Ranger’s Apprentice Book 1, The Ruins of Gorlan; Chapter 1 — Transcript

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1. 0:00chapter one
2. 0:02try to eat something will tomorrow is a
3. 0:04big day after all
4. 0:06jenny blond pretty and cheerful gestured
5. 0:09toward will's barely touched plate and
6. 0:11smiled encouragingly at him
7. 0:13will made an attempt to return the smile
8. 0:15but
9. 0:16it was a dismal failure
10. 0:18he picked at the plate before him piled
11. 0:20high with his favorite foods
12. 0:22tonight his stomach nodded tight with
13. 0:24tension and anticipation
14. 0:26he could hardly bring himself to swallow
15. 0:28a bite tomorrow would be a big day he
16. 0:31knew
17. 0:32he knew it all too well in fact
18. 0:34tomorrow would be the biggest day of his
19. 0:36life because tomorrow was the choosing
20. 0:38day and it would determine how he spent
21. 0:41the rest of his life
22. 0:43nerves i imagined said george setting
23. 0:46down his loaded fork and seizing the
24. 0:48lapels of his jacket in a judicious
25. 0:50manner
26. 0:51he was a thin gangly and studious boy
27. 0:53fascinated by rules and regulations and
28. 0:56with a penchant for examining and
29. 0:57debating both sides of any question
30. 1:00sometimes at great length
31. 1:02dreadful thing nervousness
32. 1:04it can just freeze you up so you can't
33. 1:05think can't eat can't speak
34. 1:08i'm not nervous will said quickly
35. 1:11noticing that horus had looked up ready
36. 1:13to form a sarcastic comment
37. 1:16george nodded several times considering
38. 1:18will's statement
39. 1:20on the other hand he said
40. 1:22a little nervousness can actually
41. 1:23improve performance it can heighten your
42. 1:25perceptions and sharpen your reactions
43. 1:27so the fact that you are worried if in
44. 1:29fact you are is not necessarily
45. 1:32something to be worried about in it of
46. 1:34itself so to speak
47. 1:36in spite of himself a wry smile touched
48. 1:38will's mouth george would be a natural
49. 1:41for the legal profession he thought
50. 1:43he would almost certainly be described
51. 1:45master's choice on the following morning
52. 1:47perhaps will thought that was at the
53. 1:49heart of his own problem
54. 1:51he was the only one of the ward mates
55. 1:53who had any fears about the choosing
56. 1:55that would take place within 12 hours
57. 1:58he ought to be nervous
58. 1:59horus scoffed
59. 2:01after all which craft master is going to
60. 2:03want him as an apprentice
61. 2:05i'm sure we're all nervous alyssa said
62. 2:09she directed one of her rare smiles at
63. 2:10will
64. 2:11we'd be stupid not to be
65. 2:14well i'm not
66. 2:15horus said
67. 2:16then reddened as a list raised one
68. 2:18eyebrow and jenny giggled
69. 2:21it was typical of alice will thought
70. 2:23he knew that the tall graceful girl had
71. 2:25already been promised a place as an
72. 2:27apprentice by lady pauline head of
73. 2:29castle redmond's diplomatic service
74. 2:32her pretense that she was nervous about
75. 2:34the following day and her tact and
76. 2:36refraining from pointing out horace's
77. 2:37gaffe
78. 2:38showed that she was already a diplomat
79. 2:40of some skill
80. 2:42jenny of course would gravitate
81. 2:44immediately to the castle kitchen's
82. 2:46domain of master chub redmont's head
83. 2:49chef he was a man renowned throughout
84. 2:51the kingdom for the banquet served in
85. 2:53the castle's massive dining hall
86. 2:55jenny loved food and cooking and her
87. 2:57easy going nature and unveiling good
88. 2:59humor would make her an invaluable staff
89. 3:01member in the turmoil of the castle
90. 3:03kitchens
91. 3:05battle school would be horace's choice
92. 3:07will glanced at his wardmate now
93. 3:09hungrily tucking into the roast turkey
94. 3:12ham and potatoes that he had heaped onto
95. 3:14his plate
96. 3:15horus was big for his age and a natural
97. 3:17athlete
98. 3:18the chance that he would be refused were
99. 3:20virtually non-existent
100. 3:22horus was exactly the type of recruit
101. 3:24that sir rodney looked for in his
102. 3:26warrior apprentices
103. 3:28strong athletic fit
104. 3:32thought will a trifle sourly not too
105. 3:34bright
106. 3:35battle school was the path to knighthood
