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"But what ran most in my thoughts was the consideration how ought I to act, having become the recipient of this disclosure? "
Charles Dickens, the author brought the world, the much beloved A Christmas Story invites readers to literally step up to the crossroads and and answer one of life's simplest, yet heart-wrenching questions, "What would you do?" Rae Wilson shares her observations on Dickens thought provoking tale and and invites you question your own dance with fate and destiny.
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Sneaky Snitch by Kevin MacLeod http://incompetech.com Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/sneaky-snitch Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/7-rXQALDv-4
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Scary by YouTube-Channel: Liborio Conti (https://www.youtube.com/LiborioConti)
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Dark Shadows - by David Fesliyan https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/
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Creators and Guests
What is Echoes in the Dark with Rae Wilson?
In the oral tradition of storytelling, Echoes in the Dark, delivers classic works of gothic fiction weekly. Hosted and curated by Ms. Rae (an award-winning educator, actor, and literary analyst) the collection of stories spans popular works by authors like Edgar Allan Poe as well as lesser known works by authors such as Guy de Maupassant. Each story is followed by a literary analysis.
If you’re looking to enjoy more classic literature, struggle to find the time to read, hate reading, or just love listening to stories, then this podcast is for you.
A Note on Content: While these stories are generally appropriate for listeners aged 12 and up, classic Gothic literature frequently explores themes of murder, romantic affairs, and "tortured souls." Stories are performed exactly as written in their original historical context.
If you are looking to learn more ways to boost your literary analysis visit:
Speaker:
Welcome to echoes in the dark, a
podcast dedicated to the oral
Speaker:
tradition of storytelling.
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If you're looking to enjoy more
Speaker:
classic literature, struggle to
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find the time to read, hate
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reading, or just love listening
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to stories, then this podcast is
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for you.
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At the end of each story, I'll
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share my analysis on the story's
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deeper meanings.
Speaker:
The Signalman by Charles Dickens
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is a short story that was
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originally published in eighteen
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sixty six.
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In all the Year round magazine's
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Christmas edition, Dickens wrote
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fifteen novels, five novellas,
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including A Christmas Carol, and
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he also wrote several short
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stories.
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The entire short story today is
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told in first person
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perspective.
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If you want to follow along, you
can get a copy on my website.
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Better essay writing dot com.
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And if you'd like to hear more
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works by Dickens and his
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contemporaries.
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Pick up some underused and
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possibly archaic words, then
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join me on Patreon at stories
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with Ray.
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That's Patreon CW stories with
Ray.
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Or click the link in the show
notes.
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The Signalman by Charles
Dickens.
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Hello below.
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There.
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When he heard a voice thus
calling to him, he was standing
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at the door of his box with a
flag in his hand, furled round
Speaker:
its short pole.
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One would have thought,
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considering the nature of the
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ground, that he could not have
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doubted from what quarter the
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voice came.
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But instead of looking up to
where I stood on the top of the
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steep cutting nearly over his
head, he turned himself about
Speaker:
and looked down the line.
Speaker:
There was something remarkable
in his manner of doing so.
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Though I could not have said for
my life what.
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But I know it was remarkable
enough to attract my notice,
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even though his figure was
foreshortened and shadowed down
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in the deep trench, and mine was
high above him, so steeped in
Speaker:
the glow of an angry sunset that
I had shaded my eyes with my
Speaker:
hand before I saw him at all.
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Hello?
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Hello.
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From looking down the lawn he
turned himself about again, and,
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raising his eyes, saw my figure
high above him.
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Is there any path by which I can
come down and speak to you?
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He looked up at me without
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replying, and I looked down at
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him without pressing him too
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soon with a repetition of my
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idle question.
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Just then there came a vague
vibration in the earth and air.
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Quickly changing into a violent
pulsation and an oncoming rush
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that caused me to start back as
though it had forced to draw me
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down with such vapor as rose to
my height from.
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This rapid train had passed me,
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and was skimming away over the
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landscape.
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I looked down again and saw him
refueling the flag he had shown
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while the train went by.
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I repeated my inquiry after a
pause, during which he seemed to
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regard me with fixed attention.
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He motioned with his rolled up
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flag towards a point on my
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level, some two or three hundred
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yards distant.
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I called down to him all right,
and made for that point.
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There, by dint of looking
closely about me, I found a
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rough zigzag descending patch
notched out, which I followed.
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The cutting was extremely deep
and unusually precipitate.
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It was made through a clammy
stone that became easier and
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wetter as I went down.
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For these reasons I found the
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way long enough to give me time
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to recall a singular air of
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reluctance or compulsion with
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which he had pointed out the
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path.
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When I came down low enough upon
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the zigzag descent to see him
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again, I saw that he was
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standing between the rails on
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the way by which the train had
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lately passed.
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In an attitude as if he were
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waiting for me to appear, he had
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his left hand at his chin, and
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that left elbow rested on his
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right hand, crossed over his
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breast.
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His attitude was one of such
expectation and watchfulness
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that I stopped a moment
wondering at it.
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I resumed my downward way, and
stepping out upon the level of
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the railroad and drawing nearer
to him, saw that he was a dark,
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sallow man with a dark beard and
rather heavy eyebrows.
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His post was in as solitary and
dismal a place as ever.
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I saw on either side a dripping
wet wall of jagged stone,
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excluding all from view but a
strip of sky.
Speaker:
The perspective one way only a
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crooked prolongation of this
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great dungeon.
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The shorter perspective in the
other direction, terminating in
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a gloomy red light and the
gloomier entrance to a black
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tunnel in whose massive
architecture there was a
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barbarous, depressing or
forbidding air so little
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sunlight ever found its way to
this spot that it had an
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earthly, deadly smell.
Speaker:
And so much cold wind rushed
through it that it struck chill
Speaker:
to me as if I had left the
natural world before he stirred.
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I was near enough to him to have
touched him, not even then.
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Removing his eyes from mine, he
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stepped back one step and lifted
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his hand.
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This was a lonesome post to
occupy, I said, and it had
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riveted my attention when I
looked down from up yonder.
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A visitor was a rarity, I should
suppose.
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Not an unwelcome rarity, I hoped
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in me he merely saw a man who
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had been shut up within narrow
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limits all his life, and who,
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being at last set free, had a
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newly awakened interest in these
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great works.
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To such purpose I spoke to him,
but I am far from sure of the
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terms I use for.
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Besides that, I am not happy in
opening any conversation.
Speaker:
There was something in the man
that daunted me.
Speaker:
He directed a most curious look
Speaker:
towards the red light near the
Speaker:
tunnel's mouth, and looked all
Speaker:
about it as if something were
Speaker:
missing from it, and then looked
Speaker:
at me.
