{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_8933/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_8933","id":"gutenberg_8933","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8933","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales","Fairy tales -- Norway","Folklore -- Norway","Tales -- Norway"],"text":"Popular Tales from the Norse\n\n\n\nby Sir George Webbe Dasent\n\n\n\nWITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF POPULAR\nTALES\n\n\nContents\n\n Notice to the Second Edition\n Notice to the First Edition\n INTRODUCTION\n ORIGIN\n DIFFUSION\n NORSE MYTHOLOGY\n NORSE POPULAR TALES\n CONCLUSION\n\n TALES\n I. TRUE AND UNTRUE\n II. WHY THE SEA IS SALT\n III. THE OLD DAME AND HER HEN\n IV. EAST O\u2019 THE SUN, AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON\n V. BOOTS WHO ATE A MATCH WITH THE TROLL\n VI. HACON GRIZZLEBEARD\n VII. BOOTS WHO MADE THE PRINCESS SAY, \u201cTHAT\u2019S A STORY\u201d\n VIII. THE TWELVE WILD DUCKS\n IX. THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY\n X. THE FOX AS HERDSMAN\n XI. THE MASTERMAID\n XII. THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL\n XIII. PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL\n XIV. HOW ONE WENT OUT TO WOO\n XV. THE COCK AND HEN\n XVI. THE MASTER-SMITH\n XVII. THE TWO STEP-SISTERS\n XVIII. BUTTERCUP\n XIX. TAMING THE SHREW\n XX. SHORTSHANKS\n XXI. GUDBRAND ON THE HILL-SIDE\n XXII. THE BLUE BELT\n XXIII. WHY THE BEAR IS STUMPY-TAILED\n XXIV. NOT A PIN TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM\n XXV. ONE\u2019S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST\n XXVI. THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND\n XXVII. THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER\n XXVIII. THE THREE AUNTS\n XXIX. THE COCK, THE CUCKOO, AND THE BLACK-COCK\n XXX. RICH PETER THE PEDLAR\n XXXI. GERTRUDE\u2019S BIRD\n XXXII. BOOTS AND THE TROLL\n XXXIII. GOOSEY GRIZZEL\n XXXIV. THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND\n XXXV. THE MASTER THIEF\n XXXVI. THE BEST WISH\n XXXVII. THE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF\n XXXVIII. WELL DONE AND ILL PAID\n XXXIX. THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE\n XL. DAPPLEGRIM\n XLI. FARMER WEATHERSKY\n XLII. LORD PETER\n XLIII. THE SEVEN FOALS\n XLIV. THE WIDOW\u2019S SON\n XLV. BUSHY BRIDE\n XLVI. BOOTS AND HIS BROTHERS\n XLVII. BIG PETER AND LITTLE PETER\n XLVIII. TATTERHOOD\n XLIX. THE COCK AND HEN THAT WENT TO THE DOVREFELL\n L. KATIE WOODENCLOAK\n LI. THUMBIKIN\n LII. DOLL I\u2019 THE GRASS\n LIII. THE LAD AND THE DEIL\n LIV. THE COCK AND HEN A-NUTTING\n LV. THE BIG BIRD DAN\n LVI. SORIA MORIA CASTLE\n LVII. BRUIN AND REYNARD\n LVIII. TOM TOTHERHOUSE\n LIX. LITTLE ANNIE THE GOOSE GIRL\n\n INTRODUCTION TO APPENDIX\n APPENDIX\n 1. WHY THE JACK SPANIARD\u2019S WAIST IS SMALL\n 2. ANANZI AND THE LION\n 3. ANANZI AND QUANQUA\n 4. THE EAR OF CORN AND THE TWELVE MEN\n 5. THE KING AND THE ANT\u2019S TREE\n 6. THE LITTLE CHILD AND THE PUMPKIN TREE\n 7. THE BROTHER AND HIS SISTERS\n 8. THE GIRL AND THE FISH\n 9. THE LION, THE GOAT, AND THE BABOON\n 10. ANANZI AND BABOON\n 11. THE MAN AND THE DOUKANA TREE\n 12. NANCY FAIRY\n 13. THE DANCING GANG\n FOOTNOTES TO INTRODUCTION\n\n\n\n\nNotice to the Second Edition\n\n\nThe first edition of these Tales being exhausted, and a demand having\narisen for a second, the Translator has thought it right to add\nthirteen tales, which complete the translation of Asbj\u00f6rnsen and Moe\u2019s\ncollection, and to strengthen the Introduction by working in some new\nmatter, and by working out some points which were only slightly\nsketched in the first edition.\n\nThe favour with which the book was welcomed makes it almost a duty to\nsay a word here on the many kind and able notices which have been\nwritten upon it. Duties are not always pleasant, but the fulfilment of\nthis at least gives no pain; because, without one exception, every\ncriticism which the Translator has seen has shown him that his prayer\nfor \u201cgentle\u201d readers has been fully heard. It will be forgiven him, he\nhopes, when he says that he has not seen good ground to change or even\nto modify any of the opinions as to the origin and diffusion of popular\ntales put forth in the first edition. Much indeed has been said by\nothers _for_ those views; what has been urged _against_ them, with all\nkindness and good humour, in one or two cases, has not availed at all\nto weigh down mature convictions deliberately expressed after the\nstudies of years, backed as they are by the researches and support of\nthose who have given their lives to this branch of knowledge.\n\nAnd now, before the Translator takes leave of his readers for the\nsecond time, he will follow the lead of the good godmother in one of\nthese Tales, and forbid all good children to read the two which stand\nlast in the book. There is this difference between him and the\ngodmother. She found her foster-daughter out as soon as she came back.\nHe will never know it, if any bad child has broken his behest. Still he\nhopes that all good children who read this book will bear in mind that\nthere is just as much sin in breaking a commandment even though it be\nnot found out, and so he bids them good-bye, and feels sure that no\ngood child will dare to look into those two rooms. If, after this\nwarning, they peep in, they may perhaps see something which will shock\nthem.\n\n\u201cWhy then print them at all?\u201d some grown reader asks. Because this\nvolume is meant for you as well as for children, and if you have gone\never so little into the world with open eyes, you must have seen, yes,\nevery day, things much more shocking. Because there is nothing immoral\nin their spirit. Because they are intrinsically valuable, as\nillustrating manners and traditions, and so could not well be left out.\nBecause they complete the number of the Norse originals, and leave none\nuntranslated. And last, though not least, because the Translator hates\nfamily versions of anything, \u201cFamily Bibles\u201d, \u201cFamily Shakespeares\u201d.\nThose who, with so large a choice of beauty before them, would pick out\nand gloat over this or that coarseness or freedom of expression, are\nlike those who, in reading the Bible, should always turn to Leviticus,\nor those whose Shakespeare would open of itself at Pericles Prince of\nTyre. Such readers the Translator does not wish to have.\n\n\n\n\nNotice to the First Edition\n\n\nThese translations from the _Norske Folkeeventyr_, collected with such\nfreshness and faithfulness by MM. Asbj\u00f6rnsen and Moe, have been made at\nvarious times and at long intervals during the last fifteen years; a\nfact which is mentioned only to account for any variations in style or\ntone\u2014of which, however, the Translator is unconscious\u2014that a critical\neye may detect in this volume. One of them, _The Master Thief_, has\nalready appeared in Blackwood\u2019s Magazine for November 1851; from the\ncolumns of which periodical it is now reprinted, by the kind permission\nof the Proprietors.\n\nThe Translator is sorry that he has not been able to comply with the\nsuggestion of some friends upon whose good-will he sets all store, who\nwished him to change and soften some features in these tales, which\nthey thought likely to shock English feeling. He has, however, felt it\nto be out of his power to meet their wishes, for the merit of an\nundertaking of this kind rests entirely on its faithfulness and truth;\nand the man who, in such a work, wilfully changes or softens, is as\nguilty as he \u201cwho puts bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter\u201d.\n\nOf this guilt, at least, the Translator feels himself free; and,\nperhaps, if any, who may be inclined to be offended at first, will take\nthe trouble to read the Introduction which precedes and explains the\nTales, they may find, not only that the softening process would have\nspoilt these popular traditions for all except the most childish\nreaders, but that the things which shocked them at the first blush,\nare, after all, not so very shocking.\n\nFor the rest, it ill becomes him to speak of the way in which his work\nhas been done: but if the reader will only bear in mind that this, too,\nis an enchanted garden, in which whoever dares to pluck a flower, does\nit at the peril of his head; and if he will then read the book in a\nmerciful and tender spirit, he will prove himself what the Translator\nmost longs to find, \u201ca gentle reader\u201d, and both will part on the best\nterms.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN\n\n\nThe most careless reader can hardly fail to see that many of the Tales\nin this volume have the same groundwork as those with which he has been\nfamiliar from his earliest youth. They are Nursery Tales, in fact, of\nthe days when there were tales in nurseries\u2014old wives\u2019 fables, which\nhave faded away before the light of gas and the power of steam. It is\nlong, indeed, since English nurses told these tales to English children\nby force of memory and word of mouth. In a written shape, we have long\nhad some of them, at least, in English versions of the _Contes de ma\nM\u00e8re l\u2019 Oye_ of Perrault, and the _Contes de F\u00e9es_ of Madame D\u2019Aulnoy;\nthose tight-laced, high-heeled tales of the \u201cteacup times\u201d of Louis XIV\nand his successors, in which the popular tale appears to as much\ndisadvantage as an artless country girl in the stifling atmosphere of a\nLondon theatre. From these foreign sources, after the voice of the\nEnglish reciter was hushed\u2014and it was hushed in England more than a\ncentury ago\u2014our great-grandmothers learnt to tell of Cinderella and\nBeauty and the Beast, of Little Red Riding-hood and Blue Beard, mingled\ntogether in the _Cabinet des F\u00e9es_ with Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin\u2019s\nwondrous lamp; for that was an uncritical age, and its spirit breathed\nhot and cold, east and west, from all quarters of the globe at once,\nconfusing the traditions and tales of all times and countries into one\nincongruous mass of fable, as much tangled and knotted as that famous\npound of flax which the lassie in one of these Tales is expected to\nspin into an even wool within four-and-twenty hours. No poverty of\ninvention or want of power on the part of translators could entirely\ndestroy the innate beauty of those popular traditions; but here, in\nEngland at least, they had almost dwindled out, or at any rate had been\nlost sight of as home-growths. We had learnt to buy our own children\nback, disguised in foreign garb; and as for their being anything more\nthan the mere pastime of an idle hour\u2014as to their having any history or\nscience of their own\u2014such an absurdity was never once thought of. It\nhad, indeed, been remarked, even in the eighteenth century\u2014that dreary\ntime of indifference and doubt\u2014that some of the popular traditions of\nthe nations north of the Alps contained striking resemblances and\nparallels to stories in the classical mythology. But those were the\ndays when Greek and Latin lorded it over the other languages of the\nearth; and when any such resemblance or analogy was observed, it was\ncommonly supposed that that base-born slave, the vulgar tongue, had\ndared to make a clumsy copy of something peculiarly belonging to the\ntwin tyrants who ruled all the dialects of the world with a pedant\u2019s\nrod.\n\nAt last, just at the close of that great war which Western Europe waged\nagainst the genius and fortune of the first Napoleon; just as the\neagle\u2014Prometheus and the eagle in one shape\u2014was fast fettered by sheer\nforce and strength to his rock in the Atlantic, there arose a man in\nCentral Germany, on the old Thuringian soil, to whom it was given to\nassert the dignity of vernacular literature, to throw off the yoke of\nclassical tyranny, and to claim for all the dialects of Teutonic speech\na right of ancient inheritance and perfect freedom before unsuspected\nand unknown. It is almost needless to mention this honoured name. For\nthe furtherance of the good work which he began nearly fifty years ago,\nhe still lives and still labours. There is no spot on which an accent\nof Teutonic speech is uttered where the name of Jacob Grimm is not a\n\u201chousehold word\u201d. His General Grammar of all the Teutonic Dialects from\nIceland to England has proved the equality of these tongues with their\nancient classical oppressors. His Antiquities of Teutonic Law have\nshown that the codes of the Lombards, Franks, and Goths were not mere\nsavage, brutal customaries, based, as had been supposed, on the absence\nof all law and right. His numerous treatises on early German authors\nhave shown that the German poets of the Middle Age, Godfrey of\nStrasburg, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Hartman von der Aue, Walter von der\nVogelweide, and the rest, can hold their own against any contemporary\nwriters in other lands. And lastly, what rather concerns us here, his\nTeutonic Mythology, his Reynard the Fox, and the collection of German\nPopular Tales, which he and his brother William published, have thrown\na flood of light on the early history of all the branches of our race,\nand have raised what had come to be looked on as mere nursery fictions\nand old wives\u2019 fables\u2014to a study fit for the energies of grown men, and\nto all the dignity of a science.\n\nIn these pages, where we have to run over a vast tract of space, the\nreader who wishes to learn and not to cavil\u2014and for such alone this\nintroduction is intended\u2014must be content with results rather than\nprocesses and steps. To use a homely likeness, he must be satisfied\nwith the soup that is set before him, and not desire to see the bones\nof the ox out of which it has been boiled. When we say, therefore, that\nin these latter days the philology and mythology of the East and West\nhave met and kissed each other; that they now go hand and hand; that\nthey lend one another mutual support; that one cannot be understood\nwithout the other,\u2014we look to be believed. We do not expect to be put\nto the proof, how the labours of Grimm and his disciples on this side\nwere first rendered possible by the linguistic discoveries of Anquetil\ndu Perron and others in India and France, at the end of the last\ncentury; then materially assisted and furthered by the researches of\nSir William Jones, Colebrooke, and others, in India and England during\nthe early part of this century, and finally have become identical with\nthose of Wilson, Bopp, Lassen, and Max M\u00fcller, at the present day. The\naffinity which exists in a mythological and philological point of view\nbetween the Aryan or Indo-European languages on the one hand, and the\nSanscrit on the other, is now the first article of a literary creed,\nand the man who denies it puts himself as much beyond the pale of\nargument as he who, in a religious discussion, should meet a grave\ndivine of the Church of England with the strict contradictory of her\nfirst article, and loudly declare his conviction, that there was no\nGod. In a general way, then, we may be permitted to dogmatize, and to\nlay it down as a law which is always in force, that the first authentic\nhistory of a nation is the history of its tongue. We can form no notion\nof the literature of a country apart from its language, and the\nconsideration of its language necessarily involves the consideration of\nits history. Here is England, for instance, with a language, and\ntherefore a literature, composed of Celtic, Roman, Saxon, Norse, and\nRomance elements. Is not this simple fact suggestive of, nay, does it\nnot challenge us to, an inquiry into the origin and history of the\nraces who have passed over our island, and left their mark not only on\nthe soil, but on our speech? Again, to take a wider view, and to rise\nfrom archaeology to science, what problem has interested the world in a\ngreater degree than the origin of man, and what toil has not been spent\nin tracing all races back to their common stock? The science of\ncomparative philology\u2014the inquiry, not into one isolated language\u2014for\nnowadays it may fairly be said of a man who knows only one language\nthat he knows none\u2014but into all the languages of one family, and thus\nto reduce them to one common centre, from which they spread like the\nrays of the sun\u2014if it has not solved, is in a fair way of solving, this\nproblem. When we have done for the various members of each family what\nhas been done of late years for the Indo-European tongues, its solution\nwill be complete. In such an inquiry the history of a race is, in fact,\nthe history of its language, and can be nothing else; for we have to\ndeal with times antecedent to all history, properly so called, and the\nstream which in later ages may be divided into many branches, now flows\nin a single channel.\n\nFrom the East, then, came our ancestors, in days of immemorial\nantiquity, in that gray dawn of time of which all early songs and lays\ncan tell, but of which it is as impossible as it is useless to attempt\nto fix the date. Impossible, because no means exist for ascertaining\nit; useless, because it is in reality a matter of utter indifference,\nwhen, as this tell-tale crust of earth informs us, we have an infinity\nof ages and periods to fall back on whether this great movement, this\nmighty lust to change their seats, seized on the Aryan race one hundred\nor one thousand years sooner or later.[1] But from the East we came,\nand from that central plain of Asia, now commonly called Iran. Iran,\nthe habitation of the tillers and _earers_[2] of the earth, as opposed\nto Turan, the abode of restless horse-riding nomads; of Turks, in\nshort, for in their name the root survives, and still distinguishes the\ngreat Turanian or Mongolian family, from the Aryan, Iranian, or\nIndo-European race. It is scarce worth while to inquire\u2014even if inquiry\ncould lead to any result\u2014what cause set them in motion from their\nancient seats. Whether impelled by famine or internal strife, starved\nout like other nationalities in recent times, or led on by adventurous\nchiefs, whose spirit chafed at the narrowness of home, certain it is\nthat they left that home and began a wandering westwards, which only\nceased when it reached the Atlantic and the Northern Ocean. Nor was the\nfate of those they left behind less strange. At some period almost as\nremote as, but after, that at which the wanderers for Europe started,\nthe remaining portion of the stock, or a considerable offshoot from it,\nturned their faces east, and passing the Indian Caucasus, poured\nthrough the defiles of Affghanistan, crossed the plain of the Five\nRivers, and descended on the fruitful plains of India. The different\ndestiny of these stocks has been wonderful indeed. Of those who went\nwest, we have only to enumerate the names under which they appear in\nhistory\u2014Celts, Greeks, Romans, Teutons, Slavonians\u2014to see and to know\nat once that the stream of this migration has borne on its waves all\nthat has become most precious to man. To use the words of Max M\u00fcller:\n\u201cThey have been the prominent actors in the great drama of history, and\nhave carried to their fullest growth all the elements of active life\nwith which our nature is endowed. They have perfected society and\nmorals, and we learn from their literature and works of art the\nelements of science, the laws of art, and the principles of philosophy.\nIn continual struggle with each other and with Semitic and Mongolian\nraces, these Aryan nations have become the rulers of history, and it\nseems to be their mission to link all parts of the world together by\nthe chains of civilization, commerce, and religion.\u201d We may add, that\nthough by nature tough and enduring, they have not been obstinate and\nself-willed; they have been distinguished from all other nations, and\nparticularly from their elder brothers whom they left behind, by their\ncommon sense, by their power of adapting themselves to all\ncircumstances, and by making the best of their position; above all,\nthey have been teachable, ready to receive impressions from without,\nand, when received, to develop them. To show the truth of this, we need\nonly observe, that they adopted Christianity from another race, the\nmost obstinate and stiff-necked the world has ever seen, who, trained\nunder the Old Dispensation to preserve the worship of the one true God,\nwere too proud to accept the further revelation of God under the New,\nand, rejecting their birth-right, suffered their inheritance to pass\ninto other hands.\n\nSuch, then, has been the lot of the Western branch, of the younger\nbrother, who, like the younger brother whom we shall meet so often in\nthese Popular Tales, went out into the world, with nothing but his good\nheart and God\u2019s blessing to guide him; and now has come to all honour\nand fortune, and to be a king, ruling over the world. He went out and\n_did_. Let us see now what became of the elder brother, who stayed at\nhome some time after his brother went out, and then only made a short\njourney. Having driven out the few aboriginal inhabitants of India with\nlittle effort, and following the course of the great rivers, the\nEastern Aryans gradually established themselves all over the peninsula;\nand then, in calm possession of a world of their own, undisturbed by\nconquest from without, and accepting with apathy any change of dynasty\namong their rulers, ignorant of the past and careless of the future,\nthey sat down once for all and _thought_ \u2014thought not of what they had\nto do here, that stern lesson of every-day life which neither men nor\nnations can escape if they are to live with their fellows, but how they\ncould abstract themselves entirely from their present existence, and\nimmerse themselves wholly in dreamy speculations on the future.\nWhatever they may have been during their short migration and subsequent\nsettlement, it is certain that they appear in the Vedas\u2014perhaps the\nearliest collection which the world possesses\u2014as a nation of\nphilosophers. Well may Professor M\u00fcller compare the Indian mind to a\nplant reared in a hot-house, gorgeous in colour, rich in perfume,\nprecocious and abundant in fruit; it may be all this, \u201cbut will never\nbe like the oak, growing in wind and weather, striking its roots into\nreal earth, and stretching its branches into real air, beneath the\nstars and sun of Heaven\u201d; and well does he also remark, that a people\nof this peculiar stamp was never destined to act a prominent part in\nthe history of the world; nay, the exhausting atmosphere of\ntranscendental ideas could not but exercise a detrimental influence on\nthe active and moral character of the Hindoos.[3]\n\nIn this passive, abstract, unprogressive state, they have remained ever\nsince. Stiffened into castes, and tongue-tied and hand-tied by absurd\nrites and ceremonies, they were heard of in dim legends by Herodotus;\nthey were seen by Alexander when that bold spirit pushed his phalanx\nbeyond the limits of the known world; they trafficked with imperial\nRome, and the later empire; they were again almost lost sight of, and\nbecame fabulous in the Middle Age; they were rediscovered by the\nPortuguese; they have been alternately peaceful subjects and desperate\nrebels to us English; but they have been still the same immovable and\nunprogressive philosophers, though akin to Europe all the while; and\nthough the Highlander, who drives his bayonet through the heart of a\nhigh-caste Sepoy mutineer, little knows that his pale features and\nsandy hair, and that dusk face with its raven locks, both come from a\ncommon ancestor away in Central Asia, many, many centuries ago.\n\nBut here arises the question, what interest can we, the descendants of\nthe practical brother, heirs to so much historical renown, possibly\ntake in the records of a race so historically characterless, and so\nsunk in reveries and mysticism? The answer is easy. Those records are\nwritten in a language closely allied to the primaeval common tongue of\nthose two branches before they parted, and descending from a period\nanterior to their separation. It may, or it may not, be the very tongue\nitself, but it certainly is not further removed than a few steps. The\nspeech of the emigrants to the west rapidly changed with the changing\ncircumstances and various fortune of each of its waves, and in their\nintercourse with the aboriginal population they often adopted foreign\nelements into their language. One of these waves, it is probable,\npassing by way of Persia and Asia Minor, crossed the Hellespont, and\nfollowing the coast, threw off a mighty rill, known in after times as\nGreeks; while the main stream, striking through Macedonia, either\ncrossed the Adriatic, or, still hugging the coast, came down on Italy,\nto be known as Latins. Another, passing between the Caspian and the\nBlack Sea, filled the steppes round the Crimea, and; passing on over\nthe Balkan and the Carpathians towards the west, became that great\nTeutonic nationality which, under various names, but all closely akin,\nfilled, when we first hear of them in historical times, the space\nbetween the Black Sea and the Baltic, and was then slowly but surely\ndriving before them the great wave of the Celts which had preceded them\nin their wandering, and which had probably followed the same line of\nmarch as the ancestors of the Greeks and Latins. A movement which\nlasted until all that was left of Celtic nationality was either\nabsorbed by the intruders, or forced aside and driven to take refuge in\nmountain fastnesses and outlying islands. Besides all these, there was\nstill another wave, which is supposed to have passed between the Sea of\nAral and the Caspian, and, keeping still further to the north and east,\nto have passed between its kindred Teutons and the Mongolian tribes,\nand so to have lain in the background until we find them appearing as\nSlavonians on the scene of history. Into so many great stocks did the\nWestern Aryans pass, each possessing strongly-marked nationalities and\nlanguages, and these seemingly so distinct that each often asserted\nthat the other spoke a barbarous tongue. But, for all that, each of\nthose tongues bears about with it still, and in earlier times no doubt\nbore still more plainly about with it, infallible evidence of common\norigin, so that each dialect can be traced up to that primaeval form of\nspeech still in the main preserved in the Sanscrit by the Southern\nAryan branch, who, careless of practical life, and immersed in\nspeculation, have clung to their ancient traditions and tongue with\nwonderful tenacity. It is this which has given such value to Sanscrit,\na tongue of which it may be said, that if it had perished the sun would\nnever have risen on the science of comparative philology. Before the\ndiscoveries in Sanscrit of Sir William Jones, Wilkins, Wilson, and\nothers, the world had striven to find the common ancestor of European\nlanguages, sometimes in the classical, and sometimes in the Semitic\ntongues. In the one case the result was a tyranny of Greek and Latin\nover the non-classical tongues, and in the other the most uncritical\nand unphilosophical waste of learning. No doubt some striking analogies\nexist between the Indo-European family and the Semitic stock, just as\nthere are remarkable analogies between the Mongolian and Indo-European\nfamilies; but the ravings of Vallancy, in his effort to connect the\nErse with Phoenician, are an awful warning of what unscientific\ninquiry, based upon casual analogy, may bring itself to believe, and\neven to fancy it has proved.\n\nThese general observations, then, and this rapid bird\u2019s eye view, may\nsuffice to show the common affinity which exists between the Eastern\nand Western Aryans; between the Hindoo on the one hand, and the nations\nof Western Europe on the other. That is the fact to keep steadily\nbefore our eyes. We all came, Greek, Latin, Celt, Teuton, Slavonian,\nfrom the East, as kith and kin, leaving kith and kin behind us; and\nafter thousands of years the language and traditions of those who went\nEast, and those who went West, bear such an affinity to each other, as\nto have established, beyond discussion or dispute, the fact of their\ndescent from a common stock.\n\n\n\n\nDIFFUSION\n\n\nThis general affinity established, we proceed to narrow our subject to\nits proper limits, and to confine it to the consideration, _first_, of\nPopular Tales in general, and _secondly_, of those Norse Tales in\nparticular, which form the bulk of this volume.\n\nIn the first place, then, the fact which we remarked on setting out,\nthat the groundwork or plot of many of these tales is common to all the\nnations of Europe, is more important, and of greater scientific\ninterest, than might at first appear. They form, in fact, another link\nin the chain of evidence of a common origin between the East and West,\nand even the obstinate adherents of the old classical theory, according\nto which all resemblances were set down to sheer copying from Greek or\nLatin patterns, are now forced to confess, not only that there was no\nsuch wholesale copying at all, but that, in many cases, the despised\nvernacular tongues have preserved the common traditions far more\nfaithfully than the writers of Greece and Rome. The sooner, in short,\nthat this theory of copying, which some, even besides the classicists,\nhave maintained, is abandoned, the better, not only for the truth, but\nfor the literary reputation of those who put it forth. No one can, of\ncourse, imagine that during that long succession of ages when this\nmighty wedge of Aryan migration was driving its way through that\nprehistoric race, that nameless nationality, the traces of which we\neverywhere find underlying the intruders in their monuments and\nimplements of bone and stone\u2014a race akin, in all probability, to the\nMongolian family, and whose miserable remnants we see pushed aside, and\nhuddled up in the holes and corners of Europe, as Lapps, and Finns, and\nBasques\u2014No one, we say, can suppose for a moment, that in that long\nprocess of contact and absorption, some traditions of either race\nshould not have been caught up and adopted by the other. We know it to\nbe a fact with regard to their language, from the evidence of\nphilology, which cannot lie; and the witness borne by such a word as\nthe Gothic Atta for _father_, where a Mongolian has been adopted in\npreference to an Aryan word, is irresistible on this point; but that,\napart from such natural assimilation, all the thousand shades of\nresemblance and affinity which gleam and flicker through the whole body\nof popular tradition in the Aryan race, as the Aurora plays and flashes\nin countless rays athwart the Northern heaven, should be the result of\nmere servile copying of one tribe\u2019s traditions by another, is a\nsupposition as absurd as that of those good country-folk, who, when\nthey see an Aurora, fancy it must be a great fire, the work of some\nincendiary, and send off the parish engine to put it out. No! when we\nfind in such a story as the Master-thief traits, which are to be found\nin the Sanscrit _Hitopadesa_,[4] and which reminds us at once of the\nstory of Rhampsinitus in Herodotus; which are also to be found in\nGerman, Italian, and Flemish popular tales, but told in all with such\nvariations of character and detail, and such adaptations to time and\nplace, as evidently show the original working of the national\nconsciousness upon a stock of tradition common to all the race, but\nbelonging to no tribe of that race in particular; and when we find this\noccurring not in one tale but in twenty, we are forced to abandon the\ntheory of such universal copying, for fear lest we should fall into a\ngreater difficulty than that for which we were striving to account.\n\nTo set this question in a plainer light, let us take a well-known\ninstance; let us take the story of William Tell and his daring shot,\nwhich is said to have been made in the year 1307. It is just possible\nthat the feat might be historical, and, no doubt, thousands believe it\nfor the sake of the Swiss patriot, as firmly as they believe in\nanything; but, unfortunately, this story of the bold archer who saves\nhis life by shooting an apple from the head of his child at the command\nof a tyrant, is common to the whole Aryan race. It appears in Saxo\nGrammaticus, who flourished in the twelfth century, where it is told of\nPalnatoki, King Harold Gormson\u2019s thane and assassin. In the thirteenth\ncentury the _Wilkina Saga_ relates it of Egill, V\u00f6lundr\u2019s\u2014our Wayland\nSmith\u2019s\u2014younger brother. So also in the Norse Saga of _Saint Olof_,\nking and martyr; the king, who died in 1030, eager for the conversion\nof one of his heathen chiefs Eindridi, competes with him in various\nathletic exercises, first in swimming and then in archery. After\nseveral famous shots on either side, the king challenges Eindridi to\nshoot a tablet off his son\u2019s head without hurting the child. Eindridi\nis ready, but declares he will revenge himself if the child is hurt.\nThe king has the first shot, and his arrow strikes close to the tablet.\nThen Eindridi is to shoot, but at the prayers of his mother and sister,\nrefuses the shot, and has to yield and be converted.[5] So, also, King\nHarold Sigurdarson, who died 1066, backed himself against a famous\nmarksman, Hemingr, and ordered him to shoot a hazel nut off the head of\nhis brother Bj\u00f6rn, and Hemingr performed the feat.[6] In the middle of\nthe fourteenth century, the _Malleus Maleficarum_ refers it to Puncher,\na magician of the Upper Rhine. Here in England, we have it in the old\nEnglish ballad of _Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough_, and _William of\nCloudesly_, where William performs the feat.[7] It is not at all of\nTell in Switzerland before the year 1499, and the earlier Swiss\nchronicles omit it altogether. It is common to the Turks and\nMongolians; and a legend of the wild Samoyeds, who never heard of Tell\nor saw a book in their lives, relates it, chapter and verse, of one of\ntheir famous marksmen. What shall we say then, but that the story of\nthis bold master-shot was primaeval amongst many tribes and races, and\nthat it only crystallized itself round the great name of Tell by that\nprocess of attraction which invariably leads a grateful people to throw\nsuch mythic wreaths, such garlands of bold deeds of precious memory,\nround the brow of its darling champion.[8]\n\nNor let any pious Welshman be shocked if we venture to assert that\nGellert, that famous hound upon whose last resting-place the traveller\ncomes as he passes down the lovely vale of Gwynant, is a mythical dog,\nand never snuffed the fresh breeze in the forest of Snowdon, nor saved\nhis master\u2019s child from ravening wolf. This, too, is a primaeval story,\ntold with many variations. Sometimes the foe is a wolf, sometimes a\nbear, sometimes a snake. Sometimes the faithful guardian of the child\nis an otter, a weasel, or a dog. It, too, came from the East. It is\nfound in the _Pantcha-Tantra_, in the _Hitopadesa_, in Bidpai\u2019s\n_Fables_, in the Arabic original of _The Seven Wise Masters_, that\nfamous collection of stories which illustrate a stepdame\u2019s calumny and\nhate, and in many mediaeval versions of those originals.[9] Thence it\npassed into the Latin _Gesta Romanorum_, where, as well as in the Old\nEnglish version published by Sir Frederick Madden, it may be read as a\nservice rendered by a faithful hound against a snake. This, too, like\nTell\u2019s master-shot, is as the lightning which shineth over the whole\nheaven at once, and can be claimed by no one tribe of the Aryan race,\nto the exclusion of the rest. \u201cThe Dog of Montargis\u201d is in like manner\nmythic, though perhaps not so widely spread. It first occurs in France,\nas told of Sybilla, a fabulous wife of Charlemagne; but it is at any\nrate as old as the time of Plutarch, who relates it as an anecdote of\nbrute sagacity in the days of Pyrrhus.\n\nThere can be no doubt, with regard to the question of the origin of\nthese tales, that they were common in germ at least to the Aryan tribes\nbefore their migration. We find those germs developed in the popular\ntraditions of the Eastern Aryans, and we find them developed in a\nhundred forms and shapes in every one of the nations into which the\nWestern Aryans have shaped themselves in the course of ages. We are\nled, therefore, irresistibly to the conclusion, that these traditions\nare as much a portion of the common inheritance of our ancestors, as\ntheir language unquestionably is; and that they form, along with that\nlanguage, a double chain of evidence, which proves their Eastern\norigin. If we are to seek for a simile, or an analogy, as to the\nrelative positions of these tales and traditions, and to the mutual\nresemblances which exist between them as the several branches of our\nrace have developed them from the common stock, we may find it in one\nwhich will come home to every reader as he looks round the domestic\nhearth, if he should be so happy as to have one. They are like as\nsisters of one house are like. They have what would be called a strong\nfamily likeness; but besides this likeness, which they owe to father or\nmother, as the case may be, they have each their peculiarities of form,\nand eye, and face, and still more, their differences of intellect and\nmind. This may be dark, that fair; this may have gray eyes, that black;\nthis may be open and graceful, that reserved and close; this you may\nlove, that you can take no interest in. One may be bashful, another\nwinning, a third worth knowing and yet hard to know. They are so like\nand so unlike. At first it may be, as an old English writer beautifully\nexpresses it, \u201ctheir father hath writ them as his own little story\u201d,\nbut as they grow up they throw off the copy, educate themselves for\ngood or ill, and finally assume new forms of feeling and feature under\nan original development of their own.\n\nOr shall we take another likeness, and say they are national dreams;\nthat they are like the sleeping thoughts of many men upon one and the\nsame thing. Suppose a hundred men to have been eye-witnesses of some\nevent on the same day, and then to have slept and dreamt of it; we\nshould have as many distinct representations of that event, all turning\nupon it and bound up with it in some way, but each preserving the\npersonality of the sleeper, and working up the common stuff in a higher\nor lower degree, just as the fancy and the intellect of the sleeper was\nat a higher or lower level of perfection. There is, indeed, greater\ntruth in this likeness than may at first sight appear. In the popular\ntale, properly so called, the national mind dreams all its history over\nagain; in its half conscious state it takes this trait and that trait,\nthis feature and that feature, of times and ages long past. It snatches\nup bits of its old beliefs, and fears, and griefs, and glory, and\npieces them together with something that happened yesterday, and then\nholds up the distorted reflection in all its inconsequence, just as it\nhas passed before that magic glass, as though it were genuine history,\nand matter for pure belief. And here it may be as well to say, that\nbesides that old classical foe of vernacular tradition, there is\nanother hardly less dangerous, which returns to the charge of copying,\nbut changes what lawyers call the _venue_ of the trial from classical\nto Eastern lands. According to this theory, which came up when its\nclassical predecessor was no longer tenable, the traditions and tales\nof Western Europe came from the East, but they were still all copies.\nThey were supposed to have proceeded entirely from two sources; one the\n_Directorium Humanae Vitae_ of John of Capua, translated between\n1262-78 from a Hebrew version, which again came from an Arabic version\nof the 8th century, which came from a Pehlvi version made by one\nBarzouyeh, at the command of Chosrou Noushirvan, King of Persia, in the\n6th century, which again came from the _Pantcha Tantra_, a Sanscrit\noriginal of unknown antiquity. This is that famous book of _Calila and\nDimna_, as the Persian version is called, attributed to Bidpai, and\nwhich was thus run to earth in India. The second source of Western\ntradition was held to be that still more famous collection of stories\ncommonly known by the name of the \u201cStory of the Seven Sages,\u201d but\nwhich, under many names\u2014Kaiser Octavianus, Diocletianus, Dolopathos,\nErastus, etc.\u2014plays a most important part in mediaeval romance. This,\ntoo, by a similar process, has been traced to India, appearing first in\nEurope at the beginning of the thirteenth century in the Latin\n_Historia Septem Sapientum Romae_, by Dame Jehans, monk in the Abbey of\nHaute Selve. Here, too, we have a Hebrew, an Arabic, and a Persian\nversion; which last came avowedly from a Sanscrit original, though that\noriginal has not yet been discovered. From these two sources of fable\nand tradition, according to the new copying theory, our Western fables\nand tales had come by direct translation from the East. Now it will be\nat once evident that this theory hangs on what may be called a single\nthread. Let us say, then, that all that can be found in _Calila and\nDimna_, or the later Persian version, made A.D. 1494, of Hossein Vaez,\ncalled the _Anvari Soha\u00efli_, \u201cthe Canopic Lights\u201d\u2014from which, when\npublished in Paris by David Sahid of Ispahan, in the year 1644, La\nFontaine drew the substance of many of his best fables.\u2014Let us say,\ntoo, that all can be found in the _Life of the Seven Sages_, or the\nBook of Sendabad as it was called in Persia, after an apocryphal Indian\nsage\u2014came by translation\u2014that is to say, through the cells of Brahmins,\nMagians, and monks, and the labours of the learned\u2014into the popular\nliterature of the West. Let us give up all that, and then see where we\nstand. What are we to say of the many tales and fables which are to be\nfound in neither of those famous collections, and not tales alone, but\ntraits and features of old tradition, broken bits of fable, roots and\ngerms of mighty growths of song and story, nay, even the very words,\nwhich exist in Western popular literature, and which modern philology\nhas found obstinately sticking in Sanscrit, and of which fresh proofs\nand instances are discovered every day? What are we to say of such a\nremarkable resemblance as this?\n\nThe noble King Putraka fled into the Vindhya mountains in order to live\napart from his unkind kinsfolk; and as he wandered about there he met\ntwo men who wrestled and fought with one another. \u201cWho are you?\u201d he\nasked. \u201cWe are the sons of May\u00e2sara, and here lie our riches; this\nbowl, this staff, and these shoes; these are what we are fighting for,\nand whichever is stronger is to have them for his own.\u201d\n\nSo when Putraka had heard that, he asked them with a laugh: \u201cWhy,\nwhat\u2019s the good of owning these things?\u201d Then they answered \u201cWhoever\nputs on these shoes gets the power to fly; whatever is pointed at with\nthis staff rises up at once; and whatever food one wishes for in this\nbowl, it comes at once.\u201d So when Putraka had heard that he said \u201cWhy\nfight about it? Let this be the prize; whoever beats the other in a\nrace, let him have them all\u201d.\n\n\u201cSo be it\u201d, said the two fools, and set off running, but Putraka put on\nthe shoes at once, and flew away with the staff and bowl up into the\nclouds\u201d.\n\nWell, this is a story neither in the _Pantcha Tantra_ nor the\n_Hitopadesa_, the Sanscrit originals of _Calila and Dimna_. It is not\nin the _Directorium Humanae Vitae_, and has not passed west by that\nway. Nor is it in the _Book of Sendabad_, and thence come west in the\n_History of the Seven Sages_. Both these paths are stopped. It comes\nfrom the _Katha Sarit Sagara_, the \u201cSea of Streams of Story\u201d of\nSomadeva Bhatta of Cashmere, who, in the middle of the twelfth century\nof our era, worked up the tales found in an earlier collection, called\nthe _Vrihat Katha_, \u201cthe lengthened story\u201d, in order to amuse his\nmistress, the Queen of Cashmere. Somadeva\u2019s collection has only been\nrecently known and translated. But west the story certainly came long\nbefore, and in the extreme north-west we still find it in these Norse\nTales in \u201cThe Three Princesses of Whiteland\u201d, No. xxvi.