107. 3:37for many boys like horus born commoners
108. 3:40but with the physical abilities to serve
109. 3:41as knights in the kingdom
110. 3:43which left will
111. 3:45what would his choice be
112. 3:47more importantly as horus had pointed
113. 3:49out
114. 3:50what craft master would accept him as an
115. 3:52apprentice
116. 3:53the choosing day was a pivotal point in
117. 3:55the life of the castle wards they were
118. 3:57orphaned children raised by the
119. 3:58generosity of baron harold the lord of
120. 4:01redmont fife
121. 4:02for the most part their parents had died
122. 4:04in the service of the fife and the baron
123. 4:06saw it at his responsibility to take
124. 4:08care of and raise the children of his
125. 4:10former subjects
126. 4:11and to give them an opportunity to
127. 4:13improve their station and life wherever
128. 4:15possible
129. 4:16choosing day provided that opportunity
130. 4:20each year castle wards turning 15 could
131. 4:22apply to be apprenticed to the masters
132. 4:24of the various crafts that served the
133. 4:25castle and its people
134. 4:27ordinarily craft apprentices were
135. 4:29selected by dint of their parents
136. 4:31occupations or influence with the
137. 4:32craftmasters
138. 4:34the castle wards usually had no such
139. 4:36influence and this was their chance to
140. 4:38win a future for themselves
141. 4:41those wards who weren't chosen or for
142. 4:43whom no openings could be found would be
143. 4:46assigned to farming families in the
144. 4:47nearby village providing farm labor to
145. 4:49raise the crops and animals that fed the
146. 4:51castle inhabitants
147. 4:53it was rare for this to happen will knew
148. 4:56the baron and his craft masters usually
149. 4:57went out of their way to fit the wards
150. 4:59into one craft or another but it could
151. 5:02happen and it was a fate he hated more
152. 5:04than anything
153. 5:06horus caught his eye now and gave him a
154. 5:08smug smile
155. 5:10still planning on applying for battle
156. 5:12school will
157. 5:13he asked throw a mouthful of turkey and
158. 5:15potatoes better eat something then
159. 5:18you'll need to build yourself up a
160. 5:19little
161. 5:21he snorted with laughter and will
162. 5:22glowered at him a few weeks previously
163. 5:25horus had overheard will confiding to a
164. 5:27list that he desperately wanted to be
165. 5:28selected for battle school and he had
166. 5:30made will's life a misery ever since
167. 5:33pointing out on every possible occasion
168. 5:35that will's slight build was totally
169. 5:37unsuited for the rigors of battle school
170. 5:39training
171. 5:41the fact that horus was probably right
172. 5:43only made matters worse
173. 5:45where horus was tall and muscular will
174. 5:47was small and wiry
175. 5:49he was agile and fast and surprisingly
176. 5:51strong but he simply didn't have the
177. 5:53size that he knew was required of battle
178. 5:55school apprentices
179. 5:57he'd hoped against hope for the past few
180. 5:59years that he would have what people
181. 6:01called his growing spurt before the
182. 6:03choosing day came around
183. 6:05but it never happened and now the day
184. 6:07was nearly here
185. 6:09as will said nothing horus sensed that
186. 6:11he had scored a verbal hit
187. 6:13this was a rarity in their turbulent
188. 6:15relationship
189. 6:16over the past few years he and will had
190. 6:18clashed repeatedly being the stronger of
191. 6:21the two horus usually got the better of
192. 6:22will although very occasionally will's
193. 6:25speed and agility allowed him to get in
194. 6:27a surprise kick or punch and then escape
195. 6:29before horus could catch him
196. 6:31but while horus generally had the best
197. 6:33of their physical clashes it was unusual
198. 6:35for him to win any of their verbal
199. 6:37encounters
200. 6:38will's wit was as agile as the rest of
201. 6:40him and he almost always managed to have
202. 6:42the last word
203. 6:44in fact it was this tendency that often
204. 6:46led him to trouble between them
205. 6:48will was yet to learn that having the
206. 6:50last word was not always a good idea
207. 6:53horus decided now to press his advantage
208. 6:56you need muscles to get into battle