Speaker:
That light was part of his
charge, was it not?
Speaker:
He answered in a low voice.
Speaker:
Don't you know it is.
Speaker:
The monstrous thought came into
my mind as I perused the fixed
Speaker:
eyes and the Saturn face that
this was a spirit, not a man.
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I have speculated since whether
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there may have been infection in
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his mind.
Speaker:
In my turn I stepped back.
Speaker:
But in making the action, I
detected in his eyes some Latin
Speaker:
fear of me.
Speaker:
This put the monstrous thought
to flight.
Speaker:
You look at me, I said, forcing
Speaker:
a smile as if you had a dread of
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me.
Speaker:
I was doubtful, he returned,
whether I had seen you before.
Speaker:
Where?
Speaker:
He pointed to the red light.
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He had looked at.
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There, I said intently, watchful
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of me, he replied, but without
Speaker:
sound.
Speaker:
Yes, my good fellow, what should
I do there?
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However, be that as it may, I
never was there.
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You may swear it.
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I think I may, he rejoined.
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Yes, I am sure I may.
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His manner cleared like my own.
Speaker:
He replied to my remarks with
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readiness, and in well-chosen
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words.
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Had he much to do there?
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Yes, that was to say, he had
enough responsibility to bear.
Speaker:
But exactness and watchfulness
were what was required of him,
Speaker:
and of actual work manual labor.
Speaker:
He had next to none to change
that signal, to trim those
Speaker:
lights and to turn this iron
handle now and then was all he
Speaker:
had to do under that head
regarding those many long and
Speaker:
lonely hours, of which I seemed
to make so much.
Speaker:
He could only say that the
routine of his life had shaped
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itself into that form, and he
had grown used to it.
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He had taught himself a language
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down here, if only to know it by
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sight, and to have formed his
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own crude ideas of its
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pronunciation could be called
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learning it.
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He had also worked at fractions
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and decimals, and tried a little
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algebra.
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But he was, and had been as a
boy, a poor hand at figures.
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Was it necessary for him, when
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on duty, always remain in that
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channel of damp air, and could
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he never rise into the sunshine
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from between those high stone
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walls.
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Why?
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That depended upon times and
circumstances.
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Under some conditions, there
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would be less upon the line than
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under others.
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And the same held good as to
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certain hours of the day and
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night.
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In bright weather he did choose
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occasions for getting a little
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above.
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These lower shadows, but being
at all times liable to be called
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by his electric bell.
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And at such times, listening for
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it with redoubled anxiety, the
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relief was less than I would
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suppose.
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He took me into his box, where
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there was a fire, a desk for an
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official book in which he had to
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make entries.
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A telegraphic instrument with
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its dial face and needles, and
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the little bell of which he had
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spoken.
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On my.
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Trusting that he would excuse
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the remark that he had been well
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educated and I hoped I might say
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without offense.
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Perhaps educated above that
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station, he observed that
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instances of slight incongruity
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in such wise would rarely be
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found wanting among large bodies
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of men.
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That he had heard it was so in
workhouses in the police force,
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even in that last desperate
resource, the Army, and that he
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knew it was so more or less in
any great railway staff.
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He had been, when young.
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If I could believe it, sitting
in that hut, he scarcely could.
Speaker:
A student of natural philosophy,
and had attended lectures.
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But he had run wild, misused his
opportunities, gone down, and
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never risen again.
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He had no complaint to offer
about that.
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He had made his bed and he lay
upon it.
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It was far too late to make
another.
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All that I have here condensed,
he said in a quiet manner, with
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his grave dark regards divided
between me and the fire.
Speaker:
He threw in the word sir from
time to time, and especially
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when he referred to his youth as
though to request me to
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understand that he claimed to be
nothing but what I found him.
Speaker:
He was several times interrupted
Speaker:
by the little bell, and had to
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read off messages and send
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replies.
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Once he had to stand without the
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door and display a flag as a
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train passed, and make some
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verbal communication to the
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driver in the discharge of his
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duties.
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I observed him to be remarkably
Exact and vigilant.
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Breaking off his discourse at a
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syllable and remaining silent
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until what he had to do was
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done.
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In a word.
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I should have set this man down
as one of the safest of men to
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be employed in that capacity,
but for the circumstances that
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while he was speaking to me, he
twice broke off with a fallen
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color, turned his face towards
the little bell when it did not
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ring, opened the door of the hut
which was kept shut to exclude
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that unhealthy damp, and looked
out towards the red light near
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the mouth of the tunnel.
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On both of those occasions he
came back to the fire with the
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inexplicable air upon him, which
I had remarked, without being
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able to define.
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When we were so far asunder,
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said I, when I rose to leave
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him.
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You almost make me think that I
have met with a contented man.
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I'm afraid I must acknowledge
that I said it to lead him on.
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I believe I used to be so, he
rejoined, in a low voice in
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which he had first spoken.
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But I am troubled, sir.
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I am troubled.
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He would have recalled the words
if he could.
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He had said them, however, and I
took them up quickly.
Speaker:
With what?
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What is your trouble?
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It is very difficult to impart,
sir.
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It is very, very difficult to
speak of.
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If ever you make me another
visit, I will try to tell you.
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But I expressly intend to make
you another visit.
Speaker:
Say, when shall it be?
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I go off early in the morning,
and I shall be on again at ten
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tomorrow night, sir.
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I will come at eleven.
Speaker:
He thanked me and went out at
the door with me.
Speaker:
I'll show my white light, sir,
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he said, in his peculiar low
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voice, till you have found the
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way up.
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When you have found it, don't
call out.
Speaker:
And when you are at the top,
don't call out.
Speaker:
His manner seemed to make the
place strike colder to me, but I
Speaker:
said no more then.
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Very well.
Speaker:
And when you come down to morrow
night, don't call out.
Speaker:
Let me ask you a parting
question.
Speaker:
What made you cry?
Speaker:
Hallo!
Speaker:
Below.
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There to night.
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Heaven knows, said I. I cried
something to that effect.
Speaker:
Not so that affect, sir.
Speaker:
Those were the very words.
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I know them well.
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I admit those were the very
words I said.
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Them, no doubt, because I saw
you below for no other reason.
Speaker:
What other reason could I
possibly have?
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You had no feeling that they
Speaker:
were conveyed to you in any
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supernatural way?
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No. He wished me good night and
held up his light.
Speaker:
I walked by the side of the down
line of rails with a very
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disagreeable sensation of a
train coming behind me until I
Speaker:
found the path.
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It was easier to mount than to
descend, and I got back to my
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inn without any adventure.
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Punctual to my appointment, I
place my foot on the first notch
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of the zig zag.
