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your first Cajun risotto. Make creamy

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mac and cheese or a spinach

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artichoke fondue from our selection of

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Murray's cheese. No matter how

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offer23. You're

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at the wrong station. you

2:39

I shall tell you now of the lay

2:41

of Taladin and Epham, according to

2:43

how it was written down, and

2:45

if any fault be found therein, then on

2:48

the mercy of God I do swear the

2:50

omission be not mine, for I

2:52

am but a faithful reader of what

2:54

has been written. In

2:57

the country of Terevaz lived a

2:59

lord named Amont, whose wife Rosalind

3:01

was more beautiful than any woman

3:03

living at that time, and

3:05

by him she bore a daughter named Isbleth, and

3:08

a son named Taladin, who

3:11

was much beloved by both, and grew

3:13

into a young man strong and wise.

3:16

When the boy came of age, Amont

3:18

dressed him in armor of unbreakable glass

3:20

and a velvet cloak, and girdled him

3:22

with a mace spied with the beaks

3:24

of birds who lived beyond the sunset.

3:27

And so the young man went to

3:30

Flanders, where no shortage of war has

3:32

ever in the world's history been found,

3:34

and sought to find himself renown.

4:00

stormed, or what lively town he

4:02

burned, yet she refused to know his

4:04

name. At that

4:06

time, emissaries arrived in Flanders from

4:08

the emperor of Greece, whose

4:10

wars against the pagans had cost

4:12

the lives of four hundred thousand knights.

4:15

And upon greeting the emissary, Teledin

4:18

went to the base of the tower where

4:20

Blanchetois combed her hair by starlight, and

4:23

lying down on the grass professed his love to her.

4:26

My lady, said he, if

4:28

you do not love me, I shall go

4:30

to the wars in Greece and surely be

4:32

destroyed upon the pagans' lance. But

4:35

she replied only, Sir,

4:38

I do not know you. And

4:40

so Teledin locked himself away for three

4:43

days and did not eat or drink

4:45

or sleep, but only wept

4:47

to be so unloved. And

4:50

on the morning of the fourth day he

4:52

rode out in his armour made of glass,

4:54

and with twenty knights went down to the

4:56

harbour and found the emissary ship.

4:58

And so extravagant was the wealth of

5:00

the kingdom of the Greeks in those

5:03

days that this great hawk was carven

5:05

of a single piece of ebon, and

5:07

rigged with purple satin sails, and rigging

5:09

weaved from solid gold. And

5:12

in three days only I what I

5:14

know not how, but in three days

5:16

only this ebon ship bore them all

5:18

the way to distant Constantinople. At

5:22

this time the great city was besieged, and

5:24

the emir of Babylon had brought with him

5:26

an army of thirty million men. Their

5:29

pavilions spread as far as the white

5:31

horizon, and those inside the city were

5:34

sore oppressed. Yet when the

5:36

purple-sailed ship winged down into the harbour,

5:38

the emperor of the Greeks lifted his

5:40

chin from his hand, and hope came

5:42

into his eyes for the first time

5:44

in many months, for the renown

5:46

of the knights of Terevaz had reached his

5:48

court. When he

5:50

arrived at the palace, Teledin was

5:52

greeted with every courtesy, and

5:55

fed on fruits unheard of in the

5:57

rainy west, and the wine which poured

5:59

so freely was gold as the splendor

6:01

of the pillars of the court. Each

6:03

pillar in that hall was thrice the

6:06

girth of the widest tree in all

6:08

of Europe, and twice the tallest height,

6:10

and made from pure and glowing gold,

6:13

and set with gems of amethyst and

6:15

purple garnet larger than an ostrich egg.

