{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_74076/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_74076","id":"gutenberg_74076","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74076","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales"],"text":"[Illustration:\n THE REIGN OF\n KING OBERON.\n]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration:\n _The True Annals of Fairyland_\n\n The\n Reign of\n KING\n OBERON\n\n _Edited by_\n Walter Jerrold\n _Illustrated by_\n Charles Robinson\n\n _London & Toronto\n J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.\n New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. Inc._\n]\n\n\n\n\n PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The True Annals of Fairyland]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPreface\n\n\n+MY DEAR YOUNG FOLKS+,\n\nHere are some more stories from the wonderful Annals of Fairyland. How\nthey were first told at the Court of King Oberon, and how they came to\nbe recorded you will learn at the beginning, and much as you love the\nlittle people you will, I think, like them even better when you have\nlearned all that this volume has to tell. Mr William Canton has told\nyou the stories properly belonging to \u201cThe Reign of King Herla,\u201d Mr J.\nM. Gibbon showed you how a famous merry old soul and his court found\nentertainment in story-telling in \u201cThe Reign of King Cole,\u201d and now\nit is my pleasant privilege to put before you, from the inexhaustible\nAnnals, those tales which properly belong to \u201cThe Reign of King\nOberon.\u201d\n\nOf course you may have already met some of these stories before, for\nmost of our best writers have been made free of Fairyland and have\nwritten of the wonderful things they learned there; Hans Christian\nAndersen and the Brothers Grimm have long since been famous for all\nthat they have told of their visits to the marvellous land, and some\nof the stories which they brought back will be found to belong to the\nreign of Oberon and Titania, while others have been told by Ben Jonson,\nby Thomas Hood, by Charles Perrault, by Thomas Crofton Croker, by\nDouglas Jerrold, by Benjamin Thorpe and by Sir George Dasent--but old\nor new all have the perennial youthfulness of the fairies themselves,\nand as long as we can truly enjoy them we shall not grow old.\n\n +THE EDITOR.+\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Dedication\n\n_To My Children_.]\n\n\n _One time I chanced upon a fairy ring\n Wherein Titania\u2019s lieges held their court,\n And watched the fairies merrily disport,\n While sweetly the near nightingale did fling\n His magic music over everything,\n Till all in me was to that wonder wrought\n Where feeling reaches heights unknown to thought,\n Where spirit unto spirit seems to sing._\n\n _My heart ached when too soon one fairy went\n To rest \u2019mid flow\u2019rs, and yet it came to pass\n In that green world there seemed no room for fears,--\n By dancing joys fresh joy to me was sent,\n Though ever more that vacant place there was,\n When dews befell, and in my eyes were tears._\n\n _W. J._\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nContents\n\n\n PAGE\n\n _The Reign of King Oberon_ 1\n\n _The Gifts of the Dwarfs_ 12\n\n _Thumbeline_ 22\n\n _The Young Piper_ 37\n\n _Rumpel-Stilts-Ken_ 48\n\n _Karl Katz_ 55\n\n _The Wild Swans_ 65\n\n _The Herd-Boy_ 84\n\n _The Nose-Tree_ 99\n\n _The Pranks of Robin Goodfellow_ 109\n\n _The Golden Lantern, the Golden Goat, and the Golden Cloak_ 117\n\n _Hansel and Grethel_ 129\n\n _The Magic Bottles_ 144\n\n _Princess Rosette_ 157\n\n _The Bear and Skrattel_ 179\n\n _The Goose-Girl_ 193\n\n _The Water of Life_ 203\n\n _The Troll\u2019s Hammer_ 215\n\n _The Three Little Crones, each with Something big_ 223\n\n _The Queen\u2019s Song_ 232\n\n _The Three Sneezes_ 234\n\n _The Elf-Hill_ 243\n\n _Riquet with the Tuft_ 254\n\n _The Benevolent Frog_ 265\n\n _Allwise the Dwarf_ 298\n\n _The Fairy at the Well_ 305\n\n _Dolly, draw the Cake_ 313\n\n _The Little Glass Shoe_ 315\n\n _East o\u2019 the Sun and West o\u2019 the Moon_ 322\n\n _Queen Mab_ 336\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nList of Illustrations\n\n\n PAGE\n\n _King Oberon_ Coloured frontispiece\n\n _Queen Titania_ 1\n\n _A small Indian prince had been stolen_ 2\n\n _And a fairy baby left in its place_ 3\n\n \u201c_I do but beg a little changeling boy_\u201d 4\n\n \u201c_The Fairyland buys not the child of men_\u201d 5\n\n _At once all the little people were hurrying to obey the monarch\u2019s\n behest_ 8-9\n\n _The Scandinavian dwarf_ 11\n\n _His long red beard waved in the sky as he drove in his goat-drawn\n chariot_ 12\n\n _Loki descending into the cave of the dwarfs_ 17\n\n _Loki\u2019s punishment_ 20\n\n _The fairy prince_ 21\n\n _Right in the middle of the flower sat a little tiny girl_ 22\n\n _The old toad made a deep curtsey in the water before her_ 24\n\n _Every snowflake which fell upon her was like a shovelful on one\n of us_ 27\n\n _It was not dead but lay in a swoon_ 30\n\n _Fiddle-de-dee said the field mouse_ 32\n\n _What was her astonishment to find a little man in the middle of\n the flower_ 35\n\n _The Irish fairy_ 36\n\n _A big laughing potato in their hands_ 37\n\n _Sitting cross-legged on the top of a wave_ 44\n\n _Jumped clean off the cart over the bridge down into the water_ 45\n\n _The gnome_ 47\n\n _The miller\u2019s daughter_ 48\n\n _The king came in the morning_ 51\n\n _Dashed his right foot so deep into the floor that he was forced\n to lay hold of it with both hands to pull it out_ 53\n\n _The gnome_ 54\n\n _On he went scrambling_ 55\n\n _Twelve strange old figures amusing themselves very sedately with\n a game of nine-pins_ 59\n\n _The strange-looking man with the long grey beard_ 63\n\n _Fairy Peaseblossom_ 64\n\n _He laid his head against her bosom_ 65\n\n _The Saviour looked down and little angels\u2019 heads peeped out above\n His head and under His arms_ 69\n\n _Even on her way to her death she could not abandon her unfinished\n work_ 81\n\n _Moth_ 83\n\n _He found it was a pair of very small shoes_ 84\n\n _The young herdsman advanced boldly_ 93\n\n _Tailpiece_ 97\n\n _Puck_ 98\n\n _Three poor soldiers set out on their road home_ 99\n\n _Still it grew and grew_ 103\n\n \u201c_We will follow it and find its owner_\u201d 105\n\n _As for the doctor, he put on the cloak, and was soon with his two\n brothers_ 108\n\n _Robin Goodfellow_ 108\n\n _The pranks of Robin Goodfellow_ 109\n\n \u201c_What revel rout_\u201d 110\n\n \u201c_There\u2019s not a hag or ghost shall wag_\u201d 111\n\n \u201c_And call them on with me to roam thro\u2019 lakes, thro\u2019 bogs_\u201d 112\n\n \u201c_The maids I kiss_\u201d 113\n\n \u201c_I them affright with pinchings, dreams, and ho, ho, ho!_\u201d 114\n\n \u201c_And elf in bed, we leave instead_\u201d 115\n\n \u201c_So vale, vale, ho, ho, ho!_\u201d 116\n\n _The Swedish Troll_ 116\n\n _There appeared a strong light as of fire_ 117\n\n _Pinkel seized her by the feet and cast her headlong into the\n water_ 121\n\n _They went again before the king_ 125\n\n _His brothers continued to be helpers in the stable as long as\n they lived_ 128\n\n _The German Fairy_ 128\n\n _On one of the branches sat a little child_ 129\n\n _Lingering behind to drop one pebble after another along the\n road_ 131\n\n _I will eat off the roof for my share_ 135\n\n _Fastened him up in a coop_ 137\n\n _Tailpiece_ 142\n\n _Robin Starveling_ 143\n\n _Mick found that he hadn\u2019t enough half to pay the rent_ 144\n\n \u201c_Here take the bottle_\u201d 148\n\n _Mick went home muttering prayers and holding fast the bottle_ 149\n\n _In a moment the landlord was tumbled on the floor, and all were\n roaring and sprawling and shrieking_ 153\n\n _In jumped the men into the new bottle_ 156\n\n _The French Fay_ 156\n\n \u201c_Welcome! what would you ask of me?_\u201d 157\n\n _Fretillon started barking at them_ 168\n\n _Fretillon_ 177\n\n _The Norwegian Dwarf_ 178\n\n _Away they went_ 179\n\n _He lets them loose_ 182\n\n _The bear would throw him in the air_ 187\n\n _The elf was one moment on the bear\u2019s back_ 191\n\n _The second German Fairy_ 192\n\n _She set off on her journey_ 193\n\n _Falada, Falada, there thou hangest_ 197\n\n _Tailpiece_ 201\n\n _The fairy sat down again_ 202\n\n _He was found to abide spellbound_ 203\n\n _He came to a room where a beautiful lady sat upon a couch_ 208-9\n\n _The friendly dwarf with the sugarloaf hat_ 214\n\n _The dwarf from Sweden_ 214\n\n _Niels wandered forth_ 215\n\n _See here is a hammer_ 217\n\n _The blade struck him in the face_ 222\n\n _The Norwegian Fairy_ 222\n\n _The three little crones_ 223\n\n _Mother Bigfoot_ 228\n\n _The Queen was so enraged that her eyes flashed fury_ 229\n\n _Nymphidia_ 231\n\n _Round about, round about, in a fine ring-a_ 232\n\n _Bottom_ 233\n\n _He took the glass and drained it_ 234\n\n _Billy found himself sitting on horseback the wrong way_ 237\n\n _Billy danced the Rinka_ 241\n\n _The Danish Elf_ 242\n\n _Some lizards were running in and out of the clefts in an old\n tree_ 243\n\n _Preserve us how nimble they were on their legs_ 249\n\n _\u201cI like the boys better,\u201d said the earthworm_ 252\n\n _The French Fay_ 253\n\n _It was doubted whether his form were really human_ 254\n\n _There came forth a band of cooks_ 259\n\n _Tailpiece_ 263\n\n _The French Fay_ 264\n\n _The cap of roses_ 265\n\n _Placing the queen on her back she carried her to her cave_ 268\n\n _A little princess had been born to her_ 275\n\n _The audience_ 280-1\n\n _A dragon half a league long coming through the air_ 293\n\n _Tailpiece_ 296\n\n _The Scandinavian Dwarf_ 297\n\n _Thou art pale about the nose_ 298\n\n _Allwise the dwarf and Thor_ 301\n\n _The dwarf was suddenly turned into a figure of stone_ 304\n\n _Quick_ 304\n\n _She held it up to the woman_ 305\n\n _How is this my daughter_ 307\n\n _Tailpiece_ 309\n\n _Pink_ 310\n\n _They put the cake into the oven_ 312\n\n _St Dolly slept on a flour sack_ 313\n\n _Tailpiece_ 313\n\n _Seated himself firmly on the stool_ 314\n\n _He ran away with it_ 315\n\n _Tailpiece_ 318\n\n _John understood too well the nature of his crop_ 319\n\n _The dwarf from the North_ 321\n\n _What should he see but a big white bear_ 322\n\n _He was so worn out he had to rest many days before he could get\n home again_ 331\n\n _Queen Titania_ 335\n\n _But when a bad child goes to bed_ 336\n\n _And from the moon she flutters down_ 337\n\n _Tailpiece_ 338\n\n _Tailpiece_ 339\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE TRUE ANNALS OF FAIRYLAND\n\nTHE REIGN OF KING OBERON]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Queen Titania]\n\nThe Reign of King Oberon\n\n\nIn all the annals of Fairyland nothing is more wonderful--and the\nannals are found in many hundreds of volumes--than that chapter which\ntells of the reign of the true fairy King Oberon and his beautiful\nwife Titania, who is sometimes called Queen Mab. Marvellous are the\ndoings of Oberon\u2019s little subjects in every land--good fairies and bad\nfairies, dwarfs, elves and sprites, brownies, pixies and gnomes, pucks,\ntrolls and kobolds and Robin Goodfellow--and marvellous are the tales\nwhich have been told of them by travellers in the fairy realms.\n\n[Illustration: A SMALL INDIAN PRINCE ... HAD BEEN STOLEN\u2019]\n\n[Illustration: \u201c_And a fairy baby left in it\u2019s place._\u201d]\n\nNow, once upon a time there was sadness throughout the whole kingdom of\nOberon--and his kingdom has no boundaries--because of a quarrel which\nhad arisen between the king and the queen. It was a very small matter\nto begin with, but the king was a king and did not think it consorted\nwith his dignity as such that his will should not be law, while the\nlovely Queen Titania thought that even the powerful king of the fairies\nshould give way to her wishes. A small Indian prince, a dusky child,\nson of a mighty monarch of the East, had been stolen and a fairy baby\nleft in its place and King Oberon wanted the changeling to be one of\nthe knights of his train, while Queen Titania insisted on keeping him\nas one of her pages. Long and bitter was the quarrel but neither\nking nor queen would give way, and at length they parted and half the\nfairies marched off under the banner of the king and half under the\nbanner of the queen.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c_I do but beg a little changeling boy_\u201d]\n\nNow you know of course that it was the fairies that looked after all\nthings, the flowers and the trees, the streams and lakes, the little\nbirds and beasts, and even--though they might not be aware of it--after\nthe doings of many men and women; thus when it befel that their king\nand queen quarrelled and all the fairies rallied to their separate\ncourts everything was neglected: the corn died unripened, the grass\nwithered in the fields, so that the flocks and herds starved, the\nsummers were cold and wet, the winters were sickly and mild, and many\ngood men, women and children lost their tempers and became troublesome\nand unhappy they knew not why, and certainly never imagined that it was\nall because of a quarrel between the rulers of the world-wide kingdom\nof Fairy.\n\n[Illustration: \u201c_The Fairyland buys not the child of me_\u201d]\n\nFor a long time it seemed as though the king and queen would not be\nreconciled. When they met Oberon would say, \u201cI do but beg a little\nchangeling boy to be my henchman\u201d; and Titania would reply, \u201cSet your\nheart at rest, the Fairyland buys not the child of me.\u201d And again the\nking would say, \u201cGive me the boy and I will go with thee\u201d; and the\nqueen would answer, \u201cNot for thy fairy kingdom.\u201d Luckily Oberon by\nmeans of his fairy-arts was finally able to win his way and gain the\nlittle changeling for his retinue, the king and queen were reconciled\nand all the fairies returned to their happy work: the crops and grass\nrevived, flowers bloomed everywhere, the birds sang, summer was once\nmore warm and sunny, and winter once more white and frosty, while men,\nwomen and children suddenly regained their good tempers, knowing as\nlittle why they did so as why they had lost them. All the world was\nindeed once again bright and happy as it should be. Great was the\nrejoicing throughout the realm of Fairyland, and greater still it\nbecame when King Oberon summoned to his court all his subjects from all\nparts of the world to celebrate the reconciliation. Quick as thought\nhis wish was made known by Ariel and Puck his ready messengers, and\nat once all the little people were hurrying to obey the monarch\u2019s\nbehest, and within the forty minutes which Puck takes to put a girdle\nround about the earth all had assembled. Then there was such a sight\nof wonderful splendour as would have astonished human eyes: there\nin beautiful colours were fairies from the flowers and the rainbows,\nfrom streams and woodland, elves, dwarfs and gnomes from caves under\nthe earth where gold is hammered and precious stones are made; there\nwere pixies and brownies and quaint little sprites innumerable; there\nwas Cinderella\u2019s fairy godmother, and there was Allwise the dwarf who\nwanted to marry Thor\u2019s daughter; there was Robin Goodfellow, and there\nwas Ariel; there were Titania\u2019s attendant fairies Peaseblossom and\nCobweb, Moth and Mustardseed; there was Thumbeline and the fairy Prince\nher husband, and Hop-o-my-Thumb, and Thumbling; there were the King\u2019s\ncourtiers--Perriwiggin, Perriwincle, Puck, Hob-Goblin, Tomalin and\nTom-Thumb; there were the Queen\u2019s maids of honour--Hop, Mop, Drop, Pip,\nDrip, Skip, Tub, Tib, Tick, Pink, Pin, Quick, Gill, Un, Tit, Wap, Win,\nWit with Nymphidia the mother of the maids--but if I were to give you\na list of all the different fairies who gathered about Oberon\u2019s court\nI should fill up this book and leave no room for any stories or for Mr\nRobinson\u2019s illustrations.\n\n[Illustration: At once all the little people were hurrying to obey the\nmonarch\u2019s behest]\n\nThere were, to put it shortly, all the fairies that ever lived, all the\nfairies that you ever knew, told of in tales or dreamed of in dreams,\nand a marvellous sight it would have been if we could have seen them\ngathered about the fairy palace of King Oberon. Everyone knew everyone\nelse, and many were the stories told of elfish mischief and of benefits\ndone to good people by their attendant fairies. Oberon and Titania\npassing along, talking to their happy subjects and attended by the\nchangeling boy who had caused so much trouble, overheard one of these\nstories, and turning to his queen, the king said: \u201cMy Titania, shall\nwe not hear some of these stories which our people can tell of their\ndoings with men, women and children in the world of big folk?\u201d Titania\nreadily agreed that it would be delightful; and elfin trumpeters passed\namid the multitude and blew their horns, and said that all were to\narrange themselves in the great Fairy Ring and were to be prepared to\ntell stories until the dawn. Then there was a pretty hustling\nand bustling of merry crowds jostling and soon all were arranged in\ncircles about the great Fairy Ring, and Oberon and Titania ascended a\nthrone which was beautifully formed of sweet-scented flowers that never\nfaded. At the foot of the throne a stool was placed, and on it the\nstory-tellers were to sit while amusing the Court; such was the magic\nof the circle that though the fairy speaking only addressed himself to\nthe king and queen, his voice was heard even by the fairies furthest\naway, on the very outermost part of the ring. Happily for us the\nchangeling boy was there sitting on the steps of the throne, and when,\nyears afterwards, he found his way back to his father\u2019s kingdom, he\nwrote down all the wonderful stories he had heard at the Court of King\nOberon, and they have since been translated into many tongues by many\nwriters, so that some of them will no doubt be familiar to you. Here,\nhowever, we have the stories just as Oberon\u2019s changeling wrote them\ndown, and the first story was repeated by a Scandinavian dwarf out of\nthe cold north, who told how it was that the great hero Thor got\n\n[Illustration: The Scandinavian dwarf]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: His long red beard waved in the sky as he drove in his\ngoat-drawn chariot]\n\nThe Gifts of the Dwarfs\n\n\nThor was, as you know, the strongest and noblest of the great giants\nof the north. He was tall in stature and had fiery brown eyes, from\nwhich the light flashed like lightning, while his long red beard waved\nthrough the sky as he drove in his goat-drawn chariot. Brilliant sparks\nflew from the hoofs and teeth of the two goats, while a crown of bright\nstars shone above Thor\u2019s head. When he was angered the wheels of his\nchariot rumbled and crashed their passage through the air, until men\ntrembled and hid, telling each other that Thor had gone to battle with\nthe Rime-giants or other of his enemies. Now Thor\u2019s wife was named Sib,\nand she was most beautiful to look upon. Her soft, browny-gold hair was\nso long and thick that it would cover her from the crown of her head to\nher little feet, and her deep brown eyes looked into the faces of her\nfriends as those of a mother look into the face of her child. Loki,\nthe mischief-maker among the giants, often looked at Sib and longed to\ndo her some evil, for he was jealous, thinking that it was not right\nthat she should be praised and loved by everyone; go where he would he\ncould find no one who did not speak well of her.\n\nIt happened one day when the summer was nearly gone that Loki found\nSib alone and sleeping on a bank near the river, so he drew his knife,\nand creeping softly nearer and nearer, cut off her beautiful flowing\nhair quite close to her head. Then he joyfully rushed away and strewed\nit far and wide over the whole earth, so that it became no longer\nliving and golden but faded and turned a dull colour as the winds blew\nit about and the rains beat upon it, and crushed it in between the\nrocks and stones. When Sib awoke and was about to push the hair from\nher face, she felt that something was wrong. Wonderingly she ran to\nthe water and looking at her reflection in the clear depths, saw that\nnothing but a short stubble stood up all over her head. All her lovely\nhair was gone! Only one would have dared to treat her so badly, and in\nher grief and anger she called upon Thor to come to her aid.\n\nLoki had of course fled and was hiding far away in another country\namong the rocks when he heard the distant rumblings of thunder, and\ntried to shrink deeper into the crevices between the great stones, but\nthe awful sound grew louder, and at last the angry flash from Thor\u2019s\neyes darted to the very spot where the mischievous one lay. Then Thor\npulled him out and shook him from side to side in his enormous hands,\nand would have crushed his bones upon the hard rocks had not Loki in\ngreat terror asked what good his death would do, for it certainly\nwould not bring Sib\u2019s hair back. Then Thor set the mischief-maker on\nhis feet, though still keeping a tight hold on him, and asked what he\nwould do to repair the evil which he had done. Loki promptly answered\nthat he would go down into the mountains to the dwarfs, and get Iwald\u2019s\nsons to make some golden hair for Sib, as good as that which he had\ndestroyed. Now Iwald had had seven sons, and these all lived deep below\nthe earth in the great caverns which lie below the mountains, and these\nsons were small and dark; they did not like the daylight for they were\nlittle dwarfs who could see best without the sun to dazzle their eyes;\nthey knew where gold and silver grew, and they could tell where to find\nbeautiful shining stones, which were red, and white, and yellow, and\ngreen; they knew the way all over the world by running through caverns\nand passages under the mountains, and wherever they could find precious\nstones or metals they built a furnace, and made an anvil, and hammer\nand bellows, and everything that was wanted in a smithy; for they knew\nhow to fashion the most wonderful things from gold and iron and stone,\nand they had knowledge which made them more powerful than the people\nwho lived above the ground.\n\nThor let the mischief-maker go to get the help of the dwarfs to repair\nthe wrong which he had done, and Loki sought about the mountain-side\nuntil he found a hole which would lead him into Iwald\u2019s cave, and then\nhe promptly dropped into it. There in a dark cave gleaming with many\nsparkling lights he went to the two cleverest dwarfs who were named\nSindri and Brok, and told them what it was he wanted, adding that he\nwould be in sore trouble with Thor if they could not help him. Now\nSindri and Brok knew all about Loki perfectly well; they knew all about\nhis mischievous ways and the evil he so often wrought, but as they\nliked Thor and Sib they were willing to give the help which was asked\nof them. Thus without more ado, for these dwarfs never wasted their\nwords, Sindri and Brok began their work.\n\nHuge blocks of earth-brown stone were cast into the furnace until they\nwere in a white heat, when drop by drop red gold trickled from them\ninto the ashes. This was all gathered together, and the glistening\nheap taken to the dwarf women, who, crushing it in their hands before\nit had hardened, drew it out upon their wheels, and spun it into fine\nsoft hair. While they were doing this Brok sought amongst his treasures\nuntil he found the blue of the ocean and the tough inner pith of an\nunderground tree; these, with other things, were cast into the furnace,\nand afterwards beaten with his hammer. As the rhythmic strokes fell,\nthe women sang a song which was like the voice of a strong, steady\nwind. Then when this work was finished, the smith drew forth a little\nship, which was carefully placed on one side. The third time the dwarf\nwent to a dark corner, and brought out an ugly bent bar of iron, and\nthis, with two feathers from the wings of the wind, was heated to\nmelting whiteness, and wrought with great cunning and extreme care, for\nit was to be a spear for Odin himself, the greatest of all the Heroes.\n\nThen Brok and Sindri called Loki to them and giving him these three\nthings bade him hasten back to the Heroes at Asgard and appease their\nwrath. Loki, however, was already beginning to feel sorry that he had\nbeen so successful; he liked teasing folk but he did not like having to\natone for his mischief afterwards. He turned the marvellous gifts over\nscornfully in his hands, and said that he did not see anything very\nwonderful in _them_; then, looking at Sindri he added, \u201cHowever, Brok\nhas hammered them very skilfully, and I will wager my head that you\ncould not make anything better.\u201d\n\nNow the brother dwarfs had not by any means expected gratitude,\nbut neither had they expected any such rudeness as this, so Sindri\ndetermined to give Loki a lesson. Going to one corner of the smithy\nhe picked up a pig-skin and taking the hammer in his hands, told his\nbrother to blow steadily, neither to falter nor to fail until he passed\nthe word that the work was done. Then with strength and gentleness\nhe wrought with his tools, having cast nothing into the heat but the\npig-skin; with mighty blows and delicate touches he brought thickness\nand substance into it, until a boar looked at him from the flames.\nLoki, fearing for his head, changed himself into an enormous forest\nfly, and settling upon Brok\u2019s hand, stung with vicious fury; but the\ndwarf would not trouble to brush the fly away, and steadily moved the\nbellows until his brother called to him to stop, when they drew forth a\nstrong flexible boar whose bristles were of the finest gold.\n\nThen without saying anything or paying any attention to the spiteful\nwords which Loki kept uttering, Sindri chose from a heap of gold the\nmost solid lump he could find and flung it into the white flames.\nThrice it was heated and cooled, and the dark elf turned it and worked\nit with wonderful skill, and in the glow Loki saw a broad red ring,\nwhich seemed to live and move. Again he tried to spoil the work as a\nfly, and bit deeply into Brok\u2019s neck, but Brok would not so much as\nraise his hand to rid him of the pain. When the ring was finally laid\nto cool, so marvellously had it been wrought that from it each ninth\nnight would fall eight rings as beautiful as itself.\n\nNow came the last test of Sindri\u2019s cunning. He cast into the furnace\na piece of fine iron, and told Brok his hand must neither tremble nor\nstay, or the whole of their work would be useless. Then with wild songs\nof strength upon his lips he hammered and tapped, until those who were\nin the cave felt that they were out among the roaring waves; they could\nhear the ice mountains grind and crash to pieces, and the thunder of\nThor\u2019s chariot wheels rushing through the heavens. A frenzied horror\nseized upon Loki\u2019s mind. If these wretched dwarfs were going to make\nanything to add to Thor\u2019s strength he knew that it would be his own\nruin. So, changing himself to a hornet, he sprang upon the forehead of\nBrok, and dug so fiercely into his eyelids that the blood trickled down\nand blinded him. Then the dwarf let go of the bellows for one moment to\nclear his eyes, and Sindri cried out that what lay in the furnace came\nnear to being spoiled, and with that he took a red-hot hammer up with\nhis tongs. It was neither pretty, nor particularly large, while the\nhandle was an inch too short because of Loki\u2019s spite.\n\nThen Brok and Loki set out for Asgard, Loki carrying the three\nwonderful things which had been given to him, while Brok carried the\nthree marvels which Sindri had so cunningly wrought and accompanied\nthe mischief-maker, that the Heroes might judge who had won the wager\nso rashly offered by Loki. When they reached Asgard the Heroes seated\nthemselves on their high seats agreeing among themselves that Odin,\nThor and Frey should be judges in this case.\n\n[Illustration: Loki descending into the cave of the dwarfs]\n\nFirst, Loki offered to Odin the spear Gungner which was so wonderfully\nmade that it never failed to hit the thing at which it was thrown, and\nit always sped back to the hand which had thrown it. Later, when Odin\ncarried this spear in battle, if he shook it over his enemies they\nbecame so frightened that they all wanted to run away, but if he shook\nit over his friends they were so filled with courage that they could\nnot be conquered. Then Thor received the hair, and when it was placed\nupon Sib\u2019s head it grew to her like living tresses, curling and waving\nin the wind. To Frey the ship was given, and though it was so small\nthat it could be folded and carried in his pocket, when it was placed\nupon the waves it would grow large enough to hold an army of warriors\nwith all their war gear; besides, as soon as the sails were hoisted,\nthe wind would blow it whithersoever it was desired that the ship\nshould go.\n\nBrok then made his offerings, and to Odin he gave the ring Draupnir\nwhich had been made with such magic skill that every ninth night eight\nother rings dropped off it, though no one could see how they came; this\nthe greatest of the Heroes ever wore upon his arm, until the death of\nhis beautiful son Balder, when, as token of his great love he placed\nit upon the dead youth\u2019s breast as he lay on his funeral pyre. To Frey\nwas given the golden boar, which would run faster than any horse, over\nthe sea or through the air, and wherever it went, there it would be\nlight, because the bristles shone so brightly. To Thor Brok gave the\ndull-looking hammer, saying, that whatever he struck with it would be\ndestroyed; that no blow could be hard enough to hurt it; that if he\nthrew it, it would return to him so that he could never lose it; and\nthat as he wished so would its size be--yet there was one fault about\nit, and that was that the handle was an inch too short.\n\nIt was with great joy that Thor took this treasure, knowing that in it\nhe had something to help him in fighting the evil Rime-giants who were\nalways trying to get the whole world for themselves until driven back\nby him.\n\nThen the Heroes decided that of all the gifts the hammer was the best,\nand that, therefore, Loki had lost his wager and must lose his head.\nLoki offered to give all sorts of things to save himself, but the\ndwarf would not listen to any of them. \u201cCatch me, then!\u201d cried the\nmischievous one; but when Brok stretched his hand upon him Loki had\ngone, for he wore shoes which would carry him over the sea or through\nthe air.\n\n\u201cCatch him!\u201d cried the ugly little dwarf piteously to Thor, and in an\ninstant Loki stood before them, trembling in Thor\u2019s strong grasp. Then\nthe clever one argued that it was his head only which had been wagered,\nand that not one little tiny bit of his neck might be taken, or the\ndwarf would have more than his bargain. At this Brok cried impatiently\nthat the head of a wicked person was of no use to him, all that he\nwanted was to stop Loki\u2019s tongue so that he could work less evil, and\nhe took a knife and thread and tried to pierce holes in Loki\u2019s lips,\nbut Loki bewitched the knife so that it would not cut.\n\n[Illustration: Loki\u2019s punishment]\n\n\u201cIf only I had Sindri\u2019s awl,\u201d sighed the dwarf, and instantly his\nbrother\u2019s awl was in his hand. Swiftly it pierced the lips of the\nmischief-maker, and swiftly Brok sewed them together and broke off the\nthread at the end of the sewing.\n\nThen the Heroes gave presents for the dwarfs in return for their\nwonderful things, and Brok returned to his cave. As for Loki, I think\nthat it was not long before he loosed his lips and returned to his\nmischief-making.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Scandinavian dwarf ceased speaking there was murmuring all\nover the circle at the meannesses of Loki, and everyone felt glad\nthat Thor had been so well served by the dwarfs and hoped that the\nmischief-maker, though he escaped that time after all, later met with\nthe reward which he deserved. I think that if the Scandinavian dwarf\nhad chosen to do so he might have told a very grim story of how it was\nthat the wicked Loki came to his fate at last, but there were so many\nfairies, dwarfs, fays, gnomes, trolls, pucks, and other little people\nwho were ready to tell stories that I don\u2019t think that they would have\nlet the Scandinavian dwarf tell another story if he had wanted to. When\nhe went back to his place in the great circle, the little fairy prince\nof a bright warm country sprang on to the stool in front of Oberon\u2019s\nthrone and said that he would be glad to tell the story of his wife\u2019s\nlife, and how it was that she came to marry him.\n\n\u201cAnd what is your wife\u2019s name?\u201d said Oberon.\n\n\u201cHer name,\u201d answered the little prince, \u201cis\n\n[Illustration: The fairy prince]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Right in the middle of the flower sat a little tiny girl]\n\nThumbeline\n\n\nThere was once a woman who had the greatest longing for a little tiny\nchild, but she had no idea where to get one; so she went to an old\nwitch and said to her, \u201cI do so long to have a little child, will you\ntell me where I can get one?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, we shall be able to manage that,\u201d said the witch. \u201cHere is a\nbarley corn for you; it is not at all the same kind as that which grows\nin the peasant\u2019s field, or with which chickens are fed; plant it in a\nflower-pot and you will see what will appear.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you, oh, thank you!\u201d said the woman, and she gave the witch\ntwelve pennies, then went home and planted the barley corn, and a\nlarge, handsome flower sprang up at once; it looked exactly like a\ntulip, but the petals were tightly shut up, just as if they were still\nin bud. \u201cThat is a lovely flower,\u201d said the woman, and she kissed the\npretty red and yellow petals; as she kissed it the flower burst open\nwith a loud snap. It was a real tulip, you could see that; but right\nin the middle of the flower on the green stool sat a little tiny girl,\nmost lovely and delicate; she was not more than an inch in height, so\nshe was called Thumbeline.\n\nHer cradle was a smartly varnished walnut shell, with the blue petals\nof violets for a mattress and a rose-leaf to cover her; she slept in\nit at night, but during the day she played about on the table where\nthe woman had placed a plate, surrounded by a wreath of flowers on the\nouter edge with their stalks in water. A large tulip petal floated on\nthe water, and on this little Thumbeline sat and sailed about from one\nside of the plate to the other; she had two white horse hairs for oars.\nIt was a pretty sight. She could sing, too, with such delicacy and\ncharm as was never heard before.\n\nOne night as she lay in her pretty bed, a great ugly toad hopped in at\nthe window, for there was a broken pane. Ugh! how hideous that great\nwet toad was; it hopped right down on to the table where Thumbeline lay\nfast asleep, under the red rose-leaf.\n\n\u201cHere is a lovely wife for my son,\u201d said the toad, and then she took up\nthe walnut shell where Thumbeline slept and hopped away with it through\nthe window, down into the garden. A great broad stream ran through it,\nbut just at the edge it was swampy and muddy, and it was here that the\ntoad lived with her son. Ugh! how ugly and hideous he was too, exactly\nlike his mother. \u201cKoax, koax, brekke-ke-kex,\u201d that was all he had to\nsay when he saw the lovely little girl in the walnut shell.\n\n\u201cDo not talk so loud or you will wake her,\u201d said the old toad; \u201cshe\nmight escape us yet, for she is as light as thistledown! We will put\nher on one of the broad water-lily leaves out in the stream; it will\nbe just like an island to her, she is so small and light. She won\u2019t\nbe able to run away from there while we get the state-room ready down\nunder the mud, which you are to inhabit.\u201d\n\nA great many water-lilies grew in the stream, their broad green leaves\nlooked as if they were floating on the surface of the water. The leaf\nwhich was furthest from the shore was also the biggest, and to this one\nthe old toad swam out with the walnut shell in which little Thumbeline\nlay.\n\nThe poor, tiny, little creature woke up quite early in the morning, and\nwhen she saw where she was she began to cry most bitterly, for there\nwas water on every side of the big green leaf, and she could not reach\nthe land at any point.\n\n[Illustration: The old toad made a deep curtsey in the water before her]\n\nThe old toad sat in the mud decking out her abode with grasses and the\nbuds of the yellow water-lilies, so as to have it very nice for the new\ndaughter-in-law, and then she swam out with her ugly son to the leaf\nwhere Thumbeline stood; they wanted to fetch her pretty bed to place it\nin the bridal chamber before they took her there. The old toad made a\ndeep curtsey in the water before her, and said, \u201cHere is my son, who\nis to be your husband, and you are to live together most comfortably\ndown in the mud.\u201d\n\n\u201cKoax, koax, brekke-ke-kex,\u201d that was all the son could say.\n\nThen they took the pretty little bed and swam away with it, but\nThumbeline sat quite alone on the green leaf and cried because she\ndid not want to live with the ugly toad, or have her horrid son for a\nhusband. The little fish which swam about in the water had no doubt\nseen the toad and heard what she said, so they stuck their heads up,\nwishing, I suppose, to see the little girl. As soon as they saw her,\nthey were delighted with her, and were quite grieved to think that\nshe was to go down to live with the ugly toad. No, that should never\nhappen. They flocked together down in the water round about the green\nstem which held the leaf she stood upon, and gnawed at it with their\nteeth till it floated away down the stream carrying Thumbeline away\nwhere the toad could not follow her.\n\nThumbeline sailed past place after place, and the little birds in the\nbushes saw her and sang, \u201cWhat a lovely little maid.\u201d The leaf with\nher on it floated further and further away and in this manner reached\nforeign lands.\n\nA pretty little white butterfly fluttered round and round her for some\ntime and at last settled on the leaf, for it had taken quite a fancy to\nThumbeline; she was so happy now, because the toad could not reach her\nand she was sailing through such lovely scenes; the sun shone on the\nwater and it looked like liquid gold. Then she took her sash and tied\none end round the butterfly, and the other she made fast to the leaf\nwhich went gliding on quicker and quicker, and she with it for she was\nstanding on the leaf.\n\nAt this moment a big cockchafer came flying along, he caught sight of\nher and in an instant he fixed his claw round her slender waist and\nflew off with her, up into a tree, but the green leaf floated down the\nstream and the butterfly with it, for he was tied to it and could not\nget loose.\n\nHeavens! how frightened poor little Thumbeline was when the cockchafer\ncarried her up into the tree, but she was most of all grieved about the\npretty white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf; if he could\nnot succeed in getting loose he would be starved to death.\n\nBut the cockchafer cared nothing for that. He settled with her on the\nlargest leaf on the tree, and fed her with honey from the flowers, and\nhe said that she was lovely although she was not a bit like a chafer.\nPresently all the other chafers which lived in the tree came to visit\nthem; they looked at Thumbeline and the young lady chafers twitched\ntheir feelers and said, \u201cShe has only got two legs, what a poor effect\nit has.\u201d \u201cShe has no feelers,\u201d said another. \u201cShe is so slender in the\nwaist, fie, she looks like a human being.\u201d \u201cHow ugly she is,\u201d said\nall the mother chafers, and yet little Thumbeline was so pretty. That\nwas certainly also the opinion of the cockchafer who had captured\nher, but when all the others said she was ugly, he at last began to\nbelieve it too, and would not have anything more to do with her, she\nmight go wherever she liked! They flew down from the tree with her and\nplaced her on a daisy, where she cried because she was so ugly that the\nchafers would have nothing to do with her; and after all, she was more\nbeautiful than anything you could imagine, as delicate and transparent\nas the finest rose-leaf.\n\nPoor little Thumbeline lived all the summer quite alone in the wood.\nShe plaited a bed of grass for herself and hung it up under a big\ndock-leaf which sheltered her from the rain; she sucked the honey from\nthe flowers for her food, and her drink was the dew which lay on the\nleaves in the morning. In this way the summer and autumn passed, but\nthen came the winter. All the birds which used to sing so sweetly to\nher flew away, the great dock-leaf under which she had lived shrivelled\nup leaving nothing but a dead yellow stalk, and she shivered with the\ncold, for her clothes were worn out; she was such a tiny creature, poor\nlittle Thumbeline, she certainly must be frozen to death. It began to\nsnow and every snowflake which fell upon her was like a whole shovelful\nupon her, for she was so very, very small. Then she wrapped herself up\nin a withered leaf, but that did not warm her much, she trembled with\nthe cold.\n\n[Illustration: Every snowflake which fell upon her was like a shovelful\non one of us]\n\nClose to the wood in which she had been living lay a large cornfield,\nbut the corn had long ago been carried away and nothing remained but\nthe bare, dry, stubble which stood up out of the frozen ground. The\nstubble was quite a forest for her to walk about in; oh, how she shook\nwith the cold. Then she came to the door of a field-mouse\u2019s home. It\nwas a little hole down under the stubble. The field-mouse lived so\ncosily and warm there, her whole room was full of corn, and she had a\nbeautiful kitchen and larder besides. Poor Thumbeline stood just inside\nthe door like any other poor beggar child and begged for a little piece\nof barley corn, for she had had nothing to eat for two whole days.\n\n\u201cYou poor little thing,\u201d said the field-mouse, for she was at bottom a\ngood old field-mouse. \u201cCome into my warm room and dine with me.\u201d Then,\nas she took a fancy to Thumbeline, she said, \u201cYou may with pleasure\nstay with me for the winter, but you must keep my room clean and tidy\nand tell me stories, for I am very fond of them,\u201d and Thumbeline\ndid what the good old field-mouse desired and was on the whole very\ncomfortable.\n\n\u201cNow we shall soon have a visitor,\u201d said the field-mouse; \u201cmy neighbour\ngenerally comes to see me every week-day. He is even better housed than\nI am; his rooms are very large and he wears a most beautiful black\nvelvet coat; if only you could get him for a husband you would indeed\nbe well settled, but he can\u2019t see. You must tell him all the most\nbeautiful stories you know.\u201d\n\nBut Thumbeline did not like this, and she would have nothing to say to\nthe neighbour for he was a mole. He came and paid a visit in his black\nvelvet coat. He was very rich and wise, said the field-mouse, and his\nhome was twenty times as large as hers; and he had much learning but\nhe did not like the sun or the beautiful flowers, in fact he spoke\nslightingly of them for he had never seen them. Thumbeline had to sing\nto him and she sang both \u201cFly away cockchafer\u201d and \u201cA monk, he wandered\nthrough the meadow,\u201d then the mole fell in love with her because of her\nsweet voice, but he did not say anything for he was of a discreet turn\nof mind.\n\nHe had just made a long tunnel through the ground from his house to\ntheirs, and he gave the field-mouse and Thumbeline leave to walk in it\nwhenever they liked. He told them not to be afraid of the dead bird\nwhich was lying in the passage. It was a whole bird with feathers and\nbeak which had probably died quite recently at the beginning of the\nwinter and was now entombed just where he had made his tunnel.\n\nThe mole took a piece of tinder-wood in his mouth, for that shines like\nfire in the dark, and walked in front of them to light them in the long\ndark passage; when they came to the place where the dead bird lay, the\nmole thrust his broad nose up to the roof and pushed the earth up so as\nto make a big hole through which the daylight shone. In the middle of\nthe floor lay a dead swallow, with its pretty wings closely pressed to\nits sides, and the legs and head drawn in under the feathers; no doubt\nthe poor bird had died of cold. Thumbeline was so sorry for it; she\nloved all the little birds, for they had twittered and sung so sweetly\nto her during the whole summer; but the mole kicked it with his short\nlegs and said, \u201cNow it will pipe no more! It must be a miserable fate\nto be born a little bird! Thank heaven! no child of mine can be a bird;\na bird like that has nothing but its twitter and dies of hunger in the\nwinter.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, as a sensible man, you may well say that,\u201d said the field-mouse.\n\u201cWhat _has_ a bird for all its twittering when the cold weather comes?\nIt has to hunger and freeze, but then it must cut a dash.\u201d\n\nThumbeline did not say anything, but when the others turned their backs\nto the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the feathers which lay\nover its head, and kissed its closed eyes. \u201cPerhaps it was this very\nbird which sang so sweetly to me in the summer,\u201d she thought; \u201cwhat\npleasure it gave me, the dear pretty bird.\u201d\n\nThe mole now closed up the hole which let in the daylight and conducted\nthe ladies to their home. Thumbeline could not sleep at all in the\nnight, so she got up out of her bed and plaited a large handsome mat of\nhay and then she carried it down and spread it all over the dead bird,\nand laid some soft cotton wool which she had found in the field-mouse\u2019s\nroom close round its sides, so that it might have a warm bed on the\ncold ground.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, you sweet little bird,\u201d said she, \u201cgood-bye, and thank you\nfor your sweet song through the summer when all the trees were green\nand the sun shone warmly upon us.\u201d Then she laid her head close up to\nthe bird\u2019s breast, but was quite startled at a sound, as if something\nwas thumping inside it. It was the bird\u2019s heart. It was not dead but\nlay in a swoon, and now that it had been warmed it began to revive.\n\nIn the autumn all the swallows fly away to warm countries, but if one\nhappens to be belated, it feels the cold so much that it falls down\nlike a dead thing, and remains lying where it falls till the snow\ncovers it up. Thumbeline quite shook with fright for the bird was very,\nvery big beside her, but she gathered up her courage, packed the\nwool closer round the poor bird, and fetched a leaf of mint which she\nhad herself for a coverlet and laid it over the bird\u2019s head. The next\nnight she stole down again to it and found it alive but so feeble that\nit could only just open its eyes for a moment to look at Thumbeline\nwho stood with a bit of tinder-wood in her hand, for she had no other\nlantern.\n\n[Illustration: It was not dead but lay in a swoon]\n\n\u201cMany, many thanks, you sweet child,\u201d said the sick swallow to her;\n\u201cyou have warmed me beautifully. I shall soon have strength to fly out\ninto the warm sun again.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said she, \u201cit is so cold outside, it snows and freezes, stay in\nyour warm bed, I will tend you.\u201d Then she brought water to the swallow\nin a leaf, and when it had drunk some, it told her how it had torn its\nwing on a blackthorn bush, and therefore could not fly as fast as\nthe other swallows which were taking flight then for the distant warm\nlands. At last it fell down on the ground, but after that it remembered\nnothing and did not in the least know how it had got into the tunnel.\n\nIt stayed there all the winter, and Thumbeline was good to it and grew\nvery fond of it. She did not tell either the mole or the field-mouse\nanything about it, for they did not like the poor unfortunate swallow.\n\nAs soon as the spring came and the warmth of the sun penetrated the\nground, the swallow said good-bye to Thumbeline, who opened the hole\nwhich the mole had made above. The sun streamed in deliciously upon\nthem, and the swallow asked if she would not go with him, she could\nsit upon his back and they would fly far away into the green wood. But\nThumbeline knew that it would grieve the old field-mouse if she left\nher like that.\n\n\u201cNo, I can\u2019t,\u201d said Thumbeline.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, good-bye, then, you kind pretty girl,\u201d said the swallow, and\nflew out into the sunshine. Thumbeline looked after him and her eyes\nfilled with tears, for she was very fond of the poor swallow.\n\n\u201cTweet, tweet,\u201d sang the bird, and flew into the green wood.\n\nThumbeline was very sad. She was not allowed to go out into the\nwarm sunshine at all; the corn which was sown in the field near the\nfield-mouse\u2019s house grew quite long, it was a thick forest for the poor\nlittle girl who was so very, very small.\n\n\u201cYou must work at your trousseau this summer,\u201d said the mouse to her,\nfor their neighbour the tiresome mole in his black velvet coat had\nasked her to marry him. \u201cYou shall have both woollen and linen, you\nshall have wherewith to clothe and cover yourself when you become the\nmole\u2019s wife.\u201d Thumbeline had to turn the distaff and the field-mouse\nhired four spiders to spin and weave day and night. The mole paid a\nvisit every evening and he was always saying that when the summer came\nto an end, the sun would not shine nearly so warmly; now it burnt the\nground as hard as a stone. Yes, when the summer was over he would\ncelebrate his marriage; but Thumbeline was not at all pleased, for she\ndid not care a bit for the tiresome mole. Every morning at sunrise and\nevery evening at sunset she used to steal out to the door, and when\nthe wind blew aside the tops of the cornstalks so that she could see\nthe blue sky, she thought how bright and lovely it was out there, and\nwished so much to see the dear swallow again; but it never came back;\nno doubt it was a long way off, flying about in the beautiful green\nwoods.\n\n[Illustration: Fiddle-de-dee said the field mouse]\n\nWhen the autumn came all Thumbeline\u2019s outfit was ready.\n\n\u201cIn four weeks you must be married,\u201d said the field-mouse to her. But\nThumbeline cried and said that she would not have the tiresome mole for\na husband.\n\n\u201cFiddle-dee-dee,\u201d said the field-mouse; \u201cdon\u2019t be obstinate or I shall\nbite you with my white tooth. You are going to have a splendid husband;\nthe queen herself hasn\u2019t the equal of his black velvet coat; both his\nkitchen and his cellar are full. You should thank heaven for such a\nhusband!\u201d\n\nSo they were to be married; the mole had come to fetch Thumbeline; she\nwas to live deep down under the ground with him, and never to go out\ninto the warm sunshine, for he could not bear it. The poor child was\nvery sad at the thought of bidding good-bye to the beautiful sun; while\nshe had been with the field-mouse she had at least been allowed to look\nat it from the door.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, you bright sun,\u201d she said as she stretched out her arms\ntowards it and went a little way outside the field-mouse\u2019s house, for\nnow the harvest was over and only the stubble remained. \u201cGood-bye,\ngood-bye!\u201d she said, and threw her tiny arms round a little red flower\ngrowing there. \u201cGive my love to the dear swallow if you happen to see\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cTweet, tweet,\u201d she heard at this moment above her head. She looked up;\nit was the swallow just passing. As soon as it saw Thumbeline it was\ndelighted; she told it how unwilling she was to have the ugly mole for\na husband, and that she was to live deep down underground where the sun\nnever shone. She could not help crying about it.\n\n\u201cThe cold winter is coming,\u201d said the swallow, \u201cand I am going to fly\naway to warm countries. Will you go with me? You can sit upon my back!\nTie yourself on with your sash, then we will fly away from the ugly\nmole and his dark cavern, far away over the mountains to those warm\ncountries where the sun shines with greater splendour than here, where\nit is always summer and there are heaps of flowers. Do fly with me, you\nsweet little Thumbeline, who saved my life when I lay frozen in the\ndark earthy passage.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I will go with you,\u201d said Thumbeline, seating herself on the\nbird\u2019s back with her feet on its outspread wings. She tied her band\ntightly to one of the strongest feathers, and then the swallow flew\naway, high up in the air above forests and lakes, high up above the\nbiggest mountains where the snow never melts; and Thumbeline shivered\nin the cold air, but then she crept under the bird\u2019s warm feathers, and\nonly stuck out her little head to look at the beautiful sights beneath\nher.\n\nThen at last they reached the warm countries. The sun shone with\na warmer glow than here; the sky was twice as high, and the most\nbeautiful green and blue grapes grew in clusters on the banks and\nhedgerows. Oranges and lemons hung in the woods which were fragrant\nwith myrtles and sweet herbs, and beautiful children ran about the\nroads playing with the large, gorgeously-coloured butterflies. But the\nswallow flew on and on, and the country grew more and more beautiful.\nUnder magnificent green trees on the shores of the blue sea stood a\ndazzling white marble palace of ancient date; vines wreathed themselves\nround the stately pillars. At the head of these there were countless\nnests, and the swallow who carried Thumbeline lived in one of them.\n\n\u201cHere is my house,\u201d said the swallow; \u201cbut if you will choose one of\nthe gorgeous flowers growing down there I will place you in it, and you\nwill live as happily as you can wish.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat would be delightful,\u201d she said, and clapped her little hands.\n\nA great white marble column had fallen to the ground and lay there\nbroken in three pieces, but between these the most lovely white flowers\ngrew. The swallow flew down with Thumbeline and put her upon one of\nthe broad leaves; what was her astonishment to find a little man in\nthe middle of the flower, as bright and transparent as if he had been\nmade of glass. He had a lovely golden crown upon his head and the\nmost beautiful bright wings upon his shoulders; he was no bigger than\nThumbeline. He was the fairy of the flowers. There was a similar little\nman or woman in every flower, but he was the king of them all.\n\n\u201cHow very beautiful he is,\u201d whispered Thumbeline to the swallow. The\nlittle prince was quite frightened by the swallow, for it was a perfect\ngiant of a bird to him, he who was so small and delicate, but when he\nsaw Thumbeline he was delighted; she was the very prettiest girl he\nhad ever seen. He therefore took the golden crown off his own head and\nplaced it on hers, and asked her name, and if she would be his wife,\nand then she would be queen of the flowers! Yes, he was certainly a\nvery different kind of husband from the toad\u2019s son, or the mole with\nhis black velvet coat. So she accepted the beautiful prince, and out\nof every flower stepped a little lady or a gentleman so lovely that it\nwas a pleasure to look at them. Each one brought a gift to Thumbeline,\nbut the best of all was a pair of pretty wings from a large white\nbutterfly; they were fastened on to her back, and then she too could\nfly from flower to flower. All was then delight and happiness, but the\nswallow sat alone in his nest and sang to them as well as he could, for\nhis heart was heavy, he was so fond of Thumbeline himself and would\nhave wished never to part from her.\n\n[Illustration: What was her astonishment to find a little man in the\nmiddle of the flower]\n\n\u201cYou shall not be called Thumbeline,\u201d said the flower-fairy to her;\n\u201cthat is such an ugly name, and you are so pretty. We will call you\nMaia.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nOf course the Fairy Prince\u2019s story was quite true, and as proof of it\nthere was Thumbeline, or Maia, as she was sometimes called, sitting\nnot very far away in the very front circle of fairies, and having\nmade his bow to the king and queen, the little prince stepped proudly\nback to his seat by her side, and all the fairies loudly cheered the\npretty couple. When the cheering had stopped it was seen that there\nwere several of the company trying to get on the tale-tellers\u2019 stool\nat once, all anxious to win such cheering. King Oberon\u2019s trumpeter,\nstanding on the steps of the throne, blew loudly and the squabble\nstopped at once, each of the competitors turning round and expecting to\nbe told that he was the favoured one, but Oberon was too wise for that\nand bade them all go back to their places and not to come forward again\nuntil called upon to do so, and he then turned to Titania and said:\n\n\u201cOur queen shall select the next tale-teller. Who, my Titania, shall it\nbe?\u201d\n\nAnd the queen pointed out a little fairy dressed all in green with a\ntiny golden harp in her hand and with a wreath of shamrock round her\nhead, saying:\n\n\u201cLet an Irish fairy tell us something of the doings in her green land.\u201d\n\nThe little one in green at once came forward and said that the\nstory she had to tell would not be a pretty one such as that about\nThumbeline, but it would be about one of those mischievous changelings\nwho got the fairies such a bad name among some people, and her story\nwould be called\n\n[Illustration: The Irish fairy]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A big laughing potato in their hands]\n\nThe Young Piper\n\n\nThere lived on the borders of the county of Tipperary a decently honest\ncouple whose names were Mick Flanigan and Judy Muldoon. These poor\npeople were blessed, as the saying is, with four children, all boys:\nthree of them were as fine, stout, healthy, good-looking children as\never the sun shone upon; and it was enough to make any Irishman proud\nof his countrymen to see them about one o\u2019clock on a fine summer day\nstanding at their father\u2019s cabin door, with their beautiful flaxen hair\nhanging in curls about their heads, and their cheeks like two rosy\napples, and a big laughing potato smoking in their hands. A proud man\nwas Mick of these fine children, and a proud woman, too, was Judy;\nand reason enough they had to be so. But it was far otherwise with the\nremaining one, which was the third eldest: he was the most miserable,\nugly, ill-conditioned brat you ever saw: he was so ill-thriven that he\nnever was able to stand alone, or to leave the cradle; he had long,\nshaggy, matted, curled hair, as black as the soot; his face was of a\ngreenish-yellow colour; his eyes were like two burning coals, and were\nfor ever moving in his head, as if they had had the perpetual motion.\nBefore he was a twelvemonth old he had a mouthful of great teeth; his\nhands were like kite\u2019s claws, and his legs were no thicker than the\nhandle of a whip, and about as straight as a reaping hook: to make the\nmatter worse, he had the appetite of a cormorant, and the whinge, and\nthe yelp, and the screech, and the yowl was never out of his mouth.\n\nThe neighbours all suspected that he was something not right,\nparticularly as it was observed, when people, as they do in the\ncountry, got about the fire and began to talk of religion and good\nthings, the brat, as he lay in the cradle, which his mother generally\nput near the fire-place that he might be snug, used to sit up, as they\nwere in the middle of their talk, and begin to bellow as if the devil\nwas in him in right earnest: this, as I said, led the neighbours to\nthink that all was not right, and there was a general consultation\nheld one day about what would be best to do with him. Some advised one\nthing, and some another; at last one spoke of sending for the priest,\nwho was a very holy and a very learned man, to see it. To this Judy of\ncourse had no objection, but one thing or another always prevented her\ndoing so, and the upshot of the business was that the priest never saw\nhim.\n\nThings went on in the old way for some time longer. The brat continued\nyelping and yowling, and eating more than his three brothers put\ntogether, and playing all sorts of unlucky tricks, for he was mighty\nmischievously inclined; till it happened one day that Tim Carrol, the\nblind piper, going his rounds, called in and sat down by the fire to\nhave a bit of chat with the woman of the house. So after some time,\nTim, who was no churl of his music, yoked on the pipes, and began\nto bellows away in high style; when the instant he began, the young\nfellow, who had been lying as still as a mouse in his cradle, sat up,\nbegan to grin and twist his ugly face, to swing about his long tawny\narms, and to kick out his crooked legs, and to show signs of great\nglee at the music. At last nothing would serve him but he should get\nthe pipes into his own hands, and to humour him his mother asked Tim\nto lend them to the child for a minute. Tim, who was kind to children,\nreadily consented; and as Tim had not his sight, Judy herself brought\nthem to the cradle, and went to put them on him; but she had no\noccasion, for the youth seemed quite up to the business. He buckled\non the pipes, set the bellows under one arm, and the bag under the\nother, worked them both as knowingly as if he had been twenty years\nat the business, and lilted up \u201cSheela na guira\u201d in the finest style\nimaginable.\n\nAll were in astonishment: the poor woman crossed herself. Tim, who, as\nI said before, was dark, and did not well know who was playing, was\nin great delight; and when he heard that it was a little prechan not\nfive years old, that had never seen a set of pipes in his life, he\nwished the mother joy of her son; offered to take him off her hands\nif she would part with him, swore he was born a piper, a natural\n_genus_, and declared that in a little time more, with the help of a\nlittle good instruction from himself, there would not be his match in\nthe whole county. The poor woman was greatly delighted to hear all\nthis, particularly as what Tim said about natural genus quieted some\nmisgivings that were rising in her mind, lest what the neighbours said\nabout his not being right might be too true; and it gratified her\nmoreover to think that her dear child (for she really loved the whelp)\nwould not be forced to turn out and beg, but might earn decent bread\nfor himself. So when Mick came home in the evening from his work, she\nup and told him all that had happened, and all that Tim Carrol had\nsaid; and Mick, as was natural, was very glad to hear it, for the\nhelpless condition of the poor creature was a great trouble to him. So\nnext day he took the pig to the fair, and with what it brought set off\nto Clonmel, and bespoke a brand-new set of pipes of the proper size for\nhim.