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Next night, as the distant
clocks were striking eleven he
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was waiting for me at the bottom
with his white light on.
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I have not called out, I said,
when we came close together.
Speaker:
May I speak now?
Speaker:
By all means, sir.
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Good night then, and here's my
hand.
Speaker:
Good night, sir, and here's
mine.
Speaker:
With that we walked side by side
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to his box, entered it, closed
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the door, and sat down by the
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fire.
Speaker:
I have made up my mind, sir, he
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began, bending forward as soon
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as we were seated, and speaking
Speaker:
in a tone but a little above a
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whisper, that you shall not have
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to ask me twice what troubles
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me.
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I took you for someone else
yesterday evening.
Speaker:
That troubles me.
Speaker:
That mistake, though, that some
one else.
Speaker:
Who is it?
Speaker:
I don't know.
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Like me, I don't know.
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I never saw the face.
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The left arm is across the face
and the right arm is waved
Speaker:
violently, waved this way.
Speaker:
I followed his actions with my
eyes, and it was the action of
Speaker:
an arm gesticulating with the
utmost passion and vehemence.
Speaker:
God's sake, clear the way.
Speaker:
One moonlit night, said the man.
Speaker:
I was sitting here when I heard
a voice cry.
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Hello below there.
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I started up, looked from that
door, and saw this.
Speaker:
Someone else standing by the red
light near the tunnel, waving as
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I just now showed you.
Speaker:
The voice seemed hoarse with
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shouting, and it cried, look
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out!
Speaker:
Look out!
Speaker:
And then again, hello below
there!
Speaker:
Look out!
Speaker:
I caught up my lamp, turned it
on red and ran towards the
Speaker:
figure, calling, what's wrong?
Speaker:
What has happened?
Speaker:
Where?
Speaker:
It stood just outside the
blackness of the tunnel.
Speaker:
I advanced so close upon it that
I wondered at its keeping the
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sleeve across its eyes.
Speaker:
I ran right up at it and had my
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hand stretched out to pull the
Speaker:
sleeve away.
Speaker:
When it was gone into the
tunnel.
Speaker:
Said, I know.
Speaker:
I ran on into the tunnel five
hundred yards.
Speaker:
I stopped and held my lamp above
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my head, and saw the figures of
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the measured distance, and saw
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the wet stained ceiling down the
Speaker:
walls and trickling through the
Speaker:
arc.
Speaker:
I ran out again faster than I
had run in, but I had a mortar
Speaker:
abhorrence of the place upon me,
and I looked all around the red
Speaker:
light with my own red light, and
I went up the iron ladder to the
Speaker:
gallery atop of it, and I came
down again and ran back here.
Speaker:
I telegraphed both ways.
Speaker:
An alarm has been given.
Speaker:
Is there anything wrong?
Speaker:
The answer came back both ways.
Speaker:
All is well.
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Resisting the slow touch of a
frozen finger.
Speaker:
Tracing out my spine.
Speaker:
I showed him how that this
figure must be a deception of
Speaker:
his sense of sight, and how that
figures originating in disease
Speaker:
of the delicate nerves that
minister to the functions of the
Speaker:
eye were known to have often
troubled patients, some of whom
Speaker:
had become conscious of the
nature of their affliction, and
Speaker:
had even proved it by
experiments upon themselves.
Speaker:
As to an imaginary cry, said I
do but listen for a moment to
Speaker:
the wind in this unnatural
valley, while we speak so low,
Speaker:
and to the wild harp it makes of
the telegraph wires.
Speaker:
That was all very well, he
returned, after he had sat
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listening for a while, and.
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He ought to know something of
the wind and the wires.
Speaker:
He who so often passed long
Speaker:
winter nights there alone, and
Speaker:
watching.
Speaker:
But he would beg to remark that
he had not finished.
Speaker:
I asked his pardon, and he
slowly added these words,
Speaker:
touching my arm.
Speaker:
Within six hours after the
appearance, the memorable
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accident on this line happened,
and within ten hours the dead
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and wounded were brought along
through the tunnel, over the
Speaker:
spot where the figure had stood.
Speaker:
A disagreeable shudder crept
Speaker:
over me, but I did my best
Speaker:
against it.
Speaker:
It was not to be denied, I
Speaker:
rejoined, that this was a
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remarkable coincidence,
Speaker:
calculated deeply to impress his
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mind.
Speaker:
But it was unquestionable that
remarkable coincidences did
Speaker:
continually occur, and they must
be taken into account in dealing
Speaker:
with such a subject.
Speaker:
Though, to be sure, I must
admit, I added, for I thought I
Speaker:
saw that he was going to bring
the objection to bear upon me.
Speaker:
Men of common sense did not
Speaker:
allow much for coincidences in
Speaker:
making the ordinary calculations
Speaker:
of life.
Speaker:
He again begged to remark that
he had not finished.
Speaker:
I again begged his pardon for
Speaker:
being betrayed in two
Speaker:
interruptions.
Speaker:
This he said again, laying his
hand upon my arm, and glancing
Speaker:
over his shoulder with hollow
eyes, was just a year ago, six
Speaker:
or seven months past, and I
recovered from the surprise and
Speaker:
shock when, one morning, as the
day was breaking, I, standing at
Speaker:
the door, looked towards the red
light and saw the spectre again.
Speaker:
He stopped with a fixed look at
me.
Speaker:
Did it cry out?
Speaker:
No, it was silent.
Speaker:
Did it wave its arm?
Speaker:
No. It leaned against the shaft
of the light with both hands
Speaker:
before the face.
Speaker:
Like this.
Speaker:
Once more, I followed his action
with my eyes.
Speaker:
It was an action of mourning.
Speaker:
I have seen such an attitude in
stone figures on tombs.
Speaker:
Did you go up to it?
Speaker:
I came in and sat down, partly
to collect my thoughts, partly
Speaker:
because it had turned me faint.
Speaker:
When I went to the door again.
Speaker:
Daylight was above me, and the
ghost was gone.
Speaker:
But nothing followed.
Speaker:
Nothing came of this.
Speaker:
He touched me on the arm with
his forefinger twice or thrice,
Speaker:
giving a ghastly nod each time.
Speaker:
That very day as a train came
Speaker:
out of the tunnel, I noticed
Speaker:
that a carriage window on my
Speaker:
side what looked like a
Speaker:
confusion of hands and heads and
Speaker:
something waved.
Speaker:
I saw it just in time to signal
the driver.
Speaker:
Stop.
Speaker:
He shut off and put his brake
Speaker:
on, but the train drifted past
Speaker:
here, a hundred and fifty yards
Speaker:
or more.
Speaker:
I ran after it, and as I went
along, heard.
