# 🧒 Wise Men of Gotham Live Reading Junior Classics Library #kids #books #publicdomain #traditional

An episode of [Toddle Poddle](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1710389589), 9 Mar 2026, 11 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70522957/englishfairytales_32_steel_128kb.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: Chapter thirty two of English Fairy Tales. This is a
[0:06] Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
[0:11] Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
[0:18] Speaker 1: English Fairy Tales by Flora Annie Steele. The Wise Men
[0:23] Speaker 1: of Gotham of buying sheep. There were two men of Gotham,
[0:30] Speaker 1: and one of them was going to market to Nottingham
[0:33] Speaker 1: to buy sheep, and the other came from the market.
[0:38] Speaker 1: And they both met together upon Nottingham Bridge. Where are
[0:42] Speaker 1: you going, said the one who came from Nottingham, Mary
[0:47] Speaker 1: said he that was going to Nottingham. I am going
[0:50] Speaker 1: to buy sheep. Buy sheep, said the other. And which
[0:55] Speaker 1: way will you bring them home? Mary said the other.
[0:59] Speaker 1: I will bring them over this bridge by robin Hood,
[1:04] Speaker 1: said he that came from Nottingham. But thou shalt not,
[1:10] Speaker 1: by maid Marian, said he that was going thither. But
[1:14] Speaker 1: I will, you will not, said the one I will.
[1:21] Speaker 1: Then they beat their staves against the ground, one against
[1:25] Speaker 1: the other, as if there'd been a hundred sheep between them.
[1:30] Speaker 1: Hold in, said one, beware lest my sheep leap over
[1:34] Speaker 1: the bridge. I care not, said the other. They shall
[1:39] Speaker 1: not come this way, but they shall, said the other.
[1:45] Speaker 1: Then the other said, if that thou make much to do,
[1:50] Speaker 1: I will put my fingers in thy mouth, will you,
[1:55] Speaker 1: said the other. Now, as they were at their contention,
[2:00] Speaker 1: another man of Gotham came from the market with a
[2:04] Speaker 1: sack of meal upon a horse, and, seeing and hearing
[2:08] Speaker 1: his neighbors at strife about sheep, though there were none
[2:11] Speaker 1: between them, said ah, fools, will you ever learn wisdom?
[2:18] Speaker 1: Help me and lay my sack upon my shoulders. They
[2:23] Speaker 1: did so, and he went to the side of the bridge,
[2:27] Speaker 1: unloosened the mouth of the sack, and shook all his
[2:31] Speaker 1: meal out into the river. Now, neighbors, he said, how
[2:37] Speaker 1: much meal is there in my sack? Marry? They said,
[2:43] Speaker 1: there is none at all. Now, by my faith, said he,
[2:50] Speaker 1: even as much wit as is in your two heads.
[2:53] Speaker 1: To stir up strife about a thing you have not,
[2:59] Speaker 1: which was the est of these three persons, judge yourself
[3:06] Speaker 1: of hedging a cuckoo. Once upon a time the men
[3:11] Speaker 1: of Gotham would have kept the cuckoo so that she
[3:15] Speaker 1: might sing all the year. And in the midst of
[3:18] Speaker 1: their town they made a hedge round in compass and
[3:21] Speaker 1: they got a cuckoo and put her into it, and said,
[3:25] Speaker 1: sing there all through the year, or thou shalt have
[3:29] Speaker 1: neither meat nor water. The cuckoo, as soon as she
[3:33] Speaker 1: perceived herself within the hedge, flew away a vengeance on her.
[3:40] Speaker 1: Said they we did not make our hedge high enough
[3:47] Speaker 1: of sending cheeses. There was a man of Gotham who
[3:52] Speaker 1: went to the market at Nottingham to sell cheese. And
[3:58] Speaker 1: as he was going down the hill to nodingham Bridge,
[4:01] Speaker 1: one of his cheeses fell out of his wallet and
[4:04] Speaker 1: rolled down the hill. Ach gaffer said the fellow, can
[4:09] Speaker 1: you run into market alone? I will send one after
[4:12] Speaker 1: another after you. Then he laid down his wallet and
[4:17] Speaker 1: took out the cheeses and rolled them down the hill.
[4:21] Speaker 1: Some went into one bush, and some went into another.
[4:25] Speaker 1: I charge you all to meet me near the market place,
[4:29] Speaker 1: cried he. And when the fellow came to the market
[4:32] Speaker 1: to meet his cheeses, he stayed there till the market
[4:36] Speaker 1: was nearly done. Then he went about to inquire of
[4:40] Speaker 1: his friends and neighbors and other men. If they did
[4:44] Speaker 1: see his cheeses come to the market, who should bring them?
[4:49] Speaker 1: Said one of the market men, marry themselves, said the fellow.
[4:54] Speaker 1: They know the way well enough, he said, a vengeance
[5:00] Speaker 1: on them all. I did fear to see them run
[5:04] Speaker 1: so fast that they would run beyond the market, and
[5:08] Speaker 1: am now fully persuaded that they must now be almost
[5:11] Speaker 1: at York. Whereupon he forthwith hired a horse to ride
[5:16] Speaker 1: to York to seek his cheeses where they were not.