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the man, \u201cas this is so, I\u2019ll give you a bit of advice.\nHereabouts, on a moor, stand three brothers, and there they have stood\nthese hundred years, fighting about a hat, a cloak, and a pair of\nboots. If any one has these three things, he can make himself\ninvisible, and wish himself anywhere he pleases. You can tell them you\nwish to try the things, and after that, you\u2019ll pass judgment between\nthem, whose they shall be\u201d.\n\nYes! the king thanked the man, and went and did as he told him.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s all this?\u201d he said to the brothers. \u201cWhy do you stand here\nfighting for ever and a day? Just let me try these things, and I\u2019ll\ngive judgment whose they shall be.\u201d\n\nThey were very willing to do this; but as soon as he had got the hat;\ncloak, and boots, he said: \u201cWhen we meet next time I\u2019ll tell you my\njudgment\u201d; and with these words he wished himself away.[10]\n\nNor in the Norse tales alone. Other collections shew how thoroughly at\nhome this story was in the East. In the Relations of _Ssidi Kur_, a\nTartar tale, a Chan\u2019s son first gets possession of a cloak which two\nchildren stand and fight for, which has the gift of making the wearer\ninvisible, and afterwards of a pair of boots, with which one can wish\none\u2019s self to whatever place one chooses. Again, in a Wallachian tale,\nwe read of three devils who fight for their inheritance\u2014a club which\nturns everything to stone, a hat which makes the wearer invisible, and\na cloak by help of which one can wish one\u2019s self whithersoever one\npleases. Again, in a Mongolian tale, the Chan\u2019s son comes upon a group\nof children who fight for a hood which makes the wearer invisible; he\nis to be judge between them, makes them run a race for it, but\nmeanwhile puts it on and vanishes from their sight. A little further on\nhe meets another group, who are quarrelling for a pair of boots, the\nwearer of which can wish himself whithersoever he pleases, and gains\npossession of them in the same way.\n\nNor in one Norse tale alone, but in many, we find traces of these three\nwonderful things, or of things like them. They are very like the cloth,\nthe ram, and the stick, which the lad got from the North Wind instead\nof his meal. Very like, too, the cloth, the scissors, and the tap,\nwhich will be found in No. xxxvi, \u201cThe Best Wish\u201d. If we drop the\nnumber three, we find the Boots again in \u201cSoria Moria Castle\u201d, No. lvi.\n[Moe, Introd., xxxii-iii] Leaving the Norse Tales, we see at once that\nthey are the seven-leagued boots of Jack the Giant Killer. In the\n_Nibelungen Lied_, when Siegfried finds Schilbung and Niblung, the\nwierd heirs of the famous \u201cHoard\u201d, striving for the possession of that\nheap of red gold and gleaming stones; when they beg him to share it for\nthem, promising him, as his meed, Balmung, best of swords; when he\nshares it, when they are discontent, and when in the struggle which\nensues he gets possession of the \u201cTarnhut\u201d, the \u201ccloak of darkness\u201d,\nwhich gave its wearer the strength of twelve men, and enabled him to go\nwhere he would be unseen, and which was the great prize among the\ntreasures of the dwarfs;[11] who is there that does not see the broken\nfragments of that old Eastern story of the heirs struggling for their\ninheritance, and calling in the aid of some one of better wit or\nstrength who ends by making the very prize for which they fight his\nown?\n\nAnd now to return for a moment to _Calila and Dimna_ and _The Seven\nSages_. Since we have seen that there are other stories, and many of\nthem, for this is by no means the only resemblance to be found in\n_Somadeva\u2019s_ book[12] which are common to the Eastern and Western\nAryans, but which did not travel to Europe by translation; let us go on\nto say that it is by no means certain, even when some Western story or\nfable is found in these Sanscrit originals and their translations, that\nthat was the only way by which they came to Europe. A single question\nwill prove this. How did the fables and apologues which are found in\n\u00c6sop, and which are also found in the _Pantcha Tantya_ and the\n_Hitopadesa_ come West? That they came from the East is certain; but by\nwhat way, certainly not by translations or copying, for they had\ntravelled west long before translations were thought of. How was it\nthat Themistius, a Greek orator of the fourth century[13] had heard of\nthat fable of the lion, fox, and bull, which is in substance the same\nas that of the lion, the bull, and the two jackals in the _Pantcha\nTantya_ and the _Hitopadesa_? How, but along the path of that primaeval\nAryan migration, and by that deep-ground tone of tradition by which man\nspeaks to man, nation to nation, and age to age; along which\ncomparative philology has, in these last days, travelled back thither,\nlistened to the accents spoken, and so found in the East the cradle of\na common language and common belief.\n\nAnd now, having, as we hope, finally established this Indian affinity,\nand disposed of mere Indian copying, let us lift our eyes and see if\nsomething more is not to be discerned on the wide horizon now open on\nour view. The most interesting problem for man to solve is the origin\nof his race. Of late years comparative philology, having accomplished\nher task in proving the affinity of language between Europe and the\nEast, and so taken a mighty step towards fixing the first seat of the\ngreatest\u2014greatest in wit and wisdom, if not in actual numbers\u2014portion\nof the human race, has pursued her inquiries into the languages of the\nTuranian, the Semitic, and the Chamitic or African races, with more or\nless successful results. In a few more years, when the African\nlanguages are better known, and the roots of Egyptian and Chinese words\nare more accurately detected, Science will be better able to speak as\nto the common affinity of all the tribes that throng the earth. In the\nmeantime, let the testimony of tradition and popular tales be heard,\nwhich in this case have outstripped comparative philology, and lead\ninstead of following her. It is beyond the scope of this essay, which\naims at being popular and readable rather than learned and lengthy, to\ngo over a prolonged scientific investigation step by step. We repeat\nit. The reader must have faith in the writer, and believe the words now\nwritten are the results of an inquiry, and not ask for the inquiry\nitself. In all mythologies and traditions, then, there are what may be\ncalled natural resemblances, parallelisms suggested to the senses of\neach race by natural objects and every-day events, and these might\nspring up spontaneously all over the earth as home growths, neither\nderived by imitation from other tribes, nor from seeds of common\ntradition shed from a common stock. Such resemblances have been well\ncompared by William Grimm,[14] to those words which are found in all\nlanguages derived from the imitation of natural sounds, or, we may add,\nfrom the first lisping accents of infancy. But the case is very\ndifferent when this or that object which strikes the senses is\naccounted for in a way so extraordinary and peculiar, as to stamp the\ntradition with a character of its own. Then arises a like impression on\nthe mind, if we find the same tradition in two tribes at the opposite\nends of the earth, as is produced by meeting twin brothers, one in\nAfrica and the other in Asia; we say at once \u201cI know you are so and\nso\u2019s brother, you are so like him\u201d. Take an instance: In these Norse\nTales, No. xxiii, we are told how it was the bear came to have a stumpy\ntail, and in an African tale,[15] we find how it was the hyaena became\ntailless and earless. Now, the tailless condition both of the bear and\nthe hyaena could scarcely fail to attract attention in a race of\nhunters, and we might expect that popular tradition would attempt to\naccount for both, but how are we to explain the fact, that both\nNorseman and African account for it in the same way\u2014that both owe their\nloss to the superior cunning of another animal. In Europe the fox bears\naway the palm for wit from all other animals, so he it is that\npersuades the bear in the Norse Tales to sit with his tail in a hole in\nthe ice till it is fast frozen in, and snaps short off when he tries to\ntug it out. In Bornou, in the heart of Africa, it is the weasel who is\nthe wisest of beasts, and who, having got some meat in common with the\nhyaena, put it into a hole, and said:\n\n\u201cBehold two men came out of the forest, took the meat, and put it into\na hole: stop, I will go into the hole, and then thou mayst stretch out\nthy tail to me, and I will tie the meat to thy tail for thee to draw it\nout\u201d. So the weasel went into the hole, the hyaena stretched its tail\nout to it, but the weasel took the hyaena\u2019s tail, fastened a stick, and\ntied the hyaena\u2019s tail to the stick, and then said to the hyaena \u201cI\nhave tied the meat to thy tail; draw, and pull it out\u201d. The hyaena was\na fool, it did not know the weasel surpassed it in subtlety; it thought\nthe meat was tied; but when it tried to draw out its tail, it was fast.\nWhen the weasel said again to it \u201cPull\u201d, it pulled, but could not draw\nit out; so it became vexed, and on pulling with force, its tail broke.\nThe tail being torn out, the weasel was no more seen by the hyaena: the\nweasel was hidden in the hole with its meat, and the hyaena saw it\nnot.[16]\n\nHere we have a fact in natural history accounted for, but accounted for\nin such a peculiar way as shows that the races among which they are\ncurrent must have derived them from some common tradition. The mode by\nwhich the tail is lost is different indeed; but the manner in which the\ncommon ground-work is suited in one case to the cold of the North, and\nthe way in which fish are commonly caught at holes in the ice as they\nrise to breathe; and in the other to Africa and her pitfalls for wild\nbeasts, is only another proof of the oldness of the tradition, and that\nit is not merely a copy.\n\nTake another instance. Every one knows the story in the Arabian Nights,\nwhere the man who knows the speech of beasts laughs at something said\nby an ox to an ass. His wife wants to know why he laughs, and persists,\nthough he tells her it will cost him his life if he tells her. As he\ndoubts what to do, he hears the cock say to the house-dog \u201cOur master\nis not wise; I have fifty hens who obey me; if he followed my advice,\nhe\u2019d just take a good stick, shut up his wife in a room with him, and\ngive her a good cudgelling.\u201d The same story is told in Straparola[17]\nwith so many variations as to show it is no copy; it is also told in a\nServian popular tale, with variations of its own; and now here we find\nit in Bornou, as told by K\u00f6lle.\n\nThere was a servant of God who had one wife and one horse; but his wife\nwas one-eyed, and they lived in their house. Now this servant of God\nunderstood the language of the beasts of the forest when they spoke,\nand of the birds of the air when they talked as they flew by. This\nservant of God also understood the cry of the hyaena when it arose at\nnight in the forest, and came to the houses and cried near them; so,\nlikewise, when his horse was hungry and neighed, he understood why it\nneighed, rose up, brought the horse grass, and then returned and sat\ndown. It happened one day that birds had their talk as they were flying\nby above and the servant of God understood what they talked. This\ncaused him to laugh, whereupon his wife said to him \u201cWhat dost thou\nhear that thou laughest?\u201d He replied to his wife \u201cI shall not tell thee\nwhat I hear, and why I laugh\u201d. The woman said to her husband \u201cI know\nwhy thou laughest; thou laughest at me because I am one-eyed\u201d. The man\nthen said to his wife \u201cI saw that thou wast one-eyed before I loved\nthee, and before we married and sat down in our house\u201d. When the woman\nheard her husband\u2019s word she was quiet.\n\nBut once at night, as they were lying on their bed, and it was past\nmidnight, it happened that a rat played with his wife on the top of the\nhouse and that both fell to the ground. Then the wife of the rat said\nto her husband \u201cThy sport is bad; thou saidst to me that thou wouldst\nplay, but when we came together we fell to the ground, so that I broke\nmy back\u201d.\n\nWhen the servant of God heard the talk of the rat\u2019s wife, as he was\nlying on his bed, he laughed. Now, as soon as he laughed his wife\narose, seized him, and said to him as she held him fast: \u201cNow this time\nI will not let thee go out of this house except thou tell me what thou\nhearest and why thou laughest\u201d. The man begged the woman, saying \u201cLet\nme go\u201d; but the woman would not listen to her husband\u2019s entreaty.\n\nThe husband then tells his wife that he knows the language of beasts\nand birds, and she is content; but when he wakes in the morning he\nfinds he has lost his wonderful gift; and the moral of the tale is\nadded most ungallantly: \u201cIf a man shews and tells his thoughts to a\nwoman, God will punish him for it\u201d. Though, perhaps, it is better, for\nthe sake of the gentler sex, that the tale should be pointed with this\nunfair moral, than that the African story should proceed like all the\nother variations, and save the husband\u2019s gift at the cost of the wife\u2019s\nskin.\n\nTake other African instances. How is it that the wandering Bechuanas\ngot their story of \u201cThe Two Brothers\u201d, the ground-work of which is the\nsame as \u201cThe Machandelboom\u201d and the \u201cMilk-white Doo\u201d, and where the\nincidents and even the words are almost the same? How is it that in\nsome of its traits that Bechuana story embodies those of that earliest\nof all popular tales, recently published from an Egyptian Papyrus,\ncoeval with the abode of the Israelites in Egypt? and how is it that\nthat same Egyptian tale has other traits which reminds us of the Dun\nBull in \u201cKatie Woodencloak\u201d, as well as incidents which are the germ of\nstories long since reduced to writing in Norse Sagas of the twelfth and\nthirteenth centuries?[18] How is it that we still find among the\nNegroes in the West Indies[19] a rich store of popular tales, and the\nBeast Epic in full bloom, brought with them from Africa to the islands\nof the West; and among those tales and traditions, how is it that we\nfind a \u201cWishing Tree\u201d, the counter-part of that in a German popular\ntale, and \u201ca little dirty scrub of a child\u201d, whom his sisters despise,\nbut who is own brother to Boots in the Norse Tales, and like him\noutwits the Troll, spoils his substance, and saves his sisters? How is\nit that we find the good woman who washes the loathsome head rewarded,\nwhile the bad man who refuses to do that dirty work is punished for his\npride; the very groundwork, nay the very words, that we meet in\nBushy-bride, another Norse Tale? How is it that we find a Mongolian\ntale, which came confessedly from India, made up of two of our Norse\ntales, \u201cRich Peter the Pedlar\u201d and \u201cThe Giant that had no heart in his\nbody\u201d?[20] How should all these things be, and how could they possibly\nbe, except on that theory which day by day becomes more and more a\nmatter of fact; this, that the whole human race sprung from one stock,\nplanted in the East, which has stretched out its boughs and branches\nladen with the fruit of language, and bright with the bloom of song and\nstory, by successive offshoots to the utmost parts of the earth.\n\n\n\n\nNORSE MYTHOLOGY\n\n\nAnd now, in the second place, for that particular branch of the Aryan\nrace, in which this peculiar development of the common tradition has\narisen, which we are to consider as \u201cNorse Popular Tales\u201d.\n\nWhatever disputes may have existed as to the mythology of other\nbranches of the Teutonic subdivision of the Aryan race\u2014whatever\ndiscussions may have arisen as to the position of this or that divinity\namong the Franks, the Anglo-Saxons, or the Goths\u2014about the Norsemen\nthere can be no dispute or doubt. From a variety of circumstances, but\ntwo before all the rest\u2014the one their settlement in Iceland, which\npreserved their language and its literary treasures incorrupt; the\nother their late conversion to Christianity\u2014their cosmogony and\nmythology stands before us in full flower, and we have not, as\nelsewhere, to pick up and piece together the wretched fragments of a\nfaith, the articles of which its own priests had forgotten to commit to\nwriting, and which those of another creed had dashed to pieces and\ndestroyed, wherever their zealous hands could reach. In the two Eddas,\ntherefore, in the early Sagas, in Saxo\u2019s stilted Latin, which barely\nconceals the popular songs and legends from which the historian drew\nhis materials, we are enabled to form a perfect conception of the creed\nof the heathen Norsemen. We are enabled to trace, as has been traced by\nthe same hand in another place,[21] the natural and rational\ndevelopment of that creed from a simple worship of nature and her\npowers, first to monotheism, and then to a polytheistic system. The\ntertiary system of Polytheism is the soil out of which the mythology of\nthe Eddas sprang, though through it each of the older formations crops\nout in huge masses which admit of no mistake as to its origin. In the\nEddas the natural powers have been partly subdued, partly thrust on one\nside, for a time, by Odin and the Aesir, by the Great Father and his\nchildren, by One Supreme and twelve subordinate gods, who rule for an\nappointed time, and over whom hangs an impending fate, which imparts a\ncharm of melancholy to this creed, which has clung to the race who once\nbelieved in it long after the creed itself has vanished before the\nlight of Christianity. According to this creed, the Aesir and Odin had\ntheir abode in Asgard, a lofty hill in the centre of the habitable\nearth, in the midst of Midgard, that _middle earth_ which we hear of in\nearly English poetry, the abode of gods and men. Round that earth,\nwhich was fenced in against the attacks of ancient and inveterate foes\nby a natural fortification of hills, flowed the great sea in a ring,\nand beyond that sea was Utgard, the outlying world, the abode of Frost\nGiants, and Monsters, those old-natural powers who had been\ndispossessed by Odin and the Aesir when the new order of the universe\narose, and between whom and the new gods a feud as inveterate as that\ncherished by the Titans against Jupiter was necessarily kept alive. It\nis true indeed that this feud was broken by intervals of truce during\nwhich the Aesir and the Giants visit each other, and appear on more or\nless friendly terms, but the true relation between them was war; pretty\nmuch as the Norseman was at war with all the rest of the world. Nor was\nthis struggle between two rival races or powers confined to the gods in\nAsgard alone. Just as their ancient foes were the Giants of Frost and\nSnow, so between the race of men and the race of Trolls was there a\nperpetual feud. As the gods were men magnified and exaggerated, so were\nthe Trolls diminished Frost Giants; far superior to man in strength and\nstature, but inferior to man in wit and invention. Like the Frost\nGiants, they inhabit the rough and rugged places of the earth, and,\nhistorically speaking, in all probability represent the old aboriginal\nraces who retired into the mountainous fastnesses of the land, and\nwhose strength was exaggerated, because the intercourse between the\nraces was small. In almost every respect they stand in the same\nrelations to men as the Frost Giants stand to the Gods.\n\nThere is nothing, perhaps, more characteristic of a true, as compared\nwith a false religion, than the restlessness of the one when brought\nface to face with the quiet dignity and majesty of the other. Under the\nChristian dispensation, our blessed Lord, his awful sacrifice once\nperformed, \u201cascended up on high\u201d, having \u201cled captivity captive\u201d, and\nexpects the hour that shall make his foes \u201chis footstool\u201d; but false\ngods, Jupiter, Vishnu, Odin, Thor, must constantly keep themselves, as\nit were, before the eyes of men, lest they should lose respect. Such\ngods being invariably what the philosophers call _subjective_, that is\nto say, having no existence except in the minds of those who believe in\nthem; having been created by man in his own image, with his own desires\nand passions, stand in constant need of being recreated. They change as\nthe habits and temper of the race which adores them alter; they are\never bound to do something fresh, lest man should forget them, and new\ndivinities usurp their place. Hence came endless avatars in Hindoo\nmythology, reproducing all the dreamy monstrosities of that passive\nIndian mind. Hence came Jove\u2019s adventures, tinged with all the lust and\nguile which the wickedness of the natural man planted on a hot-bed of\niniquity is capable of conceiving. Hence bloody Moloch, and the foul\nabominations of Chemosh and Milcom. Hence, too, Odin\u2019s countless\nadventures, his journeys into all parts of the world, his constant\ntrials of wit and strength, with his ancient foes the Frost Giants, his\nhair-breadth escapes. Hence Thor\u2019s labours and toils, his passages\nbeyond the sea, girt with his strength-belt, wearing his iron gloves,\nand grasping his hammer which split the skulls of so many of the\nGiant\u2019s kith and kin. In the Norse gods, then, we see the Norseman\nhimself, sublimed and elevated beyond man\u2019s nature, but bearing about\nwith him all his bravery and endurance, all his dash and spirit of\nadventure, all his fortitude and resolution to struggle against a\ncertainty of doom which, sooner or later, must overtake him on that\ndread day, the \u201ctwilight of the gods\u201d, when the wolf was to break\nloose, when the great snake that lay coiled round the world should lash\nhimself into wrath, and the whole race of the Aesirs and their\nantagonists were to perish in internecine strife.\n\nSuch were the gods in whom the Norseman believed\u2014exaggerations of\nhimself, of all his good and all his bad qualities. Their might and\ntheir adventures, their domestic quarrels and certain doom, were sung\nin venerable lays, now collected in what we call the Elder, or Poetic\nEdda; simple majestic songs, whose mellow accents go straight to the\nheart through the ear, and whose simple severity never suffers us to\nmistake their meaning. But, besides these gods, there were heroes of\nthe race whose fame and glory were in every man\u2019s memory, and whose\nmighty deeds were in every minstrel\u2019s mouth. Helgi, Sigmund, Sinfj\u00f6tli,\nSigurd, Signy, Brynhildr, Gudrun; champions and shield-maidens,\nhenchmen and corse-choosers, now dead and gone, who sat round Odin\u2019s\nboard in Valhalla. Women whose beauty, woes, and sufferings were beyond\nthose of all women; men whose prowess had never found an equal. Between\nthese, love and hate; all that can foster passion or beget revenge. Ill\nassorted marriages; the right man to the wrong woman, and the wrong man\nto the right woman; envyings, jealousies, hatred, murders, all the\nworks of the natural man, combine together to form that marvellous\nstory which begins with a curse\u2014the curse of ill-gotten gold\u2014and ends\nwith a curse, a widow\u2019s curse, which drags down all on whom it falls,\nand even her own flesh and blood, to certain doom. Such was the theme\nof the wondrous Volsung Tale, the far older, simpler and grander\noriginal of that Nibelungen Need of the thirteenth century, a tale\nwhich begins with the slaughter of Fafnir by Sigurd, and ends with\nHermanaric, \u201cthat fierce faith-breaker\u201d, as the Anglo-Saxon minstrel\ncalls him, when he is describing, in rapid touches, the mythic glories\nof the Teutonic race.\n\nThis was the story of the Volsungs. They traced themselves back, like\nall heroes, to Odin, the great father of gods and men. From him sprung\nSigi, from him Rerir, from him Volsung, ripped from his mother\u2019s womb\nafter a six years\u2019 bearing, to become the Eponymus of that famous race.\nIn the centre of his hall grew an oak, the tall trunk of which passed\nthrough the roof, and its boughs spread far and wide in upper air. Into\nthat hall, on a high feast day, when Signy, Volsung\u2019s daughter, was to\nbe given away to Siggeir, King of Gothland, strode an old one-eyed\nguest. His feet were bare, his hose were of knitted linen, he wore a\ngreat striped cloak, and a broad flapping hat. In his hand he bore a\nsword, which, at one stroke, he drove up to the hilt in the oak trunk.\n\u201cThere\u201d, said he, \u201clet him of all this company bear this sword who is\nman enough to pull it out. I give it him, and none shall say he ever\nbore a better blade.\u201d With these words he passed out of the hall, and\nwas seen no more. Many tried, for that sword was plainly a thing of\nprice, but none could stir it, till Sigmund, the best and bravest of\nVolsung\u2019s sons, tried his hand, and, lo! the weapon yielded itself at\nonce. This was that famous blade _Gram_, of which we shall hear again.\nSigmund bore it in battle against his brother-in-law, who quarrelled\nwith him about this very sword, when Volsung fell, and Sigmund and his\nten brothers were taken and bound. All perished but Sigmund, who was\nsaved by his sister Signy, and hidden in a wood till he could revenge\nhis father and brethren. Here with Sinfj\u00f6tli, who was at once his son\nand nephew, he ran as a werewolf through the forest, and wrought many\nwild deeds. When Sinfj\u00f6tli was of age to help him, they proceed to\nvengeance, and burn the treacherous brother-in-law alive, with all his\nfollowers. Sigmund then regains his father\u2019s kingdom, and in extreme\nold age dies in battle against the sons of King Hunding. Just as he was\nabout to turn the fight, a warrior of more than mortal might, a\none-eyed man in a blue cloak, with a flapping hat, rose up against him\nspear in hand. At that outstretched spear Sigmund smites with his\ntrusty sword. It snaps in twain. Then he knows that his luck is gone;\nhe sees in his foe Odin the giver of the sword, sinks down on the gory\nbattle-field, and dies in the arms of Hjordis, his young wife, refusing\nall leechcraft, and bowing his head to Odin\u2019s will. By the fortune of\nwar, Hjordis, bearing a babe under her girdle, came into the hands of\nKing Hialprek of Denmark, there she bore a son to Sigmund, Sigurd, the\ndarling of Teutonic song and story. Regin, the king\u2019s smith, was his\nfoster-father, and as the boy grew up the fairest and stoutest of all\nthe Volsungs, Regin, who was of the dwarf race, urged him day by day to\ndo a doughty deed, and slay Fafnir the Dragon. For Fafnir, Regin, and\nOtter had been brothers, sons of Reidmar. In one of their many\nwanderings, Odin, Loki, and Haenir came to a river and a forge. There,\non the bank under the forge, they saw an otter with a salmon in its\nmouth, which it ate greedily with its eyes shut. Loki took a stone,\nthrew it, and killed the beast, and boasted how he had got both fish\nand flesh at one throw. Then the Aesir passed on and came at night to\nReidmar\u2019s house, asked a lodging, got it, and showed their spoil.\n\u201cSeize and bind them lads\u201d, cried Reidmar; \u201cfor they have slain your\nbrother Otter\u201d. So they were seized and bound by Regin and Fafnir, and\noffered an atonement to buy off the feud, and Reidmar was to name the\nsum. Then Otter was flayed, and the Aesir were to fill the skin with\nred gold, and cover it without, that not a hair could be seen. To fetch\nthe gold Odin sent Loki down to the abodes of the Black Elves; there in\na stream he caught Andvari the Dwarf, and made him give up all the gold\nwhich he had hoarded up in the stony rock. In vain the Dwarf begged and\nprayed that he might keep one ring, for it was the source of all his\nwealth, and ring after ring dropped from it. \u201cNo; not a penny should he\nhave\u201d said Loki. Then the dwarf laid a curse on the ring, and said it\nshould be every man\u2019s bane who owned it. \u201cSo much the better\u201d said\nLoki; and when he got back, Odin saw the ring how fair it was, and kept\nit to himself, but gave the gold to Reidmar. So Reidmar filled the skin\nwith gold as full as he could, and set it up on end, and Odin poured\ngold over it, and covered it up. But when Reidmar looked at it he saw\nstill one grey hair, and bade them cover that too, else the atonement\nwas at an end. Then Odin drew forth the ring and laid it over the grey\nhair. So the Aesir was set free, but before they went, Loki repeated\nthe curse which Andvari had laid upon the ring and gold. It soon began\nto work. First, Regin asked for some of the gold, but not a penny would\nReidmar give. So the two brothers laid their heads together and slew\ntheir sire. Then Regin begged Fafnir to share the gold with him. But\n\u201cno\u201d, Fafnir was stronger, and said he should keep it all himself, and\nRegin had best be off, unless he wished to fare the same way as\nReidmar. So Regin had to fly, but Fafnir took a dragon\u2019s shape; \u201cand\nthere\u201d, said Regin, \u201che lies on the \u2018Glistening Heath\u2019, coiled round\nhis store of gold and precious things, and that\u2019s why I wish you to\nkill him.\u201d Sigurd, told Regin who was the best of smiths, to forge him\na sword. Two are made, but both snap asunder at the first stroke.\n\u201cUntrue are they like you and all your race\u201d cries Sigurd. Then he went\nto his mother and begged the broken bits of _Gram_, and out of them\nRegin forged a new blade, that clove the anvil in the smithy, and cut a\nlock of wool borne down upon it by a running stream. \u201cNow, slay me\nFafnir\u201d, said Regin; but Sigurd must first find out King Hunding\u2019s\nsons, and avenge his father Sigmund\u2019s death. King Hialprek lends him\nforce; by Odin\u2019s guidance he finds them out, routs their army, and\nslays all those brothers. On his return, his foster-father still eggs\nhim on to slay the Dragon, and thus to shew that there was still a\nVolsung left. So, armed with Gram, and mounted on Gran, his good steed,\nwhom Odin had taught him how to choose, Sigurd rode to the \u201cGlistening\nHeath\u201d, dug a pit in the Dragon\u2019s path, and slew him as he passed over\nhim down to drink at the river. Then Regin came up, and the old feeling\nof vengeance for a brother\u2019s blood grew strong, and as an atonement,\nSigurd was to roast Fafnir\u2019s heart, and carry it to Regin, who swilled\nhis fill of the Dragon\u2019s blood, and lay down to sleep. But as Sigurd\nroasted the heart, and wondered if it would soon be done, he tried it\nwith his finger to see if it were soft. The hot roast burned his\nfinger, and he put it into his mouth, and tasted the life-blood of the\nDragon. Then in a moment he understood the song of birds, and heard how\nthe swallows over his head said one to the other, \u201cThere thou sittest,\nSigurd, roasting Fafnir\u2019s heart. Eat it thyself and become the wisest\nof men.\u201d Then another said \u201cThere lies Regin, and means to cheat him\nwho trusts him.\u201d Then a third said \u201cLet Sigurd cut off his head then,\nand so own all the gold himself.\u201d Then Sigurd went to Regin and slew\nhim, and ate the heart, and rode on Gran to Fafnir\u2019s lair, and took the\nspoil and loaded his good steed with it, and rode away.\n\nAnd now Sigurd was the most famous of men. All the songs and stories of\nthe North made him the darling of that age. They dwell on his soft\nhair, which fell in great locks of golden brown, on his bushy beard of\nauburn hue, his straight features, his ruddy cheeks, his broad brow,\nhis bright and piercing eye, of which few dared to meet the gaze, his\ntaper limbs and well knit joints, his broad shoulders, and towering\nheight. \u201cSo tall he was, that as he strode through the full-grown rye,\ngirt with Gram, the tip of the scabbard just touched the ears of corn.\u201d\nReady of tongue too, and full of forethought. His great pleasure was to\nhelp other men, and to do daring deeds; to spoil his foes, and give\nlargely to his friends. The bravest man alive, and one that never knew\nfear. On and on he rode, till on a lone fell he saw a flickering flame,\nand when he reached it, there it flamed and blazed all round a house.\nNo horse but Gran could ride that flame; no man alive but Sigurd sit\nhim while he leaped through it. Inside the house lay a fair maiden,\narmed from head to foot, in a deep sleep. Brynhildr, Atli\u2019s sister, was\nher name, a Valkyrie, a corse-chooser; but out of wilfulness she had\ngiven the victory to the wrong side, and Odin in his wrath had thrust\nthe horn of sleep into her cloak, and laid her under a curse to slumber\nthere till a man bold enough to ride through that flame came to set her\nfree, and win her for his bride. So then she woke up, and taught him\nall runes and wisdom, and they swore to love each other with a mighty\noath, and then Sigurd left her and rode on.\n\nSo on he rode to King Giuki\u2019s hall, Giuki the Niflung, King of\nFrankland, whose wife was Grimhildr, whose sons were Gunnar and Hogni,\nwhose stepson was Guttorm, and whose daughter was the fair Gudrun. Here\nat first he was full of Brynhildr, and all for going back to fetch his\nlovely bride from the lone fell. But Grimhildr was given to dark arts;\nshe longed for the brave Volsung for her own daughter, she brewed him\nthe philtre of forgetfulness, he drained it off, forgot Brynhildr,\nswore a brother\u2019s friendship with Gunnar and Hogni, and wedded the fair\nGudrun. But now Giuki wanted a wife for Gunnar, and so off set the\nbrothers and their bosom friend to woo, but whom should they choose but\nBrynhildr, Atli\u2019s sister, who sat there still upon the fell, waiting\nfor the man who was bold enough to ride through the flickering flame.\nShe knew but one could do it, and waited for that one to come back. So\nshe had given out whoever could ride that flame should have her to\nwife. So when Gunnar and Hogni reached it, Gunnar rode at it, but his\nhorse, good though it was, swerved from the fierce flame. Then by\nGrimhild\u2019s magic arts, Sigurd and Gunnar changed shapes and arms, and\nSigurd leapt up on Gran\u2019s back, and the good steed bore him bravely\nthrough the flame. So Brynhildr the proud maiden was won and forced to\nyield. That evening was their wedding; but when they lay down to rest,\nSigurd unsheathed his keen sword _Gram_, and laid it naked between\nthem. Next morning when he arose, he took the ring which Andvari had\nlaid under the curse, and which was among Fafnir\u2019s treasures, and gave\nit to Brynhildr as a \u201cmorning gift\u201d, and she gave him another ring as a\npledge. Then Sigurd rode back to his companions and took his own shape\nagain, and then Gunnar went and claimed Brynhildr, and carried her home\nas his bride. But no sooner was Gunnar wedded, than Sigurd\u2019s eyes were\nopened, and the power of the philtre passed away, he remembered all\nthat had passed, and the oath he had sworn to Brynhildr. All this came\nback upon him when it was too late, but he was wise and said nothing\nabout it. Well, so things went on, till one day Brynhildr and Gudrun\nwent down to the river to wash their hair. Then Brynhildr waded out\ninto the stream as far as she could, and said she wouldn\u2019t have on her\nhead the water that streamed from Gudrun\u2019s; for hers was the braver\nhusband. So Gudrun waded out after her, and said the water ought to\ncome on her hair first, because her husband bore away the palm from\nGunnar, and every other man alive, for he slew Fafnir and Regin and\ntook their inheritance. \u201cAye\u201d, said Brynhildr, \u201cbut it was a worthier\ndeed when Gunnar rode through the flame, but Sigurd dared not try!\u201d\nThen Gudrun laughed, and said \u201cThinkst thou that Gunnar really rode the\nflame? I trow _he_ went to bed with thee that night, who gave me this\ngold ring. And as for that ring yonder which you have on your finger,\nand which you got as your \u2018morning-gift\u2019; its name is Andvari\u2019s-spoil,\nand _that_ I don\u2019t think Gunnar sought on the \u2018Glistening Heath\u2019\u201d. Then\nBrynhildr held her peace and went home, and her love for Sigurd came\nback, but it was turned to hate, for she felt herself betrayed. Then\nshe egged on Gunnar to revenge her wrong. At last the brothers yielded\nto her entreaties, but they were sworn brothers to Sigurd, and to break\nthat oath by deed was a thing unheard of. Still they broke it in\nspirit; by charms and prayers they set on Guttorm their half-brother,\nand so at dead of night, while Gudrun held the bravest man alive fast\nlocked in her white arms, the murderer stole to the bedside and drove a\nsword through the hero. Then Sigurd turned and writhed, and as Guttorm\nfled he hurled Gram after him, and the keen blade took him asunder at\nthe waist, and his head fell out of the room and his heels in, and that\nwas the end of Guttorm. But with revenge Brynhildr\u2019s love returned, and\nwhen Sigurd was laid upon the pile her heart broke; she burst forth\ninto a prophetic song of the woes that were still to come, made them\nlay her by his side with Gram between them, and so went to Valhalla\nwith her old lover. Thus Andvari\u2019s curse was fulfilled.\n\nGudrun, the weary widow, wandered away. After a while, she accepts\natonement from her brothers for her husband\u2019s loss, and marries Atli,\nthe Hun King, Brynhildr\u2019s brother. He cherished a grudge against\nGiuki\u2019s sons for the guile they had practised against their\nbrother-in-law, which had broken his sister\u2019s heart, and besides he\nclaimed, in right of Gudrun, all the gold which Sigurd won from the\nDragon, but which the Niflung Princes had seized when he was slain. It\nwas in vain to attack them in fair fight, so he sent them a friendly\nmessage, and invited them to a banquet; they go, and are overpowered.\nHogni\u2019s heart is cut out of him alive, but he still smiles; Gunnar is\ncast into a pit full of snakes, but even then charms them to sleep with\nhis harp, all but one, that flies at his heart and stings him to death.\nWith them perished the secret of the Dragon\u2019s hoard, which they had\nthrown into the Rhine as they crossed it on the way to Hunland. Now\ncomes horror on horror. Revenge for her brothers now belongs to Gudrun;\nshe slays with her own hand her two sons by Atli, makes him eat their\nflesh, and drink their blood out of their skulls, and, while the king\nslept sound, slew him in his bed by the help of her brother Hogni\u2019s\nson. Then she set the hall a-blaze, and burnt all that were in it.\nAfter that she went to the sea-shore, and threw herself in to drown.\nBut the deep will not have her, the billows bear her over to King\nJonakr\u2019s land. He marries her, and has three sons by her, Saurli,\nHamdir, and Erp, black-haired as ravens, like all the Niflungs.\nSvanhild, her daughter by Sigurd, who had her father\u2019s bright and\nterrible eyes, she has still with her, now grown up to be the fairest\nof women. So when Hermanaric the mighty, the great Gothic king, heard\nof Svanhild\u2019s beauty, he sent his son Randver to woo her for him, but\nBikki the False said to the youth: \u201cBetter far were this maiden for\nthee than for thy old father\u201d; and the maiden and the prince thought it\ngood advice. Then Bikki went and told the king, and Hermanaric bade\nthem take and hang Randver at once. So on his way to the gallows, the\nprince took his hawk and plucked off all its feathers, and sent it to\nhis father. But when his sire saw it, he knew at once that, as the hawk\nwas featherless and unable to fly, so was his realm defenceless under\nan old and sonless king. Too late he sent to stop the hanging; his son\nwas already dead. So one day as he rode back from hunting, he saw fair\nSvanhild washing her golden locks, and it came into his heart how there\nshe sat, the cause of all his woe; and he and his men rode at her and\nover her, and their steeds trampled her to death. But when Gudrun heard\nthis, she set on her three Niflung sons to avenge their sister. Byrnies\nand helms she gave them so true that no sword would bite on them. They\nwere to steal on Hermanaric as he slept; Saurli was to cut off his\nhands, Hamdir his feet, and Erp his head. So as the three went along,\nthe two asked Erp what help he would give them when they got to\nHermanaric. \u201cSuch as hand lends to foot\u201d he said. \u201cNo help at all\u201d they\ncried; and passing from words to blows, and because their mother loved\nErp best, they slew him. A little further on Saurli stumbled and fell\nforward, but saved himself with one hand, and said \u201cHere hand helps\nfoot: better were it that Erp lived.\u201d So they came on Hermanaric as he\nslept, and Saurli hewed off his hands, and Hamdir his feet, but he\nawoke and called for his men. Then said Hamdir: \u201cWere Erp alive, the\nhead would be off, and he couldn\u2019t call out.\u201d Then Hermanaric\u2019s men\narose and took the twain, and when they found that no steel would touch\nthem, an old one-eyed man gave them advice to stone them to death. Thus\nfell Saurli and Hamdir, and soon after Gudrun died too, and with her\nends the Volsung and the Niflung tale.\n\nAnd here it is worth while to say, since some minds are so narrowly\nmoulded as to be incapable of containing more than one idea, that\nbecause it has seemed a duty to describe in its true light the old\nfaith of our forefathers, it by no means follows that the same eyes are\nblind to the glorious beauty of Greek Mythology. That had the rare\nadvantage of running its course free and unfettered until it fell\nrather by natural decay than before the weapon of a new belief. The\nGreeks were Atheists before they became Christian. Their faith had\npassed through every stage. We can contemplate it as it springs out of\nthe dim misshapen symbol, during that phase when men\u2019s eyes are fixed\nmore on meaning and reality than on beauty and form, we can mark how it\ngradually looks more to symmetry and shape, how it is transfigured in\nthe Arts, until, under that pure air and bright sky, the glowing\nradiant figures of Apollo and Aphrodite, of Zeus and Athene\u2014of perfect\nman-worship and woman-worship, stand out clear and round in the\nforeground against the misty distance of ancient times. Out of that\nmisty distance the Norseman\u2019s faith never emerged. What that early\nphase of faith might have become, had it been once wedded to the Muses,\nand learnt to cultivate the Arts, it is impossible to say. As it is,\nits career was cut short in mid-course. It carried about with it that\nmelancholy presentiment of dissolution which has come to be so\ncharacteristic of modern life, but of which scarce a trace exists in\nancient times, and this feeling would always have made it different\nfrom that cheerful carelessness which so attracts us in the Greeks; but\neven that downcast brooding heart was capable of conceiving great and\nheroic thoughts, which it might have clothed in noble shapes and forms,\nhad not the axe of Providence cut down the stately sapling in the North\nbefore it grew to be a tree, while it spared the pines of Delphi and\nDodona\u2019s sacred oaks, until they had attained a green old age. And so\nthis faith remained rude and rough; but even rudeness has a simplicity\nof its own, and it is better to be rough and true-hearted than polished\nand false. In all the feelings of natural affection, that faith need\nfear no comparison with any other upon earth. In these respects it is\nfirm and steadfast as a rock, and pure and bright as a living spring.