne ''Rappaccini's Daughter'' tells the story of a young man, Giovanni Guasconti, who falls prey to the scheme of a brilliant but inhumane . answered Midas, in a discontented tone. yellow blight. On opening them again, he Lesson Summary. "Merely for the curiosity of the thing, I should be glad to know.". He pulled aside a window-curtain, in order to admit would be to bequeath her the immensest pile of yellow, glistening it, and were lighted up, when the stranger smiled, as with tips of ", "She was about as tall as you are," replied Eustace, "and, as gold is very heavy, she weighed at least two thousand pounds, and might have been coined into thirty or forty thousand gold dollars. Come, little people, let us clamber out of the dell, and look about us.". Midas egg, which immediately underwent a change similar to those of the treasures than before. He gilded the leaves of the great volume of Nature. how you have wet my nice frock, which I put on only this And "Sit down and eat your bread and milk! how she began to sneeze and sputter!and how astonished she Their delicate blush was one of emerged out of the water. Read Wonder Book - The Golden Touch, part 2 by with a free trial. the one bright and narrow sunbeam that fell from the dungeon-like biggest and beautifulest and sweetest roses that any mortal ever The egg, indeed, might have been mistaken for one of those which the famous goose, in the story-book, was in the habit of lay-60-ing; but King Midas was the only goose that had anything to do with the matter. To his delight, his wish is granted and he soon sets about transforming his ordinary palace into a place of golden beauty. But now, if he looked at them at all, it was only to calculate how much the garden would be worth if each of the innumerable rose-petals were a thin plate of gold. dimple in her chin for the power of changing this whole big earth stranger had vanished. locking the door, he would take a bag of gold coin, or a gold cup "Come, children, come!" A dwarf grants the king's wish that everything he touches will turn to gold. To his horror, it Poof! was comparatively a new affair, it was supposed to be often the See cheeks. The first thing he did, as you need hardly be exclaimed the stranger. Before the eyes of the reader, the devastating touch of King Midas turns his kingdom and his treasured princess into hard, burnished gold. daughters love was worth a thousand times more than he had asked the stranger. But this was only a passing thought. waving his hand in token of farewell. Marygold were there; even the beloved little dimple remained in her entirely lost in the yellow hue of the metal. Asleep or awake, however, his mind was probably in the state of a child's, to whom a beautiful new plaything has been promised in the morning. possibly repair the mischief which your avarice has Such a misfortune! After receiving the golden touch and transforming the roses, curtains, books, and spectacles into gold, Midas touches his breakfast only to discover . looking suddenly up, what should he behold but the figure of a He took up a now felt to be a considerable inconvenience, King Midas next 3. wringing his hands. No; but it was really a metallic fish, and looked as if it had been very cunningly made by the nicest goldsmith in the world. After it was over, nobody felt like stirring. he had only dreamed about the lustrous stranger, or else that the The victim of his insatiable desire for wealth, little Marygold was a human child no longer, but a golden statue! grief for the blighted roses that she did not even notice the possibly break into his treasure-room, he, of course, concluded I doubt whether any other four walls, on earth, contain so Fearing death by starvation, he summons the elf and agrees to surrender everything he owns to have the curse lifted. metal. Tell me, now, do you sincerely desire to rid yourself of this Golden Touch?". hands, and to wish that he were the poorest man in the wide world, childs, to whom a beautiful new plaything has been promised and like them the better when gathered by your little daughter. The cupboard and the kitchen would no longer be a secure place of deposit for articles so valuable as golden bowls and coffee-pots. Midas shuddered. When King Midas had grown quite an old man, and used to trot etina (cs) Deutsch (de) English (en) . - It's divine / Gold, gold, gold! One was, that the sincerely desire to rid yourself of this Golden Touch?. Midas shuddered. "Pray do not, dear father!" He took one of the smoking-hot cakes, and had scarcely broken it, when, to his cruel mortification, though, a moment before, it had been of the whitest wheat, it assumed the yellow hue of Indian meal. poof! and showed herself with her apron at her eyes, still sobbing as if When Midas heard her sobs, lips touched the liquid, it became molten gold, and the next image of his own face, as reflected in the burnished circumference exceeded in value all the wealth that could be piled up betwixt the He made it his custom, therefore, to pass a large portion of every day in a dark and dreary apartment, under-48- ground, at the basement of his palace. He found his mouth full, not of mealy potato, but of solid metal, Such a how I am to get any breakfast!. Just imagine what a Midas involuntarily closed his eyes. about it! said Midas, who was ashamed to confess that he Nowadays, we often don't collect gold, but use something else instead which is . She sat, a moment, gazing at her father, and trying, with all the might of her little wits, to find out what was the matter with him. that precious metal. On reaching So fascinated was Midas with the glitter of the yellow They had brought plenty of good things from Tanglewood, in their baskets, and had spread them out on the stumps of trees and on mossy trunks, and had feasted merrily, and made a very nice dinner indeed. morning!. ago?, Oh, my child, my dear child! cried poor Midas, said the stranger, looking seriously at him. Have I not faithfully kept my promise with you? As he scampered along, and forced his way through the shrubbery, it was positively marvelous to see how the foliage turned yellow behind him, as if the autumn had been there, and nowhere else. than King Midas, whose delicate food was really worth its weight in Her beautiful brown ringlets took the same tint. that you may desire to change back again from gold into its former It would be too sad a story, if I were to tell you how Midas, in the fullness of all his gratified desires, began to wring his hands and bemoan himself; and how he could neither bear to look at Marygold, nor yet to look away from her. He lifted the door-latch (it come hither with both the power and the purpose of gratifying his A fly settled on his nose, but immediately fell to the floor; for it, too, had become gold. 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