Speaker:
Terrible screams and cries.
Speaker:
A beautiful young lady had died
Speaker:
instantaneously in one of the
Speaker:
compartments, and was brought in
Speaker:
here and laid down on this floor
Speaker:
between us.
Speaker:
Involuntarily I pushed my chair
back as I looked from the boards
Speaker:
at which he pointed to himself.
Speaker:
True, sir.
Speaker:
True.
Speaker:
Precisely as it happened.
Speaker:
So I tell it to you.
Speaker:
I could think of nothing to say
Speaker:
to any purpose, and my mouth was
Speaker:
very dry.
Speaker:
The wind and the wires took up
the story with a long lamenting.
Speaker:
Well, he resumed.
Speaker:
Now, sir, mark this, and judge
how my mind is troubled.
Speaker:
The spectre came back a week
ago.
Speaker:
Ever since it has been there.
Speaker:
Now and again, by fits and
starts.
Speaker:
At the light.
Speaker:
At the danger light.
Speaker:
What is it?
Speaker:
Seem to do, he repeated, if
Speaker:
possible, with increased passion
Speaker:
and vehemence, the former
Speaker:
gesture of.
Speaker:
For God's sake, clear the way.
Speaker:
Then he went on, I have no peace
or rest for it.
Speaker:
He calls to me for many minutes
together in an agonized manner.
Speaker:
Below.
Speaker:
There!
Speaker:
Look out, look out!
Speaker:
It stands waving to me.
Speaker:
It rings my little bell.
Speaker:
I caught at that.
Speaker:
Did it ring your bell yesterday
evening when I was here?
Speaker:
And when you went to the door?
Speaker:
Twice.
Speaker:
Why, see, said I, how your
imagination misleads you.
Speaker:
My eyes were on the bell, and my
ears were open to the bell.
Speaker:
And if I am a living man it did
not ring at those times, no, nor
Speaker:
at any other time, except when
it was rung in the natural
Speaker:
course of physical things by the
station communicating with you.
Speaker:
He shook his head.
Speaker:
I have never made a mistake as
to that yet, sir.
Speaker:
I have never confused the
spectre's ring with the man's.
Speaker:
The ghost ring is a strange
vibration in the bill that it
Speaker:
derives from nothing else, and I
have not asserted that the bill
Speaker:
stirs to the eye.
Speaker:
I don't wonder that you failed
to hear it, but I heard it.
Speaker:
And did the spectre seem to be
there when you looked out?
Speaker:
It was there both times.
Speaker:
He repeated firmly.
Speaker:
Both times.
Speaker:
Will you come to the door with
me and look for it now?
Speaker:
He bit his under lip, as though
Speaker:
he were somewhat unwilling, but
Speaker:
arose.
Speaker:
I opened the door and stood on
Speaker:
the step while we stood in the
Speaker:
doorway.
Speaker:
There was the danger light.
Speaker:
There was the dismal mouth of
the tunnel.
Speaker:
there were the high yet stone
walls of the cutting.
Speaker:
There were the stars above them.
Speaker:
Do you see it?
Speaker:
I asked him, taking particular
note of his face.
Speaker:
His eyes were prominent and
strained, but not very much more
Speaker:
so, perhaps, than my own had
been when I had directed them
Speaker:
earnestly towards the same spot.
Speaker:
No, he answered, it is not
there.
Speaker:
Agreed, said I. We went in
again, shut the door, and
Speaker:
resumed our seats.
Speaker:
I was thinking how best to
improve this advantage, if it
Speaker:
might be called one.
Speaker:
When we took up the conversation
in such a matter of course way.
Speaker:
So, assuming that there could be
Speaker:
no serious question of fact
Speaker:
between us, that I felt myself
Speaker:
placed in the weakest of
Speaker:
positions.
Speaker:
By this time.
Speaker:
You will fully understand, sir,
he said that what troubles me so
Speaker:
dreadfully is the question what
does the spectra mean?
Speaker:
I was not sure.
Speaker:
I told him that I did fully
Speaker:
understand what is its warning
Speaker:
against, he said, ruminating
Speaker:
with his eyes on the fire, and
Speaker:
only by times turning them on
Speaker:
me.
Speaker:
What is the danger?
Speaker:
Where is the danger?
Speaker:
There is danger overhanging
somewhere on the lawn.
Speaker:
Some dreadful calamity will
happen.
Speaker:
It is not to be doubted this
Speaker:
third time after what has gone
Speaker:
before.
Speaker:
But surely this is a cruel
haunting of me.
Speaker:
What can I do?
Speaker:
He pulled out his handkerchief
Speaker:
and wiped the drops from his
Speaker:
heated forehead.
Speaker:
If our telegraph.
Speaker:
Danger on either side of me, or
Speaker:
on both, I can give no reason
Speaker:
for it.
Speaker:
He went on, wiping the palms of
his hands.
Speaker:
I should get into trouble and do
no good.
Speaker:
They would think I was mad.
Speaker:
This is the way it would work.
Speaker:
Message danger.
Speaker:
Take care.
Speaker:
Answer.
Speaker:
What danger?
Speaker:
Where?
Speaker:
Message?
Speaker:
Don't know.
Speaker:
But for God's sake, take care.
Speaker:
They would displace me.
Speaker:
What else could they do?
Speaker:
His pain of mind was most
pitiable to see.
Speaker:
It was the mental torture of a
Speaker:
conscientious man, oppressed
Speaker:
beyond endurance by an
Speaker:
unintelligible responsibility
Speaker:
involving life.
Speaker:
Would it first stood under the
danger light.
Speaker:
He went on, putting his dark
Speaker:
hair back from his head and
Speaker:
drawing his hands outwards,
Speaker:
across and across his temples,
Speaker:
and an extremity of feverish
Speaker:
distress.
Speaker:
Why not tell me where that
accident was to happen?
Speaker:
If it must happen.
Speaker:
Why not tell me how it could be
averted?
Speaker:
If it could be averted when on
Speaker:
its second coming, it hid its
Speaker:
face.
Speaker:
Why not tell me instead?
Speaker:
She is going to die.
Speaker:
Let them keep her at home.
Speaker:
If it came on those two
occasions.
Speaker:
Only to show me that its
warnings were true.
Speaker:
And so, to prepare me for the
third.
Speaker:
Why not?
Speaker:
Warned me plainly now.
Speaker:
And I. Lord help me!
Speaker:
A mere poor signal man on this
solitary station.
Speaker:
Why not go to somebody with
Speaker:
credit to be believed and power
Speaker:
to act.
Speaker:
When I saw him in this state I
Speaker:
saw that for the poor man's
Speaker:
sake, as well as for the public
Speaker:
safety.