\n\nIn about a fortnight the pipes came home, and the moment the chap in\nhis cradle laid eyes on them, he squealed with delight and threw up his\nlegs, and bumped himself in his cradle, and went on with a great many\ncomical tricks; till at last, to quiet him, they gave him the pipes,\nand he immediately set to and pulled away at \u201cJig Polthog,\u201d to the\nadmiration of all that heard him.\n\nThe fame of his skill on the pipes soon spread far and near, for there\nwas not a piper in the next six counties could come at all near him in\n\u201cOld Moderagh rue,\u201d or \u201cThe Hare in the Corn,\u201d or \u201cThe Fox-Hunter\u2019s\nJig,\u201d or \u201cThe Rakes of Cashel,\u201d or \u201cThe Piper\u2019s Maggot,\u201d or any of\nthe fine Irish jigs which make people dance whether they will or no:\nand it was surprising to hear him rattle away \u201cThe Fox Hunt\u201d; you\u2019d\nreally think you heard the hounds giving tongue and the terriers\nyelping always behind, and the huntsman and the whippers-in cheering or\ncorrecting the dogs; it was, in short, the very next thing to seeing\nthe hunt itself.\n\nThe best of him was he was noways stingy of his music, and many a merry\ndance the boys and girls of the neighbourhood used to have in his\nfather\u2019s cabin; and he would play up music for them, that they said\nused as it were to put quicksilver in their feet; and they all declared\nthey never moved so light and so airy to any piper\u2019s playing that ever\nthey danced to.\n\nBut besides all his fine Irish music, he had one queer tune of his\nown, the oddest that ever was heard; for the moment he began to play\nit everything in the house seemed disposed to dance; the plates and\nporringers used to jingle on the dresser, the pots and pot-hooks used\nto rattle in the chimney, and people used even to fancy they felt\nthe stools moving from under them; but, however it might be with the\nstools, it is certain that no one could keep long sitting on them, for\nboth old and young always fell to capering as hard as ever they could.\nThe girls complained that when he began this tune it always threw them\nout in their dancing, and that they never could handle their feet\nrightly, for they felt the floor like ice under them, and themselves\nevery moment ready to come sprawling on their backs or their faces. The\nyoung bachelors that wished to show off their dancing and their new\npumps, and their bright red or green and yellow garters, swore that it\nconfused them so that they never could go rightly through the _heel\nand toe_, or _cover the buckle_, or any of their best steps, but felt\nthemselves always all bedizzied and bewildered, and then old and young\nwould go jostling and knocking together in a frightful manner; and when\nthe unlucky brat had them all in this way, whirligigging about the\nfloor, he\u2019d grin and chuckle and chatter, for all the world like Jacko\nthe monkey when he has played off some of his roguery.\n\nThe older he grew the worse he grew, and by the time he was six years\nold there was no standing the house for him; he was always making his\nbrothers burn or scald themselves, or break their shins over the pots\nand stools. One time, in harvest, he was left at home by himself, and\nwhen his mother came in she found the cat a-horseback on the dog, with\nher face to the tail, and her legs tied round him, and the urchin\nplaying his queer tune to them; so that the dog went barking and\njumping about, and puss was mewing for the dear life, and slapping her\ntail backwards and forwards, which, as it would hit against the dog\u2019s\nchaps, he\u2019d snap it and bite, and then there was the philliloo. Another\ntime, the farmer with whom Mick worked, a very decent, respectable man,\nhappened to call in, and Judy wiped a stool with her apron, and invited\nhim to sit down and rest himself after his walk. He was sitting with\nhis back to the cradle, and behind him was a pan of blood, for Judy\nwas making pig\u2019s puddings. The lad lay quite still in his nest, and\nwatched his opportunity till he got ready a hook at the end of a piece\nof twine, which he contrived to fling so handily that it caught in\nthe bob of the man\u2019s nice new wig, and soused it in the pan of blood.\nAnother time his mother was coming in from milking the cow, with the\npail on her head: the minute he saw her he lilted up his infernal tune\nand the poor woman, letting go the pail, clapped her hands aside and\nbegan to dance a jig, and tumbled the milk all atop of her husband,\nwho was bringing in some turf to boil the supper. In short there would\nbe no end to telling all his pranks, and all the mischievous tricks he\nplayed.\n\nSoon after, some mischances began to happen to the farmer\u2019s cattle. A\nhorse took the staggers, a fine veal calf died, and some of his sheep;\nthe cows began to grow vicious, and to kick down the milk pails, and\nthe roof of one end of the barn fell in; and the farmer took it into\nhis head that Mick Flanigan\u2019s unlucky child was the cause of all the\nmischief. So one day he called Mick aside and said to him: \u201cMick, you\nsee things are not going on with me as they ought, and to be plain with\nyou, Mick, I think that child of yours is the cause of it. I am really\nfalling away to nothing with fretting, and I can hardly sleep on my bed\nat night for thinking of what may happen before the morning. So I\u2019d be\nglad if you\u2019d look out for work somewhere else; you\u2019re as good a man as\nany in the country, and there\u2019s no fear but you\u2019ll have your choice of\nwork.\u201d\n\nTo this Mick replied, that he was sorry for his losses, and still\nsorrier that he and his should be thought to be the cause of them; that\nfor his own part he was not quite easy in his mind about that child,\nbut he had him and so must keep him. And he promised to look out for\nanother place at once.\n\nSo Mick gave out that he was about to leave his work at John Riordan\u2019s,\nand immediately a farmer who lived a couple of miles off, and who\nwanted a ploughman (the last one having just left him), came up to\nMick, and offered him a house and garden, and work all the year round.\nMick, who knew him to be a good employer, immediately closed with him;\nso it was agreed the farmer should send a car to take his little bit of\nfurniture, and that he should remove on the following Thursday.\n\nWhen Thursday came, the car came according to promise, and Mick loaded\nit, and put the cradle with the child and his pipes on the top, and\nJudy sat beside it to take care of him, lest he should tumble out. They\ndrove the cow before them, the dog followed, but the cat was of course\nleft behind; and the other three children went along the road picking\nskee-hories (haws) and blackberries, for it was a fine day towards the\nlatter end of harvest.\n\nThey had to cross a river, but as it ran through a bottom between two\nhigh banks, you did not see it till you were close on it. The young\nfellow was lying pretty quiet in the bottom of the cradle, till they\ncame to the head of the bridge, when hearing the roaring of the water\n(for there was a great flood in the river, as it had rained heavily\nfor the last two or three days), he sat up in his cradle and looked\nabout him; and the instant he got a sight of the water and found they\nwere going to take him across it, oh! how he did bellow and how he did\nsqueal!--no rat caught in a snap-trap ever sang out equal to him.\n\n\u201cWhisht! a lanna,\u201d said Judy, \u201cthere\u2019s no fear of you; sure it\u2019s only\nover the stone bridge we\u2019re going.\u201d\n\n\u201cBad luck to you, you old rip!\u201d cried he, \u201cwhat a pretty trick you\u2019ve\nplayed me, to bring me here!\u201d And still he went on yelling, and the\nfurther they got on the bridge the louder he yelled, till at last Mick\ncould hold out no longer, so giving him a skelp with the whip he had\nin his hand, \u201cYou brat!\u201d he said, \u201cwill you never stop bawling? A body\ncan\u2019t hear their ears for you.\u201d\n\nThe moment he felt the thong of the whip, he leaped up in the cradle,\nclapped the pipes under his arm, gave a most wicked grin at Mick, and\njumped clean off the cart over the side of the bridge down into the\nwater.\n\n\u201cO my child, my child!\u201d shouted Judy, \u201che\u2019s gone for ever from me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Sitting cross-legged on the top of a wave]\n\nMick and the rest of the children ran to the other side of the bridge,\nand looking over, they saw him coming out from under the arch of the\nbridge, sitting cross-legged on the top of a white-headed wave, and\nplaying away on the pipes as merrily as if nothing had happened. The\nriver was running very rapidly, so he was whirled away at a great rate;\nbut he played as fast, ay and faster, than the river ran; and though\nthey set off as hard as they could along the bank, yet, as the river\nmade a sudden turn round the hill, about a hundred yards below the\nbridge, by the time they got there he was out of sight, and no one ever\nlaid eyes on him more; but the general opinion was that he went home\nwith the pipes to his own relations, the good people, to make music for\nthem.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThey must have been well-rid of such an uncomfortable child,\u201d said\nKing Oberon, though it was noticed that he and most of the fairies were\nlaughing to think of the astonishment which must have been shown by\nMick and Judy when the young piper went plump over into the river off\nthe cart-load of furniture.\n\nThey were still laughing when a voice exclaimed,\n\n\u201cMine is a short story with a long name.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Jumped clean off the cart over the bridge down into the\nwater]\n\nAt once the laughter stopped and all turned to the stool on which a\nquaint Gnome was sitting with one leg over the knee of the other and\nwith his hands clasping his foot was rocking backwards and forwards\nuntil he saw that everybody\u2019s attention was directed to him, when he\nwent on to say:\n\n\u201cSometimes when fairy-folk who are not so good as they might be, try\nto do harm to people by pretending to do them good, they are not so\nsuccessful, as you will learn from my tale of\n\n[Illustration: The gnome]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The miller\u2019s daughter]\n\nRumpel-Stilts-Ken\n\n\nBy the side of a wood, in a country a long way off, ran a fine stream\nof water; and upon the stream there stood a mill. The miller\u2019s house\nwas close by, and the miller, you must know, had a very beautiful\ndaughter. She was, moreover, very shrewd and clever; and the miller\nwas so proud of her, that he one day told the king of the land, who\nused to come and hunt in the wood, that his daughter could spin gold\nout of straw. Now this king was very fond of money; and when he heard\nthe miller\u2019s boast his greediness was raised, and he sent for the girl\nto be brought before him. Then he led her to a chamber in his palace\nwhere there was a great heap of straw, and gave her a spinning-wheel,\nand said, \u201cAll this must be spun into gold before morning, as you love\nyour life.\u201d It was in vain that the poor maiden said that it was only a\nsilly boast of her father, for that she could do no such thing as spin\nstraw into gold: the chamber door was locked, and she was left alone.\n\nShe sat down in one corner of the room, and began to bewail her hard\nfate; when on a sudden the door opened, and a droll-looking little man\nhobbled in, and said, \u201cGood morrow to you, my good lass; what are you\nweeping for?\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said she, \u201cI must spin this straw into gold, and\nI know not how.\u201d \u201cWhat will you give me,\u201d said the hobgoblin, \u201cto do it\nfor you?\u201d \u201cMy necklace,\u201d replied the maiden. He took her at her word,\nand sat himself down to the wheel, and whistled and sang--\n\n \u201cRound about, round about,\n Lo and behold!\n Reel away, reel away,\n Straw into gold!\u201d\n\nAnd round about the wheel went merrily; the work was quickly done, and\nthe straw was all spun into gold.\n\nWhen the king came in and saw this, he was greatly astonished and\npleased; but his heart grew still more greedy of gain, and he shut up\nthe poor miller\u2019s daughter again with a fresh task. Then she knew not\nwhat to do, and sat down once more to weep; but the dwarf soon opened\nthe door, and said, \u201cWhat will you give me to do your task?\u201d \u201cThe ring\non my finger,\u201d said she. So her little friend took the ring, and began\nto work at the wheel again, and whistled and sang--\n\n \u201cRound about, round about,\n Lo and behold!\n Reel away, reel away,\n Straw into gold!\u201d\n\ntill, long before morning, all was done again.\n\nThe king was greatly delighted to see all this glittering treasure;\nbut still he had not enough: so he took the miller\u2019s daughter to a yet\nlarger heap, and said, \u201cAll this must be spun to-night; and if it is,\nyou shall be my queen.\u201d As soon as she was alone the dwarf came in, and\nsaid, \u201cWhat will you give me to spin gold for you this third time?\u201d \u201cI\nhave nothing left,\u201d said she. \u201cThen say you will give me,\u201d said the\nlittle man, \u201cthe first little child that you may have when you are\nqueen.\u201d \u201cThat may never be,\u201d thought the miller\u2019s daughter: and as\nshe knew no other way to get her task done, she said she would do what\nhe asked. Round went the wheel again to the old song, and the manikin\nonce more spun the heap into gold. The king came in the morning, and,\nfinding all he wanted, was forced to keep his word; so he married the\nmiller\u2019s daughter, and she really became queen.\n\nAt the birth of her first little child she was very glad, and forgot\nthe dwarf, and what she had said. But one day he came into her room,\nwhere she was sitting playing with her baby, and put her in mind of it.\nThen she grieved sorely at her misfortune, and said she would give him\nall the wealth of the kingdom if he would let her off, but in vain;\ntill at last her tears softened him, and he said, \u201cI will give you\nthree days\u2019 grace, and, if during that time you tell me my name, you\nshall keep your child.\u201d\n\nNow the queen lay awake all night, thinking of all the odd names that\nshe had ever heard; and she sent messengers all over the land to find\nout new ones. The next day the little man came, and she began with\n+TIMOTHY+, +ICHABOD+, +BENJAMIN+, +JEREMIAH+, and all the names she\ncould remember; but to all and each of them he said, \u201cMadam, that is\nnot my name.\u201d\n\nThe second day she began with all the comical names she could hear of,\n+BANDY-LEGS+, +HUNCH-BACK+, +CROOK-SHANKS+, and so on; but the little\ngentleman still said to every one of them, \u201cMadam, that is not my name.\u201d\n\nThe third day one of the messengers came back and said, \u201cI travelled\ntwo days without hearing of any other names; but yesterday, as I was\nclimbing a high hill, among the trees of the forest where the fox and\nthe hare bid each other good-night, I saw a little hut; and before the\nhut burnt a fire; and round about the fire a funny little dwarf was\ndancing upon one leg, and singing--\n\n \u201c\u2018Merrily the feast I\u2019ll make,\n To-day I\u2019ll brew, to-morrow bake;\n Merrily I\u2019ll dance and sing,\n For next day will a stranger bring.\n Little does my lady dream\n Rumpel-stilts-ken is my name!\u2019\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The king came in the morning]\n\n[Illustration: Dashed his right foot so deep into the floor that he was\nforced to lay hold of it with both hands to pull it out]\n\nWhen the queen heard this she jumped for joy, and as soon as her\nlittle friend came she sat down upon her throne, and called all her\ncourt round to enjoy the fun; and the nurse stood by her side with the\nbaby in her arms, as if it was quite ready to be given up. Then the\nlittle man began to chuckle at the thoughts of having the poor child\nto take home with him to his hut in the woods; and he cried out, \u201cNow,\nlady, what is my name?\u201d \u201cIs it +JOHN+?\u201d asked she. \u201cNo, madam!\u201d \u201cIs\nit +TOM+?\u201d \u201cNo, madam!\u201d \u201cIs it +JEMMY+?\u201d \u201cIt is not!\u201d \u201cCan your name\nbe +RUMPEL-STILTS-KEN+?\u201d said the lady slily. \u201cSome witch told you\nthat!--some witch told you that!\u201d cried the little man, and dashed his\nright foot in a rage so deep into the floor, that he was forced to lay\nhold of it with both hands to pull it out.\n\nThen he made the best of his way off, while the nurse laughed and the\nbaby crowed; and all the court jeered at him for having had so much\ntrouble for nothing, and said, \u201cWe wish you a very good morning, and a\nmerry feast, Mr +RUMPEL-STILTS-KEN+!\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cToo short, too short,\u201d said King Oberon.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty,\u201d protested the Gnome in a dignified manner, \u201ca story\nshould not be measured by the number of words which it contains, nor\nshould twenty minutes be spent over a tale which can be told in ten.\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue,\u201d replied Oberon good-humouredly, \u201cbut as you can tell us so\nmuch in so little time perhaps you can tell us another.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith pleasure,\u201d said the flattered Gnome, and at once, merely pausing\nwhile he reversed the position of his legs so that he nursed the left\none instead of the right, he began the story of\n\n[Illustration: The gnome]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: On he went scrambling]\n\nKarl Katz\n\n\nIn the midst of the Hartz forests there is a high mountain, of which\nthe neighbours tell all sorts of stories: how the goblins and fairies\ndance on it by night; and how the old Emperor Red-beard holds his court\nthere, and sits on his marble throne, with his long beard sweeping on\nthe ground.\n\nA great many years ago there lived in a village at the foot of this\nmountain, one Karl Katz. Now Karl was a goatherd, and every morning he\ndrove his flock to feed upon the green spots that are here and there\nfound on the mountain\u2019s side. In the evening he sometimes thought it\ntoo late to drive his charge home; so he used in such cases to shut\nit up in a spot amongst the woods, where the old ruined walls of some\ncastle that had long ago been deserted were left standing, and were\nhigh enough to form a fold, in which he could count his goats, and\nlet them rest for the night. One evening he found that the prettiest\ngoat of his flock had vanished, soon after they were driven into this\nfold. He searched everywhere for it in vain; but, to his surprise and\ndelight, when he counted his flock in the morning, what should he see,\nthe first of the flock, but his lost goat! Again and again the same\nstrange thing happened. At last he thought he would watch still more\nnarrowly; and, having looked carefully over the old walls, he found a\nnarrow doorway, through which it seemed that his favourite made her\nway. Karl followed, and found a path leading downwards through a cleft\nin the rocks. On he went, scrambling as well as he could, down the side\nof the rock, and at last came to the mouth of a cave, where he lost\nsight of his goat. Just then he saw that his faithful dog was not with\nhim. He whistled, but no dog was there; and he was therefore forced to\ngo into the cave and try to find his goat by himself.\n\nHe groped his way for a while, and at last came to a place where a\nlittle light found its way in; and there he wondered not a little to\nfind his goat, employing itself very much at its ease in the cavern, in\neating corn, which kept dropping from some place over its head. He went\nup and looked about him, to see where all this corn, that rattled about\nhis ears like a hail-storm, could come from: but all overhead was dark,\nand he could find no clue to this strange business.\n\nAt last, as he stood listening, he thought he heard the neighing and\nstamping of horses. He listened again; it was plainly so; and after\na while he was sure that horses were feeding above him, and that the\ncorn fell from their mangers. What could these horses be which were\nthus kept in the clefts of rocks, where none but the goat\u2019s foot ever\ntrod? There must be people of some sort or other living here; and who\ncould they be? and was it safe to trust himself in such company? Karl\npondered awhile; but his wonder only grew greater and greater, when on\na sudden he heard his own name, \u201cKarl Katz!\u201d echo through the cavern.\nHe turned round, but could see nothing. \u201cKarl Katz!\u201d again sounded\nsharply in his ears; and soon out came a little dwarfish page, with a\nhigh-peaked hat and a scarlet cloak, from a dark corner at one end of\nthe cave.\n\nThe dwarf nodded, and beckoned him to follow. Karl thought he should\nfirst like to know a little about who it was that thus sought his\ncompany. He asked: but the dwarf shook his head, answering not a word,\nand again beckoned him to follow. He did so; and winding his way\nthrough ruins, he soon heard rolling overhead what sounded like peals\nof thunder, echoing among the rocks: the noise grew louder and louder\nas he went on, and at last he came to a courtyard surrounded by old\nivy-grown walls. The spot seemed to be the bosom of a little valley;\nabove rose on every hand high masses of rock; wide-branching trees\nthrew their arms overhead, so that nothing but a glimmering twilight\nmade its way through; and here, on the cool smooth-shaven turf, Karl\nsaw twelve strange old figures amusing themselves very sedately with a\ngame of nine-pins.\n\nTheir dress did not seem altogether strange to Karl, for in the church\nof the town whither he went every week to market there was an old\nmonument, with figures of queer old knights upon it, dressed in the\nvery same fashion. Not a word fell from any of their lips. They moved\nabout soberly and gravely, each taking his turn at the game; but the\noldest of them ordered Karl Katz, by dumb signs, to busy himself in\nsetting up the pins as they knocked them down. At first his knees\ntrembled, as he hardly dared snatch a stolen sidelong glance at the\nlong beards and old-fashioned dresses of the worthy knights; but he\nsoon saw that as each knight played out his game he went to his seat,\nand there took a hearty draught at a flagon, which the dwarf kept\nfilled, and which sent up the smell of the richest old wine.\n\nLittle by little Karl got bolder; and at last he plucked up his heart\nso far as to beg the dwarf, by signs, to let him too take his turn at\nthe flagon. The dwarf gave it him with a grave bow, and Karl thought he\nnever tasted anything half so good before. This gave him new strength\nfor his work; and as often as he flagged at all he turned to the same\nkind friend for help in his need.\n\nWhich was tired first, he or the knights, Karl never could tell; or\nwhether the wine got the better of his head: but what he knew was,\nthat sleep at last overpowered him, and that when he awoke he found\nhimself stretched out upon the old spot within the walls where he\nhad folded his flock, and saw that the bright sun was high up in the\nheavens. The same green turf was spread beneath, and the same tottering\nivy-clad walls surrounded him. He rubbed his eyes and called his dog;\nbut neither dog nor goat was to be seen; and when he looked about\nhim again, the grass seemed to be longer under his feet than it was\nyesterday; and trees hung over his head which he had either never seen\nbefore, or had quite forgotten. Shaking his head, and hardly knowing\nwhether he was in his right mind, he got up and stretched himself:\nsomehow or other his joints felt stiffer than they were. \u201cIt serves me\nright,\u201d said he; \u201cthis comes of sleeping out of one\u2019s own bed.\u201d Little\nby little he recollected his evening\u2019s sport, and licked his lips as\nhe thought of the charming wine he had taken so much of. \u201cBut who,\u201d\nthought he, \u201ccan those people be, that come to this odd place to play\nat nine-pins?\u201d\n\nHis first step was to look for the doorway through which he had\nfollowed his goat; but to his astonishment, not the least trace of an\nopening of any sort was to be seen. There stood the wall, without chink\nor crack big enough for a rat to pass through. Again he paused and\nscratched his head. His hat was full of holes: \u201cWhy, it was new last\nShrove-tide!\u201d said he. By chance his eye fell next on his shoes, which\nwere almost new when he last left home; but now they looked so old,\nthat they were likely to fall to pieces before he could get home.\nAll his clothes seemed in the same sad plight. The more he looked, the\nmore he pondered, the more he was at a loss to know what could have\nhappened to him.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTWELVE STRANGE OLD FIGURES AMUSING THEMSELVES VERY\nSEDATELY WITH A GAME OF NINE PINS\u201d. _Karl Katz._]\n\nAt length he turned round, and left the old walls to look for his\nflock. Slow and out of heart he wound his way among the mountain\nsteeps, through paths where his flocks were wont to wander: still not a\ngoat was to be seen. Again he whistled and called his dog, but no dog\ncame. Below him in the plain lay the village where his home was; so at\nlength he took the downward path, and set out with a heavy heart and a\nfaltering step in search of his flock.\n\n\u201cSurely,\u201d said he, \u201cI shall soon meet some neighbour, who can tell me\nwhere my goats are?\u201d But the people who met him, as he drew near to\nthe village, were all unknown to him. They were not even dressed as\nhis neighbours were, and they seemed as if they hardly spoke the same\ntongue. When he eagerly asked each, as he came up, after his goats,\nthey only stared at him and stroked their chins. At last he did the\nsame too; and what was his wonder to find that his beard was grown\nat least a foot long! \u201cThe world,\u201d said he to himself, \u201cis surely\nturned upside down, or if not, I must be bewitched\u201d: and yet he knew\nthe mountain, as he turned round again, and looked back on its woody\nheights; and he knew the houses and cottages also, with their little\ngardens, as he entered the village. All were in the places he had\nalways known them in; and he heard some children, too (as a traveller\nthat passed by was asking his way), call the village by the very same\nname he had always known it to bear.\n\nAgain he shook his head, and went straight through the village to his\nown cottage. Alas! it looked sadly out of repair; the windows were\nbroken, the door off its hinges, and in the courtyard lay an unknown\nchild, in a ragged dress, playing with a rough, toothless old dog, whom\nhe thought he ought to know, but who snarled and barked in his face\nwhen he called to him. He went in at the open doorway; but he found\nall so dreary and empty, that he staggered out again like a drunken\nman, and called his wife and children loudly by their names: but no one\nheard, at least no one answered him.\n\nA crowd of women and children soon flocked around the strange-looking\nman with the long grey beard; and all broke upon him at once with the\nquestions, \u201cWho are you?\u201d \u201cWho is it that you want?\u201d It seemed to\nhim so odd to ask other people, at his own door, after his wife and\nchildren, that, in order to get rid of the crowd, he named the first\nman that came into his head. \u201cHans the blacksmith?\u201d said he. Most held\ntheir tongues and stared; but at last an old woman said, \u201cHe went these\nseven years ago to a place that you will not reach to-day.\u201d \u201cFritz\nthe tailor, then?\u201d \u201cHeaven rest his soul!\u201d said an old beldam upon\ncrutches; \u201che has lain these ten years in a house that he\u2019ll never\nleave.\u201d\n\nKarl Katz looked at the old woman again, and shuddered, as he knew\nher to be one of his old gossips; but saw she had a strangely altered\nface. All wish to ask further questions was gone; but at last a young\nwoman made her way through the gaping throng, with a baby in her arms,\nand a little girl of about three years old clinging to her other hand.\nAll three looked the very image of his own wife. \u201cWhat is thy name?\u201d\nasked he, wildly. \u201cLiese!\u201d said she. \u201cAnd your father\u2019s?\u201d \u201cKarl Katz!\nHeaven bless him!\u201d said she: \u201cbut, poor man! he is lost and gone. It\nis now full twenty years since we sought for him day and night on the\nmountain. His dog and his flock came back, but he never was heard of\nany more. I was then seven years old.\u201d\n\nPoor Karl could hold no longer: \u201cI am Karl Katz, and no other!\u201d said\nhe, as he took the child from his daughter\u2019s arms and kissed it over\nand over again.\n\nAll stood gaping, and hardly knowing what to say or think, when old\nStropken the schoolmaster hobbled by, and took a long and close look at\nhim. \u201cKarl Katz! Karl Katz!\u201d said he slowly: \u201cwhy, it _is_ Karl Katz,\nsure enough! There is my own mark upon him; there is the scar over his\nright eye, that I gave him myself one day with my oak stick.\u201d Then\nseveral others also cried out, \u201cYes it is! it is Karl Katz! Welcome,\nneighbour, welcome home!\u201d \u201cBut where,\u201d said or thought all, \u201ccan an\nhonest steady fellow like you have been these twenty years?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The strange-looking man with the long grey beard]\n\nAnd now the whole village had flocked around; the children laughed, the\ndogs barked, and all were glad to see neighbour Karl home alive and\nwell. As to where he had been for the twenty years, that was a part of\nthe story at which Karl shrugged up his shoulders; for he never could\nvery well explain it, and seemed to think the less that was said about\nit the better. But it was plain enough that what dwelt most on his\nmemory was the noble wine that had tickled his mouth while the knights\nplayed their game of nine-pins.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNo sooner had the Gnome concluded his story than a funny looking\nfairy with feathers in his hair and hanging in a stream all down his\nback--just like a Red Indian in all his war-paint--exclaimed,\n\n\u201cKarl Katz, indeed, the people where I come from call him Rip Van\nWinkle and he really--\u201d\n\n\u201cStop, my little friend,\u201d said the king, \u201cwhen we want your very\nentertaining story we will ask you for it, no doubt there are more folk\nthan Karl Katz and your friend Rip Van Winkle who have lived long with\nthe fairies and gone back after years to their own people.\u201d\n\n\u201cHistory repeats itself,\u201d said the Gnome sententiously.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d added Oberon, \u201cand you have repeated enough, so now we will have\na story from someone else.\u201d\n\nThe fairies all laughed at the king\u2019s little sally, and settled\nthemselves down to hear the next tale, which was given by the Fairy\nPeaseblossom, one of the attendants upon Queen Titania who, knowing her\nMajesty\u2019s favourite story, told them of\n\n[Illustration: Fairy Peaseblossom]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: He laid his head against her bosom]\n\nThe Wild Swans\n\n\nFar away, where the swallows take refuge in winter, lived a king who\nhad eleven sons and one daughter, Elise. The eleven brothers--they\nwere all princes--used to go to school with stars on their breasts\nand swords at their sides. They wrote upon golden slates with diamond\npencils, and could read just as well without a book as with one, so\nthere was no mistake about their being real princes. Their sister\nElise sat upon a little footstool of looking-glass, and she had a\npicture-book which had cost the half of a kingdom. Oh, these children\nwere very happy; but it was not to last thus for ever.\n\nTheir father, who was king over all the land, married a wicked queen\nwho was not at all kind to the poor children; they found that out on\nthe first day. All was festive at the castle, but when the children\nwanted to play at having company, instead of having as many cakes and\nbaked apples as ever they wanted, she would only let them have some\nsand in a tea-cup, and said they must make-believe.\n\nIn the following week she sent little Elise into the country to board\nwith some peasants, and it did not take her long to make the king\nbelieve so many bad things about the boys, that he cared no longer for\nthem.\n\n\u201cFly out into the world and look after yourselves,\u201d said the wicked\nqueen; \u201cyou shall fly about like birds without voices.\u201d\n\nBut she could not make things as bad for them as she would have liked;\nthey turned into eleven beautiful wild swans. They flew out of the\npalace window with a weird scream, right across the park and the woods.\n\nIt was very early in the morning when they came to the place where\ntheir sister Elise was sleeping in the peasant\u2019s house. They hovered\nover the roof of the house, turning and twisting their long necks, and\nflapping their wings; but no one either heard or saw them. They had to\nfly away again, and they soared up towards the clouds, far out into the\nwide world, and they settled in a big, dark wood, which stretched right\ndown to the shore.\n\nPoor little Elise stood in the peasant\u2019s room, playing with a green\nleaf, for she had no other toys. She made a little hole in it, which\nshe looked through at the sun, and it seemed to her as if she saw\nher brothers\u2019 bright eyes. Every time the warm sunbeams shone upon\nher cheek, it reminded her of their kisses. One day passed just like\nanother. When the wind whistled through the rose-hedges outside the\nhouse, it whispered to the roses, \u201cWho can be prettier than you are?\u201d\nBut the roses shook their heads and answered, \u201cElise!\u201d And when the old\nwoman sat in the doorway reading her Psalms, the wind turned over the\nleaves and said to the book, \u201cWho can be more pious than you?\u201d \u201cElise!\u201d\nanswered the book. Both the roses and the book of Psalms only spoke the\ntruth.\n\nShe was to go home when she was fifteen, but when the queen saw how\npretty she was she got very angry, and her heart was filled with\nhatred. She would willingly have turned her into a wild swan too, like\nher brothers, but she did not dare to do it at once, for the king\nwanted to see his daughter. The queen always went to the bath in the\nearly morning. It was built of marble and adorned with soft cushions\nand beautiful carpets.\n\nShe took three toads, kissed them, and said to the first, \u201cSit upon\nElise\u2019s head when she comes to the bath, so that she may become\nsluggish like yourself.\u201d \u201cSit upon her forehead,\u201d she said to the\nsecond, \u201cthat she may become ugly like you, and then her father won\u2019t\nknow her! Rest upon her heart,\u201d she whispered to the third. \u201cLet an\nevil spirit come over her, which may be a burden to her.\u201d Then she put\nthe toads into the clean water, and a green tinge immediately came over\nit. She called Elise, undressed her, and made her go into the bath;\nwhen she ducked under the water, one of the toads got among her hair,\nthe other got on to her forehead, and the third on to her bosom. But\nwhen she stood up three scarlet poppies floated on the water; had not\nthe creatures been poisonous, and kissed by the sorceress, they would\nhave been changed into crimson roses, but yet they became flowers from\nmerely having rested a moment on her head and her heart. She was far\ntoo good and innocent for the sorcery to have any power over her. When\nthe wicked Queen saw this, she rubbed her over with walnut juice, and\nsmeared her face with some evil-smelling salve. She also matted up\nher beautiful hair; it would have been impossible to recognise pretty\nElise. When her father saw her, he was quite horrified and said that\nshe could not be his daughter. Nobody would have anything to say to\nher, except the yard dog, and the swallows, and they were only poor\ndumb animals whose opinion went for nothing.\n\nPoor Elise wept, and thought of her eleven brothers who were all lost.\nShe crept sadly out of the palace and wandered about all day, over\nmeadows and marshes, and into a big forest. She did not know in the\nleast where she wanted to go, but she felt very sad, and longed for\nher brothers, who, no doubt, like herself had been driven out of the\npalace. She made up her mind to go and look for them, but she had only\nbeen in the wood for a short time when night fell. She had quite lost\nher way, so she lay down upon the soft moss, said her evening prayer,\nand rested her head on a little hillock. It was very still and the air\nwas mild, hundreds of glow-worms shone around her on the grass and in\nthe marsh like green fire. When she gently moved one of the branches\nover her head, the little shining insects fell over her like a shower\nof stars. She dreamt about her brothers all night long. Again they\nwere children playing together: they wrote upon the golden slates with\ntheir diamond pencils, and she looked at the picture-book which had\ncost half a kingdom. But they no longer wrote strokes and noughts upon\ntheir slates as they used to do; no, they wrote down all their boldest\nexploits, and everything that they had seen and experienced. Everything\nin the picture-book was alive, the birds sang, and the people walked\nout of the book, and spoke to Elise and her brothers. When she turned\nover a page, they skipped back into their places again, so that there\nshould be no confusion among the pictures.\n\nWhen she woke the sun was already high; it is true she could not see it\nvery well through the thick branches of the lofty forest trees, but the\nsunbeams cast a golden shimmer around beyond the forest. There was a\nfresh delicious scent of grass and herbs in the air, and the birds were\nalmost ready to perch upon her shoulders. She could hear the splashing\nof water, for there were many springs around, which all flowed into a\npond with a lovely sandy bottom. It was surrounded with thick bushes,\nbut there was one place which the stags had trampled down and Elise\npassed through the opening to the water side. It was so transparent,\nthat had not the branches been moved by the breeze, she must have\nthought that they were painted on the bottom, so plainly was every leaf\nreflected, both those on which the sun played, and those which were in\nshade.\n\nWhen she saw her own face she was quite frightened, it was so brown\nand ugly, but when she wet her little hand and rubbed her eyes and\nforehead, her white skin shone through again. Then she took off all her\nclothes and went into the fresh water. A more beautiful royal child\nthan she, could not be found in all the world.\n\nWhen she had put on her clothes again, and plaited her long hair,\nshe went to a sparkling spring and drank some of the water out of the\nhollow of her hand. Then she wandered further into the wood, though\nwhere she was going she had not the least idea. She thought of her\nbrothers, and she thought of a merciful God who would not forsake her.\nHe let the wild crab-apples grow to feed the hungry. He showed her\na tree, the branches of which were bending beneath their weight of\nfruit. Here she made her midday meal, and, having put props under the\nbranches, she walked on into the thickest part of the forest. It was so\nquiet that she heard her own footsteps, she heard every little withered\nleaf which bent under her feet. Not a bird was to be seen, not a ray of\nsunlight pierced the leafy branches, and the tall trunks were so close\ntogether that when she looked before her it seemed as if a thick fence\nof heavy beams hemmed her in on every side. The solitude was such as\nshe had never known before.\n\n[Illustration: The Saviour looked down and little angels\u2019 heads peeped\nout above His head and under His arms]\n\nIt was a very dark night, not a single glow-worm sparkled in the marsh;\nsadly she lay down to sleep, and it seemed to her as if the branches\nabove her parted asunder, and the Saviour looked down upon her with His\nloving eyes, and little angels\u2019 heads peeped out above His head and\nunder His arms.\n\nWhen she woke in the morning she was not sure if she had dreamt this,\nor whether it was really true.\n\nShe walked a little further, when she met an old woman with a basket\nfull of berries, of which she gave her some. Elise asked if she had\nseen eleven princes ride through the wood. \u201cNo,\u201d said the old woman,\n\u201cbut yesterday I saw eleven swans, with golden crowns upon their heads,\nswimming in the stream close by here.\u201d\n\nShe led Elise a little further to a slope, at the foot of which the\nstream meandered. The trees on either bank stretched out their rich\nleafy branches towards each other, and where, from their natural\ngrowth, they could not reach each other, they had torn their roots\nout of the ground, and leant over the water so as to interlace their\nbranches.\n\nElise said good-bye to the old woman, and walked along by the river\ntill it flowed out into the great open sea.\n\nThe beautiful open sea lay before the maiden, but not a sail was to be\nseen on it, not a single boat. How was she ever to get any further?\nShe looked at the numberless little pebbles on the beach; they were\nall worn quite round by the water. Glass, iron, stone, whatever was\nwashed up had taken their shapes from the water, which yet was much\nsofter than her little hand. \u201cWith all its rolling, it is untiring, and\neverything hard is smoothed down. I will be just as untiring! Thank you\nfor your lesson, you clear rolling waves! Some time, so my heart tells\nme, you will bear me to my beloved brothers!\u201d\n\nEleven white swans\u2019 feathers were lying on the sea-weed; she picked\nthem up and made a bunch of them. There were still drops of water on\nthem. Whether these were dew or tears no one could tell. It was very\nlonely there by the shore, but she did not feel it, for the sea was\never-changing. There were more changes on it in the course of a few\nhours than could be seen on an inland fresh water lake in a year. If a\nbig black cloud arose, it was just as if the sea wanted to say, \u201cI can\nlook black too,\u201d and then the wind blew up and the waves shewed their\nwhite crests. But if the clouds were red and the wind dropped, the sea\nlooked like a rose-leaf, now white, now green. But however still it\nwas, there was always a little gentle motion just by the shore, the\nwater rose and fell softly like the bosom of a sleeping child.\n\nWhen the sun was just about to go down, Elise saw eleven wild swans\nwith golden crowns upon their heads flying towards the shore. They flew\nin a swaying line, one behind the other, like a white ribbon streamer.\nElise climbed up on to the bank and hid behind a bush; the swans\nsettled close by her and flapped their great white wings.\n\nAs soon as the sun had sunk beneath the water, the swans shed their\nfeathers and became eleven handsome princes; they were Elise\u2019s\nbrothers. Although they had altered a good deal, she knew them at once;\nshe felt that they must be her brothers and she sprang into their arms,\ncalling them by name. They were delighted when they recognised their\nlittle sister who had grown so big and beautiful. They laughed and\ncried, and told each other how wickedly their stepmother had treated\nthem all.\n\n\u201cWe brothers,\u201d said the eldest, \u201chave to fly about in the guise of\nswans, as long as the sun is above the horizon. When it goes down\nwe regain our human shapes. So we always have to look out for a\nresting-place near sunset, for should we happen to be flying up among\nthe clouds when the sun goes down, we should be hurled to the depths\nbelow. We do not live here; there is another land, just as beautiful\nas this beyond the sea; but the way to it is very long and we have to\ncross the mighty ocean to get to it. There is not a single island on\nthe way where we can spend the night, only one solitary little rock\njuts up above the water midway. It is only just big enough for us\nto stand upon close together, and if there is a heavy sea the water\nsplashes over us, yet we thank our God for it. We stay there over\nnight in our human forms, and without it we could never revisit our\nbeloved Fatherland, for our flight takes two of the longest days in\nthe year. We are only permitted to visit the home of our fathers once\na year, and we dare only stay for eleven days. We hover over this big\nforest from whence we catch a glimpse of the palace where we were\nborn, and where our father lives; beyond it we can see the high church\ntowers where our mother is buried. We fancy that the trees and bushes\nhere are related to us; and the wild horses gallop over the moors as\nwe used to see them in our childhood. The charcoal burners still sing\nthe old songs we used to dance to when we were children. This is our\nFatherland, we are drawn towards it, and here we have found you again,\ndear little sister! We may stay here two days longer, and then we must\nfly away again across the ocean, to a lovely country indeed, but it is\nnot our own dear Fatherland! How shall we ever take you with us, we\nhave neither ship nor boat!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can I deliver you!\u201d said their sister, and they went on talking to\neach other, nearly all night, they only dozed for a few hours.\n\nElise was awakened in the morning by the rustling of the swans\u2019 wings\nabove her; her brothers were again transformed and were wheeling round\nin great circles, till she lost sight of them in the distance. One of\nthem, the youngest, stayed behind. He laid his head against her bosom,\nand she caressed it with her fingers. They remained together all day;\ntowards evening the others came back, and as soon as the sun went down\nthey took their natural forms.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow we must fly away, and we dare not come back for a whole\nyear, but we can\u2019t leave you like this! Have you courage to go with us?\nMy arm is strong enough to carry you over the forest, so surely our\nunited strength ought to be sufficient to bear you across the ocean.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes! take me with you,\u201d said Elise.\n\nThey spent the whole night in weaving a kind of net of the elastic\nbark of the willow bound together with tough rushes; they made it both\nlarge and strong. Elise lay down upon it, and when the sun rose and the\nbrothers became swans again, they took up the net in their bills and\nflew high up among the clouds with their precious sister, who was fast\nasleep. The sunbeams fell straight on to her face, so one of the swans\nflew over her head so that its broad wings should shade her.\n\nThey were far from land when Elise woke; she thought she must still be\ndreaming, it seemed so strange to be carried through the air so high\nup above the sea. By her side lay a branch of beautiful ripe berries,\nand a bundle of savoury roots, which her youngest brother had collected\nfor her, and for which she gave him a grateful smile. She knew it was\nhe who flew above her head shading her from the sun. They were so high\nup that the first ship they saw looked like a gull floating on the\nwater. A great cloud came up behind them like a mountain, and Elise\nsaw the shadow of herself on it, and those of the eleven swans looking\nlike giants. It was a more beautiful picture than any she had ever seen\nbefore, but as the sun rose higher, the cloud fell behind, and the\nshadow picture disappeared.\n\nThey flew on and on all day like an arrow whizzing through the air, but\nthey went slower than usual, for now they had their sister to carry. A\nstorm came up, and night was drawing on; Elise saw the sun sinking with\nterror in her heart, for the solitary rock was nowhere to be seen. The\nswans seemed to be taking stronger strokes than ever; alas! she was\nthe cause of their not being able to get on faster; as soon as the sun\nwent down they would become men, and they would all be hurled into the\nsea and drowned. She prayed to God from the bottom of her heart, but\nstill no rock was to be seen! Black clouds gathered, and strong gusts\nof wind announced a storm; the clouds looked like a great threatening\nleaden wave, and the flashes of lightning followed each other rapidly.\n\nThe sun was now at the edge of the sea. Elise\u2019s heart quaked, when\nsuddenly the swans shot downwards so suddenly, that she thought they\nwere falling, then they hovered again. Half of the sun was below the\nhorizon, and there for the first time she saw the little rock below,\nwhich did not look bigger than the head of a seal above the water.\nThe sun sank very quickly, it was no bigger than a star, but her foot\ntouched solid earth. The sun went out like the last sparks of a bit\nof burning paper; she saw her brothers stand arm in arm around her,\nbut there was only just room enough for them. The waves beat upon the\nrock and washed over them like drenching rain. The heavens shone with\ncontinuous fire, and the thunder rolled, peal upon peal. But the sister\nand brothers held each other\u2019s hands and sang a psalm which gave them\ncomfort and courage.\n\nThe air was pure and still at dawn. As soon as the sun rose the swans\nflew off with Elise, away from the islet. The sea still ran high, it\nlooked from where they were as if the white foam on the dark green\nwater were millions of swans floating on the waves.\n\nWhen the sun rose higher, Elise saw before her half floating in the air\ngreat masses of ice, with shining glaciers on the heights. A palace was\nperched midway a mile in length, with one bold colonnade built above\nanother. Beneath them swayed palm trees and gorgeous blossoms as big\nas mill wheels. She asked if this was the land to which she was going,\nbut the swans shook their heads, because what she saw was a mirage; the\nbeautiful and ever changing palace of Fata Morgana. No mortal dared\nenter it. Elise gazed at it, but as she gazed the palace, gardens and\nmountains melted away, and in their place stood twenty proud churches\nwith their high towers and pointed windows. She seemed to hear the\nnotes of the organ, but it was the sea she heard. When she got close\nto the seeming churches, they changed to a great navy sailing beneath\nher; but it was only a sea mist floating over the waters. Yes, she saw\nconstant changes passing before her eyes, and now she saw the real land\nshe was bound to. Beautiful blue mountains rose before her with their\ncedar woods and palaces. Long before the sun went down, she sat among\nthe hills in front of a big cave covered with delicate green creepers.\nIt looked like a piece of embroidery.\n\n\u201cNow we shall see what you will dream here to-night,\u201d said the youngest\nbrother, as he showed her where she was to sleep.\n\n\u201cIf only I might dream how I could deliver you,\u201d she said, and this\nthought filled her mind entirely. She prayed earnestly to God for His\nhelp, and even in her sleep she continued her prayer. It seemed to her\nthat she was flying up to Fata Morgana in her castle in the air. The\nfairy came towards her, she was charming and brilliant, and yet she was\nvery like the old woman who gave her the berries in the wood, and told\nher about the swans with the golden crowns.\n\n\u201cYour brothers can be delivered,\u201d she said, \u201cbut have you courage and\nendurance enough for it? The sea is indeed softer than your hands,\nand it moulds the hardest stones, but it does not feel the pain your\nfingers will feel. It has no heart, and does not suffer the pain and\nanguish you must feel. Do you see this stinging nettle I hold in my\nhand? Many of this kind grow round the cave where you sleep; only these\nand the ones which grow in the churchyards may be used. Mark that!\nThose you may pluck although they will burn and blister your hands.\nCrush the nettles with your feet and you will have flax, and of this\nyou must weave eleven coats of mail with long sleeves. Throw these over\nthe eleven wild swans and the charm is broken! But remember that from\nthe moment you begin this work, till it is finished, even if it takes\nyears, you must not utter a word! The first word you say will fall like\na murderer\u2019s dagger into the hearts of your brothers. Their lives hang\non your tongue. Mark this well!\u201d\n\nShe touched her hand at the same moment, it was like burning fire, and\nwoke Elise. It was bright daylight, and close to where she slept lay a\nnettle like those in her dream. She fell upon her knees with thanks to\nGod and left the cave to begin their work.\n\nShe seized the horrid nettles with her delicate hands, and they burnt\nlike fire; great blisters rose on her hands and arms, but she suffered\nit willingly if only it would deliver her beloved brothers. She crushed\nevery nettle with her bare feet, and twisted it into green flax.\n\nWhen the sun went down and the brothers came back, they were alarmed at\nfinding her mute; they thought it was some new witchcraft exercised by\ntheir wicked stepmother. But when they saw her hands, they understood\nthat it was for their sakes; the youngest brother wept, and wherever\nhis tears fell, she felt no more pain, and the blisters disappeared.\n\nShe spent the whole night at her work, for she could not rest till\nshe had delivered her dear brothers. All the following day while her\nbrothers were away she sat solitary, but never had the time flown so\nfast. One coat of mail was finished and she began the next. Then a\nhunting-horn sounded among the mountains; she was much frightened, the\nsound came nearer, and she heard dogs barking. In terror she rushed\ninto the cave and tied the nettles she had collected and woven, into a\nbundle upon which she sat.\n\nAt this moment a big dog bounded forward from the thicket, and another\nand another, they barked loudly and ran backwards and forwards. In a\nfew minutes all the huntsmen were standing outside the cave, and the\nhandsomest of them was the king of the country. He stepped up to Elise:\nnever had he seen so lovely a girl.\n\n\u201cHow came you here, beautiful child?\u201d he said.\n\nElise shook her head; she dared not speak; the salvation and the lives\nof her brothers depended upon her silence. She hid her hands under her\napron, so that the king should not see what she suffered.\n\n\u201cCome with me!\u201d he said; \u201cyou cannot stay here. If you are as good as\nyou are beautiful, I will dress you in silks and velvets, put a golden\ncrown upon your head, and you shall live with me and have your home in\nmy richest palace!\u201d Then he lifted her upon his horse, she wept and\nwrung her hands, but the king said, \u201cI only think of your happiness;\nyou will thank me one day for what I am doing!\u201d Then he darted off\nacross the mountains, holding her before him on his horse, and the\nhuntsmen followed.\n\nWhen the sun went down, the royal city with churches and cupolas\nlay before them, and the king led her into the palace, where great\nfountains played in the marble halls, and where walls and ceilings were\nadorned with paintings, but she had no eyes for them, she only wept and\nsorrowed; passively she allowed the women to dress her in royal robes,\nto twist pearls into her hair, and to draw gloves on to her blistered\nhands.\n\nShe was dazzlingly lovely as she stood there in all her magnificence;\nthe courtiers bent low before her, and the king wooed her as his bride,\nalthough the archbishop shook his head, and whispered that he feared\nthe beautiful wood maiden was a witch, who had dazzled their eyes and\ninfatuated the king.\n\nThe king refused to listen to him, he ordered the music to play, the\nrichest food to be brought, and the loveliest girls to dance before\nher. She was led through scented gardens into gorgeous apartments, but\nnothing brought a smile to her lips, or into her eyes, sorrow sat there\nlike a heritage and a possession for all time. Last of all, the king\nopened the door of a little chamber close by the room where she was to\nsleep. It was adorned with costly green carpets, and made to exactly\nresemble the cave where he found her. On the floor lay the bundle of\nflax she had spun from the nettles, and from the ceiling hung the shirt\nof mail which was already finished. One of the huntsmen had brought all\nthese things away as curiosities.\n\n\u201cHere you may dream that you are back in your former home!\u201d said the\nking. \u201cHere is the work upon which you were engaged; in the midst of\nyour splendour, it may amuse you to think of those times.\u201d\n\nWhen Elise saw all these things so dear to her heart, a smile for\nthe first time played about her lips, and the blood rushed back to\nher cheeks. She thought of the deliverance of her brothers, and she\nkissed the king\u2019s hand; he pressed her to his heart, and ordered all\nthe church bells to ring marriage peals. The lovely dumb girl from the\nwoods was to be queen of the country.\n\nThe archbishop whispered evil words into the ear of the king, but\nthey did not reach his heart. The wedding was to take place, and the\narchbishop himself had to put the crown upon her head. In his anger\nhe pressed the golden circlet so tightly upon her head as to give her\npain. But a heavier circlet pressed upon her heart, her grief for her\nbrothers, so she thought nothing of the bodily pain. Her lips were\nsealed, a single word from her mouth would cost her brothers their\nlives, but her eyes were full of love for the good and handsome king,\nwho did everything he could to please her. Every day she grew more\nand more attached to him, and longed to confide in him, tell him her\nsufferings; but dumb she must remain, and in silence must bring her\nlabour to completion. Therefore at night she stole away from his side\ninto her secret chamber, which was decorated like a cave, and here she\nknitted one shirt after another. When she came to the seventh, all her\nflax was worked up; she knew that these nettles which she was to use\ngrew in the churchyard, but she had to pluck them herself. How was\nshe to get there? \u201cOh, what is the pain of my fingers compared with\nthe anguish of my heart,\u201d she thought. \u201cI must venture out, the good\nGod will not desert me!\u201d With as much terror in her heart, as if she\nwere doing some evil deed, she stole down one night into the moonlit\ngarden, and through the long alleys out into the silent streets to the\nchurchyard. There she saw, sitting on a gravestone, a group of hideous\nghouls, who took off their tattered garments, as if they were about to\nbathe, and then they dug down into the freshly-made graves with their\nskinny fingers, and tore the flesh from the bodies and devoured it.\nElise had to pass close by them, and they fixed their evil eyes upon\nher, but she said a prayer as she passed, picked the stinging nettles\nand hurried back to the palace with them.\n\nOnly one person saw her, but that was the archbishop, who watched\nwhile others slept. Surely now all his bad opinions of the queen were\njustified; all was not as it should be with her, she must be a witch,\nand therefore she had bewitched the king and all the people.\n\nHe told the king in the confessional what he had seen and what he\nfeared. When those bad words passed his lips, the pictures of the\nsaints shook their heads as if to say: it is not so, Elise is innocent.\nThe archbishop however took it differently, and thought that they were\nbearing witness against her, and shaking their heads at her sin. Two\nbig tears rolled down the king\u2019s cheeks, and he went home with doubt in\nhis heart. He pretended to sleep at night, but no quiet sleep came to\nhis eyes. He perceived how Elise got up and went to her private closet.\nDay by day his face grew darker, Elise saw it but could not imagine\nwhat was the cause of it. It alarmed her, and what was she not already\nsuffering in her heart because of her brothers? Her salt tears ran down\nupon the royal purple velvet, they lay upon it like sparkling diamonds,\nand all who saw their splendour wished to be queen.\n\nShe had, however, almost reached the end of her labours, only one\nshirt of mail was wanting, but again she had no more flax and not a\nsingle nettle was left. Once more, for the last time, she must go to\nthe churchyard to pluck a few handfuls. She thought with dread of the\nsolitary walk and the horrible ghouls; but her will was as strong as\nher trust in God.\n\nElise went, but the king and the archbishop followed her, they saw\nher disappear within the grated gateway of the churchyard. When they\nfollowed they saw the ghouls sitting on the gravestone as Elise had\nseen them before: and the king turned away his head because he thought\nshe was among them, she, whose head this very evening had rested on his\nbreast.\n\n\u201cThe people must judge her,\u201d he groaned, and the people judged. \u201cLet\nher be consumed in the glowing flames!\u201d\n\nShe was led away from her beautiful royal apartments to a dark damp\ndungeon, where the wind whistled through the grated window. Instead of\nvelvet and silk they gave her the bundle of nettles she had gathered\nto lay her head upon. The hard burning shirts of mail were to be her\ncovering, but they could have given her nothing more precious.\n\nShe set to work again with many prayers to God. Outside her prison the\nstreet boys sang derisive songs about her, and not a soul comforted her\nwith a kind word.\n\nTowards the evening she heard the rustle of swans\u2019 wings close to her\nwindow; it was her youngest brother, at last he had found her. He\nsobbed aloud with joy although he knew that the coming night might be\nher last, but then her work was almost done and her brothers were there.\n\nThe archbishop came to spend her last hours with her as he had promised\nthe king. She shook her head at him, and by looks and gestures begged\nhim to leave her. She had only this night in which to finish her work,\nor else all would be wasted, all--her pain, tears and sleepless nights.\nThe archbishop went away with bitter words against her, but poor Elise\nknew that she was innocent, and she went on with her work.