6:18

By my trough, said Teledeen, you do

6:20

me much honor, my lord. By

6:22

my trough, said the Emperor of

6:25

Greece, if thou takest command of

6:27

mine army and brings destruction on

6:29

the emirate of Babylon, then I

6:31

shall reward you one hundred times

6:33

beyond your wildest imagination. But

6:36

Teledeen barely heard him as he spoke,

6:39

for at this very moment the Empress

6:41

of the Greeks was carried out upon

6:43

a palanquin with wheels of gold, and

6:46

though the Emperor was an old and feeble

6:48

man, yet his wife was

6:50

young and lovely, as so

6:52

often is the case, and so radiant

6:54

was her beauty that the charms of

6:57

Blanche et Toile were all forgotten, and

6:59

Teledeen knew at that moment he must

7:01

have the Empress's love, or

7:04

he would surely die. For

7:06

she was dressed in gold and purple

7:08

gems, and behind her spread a vast

7:11

fan of feathers from an unknown bird,

7:13

like unto a peacock's, only

7:15

purple-dark as bitter ink. And

7:18

though the blasphemy was his, not mine,

7:21

yet I hesitate to say what he thought

7:23

at that moment, which was

7:25

that she must be one of the

7:27

endless hosts who chant Hosannas endlessly on

7:29

high. And turning

7:31

to the Emperor of Greece, he said, My

7:34

lord, by my oath, I will lead

7:37

your armies and I will smash the

7:39

hosts of heathendom before your gates, and

7:41

I will ask only one thing in

7:43

return. And the king

7:46

said, Name it, my son.

7:48

Teledeen said, I shall name

7:51

it later, when the task is done.

7:54

That very night he donned his armour made of

7:56

glass and hefted his mace of the beaks of

7:58

birds from beyond the sea. sunset's edge,

8:01

and gathering the armies of the Greeks,

8:03

he led them out through the gates

8:05

on a sore tea, and that very

8:07

night he crossed swords with the pagan

8:09

general Aramathces, and broke the casket

8:12

of his skull and left him shattered on

8:14

the battlefield. And by the

8:16

time he returned to the gates that

8:18

morning, six hundred thousand of the pagan

8:20

dead lay below the walls of Constantinople,

8:23

and of his own number only three

8:25

hundred had died. And he

8:27

returned, covered in gore to the hall of

8:30

golden pillars, and the emperor

8:32

of Constantinople was most pleased, and

8:35

the empress of Constantinople, the

8:37

one unguarded heartbeat, cast a

8:39

gaze of consideration upon him.

8:42

And that night Taladin slept with a

8:44

smile upon his face, and

8:46

dreamt he shared the empress's affections on

8:49

a bed of purple satin sheets. And

8:52

then on the second night the Greeks

8:54

sallied forth again, and four of the

8:57

knights of Teredavas were slain by the

8:59

heathen duke Goravathus, who was a giant

9:01

standing twelve feet tall, who came from

9:03

the lands beyond Sakhia and ate only

9:06

the flesh of men and horses, raw

9:09

and mingled both together, and

9:11

enraged at the loss of his men.