Speaker:
What I had to do for the time
was to compose his mind.
Speaker:
Therefore, setting aside all
Speaker:
question of reality or unreality
Speaker:
between us, I represented to him
Speaker:
that whoever thoroughly
Speaker:
discharged his duty must do
Speaker:
well, and that at least it was
Speaker:
his comfort that he understood
Speaker:
his duty, though he did not
Speaker:
understand those confounding
Speaker:
appearances.
Speaker:
In this effort I succeeded far
Speaker:
better than in the attempt to
Speaker:
reason him out of his
Speaker:
conviction.
Speaker:
He became calm, the occupations
Speaker:
incidental to his posts as the
Speaker:
night advance began to make
Speaker:
larger demands on his attention,
Speaker:
and I left him at two in the
Speaker:
morning.
Speaker:
I had offered to stay through
Speaker:
the night, but he would not hear
Speaker:
of it.
Speaker:
That I more than once looked
back at the red light as I
Speaker:
ascended the pathway that I did
not like, the red light that I
Speaker:
should have slept, but poorly of
my bed had been under it.
Speaker:
I see no reason to conceal.
Speaker:
Nor did I like the two sequences
Speaker:
of the accident and the dead
Speaker:
girl.
Speaker:
I see no reason to conceal that
either.
Speaker:
But what ran most in my thoughts
was the consideration.
Speaker:
How ought I to act?
Speaker:
Having become the recipient of
Speaker:
this disclosure, I had to prove
Speaker:
the man to be intelligent,
Speaker:
vigilant, painstaking, and
Speaker:
exact.
Speaker:
But how long my.
Speaker:
He remained so in his state of
Speaker:
mind, though in a subordinate
Speaker:
position.
Speaker:
Still he held a most important
trust.
Speaker:
And would I, for instance, like
to stake my own life on the
Speaker:
chances of his continuing to
execute it with precision?
Speaker:
Unable to overcome a feeling
that there would be something
Speaker:
treacherous in my.
Speaker:
Communicating what he had told
me to his superiors in the
Speaker:
company, without first being
plain with himself and proposing
Speaker:
a middle course to him.
Speaker:
I ultimately resolved to offer
Speaker:
to accompany him, otherwise
Speaker:
keeping his secret for the
Speaker:
present to the wisest medical
Speaker:
practitioner we could hear of in
Speaker:
those parts, and to take his
Speaker:
opinion.
Speaker:
A change in his time of duty
would come round next night.
Speaker:
He had appraised me, and he
Speaker:
would be off an hour or two
Speaker:
after sunrise, and on again soon
Speaker:
after sunset.
Speaker:
I had appointed to return
accordingly.
Speaker:
Next evening was a lovely
evening, and I walked out early
Speaker:
to enjoy it.
Speaker:
The sun was not yet quite down
Speaker:
when I traversed the field path
Speaker:
near the top of the deep
Speaker:
cutting.
Speaker:
I would extend my walk for an
hour, I said to myself.
Speaker:
Half an hour on and half an hour
back, and it would then be time
Speaker:
to go to my Signalman's box
before pursuing my stroll.
Speaker:
I stepped to the brink and
Speaker:
mechanically looked down from
Speaker:
the point from which I had first
Speaker:
seen him.
Speaker:
I cannot describe the thrill
that seized upon me when.
Speaker:
Close at the mouth of the
tunnel, I saw the appearance of
Speaker:
a man with his left sleeve
across his eyes, passionately
Speaker:
waving his right arm.
Speaker:
The nameless horror that
oppressed me passed in a moment,
Speaker:
for in a moment I saw that this
appearance of a man was a man
Speaker:
indeed, and that there was a
little group of other men
Speaker:
standing at a short distance, to
whom he seemed to be rehearsing
Speaker:
the gesture he made.
Speaker:
The danger light was not yet
lighted against its shaft.
Speaker:
A little low hut, entirely new
to me, had been made of some
Speaker:
wooden supports and tarpaulin.
Speaker:
It looked no bigger than a bed
Speaker:
with an irresistible sense that
Speaker:
something was wrong with a
Speaker:
flashing self-reproach.
Speaker:
Fear that fatal mischief had
Speaker:
come of my leaving the man
Speaker:
there, and causing no one to be
Speaker:
sent to overlook or correct what
Speaker:
he did.
Speaker:
I descended the notched path
with all the speed I could make.
Speaker:
What is the matter?
Speaker:
I asked the man.
Speaker:
Signalman killed this morning,
sir.
Speaker:
Not the man belonging to that
box?
Speaker:
Yes, sir.
Speaker:
Not the man I know.
Speaker:
You will recognise him, sir, if
you knew him, said the man who
Speaker:
spoke for the others solemnly,
uncovering his own head and
Speaker:
raising an end of the tarpaulin,
for his face is quite composed.
Speaker:
Oh, how did this happen?
Speaker:
How did this happen?
Speaker:
I asked, turning from one to
Speaker:
another as the hut closed in
Speaker:
again.
Speaker:
It was cut down by an engine,
sir.
Speaker:
No man in England knew his work
better, but somehow he was not
Speaker:
clear of the outer rail.
Speaker:
It was just at broad day he had
struck the light and had the
Speaker:
lamp in his hand.
Speaker:
As the engine came out of the
tunnel, his back was towards
Speaker:
her, and she cut him down.
Speaker:
That man drove her and was
showing how it happened.
Speaker:
Show the gentleman.
Speaker:
Tom.
Speaker:
The man who wore a rough, dark
Speaker:
dress, stepped back to his
Speaker:
former place at the mouth of the
Speaker:
tunnel.
Speaker:
Coming round the curve in the
tunnel, sir, he said, I saw him
Speaker:
at the end like as if I saw him
down a perspective glass.
Speaker:
There was no time to check
speed, and I knew him to be very
Speaker:
careful, as he didn't seem to
take heed of the whistle.
Speaker:
I shut it off when we were
Speaker:
running down upon him, and
Speaker:
called to him as loud as I could
Speaker:
call.
Speaker:
What did you say?
Speaker:
I said, below.
Speaker:
There.
Speaker:
Look out, look out, for God's
sake, clear the way.
Speaker:
I started.
Speaker:
Oh, it was a dreadful time, sir.
Speaker:
I never left off calling to him.
Speaker:
I put this arm before my eyes
not to see, and I waved this arm
Speaker:
to the last.
Speaker:
But it was no use.
