Dr Embers on Location - The Big Nasty Knight (Special)

Dr Embers is bringing stories on the road.

Tonight, we learn the tale of the Big Nasty Knight and discover that fear is never far away—even for the most fearsome of fellows...

The Fire is Lit!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

You join me here in Rothenberg de Täuba in Germany, not too far from Nuremberg, an ancient medieval town established in around 1125 and still has its medieval walls. Now, why are we here talking to you, lovely people? It's not to give you the history of this place, but to start you on something which is going to be a very exciting journey. Dr. Embers on the road. I'm going to tell you some stories, all from location. So you might hear the birds chirping, you might hear some people coming by. Please do come on by, as you can see from that lovely lady. And you might hear a few cars. But here we go. Now why a bridge? I hear you ask. Well, I wanted to tell you a story. You see, it was at a medieval bridge a bit like this a long time ago. And a beautiful town, much like this, had one bridge, in and out, just like this place. And everybody was happy, it was prosperous, it was good. But then along came a big, nasty knight. And he set up on the other side of that bridge. And he demanded that nobody is allowed to pass the bridge without paying a toll. Well, the people of this town, yes, were prosperous, but that only worked if the town actually had commerce coming in and out. And over time, with the big nasty night increasing the rates over and higher and higher and higher, people were unable to pay it. Trade started to slow down and then cease. The poor went hungry. And in desperation, they put out a plea. Can somebody please save us from this big nasty night? Well, along comes a little old man, bent double with age, his little stick, shaking his hand his back, almost cookied over. And he stumbles into the tavern one evening and he says in a clear voice, I will defeat this knight. What they say? I will defeat this knight. And then they all fell about laughing. What was this little old man who could barely stand up with shaking with a stick gonna do to a big, nasty, strong knight? What was he gonna do? Well, the next day they were sure to find out. So they all gathered up on the walls like this, looking down through the little peepholes, down on the bridge, as the little old man walked up the bridge, and he walked along the cobbled paths all the way up to where the big knight was. And he says to the knight, I challenge ye to a duel. And the knight froze and looked at the little old wizard man, and he laughed so big and roaring laughter as this silly old little man was trying to challenge him to a duel. And you know what? The knight thought, yeah, go on then, let's see what you can do. Alright, old man, says the knight. Name your weapon. Alright, says the old man, I'll name my weapon. And he calls to a small boy. And the boy comes along and he's got a simple earthen dish with a cover over it. And he pulls back the cover, and there on this dish are two plump, juicy sausages. And he challenges the knight. And he says to the knight, here is the rules. You must pick first. Because according to the ancient rites of combat, that is the rules. So you must choose a sausage. I will choose the other one. We will both eat the sausages. But mark me, one of these sausages contains deadly poison. You won't taste it, you won't know it, you'll just drop dead. Well, the little old knight steps up and he puts his hand over one sausage, then the other, then the other, and his hand starts shaking from one sausage to the next to the next. And he doesn't know what to do. Which one does he go for? And he starts to panic and sweat starts coming down his face, and he knew something he never felt before: fear. And before you know it, the big nasty knight stepped back and back. He jumped on his horse and he ran all the way. Far, far away, and never to return again. And everybody in the town went to cheer. They all went to lift this little old man up onto their shoulders, celebrate him as the hero. But when they looked at the bridge, he was gone. Not even a footprint. Nothing to say that he stood there. And the knight, as I said, was never seen again. So it's true. No matter how big and nasty you think you are, you can't escape fear. Good night.