\n\nThe little mice ran about the floor bringing nettles to her feet, so as\nto give what help they could, and a thrush sat on the grating of the\nwindow where he sang all night, as merrily as he could to keep up her\ncourage.\n\nIt was still only dawn, and the sun would not rise for an hour when\nthe eleven brothers stood at the gate of the palace, begging to be\ntaken to the king. This could not be done, was the answer, for it was\nstill night; the king was asleep and no one dared wake him. All their\nentreaties and threats were useless; the watch turned out and even the\nking himself came to see what was the matter; but just then the sun\nrose, and no more brothers were to be seen, only eleven wild swans\nhovering over the palace.\n\n[Illustration: Even on her way to her death she could not abandon her\nunfinished work]\n\nThe whole populace streamed out of the town gates, they were all\nanxious to see the witch burnt. A miserable horse drew the cart in\nwhich Elise was seated. They had put upon her a smock of green sacking,\nand all her beautiful long hair hung loose from her lovely head. Her\ncheeks were deathly pale, and her lips moved softly, while her fingers\nunceasingly twisted the green yarn. Even on the way to her death she\ncould not abandon her unfinished work. Ten shirts lay completed at her\nfeet--she laboured away at the eleventh, amid the scoffing insults of\nthe populace.\n\n\u201cLook at the witch how she mutters. She has never a book of psalms in\nher hands, no, there she sits with her loathsome sorcery. Tear it away\nfrom her, into a thousand bits!\u201d\n\nThe crowd pressed around her to destroy her work, but just then eleven\nwhite swans flew down and perched upon the cart flapping their wings.\nThe crowd gave way before them in terror.\n\n\u201cIt is a sign from Heaven! She is innocent!\u201d they whispered, but they\ndared not say it aloud.\n\nThe executioner seized her by the hand, but she hastily threw the\neleven shirts over the swans, who were immediately transformed to\neleven handsome princes; but the youngest had a swan\u2019s wing in place of\nan arm, for one sleeve was wanting to his shirt of mail, she had not\nbeen able to finish it.\n\n\u201cNow I may speak! I am innocent.\u201d\n\nThe populace who saw what had happened bowed down before her as if she\nhad been a saint, but she sank lifeless in her brother\u2019s arms; so great\nhad been the strain, the terror and the suffering she had endured.\n\n\u201cYes, innocent she is indeed,\u201d said the eldest brother, and he told\nthem all that had happened.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhilst he spoke a wonderful fragrance spread around, as of millions of\nroses. Every faggot in the pile had taken root and shot out branches,\nand a great high hedge of red roses had arisen. At the very top was one\npure white blossom, it shone like a star, and the king broke it off and\nlaid it on Elise\u2019s bosom, and she woke with joy and peace in her heart.\n\nAll the church bells began to ring of their own accord, and the singing\nbirds flocked around them. Surely such a bridal procession went back to\nthe palace as no king had ever seen before!\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt was agreed that Peaseblossom had told a very pretty story, and the\nfairy felt so flattered that he would have liked to tell another but\nthe king, turning to Titania, said:\n\n\u201cMy queen, your Peaseblossom has told so charming a story that perhaps\nanother of your attendants will tell us one also.\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d answered the queen, gratified to find that her favourite\nstory was so well-liked by others. She looked towards her little\nretinue of attendant fays and wondered which one should be next. \u201cWhich\nshall it be?\u201d she asked, and they all stood up at once. \u201cMoth, I think,\ncan tell us a pretty story of how a young man who had been kind to the\nfairies was helped by them to kill a cruel giant and to win a beautiful\nprincess for his bride.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can,\u201d replied Moth readily, and skipped to the stool by the throne\nwhere he at once began telling of the adventures which befell\n\n[Illustration: Moth]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: He found it was a pair of very small shoes]\n\nThe Herd-Boy\n\n\nThere was once a poor herd-boy, who had neither kith nor kin except\nhis stepmother, who was a wicked woman, and hardly allowed him food or\nclothing. Thus the poor boy suffered great privation; during all the\nlivelong day he had to tend cattle, and scarcely ever got more than a\nmorsel of bread morning and evening.\n\nOne day his stepmother had gone out without leaving him any food; he\nhad, therefore, to drive his cattle to the field fasting, and being\nvery hungry, he wept bitterly. But at the approach of noon he dried\nhis tears, and went up on a green hill, where he was in the habit of\nresting, while the sun was hot in the summer. On this hill it was\nalways cool and dewy under the shady trees; but now he remarked that\nthere was no dew, that the ground was dry, and the grass trampled\ndown. This seemed to him very singular, and he wondered who could have\ntrodden down the green grass. While thus sitting and thinking, he\nperceived something that lay glittering in the sunshine. Springing up\nto see what it might be, he found it was a pair of very, very small\nshoes of the whitest and clearest glass. The boy now felt quite happy\nagain, forgot his hunger, and amused himself the whole day with the\nlittle glass shoes.\n\nIn the evening, when the sun had sunk behind the forest, the herd-boy\ncalled his cattle and drove them to the village. When he had gone some\nway, he was met by a very little boy, who in a friendly tone greeted\nhim with \u201cGood evening!\u201d \u201cGood evening again,\u201d answered the herd-boy.\n\u201cHast thou found my shoes, which I lost this morning in the green\ngrass?\u201d asked the little boy. The herd-boy answered: \u201cYes, I have found\nthem; but, my good little fellow, let me keep them. I intended to give\nthem to my stepmother, and then, perhaps, I should have got a little\nmeat, when I came home.\u201d But the boy prayed so earnestly, \u201cGive me back\nmy shoes; another time I will be as kind to thee,\u201d that the herd-boy\nreturned him the shoes. The little one then, greatly delighted, gave\nhim a friendly nod, and went springing away.\n\nThe herd-boy now collected his cattle together, and continued his\nway homewards. When he reached his dwelling it was already dark, and\nhis stepmother chided him for returning so late. \u201cThere\u2019s still some\nporridge in the pot,\u201d said she; \u201ceat now, and pack thyself off to bed,\nso that thou canst get up in the morning betimes, like other folks.\u201d\nThe poor herd-boy durst not return any answer to these hard words, but\nate, and then slunk to bed in the hayloft, where he was accustomed to\nsleep. The whole night he dreamed of nothing but the little boy and his\nlittle glass shoes.\n\nEarly in the morning, before the sun shone from the east, the boy was\nwaked by his stepmother\u2019s voice: \u201cUp with thee, thou sluggard! It is\nbroad day, and the animals are not to stand hungry for thy sloth.\u201d He\ninstantly rose, got a bit of bread, and drove the cattle to the pasture.\n\nWhen he came to the green hill, which was wont to be so cool and shady,\nhe again wondered to see that the dew was all swept from the grass, and\nthe ground dry, even more so than on the preceding day. While he thus\nsat thinking, he observed something lying in the grass and glittering\nin the bright sunshine. Springing towards it, he found it was a very,\nvery little red cap set round with small golden bells. At this he was\ngreatly delighted, forgot his hunger, and amused himself all day with\nthe little elegant cap.\n\nIn the evening, when the sun had sunk behind the forest, the herd-boy\ngathered his cattle together, and drove them towards the village. When\non his way, he was met by a very little and, at the same time, very\nfair damsel. She greeted him in a friendly tone with \u201cGood evening!\u201d\n\u201cGood evening again,\u201d answered the lad. The damsel then said: \u201cHast\nthou found my cap, which I lost this morning in the green grass?\u201d The\nboy answered: \u201cYes, I have found it: but let me keep it, my pretty\nmaid. I thought of giving it to my wicked stepmother, and then,\nperhaps, I shall get a little meat when I go home.\u201d But the little\ndamsel entreated so urgently, \u201cGive me back my cap; another time I will\nbe as good to thee,\u201d that the lad gave her the little cap, when she\nappeared highly delighted, gave him a friendly nod, and sprang off.\n\nOn his return home, he was received as usual by his cruel stepmother,\nand dreamed the whole night of the little damsel and her little red cap.\n\nIn the morning he was turned out fasting, and on coming to the hill,\nfound it was drier than on either of the preceding days, and that the\ngrass was trodden down in large rings. It then entered his mind all\nthat he had heard of the little _elves_, how in the summer nights they\nwere wont to dance in the dewy grass, and he found that these must be\n_elfin-rings_, or _elfin-dances_. While sitting absorbed in thought,\nhe chanced to strike his foot against a little bell that lay in the\ngrass, and which gave forth so sweet a sound, that all the cattle came\nrunning together, and stood still to listen. Now the boy was delighted,\nand could do nothing but play with the little bell, till he forgot his\ntroubles and the cattle forgot to graze. And so the day passed much\nmore quickly than can be imagined.\n\nWhen it drew towards evening, and the sun was level with the tree-tops,\nthe boy called his cattle and prepared to return home. But let him\nentice and call them as he might, they were not to be drawn from the\npasture, for it was a delightful grassy spot. Then thought the boy\nto himself, \u201cPerhaps they will pay more heed to the little bell.\u201d So\ndrawing forth the bell, he tingled it as he went along the way. In one\nmoment the bell-cow came running after him, and was followed by the\nrest of the herd. At this the boy was overjoyed, for he was well aware\nwhat an advantage the little bell would be to him. As he was going on,\na very little old man met him, and kindly bade him a good evening.\n\u201cGood evening again,\u201d said the boy. The old man asked: \u201cHast thou found\nmy little bell, which I lost this morning in the green grass?\u201d The\nherd-boy answered: \u201cYes, I have found it.\u201d The old man said: \u201cThen give\nit me back.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d answered the boy, \u201cI am not so doltish as you may\nthink. The day before yesterday I found two small glass shoes, which\na little boy wheedled from me. Yesterday I found a cap, which I gave\nto a little damsel; and now you come to take from me the little bell,\nwhich is so good for calling the cattle. Other finders get a reward for\ntheir pains, but I get nothing.\u201d The little man then used many fair\nwords, with the view of recovering his bell, but all to no purpose.\nAt last he said: \u201cGive me back the little bell, and I will give thee\nanother, with which thou mayest call thy cattle; thou shalt, moreover,\nobtain three wishes.\u201d These seemed to the boy no unfavourable terms,\nand he at once agreed to them, adding, \u201cAs I may wish whatever I will,\nI will wish to be a king, and I will wish to have a great palace, and\nalso a very beautiful queen.\u201d \u201cThou hast wished no trifling wishes,\u201d\nsaid the old man, \u201cbut bear well in mind what I now tell thee. To-night\nwhen all are sleeping, thou shalt go hence, till thou comest to a royal\npalace, which lies due north. Take this pipe of bone. If thou fallest\ninto trouble, blow it; if thou afterwards fallest into great trouble,\nblow it again; but if, on a third occasion, thou findest thyself in\nstill greater peril, break the pipe in two, and I will help thee, as I\nhave promised.\u201d The boy gave the old man many thanks for his gifts, and\nthe elf-king--for it was he--went his way. But the boy bent his steps\nhomewards, rejoicing as he went along, that he should so soon escape\nfrom tending cattle for his wicked stepmother.\n\nWhen he reached the village it was already dark, and his stepmother had\nbeen long awaiting his coming. She was in a great rage, so that the\npoor lad got blows instead of food. \u201cThis will not last long,\u201d thought\nthe boy, comforting himself with the reflection, as he went up to his\nhayloft, where he laid himself down and slumbered for a short time.\nAbout midnight, long before the cock crew, he arose, slipped out of the\nhouse, and began his journey in a northward direction, as the old man\nhad enjoined. He travelled incessantly, over hill and dale, and twice\ndid the sun rise and twice set, while he was still on his way.\n\nTowards evening on the third day he came to a royal palace, which was\nso spacious that he thought he should never again see the like. He went\nto the kitchen and asked for employment. \u201cWhat dost thou know, and what\ncanst thou do?\u201d inquired the master-cook. \u201cI can tend cattle in the\npasture,\u201d answered the boy. The master-cook said: \u201cThe king is in great\nwant of a herd-boy; but it will, no doubt, be with thee as with the\nothers, that every day thou losest one of the herd.\u201d The boy answered:\n\u201cHitherto I have never lost any beast that I drove to the field.\u201d He\nwas then taken into the king\u2019s service, and tended the king\u2019s cattle;\nbut the wolf never got a beast from him: so he was well esteemed by all\nthe king\u2019s servants.\n\nOne evening, as the herd-boy was driving his cattle home, he observed\na beautiful young damsel standing at a window and listening to his\nsong. Though he seemed hardly to notice her, he, nevertheless, felt a\nglow suffused over him. Some time passed in this manner, the herd-boy\nbeing delighted every time he saw the young maiden; though he was still\nignorant that she was the king\u2019s daughter. It happened one day that\nthe young girl came to him as he was driving the herd to their pasture.\nShe had with her a little snow-white lamb, and begged him in a friendly\ntone to take charge of her lamb, and protect it from the wolves in the\nforest. At this the herd-boy was so confused that he could neither\nanswer nor speak. But he took the lamb with him, and found his greatest\npleasure in guarding it, and the animal attached itself to him, as a\ndog to its master. From that day the herd-boy frequently enjoyed the\nsight of the fair princess. In the morning, when he drove his cattle to\nthe pasture, she would stand at the window listening to his song; but\nin the evening, when he returned from the forest, she would descend to\ncaress her little lamb, and say a few friendly words to the herd-boy.\n\nTime rolled on. The herd-boy had grown up into a comely, vigorous young\nman; and the princess had sprung up and was become the fairest maiden\nthat could be found far or near. Nevertheless, she came every evening,\naccording to her early custom, to caress her lamb. But one day the\nprincess was missing and could nowhere be found. This event caused a\ngreat sorrow and commotion in the royal court, for the princess was\nbeloved by every one; but the king and queen, as was natural, grieved\nthe most intensely of all. The king sent forth a proclamation over\nthe whole land, that whosoever should recover his daughter should be\nrewarded with her hand and half the kingdom. This brought a number of\nprinces, and knights, and warriors from the east and the west. Cased\nin steel they rode forth with arms and attendants, to seek the lost\nprincess; but few were they that returned from their wanderings, and\nthose that did return brought no tidings of her they went in quest\nof. The king and queen were now inconsolable, and thought that they\nhad sustained an irreparable loss. The herd-boy, as before, drove\nhis cattle to the pasture but it was in sadness, for the king\u2019s fair\ndaughter engrossed his thoughts every day and every hour.\n\nOne night in a dream the little elfin king seemed to stand before\nhim and to say: \u201cTo the north! to the north! there thou wilt find thy\nqueen.\u201d At this the young man was so overjoyed that he sprang up,\nand as he woke, there stood the little man, who nodded to him, and\nrepeated: \u201cTo the north! to the north!\u201d He then vanished, leaving the\nyouth in doubt whether or not it were an illusion. As soon as it was\nday he went to the hall of the palace, and requested an audience of\nthe king. At this all the royal servants wondered, and the master-cook\nsaid: \u201cThou hast served for so many years that thou mayest, no doubt,\nget thy wages increased without speaking to the king himself.\u201d But\nthe young man persisted in his request, and let it be understood that\nhe had something very different in his mind. On entering the royal\napartment, the king demanded his errand, when the young man said: \u201cI\nhave served you faithfully for many years, and now desire permission to\ngo and seek for the princess.\u201d Hereupon the king grew angry and said:\n\u201cHow canst thou, a herd-boy, think of doing that which no warrior nor\nprince has been able to accomplish?\u201d But the youth answered boldly,\nthat he would either discover the princess or, for her sake, lay down\nhis life. The king then let his anger pass, and called to mind the old\nproverb: _A heart worthy of scarlet often lies under a coarse woollen\ncloak._ He therefore gave orders that the herd-boy should be equipped\nwith a charger and all things requisite. But the youth said: \u201cI reck\nnot of riding; give me but your word and permission, together with\nmeans sufficient.\u201d The king then wished him success in his enterprise;\nbut all the boys and other servants in the court laughed at the\nherd-boy\u2019s rash undertaking.\n\nThe young man journeyed towards the north, as he had been instructed\nby the elf-king, and proceeded on and on until he could not be far\ndistant from the world\u2019s end. When he had thus travelled over mountains\nand desolate ways, he came at length to a great lake, in the midst of\nwhich there was a fair island, and on the island a royal palace, much\nmore spacious than the one whence he came. He went down to the water\u2019s\nedge, and surveyed the palace on every side. While thus viewing it, he\nperceived a damsel with golden locks standing at one of the windows,\nand making signs with a silken band, such as the princess\u2019s lamb was\naccustomed to wear. At this sight the young man\u2019s heart leaped in his\nbreast; for it rushed into his mind that the damsel could be no other\nthan the princess herself. He now began to consider how he should cross\nover the water to the great palace; but could hit upon no plan. At last\nthe thought occurred to him that he would make a trial whether the\nlittle elves would afford him some assistance; and he took forth his\npipe, and blew a long-continued strain. He had scarcely ceased, when he\nheard a voice behind him, saying \u201cGood evening.\u201d \u201cGood evening again,\u201d\nanswered the youth, turning about: when just before him there stood\nthe little boy whose glass shoes he had found in the grass. \u201cWhat dost\nthou wish of me?\u201d asked the elfin boy. The other answered: \u201cI wish thee\nto convey me across the water to the royal palace.\u201d The boy replied:\n\u201cPlace thyself on my back.\u201d The youth did so; and at the same instant\nthe boy changed his form and became an immensely huge hawk, that darted\nthrough the air, and stopped not until it reached the island as the\nyoung man had requested.\n\nHe now went up to the hall of the palace and asked for employment.\n\u201cWhat dost thou understand and what canst thou do?\u201d inquired the\nmaster-cook. \u201cI can take charge of cattle,\u201d answered the youth. The\nmaster-cook then said: \u201cThe giant is just now in great want of a\nherdsman; but it will, I dare say, be with thee as with the others;\nfor if a beast by chance is lost, thy life is forfeited.\u201d The youth\nanswered: \u201cThis seems to me a hard condition; but I will, nevertheless,\nagree to it.\u201d The master-cook then accepted his service, and he was to\ncommence on the following day.\n\nThe young man now drove the giant\u2019s cattle, and sung his song, and rang\nhis little bell, as he had formerly done; and the princess sat at her\nwindow, and listened, and made signs to him that he should not appear\nto notice her. In the evening he drove the herd from the forest, and\nwas met by the giant, who said to him: \u201cThy life is in the place of any\none that may be missing.\u201d But not a beast was wanting, let the giant\ncount them as he would. Now the giant was quite friendly, and said:\n\u201cThou shalt be my herdsman all thy days.\u201d He then went down to the\nlake, loosed his enchanted ship, and rode thrice round the island, as\nhe was wont to do.\n\nDuring the giant\u2019s absence the princess stationed herself at the window\nand sang:--\n\n \u201cTo-night, to-night, thou herdsman bold,\n Goes the cloud from under my star.\n And if thou comest hither, then will I be thine,\n My crown I will gladly give thee.\u201d\n\nThe young man listened to her song, and understood from it that he\nwas to go in the night and deliver the princess. He therefore went\naway without appearing to notice anything. But when it was late, and\nall were sunk in deep sleep, he steadily approached the tower, placed\nhimself before the window, and sang:--\n\n \u201cTo-night will wait thy herdsman true,\n Will sad stand under thy window;\n And if thou comest down, thou mayest one day be mine,\n While the shadows fall so wildly.\u201d\n\nThe princess whispered: \u201cI am bound with chains of gold, come and break\nthem.\u201d The young man now knew no other course than again to blow with\nhis pipe a very long-continued strain; when instantly he heard a voice\nbehind him saying \u201cGood evening.\u201d \u201cGood evening again,\u201d answered the\nyouth, looking round; when there stood the little elf-king, from whom\nhe had got the little bell and the pipe. \u201cWhat wilt thou with me?\u201d\ninquired the old man. The young man answered: \u201cI beseech you to convey\nme and the princess hence.\u201d The little man said \u201cFollow me.\u201d They then\nascended to the maiden\u2019s tower; the castle gate opened spontaneously,\nand when the old man touched the chain, it burst in fragments. All\nthree then went down to the margin of the lake, when the elf-king\nsang:--\n\n \u201cThou little pike in the water must go,\n Come, come, hastily!\n A princess fair on thy back shall ride,\n And eke a king so mighty.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The young herdsman advanced boldly]\n\nAt the same moment appeared the little damsel, whose cap the herd-boy\nhad found in the grass. She sprang down to the lake, and was instantly\nchanged into a large pike that sported about in the water. Then said\nthe elf-king: \u201cSit ye on the back of the pike. But the princess must\nnot be terrified, let what may happen; for then will my power be at an\nend.\u201d Having so said, the old man vanished; but the youth and the fair\nprincess followed his injunctions, and the pike bore them rapidly along\nthrough the billows.\n\nWhile all this was taking place, the giant awoke, looked through the\nwindow, and perceived the herd-boy floating on the water together with\nthe young princess. Instantly snatching up his eagle-plumage, he flew\nafter them. When the pike heard the clapping of the giant\u2019s wings, it\ndived far down under the surface of the water, whereat the princess was\nso terrified that she uttered a scream. Then was the elf-king\u2019s power\nat an end, and the giant seized the two fugitives in his talons. On\nhis return to the island he caused the young herdsman to be cast into\na dark dungeon, full fifteen fathoms underground; but the princess was\nagain placed in her tower, and strictly watched, lest she should again\nattempt to escape.\n\nThe youth now lay in the captives\u2019 tower, and was in deep affliction\nat finding himself unable to deliver the princess, and, at the same\ntime, having most probably forfeited his own life. The words of the\nelfin king now occurred to his memory: \u201cIf, on a third occasion, thou\nfindest thyself in great peril, break the pipe in two, and I will help\nthee.\u201d As a last resource, therefore, he drew forth the little pipe\nand broke it in two. At the same moment he heard behind him the words\n\u201cGood evening.\u201d \u201cGood evening again,\u201d answered the youth; and when he\nlooked round there stood the little old man close by him, who asked:\n\u201cWhat wilt thou with me?\u201d The young man answered: \u201cI wish to deliver\nthe princess, and to convey her home to her father.\u201d The old man then\nled him through many locked doors and many splendid apartments till\nthey came to a spacious hall, filled with all kinds of weapons, swords,\nspears, and axes, of which some shone like polished steel, others like\nburnished gold. The old man kindled a fire on the hearth, and said:\n\u201cUndress thyself!\u201d The young man did so, and the little man burnt his\nold garments. He then went to a large iron chest, out of which he took\na costly suit of armour, resplendent with the purest gold. \u201cDress\nthyself,\u201d said he: the young man did so. When he was thus armed from\nhead to foot, the old man bound a sharp sword by his side, and said:\n\u201cIt is decreed that the giant shall fall by this sword, and this armour\nno steel can penetrate.\u201d The young herdsman felt quite at ease in the\ngolden armour, and moved as gracefully as if he had been a prince of\nthe highest degree. They then returned to the dark dungeon; the youth\nthanked the elf-king for his timely succour, and they parted from each\nother.\n\nTill a late hour there was a great bustle and hurrying in the whole\npalace; for the giant was on that day to celebrate his marriage with\nthe beautiful princess, and had invited many of his kin to the feast.\nThe princess was clad in the most sumptuous manner, and decorated with\na crown and rings of gold, and other costly ornaments, which had been\nworn by the giant\u2019s mother. The health of the wedded pair was then\ndrunk amid all kinds of rejoicing, and there was no lack of good cheer,\nboth of meat and drink. But the bride wept without intermission, and\nher tears were so hot that they felt like fire on her cheeks.\n\nWhen night approached, and the giant was about to conduct his bride to\nthe nuptial chamber, he sent his pages to fetch the young herdsman,\nwho lay in the dungeon. But when they entered the prison, the captive\nhad disappeared, and in his stead there stood a bold warrior, with\nsword in hand, and completely armed. At this apparition the young men\nwere frightened and fled; but were followed by the herdsman, who thus\nascended to the court of the palace, where the guests were assembled to\nwitness his death. When the giant cast his eyes on the doughty warrior,\nhe was exasperated, and exclaimed: \u201cOut upon thee, thou base Troll!\u201d As\nhe spoke his eyes became so piercing that they saw through the young\nherdsman\u2019s armour; but the fearless youth said: \u201cHere shalt thou strive\nwith me for thy fair bride.\u201d The giant was not inclined to stay, and\nwas about to withdraw; but the herdsman drew his sword, which blazed\nlike a flame of fire. When the giant recognized the sword, under which\nhe was doomed to fall, he was terror-struck and sank on the earth; but\nthe young herdsman advanced boldly, swung round his sword, and struck a\nblow so powerful that the giant\u2019s head was separated from his carcase.\nSuch was his end.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nOn witnessing this exploit, the wedding-guests were overcome with\nfear, and departed, each to his home; but the princess ran forth and\nthanked the brave herdsman for having saved her. They then proceeded\nto the water, loosed the giant\u2019s enchanted ship, and rowed away from\nthe island. On their arrival at the king\u2019s court, there was great joy\nthat the king had recovered his daughter, for whom he had mourned so\nlong. There was afterwards a sumptuous wedding, and the young herdsman\nobtained the king\u2019s fair daughter. They lived happily for very many\nyears, and had many beautiful children.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMoth\u2019s story was liked very much and Titania was so pleased that her\ntwo fairies had told such pretty tales that she turned to the king\nsaying,\n\n\u201cMy dear Oberon, will not one of your people tell us a story next?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d replied the king, and he at once called Puck to him and\nasked him if he did not know an amusing story which he could tell them.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty,\u201d said Puck, in a serious tone, \u201cI can tell you all the\nstories that have ever been told, or that ever will be told. Which one\nwill you have?\u201d\n\n\u201cSomething funny,\u201d said the king.\n\nPuck considered for a moment, then he said, \u201cI can tell you about a\nvery funny thing if you have not heard it before. Ariel has boasted\nthat he could put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes, but I can\ntell you of a nose which grew and grew and grew until it would have\ngone right round the earth which would have been a much more wonderful\nkind of girdle than Ariel could have managed.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell it us,\u201d answered Oberon, and Puck turning a back somersault\nlanded neatly on the tale-teller\u2019s stool and commenced the story of\n\n[Illustration: Puck]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Three poor soldiers set out on their road home]\n\nThe Nose-Tree\n\n\nDid you ever hear the story of the _three poor soldiers_, who, after\nhaving fought hard in the wars, _set out on their road home_, begging\ntheir way as they went?\n\nThey had journeyed on a long way, sick at heart with their bad luck\nat thus being turned loose on the world in their old days; when one\nevening they reached a deep gloomy wood, through which lay their road.\nNight came fast upon them, and they found that they must, however\nunwillingly, sleep in this wood; so, to make all as safe as they could,\nit was agreed that two should lie down and sleep, while a third sat up\nand watched, lest wild beasts should break in and tear them to pieces.\nWhen he was tired he was to wake one of the others, and sleep in his\nturn; and so on with the third, so as to share the work fairly among\nthem.\n\nThe two who were to rest first soon lay down and fell fast asleep; and\nthe other made himself a good fire under the trees, and sat down by\nits side to keep watch. He had not sat long before, all of a sudden,\nup came a little dwarf in a red jacket. \u201cWho is there?\u201d said he. \u201cA\nfriend,\u201d said the soldier. \u201cWhat sort of a friend?\u201d \u201cAn old broken\nsoldier,\u201d said the other, \u201cwith his two comrades, who have nothing\nleft to live on; come, sit down and warm yourself.\u201d \u201cWell, my worthy\nfellow,\u201d said the little man, \u201cI will do what I can for you; take this\nand show it to your comrades in the morning.\u201d So he took out an old\ncloak and gave it to the soldier: telling him, that whenever he put it\nover his shoulders anything that he wished for would be done for him.\nThen the little man made him a bow and walked away.\n\nThe second soldier\u2019s turn to watch soon came, and the first laid him\ndown to sleep; but the second man had not sat by himself long before up\ncame the dwarf in the red jacket again. The soldier treated him in as\nfriendly a way as his comrade had done, and the little man gave him a\npurse, which he told him would be always full of gold, let him draw as\nmuch as he would out of it.\n\nThen the third soldier\u2019s turn to watch came; and he also had little\nRed-jacket for his guest, who gave him a wonderful horn, that drew\ncrowds around it whenever it was played, and made every one forget his\nbusiness to come and dance to its beautiful music.\n\nIn the morning each told his story, and showed the gift he had got\nfrom the elf: and as they all liked each other very much, and were old\nfriends, they agreed to travel together to see the world, and, for a\nwhile, only to make use of the wonderful purse. And thus they spent\ntheir time very joyously; till at last they began to be tired of this\nroving life, and thought they should like to have a home of their\nown. So the first soldier put his old cloak on, and wished for a fine\ncastle. In a moment it stood before their eyes: fine gardens and green\nlawns spread round it, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and herds of\noxen were grazing about; and out of the gate came a grand coach with\nthree dapple-grey horses, to meet them and bring them home.\n\nAll this was very well for a time, but they found it would not do to\nstay at home always; so they got together all their rich clothes, and\njewels, and money, and ordered their coach with three dapple-grey\nhorses, and set out on a journey to see a neighbouring king. Now this\nking had an only daughter, and as he saw the three soldiers travelling\nin such grand style, he took them for king\u2019s sons, and so gave them\na kind welcome. One day, as the second soldier was walking with the\nprincess, she saw that he had the wonderful purse in his hand. Then she\nasked him what it was, and he was foolish enough to tell her,--though,\nindeed, it did not much signify what he said, for she was a fairy, and\nknew all the wonderful things that the three soldiers brought. Now this\nprincess was very cunning and artful; so she set to work and made a\npurse, so like the soldier\u2019s that no one would know the one from the\nother; and then she asked him to come and see her, and made him drink\nsome wine that she had got ready for him, and which soon made him fall\nfast asleep. Then she felt in his pocket, and took away the wonderful\npurse, and left the one she had made in its place.\n\nThe next morning the soldiers set out home; and soon after they reached\ntheir castle, happening to want some money, they went to their purse\nfor it, and found something indeed in it; but to their great sorrow,\nwhen they had emptied it, none came in the place of what they took.\nThen the cheat was soon found out; for the second soldier knew where he\nhad been, and how he had told the story to the princess, and he guessed\nthat she had played him a trick. \u201cAlas!\u201d cried he, \u201cpoor wretches\nthat we are, what shall we do?\u201d \u201cOh!\u201d said the first soldier, \u201clet no\ngrey hairs grow for this mishap: I will soon get the purse back.\u201d So\nhe threw his cloak across his shoulders, and wished himself in the\nprincess\u2019s chamber.\n\nThere he found her sitting alone, telling up her gold, that fell around\nher in a shower from the wonderful purse.\n\nBut the soldier stood looking at her too long; for she turned round,\nand the moment she saw him she started up and cried out with all her\nforce, \u201cThieves! thieves!\u201d so that the whole court came running in,\nand tried to seize on him. The poor soldier now began to be dreadfully\nfrightened in his turn, and thought it was high time to make the best\nof his way off; so, without thinking of the ready way of travelling\nthat his cloak gave him, he ran to the window, opened it, and jumped\nout; and unluckily, in his haste, his cloak caught and was left\nhanging, to the great joy of the princess, who knew its worth.\n\nThe poor soldier made the best of his way home to his comrades on foot,\nand in a very downcast mood; but the third soldier told him to keep up\nhis heart, and took his horn and blew a merry tune. At the first blast\na countless troop of foot and horse come rushing to their aid, and they\nset out to make war against their enemy. Then the king\u2019s palace was\nbesieged, and he was told that he must give up the purse and cloak, or\nthat not one stone should be left upon another. And the king went into\nhis daughter\u2019s chamber and talked with her; but she said, \u201cLet me try\nfirst if I cannot beat them some way or another.\u201d So she thought of a\ncunning scheme to overreach them; and dressing herself out as a poor\ngirl, with a basket on her arm, she set out by night with her maid, and\nwent into the enemy\u2019s camp, as if she wanted to sell trinkets.\n\nIn the morning she began to ramble about, singing ballads so\nbeautifully that all the tents were left empty, and the soldiers ran\nround in crowds, and thought of nothing but hearing her sing. Amongst\nthe rest came the soldier to whom the horn belonged, and as soon as she\nsaw him she winked to her maid, who slipped slily through the crowd,\nand went into his tent where it hung, and stole it away. This done,\nthey both got safely back to the palace, the besieging army went away,\nthe three wonderful gifts were all left in the hands of the princess,\nand the three soldiers were as penniless and forlorn as when little\nRed-jacket found them in the wood.\n\nPoor fellows! they began to think what was now to be done. \u201cComrades,\u201d\nat last said the second soldier, who had had the purse, \u201cwe had better\npart; we cannot live together, let each seek his bread as well as he\ncan.\u201d So he turned to the right, and the other two went to the left,\nfor they said they would rather travel together. The second soldier\nstrayed on till he came to a wood (now this was the same wood where\nthey had met with so much good luck before), and he walked on a long\ntime till evening began to fall, when he sat down tired beneath a tree,\nand soon fell asleep.\n\n[Illustration: Still it grew and grew]\n\nMorning dawned, and he was greatly delighted, at opening his eyes, to\nsee that the tree was laden with the most beautiful apples. He was\nhungry enough, so he soon plucked and ate first one, then a second,\nthen a third apple. A strange feeling came over his nose: when he put\nthe apple to his mouth something was in the way. He felt it--it was\nhis nose, that grew and grew till it hung down to his breast. It did\nnot stop there--still it grew and grew. \u201cHeavens!\u201d thought he, \u201cWhen\nwill it have done growing?\u201d And well might he ask, for by this time it\nreached the ground as he sat on the grass,--and thus it kept creeping\non, till he could not bear its weight or raise himself up; and it\nseemed as if it would never end, for already it stretched its enormous\nlength all through the wood, over hill and dale.\n\nMeantime his comrades were journeying on, till on a sudden one of them\nstumbled against something. \u201cWhat can that be?\u201d said the other. They\nlooked, and could think of nothing that it was like but a nose. \u201cWe\nwill follow it and find its owner, however,\u201d said they. So they traced\nit up, till at last they found their poor comrade, lying stretched\nalong under the apple-tree.\n\nWhat was to be done? They tried to carry him, but in vain. They caught\nan ass that was passing, and raised him upon its back; but it was soon\ntired of carrying such a load. So they sat down in despair, when before\nlong up came their old friend the dwarf with the red jacket. \u201cWhy, how\nnow, friend?\u201d said he, laughing: \u201cwell, I must find a cure for you,\nI see.\u201d So he told them to gather a pear from another tree that grew\nclose by, and the nose would come right again. No time was lost; and\nthe nose was soon brought to its proper size to the poor soldier\u2019s joy.\n\n\u201cI will do something more for you yet,\u201d said the dwarf: \u201ctake some of\nthose pears and apples with you; whoever eats one of the apples will\nhave his nose grow like yours just now; but if you give him a pear, all\nwill come right again. Go to the princess, and get her to eat some of\nyour apples; her nose will grow twenty times as long as yours did: then\nlook sharp, and you will get what you want from her.\u201d\n\nThen they thanked their old friend very heartily for all his kindness;\nand it was agreed that the poor soldier, who had already tried the\npower of the apple, should undertake the task. So he dressed himself\nup as a gardener\u2019s boy, and went to the king\u2019s palace, and said he\nhad apples to sell, so fine and so beautiful as were never seen there\nbefore. Every one that saw them was delighted, and wanted to taste; but\nhe said they were only for the princess; and she soon sent her maid\nto buy his stock. They were so ripe and rosy that she soon began\neating; and had not eaten above a dozen before she too began to wonder\nwhat ailed her nose, for it grew and grew down to the ground, out at\nthe window, and over the garden, and away, nobody knows where.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWe will follow it and find its owner\u201d]\n\nThen the king made known to all his kingdom that whoever would heal her\nof this dreadful disease should be richly rewarded. Many tried, but\nthe princess got no relief. And now the old soldier dressed himself up\nvery sprucely as a doctor, and said he could cure her. So he chopped up\nsome of the apple, and, to punish her a little more, gave her a dose,\nsaying he would call to-morrow and see her again. The morrow came, and,\nof course, instead of being better, the nose had been growing on all\nnight as before; and the poor princess was in a dreadful fright. So the\ndoctor then chopped up a very little of the pear and gave her, and said\nhe was sure that would do good, and he would call again the next day.\nNext day came, and the nose was to be sure a little smaller, but yet it\nwas bigger than when the doctor first began to meddle with it.\n\nThen he thought to himself, \u201cI must frighten this cunning princess a\nlittle more before I shall get what I want from her\u201d; so he gave her\nanother dose of the apple, and said he would call on the morrow. The\nmorrow came, and the nose was ten times as bad as before. \u201cMy good\nlady,\u201d said the doctor, \u201csomething works against my medicine, and is\ntoo strong for it; but I know by the force of my art what it is; you\nhave stolen goods about you, I am sure; and if you do not give them\nback, I can do nothing for you.\u201d But the princess denied very stoutly\nthat she had anything of the kind. \u201cVery well,\u201d said the doctor, \u201cyou\nmay do as you please, but I am sure I am right, and you will die if you\ndo not own it.\u201d Then he went to the king, and told him how the matter\nstood. \u201cDaughter,\u201d said he, \u201csend back the cloak, the purse, and the\nhorn, that you stole from the right owners.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: As for the doctor, he put on the cloak, and was soon\nwith his two brothers]\n\nThen she ordered her maid to fetch all three, and gave them to the\ndoctor, and begged him to give them back to the soldiers; and the\nmoment he had them safe he gave her a whole pear to eat, and the nose\ncame right. And as for the doctor, he put on the cloak, wished the\nking and all his court a good day, and was soon with his two brothers;\nwho lived from that time happily at home in their palace, except when\nthey took an airing to see the world, in their coach with the three\ndapple-grey horses.\n\n * * * * *\n\nPuck\u2019s story made all laugh, and the more so because he artfully\ncontrived a loud sneeze at the finish of it and set everybody thinking\nof what would have happened had the afflicted soldier or princess been\ngiven a pinch of snuff by some mischievous person passing by the ends\nof their noses. By a quick jerk forward Puck somersaulted on to the\nsteps of Oberon\u2019s throne where he made a low bow to the fairy king and\nqueen and then jumped to a thin branch of a shrub growing near where\ncrossing his legs again in his favourite attitude he swung gently to\nand fro waiting for the next story-teller. Who was it to be?\n\n\u201cCan we not have a song?\u201d asked Titania.\n\n\u201cMy queen speaks to be obeyed,\u201d replied Oberon; \u201cRobin, let us hear\nthat song in which you tell of your doings among the mortals.\u201d\n\nRobin Goodfellow was never far away from the king, and at the royal\nrequest he promptly moved to the stool and standing up on it at once\nbegan the song that tells of\n\n[Illustration: Robin Goodfellow]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The pranks of Robin Goodfellow]\n\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWhat revel rout\u201d]\n\n From Oberon in fairy-land\n The king of ghosts and shadows there,\n Mad Robin I, at his command\n Am sent to view the night sports here;\n What revel rout\n Is kept about,\n In every corner where I go,\n I will o\u2019er see,\n And merry be,\n And make good sport with ho, ho, ho.\n\n More swift than lightning can I fly\n About this airy welkin soon,\n And, in a minute\u2019s space, descry\n Each thing that\u2019s done below the moon:\n There\u2019s not a hag\n Or ghost shall wag,\n Or cry, ware goblins, where I go;\n But Robin I\n Their feats will spy,\n And send them home with ho, ho, ho.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cThere\u2019s not a hag or ghost shall wag\u201d]\n\n Whene\u2019er such wanderers I meet,\n As from their night-sports they trudge home,\n With counterfeiting voice I greet\n And call them on, with me to roam\n Thro\u2019 woods, thro\u2019 lakes,\n Thro\u2019 bogs, thro\u2019 brakes;\n Or else, unseen, with them I go,\n All in the nick\n To play some trick\n And frolic it with ho, ho, ho.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cAnd call them on with me to roam thro\u2019 lakes, thro\u2019 bogs\u201d]\n\n Sometimes I meet them like a man,\n Sometimes an ox, sometimes a hound;\n And to a horse I turn me can,\n To trip and trot about them round\n But if to ride,\n My back they stride,\n More swift than wind away I go;\n O\u2019er hedge and lands\n Thro\u2019 pools and ponds,\n I whirry, laughing ho, ho, ho.\n\n When lads and lassies merry be,\n With possets and with junkets fine,\n Unseen of all the company,\n I eat their cakes and sip their wine;\n And to make sport,\n I sneeze and snort,\n And out the candles I do blow;\n The maids I kiss;\n They shriek--who\u2019s this?\n I answer nought but ho, ho, ho.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cThe maids I kiss\u201d]\n\n Yet now and then, the maids to please,\n At midnight I card up their wool;\n And while they sleep and take their ease,\n With wheel to threads their flax I pull.\n I grind at mill\n Their malt up still;\n I dress their hemp, I spin their tow.\n If any wake,\n And would me take,\n I wend me laughing ho, ho, ho!\n\n When house or hearth doth sluttish lie,\n I pinch the maidens black and blue;\n The bed clothes from the bed pull I,\n And lay them naked all to view;\n \u2019Twixt sleep and wake\n I do them take,\n And on the key-cold floor them throw;\n If out they cry\n Then forth I fly\n And loudly laugh I, ho, ho, ho!\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI them affright with pinchings, dreams, and ho, ho, ho!\u201d]\n\n When any need to borrow aught\n We lend them what they do require,\n And for the use demand we naught\n Our own is all we do desire.\n If to repay\n They do delay\n Abroad amongst them then I go\n And night by night\n I them affright\n With pinchings, dreams, and ho, ho, ho!\n\n When lazy queans have nought to do,\n But study how to cog and lie;\n To make debate and mischief too,\n \u2019Twixt one another secretly;\n I mark their gloze,\n And it disclose\n To them whom they have wronged so;\n When I have done,\n I get me gone,\n And leave them scolding, ho, ho, ho!\n\n[Illustration: \u201cAnd elf in bed, we leave instead\u201d]\n\n When men do traps and engines set\n In loop holes where the vermin creep,\n Who from their folds and houses get\n Their ducks and geese, and lambs and sheep,\n I spy the gin,\n And enter in,\n And seem a vermin taken so;\n But when they there\n Approach me near,\n I leap out laughing ho, ho, ho!\n\n By wells and rills, in meadows green,\n We nightly dance our hey-day guise;\n And to our fairy King and Queen\n We chant our moonlight minstrelsies.\n When larks \u2019gin sing,\n Away we fling,\n And babes new born steal as we go,\n And elf in bed\n We leave instead\n And wend us, laughing, ho, ho, ho!\n\n Whereas my fellow-elves and I\n In circled ring do trip around;\n If that our sports by any eye\n Do happen to be seen or found;\n If that they\n No words do say,\n But _mum_ continue as they go,\n Each night I do\n Put groat in shoe,\n And wind out laughing, ho, ho, ho!\n\n From hag-bred Merlin\u2019s time have I\n Thus nightly revelled to and fro;\n And for my pranks men call me by\n The name of Robin Goodfellow.\n Fiends, ghosts, and sprites\n Who haunt the nights,\n The hags and goblins do me know;\n And beldames old\n My feats have told,\n So Vale, Vale, ho, ho, ho!\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSo vale, vale, ho, ho, ho!\u201d]\n\nWith the last line of his song Robin Goodfellow disappeared off the\nstool so quickly that even his fellow-fairies were unable to see where\nhe went, and at one moment heard him singing his farewell \u201cVale, Vale,\u201d\nfrom the furthermost part of the fairy ring, and in the next instant,\nhis laughing \u201cho, ho, ho!\u201d came from the back of King Oberon\u2019s throne.\nThe whole fairy realm took up this laughing \u201cho, ho, ho!\u201d and when\nit quieted down, there on the stool was sitting a Swedish troll who,\nwithout any preface, began telling a story of\n\n[Illustration: The Swedish Troll]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: There appeared a strong light as of fire]\n\nThe Golden Lantern, the Golden Goat, and the Golden Cloak\n\n\nThere was once a poor widow who had three sons. The two elder went out\nto work for their living and while at home they were of little use, as\nthey seldom did as their mother wished, whatever she might say to them.\nBut the youngest lad always remained at home, and helped the old widow\nin her daily occupations. Hence he was much beloved by his mother,\nbut disliked by his brothers, who in mockery gave him the nickname of\n_Pinkel_.\n\nOne day the old widow said to her sons: \u201cYou must now go abroad in the\nworld, and seek your fortunes while you can. I am no longer able to\nfeed you here at home, now that you are grown up.\u201d The lads answered\nthat they wished for nothing better, since it was contrary to their\nmother\u2019s will that they should remain at home. They then prepared for\ntheir departure, and set out on their journey; but, after wandering\nabout from place to place, were unable to procure any employment.\n\nAfter journeying thus for a long time, they came, late one evening,\nto a vast lake. Far out in the water there was an island, on which\nthere appeared a strong light, as of fire. The lads stopped on shore\nobserving the wondrous light, and thence concluded that there must be\nhuman beings in the place. As it was now dark, and the brothers knew\nnot where to find a shelter for the night, they resolved on taking a\nboat that lay among the reeds, and rowing over to the island to beg a\nlodging. With this view they placed themselves in the boat and rowed\nacross. On approaching the island they perceived a little hut standing\nat the water\u2019s edge; on reaching which they discovered that the bright\nlight, that shone over the neighbourhood, proceeded from a golden\nlantern, that stood at the door of the hut. In the yard without, a\nlarge goat was wandering about, with golden horns, to which small bells\nwere fastened, that gave forth a pleasing sound whenever the animal\nmoved. The brothers wondered much at all this, but most of all at the\nold crone, who with her daughter inhabited the hut. The crone was both\nold and ugly, but was sumptuously clad in a pelisse or cloak, worked so\nartificially with golden threads that it glittered like burnished gold\nin every hem. The lads saw now very clearly that they had come to no\nordinary human being, but to a Troll.\n\nAfter some deliberation the brothers entered, and saw the crone\nstanding by the fire-place, and stirring with a ladle in a large pot\nthat was boiling on the hearth. They told their story and prayed to\nbe allowed to pass the night there; but the crone answered _no_, at\nthe same time directing them to a royal palace, which lay on the other\nside of the lake. While speaking she kept looking intently on the\nyoungest boy, as he was standing and casting his eyes over everything\nin the hut. The crone said to him: \u201cWhat is thy name, my boy?\u201d The\nlad answered smartly: \u201cI am called Pinkel.\u201d The Troll then said: \u201cThy\nbrothers can go their way, but thou shalt stay here; for thou appearest\nto me very crafty, and my mind tells me that I have no good to expect\nfrom thee, if thou shouldst stay long at the king\u2019s palace.\u201d Pinkel now\nhumbly begged to be allowed to accompany his brothers, and promised\nnever to cause the crone harm or annoyance. At length he also got leave\nto depart; after which the brothers hastened to the boat, not a little\nglad that all three had escaped so well in this adventure.\n\nTowards the morning they arrived at a royal palace, larger and more\nmagnificent than anything they had ever seen before. They entered and\nbegged for employment. The eldest two were received as helpers in the\nroyal stables, and the youngest was taken as page to the king\u2019s young\nson; and, being a sprightly intelligent lad, he soon won the good-will\nof every one, and rose from day to day in the king\u2019s favour. At this\nhis brothers were sorely nettled, not enduring that he should be\npreferred to themselves. At length they consulted together how they\nmight compass the fall of their young brother, in the belief that\nafterwards they should prosper better than before.\n\nThey therefore presented themselves one day before the king, and gave\nhim an exaggerated account of the beautiful lantern that shed light\nover both land and water, adding that it ill beseemed a king to lack\nso precious a jewel. On hearing this the king\u2019s attention was excited,\nand he asked: \u201cWhere is this lantern to be found, and who can procure\nit for me?\u201d The brothers answered: \u201cNo one can do that unless it be\nour brother Pinkel. He knows best where the lantern is to be found.\u201d\nThe king was now filled with desire to obtain the golden lantern,\nabout which he had heard tell, and commanded the youth to be called.\nWhen Pinkel came, the king said: \u201cIf thou canst procure me the golden\nlantern, that shines over land and water, I will make thee the chief\nman in my whole court.\u201d The youth promised to do his best to execute\nhis lord\u2019s behest, and the king praised him for his willingness; but\nthe brothers rejoiced at heart; for they well knew it was a perilous\nundertaking, which could hardly terminate favourably.\n\nPinkel now prepared a little boat, and, unaccompanied by any one,\nrowed over to the island inhabited by the Troll crone. When he arrived\nit was already evening, and the crone was busied in boiling porridge\nfor supper, as was her custom. The youth creeping softly up to the\nroof, cast from time to time a handful of salt through the chimney, so\nthat it fell down into the pot that was boiling on the hearth. When\nthe porridge was ready, and the crone had begun to eat, she could not\nconceive what had made it so salt and bitter. She was out of humour,\nand chided her daughter, thinking that she had put too much salt into\nthe porridge; but let her dilute the porridge as she might, it could\nnot be eaten, so salt and bitter was it. She then ordered her daughter\nto go to the well, that was just at the foot of the hill, and fetch\nwater, in order to prepare fresh porridge. The maiden answered: \u201cHow\ncan I go to the well? It is so dark out of doors, that I cannot find\nthe way over the hill.\u201d \u201cThen take my gold lantern,\u201d said the crone\npeevishly. The girl took the beautiful gold lantern accordingly, and\nhastened away to fetch the water. But as she stooped to lift the pail,\nPinkel, who was on the watch, seized her by the feet, and cast her\nheadlong into the water. He then took the golden lantern, and betook\nhimself in all haste to his boat.\n\nIn the meantime the crone was wondering why her daughter stayed out\nso long, and, at the same moment, chancing to look through the window\nshe saw the light gleaming far out on the water. At this sight she was\nsorely vexed, and, hurrying down to the shore, cried aloud: \u201cIs that\nthou, Pinkel?\u201d The youth answered: \u201cYes, dear mother, it is I.\u201d The\nTroll continued: \u201cart thou not a great knave?\u201d The lad answered: \u201cYes,\ndear mother, I am so.\u201d The crone now began to lament and complain,\nsaying: \u201cAh! what a fool was I to let thee go from me; I might have\nbeen sure thou wouldst play me some trick. If thou ever comest hither\nagain, thou shalt not escape.\u201d And so the matter rested for that time.\n\n[Illustration: Pinkel seized her by the feet and cast her headlong into\nthe water]\n\nPinkel now returned to the king\u2019s palace, and became the chief person\nat court, as the king had promised. But when the brothers were informed\nwhat complete success he had had in his adventure, they became yet more\nenvious and embittered than before, and often consulted together how\nthey might accomplish the fall of their young brother, and gain the\nking\u2019s favour for themselves.\n\nBoth brothers went, therefore, a second time before the king, and began\nrelating at full length about the beautiful goat that had horns of\nthe purest gold, from which little gold bells were suspended, which\ngave forth a pleasing sound, whenever the animal moved. They added,\nthat it ill became so rich a king to lack so costly a treasure. On\nhearing their story, the king was greatly excited, and said: \u201cWhere is\nthis goat to be found, and who can procure it for me?\u201d The brothers\nanswered: \u201cThat no one can do, unless it be our brother Pinkel; for\nhe knows best where the goat is to be found.\u201d The king then felt a\nstrong desire to possess the goat with the golden horns, and therefore\ncommanded the youth to appear before him. When Pinkel came, the king\nsaid: \u201cThy brothers have been telling me of a beautiful goat with horns\nof the purest gold, and little bells fastened to the horns, which ring\nwhenever the animal moves. Now it is my will that thou go and procure\nfor me this goat. If thou art successful I will make thee lord over a\nthird part of my kingdom.\u201d The youth having listened to this speech,\npromised to execute his lord\u2019s commission, if only fortune would\nbefriend him. The king then praised his readiness, and the brothers\nwere glad at heart, believing that Pinkel would not escape this time so\nwell as the first.\n\nPinkel now made the necessary preparations and rowed to the island\nwhere the Troll-wife dwelt. When he reached it, evening was already\nadvanced, and it was dark, so that no one could be aware of his coming,\nthe golden lantern being no longer there, but shedding its light in\nthe royal palace. The youth now deliberated with himself how to get\nthe golden goat; but the task was no easy one; for the animal lay\nevery night in the crone\u2019s hut. At length it occurred to his mind that\nthere was one method which might probably prove successful, though,\nnevertheless, sufficiently difficult to carry into effect.\n\nAt night, when it was time for the crone and her daughter to go to bed,\nthe girl went as usual to bolt the door. But Pinkel was just outside\non the watch, and had placed a piece of wood behind the door, so that\nit would not shut close. The girl stood for a long time trying to lock\nit but to no purpose. On perceiving this the crone thought there was\nsomething out of order, and called out, that the door might very well\nremain unlocked for the night; as soon as it was daylight they could\nascertain what was wanting. The girl then left the door ajar and laid\nherself down to sleep. When the night was a little more advanced, and\nthe crone and her daughter were snug in deep repose, the youth stole\nsoftly into the hut, and approached the goat where he lay stretched out\non the hearth. Pinkel now stuffed wool into all the golden bells, lest\ntheir sound might betray him; then seizing the goat, he bore it off to\nhis boat. When he had reached the middle of the lake, he took the wool\nout of the goat\u2019s ears, and the animal moved so that the bells rang\naloud. At the sound the crone awoke, ran down to the water, and cried\nin an angry tone: \u201cIs that thou, Pinkel?\u201d The youth answered: \u201cYes,\ndear mother, it is.\u201d The crone said: \u201cHast thou stolen my gold goat?\u201d\nThe youth answered: \u201cYes, dear mother, I have.\u201d The Troll continued:\n\u201cArt thou not a big knave?\u201d Pinkel returned for answer: \u201cYes, I am so,\ndear mother.\u201d Now the beldam began to whine and complain saying: \u201cAh!\nwhat a simpleton was I for letting thee slip away from me. I well knew\nthou wouldst play me some trick. But if thou comest hither ever again,\nthou shalt never go hence.\u201d\n\nPinkel now returned to the king\u2019s court and obtained the government\nof a third part of the kingdom, as the king had promised. But when\nthe brothers heard how the enterprise had succeeded, and also saw the\nbeautiful lantern and the goat with golden horns, which were regarded\nby every one as great wonders, they became still more hostile and\nembittered than ever. They could think of nothing but how they might\naccomplish his destruction.\n\nThey went, therefore, one day again before the king, to whom they gave\na most elaborate description of the Troll-crone\u2019s fur cloak, that shone\nlike the brightest gold, and was worked with golden threads in every\nseam. The brothers said, it was more befitting a queen than a Troll\nto possess such a treasure, and added that that alone was wanting to\nthe king\u2019s good fortune. When the king heard all this he became very\nthoughtful, and said: \u201cWhere is this cloak to be found, and who can\nprocure it for me?\u201d The brothers answered: \u201cNo one can do that except\nour brother Pinkel; for he knows best where the gold cloak is to be\nfound.\u201d The king was thereupon seized with an ardent longing to possess\nthe gold cloak, and commanded the youth to be called before him. When\nPinkel came, the king said: \u201cI have long been aware that thou hast an\naffection for my young daughter; and thy brothers have been telling me\nof a beautiful fur cloak, which shines with the reddest gold in every\nseam. It is, therefore, my will that thou go and procure for me this\ncloak. If thou art successful, thou shalt be my son-in-law, and after\nme shalt inherit the kingdom.