[5:20] Speaker 1: But to this day no man can tell him of
[5:24] Speaker 1: his cheeses of drowning eels. When good Friday came, the
[5:32] Speaker 1: men of Gotham cast their heads together what to do
[5:36] Speaker 1: with their white herrings, their red herrings, their sprats, and
[5:41] Speaker 1: other saltfish. One consulted with the other and agreed that
[5:46] Speaker 1: such fish should be cast into their pond, which was
[5:49] Speaker 1: in the middle of the town, that they might breed
[5:53] Speaker 1: against the next year. And every man that had salt
[5:56] Speaker 1: fish left cast them into the pool. I have many
[6:00] Speaker 1: white herrings, said one, I have many sprats, said another.
[6:06] Speaker 1: I have many red herrings, said the other. I have
[6:11] Speaker 1: much salt fish. Let all go into the pond or pool,
[6:16] Speaker 1: and we shall fare like lords next year. At the
[6:21] Speaker 1: beginning of next year, following, the men drew near the
[6:25] Speaker 1: pond to have their fish, and there was nothing but
[6:28] Speaker 1: a great eel. Ah said they all a mischief on
[6:34] Speaker 1: this eel, for he has eaten up all our fish.
[6:40] Speaker 1: What shall we do to him, said one to the other.
[6:43] Speaker 1: Kill him, said one. Chop him into pieces, said another.
[6:48] Speaker 1: Not so, said another. Let us drown him. Be it
[6:55] Speaker 1: so said all, And they went to another pond, and
[6:59] Speaker 1: cat the eel into the pond. Lie there and shift
[7:04] Speaker 1: for yourself. For no help thou shalt have from us,
[7:08] Speaker 1: And they left the eel to drown. Of sending rent.
[7:17] Speaker 1: Once on a time the men of Gotham had forgotten
[7:20] Speaker 1: to pay their landlord. One said to the other, tomorrow
[7:25] Speaker 1: is our pay day, and what shall we find to
[7:28] Speaker 1: send our money to our landlord? The one said, this
[7:33] Speaker 1: day I have caught a hare, and he shall carry it,
[7:37] Speaker 1: for he is light a foot. Be it so said all.
[7:42] Speaker 1: He shall have a letter and a purse to put
[7:45] Speaker 1: our money in, and we shall direct him the right way.
[7:50] Speaker 1: So when the letters were written and the money put
[7:53] Speaker 1: in a purse, they tied it around the hare's neck, saying,
[7:58] Speaker 1: first you go to Lancaster, then thou must go to Lochborough.
[8:05] Speaker 1: And Newwark is our landlord, and commend us to him,
[8:10] Speaker 1: and there is his dues. The hare, as soon as
[8:15] Speaker 1: he was out of their hands, ran on along the
[8:18] Speaker 1: country way. Some cried, thou must go to Lancaster first,
[8:25] Speaker 1: Let the hare alone, said another. He can tell a
[8:28] Speaker 1: nearer way than the best of us. All let him go.
[8:32] Speaker 1: Another said, it's a subtle hare. Let her alone. She
[8:38] Speaker 1: will not keep the highway for fear of dogs of counting.
[8:47] Speaker 1: On a certain time there were twelve men of Gotham
[8:50] Speaker 1: who went fishing, and some went into the water and
[8:54] Speaker 1: some on dry ground. And as they were coming back,
[8:58] Speaker 1: one of them said, we have ventured much this day waiting.
[9:03] Speaker 1: I pray God that none of us that did come
[9:06] Speaker 1: from home be drowned. Mary said one, Let us see
[9:11] Speaker 1: about that. Twelve of us came out, and every man
[9:16] Speaker 1: did count eleven, and the twelfth man never did count himself.
[9:23] Speaker 1: Alas said one to the other, one of us is drowned.
[9:28] Speaker 1: They went back to the brook where they had been fishing,
[9:31] Speaker 1: and looked up and down for him that was drowned,
[9:35] Speaker 1: and made great lamentation. A courtier came riding by, and
[9:41] Speaker 1: he did ask what they were seeking, and why they
[9:46] Speaker 1: were so sorrowful? Oh, said they this day we came
[9:51] Speaker 1: to fish in this brook, and there were twelve of us,
[9:55] Speaker 1: and one is drowned. Why, said the courtier, count me
[10:02] Speaker 1: how many of you there be? And one counted eleven
[10:07] Speaker 1: and did not count himself. Well, said the courtier, what
[10:12] Speaker 1: will you give me if I find the twelfth man? Sir,
[10:18] Speaker 1: said they all the money we have. Give me the money,
[10:24] Speaker 1: said the courtier. And he began with the first and
[10:28] Speaker 1: gave him a whack over the shoulders, that he groaned,
[10:32] Speaker 1: and said there is one. And he served all of them,
[10:37] Speaker 1: that they groaned. But when he came to the last,
[10:41] Speaker 1: he gave him a good blow, saying, here is the
[10:45] Speaker 1: twelfth man. God bless you on your heart, said all
[10:51] Speaker 1: the company you have found our neighbor. End of Chapter
[10:58] Speaker 1: thirty two.

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