\nThe highest God is a father, who protects his children; who gives them\nglory and victory while they live, and when they die, takes them to\nhimself; to those fatherly abodes Death was a happy return, a glorious\ngoing home. By the side of this great father stands a venerable\ngoddess, dazzling with beauty, the great mother of gods and men. Hand\nin hand this divine pair traverse the land; he teaching the men the use\nof arms and all the arts of war,\u2014for war was then as now a noble\ncalling, and to handle arms an honourable, nay necessary, profession.\nTo the women she teaches domestic duties and the arts of peace; from\nher they learn to weave, and sew, and spin; from her, too, the\nhusbandman learns to till his fields. From him springs poetry and song;\nfrom her legend and tradition. Nor should it ever be forgotten that the\nfootsteps of Providence are always onward, even when they seem taken in\nthe dark, and that their rude faith was the first in which that\nveneration for woman arose, which the Western nations may well claim as\nthe brightest jewel in their crown of civilization; that while she was\na slave in the East, a toy to the Greeks, and a housewife to the\nRomans, she was a helpmeet to the Teuton, and that those stern warriors\nrecognized something divine in her nature, and bowed before her clearer\ninsight into heavenly mysteries. The worship of the Virgin Mary was\ngradually developed out of this conception of woman\u2019s character, and\nwould have been a thing absurd and impossible, had Christianity clung\nfor ever to Eastern soil. And now to proceed, after thus turning aside\nto compare the mythology of the Greek with the faith of the Norseman.\nThe mistake is to favour one or the other exclusively instead of\nrespecting and admiring both; but it is a mistake which those only can\nfall into, whose souls are narrow and confined, who would say this\nthing and this person you shall love, and none other; this form and\nfeature you shall worship and adore, and this alone; when in fact the\nwhole promised land of thought and life lies before us at our feet, our\nnature encourages us to go in and possess it, and every step we make in\nthis new world of knowledge brings us to fresh prospects of beauty, and\nto new pastures of delight.\n\nSuch were the gods, and such the heroes of the Norseman; who, like his\nown gods, went smiling to death under the weight of an inevitable\ndestiny. But that fate never fell on their gods. Before this subjective\nmythological dream of the Norsemen could be fulfilled, the religious\nmist in which they walked was scattered by the sunbeams of\nChristianity. A new state and condition of society arose, and the creed\nwhich had satisfied a race of heathen warriors, who externally were at\nwar with all the world, became in time an object of horror and aversion\nto the converted Christian. This is not the place to describe the long\nstruggle between the new and the old faith in the North; how kings and\nqueens became the foster-fathers and nursing-mothers of the Church; how\nthe great chiefs, each a little king in himself, scorned and derided\nthe whole scheme as altogether weak and effeminate; how the bulk of the\npeople were sullen and suspicious, and often broke out into heathen\nmutiny; how kings rose and kings fell, just as they took one or the\nother side; and how, finally, after a contest which had lasted\naltogether more than three centuries, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and\nSweden\u2014we run them over in the order of conversion\u2014became faithful to\nChristianity, as preached by the missionaries of the Church of Rome.\nOne fact, however, we must insist on, which might be inferred, indeed,\nboth from the nature of the struggle itself, and the character of Rome;\nand that is, that throughout there was something in the process of\nconversion of the nature of a compromise\u2014of what we may call the great\nprinciple of \u201cgive and take\u201d. In all Christian churches, indeed, and in\nnone so much as the Church of Rome, nothing is so austere, so\nelevating, and so grand, as the uncompromising tone in which the great\ndogmas of the Faith are enunciated and proclaimed. Nothing is more\nmagnificent, in short, than the theory of Christianity; but nothing is\nmore mean and miserable than the time-serving way in which those dogmas\nare dragged down to the dull level of daily life, and that sublime\ntheory reduced to ordinary practice. At Rome, it was true that the Pope\ncould congratulate the faithful that whole nations in the barbarous and\nfrozen North had been added to the true fold, and that Odin\u2019s grim\nchampions now universally believed in the gospel of peace and love. It\nis so easy to dispose of a doubtful struggle in a single sentence, and\nso tempting to believe it when once written. But in the North, the\nstate of things, and the manner of proceeding, were entirely different.\nThere the dogma was proclaimed, indeed; but the manner of preaching it\nwas not in that mild spirit with which the Saviour rebuked the disciple\nwhen he said \u201cPut up again thy sword into his place: for all they that\ntake the sword shall perish with the sword.\u201d There the sword was used\nto bring converts to the font, and the baptism was often one rather of\nblood than of water. There the new converts perpetually relapsed,\nchased away the missionaries and the kings who sheltered them, and only\nyielded at last to the overwhelming weight of Christian opinion in the\nWestern world. St Olof, king and martyr, martyred in pitched battle by\nhis mutinous allodial freemen, because he tried to drive rather than to\nlead them to the cross; and another Olof, greater than he, Olof\nTryggvason, who fell in battle against the heathen Swedes, were men of\nblood rather than peace; but to them the introduction of the new faith\ninto Norway is mainly owing. So also Charlemagne, at an earlier period,\nhad dealt with the Saxons at the Main Bridge, when his ultimatum was\n\u201cChristianity or death\u201d. So also the first missionary to Iceland\u2014who\nmet, indeed, with a sorry reception\u2014was followed about by a stout\nchampion named Thangbrand, who, whenever there was what we should now\ncall a missionary meeting, challenged any impugner of the new doctrines\nto mortal combat on the spot. No wonder that, after having killed\nseveral opponents in the little tour which he made with his missionary\nfriend through the island, it became too hot to hold him, and he, and\nthe missionary, and the new creed, were forced to take ship and sail\nback to Norway.\n\n\u201cPrecept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a\nlittle\u201d, was the motto of Rome in her dealings with the heathen\nNorsemen, and if she suited herself at first rather to their habits and\ntemper than to those of more enlightened nations, she had an excuse in\nSt Paul\u2019s maxim of making herself \u201call things to all men.\u201d Thus, when a\nsecond attempt to Christianize Iceland proved more successful\u2014for in\nthe meantime, King Olof Tryggvason, a zealous Christian, had seized as\nhostages all the Icelanders of family and fame who happened to be in\nNorway, and thus worked on the feelings of the chiefs of those families\nat home, who in their turn bribed the lawman who presided over the\nGreat Assembly to pronounce in favour of the new Faith\u2014even then the\nadherents of the old religion were allowed to perform its rites in\nsecret, and two old heathen practices only were expressly prohibited,\nthe exposure of infants and the eating of horseflesh, for horses were\nsacred animals, and the heathen ate their flesh after they had been\nsolemnly sacrificed to the gods. As a matter of fact, it is far easier\nto change a form of religion than to extirpate a faith. The first\nindeed is no easy matter, as those students of history well know who\nare acquainted with the tenacity with which a large proportion of the\nEnglish nation clung to the Church of Rome, long after the State had\ndeclared for the Reformation. But to change the faith of a whole nation\nin block and bulk on the instant, was a thing contrary to the ordinary\nworking of Providence and unknown even in the days of miracles, though\nthe days of miracles had long ceased when Rome advanced against the\nNorth. There it was more politic to raise a cross in the grove where\nthe Sacred Tree had once stood, and to point to the sacred emblem which\nhad supplanted the old object of national adoration, when the populace\ncame at certain seasons with songs and dances to perform their heathen\nrites. Near the cross soon rose a church; and both were girt by a\ncemetery, the soil of which was doubly sacred as a heathen fane and a\nChristian sanctuary, and where alone the bodies of the faithful could\nrepose in peace. But the songs and dances, and processions in the\nchurch-yard round the cross, continued long after Christianity had\nbecome dominant. So also the worship of wells and springs was\nchristianized when it was found impossible to prevent it. Great\nchurches arose over or near them, as at Walsingham, where an abbey, the\nholiest place in England, after the shrine of St Thomas at Canterbury,\nthrew its majestic shade over the heathen wishing-well, and the\nworshippers of Odin and the Nornir were gradually converted into\nvotaries of the Virgin Mary. Such practices form a subject of constant\nremonstrance and reproof in the treatises and penitential epistles of\nmedieval divines, and in some few places and churches, even in England,\nsuch rites are still yearly celebrated.[22]\n\nSo, too, again with the ancient gods. They were cast down from honour,\nbut not from power. They lost their genial kindly influence as the\nprotectors of men and the origin of all things good; but their\nexistence was tolerated; they became powerful for ill, and degenerated\ninto malignant demons. Thus the worshippers of Odin had supposed that\nat certain times and rare intervals the good powers shewed themselves\nin bodily shape to mortal eye, passing through the land in divine\nprogress, bringing blessings in their train, and receiving in return\nthe offerings and homage of their grateful votaries. But these were\nnaturally only exceptional instances; on ordinary occasions the pious\nheathen recognized his gods sweeping through the air in cloud and\nstorm, riding on the wings of the wind, and speaking in awful accents,\nas the tempest howled and roared, and the sea shook his white mane and\ncrest. Nor did he fail to see them in the dust and din of battle, when\nOdin appeared with his terrible helm, succouring his own, striking fear\ninto their foes, and turning the day in many a doubtful fight; or in\nthe hurry and uproar of the chase, where the mighty huntsman on his\nswift steed, seen in glimpses among the trees, took up the hunt where\nweary mortals laid it down, outstripped them all, and brought the noble\nquarry to the ground. Looking up to the stars and heaven, they saw the\nfootsteps of the gods marked out in the bright path of the Milky Way;\nand in the Bear they hailed the war-chariot of the warrior\u2019s god. The\ngreat goddesses, too, Frigga and Freyja, were thoroughly old-fashioned\ndomestic divinities. They help women in their greatest need, they spin\nthemselves, they teach the maids to spin, and punish them if the wool\nremains upon their spindle. They are kind, and good, and bright, for\n_Holda_, _Bertha_, are the epithets given to them. And so, too, this\nmythology which, in its aspect to the stranger and the external world,\nwas so ruthless and terrible, when looked at from within and at home,\nwas genial, and kindly, and hearty, and affords another proof that men,\nin all ages and climes, are not so bad as they seem; that after all,\npeace and not war is the proper state for man, and that a nation may\nmake war on others and exist; but that unless it has peace within, and\nindustry at home, it must perish from the face of the earth. But when\nChristianity came, the whole character of this goodly array of\ndivinities was soured and spoilt. Instead of the stately procession of\nthe God, which the intensely sensuous eye of man in that early time\nconnected with all the phenomena of nature, the people were led to\nbelieve in a ghastly grisly band of ghosts, who followed an infernal\nwarrior or huntsman in hideous tumult through the midnight air. No\ndoubt, as Grimm rightly remarks,[23] the heathen had fondly fancied\nthat the spirits of those who had gone to Odin followed him in his\ntriumphant progress either visibly or invisibly; that they rode with\nhim in the whirlwind, just as they followed him to battle, and feasted\nwith him in Valhalla; but now the Christian belief, when it had\ndegraded the mighty god into a demon huntsman, who pursued his nightly\nround in chase of human souls, saw in the train of the infernal master\nof the hunt only the spectres of suicides, drunkards, and ruffians;\nand, with all the uncharitableness of a dogmatic faith, the spirits of\nchildren who died unbaptized, whose hard fate had thrown them into such\nevil company. This was the way in which that wide-spread superstition\narose, which sees in the phantoms of the clouds the shapes of the Wild\nHuntsman and his accursed crew, and hears, in spring and autumn nights,\nwhen sea-fowl take the wing to fly either south or north, the strange\naccents and uncouth yells with which the chase is pressed on in upper\nair. Thus, in Sweden it is still Odin who passes by; in Denmark it is\nKing Waldemar\u2019s Hunt; in Norway it is _Aaskereida_, that is _Asgard\u2019s\nCar_ ; in Germany, it is Wode, Woden, or Hackelberend, or Dieterich of\nBern; in France it is Hellequin, or King Hugo, or Charles the Fifth,\nor, dropping a name altogether, it is _Le Grand Veneur_ who ranges at\nnight through the Forest of Fontainebleau. Nor was England without her\nWild Huntsman and his ghastly following. Gervase of Tilbury, in the\ntwelfth century, could tell it of King Arthur, round whose mighty name\nthe superstition settled itself, for he had heard from the foresters\nhow, \u201con alternate days, about the full of the moon, one day at noon,\nthe next at midnight when the moon shone bright, a mighty train of\nhunters on horses was seen, with baying hounds and blast of horns; and\nwhen those hunters were asked of whose company and household they were,\nthey replied \u2018of Arthur\u2019s\u2019.\u201d We hear of him again in _The Complaynt of\nScotland_, that curious composition attributed by some to Sir David\nLyndsay of the Mount in Fife, and of Gilmerton in East Lothian, pp. 97,\n98, where he says:\n\nArthur knycht, he raid on nycht,\nWith gyldin spur and candil lycht.\n\n\nNor should we forget, when considering this legend, that story of Herne\nthe Hunter, who\n\nSometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,\nDoth all the winter time, at still midnight,\nWalk round about an oak, with great ragg\u2019d horns;\nAnd there he blasts the trees, and takes the cattle,\nAnd makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain\nIn a most hideous and dreadful manner.\n\n\n_Merry Wives of Windsor_, act. iv, sc. 4.\n\n\nAnd even yet, in various parts of England, the story of some great man,\ngenerally a member of one of the county families, who drives about the\ncountry at night, is common. Thus, in Warwickshire, it is the\n\u201cOne-handed Boughton\u201d, who drives about in his coach and six, and makes\nthe benighted traveller hold gates open for him; or it is \u201cLady\nSkipwith\u201d, who passes through the country at night in the same manner.\nThis subject might be pursued to much greater length, for popular\ntradition is full of such stories; but enough has been said to show how\nthe awful presence of a glorious God can be converted into a gloomy\nsuperstition; and, at the same time, how the majesty of the old belief\nstrives to rescue itself by clinging, in the popular consciousness, to\nsome king or hero, as Arthur or Waldemar, or, failing that, to some\nsquire\u2019s family, as Hackelberend, or the \u201cone-handed Boughton\u201d, or even\nto the Keeper Herne.\n\nOdin and the Aesir then were dispossessed and degraded by our Saviour\nand his Apostles, just as they had of old thrown out the Frost Giants,\nand the two are mingled together, in medieval Norse tradition, as\nTrolls and Giants, hostile alike to Christianity and man. Christianity\nhad taken possession indeed, but it was beyond her power to kill. To\nthis half-result the swift corruption of the Church of Rome lent no\nsmall aid. Her doctrines, as taught by Augustine and Boniface, by\nAnschar and Sigfrid, were comparatively mild and pure; but she had\nscarce swallowed the heathendom of the North, much in the same way as\nthe Wolf was to swallow Odin at the \u201cTwilight of the Gods\u201d, than she\nfell into a deadly lethargy of faith, which put it out of her power to\ndigest her meal. Gregory the Seventh, elected pope in 1073, tore the\nclergy from the ties of domestic life with a grasp that wounded every\nfibre of natural affection, and made it bleed to the very root. With\nthe celibacy of the clergy he established the hierarchy of the church,\nbut her labours as a missionary church were over. Henceforth she worked\nnot by missionaries and apostles, but by crusades and bulls. Now she\nraised mighty armaments to recover the barren soil of the Holy\nSepulchre, or to annihilate heretic Albigenses. Now she established\ngreat orders, Templars and Hospitallers, whose pride and luxury, and\npomp, brought swift destruction on one at least of those fraternities.\nNow she became feudal,\u2014she owned land instead of hearts, and forgot\nthat the true patrimony of St Peter was the souls of men. No wonder\nthat, with the barbarism of the times, she soon fulfilled the Apostle\u2019s\nwords, \u201cShe that liveth in luxury is dead while she liveth\u201d, and became\nfilled with idle superstitions and vain beliefs. No wonder, then, that\ninstead of completing her conquest over the heathen, and carrying out\ntheir conversion, she became half heathen herself; that she adopted the\ntales and traditions of the old mythology, which she had never been\nable to extirpate, and related them of our Lord and his Apostles. No\nwonder, then, that having abandoned her mission of being the first\npower of intelligence on earth, she fell like Lucifer when the mist of\nmedieval feudalism rolled away, and the light of learning and education\nreturned\u2014fell before the indignation of enlightened men, working upon\npopular opinion. Since which day, though she has changed her plans, and\nremodelled her superstitions to suit the times, she has never regained\nthe supremacy which, if she had been wise in a true sense, she seemed\ndestined to hold for ever.\n\n\n\n\nNORSE POPULAR TALES\n\n\nThe preceding observations will have given a sufficient account of the\nmythology of the Norsemen, and of the way in which it fell. They came\nfrom the East, and brought that common stock of tradition with them.\nSettled in the Scandinavian peninsula, they developed themselves\nthrough Heathenism, Romanism, and Lutheranism, in a locality little\nexposed to foreign influence, so that even now the Daleman in Norway or\nSweden may be reckoned among the most primitive examples left of\npeasant life. We should expect, then, that these Popular Tales, which,\nfor the sake of those ignorant in such matters, it may be remarked, had\nnever been collected or reduced to writing till within the last few\nyears, would present a faithful picture of the national consciousness,\nor, perhaps, to speak more correctly, of that half consciousness out of\nwhich the heart of any people speaks in its abundance. Besides those\nworld-old affinities and primaeval parallelisms, besides those dreamy\nrecollections of its old home in the East, which we have already\npointed out, we should expect to find its later history, after the\ngreat migration, still more distinctly reflected; to discover heathen\ngods masked in the garb of Christian saints; and thus to see a proof of\nour assertion above, that a nation more easily changes the form than\nthe essence of its faith, and clings with a toughness which endures for\ncenturies to what it has once learned to believe.\n\nIn all mythologies, the trait of all others which most commonly occurs,\nis that of the descent of the Gods to earth, where, in human form, they\nmix among mortals, and occupy themselves with their affairs, either out\nof a spirit of adventure, or to try the hearts of men. Such a\nconception is shocking to the Christian notion of the omnipotence and\nomnipresence of God, but we question if there be not times when the\nmost pious and perfect Christian may not find comfort and relief from a\nfallacy which was a matter of faith in less enlightened creeds, and\nover which the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, throws the sanction of\nhis authority, so far as angels are concerned.[24] Nor could he have\nforgotten those words of the men of Lystra, \u201cThe Gods are come down to\nus in the likeness of men\u201d; and how they called \u201cBarnabas Jupiter\u201d, and\nhimself Mercury, \u201cbecause he was the chief speaker.\u201d Classical\nmythology is full of such stories. These wanderings of the Gods are\nmentioned in the Odyssey, and the sanctity of the rites of hospitality,\nand the dread of turning a stranger from the door, took its origin from\na fear lest the wayfaring man should be a Divinity in disguise.\nAccording to the Greek story, Orion owed his birth to the fact that the\nchildless Hyrieus, his reputed father, had once received unawares Zeus,\nPoseidon, and Hermes, or, to call them by their Latin names, Jupiter,\nNeptune, and Mercury. In the beautiful story of Philemon and Baucis,\nJupiter and Mercury reward the aged couple who had so hospitably\nreceived them by warning them of the approaching deluge. The fables of\nPhaedrus and Aesop represent Mercury and Demeter as wandering and\nenjoying the hospitality of men. In India it is Brahma and Vishnu who\ngenerally wander. In the Edda, Odin, Loki, and Hoenir thus roam about,\nor Thor, Thialfi, and Loki. Sometimes Odin appears alone as a horseman,\nwho turns in at night to the smith\u2019s house, and gets him to shoe his\nhorse, a legend which reminds us at once of the Master-smith.[25]\nSometimes it is Thor with his great hammer who wanders thus alone.\n\nNow, let us turn from heathen to Christian times, and look at some of\nthese old legends of wandering gods in a new dress. Throughout the\nMiddle Age, it is our blessed Lord and St Peter that thus wander, and\nhere we see that half-digested heathendom to which we have alluded.\nThose who may be shocked at such tales in this collection as \u201cthe\nMaster-Smith\u201d and \u201cGertrude\u2019s Bird\u201d, must just remember that these are\nalmost purely heathen traditions, in which the names alone are\nChristian; and if it be any consolation to any to know the fact, we may\nas well state at once that this adaptation of new names to old beliefs\nis not peculiar to the Norsemen, but is found in all the popular tales\nof Europe. Germany was full of them, and there St Peter often appears\nin a snappish ludicrous guise, which reminds the reader versed in Norse\nmythology of the tricks and pranks of the shifty Loki. In the Norse\ntales he thoroughly preserves his saintly character.\n\nNor was it only gods that walked among men. In the Norse mythology,\nFrigga, Odin\u2019s wife, who knew beforehand all that was to happen, and\nFreyja, the goddess of love and plenty, were prominent figures, and\noften trod the earth; the three Norns or Fates, who sway the wierds of\nmen, and spin their destinies at Mimirs\u2019 well of knowledge, were awful\nvenerable powers, to whom the heathen world looked up with love and\nadoration and awe. To that love and adoration and awe, throughout the\nmiddle age, one woman, transfigured into a divine shape, succeeded by a\nsort of natural right, and round the Virgin Mary\u2019s blessed head a halo\nof lovely tales of divine help, beams with soft radiance as a crown\nbequeathed to her by the ancient goddesses. She appears as divine\nmother, spinner, and helpful virgin (vierge s\u00e9courable). Flowers and\nplants bear her name. In England one of our commonest and prettiest\ninsects is still called after her, but which belonged to Freyja, the\nheathen \u201cLady\u201d, long before the western nations had learned to adore\nthe name of the mother of Jesus.[26]\n\nThe reader of these Tales will meet, in that of \u201cthe Lassie and her\nGodmother\u201d, No. xxvii, with the Virgin Mary in a truly mythic\ncharacter, as the majestic guardian of sun, moon and stars, combined\nwith that of a helpful, kindly woman, who, while she knows how to\npunish a fault, knows also how to reconcile and forgive.\n\nThe Norseman\u2019s god was a god of battles, and victory his greatest gift\nto men; but this was not the only aspect under which the Great Father\nwas revered. Not victory in the fight alone, but every other good gift\ncame down from him and the Aesir. Odin\u2019s supreme will was that\ntreasure-house of bounty towards which, in one shape or the other, all\nmortal desires turned, and out of its abundance showers of mercy and\nstreams of divine favour constantly poured down to refresh the weary\nrace of men. All these blessings and mercies, nay, their very source\nitself, the ancient language bound up in a single word, which, however\nexpressive it may still be, has lost much of the fulness of its meaning\nin its descent to these later times. This word was \u201cWish\u201d, which\noriginally meant the perfect ideal, the actual fruition of all joy and\ndesire, and not, as now, the empty longing for the object of our\ndesires. From this original abstract meaning, it was but a step to pass\nto the concrete, to personify the idea, to make it an immortal essence,\nan attribute of the divinity, another name for the greatest of all Gods\nhimself. And so we find a host of passages in early writers,[27] in\nevery one of which \u201cGod\u201d or \u201cOdin\u201d might be substituted for \u201cWish\u201d with\nperfect propriety. Here we read how \u201cThe Wish\u201d has hands, feet, power,\nsight, toil, and art. How he works and labours, shapes and masters,\ninclines his ear, thinks, swears, curses, and rejoices, adopts\nchildren, and takes men into his house; behaves, in short, as a being\nof boundless power and infinite free-will. Still more, he rejoices in\nhis own works as in a child, and thus appears in a thoroughly\npatriarchal point of view, as the Lord of creation, glorying in his\nhandiwork, as the father of a family in early times was glad at heart\nwhen he reckoned his children as arrows in his quiver, and beheld his\nhouse full of a long line of retainers and dependants. For this\nattribute of the Great Father, for Odin as the God of Wish, the Edda\nuses the word \u201cOski\u201d which literally expresses the masculine\npersonification of \u201cWish\u201d, and it passed on and added the _works_ wish,\nas a prefix to a number of others, to signify that they stood in a\npeculiar relation to the great giver of all good. Thus we have\n_oska-steinn_, wishing-stone, i.e. a stone which plays the part of a\ndivining rod, and reveals secrets and hidden treasure; _oska-byrr_, a\nfair wind, a wind as fair as man\u2019s heart could wish it; _osk-barn_ and\n_oska-barn_, a child after one\u2019s own heart, an adopted child, as when\nthe younger Edda tells us that all those who die in battle are Odin\u2019s\n_choice-bairns_, his adopted children, those on whom he has set his\nheart, an expression which, in their turn, was taken by the Icelandic\nChristian writers to express the relation existing between God and the\nbaptized; and, though last, not least, _oska-maer_, wish-maidens,\nanother name for the Valkyries\u2014Odin\u2019s corse-choosers\u2014who picked out the\ndead for him on the field of battle, and waited on the heroes in\nValhalla. Again, the Edda is filled with \u201cchoice things\u201d, possessing\nsome mysterious power of their own, some \u201cvirtue\u201d, as our older English\nwould express it, which belong to this or that god, and are\noccasionally lent or lost. Thus, Odin himself had a spear which gave\nvictory to those on whose side it was hurled; Thor, a hammer which\ndestroyed the Giants, hallowed vows, and returned of itself to his\nhand. He had a strength-belt, too, which, when he girded it on, his\ngod-strength waxed one-half; Freyr had a sword which wielded itself;\nFreyja a necklace which, like the cestus of Venus, inspired all hearts\nwith love; Freyr, again, had a ship called _Skithblathnir_.\n\nShe is so great, that all the Aesir, with their weapons and war gear,\nmay find room on board her; and as soon as the sail is set, she has a\nfair wind whither she shall go; and when there is no need of faring on\nthe sea in her, she is made of so many things, and with so much craft,\nthat Freyr may fold her together like a cloth, and keep her in his\nbag.[28]\n\nOf this kind, too, was the ring \u201cDropper\u201d which Odin had, and from\nwhich twelve other rings dropped every night; the apples which Idun,\none of the goddesses, had, and of which, so soon as the Aesir ate, they\nbecame young again; the helm which Oegir, the sea giant had, which\nstruck terror into all antagonists like the Aegis of Athene; and that\nwonderful mill which the mythical Frodi owned, of which we shall\nshortly speak.\n\nNow, let us see what traces of this great god \u201cWish\u201d and his\nchoice-bairns and wishing-things we can find in these Tales, faint\nechoes of a mighty heathen voice, which once proclaimed the goodness of\nthe great Father in the blessings which he bestowed on his chosen sons.\nWe shall not have long to seek. In tale No. xx, when Shortshanks meets\nthose three old crookbacked hags who have only one eye, which he snaps\nup, and gets first a sword \u201cthat puts a whole army to flight, be it\never so great\u201d, we have the \u201cone-eyed Odin\u201d, degenerated into an old\nhag, or rather\u2014by no uncommon process\u2014we have an old witch fused by\npopular tradition into a mixture of Odin and the three Nornir. Again,\nwhen he gets that wondrous ship \u201cwhich can sail over fresh water and\nsalt water, and over high hills and deep dales,\u201d and which is so small\nthat he can put it into his pocket, and yet, when he came to use it,\ncould hold five hundred men, we have plainly the Skith-blathnir of the\nEdda to the very life. So also in the Best Wish, No. xxxvi, the whole\ngroundwork of this story rests on this old belief; and when we meet\nthat pair of old scissors which cuts all manner of fine clothes out of\nthe air, that tablecloth which covers itself with the best dishes you\ncould think of, as soon as it was spread out, and that tap which, as\nsoon as it was turned, poured out the best of mead and wine, we have\nplainly another form of Frodi\u2019s wishing-quern\u2014another recollection of\nthose things of choice about which the old mythology has so much to\ntell. Of the same kind are the tablecloth, the ram, and the stick in\n\u201cthe Lad who went to the North Wind\u201d, No. xxxiv, and the rings in \u201cthe\nThree Princesses of Whiteland\u201d, No. xxvi, and in \u201cSoria Moria Castle\u201d,\nNo. lvi. In the first of those stories, too, we find those \u201cthree\nbrothers\u201d who have stood on a moor \u201cthese hundred years fighting about\na hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots\u201d, which had the virtue of making\nhim who wore them invisible; choice things which will again remind the\nreader of the _Nibelungen Lied_, of the way in which Siegfried became\npossessed of the famous hoard of gold, and how he got that \u201ccap of\ndarkness\u201d which was so useful to him in his remaining exploits. So\nagain in \u201cthe Blue Belt\u201d, No. xxii, what is that belt which, when the\nboy girded it on, \u201che felt as strong as if he could lift the whole\nhill\u201d, but Thor\u2019s \u201cchoice-belt\u201d; and what is the daring boy himself,\nwho overcomes the Troll, but Thor himself, as engaged in one of his\nadventures with the Giants? So, too, in \u201cLittle Annie the Goose-girl\u201d,\nNo. lix, the stone which tells the Prince all the secrets of his brides\nis plainly the old Oskastein, or \u201cwishing-stone\u201d. These instances will\nsuffice to show the prolonged faith in \u201cWish\u201d, and his choice things; a\nbelief which, though so deeply rooted in the North, we have already\ntraced to its home in the East, whence it stretches itself from pole to\npole, and reappears in every race. We recognize it in the wishing-cap\nof Fortunatus, which is a Celtic legend; in the cornucopia of the\nRomans; in the goat Amalthea among the Greeks; in the wishing-cow and\nwishing-tree of the Hindoos; in the pumpkin-tree of the West Indian\nAnanzi stories; in the cow of the Servian legends, who spins yarn out\nof her ear; in the Sampo of the Finns; and in all those stories of\ncups, and glasses, and horns, and rings, and swords, seized by some\nbold spirit in the midst of a fairy revel, or earned by some kind deed\nrendered by mortal hand to one of the \u201cgood folk\u201d in her hour of need,\nand with which the \u201c_luck_\u201d[29] of that mortal\u2019s house was ever\nafterwards bound up; stories with which the local traditions of all\nlands are full, but which all pay unconscious homage to the worship of\nthat great God, to whom so many heathen hearts so often turned as the\ndivine realizer of their prayers, and the giver of all good things,\nuntil they come at last to make an idol out of their hopes and prayers,\nand to immortalize the very \u201cWish\u201d itself.\n\nAgain, of all beliefs, that in which man has, at all times of his\nhistory, been most prone to set faith, is that of a golden age of peace\nand plenty, which had passed away, but which might be expected to\nreturn. Such a period was looked for when Augustus closed the temple of\nJanus, and peace, though perhaps not plenty, reigned over what the\nproud Roman called the habitable world. Such a period the early\nChristian expected when the Saviour was born, in the reign of that very\nAugustus; and such a period some, whose thoughts are more set on earth\nthan heaven, have hoped for ever since, with a hope which, though\ndeferred for eighteen centuries, has not made their hearts sick. Such a\nperiod of peace and plenty, such a golden time, the Norseman could tell\nof in his mythic Frodi\u2019s reign, when gold or _Frodi\u2019s meal_, as it was\ncalled, was so plentiful that golden armlets lay untouched from year\u2019s\nend to year\u2019s end on the king\u2019s highway, and the fields bore crops\nunsown. Here, in England, the Anglo-Saxon Bede[30] knew how to tell the\nsame story of Edwin, the Northumbrian King, and when Alfred came to be\nmythic, the same legend was passed on from Edwin to the West Saxon\nmonarch. The remembrance of \u201cthe bountiful Frodi\u201d echoed in the songs\nof German poets long after the story which made him so bountiful had\nbeen forgotten; but the Norse Skalds could tell not only the story of\nFrodi\u2019s wealth and bounty, but also of his downfall and ruin. In\nFrodi\u2019s house were two maidens of that old giant race, Fenja and Menja.\nThese daughters of the giant he had bought as slaves, and he made them\ngrind his quern or hand-mill, Grotti, out of which he used to grind\npeace and gold. Even in that golden age one sees there were slaves, and\nFrodi, however bountiful to his thanes and people, was a hard\ntask-master to his giant hand-maidens. He kept them to the mill, nor\ngave them longer rest than the cuckoo\u2019s note lasted, or they could sing\na song. But that quern was such that it ground anything that the\ngrinder chose, though until then it had ground nothing but gold and\npeace. So the maidens ground and ground, and one sang their piteous\ntale in a strain worthy of Aeschylus as the other worked\u2014they prayed\nfor rest and pity, but Frodi was deaf. Then they turned in giant mood,\nand ground no longer peace and plenty, but fire and war. Then the quern\nwent fast and furious, and that very night came Mysing the Sea-rover,\nand slew Frodi and all his men, and carried off the quern; and so\nFrodi\u2019s peace ended. The maidens the sea-rover took with him, and when\nhe got on the high seas he bade them grind salt. So they ground; and at\nmidnight they asked if he had not salt enough, but he bade them still\ngrind on. So they ground till the ship was full and sank, Mysing,\nmaids, and mill, and all, and that\u2019s why the sea is salt.[31] Perhaps\nof all the tales in this volume, none could be selected as better\nproving the toughness of a traditional belief than No. ii, which tells\n\u201cWhy the Sea is Salt\u201d.\n\nThe notion of the Arch-enemy of God and man, of a fallen angel, to whom\npower was permitted at certain times for an all-wise purpose by the\nGreat Ruler of the universe, was as foreign to the heathendom of our\nancestors as his name was outlandish and strange to their tongue. This\nnotion Christianity brought with it from the East; and though it is a\nplant which has struck deep roots, grown distorted and awry, and borne\na bitter crop of superstition, it required all the authority of the\nChurch to prepare the soil at first for its reception. To the notion of\ngood necessarily follows that of evil. The Eastern mind, with its\nOrmuzd and Ahriman, is full of such dualism, and from that hour, when a\nmore than mortal eye saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven,[32]\nthe kingdom of darkness, the abode of Satan and his bad spirits, was\nestablished in direct opposition to the kingdom of the Saviour and his\nangels. The North had its own notion on this point. Its mythology was\nnot without its own dark powers; but though they too were ejected and\ndispossessed, they, according to that mythology, had rights of their\nown. To them belonged all the universe that had not been seized and\nreclaimed by the younger race of Odin and Aesir; and though this\nupstart dynasty, as the Frost Giants in Promethean phrase would have\ncalled it, well knew that Hel, one of this giant progeny, was fated to\ndo them all mischief, and to outlive them, they took her and made her\nqueen of Niflheim, and mistress over nine worlds. There, in a bitterly\ncold place, she received the souls of all who died of sickness or old\nage; care was her bed, hunger her dish, starvation her knife. Her walls\nwere high and strong, and her bolts and bars huge; \u201cHalf blue was her\nskin, and half the colour of human flesh. A goddess easy to know, and\nin all things very stern and grim.\u201d[33] But though severe, she was not\nan evil spirit. She only received those who died as no Norseman wished\nto die. For those who fell on the gory battle-field, or sank beneath\nthe waves, Valhalla was prepared, and endless mirth and bliss with\nOdin. Those went to Hel, who were rather unfortunate than wicked, who\ndied before they could be killed. But when Christianity came in and\nejected Odin and his crew of false divinities, declaring them to be\nlying gods and demons, then Hel fell with the rest; but fulfilling her\nfate, outlived them. From a person she became a place, and all the\nNorthern nations, from the Goth to the Norseman, agreed in believing\nHell to be the abode of the devil and his wicked spirits, the place\nprepared from the beginning for the everlasting torments of the damned.\nOne curious fact connected with this explanation of Hell\u2019s origin will\nnot escape the reader\u2019s attention. The Christian notion of Hell is that\nof a place of heat, for in the East, whence Christianity came, heat is\noften an intolerable torment, and cold, on the other hand, everything\nthat is pleasant and delightful. But to the dweller in the North, heat\nbrings with it sensations of joy and comfort, and life without fire has\na dreary outlook; so their Hel ruled in a cold region over those who\nwere cowards by implication, while the mead-cup went round, and huge\nlogs blazed and crackled in Valhalla, for the brave and beautiful who\nhad dared to die on the field of battle. But under Christianity the\nextremes of heat and cold have met, and Hel, the cold uncomfortable\ngoddess, is now our Hell, where flames and fire abound, and where the\ndevils abide in everlasting flame.\n\nStill, popular tradition is tough, and even after centuries of\nChristian teaching, the Norse peasant, in his popular tales, can still\ntell of Hell as a place where fire-wood is wanted at Christmas, and\nover which a certain air of comfort breathes, though, as in the goddess\nHel\u2019s halls, meat is scarce. The following passage from \u201cWhy the Sea is\nSalt\u201d, No. ii, will sufficiently prove this:\n\n\u201cWell, here is the flitch\u201d, said the rich brother, \u201cand now go straight\nto Hell.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat I have given my word to do, I must stick to\u201d said the other; so\nhe took the flitch and set off. He walked the whole day, and at dusk he\ncame to a place where he saw a very bright light.\n\n\u201cMaybe this is the place\u201d said the man to himself. So he turned aside,\nand the first thing he saw was an old, old man, with a long white\nbeard, who stood in an outhouse, hewing wood for the Christmas fire.\n\n\u201cGood even,\u201d said the man with the flitch.\n\n\u201cThe same to you; whither are you going so late?\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019m going to Hell, if I only knew the right way,\u201d answered the\npoor man.\n\n\u201cWell, you\u2019re not far wrong, for this is Hell,\u201d said the old man; \u201cWhen\nyou get inside they will be all for buying your flitch, for meat is\nscarce in Hell; but mind you don\u2019t sell it unless you get the\nhand-quern which stands behind the door for it. When you come out, I\u2019ll\nteach you how to handle the quern, for it\u2019s good to grind almost\nanything.\u201d\n\nThis, too, is the proper place to explain the conclusion of that\nintensely heathen tale, \u201cthe Master-Smith\u201d, No. xvi. We have already\nseen how the Saviour and St Peter supply, in its beginning, the place\nof Odin and some other heathen god. But when the Smith sets out with\nthe feeling that he has done a silly thing in quarrelling with the\nDevil, having already lost his hope of heaven, this tale assumes a\nstill more heathen shape. According to the old notion, those who were\nnot Odin\u2019s guests went either to Thor\u2019s house, who had all the thralls,\nor to Freyja, who even claimed a third part of the slain on every\nbattle-field with Odin, or to Hel, the cold comfortless goddess already\nmentioned, who was still no tormentor, though she ruled over nine\nworlds, and though her walls were high, and her bolts and bars huge;\ntraits which come out in \u201cthe Master-Smith\u201d, No. xvi, when the Devil,\nwho here assumes Hel\u2019s place, orders the watch to go back and lock up\n_all the nine locks on the gates of Hell_ \u2014a lock for each of the\ngoddesses _nine_ worlds\u2014and to put a padlock on besides. In the\ntwilight between heathendom and Christianity, in that half Christian\nhalf heathen consciousness, which this tale reveals, heaven is the\npreferable abode, as Valhalla was of yore, but rather than be without a\nhouse to one\u2019s head after death, Hell was not to be despised; though,\nhaving behaved ill to the ruler of one, and actually quarrelled with\nthe master of the other, the Smith was naturally anxious on the matter.\nThis notion of different abodes in another world, not necessarily\nplaces of torment, comes out too in \u201cNot a Pin to choose between them\u201d,\nNo. xxiv, where Peter, the second husband of the silly Goody, goes\nabout begging from house to house in Paradise.