\u201d When the youth heard this he was glad\nbeyond measure, and promised either to win the young maiden, or perish\nin the attempt. The king thereupon praised his readiness; but the\nbrothers were delighted in their false hearts, and trusted that that\nenterprise would prove their brother\u2019s destruction.\n\nPinkel then betook himself to his boat and crossed over to the island\ninhabited by the Troll-crone. On the way he anxiously deliberated with\nhimself how he might get possession of the crone\u2019s gold cloak; but\nit appeared to him not very likely that his undertaking would prove\nsuccessful, seeing that the Troll always wore the cloak upon her. So\nafter having concerted divers plans, one more hazardous than another,\nit occurred to him, that he would try one method, which might perhaps\nsucceed, although it was bold and rash.\n\nIn pursuance of his scheme he bound a bag under his clothes, and\nwalked with trembling step and humble demeanour into the beldam\u2019s hut.\nOn perceiving him, the Troll cast on him a savage glance, and said:\n\u201cPinkel, is that thou?\u201d The youth answered: \u201cYes, dear mother, it is.\u201d\nThe crone was overjoyed, and said: \u201cAlthough thou art come voluntarily\ninto my power, thou canst not surely hope to escape again from hence,\nafter having played me so many tricks.\u201d She then took a large knife\nand prepared to make an end of poor Pinkel; but the youth, seeing her\ndesign, appeared sorely terrified, and said: \u201cIf I must needs die, I\nthink I might be allowed to choose the manner of my death. I would\nrather eat myself to death with milk-porridge, than be killed with a\nknife.\u201d The crone thought to herself that the youth had made a bad\nchoice, and therefore promised to comply with his wish. She then set\na huge pot on the fire, in which she put a large quantity of porridge.\nWhen the mess was ready, she placed it before Pinkel that he might eat,\nwho for every spoonful of porridge that he put into his mouth, poured\ntwo into the bag that was tied under his clothes. At length the crone\nbegan to wonder how Pinkel could contrive to swallow such a quantity;\nbut just at the same moment the youth, making a show of being sick to\ndeath, sank down from his seat as if he were dead, and unobserved cut a\nhole in the bag, so that the porridge ran over the floor.\n\n[Illustration: They went again before the king]\n\nThe crone, thinking that Pinkel had burst with the quantity of porridge\nhe had eaten, was not a little glad, clapped her hands together, and\nran off to look for her daughter, who was gone to the well. But as the\nweather was wet and stormy, she first took off her beautiful fur cloak\nand laid it aside in the hut. Before she could have proceeded far, the\nyouth came to life again, and springing up like lightning, seized on\nthe golden cloak, and ran off at the top of his speed.\n\nShortly after, the crone perceived Pinkel as he was rowing in his\nlittle boat. On seeing him alive again, and observing the gold cloak\nglittering on the surface of the water, she was angry beyond all\nconception, and ran far out on the strand, crying: \u201cIs that thou,\nPinkel?\u201d The youth answered: \u201cYes, it is I, dear mother.\u201d The crone\nsaid: \u201cHast thou taken my beautiful gold cloak?\u201d Pinkel responded:\n\u201cYes, dear mother, I have.\u201d The Troll continued: \u201cArt thou not a great\nknave?\u201d The youth replied: \u201cYes, I am so, dear mother.\u201d The old witch\nwas now almost beside herself, and began to whine and lament, and said:\n\u201cAh! how silly was it of me to let thee slip away. I was well assured\nthou wouldst play me many wicked tricks.\u201d They then parted from each\nother.\n\n[Illustration: His brothers continued to be helpers in the stable as\nlong as they lived]\n\nThe Troll-wife now returned to her hut, and Pinkel crossed the water,\nand arrived safely at the king\u2019s palace; there he delivered the gold\ncloak, of which every one said that a more sumptuous garment was never\nseen nor heard of. The king honourably kept his word with the youth,\nand gave him his young daughter to wife. Pinkel afterwards lived happy\nand content to the end of his days; but his brothers were and continued\nto be helpers in the stable as long as they lived.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Swedish Troll had finished the story of Pinkel\u2019s adventures a\nGerman Fairy took up her position on the stool and said that she would\nbe very glad to tell a tale only there were so many in the country from\nwhich she had come that she really didn\u2019t know which one they would\nlike best.\n\n\u201cCan we not have a story about children?\u201d asked Queen Titania.\n\nThe German Fairy considered for a moment and then said that she did\nknow a pretty story about children, a story which many children liked\nto hear and one which they called the Sweety-House, because it told how\na little boy and girl when lost in the woods found a house built of\nnothing but sweets and cakes, and of the adventures which befel them\nafterwards when pursued by a bad wicked fairy who was a disgrace to the\nname.\n\n\u201cThe Sweety-House, the Sweety-House,\u201d exclaimed Titania clapping her\nhands delightedly.\n\n\u201cThe _proper_ name of the story,\u201d said the German Fairy, \u201cis\n\n[Illustration: The German Fairy]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: On one of the branches sat a little child]\n\nHansel and Grethel\n\n\nThere was once a poor man, who was a woodman, and went every day to\ncut wood in the forest. Once as he went along, he heard a cry like a\nlittle child\u2019s: so he followed the sound, till at last he looked up a\nhigh tree, and on one of the branches sat a very little child. Now its\nmother had fallen asleep, and a vulture had taken it out of her lap\nand flown away with it, and left it on the tree. Then the woodcutter\nclimbed up, took the little child down, and found it was a pretty\nlittle girl; and he said to himself, \u201cI will take this poor child home,\nand bring her up with my own son Hansel.\u201d So he brought her to his\ncottage, and both grew up together: he called the little girl Grethel,\nand the two children were so very fond of each other that they were\nnever happy but when they were together.\n\nBut the woodcutter became very poor, and had nothing in the world he\ncould call his own; and indeed he had scarcely bread enough for his\nwife and the two children to eat. At last the time came when even that\nwas all gone, and he knew not where to seek for help in his need. Then\nat night, as he lay on his bed, and turned himself here and there,\nrestless and full of care, his wife said to him, \u201cHusband, listen to\nme, and take the two children out early to-morrow morning; give each of\nthem a piece of bread, and then lead them into the midst of the wood,\nwhere it is thickest, make a fire for them, and go away and leave them\nalone to shift for themselves, for we can no longer keep them here.\u201d\n\u201cNo, wife,\u201d said the husband, \u201cI cannot find it in my heart to leave\nthe children to the wild beasts of the forest; they would soon tear\nthem to pieces.\u201d \u201cWell, if you will not do as I say,\u201d answered the\nwife, \u201cwe must all starve together.\u201d And she would not let him have any\npeace until he came into her hard-hearted plan.\n\nMeantime the poor children too were lying awake restless, and weak\nfrom hunger, so that they heard all that Hansel\u2019s mother said to her\nhusband. \u201cNow,\u201d thought Grethel to herself, \u201cit is all up with us\u201d: and\nshe began to weep. But Hansel crept to her bedside, and said, \u201cDo not\nbe afraid, Grethel, I will find out some help for us.\u201d Then he got up,\nput on his jacket, and opened the door and went out.\n\nThe moon shone bright upon the little court before the cottage, and\nthe white pebbles glittered like daisies on the green meadows. So he\nstooped down, and put as many as he could into his pocket, and then\nwent back to the house. \u201cNow, Grethel,\u201d said he, \u201crest in peace!\u201d and\nhe went to bed and fell fast asleep.\n\nEarly in the morning, before the sun had risen, the woodman\u2019s wife came\nand awoke them. \u201cGet up, children,\u201d said she, \u201cwe are going into the\nwood; there is a piece of bread for each of you, but take care of it,\nand keep some for the afternoon.\u201d Grethel took the bread, and carried\nit in her apron, because Hansel had his pocket full of stones; and they\nmade their way into the wood.\n\n[Illustration: Lingering behind to drop one pebble after another along\nthe road]\n\nAfter they had walked on for a time, Hansel stood still and looked\ntowards home; and after a while he turned again, and so on several\ntimes. Then his father said, \u201cHansel, why do you keep turning and\nlagging about so? Move on a little faster.\u201d \u201cAh, father,\u201d answered\nHansel, \u201cI am stopping to look at my white cat, that sits on the\nroof, and wants to say good-bye to me.\u201d \u201cYou little fool!\u201d said his\nmother, \u201cthat is not your cat; it is the morning sun shining on the\nchimney-top.\u201d Now Hansel had not been looking at the cat, but had all\nthe while been lingering behind, to drop from his pocket one white\npebble after another along the road.\n\nWhen they came into the midst of the wood the woodman said, \u201cRun about,\nchildren, and pick up some wood, and I will make a fire to keep us all\nwarm.\u201d So they piled up a little heap of brushwood, and set it on fire;\nand as the flames burnt bright, the mother said, \u201cNow set yourselves\nby the fire, and go to sleep, while we go and cut wood in the forest;\nbe sure you wait till we come again and fetch you.\u201d Hansel and Grethel\nsat by the fireside till the afternoon, and then each of them ate\ntheir piece of bread. They fancied the woodman was still in the wood,\nbecause they thought they heard the blows of his axe; but it was a\nbough, which he had cunningly hung upon a tree, in such a way that the\nwind blew it backwards and forwards against the other boughs: and so it\nsounded as the axe does in cutting. Thus they waited till evening: but\nthe woodman and his wife kept away, and no one came to fetch them.\n\nWhen it was quite dark Grethel began to cry; but then Hansel said,\n\u201cWait awhile till the moon rises.\u201d And when the moon rose he took her\nby the hand, and there lay the pebbles along the ground, glittering\nlike new pieces of money, and marking out the way. Towards morning they\ncame again to the woodman\u2019s house, and he was glad in his heart when he\nsaw the children again, for he had grieved at leaving them alone. His\nwife also seemed to be glad; but in her heart she was angry at it.\n\nNot long afterwards there was again no bread in the house, and Hansel\nand Grethel heard the wife say to her husband, \u201cThe children found\ntheir way back once, and I took it in good part; but now there is only\nhalf a loaf of bread left for them in the house; to-morrow you must\ntake them deeper into the wood, that they may not find their way out,\nor we shall all be starved.\u201d It grieved the husband in his heart to\ndo as his selfish wife wished, and he thought it would be better to\nshare their last morsel with the children; but as he had done as she\nsaid once, he did not dare now to say no. When the children heard all\ntheir plan, Hansel got up, and wanted to pick up pebbles as before; but\nwhen he came to the door, he found his mother had locked it. Still he\ncomforted Grethel, and said, \u201cSleep in peace, dear Grethel! God is very\nkind, and will help us.\u201d\n\nEarly in the morning, a piece of bread was given to each of them,\nbut still smaller than the one they had before. Upon the road Hansel\ncrumbled his in his pocket and often stood still, and threw a crumb\nupon the ground. \u201cWhy do you lag so behind, Hansel?\u201d said the woodman;\n\u201cgo your ways on before.\u201d \u201cI am looking at my little dove that is\nsitting upon the roof, and wants to say good-bye to me.\u201d \u201cYou silly\nboy!\u201d said the wife, \u201cthat is not your little dove; it is the morning\nsun, that shines on the chimney-top.\u201d But Hansel still went on\ncrumbling his bread, and throwing it on the ground. And thus they went\non still further into the wood, where they had never been before in all\ntheir life.\n\nThere they were again told to sit down by a large fire, and go to\nsleep; and the woodman and his wife said they would come in the evening\nand fetch them away. In the afternoon Hansel shared Grethel\u2019s bread,\nbecause he had strewed all his upon the road; but the day passed away,\nand evening passed away too, and no one came to the poor children.\nStill Hansel comforted Grethel, and said, \u201cWait till the moon rises;\nand then I shall be able to see the crumbs of bread which I have\nstrewed, and they will show us the way home.\u201d\n\nThe moon rose; but when Hansel looked for the crumbs they were gone,\nfor hundreds of little birds in the wood had found them and picked them\nup. Hansel, however, set out to try and find his way home; but they\nsoon lost themselves in the wilderness, and went on through the night\nand all the next day, till at last they laid down and fell asleep for\nweariness. Another day they went on as before, but still did not come\nto the end of the wood; and they were as hungry as could be, for they\nhad had nothing to eat.\n\nIn the afternoon of the third day they came to a strange little hut,\nmade of bread, with a roof of cake, and windows of barley-sugar. \u201cNow\nwe will sit down and eat till we have had enough,\u201d said Hansel; \u201cI will\neat off the roof for my share; do you eat the windows, Grethel, they\nwill be nice and sweet for you.\u201d Whilst Grethel, however, was picking\nat the barley-sugar, a pretty voice called softly from within,\n\n \u201cTip, tap! who goes there?\u201d\n\nBut the children answered,\n\n \u201cThe wind, the wind,\n That blows through the air!\u201d\n\nand went on eating. Now Grethel had broken out a round pane of the\nwindow for herself, and Hansel had torn off a large piece of cake from\nthe roof, when the door opened, and a little old fairy came gliding\nout. At this Hansel and Grethel were so frightened, that they let fall\nwhat they had in their hands. But the old lady nodded to them, and\nsaid, \u201cDear children, where have you been wandering about? Come in with\nme; you shall have something good.\u201d\n\nSo she took them each by the hand, and led them into her little\nhut, and brought out plenty to eat,--milk and pancakes, with sugar,\napples, and nuts; and then two beautiful little beds were got ready,\nand Grethel and Hansel laid themselves down, and thought they were in\nheaven. But the fairy was a spiteful one, and made her pretty sweetmeat\nhouse to entrap little children. Early in the morning, before they\nwere awake, she went to their little beds; and though she saw the two\nsleeping and looking so sweetly, she had no pity on them, but was glad\nthey were in her power. Then she took up Hansel, and fastened him up in\na coop by himself, and when he awoke he found himself behind a grating,\nshut up safely, as chickens are; but she shook Grethel, and called\nout, \u201cGet up, you lazy little thing, and fetch some water; and go into\nthe kitchen, and cook something good to eat: your brother is shut up\nyonder; I shall first fatten him, and when he is fat, I think I shall\neat him.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: I will eat off the roof for my share]\n\nWhen the fairy was gone poor Grethel watched her time, and got up, and\nran to Hansel, and told him what she had heard, and said, \u201cWe must run\naway quickly, for the old woman is a bad fairy, and will kill us.\u201d But\nHansel said, \u201cYou must first steal away her fairy wand, that we may\nsave ourselves if she should follow; and bring the pipe too that hangs\nup in her room.\u201d Then the little maiden ran back, and fetched the magic\nwand and the pipe, and away they went together; so when the old fairy\ncame back and could see no one at home, she sprang in a great rage to\nthe window, and looked out into the wide world (which she could do far\nand near), and a long way off she spied Grethel, running away with\nher dear Hansel. \u201cYou are already a great way off,\u201d said she; \u201cbut you\nwill still fall into my hands.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Fastened him up in a coop]\n\nThen she put on her boots, which walked several miles at a step, and\nscarcely made two steps with them before she overtook the children; but\nGrethel saw that the fairy was coming after them, and, by the help of\nthe wand, turned her friend Hansel into a lake of water, and herself\ninto a swan, which swam about in the middle of it. So the fairy sat\nherself down on the shore, and took a great deal of trouble to decoy\nthe swan, and threw crumbs of bread to it; but it would not come near\nher, and she was forced to go home in the evening without taking her\nrevenge. Then Grethel changed herself and Hansel back into their own\nforms once more, and they went journeying on the whole night, until the\ndawn of day: and then the maiden turned herself into a beautiful rose,\nthat grew in the midst of a quickset hedge; and Hansel sat by the side.\n\nThe fairy soon came striding along. \u201cGood piper,\u201d said she, \u201cmay I\npluck yon beautiful rose for myself?\u201d \u201cO yes,\u201d answered he. \u201cAnd then,\u201d\nthought he to himself, \u201cI will play you a tune meantime.\u201d So when she\nhad crept into the hedge in a great hurry, to gather the flower--for\nshe well knew what it was,--he pulled out the pipe slily, and began to\nplay. Now the pipe was a fairy pipe, and, whether they liked it or not,\nwhoever heard it was obliged to dance. So the old fairy was forced to\ndance a merry jig, on and on without any rest, and without being able\nto reach the rose. And as he did not cease playing a moment, the thorns\nat length tore the clothes from off her body, and pricked her sorely,\nand there she stuck quite fast.\n\nThen Grethel set herself free once more, and on they went; but she grew\nvery tired, and Hansel said, \u201cNow I will hasten home for help.\u201d And\nGrethel said, \u201cI will stay here in the meantime, and wait for you.\u201d\nThen Hansel went away, and Grethel was to wait for him.\n\nBut when Grethel had stayed in the field a long time, and found he did\nnot come back, she became quite sorrowful, and turned herself into a\nlittle daisy, and thought to herself, \u201cSomeone will come and tread me\nunder foot, and so my sorrows will end.\u201d But it so happened that, as a\nshepherd was keeping watch in a field, he saw the daisy; and thinking\nit very pretty, he took it home, placed it in a box in his room, and\nsaid, \u201cI have never found so pretty a daisy before.\u201d From that time\neverything throve wonderfully at the shepherd\u2019s house. When he got up\nin the morning, all the household work was ready done; the room was\nswept and cleaned, the fire made, and the water fetched; and in the\nafternoon, when he came home, the table-cloth was laid, and a good\ndinner ready set for him. He could not make out how all this happened,\nfor he saw no one in his house; and although it pleased him well\nenough, he was at length troubled to think how it could be, and went\nto a cunning woman who lived hard by, and asked her what he should do.\nShe said, \u201cThere must be witchcraft in it; look out to-morrow morning\nearly, and see if anything stirs about in the room: if it does, throw a\nwhite cloth at once over it, and then the witchcraft will be stopped.\u201d\nThe shepherd did as she said, and the next morning saw the box open,\nand the daisy come out: then he sprang up quickly, and threw a white\ncloth over it: in an instant the spell was broken, and Grethel stood\nbefore him, for it was she who had taken care of his house for him; and\nshe was so beautiful, that he asked her if she would marry him. She\nsaid, \u201cNo,\u201d because she wished to be faithful to her dear Hansel; but\nshe agreed to stay, and keep house for him till Hansel came back.\n\nTime passed on, and Hansel came back at last; for the spiteful fairy\nhad led him astray, and he had not been able for a long time to find\nhis way, either home or back to Grethel. Then he and Grethel set out\nto go home; but after travelling a long way, Grethel became tired, and\nshe and Hansel laid themselves down to sleep in a fine old hollow tree\nthat grew in a meadow by the side of the wood. But as they slept the\nfairy--who had got out of the bush at last--came by; and finding her\nwand was glad to lay hold of it, and at once turned poor Hansel into a\nfawn while he was asleep.\n\nSoon after Grethel awoke, and found what had happened; and she wept\nbitterly over the poor creature; and the tears too rolled down his\neyes, as he laid himself down beside her. Then she said, \u201cRest in\npeace, dear fawn; I will never, never leave thee.\u201d So she took off her\ngolden necklace, and put it round his neck, and plucked some rushes,\nand plaited them into a soft string to fasten to it, and led the poor\nlittle thing by her side when she went to walk in the wood; and when\nthey were tired they came back, and laid down to sleep by the side of\nthe hollow tree, where they lodged at night: but nobody came near them\nexcept the little dwarfs that lived in the wood, and these watched over\nthem while they were asleep.\n\nAt last one day they came to a little cottage; and Grethel having\nlooked in, and seen that it was quite empty, thought to herself, \u201cWe\ncan stay and live here.\u201d Then she went and gathered leaves and moss\nto make a soft bed for the fawn; and every morning she went out and\nplucked nuts, roots, and berries for herself, and sweet shrubs and\ntender grass for her friend; and it ate out of her hand, and was\npleased, and played and frisked about her. In the evening, when Grethel\nwas tired, and had said her prayers, she laid her head upon the fawn\nfor her pillow, and slept; and if poor Hansel could but have his right\nform again, she thought they should lead a very happy life.\n\nThey lived thus a long while in the wood by themselves, till it chanced\nthat the king of that country came to hold a great hunt there. And when\nthe fawn heard all around the echoing of the horns, and the baying of\nthe dogs, and the merry shouts of the huntsmen, he wished very much to\ngo and see what was going on. \u201cAh, sister! sister!\u201d said he, \u201clet me go\nout into the wood, I can stay no longer.\u201d And he begged so long, that\nshe at last agreed to let him go. \u201cBut,\u201d said she, \u201cbe sure to come to\nme in the evening; I shall shut up the door, to keep out those wild\nhuntsmen; and if you tap at it and say, \u2018Sister, let me in!\u2019 I shall\nknow you; but if you don\u2019t speak, I shall keep the door fast.\u201d Then\naway sprang the fawn, and frisked and bounded along in the open air.\nThe king and his huntsmen saw the beautiful creature, and followed, but\ncould not overtake him; for when they thought they were sure of their\nprize, he sprang over the bushes, and was out of sight at once.\n\nAs it grew dark he came running home to the hut and tapped, and said,\n\u201cSister, sister, let me in!\u201d Then she opened the little door, and in\nhe jumped, and slept soundly all night on his soft bed.\n\nNext morning the hunt began again; and when he heard the huntsmen\u2019s\nhorns, he said, \u201cSister, open the door for me, I must go again.\u201d Then\nshe let him out, and said, \u201cCome back in the evening, and remember\nwhat you are to say.\u201d When the king and the huntsmen saw the fawn with\nthe golden collar again, they gave him chase; but he was too quick for\nthem. The chase lasted the whole day; but at last the huntsmen nearly\nsurrounded him, and one of them wounded him in the foot, so that he\nbecame sadly lame, and could hardly crawl home. The man who had wounded\nhim followed close behind, and hid himself, and heard the little fawn\nsay, \u201cSister, sister, let me in!\u201d upon which the door opened, and soon\nshut again. The huntsman marked all well, and went to the king and told\nhim what he had seen and heard; then the king said, \u201cTo-morrow we will\nhave another chase.\u201d\n\nGrethel was very much frightened when she saw that her dear little fawn\nwas wounded; but she washed the blood away, and put some healing herbs\non it, and said, \u201cNow go to bed, dear fawn, and you will soon be well\nagain.\u201d The wound was so slight, that in the morning there was nothing\nto be seen of it; and when the horn blew, the little thing said, \u201cI\ncan\u2019t stay here, I must go and look on; I will take care that none of\nthem shall catch me.\u201d But Grethel said, \u201cI am sure they will kill you\nthis time: I will not let you go.\u201d \u201cI shall die of grief,\u201d said he, \u201cif\nyou keep me here; when I hear the horns, I feel as if I could fly.\u201d\nThen Grethel was forced to let him go: so she opened the door with a\nheavy heart, and he bounded out gaily into the wood.\n\nWhen the king saw him, he said to his huntsmen, \u201cNow chase him all day\nlong, till you catch him; but let none of you do him any harm.\u201d The sun\nset, however, without their being able to overtake him, and the king\ncalled away the huntsmen, and said to the one who had watched, \u201cNow\ncome and show me the little hut.\u201d So they went to the door and tapped,\nand said, \u201cSister, sister, let me in!\u201d Then the door opened, and the\nking went in, and there stood a maiden more lovely than any he had ever\nseen.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nGrethel was frightened to see that it was not her fawn, but a king with\na golden crown that was come into her hut: however, he spoke kindly to\nher, and took her hand, and said, \u201cWill you come with me to my castle,\nand be my wife?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said the maiden, \u201cI will go to your castle, but\nI cannot be your wife; and my fawn must go with me, I cannot part with\nthat.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said the king, \u201che shall come and live with you all your\nlife, and want for nothing.\u201d Just then in sprang the little fawn; and\nhis sister tied the string to his neck, and they left the hut in the\nwood together.\n\nThen the king took Grethel to his palace, and on the way she told him\nall her story: and then he sent for the fairy, and made her change the\nfawn into Hansel again; and he and Grethel loved one another, and were\nmarried, and lived happily together all their days in the good king\u2019s\npalace.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe story of Hansel and Grethel was liked as well as any one that could\nbe told and the German Fairy was very proud of this, so much so that\nshe began to declare that the part of the world which she came from was\none far richer than any other in such stories, and implied that she was\nquite ready to tell them all if King Oberon liked, but the king did not\ntake the hint but instead thanked the German Fairy, and at once began\nto look around for the next tale-teller when Puck came flying up and in\na privileged fashion whispered in the ear of the Fairy King.\n\n\u201cCapital,\u201d exclaimed Oberon, \u201cBottom and his friends must know some\nstories and one of them shall be next.\u201d\n\nOff Puck went, and then there was such a shuffling of feet and nudging\nof elbows where Nick Bottom the weaver sat with Quince, Snug, Flute,\nSnout and Starveling, his companions.\n\n\u201cYou first, bully Bottom,\u201d says Snout, and \u201cYou first, Peter Quince,\u201d\nsays Nick Bottom, and \u201cYou first, Robin Starveling,\u201d \u201cYou first,\nFlute,\u201d comes from the others.\n\nPuck would not wait for the dispute as to precedence to be settled\nbut just laid hold of Robin Starveling the tailor by the ear and\nwilly-nilly off he had to go. On getting to the stool, like a sensible\nfellow, he began at once without any excuses by telling another story\nof the Irish fairies, and his story was called\n\n[Illustration: Robin Starveling]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Mick found that he hadn\u2019t enough half to pay the rent]\n\nThe Magic Bottles\n\n\nIt was in the good old days that a farmer named Mick Purcell rented a\nfew acres of barren ground in the neighbourhood of Mouren, situated\nabout three miles from Mallow and thirteen from the beautiful city\ncalled Cork. Mick had a wife and family. They all did what they could,\nand that was but little, for the poor man had no child grown up big\nenough to help him in his work; and all the poor woman could do was to\nmind the children, and to milk the one cow, and to boil the potatoes\nand carry the eggs to market to Mallow; but with all they could do\n\u2019twas hard enough on them to pay the rent. Well, they did manage it for\na good while; but at last came a bad year, and the little grain of oats\nwas all spoiled, and the chickens died of the pip, and the pig got the\nmeasles--she was sold in Mallow and brought almost nothing; and poor\nMick found that he hadn\u2019t enough half to pay his rent.\n\n\u201cWhy, then, Molly,\u201d says he, \u201cwhat\u2019ll we do?\u201d\n\n\u201cWisha, then, mavourneen, what would you do but take the cow to the\nfair of Cork and sell her?\u201d says she; \u201cand so you must go to-morrow,\nthat the poor beast may be rested _again_ the fair.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what\u2019ll we do when she\u2019s gone?\u201d says Mick sorrowfully.\n\n\u201cNever a know I know, Mick; but sure God won\u2019t leave us without him,\nMick; and you know how good he was to us when poor little Billy was\nsick, and we had nothing at all for him to take--that good doctor\ngentleman at Ballydahin came riding and asking for a drink of milk; and\nhow he gave us two shillings; and how he sent the things and bottles\nfor the child and gave me my breakfast when I went over to ask a\nquestion, so he did; and how he came to see Billy, and never left off\nhis goodness till he was quite well?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! you are always that way, Molly, and I believe you are right after\nall, so I won\u2019t be sorry for selling the cow; but I\u2019ll go to-morrow,\nand you must put a needle and thread through my coat, for you know \u2019tis\nripped under the arm.\u201d\n\nMolly told him he should have everything right; and about twelve\no\u2019clock next day he left her, getting a charge not to sell his cow\nexcept for the highest penny. Mick promised to mind it, and went his\nway along the road. He drove his cow slowly through the little stream\nwhich crosses it, and runs under the old walls of Mourne. As he passed\nhe glanced his eye upon the towers and one of the old elder trees,\nwhich were then only little bits of switches.\n\n\u201cOh, then, if I only had half the money that\u2019s buried in you, \u2019tisn\u2019t\ndriving this poor cow I\u2019d be now! Why, then, isn\u2019t it too bad that it\nshould be there covered over with earth, and many a one besides me\nwanting? Well, if it\u2019s God\u2019s will, I\u2019ll have some money myself coming\nback.\u201d\n\nSo saying he moved on after his beast. \u2019Twas a fine day, and the sun\nshone brightly on the walls of the old abbey as he passed under them.\nHe then crossed an extensive mountain tract and after six long miles\nhe came to the top of that hill--Bottle Hill \u2019tis called now, but that\nwas not the name of it then, and just there a man overtook him. \u201cGood\nmorrow,\u201d says he. \u201cGood morrow, kindly,\u201d says Mick, looking at the\nstranger, who was a little man, you\u2019d almost call him a dwarf, only he\nwasn\u2019t quite so little neither: he had a bit of an old wrinkled, yellow\nface, for all the world like a dried cauliflower only he had a sharp\nlittle nose, and red eyes, and white hair, and his lips were not red,\nbut all his face was one colour, and his eyes were never quite still\nbut looking at everything and although they were red they made Mick\nfeel quite cold when he looked at them. In truth he did not much like\nthe little man\u2019s company; and he couldn\u2019t see one bit of his legs nor\nhis body, for though the day was warm, he was all wrapped up in a big\ngreat-coat. Mick drove his cow something faster, but the little man\nkept up with him. Mick didn\u2019t know how he walked for he was almost\nafraid to look at him, and to cross himself, for fear the old man would\nbe angry. Yet he thought his fellow-traveller did not seem to walk\nlike other men, nor to put one foot before the other, but to glide\nover the rough road--and rough enough it was--like a shadow, without\nnoise and without effort. Mick\u2019s heart trembled within him, and he said\na prayer to himself, wishing he hadn\u2019t come out that day, or that he\nwas on Fair-hill, or that he hadn\u2019t the cow to mind that he might run\naway from the bad thing--when, in the midst of his fears, he was again\naddressed by his companion.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going with the cow, honest man?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the fair of Cork then,\u201d says Mick, trembling at the shrill and\npiercing tones of the voice.\n\n\u201cAre you going to sell her?\u201d said the stranger.\n\n\u201cWhy, then, what else am I going for but to sell her?\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you sell her to me?\u201d\n\nMick started--he was afraid to have anything to do with the little man,\nand he was more afraid to say no.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019ll you give for her?\u201d at last says he.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what, I\u2019ll give you this bottle,\u201d said the little one,\npulling a bottle from under his coat.\n\nMick looked at him and the bottle, and, in spite of his terror, he\ncould not help bursting into a loud fit of laughter.\n\n\u201cLaugh if you will,\u201d said the little man, \u201cbut I tell you this bottle\nis better for you than all the money you will get for the cow in\nCork--ay, than ten thousand times as much.\u201d\n\nMick laughed again. \u201cWhy then,\u201d says he, \u201cdo you think I am such a fool\nas to give my good cow for a bottle--and an empty one, too? indeed,\nthen I won\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019d better give me the cow, and take the bottle--you\u2019ll not be sorry\nfor it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, then, and what would Molly say? I\u2019d never hear the end of it; and\nhow would I pay the rent? and what would we all do without a penny of\nmoney?\u201d\n\n\u201cI tell you this bottle is better to you than money; take it and give\nme the cow. I ask you for the last time, Mick Purcell.\u201d\n\nMick started.\n\n\u201cHow does he know my name?\u201d thought he.\n\nThe stranger proceeded: \u201cMick Purcell, I know you, and I have a regard\nfor you; therefore do as I warn you, or you may be sorry for it. How do\nyou know but your cow will die before you go to Cork?\u201d\n\nMick was going to say \u201cGod forbid!\u201d but the little man went on (and\nhe was too attentive to say anything to stop him; for Mick was a very\ncivil man, and he knew better than to interrupt a gentleman, and that\u2019s\nwhat many people, that hold their heads higher, don\u2019t mind now).\n\n\u201cAnd how do you know but there will be much cattle at the fair, and you\nwill get a bad price, or maybe you might be robbed when you are coming\nhome? but what need I talk more to you, when you are determined to\nthrow away your luck, Mick Purcell.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! no, I would not throw away my luck, sir,\u201d said Mick, \u201cand if I was\nsure the bottle was as good as you say, though I never liked an empty\nbottle, although I had drank the contents of it, I\u2019d give you the cow\nin the name----\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind names,\u201d said the stranger, \u201cbut give me the cow; I would\nnot tell you a lie. Here, take the bottle, and when you go home do what\nI direct exactly.\u201d\n\nMick hesitated.\n\n\u201cWell, then, good-bye, I can stay no longer: once more take it, and\nbe rich; refuse it, and beg for your life, and see your children in\npoverty, and your wife dying for want--that will happen to you, Mick\nPurcell!\u201d said the little man with a malicious grin, which made him\nlook ten times more ugly than ever.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHere take the bottle\u201d]\n\n\u201cMaybe, \u2019tis true,\u201d said Mick, still hesitating: he did not know what\nto do--he could hardly help believing the old man, and at length in a\nfit of desperation, he seized the bottle. \u201cTake the cow,\u201d said he, \u201cand\nif you are telling a lie, the curse of the poor will be on you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI care neither for your curses nor your blessings; but I have spoken\ntruth, Mick Purcell, and that you will find to-night, if you do what I\ntell you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what\u2019s that?\u201d says Mick.\n\n[Illustration: Mick went home muttering prayers and holding fast the\nbottle]\n\n\u201cWhen you go home, never mind if your wife is angry, but be quiet\nyourself, and make her sweep the room clean, set the table out right\nand spread a clean cloth over it; then put the bottle on the ground\nsaying these words: \u2018Bottle, do your duty,\u2019 and you will see the end of\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd is this all?\u201d says Mick.\n\n\u201cNo more,\u201d said the stranger. \u201cGood-bye, Mick Purcell--you are a rich\nman.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod grant it!\u201d said Mick, as the old man moved after the cow, and Mick\nretraced the road towards his cabin; but he could not help turning back\nhis head, to look after the purchaser of his cow, who was nowhere to be\nseen.\n\n\u201cLord between us and harm!\u201d said Mick. \u201c_He_ can\u2019t belong to this\nearth; but where is the cow?\u201d She, too, was gone, and Mick went\nhomeward muttering prayers, and holding fast the bottle.\n\n\u201cAnd what would I do if it broke?\u201d thought he. \u201cOh! but I\u2019ll take care\nof that.\u201d So he put it into his bosom, and went on anxious to prove his\nbottle, and doubting of the reception he should meet from his wife.\nBalancing his anxieties with his expectation, his fears with his hopes,\nhe reached home in the evening and surprised his wife, sitting over\nthe turf fire in the big chimney.\n\n\u201cOh! Mick, are you come back? Sure you weren\u2019t at Cork all the way!\nWhat has happened to you? Where is the cow? Did you sell her? How much\nmoney did you get for her? What news have you? Tell us everything about\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy then, Molly, if you\u2019ll give me time, I\u2019ll tell you all about it.\nIf you want to know where the cow is, \u2019tisn\u2019t Mick can tell you, for\nthe never a know does he know where she is now.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! then, you sold her; and where\u2019s the money?\u201d\n\n\u201cArrah, stop awhile, Molly, and I\u2019ll tell you all about it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what is that bottle under your waistcoat?\u201d said Molly, spying its\nneck sticking out.\n\n\u201cWhy, then, be easy now, can\u2019t you,\u201d says Mick, \u201ctill I tell it to\nyou.\u201d Then, putting the bottle on the table, \u201cThat\u2019s all I got for the\ncow.\u201d\n\nHis poor wife was thunderstruck. \u201cAll you got! and what good is that,\nMick? Oh! I never thought you were such a fool; and what\u2019ll we do for\nthe rent, and what----\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, Molly,\u201d says Mick, \u201ccan\u2019t you hearken to reason? Didn\u2019t I tell\nyou how the old man, or whatsoever he was, met me--no, he did not meet\nme, neither, but he was there with me--on the big hill and how he made\nme sell him the cow, and told me the bottle was the only thing for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, indeed, the only thing for you, you fool!\u201d said Molly seizing\nthe bottle to hurl it at her poor husband\u2019s head; but Mick caught\nit, and quickly (for he minded the old man\u2019s advice) loosened his\nwife\u2019s grasp, and placed the bottle again in his bosom. Poor Molly\nsat down crying, while Mick told her his story, with many a crossing\nand blessing between him and harm. His wife could not help believing\nhim, particularly as she had as much faith in fairies as she had in\nthe priest, who indeed never discouraged her belief in the fairies;\nmaybe he didn\u2019t know she believed in them, and maybe he believed in\nthem himself. She got up, however, without saying one word, and began\nto sweep the earthen floor with a bunch of heath; then she tidied up\neverything, and put out the long table, and spread the clean cloth, for\nshe had only one, upon it, and Mick, placing the bottle on the ground,\nlooked at it and said, \u201cBottle, do your duty.\u201d\n\n\u201cLook there! look there, mammy!\u201d said his chubby eldest son, a boy\nabout five years old--\u201clook there! look there!\u201d and he sprung to his\nmother\u2019s side, as two tiny little fellows rose like light from the\nbottle, and in an instant covered the table with dishes and plates of\ngold and silver, full of the finest victuals that ever were seen, and\nwhen all was done went into the bottle again. Mick and his wife looked\nat everything with astonishment; they had never seen such plates and\ndishes before, and didn\u2019t think they could ever admire them enough, the\nvery sight almost took away their appetites; but at length Molly said,\n\u201cCome and sit down, Mick, and try and eat a bit: sure you ought to be\nhungry after such a good day\u2019s work.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, then, the man told no lie about the bottle.\u201d\n\nMick sat down, after putting the children to the table and they made a\nhearty meal, though they couldn\u2019t taste half the dishes.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d says Molly, \u201cI wonder will those two good little gentlemen\ncarry away these fine things again?\u201d They waited, but no one came; so\nMolly put up the dishes and plates very carefully saying, \u201cWhy, then,\nMick, that was no lie sure enough: but you\u2019ll be a rich man yet, Mick\nPurcell.\u201d\n\nMick and his wife and children went to their bed, not to sleep, but\nto settle about selling the fine things they did not want and taking\nmore land. Mick went to Cork and sold his plate, and bought a horse and\ncart, and began to show that he was making money; and they did all they\ncould to keep the bottle a secret; but for all that, their landlord\nfound it out, for he came to Mick one day and asked him where he got\nall his money--sure it was not by the farm; and he bothered him so\nmuch, that at last Mick told him of the bottle. His landlord offered\nhim a deal of money for it, but Mick would not give it, till at last he\noffered to give him all his farm for ever: so Mick, who was very rich,\nthought he\u2019d never want any more money, and gave him the bottle: but\nMick was mistaken--he and his family spent money as if there was no end\nof it; and to make the story short, they became poorer and poorer, till\nat last they had nothing left but one cow; and Mick once more drove his\ncow before him to sell her at Cork fair, hoping to meet the old man and\nget another bottle. It was hardly daybreak when he left home, and he\nwalked on at a good pace till he reached the big hill: the mists were\nsleeping in the valleys and curling like smoke wreaths upon the brown\nheath around him. The sun rose on his left, and just at his feet a lark\nsprang from its grassy couch and poured forth its joyous matin song,\nascending into the clear blue sky.\n\nMick crossed himself listening as he advanced to the sweet song of the\nlark, but thinking, notwithstanding, all the time of the little old\nman; when, just as he reached the summit of the hill, and cast his eyes\nover the extensive prospect before and around him, he was startled and\nrejoiced by the same well-known voice: \u201cWell, Mick Purcell, I told you\nyou would be a rich man.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, then, sure enough I was, that\u2019s no lie for you, sir. Good\nmorning to you, but it is not rich I am now--but have you another\nbottle, for I want it now as much as I did long ago; so if you have it,\nsir, here is the cow for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd here is the bottle,\u201d said the old man, smiling; \u201cyou know what to\ndo with it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! then, sure I do, as good right I have.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, farewell for ever, Mick Purcell: I told you you would be a rich\nman.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd good-bye to you, sir,\u201d said Mick, as he turned back; \u201cand good\nluck to you, and good luck to the big hill--it wants a name--Bottle\nHill--good-bye, sir, good-bye.\u201d\n\nMick walked home as fast as he could, never looking after the\nwhite-faced little gentleman and the cow, so anxious was he to bring\nhome the bottle. Well, he arrived with it safely enough, and called out\nas soon as he saw Molly--\u201cOh! sure I\u2019ve another bottle!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: In a moment the landlord was tumbled on the floor, and\nall were roaring and sprawling and shrieking]\n\n\u201cArrah! then, have you? why, then, you\u2019re a lucky man, Mick Purcell,\nthat\u2019s what you are.\u201d\n\nIn an instant she put everything right; and Mick, looking at his\nbottle, exultingly cried out, \u201cBottle, do your duty.\u201d In a twinkling,\ntwo great stout men with big cudgels issued from the bottle (I do not\nknow how they got room in it) and belaboured poor Mick and his wife and\nall his family, till they lay on the floor, when in they went again.\nMick, as soon as he recovered, got up and looked about him; he thought\nand thought, and at last he took up his wife and his children; and,\nleaving them to recover as well as they could, he took the bottle under\nhis coat and went to his landlord, who had a great company: he got a\nservant to tell him he wanted to speak to him, and at last he came out\nto Mick.\n\n\u201cWell, what do you want now?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing, sir, only I have another bottle.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! ho! is it as good as the first?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, sir, and better; if you like, I will show it to you before all\nthe ladies and gentlemen.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome along, then.\u201d So saying Mick was brought into the great hall,\nwhere he saw his old bottle standing high up on a shelf. \u201cAh! ha!\u201d says\nhe to himself, \u201cmaybe I won\u2019t have you by-and-by.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d says his landlord, \u201cshow us your bottle.\u201d Mick set it on the\nfloor, and uttered the words: in a moment the landlord was tumbled\non the floor; ladies and gentlemen, servants and all, were running,\nand roaring, and sprawling, and kicking, and shrieking. Wine cups and\nsalvers were knocked about in every direction, until the landlord\ncalled out, \u201cStop those two devils, Mick Purcell, or I\u2019ll have you\nhanged.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey never shall stop,\u201d said Mick, \u201ctill I get my own bottle that I\nsee up there at top of that shelf.\u201d\n\n\u201cGet it down to him, give it down to him, before we are all killed!\u201d\nsays the landlord.\n\n[Illustration: In jumped the men into the new bottle]\n\nMick put his bottle in his bosom: in jumped the two men into the\nnew bottle, and he carried them home. I need not lengthen my story\nby telling how they got richer than ever; how his son married his\nlandlord\u2019s only daughter, how he and his wife died when they were very\nold, and how some of the servants fighting at their wake, broke the\nbottles; but still the hill has the name upon it; ay, and so \u2019twill be\nalways Bottle Hill to the end of the world, and so it ought, for it is\na strange story.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSome of the fairies did not think the story so strange as Starveling\nthe tailor did, but then they were accustomed to wonderful things.\nWhile he was making his way back to his friends (with Puck keeping\nclose watch upon him the while) the King had already fixed upon the\nnext tale-teller, and a French Fay--a brilliant delicate little\ncreature with transparent gauzy wings coloured like the rainbow--was\nstanding on the stool and had begun to tell the story of the\n\n[Illustration: The French Fay]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \u201cWelcome! what would you ask of me?\u201d]\n\nPrincess Rosette\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had two handsome\nboys; so well-fed and hearty were they, that they grew like the day.\n\nWhenever the Queen had a child, she sent for the fairies, that she\nmight learn from them what would be its future lot. After a while she\nhad a little daughter, who was so beautiful, that no one could see her\nwithout loving her. The fairies came as usual, and the Queen having\nfeasted them, said to them as they were going away, \u201cDo not forget that\ngood custom of yours, but tell me what will happen to Rosette\u201d--for\nthis was the name of the little Princess. The fairies answered her that\nthey had left their divining-books at home, and that they would come\nagain to see her. \u201cAh!\u201d said the Queen, \u201cthat bodes no good, I fear;\nyou do not wish to distress me by foretelling evil; but, I pray you,\nlet me know the worst, and hide nothing from me.\u201d The fairies continued\nto make excuses, but the Queen only became more anxious to know the\ntruth. At last the chief among them said to her, \u201cWe fear, madam,\nthat Rosette will be the cause of a great misfortune befalling her\nbrothers; that they may even lose their lives on her account. This is\nall that we can tell you of the fate of this sweet little Princess, and\nwe are grieved to have nothing better to say about her.\u201d The fairies\ntook their departure, and the Queen was very sorrowful, so sorrowful\nthat the King saw by her face that she was in trouble. He asked her\nwhat was the matter. She told him she had gone too near the fire and\naccidentally burnt all the flax that was on her distaff. \u201cIs that all?\u201d\nreplied the King, and he went up to his store-room and brought her down\nmore flax than she could spin in a hundred years.\n\nBut the Queen was still very sorrowful, and the King again asked her\nwhat was the matter. She told him that she had been down to the river\nand had let one of her green satin slippers fall into the water. \u201cIs\nthat all?\u201d replied the King, and he sent for all the shoemakers in\nthe kingdom, and made the Queen a present of ten thousand green satin\nslippers.\n\nStill the Queen was no less sorrowful; and the King asked her once\nmore what was the matter. She told him that, being hungry, she had\neaten hastily, and had swallowed her wedding-ring. The King knew that\nshe was not speaking the truth, for he had himself put away the ring,\nand he replied, \u201cMy dear wife, you are not speaking the truth; here\nis your ring, which I have kept in my purse.\u201d The Queen was put out\nof countenance at being caught telling a lie--for there is nothing in\nthe world so ugly--and she saw that the King was vexed, so she told\nhim what the fairies had predicted about little Rosette, and begged\nhim to tell her if he could think of any remedy. The King was greatly\ntroubled, so much so, that at last he said to the Queen, \u201cI see no way\nof saving our two boys, except by putting the little girl to death,\nwhile she is still in her swaddling clothes.\u201d But the Queen cried that\nshe would rather suffer death herself, that she would never consent to\nso cruel a deed, and that the King must try and think of some other\nremedy. The King and Queen could think of nothing else, and while thus\npondering over the matter, the Queen was told that in a large wood near\nthe town, there lived an old hermit, who made his home in the trunk of\na tree, whom people went from far and near to consult.\n\n\u201cIt is to him I must go,\u201d said the Queen; \u201cthe fairies told me the\nevil, but they forgot to tell me the remedy.\u201d\n\nShe started early in the morning, mounted on her little white mule,\nthat was shod with gold, and accompanied by two of her maids of\nhonour, who each rode a pretty horse. When they were near the wood\nthey dismounted out of respect, and made their way to the tree where\nthe hermit lived. He did not much care for the visits of women, but\nwhen he saw that it was the Queen approaching, he said, \u201cWelcome! what\nwould you ask of me?\u201d She related to him what the fairies had said\nabout Rosette, and asked him to advise her what to do. He told her that\nthe Princess must be shut up in a tower, and not be allowed to leave\nit as long as she lived. The Queen thanked him, and returned and told\neverything to the King. The King immediately gave orders for a large\ntower to be built as quickly as possible. In it he placed his daughter,\nbut that she might not feel lonely and depressed, he, and the Queen,\nand her two brothers, went to see her every day. The elder of these was\ncalled the big Prince, and the younger, the little Prince. They loved\ntheir sister passionately, for she was the most beautiful and graceful\nPrincess ever seen, and the least glance of hers was worth more than\na hundred gold pieces. When she was fifteen years old, the big Prince\nsaid to the King, \u201cFather, my sister is old enough to be married; shall\nwe not soon have a wedding?\u201d The little Prince said the same to the\nQueen, but their Majesties laughed and changed the subject, and made no\nanswer about the marriage.\n\nNow, it happened that the King and Queen both fell very ill, and died\nwithin a few days of one another. There was great mourning; everyone\nwore black, and all the bells were tolled. Rosette was inconsolable at\nthe loss of her good mother.\n\nAs soon as the funeral was over, the dukes and marquises of the kingdom\nplaced the big Prince on a throne made of gold and diamonds; he wore a\nsplendid crown on his head, and robes of violet velvet embroidered with\nsuns and moons. Then the whole Court cried out, \u201cLong live the King!\u201d\nand now on all sides there was nothing but rejoicing.\n\nThen the young King and his brother said, \u201cNow that we are the masters,\nwe will release our sister from the tower, where she has been shut up\nfor such a long and dreary time.\u201d They had only to pass through the\ngarden to reach the tower, which stood in one corner of it, and had\nbeen built as high as was possible, for the late Queen had intended\nher to remain there always. Rosette was embroidering a beautiful dress\non a frame in front of her, when she saw her brothers enter. She rose,\nand taking the King\u2019s hand, said, \u201cGood-day, sire, you are now King,\nand I am your humble subject; I pray you to release me from this tower,\nwhere I lead a melancholy life,\u201d and with this, she burst into tears.\nThe King embraced her, and begged her not to weep, for he was come, he\nsaid, to take her from the tower, and to conduct her to a beautiful\ncastle. The Prince had his pockets full of sweetmeats, which he gave\nRosette. \u201cCome,\u201d he said, \u201clet us get away from this wretched place;\nthe King will soon find you a husband; do not be unhappy any longer.\u201d\n\nWhen Rosette saw the beautiful garden, full of flowers, and fruits,\nand fountains, she was so overcome with astonishment, that she stood\nspeechless, for she had never seen anything of the kind before. She\nlooked around her, she went first here, then there, she picked the\nfruit off the trees, and gathered flowers from the beds; while her\nlittle dog, Fretillon, who was as green as a parrot, kept on running\nbefore her, saying, yap, yap, yap! and jumping and cutting a thousand\ncapers, and everybody was amused at his ways. Presently he ran into a\nlittle wood, whither the Princess followed him, and here her wonder\nwas even greater than before, when she saw a large peacock spreading\nout its tail. She thought it so beautiful, so very beautiful, that she\ncould not take her eyes off it. The King and the Prince now joined her,\nand asked her what delighted her so much. She pointed to the peacock,\nand asked them what it was. They told her it was a bird, which was\nsometimes eaten. \u201cWhat!\u201d she cried, \u201cdare to kill and eat a beautiful\nbird like that. I tell you, that I will marry no one but the King of\nthe Peacocks, and when I am their Queen I shall not allow anybody to\neat them.\u201d The astonishment of the King cannot be described. \u201cBut, dear\nsister,\u201d said he, \u201cwhere would you have us go to find the King of the\nPeacocks?\u201d \u201cWhither you please, sire; but him, and him alone, will I\nmarry.\u201d\n\nHaving come to this decision, she was now conducted by her brothers\nto their castle; the peacock had to be brought and put into her room,\nso fond was she of it. All the Court ladies who had not before seen\nRosette now hastened to greet her, and pay their respects to her.\nSome brought preserves with them, some sugar, and others dresses of\nwoven gold, beautiful ribbons, dolls, embroidered shoes, pearls, and\ndiamonds. Everyone did their best to entertain her, and she was so well\nbrought up, so courteous, kissing their hands, curtseying when anything\nbeautiful was given to her, that there was not a lord or lady who\ndid not leave her presence gratified and charmed. While she was thus\noccupied, the King and the Prince were turning over in their minds how\nthey should find the King of the Peacocks, if there was such a person\nin the world to be found. They decided that they would have Rosette\u2019s\nportrait painted; and when completed it was so life-like, that only\nspeech was wanting. Then they said to her, \u201cSince you will marry no one\nbut the King of the Peacocks, we are going together to look for him,\nand will traverse the whole world to try and find him for you. If we\nfind him, we shall be very glad. Meanwhile take care of our kingdom\nuntil we return.\u201d\n\nRosette thanked them for all the trouble they were taking; she promised\nto govern the kingdom well, and said that, during their absence, her\nonly pleasure would be in looking at the peacock, and making her little\ndog dance. They all three cried when they said good-bye to each other.\n\nSo the two Princes started on their long journey, and they asked\neveryone whom they met, \u201cDo you know the King of the Peacocks?\u201d but\nthe reply was always the same, \u201cNo, we do not.\u201d Each time they passed\non and went further, and in this way they travelled so very, very far,\nthat no one had ever been so far before.\n\nThey came to the kingdom of the cockchafers; and these were in such\nnumbers, and made such a loud buzzing, that the King feared he should\nbecome deaf. He asked one of them, who appeared to him to have the\nmost intelligence, whether he knew where the King of the Peacocks was\nto be found. \u201cSire,\u201d replied the cockchafer, \u201chis kingdom lies thirty\nthousand leagues from here; you have chosen the longest way to reach\nit.\u201d \u201cAnd how do you know that?\u201d asked the King. \u201cBecause,\u201d answered\nthe cockchafer, \u201cwe know you very well, for every year we spend two\nor three months in your gardens.\u201d Whereupon the King and his brother\nembraced the cockchafer, and they went off arm in arm to dine together,\nand the two strangers admired all the curiosities of that new country,\nwhere the smallest leaf of a tree was worth a gold piece. After that,\nthey continued their journey, and having been directed along the right\nway, they were not long in reaching its close. On their arrival, they\nfound all the trees laden with peacocks, and, indeed, there were\npeacocks everywhere, so that they could be heard talking and screaming\ntwo leagues off.\n\nThe King said to his brother, \u201cIf the King of the Peacocks is a\npeacock himself, how can our sister marry him? it would be folly to\nconsent to such a thing, and it would be a fine thing for us to have\nlittle peacocks for nephews.\u201d The Prince was equally disturbed at the\nthought. \u201cIt is an unhappy fancy she has taken into her head,\u201d he said.\n\u201cI cannot think what led her to imagine that there was such a person in\nthe world as the King of the Peacocks.\u201d\n\nWhen they entered the town, they saw that it was full of men and\nwomen, and that they all wore clothes made of peacocks\u2019 feathers, and\nthat these were evidently considered fine things, for every place was\ncovered with them. They met the King, who was driving in a beautiful\nlittle carriage of gold, studded with diamonds, and drawn by twelve\npeacocks at full gallop. This King of the Peacocks was so handsome,\nthat the King and the Prince were delighted; he had long, light, curly\nhair, fair complexion, and wore a crown of peacocks\u2019 feathers. Directly\nhe saw them, he guessed, seeing that they wore a different costume to\nthe people of the country, that they were strangers, and wishing to\nascertain if this was so, he ordered his carriage to stop, and sent for\nthem.\n\nThe King and the Prince advanced, bowing low, and said, \u201cSire, we have\ncome from afar, to show you a portrait.\u201d They drew forth Rosette\u2019s\nportrait and showed it to him. After gazing at it a while, the King of\nthe Peacocks said, \u201cI can scarcely believe that there is so beautiful a\nmaiden in the whole world.\u201d \u201cShe is a thousand times more beautiful,\u201d\nsaid the King. \u201cYou are jesting,\u201d replied the King of the Peacocks.\n\u201cSire,\u201d rejoined the Prince, \u201chere is my brother, who is a King, like\nyourself; he is called King, and my name is Prince; our sister, of whom\nthis is the portrait, is the Princess Rosette. We have come to ask if\nyou will marry her; she is good and beautiful, and we will give her,\nas dower, a bushel of golden crowns.\u201d \u201cIt is well,\u201d said the King.\n\u201cI will gladly marry her; she shall want for nothing, and I shall\nlove her greatly; but I require that she shall be as beautiful as her\nportrait, and if she is in the smallest degree less so, I shall make\nyou pay for it with your lives.