9:13

Taladin broke the giant's left leg with

9:15

a single blow, and with one

9:18

blow broke his right leg, and with

9:20

a third blow made birds from beyond

9:22

the sunset sing within the bloody pieces

9:24

of the giant's skull. And that

9:27

night nine hundred thousand died

9:29

at Goravathus's side, and only

9:32

ninety at Taladin's, and

9:34

from her golden tower the empress looked

9:36

down, and unlike Blanchett

9:38

twelve took notice of the

9:40

matchless chivalry of Taladin. And Taladin

9:43

saw her looking down upon him,

9:46

and that night he sat enthroned beside

9:48

her, and all the realm

9:50

of Constantinople was at their feet. And

9:54

then on the third night the army

9:56

of the emperor of Greece sallied out

9:58

a final time, and this time Prince

10:00

Hecubitas of Babylon, the Aamir's son

10:02

himself came down to match his

10:05

strength against the Christian night, and

10:08

for six hours they smote at

10:10

one another, until the unbreakable glass

10:12

was worn away to powder, and

10:14

Hecubitas' habbergeon of bas-less skin was

10:17

torn to shreds, and both

10:19

men had lost enough blood to

10:21

fill the cisterns of Babylon and

10:23

Constantinople both. And

10:25

then as the sun rose, the

10:27

mace of bird beaks broke, and

10:29

Hecubitas' blade of serpent's teeth was

10:31

shattered, and Teledene seized the panem

10:33

by his ear and jaw and

10:35

tore the skull from his body,

10:38

and at that moment the pagan host was

10:40

broken and the army of the Greeks victorious

10:43

at last. The Aamir sued

10:45

for peace, asking only the head

10:47

of his son as condition for surrender. It

10:50

was granted. Of more than

10:52

three million men who came to

10:55

Constantinople, only seventy survived to see

10:57

their wives and sons again. Upon

11:01

his return in glory Teledene was

11:03

welcomed with great splendor, and the

11:05

emperor himself embraced him as a

11:07

son. Now Teledene, he

11:09

said, you can ask your one

11:11

reward. But Teledene, knowing how

11:13

dangerous it was to ask the king

11:15

the thing he truly wanted, said

11:18

only, my lord, permit me to

11:20

serve you for one year, and then I

11:22

will ask it. How

11:25

could any lord refuse so mild an

11:27

offer as that? He assented

11:29

to it. How else? And

11:32

so his fate was sealed. Now

11:35

Epham, that is, the

11:38

empress, was wounded with the pangs of

11:40

love for Teledene, and whoever

11:42

does not know the feeling may God

11:44

count them lucky, and may God pity

11:46

them also for their life has been

11:48

spared all that is most miserable and

11:51

most pleasurable. All

11:53

night she lay awake and sighed, and

11:55

so much did she toss, and so

11:57

much did she turn, that her golden

11:59

sheets were torn and melted from the

12:01

heat and ran down the stair in a

12:04

golden torrent. And so Ephèmes

12:06

made new that she was in

12:08

the torments of love. And

12:10

Teledin, who had been made the Count of

12:13

Pronoia and gifted in a state just across

12:15

the water, was no less tormented.

12:17

He so tossed and turned and groaned

12:19

in his sleep that the fine linen

12:21

of his bedding was shredded and fell

12:24

to the floor in such fine scraps

12:26

that upon the morning flax had begun

12:28

to sprout from the tiles, and

12:30

so the knight who was his chamberlain

12:32

knew that he was in the torments

12:35

of love. And

12:37

that night, when the two lovers slept at

12:39

last, they dreamed the same

12:41

dream, that they flew on purple

12:43

angels' wings above the rich land,

12:45

and that they made love as

12:48

eagles do, spiraling down toward the

12:50

earth, which was theirs. Now

12:54

the emperor had been cuckolded by three

12:56

wives, and each one he had fed

12:58

to his horses in the great stadium

13:00

of Constantinople, before a crowd of five

13:03

million. And to prevent such a disgrace from

13:05

happening again, he had constructed a tower of

13:07

gold in the middle of the strike, which

13:10

could be reached only by a small

13:12

boat, and which was guarded by sixty

13:14

eunuchs of cambulac, all of whom

13:16

had been trained to kill men with a halberd from

13:18

the age of two years old. And

13:20

though it seemed that there was no way

13:22

for Epham to get out, or for Taladin

13:24

to get in, so great was the love

13:26

born for her lady by Epham's maid that

13:28

she spent all her days in the terrace,

13:31

trying to think of a way out, and

13:33

so great was the love born for his

13:35

lord by Taladin's chamberlain that he spent all

13:38

his days in a small boat on the

13:40

sound, trying to think of a way in.

13:43

And when the eunuchs asked her, What are

13:45

you looking for? The maid lied

13:47

and told them, I am looking for

13:50

the knight whom I love. And when

13:52

the eunuchs saw him out on his boat,

13:54

they challenged him, asking, Who goes there? And

13:57

he lied to them, saying, I am looking for the lady

13:59

in which I love. waiting, whom I love.

14:02

And the eunuchs, remembering what life had been

14:04

like when they still possessed their lower members,

14:07

were touched by what they thought was the plight

14:09

of these two lovers, and

14:12

having no responsibility toward the chastity of

14:14

their ladies' maid, they allowed her to

14:16

exchange quiet words from time to time,

14:19

and then as the months passed they allowed her

14:21

to leave with him in the boat from time

14:23

to time, and then to return. And

14:26

so, while taking their own pleasures, the

14:29

maid and chamberlain concocted a plan to

14:31

allow their lord and lady to meet.