Speaker:
Without prolonging the narrative
Speaker:
to dwell on any one of its
Speaker:
curious circumstances, more than
Speaker:
on any other, I may, in closing
Speaker:
it, point out the coincidence
Speaker:
that the warning of the engine
Speaker:
driver included not only the
Speaker:
words which the unfortunate
Speaker:
signalman had repeated to me as
Speaker:
haunting him, but also the words
Speaker:
which I myself not he had
Speaker:
attached, and that only in my
Speaker:
own mind to the gesticulation he
Speaker:
had imitated.
Speaker:
So that was the Signal-man by
Charles Dickens.
Speaker:
And this story.
Speaker:
I took a quick peek at it months
ago.
Speaker:
Actually, when I first started
this podcast, I was looking
Speaker:
around for different authors and
I thought, oh, Charles Dickens,
Speaker:
he's doing spooky ghost stories.
Speaker:
Who knew?
Speaker:
Um, but I said, ah, this looks a
little boring.
Speaker:
I'm gonna, I'm gonna not bother
with it.
Speaker:
And so I didn't at the time
Speaker:
until I said to myself more
Speaker:
recently, I need to find a short
Speaker:
ghost story because the ones
Speaker:
that I want to read all seem to
Speaker:
be far longer than I have time
Speaker:
to devote, And so I started the
Speaker:
story and actually did wind up
Speaker:
being a little bit longer than I
Speaker:
anticipated it.
Speaker:
Um, there was almost a month
Speaker:
break between when I started
Speaker:
recording the first part of the
Speaker:
story, and then when I wound up
Speaker:
finishing the story narration
Speaker:
itself.
Speaker:
So one downside to doing
multiple things to earn a living
Speaker:
while putting your, um, is this
really my heart and soul?
Speaker:
I don't know about that, but
Speaker:
while putting some time, talent,
Speaker:
and energy into a project like
Speaker:
podcasting where, you know,
Speaker:
currently not making any money
Speaker:
off of this whole podcasting
Speaker:
world, but if you want to
Speaker:
support this old gal, you should
Speaker:
check out the Patreon because
Speaker:
that is an opportunity to get
Speaker:
more stories that you don't get
Speaker:
on the public podcast And, um,
Speaker:
you know, doing some deeper
Speaker:
dives.
Speaker:
We're already doing deep dives,
but we're diving even deeper.
Speaker:
Just more questions.
Speaker:
Um, and I'm looking forward to
Speaker:
having conversations with like
Speaker:
published authors and scholars
Speaker:
and whatnot.
Speaker:
Maybe you yourself or are a
Speaker:
published author or scholar and
Speaker:
you are obsessed with ghost
Speaker:
stories like I am and you want
Speaker:
to talk.
Speaker:
Let's do it.
Speaker:
Let's chat.
Speaker:
Let's, let's do it on the
Patreon.
Speaker:
But, um, lo and behold, when you
have to do other things to make
Speaker:
a living, then you find yourself
suddenly going, oh my gosh, it's
Speaker:
been almost a month since I have
finished reading that story.
Speaker:
Um, also, for those who don't
Speaker:
know, I am traveling throughout
Speaker:
the US currently while recording
Speaker:
this podcast.
Speaker:
So full disclosure, there has
been a battle for quiet space to
Speaker:
record the past few weeks.
Speaker:
Um, so that's been a little
Speaker:
frustrating, but what proved to
Speaker:
be ridiculously enjoyable was
Speaker:
the story.
Speaker:
Oh my goodness.
Speaker:
At first I'm thinking, oh, who
cares about you walking down
Speaker:
this path, I don't care.
Speaker:
But once the signal-man starts
telling his tale, I was gripped.
Speaker:
I, I it was like being in the
Speaker:
theatre with a bucket of
Speaker:
popcorn.
Speaker:
And I just wanted to keep eating
and just just.
Speaker:
I was all in.
Speaker:
I was hooked.
Speaker:
So what does this all mean?
Speaker:
What does this all mean?
Speaker:
I really like the ethical
Speaker:
questions, the moral questions
Speaker:
that are asked towards the end
Speaker:
by the signalman, by our
Speaker:
narrator.
Speaker:
And then there's the last line.
Speaker:
So let's first go with the
signalman.
Speaker:
So he's saying, look, these
spooky things have happened.
Speaker:
But what does it mean?
Speaker:
What am I supposed to do with
this information?
Speaker:
I'm just a lowly signalman.
Speaker:
There's nothing I can do.
Speaker:
If there's something that needs
to be stopped, tell someone who
Speaker:
can stop it.
Speaker:
If you just want to, let me
know.
Speaker:
Why is it that you've picked me
to torture?
Speaker:
Why is it that it's me you want
to know?
Speaker:
Like, what did I do?
Speaker:
And I thought, wow.
Speaker:
Never looked at it like that.
Speaker:
So often in ghost stories we
have.
Speaker:
This is the ghost that was
haunting the people.
Speaker:
And maybe the ghost is haunting
the people because it is evil or
Speaker:
it was wronged in the past.
Speaker:
Or, uh, the ghost is the result
of some crazy experiment.
Speaker:
But in terms of the idea that a
ghost might be haunting some
Speaker:
poor, innocent man who's just
trying to do his job.
Speaker:
That's an unusual and rare take,
and I loved it.
Speaker:
I love this guy asking why?
Speaker:
This is not horror movie.
Speaker:
Screaming at the sky.
Speaker:
Why?
Speaker:
Why me?
Speaker:
With the result.
Speaker:
Of course we can.
Speaker:
Um, this was just something much
deeper.
Speaker:
And maybe, uh, several horror
movie writers got their idea
Speaker:
from this very story.
Speaker:
Okay, so the signalman also
asked.
Speaker:
He asked what else could they
do?
Speaker:
So he goes through what is the
warning?
Speaker:
What is what is this ghost
warning me against?
Speaker:
And where's the danger going to
happen?
Speaker:
And what do you want me to do
about it?
Speaker:
Why did you pick me?
Speaker:
I mean, I can't do anything.
Speaker:
What do you want me to know?
Speaker:
Where is this going to happen?
Speaker:
I?
Speaker:
I know something bad's going to
happen.
Speaker:
What do you want me to do about
it?
Speaker:
Why did you pick me?
Speaker:
But he asked this really
beautiful question of if I tried
Speaker:
to change things.
Speaker:
Would it do any good?
Speaker:
Of course not.
Speaker:
He's saying.
Speaker:
Of course not.
Speaker:
He's thought this over.
Speaker:
Now, when we really think about
it from a philosophical
Speaker:
standpoint, if you know
something bad is going to
Speaker:
happen, you're supposed to
inform others to try to prevent
Speaker:
the bad thing.
Speaker:
You're supposed to try to stop
the bad thing from happening.
Speaker:
We intervene.
Speaker:
That's what society tells us to
do.