\n\nFor the rest, whenever the Devil appears in these tales, it is not at\nall as the Arch-enemy, as the subtle spirit of the Christian\u2019s faith,\nbut rather as one of the old Giants, supernatural and hostile indeed to\nman, but simple and easily deceived by a cunning reprobate, whose\nsuperior intelligence he learns to dread, for whom he feels himself no\nmatch, and whom, finally, he will receive in Hell at no price. We shall\nhave to notice some other characteristics of this race of giants a\nlittle further on, but certainly no greater proof can be given of the\nsmall hold which the Christian Devil has taken of the Norse mind, than\nthe heathen aspect under which he constantly appears, and the ludicrous\nway in which he is always outwitted.\n\nWe have seen how our Lord and the saints succeeded to Odin and his\nchildren in the stories which told of their wanderings on earth, to\nwarn the wicked, or to help the good; we have seen how the kindliness\nand helpfulness of the ancient goddesses fell like a royal mantle round\nthe form of the Virgin Mary. We have seen, too, on the other hand, how\nthe procession of the Almighty God degenerated into the infernal\nmidnight hunt. We have now to see what became of the rest of the power\nof the goddesses, of all that might which was not absorbed into the\nglory of the blessed Virgin. We shall not have far to seek. No reader\nof early medieval chronicles and sermons, can fail to have been struck\nwith many passages which ascribe majesty and power to beings of woman\u2019s\nsex. Now it is a heathen goddess as _Diana_ ; now some half-historical\ncharacter as _Bertha_ ; now a mythical being as _Holda_ ; now\n_Herodias_ ; now _Satia_ ; now _Domina Abundia_, or _Dame Habonde_.[34]\n\nA very short investigation will serve to identify the two ancient\ngoddesses Frigga and Freyja with all these leaders of a midnight host.\nJust as Odin was banished from day to darkness, so the two great\nheathen goddesses, fused into one \u201cuncanny\u201d shape, were supposed to\nride the air at night. Medieval chroniclers, writing in bastard Latin,\nand following the example of classical authors, when they had to find a\nname for this demon-goddess, chose, of course, _Diana_ the heathen\nhuntress, the moon-goddess, and the ruler of the night. In the same\nway, when they threw Odin\u2019s name into a Latin shape, he, the god of wit\nand will, as well as power and victory, became Mercury. As for\nHerodias\u2014not the mother, but the daughter who danced\u2014she must have made\na deep impression on the mind of the early Middle Age, for she was\nsupposed to have been cursed after the beheading of John the Baptist,\nand to have gone on dancing for ever. When heathendom fell, she became\nconfounded with the ancient Goddesses, and thus we find her, sometimes\namong the crew of the Wild Huntsman, sometimes, as we see in the\npassages below, in company with, or in the place of _Diana, Holda,\nSatia_, and _Abundia_, at the head of a bevy of women, who met at\ncertain places to celebrate unholy rites and mysteries. As for _Holda,\nSatia_, and _Abundia_, \u201cthe kind\u201d, \u201cthe satisfying\u201d, and \u201cthe\nabundant\u201d, they are plainly names of good rather than evil powers; they\nare ancient epithets drawn from the bounty of the \u201cGood Lady\u201d, and\nattest the feeling of respect which still clung to them in the popular\nmind. As was the case whenever Christianity was brought in, the country\nfolk, always averse to change, as compared with the more lively and\nintelligent dwellers in towns, still remained more or less heathen,[35]\nand to this day they preserve unconsciously many superstitions which\ncan be traced up in lineal descent to their old belief. In many ways\ndoes the old divinity peep out under the new superstition\u2014the long\ntrain, the midnight feast, \u201cthe good lady\u201d who presides, the bounty and\nabundance which her votaries fancied would follow in her footsteps, all\nbelong to the ancient Goddess. Most curious of all is the way in which\nall these traditions from different countries insist on the third part\nof the earth, the third child born, the third soul as belonging to the\n\u201cgood lady\u201d, who leads the revel; for this right of a third, or even of\na half, was one which Freyja possessed. \u201cBut Freyja is most famous of\nthe Asynjor. She has that bower in heaven hight F\u00f3lkv\u00e1ngr, and\n\u201cwhithersoever she rideth to the battle, there hath she one half of the\nslain; but Odin the other half.\u201d Again \u201cwhen she fares abroad, she\ndrives two cats and sits in a car, and she lends an easy ear to the\nprayers of men.\u201d[36]\n\nWe have got then the ancient goddesses identified as evil influences,\nand as the leader of a midnight band of women, who practised secret and\nunholy rites. This leads us at once to witchcraft. In all ages and in\nall races this belief in sorcery has existed. Men and women practised\nit alike, but in all times female sorcerers have predominated.[37] This\nwas natural enough. In those days women were priestesses; they\ncollected drugs and simples; women alone knew the virtues of plants.\nThose soft hands spun linen, made lint, and bound wounds. Women in the\nearliest times with which we are acquainted with our forefathers, alone\nknew how to read and write, they only could carve the mystic runes,\nthey only could chant the charms so potent to allay the wounded\nwarrior\u2019s smart and pain. The men were busy out of doors with\nploughing, hunting, barter, and war. In such an age the sex which\npossessed by natural right book-learning, physic, soothsaying, and\nincantation, even when they used these mysteries for good purposes,\nwere but a step from sin. The same soft white hand that bound the wound\nand scraped the lint; the same gentle voice that sung the mystic rune,\nthat helped the child-bearing woman, or drew the arrow-head from the\ndying champion\u2019s breast; the same bright eye that gazed up to heaven in\necstacy through the sacred grove and read the will of the Gods when the\nmystic tablets and rune-carved lots were cast\u2014all these, if the will\nwere bad, if the soothsayer passed into the false prophetess, the leech\ninto a poisoner, and the priestess into a witch, were as potent and\nterrible for ill as they had once been powerful for good. In all the\nIndo-European tribes, therefore, women, and especially old women, have\npractised witchcraft from the earliest times, and Christianity found\nthem wherever it advanced. But Christianity, as it placed mankind upon\na higher platform of civilization, increased the evil which it found,\nand when it expelled the ancient goddesses, and confounded them as\ndemons with Diana and Herodias, it added them and their votaries to the\nold class of malevolent sorcerers. There was but one step, but a simple\nact of the will, between the Norn and the hag, even before Christianity\ncame in. As soon as it came, down went Goddess, Valkyrie, Norn,\npriestess, and soothsayer, into that unholy deep where the heathen hags\nand witches had their being; and, as Christianity gathered strength,\ndeveloped its dogmas, and worked out its faith; fancy, tradition,\nleechcraft, poverty, and idleness, produced that unhappy class, the\nmedieval witch, the persecution of which is one of the darkest pages in\nreligious history.\n\nIt is curious indeed to trace the belief in witches through the Middle\nAge, and to mark how it increases in intensity and absurdity. At first,\nas we have seen in the passages quoted, the superstition seemed\ncomparatively harmless, and though the witches themselves may have\nbelieved in their unholy power, there were not wanting divines who took\na common-sense view of the matter, and put the absurdity of their\npretensions to a practical proof. Such was that good parish priest who\nasked, when an old woman of his flock insisted that she had been in his\nhouse with the company of \u201cthe Good Lady\u201d, and had seen him naked and\ncovered him up, \u201cHow, then, did you get in when all the doors were\nlocked?\u201d \u201cWe can get in,\u201d she said, \u201ceven if the doors are locked.\u201d\nThen the priest took her into the chancel of the church, locked the\ndoor, and gave her a sound thrashing with the pastoral staff, calling\nout \u201cOut with you, lady witch.\u201d But as she could not, he sent her home,\nsaying \u201cSee now how foolish you are to believe in such empty\ndreams\u201d.[38] But as the Church increased in strength, as heresies\narose, and consequent persecution, then the secret meetings of these\nsectarians, as we should now call them, were identified by the\nhierarchy with the rites of sorcery and magic, and with the relics of\nthe worship of the old gods. By the time, too, that the hierarchy was\nestablished, that belief in the fallen angel, the Arch-Fiend, the\nDevil, originally so foreign to the nations of the West, had become\nthoroughly ingrafted on the popular mind, and a new element of\nwickedness and superstition was introduced at those unholy festivals.\nAbout the middle of the thirteenth century, we find the mania for\npersecuting heretics invading the tribes of Teutonic race from France\nand Italy, backed by all the power of the Pope. Like jealousy,\npersecution too often makes the meat it feeds on, and many silly, if\nnot harmless, superstitions were rapidly put under the ban of the\nChurch. Now the \u201cGood Lady\u201d and her train begin to recede, they only\nfill up the background while the Prince of Darkness steps, dark and\nterrible, in front, and soon draws after him the following of the\nancient goddess. Now we hear stories of demoniac possession; now the\nwitches adore a demon of the other sex. With the male element, and its\nharsher, sterner nature, the sinfulness of these unholy assemblies is\ninfinitely increased; folly becomes guilt, and guilt crime.[39]\n\nFrom the middle of the fourteenth to the middle of the seventeenth\ncentury the history of Europe teems with processes against witches and\nsorcerers. Before the Reformation it reached its height, in the\nCatholic world, with the famous bull of Innocent the Eighth in 1484,\nthe infamous _Malleus Maleficarum_, the first of the long list of\nwitch-finding books, and the zeal with which the State lent all the\nterrors of the law to assist the ecclesiastical inquisitors. Before the\ntribunals of those inquisitors, in the fifteenth century, innumerable\nvictims were arraigned on the double charge of heresy and sorcery\u2014for\nthe crimes ran in couples, both being children and sworn servants of\nthe Devil. Would that the historian could say that with the era of the\nReformation these abominations ceased. The Roman Hierarchy, with her\nbulls and inquisitors, had sown a bitter crop, which both she and the\nProtestant Churches were destined to reap; but in no part of the world\nwere the labourers more eager and willing, when the fields were \u201cblack\u201d\nto harvest, than in those very reformed communities which had just\nshaken off the yoke of Rome, and which had sprung in many cases from\nthe very heretics whom she had persecuted and burnt, accusing them at\nthe same time, of the most malignant sorceries.[40] Their excuse is,\nthat no one is before his age. The intense personality given to the\nDevil in the Middle Age had possessed the whole mind of Europe. We must\ntake them as we find them, with their bright fancy, their earnest\nfaith, their stern fanaticism, their revolting superstition, just as\nwhen we look upon a picture we know that those brilliant hues and\ntones, that spirit which informs the whole, could never be, were it not\nfor the vulgar earths and oil out of which the glorious work of art is\nmixed and made. Strangely monotonous are all the witch trials of which\nEurope has so many to show. At first the accused denies, then under\ntorture she confesses, then relapses and denies; tortured again she\nconfesses again, amplifies her story, and accuses others. When given to\nthe stake, she not seldom asserts all her confessions to be false,\nwhich is ascribed to the power which the fiend still has over her. Then\nshe is burnt and her ashes given to the winds. Those who wish to read\none unexampled, perhaps for barbarity and superstition, and more\ncurious than the rest from the prominence given in it to a man, may\nfind it in the trial of Dr. Fian, the Scotch wizard, \u201cwhich doctor was\nregister to the Devil, that sundry times preached at North Baricke\n(North Berwick, in East Lothian) Kirke, to a number of notorious\nwitches.\u201d[41] But we advise no one to venture on a perusal of this\ntract who is not prepared to meet with the most unutterable accusations\nand crimes, the most cruel tortures, and the most absurd confessions,\nfollowed as usual by the stoutest denial of all that had been\nconfessed; when torture had done her worst on poor human nature, and\nthe soul re-asserted at the last her supremacy over the body.[42] One\ncharacteristic of all these witch trials, is the fact, that in spite of\ntheir unholy connection and intrigues with the Evil One, no witch ever\nattained to wealth and station by the aid of the Prince of Darkness.\nThe pleasure to do ill, is all the pleasure they feel. This fact alone\nmight have opened the eyes of their persecutors, for if the Devil had\nthe worldly power which they represented him to have, he might at least\nhave raised some of his votaries to temporal rank, and to the pomps and\nthe vanities of this world. An old German proverb expresses this\nnotorious fact, by saying, that \u201cevery seven years, a witch is three\nhalfpence richer\u201d; and so with all the unholy means of Hell at their\ncommand, they dragged out their lives, along with their black cats, in\npoverty and wretchedness. To this fate at last, came the worshippers of\nthe great goddess Freyja, whom our forefathers adored as the goddess of\nlove and plenty; and whose car was drawn by those animals which popular\nsuperstition has ever since assigned to the \u201cold witch\u201d of our English\nvillages.\n\nThe North was not free, any more than the rest of the Protestant world,\nfrom this direful superstition, which ran over Europe like a pestilence\nin the sixteenth century. In Sweden especially, the witches and their\nmidnight ridings to _Blokulla_, the black hill, gave occasion to\nprocesses as absurd and abominable as the trial of Dr. Fian and the\nwitch-findings of Hopkins. In Denmark, the sorceresses were supposed to\nmeet at Tromsoe high up in Finmark, or even on Heckla in Iceland. The\nNorse witches met at a Blokolle of their own, or on the Dovrefell, or\nat other places in Norway or Finmark. As might be expected, we find\nmany traces of witchcraft in these Tales, but it may be doubted whether\nthese may not be referred rather to the old heathen belief in such arts\nstill lingering in the popular mind than to the processes of the\nfifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which were far more a craze and\nmania of the educated classes acting under a mistaken religious\nfanaticism against popular superstitions than a movement arising from\nthe mass of the community. Still, in \u201cthe Mastermaid\u201d, No. xi, the\nwitch of a sister-in-law, who had rolled the apple over to the Prince,\nand so charmed him, was torn to pieces between twenty-four horses. The\nold queen in \u201cThe Lassie and her Godmother\u201d, No. xxvii, tries to\npersuade her son to have the young queen burnt alive for a wicked\nwitch, who was dumb, and had eaten her own babes. In \u201cEast o\u2019 the Sun\nand West o\u2019 the Moon\u201d, No. iv, it is a wicked stepmother who has\nbewitched the prince. In \u201cBushy Bride\u201d, No. xlv, the ugly bride charms\nthe king to sleep, and is at last thrown, with her wicked mother, into\na pit full of snakes. In the \u201cTwelve Wild Ducks\u201d, No. viii, the wicked\nstepmother persuades the king that Snow-white and Rosy-red is a witch,\nand almost persuades him to burn her alive. In \u201cTatterhood\u201d, No. xlvii,\na whole troop of witches come to keep their revels on Christmas eve in\nthe Queen\u2019s Palace, and snap off the young Princess\u2019s head. It is hard,\nindeed, in tales where Trolls play so great a part, to keep witch and\nTroll separate; but the above instances will show that the belief in\nthe one, as distinct from the other, exists in the popular\nsuperstitions of the North.\n\nThe frequent transformation of men into beasts, in these tales, is\nanother striking feature. This power the gods of the Norseman possessed\nin common with those of all other mythologies. Europa and her Bull,\nLeda and her Swan, will occur at once to the reader\u2019s mind; and to come\nto closer resemblances, just as Athene appears in the Odyssey as an\neagle or a swallow perched on the roof of the hall,[43] so Odin flies\noff as a falcon, and Loki takes the form of a horse or bird. This was\nonly part of that omnipotence which all gods enjoy. But the belief that\nmen, under certain conditions, could also take the shape of animals, is\nprimaeval, and the traditions of every race can tell of such\ntransformations. Herodotus had heard how the Neurians, a Slavonic race,\npassed for wizards amongst the Scythians and the Greeks settled round\nthe Black Sea, because each of them, once in the year, became a wolf\nfor a few days, and then returned to his natural shape. Pliny,\nPomponius Mela, and St. Augustin, in his great treatise, _De Civitate\nDei_, tell the same story, and Virgil, in his Eclogues, has sung the\nsame belief.[44] The Latins called such a man, a\n_turnskin\u2014versipellis_, an expression which exactly agrees with the\nIcelandic expression for the same thing, and which is probably the true\noriginal of our _turncoat_. In Petronius the superstition appears in\nits full shape, and is worth repeating. At the banquet of Trimalchion,\nNicoros gives the following account of the turn-skins of Nero\u2019s time:\n\n\u201cIt happened that my master was gone to Capua to dispose of some\nsecond-hand goods. I took the opportunity and persuaded our guest to\nwalk with me to the fifth milestone. He was a valiant soldier, and a\nsort of grim water-drinking Pluto. About cock-crow, when the moon was\nshining as bright as mid-day, we came among the monuments. My friend\nbegan addressing himself to the stars, but I was rather in a mood to\nsing or to count them; and when I turned to look at him, lo! he had\nalready stripped himself and laid down his clothes near him. My heart\nwas in my nostrils, and I stood like a dead man; but he \u201c_circumminxit\nvestimenta_\u201d, and on a sudden became a wolf. Do not think I jest; I\nwould not lie for any man\u2019s estate. But to return to what I was saying.\nWhen he became a wolf, he began howling, and fled into the woods. At\nfirst I hardly knew where I was, and afterwards, when I went to take up\nhis clothes, they were turned into stone. Who then died with fear but\nI? Yet I drew my sword, and went cutting the air right and left, till I\nreached the villa of my sweetheart. I entered the court-yard. I almost\nbreathed my last, the sweat ran down my neck, my eyes were dim, and I\nthought I should never recover myself. My Melissa wondered why I was\nout so late, and said to me: \u201cHad you come sooner you might at least\nhave helped us, for a wolf has entered the farm, and worried all our\ncattle; but he had not the best of the joke, for all he escaped, for\nour slave ran a lance through his neck.\u201d When I heard this, I could not\ndoubt how it was, and, as it was clear daylight, ran home as fast as a\nrobbed innkeeper. When I came to the spot where the clothes had been\nturned into stone, I could find nothing except blood. But when I got\nhome, I found my friend the soldier in bed, bleeding at the neck like\nan ox, and a doctor dressing his wound. I then knew he was a turn-skin,\nnor would I ever have broke bread with him again; No, not if you had\nkilled me.\u201d[45]\n\nA man who had such a gift or greed was also called lycanthropus, a\nman-wolf or wolf-man, which term the Anglo-Saxons translated literally\nin Canute\u2019s Laws _verevulf_, and the early English _werewolf_. In old\nFrench he was _loupgarou_, which means the same thing; except that\n_garou_ means man-wolf in itself without the antecedent _loup_, so\nthat, as Madden observes, the whole word is one of those reduplications\nof which we have an example in _lukewarm_. In Brittany he was\n_bleizgarou_ and _denvleiz_, formed respectively from _bleiz_, wolf,\nand _den_, man; _garou_ is merely a distorted form of _wer_ or _vere_,\nman and _loup_. In later French the word became _waroul_, whence the\nScotch _wrout_, _wurl_, and _worlin_.[46]\n\nIt was not likely that a belief so widely spread should not have\nextended itself to the North; and the grave assertions of Olaus Magnus\nin the sixteenth century, in his Treatise _De Gentibus\nSeptentrionalibus_, show how common the belief in were-wolves was in\nSweden so late as the time of Gustavus Vasa. In mythical times the\n_Volsunga Saga_[47] expressly states of Sigmund and Sinfj\u00f6tli that they\nbecame were-wolves\u2014which, we may remark, were Odin\u2019s sacred beasts\u2014just\nin the same way as Brynhildr and the Valkyries, or corse-choosers, who\nfollowed the god of battles to the field, and chose the dead for\nValhalla when the fight was done, became swan-maidens, and took the\nshape of swans. In either case, the wolf\u2019s skin or the swan\u2019s feathery\ncovering was assumed and laid aside at pleasure, though the _V\u00f6lundr\nQuidr_, in the _Edda_, and the stories of \u201cThe Fair Melusina\u201d, and\nother medieval swan-maidens, show that any one who seized that shape\nwhile thus laid aside, had power over its wearer. In later times, when\nthis old heroic belief degenerated into the notion of sorcery, it was\nsupposed that a girdle of wolfskin thrown over the body, or even a slap\non the face with a wolfskin glove, would transform the person upon whom\nthe sorcerer practised into the shape of a ravening wolf, which fled at\nonce to the woods, where he remained in that shape for a period which\nvaried in popular belief for nine days, three, seven, or nine years.\nWhile in this state he was especially ravenous after young children,\nwhom he carried off as the were-wolf carried off William in the old\nromance, though all were-wolves did not treat their prey with the same\ntenderness as that were-wolf treated William.\n\nBut the favourite beast for Norse transformations in historic times, if\nwe may judge from the evidence afforded by the Sagas, was the bear, the\nking of all their beasts, whose strength and sagacity made him an\nobject of great respect.[48]\n\nThis old belief, then, might be expected to be found in these Norse\nTales, and accordingly we find men transformed in them into various\nbeasts. Of old these transformations, as we have already stated, were\nactive, if we may use the expression, as well as passive. A man who\npossessed the gift, frequently assumed the shape of a beast at his own\nwill and pleasure, like the soldier in Petronius. Even now in Norway,\nit is matter of popular belief that Finns and Lapps, who from time\nimmemorial have passed for the most skilful witches and wizards in the\nworld, can at will assume the shape of bears; and it is a common thing\nto say of one of those beasts, when he gets unusually savage and\ndaring, \u201cthat can be no Christian bear\u201d. On such a bear, in the parish\nof Of\u00f6den, after he had worried to death more than sixty horses and six\nmen, it is said that a girdle of bearskin, the infallible mark of a man\nthus transformed, was found when he was at last tracked and slain. The\ntale called \u201cFarmer Weathersky\u201d, No. xli in this collection, shows that\nthe belief of these spontaneous transformations still exists in popular\ntradition, where it is easy to see that Farmer Weathersky is only one\nof the ancient gods degraded into a demon\u2019s shape. His sudden departure\nthrough the air, horse, sledge, and lad, and all, and his answer \u201cI\u2019m\nat home, alike north, and south, and east, and west\u201d; his name itself,\nand his distant abode, surrounded with the corpses of the slain,\nsufficiently betray the divinity in disguise. His transformation, too,\ninto a hawk answers exactly to that of Odin when he flew away from the\nFrost Giant in the shape of that bird. But in these tales such\ntransformations are for the most part passive; they occur not at the\nwill of the person transformed, but through sorcery practised on them\nby some one else. Thus the White Bear in the beautiful story of \u201cEast\no\u2019 the Sun and West o\u2019 the Moon\u201d, No. iv, is a Prince transformed by\nhis stepmother, just as it is the stepmother who plays the same part in\nthe romance of William and the Were-wolf. So the horse in \u201cthe Widow\u2019s\nSon\u201d, No. xliv, is a Prince over whom a king has cast that shape.[49]\nSo also in \u201cLord Peter\u201d, No. xlii, which is the full story of what we\nhave only hitherto known in part as \u201cPuss in Boots\u201d, the cat is a\nprincess bewitched by the Troll who had robbed her of her lands; so\nalso in \u201cThe Seven Foals\u201d, No. xliii, and \u201cThe Twelve Wild Ducks\u201d, No.\nviii, the Foals and the Ducks are Princes over whom that fate has come\nby the power of a witch or a Troll, to whom an unwary promise had been\ngiven. Thoroughly mythic is the trait in \u201cThe Twelve Wild Ducks\u201d, where\nthe youngest brother reappears with a wild duck\u2019s wing instead of his\nleft arm, because his sister had no time to finish that portion of the\nshirt, upon the completion of which his retransformation depended.\n\nBut we should ill understand the spirit of the Norsemen, if we supposed\nthat these transformations into beasts were all that the national heart\nhas to tell of beasts and their doings, or that, when they appear, they\ndo so merely as men-beasts, without any power or virtue of their own.\nFrom the earliest times, side by side with those productions of the\nhuman mind which speak of the dealings of men with men, there has grown\nup a stock of traditions about animals and their relations with one\nanother, which forms a true Beast Epic, and is full of the liveliest\ntraits of nature. Here, too, it was reserved for Grimm to restore these\ntraditions to their true place in the history of the human mind, and\nshow that the poetry which treats of them is neither satirical nor\ndidactic, though it may contain touches of both these artificial kinds\nof composition, but, on the contrary, purely and intensely natural. It\nis Epic, in short, springing out of that deep love of nature and close\nobservation of the habits of animals which is only possible in an early\nand simple stage of society. It used to be the fashion, when these\nBeast traditions were noticed, to point to Aesop as their original, but\nGrimm has sufficiently proved[50] that what we see in Aesop is only the\nremains of a great world-old cycle of such traditions which had\nalready, in Aesop\u2019s day, been subjected by the Greek mind to that\ncritical process which a late state of society brings to bear on\npopular traditions; that they were then already worn and washed out and\nmoralized. He had also shown how the same process went on till in\nPhaedrus nothing but the dry bones of the traditions, with a drier\nmoral, are served up to the reader; and he has done justice on La\nFontaine, who wrote with all the wanton licentiousness of his day, and\nfrittered away the whole nature of his fables by the frivolity of his\nallusions to the artificial society of his time. Nor has he spared\nLessing, who, though he saw through the poverty of Phaedrus as compared\nwith Aesop, and was alive to the weakness of La Fontaine, still\nwandered about in the classical mist which hung heavy over the learning\nof the eighteenth century, and saw in the Greek form the perfection of\nall fable, when in Aesop it really appears in a state of degeneracy and\ndecay. Here too, as in so many other things, we have a proof that the\nworld is older than we think it. The Beast-Fables in the _Pantcha\nTantra_ and the _Hitopadesa_, the Indian parallels to Aesop, reveal, in\nthe connection in which they occur, and in the moral use to which they\nare put, a state of society long past that simple early time in which\nsuch fictions arise. They must have sprung up in the East in the very\ndawn of time; and thence travelling in all directions, we find them\nafter many centuries in various shapes, which admit of no mistake as to\ntheir first origin, at the very ends of the earth, in countries as\nopposite as the Poles to each other; in New Zealand and Norway, in\nCentral Africa and Servia, in the West Indies and in Mongolia; all\nseparated by immense tracts of land or sea from their common centre. To\nthe earnest inquirer, to one who believes that many dark things may yet\nbe solved, it is very satisfactory to see that even Grimm, in his\n_Reynard the Fox_, is at a loss to understand why the North, properly\nso called, had none of the traditions which the Middle Age moulded into\nthat famous Beast-Epic. But since then the North, as the Great Master\nhimself confesses in his later works, has amply avenged herself for the\nslight thus cast upon her by mistake. In the year 1834, when Grimm thus\nexpressed his surprise on this point, the North had no such traditions\nto show in books indeed, but she kept them stored up in her heart in an\nabundance with which no other land perhaps can vie. This book at least\nshows how natural it seems to the Norse mind now, and how much more\nnatural of course it seemed in earlier times, when sense went for as\nmuch and reflection for so little, that beasts should talk; and how\ntruly and faithfully it has listened and looked for the accents and\ncharacter of each. The Bear is still the King of Beasts, in which\ncharacter he appears in \u201cTrue and Untrue\u201d, No. i, but here, as in\nGermany, he is no match for the Fox in wit. Thus Reynard plays him a\ntrick which condemns him for ever to a stumpy tail in No. xxiii. He\ncheats him out of his share of a firkin of butter in No. lvii. He is\npreferred as Herdsman, in No. x, before either Bear or Wolf, by the old\nwife who wants some one to tend her flock. Yet all the while he\nprofesses immense respect for the Bear, and calls him \u201cLord\u201d, even when\nin the very act of outwitting him. In the tale called \u201cWell Done and\nIll Paid\u201d, No. xxxviii, the crafty fox puts a finish to his\nmisbehaviour to his \u201cLord Bruin\u201d, by handing him over, bound hand and\nfoot, to the peasant, and by causing his death outright. Here, too, we\nhave an example, which we shall see repeated in the case of the giants,\nthat strength and stature are not always wise, and that wit and wisdom\nnever fail to carry the day against mere brute force. Another tale,\nhowever, restores the bear to his true place as the king of beasts,\nendowed not only with strength, but with something divine and terrible\nabout him which the Trolls cannot withstand. This is \u201cThe Cat on the\nDovrefell\u201d, No. xii. In connection with which, it should be remembered\nthat the same tradition existed in the thirteenth century in\nGermany,[51] that the bear is called familiarly grandfather in the\nNorth, and that the Lapps reckon him rather as akin to men than beasts;\nthat they say he has the strength of ten and the wit of twelve men. If\nthey slay him, they formally beg his pardon, as do also the Ostjaks, a\ntribe akin to the Lapps, and bring him to their huts with great\nformalities and mystic songs. To the Wolf, whose nickname is\n\u201cGraylegs\u201d,[52] these tales are more complimentary. He is not the\nspiteful, stupid, greedy Isengrim of Germany and France. Not that\nIsengrim, of whom old English fables of the thirteenth century tell us\nthat he became a monk, but when the brethren wished to teach him his\nletters that he might learn the paternoster, all they could get out of\nhim was _lamb, lamb_ ; nor could they ever get him to look to the\ncross, for his eyes, with his thoughts, \u201cwere ever to the\nwoodward\u201d.[53] He appears, on the contrary, in \u201cThe Giant who had no\nHeart in his body\u201d, No. ix, as a kindly grateful beast, who repays\ntenfold out of the hidden store of his supernatural sagacity the gift\nof the old jade, which Boots had made over to him.\n\nThe horse was a sacred animal among the Teutonic tribes from the first\nmoment of their appearance in history, and Tacitus[54] has related, how\nin the shade of those woods and groves which served them for temples,\nwhite horses were fed at the public cost, whose backs no mortal man\ncrossed, whose neighings and snortings were carefully watched as\nauguries and omens, and who were thought to be conscious of divine\nmysteries. In Persia, too, the classical reader will remember how the\nneighing of a horse decided the choice for the crown. Here, in England,\nat any rate, we have only to think of Hengist and Horsa, the\ntwin-heroes of the Anglo-Saxon migration, as the legend ran\u2014heroes\nwhose name meant \u201chorse\u201d\u2014and of the vale of the White Horse in Berks.,\nwhere the sacred form still gleams along the down, to be reminded of\nthe sacredness of the horse to our forefathers. The Eddas are filled\nwith the names of famous horses, and the Sagas contain many stories of\ngood steeds, in whom their owners trusted and believed as sacred to\nthis or that particular god. Such a horse is Dapplegrim in No. xl, of\nthese tales, who saves his master out of all his perils, and brings him\nto all fortune, and is another example of that mysterious connection\nwith the higher powers which animals in all ages have been supposed to\npossess.\n\nSuch a friend, too, to the helpless lassie is the Dun Bull in \u201cKatie\nWoodencloak\u201d, No. 1, out of whose ear comes the \u201cWishing Cloth\u201d, which\nserves up the choicest dishes. The story is probably imperfect, as we\nshould expect to see him again in human shape after his head was cut\noff, and his skin flayed; but, after being the chief character up to\nthat point, he remains from that time forth in the background, and we\nonly see him darkly in the man who comes out of the face of the rock\nand supplies the lassie\u2019s wants when she knocks on it. Dun, or blue, or\nmouse-colour, is the favourite colour for fairy kine. Thus the cow\nwhich Guy of Warwick killed was _dun_. The _Huldror_ in Norway have\nlarge flocks of blue kine. In Scotland runs the story of the\nmouse-coloured Elfin Bull. In Iceland the colour of such kine is\n_apalgr\u00e1r_, dapple grey. This animal has been an object of adoration\nand respect from the earliest times, and we need only remind our\nreaders of the sanctity of cows and bulls among the Indians and\nEgyptians, of \u201cthe Golden Calf\u201d in the Bible; of Io and her wanderings\nfrom land to land; and, though last, not least, of Audhumla, the Mythic\nCow in the Edda, who had so large a part in the creation of the first\nGiant in human form.[55]\n\nThe dog, to which, with all his sagacity and faithfulness something\nunclean and impure clings, as Grimm well observes, plays no very\nprominent part in these Tales.[56] We find him, however, in \u201cNot a Pin\nto choose between them\u201d, No. xxiv, where his sagacity fails to detect\nhis mistress; and, as \u201cthe foe of his own house\u201d, the half-bred foxy\nhound, who chases away the cunning Fox in \u201cWell Done and Ill Paid\u201d, No.\nxxxviii. Still he, too, in popular superstition, is gifted with a sense\nof the supernatural; he howls when death impends, and in \u201cButtercup\u201d,\nNo. xviii, it is Goldtooth, their dog, who warns Buttercup and his\nmother of the approach of the old hag. In \u201cBushy Bride\u201d, No. xlv, he\nappears only as the lassie\u2019s lap-dog, is thrown away as one of her\nsacrifices, and at last goes to the wedding in her coach; yet in that\ntale he has something weird about him, and he is sent out by his\nmistress three times to see if the dawn is coming.\n\nIn one Tale, No. xxxvii, the Goat appears in full force, and dashes out\nthe brains of the Troll, who lived under the bridge over the burn. In\nanother, \u201cTatterhood\u201d, No. xlviii, he helps the lassie in her onslaught\non the witches. He, too, was sacred to Thor in the old mythology, and\ndrew his thundering car. Here something of the divine nature of his\nformer lord, who was the great foe of all Trolls, seems to have been\npassed on in popular tradition to the animal who had seen so many\nadventures with the great God who swayed the thunder. This feud between\nthe Goat and the Trolls comes out curiously in \u201cThe Old Dame and her\nHen\u201d, No. iii, where a goat falls down the trapdoor to the Troll\u2019s\nhouse, \u201cWho sent for you, I should like to know, you long-bearded\nbeast\u201d said the Man o\u2019 the Hill, who was in an awful rage; and with\nthat he whipped up the Goat, wrung his head off, and threw him down\ninto the cellar. Still he belonged to one of the heathen gods, and so\nin later Middle-Age superstition he is assigned to the Devil, who even\ntakes his shape when he presides at the Witches\u2019 Sabbath.\n\nNor in this list must the little birds be forgotten which taught the\nman\u2019s daughter, in the tale of \u201cThe Two Stepsisters\u201d, No. xvii, how to\nact in her trials. So, too, in \u201cKatie Woodencloak\u201d, No. l, the little\nbird tells the Prince, \u201cwho understood the song of birds very well,\u201d\nthat blood is gushing out of the golden shoe. The belief that some\npersons had the gift of understanding what the birds said, is\nprimaeval. We pay homage to it in our proverbial expression, \u201ca little\nbird told me\u201d. Popular traditions and rhymes protect their nests, as in\nthe case of the wren, the robin, and the swallow. Occasionally this\ngift seems to have been acquired by eating or tasting the flesh of a\nsnake or dragon, as Sigurd, in the Volsung tale, first became aware of\nRegin\u2019s designs against his life, when he accidentally tasted the\nheart-blood of Fafnir, whom he had slain in dragon shape, and then all\nat once the swallow\u2019s song, perched above him, became as intelligible\nas human speech.\n\nWe now come to a class of beings which plays a large part, and always\nfor ill, in these Tales. These are the Giants or Trolls. In modern\nNorse tradition there is little difference between the names, but\noriginally Troll was a more general expression for a supernatural being\nthan Giant,[57] which was rather confined to a race more dull than\nwicked. In the Giants we have the wantonness of boundless bodily\nstrength and size, which, trusting entirely to these qualities, falls\nat last by its own weight. At first, it is true that proverbial wisdom,\nall the stores of traditional lore, all that could be learnt by what\nmay be called rule of thumb, was ascribed to them. One sympathises too\nwith them, and almost pities them as the representatives of a simple\nprimitive race, whose day is past and gone, but who still possessed\nsomething of the innocence and virtue of ancient times, together with a\nstock of old experience, which, however useful it might be as an\nexample to others, was quite useless to help themselves. They are the\nold Tories of mythology, as opposed to the Aesir, the advanced\nliberals. They can look back and say what has been, but to look forward\nto say what will be and shall be, and to mould the future, is beyond\ntheir ken. True as gold to the traditional and received, and worthless\nas dross for the new and progressive. Such a nature, when unprovoked,\nis easy and simple; but rouse it, and its exuberant strength rises in a\nparoxysm of rage, though its clumsy awkward blows, guided by mere\ncunning, fail to strike the slight and lissom foe who waits for and\neludes the stroke, until his reason gives him the mastery over sheer\nbrute force which has wearied itself out by its own exertions.[58]\n\nThis race, and that of the upstart Aesir, though almost always at feud,\nstill had their intervals of common intercourse, and even social\nenjoyment. Marriages take place between them, visits are paid, feasts\nare given, ale is breached, and mirth is fast and furious. Thor was the\nworst foe the giants ever had, and yet he met them sometimes on good\nterms. They were destined to meet once for all on that awful day, \u201cthe\ntwilight of the gods\u201d, but till then, they entertained for each other\nsome sense of mutual respect.\n\nThe Trolls, on the other hand, with whom mankind had more to do, were\nsupposed to be less easy tempered, and more systematically malignant,\nthan the Giants, and with the term were bound up notions of sorcery and\nunholy power. But mythology is a woof of many colours, in which the\nhues are shot and blended, so that the various races of supernatural\nbeings are shaded off, and fade away almost imperceptibly into each\nother; and thus, even in heathen times, it must have been hard to say\nexactly where the Giant ended and the Troll began. But when\nChristianity came in, and heathendom fell; when the godlike race of the\nAesir became evil demons instead of good genial powers, then all the\nobjects of the old popular belief, whether Aesir, Giants, or Trolls,\nwere mingled together in one superstition, as \u201cno canny\u201d. They were all\nTrolls, all malignant; and thus it is that, in these tales, the\ntraditions about Odin and his underlings, about the Frost Giants, and\nabout sorcerers and wizards, are confused and garbled; and all\nsupernatural agency that plots man\u2019s ill is the work of Trolls, whether\nthe agent be the arch enemy himself, or giant, or witch, or wizard.\n\nIn tales such as \u201cThe Old Dame and her Hen\u201d, No. iii, \u201cThe Giant who\nhad no Heart in his Body\u201d, No. ix, \u201cShortshanks\u201d, No. xx, \u201cBoots and\nthe Troll\u201d, No. xxxii, \u201cBoots who ate a match with the Troll\u201d, No. v,\nthe easy temper of the old Frost Giants predominates, and we almost\npity them as we read. In another, \u201cThe Big Bird Dan\u201d, No. lv, we have a\nTroll Prince, who appears as a generous benefactor to the young Prince,\nand lends him a sword by help of which he slays the King of the Trolls,\njust as we sometimes find in the Edda friendly meetings between the\nAesir and this or the Frost Giant. In \u201cTatterhood\u201d, No. xlviii, the\nTrolls are very near akin to the witches of the Middle Age. In other\ntales, as \u201cThe Mastermaid\u201d, No. xi, \u201cThe Blue Belt\u201d, No. xxii, \u201cFarmer\nWeathersky\u201d, No. xli, a sort of settled malignity against man appears\nas the direct working and result of a bad and evil spirit. In\n\u201cButtercup\u201d, No. xviii, and \u201cThe Cat on the Dovrefell\u201d, we have the\nTroll proper,\u2014the supernatural dwellers of the woods and hills, who go\nto church, and eat men, and porridge, and sausages indifferently, not\nfrom malignity, but because they know no better, because it is their\nnature, and because they have always done so. In one point they all\nagree\u2014in their place of abode. The wild pine forest that clothes the\nspurs of the fells, but more than all, the interior recesses of the\nrocky fell itself, is where the Trolls live. Thither they carry off the\nchildren of men, and to them belongs all the untold riches of the\nmineral world. There, in caves and clefts in the steep face of the\nrock, sits the Troll, as the representative of the old giants, among\nheaps of gold and silver and precious things. They stride off into the\ndark forest by day, whither no rays of the sun can pierce; they return\nhome at nightfall, feast themselves full, and snore out the night. One\nthing was fatal to them\u2014the sight of the sun. If they looked him full\nin the face, his glory was too great for them, and they burst, as in\n\u201cLord Peter\u201d, No. xlii, and in \u201cThe Old Dame and her Hen\u201d, No. iii.\nThis, too, is a deeply mythic trait. The old religion of the North was\na bright and lively faith; it lived in the light of joy and gladness;\nits gods were the \u201cblithe powers\u201d; opposed to them were the dark powers\nof mist and gloom, who could not bear the glorious face of the Sun, of\nBaldr\u2019s beaming visage, or the bright flash of Thor\u2019s levin bolt.