\u201d \u201cWe consent willingly,\u201d said both\nRosette\u2019s brothers. \u201cYou consent?\u201d added the King. \u201cYou will go to\nprison then, and remain there until the Princess arrives.\u201d The Princes\nmade no difficulty about this, for they knew well that Rosette was\nmore beautiful than her portrait. They were well looked after while\nin prison, and were well served with all they required, and the King\noften went to see them. He kept Rosette\u2019s portrait in his room, and\ncould scarcely rest day or night for looking at it. As the King and his\nbrother could not go to her themselves, they wrote to Rosette, telling\nher to pack up as quickly as possible, and to start without delay, as\nthe King of the Peacocks was awaiting her. They did not tell her that\nthey were prisoners, for fear of causing her uneasiness.\n\nThe Princess scarcely knew how to contain herself with joy, when she\nreceived this message. She told everybody that the King of the Peacocks\nhad been found, and that he wanted to marry her. Bonfires were lit,\nand guns fired, and quantities of sweetmeats and sugar were eaten;\neveryone who came to see the Princess, during the three days before\nher departure, was given bread-and-butter and jam, rolled wafers, and\nnegus. After having thus dispensed hospitality to her visitors, she\npresented her beautiful dolls to her best friends, and handed over the\ngovernment to the wisest elders of the town, begging them to look well\nafter everything, to spend little, and to save up money for the King\non his return. She also prayed them to take care of her peacock, for\nwith her she only took her nurse, and her foster-sister, and her little\ngreen dog, Fretillon. They set out in a boat on the sea, carrying\nwith them the bushel of golden crowns, and sufficient clothes for two\nchanges a day for ten years. They made merry on their voyage, laughing\nand singing, and the nurse kept on asking the boatman if they were\nnearing the Kingdom of the Peacocks; for a long time, all he said was,\n\u201cNo, no, not yet.\u201d Then at last, when she asked again, \u201cAre we anywhere\nnear it now?\u201d he answered, \u201cWe shall soon be there, very soon.\u201d Once\nmore she said, \u201cAre we near, are we anywhere near it now?\u201d and he said,\n\u201cYes, we are now within reach of shore.\u201d On hearing this, the nurse\nwent to the end of the boat, and sitting down beside the boatman,\nsaid to him, \u201cIf you like, you can be rich for the remainder of your\nlife.\u201d He replied, \u201cI should like nothing better.\u201d She continued, \u201cIf\nyou like, you can earn good money.\u201d \u201cThat would suit me very well,\u201d he\nanswered. \u201cWell,\u201d she went on, \u201cthen to-night, when the Princess is\nasleep, you must help me throw her into the sea. After she is drowned,\nI will dress my daughter in her fine clothes, and we will take her to\nthe King of the Peacocks, who will only be too pleased to marry her;\nand as a reward to you, we will give you as many diamonds as you care\nto possess.\u201d The boatman was very much astonished at this proposal; he\ntold the nurse that it was a pity to drown such a pretty Princess, and\nthat he felt compassion for her; but the nurse fetched a bottle of wine\nand made him drink so much, that he had no longer any power to refuse.\n\nNight having come, the Princess went to bed as usual, her little\nFretillon lying at her feet, not even stirring one of his paws. Rosette\nslept soundly, but the wicked nurse kept awake, and went presently\nto fetch the boatman. She took him into the Princess\u2019s room, and\ntogether they lifted her up, feather bed, mattress, sheets, coverlet,\nand all, and threw them into the sea, the Princess all the while so\nfast asleep, that she never woke. But fortunately, her bed was made of\nPh\u0153nix-feathers, which are extremely rare, and have the property of\nalways floating on water; so that she was carried along in her bed as\nin a boat. The water, however, began gradually first to wet her feather\nbed, then her mattress, and Rosette began to feel uncomfortable, and\nturned from side to side, and then Fretillon woke up. He had a capital\nnose, and when he smelt the soles and codfish so near, he started\nbarking at them, and this awoke all the other fish, who began swimming\nabout. The bigger ones ran against the Princess\u2019s bed, which, not being\nattached to anything, span round and round like a whirligig. Rosette\ncould not make out what was happening. \u201cIs our boat having a dance on\nthe water?\u201d she said. \u201cI am not accustomed to feeling so uneasy as I\nam to-night,\u201d and all the while Fretillon continued barking, and going\non as if he was out of his mind. The wicked nurse and the boatman heard\nhim from afar, and said: \u201cThere\u2019s that funny little beast drinking our\nhealths with his mistress. Let us make haste to land,\u201d for they were\nnow just opposite the town of the King of the Peacocks.\n\nHe had sent down a hundred chariots to the landing-place; they were\ndrawn by all kinds of rare animals, lions, bears, stags, wolves,\nhorses, oxen, asses, eagles, and peacocks: and the chariot which was\nintended for the Princess was harnessed with six blue monkeys, that\ncould jump, dance on the tight rope, and do endless clever tricks; they\nhad beautiful trappings of crimson velvet, overlaid with plates of\ngold. Sixty young maids of honour were also in attendance, who had been\nchosen by the King for the amusement of the Princess; they were dressed\nin all sorts of colours, and gold and silver were the least precious of\ntheir adornments.\n\nThe nurse had taken great pains to dress her daughter finely; she had\nput on her Rosette\u2019s best robe, and decked her all over from head to\nfoot with the Princess\u2019s diamonds; but with all this, she was still as\nugly as an ape, with greasy black hair, crooked eyes, bowed legs, and a\nhump on her back; and, added to these deformities, she was besides of a\ndisagreeable and sulky temper, and was always grumbling.\n\nWhen the people saw her get out of the boat, they were so taken aback\nby her appearance, that they could not utter a sound. \u201cWhat is the\nmeaning of this?\u201d she said. \u201cAre you all asleep? Be off, and bring me\nsomething to eat! A nice set of beggars you are! I will have you all\nhanged.\u201d When they heard this, they murmured, \u201cWhat an ugly creature!\nand she is as wicked as she is ugly! A nice wife for our King; well, we\nare not surprised! but it was scarcely worth the trouble to bring her\nfrom the other side of the world.\u201d Meanwhile she still behaved as if\nshe were already mistress of all and everything, and for no reason\nat all, boxed their ears, or gave a blow with her fist to everybody in\nturn.\n\n[Illustration: Fretillon started barking at them] [Illustration]\n\nAs her escort was a very large one, the procession moved slowly, and\nshe sat up in her chariot like a queen; but all the peacocks, who had\nstationed themselves on the trees, so as to salute her as she passed,\nand who had been prepared to shout, \u201cLong live the beautiful Queen\nRosette!\u201d could only call out, \u201cFie, fie, how ugly she is!\u201d as soon as\nthey caught sight of her. She was so enraged at this, that she called\nto her guards, \u201cKill those rascally peacocks who are insulting me.\u201d But\nthe peacocks quickly flew away, and only laughed at her.\n\nThe treacherous boatman, seeing and hearing all this, said in a low\nvoice to the nurse, \u201cThere is something wrong, good mother; your\ndaughter should have been better looking.\u201d She answered, \u201cHold your\ntongue, stupid, or you will bring us into trouble.\u201d\n\nThe King had word brought him that the Princess was approaching.\n\u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201chave her brothers, I wonder, told me the truth? Is\nshe more beautiful than her portrait?\u201d \u201cSire,\u201d said those near him,\n\u201cthere will be nothing to wish for, if she is as beautiful.\u201d \u201cYou are\nright,\u201d replied the King, \u201cI shall be well content with that. Come, let\nus go and see her,\u201d for he knew by the hubbub in the courtyard that she\nhad arrived. He could not distinguish anything that was said, except,\n\u201cFie, fie, how ugly she is!\u201d and he imagined that the people were\ncalling out about some little dwarf or animal that she had brought with\nher, for it never entered his head that the words were applied to the\nPrincess herself.\n\nRosette\u2019s portrait was carried uncovered, at the top of a long pole,\nand the King walked after it in solemn state, with all his nobles and\nhis peacocks, followed by ambassadors from various kingdoms. The King\nof the Peacocks was very impatient to see his dear Rosette; but when\nhe did see her--well, he very nearly died on the spot. He flew into a\nviolent rage, he tore his clothes, he would not go near her, he felt\nquite afraid of her. \u201cWhat!\u201d he cried, \u201chave those two villains I have\nin prison had the boldness and impudence to make a laughing-stock of\nme, and to propose my marrying such a fright as that? They shall both\nbe killed; and let that insolent woman, and the nurse, and the man who\nis with them, be immediately carried to the dungeon of my great tower,\nand there kept.\u201d While this was going on, the King and his brother, who\nknew that his sister was expected, had put on their bravest apparel\nready to receive her; but instead of seeing their prison door open and\nbeing set at liberty, as they had hoped, the gaoler came with a body\nof soldiers and made them go down into a dark cellar, full of horrible\nreptiles, and where the water was up to their necks; no one was ever\nmore surprised or distressed than they were. \u201cAlas!\u201d they said to one\nanother, \u201cthis is indeed a melancholy marriage feast for us! What can\nhave happened that we should be so ill-treated?\u201d They did not know what\nin the world to think, except that they were to be killed, and they\nwere very sorrowful about this. Three days passed, and no news reached\nthem of any kind. At the end of that time, the King of the Peacocks\ncame, and began calling out insulting things to them through a hole in\nthe wall. \u201cYou called yourselves King and Prince, that I might fall\ninto your trap, and engage myself to marry your sister; but you are\nnothing better than two beggars, who are not worth the water you drink.\nI am going to bring you before the judges, who will soon pass their\nverdict upon you; the rope to hang you with is already being made.\u201d\n\u201cKing of the Peacocks,\u201d replied the King, angrily, \u201cdo not act too\nrashly in this matter, or you may repent it. I am a King as well as\nyou, and I have a fine kingdom, and rich clothing, and crowns, to say\nnothing of good gold pieces. You must be joking to talk like this of\nhanging us; have we stolen anything from you?\u201d\n\nWhen the King heard him speak so boldly, he did not know what to think,\nand he felt half inclined to let them and their sister go without\nputting them to death; but his chief adviser, who was an arrant\nflatterer, dissuaded him from this, telling him that if he did not\nrevenge the insult that had been put upon him, all the world would\nmake fun of him, and look upon him as nothing better than a miserable\nlittle King worth a few coppers a day. The King thereupon swore that\nhe would never forgive them, and ordered them to be brought to trial\nat once. This did not take long; the judges had only to look at the\nreal Rosette\u2019s portrait and then at the Princess who had arrived, and\nwithout hesitation, they ordered the prisoners\u2019 heads to be cut off\nas a punishment for having lied to the King, since they had promised\nhim a beautiful Princess, and had only given him an ugly peasant girl.\nThey repaired with great ceremony to the prison to read this sentence\nto them; but the prisoners declared that they had not lied, that their\nsister was a Princess, and more beautiful than the day; that there\nmust be something under this which they did not understand, and they\nasked for a respite of seven days, as before that time had expired\ntheir innocence might have been established. The King of the Peacocks,\nwho had worked himself up to a high pitch of anger, could with great\ndifficulty be induced to accord them this grace, but at last he\nconsented.\n\nWhile these things were going on at the Court, we must say something\nabout poor Rosette. Both she and Fretillon were very much astonished,\nwhen daylight came, to find themselves in the middle of the sea,\nwithout a boat, and far from all help. She began to cry, and cried so\npiteously, that even the fishes had compassion on her: she did not\nknow what to do, nor what would become of her. \u201cThere is no doubt,\u201d\nshe said, \u201cthat the King of the Peacocks ordered me to be thrown into\nthe sea, having repented his promise of marrying me, and to get rid of\nme quietly he has had me drowned. What a strange man!\u201d she continued,\n\u201cfor I should have loved him so much! We should have been so happy\ntogether,\u201d and with that she burst out crying afresh, for she could not\nhelp still loving him. She remained floating about on the sea for two\ndays, wet to the skin, and almost dead with cold; she was so benumbed\nby it, that if it had not been for little Fretillon, who lay beside her\nand kept a little warmth in her, she could not have survived. She was\nfamished with hunger, and seeing the oysters in their shells, she took\nas many of these as she wanted and ate them; Fretillon did the same, to\nkeep himself alive, although he did not like such food. Rosette became\nstill more alarmed when the night set in. \u201cFretillon,\u201d she said, \u201ckeep\non barking, to frighten away the soles, for fear they should eat us.\u201d\nSo Fretillon barked all night, and when the morning came, the Princess\nwas floating near the shore. Close to the sea at this spot, there\nlived a good old man; he was poor, and did not care for the things of\nthe world, and no one ever visited him in his little hut. He was very\nmuch surprised when he heard Fretillon barking, for no dogs ever came\nin that direction; he thought some travellers must have lost their\nway, and went out with the kind intention of putting them on the right\nroad again. All at once he caught sight of the Princess and Fretillon\nfloating on the sea, and the Princess, seeing him, stretched out her\narms to him, crying out, \u201cGood man, save me, or I shall perish; I have\nbeen in the water like this for two days.\u201d When he heard her speak so\nsorrowfully, he had great pity on her, and went back into his hut to\nfetch a long hook; he waded into the water up to his neck, and once\nor twice narrowly escaped drowning. At last, however, he succeeded in\ndragging the bed on to the shore. Rosette and Fretillon were overjoyed\nto find themselves again on dry ground; and were full of gratitude to\nthe kind old man. Rosette wrapped herself in her coverlet, and walked\nbare-footed into the hut, where the old man lit a little fire of dry\nstraw, and took one of his dead wife\u2019s best dresses out of a trunk,\nwith some stockings and shoes, and gave them to the Princess. Dressed\nin her peasant\u2019s attire, she looked as beautiful as the day, and\nFretillon capered round her and made her laugh. The old man guessed\nthat Rosette was some great lady, for her bed was embroidered with gold\nand silver, and her mattress was of satin. He begged her to tell him\nher story, promising not to repeat what she told him if she so wished.\nSo she related to him all that had befallen her, crying bitterly the\nwhile, for she still thought that it was the King of the Peacocks who\nhad ordered her to be drowned.\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do, my daughter?\u201d said the old man. \u201cYou are a Princess\nand accustomed to the best of everything, and I have but poor fare to\noffer, black bread and radishes; but if you will let me, I will go\nand tell the King of the Peacocks that you are here; if he had once\nseen you, he would assuredly marry you.\u201d \u201cAlas! he is a wicked man,\u201d\nsaid Rosette; \u201che would only put me to death; but if you can lend me a\nlittle basket, I will tie it round Fretillon\u2019s neck, and he will have\nvery bad luck, if he does not manage to bring back some food.\u201d\n\nThe old man gave her a basket, which she fastened to Fretillon\u2019s neck,\nand then said, \u201cGo to the best kitchen in the town, and bring me back\nwhat you find in the saucepan.\u201d Fretillon ran off to the town, and\nas there was no better kitchen than that of the King, he went in,\nuncovered the saucepan, and cleverly carried off all that was in it;\nthen he returned to the hut. Rosette said to him, \u201cGo back and take\nwhatever you can find of the best in the larder.\u201d Fretillon went back\nto the King\u2019s larder, and took white bread, wine, and all sorts of\nfruits and sweetmeats; he was so laden that he could only just manage\nto carry the things home.\n\nWhen the King of the Peacocks\u2019 dinner hour arrived, there was nothing\nfor him either in the saucepan or in the larder; his attendants looked\naskance at one another, and the King was in a terrible rage. \u201cIt\nseems, then, that I am to have no dinner; but see that the spit is put\nbefore the fire, and let me have some good roast meat this evening.\u201d\nThe evening came, and the Princess said to Fretillon, \u201cGo to the best\nkitchen in the town and bring me a joint of good roast meat.\u201d Fretillon\nobeyed, and knowing no better kitchen than that of the King, he went\nsoftly in, while the cooks\u2019 backs were turned, took the meat, which\nwas of the best kind, from the spit, and carried it back in his basket\nto the Princess. She sent him back without delay to the larder, and he\ncarried off all the preserves and sweetmeats that had been prepared for\nthe King.\n\nThe King, having had no dinner, was very hungry, and ordered supper to\nbe served early, but no supper was forthcoming; enraged beyond words,\nhe was forced to go supperless to bed.\n\nThe same thing happened the following day, both as to dinner and\nsupper; so that the King, for three days, was without meat or drink,\nfor every time he sat down to table, it was found that the meal that\nhad been prepared had been stolen. His chief adviser, fearing for the\nlife of the King, hid himself in the corner of the kitchen to watch; he\nkept his eyes on the saucepan, that was boiling over the fire, and what\nwas his surprise to see enter a little green dog, with one ear, that\nuncovered the pot, and put the meat in its basket. He followed it to\nsee where it would go; he saw it leave the town, and still following,\ncame to the old man\u2019s hut. Then he went and told the King that it was\nto a poor peasant\u2019s home that the food was carried morning and evening.\nThe King was greatly astonished, and ordered more inquiries to be made.\nHis chief adviser, anxious for favour, decided to go himself, taking\nwith him a body of archers. They found the old man and Rosette at\ndinner, eating the meat that had been stolen from the King\u2019s kitchen,\nand they seized them, and bound them with cords, taking Fretillon\nprisoner at the same time.\n\nThey brought word to the King that the delinquents had been captured,\nand he replied, \u201cTo-morrow, the last day of reprieve for my two\ninsolent prisoners will expire; they and these thieves shall die\ntogether.\u201d He then went into his court of justice. The old man threw\nhimself on his knees before him, and begged to be allowed to tell him\neverything. As he was speaking, the King looked towards the beautiful\nPrincess, and his heart was touched when he saw her crying. When,\ntherefore, the old man said that she was the Princess Rosette who had\nbeen thrown into the water, in spite of the weak condition he was in\nfrom having starved for so long, he gave three bounds of joy, ran and\nembraced her, and untied her cords, declaring the while that he loved\nher with all his heart.\n\nThey at once went to find the Princes, who thought they were going to\nbe put to death, and came forward in great dejection and hanging their\nheads; the nurse and her daughter were brought in at the same time.\nThe brothers and sister recognised one another, as soon as they were\nbrought face to face, and Rosette threw herself on her brothers\u2019 necks.\nThe nurse and her daughter, and the boatman, begged on their knees for\nmercy, and the universal rejoicing and their own joy were so great,\nthat the King and the Princess pardoned them, and gave the good old\nman a handsome reward, and from that time he continued to live in the\npalace.\n\n[Illustration: Fretillon]\n\nFinally, the King of the Peacocks did all in his power to atone for\nhis conduct to the King and his brother, expressing the deepest regret\nat having treated them so badly. The nurse restored to Rosette all her\nbeautiful clothes and the bushel of golden crowns, and the wedding\nfestivities lasted a fortnight. Everyone was happy down to Fretillon,\nwho ate nothing but partridge wings for the rest of his life.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said King Oberon, when the French Fay had finished, \u201clet us hear\nof the doings in another part of the world.\u201d\n\nThen up sprang a Norwegian Dwarf--a funny little fellow with a red\npointed cap on his head--and exclaimed, \u201cI can tell you of the doings\nof one of those naughty rascals who get a bad name with mankind, of\nhow he had a terrible fight with a big white bear and of how he was at\nlength driven away.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood,\u201d said the King, and \u201cGood,\u201d echoed Titania, and at once the\nNorwegian Dwarf jumped on to the stool, tucked his legs beneath him\ntailorwise and began the story of\n\n[Illustration: The Norwegian Dwarf]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Away they went]\n\nThe Bear and Skrattel.\n\n\nOne Christmas Day, the King of Norway sat in the great hall of his\npalace, holding a feast. \u201cHere\u2019s a health,\u201d said he, \u201cto our brother\nthe King of Denmark! What present shall we send our royal brother, as a\npledge of our good-will, this Christmas-time?\u201d \u201cSend him, please your\nmajesty,\u201d said the Norseman Gunter, who was the king\u2019s chief huntsman,\n\u201cone of our fine white bears, that his liegemen may show their little\nones what sort of kittens we play with.\u201d \u201cWell said, Gunter!\u201d cried the\nking; \u201cbut how shall we find a bear that will travel so long a journey\nwillingly, and will know how to behave himself to our worthy brother\nwhen he reaches him?\u201d \u201cPlease your majesty,\u201d said Gunter, \u201cI have a\nglorious fellow, as white as snow, that I caught when he was a cub; he\nwill follow me wherever I go, play with my children, stand on his hind\nlegs, and behave himself as well as any gentleman ought to do. He is at\nyour service, and I will myself take him wherever you choose.\u201d\n\nSo the king was well pleased, and ordered Gunter to set off at once\nwith master Bruin: \u201cStart with the morning\u2019s dawn,\u201d said he, \u201cand make\nthe best of your way.\u201d\n\nThe Norseman went home to his house in the forest; and early next\nmorning he waked master Bruin, put the king\u2019s collar round his neck,\nand away they went over rocks and valleys, lakes and seas, the nearest\nroad to the court of the King of Denmark. When they arrived there, the\nking was away on a journey, and Gunter and his fellow-traveller set out\nto follow. It was bright weather, the sun shone, and the birds sang, as\nthey journeyed merrily on, day after day, over hill and over dale, till\nthey came within a day\u2019s journey of where the king was.\n\nAll that afternoon they travelled through a gloomy, dark forest; but\ntowards evening the wind began to whistle through the trees, and the\nclouds began to gather and threaten a stormy night. The road, too, was\nvery rough, and it was not easy to tell which was most tired, Bruin\nor his master. What made the matter worse was, that they had found no\ninn that day by the roadside, and their provisions had fallen short,\nso that they had no very pleasant prospect before them for the night.\n\u201cA pretty affair this!\u201d said Gunter, \u201cI am likely to be charmingly off\nhere in the woods, with an empty stomach, a damp bed, and a bear for my\nbedfellow.\u201d\n\nWhile the Norseman was turning this over in his mind, the wind blew\nharder and harder, and the clouds grew darker and darker: the bear\nshook his ears, and his master looked at his wits\u2019 end, when to his\ngreat joy a woodman came whistling along out of the woods, by the side\nof his horse dragging a load of faggots. As soon as he came up, Gunter\nstopped him, and begged hard for a night\u2019s lodging for himself and his\ncountryman.\n\nThe woodman seemed hearty and good-natured enough, and was quite ready\nto find shelter for the huntsman; but as to the bear, he had never seen\nsuch a beast before in his life, and would have nothing to do with him\non any terms. The huntsman begged hard for his friend, and told how he\nwas bringing him as a present to the King of Denmark; and how he was\nthe most good-natured, best-behaved animal in the world, though he must\nallow that he was by no means one of the handsomest.\n\nThe woodman, however, was not to be moved. His wife, he was sure, would\nnot like such a guest, and who could say what he might take it into his\nhead to do? Besides, he should lose his dog and his cat, his ducks and\nhis geese; for they would all run away for fright, whether the bear was\ndisposed to be friends with them or not.\n\n\u201cGood-night, master huntsman!\u201d said he; \u201cif you and old shaggy-back\nthere cannot part, I am afraid you must e\u2019en stay where you are, though\nyou will have a sad night of it, no doubt.\u201d Then he cracked his whip,\nwhistled up his horse, and set off once more on his way homewards.\n\n[Illustration: He lets them loose]\n\nThe huntsman grumbled, and Bruin grunted, as they followed slowly\nafter; when to their great joy they saw the woodman, before he had gone\nmany yards, pull up his horse once more and turn round. \u201cStay, stay!\u201d\nsaid he; \u201cI think I can tell you of a plan better than sleeping in a\nditch. I know where you may find shelter, if you will run the risk of a\nlittle trouble from an unlucky imp, that has taken up its abode in my\nold house down the hill yonder. You must know, friend, that till last\nwinter I lived in yon snug little house that you will see at the foot\nof the hill if you come this way. Everything went smoothly on with us\ntill one unlucky night, when the storm blew as it seems likely to do\nto-night, some spiteful guest took it into his head to pay us a visit;\nand there have ever since been such noises, clattering, and scampering\nup stairs and down, from midnight till the cock crows in the morning,\nthat at last we were fairly driven out of house and home. What he is\nlike no one knows; for we never saw him or anything belonging to him,\nexcept a little crooked high-heeled shoe, that he left one night in the\npantry. But though we have not seen him, we know he has a hand or a paw\nas heavy as lead; for when it pleases him to lay it upon any one, down\nhe goes as if the blacksmith\u2019s hammer had hit him. There is no end of\nhis monkey tricks. If the linen is hung out to dry, he cuts the line.\nIf he wants a cup of ale, he leaves the tap running. If the fowls are\nshut up, he lets them loose. He puts the pig into the garden, rides\nupon the cows, and turns the horses into the hay-yard; and several\ntimes he nearly burnt the house down, by leaving a candle alight among\nthe faggots. And then he is sometimes so nimble and active, that\nwhen he is once in motion, nothing stands still around him. Dishes\nand plates--pots and pans--dance about, clattering, making the most\nhorrible music, and breaking each other to pieces: and sometimes, when\nthe whim takes him, the chairs and tables seem as if they were alive,\nand dancing a hornpipe, or playing battledore and shuttlecock together.\nEven the stones and beams of the house seem rattling against one\nanother; and it is of no use putting things in order, for the first\nfreak the imp took would turn everything upside down again.\n\n\u201cMy wife and I bore such a lodger as long as we could, but at length\nwe were fairly beaten; and as he seemed to have taken up his abode in\nthe house, we thought it best to give up to him what he wanted: and\nthe little rascal knew what we were about when we were moving, and\nseemed afraid we should not go soon enough. So he helped us off: for on\nthe morning we were to start, as we were going to put our goods upon\nthe waggon, there it stood before the door ready loaded: and when we\nstarted we heard a loud laugh; and a little sharp voice cried out of\nthe window, \u2018Good-bye, neighbours!\u2019 So now he has our old house all\nto himself to play his gambols in, whenever he likes to sleep within\ndoors; and we have built ourselves a snug cottage on the other side\nof the hill, where we live as well as we can, though we have no great\nroom to make merry in. Now if you, and your ugly friend there, like to\nrun the hazard of taking up your quarters in the elf\u2019s house, pray do!\nYonder is the road. He may not be at home to-night.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will try our luck,\u201d said Gunter: \u201canything is better to my mind\nthan sleeping out of doors such a night as this. Your troublesome\nneighbour will perhaps think so too, and we may have to fight for our\nlodging: but never mind, Bruin is rather an awkward hand to quarrel\nwith; and the goblin may perhaps find a worse welcome from him than\nyour house-dog could give him. He will at any rate let him know what a\nbear\u2019s hug is; for I dare say he has not been far enough north to know\nmuch about it yet.\u201d\n\nThen the woodman gave Gunter a faggot to make his fire with, and wished\nhim a good-night. He and the bear soon found their way to the deserted\nhouse; and no one being at home they walked into the kitchen and made a\ncapital fire.\n\n\u201cLack-a-day!\u201d said the Norseman; \u201cI forgot one thing--I ought to have\nasked that good man for some supper; I have nothing left but some dry\nbread. However, this is better than sleeping in the woods: we must make\nthe most of what we have, keep ourselves warm, and get to bed as soon\nas we can.\u201d So after eating up all their crusts, and drinking some\nwater from the well close by, the huntsman wrapt himself up close in\nhis cloak, and lay down in the snuggest corner he could find. Bruin\nrolled himself up in the corner of the wide fire-place; and both were\nfast asleep, the fire out, and everything quiet within doors, long\nbefore midnight.\n\nJust as the clock struck twelve the storm began to get louder--the wind\nblew--a slight noise within the room wakened the huntsman, and all on\na sudden in popped a little ugly skrattel, scarce three spans high;\nwith a hump on his back, a face like a dried pippin, a nose like a ripe\nmulberry, and an eye that had lost its neighbour. He had high-heeled\nshoes, and a pointed red cap; and came dragging after him a nice\nfat kid, ready skinned, and fit for roasting. \u201cA rough night this,\u201d\ngrumbled the goblin to himself; \u201cbut, thanks to that booby woodman,\nI\u2019ve a house to myself: and now for a hot supper and a glass of good\nale till the cock crows.\u201d\n\nNo sooner said than done: the skrattel busied himself about, here and\nthere; presently the fire blazed up, the kid was put on the spit and\nturned merrily round. A keg of ale made its appearance from a closet:\nthe cloth was laid, and the kid was soon dished up for eating. Then the\nlittle imp, in the joy of his heart, rubbed his hands, tossed up his\nred cap, danced before the hearth, and sang his song--\n\n \u201cOh! \u2019tis weary enough abroad to bide,\n In the shivery midnight blast;\n And \u2019tis dreary enough alone to ride,\n Hungry and cold,\n On the wintry wold,\n Where the drifting snow falls fast.\n\n \u201cBut \u2019tis cheery enough to revel by night,\n In the crackling faggot\u2019s light:\n \u2019Tis merry enough to have and to hold\n The savoury roast,\n And the nut-brown toast,\n With jolly good ale and old.\u201d\n\nThe huntsman lay snug all this time; sometimes quaking, in dread of\ngetting into trouble, and sometimes licking his lips at the savoury\nsupper before him, and half in the mind to fight for it with the imp.\nHowever, he kept himself quiet in his corner; till all of a sudden the\nlittle man\u2019s eye wandered from his cheering ale-cup to Bruin\u2019s carcase,\nas he lay rolled up like a ball, fast asleep in the chimney-corner.\n\nThe imp turned round sharp in an instant, and crept softly nearer and\nnearer to where Bruin lay, looking at him very closely, and not able to\nmake out what in the world he was. \u201cOne of the family, I suppose!\u201d said\nhe to himself. But just then Bruin gave his ears a shake, and showed a\nlittle of his shaggy muzzle. \u201cOh ho!\u201d said the imp, \u201cthat\u2019s all, is it?\nBut what a large one! Where could he come from? and how came he here?\nWhat shall I do? Shall I let him alone or drive him out? Perhaps he may\ndo me some mischief, and I am not afraid of mice or rats. So here goes!\nI have driven all the rest of the live stock out of the house, and why\nshould I be afraid of sending this brute after them?\u201d\n\nWith that the elf walked softly to the corner of the room, and taking\nup the spit, stole back on tip-toe till he got quite close to the bear;\nthen raising up his weapon, down came a rattling thump across Bruin\u2019s\nmazard, that sounded as hollow as a drum. The bear raised himself\nslowly up, snorted, shook his head, then scratched it,--opened first\none eye, then the other, took a turn across the room, and grinned at\nhis enemy; who, somewhat alarmed, ran back a few paces, and stood with\nthe spit in his hand, foreseeing a rough attack. And it soon came; for\nthe bear, rearing himself up, walked leisurely forward, and putting\nout one of his paws caught hold of the spit, jerked it out of the\ngoblin\u2019s hand, and sent it spinning to the other end of the kitchen.\n\nAnd now began a fierce battle. This way and that way flew tables and\nchairs, pots and pans. The elf was one moment on the bear\u2019s back,\nlugging his ears and pommelling him with blows that might have felled\nan ox. In the next, the bear would throw him up in the air, and treat\nhim as he came down with a hug that would make the little imp squall.\nThen up he would jump upon one of the beams out of Bruin\u2019s reach; and\nsoon, watching his chance, would be down astride upon his back.\n\nMeantime Gunter had become sadly frightened, and seeing the oven door\nopen, crept in for shelter from the fray, and lay there quaking for\nfear. The struggle went on thus a long time, without its seeming at all\nclear who would get the better--biting, scratching, hugging, clawing,\nroaring, and growling, till the whole house rang. The elf, however,\nseemed to grow weaker and weaker: the rivals stood for a moment as if\nto get breath, and the bear was getting ready for a fierce attack,\nwhen, all in a moment, the skrattel dashed his red cap right in his\neye, and while Bruin was smarting with the blow and trying to recover\nhis sight, darted to the door, and was out of sight in a moment, though\nthe wind blew, the rain pattered, and the storm raged, in a merciless\nmanner.\n\n\u201cWell done! Bravo, Bruin!\u201d cried the huntsman, as he crawled out of the\noven, and ran and bolted the door: \u201cthou hast combed his locks rarely;\nand as for thine own ears, they are rather the worse for pulling. But\ncome, let us make the best of the good cheer our friend has left us!\u201d\nSo saying, they fell to and ate a hearty supper. The huntsman, wishing\nthe skrattel a good night and pleasant dreams in a cup of his sparkling\nale, laid himself down and slept till morning; and Bruin tried to do\nthe same, as well as his aching bones would let him.\n\nIn the morning the huntsman made ready to set out on his way: and had\nnot got far from the door before he met the woodman, who was eager\nto hear how he had passed the night. Then Gunter told him how he had\nbeen awakened, what sort of creature the elf was, and how he and Bruin\nhad fought it out. \u201cLet us hope,\u201d said he, \u201cyou will now be well rid\nof the gentleman: I suspect he will not come where he is likely to\nget any more of Bruin\u2019s hugs; and thus you will be well paid for your\nentertainment of us, which, to tell the truth, was none of the best:\nfor if your ugly little tenant had not brought his supper with him, we\nshould have had but empty stomachs this morning.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The bear would throw him in the air]\n\nThe huntsman and his fellow-traveller journeyed on: and let us hope\nthey reached the King of Denmark safe and sound: but, to tell the\ntruth, I know nothing more of that part of the story.\n\nThe woodman, meantime, went to his work; and did not fail to watch at\nnight to see whether the skrattel came, or whether he was thoroughly\nfrightened out of his old haunt by the bear, or whatever he might take\nthe beast to be that had handled him as he never was handled before.\nBut three nights passed over, and no traces being seen or heard of him,\nthe woodman began to think of moving back to his old house.\n\nOn the fourth day he was out at his work in the forest; and as he\nwas taking shelter under a tree from a cold storm of sleet and rain\nthat passed over, he heard a little cracked voice singing, or rather\ncroaking in a mournful tone. So he crept along quietly, and peeped over\nsome bushes, and there sat the very same figure that the huntsman had\ndescribed to him. The goblin was sitting without any hat or cap on his\nhead, with a woe-begone face, and with his jacket torn into shreds, and\nhis leg scratched and smeared with blood, as if he had been creeping\nthrough a bramble-bush. The woodman listened quietly to his song, and\nit ran as before--\n\n \u201cOh! \u2019tis weary enough abroad to bide,\n In the shivery midnight blast;\n And \u2019tis dreary enough alone to ride\n Hungry and cold,\n On the wintry wold,\n Where the drifting snow falls fast.\u201d\n\n\u201cSing us the other verse, man!\u201d cried the woodman; for he could not\nhelp cracking a joke on his old enemy, who he saw was sadly in the\ndumps at the loss of his good cheer and the shelter against the bad\nweather. But the instant his voice was heard the little imp jumped up,\nstamped with rage, and was out of sight in the twinkling of an eye.\n\nThe woodman finished his work and was going home in the evening,\nwhistling by his horse\u2019s side, when, all of a sudden, he saw, standing\non a high bank by the wayside, the very same little imp, looking as\ngrim and sulky as before. \u201cHark ye, bumpkin?\u201d cried the skrattel;\n\u201ccanst thou hear, fellow? Is thy great cat alive, and at home still?\u201d\n\u201cMy cat?\u201d said the woodman. \u201cThy great white cat, man!\u201d thundered out\nthe little imp. \u201cOh, my cat!\u201d said the woodman, at last recollecting\nhimself. \u201cOh, yes to be sure! alive and well, I thank you: very\nhappy, I\u2019m sure, to see you and all friends, whenever you will do us\nthe favour to call. And hark ye, friend! as you seem to be so fond\nof my great cat, you may like to know that she had five kittens last\nnight.\u201d \u201cFive kittens?\u201d muttered the elf. \u201cYes,\u201d replied the woodman,\n\u201cfive of the most beautiful white kits you ever saw,--so like the old\ncat, it would do your heart good to see the whole family--such soft,\ngentle paws--such delicate whiskers--such pretty little mouths!\u201d \u201cFive\nkittens?\u201d muttered or rather shrieked out the imp again. \u201cYes, to be\nsure!\u201d said the woodman; \u201cfive kittens! Do look in to-night, about\ntwelve o\u2019clock--the time, you know, that you used to come and see us.\nThe old cat will be so glad to show them to you, and we shall be so\nhappy to see you once more. But where can you have been all this time?\u201d\n\n\u201cI come? not I, indeed!\u201d shrieked the skrattel. \u201cWhat do I want with\nthe little wretches? Did not I see the mother once? Keep your kittens\nto yourself: I must be off,--this is no place for me. Five kittens! So\nthere are six of them now! Good-bye to you, you\u2019ll see me no more; so\nbad luck to your ugly cat and your beggarly house!\u201d \u201cAnd bad luck to\nyou, Mr Crookback!\u201d cried the woodman, as he threw him the red cap he\nhad left behind in his battle with Bruin. \u201cKeep clear of my cat, and\nlet us hear no more of your pranks, and be hanged to you!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The elf was one moment on the bear\u2019s back]\n\nSo, now that he knew his troublesome guest had taken his leave, the\nwoodman soon moved back all his goods, and his wife and children into\ntheir snug old house. And there they lived happily, for the elf never\ncame to see them any more; and the woodman every day after dinner\ndrank, \u201cLong life to the King of Norway,\u201d for sending the cat that\ncleared his house of vermin.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Norwegian Red-cap had finished his story Titania thought it\ntime that someone should tell another love tale, and a second German\nFairy came forward and said,\n\n\u201cWould your majesty like to hear again the story of the goose-girl\nprincess and the horse Falada?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d answered the Queen, who if she really liked a story was\nalways glad to hear it told to her several times, \u201cOh, yes, the pretty\nstory of the goose-girl is one of my favourites.\u201d\n\nThe second German Fairy then stepped on to the stool and quietly began\nto recount the sad experiences of the princess who became\n\n[Illustration: The second German Fairy]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: She set off on her journey]\n\nThe Goose Girl.\n\n\nThe king of a great land died, and left his queen to take care of their\nonly child. This child was a daughter, who was very beautiful; and her\nmother loved her dearly, and was very kind to her. And there was a good\nfairy too, who was fond of the princess, and helped her mother to watch\nover her. When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived a\ngreat way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, she got\nready to set off on her journey to his country. Then the queen, her\nmother, packed up a great many costly things; jewels, and gold, and\nsilver; trinkets, fine dresses, and in short everything that became a\nroyal bride. And she gave her a waiting-maid to ride with her, and give\nher into the bridegroom\u2019s hands; and each had a horse for the journey.\nNow the princess\u2019s horse was the fairy\u2019s gift, and it was called\nFalada, and could speak.\n\nWhen the time came for them to set out, the fairy went into her\nbed-chamber, and took a little knife, and cut off a lock of her hair,\nand gave it to the princess, and said, \u201cTake care of it, dear child;\nfor it is a charm that may be of use to you on the road.\u201d Then they all\ntook a sorrowful leave of the princess; and she put the lock of hair\ninto her bosom, got upon her horse, and set off on her journey to her\nbridegroom\u2019s kingdom.\n\nOne day, as they were riding along by a brook, the princess began to\nfeel very thirsty; and she said to her maid, \u201cPray get down, and fetch\nme some water in my golden cup out of yonder brook, for I want to\ndrink.\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said the maid, \u201cif you are thirsty, get off yourself,\nand stoop down by the water and drink; I shall not be your waiting-maid\nany longer.\u201d Then she was so thirsty that she got down, and knelt\nover the little brook, and drank; for she was frightened, and dared\nnot bring out her golden cup; and she wept and said, \u201cAlas! what will\nbecome of me?\u201d And the lock answered her, and said--\n\n \u201cAlas! alas! if thy mother knew it,\n Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.\u201d\n\nBut the princess was very gentle and meek, so she said nothing to her\nmaid\u2019s ill behaviour, but got upon her horse again.\n\nThen all rode further on their journey, till the day grew so warm,\nand the sun so scorching, that the bride began to feel very thirsty\nagain; and at last, when they came to a river, she forgot her maid\u2019s\nrude speech, and said, \u201cPray get down, and fetch me some water to drink\nin my golden cup.\u201d But the maid answered her, and even spoke more\nhaughtily than before: \u201cDrink if you will, but I shall not be your\nwaiting-maid.\u201d Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her\nhorse, and lay down, and held her head over the running stream, and\ncried and said, \u201cWhat will become of me?\u201d And the lock of hair answered\nher again--\n\n \u201cAlas! alas! if thy mother knew it,\n Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.\u201d\n\nAnd as she leaned down to drink the lock of hair fell from her bosom,\nand floated away with the water. Now she was so frightened that she did\nnot see it; but her maid saw it, and was very glad, for she knew the\ncharm; and she saw that the poor bride would be in her power, now that\nshe had lost the hair. So when the bride had done drinking, and would\nhave got upon Falada again, the maid said, \u201cI shall ride upon Falada,\nand you may have my horse instead\u201d: so she was forced to give up her\nhorse, and soon afterwards to take off her royal clothes and put on her\nmaid\u2019s shabby ones.\n\nAt last, as they drew near the end of their journey, this treacherous\nservant threatened to kill her mistress if she ever told any one what\nhad happened. But Falada saw it all, and marked it well.\n\nThen the waiting-maid got upon Falada, and the real bride rode upon the\nother horse, and they went on in this way till at last they came to\nthe royal court. There was great joy at their coming, and the prince\nflew to meet them, and lifted the maid from her horse, thinking she was\nthe one who was to be his wife; and she was led upstairs to the royal\nchamber; but the true princess was told to stay in the court below.\n\nNow the old king happened just then to have nothing else to do; so he\namused himself by sitting at his kitchen-window, looking at what was\ngoing on; and he saw her in the courtyard. As she looked very pretty,\nand too delicate for a waiting-maid, he went up into the royal chamber\nto ask the bride who it was she had brought with her, that was thus\nleft standing in the court below. \u201cI brought her with me for the sake\nof her company on the road,\u201d said she; \u201cpray give the girl some work\nto do, that she may not be idle.\u201d The old king could not for some time\nthink of any work for her to do; but at last he said, \u201cI have a lad who\ntakes care of my geese; she may go and help him.\u201d Now the name of this\nlad, that the real bride was to help in watching the king\u2019s geese, was\nCurdken.\n\nBut the false bride said to the prince, \u201cDear husband, pray do me one\npiece of kindness.\u201d \u201cThat I will,\u201d said the prince. \u201cThen tell one of\nyour slaughterers to cut off the head of the horse I rode upon, for it\nwas very unruly, and plagued me sadly on the road\u201d; but the truth was,\nshe was very much afraid lest Falada should some day or other speak,\nand tell all she had done to the princess. She carried her point, and\nthe faithful Falada was killed; but when the true princess heard of\nit, she wept, and begged the man to nail up Falada\u2019s head against\na large dark gate of the city, through which she had to pass every\nmorning and evening, that there she might still see him sometimes. Then\nthe slaughterer said he would do as she wished; and cut off the head,\nand nailed it up under the dark gate.\n\nEarly the next morning, as she and Curdken went out through the gate,\nshe said sorrowfully--\n\n \u201cFalada, Falada, there thou hangest!\u201d\n\nand the head answered--\n\n \u201cBride, bride, there thou gangest!\n Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,\n Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.\u201d\n\nThen they went out of the city, and drove the geese on. And when she\ncame to the meadow, she sat down upon a bank there, and let down her\nwaving locks of hair, which were all of pure silver; and when Curdken\nsaw it glitter in the sun, he ran up, and would have pulled some of the\nlocks out, but she cried--\n\n \u201cBlow, breezes, blow!\n Let Curdken\u2019s hat go!\n Blow, breezes, blow!\n Let him after it go!\n O\u2019er hills, dales, and rocks,\n Away be it whirl\u2019d,\n Till the silvery locks\n Are all comb\u2019d and curl\u2019d!\u201d\n\nThen there came a wind, so strong that it blew off Curdken\u2019s hat; and\naway it flew over the hills: and he was forced to turn and run after\nit; till, by the time he came back, she had done combing and curling\nher hair, and had put it up again safe. Then he was very angry and\nsulky, and would not speak to her at all; but they watched the geese\nuntil it grew dark in the evening, and then drove them homewards.\n[Illustration: Falada, Falada, there thou hangest]\n\nThe next morning, as they were going through the dark gate, the poor\ngirl looked up at Falada\u2019s head, and cried--\n\n \u201cFalada, Falada, there thou hangest!\u201d\n\nand it answered--\n\n \u201cBride, bride, there thou gangest!\n Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,\n Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.\u201d\n\nThen she drove on the geese, and sat down again in the meadow, and\nbegan to comb out her hair as before; and Curdken ran up to her, and\nwanted to take hold of it; but she cried out quickly--\n\n \u201cBlow, breezes, blow!\n Let Curdken\u2019s hat go!\n Blow, breezes, blow!\n Let him after it go!\n O\u2019er hills, dales, and rocks,\n Away be it whirl\u2019d,\n Till the silvery locks\n Are all comb\u2019d and curl\u2019d!\u201d\n\nThen a wind came and blew away his hat; and off it flew a great way,\nover the hills and far away, so that he had to run after it; and when\nhe came back she had bound up her hair again, and all was safe. So they\nwatched the geese till it grew dark.\n\nIn the evening, after they came home, Curdken went to the old king, and\nsaid, \u201cI cannot have that strange girl to help me to keep the geese any\nlonger.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d said the king. \u201cBecause, instead of doing any good, she\ndoes nothing but tease me all day long.\u201d Then the king made him tell\nhim what had happened. And Curdken said, \u201cWhen we go in the morning\nthrough the dark gate with our flock of geese, she cries and talks with\nthe head of a horse that hangs upon the wall, and says--\n\n \u201cFalada, Falada, there thou hangest!\u201d\n\nand the head answers,\n\n \u201cBride, bride, there thou gangest!\n Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,\n Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.\u201d\n\nAnd Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadow\nwhere the geese fed; how his hat was blown away; and how he was forced\nto run after it, and to leave his flock of geese to themselves. But the\nold king told the boy to go out again the next day: and when morning\ncame, he placed himself behind the dark gate, and heard how she spoke\nto Falada, and how Falada answered. Then he went into the field, and\nhid himself in a bush by the meadow\u2019s side; and he soon saw with his\nown eyes how they drove the flock of geese; and how after a little\ntime, she let down her hair that glittered in the sun. And then he\nheard her say--\n\n \u201cBlow, breezes, blow!\n Let Curdken\u2019s hat go!\n Blow, breezes, blow!\n Let him after it go!\n O\u2019er hills, dales, and rocks,\n Away be it whirl\u2019d,\n Till the silvery locks\n Are all comb\u2019d and curl\u2019d!\u201d\n\nAnd soon came a gale of wind, and carried away Curdken\u2019s hat, and away\nwent Curdken after it, while the girl went on combing and curling her\nhair. All this the old king saw: so he went home without being seen;\nand when the little goose-girl came back in the evening he called her\naside, and asked her why she did so: but she burst into tears, and\nsaid, \u201cThat I must not tell you or any man, or I shall lose my life.\u201d\n\nBut the old king begged so hard, that she had no peace till she had\ntold him all the tale, from beginning to end, word for word. And it\nwas very lucky for her that she did so, for when she had done the king\nordered royal clothes to be put upon her, and gazed on her with wonder,\nshe was so beautiful. Then he called his son, and told him that he had\nonly the false bride; for that she was merely a waiting-maid, while\nthe true bride stood by. And the young king rejoiced when he saw her\nbeauty, and heard how meek and patient she had been; and without saying\nanything to the false bride, the king ordered a great feast to be got\nready for all his court. The bridegroom sat at the top, with the false\nprincess on one side, and the true one on the other; but nobody knew\nher again, for her beauty was quite dazzling to their eyes; and she\ndid not seem at all like the little goose-girl, now that she had her\nbrilliant dress on.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nWhen they had eaten and drank, and were very merry, the old king said\nhe would tell them a tale. So he began, and told all the story of the\nprincess, as if it was one that he had once heard; and he asked the\ntrue waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to any one who\nwould behave thus. \u201cNothing better,\u201d said this false bride, \u201cthan that\nshe should be thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and that\ntwo white horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street\nto street till she was dead.\u201d \u201cThou art she!\u201d said the old king; \u201cand\nas thou hast judged thyself, so shall it be done to thee.\u201d And the\nyoung king was then married to his true wife, and they reigned over the\nkingdom in peace and happiness all their lives; and the good fairy came\nto see them, and restored the faithful Falada to life again.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHaving finished her tale, the second German Fairy was rising to return\nto her place in the circle, when King Oberon, who saw how pleased the\nQueen was made her yet better pleased by saying,\n\n\u201cPerhaps we can have another story from the same story-teller.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes,\u201d said Queen Titania, and the Fairy sat down again, and\nwithout any false modesty began the tale of\n\n[Illustration: The fairy sat down again]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: He was found to abide spellbound]\n\nThe Water of Life\n\n\nLong before you or I were born, there reigned, in a country a great\nway off, a king who had three sons. This king once fell very ill,--so\nill that nobody thought he could live. His sons were very much grieved\nat their father\u2019s sickness; and as they were walking together very\nmournfully in the garden of the palace, a little old man met them and\nasked what was the matter. They told him that their father was very\nill, and that they were afraid nothing could save him. \u201cI know what\nwould,\u201d said the little old man; \u201cit is the Water of Life. If he could\nhave a draught of it he would be well again; but it is very hard to\nget.\u201d Then the eldest son said, \u201cI will soon find it\u201d: and he went to\nthe sick king, and begged that he might go in search of the Water of\nLife, as it was the only thing that could save him. \u201cNo,\u201d said the\nking, \u201cI had rather die than place you in such great danger as you must\nmeet with in your journey.\u201d But he begged so hard that the king let\nhim go; and the prince thought to himself, \u201cif I bring my father this\nwater, he will make me sole heir to his kingdom.\u201d\n\nThen he set out: and when he had gone on his way some time he came to\na deep valley, overhung with rocks and woods; and as he looked around,\nhe saw standing above him on one of the rocks a little ugly dwarf, with\na sugarloaf cap and a scarlet cloak; and the dwarf called to him and\nsaid, \u201cPrince, whither so fast?\u201d \u201cWhat is that to thee, you ugly imp?\u201d\nsaid the prince haughtily, and rode on.\n\nBut the dwarf was enraged at his behaviour, and laid a fairy spell\nof ill-luck upon him; so that as he rode on the mountain pass became\nnarrower and narrower, and at last the way was so straightened that he\ncould not go a step forward: and when he thought to have turned his\nhorse round and go back the way he came, he heard a loud laugh ringing\nround him, and found that the path was closed behind him, so that he\nwas shut in all round. He next tried to get off his horse and make his\nway on foot, but again the laugh rang in his ears, and he found himself\nunable to move a step, and thus he was forced to abide spellbound.\n\nMeantime the old king was lingering on in daily hope of his son\u2019s\nreturn, till at last the second son said, \u201cFather, I will go in search\nof the Water of Life.\u201d For he thought to himself, \u201cMy brother is surely\ndead, and the kingdom will fall to me if I find the water.\u201d The king\nwas at first very unwilling to let him go, but at last yielded to his\nwish. So he set out and followed the same road which his brother had\ndone, and met with the same little elf, who stopped him at the same\nspot in the mountains, saying, as before, \u201cPrince, prince, whither so\nfast?\u201d \u201cMind your own affairs, busy-body!\u201d said the prince, scornfully,\nand rode on.\n\nBut the dwarf put the same spell upon him as he had put on his elder\nbrother; and he, too, was at last obliged to take up his abode in the\nheart of the mountains. Thus it is with proud, silly people, who think\nthemselves above every one else, and are too proud to ask or take\nadvice.\n\nWhen the second prince had thus been gone a long time, the youngest\nson said he would go and search for the Water of Life, and trusted\nhe should soon be able to make his father well again. So he set out,\nand the dwarf met him too at the same spot in the valley, among the\nmountains, and said, \u201cPrince, whither so fast?\u201d And the prince said,\n\u201cI am going in search of the Water of Life; because my father is ill,\nand like to die: can you help me? Pray be kind, and aid me if you can!\u201d\n\u201cDo you know where it is to be found?\u201d asked the dwarf. \u201cNo,\u201d said the\nprince, \u201cI do not. Pray tell me if you know.\u201d \u201cThen as you have spoken\nto me kindly, and are wise enough to seek for advice, I will tell you\nhow and where to go. The water you seek springs from a well in an\nenchanted castle; and, that you may be able to reach it in safety, I\nwill give you an iron wand and two little loaves of bread; strike the\niron door of the castle three times with the wand, and it will open:\ntwo hungry lions will be lying down inside gaping for their prey, but\nif you throw them the bread they will let you pass; then hasten on to\nthe well, and take some of the Water of Life before the clock strikes\ntwelve; for if you tarry longer the door will shut upon you for ever.\u201d\n\nThen the prince thanked his little friend with the scarlet cloak for\nhis friendly aid; and took the wand and the bread, and went travelling\non and on, over sea and over land, till he came to his journey\u2019s end,\nand found everything to be as the dwarf had told him. The door flew\nopen at the third stroke of the wand, and when the lions were quieted\nhe went on through the castle and came at length to a beautiful hall.\nAround it he saw several knights sitting in a trance; then he pulled\noff their rings and put them on his own fingers. In another room he saw\non a table a sword and a loaf of bread, which he also took. Further on\nhe came to a room where a beautiful young lady sat upon a couch; and\nshe welcomed him joyfully, and said, if he would set her free from the\nspell that bound her, the kingdom should be his, if he would come back\nin a year and marry her. Then she told him that the well that held the\nWater of Life was in the palace gardens; and bade him make haste, and\ndraw what he wanted before the clock struck twelve.\n\nHe went on; and as he walked through beautiful gardens, he came to\na delightful shady spot in which stood a couch; and he thought to\nhimself, as he felt tired, that he would rest himself for awhile, and\ngaze on the lovely scenes around him. So he laid himself down, and\nsleep fell upon him unawares, so that he did not wake up till the\nclock was striking a quarter to twelve. Then he sprang from the couch\ndreadfully frightened, ran to the well, filled a cup that was standing\nby him full of water, and hastened to get away in time. Just as he\nwas going out of the iron door it struck twelve, and the door fell so\nquickly upon him that it snapt off a piece of his heel.\n\nWhen he found himself safe, he was overjoyed to think that he had\ngot the Water of Life; and as he was going on his way homewards, he\npassed by the little dwarf, who, when he saw the sword and the loaf,\nsaid, \u201cYou have made a noble prize; with the sword you can at a blow\nslay whole armies, and the bread will never fail you.\u201d Then the\nprince thought to himself, \u201cI cannot go home to my father without my\nbrothers\u201d; so he said, \u201cMy dear friend, cannot you tell me where my\ntwo brothers are, who set out in search of the Water of Life before\nme, and never came back?\u201d \u201cI have shut them up by a charm between two\nmountains,\u201d said the dwarf, \u201cbecause they were proud and ill-behaved,\nand scorned to ask advice.\u201d The prince begged so hard for his brothers,\nthat the dwarf at last set them free, though unwillingly, saying,\n\u201cBeware of them, for they have bad hearts.\u201d Their brother, however,\nwas greatly rejoiced to see them, and told them all that had happened\nto him; how he had found the Water of Life, and had taken a cup full\nof it; and how he had set a beautiful princess free from a spell that\nbound her; and how she had engaged to wait a whole year, and then to\nmarry him, and to give him the kingdom.\n\nThen they all three rode on together, and on their way home came to a\ncountry that was laid waste by war and a dreadful famine, so that\nit was feared all must die for want. But the prince gave the king of\nthe land the bread, and all his kingdom ate of it. And he lent the king\nthe wonderful sword, and he slew the enemy\u2019s army with it; and thus\nthe kingdom was once more in peace and plenty. In the same manner he\nbefriended two other countries through which they passed on their way.