209. 6:58school will
210. 6:59real muscles he said glancing at the
211. 7:02others around the table to see if anyone
212. 7:04disagreed
213. 7:06in other words uncove
214. 7:08the other wards uncomfortable at the
215. 7:10growing tension between the two boys
216. 7:12concentrated on their plates
217. 7:14particularly between the ears
218. 7:17will replied and unfortunately jenny
219. 7:19couldn't refrain from giving giggling
220. 7:22horus's face flushed and he started to
221. 7:24rise from his seat but will was quicker
222. 7:26and he was already at the door before
223. 7:28horus could disentangle himself from his
224. 7:30chair
225. 7:31he contented himself with hurling a
226. 7:33final insult after his retreating ward
227. 7:35mate
228. 7:36that's right run away
229. 7:38will no name you're a no name and nobody
230. 7:41will want you as an apprentice
231. 7:44in the anteroom outside will heard the
232. 7:46parting sally and felt blood flush into
233. 7:48his cheeks
234. 7:50it was the taunt he hated most although
235. 7:52he had tried never to let horus know
236. 7:54that sensing that he would provide the
237. 7:56bigger boy with a weapon if he did
238. 7:59the truth was
239. 8:00nobody knew will's second name
240. 8:02nobody knew who his parents had been
241. 8:05unlikely
242. 8:06unlike his year mates who had lived in
243. 8:08the fife before their parents had died
244. 8:10and whose family histories were known
245. 8:12will had appeared virtually out of
246. 8:14nowhere as a newborn baby
247. 8:16he had been found wrapped in a small
248. 8:18blanket and placed in a basket on the
249. 8:20steps of the ward building 15 years ago
250. 8:23a note had been attached to the blanket
251. 8:25reading simply
252. 8:26his mother died in childbirth his father
253. 8:29died a hero
254. 8:31please care for him his name is will
255. 8:35that year there had been only one other
256. 8:37ward alyssa's father was a cavalry
257. 8:40lieutenant who had died in battle
258. 8:42at hackham heath when morgoroth's wargle
259. 8:45army had been defeated and driven back
260. 8:47into the mountains
261. 8:48alyssa's mother devastated by her loss
262. 8:51succumbed to a fever some weeks after
263. 8:53giving birth so there was plenty of room
264. 8:55in the ward for the unknown child and
265. 8:57baron harold was at heart a kindly man
266. 9:01even though the circumstances were
267. 9:02unusual he had given permission for will
268. 9:04to be accepted as a ward of castle
269. 9:06redmont
270. 9:07it seemed logical to assume that if the
271. 9:10note were true will's father had died in
272. 9:12the war against morgaroth and since
273. 9:14baron harold had been taking a leading
274. 9:16part in that war he felt duty-bound to
275. 9:18honor the unknown father's sacrifice
276. 9:22so will had become a redmont ward raised
277. 9:25and educated by the baron's generosity
278. 9:28as time passed the others had gradually
279. 9:30joined him at a list until there were
280. 9:32five in their year group
281. 9:33but while others had memories of their
282. 9:35parents or in alyssa's case people who
283. 9:37had known them and who could tell her
284. 9:39about them
285. 9:40will knew nothing of his past
286. 9:42that was why he had invented the story
287. 9:44that had sustained him throughout his
288. 9:46childhood in the ward
289. 9:47and as the years passed and he added
290. 9:49detail and cover color to the story
291. 9:52he eventually came to believe it himself
292. 9:55his father he knew had died a hero's
293. 9:57death
294. 9:58so it made sense to create a picture of
295. 10:00him as a hero
296. 10:01a knight warrior in full armor fighting
297. 10:04against the wargle hordes cutting them
298. 10:06down left and right and eventually
299. 10:08was overcome by the sheer weight of
300. 10:10numbers
301. 10:12will had pictured the tall figure so
302. 10:14often in his mind seeing every detail of
303. 10:16his armor and his equipment but never
304. 10:18being able to visualize his face
305. 10:21as a warrior his father would expect him
306. 10:23to follow in his footsteps
307. 10:25that was why selection for battle school
308. 10:27was so important to will
309. 10:29and that was why the more unlikely it