\n\nIn one aspect, the whole race of Giants and Trolls stands out in strong\nhistorical light. There can be little doubt that, in their continued\nexistence amongst the woods, and rocks, and hills, we have a memory of\nthe gradual suppression and extinction of some hostile race, who\ngradually retired into the natural fastnesses of the land, and speedily\nbecame mythic. Nor, if we bear in mind their natural position, and\nremember how constantly the infamy of sorcery has clung to the Finns\nand Lapps, shall we have far to go to seek this ancient race, even at\nthe present day. Between this outcast nomad race, which wandered from\nforest to forest, and from fell to fell, without a fixed place of\nabode, and the old natural powers and Frost Giants, the minds of the\nrace which adored Odin and the Aesir soon engendered a monstrous\nman-eating cross-breed of supernatural beings, who fled from contact\nwith the intruders as soon as the first great struggle was over,\nabhorred the light of day, and looked upon agriculture and tillage as a\ndangerous innovation which destroyed their hunting fields, and was\ndestined finally to root them out from off the face of the earth. This\nfact appears in countless stories all over the globe, for man is true\nto himself in all climes, and the savage in Africa or across the Rocky\nMountains, dreads tillage and detests the plough as much as any Lapp or\nSamoyed. \u201cSee what pretty playthings, mother!\u201d cries the Giants\u2019\ndaughter as she unties her apron, and shows her a plough, and horses,\nand peasants. \u201cBack with them this instant\u201d, cries the mother in wrath,\n\u201cand put them down as carefully as you can, for these playthings can do\nour race great harm, and when these come we must budge.\u201d \u201cWhat sort of\nan earthworm is this?\u201d said one Giant to another, when they met a man\nas they walked. \u201cThese are the earthworms that will one day eat us up,\nbrother,\u201d answered the other; and soon both Giants left that part of\nGermany. Nor does this trait appear less strongly in these Norse Tales.\nThe Giants or Trolls can neither brew nor wash properly, as we see in\nShortshanks, No. xx, where the Ogre has to get Shortshanks to brew his\nale for him; and in \u201cEast o\u2019 the Sun and West o\u2019 the Moon\u201d, No. iv,\nwhere none of the Trolls are able to wash out the spot of tallow. So\nalso in the \u201cTwo Step-sisters\u201d, No. xvii, the old witch is forced to\nget human maids to do her household-work; and, lastly, the best example\nof all, in \u201cLord Peter\u201d, No. xlii, where agriculture is plainly a\nsecret of mankind, which the Giants were eager to learn, but which was\na branch of knowledge beyond their power to attain.\n\n\u201cStop a bit\u201d, said the Cat, \u201cand I\u2019ll tell you how the farmer sets to\nwork to get in his winter rye.\u201d\n\nAnd so she told him such a long story about the winter rye.\n\n\u201cFirst of all, you see, he ploughs the field, and then he dungs it, and\nthen he ploughs it again, and then he harrows it,\u201d and so she went on\ntill the sun rose.\n\nBefore we leave these gigantic natural powers, let us linger a moment\nto point out how heartily the Winds are sketched in these Tales as four\nbrothers; of whom, of course, the North wind is the oldest, and\nstrongest, and roughest. But though rough in form and tongue, he is a\ngenial, kind-hearted fellow after all. He carries the lassie to the\ncastle, \u201cEast o\u2019 the Sun and West o\u2019 the Moon\u201d, whither none of his\nbrothers had strength to blow. All he asks is that she won\u2019t be afraid,\nand then he takes a good rest, and puffs himself up with as much breath\nas ever he can hold, begins to blow a storm, and off they go. So, too,\nin \u201cThe Lad who went to the North Wind\u201d, No. xxxiv, though he can\u2019t\nrestore the meal he carried off, he gives the lad three things which\nmake his fortune, and amply repay him. He, too, like the Grecian\nBoreas, is divine, and lineally descended from Hraesvelgr, that great\ngiant in the Edda, who sits \u201cat the end of the world in eagle\u2019s shape,\nand when he flaps his wings, all the winds come that blow upon men.\u201d\n\nEnough surely has now been said to shew that the old religion and\nmythology of the Norseman still lives disguised in these popular tales.\nBesides this internal evidence, we find here and there, in the written\nliterature of earlier days, hints that the same stories were even then\ncurrent, and current then as now, among the lower classes. Thus, in\n_King Sverri\u2019s Saga_ we read: \u201cAnd so it was just like what is said to\nhave happened in old stories of what the king\u2019s children suffered from\ntheir stepmother\u2019s ill-will.\u201d And again, in _Olof Tryggvason\u2019s Saga_ by\nthe monk Odd: \u201cAnd better is it to hear such things with mirth than\nstepmother\u2019s stories which shepherds tell, where no one can tell\nwhether anything is true, and where the king is always made the least\nin their narrative.\u201d But, in truth, no such positive evidence is\nneeded. Any one who has read the Volsung tale as we have given it, will\nbe at no loss to see where the \u201clittle birds\u201d who speak to the Prince\nand the lassie, in these tales, come from; nor when they read in the\n\u201cBig Bird Dan\u201d, No. lv, about \u201cthe naked sword\u201d which the Princess lays\nby her side every night, will they fail to recognize Sigurd\u2019s sword\n_Gram_, which he laid between himself and Brynhildr when he rode\nthrough the flame and won her for Gunnar. These mythical deep-rooted\ngroves, throwing out fresh shoots from age to age in the popular\nliterature of the race, are far more convincing proofs of the early\nexistence of these traditions than any mere external evidence\u201d.[59]\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION\n\n\nWe have now only to consider the men and women of these Tales, and then\nour task is done. It will be sooner done, because they may be left to\nspeak for themselves, and must stand or fall by their own words and\nactions. The tales of all races have a character and manner of their\nown. Among the Hindoos the straight stem of the story is overhung with\na network of imagery which reminds one of the parasitic growth of a\ntropical forest. Among the Arabs the tale is more elegant, pointed with\na moral, and adorned with tropes and episodes. Among the Italians it is\nbright, light, dazzling, and swift. Among the French we have passed\nfrom the woods, and fields, and hills, to my lady\u2019s _boudoir_\u2014rose-pink\nis the prevailing colour, and the air is loaded with patchouli and\n_mille fleurs_. We miss the song of birds, the modest odour of\nwild-flowers, and the balmy fragrance of the pine forest. The Swedes\nare more stiff, and their style is more like that of a chronicle than a\ntale. The Germans are simple, hearty, and rather comic than humorous;\nand M. Moe[60] has well said, that as we read them it is as if we sat\nand listened to some elderly woman of the middle class, who recites\nthem with a clear, full, deep voice. In Scotland the few that have been\ncollected by Mr Robert Chambers[61] are as good in tone and keeping as\nanything of the kind in the whole range of such popular\ncollections.[62] The wonderful likeness which is shown between such\ntales as the \u201cRed Bull of Norway\u201d in Mr Chambers\u2019 collection, and Katie\nWoodencloak in these Norse Tales, is to be accounted for by no theory\nof the importation of this or that particular tale in later times from\nNorway, but by the fact that the Lowland Scots, among whom these tales\nwere told, were lineal descendants of Norsemen, who had either seized\nthe country in the Viking times, or had been driven into it across the\nBorder after the Norman Conquest.\n\nThese Norse Tales we may characterize as bold, out-spoken, and\nhumorous, in the true sense of humour. In the midst of every difficulty\nand danger arises that old Norse feeling of making the best of\neverything, and keeping a good face to the foe. The language and tone\nare perhaps rather lower than in some other collections, but it must be\nremembered that these are the tales of \u201chempen homespuns\u201d, of Norse\nyeomen, of _Norske Bonder_, who call a spade a spade, and who burn\ntallow, not wax; and yet in no collection of tales is the general tone\nso chaste, are the great principles of morality better worked out, and\nright and wrong kept so steadily in sight. The general view of human\nnature is good and kindly. The happiness of married life was never more\nprettily told than in \u201cGudbrand on the Hillside\u201d, No. xxi, where the\ntenderness of the wife for her husband weighs down all other\nconsiderations; and we all agree with M. Moe that it would be well if\nthere were many wives like Gudbrand\u2019s. The balance too, is very evenly\nkept between the sexes; for if any wife should point with indignation\nat such a tale as \u201cNot a Pin to choose between them\u201d, No. xxiv, where\nwives suffer; she will be amply avenged when she reads \u201cThe Husband who\nwas to mind the House\u201d, No. xxxix, where the husband has decidedly the\nworst of the bargain, and is punished as he deserves.\n\nOf particular characters, one occurs repeatedly. This is that which we\nhave ventured, for want of a better word, to call \u201cBoots\u201d, from that\nwidely-spread tradition in English families, that the youngest brother\nis bound to do all the hard work his brothers set him, and which has\nalso dignified him with the term here used. In Norse he is called\n\u201c_Askefis_\u201d, or \u201c_Espen Askefjis_\u201d. By M. Moe he is called\n\u201c_Askepot_\u201d,[63] a word which the Danes got from Germany, and which the\nreaders of Grimm\u2019s Tales will see at once is own brother to\n_Aschenp\u00fcttel_. The meaning of the word is \u201cone who pokes about the\nashes and blows up the fire\u201d; one who does dirty work in short; and in\nNorway, according to M. Moe, the term is almost universally applied to\nthe youngest son of the family. He is Cinderella\u2019s brother in fact; and\njust as she had all the dirty work put upon her by her sisters, he\nmeets with the same fate from his brothers. He is generally the\nyoungest of three, whose names are often Peter and Paul, as in No.\nxlii, and who despise, cry down, and mock him. But he has in him that\ndeep strength of character and natural power upon which the good powers\nalways smile. He is the man whom Heaven helps, because he can help\nhimself; and so, after his brothers try and fail, he alone can watch in\nthe barn, and tame the steed, and ride up the glass hill, and gain the\nPrincess and half the kingdom. The Norse \u201cBoots\u201d shares these qualities\nin common with the \u201cPinkel\u201d of the Swedes, and the _Dummling_ of the\nGermans, as well as with our \u201cJack the Giant Killer\u201d, but he starts\nlower than these\u2014he starts from the dust-bin and the coal-hole. There\nhe sits idle whilst all work; there he lies with that deep irony of\nconscious power, which knows its time must one day come, and meantime\ncan afford to wait. When that time comes, he girds himself to the feat,\namidst the scoffs and scorn of his flesh and blood; but even then,\nafter he has done some great deed, he conceals it, returns to his\nashes, and again sits idly by the kitchen-fire, dirty, lazy, and\ndespised, until the time for final recognition comes, and then his dirt\nand rags fall off\u2014he stands out in all the majesty of his royal robes,\nand is acknowledged once for all, a king. In this way does the\nconsciousness of a nation, and the mirror of its thought, reflect the\nimage and personification of a great moral truth, that modesty,\nendurance, and ability will sooner or later reap their reward, however\nmuch they maybe degraded, scoffed at, and despised by the proud, the\nworthless, and the overbearing.[64]\n\nAs a general rule, the women are less strongly marked than the men; for\nthese tales, as is well said, are uttered \u201cwith a manly mouth\u201d;[65] and\nnone of the female characters, except perhaps \u201cThe Mastermaid\u201d, and\n\u201cTatterhood\u201d, can compare in strength with \u201cThe Master-Smith\u201d, \u201cThe\nMaster-Thief,\u201d \u201cShortshanks\u201d or \u201cBoots\u201d. Still the true womanly type\ncomes out in full play in such tales as \u201cThe Two Step-Sisters\u201d, No.\nxvii; \u201cEast o\u2019 the Sun and West o\u2019 the Moon\u201d, No. iv; \u201cBushy Bride\u201d,\nNo. xlv, and \u201cThe Twelve Wild Ducks\u201d, No. viii. In all these the lassie\nis bright, and good, and helpful; she forgets herself in her eagerness\nto help others. When she goes down the well after the unequal match\nagainst her step-sister in spinning bristles against flax; she steps\ntenderly over the hedge, milks the cow, shears the sheep, relieves the\nboughs of the apple-tree\u2014all out of the natural goodness of her heart.\nWhen she is sent to fetch water from the well, she washes and brushes,\nand even kisses, the loathsome head; she believes what her enemies say,\neven to her own wrong and injury; she sacrifices all that she holds\nmost dear, and at last even herself, because she is made to believe\nthat it is her brother\u2019s wish. And so on her, too, the good powers\nsmile. She can understand and profit by what the little birds say; she\nknows how to choose the right casket. And at last, after many trials,\nall at once the scene changes, and she receives a glorious reward,\nwhile the wicked stepmother and her ugly daughter meet with a just\nfate. Nor is another female character less tenderly drawn in Hacon\nGrizzlebeard, No. vi, where we see the proud, haughty princess subdued\nand tamed by natural affection into a faithful, loving wife. We\nsympathise with her more than with the \u201cPatient Grizzel\u201d of the poets,\nwho is in reality too good, for her story has no relief; while in Hacon\nGrizzlebeard we begin by being angry at the princess\u2019s pride; we are\nglad at the retribution which overtakes her, but we are gradually\nmelted at her sufferings and hardships when she gives up all for the\nBeggar and follows him; we burst into tears with her when she exclaims\n\u201cOh! the Beggar, and the babe, and the cabin!\u201d\u2014and we rejoice with her\nwhen the Prince says \u201cHere is the Beggar, and there is the babe, and so\nlet the cabin burn away.\u201d\n\nNor is it unprofitable here to remark how the professions fare when\nthey appear in these tales. The Church cannot be said to be treated\nwith respect, for \u201cFather Lawrence\u201d is ludicrously deceived and\nscurvily treated by the Master-Thief, No. xxxv; nor does the priest\ncome off any better in Goosey Grizzel, No. xxxiii, where he is thrown\nby the Farmer into the wet moss. Indeed, it seems as if the popular\nmind were determined to revenge itself when left to itself, for the\nsuperstition of Rome on the one hand, and the severity of strict\nLutheranism on the other. It has little to say of either of them, but\nwhen it does speak, its accents are not those of reverence and love.\nThe Law, too, as represented by those awful personages the Constable,\nthe Attorney, and the Sheriff in \u201cThe Mastermaid\u201d, No. xi, is held up\nto ridicule, and treated with anything but tenderness. But there is one\nprofession for which a good word is said, a single word, but enough to\nshow the feeling of the people. In the \u201cTwelve Wild Ducks\u201d No. viii,\nthe king is \u201cas soft and kind\u201d to Snow-white and Rosy-red \u201cas a\ndoctor\u201d\u2014a doctor, alas! not of laws, but of medicine; and thus this\nprofession, so often despised, but in reality the noblest, has homage\npaid to it in that single sentence, which neither the Church with all\nits dignity, nor the Law with all its cunning, have been able to extort\nfrom the popular mind. Yet even this profession has a hard word uttered\nagainst it in \u201cKatie Woodencloak\u201d, No. l, where the doctor takes a\ngreat fee from the wicked queen to say she will never be well unless\nshe has some of the Dun Bull\u2019s flesh to eat.\n\nAnd now it is time to bring this introduction to an end, lest it should\nplay the Wolf\u2019s part to Odin, and swallow up the Tales themselves.\nEnough has been said, at least, to prove that even nursery tales may\nhave a science of their own, and to show how the old Nornir and divine\nspinners can revenge themselves if their old wives\u2019 tales are insulted\nand attacked. The inquiry itself might be almost indefinitely\nprolonged, for this is a journey where each turn of the road brings out\na new point of view, and the longer we linger on our path, the longer\nwe find something fresh to see. Popular mythology is a virgin mine, and\nits ore, so far from being exhausted or worked out, has here, in\nEngland at least, been scarcely touched. It may, indeed, be dreaded\nlest the time for collecting such English traditions is not past and\ngone; whether the steam-engine and printing-press have not played their\ngreat work of enlightenment too well; and whether the popular tales, of\nwhich, no doubt, the land was once full, have not faded away before\nthose great inventions, as the race of Giants waned before the might of\nOdin and the Aesir. Still the example of this very Norway, which at one\ntime was thought, even by her own sons, to have few tales of her own,\nand now has been found to have them so fresh and full, may serve as a\nwarning not to abandon a search, which, indeed, can scarcely be said to\nhave been ever begun; and to suggest a doubt whether the ill success\nwhich may have attended this or that particular attempt, may not have\nbeen from the fault rather of the seekers after traditions, than from\nthe want of the traditions themselves. In point of fact, it is a matter\nof the utmost difficulty to gather such tales in any country, as those\nwho have collected them most successfully will be the first to confess.\nIt is hard to make old and feeble women, who generally are the\ndepositaries of these national treasures, believe that the inquirer can\nhave any real interest in the matter. They fear that the question is\nonly put to turn them into ridicule; for the popular mind is a\nsensitive plant; it becomes coy, and closes its leaves at the first\nrude touch; and when once shut, it is hard to make these aged lips\nreveal the secrets of the memory. There they remain, however, forming\npart of an under-current of tradition, of which the educated classes,\nthrough whose minds flows the bright upper-current of faith, are apt to\nforget the very existence. Things out of sight, and therefore out of\nmind. Now and then a wave of chance tosses them to the surface from\nthose hidden depths, and all Her Majesty\u2019s inspectors of schools are\nshocked at the wild shapes which still haunt the minds of the great\nmass of the community. It cannot be said that the English are not a\nsuperstitious people. Here we have gone on for more than a hundred\nyears proclaiming our opinion that the belief in witches, and wizards,\nand ghosts, and fetches, was extinct throughout the land. Ministers of\nall denominations have preached them down, and philosophers convinced\nall the world of the absurdity of such vain superstitions; and yet it\nhas been reserved for another learned profession, the Law, to produce\nin one trial at the Staffordshire assizes, a year or two ago, such a\nhost of witnesses, who firmly believed in witchcraft, and swore to\ntheir belief in spectre dogs and wizards, as to show that, in the\nMidland counties at least, such traditions are anything but extinct. If\nso much of the bad has been spared by steam, by natural philosophy, and\nby the Church, let us hope that some of the good may still linger along\nwith it, and that an English Grimm may yet arise who may carry out what\nMr. Chambers has so well begun in Scotland, and discover in the mouth\nof an Anglo-Saxon Gammer Grethel, some, at least, of those popular\ntales which England once had in common with all the Aryan race.\n\nFor these Norse Tales one may say that nothing can equal the tenderness\nand skill with which MM. Asbj\u00f6rnsen and Moe have collected them. Some\nof that tenderness and beauty may, it is hoped, be found in this\nEnglish translation; but to those who have never been in the country\nwhere they are current, and who are not familiar with that hearty\nsimple people, no words can tell the freshness and truth of the\noriginals. It is not that the idioms of the two languages are\ndifferent, for they are more nearly allied, both in vocabulary and\nconstruction, than any other two tongues, but it is the face of nature\nherself, and the character of the race that looks up to her, that fail\nto the mind\u2019s eye. The West Coast of Scotland is something like that\nnature in a general way, except that it is infinitely smaller and less\ngrand; but that constant, bright blue sky, those deeply-indented,\nsinuous, gleaming friths, those headstrong rivers and headlong falls,\nthose steep hillsides, those long ridges of fells, those peaks and\nneedles rising sharp above them, those hanging glaciers and wreaths of\neverlasting snow, those towering endless pine forests, relieved by\nslender stems of silver birch, those green spots in the midst of the\nforest, those winding dales and upland lakes, those various shapes of\nbirds and beasts, the mighty crashing elk, the fleet reindeer, the\nfearless bear, the nimble lynx, the shy wolf, those eagles and swans,\nand seabirds, those many tones and notes of Nature\u2019s voice making\ndistant music through the twilight summer night, those brilliant,\nflashing, northern lights when days grow short, those dazzling,\nblinding storms of autumn snow, that cheerful winter frost and cold,\nthat joy of sledging over the smooth ice, when the sharp-shod horse\ncareers at full speed with the light sledge, or rushes down the steep\npitches over the crackling snow through the green spruce wood\u2014all these\nform a Nature of their own. These particular features belong in their\nfulness and combination to no other land. When in the midst of all this\nnatural scenery, we find an honest manly race, not the race of the\ntowns and cities, but of the dales and fells, free and unsubdued,\nholding its own in a country where there are neither lords nor ladies,\nbut simple men and women. Brave men and fair women, who cling to the\ntraditions of their forefathers, and whose memory reflects as from the\nfaithful mirror of their native steel the whole history and progress of\ntheir race\u2014when all these natural features, and such a manly race meet;\nthen we have the stuff out of which these tales are made, the living\nrocks out of which these sharp-cut national forms are hewn. Then, too,\nour task of introducing them is over, we may lay aside our pen, and\nleave the reader and the tales to themselves.\n\n\n\n\nTALES FROM THE NORSE\n\n\n\n\nTRUE AND UNTRUE\n\n\nOnce on a time there were two brothers; one was called True, and the\nother Untrue. True was always upright and good towards all, but Untrue\nwas bad and full of lies, so that no one could believe what he said.\nTheir mother was a widow, and hadn\u2019t much to live on; so when her sons\nhad grown up, she was forced to send them away, that they might earn\ntheir bread in the world. Each got a little scrip with some food in it,\nand then they went their way.\n\nNow, when they had walked till evening, they sat down on a windfall in\nthe wood, and took out their scraps, for they were hungry after walking\nthe whole day, and thought a morsel of food would be sweet enough.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019re of my mind\u201d, said Untrue, \u201cI think we had better eat out of\nyour scrip, so long as there is anything in it, and after that we can\ntake to mine.\u201d\n\nYes! True was well pleased with this, so they fell to eating, but\nUntrue got all the best bits, and stuffed himself with them, while True\ngot only the burnt crusts and scraps.\n\nNext morning they broke their fast off True\u2019s food, and they dined off\nit too, and then there was nothing left in his scrip. So when they had\nwalked till late at night, and were ready to eats again, True wanted to\neat out of his brother\u2019s scrip, but Untrue said \u201cNo\u201d, the food was his,\nand he had only enough for himself.\n\n\u201cNay! but you know you ate out of my scrip so long as there was\nanything in it\u201d, said True.\n\n\u201cAll very fine, I daresay\u201d, answered Untrue; \u201cbut if you are such a\nfool as to let others eat up your food before your face, you must make\nthe best of it; for now all you have to do is to sit here and starve.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well!\u201d said True, \u201cyou\u2019re Untrue by name and untrue by nature; so\nyou have been, and so you will be all your life long.\u201d\n\nNow when Untrue heard this, he flew into a rage, and rushed at his\nbrother, and plucked out both his eyes. \u201cNow, try if you can see\nwhether folk are untrue or not, you blind buzzard!\u201d and so saying, he\nran away and left him.\n\nPoor True! there he went walking along and feeling his way through the\nthick wood. Blind and alone, he scarce knew which way to turn, when all\nat once he caught hold of the trunk of a great bushy lime-tree, so he\nthought he would climb up into it, and sit there till the night was\nover for fear of the wild beasts.\n\n\u201cWhen the birds begin to sing\u201d, he said to himself, \u201cthen I shall know\nit is day, and I can try to grope my way farther on.\u201d So he climbed up\ninto the lime-tree. After he had sat there a little time, he heard how\nsome one came and began to make a stir and clatter under the tree, and\nsoon after others came; and when they began to greet one another, he\nfound out it was Bruin the bear, and Greylegs the wolf, and Slyboots\nthe fox, and Longears the hare who had come to keep St. John\u2019s eve\nunder the tree. So they began to eat and drink, and be merry; and when\nthey had done eating, they fell to gossipping together. At last the Fox\nsaid:\n\n\u201cShan\u2019t we, each of us, tell a little story while we sit here?\u201d Well!\nthe others had nothing against that. It would be good fun, they said,\nand the Bear began; for you may fancy he was king of the company.\n\n\u201cThe king of England\u201d, said Bruin, \u201chas such bad eyesight, he can\nscarce see a yard before him; but if he only came to this lime-tree in\nthe morning, while the dew is still on the leaves, and took and rubbed\nhis eyes with the dew, he would get back his sight as good as ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery true!\u201d said Greylegs. \u201cThe king of England has a deaf and dumb\ndaughter too; but if he only knew what I know, he would soon cure her.\nLast year she went to the communion. She let a crumb of the bread fall\nout of her mouth, and a great toad came and swallowed it down; but if\nthey only dug up the chancel floor, they would find the toad sitting\nright under the altar rails, with the bread still sticking in his\nthroat. If they were to cut the toad open and take and give the bread\nto the princess, she would be like other folk again as to her speech\nand hearing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s all very well\u201d, said the Fox; \u201cbut if the king of England knew\nwhat I know, he would not be so badly off for water in his palace; for\nunder the great stone, in his palace-yard, is a spring of the clearest\nwater one could wish for, if he only knew to dig for it there.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Hare in a small voice; \u201cthe king of England has the\nfinest orchard in the whole land, but it does not bear so much as a\ncrab, for there lies a heavy gold chain in three turns round the\norchard. If he got that dug up, there would not be a garden like it for\nbearing in all his kingdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery true, I dare say\u201d, said the Fox; \u201cbut now it\u2019s getting very late,\nand we may as well go home.\u201d\n\nSo they all went away together.\n\nAfter they were gone, True fell asleep as he sat up in the tree; but\nwhen the birds began to sing at dawn, he woke up, and took the dew from\nthe leaves, and rubbed his eyes with it, and so got his sight back as\ngood as it was before Untrue plucked his eyes out.\n\nThen he went straight to the king of England\u2019s palace, and begged for\nwork, and got it on the spot. So one day the king came out into the\npalace-yard, and when he had walked about a bit, he wanted to drink out\nof his pump; for you must know the day was hot, and the king very\nthirsty; but when they poured him out a glass, it was so muddy, and\nnasty, and foul, that the king got quite vexed.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever a man in my whole kingdom who has such bad\nwater in his yard as I, and yet I bring it in pipes from far, over hill\nand dale\u201d, cried out the king. \u201cLike enough, your Majesty\u201d, said True;\n\u201cbut if you would let me have some men to help me to dig up this great\nstone which lies here in the middle of your yard, you would soon see\ngood water, and plenty of it.\u201d\n\nWell! the king was willing enough; and they had scarcely got the stone\nwell out, and dug under it a while, before a jet of water sprang out\nhigh up into the air, as clear and full as if it came out of a conduit,\nand clearer water was not to be found in all England.\n\nA little while after the king was out in his palace-yard again, and\nthere came a great hawk flying after his chicken, and all the king\u2019s\nmen began to clap their hands and bawl out, \u201cThere he flies!\u201d \u201cThere he\nflies!\u201d The king caught up his gun and tried to shoot the hawk, but he\ncouldn\u2019t see so far, so he fell into great grief.\n\n\u201cWould to Heaven\u201d, he said, \u201cthere was any one who could tell me a cure\nfor my eyes; for I think I shall soon go quite blind!\u201d\n\n\u201cI can tell you one soon enough\u201d, said True; and then he told the king\nwhat he had done to cure his own eyes, and the king set off that very\nafternoon to the lime-tree, as you may fancy, and his eyes were quite\ncured as soon as he rubbed them with the dew which was on the leaves in\nthe morning. From that time forth there was no one whom the king held\nso dear as True, and he had to be with him wherever he went, both at\nhome and abroad.\n\nSo one day, as they were walking together in the orchard, the king\nsaid, \u201cI can\u2019t tell how it is _that_ I can\u2019t! there isn\u2019t a, man in\nEngland who spends so much on his orchard as I, and yet I can\u2019t get one\nof the trees to bear so much as a crab.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d said True; \u201cif I may have what lies three times twisted\nround your orchard, and men to dig it up, your orchard will bear well\nenough.\u201d\n\nYes! the king was quite willing, so True got men and began to dig, and\nat last he dug up the whole gold chain. Now True was a rich man; far\nricher indeed than the king himself, but still the king was well\npleased, for his orchard bore so that the boughs of the trees hung down\nto the ground, and such sweet apples and pears nobody had ever tasted.\n\nAnother day too the king and True were walking about, and talking\ntogether, when the princess passed them, and the king was quite\ndowncast when he saw her.\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t it a pity, now, that so lovely a princess as mine should want\nspeech and hearing\u201d, he said to True.\n\n\u201cAy, but there is a cure for that\u201d, said True.\n\nWhen the king heard that, he was so glad that he promised him the\nprincess to wife, and half his kingdom into the bargain, if he could\nget her right again. So True took a few men, and went into the church,\nand dug up the toad which sat under the altar-rails. Then he cut open\nthe toad, and took out the bread and gave it to the king\u2019s daughter;\nand from that hour she got back her speech, and could talk like other\npeople.\n\nNow True was to have the princess, and they got ready for the bridal\nfeast, and such a feast had never been seen before; it was the talk of\nthe whole land. Just as they were in the midst of dancing the\nbridal-dance in came a beggar lad, and begged for a morsel of food, and\nhe was so ragged and wretched that every one crossed themselves when\nthey looked at him; but True knew him at once, and saw that it was\nUntrue, his brother.\n\n\u201cDo you know me again?\u201d said True.\n\n\u201cOh! where should such a one as I ever have seen so great a lord\u201d, said\nUntrue.\n\n\u201cStill you _have_ seen me before\u201d, said True. \u201cIt was I whose eyes you\nplucked out a year ago this very day. Untrue by name, and untrue by\nnature; so I said before, and so I say now; but you are still my\nbrother, and so you shall have some food. After that, you may go to the\nlime-tree where I sat last year; if you hear anything that can do you\ngood, you will be lucky.\u201d\n\nSo Untrue did not wait to be told twice. \u201cIf True has got so much good\nby sitting in the lime-tree, that in one year he has come to be king\nover half England, what good may not I get\u201d, he thought. So he set off\nand climbed up into the lime-tree. He had not sat there long, before\nall the beasts came as before, and ate and drank, and kept St. John\u2019s\neve under the tree. When they had left off eating, the Fox wished that\nthey should begin to tell stories, and Untrue got ready to listen with\nall his might, till his ears were almost fit to fall off. But Bruin the\nbear was surly, and growled and said:\n\n\u201cSome one has been chattering about what we said last year, and so now\nwe will hold our tongues about what we know\u201d; and with that the beasts\nbade one another \u201cGood-night\u201d, and parted, and Untrue was just as wise\nas he was before, and the reason was, that his name was Untrue, and his\nnature untrue too.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE SEA IS SALT\n\n\nOnce on a time, but it was a long, long time ago, there were two\nbrothers, one rich and one poor. Now, one Christmas eve, the poor one\nhadn\u2019t so much as a crumb in the house, either of meat or bread, so he\nwent to his brother to ask him for something to keep Christmas with, in\nGod\u2019s name. It was not the first time his brother had been forced to\nhelp him, and you may fancy he wasn\u2019t very glad to see his face, but he\nsaid:\n\n\u201cIf you will do what I ask you to do, I\u2019ll give you a whole flitch of\nbacon.\u201d\n\nSo the poor brother said he would do anything, and was full of thanks.\n\n\u201cWell, here is the flitch\u201d, said the rich brother, \u201cand now go straight\nto Hell.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat I have given my word to do, I must stick to\u201d, said the other; so\nhe took the flitch and set off. He walked the whole day, and at dusk he\ncame to a place where he saw a very bright light.\n\n\u201cMaybe this is the place\u201d, said the man to himself. So he turned aside,\nand the first thing he saw was an old, old man, with a long white\nbeard, who stood in an outhouse, hewing wood for the Christmas fire.\n\n\u201cGood even\u201d, said the man with the flitch.\n\n\u201cThe same to you; whither are you going so late?\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019m going to Hell, if I only knew the right way\u201d, answered the\npoor man.\n\n\u201cWell, you\u2019re not far wrong, for this is Hell\u201d, said the old man; \u201cwhen\nyou get inside they will be all for buying your flitch, for meat is\nscarce in Hell; but mind, you don\u2019t sell it unless you get the\nhand-quern which stands behind the door for it. When you come out, I\u2019ll\nteach you how to handle the quern, for it\u2019s good to grind almost\nanything.\u201d\n\nSo the man with the flitch thanked the other for his good advice, and\ngave a great knock at the Devil\u2019s door.\n\nWhen he got in, everything went just as the old man had said. All the\ndevils, great and small, came swarming up to him like ants round an\nanthill, and each tried to outbid the other for the flitch.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the man, \u201cby rights my old dame and I ought to have this\nflitch for our Christmas dinner; but since you have all set your hearts\non it, I suppose I must give it up to you; but if I sell it at all,\nI\u2019ll have for it that quern behind the door yonder.\u201d\n\nAt first the Devil wouldn\u2019t hear of such a bargain, and chaffered and\nhaggled with the man; but he stuck to what he said, and at last the\nDevil had to part with his quern. When the man got out into the yard,\nhe asked the old woodcutter how he was to handle the quern; and after\nhe had learned how to use it, he thanked the old man and went off home\nas fast as he could, but still the clock had struck twelve on Christmas\neve before he reached his own door.\n\n\u201cWherever in the world have you been?\u201d said his old dame, \u201chere have I\nsat hour after hour waiting and watching, without so much as two sticks\nto lay together under the Christmas brose.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the man, \u201cI couldn\u2019t get back before, for I had to go a long\nway first for one thing, and then for another; but now you shall see\nwhat you shall see.\u201d\n\nSo he put the quern on the table, and bade it first of all grind\nlights, then a table-cloth, then meat, then ale, and so on till they\nhad got everything that was nice for Christmas fare. He had only to\nspeak the word, and the quern ground out what he wanted. The old dame\nstood by blessing her stars, and kept on asking where he had got this\nwonderful quern, but he wouldn\u2019t tell her.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all one where I got it from; you see the quern is a good one, and\nthe mill-stream never freezes, that\u2019s enough.\u201d\n\nSo he ground meat and drink and dainties enough to last out till\nTwelfth Day, and on the third day he asked all his friends and kin to\nhis house, and gave a great feast. Now, when his rich brother saw all\nthat was on the table, and all that was behind in the larder, he grew\nquite spiteful and wild, for he couldn\u2019t bear that his brother should\nhave anything.\n\n\u201c\u2019Twas only on Christmas eve\u201d, he said to the rest, \u201che was in such\nstraits, that he came and asked for a morsel of food in God\u2019s name, and\nnow he gives a feast as if he were count or king\u201d; and he turned to his\nbrother and said:\n\n\u201cBut whence, in Hell\u2019s name, have you got all this wealth?\u201d\n\n\u201cFrom behind the door\u201d, answered the owner of the quern, for he didn\u2019t\ncare to let the cat out of the bag. But later on the evening, when he\nhad got a drop too much, he could keep his secret no longer, and\nbrought out the quern and said:\n\n\u201cThere, you see what has gotten me all this wealth\u201d; and so he made the\nquern grind all kind of things. When his brother saw it, he set his\nheart on having the quern, and, after a deal of coaxing, he got it; but\nhe had to pay three hundred dollars for it, and his brother bargained\nto keep it till hay-harvest, for he thought, if I keep it till then, I\ncan make it grind meat and drink that will last for years. So you may\nfancy the quern didn\u2019t grow rusty for want of work, and when\nhay-harvest came, the rich brother got it, but the other took care not\nto teach him how to handle it.\n\nIt was evening when the rich brother got the quern home, and next\nmorning he told his wife to go out into the hay-field and toss, while\nthe mowers cut the grass, and he would stay at home and get the dinner\nready. So, when dinner-time drew near, he put the quern on the kitchen\ntable and said:\n\n\u201cGrind herrings and broth, and grind them good and fast.\u201d\n\nSo the quern began to grind herrings and broth; first of all, all the\ndishes full, then all the tubs full, and so on till the kitchen floor\nwas quite covered. Then the man twisted and twirled at the quern to get\nit to stop, but for all his twisting and fingering the quern went on\ngrinding, and in a little while the broth rose so high that the man was\nlike to drown. So he threw open the kitchen door and ran into the\nparlour, but it wasn\u2019t long before the quern had ground the parlour\nfull too, and it was only at the risk of his life that the man could\nget hold of the latch of the house door through the stream of broth.\nWhen he got the door open, he ran out and set off down the road, with\nthe stream of herrings and broth at his heels, roaring like a waterfall\nover the whole farm. Now, his old dame, who was in the field tossing\nhay, thought it a long time to dinner, and at last she said:\n\n\u201cWell! though the master doesn\u2019t call us home, we may as well go. Maybe\nhe finds it hard work to boil the broth, and will be glad of my help.\u201d\n\nThe men were willing enough, so they sauntered homewards; but just as\nthey had got a little way up the hill, what should they meet but\nherrings, and broth, and bread, all running and dashing, and splashing\ntogether in a stream, and the master himself running before them for\nhis life, and as he passed them he bawled out:\n\n\u201cWould to heaven each of you had a hundred throats! but take care\nyou\u2019re not drowned in the broth.\u201d\n\nAway he went, as though the Evil One were at his heels, to his\nbrother\u2019s house, and begged him for God\u2019s sake to take back the quern\nthat instant; for, said he:\n\n\u201cIf it grinds only one hour more, the whole parish will be swallowed up\nby herrings and broth.\u201d\n\nBut his brother wouldn\u2019t hear of taking it back till the other paid him\ndown three hundred dollars more.\n\nSo the poor brother got both the money and the quern, and it wasn\u2019t\nlong before he set up a farm-house far finer than the one in which his\nbrother lived, and with the quern he ground so much gold that he\ncovered it with plates of gold; and as the farm lay by the sea-side,\nthe golden house gleamed and glistened far away over the sea. All who\nsailed by put ashore to see the rich man in the golden house, and to\nsee the wonderful quern, the fame of which spread far and wide, till\nthere was nobody who hadn\u2019t heard tell of it.\n\nSo one day there came a skipper who wanted to see the quern; and the\nfirst thing he asked was if it could grind salt.\n\n\u201cGrind salt!\u201d said the owner; \u201cI should just think it could. It can\ngrind anything.\u201d\n\nWhen the skipper heard that, he said he must have the quern, cost what\nit would; for if he only had it, he thought he should be rid of his\nlong voyages across stormy seas for a lading of salt. Well, at first\nthe man wouldn\u2019t hear of parting with the quern; but the skipper begged\nand prayed so hard, that at last he let him have it, but he had to pay\nmany, many thousand dollars for it. Now, when the skipper had got the\nquern on his back, he soon made off with it, for he was afraid lest the\nman should change his mind; so he had no time to ask how to handle the\nquern, but got on board his ship as fast as he could, and set sail.\nWhen he had sailed a good way off, he brought the quern on deck and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cGrind salt, and grind both good and fast.\u201d\n\nWell, the quern began to grind salt so that it poured out like water;\nand when the skipper had got the ship full, he wished to stop the\nquern, but whichever way he turned it, and however much he tried, it\nwas no good; the quern kept grinding on, and the heap of salt grew\nhigher and higher, and at last down sank the ship.\n\nThere lies the quern at the bottom of the sea, and grinds away at this\nvery day, and that\u2019s why the sea is salt.\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD DAME AND HER HEN\n\n\nOnce on a time there was an old widow who lived far away from the rest\nof the world, up under a hillside, with her three daughters. She was so\npoor that she had no stock but one single hen, which she prized as the\napple of her eye; in short, it was always cackling at her heels, and\nshe was always running to look after it. Well! one day, all at once,\nthe hen was missing. The old wife went out, and round and round the\ncottage, looking and calling for her hen, but it was gone, and there\nwas no getting it back.