PART ONE. By request, we are reading James Thurber's story again on Radio Valencia. During this episode we presented the first half of the book. The Duke of Coffin Castle was as cold as he was evil. Many were the suitors who came to win the hand of his beautiful niece, the Princess Saralinda. Under a spell, she lived in the castle-- and in fact, wasn't his niece at all; he planned to marry her himself. The suitors unvaryingly met death after failing to surmount the Duke's preposterously impossible tasks. But, disguised as a ragged minstrel, the Prince Zorn of Zorna, aided by the Golux, a semi-divine being, having been imprisoned by the Duke, was released to attempt the latest task-- to find a thousand jewels within ninety and nine hours and bring them to Coffin Castle. At the time of delivery, the thirteen frozen clocks in the castle would have to be striking the hour. Many had tried to fix them but they could not ever be made to go. The Duke always claimed to have murdered Time himself, to have wiped his bloody blade upon His beard as He lay stricken, His mainspring stopped and His pendulum disintegrating. The Duke himself was the potential victim of a horrendous monster, the Todal, an agent of the Devil sent to punish evildoers for not being evil enough, were he, and not any of the suitors of Saralinda, to fail. The unspeakable Todal would Gleep you-- and there would be nothing left. After a long journey, the Golux and the Prince climbed a lonely hill and visited Hagga, a hermit-like woman who could weep precious stones. Although she had never been able to weep for years, they somehow induced her to laugh-- and as she shed the tears of laughter, these too became precious stones... Later is the show we had a welcome visitor of our own-- KrOB... Next week: the second half. Three hours.