\n\n[Illustration: He came to a room where a beautiful lady sat upon a\ncouch] [Illustration]\n\nWhen they came to the sea, they got into a ship; and during their\nvoyage the two eldest said to themselves, \u201cOur brother has got the\nwater which we could not find, therefore our father will forsake us and\ngive him the kingdom, which is our right\u201d; so they were full of envy\nand revenge, and agreed together how they could ruin him. Then they\nwaited till he was fast asleep, and poured the Water of Life out of the\ncup, and took it for themselves, giving him bitter sea-water instead.\n\nWhen they came to their journey\u2019s end, the youngest son brought his cup\nto the sick king, that he might drink and be healed. Scarcely, however,\nhad he tasted the bitter sea-water when he became worse even than\nhe was before; and then both the elder sons came in, and blamed the\nyoungest for what he had done; and said that he wanted to poison their\nfather, but that they had found the Water of Life, and had brought it\nwith them. He no sooner began to drink of what they brought him, than\nhe felt his sickness leave him, and was as strong and well as in his\nyounger days. Then they went to their brother, and laughed at him,\nand said, \u201cWell, brother, you found the Water of Life, did you? You\nhave had the trouble and we shall have the reward. Pray, with all your\ncleverness, why did not you manage to keep your eyes open? Next year\none of us will take away your beautiful princess, if you do not take\ncare. You had better say nothing about this to our father, for he does\nnot believe a word you say; and if you tell tales, you shall lose your\nlife into the bargain: but be quiet, and we will let you off.\u201d\n\nThe old king was still very angry with his youngest son, and thought\nthat he really meant to have taken away his life; so he called his\ncourt together, and asked what should be done, and all agreed that he\nought to be put to death. The prince knew nothing of what was going\non, till one day, when the king\u2019s chief huntsman went a-hunting with\nhim, and they were alone in the wood together, the huntsman looked so\nsorrowful that the prince said, \u201cMy friend, what is the matter with\nyou?\u201d \u201cI cannot and dare not tell you,\u201d said he. But the prince begged\nvery hard, and said, \u201cOnly tell me what it is, and do not think I shall\nbe angry, for I will forgive you.\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d said the huntsman, \u201cthe king\nhas ordered me to shoot you.\u201d The prince started at this, and said,\n\u201cLet me live, and I will change dresses with you; you shall take my\nroyal coat to show to my father, and do you give me your shabby one.\u201d\n\u201cWith all my heart,\u201d said the huntsman; \u201cI am sure I shall be glad to\nsave you, for I could not have shot you.\u201d Then he took the prince\u2019s\ncoat, and gave him the shabby one, and went away through the wood.\n\nSome time after, three grand embassies came to the old king\u2019s court,\nwith rich gifts of gold and precious stones for his youngest son; now\nall these were sent from the three kings to whom he had lent his sword\nand loaf of bread, in order to rid them of their enemy and feed their\npeople. This touched the old king\u2019s heart, and he thought his son\nmight still be guiltless, and said to his court, \u201cO that my son were\nstill alive! how it grieves me that I had him killed!\u201d \u201cHe is still\nalive,\u201d said the huntsman; \u201cand I am glad that I had pity on him, and\nsaved him: for when the time came, I could not shoot him, but let him\ngo in peace, and brought home his royal coat.\u201d At this the king was\noverwhelmed with joy, and made it known throughout all his kingdom,\nthat if his son would come back to his court he would forgive him.\n\nMeanwhile the princess was eagerly waiting till her deliverer should\ncome back; and had a road made leading up to her palace all of shining\ngold; and told her courtiers that whoever came on horseback, and rode\nstraight up to the gate upon it, was her true lover; and that they must\nlet him in: but whoever rode on one side of it, they must be sure was\nnot the right one; and that they must send him away at once.\n\nThe time soon came, when the eldest brother thought that he would make\nhaste to go to the princess, and say that he was the one who had set\nher free, and that he should have her for his wife, and the kingdom\nwith her. As he came before the palace and saw the golden road, he\nstopped to look at it, and he thought to himself, \u201cIt is a pity to\nride upon this beautiful road\u201d; so he turned aside and rode on the\nright-hand side of it. But when he came to the gate, the guards, who\nhad seen the road he took, said to him, he could not be what he said he\nwas, and must go about his business.\n\nThe second prince set out soon afterwards on the same errand; and when\nhe came to the golden road, and his horse had set one foot upon it,\nhe stopped to look at it, and thought it very beautiful, and said to\nhimself, \u201cWhat a pity it is that anything should tread here!\u201d Then he\ntoo turned aside and rode on the left side of it. But when he came to\nthe gate the guards said he was not the true prince, and that he too\nmust go away about his business; and away he went.\n\nNow when the full year was come round, the third brother left the\nforest in which he had lain hid for fear of his father\u2019s anger, and\nset out in search of his betrothed bride. So he journeyed on, thinking\nof her all the way, and rode so quickly that he did not even see what\nthe road was made of, but went with his horse straight over it; and as\nhe came to the gate it flew open, and the princess welcomed him with\njoy, and said he was her deliverer, and should now be her husband and\nlord of the kingdom. When the first joy at their meeting was over, the\nprincess told him she had heard of his father having forgiven him, and\nof his wish to have him home again: so, before his wedding with the\nprincess, he went to visit his father, taking her with him. Then he\ntold him everything; how his brothers had cheated and robbed him, and\nyet that he had borne all these wrongs for the love of his father. And\nthe old king was very angry, and wanted to punish his wicked sons; but\nthey made their escape, and got into a ship and sailed away over the\nwide sea, and where they went to nobody knew and nobody cared.\n\n[Illustration: The friendly dwarf with the sugarloaf hat]\n\nAnd now the old king gathered together his court, and asked all his\nkingdom to come and celebrate the wedding of his son and the princess.\nAnd young and old, noble and squire, gentle and simple, came at once\non the summons; and among the rest came the friendly dwarf, with the\nsugarloaf hat, and a new scarlet cloak.\n\n \u201cAnd the wedding was held, and the merry bells rung,\n And all the good people they danced and they sung,\n And feasted and frolick\u2019d I can\u2019t tell how long.\u201d\n\nA Dwarf from Sweden was the next to be invited to the stool, and\nsitting down he began to tell how a troll was enabled to do a kindly\nservice to a poor lad who had saved him from a fierce werewolf.\n\n\u201cMy story,\u201d he said, \u201cshall be called\n\n[Illustration: The dwarf from Sweden]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Niels wandered forth]\n\nThe Troll\u2019s Hammer\n\n\nThere was once a great famine in the country; the poor could not\nprocure the necessaries of life, and even the rich suffered great\nprivation. At that time a poor peasant dwelt out on the heath. One day\nhe said to his son, that he could no longer support him, and that he\nmust go out in the world, and provide for himself. Niels, therefore,\nleft home and wandered forth.\n\nTowards evening he found himself in a large forest, and climbed up into\na tree, lest the wild beasts might do him harm during the night. When\nhe had slept about an hour or perhaps more, a little man came running\ntowards the tree. He was hunch-backed, had crooked legs, a long beard,\nand a red cap on his head. He was pursued by a werewolf, which attacked\nhim just under the tree in which Niels was sitting. The little man\nbegan to scream; he bit and scratched, and defended himself as well as\nhe could, but all to no purpose, the werewolf was his master, and would\nhave torn him in pieces, if Niels had not sprung down from the tree,\nand come to his assistance. As soon as the werewolf saw that he had two\nto contend with, he was afraid, and fled back into the forest.\n\nThe Troll then said to Niels: \u201cThou hast preserved my life, and done\nme good service; in return I will also give thee something that will\nbe beneficial to thee. See! here is a hammer, and all the smith\u2019s work\nwhich thou doest with it, no one shall be able to equal. Continue thy\nway, and things will go better than thou thinkest.\u201d When the Troll had\nspoken these words, he sank into the ground before Niels.\n\nThe next day the boy wandered on, until he came to the neighbourhood of\nthe royal palace, and here he engaged himself to a smith.\n\nNow it just happened, that a few days previously a thief had broken\ninto the king\u2019s treasury and stolen a large bag of money. All the\nsmiths in the city were, therefore, sent for to the palace, and the\nking promised that he who could make the best and securest lock,\nshould be appointed court locksmith, and have a considerable reward\ninto the bargain. But the lock must be finished in eight days, and so\nconstructed that it could not be picked by any one.\n\nWhen the smith, with whom Niels lived, returned home and related\nthis, the boy thought he should like to try whether his hammer really\npossessed those qualities which the Troll had said. He therefore begged\nhis master to allow him to make a lock, and promised that it should be\nfinished by the appointed time. Although the smith had no great opinion\nof the boy\u2019s ability, he, nevertheless, allowed him to make the trial.\nNiels then requested to have a separate workshop, locked himself in,\nand then began hammering the iron. One day went, and then another, and\nthe master began to be inquisitive; but Niels let no one come in, and\nthe smith was obliged to remain outside, and peep through the key-hole.\nThe work, however, succeeded far better than the boy himself had\nexpected; and, without his really knowing how it came to pass, the lock\nwas finished on the evening of the third day.\n\nThe following morning he went down to his master and asked him for some\nmoney. \u201cYesterday I worked hard,\u201d said he, \u201cand to-day I will make\nmyself merry.\u201d Hereupon he went out of the city, and did not return to\nthe workshop till late in the evening. The next day he did the same,\nand idled away the rest of the week. His master was, consequently,\nvery angry, and threatened to turn him away, unless he finished his\nwork at the appointed time. But Niels told him to be quite easy, and\nengaged that his lock should be the best. When the day arrived,\nNiels brought his work forth, and carried it up to the palace, and it\nappeared that his lock was so ingenious and delicately made, that it\nfar excelled all the others. The consequence was, that Niels\u2019 master\nwas acknowledged as the most skilful, and received the promised office\nand reward.\n\n[Illustration: See here is a hammer]\n\nThe smith was delighted, but he took good care not to confess to any\none who it was that had made the curious lock. He now received one work\nafter another from the king, and let Niels do them all, and he soon\nbecame a wealthy man.\n\nIn the meantime, the report spread from place to place of the ingenious\nlock the king had got for his treasury. Travellers came from a great\ndistance to see it, and it happened that a foreign king came also to\nthe palace. When he had examined the work for a long time, he said,\nthat the man who could make such a lock deserved to be honoured and\nrespected. \u201cBut however good a smith he may be,\u201d added the king, \u201cI\nhave got his master at home.\u201d He continued boasting in this manner,\ntill at length the king offered to wager with him which could execute\nthe most skilful piece of workmanship. The smiths were sent for, and\nthe two kings determined that each smith should make a knife. He who\nwon was to have a considerable reward. The smith related to Niels what\nhad passed, and desired him to try whether he could not make as good a\nknife as he had a lock. Niels promised that he would, although his last\nwork had not benefited him much. The smith was in truth an avaricious\nman, and treated him so niggardly, that at times he had not enough to\neat and drink.\n\nIt happened one day, as Niels was gone out to buy steel to make the\nknife, that he met a man from his own village, and, in the course of\nconversation, learnt from him that his father went begging from door to\ndoor, and was in great want and misery. When Niels heard this he asked\nhis master for some money to help his father; but his master answered,\nthat he should not have a shilling before he had made the knife.\nHereupon Niels shut himself up in the workshop, worked a whole day,\nand, as on the former occasion, the knife was made without his knowing\nhow it happened.\n\nWhen the day arrived on which the work was to be exhibited, Niels\ndressed himself in his best clothes, and went with his master up to\nthe palace, where the two kings were expecting them. The strange smith\nfirst showed his knife. It was so beautiful, and so curiously wrought,\nthat it was a pleasure to look at it; it was, moreover, so sharp and\nwell tempered, that it could cut through a millstone to the very\ncentre, as if it had been only a cheese, and that without the edge\nbeing in the least blunted. Niels\u2019 knife, on the contrary, looked very\npoor and common. The king already began to think he had lost his wager,\nand spoke harshly to the master-smith, when his boy begged leave to\nexamine the stranger\u2019s knife a little more closely. After having looked\nat it for some time, he said: \u201cThis is a beautiful piece of workmanship\nwhich you have made, and shame on those who would say otherwise; but my\nmaster is, nevertheless, your superior, as you shall soon experience.\u201d\nSaying this, he took the stranger\u2019s knife and split it lengthwise from\nthe point to the handle with his own knife, as easily as one splits a\ntwig of willow. The kings could scarcely believe their eyes; and the\nconsequence was, that the Danish smith was declared the victor, and got\na large bag of money to carry home with him.\n\nWhen Niels asked for payment, his master refused to give him anything,\nalthough he well knew that the poor boy only wanted the money to\nhelp his father. Upon this Niels grew angry, went up to the king,\nand related the whole story to him, how it was he who had made both\nthe lock and the knife. The master was now called, but he denied\neverything, and accused Niels of being an idle boy, whom he had taken\ninto his service out of charity and compassion.\n\n\u201cThe truth of this story we shall soon find out,\u201d said the king, who\nsided with the master. \u201cSince thou sayest it is thou who hast made\nthis wonderful knife, and thy master says it is he who has done it, I\nwill adjudge each of you to make a sword for me within eight days. He\nwho can make the most perfect one shall be my master-smith; but he who\nloses, shall forfeit his life.\u201d\n\nNiels was well satisfied with this agreement. He went home, packed up\nall his things, and bade his master farewell. The smith was now in\ngreat straits, and would gladly have made all good again; but Niels\nappeared not to understand him, and went his way, and engaged with\nanother master, where he cheerfully began to work on the sword.\n\nWhen the appointed day arrived, they both met at the palace, and the\nmaster produced a sword of the most elaborate workmanship that any\none could wish to see, besides being inlaid with gold, and set with\nprecious stones. The king was greatly delighted with it.\n\n\u201cNow, little Niels,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat dost thou say to this sword?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d answered the boy, \u201cit is not so badly made as one might\nexpect from such a bungler.\u201d\n\n\u201cCanst thou show anything like it?\u201d asked the king.\n\n\u201cI believe I can,\u201d answered Niels.\n\n\u201cWell, produce thy sword; where is it?\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cI have it in my waistcoat pocket,\u201d replied Niels.\n\nHereupon there was a general laugh, which was increased when they saw\nthe boy take a little packet out of his waistcoat pocket. Niels opened\nthe paper, in which the blade was rolled up like a watch-spring. \u201cHere\nis my work,\u201d said he, \u201cwill you just cut the thread, master?\u201d\n\nThe smith did it willingly, and in a moment the blade straightened\nitself and struck him in the face.\n\nNiels took out of his other pocket a hilt of gold, and screwed it fast\nto the blade; then presented the sword to the king; and all present\nwere obliged to confess that they never before had seen such matchless\nworkmanship.\n\nNiels was unanimously declared the victor, and the master was obliged\nto acknowledge that the boy had made both the lock and the knife.\n\n[Illustration: The blade struck him in the face]\n\nThe king in his indignation would have had the master executed, if the\nboy had not begged for mercy on the culprit. Niels received a handsome\nreward from the king, and from that day all the work from the palace\nwas intrusted to him. He took his old father to reside with him, and\nlived in competence and happiness till his death.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Swedish Troll had gone back to his place after telling with\nmuch self-satisfaction how one of his fellows had befriended the poor\napprentice, a Norwegian fairy came forward to tell how three of her\ncompanions had similarly served a young princess, and she named her\nstory\n\n[Illustration: The Norwegian Fairy]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The three little crones]\n\nThe three little Crones, each with Something big\n\n\nThere was once a king\u2019s son and a king\u2019s daughter who dearly loved each\nother. The young princess was good and fair, and well spoken of by all,\nbut her disposition was more inclined to pleasure and dissipation than\nto handiworks and domestic occupations. To the old queen this appeared\nvery wrong, and she said she would have no one for a daughter-in-law\nthat was not as skilled in such matters as she herself had been in her\nyouth. She therefore opposed the prince\u2019s marriage in all sorts of ways.\n\nAs the queen would not recall her words, the prince went to her and\nsaid, it would be well to make a trial whether the princess were not\nas skilful as the queen herself. This seemed to every one a very\nrash proposal, seeing that the prince\u2019s mother was a very diligent,\nlaborious person, and span and sewed and wove both night and day, so\nthat no one ever saw her like. The prince, however, carried his point;\nthe fair princess was sent into the maiden\u2019s bower, and the queen sent\nher a pound of flax to spin. But the flax was to be spun ere dawn of\nday, otherwise the damsel was never more to think of the prince for a\nhusband.\n\nWhen left alone the princess found herself very ill at ease; for she\nwell knew that she could not spin the queen\u2019s flax, and yet trembled at\nthe thought of losing the prince, who was so dear to her. She therefore\nwandered about the apartment and wept, incessantly wept. At this moment\nthe door was opened very softly, and there stepped in a little, little\nwoman of singular appearance and yet more singular manners. The little\nwoman had enormously large feet, at which every one who saw her must be\nwonderstruck. She greeted the princess with: \u201cPeace be with you!\u201d \u201cAnd\npeace with you!\u201d answered the princess. The old woman then asked: \u201cWhy\nis the fair damsel so sorrowful to-night?\u201d The princess answered: \u201cI\nmay well be sorrowful. The queen has commanded me to spin a pound of\nflax: if I have not completed it before dawn, I lose the young prince\nwhom I love so dearly.\u201d The old woman then said: \u201cBe of good cheer,\nfair maiden; if there is nothing else, I can help you; but then you\nmust grant me a request which I will name.\u201d At these words the princess\nwas overjoyed, and asked what it was the old woman desired. \u201cI am\ncalled,\u201d she said, \u201cMother Bigfoot; and I require for my aid no other\nreward than to be present at your wedding. I have not been at a wedding\nsince the queen your mother-in-law stood as bride.\u201d The princess\nreadily granted her desire, and they parted. The princess then lay down\nto sleep, but could not close her eyes the whole livelong night.\n\nEarly in the morning, before dawn, the door was opened, and the little\nwoman again entered. She approached the king\u2019s daughter and handed to\nher a bundle of yarn, as white as snow and as fine as a cobweb, saying,\n\u201cSee! such beautiful yarn I have not spun since I span for the queen,\nwhen she was about to be married; but that was long, long ago.\u201d Having\nso spoken the little woman disappeared, and the princess fell into a\nrefreshing slumber, but she had not slept long when she was awakened by\nthe old queen, who was standing by her bed, and who asked her whether\nthe flax were all spun. The princess said that it was, and handed the\nyarn to her. The queen must needs appear content, but the princess\ncould not refrain from observing that her apparent satisfaction did not\nproceed from good-will.\n\nBefore the day was over, the queen said she would put the princess\nto yet another proof. For this purpose she sent the yarn to the\nmaiden-bower together with a yarn-roll and other implements, and\nordered the princess to weave it into a web; but which must be ready\nbefore sunrise; if not, the damsel must never more think of the young\nprince.\n\nWhen the princess was alone, she again felt sad at heart; for she knew\nthat she could not weave the queen\u2019s yarn, and yet less reconcile\nherself to the thought of losing the prince to whom she was so dear.\nShe therefore wandered about the apartment and wept bitterly. At that\nmoment the door was opened softly, softly, and in stepped a very little\nwoman, of singular figure and still more singular manners. The little\nwoman had an enormously large back, so that every one who saw her must\nbe struck with astonishment. She, too, greeted the princess with:\n\u201cPeace be with you!\u201d and received for answer: \u201cPeace with you!\u201d The\nold woman said: \u201cWhy is the fair damsel so sad and sorrowful?\u201d \u201cI may\nwell be sorrowful,\u201d answered the princess. \u201cThe queen has commanded\nme to weave all this yarn into a web; and if I have not completed it\nby the morning before sunrise, I shall lose the prince, who loves me\nso dearly.\u201d The woman then said: \u201cBe comforted, fair damsel; if it\nis nothing more, I will help you. But then you must consent to one\ncondition, which I will name to you.\u201d At these words the princess\nwas highly delighted, and asked what the condition might be. \u201cI am\ncalled Mother Bigback, and I desire no other reward than to be at\nyour wedding. I have not been to any wedding since the queen your\nmother-in-law stood as bride.\u201d The king\u2019s daughter readily granted this\nrequest, and the little woman departed. The princess then lay down to\nsleep, but was unable to close her eyes the whole night.\n\nIn the morning, before daybreak, the door was opened and the little\nwoman entered. She approached the princess, and handed to her a web\nwhite as snow and close as a skin, so that its like was never seen.\nThe old woman said: \u201cSee! such even threads I have never woven since\nI wove for the queen, when she was about to be married; but that was\nlong, long ago.\u201d The woman then disappeared, and the princess fell into\na short slumber, but from which she was roused by the old queen, who\nstood by her bed, and inquired whether the web were ready. The princess\ntold her that it was, and handed to her the beautiful piece of weaving.\nThe queen must now appear content for the second time; but the princess\ncould easily see that she was not so from good-will.\n\nThe king\u2019s daughter now flattered herself that she should be put to\nno further trial; but the queen was of a different opinion; for she\nshortly after sent the web down to the maiden-bower with the message,\nthat the princess should make it into shirts for the prince. The shirts\nwere to be ready before sunrise, otherwise the damsel must never hope\nto have the young prince for a husband.\n\nWhen the princess was alone, she felt sad at heart; for she knew that\nshe could not sew the queen\u2019s web, and yet could not think of losing\nthe king\u2019s son, to whom she was so dear. She therefore wandered about\nthe chamber, and shed a flood of tears. At this moment, the door was\nsoftly, softly opened, and in stepped a very little woman of most\nextraordinary appearance and still more extraordinary manners. The\nlittle woman had an enormously large thumb, so that every one who saw\nit must be wonderstruck. She also greeted the princess with: \u201cPeace be\nwith you,\u201d and likewise received for answer: \u201cPeace with you.\u201d She then\nasked the young damsel why she was so sad and lonely. \u201cI may well be\nsad,\u201d answered the princess. \u201cThe queen has commanded me to make this\nweb into shirts for the king\u2019s son; and if I have not finished them\nto-morrow before sunrise, I shall lose my beloved prince, who holds me\nso dear.\u201d The woman then said: \u201cBe of good cheer, fair maiden; if it is\nnothing more, I can help you. But then you must agree to a condition,\nwhich I will mention.\u201d At these words the princess was overjoyed,\nand asked the little woman what it was she wished. \u201cI am,\u201d answered\nshe, \u201ccalled Mother Bigthumb, and I desire no other reward than that\nI may be present at your wedding. I have not been at a wedding since\nthe queen your mother-in-law stood as bride.\u201d The princess willingly\nassented to this condition, and the little woman departed. But the\nprincess lay down to sleep, and slept so soundly that she did not dream\neven once of her dear prince.\n\nEarly in the morning, before the sun had risen, the door was opened,\nand the little woman entered. She approached the bed, awakened the\nprincess, and gave her some shirts that were sewed and stitched so\ncuriously that their like was never seen. The old woman said: \u201cSee! so\nbeautifully as this I have not sewn since I sewed for the queen, when\nshe was about to stand as bride. But that was long, long ago.\u201d With\nthese words the little woman disappeared; for the queen was then at the\ndoor, being just come to inquire whether the shirts were ready. The\nking\u2019s daughter said that they were, and handed her the beautiful work.\nAt the sight of them the queen was so enraged that her eyes flashed\nwith fury. She said: \u201cWell! take him then. I could never have imagined\nthat thou wast so clever as thou art.\u201d She then went her way, slamming\nthe door after her.\n\n[Illustration: Mother Bigfoot]\n\nThe king\u2019s son and the king\u2019s daughter were now to be united, as the\nqueen had promised, and great preparations were made for the wedding.\nBut the joy of the princess was not without alloy, when she thought\nof the singular guests that were to be present. When some time had\nelapsed, and the wedding was being celebrated in the good old fashion,\nyet not one of the little old women appeared; although the bride\nlooked about in every direction. At length, when it was growing late,\nand the guests were going to table, the princess discerned the three\nlittle women, as they sat in a corner of the dining hall, at a table\nby themselves. At the same moment the king stepped up to them, and\ninquired who they were, as he had never seen them before. The eldest of\nthe three answered: \u201cI am called Mother Bigfoot, and have such large\nfeet because I have been obliged to sit spinning so much in my time.\u201d\n\u201cOho!\u201d said the king, \u201cif such be the consequence, my son\u2019s wife shall\nnever spin another thread.\u201d Then turning to the second little woman, he\ninquired the cause of her uncommon appearance. The old woman answered:\n\u201cI am called Mother Bigback, and am so broad behind because I have been\nobliged to sit weaving so much in my time.\u201d \u201cOho!\u201d said the king, \u201cthen\nmy son\u2019s wife shall weave no more.\u201d Lastly, turning to the third old\nwoman, he asked her name; when Mother Bigthumb, rising from her seat,\ntold him that she had got so large a thumb because she had sewed so\nmuch in her time. \u201cOho!\u201d said the king, \u201cthen my son\u2019s wife shall never\nsew another stitch.\u201d Thus the fair princess obtained the king\u2019s son,\nand also escaped from spinning, and weaving, and sewing for all the\nrest of her life.\n\n[Illustration: The Queen was so enraged that her eyes flashed fury]\n\nWhen the wedding was over, the three little women went their way,\nand no one knew whither they went, nor whence they came. The prince\nlived happy and content with his consort, and all passed on smoothly\nand peaceably; only the princess was not so industrious as her strict\nmother-in-law.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe fairies are always glad when people do not find out who it is that\nhas benefited them,--for of course Mother Bigfoot, Mother Bigback, and\nMother Bigthumb were really fairies in disguise,--and were therefore\npleased at the end of the Norwegian fairy\u2019s tale.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Titania, and of course her word was law, \u201cI think I should\nlike a song. Nymphidia, sing to us.\u201d Nymphidia at once stood up on the\nstool and all the Queen\u2019s maids of honour stood around it as they sang\n\n[Illustration: Nymphidia]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Round about, round about, in a fine ring-a]\n\nThe Queen\u2019s Song\n\n\n Round about, round about, in a fine ring-a:\n Thus we dance, thus we dance, and thus we sing-a:\n Trip and go, to and fro, over this green-a,\n All about, in and out, for our brave queen-a.\n\n Round about, round about, in a fine ring-a:\n Thus we dance, thus we dance, and thus we sing-a:\n Trip and go, to and fro, over this green-a,\n All about, in and out, for our brave queen-a.\n\n We have danc\u2019d round about in a fine ring-a:\n We have danced lustily, and thus we sing-a,\n All about, in and out, over this green-a,\n To and fro, trip and go, to our brave queen-a.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNymphidia and all the maids of honour having sung this little song to\ntheir queen, Oberon thought it was time that Bottom should be made to\ntell a tale, and he, you may be sure, made a clumsy enough figure as he\ntook his seat on the tale-teller\u2019s stool, scratched his head and said,\n\u201che didn\u2019t know any fairy tales.\u201d He tried to get away but could not\nrise until the King would let him; then when he did not begin quickly\nenough, Titania whispered to her maids of honour, and Hop, Mop and\nDrop, Pip, Drip and Skip, Tub, Tib and Tick, Pink, Pin and Quick, Gill,\nOm and Tit, Wap, Win and Mit all danced about poor Bottom, pinching\nand pulling and teasing him until he roared again and the whole fairy\nkingdom rang with peals of laughter. \u201cTell \u2019em about Billy MacDaniel,\u201d\ncalled out Flute, and without any preface Bottom at once began telling\nthe story of\n\n[Illustration: Bottom]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: He took the glass and drained it]\n\nThe Three Sneezes\n\n\nBilly MacDaniel was once as likely a young man as ever shook his brogue\nat a patron, emptied a quart, or handled a shillelagh; fearing for\nnothing but the want of drink; caring for nothing but who should pay\nfor it; and thinking of nothing but how to make fun over it: drunk or\nsober, a word or a blow was ever the way with Billy MacDaniel; and a\nmighty easy way it is of either getting into or of ending a dispute.\nMore is the pity that, through the means of his thinking, and fearing,\nand caring for nothing, this same Billy MacDaniel fell into bad\ncompany; for surely the good people are the worst of all company any\none could come across.\n\nIt so happened that Billy was going home one clear frosty night not\nlong after Christmas; the moon was round and bright; but although it\nwas as fine a night as heart could wish for, he felt pinched with the\ncold. \u201cBy my word,\u201d chattered Billy, \u201ca drop of good liquor would be no\nbad thing to keep a man\u2019s soul from freezing in him; and I wish I had\na full measure of the best.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever wish it twice, Billy,\u201d said a little man in a three-cornered\nhat, bound all about with gold lace and with great silver buckles in\nhis shoes, so big that it was a wonder how he could carry them, and he\nheld out a glass as big as himself, filled with as good liquor as ever\neye looked on or lip tasted.\n\n\u201cSuccess, my little fellow,\u201d said Billy MacDaniel, nothing daunted,\nthough well he knew the little man to belong to the good people;\n\u201chere\u2019s your health, any way, and thank you kindly; no matter who pays\nfor the drink\u201d; and he took the glass and drained it to the very bottom\nwithout ever taking a second breath to it.\n\n\u201cSuccess,\u201d said the little man; \u201cand you\u2019re heartily welcome, Billy;\nbut don\u2019t think to cheat me as you have done others,--out with your\npurse and pay me like a gentleman.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it I pay you?\u201d said Billy; \u201ccould I not just take you up and put\nyou in my pocket as easily as a blackberry.\u201d\n\n\u201cBilly MacDaniel,\u201d said the little man, getting very angry, \u201cyou shall\nbe my servant for seven years and a day, and that is the way I will be\npaid; so make ready to follow me.\u201d\n\nWhen Billy heard this he began to be very sorry for having used such\nbold words towards the little man; and he felt himself, yet could not\ntell how, obliged to follow the little man the livelong night about the\ncountry, up and down, and over hedge and ditch, and through bog and\nbrake without any rest.\n\nWhen morning began to dawn, the little man turned round to him and\nsaid, \u201cYou may now go home, Billy, but on your peril don\u2019t fail to meet\nme in the Fort-field to-night; or if you do it may be the worse for\nyou in the long-run. If I find you a good servant you will find me an\nindulgent master.\u201d\n\nHome went Billy MacDaniel; and though he was tired and weary enough,\nnever a wink of sleep could he get for thinking of the little man; but\nhe was afraid not to do his bidding, so up he got in the evening, and\naway he went to the Fort-field. He was not long there before the little\nman came towards him and said, \u201cBilly, I want to go a long journey\nto-night; so saddle one of my horses, and you may saddle another for\nyourself, as you are to go along with me, and may be tired after your\nwalk last night.\u201d\n\nBilly thought this very considerate of his master, and thanked him\naccordingly: \u201cBut,\u201d said he, \u201cif I may be so bold, sir, I would ask\nwhich is the way to your stable, for never a thing do I see but the\nfort here, and the old thorn tree in the corner of the field, and the\nstream running at the bottom of the hill, with the bit of bog over\nagainst us.\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk no questions, Billy,\u201d said the little man, \u201cbut go over to that\nbit of bog, and bring me two of the strongest rushes you can find.\u201d\n\nBilly did accordingly, wondering what the little man would be at; and\nhe picked out two or three of the stoutest rushes he could find, with\na little bunch of brown blossom stuck at the side of each, and brought\nthem back to his master.\n\n\u201cGet up, Billy,\u201d said the little man, taking one of the rushes from him\nand striding across it.\n\n\u201cWhere shall I get up, please your honour?\u201d said Billy.\n\n\u201cWhy, upon horseback, like me, to be sure,\u201d said the little man.\n\n\u201cIs it after making a fool of me you\u2019d be,\u201d said Billy, \u201cbidding me get\na horseback upon that bit of a rush? Maybe you want to persuade me that\nthe rush I pulled but while ago out of the bog over there is a horse?\u201d\n\n\u201cUp! Up! and no words,\u201d said the little man, looking very angry; \u201cthe\nbest horse you ever rode was but a fool to it.\u201d So Billy, thinking\nall this was in joke, and fearing to vex his master, straddled across\nthe rush. \u201cBorram! Borram! Borram!\u201d cried the little man three times\n(which, in English, means to become great), and Billy did the same\nafter him: presently the rushes swelled up into fine horses, and away\nthey went full speed; but Billy, who had put the rush between his legs,\nwithout much minding how he did it, found himself sitting on horseback\nthe wrong way, which was rather awkward, with his face to the horse\u2019s\ntail; and so quickly had his steed started off with him that he had no\npower to turn round, and there was therefore nothing for it but to hold\non by the tail.\n\n[Illustration: Billy found himself sitting on horseback the wrong way]\n\nAt last they came to their journey\u2019s end, and stopped at the gate of a\nfine house: \u201cNow, Billy,\u201d said the little man, \u201cdo as you see me do,\nand follow me close; but as you did not know your horse\u2019s head from his\ntail, mind that your own head does not spin round until you can\u2019t tell\nwhether you are standing on it or on your heels: for remember that old\nliquor, though able to make a cat speak, can make a man dumb.\u201d\n\nThe little man then said some queer kind of words, out of which Billy\ncould make no meaning; but he contrived to say them after him for\nall that; and in they both went through the key-hole of the door,\nand through one key-hole after another, until they got into the wine\ncellar, which was well-stored with all kinds of wine.\n\nThe little man fell to drinking as hard as he could, and Billy, no\nway disliking the example, did the same. \u201cThe best of masters are\nyou, surely,\u201d said Billy to him; \u201cno matter who is the next; and well\npleased will I be with your service if you continue to give me plenty\nto drink.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have made no bargain with you,\u201d said the little man, \u201cand will make\nnone; but up and follow me.\u201d\n\nAway they went through key-hole after key-hole; and each mounting\nupon the rush which he left at the hall door, scampered off, kicking\nthe clouds before them like snowballs, as soon as the words, \u201cBorram,\nBorram, Borram,\u201d had passed their lips.\n\nWhen they came back to the Fort-field, the little man dismissed Billy,\nbidding him be there the next night at the same hour. Thus did they go\non, night after night, shaping their course one night here, and another\nnight there--sometimes north, and sometimes east, and sometimes south,\nuntil there was not a gentleman\u2019s wine-cellar in all Ireland they had\nnot visited and could tell the flavour of every wine in it as well--ay,\nbetter than the butler himself.\n\nOne night when Billy MacDaniel met the little man as usual in the\nFort-field, and was going to the bog to fetch the horses for their\njourney, his master said to him, \u201cBilly, I shall want another horse\nto-night, for maybe we may bring back more company than we take.\u201d So\nBilly, who now knew better than to question any order given to him by\nhis master, brought a third rush much wondering who it might be that\nwould travel back in their company, and whether he was about to have a\nfellow-servant. \u201cIf I have,\u201d thought Billy, \u201che shall go and fetch the\nhorses from the bog every night; for I don\u2019t see why I am not, every\ninch of me, as good a gentleman as my master.\u201d\n\nWell, away they went, Billy leading the third horse, and never stopped\nuntil they came to a snug farmer\u2019s house in the county Limerick, close\nunder the old castle of Carrigogunniel, that was built they say, by\nthe great Brian Boru. Within the house there was great carousing going\nforward, and the little man stopped outside for some time to listen;\nthen turning round all of a sudden said, \u201cBilly, I will be a thousand\nyears old to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod bless us, sir,\u201d said Billy, \u201cwill you?\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t say these words again, Billy,\u201d said the little man, \u201cor you will\nbe my ruin for ever. Now, Billy, as I will be a thousand years in the\nworld to-morrow, I think it is full time for me to get married.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think so too, without any kind of doubt at all,\u201d said Billy, \u201cif\never you mean to marry.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd to that purpose,\u201d said the little man, \u201chave I come all the way\nto Carrigogunniel; for in this house, this very night, is young Darby\nRiley going to be married to Bridget Rooney; and as she is a tall and\ncomely girl and has come of decent people, I think of marrying her\nmyself and taking her off with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what will Darby Riley say to that?\u201d said Billy.\n\n\u201cSilence,\u201d said the little man, putting on a mighty severe look: \u201cI\ndid not bring you here with me to ask questions;\u201d and without holding\nfurther argument, he began saying the queer words which had the power\nof passing him through the key-hole as free as air, and which Billy\nthought himself mighty clever to be able to say after him.\n\nIn they both went; and for the better viewing the company, the little\nman perched himself up as nimbly as a cock sparrow upon one of the big\nbeams which went across the house over all their heads, and Billy did\nthe same upon another facing him; but not being much accustomed to\nroosting in such a place, his legs hung down as untidy as may be, and\nit was quite clear he had not taken pattern after the way in which the\nlittle man had bundled himself up together. If the little man had been\na tailor all his life he could not have sat more contentedly upon his\nhaunches.\n\nThere they were, both master and man, looking down upon the fun that\nwas going forward; and under them were the priest and piper, and the\nfather of Darby Riley, with Darby\u2019s two brothers and his uncle\u2019s son;\nand they were both the father and the mother of Bridget Rooney, and\nproud enough the old couple were that night of their daughter, as good\nright they had; and her four sisters, with bran new ribbons in their\ncaps, and her three brothers all looking as clean and as clever as any\nthree boys in Munster, and there were uncles and aunts, and gossips and\ncousins enough besides to make a full house of it; and plenty was there\nto eat and drink on the table for every one of them, if they had been\ndouble the number.\n\nNow it happened, just as Mrs Rooney had helped his reverence to the\nfirst cut of the pig\u2019s head which was placed before her, beautifully\nbolstered up with white savoys, that the bride gave a sneeze, which\nmade every one at table start, but no one said, \u201cGod bless us.\u201d All\nthinking that the priest would have done so, as he ought if he had\ndone his duty, no one wished to take the word out of his mouth, which\nunfortunately was pre-occupied with pig\u2019s head and greens. And after\na moment\u2019s pause the fun and merriment of the bridal feast went on\nwithout the pious benediction.\n\nOf this circumstance both Billy and his master were no inattentive\nspectators from their exalted stations. \u201cHa,\u201d exclaimed the little man,\nthrowing one leg from under him with a joyous flourish, and his eye\ntwinkled with a strange light, whilst his eyebrows became elevated into\nthe curvature of Gothic arches--\u201cHa,\u201d said he, leering down at the\nbride, and then up at Billy, \u201cI have half of her now, surely. Let her\nsneeze out twice more, and she is mine, in spite of priest, mass-book,\nand Darby Riley.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Billy danced the Rinka]\n\nAgain the fair Bridget sneezed; but it was so gently, and she blushed\nso much, that few except the little man took, or seemed to take, any\nnotice; and no one thought of saying \u201cGod bless us.\u201d\n\nBilly all this time regarded the poor girl with a most rueful\nexpression of countenance; for he could not help thinking what a\nterrible thing it was for a nice young girl of nineteen, with large\nblue eyes, transparent skin, and dimpled cheeks, suffused with health\nand joy, to be obliged to marry an ugly little bit of a man, who was a\nthousand years old barring a day.\n\nAt this critical moment the bride gave a third sneeze, and Billy\nroared out with all his might, \u201cGod save us.\u201d Whether this exclamation\nresulted from his soliloquy, or from the mere force of habit, he never\ncould tell exactly himself; but no sooner was it uttered than the\nlittle man, his face glowing with rage and disappointment, sprung from\nthe beam on which he had perched himself, and shrieking out in the\nvoice of a cracked bagpipe, \u201cI discharge you from my service, Billy\nMacDaniel--take _that_ for your wages,\u201d gave poor Billy a most furious\nkick in the back, which sent his unfortunate servant sprawling upon his\nface and hands right in the middle of the supper table.\n\nIf Billy was astonished, how much more so was every one of the company\ninto which he was thrown with so little ceremony. But when they heard\nhis story, Father Cooney laid down his knife and fork, and married the\nyoung couple out of hand with all speed; and Billy MacDaniel danced the\nRinka at their wedding, and plenty did he drink at it too, which was\nwhat he thought more of than dancing.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBottom was mighty glad when his story was over, for he did not like\nthe feeling that he could not get up from the stool when he tried,\nand he did not like to hear how small a voice he was speaking in; he\nwould have liked to speak big and show what a great fellow he was in\nthat queer company, but there he sat unable to move, and roaring as\ngently as any sucking dove to use his own words. As soon as he had got\nto the last word of his story he found that he could get up and off he\nfloundered to his companions.\n\n\u201cAnother _fairy_ this time,\u201d said King Oberon, as though he had not\naltogether relished Bottom\u2019s story; \u201cthe Danish Elves have told us\nnothing yet.\u201d\n\nAt this, which was of course equal to a command, a Danish Elf came\nforward, seated himself and began to tell about\n\n[Illustration: The Danish Elf]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Some lizards were running in and out of the clefts in an\nold tree]\n\nThe Elf Hill\n\n\nSome lizards were nimbly running in and out of the clefts in an old\ntree. They understood each other very well, for they all spoke lizard\nlanguage.\n\n\u201cWhat a rumbling and grumbling is going on inside the old Elf-hill,\u201d\nsaid one of the lizards. \u201cI have not closed my eyes for the last two\nnights for the noise. I might just as well be having toothache, for all\nthe sleep I get!\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is something up inside,\u201d said the other lizard. \u201cThey propped up\nthe top of the hill on four red posts till cockcrow this morning, to\nair it out thoroughly; and the elf maidens have been learning some new\ndancing steps, which they are always practising. There certainly must\nbe something going on.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I was talking to an earthworm of my acquaintance about it,\u201d\nsaid the third lizard. \u201cHe came straight up out of the hill, where\nhe had been boring into the earth for days and nights. He had heard\na good deal, for the miserable creature can\u2019t see, but it can feel\nits way, and plays the part of eavesdropper to perfection. They are\nexpecting visitors in the Elf-hill, grand visitors; but who they are\nthe earthworm refused to say or perhaps he did not know. All the\nwill-o\u2019-the-wisps are ordered for a procession of torches, as it is\ncalled; and the silver and gold plate, of which there is any amount in\nthe hill, is all being polished up and put out in the moonlight.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhoever can the strangers be?\u201d said all the lizards together.\n\n\u201cWhat on earth is happening? Hark! what a humming and buzzing!\u201d\n\nAt this moment the Elf-hill opened, and an elderly elf-maiden tripped\nout. She was hollow behind, but otherwise quite attractively dressed.\nShe was the old elf-king\u2019s housekeeper, and a distant relative. She\nwore an amber heart upon her forehead. She moved her legs at a great\npace, \u201ctrip, trip.\u201d Good heavens! how fast she tripped over the ground;\nshe went right down to the night-jar in the swamp.\n\n\u201cYou are invited to the Elf-hill for to-night,\u201d she said to him. \u201cBut\nwill you be so kind as to charge yourself with the other invitations.\nYou must make yourself useful in other ways, as you don\u2019t keep house\nyourself. We are going to have some very distinguished visitors,\ngoblins, who always have something to say, and so the old elf-king\nmeans to show what he can do.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is to be invited?\u201d asked the night-jar.\n\n\u201cWell, everybody may come to the big ball, even human beings, if they\ncan only talk in their sleep, or do something else after our fashion.\nBut the choice is to be strictly limited for the grand feast. We will\nonly have the most distinguished people. I have had a battle with the\nElf-king about it; because I hold that we mustn\u2019t even include ghosts.\nThe merman and his daughters must be invited first. I don\u2019t suppose\nthey care much about coming on dry land, but I shall see that they each\nhave a wet stone to sit on, or something better; so I expect they won\u2019t\ndecline this time. All the old demons of the first-class, with tails,\nthe River-god, and the wood-sprites. And then I don\u2019t think we can pass\nover the Grave-pig, the Hell-horse, and the Church-grim, although they\nbelong to the clergy, who are not of our people; but that is merely on\naccount of their office, and they are closely connected with us, and\nvisit us very frequently.\u201d\n\n\u201cCroak,\u201d said the night-jar, and he flew off to issue the invitations.\n\nThe elf-maidens had already begun to dance, and they danced a\nscarf-dance, with scarves woven of mist and moonshine; these have a\nlovely effect to those who care for that kind of thing. The great\nhall in the middle of the Elf-hill had been thoroughly polished up\nfor the occasion. The floor was washed with moonshine, and the walls\nwere rubbed over with witches\u2019 fat, and this made them shine with many\ncolours, like a tulip petal. The kitchen was full of frogs on spits,\nstuffed snake skins, and salads of toad-stool spawn, mouse snouts and\nhemlock. Then there was beer brewed by the marsh witch, and sparkling\nsaltpetre wine from the vaults. Everything of the best, and rusty nails\nand church window panes among the kickshaws.\n\nThe old Elf-king had his golden crown polished with pounded\nslate-pencil, ay, and it was a head-boy\u2019s slate-pencil too, and they\nare not so easy to get. They hung up fresh curtains in the bedroom, and\nfixed them with the slime of snails. Yes, indeed, there was a humming\nand a buzzing.\n\n\u201cNow we will fumigate, with horse-hair and pig\u2019s bristles, and then I\ncan do no more!\u201d said the old elf-servant.\n\n\u201cDear father!\u201d said the youngest of the daughters, \u201care you not going\nto tell me who these grand strangers are?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d he said, \u201cI suppose I must tell you now. Two of my\ndaughters must prepare themselves to be married,--two will certainly\nmake marriages. The old Trold chieftain from Norway, that lives on the\nDovrefield among his many rock castles and fastnesses and gold works,\nwhich are better than you would expect, is coming down here with his\ntwo sons. They are coming to look for wives. The old Trold is a regular\nhonest Norwegian veteran, straightforward and merry. I used to know him\nin the olden days, when we drank to our good fellowship. He came here\nto fetch a wife, but she is dead now. She was a daughter of the king of\nthe chalk cliffs at M\u00f6en. As the saying is, \u2018he took his wife on the\nchalk,\u2019 that is, bought her on tick. I am quite anxious to see the old\nfellow. The sons, they say, are a pair of overgrown, ill-mannered cubs;\nbut perhaps they are not so bad; I daresay they will improve as they\ngrow older. See if you can\u2019t lick them into shape a bit.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd when do they come?\u201d asked one of the daughters.\n\n\u201cThat depends upon wind and weather,\u201d said the Elf-king. \u201cThey travel\neconomically, and they will take their chance of a ship. I wanted them\nto come round by Sweden, but the old fellow can\u2019t bring himself to that\nyet. He doesn\u2019t march with the times, but I don\u2019t hold with that!\u201d\n\nAt this moment two will-o\u2019-the-wisps came hopping along, one faster\nthan the other, so of course one arrived before the other.\n\n\u201cThey are coming, they are coming!\u201d they cried.\n\n\u201cGive me my crown, and let me stand in the moonlight,\u201d said the\nElf-king.\n\nThe daughters raised their scarves and curtseyed to the ground.\n\nThere stood the Trold chieftain from the Dovrefield; he wore a crown of\nhardened icicles and polished fir-cones, and besides this, he had on a\nbear-skin coat and snow-shoes. His sons, on the other hand, had bare\nnecks and wore no braces, because they were strong men.\n\n\u201cIs that a hill?\u201d asked the youngest of the brothers, pointing to the\nElf-hill. \u201cWe should call it a hole in Norway.\u201d\n\n\u201cLads!\u201d cried the old man, \u201choles go inwards, hills go upwards? Haven\u2019t\nyou got eyes in your heads?\u201d\n\nThe only thing that astonished them, they said, was that they\nunderstood the language without any trouble.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t make fools of yourselves,\u201d said the old man; \u201cone might think\nyou were only half baked.\u201d\n\nThen they went into the Elf-hill, where the company was of the\ngrandest, although they had been got together in such a hurry; you\nmight almost say they had been blown together. It was all charming, and\narranged to suit everyone\u2019s taste. The merman and his daughters sat at\ntable in great tubs of water, and said it was just like being at home.\nEverybody had excellent table manners, except the two young Norwegian\nTrolds; they put their feet up on the table, but then they thought\nanything they did was right.\n\n\u201cTake your feet out of the way of the dishes,\u201d said the old Trold, and\nthey obeyed him, but not at once. They tickled the ladies they took\nin to dinner with fir-cones out of their pockets; then they pulled\noff their boots, so as to be quite comfortable, and handed the boots\nto the ladies to hold. Their father the old Trold chieftain, was very\ndifferent; he told no end of splendid stories about the proud Norwegian\nmountains, and the waterfalls dashing down in white foam with a roar\nlike thunder. He told them about the salmon leaping up against the\nrushing water, when the nixies played with golden harps. Then he went\non to tell them about the sparkling winter nights when the sledge bells\nrang and the lads flew over the ice with blazing lights, the ice which\nwas so transparent that you could see the startled fish darting away\nunder your feet. Yes, indeed, he could tell stories, you could see and\nhear the things he described; the saw mills going, the men and maids\nsinging their songs and dancing the merry Halling dance. Huzza! All at\nonce the old Trold gave the elf housekeeper a smacking kiss, such a\nkiss it was, and yet they were not a bit related. Then the elf-maidens\nhad to dance, first plain dancing, and then step dancing, and it was\nmost becoming to them. Then came a fancy dance.\n\nPreserve us, how nimble they were on their legs, you couldn\u2019t tell\nwhere they began or where they ended, you couldn\u2019t tell which were arms\nand which were legs, they were all mixed up together like shavings\nin a saw-pit. They twirled round and round so often that it made the\nHell-horse feel quite giddy and unwell and he had to leave the table.\n\n\u201cPrrrrr!\u201d said the old Trold. \u201cThere is some life in those legs, but\nwhat else can they do besides dancing and pointing their toes and all\nthose whirligigs?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe will soon shew you!\u201d said the Elf-king, and he called out his\nyoungest daughter; she was thin and transparent as moonshine, and was\nthe most ethereal of all the daughters. She put a little white stick in\nher mouth and vanished instantly; this was her accomplishment.\n\nBut the Trold said he did not like that accomplishment in a wife, nor\ndid he think his boys would appreciate it. The second one could walk by\nher own side as if she had a shadow, and no elves have shadows.\n\nThe third was quite different; she had studied in the marsh witches\u2019\nbrewery, and understood larding alder stumps with glow-worms.\n\n\u201cShe will be a good housewife,\u201d said the Trold, and then he saluted her\nwith his eyes instead of drinking her health, for he did not want to\ndrink too much.\n\nNow came the turn of the fourth; she had a big golden harp to play,\nand when she touched the first string everybody lifted up their left\nlegs (for all the elfin folk are left legged). But when she touched the\nsecond string everybody had to do what she wished.\n\n\u201cShe is a dangerous woman!\u201d said the Trold, but both his sons left the\nhill, for they were tired of it all.\n\n\u201cAnd what can the next daughter do?\u201d asked the old Trold.\n\n\u201cI have learnt to like the Norwegians,\u201d she said, \u201cand I shall never\nmarry unless I can go to Norway!\u201d\n\nBut the smallest of the sisters whispered to the Trold, \u201cthat is only\nbecause she once heard a song which said that when the world came to an\nend, the rocks of Norway would still stand, and that is why she wants\nto go there, she is so afraid of being exterminated.\u201d\n\n\u201cHo, ho!\u201d said the Trold, \u201cso that slipped out. But what can the\nseventh do?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe sixth comes before the seventh,\u201d said the Elf-king, for he could\nreckon, but she would not come forward.\n\n\u201cI can only tell people the truth,\u201d she said. \u201cNobody cares for me, and\nI have enough to do in making my winding sheet.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Preserve us how nimble they were on their legs]\n\nNow came the seventh and last, what could she do? Well she could tell\nstories as many as ever she liked.\n\n\u201cHere are my five fingers,\u201d said the old Trold, \u201ctell me a story for\neach one.\u201d\n\nThe elf-maiden took hold of his wrist, and he chuckled and laughed,\ntill he nearly choked. When she came to the fourth finger, which had a\ngold ring on it, as if it knew there was to be a betrothal, the Trold\nsaid, \u201cHold fast what you have got, the hand is yours, I will have\nyou for a wife myself!\u201d The elf-maiden said that the stories about\nGuldbrand, the fourth finger, and little Peter Playman, the fifth, had\nnot yet been told.\n\n\u201cNever mind, keep those till winter. Then you shall tell us about the\nfir, and the birch, and the fairy gifts, and the tingling frost. You\nshall have every opportunity of telling us stories; nobody up there\ndoes it yet. We will sit in the Stone Hall, where the pine logs blaze,\nand drink mead out of the golden horns of the old Norwegian kings. The\nriver god gave me a couple. When we sit there the mountain sprite comes\nto pay us a visit, and he will sing you the songs of the S\u00e6ter girls.\nThe salmon will leap in the waterfalls, and beat against the stone\nwall, but it won\u2019t get in. Ah, you may believe me when I say that we\nlead a merry life there in good old Norway. But where are the lads?\u201d\n\nYes, where were the lads? They were running about the fields, blowing\nout the will-o\u2019-the-wisps, who came so willingly for the torchlight\nprocession.\n\n\u201cWhy do you gad about out there?\u201d said the Trold. \u201cI have taken a\nmother for you, now you can come and take one of the aunts.\u201d\n\nBut the lads said they would rather make a speech, and drink toasts;\nthey had no wish to marry. Then they made their speeches, and drank\ntoasts and tipped their glasses up to shew that they had emptied them.\nAfter that they pulled off their coats and went to sleep on the table,\nto show that they were quite at home. But the old Trold danced round\nand round the room with his young bride, and exchanged boots with her,\nwhich was grander than exchanging rings.\n\n\u201cThere is the cock crowing!\u201d said the old housekeeper. \u201cNow we must\nshut the shutters, so that the sun may not burn us up.\u201d\n\nThen the hill closed up. But the lizards went on running up and down\nthe clefts of the tree; and they said to each other, \u201cAh, how much I\nliked the old Trold.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cI like the boys better,\u201d said the earthworm]\n\n\u201cI liked the boys better,\u201d said the earthworm, \u201cbut then it couldn\u2019t\nsee, poor, miserable creature that it was.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThat reminds me of another story,\u201d said the French Fay, who had\nalready told one story, but was evidently ready and willing to tell\nanother.\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want to hear two stories that are like each other,\u201d said King\nOberon.\n\n\u201cPlease your Majesty it is not like that which the Danish Elf has just\ntold, only his one reminded me of mine,\u201d answered the Fay.\n\n\u201cWhat is it about?\u201d enquired the Queen who remembered how much she had\nliked the dainty little creature\u2019s first tale.