310. 10:30would become that he would be selected
311. 10:33the more desperately he clung to the
312. 10:35hope that he might
313. 10:37he exited from the ward building and
314. 10:39into the darkened castle yard
315. 10:41the sun was long down and the torches
316. 10:43placed every 20 meters or so on the
317. 10:44castle walls shed a flickering uneven
318. 10:47light
319. 10:48he hesitated a moment
320. 10:50he would not return to the ward and face
321. 10:52horses continued taunts
322. 10:54to do so would only lead to another
323. 10:56fight between them a fight that will
324. 10:58knew he would probably lose
325. 11:00george would probably try to analyze the
326. 11:02situation for him looking at both sides
327. 11:04of the question and thoroughly confusing
328. 11:06the issue alice and jenny might try to
329. 11:09comfort him he knew
330. 11:10a list particularly since they had grown
331. 11:12up together
332. 11:13but at that moment he didn't want their
333. 11:15sympathy and he couldn't face horus
334. 11:17taunts so he headed for the one place he
335. 11:20knew he could find solitude
336. 11:22the huge fig tree growing close by the
337. 11:24castle's central tower had often
338. 11:26afforded him a haven heights held no
339. 11:29fear for will and he climbed smoothly
340. 11:31into the tree continuing long after
341. 11:33another might have stopped until he was
342. 11:35in the lighter branches at the very top
343. 11:37branches that swayed and dipped under
344. 11:39his weight
345. 11:40in the past he had often escaped from
346. 11:42horus up here
347. 11:43the bigger boy couldn't match will's
348. 11:45speed in the tree and he was unwilling
349. 11:47to follow as high as this
350. 11:49will found a convenient fork and wedged
351. 11:51himself into it his body giving slightly
352. 11:53to the movement of the tree as the
353. 11:55branches swayed in the evening breeze
354. 11:58below the four shortened figures of the
355. 12:00watch made their rounds of the castle
356. 12:02yard
357. 12:03he heard the door of the ward building
358. 12:05open and glancing down saw a list emerge
359. 12:08looking around the yard for him in vain
360. 12:10the tall girl hesitated a few moments
361. 12:13then seeming to shrug turned back inside
362. 12:16the elongated rectangle of light that
363. 12:18the open door threw across the yard was
364. 12:20cut off as she closed the door softly
365. 12:22behind her strange he thought how seldom
366. 12:26people tend to look up
367. 12:28there was a rustle of soft feathers and
368. 12:30a barn owl landed on the next branch its
369. 12:32head swiveling its huge eyes catching
370. 12:34every last ray of the faint light
371. 12:36it studied him without concern seeming
372. 12:39to know it had nothing to fear from him
373. 12:41it was a hunter a silent flyer a ruler
374. 12:44of the night
375. 12:46at least you know who you are he said
376. 12:48softly to the bird
377. 12:50it swiveled its head again then launched
378. 12:52itself into the darkness leaving him
379. 12:54alone with his thoughts
380. 12:56gradually as he sat there the lights and
381. 12:58the castle windows went out one by one
382. 13:00the torches burnt down into smoldering
383. 13:03husks and were replaced at midnight by
384. 13:05the change of the watch
385. 13:07eventually there was only one light left
386. 13:09burning and that he knew was in the
387. 13:11barren study where the lord of redmond
388. 13:14was still presumably at work pouring
389. 13:16over papers and reports
390. 13:18the study was virtually level with
391. 13:20will's position in the tree and he could
392. 13:22see the burly figure of the baron seated
393. 13:24at the desk
394. 13:25finally baron harold rose stretched and
395. 13:28leaned forward to extinguish the lamp as
396. 13:30he left the room
397. 13:31heading for his sleeping quarters in the
398. 13:33floor above
399. 13:34now the castle was asleep
400. 13:36except for the guards on the walls who
401. 13:38kept constant watch
402. 13:40in less than nine hours will realized he
403. 13:43would face the choosing
404. 13:45silently
405. 13:46miserably fearing the worst
406. 13:48he climbed down from the tree and made
407. 13:50his way to his bed in the darkened boys
408. 13:53dormitory in the ward