A wayward horse carries a dying man across the lone puszta. He is not injured – he is poisoned. Maurus Jokai, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It kind of cracks open the website for you, so you can easily build out your classic audiobook library, and you help to give more folks like you the chance to discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to http://classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much..

Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com and make a donation today.

I’m hoping that if we get enough supporters, I can record some more classics outside of the podcast. I’m researching out an Alexandre Dumas book that might fit the bill. If you can swing it, please chip in!

In this week’s story, we delve more into the Hungarian horse culture, and learn more about the flatland known as the puszta. I’ve been there, and it’s as flat as it’s described in the story. I’ve grown up all my life in the mountains, and that was the first time in my life I experienced the complete absence of anything varying the skyline. No mountains, no hills. Just a dome of sky. It’s really an amazing place.

Last week, we met Sandor Decsi, a Hungarian horseman, or csikos, who was drafted into the war to serve the Emperor. He gave a comb, signifying his engagement to Klari, the young woman who run the Hortobagy Inn. Sandor wasn’t too happy with her, because it was evident that she had been a little unfaithful, as he had met on the way to see her he met Ferko Lacza, a cowboy, who had received from Klari a yellow rose from the only yellow rose bush on the puszta. Due to this lover’s spat, Klari remembered the teachings of a gypsy woman, who said to add mandragora root to her sweetheart’s wine, if she wanted to get him to love her again.

Meanwhile, Ferko the cowboy was on his way to escort a herd of cattle to Austria, and start a new life as the lead cowherd there. Our story today begins when the group of men are getting ready to start the journey across the puszta to their new home and country.

And now, The Yellow Rose, Part 2 of 3, by Maurus Jokai.

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Will the maid known as The Yellow Rose remain true while her beau is away soldiering for the emperor? A Hungarian Western by Maurus Jokai, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It kind of cracks open the website for you, so you can easily build out your classic audiobook library, and you help to give more folks like you the chance to discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to http://classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much.

Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com and make a donation today.

I’m hoping that if we get enough supporters, I can record some more classics outside of the podcast. I’m researching out an Alexandre Dumas book that might fit the bill. If you can swing it, please chip in!

And now for something completely different.

A while ago, back in May, I asked via Facebook whether  it might be time for a western to be in order. Since I’m from the West myself, I thought it might be fitting. For one reason or other, I wasn’t feeling it. However, I did run across this idea. Today’s book, The Yellow Rose, is from Maurus Jokai, or Jokai Mor, one of Hungary’s most famous writers. Hungary is famous for its horse culture, and this book takes place at a time before railroads, and deals largely with the traditions and way of life for the cowherds and horsemen, or csikos, of Hungary.

Well, I thought, what if I performed this book as if it were an American Western? It parallels our trope of “Western” so well, why not? So, let’s give it a shot.

Let’s go now to an adventure in the old world, in a Western that takes place a stone’s throw from Asia.

And now, The Yellow Rose, Part 1 of 3, by Maurus Jokai.

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A “shop-girl”, a thief, and a drunkard each encounter a crisis of conscience. How will they measure up? O. Henry, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you.

I’m happy to announce that based on downloads, we are in the top 1% of all podcasts! And the thing is, we always have been.

You may notice that we don’t top the charts. Not any more, anyhow. So, why the disparity? Well, the charts are all run by algorithms, and each platform has their own. Judiciously curated titles, and professional audiobook quality are the things that we focus on. And for those who have found us – congratulations!

I don’t run ads or commercials, and I focus on things that make the listening experience truly wonderful. For 14 years now, I’ve always striven to increase the quality however I can, and thus enhance the end listener’s experience. No ads in the middle of the story, no new printer to buy at the beginning. If you like it, please lend a hand. Around 2% of the listeners donate at all, and I really like where we’ve landed. Please help us out, if you can.

Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com and make a donation today.

O. Henry wrote over 300 short stories, and was coined the American equivalent of Guy de Maupassant. The O. Henry award is given out each year for outstanding short stories. This was his medium, and he used it very, very well.

The stories in today’s episodes I’ve dubbed “Crisis of Conscience: Regular People and Uncomfortable Decisions” because that’s the thread all three of these stories have in common.

The first, An Unfinished Story, I really love for the craft of writing involved. In only half telling two stories, O. Henry delivers a clear and powerful message. I think it’s quite amazing.

The other two stories are more typical narratives, each setting up folks who are trying to get back up on the straight and narrow, and their terrible wrangle with the most evil adversary of all – hope. Let’s see how they do.

And now, Crisis of Conscience: Regular People and Uncomfortable Decisions, 3 short stories by O. Henry.  

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Why does a great crack appear in the canoe, after a night beached near the willows?  Algernon Blackwood, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It kind of cracks open the website for you, so you can easily build out your classic audiobook library, and you help to give more folks like you the chance to discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to http://classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much.

Go now to http://classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter today.

We are pleased to announce that the audiobook of The Hollow Needle and the complete audiobook, The Confessions of Arsene Lupin are now available at the website. If you’re wanting to hear them all in one go, now you can, at classictalesaudiobooks.com.  

The Classic Tales App is a great little tool for listening to the podcast. You can easily follow the links in the show notes, and you can see the episode specific artwork that I create for every title. You can also hear the occasional special feature. This app doesn’t interact with the website, though. Just a fair warning. I’ve looked into it, and to create such an app is cost prohibitive at this point. But if you want a quick place to jump and get your classic tales fix, the Classic Tales App is a great place to go.

Last week, we followed our narrator and The Swede down the Danube. They entered an area between Vienna and Pest containing boundless willows, making their way through the innumerable islets that would appear and disappear as the flood ebbed and flowed. Our hero felt that the Willows were ominous, alive, and somehow influenced by a supernatural force. Let’s see how the story plays out.

And now, The Willows, part 2 of 2, by Algernon Blackwood.

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