\n\n\u201cIt is a story showing how that which is ugly may become beautiful\nthrough love,\u201d readily responded the French Fay.\n\n\u201cLet us hear it,\u201d said Oberon, \u201cif my Titania wishes it.\u201d\n\nTitania having answered that she certainly _did_ wish it, the Fay\nsprang lightly to the stool and began telling the pretty little love\nstory of\n\n[Illustration: The French Fay]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: It was doubted whether his form were really human]\n\nRiquet with the Tuft\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Queen who had a son, so ugly and\nmisshapen, that it was doubted for a long time whether his form\nwas really human. A fairy, who was present at his birth, affirmed,\nnevertheless, that he would be worthy to be loved, as he would have\nan excellent wit; she added, moreover, that by virtue of the gift she\nhad bestowed upon him, he would be able to impart equal intelligence\nto the one whom he loved best. All this was some consolation to the\npoor Queen, who was much distressed at having brought so ugly a little\nmonkey into the world. It is true that the child was no sooner able\nto speak than he said a thousand pretty things, and that in all his\nways there was a certain air of intelligence, with which everyone was\ncharmed. I had forgotten to say that he was born with a little tuft of\nhair on his head, and so he came to be called Riquet with the Tuft; for\nRiquet was the family name.\n\nAbout seven or eight years later, the Queen of a neighbouring kingdom\nhad two daughters. The elder was fairer than the day, and the Queen\nwas so delighted, that it was feared some harm might come to her from\nher great joy. The same fairy who had assisted at the birth of little\nRiquet, was present upon this occasion, and in order to moderate the\njoy of the Queen, she told her that this little Princess would have\nno gifts of mind at all, and that she would be as stupid as she was\nbeautiful. The Queen was greatly mortified on hearing this, but,\nshortly after, she was even more annoyed, when her second little\ndaughter was born and proved to be extremely ugly. \u201cDo not distress\nyourself, madam,\u201d said the fairy to her, \u201cyour daughter will find\ncompensation, for she will have so much intelligence, that her lack of\nbeauty will scarcely be perceived.\u201d\n\n\u201cHeaven send it may be so,\u201d replied the Queen; \u201cbut are there no means\nwhereby a little more understanding might be given to the elder, who\nis so lovely?\u201d \u201cI can do nothing for her in the way of intelligence,\nmadam,\u201d said the fairy, \u201cbut everything in the way of beauty; as,\nhowever, there is nothing in my power I would not do to give you\ncomfort, I will bestow on her the power of conferring beauty on any man\nor woman who shall please her.\u201d As these two Princesses grew up, their\nendowments also became more perfect, and nothing was talked of anywhere\nbut the beauty of the elder, and the intelligence of the younger. It\nis true that their defects also greatly increased with their years.\nThe younger became uglier every moment, and the elder more stupid\nevery day. She either made no answer when she was spoken to, or else\nsaid something foolish. With this she was so clumsy, that she could\nnot even place four pieces of china on a mantelshelf, without breaking\none of them, or drink a glass of water, without spilling half of it on\nher dress. Notwithstanding the attraction of beauty, the younger, in\nwhatever society they might be, nearly always bore away the palm from\nher sister. At first everyone went up to the more beautiful, to gaze at\nand admire her; but they soon left her for the cleverer one, to listen\nto her many pleasant and amusing sayings; and people were astonished to\nfind that in less than a quarter of an hour, the elder had not a soul\nnear her, while all the company had gathered round the younger. The\nelder, though very stupid, noticed this, and would have given, without\nregret, all her beauty, for half the sense of her sister. Discreet\nas she was, the Queen could not help often reproaching her with her\nstupidity, which made the poor Princess ready to die of grief.\n\nOne day, when she had gone by herself into a wood, to weep over her\nmisfortune, she saw approaching her, a little man of very ugly and\nunpleasant appearance, but magnificently dressed. It was the young\nPrince Riquet with the Tuft, who, having fallen in love with her from\nseeing her portraits, which were sent all over the world, had left his\nfather\u2019s kingdom that he might have the pleasure of beholding her and\nspeaking to her. Enchanted at meeting her thus alone, he addressed\nher with all the respect and politeness imaginable. Having remarked,\nafter paying her the usual compliments, that she was very melancholy,\nhe said to her, \u201cI cannot understand, madam, how a person so beautiful\nas you are can be so unhappy as you appear; for, although I can boast\nof having seen an infinite number of beautiful people, I can say with\ntruth that I have never seen one whose beauty could be compared with\nyours.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are pleased to say so, sir,\u201d replied the Princess, and there she\nstopped.\n\n\u201cBeauty,\u201d continued Riquet, \u201cis so great an advantage, that it ought to\ntake the place of every other, and, possessed of it, I see nothing that\ncan have power to afflict one.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would rather,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cbe as ugly as you are, and have\nintelligence, than possess the beauty I do, and be so stupid as I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no greater proof of intelligence, madam, than the belief that\nwe have it not; it is the nature of that gift, that the more we have,\nthe more we believe ourselves to be without it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know how that may be,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cbut I know well\nenough that I am very stupid, and that is the cause of the grief that\nis killing me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf that is all that troubles you, madam, I can easily put an end to\nyour sorrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how would you do that?\u201d said the Princess.\n\n\u201cI have the power, madam,\u201d said Riquet with the Tuft, \u201cto give as\nmuch intelligence as it is possible to possess, to the person whom I\nlove best; as you, madam, are that person, it will depend entirely\nupon yourself, whether or not you become gifted with this amount of\nintelligence, provided that you are willing to marry me.\u201d\n\nThe Princess was struck dumb with astonishment, and replied not a word.\n\n\u201cI see,\u201d said Riquet with the Tuft, \u201cthat this proposal troubles you,\nand I am not surprised, but I will give you a full year to consider it.\u201d\n\nThe Princess had so little sense, and at the same time was so anxious\nto have a great deal, that she thought the end of that year would never\ncome; so she at once accepted the offer that was made her. She had no\nsooner promised Riquet with the Tuft that she would marry him that day\ntwelve months, than she felt herself quite another person.\n\nShe found she was able to say whatever she pleased, with a readiness\npast belief, and of saying it in a clever, but easy and natural manner.\nShe immediately began a sprightly and well-sustained conversation with\nRiquet with the Tuft, and was so brilliant in her talk, that Riquet\nwith the Tuft began to think he had given her more wit than he had\nreserved for himself. On her return to the palace, the whole Court was\npuzzled to account for a change so sudden and extraordinary; for the\nnumber of foolish things which they had been accustomed to hear from\nher, she now made as many sensible and exceedingly witty remarks. All\nthe Court was in a state of joy not to be described. The younger sister\nalone was not altogether pleased, for, having lost her superiority over\nher sister in the way of intelligence, she now only appeared by her\nside as a very unpleasing-looking person.\n\nThe King now began to be guided by his elder daughter\u2019s advice, and\nat times even held his Council in her apartments. The news of the\nchange of affairs was spread abroad, and all the young princes of the\nneighbouring kingdoms exerted themselves to gain her affection, and\nnearly all of them asked her hand in marriage. She found none of them,\nhowever, intelligent enough to please her, and she listened to all of\nthem, without engaging herself to one.\n\nAt length arrived a Prince, so rich and powerful, so clever and so\nhandsome, that she could not help listening willingly to his addresses.\nHer father, having perceived this, told her that he left her at perfect\nliberty to choose a husband for herself, and that she had only to make\nknown her decision. As the more intelligence we possess, the more\ndifficulty we find in making up our mind on such a matter as this, she\nbegged her father, after having thanked him, to allow her time to think\nabout it.\n\nShe went, by chance, to walk in the same wood in which she had met\nRiquet with the Tuft, in order to meditate more uninterruptedly over\nwhat she had to do. While she was walking, deep in thought, she heard\na dull sound beneath her feet, as of many persons running to and fro,\nand busily occupied. Having listened more attentively, she heard one\nsay, \u201cBring me that saucepan;\u201d another, \u201cGive me that kettle;\u201d another,\n\u201cPut some wood on the fire.\u201d At the same moment the ground opened, and\nshe saw beneath her what appeared to be a large kitchen, full of cooks,\nscullions, and all sorts of servants necessary for the preparation of\na magnificent banquet. There came forth a band of about twenty to\nthirty cooks, who went and established themselves in an avenue of the\nwood, at a very long table, and who, each with the larding-pin in his\nhand and the tail of his fur cap over his ear, set to work, keeping\ntime to a harmonious song.\n\n[Illustration: There came forth a band of cooks]\n\nThe Princess, astonished at this sight, asked the men for whom they\nwere working.\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d replied the chief among them, \u201cfor Prince Riquet with the\nTuft, whose marriage will take place to-morrow.\u201d The Princess, still\nmore surprised than she was before, and suddenly recollecting that it\nwas just a twelvemonth from the day on which she had promised to marry\nPrince Riquet with the Tuft, was overcome with trouble and amazement.\nThe reason of her not having remembered her promise was, that when she\nmade it she had been a very foolish person, and when she became gifted\nwith the new mind that the Prince had given her, she had forgotten all\nher follies.\n\nShe had not taken another thirty steps, when Riquet with the Tuft\npresented himself before her, gaily and splendidly attired, like a\nPrince about to be married. \u201cYou see, madam,\u201d said he, \u201cI keep my word\npunctually, and I doubt not that you have come thither to keep yours,\nand to make me, by the giving of your hand, the happiest of men.\u201d\n\n\u201cI confess to you, frankly,\u201d answered the Princess, \u201cthat I have not\nyet made up my mind on that matter, and that I do not think I shall\never be able to do so in the way you wish.\u201d \u201cYou astonish me, madam,\u201d\nsaid Riquet with the Tuft. \u201cI have no doubt I do,\u201d said the Princess;\n\u201cand assuredly, had I to deal with a stupid person, with a man without\nintelligence, I should feel greatly perplexed. \u2018A Princess is bound\nby her word,\u2019 he would say to me, \u2018and you must marry me, as you have\npromised to do so.\u2019 But as the person to whom I speak is, of all men in\nthe world, the one of greatest sense and understanding, I am certain\nhe will listen to reason. You know that, when I was no better than a\nfool, I nevertheless could not decide to marry you--how can you expect,\nnow that I have the mind which you have given me, and which renders me\nmuch more difficult to please than before, that I should take to-day a\nresolution which I could not then? If you seriously thought of marrying\nme, you did very wrong to take away my stupidity, and so enable me to\nsee more clearly than I saw then.\u201d \u201cIf a man without intelligence,\u201d\nreplied Riquet with the Tuft, \u201cwho reproached you with your breach of\npromise, might have a right, as you have just intimated, to be treated\nwith indulgence, why would you, madam, that I should receive less\nconsideration in a matter which affects the entire happiness of my\nlife? Is it reasonable that persons of intellect should be in a worse\nposition than those that have none? Can you assert this--you who have\nso much, and who so earnestly desired to possess it? But let us come to\nthe point, if you please. Setting aside my ugliness, is there anything\nin me that displeases you? Are you dissatisfied with my birth, my\nunderstanding, my temper, or my manners?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot in the least,\u201d replied the Princess; \u201cI admire in you everything\nyou have mentioned.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf that is so,\u201d rejoined Riquet with the Tuft, \u201cI shall soon be happy,\nas you have it in your power to make me the most pleasing looking of\nmen.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can that be done?\u201d asked the Princess.\n\n\u201cIt can be done,\u201d said Riquet with the Tuft, \u201cif you love me\nsufficiently to wish that it should be. And, in order, madam, that you\nshould have no doubt about it, know that the same fairy, who, on the\nday I was born, endowed me with the power to give intelligence to the\nperson I chose, gave you also the power to render handsome the man you\nshould love, and on whom you should wish to bestow this favour.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf such be the fact,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cI wish, with all my heart,\nthat you should become the handsomest and most lovable Prince in the\nworld, and I bestow the gift on you to the fullest extent in my power.\u201d\n\nThe Princess had no sooner pronounced these words than Riquet with the\nTuft appeared to her eyes, of all men in the world, the handsomest,\nthe best made, and most attractive she had ever seen. There are some\nwho assert that it was not the spell of the fairy, but love alone that\ncaused the metamorphosis. They say that the Princess, having reflected\non the perseverance of her lover, on his prudence, and on all the\ngood qualities of his heart and mind, no longer saw the deformity of\nhis body, or the ugliness of his features; that his hump appeared to\nher nothing more than a good-natured shrug of his shoulders, and that\ninstead of noticing, as she had done, how badly he limped, she saw\nin him only a certain lounging air, which charmed her. They say also\nthat his eyes, which squinted, only seemed to her the more brilliant\nfor this; and that the crookedness of his glance was to her merely\nexpressive of his great love; and, finally, that his great red nose had\nin it, to her mind, something martial and heroic. However this may be,\nthe Princess promised on the spot to marry him, provided he obtained\nthe consent of the King, her father. The King, having learned that his\ndaughter entertained a great regard for Riquet with the Tuft, whom\nhe knew also to be a very clever and wise Prince, received him with\npleasure as his son-in-law. The wedding took place the next morning, as\nRiquet with the Tuft had foreseen, and according to the orders which he\nhad given a long time before.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\n No beauty, no talent, has power above\n Some indefinite charm discern\u2019d only by love.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThat is delightful, but it is _much_ too short,\u201d said Titania\nsmilingly.\n\n\u201cIt is better too short than too long,\u201d answered Oberon, \u201cbut perhaps\nthe pretty little story-teller has another one for us?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf your Majesties wish it,\u201d replied the dainty creature.\n\n\u201cLet it be a longer one this time,\u201d said Titania, \u201cand let it be\nanother tale of true love, _please_.\u201d\n\nThe French Fay considered for a moment, and then said, as if to\nherself, \u201cI _do_ know another story of true love rewarded after strange\nadventures, but I\u2019m afraid it will be too long for his Majesty\u2019s taste.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis one is for _me_,\u201d said Titania, turning smilingly to the King,\n\u201cand my Oberon need not listen if he does not wish to.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe it as my Queen wishes,\u201d said Oberon, who was really excited by the\npromise of hearing of strange adventures.\n\nThen there was a sort of dainty rustling as of the breeze toying with\nthe summer leaves while all the fairies about the circle settled\ncomfortably down to listen to the long story which the French Fay named\n\n[Illustration: The French Fay]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The cap of roses]\n\nThe Benevolent Frog\n\n\nThere was once a King who for many years had been engaged in a war with\nhis neighbours; a great number of battles had been fought, and at last\nthe enemy laid siege to his capital. The King, fearing for the safety\nof the Queen, begged her to retire to a fortified castle, which he\nhimself had never visited but once. The Queen endeavoured, with many\nprayers and tears, to persuade him to allow her to remain beside him\nand to share his fate, and it was with loud cries of grief that she\nwas put into her chariot by the King to be driven away. He ordered his\nguards, however, to accompany her, and promised to steal away when\npossible to visit her. He tried to comfort her with this hope, although\nhe knew that there was little chance of fulfilling it, for the castle\nstood a long distance off, surrounded by a thick forest, and only those\nwho were well acquainted with the roads could possibly find their way\nto it.\n\nThe Queen parted from her husband, broken-hearted at leaving him\nexposed to the dangers of war; she travelled by easy stages, in\ncase the fatigue of so long a journey should make her ill; at last\nshe reached the castle, feeling low-spirited and distressed. When\nsufficiently rested, she walked about the surrounding country, but\nfound nothing to interest her or divert her thoughts. She saw only\nfar-spreading desert tracts on either side, which gave her more pain\nthan pleasure to look upon; sadly she gazed around her, exclaiming at\nintervals, \u201cWhat a contrast between this place and that in which I have\nlived all my life! If I stay here long I shall die! To whom have I to\ntalk in these solitudes? With whom can I share my troubles? What have\nI done to the King that he should banish me? He wishes me, it seems,\nto feel the full bitterness of our separation, by exiling me to this\nmiserable castle.\u201d\n\nThus she lamented; and although the King wrote daily to her, and sent\nher good news of the progress of the siege, she grew more and more\nunhappy, and at last determined that she would return to him. Knowing,\nhowever, that the officers who were in attendance upon her had received\norders not to take her back, unless the King sent a special messenger,\nshe kept her design secret, but ordered a small chariot to be built\nfor her, in which there was only room for one, saying that she should\nlike sometimes to accompany the hunt. She drove herself, and followed\nso closely on the hounds, that the huntsmen were left behind; by this\nmeans she had sole command of her chariot, and could get away whenever\nshe liked. Her only difficulty was her ignorance of the roads that\ntraversed the forest; but she trusted to the kindness of Providence to\nbring her safely through it. She gave word that there was to be a great\nhunt, and that she wished everybody to be there; she herself would go\nin her chariot, and each was to follow a different route, that there\nmight be no possibility of escape for the wild beasts. Everything\nwas done according to her orders. The young Queen, feeling sure that\nshe should soon see her husband again, dressed herself as becomingly\nas possible; her hat was covered with feathers of different colours,\nthe front of her dress lavishly trimmed with precious stones, and her\nbeauty, which was of no ordinary kind, made her seem, when so adorned,\na second Diana.\n\nWhile everybody was occupied with the pleasures of the hunt, she gave\nrein to her horses, encouraged them with voice and whip, and soon their\nquickened pace became a gallop; then, taking the bit between their\nteeth, they flew along at such a speed, that the chariot seemed borne\nby the winds, and the eye could scarcely follow it. Too late the poor\nQueen repented of her rashness: \u201cWhat could I have been thinking of?\u201d\nshe said. \u201cHow could I have imagined that I should be able to control\nsuch wild and fiery horses? Alas! what will become of me? What would\nthe King do if he knew the great danger I am in, he who loves me so\ndearly, and who only sent me away that I might be in greater safety!\nThis is my gratitude for his tender care!\u201d The air resounded with her\npiteous lamentations; she invoked Heaven, she called the fairies to her\nassistance, but it seemed that all the powers had abandoned her. The\nchariot was overthrown; she had not sufficient strength to jump quickly\nenough to the ground, and her foot was caught between the wheel and the\naxle-tree; it was only by a miracle she was saved.\n\n[Illustration: Placing the queen on her back she carried her to her\ncave]\n\nShe remained stretched on the ground at the foot of a tree; her heart\nscarcely beat, she could not speak, and her face was covered with\nblood. She lay thus for a long time; when at last she opened her eyes,\nshe saw, standing near her, a woman of gigantic stature, clothed only\nin a lion\u2019s skin, with bare arms and legs, her hair tied up with the\ndried skin of a snake, the head of which dangled over her shoulders; in\nher hand was a club made of stone, which served her as a walking-stick,\nand a quiver full of arrows was fastened to her side. When the Queen\ncaught sight of this extraordinary figure, she felt sure that she was\ndead, for she did not think it was possible that she could be alive\nafter such a terrible accident, and she said in a low voice to herself,\n\u201cI am not surprised that it is so difficult to resolve to die, since\nwhat is to be seen in the other world is so frightful.\u201d The giantess,\nwho overheard her words, could not help laughing at the Queen\u2019s idea\nthat she was dead. \u201cTake courage,\u201d she said to her, \u201cfor know that\nyou are still among the living; but your fate is none the less sad.\nI am the Fairy Lioness, whose dwelling is near here; you must come\nand live with me.\u201d The Queen looked sorrowfully at her, and said, \u201cIf\nyou will be good enough, Madam Lioness, to take me back to my castle,\nand tell the King what ransom you demand, he loves me so dearly, that\nhe will not refuse you even the half of his kingdom.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d replied\nthe giantess, \u201cI am rich enough, but for some time past my lonely\nlife has seemed dull to me; you are intelligent, and will be able\nperhaps to amuse me.\u201d As she finished speaking, she took the form of\na lioness, and placing the Queen on her back, she carried her to the\ndepths of her cave, and there rubbed her with a spirit which quickly\nhealed the Queen\u2019s wounds. But what surprise and misery for the Queen\nto find herself in this dreadful abode! It was only reached by ten\nthousand steps, which led down to the centre of the earth; there was\nno light but that shed by a number of tall lamps, which were reflected\nin a lake of quicksilver. This lake was covered with monsters, each\nhideous enough to have frightened a less timid queen; there were owls,\nscreech-owls, ravens, and other birds of ill omen, filling the air with\ndiscordant sounds; in the distance could be seen rising a mountain\nwhence flowed the sluggish waters of a stream composed of all the tears\nshed by unhappy lovers, from the reservoirs of their sad loves. The\ntrees were bare of leaves and fruit, the ground covered with marigolds,\nbriars, and nettles.\n\nThe food corresponded to the climate of this miserable country; for a\nfew dried roots, some horse-chestnuts, and thorn-apples, were all that\nwas provided by the Fairy Lioness to appease the hunger of those who\nfell into her hands.\n\nAs soon as the Queen was well enough to begin work, the fairy told her\nshe could build herself a hut, as she was going to remain with her\nfor the rest of her life. On hearing this, the Queen could no longer\nrestrain her tears: \u201cAlas, what have I done to you,\u201d she cried, \u201cthat\nyou should keep me here? If my death, which I feel is near, would give\nyou pleasure, I pray you, kill me, it is all the kindness I dare hope\nfrom you; but do not condemn me to pass a long and melancholy life\napart from my husband.\u201d\n\nThe Lioness only scoffed at her, and told her that the best thing she\ncould do was to dry her tears, and try to please her; that if she acted\notherwise, she would be the most miserable person in the world.\n\n\u201cWhat must I do then,\u201d replied the Queen, \u201cto soften your heart?\u201d\n\u201cI am fond of fly-pasties,\u201d said the Lioness. \u201cYou must find means\nof procuring a sufficient number of flies to make me a large and\nsweet-tasting one.\u201d \u201cBut,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cI see no flies here, and\neven were there any, it is not light enough to catch them; and if I\nwere to catch some, I have never in my life made pastry, so that you\nare giving me orders which it is impossible for me to execute.\u201d \u201cNo\nmatter,\u201d said the pitiless Lioness; \u201cthat which I wish to have, I will\nhave.\u201d\n\nThe Queen made no reply: she thought to herself, in spite of the cruel\nfairy, that she had but one life to lose, and in the condition in which\nshe then was, what was there to fear in death? Instead, therefore, of\ngoing in search of flies, she sat herself down under a yew tree, and\nbegan to weep and complain: \u201cAh, my dear husband, what grief will be\nyours, when you go to the castle to fetch me, and find I am not there;\nyou will think that I am dead, or faithless, and I would rather that\nyou should mourn the loss of my life, than that of my love; perhaps\nsomeone will find the remains of my chariot in the forest, and all\nthe ornaments which I took with me to please you; and when you see\nthese, you will no longer doubt that death has taken me; and how can\nI tell that you will not give to another the heart\u2019s love which you\nhave shared with me? But, at least, I shall not have the pain of\nknowing this, since I am not to return to the world.\u201d She would have\ncontinued communing thus with herself for a long time, if she had not\nbeen interrupted by the dismal croaking of a raven above her head.\nShe lifted her eyes, and by the feeble light saw a large raven with a\nfrog in its bill, and about to swallow it. \u201cAlthough I see no help at\nhand for myself,\u201d she said, \u201cI will not let this poor frog perish if I\ncan save it; it suffers as much in its way, as I do in mine, although\nour conditions are so different,\u201d and picking up the first stick she\ncould find, she made the raven drop its prey. The frog fell to the\nground, where it lay for a time half-stunned, but finally recovering\nits froggish senses, it began to speak, and said: \u201cBeautiful Queen, you\nare the first benevolent person that I have seen since my curiosity\nfirst brought me here.\u201d \u201cBy what wonderful power are you enabled to\nspeak, little Frog?\u201d responded the Queen, \u201cand what kind of people do\nyou see here? for as yet I have seen none.\u201d \u201cAll the monsters that\ncover the lake,\u201d replied the little Frog, \u201cwere once in the world; some\non thrones, some in high positions at court; there are even here some\nroyal ladies, who caused much strife and bloodshed; it is they whom you\nsee changed into leeches; their fate condemns them to be here for a\ntime, but none of those who come return to the world better or wiser.\u201d\n\u201cI can well understand,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cthat many wicked people\ntogether do not help to make each other better; but you, my little Frog\nfriend, what are you doing here?\u201d \u201cIt was curiosity which led me here,\u201d\nshe replied. \u201cI am half a fairy, my powers are restricted with regard\nto certain things, but far-reaching in others; if the Fairy Lioness\nknew that I was in her dominions, she would kill me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhether fairy or half-fairy,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cI cannot understand how\nyou could have fallen into the raven\u2019s clutches and been nearly eaten.\u201d\n\u201cI can explain it in a few words,\u201d replied the Frog. \u201cWhen I have my\nlittle cap of roses on my head, I fear nothing, as in that resides most\nof my power; unfortunately, I had left it in the marsh, when that ugly\nraven pounced upon me; if it had not been for you, madam, I should be\nno more; and as you have saved my life, you have only to command, and I\nwill do all in my power to alleviate the sorrows of your own.\u201d \u201cAlas!\ndear Frog,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cthe wicked fairy who holds me captive\nwishes me to make her a fly-pasty; but there are no flies here; if\nthere were any, I could not see in the dim light to catch them; I run a\nchance, therefore, of being killed by her blows.\u201d\n\n\u201cLeave it to me,\u201d said the Frog. \u201cI will soon get you some.\u201d Whereupon\nthe Frog rubbed herself over with sugar, and more than six thousand\nof her frog friends did likewise; then they repaired to a place where\nthe fairy kept a large store of flies, for the purpose of tormenting\nsome of her unhappy victims. As soon as they smelt the sugar, they flew\nto it, and stuck to the frogs, and these kind helpers returned at a\ngallop to the Queen. There had never been such a fly-catching before,\nnor a better pasty, than that the Queen made for the fairy. The latter\nwas greatly surprised when the Queen handed it to her, and could not\nimagine how she had been clever enough to catch the flies.\n\nThe Queen, finding herself exposed to the inclemencies of the poisonous\natmosphere, cut down some cypress branches, wherewith to build herself\na hut. The Frog generously offered her services, and putting herself at\nthe head of all those who had gone to collect the flies, they helped\nthe Queen to build as pretty a little tenement as the world could show.\nScarcely, however, had she laid herself down to rest, than the monsters\nof the lake, jealous of her repose, came round her hut, and nearly\ndrove her distracted, by setting up a noise, more hideous than any ever\nheard before.\n\nShe rose in fear and trembling and fled from the house: this was\nexactly what the monsters desired. A dragon, who had formerly been a\ntyrant of one of the finest states of the Universe, immediately took\npossession of it.\n\nThe poor Queen tried to complain of the ill-treatment, but no one\nwould listen to her; the monsters laughed and hooted at her, and the\nFairy Lioness told her that if she came again to deafen her with\nlamentations, she would give her a sound thrashing. She was forced,\ntherefore, to hold her tongue, and to have recourse to the Frog, who\nwas the kindest body in the world. They wept together; for as soon as\nshe put on her cap of roses, the Frog was able to laugh or weep like\nanyone else. \u201cI feel such an affection for you,\u201d she said to the Queen,\n\u201cthat I will re-build your house, even though I drive all the monsters\nof the lake to despair.\u201d She immediately cut some wood, and the little\nrustic palace of the Queen was so quickly reared, that she was able\nto sleep in it that night. The Frog, who thought of everything that\nwas necessary for the Queen\u2019s comfort, made her a bed of wild thyme.\nWhen the wicked fairy found out that the Queen did not sleep on the\nground, she sent for her: \u201cWhat gods or men are they who protect you?\u201d\nshe asked. \u201cThis land, watered only by showers of burning sulphur,\nhas never produced even a leaf of sage; I am told, nevertheless, that\nsweet-smelling herbs spring up beneath your feet!\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot explain it, madam,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cunless the cause is due\nto the child I hope one day to have, who will perhaps be less unhappy\nthan I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat I now wish for,\u201d said the fairy, \u201cis a bunch of the rarest\nflowers; see if this coming happiness you speak of will obtain these\nfor you. If you fail to get them, blows will not fail to follow, for\nthese I often give, and know well how to administer.\u201d The Queen began\nto cry; such threats as these were anything but pleasant to her, and\nshe was in despair at the thought of the impossibility of finding\nflowers.\n\nShe went back to her little house; her friend the Frog came to her:\n\u201cHow unhappy you are!\u201d she said to the Queen. \u201cAlas! who would not be\nso, dear friend? The fairy has ordered a bunch of the most beautiful\nflowers, and where am I to find them? You see what sort of flowers grow\nhere; my life, nevertheless, is at stake, if I do not procure them\nfor her.\u201d \u201cDear Queen,\u201d said the Frog in tender tones, \u201cwe must try\nour best to get you out of this difficulty. There lives a bat in this\nneighbourhood, the only one with whom I have made acquaintance; she is\na good creature, and moves more quickly than I can; I will give her\nmy cap of roses, and aided by this, she will be able to find you the\nflowers.\u201d The Queen made a low curtsey: for there was no possible way\nof embracing the Frog. The latter went off without delay to speak to\nthe bat; a few hours later she returned, bearing under her wings the\nmost exquisite flowers. The Queen hurried off with them to the fairy,\nwho was more overcome by surprise than before, unable to understand in\nwhat miraculous way the Queen received help.\n\nMeanwhile the Queen was continually thinking by what means she could\nescape. She confided her longing to the Frog, who said to her, \u201cMadam,\nallow me first to consult my little cap, and we will then arrange\nmatters according to its advice.\u201d She took her cap, placed it on some\nstraw, and then burned in front of it a few sprigs of juniper, some\ncapers, and two green peas; she then croaked five times, and the\nceremony being completed put on her cap again, and began speaking like\nan oracle. \u201cFate, the ruler of all things, forbids you to leave this\nplace. You will have a little Princess, more beautiful than Venus\nherself; do not trouble yourself about anything else, time alone can\ncomfort you.\u201d The Queen\u2019s head drooped, a few tears fell from her eyes,\nbut she resolved to trust her friend: \u201cAt least,\u201d she said to her, \u201cdo\nnot leave me here alone; and befriend me when my little one is born.\u201d\nThe Frog promised to remain with her, and comforted her as best she\ncould.\n\nBut it is now time to return to the King. While the enemy kept him\nshut up in his capital, he could not continually send messengers to\nthe Queen. At last, however, after several sorties, he obliged the\nbesiegers to retire, and he rejoiced at his success less on his own\naccount, than on that of the Queen, whom he could now bring back in\nsafety. He was in total ignorance of the disaster which had befallen\nher, for none of his officers had dared to tell him of it. They had\nbeen into the forest and found the remains of the chariot, the runaway\nhorses, and the driving apparel which she had put on when going to find\nher husband. As they were fully persuaded that she was dead, and had\nbeen eaten by wild beasts, their only care was to make the King believe\nthat she had died suddenly. On receiving this mournful intelligence,\nhe thought he should die of grief; he tore his hair, he wept many\ntears, and gave vent to his bereavement in every imaginable expression\nof sorrow, cries, sobs, and sighs. For some days he would see no one,\nnor allow himself to be seen; he then returned to his capital, and\nentered on a long period of mourning, to which the sorrow of his heart\ntestified more sincerely than even his sombre garments of grief. All\nthe surrounding kings sent their ambassadors charged with messages of\ncondolence; and when the ceremonies, indispensable to these occasions,\nwere over, he granted his subjects a period of peace, exempting them\nfrom military service, and helping them, in every possible way, to\nimprove their commerce.\n\n[Illustration: A little princess had been born to her]\n\nThe Queen knew nothing of all this. Meanwhile a little Princess had\nbeen born to her, as beautiful as the Frog had predicted, to whom they\ngave the name of Moufette. The Queen had great difficulty in persuading\nthe fairy to allow her to bring up the child, for so ferocious was she,\nthat she would have liked to eat it. Moufette, a wonder of beauty, was\nnow six months old; the Queen, as she looked upon her with a tenderness\nmingled with pity, continually said: \u201cAh! if your father could see you,\nmy poor little one, how delighted he would be! how dear you would be to\nhim! But even, already, maybe, he has begun to forget me; he believes,\nno doubt, that we are lost to him in death; and perhaps another fills\nthe place in his heart, that once was mine.\u201d\n\nThese sorrowful reflections caused her many tears; the Frog, who truly\nloved her, seeing her cry like this, said to her one day: \u201cIf you would\nlike me to do so, madam, I will go and find the King, your husband; the\njourney is long, and I travel but slowly; but, sooner or later, I shall\nhope to arrive.\u201d This proposal could not have been more warmly received\nthan it was; the Queen clasped her hands, and made Moufette clasp hers\ntoo, in sign of the gratitude she felt towards Madam Frog, for offering\nto undertake the journey. She assured her that the King also would not\nbe ungrateful; \u201cbut,\u201d she continued, \u201cof what use will it be to him to\nknow that I am in this melancholy abode; it will be impossible for him\nto deliver me from it?\u201d \u201cMadam,\u201d replied the Frog, \u201cwe must leave that\nto Heaven; we can only do that which depends on ourselves.\u201d\n\nThey said good-bye to one another; the Queen sent a message to the\nKing, written with her blood on a piece of rag; for she possessed\nneither ink nor paper. She begged him to give attention to everything\nthe good Frog told him, and to believe all she said, as she was\nbringing him news of herself.\n\nThe Frog was a year and four days climbing up the ten thousand steps\nwhich lead from the dark country, in which she had left the Queen, up\ninto the world; it took her another year to prepare her equipage, for\nshe had too much pride to allow herself to appear at the Court like\na poor, common frog from the marshes. She had a little sedan-chair\nmade, large enough to hold two eggs comfortably; it was covered on the\noutside with tortoise-shell, and lined with lizard-skin; then she chose\nfifty maids of honour, these were the little green frogs which hop\nabout the meadows; each was mounted on a snail, furnished with a light\nsaddle, and rode in style with the leg thrown over the saddle-bow;\nseveral water-rats, dressed as pages, ran before the snails, as her\nbody-guard; in short, nothing so pretty had ever been seen before, and\nto crown it all, her cap of crimson roses, always fresh and in full\nbloom, suited her in the most admirable manner. She was a bit of a\ncoquette in her way, so she felt obliged to add a little rouge and a\nfew patches; some said that she was painted as were many ladies of that\ncountry, but inquiries into the matter proved that this report had only\nbeen spread by her enemies.\n\nThe journey lasted seven years, during which time the poor Queen went\nthrough unspeakable pains and suffering, and if it had not been for\nthe beautiful Moufette, who was a great comfort to her, she would have\ndied a hundred times over. This wonderful little creature could not\nopen her mouth or say a word, without filling her mother with delight;\nindeed, everybody, with the exception of the Fairy Lioness, was\nenchanted with her; at last, when the Queen had lived six years in this\nhorrible place, the fairy said that, provided everything she killed was\ngiven to her, she might go hunting with her.\n\nThe joy of the Queen at once more seeing the sun may be imagined. So\nunaccustomed had she grown to its light, that at first she thought it\nwould blind her. As for Moufette, she was so quick and intelligent,\nthat even, at five or six years of age, she never failed to hit her\nmark, and so, in this way, the mother and daughter succeeded in\nsomewhat lessening the ferocity of the fairy.\n\nThe Frog travelled over mountains and valleys, never stopping day\nor night; at last she drew near the capital, where the King was in\nresidence. She was surprised to see dancing and festivity in every\ndirection; there was laughter and singing, and the nearer she got to\nthe town, the more joyous and jubilant the people seemed. Her equipage\ncaused great astonishment, everyone went after it, and so large had the\ncrowd become by the time she had reached the town, that she had great\ndifficulty in making her way to the palace. Here everything was as\nmagnificent as possible, for the King, who had been a widower for nine\nyears, had at last yielded to the prayers of his subjects, and was on\nthe eve of marriage with a Princess, less beautiful, it is true, than\nhis wife, but not the less agreeable for that.\n\nThe kind Frog, having descended from her sedan-chair, entered the\nroyal presence, followed by her attendants. She had no need to ask for\naudience, for the King, his affianced bride, and all the princes, were\nall much too curious to know the reason of her coming, to think of\ninterrupting her. \u201cSire,\u201d said she, \u201cI hardly know if the news I bring\nyou will give you joy or sorrow; the marriage which you are about to\ncelebrate convinces me of your infidelity to the Queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cHer memory is dear to me as ever,\u201d said the King, unable to prevent\nthe falling of a tear or two; \u201cbut you must know, kind frog, that kings\nare not always able to do what they wish; for the last nine years,\nmy subjects have been urging me to marry; I owe them an heir to the\nthrone, and I have therefore chosen this young Princess, who appears to\nme all that is charming.\u201d \u201cI advise you not to marry her, for the Queen\nis not dead; I bring you a letter from her, written with her own blood.\nA little daughter, Moufette, has been born to you, more beautiful than\nthe heavens themselves.\u201d The King took the rag, on which the Queen\nhad scrawled a few words; he kissed it, he bathed it in his tears, he\nshowed it to the whole assembly, saying that he recognised his wife\u2019s\nhandwriting; he asked the Frog a thousand questions, which she answered\nwith vivacity and intelligence.\n\nThe betrothed Princess, and the ambassadors who had come to be present\nat the marriage, began to pull long faces. One of the most important\nof the guests turned to the King, and said, \u201cSire, can you think of\nbreaking so solemn an engagement, on the word of a toad like that? This\nscum of the marshes has the insolence to come and tell lies before the\nwhole Court, for the pleasure of being heard!\u201d \u201cKnow, your Excellency,\u201d\nreplied the Frog, \u201cthat I am no scum of the marshes, and since I am\nforced to exhibit my powers: Come forth, fairies all!\u201d And thereupon\nall the frogs, rats, snails, lizards, with the frog at their head,\nsuddenly appeared; not, however, in the usual form of these reptiles,\nbut with tall, majestic figures, pleasing countenances, and eyes more\nbrilliant than stars; each wore a jewelled crown on his head, and over\nhis shoulders a regal mantle of velvet, lined with ermine, with a\nlong train which was borne by dwarfs. At the same time was heard the\nsound of trumpets, kettle-drums, hautboys, and drums, filling the air\nwith melodious and warlike music, and all the fairies began to dance\na ballet, their every step so light, that the slightest spring\nlifted them to the vaulted ceiling of the room. The King and his\nfuture Queen, surprised as they were at this, were no less astonished,\nwhen they saw all these fairy ballet dancers suddenly change into\nflowers, jasmine, jonquils, violets, pinks, and tube roses, which\nstill continued to dance as if they had legs and feet. It was like a\nliving flower-bed, of which every movement delighted both the eye and\nthe sense of smell. Another moment, and the flowers had disappeared;\nin their place several fountains threw their waters into the air and\nfell into an artificial lake at the foot of the castle walls; this was\ncovered with little painted and gilded boats, so pretty and dainty that\nthe Princess invited the ambassadors to go for a trip on the water.\nThey were all pleased to do so, thinking it was all a merry pastime,\nwhich would end happily in the marriage festivities. But they had no\nsooner embarked, than the boats, water, and fountains disappeared,\nand the frogs were frogs again. The King asked what had become of the\nPrincess; the Frog replied, \u201cSire, no queen is yours, but your wife;\nwere I less attached to her than I am, I should not interfere; but she\nis so deserving, and your daughter Moufette is so charming that you\nought not to delay a moment in going to their deliverance.\u201d \u201cI assure\nyou, Madam Frog,\u201d said the King, \u201cthat if I did not believe my wife\nto be dead, there is nothing in the world I would not do to see her\nagain.\u201d \u201cAfter the wonders I have shown you,\u201d she replied, \u201cit seems to\nme that you ought to be more convinced of the truth of what I have told\nyou. Leave your kingdom in charge of trustworthy men, and start without\ndelay. Here is a ring which will furnish you with the means of seeing\nthe Queen, and of speaking with the Fairy Lioness, although she is the\nmost terrible creature in the world.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The audience] [Illustration]\n\nThe King departed, refusing to have anyone to accompany him, after\nmaking handsome presents to the Frog: \u201cDo not be discouraged,\u201d she said\nto him; \u201cyou will meet with terrible difficulties, but I hope that you\nwill succeed according to your wishes.\u201d Somewhat comforted by her\nwords, the King started in search of his dear wife, with no other guide\nthan his ring.\n\nAs Moufette grew older, her beauty became more perfect, and all the\nmonsters of the quicksilver lake fell in love with her; and the\ndragons, with their hideous and terrifying forms, came and lay at her\nfeet. Although Moufette had seen them ever since she was born, her\nbeautiful eyes could not accustom themselves to the sight of these\ncreatures, and she would run away and hide in her mother\u2019s arms. \u201cShall\nwe remain here long?\u201d she asked her; \u201cis there to be no end to our\nmisery?\u201d The Queen spoke hopefully in order to cheer her child, but\nin her heart she had no hope; the absence of the Frog, her unbroken\nsilence, the long time that had elapsed since she had news of the King,\nall these things filled her with sorrow and despair.\n\nThe Fairy Lioness had gradually made it a practice to take them with\nher hunting. She was fond of good things, and liked the game they\nkilled for her, and although all they got in return was the gift of\nthe head or the feet, it was something to be allowed to see again the\nlight of day. The fairy took the form of a lioness, the Queen and her\ndaughter seated themselves on her back, and thus they went hunting\nthrough the forests.\n\nThe King happened to be resting in a forest one day, whither his ring\nhad guided him, and saw them pass like an arrow shot from the bow; he\nwas unseen of them, and when he tried to follow them, they vanished\ncompletely from his sight. Notwithstanding the constant trouble she\nhad been in, the Queen still preserved her former beauty; she appeared\nto her husband more charming than ever. He longed for her to return to\nhim, and feeling sure that the young Princess who was with her was his\ndear little Moufette, he determined to face a thousand deaths, rather\nthan abandon his design of rescuing her.\n\nBy the help of his ring, he found his way into the obscure region\nwhere the Queen had been so many years; he was not a little surprised\nwhen he found himself descending to the centre of the earth, but every\nfresh thing he saw astonished him more and more. The Fairy Lioness,\nwho knew everything, was aware of the day and the hour when he would\narrive; she would have given a great deal if the powers in league with\nher had ordained otherwise; but she determined at least to oppose his\nstrength with the full might of her own.\n\nShe built a palace of crystal, which floated in the centre of the lake\nof quicksilver, and rose and fell with its waves. In it she imprisoned\nthe Queen and her daughter, and then harangued all the monsters who\nwere in love with Moufette. \u201cYou will lose this beautiful Princess,\u201d\nshe said to them, \u201cif you do not help me to protect her from a knight\nwho has come to carry her away.\u201d The monsters promised to leave nothing\nin their power undone; they surrounded the palace of crystal; the\nlightest in weight took their stations on the roof and walls; the\nothers kept guard at the doors, and the remainder in the lake.\n\nThe King, advised by his faithful ring, went first to the Fairy\u2019s Cave;\nshe was awaiting him in her form of lioness. As soon as he appeared\nshe threw herself upon him; but he handled his sword with a valour\nfor which she was not prepared, and as she was putting out one of her\npaws to fell him to the earth, he cut it off at the joint just where\nthe elbow comes. She uttered a loud cry and fell over; he went up to\nher, put his foot on her throat and swore that he would kill her,\nand in spite of her ungovernable fury and invulnerability, she felt\na little afraid. \u201cWhat do you wish to do with me?\u201d she asked. \u201cWhat\ndo you want of me?\u201d \u201cI wish to punish you,\u201d he replied proudly, \u201cfor\nhaving carried away my wife, and you shall give her up to me or I will\nstrangle you on the spot.\u201d \u201cLook towards the lake,\u201d she said, \u201cand see\nif I have the power to do so.\u201d The King turned in the direction towards\nwhich she pointed, and saw the Queen and her daughter in the palace of\ncrystal, which was floating like a vessel, without oars or rudder,\non the lake of quicksilver. He was ready to die with mingled joy and\nsorrow; he called to them with all his might, and they heard him, but\nhow was he to reach them? While thinking over the means by which he\nmight accomplish this, the Fairy Lioness disappeared. He ran round and\nround the lake, but whenever the palace came close enough to him, on\none side or the other, for him to spring upon it, it suddenly floated\naway again with terrible swiftness, and so his hopes were continually\ndisappointed. The Queen, fearing he would at length grow weary, called\nto him not to lose courage, that the Fairy Lioness wanted to tire him\nout, but that true love knew how to face all difficulties. She and\nMoufette then stretched out their hands towards him with imploring\ngestures. Seeing this, the King was filled with renewed courage, and\nraising his voice, he said that he would rather pass the remainder of\nhis life in this melancholy region than go away without them. He needed\ngreat patience, for no king on earth ever spent such a wretched time\nbefore. He had only the ground, covered with briars and thorns, for his\nbed; his food consisted of wild fruits, more bitter than gall, and he\nwas incessantly engaged in defending himself from the monsters of the\nlake.\n\nThree years passed in this manner, and the King could not flatter\nhimself that he had gained the least advantage; he was almost in\ndespair, and over and over again was tempted to throw himself in the\nlake, and he would certainly have done so if he could have thought that\nby such a deed he might alleviate the sufferings of the Queen and the\nPrincess. He was running one day as usual, first to one side of the\nlake then to the other, when one of the most hideous of the dragons\ncalled him, and said to him: \u201cIf you will swear to me by your crown\nand sceptre, by your royal mantle, by your wife and child, to give me,\nwhenever I shall ask for it, a certain delicate morsel to eat, for\nwhich I have a taste, I will take you on my back, and I promise you\nthat none of the monsters of this lake, who guard the palace, shall\nprevent us from carrying off the Queen and Princess Moufette.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! my beloved Dragon!\u201d cried the King, \u201cI swear to you, and to all\nthe family of dragons, that I will give you your fill to eat of what\nyou like, and will for ever remain your humble servant.\u201d \u201cDo not make\nany promises,\u201d replied the Dragon, \u201cif you have any thought of not\nfulfilling them; for, in that case, misfortunes will fall upon you\nthat you will not forget as long as you live.\u201d The King renewed his\nprotestations; he was dying of impatience to get possession of his dear\nQueen. He mounted on the Dragon\u2019s back, as if it was the finest horse\nin the world, but the other monsters now advanced to bar his passage.\nThey fought together, nothing was to be heard but the sharp hissings of\nthe serpents, nothing to be seen but fire, and sulphur, and saltpetre,\nfalling in every direction. At last the King reached the palace, but\nhere his efforts had to be renewed, for the entrances were defended by\nbats, owls, and ravens; however, the Dragon, with his claws, his teeth\nand tail, cut to pieces even the boldest of these. The Queen, on her\nside, who was looking on at this fierce encounter, kicked away pieces\nof the wall, and armed herself with these to help her dear husband.\nThey were at last victorious; they ran into one another\u2019s arms, and the\nwork of disenchantment was completed by a thunderbolt, which fell into\nthe lake and dried it up.\n\nThe friendly Dragon had disappeared with all the other monsters, and\nthe King, by what means he could not guess, found himself again in his\nown capital, seated, with his Queen and Moufette, in a magnificent\ndining-hall, with a table spread with exquisite meats in front of them.\nSuch joy and astonishment as theirs were unknown before. All their\nsubjects ran in to see the Queen and the young Princess, who, to add\nto the wonder of it all, was so superbly dressed, that the eye could\nhardly bear to look upon her dazzling jewels.\n\nIt is easy to imagine the festivities that now went on at the castle;\nmasquerades, running at the ring, and tournaments attracted the\ngreatest princes in the world; but even more were they attracted by the\nbright eyes of Moufette. Among those who were the handsomest and most\naccomplished in feats of arms, Prince Moufy everywhere was the most\nconspicuous. He was universally admired and applauded, and Moufette,\nwho hitherto had been only in the company of dragons and serpents, did\nnot withhold her share of praise. No day passed but Prince Moufy showed\nher some fresh attention, in the hope of pleasing her, for he loved her\ndeeply; and having offered himself as a suitor, he made known to the\nKing and Queen, that his principality was of a beauty and extent that\ndeserved their special attention.\n\nThe King replied that Moufette was at liberty to choose a husband, and\nthat he only wished to please her and make her happy. The Prince was\ndelighted with this answer, and having already become aware that he\nwas not indifferent to the Princess, offered her his hand. She assured\nhim that if he was not her husband, no other man should be, and Moufy,\novercome with joy, threw himself at her feet, and in affectionate\nterms begged her to remember the promise she had given him. The Prince\nand Princess were betrothed, and Prince Moufy then returned to his\nprincipality to make preparations for the marriage. Moufette shed many\ntears at his departure, for she was troubled with the presentiment of\nevil which she could not explain. The Queen, seeing that the Prince was\nalso overcome with sorrow, gave him the portrait of her daughter, and\nbegged him rather to lessen the magnificence of the preparations than\nto delay his return. The Prince, only too ready to obey such a command,\npromised to comply with what would be for his own happiness.\n\nThe Princess occupied herself during his absence with her music, for\nshe had, in a few months, learnt to play well. One day, when she was\nin the Queen\u2019s room, the King rushed in, his face bathed in tears, and\ntaking his daughter in his arms: \u201cAlas, my child,\u201d he cried. \u201cAlas!\nwretched father, unhappy King!\u201d He could say no more, for his voice was\nstifled with sobs. The Queen and Princess, in great alarm, asked him\nwhat was the matter, and at last he was able to tell them that a giant\nof an enormous height, who gave himself out to be an ambassador from\nthe Dragon of the lake, had just arrived; that in accordance with the\npromise, made by the King in return for the help he had received in\nfighting the monsters, the Dragon demanded him to give up the Princess,\nas he wished to make her into a pie for his dinner; the King added that\nhe had bound himself by solemn oaths to give him what he asked, and in\nthose days no one ever broke his word.\n\nWhen the Queen heard this dreadful news, she uttered piercing cries,\nand clasped her child to her breast. \u201cMy life shall be taken,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cbefore my daughter shall be delivered up to that monster; let\nhim rather take our kingdom and all that we possess. Unnatural father!\ncan you possibly consent to such a cruel thing? What! my child made\ninto a pie! The thought of it is intolerable! Send me this terrible\nambassador, maybe the sight of my anguish may touch his heart.\u201d\n\nThe King made no reply, but went in search of the giant and brought\nhim to the Queen, who threw herself at his feet. She and her daughter\nimplored him to have mercy upon them, and to persuade the Dragon to\ntake everything they possessed, and to spare Moufette\u2019s life; but the\ngiant replied that the matter did not rest with him, and that the\nDragon was so obstinate and so fond of good things, that all the powers\ncombined would not prevent him eating whatever he had taken into his\nhead he would like for a meal. He further advised them, as a friend,\nto consent with a good grace, as otherwise greater evils might arise.\nAt these words the Queen fainted, and the Princess, had she not been\nobliged to go to her mother\u2019s assistance, would have done the same.\n\nNo sooner was the sad news spread through the palace, than the whole\ntown knew it. Nothing was heard but weeping and wailing, for Moufette\nwas greatly beloved. The King could not make up his mind to give her\nto the giant, and the giant, who had already waited some days, began\nto grow impatient, and to utter terrible threats. The King and Queen,\nhowever, said to each other, \u201cWhat worse thing could happen to us? If\nthe Dragon of the lake were to come and devour us all we could not be\nmore distressed; if Moufette is put into a pie, we are lost.\u201d\n\nThe giant now told them that he had received a message from his master,\nand that if the Princess would agree to marry a nephew of his, the\nDragon would let her live; that the nephew was young and handsome;\nthat, moreover, he was a Prince, and that she would be able to live\nwith him very happily. This proposal somewhat lessened their grief; the\nQueen spoke to the Princess, but found her still more averse to this\nmarriage than to the thought of death. \u201cI cannot save my life by being\nunfaithful,\u201d said Moufette. \u201cYou promised me to Prince Moufy, and I\nwill marry no one else; let me die; my death will ensure the peace of\nyour lives.\u201d The King then came and endeavoured with all the tenderest\nof expressions to persuade her; but nothing moved her, and finally it\nwas decided that she should be conducted to the summit of a mountain,\nand there await the Dragon.\n\nEverything was prepared for this great sacrifice; nothing so mournful\nhad before been seen; nothing to be met anywhere but black garments,\nand pale and horrified faces. Four hundred maidens of the highest rank,\ndressed in long white robes, and crowned with cypress, accompanied the\nPrincess, who was carried in an open litter of black velvet, that all\nmight look on this masterpiece of beauty. Her hair, tied with crape,\nhung over her shoulders, and she wore a crown of jasmine, mingled\nwith a few marigolds. The grief of the King and Queen, who followed,\novercome by their deep sorrow, appeared the only thing that moved her.\nThe giant, armed from head to foot, marched beside the litter, and\nlooked with hungry eye at the Princess, as if anticipating his share\nof her when she came to be eaten; the air resounded with sighs and\nsobs, and the road was flooded with the tears of the onlookers.\n\n\u201cAh! Frog, Frog,\u201d cried the Queen, \u201cyou have indeed forsaken me! Alas!\nwhy did you give me help in that unhappy region, and now withhold it\nfrom me! Would that I had then died, I should not now be lamenting the\nloss of all my hopes, I should not now have the anguish of seeing my\ndear Moufette on the point of being devoured!\u201d The procession meanwhile\nwas slowly advancing, and at last reached the summit of the fatal\nmountain. Here the cries and lamentations were redoubled, nothing\nmore piteous had before been heard. The giant ordered everyone to say\nfarewell and to retire, and they all obeyed him, for in those days,\npeople were very simple and submissive, and never sought for a remedy\nin their misfortunes.