\n\nSo the woman said to her eldest daughter, \u201cYou must just go out and see\nif you can find our hen, for have it back we must, even if we have to\nfetch it out of the hill.\u201d\n\nWell! the daughter was ready enough to go, so she set off and walked up\nand down, and looked and called, but no hen could she find. But all at\nonce, just as she was about to give up the hunt, she heard some one\ncalling out in a cleft in the rock:\n\nYour hen trips inside the hill!\nYour hen trips inside the hill!\n\n\nSo she went into the cleft to see what it was, but she had scarce set\nher foot inside the cleft, before she fell through a trap-door, deep,\ndeep down, into a vault under ground. When she got to the bottom she\nwent through many rooms, each finer than the other; but in the\ninnermost room of all, a great ugly man of the hill-folk came up to her\nand asked, \u201cWill you be my sweetheart?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! I will not\u201d, she said. She wouldn\u2019t have him at any price! not\nshe; all she wanted was to get above ground again as fast as ever she\ncould, and to look after her hen which was lost. Then the Man o\u2019 the\nHill got so angry that he took her up and wrung her head off, and threw\nboth head and trunk down into the cellar.\n\nWhile this was going on, her mother sat at home waiting and waiting,\nbut no daughter came. So after she had waited a bit longer, and neither\nheard nor saw anything of her daughter, she said to her midmost\ndaughter, that she must go out and see after her sister, and she added:\n\n\u201cYou can just give our hen a call at the same time.\u201d\n\nWell! the second sister had to get off, and the very same thing befell\nher; she went about looking and calling, and all at once she too heard\na voice away in the cleft of the rock saying:\n\nYour hen trips inside the hill!\nYour hen trips inside the hill!\n\n\nShe thought this strange, and went to see what it could be; and so she\ntoo fell through the trap-door, deep, deep down, into the vault. There\nshe went from room to room, and in the innermost one the Man o\u2019 the\nHill came to her and asked if she would be his sweetheart? No! that she\nwouldn\u2019t; all she wanted was to get above ground again, and hunt for\nher hen which was lost. So the Man o\u2019 the Hill got angry, and took her\nup and wrung her head off, and threw both head and trunk down into the\ncellar.\n\nNow, when the old dame had sat and waited seven lengths and seven\nbreadths for her second daughter, and could neither see nor hear\nanything of her, she said to the youngest:\n\n\u201cNow, you really must set off and see after your sisters. \u2019Twas silly\nto lose the hen, but \u2019twill be sillier still if we lose both your\nsisters; and you can give the hen a call at the same time\u201d\u2014for the old\ndame\u2019s heart was still set on her hen.\n\nYes! the youngest was ready enough to go; so she walked up and down,\nWanting for her sisters and calling the hen, but she could neither see\nnor hear anything of them. So at last she too came up to the cleft in\nthe rock, and heard how something said:\n\nYour hen trips inside the hill!\nYour hen trips inside the hill!\n\n\nShe thought this strange, so she too went to see what it was, and fell\nthrough the trap-door too, deep, deep down, into a vault. When she\nreached the bottom she went from one room to another, each grander than\nthe other; but she wasn\u2019t at all afraid, and took good time to look\nabout her. So, as she was peeping into this and that, she cast her eye\non the trap-door into the cellar, and looked down it, and what should\nshe see there but her sisters, who lay dead. She had scarce time to\nslam to the trap-door before the Man o\u2019 the Hill came to her and asked:\n\n\u201cWill you be my sweetheart?\u201d\n\n\u201cWith all my heart\u201d, answered the girl, for she saw very well how it\nhad gone with her sisters. So, when the Man o\u2019 the Hill heard that, he\ngot her the finest clothes in the world; she had only to ask for them,\nor for anything else she had a mind to, and she got what she wanted, so\nglad was the Man o\u2019 the Hill that any one would be his sweetheart.\n\nBut when she had been there a little while, she was one day even more\ndoleful and downcast than was her wont. So the Man o\u2019 the Hill asked\nher what was the matter, and why she was in such dumps.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the girl, \u201cit\u2019s because I can\u2019t get home to my mother. She\u2019s\nhard pinched, I know, for meat and drink, and has no one with her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Man o\u2019 the Hill, \u201cI can\u2019t let you go to see her; but\njust stuff some meat and drink into a sack, and I\u2019ll carry it to her.\u201d\n\nYes! she would do so, she said, with many thanks; but at the bottom of\nthe sack she stuffed a lot of gold and silver, and afterwards she laid\na little food on the top of the gold and silver. Then she told the ogre\nthe sack was ready, but he must be sure not to look into it. So he gave\nhis word he wouldn\u2019t, and set off. Now, as the Man o\u2019 the Hill walked\noff, she peeped out after him through a chink in the trap-door; but\nwhen he had gone a bit on the way, he said:\n\n\u201cThis sack is so heavy, I\u2019ll just see what there is inside it.\u201d\n\nAnd so he was about to untie the mouth of the sack, but the girl called\nout to him:\n\nI see what you\u2019re at!\nI see what you\u2019re at!\n\n\n\u201cThe deuce you do!\u201d said the Man o\u2019 the Hill; \u201cthen you must have\nplaguy sharp eyes in your head, that\u2019s all!\u201d\n\nSo he threw the sack over his shoulder, and dared not try to look into\nit again. When he reached the widow\u2019s cottage, he threw the sack in\nthrough the cottage door, and said:\n\n\u201cHere you have meat and drink from your daughter; she doesn\u2019t want for\nanything.\u201d\n\nSo, when the girl had been in the hill a good bit longer, one day a\nbilly-goat fell down the trap-door.\n\n\u201cWho sent for you, I should like to know? you long-bearded beast!\u201d said\nthe Man o\u2019 the Hill, who was in an awful rage, and with that he whipped\nup the goat, and wrung his head off, and threw him down into the\ncellar.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the girl, \u201cwhy did you do that? I might have had the goat to\nplay with down here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Man o\u2019 the Hill, \u201cyou needn\u2019t be so down in the mouth\nabout it, I should think, for I can soon put life into the billy-goat\nagain.\u201d\n\nSo saying, he took a flask which hung up against the wall, put the\nbilly-goat\u2019s head on his body again, and smeared it with some ointment\nout of the flask, and he was as well and as lively as ever again.\n\n\u201cHo! ho!\u201d said the girl to herself; \u201cthat flask is worth something\u2014that\nit is.\u201d\n\nSo when she had been some time longer in the hill, she watched for a\nday when the Man o\u2019 the Hill was away, took her eldest sister, and\nputting her head on her shoulders, smeared her with some of the\nointment out of the flask, just as she had seen the Man o\u2019 the Hill do\nwith the billy-goat, and in a trice her sister came to life again. Then\nthe girl stuffed her into a sack, laid a little food over her, and as\nsoon as the Man o\u2019 the Hill came home, she said to him:\n\n\u201cDear friend! Now do go home to my mother with a morsel of food again;\npoor thing! she\u2019s both hungry and thirsty, I\u2019ll be bound; and besides\nthat, she\u2019s all alone in the world. But you must mind and not look into\nthe sack.\u201d\n\nWell! he said he would carry the sack; and he said, too, that he would\nnot look into it; but when he had gone a little way, he thought the\nsack got awfully heavy; and when he had gone a bit farther he said to\nhimself:\n\n\u201cCome what will, I must see what\u2019s inside this sack, for however sharp\nher eyes may be, she can\u2019t see me all this way off\u201d\n\nBut just as he was about to untie the sack, the girl who sat inside the\nsack called out:\n\nI see what you\u2019re at!\nI see what you\u2019re at!\n\n\n\u201cThe deuce you do!\u201d said the ogre; \u201cthen you must have plaguey sharp\neyes\u201d; for he thought all the while it was the girl inside the hill who\nwas speaking. So he didn\u2019t care so much as to peep into the sack again,\nbut carried it straight to her mother as fast as he could, and when he\ngot to the cottage door he threw it in through the door, and bawled\nout:\n\n\u201cHere you have meat and drink from your daughter; she wants for\nnothing.\u201d\n\nNow, when the girl had been in the hill a while longer, she did the\nvery same thing with her other sister. She put her head on her\nshoulders, smeared her with ointment out of the flask, brought her to\nlife, and stuffed her into the sack; but this time she crammed in also\nas much gold and silver as the sack would hold, and over all laid a\nvery little food.\n\n\u201cDear friend\u201d, she said to the Man o\u2019 the Hill, \u201cyou really must run\nhome to my mother with a little food again; and mind you don\u2019t look\ninto the sack.\u201d\n\nYes! the Man o\u2019 the Hill was ready enough to do as she wished, and he\ngave his word too that he wouldn\u2019t look into the sack; but when he had\ngone a bit of the way he began to think the sack got awfully heavy, and\nwhen he had gone a bit further, he could scarce stagger along under it,\nso he set it down, and was just about to untie the string and look into\nit, when the girl inside the sack bawled out:\n\nI see what you\u2019re at!\nI see what you\u2019re at!\n\n\n\u201cThe deuce you do\u201d, said the Man o\u2019 the Hill, \u201cthen you must have\nplaguey sharp eyes of your own.\u201d\n\nWell, he dared not try to look into the sack, but made all the haste he\ncould, and carried the sack straight to the girl\u2019s mother. When he got\nto the cottage door he threw the sack in through the door, and roared\nout:\n\n\u201cHere you have food from your daughter; she wants for nothing.\u201d\n\nSo when the girl had been there a good while longer, the Man o\u2019 the\nHill made up his mind to go out for the day; then the girl shammed to\nbe sick and sorry, and pouted and fretted.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s no use your coming home before twelve o\u2019clock at night\u201d, she\nsaid, \u201cfor I shan\u2019t be able to have supper ready before\u2014I\u2019m so sick and\npoorly.\u201d\n\nBut when the Man o\u2019 the Hill was well out of the house, she stuffed\nsome of her clothes with straw, and stuck up this lass of straw in the\ncorner by the chimney, with a besom in her hand, so that it looked just\nas if she herself were standing there. After that she stole off home,\nand got a sharp-shooter to stay in the cottage with her mother.\n\nSo when the clock struck twelve, or just about it, home came the Man o\u2019\nthe Hill, and the first thing he said to the straw-girl was, \u201cGive me\nsomething to eat.\u201d\n\nBut she answered him never a word.\n\n\u201cGive me something to eat, I say!\u201d called out the Man o\u2019 the Hill, \u201cfor\nI am almost starved.\u201d\n\nNo! she hadn\u2019t a word to throw at him.\n\n\u201cGive me something to eat!\u201d roared out the ogre the third time.\u201d I\nthink you\u2019d better open your ears and hear what I say, or else I\u2019ll\nwake you up, that I will!\u201d\n\nNo! the girl stood just as still as ever; so he flew into a rage, and\ngave her such a slap in the face, that the straw flew all about the\nroom; but when he saw that, he knew he had been tricked, and began to\nhunt everywhere; and at last, when he came to the cellar, and found\nboth the girl\u2019s sisters missing, he soon saw how the cat jumped, and\nran off to the cottage, saying, \u201cI\u2019ll soon pay her off!\u201d\n\nBut when he reached the cottage, the sharp-shooter fired off his piece,\nand then the Man o\u2019 the Hill dared not go into the house, for he\nthought it was thunder. So he set off home again as fast as he could\nlay legs to the ground; but what do you think, just as he got to the\ntrap-door, the sun rose and the Man o\u2019 the Hill burst.\n\nOh! if one only knew where the trap-door was, I\u2019ll be bound there\u2019s a\nwhole heap of gold and silver down there still!\n\n\n\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 as\nrich 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; and so at last\nshe thought better of it, and washed and mended her rags, made herself\nas smart 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\ngone a 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\nopened, and they came into a castle, where there were many rooms all\nlit up; rooms gleaming with silver and gold; and there too was a table\nready laid, and it was all as grand as grand could be. Then the White\nBear gave her a silver bell; and when she wanted anything, she was only\nto ring it, and 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, so\nshe rang the bell; and she had scarce taken hold of it before she came\ninto a chamber, where there was a bed made, as fair and white as any\none would wish to sleep in, with silken pillows and curtains, and gold\nfringe. All that was in the room was gold or silver; but when she had\ngone 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 joy,\nthere 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 bed-room; 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 some how or other, her mother got round her at last,\nand she had to tell her the whole story. So she said, how every night,\nwhen she had gone to bed, a man came and lay down beside her as soon as\nshe had put out the light, and how she never saw him, because he was\nalways up and away before the morning dawned; and how she went about\nwoeful and sorrowing, for she thought she should so like to see him,\nand how all day long she walked about there alone, and how dull, and\ndreary, and 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 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\na Man by night. But now all ties are snapt between us; now I must set\noff from you to her. She lives in a Castle which stands EAST O\u2019 THE SUN\nAND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON, and there, too, is a Princess, with a nose three\nells 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_\nsurely I 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,\nand then she lay on a little green patch, in the midst of the gloomy\nthick wood, and by her side lay the same bundle of rags she had brought\nwith her 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 crag. Under it sat an old hag, and played with a gold\napple which she tossed about. Her the lassie asked if she knew the way\nto the Prince, who lived with his step-mother in the Castle, that lay\nEAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON, and who was to marry the Princess\nwith 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 WEST\nO\u2019 THE MOON, and thither you\u2019ll come, late or never; but still you may\nhave 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 came to\nanother crag, 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 some use for it, she said. So the lassie got up on the horse, and\nrode a far far way, and a weary time; and so at last she came to\nanother great crag, 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 over again.\n\n\u201cMaybe it\u2019s you who 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\u201cEast o\u2019 the sun and west o\u2019 the moon it was\u201d, she knew\u2014that was all.\n\n\u201cAnd thither you\u2019ll come, late or never; but I\u2019ll lend you my horse,\nand then I think you\u2019d best ride to the East Wind and ask him; maybe,\nhe knows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to\nhim, you need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and\nhe\u2019ll trot 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 her,\nand 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 who 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.\n\n\u201cWell, I have blustered about in most places in my time, but so far\nhave I never blown; but if you will, I\u2019ll take you to my brother the\nNorth Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of the whole lot of us, and\nif he don\u2019t know where it is, you\u2019ll never find any one in the world to\ntell you. You 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\u201cBLAST YOU BOTH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?\u201d he roared out to them ever so far\noff, so that it struck them with an icy shiver.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the South Wind, \u201cyou needn\u2019t be so foul-mouthed, for here\nI am, your brother, the South Wind, and here is the lassie who ought to\nhave had the Prince who dwells in the castle that lies EAST O\u2019 THE SUN\nAND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON, and now she wants to ask you if you ever were\nthere, and can tell her the way, for she would be so glad to find him\nagain.\u201d\n\n\u201cYES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS\u201d, said the North Wind; \u201conce in my\nlife I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but I was so tired I couldn\u2019t blow a\npuff for ever so many days after. But if you really wish to go thither,\nand aren\u2019t afraid to come along with me, I\u2019ll take you on my back and\nsee 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\nthither 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 of\nwood and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea, ships\nfoundered by hundreds.\n\nSo they tore on and on\u2014no one can believe how far they went\u2014and all the\nwhile 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\n\u201cNo!\u201d 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 to\nplay 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\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 bed-room 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 down under the castle windows and began to\ncard with her 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 day time, the lassie sat down outside under the castle\nwindow, and began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that,\ntoo, the Princess with the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up\nthe window and asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she\nhad said twice before, it wasn\u2019t for sale for gold or money; but if she\nmight go up to the Prince who was there, and be with him alone that\nnight, she might have it.\n\nYes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were\nsome Christian folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat\nin their room, which was next the Prince, they had heard how a woman\nhad been in there, and wept and prayed, and called to him two nights\nrunning, and they 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 I\nwant 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 step-mother, 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 some how or other it has got three spots of tallow\non it, 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\u2014at least I\u2019ve never heard a word about them since.\n\nAs for the Prince and Princess, they set free all the poor Christian\nfolk who had been carried off and shut up there; and they took with\nthem all the silver and gold, and flitted away as far as they could\nfrom the Castle that lay EAST O\u2019 THE SUN AND WEST O\u2019 THE MOON.\n\n\n\n\nBOOTS WHO ATE A MATCH WITH THE TROLL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a farmer who had three sons; his means were\nsmall, and he was old and weak, and his sons would take to nothing. A\nfine large wood belonged to the farm, and one day the father told his\nsons to go and hew wood, and try to pay off some of his debts.\n\nWell, after a long talk he got them to set off, and the eldest was to\ngo first. But when he had got well into the wood, and began to hew at a\nmossy old fir, what should he see coming up to him but a great sturdy\nTroll.\n\n\u201cIf you hew in this wood of mine\u201d, said the Troll, \u201cI\u2019ll kill you!\u201d\n\nWhen the lad heard that, he threw the axe down, and ran off home as\nfast as he could lay legs to the ground; so he came in quite out of\nbreath, and told them what had happened, but his father called him\n\u201chare-heart\u201d\u2014no Troll would ever have scared him from hewing when he\nwas young, he said.\n\nNext day the second son\u2019s turn came, and he fared just the same. He had\nscarce hewn three strokes at the fir, before the Troll came to him too,\nand said:\n\n\u201cIf you hew in this wood of mine, I\u2019ll kill you.\u201d\n\nThe lad dared not so much as look at him, but threw down the axe, took\nto his heels, and came scampering home just like his brother. So when\nhe got home, his father was angry again, and said no Troll had ever\nscared him when he was young.\n\nThe third day Boots wanted to set off.\n\n\u201cYou, indeed!\u201d said the two elder brothers; \u201cyou\u2019ll do it bravely, no\ndoubt! you, who have scarce ever set your foot out of the door.\u201d\n\nBoots said nothing to this, but only begged them to give him a good\nstore of food. His mother had no cheese, so she set the pot on the fire\nto make him a little, and he put it into a scrip and set off. So when\nhe had hewn a bit, the Troll came to him too, and said:\n\n\u201cIf you hew in this wood of mine, I\u2019ll kill you.\u201d\n\nBut the lad was not slow; he pulled his cheese out of the scrip in a\ntrice, and squeezed it till the whey spurted out.\n\n\u201cHold your tongue!\u201d he cried to the Troll, \u201cor I\u2019ll squeeze you as I\nsqueeze the water out of this white stone.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, dear friend!\u201d said the Troll, \u201conly spare me, and I\u2019ll help you\nto hew.\u201d\n\nWell, on those terms the lad was willing to spare him, and the Troll\nhewed so bravely, that they felled and cut up many, many fathoms in the\nday.\n\nBut when even drew near, the Troll said:\n\n\u201cNow you\u2019d better come home with me, for my house is nearer than\nyours.\u201d\n\nSo the lad was willing enough; and when they reached the Troll\u2019s house,\nthe Troll was to make up the fire, while the lad went to fetch water\nfor their porridge, and there stood two iron pails so big and heavy,\nthat he couldn\u2019t so much as lift them from the ground.\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the lad, \u201cit isn\u2019t worth while to touch these\nfiner-basins: I\u2019ll just go and fetch the spring itself.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay, dear friend!\u201d said the Troll; \u201cI can\u2019t afford to lose my\nspring; just you make up the fire, and I\u2019ll go and fetch the water.\u201d\n\nSo when he came back with the water, they set to and boiled up a great\npot of porridge.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all the same to me\u201d, said the lad; \u201cbut if you\u2019re of my mind,\nwe\u2019ll eat a match!\u201d\n\n\u201cWith all my heart\u201d, said the Troll, for he thought he could surely\nhold his own in eating. So they sat down; but the lad took his scrip\nunawares to the Troll, and hung it before him, and so he spooned more\ninto the scrip than he ate himself; and when the scrip was full, he\ntook up his knife and made a slit in the scrip. The Troll looked on all\nthe while, but said never a word. So when they had eaten a good bit\nlonger, the Troll laid down his spoon, saying, \u201cNay! but I can\u2019t eat a\nmorsel more.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you shall eat\u201d, said the youth; \u201cI\u2019m only half done; why don\u2019t you\ndo as I did, and cut a hole in your paunch? You\u2019ll be able to eat then\nas much as you please.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut doesn\u2019t it hurt one cruelly?\u201d asked the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the youth, \u201cnothing to speak of.\u201d\n\nSo the Troll did as the lad said, and then you must know very well that\nhe lost his life; but the lad took all the silver and gold that he\nfound in the hill-side, and went home with it, and you may fancy it\nwent a great way to pay off the debt.\n\n\n\n\nHACON GRIZZLEBEARD\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a princess who was so proud and pert that no\nsuitor was good enough for her. She made game of them all, and sent\nthem about their business, one after the other; but though she was so\nproud, still new suitors kept on coming to the palace, for she was a\nbeauty, the wicked hussey!\n\nSo one day there came a prince to woo her, and his name was Hacon\nGrizzlebeard; but the first night he was there, the Princess bade the\nking\u2019s fool cut off the ears of one of the prince\u2019s horses, and slit\nthe jaws of the other up to the ears. When the prince went out to drive\nnext day, the Princess stood in the porch and looked at him.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d she cried, \u201cI never saw the like of this in all my life; the\nkeen north wind that blows here has taken the ears off one of your\nhorses, and the other has stood by and gaped at what was going on till\nhis jaws have split right up to his ears.\u201d\n\nAnd with that she burst out into a roar of laughter, ran in, slammed to\nthe door, and let him drive off.\n\nSo he drove home; but as he went, he thought to himself that he would\npay her off one day. After a bit, he put on a great beard of moss,\nthrew a great fur cloak over his clothes, and dressed himself up just\nlike any beggar. He went to a goldsmith and bought a golden spinning\nwheel, and sat down with it under the Princess\u2019 window, and began to\nfile away at his spinning wheel, and to turn it this way and that, for\nit wasn\u2019t quite in order, and, besides, it wanted a stand.\n\nSo when the Princess rose up in the morning, she came to the window and\nthrew it up, and called out to the beggar if he would sell his golden\nspinning-wheel?\n\n\u201cNo; it isn\u2019t for sale\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard; \u201cbut if I may have\nleave to sleep outside your bedroom door to-night, I\u2019ll give it you.\u201d\n\nWell, the Princess thought it a good bargain; there could be no danger\nin letting him sleep outside her door.\n\nSo she got the wheel, and at night Hacon Grizzlebeard lay down outside\nher bedroom. But as the night wore on he began to freeze.\n\n\u201cHutetutetutetu! it is _so_ cold; do let me in\u201d, he cried.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ve lost your wits outright, I think\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cOh, hutetutetutetu! it is so bitter cold, pray do let me in\u201d, said\nHacon Grizzlebeard again.\n\n\u201cHush! hush! hold your tongue!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cif my father were\nto know that there was a man in the house, I should be in a fine\nscrape.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, hutetutetutetu! I\u2019m almost frozen to death; only let me come\ninside and lie on the floor\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard.\n\nYes! there was no help for it. She had to let him in, and when he was,\nhe lay on the ground and slept like a top.\n\nSome time after, Hacon came again with the stand to the spinning-wheel,\nand sat down under the Princess\u2019 window, and began to file at it, for\nit was not quite fit for use. When she heard him filing, she threw up\nthe window and began to talk to him, and to ask what he had there.\n\n\u201cOh! only the stand to that spinning-wheel which your royal highness\nbought; for I thought, as you had the wheel, you might like to have the\nstand too.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want for it?\u201d asked the Princess; but it was not for sale\nany more than the wheel, but she might have them if she would give him\nleave to sleep on the floor of her bedroom next night.\n\nWell! she gave him leave, only he was to be sure to lie still, and not\nto shiver and call out \u201chutetu\u201d, or any such stuff. Hacon Grizzlebeard\npromised fair enough, but as the night wore on he began to shiver and\nshake, and to ask whether he might not come nearer, and lie on the\nfloor alongside the Princess\u2019 bed.\n\nThere was no help for it; she had to give him leave, lest the king\nshould hear the noise he made. So Hacon Grizzlebeard lay alongside the\nPrincess\u2019 bed, and slept like a top.\n\nIt was a long while before Hacon Grizzlebeard came again; but when he\ncame he had with him a golden wool-winder, and he sat down and began to\nfile away at it under the Princess\u2019 window. Then came the old story\nover again. When the Princess heard what was going on, she came to the\nwindow, and asked him how he did, and whether he would sell the golden\nwool-winder?\n\n\u201cIt is not to be had for money; but if you\u2019ll give me leave to sleep\nto-night in your bedroom, with my head on your bedstead, you shall have\nit for nothing\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard.\n\nWell! she would give him leave, if he only gave his word to be quiet,\nand make no noise. So he said he would do his best to be still; but as\nthe night wore on, he began to shiver and shake so, that his teeth\nchattered again.\n\n\u201cHutetutetutetu! it is so bitter cold! Oh, do let me get into bed and\nwarm myself a little\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard.\n\n\u201cGet into bed!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cwhy, you must have lost your wits.\u201d\n\n\u201cHutetutetutetu!\u201d said Hacon; \u201cdo let me get into bed. Hutetutetutetu.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush! hush! be still for God\u2019s sake\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cif father\nknows there is a man in here, I shall be in a sad plight. I\u2019m sure\nhe\u2019ll kill me on the spot.\u201d\n\n\u201cHutetutetutetu! let me get into bed\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard, who\nkept on shivering so that the whole room shook.\n\nWell! there was no help for it; she had to let him get into bed, where\nhe slept both sound and soft; but a little while after the Princess had\na child, at which the king grew so wild with rage, that he was near\nmaking an end of both mother and babe. Just after this happened, came\nHacon Grizzlebeard tramping that way once more, as if by chance, and\ntook his seat down in the kitchen, like any other beggar.\n\nSo when the Princess came out and saw him, she cried, \u201cAh, God have\nmercy on me, for the ill-luck you have brought on me; father is ready\nto burst with rage; do let me follow you to your home.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019ll be bound you\u2019re too well bred to follow me\u201d, said Hacon, \u201cfor\nI have nothing but a log but to live in; and how I shall ever get food\nfor you I can\u2019t tell, for it\u2019s just as much as I can do to get food for\nmyself.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes! it\u2019s all the same to me how you get it, or whether you get it\nat all\u201d, she said; \u201conly let me be with you, for if I stay here any\nlonger, my father will be sure to take my life.\u201d\n\nSo she got leave to be with the beggar, as she called him, and they\nwalked a long, long way, though she was but a poor hand at tramping.\nWhen she passed out of her father\u2019s land into another, she asked whose\nit was?\n\n\u201cOh! this is Hacon Grizzlebeard\u2019s, if you must know\u201d, said he.\n\n\u201cIndeed!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cI might have married him if I chose, and\nthen I should not have had to walk about like a beggar\u2019s wife.\u201d\n\nSo, whenever they came to grand castles, and woods, and parks, and she\nasked whose they were? the beggar\u2019s answer was still the same: \u201cOh:\nthey are Hacon Grizzlebeard\u2019s.\u201d And the Princess was in a sad way that\nshe had not chosen the man who had such broad lands. Last of all, they\ncame to a palace, where he said he was known, and where he thought he\ncould get her work, so that they might have something to live on; so he\nbuilt up a cabin by the woodside for them to dwell in; and every day he\nwent to the king\u2019s palace, as he said, to hew wood and draw water for\nthe cook, and when he came back he brought a few scraps of meat; but\nthey did not go very far. One day, when he came home from the palace,\nhe said: \u201cTo-morrow I will stay at home and look after the baby, but\nyou must get ready to go to the palace, do you hear! for the Prince\nsaid you were to come and try your hand at baking.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bake!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cI can\u2019t bake, for I never did such a\nthing in my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you must go\u201d, said Hacon, \u201csince the Prince has said it. If you\ncan\u2019t bake, you can learn; you have only got to look how the rest bake;\nand mind, when you leave, you must steal me some bread.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t steal\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cYou can learn that too\u201d, said Hacon; \u201cyou know we live on short\ncommons. But take care that the Prince doesn\u2019t see you, for he has eyes\nat the back of his head.\u201d\n\nSo when she was well on her way, Hacon ran by a short cut and reached\nthe palace long before her, and threw off his rags and beard, and put\non his princely robes.\n\nThe Princess took her turn in the bakehouse, and did as Hacon bade her,\nfor she stole bread till her pockets were crammed full. So when she was\nabout to go home at even, the Prince said:\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t know much of this old wife of Hacon Grizzlebeard\u2019s, I think\nwe\u2019d best see if she has taken anything away with her.\u201d\n\nSo he thrust his hand into all her pockets, and felt her all over, and\nwhen he found the bread, he was in a great rage, and led them all a sad\nlife. She began to weep and bewail, and said:\n\n\u201cThe beggar made me do it, and I couldn\u2019t help it.\u201d \u201cWell\u201d, said the\nPrince at last, \u201cit ought to have gone hard with you; but all the same,\nfor the sake of the beggar you shall be forgiven this once.\u201d\n\nWhen she was well on her way, he threw off his robes, put on his skin\ncloak, and his false beard, and reached the cabin before her. When she\ncame home, he was busy nursing the baby.\n\n\u201cWell, you have made me do what it went against my heart to do. This is\nthe first time I ever stole, and this shall be the last\u201d; and with that\nshe told him how it had gone with her, and what the Prince had said.\n\nA few days after Hacon Grizzlebeard came home at even and said:\n\n\u201cTo-morrow I must stay at home and mind the babe, for they are going to\nkill a pig at the palace, and you must help to make the sausages.\u201d\n\n\u201cI make sausages!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cI can\u2019t do any such thing. I\nhave eaten sausages often enough; but as to making them, I never made\none in my life.\u201d\n\nWell, there was no help for it; the Prince had said it, and go she\nmust. As for not knowing how, she was only to do what the others did,\nand at the same time Hacon bade her steal some sausages for him.\n\n\u201cNay, but I can\u2019t steal them\u201d, she said; \u201cyou know how it went last\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you can learn to steal; who knows but you may have better luck\nnext time\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard.\n\nWhen she was well on her way, Hacon ran by a short cut, reached the\npalace long before her, threw off his skin cloak and false beard, and\nstood in the kitchen with his royal robes before she came in. So the\nPrincess stood by when the pig was killed, and made sausages with the\nrest, and did as Hacon bade her, and stuffed her pockets full of\nsausages. But when she was about to go home at even, the Prince said:\n\n\u201cThis beggar\u2019s wife was long-fingered last time; we may as well just\nsee if she hasn\u2019t carried anything off.\u201d\n\nSo he began to thrust his hands into her pockets, and when he found the\nsausages he was in a great rage again, and made a great to do,\nthreatening to send for the constable and put her into the cage.\n\n\u201cOh, God bless your royal highness; do let me off! The beggar made me\ndo it\u201d, she said, and wept bitterly.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Hacon, \u201cyou ought to smart for it; but for the beggar\u2019s\nsake you shall be forgiven.\u201d\n\nWhen she was gone, he changed his clothes again, ran by the short cut,\nand when she reached the cabin, there he was before her. Then she told\nhim the whole story, and swore, through thick and thin, it should be\nthe last time he got her to do such a thing.\n\nNow, it fell out a little time after, when the man came back from the\npalace, he said:\n\n\u201cOur Prince is going to be married, but the bride is sick, so the\ntailor can\u2019t measure her for her wedding gown. And the Prince\u2019s will\nis, that you should go up to the palace and be measured instead of the\nbride; for he says you are just the same height and shape. But after\nyou have been measured, mind you don\u2019t go away; you can stand about,\nyou know, and when the tailor cuts out the gown, you can snap up the\nlargest pieces, and bring them home for a waistcoat for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, but I can\u2019t steal\u201d, she said; \u201cbesides, you know how it went last\ntime.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can learn then\u201d, said Hacon, \u201cand you may have better luck,\nperhaps.\u201d\n\nShe thought it bad, but still she went and did as she was told. She\nstood by while the tailor was cutting out the gown, and she swept down\nall the biggest scraps, and stuffed them into her pockets; and when she\nwas going away, the Prince said:\n\n\u201cWe may as well see if this old girl has not been long-fingered this\ntime too.\u201d\n\nSo he began to feel and search her pockets, and when he found the\npieces he was in a rage, and began to stamp and scold at a great rate,\nwhile she wept and said:\n\n\u201cAh, pray forgive me; the beggar bade me do it, and I couldn\u2019t help\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you ought to smart for it\u201d, said Hacon; \u201cbut for the beggar\u2019s\nsake it shall be forgiven you.\u201d\n\nSo it went now just as it had gone before, and when she got back to the\ncabin, the beggar was there before her.\n\n\u201cOh, Heaven help me\u201d, she said; \u201cyou will be the death of me at last,\nby making me nothing but what is wicked. The Prince was in such a\ntowering rage that he threatened me both with the constable and cage.\u201d\n\nSometime after, Hacon came home to the cabin at even and said:\n\n\u201cNow, the Prince\u2019s will is, that you should go up to the palace and\nstand for the bride, old lass! for the bride is still sick, and keeps\nher bed; but he won\u2019t put off the wedding; and he says, you are so like\nher, that no one could tell one from the other; so to-morrow you must\nget ready to go to the palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think you\u2019ve lost your wits, both the Prince and you\u201d, said she. \u201cDo\nyou think I look fit to stand in the bride\u2019s place? look at me! Can any\nbeggar\u2019s trull look worse than I?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, the Prince said you were to go, and so go you must\u201d, said Hacon\nGrizzlebeard.\n\nThere was no help for it, go she must; and when she reached the palace,\nthey dressed her out so finely that no princess ever looked so smart.\n\nThe bridal train went to church, where she stood for the bride, and\nwhen they came back, there was dancing and merriment in the palace. But\njust as she was in the midst of dancing with the Prince, she saw a\ngleam of light through the window, and lo! the cabin by the wood-side\nwas all one bright flame.\n\n\u201cOh! the beggar, and the babe, and the cabin\u201d, she screamed out, and\nwas just going to swoon away.\n\n\u201cHere is the beggar, and there is the babe, and so let the cabin burn\naway\u201d, said Hacon Grizzlebeard.\n\nThen she knew him again, and after that the mirth and merriment began\nin right earnest; but since that I have never heard tell anything more\nabout them.\n\n\n\n\nBOOTS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS SAY, \u201cTHAT\u2019S A STORY\u201d\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a king who had a daughter, and she was such a\ndreadful story-teller that the like of her was not to be found far or\nnear. So the king gave out, that if any one could tell such a string of\nlies, as would get her to say, \u201cThat\u2019s a story\u201d, he should have her to\nwife, and half the kingdom besides. Well, many came, as you may fancy,\nto try their luck, for every one would have been very glad to have the\nPrincess, to say nothing of the kingdom; but they all cut a sorry\nfigure, for the Princess was so given to story-telling, that all their\nlies went in at one ear and out of the other. Among the rest came three\nbrothers to try their luck, and the two elder went first, but they\nfared no better than those who had gone before them. Last of all the\nthird, Boots, set off and found the Princess in the farm-yard.\n\n\u201cGood-morning\u201d, he said, \u201cand thank you for nothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-morning\u201d, said she, \u201cand the same to you.\u201d\n\nThen she went on:\n\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t such a fine farm-yard as ours, I\u2019ll be bound; for when two\nshepherds stand, one at each end of it, and blow their ram\u2019s horns, the\none can\u2019t hear the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cHaven\u2019t we though!\u201d answered Boots; \u201cours is far bigger; for when a\ncow begins to go with calf at one end of it, she doesn\u2019t get to the\nother end before the time to drop her calf is come.\u201d\n\n\u201cI dare say!\u201d said the Princess. \u201cWell, but you haven\u2019t such a big ox,\nafter all, as ours yonder; for when two men sit one on each horn, they\ncan\u2019t touch each other with a twenty-foot rule.\u201d\n\n\u201cStuff!\u201d said Boots; \u201cis that all? why, we have an ox who is so big,\nthat when two men sit, one on each horn, and each blows his great\nmountain-trumpet, they can\u2019t hear one another.\u201d\n\n\u201cI dare say!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cbut you haven\u2019t so much milk as we,\nI\u2019ll be bound; for we milk our kine into great pails, and carry them\nin-doors, and empty them into great tubs, and so we make great, great\ncheeses.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! you do, do you?\u201d said Boots. \u201cWell, we milk ours into great tubs,\nand then we put them in carts and drive them in-doors, and then we turn\nthem out into great brewing vats, and so we make cheeses as big as a\ngreat house. We had, too a dun mare to tread the cheese well together\nwhen it was making; but once she tumbled down into the cheese, and we\nlost her; and after we had eaten at this cheese seven years, we came\nupon a great dun mare, alive and kicking. Well, once after that I was\ngoing to drive this mare to the mill, and her back-bone snapped in two;\nbut I wasn\u2019t put out, not I, for I took a spruce sapling, and put it\ninto her for a back-bone, and she had no other back-bone all the while\nwe had her. But the sapling grew up into such a tall tree, that I\nclimbed right up to heaven by it, and when I got there, I saw the\nVirgin Mary sitting and spinning the foam of the sea into pig\u2019s-bristle\nropes; but just then the spruce-fir broke short off, and I couldn\u2019t get\ndown again; so the Virgin Mary let me down by one of the ropes, and\ndown I slipped straight into a fox\u2019s hole, and who should sit there but\nmy mother and your father cobbling shoes; and just as I stepped in, my\nmother gave your father such a box on the ear, that it made his\nwhiskers curl.