The Long Ships
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:03:03
And gradually he grew stronger.
:03:09
As he slowly recovered,
he saw that the holy men...

:03:12
...collected tiny coloured stones.
:03:14
And, with great patience
and loving skill...

:03:18
...made pictures from them
to decorate their chapel.

:03:21
And the pictures told a story.
:03:23
A story of a mighty bell
made of solid gold.

:03:27
For days without number the holy men
laboured to mak e this mighty bell.

:03:32
They made ready a great cauldron,
and under it a fire burned day and night.

:03:38
Then came the gold.
:03:39
Gold from the ends of the earth.
Gold offerings of the crusaders.

:03:44
Gold urns from the lands of Islam.
Gleaming, liquid gold.

:03:50
A kingdom of gold.
:03:57
Gold idols.
Golden rings tak en from the harems.

:04:01
From wives. From princesses.
From courtesans.

:04:04
Gold money.
Gold from ships, mines and caravans.

:04:07
From mosques,
palaces and sacred cities.

:04:09
Gold stolen by robbers
from the tombs of Pharaohs.

:04:13
Golden cups. Golden plate.
Treasure won by conquering armies.

:04:24
And from its hiding place came
the fabulous chain of Nimrud Dag...

:04:29
...of the 10, 000 golden links.
:04:34
At last, the huge cauldron was
so filled with molten gold...

:04:38
...that no more could be added.
:04:40
Then it was poured
into a gigantic clay mould.

:04:45
For days it stood cooling until the hour
struck when the clay was torn away.

:04:51
And so the great golden bell
came shining into the world.

:04:55
They smoothed it.
They polished it.

:04:58
Then they called on it to speak.

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