\n\nThe King and Queen, and all the Court, now ascended another mountain,\nwhence they could see all that happened to the Princess: and they had\nnot to wait long, before they saw a Dragon, half a league long, coming\nthrough the air. His body was so heavy that, notwithstanding his six\nlarge wings, he was hardly able to fly; he was covered with immense\nblue scales, and poisonous tongues of flame; his tail was twisted into\nas many as fifty and a half coils; each of his claws was the size of\na windmill, and three rows of teeth, as long as those of an elephant,\ncould be seen inside his wide-open jaw. As the Dragon slowly made his\nway towards the mountain, the good, faithful Frog, mounted on the back\nof a hawk, flew rapidly to Prince Moufy. She wore her cap of roses,\nand although he was locked into his private room, she entered without\na key, and said, \u201cWhat are you doing here, unhappy lover? You sit\ndreaming of Moufette\u2019s beauty, and at this very moment she is exposed\nto the most frightful danger; here is a rose-leaf, by blowing upon it,\nI can change it into a superb horse, as you will see.\u201d\n\nThere immediately appeared a horse, green in colour, and with twelve\nhoofs and three heads, of which one emitted fire, another bomb-shells,\nand the third cannon-balls. She gave the Prince a sword, eight yards\nlong, and lighter than a feather. She clothed him with a single\ndiamond, which he put on like a coat, and which, although as hard as a\nrock, was so pliable that he could move in it at his ease. \u201cGo,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201crun, fly to the rescue of her whom you love; the green horse I\nhave given you, will take you to her, and when you have delivered her,\nlet her know the share I have had in the matter.\u201d\n\n\u201cGenerous fairy,\u201d cried the Prince, \u201cI cannot at this moment show you\nall my gratitude; but henceforth, I am your faithful servitor.\u201d\n\nHe mounted the horse with the three heads, which instantly galloped off\non its twelve hoofs, and went at a greater rate than three of the best\nordinary horses, so that in a very little time the Prince reached the\nmountain, when he found his dear Princess all alone, and saw the Dragon\nslowly drawing near. The green horse immediately began to send forth\nfire, bomb-shells, and cannon-balls, which not a little astonished the\nmonster; he received twenty balls in his throat, and his scales were\nsomewhat damaged, and the bomb-shells put out one of his eyes. He grew\nfurious, and made as if to throw himself on the Prince; but Moufy\u2019s\nlong sword was so finely-tempered, that he could use it as he liked,\nthrusting it in at times up to the hilt, and at others using it like a\nwhip; still he would have suffered from the Dragon\u2019s claws, had it not\nbeen for his diamond coat, which was impenetrable.\n\nMoufette had recognised her lover a long way off, for the diamond\nthat covered him was transparent and bright, and she was seized with\nmortal terror at the danger he was in. The King and Queen, however,\nwere filled with renewed hope, for it was such an unexpected thing\nto see a horse with three heads and twelve hoofs, sending forth\nfire and flame, and a Prince in a diamond suit and armed with a\nformidable sword, arrive at such an opportune moment, and fight with\nso much valour. The King put his hat on the top of his stick, and\nthe Queen tied her handkerchief to the end of another, as signals of\nencouragement to the Prince; and all their Court followed suit. As\na fact, this was not necessary, for his own heart and the peril in\nwhich he saw Moufette, were sufficient to animate his courage. And\nwhat efforts did he not make! the ground was covered with stings,\nclaws, horns, wings, and scales of the Dragon; the earth was coloured\nblue and green with the mingled blood of the Dragon and the horse.\nFive times the Prince fell to the ground, but each time he rose again\nand leisurely mounted his horse, and then there were cannonades, and\nrushing of flames, and explosions, such as were never heard or seen\nbefore. The Dragon\u2019s strength at last gave way, and he fell; the Prince\ngave him a final blow, and nobody could believe their eyes, when from\nthis last great wound, there stepped forth a handsome and charming\nprince, in a coat of blue and gold velvet, embroidered with pearls,\nwhile on his head he wore a little Grecian helmet, shaded with white\nfeathers. He rushed, his arms outspread, towards Prince Moufy, and\nembraced him. \u201cWhat do I not owe you, valiant liberator?\u201d he cried.\n\u201cYou have delivered me from a worse prison than ever before enclosed\na king; I have languished there since, sixteen years ago, the Fairy\nLioness condemned me to it; and, such was her power, that she would\nhave forced me, against my will, to devour that adorable Princess; lead\nme to her feet, that I may explain to her my misfortune.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: A dragon half a league long coming through the air]\n\nPrince Moufy, surprised and delighted at this extraordinary termination\nto his adventure, showered civilities on the newly-found Prince. They\nhastened to rejoin Moufette, who thanked Heaven a thousand times for\nher unhoped-for happiness. The King, the Queen, and all the Court, were\nalready with her; everybody spoke at once, nobody listened to anybody\nelse, and they all shed nearly as many tears of joy as they had before\nof grief. Finally, that nothing might be wanting to complete their\nrejoicing, the good Frog appeared, flying through the air on her hawk,\nwhich had little bells of gold on its feet. When the tinkle, tinkle, of\nthese was heard, everyone looked up, and saw the cap of roses shining\nlike the sun, and the Frog as beautiful as the dawn.\n\nThe Queen ran towards her, and took her by one of her little paws, and\nin the same moment, the wise Frog became a great Queen, with a charming\ncountenance. \u201cI come,\u201d she cried, \u201cto crown the faithful Moufette, who\npreferred to risk her life, rather than be untrue to Prince Moufy.\u201d She\nthereupon took two myrtle wreaths, and placed them on the heads of the\nlovers, and giving three taps with her wand, all the Dragon\u2019s bones\nformed themselves into a triumphal arch, in commemoration of the great\nevent which had just taken place.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nThey all wended their way back to the town, singing wedding songs,\nas gaily as they had before mournfully bewailed the sacrifice of the\nPrincess. The marriage took place the following day, and the joy with\nwhich it was celebrated may be imagined.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the Fay had finished all were agreed that her story was not a word\ntoo long, and all thanked her as she flew back with daintily fluttering\nlittle wings back to her place. All began wondering what the next story\nwould be like. They did not have to wonder long for Titania, turning\nto King Oberon, said, \u201cI have chosen several stories, you choose now.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think,\u201d said Oberon, \u201cthat the Scandinavian Dwarf who told us\nour first tale about Thor and the wicked Loki could perhaps tell us\nanother.\u201d\n\nAs soon as he spoke the Scandinavian Dwarf came forward, well pleased\nof course at being so honoured, and said, \u201cI will tell your Majesty,\nthen, a further tale of how it was that Thor managed to get the Heroes\nout of a nasty fix into which they had got themselves with a dwarf who\nlived in a dark underground place, who had made them promise that he\nshould marry their most beautiful Freya. It is the story,\u201d he began,\n\u201cof the ambition and undoing of\n\n[Illustration: The Scandinavian Dwarf]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Thou art pale about the nose]\n\nAllwise the Dwarf\n\n\nAllwise the Dwarf once by his cunning wiles entrapped the Heroes into\na promise that they would give him the beautiful Freya for his wife,\nand he set out from his cavern home for Asgard that he might claim\nfulfilment of the promise. Before leaving he gave orders to his servant\ndwarfs that they should deck the place against his return with the\nbride.\n\nNow the Heroes of Asgard finding that they had been tricked into\nmaking a promise which they did not intend marvelled how they might\nspare themselves the fulfilling of it. Thor at length suggested that\nas Allwise would visit Asgard by night, and as he could not bear the\nsunlight, they should keep him engaged in talk until the sun rose, and\nwhat is more he offered to do this himself, and so when the dwarf\nreached the city of the Heroes it was Thor whom he first encountered,\nand who hailed him thus: \u201cWhat fellow art thou? Why art thou pale as\nif thou hadst come from among the dead? Surely thou art but a sorry\nbridegroom.\u201d\n\nThen answered the dwarf: \u201cAllwise my name is; I dwell in a cavern\nbeneath the earth, and I am come to fetch my bride for the Heroes will\nnot break their plighted word.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will break it,\u201d said Thor firmly, \u201cfor Freya is my ward, and I was\nnot of those who made the promise to you. It is needful that I should\nhallow the weddings of the Heroes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is this fellow,\u201d said Allwise the dwarf scornfully, \u201cwho claims to\ncontrol the fair-beaming maid?\u201d\n\n\u201cThor is my name,\u201d answered the Hero wrathfully, \u201cI am Longbeard\u2019s son.\nI have travelled far. Without my will thou shalt never have the maid,\nor make this match.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would rather have thy good will; I would sooner win than want the\nsnow-white maid.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe maiden\u2019s love shall not be denied to thee, thou wise guest,\u201d said\nThor with guile, \u201cif thou canst tell me all that I want to know.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat can I do,\u201d answered the dwarf confidently.\n\n\u201cTell me, then, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole\nhistory of mankind, how is the Earth, which lies about the sons of men,\ncalled by all different beings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Earth\u2019 among men; \u2018Field\u2019 among the Heroes; the Wanes call it\n\u2018Way\u2019; the Giants call it \u2018Ever-green\u2019; the Elfs call it \u2018Growing,\u2019 and\nthe High Gods call it \u2018Clay.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is Heaven called by all the beings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Heaven\u2019 among men; \u2018Warmer\u2019 among the Heroes; the Wanes call\nit \u2018Wind-woof\u2019; the Giants call it \u2018High-home\u2019; the Elfs call it\n\u2018Fair-roof\u2019; and Dwarfs \u2018Drip-hall.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Moon that all men see called by all the beings\nthat are?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Moon\u2019 among men; \u2018Mylin\u2019 among the Heroes; \u2018Whirling-Wheel\u2019 in\nHell; \u2018Hastener\u2019 by the Giants; \u2018Sheen\u2019 by the Dwarfs; while the Elfs\ncall it \u2018Year-teller.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Sun that all men see called by all the beings\nthat are?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Sol\u2019 among men; \u2018Sun\u2019 among the Heroes; the Dwarfs call it\n\u2018Day\u2019s-child\u2019; the Giants call it \u2018Ever-glow\u2019; \u2018Fair-wheel\u2019 the Elfs;\nand \u2018All-Sheer\u2019 the sons of the Anses.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how are the clouds that are mingled with shadows called by\nall the beings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Sky\u2019 among men; \u2018Shower-boder\u2019 among the Heroes; \u2018Wind-floe\u2019 among\nthe Wanes; \u2018Wet-boder\u2019 among the Giants; \u2018Weather-main\u2019 among the Elfs;\nand in Hell they call it \u2018Helm-of-Darkness.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Wind, that travels so far, called by all the\nbeings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Wind\u2019 among men; \u2018Waverer\u2019 among the Heroes; \u2018Whooper\u2019 among\nthe Giants; the Elfs call it \u2018Soft-Gale\u2019; in Hell they call it\n\u2018Whistle-Gust.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Calm that rests called by all the beings that\nare?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Calm\u2019 it is called among men; \u2018Lee\u2019 among the Heroes; the Wanes call\nit \u2018Wind-slack\u2019; the Giants call it \u2018Sultry\u2019; the Elfs \u2018Soul-of-Day\u2019;\nand the Dwarfs \u2018Day\u2019s Rest.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole\nhistory of mankind, what is the Main which men row over called by all\nthe beings that are?\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Allwise the dwarf and Thor]\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Sea\u2019 among men; \u2018Level\u2019 among the Heroes; \u2018Wave\u2019 among the\nWanes; \u2018Sound-ham\u2019 among the Giants; the Elfs call it \u2018Sea-blink,\u2019 and\nthe Dwarfs call it \u2018Deep.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is \u2018Fire\u2019 that burns before the sons of men called by\nall the beings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Fire\u2019 among men; and \u2018Fire\u2019 among the Heroes; the Wanes call\nit \u2018Wavy;\u2019 \u2018Greedy\u2019 the Giants; \u2018Furnace fire\u2019 the Dwarfs; and in Hell\nthey call it \u2018Destroyer.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Wood that grows before the sons of men called by\nall the beings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is \u2018Wood\u2019 among men; \u2018Wield-fire\u2019 among the Heroes; in Hell it is\n\u2018Cliff-wrack\u2019; Giants call it \u2018Firewood\u2019; the Elfs \u2018Fair-foliage\u2019; and\nthe Wanes call it \u2018Wand.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is Night, Norwis\u2019 daughter, called by all the beings\nthat are?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Night\u2019 among men; \u2018Newl\u2019 among the Heroes; \u2018Unlight\u2019 the Giants;\n\u2018Sleep-joy\u2019 the Elfs; and the Dwarfs call it \u2018Sleep-fairy.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Seed that the sons of men sow called by all the\nbeings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Bigg\u2019 among men; \u2018Barley\u2019 among the Heroes; the Wanes call it\n\u2018Waxth\u2019; \u2018Oat\u2019 the Giants; the Elfs \u2018Lees-staff\u2019; in Hell it is\n\u2018Blight.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Allwise, for methinks thou, Dwarf, knowest the whole history\nof mankind, how is the Ale the sons of men drink called by all the\nbeings that are?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018Ale\u2019 among men; \u2018Beer\u2019 among the Heroes; the Wanes call it \u2018Draught\u2019;\n\u2018Clear-lees\u2019 the Giants; in Hell it is \u2018Mead\u2019; while the Dwarfs call it\n\u2018Good cheer!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Thor, \u201cI never on one man\u2019s tongue saw more of the olden\nwords, but with great wiles, oh, Allwise, hast thou been beguiled, for\nthe Day is upon thee, Dwarf; the hall is full of sunshine.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: The dwarf was suddenly turned into a figure of stone]\n\nIt was even as Thor said the day had come, and with it the Dwarf\nwho had been kept in close talk without guessing why was suddenly\nturned into a figure of stone, and the Heroes were relieved of their\nrash promise to send the beautiful Freya from Asgard as wife of the\ndark-loving Allwise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Scandinavian Dwarf having resumed his place, Oberon turned to his\nQueen and said that her Nymphidia had given them all a very pretty\nlittle song, perhaps some of her attendants had stories they would like\nto tell.\n\n\u201cOf course they have,\u201d replied Titania, and turned to the fairies\nimmediately about her throne, saying, \u201cnow who shall it be?\u201d\n\nQuick, as befitted her name, was the first to respond with, \u201cIf a very\nshort story will do I can tell one,\u201d and Pink almost in the same breath\nsaid \u201cI can tell one if a very short one will do.\u201d\n\nTitania stopped the others who would have offered also, and said,\n\u201cQuick and Pink shall tell them, then.\u201d\n\nAt once Quick took her place, and when all the fairy kingdom was\nattentive began to tell about\n\n[Illustration: Quick]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: She held it up to the woman]\n\nThe Fairy at the Well\n\n\nThere was once a widow who had two daughters. The elder was so like\nher mother in temper and face, that to have seen the one was to have\nseen the other. They were both so disagreeable and proud, that it was\nimpossible to live with them. The younger, who was the exact portrait\nof her father in her kindly and polite ways was also as beautiful a\ngirl as one could see. As we are naturally fond of those who resemble\nus, the mother doted on her elder daughter, while for the younger she\nhad a most violent aversion, and made her take her meals in the kitchen\nand work hard all day. Among other things that she was obliged to do,\nthis poor child was forced to go twice a day to fetch water from a\nplace a mile or more from the house, and carry back a large jug filled\nto the brim. As she was standing one day by this spring, a poor woman\ncame up to her, and asked the girl to give her some water to drink.\n\n\u201cCertainly, my good woman,\u201d she replied, and the beautiful girl at\nonce stooped and rinsed out the jug, and then, filling it with water\nfrom the clearest part of the spring, she held it up to the woman,\ncontinuing to support the jug, that she might drink with greater\ncomfort. Having drunk, the woman said to her, \u201cYou are so beautiful, so\ngood and kind, that I cannot refrain from conferring a gift upon you,\u201d\nfor she was really a fairy, who had taken the form of a poor village\nwoman, in order to see how far the girl\u2019s kindheartedness would go.\n\u201cThis gift I make you,\u201d continued the fairy, \u201cthat with every word you\nspeak, either a flower or a precious stone will fall from your mouth.\u201d\n\nThe girl had no sooner reached home than her mother began scolding\nher for being back so late. \u201cI am sorry, mother,\u201d said she, \u201cto have\nbeen out so long,\u201d and as she spoke, there fell from her mouth two\nroses, two pearls, and two large diamonds. The mother gazed at her in\nastonishment. \u201cWhat do I see!\u201d she exclaimed, \u201cpearls and diamonds seem\nto be dropping from her mouth! How is this, my daughter?\u201d--it was the\nfirst time she had called her _daughter_. The poor child related in all\nsimplicity what had happened, letting fall quantities of diamonds in\nthe course of her narrative. \u201cI must certainly send my other daughter\nthere,\u201d said the mother. \u201cLook, Fanchon, see what falls from your\nsister\u2019s mouth when she speaks! Would you not be glad to receive a\nsimilar gift? All you have to do, is to go and fetch water from the\nspring, and if an old woman asks you for some to drink, to give it\nher nicely and politely.\u201d \u201cI should like to see myself going to the\nspring,\u201d answered the rude, cross girl.\n\n\u201cI insist on your going,\u201d rejoined the mother, \u201cand that at once.\u201d\n\nThe elder girl went off, still grumbling; with her she took the\nhandsomest silver bottle she could find in the house.\n\nShe had no sooner arrived at the spring, than she saw a lady\nmagnificently dressed walking towards her from the wood, who approached\nand asked for some water to drink. It was the same fairy who had\nappeared to the sister, but she had now put on the airs and apparel of\na princess, as she wished to see how far this girl\u2019s rudeness would go.\n\u201cDo you think I came here just to draw water for you?\u201d answered the\narrogant and unmannerly girl; \u201cI have, of course, brought this silver\nbottle on purpose for madam to drink from! Well, all I have to say\nis--drink from it if you like.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: How is this my daughter]\n\n\u201cYou are scarcely polite,\u201d said the fairy, without losing her temper;\n\u201chowever, as you are so disobliging, I confer this gift upon you, that\nwith every word you speak, a snake or a toad shall fall from your\nmouth.\u201d\n\nDirectly her mother caught sight of her, she called out, \u201cWell, my\ndaughter!\u201d \u201cWell, my mother!\u201d replied the ill-tempered girl, throwing\nout as she spoke two vipers and two toads. \u201cAlack!\u201d cried the mother,\n\u201cwhat do I see? This is her sister\u2019s doing, but I will pay her out\nfor it,\u201d and, so saying, she ran towards the younger girl with intent\nto beat her. The unhappy girl fled from the house, and went and hid\nherself in a neighbouring forest. The King\u2019s son, who was returning\nfrom hunting, met her, and seeing how beautiful she was, asked her what\nshe was doing there all alone, and why she was crying. \u201cAlas! sir,\nmy mother has driven me from home.\u201d The King\u2019s son, seeing five or\nsix pearls and as many diamonds, falling from her mouth as she spoke,\nasked her to explain how this was, and she told him all her tale. The\nKing\u2019s son fell in love with her, and thinking that such a gift as she\npossessed was worth more than any ordinary dower brought by another, he\ncarried her off to his father\u2019s palace, and there married her.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nAs for her sister, she made herself so hated, that her own mother\ndrove her from the house. The miserable girl, having gone about in\nvain trying to find someone who would take her in, crept away into the\ncorner of a wood, and there died.\n\n Of higher worth are gentle words\n Than diamonds or gold,\n And even o\u2019er the minds of men\n A greater power they hold.\n\n It costs some pains to be polite,\n And needs some kindly thought,\n But soon or late, as here you see,\n Reward will come unsought.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cI hope that Quick was short enough,\u201d said Titania, laughingly, and\nthen turning to Pink said \u201cand yours?\u201d\n\n\u201cWill be shorter still, your Majesty,\u201d promptly answered Pink, stepping\nto the stool directly Quick had left it, and beginning at once the\nstory of\n\n[Illustration: Pink]\n\n[Illustration: They put the cake into the oven]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: St Dolly slept on a flour sack]\n\nDolly, draw the Cake\n\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nAt an early age St Dolly showed the sweetness of her nature by her\ntender love for her widowed father, a baker, dwelling at Pie Corner,\nwith a large family of little children. It chanced that with bad\nharvests bread became so dear that, of course, bakers were ruined by\nhigh prices. The miller fell upon Dolly\u2019s father, and swept the shop\nwith his golden thumb. Not a bed was left for the baker or his little\nones. St Dolly slept upon a flour sack, having prayed that good angels\nwould help her to help her father. Now sleeping, she dreamt that the\noven was lighted, and she felt falling in a shower about her, raisins,\ncurrants, almonds, lemon peel, flour, with heavy drops of brandy.\nThen in her dreams she saw the fairies gather up the things that\nfell, and knead them into a cake. They put the cake into the oven,\nand dancing round and round, the fairies vanished, crying, \u201cDraw the\ncake, Dolly--Dolly, draw the cake.\u201d And Dolly awoke and drew the cake,\nand, behold, it was the first Twelfth Cake, sugared at the top, and\nbearing the images of Faith, Hope and Charity. Now this cake, shown in\nthe window, came to the king\u2019s ear; and the king bought the cake, and\nmarried Dolly to his grand falconer, to whom she proved a faithful and\nloving wife, bearing him a baker\u2019s dozen of lovely children.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere was a general laugh at Pink\u2019s story, it was so _very_ short, and\nPink felt quite proud of herself in having got through her tale telling\nabout twice as quickly as Quick.\n\n\u201cOnly two more stories,\u201d said Oberon, \u201cand then all must fly back to\ntheir proper work as fairies. There are so many of us here that would\nlike to take a turn on the tale-teller\u2019s stool that it is now not\neasy to choose, so we will have our next story from the first fairy\nwho can get on the stool--but wait,\u201d for as soon as Oberon spoke the\nrush began, \u201cyou must all go to your places and start fair when I say\n\u2018three.\u2019\u201d There was a pause while all settled back in their places, and\nthen Oberon said slowly, \u201cOne--Two--Three.\u201d\n\nAs soon as the last word was heard there was such a scramble and rush\nfrom all parts of the ring, some running, some flying, but the nimblest\nof all was a Kobold, who seated himself firmly on the stool and would\nnot let himself be pushed off. As soon as it was seen that the stool\nwas occupied all the fairies who had tried to get there went laughing\nmerrily back to their places, and the Kobold triumphantly began the\nstory of\n\n[Illustration: Seated himself firmly on the stool]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: He ran away with it]\n\nThe Little Glass Shoe\n\n\nA peasant, named John Wilde, found one time a glass shoe on one of the\nhills where the little people used to dance. He clapped it instantly\ninto his pocket and ran away with it, keeping his hand as close on\nhis pocket as if he had a dove in it, for he knew that he had found a\ntreasure which the underground people must redeem at any price.\n\nOthers say that John Wilde lay in ambush one night for the underground\npeople, and gained an opportunity of pulling off one of their shoes,\nby stretching himself there with a brandy-bottle beside him, and\nacting like one that was dead drunk; for he was a very cunning man,\nnot over scrupulous in his morals, and had taken in many a one by his\ncraftiness, and, on this account, his name was in no good repute among\nhis neighbours, who, to say the truth, were willing to have as little\nto do with him as possible. Many hold, too, that he was acquainted with\nforbidden arts, and used to carry on an intercourse with the fiends and\nold women that raised storms, and such like.\n\nHowever, be this as it may, when John had gotten the shoe, he lost no\ntime in letting the folk that dwell under the ground know that he had\nit. So at midnight he went to the Nine-hills, and cried with all his\nmight, \u201cJohn Wilde of Rodenkirchen has got a beautiful glass shoe. Who\nwill buy it, who will buy it?\u201d For he knew that the little one who had\nlost the shoe must go barefoot till he got it again, and that is no\ntrifle, for the little people have generally to walk upon very hard and\nstony ground.\n\nJohn\u2019s advertisement was speedily attended to. The little fellow who\nhad lost the shoe made no delay in setting about redeeming it. The\nfirst free day he got, that he might come out into the daylight, he\ncame as a respectable merchant, and knocked at John Wilde\u2019s door, and\nasked if John had not a glass shoe to sell. \u201cFor,\u201d says he, \u201cthey are\nan article now in great demand, and are sought for in every market.\u201d\nJohn replied that it was true he had a very little little, nice, pretty\nlittle glass shoe, but it was so small that even a dwarf\u2019s foot would\nbe squeezed in it, and that God Almighty must make people on purpose\nfor it before it could be of any use, but that, for all that, it was an\nextraordinary shoe and a valuable shoe, and a dear shoe, and it was not\nevery merchant that could afford to pay for it.\n\nThe merchant asked to see it, and when he had examined it, \u201cGlass\nshoes\u201d said he, \u201care not by any means such rare articles, my good\nfriend, as you think here in Rodenkirchen, because you do not happen to\ngo much into the world. However,\u201d said he, after hemming a little, \u201cI\nwill give you a good price for it, because I happen to have the very\nfellow of it.\u201d And he bid the countryman a thousand dollars for it.\n\n\u201cA thousand dollars are money, my father used to say when he drove fat\noxen to market,\u201d replied John Wilde, in a mocking tone; \u201cbut it will\nnot leave my hands for that shabby price, and, for my own part, it may\nornament the foot of my daughter\u2019s doll. Harkye, friend; I have heard\na sort of little song sung about the glass shoe, and it is not for a\nparcel of dirt that it will go out of my hands. Tell me now, my good\nfellow, should you happen to know the knack of it, that in every furrow\nI make when I am ploughing I should find a ducat. If not, the shoe is\nstill mine, and you may inquire for glass shoes at those other markets.\u201d\n\nThe merchant made still a great many attempts, and twisted and turned\nin every direction to get the shoe, but when he found the farmer\ninflexible he agreed to what John desired, and swore to the performance\nof it.\n\nCunning John believed in him, and gave him up the glass shoe, for he\nknew right well with whom he had to do. So the business being ended,\naway went the merchant with his glass shoe.\n\nWithout a moment\u2019s delay, John repaired to his stable, got ready his\nhorses and his plough, and drove out to the field. He selected a piece\nof ground where he would have the shortest turns possible, and began to\nplough. Hardly had the plough turned up the first sod, when up sprang a\nducat out of the ground, and it was the same with every fresh furrow he\nmade. There was now no end of his ploughing, and John Wilde soon bought\neight new horses, and put them into the stable to the eight he already\nhad--and their mangers were never without plenty of oats in them--that\nhe might be able every two hours to yoke two fresh horses, and so be\nenabled to drive them the faster.\n\nJohn was now insatiable in ploughing, every morning he was out before\nsunrise, and many a time he ploughed on till after midnight. Summer and\nwinter it was plough, plough with him evermore, except when the ground\nwas frozen as hard as a stone. But he always ploughed by himself, and\nnever suffered any one to go out with him, or to come to him when he\nwas at work, for John understood too well the nature of his crop to let\npeople see what it was he ploughed so constantly for.\n\nBut it fared far worse with himself than with his horses, who ate\ngood oats and were regularly changed and relieved, while he grew\npale and meagre by reason of his continual working and toiling. His\nwife and children had no longer any comfort of him, he never went to\nthe ale-house or the club, he withdrew himself from every one, and\nscarcely ever spoke a single word, but went about silent and wrapped up\nin his own thoughts. All the day long he toiled for his ducats, and at\nnight he had to count them and to plan and meditate how he might find\nout a still swifter kind of plough.\n\nHis wife and the neighbours lamented over his strange conduct, his\ndulness and melancholy, and began to think that he was grown foolish.\nEverybody pitied his wife and children, for they imagined that the\nnumerous horses that he kept in his stable, and the preposterous mode\nof agriculture that he pursued, with his unnecessary and superfluous\nploughing, must soon leave him without house or land.\n\n[Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\nBut their anticipations were not fulfilled. True it is, the poor man\nnever enjoyed a happy or contented hour since he began to plough the\nducats up out of the ground. The old saying held good in his case,\nthat he who gives himself up to the pursuit of gold is half way in the\nclaws of the evil one. Flesh and blood cannot bear perpetual labour,\nand John Wilde did not long hold out against this running through the\nfurrows day and night. He got through the first spring, but one day, in\nthe second, he dropped down at the tail of the plough like an exhausted\nNovember fly. Out of the pure thirst after gold he was wasted away and\ndried up to nothing whereas he had been a very strong and hearty man\nthe day the shoe of the little underground man fell into his hands.\n\nHis wife, however, found after him a considerable treasure, two great\nnailed up chests full of good new ducats, and his sons purchased large\nestates for themselves, and became lords and noblemen. But what good\ndid all that do poor John Wilde.\n\n[Illustration: John understood too well the nature of his crop]\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said the King, \u201cwe come to our last story, and I think it\nshall be told us by the fairy who comes from the furthest North.\u201d\n\nSeveral dwarfs and Elves started up at this word, but the King\nsignalled them back to their places; \u201cNo,\u201d he said, \u201cnone of you is\nthe one from farthest North.\u201d Then slowly up the middle of the circle\ncame a quaint little figure all in white with long white hair and\nbeard--looking, only of course the idea is ridiculous, like an _old_\nfairy. He had come from the land of perpetual winter, where everything\nis white as the everlasting snow, but though he looked old he was\nlively and youthful as the most frolicsome of the flower fairies there.\nHe skipped briskly on to the stool, then passing his hand down his long\nwhite beard--strange guest where all was so brilliantly coloured--he\nbegan a story which he named\n\n[Illustration: The dwarf from the North]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: What should he see but a big white bear]\n\nEast o\u2019 the Sun and West o\u2019 the Moon\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor husbandman who had so many children\nthat he hadn\u2019t much of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty\nchildren they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter,\nwho was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness.\n\nSo one day, \u2019twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year,\nthe weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark,\nand rain fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook again.\nThere they all sat round the fire busy with this thing and that. But\njust then, all at once, something gave three taps on the window-pane.\nThen the father went out to see what was the matter; and, when he got\nout of doors, what should he see but a great big White Bear.\n\n\u201cGood evening to you!\u201d said the White Bear.\n\n\u201cThe same to you,\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cWill you give me your youngest daughter? If you will, I\u2019ll make you\nas rich as you are now poor,\u201d said the Bear.\n\nWell, the man would not be at all sorry to be so rich, but still he\nthought he must have a bit of a talk with his daughter first, so he\nwent in and told them how there was a great White Bear waiting outside,\nwho had given his word to make them so rich if he could only have the\nyoungest daughter.\n\nThe lassie said \u201cNo!\u201d outright. Nothing could get her to say anything\nelse; so the man went out and settled it with the White Bear, that he\nshould come again the next Thursday evening and get an answer. Meantime\nhe talked his daughter over, and kept on telling her of all the riches\nthey would get, and how well off she would be herself, so at last she\nthought better of it, and washed and mended her rags, made herself as\nsmart as she could, and was ready to start. I can\u2019t say her packing\ngave her much trouble.\n\nNext Thursday evening came the White Bear to fetch her, and she got\nupon his back with her bundle, and off they went. So when they had gone\na bit of the way, the White Bear said:--\n\n\u201cAre you afraid?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! she wasn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there\u2019s nothing\nto fear,\u201d said the Bear.\n\nSo she rode a long, long way, till they came to a great steep hill.\nThere on the face of it the White Bear gave a knock, and a door opened,\nand they came into a castle, where there were many rooms all lit up,\nrooms gleaming with silver and gold, and there too was a table ready\nlaid, and it was all as grand as grand could be. Then the White Bear\ngave her a silver bell, saying that if she rang it when she wanted\nanything she would get it at once.\n\nWell, after she had eaten and drunk, and evening wore on, she got\nsleepy after her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed,\nso she rang the bell, and she had scarce taken hold of it before she\ncame into a chamber, where there was a bed made, as fair and white as\nany one would wish to sleep in, with silken pillows and curtains and\ngold fringe. All that was in the room was gold or silver, but when she\nhad gone to bed, and put out the light, a man came and laid himself\nalongside her. That was the White Bear, who threw off his beast-shape\nat night, but she never saw him, for he always came after she had put\nout the light, and before the day dawned he was up and off again. So\nthings went on happily for a while, but at last she began to get silent\nand sorrowful, for there she went about all day alone, and she longed\nto go home to see her father and mother, and brothers and sisters. So\none day, when the White Bear asked what it was that she lacked, she\nsaid it was so dull and lonely there, and how she longed to go home to\nsee her father and mother, and brothers and sisters, and that was why\nshe was so sad and sorrowful, because she couldn\u2019t get to them.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said the Bear, \u201cperhaps there\u2019s a cure for all this, but\nyou must promise me one thing, not to talk alone with your mother but\nonly when the rest are by to hear, for she\u2019ll take you by the hand and\ntry to lead you into a room alone to talk, but you must mind and not do\nthat, else you\u2019ll bring bad luck on both of us.\u201d\n\nSo one Sunday the White Bear came and said now they could set off to\nsee her father and mother. Well, off they started, she sitting on his\nback, and they went far and long. At last they came to a grand house,\nand there her brothers and sisters were running about out of doors at\nplay, and everything was so pretty, \u2019twas a joy to see.\n\n\u201cThis is where your father and mother live now,\u201d said the White Bear,\n\u201cbut don\u2019t forget what I told you, else you\u2019ll make us both unlucky.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! bless her, she\u2019d not forget\u201d; and when she had reached the house,\nthe White Bear turned right about and left her.\n\nThen when she went in to see her father and mother, there was such\njoy, there was no end to it. None of them thought they could thank her\nenough for all she had done for them. Now they had everything they\nwished, as good as good could be, and they all wanted to know how she\ngot on where she lived.\n\nWell, she said, it was very good to live where she did; she had all she\nwished. What she said beside I don\u2019t know, but I don\u2019t think any of\nthem had the right end of the stick, or that they got much out of her.\nBut so in the afternoon, after they had done dinner, all happened as\nthe White Bear had said. Her mother wanted to talk with her alone in\nher bedroom, but she minded what the White Bear had said, and wouldn\u2019t\ngo upstairs.\n\n\u201cOh! what we have to talk about will keep,\u201d she said, and put her\nmother off. But somehow or other, her mother got round her at last, and\nshe had to tell her the whole story. So she said, how every night, when\nshe had gone to bed, a man came and lay down beside her as soon as she\nhad put out the light, how she never saw him, because he was always up\nand away before the morning dawned, and how she went about woeful and\nsorrowing, for she thought she should so much like to see him, and how\nall day long she walked about there alone, and how dull, and dreary,\nand lonesome it was.\n\n\u201cMy!\u201d said her mother; \u201cit may well be a Troll you slept with! But now\nI\u2019ll teach you a lesson how to set eyes on him. I\u2019ll give you a bit of\ncandle, which you can carry home in your bosom; just light that while\nhe is asleep, but take care not to drop the tallow on him.\u201d\n\nYes! she took the candle, and hid it in her bosom, and as night drew\non, the White Bear came and fetched her away.\n\nBut when they had gone a bit of the way, the White Bear asked if all\nhadn\u2019t happened as he had said.\n\n\u201cWell, she couldn\u2019t say it hadn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, mind,\u201d said he, \u201cif you have listened to your mother\u2019s advice,\nyou have brought bad luck on us both, and then all that has passed\nbetween us will be as nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cshe hadn\u2019t listened to her mother\u2019s advice.\u201d\n\nSo when she had reached home, and had gone to bed, it was the old story\nover again. There came a man and lay down beside her; but at dead of\nnight, when she heard he slept, she got up and struck a light, lit the\ncandle, and let the light shine on him, and so she saw that he was the\nloveliest Prince one ever set eyes on, and she fell so deep in love\nwith him, on the spot, that she thought she couldn\u2019t live if she didn\u2019t\ngive him a kiss there and then. And so she did, but as she kissed him\nshe dropped three hot drops of tallow on his shirt, and he woke up.\n\n\u201cWhat have you done?\u201d he cried; \u201cnow you have made us both unlucky, for\nhad you held out only this one year, I had been freed. For I have a\nstepmother who has bewitched me, so that I am a White Bear by day and a\nman by night. But now all ties are snapped between us, now I must set\noff from you to her. She lives in a castle which stands +EAST O\u2019 THE\nSUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON+, and there, too, is a Princess, with a nose\nthree ells long, and she\u2019s the wife I must have now.\u201d\n\nShe wept and took it ill, but there was no help for it; go he must.\n\nThen she asked if she mightn\u2019t go with him.\n\nNo, she mightn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cTell me the way then,\u201d she said, \u201cand I\u2019ll search you out; that surely\nI may get leave to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, she might do that,\u201d he said, \u201cbut there was no way to that place.\nIt lay +EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON+, and thither she\u2019d never\nfind her way.\u201d\n\nSo next morning when she woke up both Prince and castle were gone, and\nthen she lay on a little green patch, in the midst of the gloomy thick\nwood, and by her side lay the same bundle of rags she had brought with\nher from her old home.\n\nSo when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was\ntired, she set out on her way, and walked many, many days, till she\ncame to a lofty rock. Under it sat an old hag, and played with a golden\napple which she tossed about. Her the lassie asked if she knew the\nway to the prince, who lived with his stepmother in the Castle, that\nlay +EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON+, and who was to marry the\nPrincess with a nose three ells long.\n\n\u201cHow did you come to know about him?\u201d asked the old hag; \u201cbut maybe you\nare the lassie who ought to have had him?\u201d\n\nYes, she was.\n\n\u201cSo, so, it\u2019s you, is it?\u201d said the old hag. \u201cWell, all I know about\nhim is, that he lives in the castle that lies +EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND\nWEST O\u2019 THE MOON+, and thither you\u2019ll come, late or never; but still\nyou may have the loan of my horse, and on him you can ride to my next\nneighbour. Maybe she\u2019ll be able to tell you; and when you get there,\njust give the horse a switch under the left ear, and beg him to be off\nhome; and, stay, this gold apple you may take with you.\u201d\n\nSo she got upon the horse, and rode a long long time, till she\ncame to another rock, under which sat another old hag, with a gold\ncarding-comb. Her the lassie asked if she knew the way to the castle\nthat lay +EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON+, and she answered, like\nthe first old hag, that she knew nothing about it, except it was +EAST\nO\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON+.\n\n\u201cAnd thither you\u2019ll come, late or never, but you shall have the loan of\nmy horse to my next neighbour; maybe she\u2019ll tell you all about it; and\nwhen you get there, just switch the horse under the left ear, and beg\nhim to be off home.\u201d\n\nAnd this old hag gave her the golden carding-comb; it might be she\u2019d\nfind the use for it, she said. So the lassie got up on the horse,\nand rode a far far way, and a weary time; and so at last she came to\nanother great rock, under which sat another old hag, spinning with a\ngolden spinning-wheel. Her, too, she asked if she knew the way to the\nPrince, and where the castle was, that lay +EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019\nTHE MOON+. So it was the same thing again.\n\n\u201cMaybe it\u2019s you that ought to have had the Prince?\u201d said the old hag.\n\nYes, it was.\n\nBut she, too, didn\u2019t know the way a bit better than the other two.\n\u201c+EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON+ it was\u201d she knew--that was all.\n\n\u201cAnd thither you\u2019ll come late or never; but I\u2019ll lend you my horse, and\nthen I think you\u2019d best ride to the East Wind and ask him; maybe he\nknows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to him,\nyou need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and he\u2019ll\ntrot home of himself.\u201d\n\nAnd so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel. \u201cMaybe you\u2019ll find a\nuse for it,\u201d said the old hag.\n\nThen on she rode many many days, a weary time, before she got to the\nEast Wind\u2019s house, but at last she did reach it, and then she asked the\nEast Wind if he could tell her the way to the Prince who dwelt EAST O\u2019\nTHE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON. Yes, the East Wind had often heard tell\nof it, the Prince, and the Castle, but he couldn\u2019t tell the way, for he\nhad never blown so far.\n\n\u201cBut, if you will, I\u2019ll go with you to my brother the West Wind, maybe\nhe knows, for he\u2019s much stronger. So, if you will just get on my back,\nI\u2019ll carry you thither.\u201d\n\nYes, she got on his back, and I should just think they went briskly\nalong.\n\nSo when they got there, they went into the West Wind\u2019s house, and the\nEast Wind said the lassie he had brought was the one who ought to have\nhad the Prince who lived in the castle EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE\nMOON; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he had come with\nher, and would be glad to know if the West Wind knew how to get to the\ncastle.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the West Wind, \u201cso far I\u2019ve never blown; but if you will\nI\u2019ll go with you to our brother the South Wind, for he\u2019s much stronger\nthan either of us, and he has flapped his wings far and wide. Maybe\nhe\u2019ll tell you. You can get on my back and I\u2019ll carry you to him.\u201d\n\nYes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South Wind, and\nweren\u2019t so very long on the way, I should think.\n\nWhen they got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the\nway to the castle that lay EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON, for it\nwas she that ought to have had the Prince who lived there.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t say so. That\u2019s she, is it?\u201d said the South Wind. \u201cWell, I\nhave blustered about in most places in my time, but so far have I never\nblown; but if you will, I\u2019ll take you to my brother the North Wind; he\nis the oldest and the strongest of the whole lot of us, and if he don\u2019t\nknow where it is, you\u2019ll never find anyone in the world to tell you.\nYou can get on my back, and I\u2019ll carry you thither.\u201d\n\nYes! she got on his back, and away he went from his house at a fine\nrate, and this time, too, she wasn\u2019t long on her way.\n\nSo when they got to the North Wind\u2019s house, he was so wild and cross,\ncold puffs came from him a long way off.\n\n\u201c+NOW THEN, WHAT DO YOU WANT?+\u201d he bawled out to them ever so far off,\nso that it struck them with an icy shiver.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the South Wind, \u201cyou needn\u2019t be so put out, for here I am,\nyour brother, the South Wind, and here is the lassie who ought to have\nhad the Prince who dwells in the castle that lies EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND\nWEST O\u2019 THE MOON, and now she wants to ask you if you ever were there,\nand can tell her the way, for she would be so glad to find him again.\u201d\n\n\u201c+YES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS+,\u201d said the North Wind; \u201conce in\nmy life I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but I was so tired I couldn\u2019t\nblow a puff for ever so many days after it. But if you really wish to\ngo thither, and aren\u2019t afraid to come along with me, I\u2019ll take you on\nmy back and see if I can blow you thither.\u201d\n\nYes! with all her heart; she must and would get thither if it were\npossible in any way, and as for fear, however madly he went, she\nwouldn\u2019t be at all afraid.\n\n\u201cVery well then,\u201d said the North Wind, \u201cbut you must sleep here\nto-night, for we must have the whole day before us if we\u2019re to get\nthere at all.\u201d\n\nEarly next morning the North Wind woke her, and puffed himself up and\nblew himself out, and made himself so stout and big, \u2019twas gruesome to\nlook at him; and so off they went, high up through the air, as if they\nwould never stop till they got to the world\u2019s end.\n\nDown here below there was such a storm; it threw down long tracts\nof wood and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea ships\nfoundered by hundreds.\n\nSo they tore on and on--no one can believe how far they went--and all\nthe while they still went over the sea, and the North Wind got more and\nmore weary, and so out of breath he could scarce bring out a puff, and\nhis wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low that the\ncrests of the waves dashed over his heels.\n\n\u201cAre you afraid?\u201d said the North Wind.\n\nNo! she wasn\u2019t.\n\nBut they weren\u2019t very far from land; and the North Wind had still so\nmuch strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on the shore\nunder the windows of the castle which lay EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019\nTHE MOON; but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to stay there\nand rest many days before he could get home again.\n\nNext morning the lassie sat down under the castle window and began\nto play with the gold apple; and the first person she saw was the\nLong-nose who was to have the Prince.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?\u201d said the Long-nose,\nand threw up the window.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not for sale for gold or money,\u201d said the lassie.\n\n[Illustration: He was so worn out he had to rest many days before he\ncould get home again]\n\n\u201cIf it\u2019s not for sale for gold or money, what is it that you will sell\nit for? You may name your own price,\u201d said the Princess.\n\n\u201cWell, if I may get to the Prince who lives here and be with him\nto-night, you shall have it,\u201d said the lassie whom the North Wind had\nbrought.\n\nYes! she might; that could be done. So the Princess got the gold apple;\nbut when the lassie came up to the Prince\u2019s bedroom at night he was\nfast asleep; she called him and shook him, and between whiles she wept\nsore; but all she could do she couldn\u2019t wake him up. Next morning, as\nsoon as day broke, came the Princess with the long nose and drove her\nout again.\n\nSo in the daytime she sat under the castle windows and began to card\nwith her golden carding-comb, and the same thing happened. The Princess\nasked what she wanted for it; and she said it wasn\u2019t for sale for gold\nor money, but if she might get leave to go up to the Prince and be with\nhim that night, the Princess should have it. But when she went up, she\nfound him fast asleep again, and all she called, and all she shook, and\nwept, and prayed, she couldn\u2019t get life into him; and as soon as the\nfirst gray peep of day came, then came the Princess with the long nose\nand chased her out again.\n\nSo, in the daytime, the lassie sat down outside under the castle window\nand began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that, too, the\nPrincess with the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up the window\nand asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she had said\ntwice before, it wasn\u2019t for sale for gold or money; but if she might go\nup to the Prince who was there, and be with him alone that night, she\nmight have it.\n\nYes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were\nsome folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat in their\nroom, which was next the Prince, they had heard how a woman had been in\nthere, and wept and prayed, and called to him two nights running, and\nthey told that to the Prince.\n\nThat evening, when the Princess came with her sleepy drink, the Prince\nmade as if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he could guess\nit was a sleepy drink. So, when the lassie came in, she found the\nPrince wide awake; and then she told him the whole story how she had\ncome thither.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cyou\u2019ve just come in the very nick of time for\nto-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won\u2019t have the Long-nose,\nand you are the only woman in the world who can set me free. I\u2019ll say\nI want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to wash the shirt\nwhich has the three spots of tallow on it; she\u2019ll say yes, for she\ndoesn\u2019t know \u2019tis you who put them there; but that\u2019s a work only for\nChristian folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and so I\u2019ll say that\nI won\u2019t have any other for my bride than the woman who can wash them\nout, and ask you to do it.\u201d\n\nSo there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next\nday, when the wedding was to be, the Prince said:--\n\n\u201cFirst of all I\u2019d like to see what my bride is fit for.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the stepmother, with all her heart.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cI\u2019ve got a fine shirt which I\u2019d like for my\nwedding-shirt, but somehow or other it has got three spots of tallow on\nit, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to take any\nother bride than the woman who\u2019s able to do that. If she can\u2019t she\u2019s\nnot worth having.\u201d\n\nWell, that was no great thing, they said, so they agreed, and she with\nthe Long-nose began to wash away as hard as she could, but the more she\nrubbed and scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said the old hag, her mother, \u201cyou can\u2019t wash; let me try.\u201d\n\nBut she hadn\u2019t long taken the shirt in hand, before it got far worse\nthan ever, and with all her rubbing, and wringing, and scrubbing the\nspots grew bigger and blacker, and the darker and uglier was the shirt.\n\nThen all the other trolls began to wash, but the longer it lasted the\nblacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last it was as black all\nover as if it had been up the chimney.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cyou\u2019re none of you worth a straw; you can\u2019t\nwash. Why there, outside, sits a beggar lassie, I\u2019ll be bound she knows\nhow to wash better than the whole lot of you. Come in, lassie,\u201d he\nshouted.\n\nWell, in she came.\n\n\u201cCan you wash this shirt clean, lassie, you?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I think I can.\u201d\n\nAnd almost before she had taken it and dipped it in the water, it was\nas white as driven snow, and whiter still.\n\n\u201cYes; you are the lassie for me,\u201d said the Prince.\n\nAt that the old hag flew into such a rage she burst on the spot, and\nthe Princess with the long nose after her, and the whole pack of Trolls\nafter her--at least I\u2019ve never heard a word about them since.\n\nAs for the Prince and Princess, they set free all the poor folk who had\nbeen carried off and shut up there, and they took with them all the\nsilver and gold, and flitted away as far as they could from the castle\nthat lay EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cNot quite the last,\u201d exclaimed Queen Titania, and all the fairies who\nhad begun to move hurried back to their places. \u201cNot quite the last,\nfor before we separate I will sing a song that you may tell to all the\nhuman children that you meet, and it shall be called the song of Queen\nTitania or\n\n[Illustration: Queen Titania]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: But when a bad child goes to bed]\n\nQueen Mab\n\n\n A little fairy comes at night,\n Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,\n With silver spots upon her wings,\n And from the moon she flutters down.\n\n She has a little silver wand,\n And when a good child goes to bed,\n She waves her wand from right to left,\n And makes a circle round its head.\n\n And then it dreams of pleasant things,\n Of fountains filled with fairy fish,\n And trees that bear delicious fruit,\n And bow their branches at a wish:\n\n Of arbours filled with dainty scents\n From lovely flowers that never fade;\n Bright flies that glitter in the sun,\n And glow-worms shining in the shade.\n\n [Illustration: And from the moon she flutters down]\n\n And talking birds with gifted tongues,\n For singing songs and telling tales,\n And pretty dwarfs to show the way\n Through fairy hills and fairy dales.\n\n But when a bad child goes to bed,\n From left to right she weaves her rings\n And then it dreams all through the night\n Of only ugly horrid things.\n\n Then lions come with glaring eyes,\n And tigers growl, a dreadful noise,\n And ogres draw their cruel knives,\n To shed the blood of girls and boys.\n\n [Illustration: Tailpiece]\n\n Then stormy waves rush on to drown,\n Or raging flames come scorching round,\n Fierce dragons hover in the air,\n And serpents crawl along the ground.\n\n Then wicked children wake and weep,\n And wish the long black gloom away;\n But good ones love the dark, and find\n The night as pleasant as the day.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen the song was finished Oberon and Titania arose on their throne and\nfaint strains of music were heard in the air; for a moment the whole\nplace sparkled with light and colour, and then all the fairies had gone\nin a flash to their distant places, and nothing but a faint circle of\ndarker grass showed where the great assembly had been. Away under a\nshady tree Nick Bottom and his companions were fast asleep, and when\nthey awakened again they must have puzzled over what they had seen and\nheard, and which no doubt they believed that they had only dreamed. But\nwe know better.\n\n\n[Illustration: The End]\n\n\n LETCHWORTH\n THE TEMPLE PRESS\n PRINTERS\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\nItalicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.\n\nSmall capitals are changed to all capitals and surrounded by +: +SMALL\nCAPITALS+.\n\nIllustrations have been moved so they do not break up the paragraphs.\nCaptions were taken from the List of Illustrations where none were\nincluded.\n\nObvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected\nafter careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and\nconsultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below,\nall misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have\nbeen retained.\n\nThe following corrections have been applied to the text (before/after):\n\n (p. xiii)\n The Fairyland buys not ...\n \u201cThe Fairyland buys not ...\n\n (p. xiv)\n _Puck_ 98\n _Tailpiece_ 97\n\n _Tailpiece_ 97\n _Puck_ 98\n\n (p. xvi)\n ... with the sugar-loaf hat\n ... with the sugarloaf hat\n\n (p. 33)\n ... the swallow, and I ...\n ... the swallow, \u201cand I ...\n\n (p. 38)\n ... near the fireplace that he ...\n ... near the fire-place that he ...\n\n (p. 40)\n ... bespoke a bran-new set of ...\n ... bespoke a brand-new set of ...\n\n (p. 44)\n ... as merrily at if nothing ...\n ... as merrily as if nothing ...\n\n (p. 53)\n ... \u201cIt is not?\u201d ...\n ... \u201cIt is not!\u201d ...\n\n (p. 53)\n ... be told in ten.\n ... be told in ten.\u201d\n\n (p. 68)\n ... in the picture book was alive, ...\n ... in the picture-book was alive, ...\n\n (p. 76)\n ... bright day-light, and ...\n ... bright daylight, and ...\n\n (p. 76)\n ... stay here If you are ...\n ... stay here. If you are ...\n\n (p. 108)\n ... the next storyteller. Who was ...\n ... the next story-teller. Who was ...\n\n (p. 121)\n ... favour for themselves\n ... favour for themselves.\n\n (p. 124)\n ... many tricks. She then ...\n ... many tricks.\u201d She then ...\n\n (p. 131)\n ... about so? move on ...\n ... about so? Move on ...\n\n (p. 161)\n ... bird like that I tell ...\n ... bird like that. I tell ...\n\n (p. 162)\n ... of the cock-chafers; and these ...\n ... of the cockchafers; and these ...\n\n (p. 162)\n ... replied the cock-chafer, \u201chis ...\n ... replied the cockchafer, \u201chis ...\n\n (p. 162)\n ... answered the cock-chafer, \u201cwe know ...\n ... answered the cockchafer, \u201cwe know ...\n\n (p. 162)\n ... brother embraced the cock-chafer, and they ...\n ... brother embraced the cockchafer, and they ...\n\n (p. 176)\n ... and evening. The king was greatly ...\n ... and evening. The King was greatly ...\n\n (p. 204)\n ... to abide spell-bound.\n ... to abide spellbound.\n\n (p. 215)\n ... thou thinkest. When the ...\n ... thou thinkest.\u201d When the ...\n\n (p. 216)\n ... through the keyhole. The work, ...\n ... through the key-hole. The work, ...\n\n (p. 221)\n Neils was well satisfied ...\n Niels was well satisfied ...\n\n (p. 221)\n ... pocket,\u201d replied Neils.\n ... pocket,\u201d replied Niels.\n\n (p. 221)\n Neils took out of ...\n Niels took out of ...\n\n (p. 224/225)\n ... refreshing slumber But she ...\n ... refreshing slumber, but she ...\n\n (p. 236)\n ... get a horse-back upon that ...\n ... get a horseback upon that ...\n\n (p. 251)\n \u201cNow came the seventh ...\n Now came the seventh ...\n\n (p. 267)\n ... \u201cTake courage.\u201d she said ...\n ... \u201cTake courage,\u201d she said ...\n\n (p. 291)\n ... size of a windwill, and ...\n ... size of a windmill, and ...\n\n (p. 300)\n ... the Elfs\u201d; and ...\n ... the Elfs; and ...","title":"The reign of King Oberon","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":89579}