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a story!\u201d said the Princess; \u201cmy father never did any such\nthing in all his born days!\u201d\n\nSo Boots got the Princess to wife, and half the kingdom besides.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWELVE WILD DUCKS\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a Queen who was out driving, when there had\nbeen a new fall of snow in the winter; but when she had gone a little\nway, she began to bleed at the nose, and had to get out of her sledge.\nAnd so, as she stood there, leaning against the fence, and saw the red\nblood on the white snow, she fell a-thinking how she had twelve sons\nand no daughter, and she said to herself:\n\n\u201cIf I only had a daughter as white as snow and as red as blood, I\nshouldn\u2019t care what became of all my sons.\u201d\n\nBut the words were scarce out of her mouth before an old witch of the\nTrolls came up to her.\n\n\u201cA daughter you shall have\u201d, she said, \u201cand she shall be as white as\nsnow, and as red as blood; and your sons shall be mine, but you may\nkeep them till the babe is christened.\u201d\n\nSo when the time came the Queen had a daughter, and she was as white as\nsnow, and as red as blood, just as the Troll had promised, and so they\ncalled her \u201cSnow-white and Rosy-red.\u201d Well, there was great joy at the\nKing\u2019s court, and the Queen was as glad as glad could be; but when what\nshe had promised to the old witch came into her mind, she sent for a\nsilversmith, and bade him make twelve silver spoons, one for each\nprince, and after that she bade him make one more, and that she gave to\nSnow-white and Rosy-red. But as soon as ever the Princess was\nchristened, the Princes were turned into twelve wild ducks, and flew\naway. They never saw them again\u2014away they went, and away they stayed.\n\nSo the Princess grew up, and she was both tall and fair, but she was\noften so strange and sorrowful, and no one could understand what it was\nthat failed her. But one evening the Queen was also sorrowful, for she\nhad many strange thoughts when she thought of her sons. She said to\nSnow-white and Rosy-red,\n\n\u201cWhy are you so sorrowful, my daughter? Is there anything you want? if\nso, only say the word, and you shall have it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it seems so dull and lonely here\u201d, said Snow-white and Rosy-red;\n\u201cevery one else has brothers and sisters, but I am all alone; I have\nnone; and that\u2019s why I\u2019m so sorrowful.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you _had_ brothers, my daughter\u201d, said the Queen; \u201cI had twelve\nsons who were your brothers, but I gave them all away to get you\u201d; and\nso she told her the whole story.\n\nSo when the Princess heard that, she had no rest; for, in spite of all\nthe Queen could say or do, and all she wept and prayed, the lassie\nwould set off to seek her brothers, for she thought it was all her\nfault; and at last she got leave to go away from the palace. On and on\nshe walked into the wide world, so far, you would never have thought a\nyoung lady could have strength to walk so far.\n\nSo, once, when she was walking through a great, great wood, one day she\nfelt tired, and sat down on a mossy tuft and fell asleep. Then she\ndreamt that she went deeper and deeper into the wood, till she came to\na little wooden hut, and there she found her brothers; just then she\nwoke, and straight before her she saw a worn path in the green moss,\nand this path went deeper into the wood; so she followed it, and after\na long time she came to just such a little wooden house as that she had\nseen in her dream.\n\nNow, when she went into the room there was no one at home, but there\nstood twelve beds, and twelve chairs, and twelve spoons\u2014a dozen of\neverything, in short. So when she saw that she was so glad, she hadn\u2019t\nbeen so glad for many a long year, for she could guess at once that her\nbrothers lived here, and that they owned the beds, and chairs, and\nspoons. So she began to make up the fire, and sweep the room, and make\nthe beds, and cook the dinner, and to make the house as tidy as she\ncould; and when she had done all the cooking and work, she ate her own\ndinner, and crept under her youngest brother\u2019s bed, and lay down there,\nbut she forgot her spoon upon the table.\n\nSo she had scarcely laid herself down before she heard something\nflapping and whirring in the air, and so all the twelve wild ducks came\nsweeping in; but as soon as ever they crossed the threshold they became\nPrinces.\n\n\u201cOh, how nice and warm it is in here\u201d, they said. \u201cHeaven bless him who\nmade up the fire, and cooked such a good dinner for us.\u201d\n\nAnd so each took up his silver spoon and was going to eat. But when\neach had taken his own, there was one still left lying on the table,\nand it was so like the rest that they couldn\u2019t tell it from them.\n\n\u201cThis is our sister\u2019s spoon\u201d, they said; \u201cand if her spoon be here, she\ncan\u2019t be very far off herself.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf this be our sister\u2019s spoon, and she be here\u201d, said the eldest, \u201cshe\nshall be killed, for she is to blame for all the ill we suffer.\u201d\n\nAnd this she lay under the bed and listened to.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the youngest, \u201c\u2019twere a shame to kill her for that. She has\nnothing to do with our suffering ill; for if any one\u2019s to blame, it\u2019s\nour own mother.\u201d\n\nSo they set to work hunting for her both high and low, and at last they\nlooked under all the beds, and so when they came to the youngest\nPrince\u2019s bed, they found her, and dragged her out. Then the eldest\nPrince wished again to have her killed, but she begged and prayed so\nprettily for herself.\n\n\u201cOh! gracious goodness! don\u2019t kill me, for I\u2019ve gone about seeking you\nthese three years, and if I could only set you free, I\u2019d willingly lose\nmy life.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said they, \u201cif you will set us free, you may keep your life;\nfor you can if you choose.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; only tell me\u201d, said the Princess, \u201chow it can be done, and I\u2019ll\ndo it, whatever it be.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must pick thistle-down\u201d, said the Princes, \u201cand you must card it,\nand spin it, and weave it; and after you have done that, you must cut\nout and make twelve coats, and twelve shirts, and twelve neckerchiefs,\none for each of us, and while you do that, you must neither talk, nor\nlaugh, nor weep. If you can do that, we are free.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where shall I ever get thistle-down enough for so many\nneckerchiefs, and shirts, and coats?\u201d asked Snow-white and Rosy-red.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll soon show you\u201d, said the Princes; and so they took her with them\nto a great wide moor, where there stood such a crop of thistles, all\nnodding and nodding in the breeze, and the down all floating and\nglistening like gossamers through the air in the sunbeams. The Princess\nhad never seen such a quantity of thistledown in her life, and she\nbegan to pluck and gather it as fast and as well as she could; and when\nshe got home at night she set to work carding and spinning yarn from\nthe down. So she went on a long long time, picking, and carding, and\nspinning, and all the while keeping the Princes\u2019 house, cooking, and\nmaking their beds. At evening home they came, flapping and whirring\nlike wild ducks, and all night they were Princes, but in the morning\noff they flew again, and were wild ducks the whole day.\n\nBut now it happened once, when she was out on the moor to pick\nthistle-down\u2014and if I don\u2019t mistake, it was the very last time she was\nto go thither\u2014it happened that the young King who ruled that land was\nout hunting, and came riding across the moor, and saw her. So he\nstopped there and wondered who the lovely lady could be that walked\nalong the moor picking thistle-down, and he asked her her name, and\nwhen he could get no answer, he was still more astonished; and at last\nhe liked her so much, that nothing would do but he must take her home\nto his castle and marry her. So he ordered his servants to take her and\nput her up on his horse. Snow-white and Rosy-red, she wrung her hands,\nand made signs to them, and pointed to the bags in which her work was,\nand when the King saw she wished to have them with her, he told his men\nto take up the bags behind them. When they had done that the Princess\ncame to herself, little by little, for the King was both a wise man and\na handsome man too, and he was as soft and kind to her as a doctor. But\nwhen they got home to the palace, and the old Queen, who was his\nstepmother, set eyes on Snow-white and Rosy-red, she got so cross and\njealous of her because she was so lovely, that she said to the king:\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you see now, that this thing whom you have picked up, and whom\nyou are going to marry, is a witch. Why? she can\u2019t either talk, or\nlaugh, or weep!\u201d\n\nBut the King didn\u2019t care a pin for what she said, but held on with the\nwedding, and married Snow-white and Rosy-red and they lived in great\njoy and glory; but she didn\u2019t forget to go on sewing at her shirts.\n\nSo when the year was almost out, Snow-white and Rosy-red brought a\nPrince into the world; and then the old Queen was more spiteful and\njealous than ever, and at dead of night, she stole in to Snow-white and\nRosy-red, while she slept, and took away her babe, and threw it into a\npitful of snakes. After that she cut Snow-white and Rosy-red in her\nfinger, and smeared the blood over her mouth, and went straight to the\nKing.\n\n\u201cNow come and see\u201d, she said, \u201cwhat sort of a thing you have taken for\nyour Queen; here she has eaten up her own babe.\u201d\n\nThen the King was so downcast, he almost burst into tears, and said:\n\n\u201cYes, it must be true, since I see it with my own eyes; but she\u2019ll not\ndo it again, I\u2019m sure, and so this time I\u2019ll spare her life.\u201d\n\nSo before the next year was out she had another son, and the same thing\nhappened. The King\u2019s stepmother got more and more jealous and spiteful.\nShe stole into the young Queen at night while she slept, took away the\nbabe, and threw it into a pit full of snakes, cut the young Queen\u2019s\nfinger, and smeared the blood over her mouth, and then went and told\nthe King she had eaten up her own child. Then the King was so\nsorrowful, you can\u2019t think how sorry he was, and he said:\n\n\u201cYes, it must be true, since I see it with my own eyes; but she\u2019ll not\ndo it again, I\u2019m sure, and so this time too I\u2019ll spare her life.\u201d\n\nWell, before the next year was out, Snow-white and Rosy-red brought a\ndaughter into the world, and her, too, the old Queen took and threw\ninto the pit full of snakes, while the young Queen slept. Then she cut\nher finger, smeared the blood over her mouth, and went again to the\nKing and said,\n\n\u201cNow you may come and see if it isn\u2019t as I say; she\u2019s a wicked, wicked\nwitch, for here she has gone and eaten up her third babe, too.\u201d\n\nThen the King was so sad, there was no end to it, for now he couldn\u2019t\nspare her any longer, but had to order her to be burnt alive on a pile\nof wood. But just when the pile was all a-blaze, and they were going to\nput her on it, she made signs to them to take twelve boards and lay\nthem round the pile, and on these she laid the neckerchiefs, and the\nshirts, and the coats for her brothers, but the youngest brother\u2019s\nshirt wanted its left arm, for she hadn\u2019t had time to finish it. And as\nsoon as ever she had done that, they heard such a flapping and whirring\nin the air, and down came twelve wild ducks flying over the forest, and\neach of them snapped up his clothes in his bill and flew off with them.\n\n\u201cSee now!\u201d said the old Queen to the King, \u201cwasn\u2019t I right when I told\nyou she was a witch, but make haste and burn her before the pile burns\nlow.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the King, \u201cwe\u2019ve wood enough and to spare, and so I\u2019ll wait\na bit, for I have a mind to see what the end of all this will be.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke, up came the twelve princes riding along, as handsome\nwell-grown lads as you\u2019d wish to see; but the youngest prince had a\nwild duck\u2019s wing instead of his left arm.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s all this about?\u201d asked the Princes.\n\n\u201cMy Queen is to be burnt,\u201d said the King, \u201cbecause she\u2019s a witch, and\nbecause she has eaten up her own babes.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe hasn\u2019t eaten them at all\u201d, said the Princes. \u201cSpeak now, sister;\nyou have set us free and saved us, now save yourself.\u201d\n\nThen Snow-white and Rosy-red spoke, and told the whole story; how every\ntime she was brought to bed, the old Queen, the King\u2019s stepmother, had\nstolen into her at night, had taken her babes away, and cut her little\nfinger, and smeared the blood over her mouth; and then the Princes took\nthe King, and shewed him the snake-pit where three babes lay playing\nwith adders and toads, and lovelier children you never saw.\n\nSo the King had them taken out at once, and went to his stepmother, and\nasked her what punishment she thought that woman deserved who could\nfind it in her heart to betray a guiltless Queen and three such blessed\nlittle babes.\n\n\u201cShe deserves to be fast bound between twelve unbroken steeds, so that\neach may take his share of her\u201d, said the old Queen.\n\n\u201cYou have spoken your own doom\u201d, said the King, \u201cand you shall suffer\nit at once.\u201d\n\nSo the wicked old Queen was fast bound between twelve unbroken steeds,\nand each got his share of her. But the King took Snow-white and\nRosy-red, and their three children, and the twelve Princes; and so they\nall went home to their father and mother, and told all that had\nbefallen them, and there was joy and gladness over the whole kingdom,\nbecause the Princess was saved and set free, and because she had set\nfree her twelve brothers.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a king who had seven sons, and he loved them\nso much that he could never bear to be without them all at once, but\none must always be with him. Now, when they were grown up, six were to\nset off to woo, but as for the youngest, his father kept him at home,\nand the others were to bring back a princess for him to the palace. So\nthe king gave the six the finest clothes you ever set eyes on, so fine\nthat the light gleamed from them a long way off, and each had his\nhorse, which cost many, many hundred dollars, and so they set off. Now,\nwhen they had been to many palaces, and seen many princesses, at last\nthey came to a king who had six daughters; such lovely king\u2019s daughters\nthey had never seen, and so they fell to wooing them, each one, and\nwhen they had got them for sweethearts, they set off home again, but\nthey quite forgot that they were to bring back with them a sweetheart\nfor Boots, their brother, who stayed at home, for they were over head\nand ears in love with their own sweethearts.\n\nBut when they had gone a good bit on their way, they passed close by a\nsteep hill-side, like a wall, where the giant\u2019s house was, and there\nthe giant came out, and set his eyes upon them, and turned them all\ninto stone, princes and princesses and all. Now the king waited and\nwaited for his six sons, but the more he waited, the longer they stayed\naway; so he fell into great trouble, and said he should never know what\nit was to be glad again.\n\n\u201cAnd if I had not you left\u201d, he said to Boots, \u201cI would live no longer,\nso full of sorrow am I for the loss of your brothers.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, but now I\u2019ve been thinking to ask your leave to set out and find\nthem again; that\u2019s what I\u2019m thinking of\u201d, said Boots.\n\n\u201cNay, nay!\u201d said his father; \u201cthat leave you shall never get, for then\nyou would stay away too.\u201d\n\nBut Boots had set his heart upon it; go he would; and he begged and\nprayed so long that the king was forced to let him go. Now, you must\nknow the king had no other horse to give Boots but an old broken-down\njade, for his six other sons and their train had carried off all his\nhorses; but Boots did not care a pin for that, he sprang up on his\nsorry-old-steed.\n\n\u201cFarewell, father\u201d, said he; \u201cI\u2019ll come back, never fear, and like\nenough I shall bring my six brothers back with me\u201d; and with that he\nrode off.\n\nSo, when he had ridden a while, he came to a Raven, which lay in the\nroad and flapped its wings, and was not able to get out of the way, it\nwas so starved.\n\n\u201cOh, dear friend\u201d, said the Raven, \u201cgive me a little food, and I\u2019ll\nhelp you again at your utmost need.\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t much food\u201d, said the Prince, \u201cand I don\u2019t see how you\u2019ll\never be able to help me much; but still I can spare you a little. I see\nyou want it.\u201d\n\nSo he gave the raven some of the food he had brought with him.\n\nNow, when he had gone a bit further, he came to a brook, and in the\nbrook lay a great Salmon, which had got upon a dry place and dashed\nitself about, and could not get into the water again.\n\n\u201cOh, dear friend\u201d, said the Salmon to the Prince; \u201cshove me out into\nthe water again, and I\u2019ll help you again at your utmost need.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Prince, \u201cthe help you\u2019ll give me will not be great, I\ndaresay, but it\u2019s a pity you should lie there and choke\u201d; and with that\nhe shot the fish out into the stream again.\n\nAfter that he went a long, long way, and there met him a Wolf, which\nwas so famished that it lay and crawled along the road on its belly.\n\n\u201cDear friend, do let me have your horse\u201d, said the Wolf; \u201cI\u2019m so hungry\nthe wind whistles through my ribs; I\u2019ve had nothing to eat these two\nyears.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said Boots, \u201cthis will never do; \u201cfirst I came to a raven, and I\nwas forced to give him my food; next I came to a salmon, and him I had\nto help into the water again; and now you will have my horse. It can\u2019t\nbe done, that it can\u2019t, for then I should have nothing to ride on.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, dear friend, but you can help me\u201d, said Graylegs the wolf; \u201cyou\ncan ride upon my back, and I\u2019ll help you again in your utmost need.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! the help I shall get from you will not be great, I\u2019ll be bound\u201d,\nsaid the Prince; \u201cbut you may take my horse, since you are in such\nneed.\u201d\n\nSo when the wolf had eaten the horse, Boots took the bit and put it\ninto the wolf\u2019s jaw, and laid the saddle on his back; and now the wolf\nwas so strong, after what he had got inside, that he set off with the\nPrince like nothing. So fast he had never ridden before.\n\n\u201cWhen we have gone a bit farther\u201d, said Graylegs; \u201cI\u2019ll show you the\nGiant\u2019s house.\u201d\n\nSo after a while they came to it.\n\n\u201cSee, here is the Giant\u2019s house\u201d, said the Wolf; \u201cand see, here are\nyour six brothers, whom the Giant has turned into stone; and see here\nare their six brides, and away yonder is the door, and in at that door\nyou must go.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, but I daren\u2019t go in\u201d, said the Prince; \u201che\u2019ll take my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo! no!\u201d said the Wolf; \u201cwhen you get in you\u2019ll find a Princess, and\nshe\u2019ll tell you what to do to make an end of the Giant. Only mind and\ndo as she bids you.\u201d\n\nWell! Boots went in, but, truth to say, he was very much afraid. When\nhe came in the Giant was away, but in one of the rooms sat the\nPrincess, just as the wolf had said, and so lovely a princess Boots had\nnever yet set eyes on.\n\n\u201cOh! heaven help you! whence have you come?\u201d said the Princess, as she\nsaw him; \u201cit will surely be your death. No one can make an end of the\nGiant who lives here, for he has no heart in his body.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d said Boots; \u201cbut now that I am here, I may as well try\nwhat I can do with him; and I will see if I can\u2019t free my brothers, who\nare standing turned to stone out of doors; and you, too, I will try to\nsave, that I will.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, if you must, you must\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cand so let us see if\nwe can\u2019t hit on a plan. Just creep under the bed yonder, and mind and\nlisten to what he and I talk about. But, pray, do lie as still as a\nmouse.\u201d\n\nSo he crept under the bed, and he had scarce got well underneath it,\nbefore the Giant came.\n\n\u201cHa!\u201d roared the Giant, \u201cwhat a smell of Christian blood there is in\nthe house!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know there is\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cfor there came a magpie\nflying with a man\u2019s bone, and let it fall down the chimney. I made all\nthe haste I could to get it out, but all one can do, the smell doesn\u2019t\ngo off so soon.\u201d\n\nSo the Giant said no more about it, and when night came, they went to\nbed. After they had lain awhile, the Princess said:\n\n\u201cThere is one thing I\u2019d be so glad to ask you about, if I only dared.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat thing is that?\u201d asked the Giant.\n\n\u201cOnly where it is you keep your heart, since you don\u2019t carry it about\nyou\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cAh! that\u2019s a thing you\u2019ve no business to ask about; but if you must\nknow, it lies under the door-sill\u201d, said the Giant.\n\n\u201cHo! ho!\u201d said Boots to himself under the bed, \u201cthen we\u2019ll soon see if\nwe can\u2019t find it.\u201d\n\nNext morning the Giant got up cruelly early, and strode off to the\nwood; but he was hardly out of the house before Boots and the Princess\nset to work to look under the door-sill for his heart; but the more\nthey dug, and the more they hunted, the more they couldn\u2019t find it.\n\n\u201cHe has baulked us this time\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cbut we\u2019ll try him\nonce more.\u201d\n\nSo she picked all the prettiest flowers she could find, and strewed\nthem over the door-sill, which they had laid in its right place again;\nand when the time came for the Giant to come home again, Boots crept\nunder the bed. Just as he was well under, back came the Giant.\n\nSnuff\u2014snuff, went the Giant\u2019s nose. \u201cMy eyes and limbs, what a smell of\nChristian blood there is in here\u201d, said he.\n\n\u201cI know there is\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cfor there came a magpie flying\nwith a man\u2019s bone in his bill, and let it fall down the chimney. I made\nas much haste as I could to get it out, but I daresay it\u2019s that you\nsmell.\u201d\n\nSo the Giant held his peace, and said no more about it. A little while\nafter, he asked who it was that had strewed flowers about the\ndoor-sill.\n\n\u201cOh, I, of course\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cAnd, pray, what\u2019s the meaning of all this?\u201d said the Giant.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cI\u2019m so fond of you that I couldn\u2019t help\nstrewing them, when I knew that your heart lay under there.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t say so\u201d, said the Giant; \u201cbut after all it doesn\u2019t lie there\nat all.\u201d\n\nSo when they went to bed again in the evening, the Princess asked the\nGiant again where his heart was, for she said she would so like to\nknow.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Giant, \u201cif you must know, it lies away yonder in the\ncupboard against the wall.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo, so!\u201d thought Boots and the Princess; \u201cthen we\u2019ll soon try to find\nit.\u201d\n\nNext morning the Giant was away early, and strode off to the wood, and\nso soon as he was gone Boots and the Princess were in the cupboard\nhunting for his heart, but the more they sought for it, the less they\nfound it.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cwe\u2019ll just try him once more.\u201d\n\nSo she decked out the cupboard with flowers and garlands, and when the\ntime came for the Giant to come home, Boots crept under the bed again.\n\nThen back came the Giant.\n\nSnuff-snuff! \u201cMy eyes and limbs, what a smell of Christian blood there\nis in here!\u201d\n\n\u201cI know there is\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cfor a little while since there\ncame a magpie flying with a man\u2019s bone in his bill, and let it fall\ndown the chimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out of the\nhouse again; but after all my pains, I daresay it\u2019s that you smell.\u201d\n\nWhen the Giant heard that, he said no more about it; but a little while\nafter, he saw how the cupboard was all decked about with flowers and\ngarlands; so he asked who it was that had done that? Who could it be\nbut the Princess.\n\n\u201cAnd, pray, what\u2019s the meaning of all this tom-foolery?\u201d asked the\nGiant.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m so fond of you, I couldn\u2019t help doing it when I knew that your\nheart lay there\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cHow can you be so silly as to believe any such thing?\u201d said the Giant.\n\n\u201cOh yes; how can I help believing it, when you say it\u201d, said the\nPrincess.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re a goose\u201d, said the Giant; \u201cwhere my heart is, you will never\ncome.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Princess;\u201d but for all that, \u2019twould be such a\npleasure to know where it really lies.\u201d\n\nThen the poor Giant could hold out no longer, but was forced to say:\n\n\u201cFar, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a\nchurch; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck; in that\nduck there is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart,\u2014you\ndarling!\u201d\n\nIn the morning early, while it was still grey dawn, the Giant strode\noff to the wood.\n\n\u201cYes! now I must set off too\u201d, said Boots; \u201cif I only knew how to find\nthe way.\u201d He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and when he\ngot out of the Giant\u2019s door, there stood the Wolf waiting for him. So\nBoots told him all that had happened inside the house, and said now he\nwished to ride to the well in the church, if he only knew the way. So\nthe Wolf bade him jump on his back, he\u2019d soon find the way; and away\nthey went, till the wind whistled after them, over hedge and field,\nover hill and dale. After they had travelled many, many days, they came\nat last to the lake. Then the Prince did not know how to get over it,\nbut the Wolf bade him only not be afraid, but stick on, and so he\njumped into the lake with the Prince on his back, and swam over to the\nisland. So they came to the church; but the church keys hung high, high\nup on the top of the tower, and at first the Prince did not know how to\nget them down.\n\n\u201cYou must call on the raven\u201d, said the Wolf.\n\nSo the Prince called on the raven, and in a trice the raven came, and\nflew up and fetched the keys, and so the Prince got into the church.\nBut when he came to the well, there lay the duck, and swam about\nbackwards and forwards, just as the Giant had said. So the Prince stood\nand coaxed it and coaxed it, till it came to him, and he grasped it in\nhis hand; but just as he lifted it up from the water the duck dropped\nthe egg into the well, and then Boots was beside himself to know how to\nget it out again.\n\n\u201cWell, now you must call on the salmon to be sure\u201d, said the Wolf; and\nthe king\u2019s son called on the salmon, and the salmon came and fetched up\nthe egg from the bottom of the well.\n\nThen the Wolf told him to squeeze the egg, and as soon as ever he\nsqueezed it the Giant screamed out.\n\n\u201cSqueeze it again\u201d, said the Wolf; and when the Prince did so, the\nGiant screamed still more piteously, and begged and prayed so prettily\nto be spared, saying he would do all that the Prince wished if he would\nonly not squeeze his heart in two.\n\n\u201cTell him, if he will restore to life again your six brothers and their\nbrides, whom he has turned to stone, you will spare his life\u201d, said the\nWolf. Yes, the Giant was ready to do that, and he turned the six\nbrothers into king\u2019s sons again, and their brides into king\u2019s\ndaughters.\n\n\u201cNow, squeeze the egg in two\u201d, said the Wolf. So Boots squeezed the egg\nto pieces, and the Giant burst at once.\n\nNow, when he had made an end of the Giant, Boots rode back again on the\nwolf to the Giant\u2019s house, and there stood all his six brothers alive\nand merry, with their brides. Then Boots went into the hill-side after\nhis bride, and so they all set off home again to their father\u2019s house.\nAnd you may fancy how glad the old king was when he saw all his seven\nsons come back, each with his bride\u2014\u201cBut the loveliest bride of all is\nthe bride of Boots, after all\u201d, said the king, \u201cand he shall sit\nuppermost at the table, with her by his side.\u201d\n\nSo he sent out, and called a great wedding-feast, and the mirth was\nboth loud and long, and if they have not done feasting, why, they are\nstill at it.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOX AS HERDSMAN\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a woman who went out to hire a herdsman, and\nshe met a bear.\n\n\u201cWhither away, Goody?\u201d said Bruin.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m going out to hire a herdsman\u201d, answered the woman.\n\n\u201cWhy not have me for a herdsman?\u201d said Bruin.\n\n\u201cWell, why not?\u201d said the woman. \u201cIf you only knew how to call the\nflock; just let me hear?\u201d\n\n\u201cOW, OW!\u201d growled the bear.\n\n\u201cNo, no! I won\u2019t have you\u201d, said the woman, as soon as she heard him\nsay that, and off she went on her way.\n\nSo, when she had gone a bit further, she met a wolf.\n\n\u201cWhither away, Goody?\u201d asked the Wolf.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said she, \u201cI\u2019m going out to hire a herdsman.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not have me for a herdsman?\u201d said the Wolf.\n\n\u201cWell, why not? if you can only call the flock; let me hear?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cUH, UH!\u201d said the Wolf.\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d said the woman; \u201cyou\u2019ll never do for me.\u201d\n\nWell, after she had gone a while longer, she met a fox.\n\n\u201cWhither away, Goody?\u201d asked the Fox.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m just going out to hire a herdsman\u201d, said the woman.\n\n\u201cWhy not have me for your herdsman?\u201d asked the Fox.\n\n\u201cWell, why not?\u201d said she; \u201cif you only knew how to call the flock; let\nme hear?\u201d\n\n\u201cDIL-DAL-HOLOM\u201d, sung out the Fox, in such a fine clear voice.\n\n\u201cYes; I\u2019ll have you for my herdsman\u201d, said the woman; and so she set\nthe Fox to herd her flock.\n\nThe first day the Fox was herdsman he ate up all the woman\u2019s goats; the\nnext day he made an end of all her sheep; and the third day he ate up\nall her kine. So, when he came home at even, the woman asked what he\nhad done with all her flocks?\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Fox, \u201ctheir skulls are in the stream, and their bodies\nin the holt.\u201d\n\nNow, the Goody stood and churned when the fox said this, but she\nthought she might as well step out and see after her flock; and while\nshe was away the Fox crept into the churn and ate up the cream. So when\nthe Goody came back and saw that, she fell into such a rage, that she\nsnatched up the little morsel of the cream that was left, and threw it\nat the fox as he ran off, so that he got a dab of it on the end of his\ntail, and that\u2019s the reason why the fox has a white tip to his brush.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MASTERMAID\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a king who had several sons\u2014I don\u2019t know how\nmany there were\u2014but the youngest had no rest at home, for nothing else\nwould please him but to go out into the world and try his luck, and\nafter a long time the king was forced to give him leave to go. Now,\nafter he had travelled some days, he came one night to a Giant\u2019s house,\nand there he got a place in the Giant\u2019s service. In the morning the\nGiant went off to herd his goats, and as he left the yard, he told the\nPrince to clean out the stable; \u201cand after you have done that, you\nneedn\u2019t do anything else to-day; for you must know it is an easy master\nyou have come to. But what is set you to do you must do well, and you\nmustn\u2019t think of going into any of the rooms which are beyond that in\nwhich you slept, for if you do, I\u2019ll take your life.\u201d\n\n\u201cSure enough, it is an easy master I have got\u201d, said the Prince to\nhimself, as he walked up and down the room, and carolled and sang, for\nhe thought there was plenty of time to clean out the stable.\n\n\u201cBut still it would be good fun just to peep into his other rooms, for\nthere must be something in them which he is afraid lest I should see,\nsince he won\u2019t give me leave to go in.\u201d\n\nSo he went into the first room, and there was a pot boiling on a hook\nby the wall, but the Prince saw no fire underneath it. I wonder what is\ninside it, he thought; and then he dipped a lock of his hair into it,\nand the hair seemed as if it were all turned to copper.\n\n\u201cWhat a dainty broth,\u201d he said; \u201cif one tasted it, he\u2019d look grand\ninside his gullet\u201d; and with that he went into the next room. There,\ntoo, was a pot hanging by a hook, which bubbled and boiled; but there\nwas no fire under that either.\n\n\u201cI may as well try this too\u201d, said the Prince, as he put another lock\ninto the pot, and it came out all silvered.\n\n\u201cThey haven\u2019t such rich broth in my father\u2019s house\u201d, said the Prince;\n\u201cbut it all depends on how it tastes\u201d, and with that he went on into\nthe third room. There, too, hung a pot, and boiled just as he had seen\nin the two other rooms, and the Prince had a mind to try this too, so\nhe dipped a lock of hair into it, and it came out gilded, so that the\nlight gleamed from it.\n\n\u201c\u2018Worse and worse\u2019, said the old wife; but I say better and better\u201d,\nsaid the Prince; \u201cbut if he boils gold here, I wonder what he boils in\nyonder.\u201d\n\nHe thought he might as well see; so he went through the door into the\nfourth room. Well, there was no pot in there, but there was a Princess,\nseated on a bench, so lovely, that the Prince had never seen anything\nlike her in his born days.\n\n\u201cOh! in Heaven\u2019s name\u201d, she said, \u201cwhat do you want here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI got a place here yesterday\u201d, said the Prince.\n\n\u201cA place, indeed! Heaven help you out of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, after all, I think I\u2019ve got an easy master; he hasn\u2019t set me\nmuch to do to-day, for after I have cleaned out the stable, my day\u2019s\nwork is over.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, but how will you do it\u201d, she said; \u201cfor if you set to work to\nclean it like other folk, ten pitchforks full will come in for every\none you toss out. But I will teach you how to set to work; you must\nturn the fork upside down, and toss with the handle, and then all the\ndung will fly out of itself.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he would be sure to do that\u201d, said the Prince; and so he sat\nthere the whole day, for he and the Princess were soon great friends,\nand had made up their minds to have one another, and so the first day\nof his service with the Giant was not long, you may fancy. But when the\nevening drew on, she said \u201ctwould be as well if he got the stable\ncleaned out before the Giant came home; and when he went to the stable,\nhe thought he would just see if what she had said were true, and so he\nbegan to work like the grooms in his father\u2019s stable; but he soon had\nenough of that, for he hadn\u2019t worked a minute before the stable was so\nfull of dung that he hadn\u2019t room to stand. Then he did as the Princess\nbade him, and turned up the fork and worked with the handle, and lo! in\na trice the stable was as clean as if it had been scoured. And when he\nhad done his work, he went back into the room where the Giant had given\nhim leave to be, and began to walk up and down, and to carol and sing.\nSo after a bit, home came the Giant with his goats.\n\n\u201cHave you cleaned the stable?\u201d asked the Giant.\n\n\u201cYes, now it\u2019s all right and tight, master\u201d, answered the Prince.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon see if it is\u201d, growled the Giant, and strode off to the\nstable, where he found it just as the Prince had said.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ve been talking to my Mastermaid, I can see\u201d, said the Giant; \u201cfor\nyou\u2019ve not sucked this knowledge out of your own breast.\u201d\n\n\u201cMastermaid!\u201d said the Prince, who looked as stupid as an owl, \u201cwhat\nsort of thing is that, master? I\u2019d be very glad to see it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said the Giant; \u201cyou\u2019ll see her soon enough\u201d.\n\nNext day the Giant set off with his goats again, and before he went he\ntold the Prince to fetch home his horse, which was out at grass on the\nhill-side, and when he had done that he might rest all the day.\n\n\u201cFor you must know, it is an easy master you have come to\u201d, said the\nGiant; \u201cbut if you go into any of the rooms I spoke of yesterday, I\u2019ll\nwring your head off.\u201d\n\nSo off he went with his flock of goats.\n\n\u201cAn easy master you are indeed\u201d, said the Prince; \u201cbut for all that,\nI\u2019ll just go in and have a chat with your Mastermaid; may be she\u2019ll be\nas soon mine as yours.\u201d So he went in to her, and she asked him what he\nhad to do that day.\n\n\u201cOh! nothing to be afraid of\u201d, said he; \u201cI\u2019ve only to go up to the\nhill-side to fetch his horse.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, and how will you set about it?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, for that matter, there\u2019s no great art in riding a horse home. I\nfancy I\u2019ve ridden fresher horses before now\u201d, said the Prince.\n\n\u201cAh, but this isn\u2019t so easy a task as you think; but I\u2019ll teach you how\nto do it. When you get near it, fire and flame will come out of its\nnostrils, as out of a tar barrel; but look out, and take the bit which\nhangs behind the door yonder, and throw it right into his jaws, and he\nwill grow so tame that you may do what you like with him.\u201d\n\nYes! the Prince would mind and do that; and so he sat in there the\nwhole day, talking and chattering with the Mastermaid about one thing\nand another, but they always came back to how happy they would be if\nthey could only have one another, and get well away from the Giant;\nand, to tell the truth, the Prince would have clean forgotten both the\nhorse and the hill-side, if the Mastermaid hadn\u2019t put him in mind of\nthem when evening drew on, telling him he had better set out to fetch\nthe horse before the Giant came home. So he set off, and took the bit\nwhich hung in the corner, ran up the hill, and it wasn\u2019t long before he\nmet the horse, with fire and flame streaming out of its nostrils. But\nhe watched his time, and, as the horse came open-jawed up to him, he\nthrew the bit into its mouth, and it stood as quiet as a lamb. After\nthat, it was no great matter to ride it home and put it up, you may\nfancy; and then the Prince went into his room again, and began to carol\nand sing.\n\nSo the Giant came home again at even with his goats; and the first\nwords he said were:\n\n\u201cHave you brought my horse down from the hill?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, master, that I have\u201d, said the Prince; \u201cand a better horse I\nnever bestrode; but for all that I rode him straight home, and put him\nup safe and sound.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon see to that\u201d, said the Giant, and ran out to the stable, and\nthere stood the horse just as the Prince had said.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ve talked to my Mastermaid, I\u2019ll be bound, for you haven\u2019t sucked\nthis out of your own breast\u201d, said the Giant again.\n\n\u201cYesterday master talked of this Mastermaid, and to-day it\u2019s the same\nstory\u201d, said the Prince, who pretended to be silly and stupid. \u201cBless\nyou, master! why don\u2019t you show me the thing at once? I should so like\nto see it only once in my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, if that\u2019s all\u201d, said the Giant, \u201cyou\u2019ll see her soon enough.\u201d\n\nThe third day, at dawn, the Giant went off to the wood again with his\ngoats; but before he went he said to the Prince:\n\n\u201cTo-day you must go to Hell and fetch my fire-tax. When you have done\nthat you can rest yourself all day, for you must know it is an easy\nmaster you have come to\u201d; and with that off he went.\n\n\u201cEasy master, indeed!\u201d said the Prince. \u201cYou may be easy, but you set\nme hard tasks all the same. But I may as well see if I can find your\nMastermaid, as you call her. I daresay she\u2019ll tell me what to do\u201d; and\nso in he went to her again.\n\nSo when the Mastermaid asked what the Giant had set him to do that day,\nhe told her how he was to go to Hell and fetch the fire-tax.\n\n\u201cAnd how will you set about it?\u201d asked the Mastermaid.\n\n\u201cOh, that you must tell me\u201d, said the Prince. \u201cI have never been to\nHell in my life; and even if I knew the way, I don\u2019t know how much I am\nto ask for.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ll soon tell you\u201d, said the Mastermaid; \u201cyou must go to the\nsteep rock away yonder, under the hill-side, and take the club that\nlies there, and knock on the face of the rock. Then there will come out\none all glistening with fire; to him you must tell your errand; and\nwhen he asks you how much you will have, mind you say, \u2018As much as I\ncan carry.\u2019\u201d\n\nYes; he would be sure to say that; so he sat in there with the\nMastermaid all that day too; and though evening drew on, he would have\nsat there till now, had not the Mastermaid put him in mind that it was\nhigh time to be off to Hell to fetch the Giant\u2019s fire-tax before he\ncame home. So he went on his way, and did just as the Mastermaid had\ntold him; and when he reached the rock, he took up the club and gave a\ngreat thump. Then the rock opened, and out came one whose face\nglistened, and out of whose eyes and nostrils flew sparks of fire.