Speaker:
But what can be done if you
can't prove that something bad
Speaker:
is going to happen?
Speaker:
You can't even say what that
something bad is.
Speaker:
You just sound like a crazy
person, right?
Speaker:
If I telegraph danger on either
side of me on on both, I can
Speaker:
give no reason.
Speaker:
I should get into trouble and do
no good.
Speaker:
So imagine you're saying, I
Speaker:
swear that politician is
Speaker:
corrupt, or that person over
Speaker:
there is doing something illegal
Speaker:
and you're trying to sound the
Speaker:
alarm.
Speaker:
And finally people say, look,
you know what?
Speaker:
You have no proof.
Speaker:
We're not going to listen to you
anymore.
Speaker:
Or, hey, you can't say that
about that person.
Speaker:
You are sounding an alarm so
loudly they're no longer able to
Speaker:
make an income.
Speaker:
Now we're looking at defamation.
Speaker:
I'm thinking of there's a really
good podcast.
Speaker:
You guys I'll try to include in
the show notes.
Speaker:
Please take a listen if you can.
Speaker:
There's a podcast.
Speaker:
Um. Believe in, believe in
magic.
Speaker:
That's what it's called.
Speaker:
Yeah.
Speaker:
And talks about a young lady who
Speaker:
was the victim of, uh, what is
Speaker:
formally known as Munchausen's
Speaker:
syndrome.
Speaker:
Um, and this woman, this young
lady's mother.
Speaker:
And it's like, from age twelve
to twenty three, this young lady
Speaker:
went around telling the world
that she had a brain tumor, and
Speaker:
her mother was telling everyone
how sick she is.
Speaker:
I'm not going to ruin it.
Speaker:
Please, please listen to the
podcast.
Speaker:
It is excellently done.
Speaker:
Um, but lo and behold, there
Speaker:
were a bunch of concerned adults
Speaker:
who said, mm, something's not
Speaker:
sounding right about all of
Speaker:
this.
Speaker:
My child has had a brain tumor
Speaker:
and they are exhausted after
Speaker:
treatment.
Speaker:
How does this person have the
Speaker:
energy to manage this charity
Speaker:
and to go to all of these events
Speaker:
and do all these interviews, and
Speaker:
what's up with the medical
Speaker:
costs?
Speaker:
So there were adults who were
sounding alarm, and it got to
Speaker:
the point where others in the
community felt that the alarm
Speaker:
had been sounded so loud that
these adults were sick and
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disgusting for saying something
negative about a sick child.
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And later, you know, this young
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lady, of course, becomes an
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adult.
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But also, how could you say that
someone would lie about a
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disease that is so terrible?
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And when this young lady passes
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away, these people are like, oh
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my gosh, did we do something
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wrong?
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We we're confident in the
information we had.
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But she must die to something.
Speaker:
I'm not going to spoil it for
you.
Speaker:
Take a listen to that podcast.
Speaker:
Um, but that's just an example
of where we have people in a
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position where they know
something is not right.
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They know it and they are trying
to get others to pay attention.
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But in doing so, they risked
their own reputation, their own
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friendship, and just becoming
pariahs in this guy, he reaches
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out to the narrator, but he
hasn't reached out to anyone
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else because he knows it's not
going to do any good.
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What?
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He will be placed in a different
job.
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He'll lose his job.
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Would that stop the bad thing
that he doesn't even know what
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the bad thing is?
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Possibly not because he doesn't
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know what the bad thing is, and
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he doesn't know where it's going
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to happen.
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So it could be that if he tells
somebody he loses his job, the
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bad thing never happens and he
can go, wow, good thing.
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That bad thing never happens.
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But everyone else goes, well,
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good thing we got rid of that
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crazy guy.
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Or maybe he spends every waking
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day and night thinking, I hope
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the new person in that job isn't
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being haunted.
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I hope the bad thing is not
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still waiting and going to
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happen.
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So his question of what else
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could they do is really powerful
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because.
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Others have an obligation too,
right?
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You're following your obligation
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to stop something bad from
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happening.
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But others have an obligation to
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stop you from endangering other
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people.
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And that's what the narrator
leans into after he leaves.
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Right.
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I mean, gosh, if I tell his
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superiors, the guy loses his
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job, and it might not help
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anything.
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If I let him stay on his job, he
might actually be crazy.
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And so he gets worse.
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And then something bad really
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does happen, which is the right
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way.
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And the narrator tries, okay,
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look, I will encourage him to
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see a doctor and we'll do it
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together.
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Isn't that a beautiful thing?
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Right.
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Because there's always a choice.
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You don't always have to go left
or right.
Speaker:
You can if you can't go drive
down through the middle, maybe
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you can make some loop de loops
and curve throughout.
Speaker:
Um, and this is, this is Charles
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Dickens, a philosopher, I don't
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know, but I feel like just this
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tale is really not a ghost
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story, but it's just really a
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philosophical debate and just
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beautifully done.
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Really masterful.
Speaker:
Okay, let me stop gushing.
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So we have the signalman as
asked questions of himself and
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about his positions in society
and what society owes him.
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What does he owe society?
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What does society owe him?
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So those are some lessons right
there.
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What does society owe you?
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What do you owe society?
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And then we of course, have the
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narrator asking the similar
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question of.
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Can I also prevent something bad
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from happening by helping
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someone who appears troubled to
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get help.
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Or do I not do anything?
Speaker:
What are.
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What are my obligations here?
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If I don't do anything?
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Other people might get hurt.
Speaker:
If I do send him or do do.
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If I do step in and tell someone
over him, he might get hurt.
Speaker:
Um. Let's find, let's let's try
to find a solution.
Speaker:
So Dickens gives us the first
scenario.
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I just, I just realized this.
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So we have the first scenario in
life where you look at.
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There are two options.
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Either, um, tell someone or
don't tell somebody.
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That's a single man.
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Right.
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And he did say he's in a lower
status of life.
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So that's the basic level right
there.
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Do act or don't act.
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And then the next level of
thinking would be.
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Look for an alternate solution,
which is what our narrator does.
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And the narrator apparently has
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the time to come visit the
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signalman often.
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And he seems to be a gentleman.
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So, um, we know he's in a higher
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station of life than the
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signalman.
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I don't know what this narrator
does for money, but maybe he
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don't even have to work.
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I don't know, but all the same,
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he is the next level of
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education and money and status,
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which is?
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There has to be a solution.
Speaker:
Okay.
Speaker:
You don't just have to tell
someone or not tell someone.
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There's always a choice.
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There's always a solution.
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That is what our narrator
represents.
Speaker:
And he delivers the third choice
that the signalman did not reach
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on his own.