14:34

One night the chamberlain approached Taladin

14:36

and commanded him, not as a

14:39

servant would, to change clothes with

14:41

him. And, surprised, but

14:43

trusting him, Taladin did as

14:45

he was bidden. That

14:47

same night too, the maid approached Epham

14:49

and bade her switch clothes and descend

14:51

to the terrace. Epham did

14:53

not know why until she saw Taladin

14:55

waiting in a boat below her, dressed

14:58

not in the finery of the Count

15:00

of Pronoia, but as a common

15:02

night chamberlain. O Lady

15:04

in waiting, he said, I have

15:06

come to collect you. O Sir

15:08

Chamberlain, she replied, I

15:11

have waited too long. And

15:13

the eunuchs, not realizing they were in

15:15

that same moment failing their trust, only

15:18

chuckled and winked to see the couple

15:20

go. In this

15:22

way Taladin and Epham became true

15:24

lovers, and in that

15:26

brief time knew what ecstasies only

15:28

true lovers can ever understand. Very

15:31

soon the end of the first year came, and

15:34

with it Taladin's appointment to ask the emperor

15:36

his boon. I will

15:38

ask him for you, Taladin said.

15:41

He will kill you for asking, replied

15:43

Epham, then let us flee together

15:45

in this boat tonight, a way to Terevaz

15:48

where he will never find us. But

15:51

she looked out at the city that was hers,

15:53

at the basilica of holy wisdom

15:55

blushing in the sunset, at the

15:57

nine palaces, hundred towers, and thousand

16:00

and churches, and she told him, it

16:02

would be disgrace for me, a married

16:05

woman, to live like that in public

16:07

concubinage. And then she

16:09

paused, and thought for a moment, and

16:12

smiled, and spoke the thought that

16:14

was truly on her mind, and

16:16

more besides fair Taledine. I

16:18

think it is a shame for this rich land

16:20

to be ruled by an old cuckold. Then

16:23

what do you propose? She

16:25

said, we must kill him. And

16:28

now he too looked out at the city that could

16:30

be his, at the street of

16:33

silversmiths and of coppersmiths, at

16:35

the great forest of masts in the

16:37

prossforian harbor, at the mighty castle of

16:39

Galata. But how, he asked,

16:41

when his food is tasted and no

16:44

weapons are permitted in his presence? That

16:47

is simple. I will invite him

16:49

here and prepare a bath, which I will

16:51

heat to scalding. When he climbs

16:53

into it he will die, and when the water

16:55

cools it will look like he has died quite

16:57

naturally. Then I shall rule

16:59

as empress, and you will be my

17:01

consort. But Taledine said,

17:04

it is unnatural for a woman to

17:06

rule. We shall marry, and you will

17:08

remain empress while I rule as emperor.

17:11

But Ephème told him, it is the

17:13

custom in this land that a woman

17:15

may rule, but never a barbarian usurper.

17:18

Well, said Taledine, we

17:21

shall see. Indeed,

17:23

said Ephème, we shall.

17:27

And from that moment their causes

17:29

were never aligned again. Before

17:32

the day arrived that they had agreed upon

17:34

for their crime, Taledine came again to Ephème

17:36

and said, I am worried our

17:38

plan may fail. What if the bath

17:40

does not kill him, and he tries to kill you? I

17:43

should be there, in case. But

17:45

how shall we bring you past the eunuchs? I

17:48

will change clothes with your maid. You

17:50

would humiliate yourself like this, said

17:52

Ephème. Women have done

17:55

worse things for love, he told her. So

17:58

it was decided. One

18:01

night before Taladin had been in Constantinople

18:03

for a year, Epham summoned

18:05

the Emperor to her bower. He

18:07

came across the sound in a small

18:10

boat, a purple cloak rippling about his

18:12

bony frame, and Epham,

18:14

radiant as purple gold, stood at the

18:16

terrace of the golden tower to meet

18:18

him. Come up, my

18:20

lord. She welcomed him. My

18:22

maid is preparing two baths for us, and

18:25

the Emperor was delighted she would be

18:27

removing her clothes before him, for he

18:29

had seldom known her body. But

18:32

on the stairs to her chamber she

18:34

stopped, and in a low voice said, My

18:37

lord, a man has entered my tower and will attempt

18:39

to kill you in your bath. Do

18:42

not call the eunuchs, for he has my

18:44

maid captive and will kill her if the alarm

18:46

sounds. You must be the

18:48

one to kill him. I will point you

18:50

to the curtain he hides behind, and

18:52

you will stab him with your sword. She

18:56

told him this because though she still

18:58

felt love for Taladin, she

19:00

did not wish to share power with him,

19:03

and the Emperor said, My lady, I

19:05

will protect you. Into

19:08

the golden chamber they came, with a

19:10

view on every side of the black

19:12

strait of Constantinople, the golden shimmer

19:14

of the city, and

19:16

along one wall there hung a curtain,

19:19

woven with the purple figure of an angel. It

19:22

was a fine tapestry, and very

19:24

ancient, one of the great

19:26

treasures of Constantinople, which was itself no more

19:29

a city than a treasure house. Wise

19:31

men claimed this purple aris was older

19:34

than the days of Moses, that the

19:36

Medes had pillaged it from ancient Babylon,

19:38

and Alexander brought it back from Persepolis

19:40

itself. On this cloth

19:43

the great angel spread out its hands

19:45

over temples and ziggurats of the long-lost

19:47

world, and the shadow of its purple

19:49

wings sped over the people of all

19:52

nations. But the angel's face

19:54

had long since worn away, and

19:56

was now blank. It

19:58

was behind this great stone. dark figure

20:00

with the empty face that Taladin

20:03

had hidden himself. Fear

20:05

not, my lord, Ethem said loudly,

20:07

as the emperor stepped slowly to

20:09

the curtain. Your bath has

20:11

had time enough to cool. With

20:14

a single movement the old man drew his

20:16

sword and thrust it through the angel's heart.

20:19

Purple blood flowed suddenly through the cloth,

20:22

and then behind it Taladin

20:24

fell dead to the marble floor.

20:27

Taladin exclaimed the emperor, I never

20:30

thought he would betray me thus, yet it goes

20:32

ill for a king to read his hands with

20:34

the blood of so fine a vassal. Then

20:37

wash it off quickly, my lord, she told him. Leap

20:40

into the bath, which is ready for

20:42

you. He did just

20:44

as she recommended, and

20:46

instantly was dead. Ethem

20:50

laughed. A wind from

20:52

the strait rippled in the hanging of the purple

20:54

angel. Then she too

20:56

disrobed, showing her nakedness a

20:58

final time to the dead men before

21:01

she slipped into the second bath. And

21:04

no less instantly than her husband. She

21:08

was dead. For Taladin,

21:10

in his maid's disguise, had no more

21:12

wish to share power than she, and

21:15

so had boiled both baths.

21:19

Thus they died together, Taladin

21:21

and Ethem and the emperor all

21:23

three, and let anyone willing to

21:25

listen take caution from this tale.

21:28

All this happened just as I

21:30

have described. The scribes then copied

21:32

down the events, and from

21:34

their words I have composed this lay, to

21:37

tell you about the deaths of Taladin

21:39

and Ethem, who loved each other

21:41

dearly, for a brief

21:43

time. After

21:47

they lay still, another

21:49

wind blew through. The

21:51

tapestry rippled, and

21:54

a strange thing happened, though

21:56

no one was there to see it. From

21:59

the ancient And Eris, that angel

22:01

figure, stepped forth, pulling

22:04

itself from the cloth, for

22:07

a long, long time

22:09

it stood among their bodies, looking.

22:15

Then touching two fingers to

22:17

the bloody sword wound over its own

22:19

heart, it bent over

22:21

each body, anointing

22:23

each cold brow with

22:27

purple blood. Thank

22:53

you to Dr. Powers' PhD,

22:55

Philip Maricel, Rachel, Jason Harmon,

22:58

Sarah Wright, Moses Carter, Chris,

23:00

Stephanie Leahy, Punchington, TTT, Aston

23:03

Bentley, Kira Hall, Dan Regolado,

23:05

Sarah H., Mips Marie,

23:07

Juniper, Scrain, Stephen Schlockton-Haupin, Katherine

23:09

Mazur, Ian Baudreau, Aaron Grachowski,

23:12

Brad, and Brian Scallock for

23:14

helping us keep the lights...

23:17

well, off. The

23:20

Rong Station is co-produced by Alexander Saxton,

23:23

Anthony Botello, and Jacob Tortes-Spiel, with music

23:25

composed and performed by Alain Citram, and

23:27

arranged for the viola and performed by

23:29

Viola Schmidt. And

23:31

until next time, thank you

23:34

for listening.