Speaker:
And yet that third choice, even
though it seems Reasonable never
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gets to be enacted, right?
Speaker:
They never make it to see that
professional.
Speaker:
It becomes too late.
Speaker:
And for the narrator, he offered
to stay overnight.
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What can you do when a friend,
maybe a friend who has a
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substance abuse problem and you
say to that friend, hey, um, you
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know, let's get you to rehab.
Speaker:
And the friend's like, yes,
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tomorrow I'll let you take me to
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rehab.
Speaker:
And you leave and that friend
decides one more of something.
Speaker:
Or maybe they say no more,
right?
Speaker:
Maybe they try to make it the
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whole night without a little
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something.
Speaker:
Maybe that one more is not clean
Speaker:
all the same, The friend passes
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away and doesn't make it to
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rehab.
Speaker:
Does it make it to the next day?
Speaker:
That weight is pretty heavy on
the people who were trying to
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help the friend, and in this
case, our narrator.
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So this is very relatable
circumstance.
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And now Dickens has brought us
to the next philosophical
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question, which is.
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Do we succumb to fate or can we
shape our destiny?
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Right.
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The signalman tried not to do
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anything, but he wanted to do
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something.
Speaker:
He dies.
Speaker:
Still dies, right?
Speaker:
The narrator tried to get the
signalman to a professional to
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see if this guy is crazy.
Speaker:
What can be done?
Speaker:
The signalman dies.
Speaker:
The signalman wanted to prevent
something bad from happening.
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It happened anyway.
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Our narrator wanted to prevent
something bad from happening.
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It happened anyway.
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The guy driving the train tried
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to prevent something bad from
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happening.
Speaker:
It happened anyway.
Speaker:
And this really goes back to
Macbeth, right?
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Macbeth is running around trying
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to do everything he can to not
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only become king, but to stay
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king.
Speaker:
And he causes his own demise,
right?
Speaker:
The witches never say Macbeth.
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This is exactly how you're going
to be king.
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This is exactly how you're going
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to lose plenty of options for
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that guy.
Speaker:
But he saw one.
Speaker:
Only one path.
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Now.
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Was the signalman, right?
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And not telling anyone.
Speaker:
Did the signalman really only
see one path?
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Well, I would like to say that
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the narrator helped him to see
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that there would be an
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alternative path.
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We could ask ourselves, was the
signalman so out of his mind
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when he was on the tracks, that
when the train driver called out
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to him, he was afraid that this
again was that apparition, the
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ghost haunting him.
Speaker:
And so he maybe decided to stand
up to it and say, you know what?
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I'm not going to believe what I
am hearing.
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I'm going to move slowly on
these tracks.
Speaker:
I'm not going to run like I did
last time.
Speaker:
It's not going to get me.
Speaker:
Scare me.
Speaker:
That's certainly a possibility.
Speaker:
Or Was a single man, just so
tired that he was just like, I
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just can't do this anymore.
Speaker:
I will stay here on these
tracks.
Speaker:
Now, I didn't get the sense that
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the signalman wanted to end his
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own life.
Speaker:
So I'm gonna go with more of
the, uh.
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You know, this is a pretty
resolute guy.
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He's.
Speaker:
He's pretty self-assured.
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So I'm going to go with more of
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the lines of, he was not looking
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to let this ghost get the best
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of him.
Speaker:
And he knew that he would be,
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um, going to see a professional
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that day.
Speaker:
Um, so he was trying to stand
strong and low and hold low and
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behold, I should say, um,
unfortunately, this time it was
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not his mind or an apparition.
Speaker:
But it was a train, a coming.
Speaker:
So I want to go ahead and just
take one final look at the last
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bit of the story, because this
is what really rocked my world.
Speaker:
I was like, oh my gosh, Charles
Dickens, you're amazing.
Speaker:
Okay, friends, here we go.
Speaker:
We're gonna wrap it up soon
without prolonging the narrative
Speaker:
to dwell on any one of its
curious circumstances more than
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on any other.
Speaker:
I think Charles Dickens wrote
that back in the eighteen
Speaker:
hundreds, thinking of me and
podcasting, and maybe he could
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see into the future.
Speaker:
He's just like, okay, there's
going to be this lady who's
Speaker:
going to dissect this story and
dwell on certain parts.
Speaker:
All right.
Speaker:
I may, in closing it, point out
the coincidence that the warning
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of the engine driver included
not only the words which the
Speaker:
unfortunate signalman had
repeated to me as haunting him.
Speaker:
So the engine driver said, not
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just the things that the
Speaker:
signalman told me he'd been
Speaker:
hearing, but that injured
Speaker:
driver, but also the words which
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I myself, me, the narrator, not
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the signalman.
Speaker:
Me the narrator had attached,
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and that only in my own mind to
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the gesticulation he had
Speaker:
imitated.
Speaker:
So I also associated the words
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that engine driver said with
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those movements.
Speaker:
Did the signalman see his own
future?
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Have a premonition?
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Be able to see the future?
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Did he know his own fate?
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Do I, the narrator?
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Have that power?
Speaker:
Was I able to see the future?
Speaker:
I knew something bad might
happen.
Speaker:
I heard those same words.
Speaker:
No one told me to hear them.
Speaker:
I remember those movements.
Speaker:
Is there something supernatural
going on?
Speaker:
How is it that the single man
and I both knew these things?
Speaker:
Or is it all just a matter of
coincidence?
Speaker:
So what do we learn from this
story, you guys?
Speaker:
Well, when there looks like
there's only two options,
Speaker:
there's often a third.
Speaker:
But knowing that there is a
third or even choosing the third
Speaker:
option does not necessarily mean
we can change the outcome of
Speaker:
what is happening.
Speaker:
Dickens really wants us to look
Speaker:
at, um, what is the right thing
Speaker:
to do?
Speaker:
Can we change our future?
Speaker:
Can we change the future?
Speaker:
And what is sanity?
Speaker:
The single man.
Speaker:
He was very good at his job.
Speaker:
Very smart man.
Speaker:
May not have had the highest
education, but is very smart.
Speaker:
And yet he goes around telling
Speaker:
people I'm something bad's gonna
Speaker:
happen.
Speaker:
Not even I saw something.
Speaker:
But I know something bad's gonna
happen.
Speaker:
No one would stop what they're
doing for his words.
Speaker:
Oh, this is a great story, you
guys.
Speaker:
I hope you liked it.
Speaker:
I liked it a lot.
Speaker:
I think I'm gonna have to
message some people, be like, do
Speaker:
you know this story?
Speaker:
You've got to read it.
Speaker:
All right, my friends, and until
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next time, I hope you enjoyed
Speaker:
this story.
Speaker:
And do come back for another
Gothic tale.