\n\n\u201cWhat is your will?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019m only come from the Giant to fetch his fire-tax\u201d, said the\nPrince.\n\n\u201cHow much will you have then?\u201d said the other.\n\n\u201cI never wish for more than I am able to carry\u201d, said the Prince.\n\n\u201cLucky for you that you did not ask for a whole horse-load\u201d, said he\nwho came out of the rock; \u201cbut come now into the rock with me, and you\nshall have it.\u201d\n\nSo the Prince went in with him, and you may fancy what heaps and heaps\nof gold and silver he saw lying in there, just like stones in a gravel\npit; and he got a load just as big as he was able to carry, and set off\nhome with it. Now, when the Giant came home with his goats at even, the\nPrince went into his room, and began to carol and sing as he had done\nthe evenings before.\n\n\u201cHave you been to Hell after my fire-tax?\u201d roared the Giant.\n\n\u201cOh yes; that I have, master\u201d, answered the Prince.\n\n\u201cWhere have you put it?\u201d said the Giant.\n\n\u201cThere stands the sack on the bench yonder\u201d, said the Prince.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon see to that\u201d, said the Giant, who strode off to the bench,\nand there he saw the sack so full that the gold and silver dropped out\non the floor as soon as ever he untied the string.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ve been talking to my Mastermaid, that I can see\u201d, said the Giant;\n\u201cbut if you have, I\u2019ll wring your head off.\u201d\n\n\u201cMastermaid!\u201d said the Prince; \u201cyesterday master talked of this\nMastermaid, and to-day he talks of her again, and the day before\nyesterday it was the same story. I only wish I could see what sort of\nthing she is! that I do.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well, wait till to-morrow\u201d, said the Giant, \u201cand then I\u2019ll take\nyou in to her myself.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you kindly, master\u201d, said the Prince; \u201cbut it\u2019s only a joke of\nmaster\u2019s, I\u2019ll be bound.\u201d\n\nSo next day the Giant took him in to the Mastermaid, and said to her:\n\n\u201cNow, you must cut his throat, and boil him in the great big pot you\nwot of; and when the broth is ready, just give me a call.\u201d\n\nAfter that, he laid him down on the bench to sleep, and began to snore\nso, that it sounded like thunder on the hills.\n\nSo the Mastermaid took a knife and cut the Prince in his little finger,\nand let three drops of blood fall on a three-legged stool; and after\nthat she took all the old rags, and soles of shoes, and all the rubbish\nshe could lay hands on, and put them into the pot; and then she filled\na chest full of ground gold, and took a lump of salt, and a flask of\nwater that hung behind the door, and she took, besides, a golden apple,\nand two golden chickens, and off she set with the Prince from the\nGiant\u2019s house as fast as they could; and when they had gone a little\nway, they came to the sea, and after that they sailed over the sea; but\nwhere they got the ship from, I have never heard tell.\n\nSo when the Giant had slumbered a good bit, he began to stretch himself\nas he lay on the bench and called out, \u201cWill it be soon done?\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly just begun\u201d, answered the first drop of blood on the stool.\n\nSo the Giant lay down to sleep again, and slumbered a long, long time.\nAt last he began to toss about a little, and cried out:\n\n\u201cDo you hear what I say; will it be soon done?\u201d but he did not look up\nthis time, any more than the first, for he was still half asleep.\n\n\u201cHalf done\u201d, said the second drop of blood.\n\nThen the Giant thought again it was the Mastermaid, so he turned over\non his other side, and fell asleep again; and when he had gone on\nsleeping for many hours, he began to stir and stretch his old bones,\nand to call out,\u2014\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t it done yet?\u201d\n\n\u201cDone to a turn\u201d, said the third drop of blood.\n\nThen the Giant rose up and began to rub his eyes, but he couldn\u2019t see\nwho it was that was talking to him, so he searched and called for the\nMastermaid, but no one answered.\n\n\u201cAh, well! I dare say she\u2019s just run out of doors for a bit\u201d, he\nthought, and took up a spoon and went up to the pot to taste the broth;\nbut he found nothing but shoe-soles, and rags, and such stuff; and it\nwas all boiled up together, so that he couldn\u2019t tell which was thick\nand which was thin. As soon as he saw this, he could tell how things\nhad gone, and he got so angry he scarce knew which leg to stand upon.\nAway he went after the Prince and the Mastermaid, till the wind\nwhistled behind him; but before long, he came to the water and couldn\u2019t\ncross it.\n\n\u201cNever mind\u201d, he said; \u201cI know a cure for this. I\u2019ve only got to call\non my stream-sucker.\u201d\n\nSo he called on his stream-sucker, and he came and stooped down, and\ntook one, two, three gulps; and then the water fell so much in the sea,\nthat the Giant could see the Mastermaid and the Prince sailing in their\nship.\n\n\u201cNow, you must cast out the lump of salt\u201d, said the Mastermaid.\n\nSo the Prince threw it overboard, and it grew up into a mountain so\nhigh, right across the sea, that the Giant couldn\u2019t pass it, and the\nstream-sucker couldn\u2019t help him by swilling any more water.\n\n\u201cNever mind!\u201d cried the Giant; \u201cthere\u2019s a cure for this too.\u201d So he\ncalled on his hill-borer to come and bore through the mountain, that\nthe stream-sucker might creep through and take another swill; but just\nas they had made a hole through the hill, and the stream-sucker was\nabout to drink, the Mastermaid told the Prince to throw overboard a\ndrop or two out of the flask, and then the sea was just as full as\never, and before the stream-sucker could take another gulp, they\nreached the land and were saved from the Giant.\n\nSo they made up their minds to go home to the Prince\u2019s father, but the\nPrince would not hear of the Mastermaid\u2019s walking, for he thought it\nseemly neither for her nor for him.\n\n\u201cJust wait here ten minutes\u201d, he said, \u201cwhile I go home after the seven\nhorses which stand in my father\u2019s stall. It\u2019s no great way off, and I\nshan\u2019t be long about it; but I will not hear of my sweetheart walking\nto my father\u2019s palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Mastermaid, \u201cpray don\u2019t leave me, for if you once get\nhome to the palace, you\u2019ll forget me outright; I know you will.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said he, \u201chow can I forget you; you with whom I have gone through\nso much, and whom I love so dearly?\u201d\n\nThere was no help for it, he must and would go home to fetch the coach\nand seven horses, and she was to wait for him by the seaside. So at\nlast the Mastermaid was forced to let him have his way; she only said:\n\n\u201cNow, when you get home, don\u2019t stop so much as to say good day to any\none, but go straight to the stable and put to the horses, and drive\nback as quick as you can; for they will all come about you; but do as\nthough you did not see them; and above all things, mind you do not\ntaste a morsel of food, for if you do, we shall both come to grief.\u201d\n\nAll this the Prince promised; but he thought all the time there was\nlittle fear of his forgetting her.\n\nNow, just as he came home to the palace, one of his brothers was\nthinking of holding his bridal feast, and the bride, and all her kith\nand kin, were just come to the palace. So they all thronged round him,\nand asked about this thing and that, and wanted him to go in with them;\nbut he made as though he did not see them, and went straight to the\nstall and got out the horses, and began to put them to. And when they\nsaw they could not get him to go in, they came out to him with meat and\ndrink, and the best of everything they had got ready for the feast; but\nthe Prince would not taste so much as a crumb, and put to as fast as he\ncould. At last the bride\u2019s sister rolled an apple across the yard to\nhim, saying:\n\n\u201cWell, if you won\u2019t eat anything else, you may as well take a bite of\nthis, for you must be both hungry and thirsty after so long a journey.\u201d\n\nSo he took up the apple and bit a piece out of it; but he had scarce\ndone so, before he forgot the Mastermaid, and how he was to drive back\nfor her.\n\n\u201cWell, I think I must be mad\u201d, he said; \u201cwhat am I to do with this\ncoach and horses?\u201d So he put the horses up again, and went along with\nthe others into the palace, and it was soon settled that he should have\nthe bride\u2019s sister, who had rolled the apple over to him.\n\nThere sat the Mastermaid by the seashore, and waited and waited for the\nPrince, but no Prince came; so at last she went up from the shore, and\nafter she had gone a bit she came to a little hut which lay by itself\nin a copse close by the king\u2019s palace. She went in and asked if she\nmight lodge there. It was an old dame that owned the hut, and a\ncross-grained scolding hag she was as ever you saw. At first she would\nnot hear of the Mastermaid\u2019s lodging in her house, but at last, for\nfair words and high rent, the Mastermaid got leave to be there. Now the\nbut was as dark and dirty as a pigsty, so the Mastermaid said she would\nsmarten it up a little, that their house might look inside like other\npeople\u2019s. The old hag did not like this either, and showed her teeth,\nand was cross; but the Mastermaid did not mind her. She took her chest\nof gold, and threw a handful or so into the fire, and lo! the gold\nmelted, and bubbled and boiled over out of the grate, and spread itself\nover the whole hut, till it was gilded both outside and in. But as soon\nas the gold began to bubble and boil, the old hag got so afraid that\nshe tried to run out as if the Evil One were at her heels; and as she\nran out at the door, she forgot to stoop, and gave her head such a\nknock against the lintel, that she broke her neck, and that was the end\nof her.\n\nNext morning the Constable passed that way, and you may fancy he could\nscarce believe his eyes when he saw the golden hut shining and\nglistening away in the copse; but he was still more astonished when he\nwent in and saw the lovely maiden who sat there. To make a long story\nshort, he fell over head and ears in love with her, and begged and\nprayed her to become his wife.\n\n\u201cWell, but have you much money?\u201d asked the Mastermaid.\n\nYes, for that matter, he said, he was not so badly off, and off he went\nhome to fetch the money, and when he came back at even he brought a\nhalf-bushel sack, and set it down on the bench. So the Mastermaid said\nshe would have him, since he was so rich; but they were scarce in bed\nbefore she said she must get up again:\n\n\u201cFor I have forgotten to make up the fire.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray, don\u2019t stir out of bed\u201d, said the Constable; \u201cI\u2019ll see to it.\u201d\n\nSo he jumped out of bed, and stood on the hearth in a trice.\n\n\u201cAs soon as you have got hold of the shovel, just tell me\u201d, said the\nMastermaid.\n\n\u201cWell, I am holding it now\u201d, said the Constable.\n\nThen the Mastermaid said:\n\n\u201cGod grant that you may hold the shovel, and the shovel you, and may\nyou heap hot burning coals over yourself till morning breaks.\u201d\n\nSo there stood the Constable all night long, shovelling hot burning\ncoals over himself; and though he begged, and prayed, and wept, the\ncoals were not a bit colder for that; but as soon as day broke, and he\nhad power to cast away the shovel, he did not stay long, as you may\nfancy, but set off as if the Evil One or the bailiff were at his heels;\nand all who met him stared their eyes out at him, for he cut capers as\nthough he were mad, and he could not have looked in worse plight if he\nhad been flayed and tanned, and every one wondered what had befallen\nhim, but he told no one where he had been, for shame\u2019s sake.\n\nNext day the Attorney passed by the place where the Mastermaid lived,\nand he too saw how it shone and glistened in the copse; so he turned\naside to find out who owned the hut; and when he came in and saw the\nlovely maiden, he fell more in love with her than the Constable, and\nbegan to woo her in hot haste.\n\nWell, the Mastermaid asked him, as she had asked the Constable, if he\nhad a good lot of money? and the Attorney said he wasn\u2019t so badly off;\nand as a proof he went home to fetch his money. So at even he came back\nwith a great fat sack of money\u2014I think it was a whole bushel sack\u2014and\nset it down on the bench; and the long and the short of the matter was,\nthat he was to have her, and they went to bed. But all at once the\nMastermaid had forgotten to shut the door of the porch, and she must\nget up and make it fast for the night.\n\n\u201cWhat, you do that!\u201d said the Attorney, \u201cwhile I lie here; that can\nnever be; lie still, while I go and do it.\u201d\n\nSo up he jumped, like a pea on a drum-head, and ran out into the porch.\n\n\u201cTell me\u201d, said the Mastermaid, \u201cwhen you have hold of the door-latch.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve got hold of it now\u201d, said the Attorney.\n\n\u201cGod grant, then\u201d, said the Mastermaid, \u201cthat you may hold the door,\nand the door you, and that you may go from wall to wall till day\ndawns.\u201d\n\nSo you may fancy what a dance the Attorney had all night long; such a\nwaltz he never had before, and I don\u2019t think he would much care if he\nnever had such a waltz again. Now he pulled the door forward, and then\nthe door pulled him back, and so he went on, now dashed into one corner\nof the porch, and now into the other, till he was almost battered to\ndeath. At first he began to curse and swear, and then to beg and pray,\nbut the door cared for nothing but holding its own till break of day.\nAs soon as it let go its hold, off set the Attorney, leaving behind him\nhis money to pay for his night\u2019s lodging, and forgetting his courtship\naltogether, for to tell the truth, he was afraid lest the house-door\nshould come dancing after him. All who met him stared and gaped at him,\nfor he too cut capers like a madman, and he could not have looked in\nworse plight if he had spent the whole night in butting against a flock\nof rams.\n\nThe third day the Sheriff passed that way, and he too saw the golden\nhut, and turned aside to find out who lived there; and he had scarce\nset eyes on the Mastermaid, before he began to woo her. So she answered\nhim as she had answered the other two. If he had lots of money she\nwould have him, if not, he might go about his business. Well, the\nSheriff said he wasn\u2019t so badly off, and he would go home and fetch the\nmoney, and when he came again at even, he had a bigger sack even than\nthe Attorney\u2014it must have been at least a bushel and a half, and put it\ndown on the bench. So it was soon settled that he was to have the\nMastermaid, but they had scarce gone to bed before the Mastermaid said\nshe had forgotten to bring home the calf from the meadow, so she must\nget up and drive him into the stall. Then the Sheriff swore by all the\npowers that should never be, and, stout and fat as he was, up he jumped\nas nimbly as a kitten.\n\n\u201cWell, only tell me when you\u2019ve got hold of the calf\u2019s tail\u201d, said the\nMastermaid.\n\n\u201cNow I have hold of it\u201d, said the Sheriff.\n\n\u201cGod grant\u201d, said the Mastermaid, \u201cthat you may hold the calf\u2019s tail,\nand the calf\u2019s tail you, and that you may make a tour of the world\ntogether till day dawns\u201d.\n\nWell you may just fancy how the Sheriff had to stretch his legs; away\nthey went, the calf and he, over high and low, across hill and dale,\nand the more the Sheriff cursed and swore, the faster the calf ran and\njumped. At dawn of day the poor Sheriff was well nigh broken-winded,\nand so glad was he to let go the calf\u2019s tail, that he forgot his sack\nof money and everything else. As he was a great man, he went a little\nslower than the Attorney and the Constable, but the slower he went the\nmore time people had to gape and stare at him; and I must say they made\ngood use of their time, for he was terribly tattered and torn, after\nhis dance with the calf.\n\nNext day was fixed for the wedding at the palace, and the eldest\nbrother was to drive to church with his bride, and the younger, who had\nlived with the Giant, with the bride\u2019s sister. But when they had got\ninto the coach, and were just going to drive off, one of the trace-pins\nsnapped off; and though they made at least three in its place, they all\nbroke, from whatever sort of wood they were made. So time went on and\non, and they couldn\u2019t get to church, and every one grew very downcast.\nBut all at once the Constable said, for he too was bidden to the\nwedding, that yonder away in the copse lived a maiden.\n\n\u201cAnd if you can only get her to lend you the handle of her shovel with\nwhich she makes up her fire, I know very well it will hold.\u201d\n\nWell! they sent a messenger on the spot, with such a pretty message to\nthe maiden, to know if they couldn\u2019t get the loan of her shovel which\nthe Constable had spoken of; and the maiden said \u201cyes\u201d, they might have\nit; so they got a trace-pin which wasn\u2019t likely to snap.\n\nBut all at once, just as they were driving off, the bottom of the coach\ntumbled to bits. So they set to work to make a new bottom as they best\nmight; but it mattered not how many nails they put into it, nor of what\nwood they made it, for as soon as ever they got the bottom well into\nthe coach and were driving off, snap it went in two again, and they\nwere even worse off than when they lost the trace-pin. Just then the\nAttorney said\u2014for if the Constable was there, you may fancy the\nAttorney was there too: \u201cAway yonder, in the copse, lives a maiden, and\nif you could only get her to lend you one-half of her porch-door, I\nknow it can hold together.\u201d\n\nWell! they sent another message to the copse, and asked so prettily if\nthey couldn\u2019t have the loan of the gilded porch-door which the Attorney\nhad talked of; and they got it on the spot. So they were just setting\nout; but now the horses were not strong enough to draw the coach,\nthough there were six of them; then they put on eight, and ten, and\ntwelve, but the more they put on, and the more the coachman whipped,\nthe more the coach wouldn\u2019t stir an inch. By this time it was far on in\nthe day, and every one about the palace was in doleful dumps; for to\nchurch they must go, and yet it looked as if they should never get\nthere. So at last the Sheriff said, that yonder in the gilded hut, in\nthe copse, lived a maiden, and if they could only get the loan of her\ncalf:\n\n\u201cI know it can drag the coach, though it were as heavy as a mountain.\u201d\n\nWell they all thought it would look silly to be drawn to church by a\ncalf, but there was no help for it, so they had to send a third time,\nand ask so prettily in the King\u2019s name, if he couldn\u2019t get the loan of\nthe calf the Sheriff had spoken of, and the Mastermaid let them have it\non the spot, for she was not going to say \u201cno\u201d this time either. So\nthey put the calf on before the horses, and waited to see if it would\ndo any good, and away went the coach over high and low, and stock and\nstone, so that they could scarce draw their breath; sometimes they were\non the ground, and sometimes up in the air, and when they reached the\nchurch, the calf began to run round and round it like a spinning jenny,\nso that they had hard work to get out of the coach, and into the\nchurch. When they went back, it was the same story, only they went\nfaster, and they reached the palace almost before they knew they had\nset out.\n\nNow when they sat down to dinner, the Prince who had served with the\nGiant said he thought they ought to ask the maiden who had lent them\nher shovel-handle and porch-door, and calf, to come up to the palace.\n\n\u201cFor\u201d, said he, \u201cif we hadn\u2019t got these three things, we should have\nbeen sticking here still.\u201d\n\nYes; the King thought that only fair and right, so he sent five of his\nbest men down to the gilded but to greet the maiden from the King, and\nto ask her if she wouldn\u2019t be so good as to came up and dine at the\npalace.\n\n\u201cGreet the King from me\u201d, said the Mastermaid, \u201cand tell him, if he\u2019s\ntoo good to come to me, so am I too good to go to him.\u201d\n\nSo the King had to go himself, and then the Mastermaid went up with him\nwithout more ado; and as the King thought she was more than she seemed\nto be, he sat her down in the highest seat by the side of the youngest\nbridegroom.\n\nNow, when they had sat a little while at table, the Mastermaid took out\nher golden apple, and the golden cock and hen, which she had carried\noff from the Giant, and put them down on the table before her, and the\ncock and hen began at once to peck at one another, and to fight for the\ngolden apple.\n\n\u201cOh! only look\u201d, said the Prince; \u201csee how those two strive for the\napple.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said the Mastermaid; \u201cso we two strove to get away that time\nwhen we were together in the hillside.\u201d\n\nThen the spell was broken, and the Prince knew her again, and you may\nfancy how glad he was. But as for the witch who had rolled the apple\nover to him, he had her torn to pieces between twenty-four horses, so\nthat there was not a bit of her left, and after that they held on with\nthe wedding in real earnest; and though they were still stiff and\nfootsore, the Constable, the Attorney, and the Sheriff, kept it up with\nthe best of them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man up in Finnmark who had caught a great\nwhite bear, which he was going to take to the king of Denmark. Now, it\nso fell out, that he came to the Dovrefell just about Christmas Eve,\nand there he turned into a cottage where a man lived, whose name was\nHalvor, and asked the man if he could get house-room there, for his\nbear and himself.\n\n\u201cHeaven never help me, if what I say isn\u2019t true!\u201d said the man; \u201cbut we\ncan\u2019t give any one house-room just now, for every Christmas Eve such a\npack of Trolls come down upon us, that we are forced to flit, and\nhaven\u2019t so much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of\nlending one to any one else.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh?\u201d said the man, \u201cif that\u2019s all, you can very well lend me your\nhouse; my bear can lie under the stove yonder, and I can sleep in the\nside-room.\u201d\n\nWell, he begged so hard, that at last he got leave to stay there; so\nthe people of the house flitted out, and before they went, everything\nwas got ready for the Trolls; the tables were laid, and there was rice\nporridge, and fish boiled in lye, and sausages, and all else that was\ngood, just as for any other grand feast.\n\nSo, when everything was ready, down came the Trolls. Some were great,\nand some were small; some had long tails, and some had no tails at all;\nsome, too, had long, long noses; and they ate and drank, and tasted\neverything. Just then one of the little Trolls caught sight of the\nwhite bear, who lay under the stove; so he took a piece of sausage and\nstuck it on a fork, and went and poked it up against the bear\u2019s nose,\nscreaming out:\n\n\u201cPussy, will you have some sausage?\u201d\n\nThen the white bear rose up and growled, and hunted the whole pack of\nthem out of doors, both great and small.\n\nNext year Halvor was out in the wood, on the afternoon of Christmas\nEve, cutting wood before the holidays, for he thought the Trolls would\ncome again; and just as he was hard at work, he heard a voice in the\nwood calling out:\n\n\u201cHalvor! Halvor!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Halvor, \u201chere I am.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you got your big cat with you still?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that I have\u201d, said Halvor; \u201cshe\u2019s lying at home under the stove,\nand what\u2019s more, she has now got seven kittens, far bigger and fiercer\nthan she is herself.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, then, we\u2019ll never come to see you again\u201d, bawled out the Troll\naway in the wood, and he kept his word; for since that time the Trolls\nhave never eaten their Christmas brose with Halvor on the Dovrefell.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man who had a meadow, which lay high up on\nthe hill-side, and in the meadow was a barn, which he had built to keep\nhis hay in. Now, I must tell you, there hadn\u2019t been much in the barn\nfor the last year or two, for every St. John\u2019s night, when the grass\nstood greenest and deepest, the meadow was eaten down to the very\nground the next morning, just as if a whole drove of sheep had been\nthere feeding on it over night. This happened once, and it happened\ntwice; so at last the man grew weary of losing his crop of hay, and\nsaid to his sons\u2014for he had three of them, and the youngest was\nnicknamed Boots, of course\u2014that now one of them must just go and sleep\nin the barn in the outlying field when St. John\u2019s night came, for it\nwas too good a joke that his grass should be eaten, root and blade,\nthis year, as it had been the last two years. So whichever of them went\nmust keep a sharp look-out; that was what their father said.\n\nWell, the eldest son was ready to go and watch the meadow; trust him\nfor looking after the grass! It shouldn\u2019t be his fault if man or beast,\nor the fiend himself, got a blade of grass. So, when evening came, he\nset off to the barn, and lay down to sleep; but a little on in the\nnight came such a clatter, and such an earthquake, that walls and roof\nshook, and groaned, and creaked; then up jumped the lad, and took to\nhis heels as fast as ever he could; nor dared he once look round till\nhe reached home; and as for the hay, why it was eaten up this year just\nas it had been twice before.\n\nThe next St. John\u2019s night, the man said again, it would never do to\nlose all the grass in the outlying field year after year in this way,\nso one of his sons must just trudge off to watch it, and watch it well\ntoo. Well, the next oldest son was ready to try his luck, so he set\noff, and lay down to sleep in the barn as his brother had done before\nhim; but as the night wore on, there came on a rumbling and quaking of\nthe earth, worse even than on the last St. John\u2019s night, and when the\nlad heard it, he got frightened, and took to his heels as though he\nwere running a race.\n\nNext year the turn came to Boots; but when he made ready to go, the\nother two began to laugh and to make game of him, saying,\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re just the man to watch the hay, that you are; you, who have done\nnothing all your life but sit in the ashes and toast yourself by the\nfire.\u201d\n\nBut Boots did not care a pin for their chattering, and stumped away as\nevening drew on, up the hill-side to the outlying field. There he went\ninside the barn and lay down; but in about an hour\u2019s time the barn\nbegan to groan and creak, so that it was dreadful to hear.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Boots to himself, \u201cif it isn\u2019t worse than this, I can\nstand it well enough.\u201d\n\nA little while after came another creak and an earthquake, so that the\nlitter in the barn flew about the lad\u2019s ears.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Boots to himself, \u201cif it isn\u2019t worse than this, I daresay I\ncan stand it out.\u201d\n\nBut just then came a third rumbling, and a third earthquake, so that\nthe lad thought walls and roof were coming down on his head; but it\npassed off, and all was still as death about him.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019ll come again, I\u2019ll be bound\u201d, thought Boots; but no, it didn\u2019t\ncome again; still it was, and still it stayed; but after he had lain a\nlittle while, he heard a noise as if a horse were standing just outside\nthe barn-door, and cropping the grass. He stole to the door, and peeped\nthrough a chink, and there stood a horse feeding away. So big, and fat,\nand grand a horse, Boots had never set eyes on; by his side on the\ngrass lay a saddle and bridle, and a full set of armour for a knight,\nall of brass, so bright that the light gleamed from it.\n\n\u201cHo, ho!\u201d thought the lad; \u201cit\u2019s you, is it, that eats up our hay? I\u2019ll\nsoon put a spoke in your wheel, just see if I don\u2019t.\u201d\n\nSo he lost no time, but took the steel out of his tinder-box, and threw\nit over the horse; then it had no power to stir from the spot, and\nbecame so tame that the lad could do what he liked with it. So he got\non its back, and rode off with it to a place which no one knew of, and\nthere he put up the horse. When he got home, his brothers laughed and\nasked how he had fared?\n\n\u201cYou didn\u2019t lie long in the barn, even if you had the heart to go so\nfar as the field.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Boots, \u201call I can say is, I lay in the barn till the sun\nrose, and neither saw nor heard anything; I can\u2019t think what there was\nin the barn to make you both so afraid.\u201d\n\n\u201cA pretty story\u201d, said his brothers; \u201cbut we\u2019ll soon see how you have\nwatched the meadow\u201d; so they set off; but when they reached it, there\nstood the grass as deep and thick as it had been over night.\n\nWell, the next St. John\u2019s eve it was the same story over again; neither\nof the elder brothers dared to go out to the outlying field to watch\nthe crop; but Boots, he had the heart to go, and everything happened\njust as it had happened the year before. First a clatter and an\nearthquake, then a greater clatter and another earthquake, and so on a\nthird time; only this year the earthquakes were far worse than the year\nbefore. Then all at once everything was as still as death, and the lad\nheard how something was cropping the grass outside the barn-door, so he\nstole to the door, and peeped through a chink; and what do you think he\nsaw? why, another horse standing right up against the wall, and chewing\nand champing with might and main. It was far finer and fatter than that\nwhich came the year before, and it had a saddle on its back, and a\nbridle on its neck, and a full suit of mail for a knight lay by its\nside, all of silver, and as grand as you would wish to see.\n\n\u201cHo ho!\u201d said Boots to himself; \u201cit\u2019s you that gobbles up our hay, is\nit? I\u2019ll soon put a spoke in your wheel\u201d; and with that he took the\nsteel out of his tinder-box, and threw it over the horse\u2019s crest, which\nstood as still as a lamb. Well, the lad rode this horse, too, to the\nhiding-place where he kept the other one, and after that he went home.\n\n\u201cI suppose you\u2019ll tell us\u201d, said one of his brothers, \u201cthere\u2019s a fine\ncrop this year too, up in the hayfield.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, so there is\u201d, said Boots; and off ran the others to see, and\nthere stood the grass thick and deep, as it was the year before; but\nthey didn\u2019t give Boots softer words for all that.\n\nNow, when the third St. John\u2019s eve came, the two elder still hadn\u2019t the\nheart to lie out in the barn and watch the grass, for they had got so\nscared at heart the night they lay there before, that they couldn\u2019t get\nover the fright; but Boots, he dared to go; and, to make a long story\nshort, the very same thing happened this time as had happened twice\nbefore. Three earthquakes came, one after the other, each worse than\nthe one which went before, and when the last came, the lad danced about\nwith the shock from one barn wall to the other; and after that, all at\nonce, it was still as death. Now when he had lain a little while, he\nheard something tugging away at the grass outside the barn, so he stole\nagain to the door-chink, and peeped out, and there stood a horse close\noutside\u2014far, far bigger and fatter than the two he had taken before.\n\n\u201cHo, ho!\u201d said the lad to himself, \u201cit\u2019s you, is it, that comes here\neating up our hay? I\u2019ll soon stop that\u2014I\u2019ll soon put a spoke in your\nwheel.\u201d So he caught up his steel and threw it over the horse\u2019s neck,\nand in a trice it stood as if it were nailed to the ground, and Boots\ncould do as he pleased with it. Then he rode off with it to the\nhiding-place where he kept the other two, and then went home. When he\ngot home, his two brothers made game of him as they had done before,\nsaying, they could see he had watched the grass well, for he looked for\nall the world as if he were walking in his sleep, and many other\nspiteful things they said, but Boots gave no heed to them, only asking\nthem to go and see for themselves; and when they went, there stood the\ngrass as fine and deep this time as it had been twice before.\n\nNow, you must know that the king of the country where Boots lived had a\ndaughter, whom he would only give to the man who could ride up over the\nhill of glass, for there was a high, high hill, all of glass, as smooth\nand slippery as ice, close by the king\u2019s palace. Upon the tip top of\nthe hill the king\u2019s daughter was to sit, with three golden apples in\nher lap, and the man who could ride up and carry off the three golden\napples, was to have half the kingdom, and the Princess to wife. This\nthe king had stuck up on all the church-doors in his realm, and had\ngiven it out in many other kingdoms besides. Now, this Princess was so\nlovely, that all who set eyes on her, fell over head and ears in love\nwith her whether they would or no. So I needn\u2019t tell you how all the\nprinces and knights who heard of her were eager to win her to wife, and\nhalf the kingdom beside; and how they came riding from all parts of the\nworld on high prancing horses, and clad in the grandest clothes, for\nthere wasn\u2019t one of them who hadn\u2019t made up his mind that he, and he\nalone, was to win the Princess.\n\nSo when the day of trial came, which the king had fixed, there was such\na crowd of princes and knights under the glass hill, that it made one\u2019s\nhead whirl to look at them; and every one in the country who could even\ncrawl along was off to the hill, for they all were eager to see the man\nwho was to win the Princess. So the two elder brothers set off with the\nrest; but as for Boots, they said outright he shouldn\u2019t go with them,\nfor if they were seen with such a dirty, changeling, all begrimed with\nsmut from cleaning their shoes and sifting cinders in the dust-hole,\nthey said folk would make game of them.\n\n\u201cVery well\u201d, said Boots, \u201cit\u2019s all one to me. I can go alone, and stand\nor fall by myself.\u201d\n\nNow when the two brothers came to the hill of glass, the knights and\nprinces were all hard at it, riding their horses till they were all in\na foam; but it was no good, by my troth; for as soon as ever the horses\nset foot on the hill, down they slipped, and there wasn\u2019t one who could\nget a yard or two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as smooth as a\nsheet of glass, and as steep as a house-wall. But all were eager to\nhave the Princess and half the kingdom. So they rode and slipped, and\nslipped and rode, and still it was the same story over again. At last\nall their horses were so weary that they could scarce lift a leg, and\nin such a sweat that the lather dripped from them, and so the knights\nhad to give up trying any more. So the king was just thinking that he\nwould proclaim a new trial for the next day, to see if they would have\nbetter luck, when all at once a knight came riding up on so brave a\nsteed, that no one had ever seen the like of it in his born days, and\nthe knight had mail of brass, and the horse a brass bit in his mouth,\nso bright that the sunbeams shone from it. Then all the others called\nout to him he might just as well spare himself the trouble of riding at\nthe hill, for it would lead to no good; but he gave no heed to them,\nand put his horse at the hill, and went up it like nothing for a good\nway, about a third of the height; and when he had got so far, he turned\nhis horse round and rode down again. So lovely a knight the Princess\nthought she had never yet seen; and while he was riding, she sat and\nthought to herself: \u201cWould to heaven he might only come up and down the\nother side.\u201d\n\nAnd when she saw him turning back, she threw down one of the golden\napples after him, and it rolled down into his shoe. But when he got to\nthe bottom of the hill he rode off so fast that no one could tell what\nhad become of him. That evening all the knights and princes were to go\nbefore the king, that he who had ridden so far up the hill might show\nthe apple which the princess had thrown, but there was no one who had\nanything to show. One after the other they all came, but not a man of\nthem could show the apple.\n\nAt even the brothers of Boots came home too, and had such a long story\nto tell about the riding up the hill.\n\n\u201cFirst of all\u201d, they said, \u201cthere was not one of the whole lot who\ncould get so much as a stride up; but at last came one who had a suit\nof brass mail, and a brass bridle and saddle, all so bright that the\nsun shone from them a mile off. He was a chap to ride, just! He rode a\nthird of the way up the hill of glass, and he could easily have ridden\nthe whole way up, if he chose; but he turned round and rode down,\nthinking, maybe, that was enough for once.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I should so like to have seen him, that I should\u201d, said Boots, who\nsat by the fireside, and stuck his feet into the cinders, as was his\nwont.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said his brothers, \u201cyou would, would you? You; look fit to keep\ncompany with such high lords, nasty beast that you are, sitting there\namongst the ashes.\u201d\n\nNext day the brothers were all for setting off again, and Boots begged\nthem this time, too, to let him go with them and see the riding; but\nno, they wouldn\u2019t have him at any price, he was too ugly and nasty,\nthey said.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said Boots;\u201d if I go at all, I must go by myself. I\u2019m not\nafraid.\u201d\n\nSo when the brothers got to the hill of glass, all the princes and\nknights began to ride again, and you may fancy they had taken care to\nshoe their horses sharp; but it was no good\u2014they rode and slipped, and\nslipped and rode, just as they had done the day before, and there was\nnot one who could get so far as a yard up the hill. And when they had\nworn out their horses, so that they could not stir a leg, they were all\nforced to give it up as a bad job. So the king thought he might as well\nproclaim that the riding should take place the day after for the last\ntime, just to give them one chance more; but all at once it came across\nhis mind that he might as well wait a little longer, to see if the\nknight in brass mail would come this day too. Well! they saw nothing of\nhim; but all at once came one riding on a steed, far, far, braver and\nfiner than that on which the knight in brass had ridden, and he had\nsilver mail, and a silver saddle and bridle, all so bright that the\nsun-beams gleamed and glanced from them far away. Then the others\nshouted out to him again, saying, he might as well hold hard, and not\ntry to ride up the hill, for all his trouble would be thrown away; but\nthe knight paid no heed to them, and rode straight at the hill, and\nright up it, till he had gone two-thirds of the way, and then he\nwheeled his horse round and rode down again. To tell the truth, the\nPrincess liked him still better than the knight in brass, and she sat\nand wished he might only be able to come right up to the top, and down\nthe other side; but when she saw him turning back, she threw the second\napple after him, and it rolled down and fell into his shoe. But, as\nsoon as ever he had come down from the hill of glass, he rode off so\nfast that no one could see what became of him.\n\nAt even, when all were to go in before the king and the Princess, that\nhe who had the golden apple might show it, in they went, one after the\nother, but there was no one who had any apple to show, and the two\nbrothers, as they had done on the former day, went home and told how\nthings had gone, and how all had ridden at the hill, and none got up.\n\n\u201cBut, last of all\u201d, they said, \u201ccame one in a silver suit, and his\nhorse had a silver saddle and a silver bridle. He was just a chap to\nride; and he got two-thirds up the hill, and then turned back. He was a\nfine fellow, and no mistake; and the Princess threw the second gold\napple to him.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Boots, \u201cI should so like to have seen him too, that I\nshould.\u201d\n\n\u201cA pretty story\u201d, they said. \u201cPerhaps you think his coat of mail was as\nbright as the ashes you are always poking about, and sifting, you nasty\ndirty beast.\u201d\n\nThe third day everything happened as it had happened the two days\nbefore. Boots begged to go and see the sight, but the two wouldn\u2019t hear\nof his going with them. When they got to the hill there was no one who\ncould get so much as a yard up it; and now all waited for the knight in\nsilver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of him. At last came one\nriding on a steed, so brave that no one had ever seen his match; and\nthe knight had a suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle and bridle,\nso wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them a mile off. The\nother knights and princes could not find time to call out to him not to\ntry his luck, for they were amazed to see how grand he was. So he rode\nright at the hill, and tore up it like nothing, so that the Princess\nhadn\u2019t even time to wish that he might get up the whole way. As soon as\never he reached the top, he took the third golden apple from the\nPrincess\u2019 lap, and then turned his horse and rode down again. As soon\nas he got down, he rode off at full speed, and was out of sight in no\ntime.\n\nNow, when the brothers got home at even, you may fancy what long\nstories they told, how the riding had gone off that day; and amongst\nother things, they had a deal to say about the knight in golden mail.\n\n\u201cHe just was a chap to ride!\u201d they said; \u201cso grand a knight isn\u2019t to be\nfound in the wide world.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Boots, \u201cI should so like to have seen him, that I should.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! \u201csaid his brothers, \u201chis mail shone a deal brighter than the\nglowing coals which you are always poking and digging at; nasty dirty\nbeast that you are.\u201d\n\nNext day all the knights and princes were to pass before the king and\nthe Princess\u2014it was too late to do so the night before, I suppose\u2014that\nhe who had the gold apple might bring it forth; but one came after\nanother, first the princes, and then the knights, and still no one\ncould show the gold apple.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the king, \u201csome one must have it, for it was something\nthat we all saw with our own eyes, how a man came and rode up and bore\nit off.\u201d\n\nSo he commanded that every one who was in the kingdom should come up to\nthe palace and see if they could show the apple. Well, they all came\none after another, but no one had the golden apple, and after a long\ntime the two brothers of Boots came. They were the last of all, so the\nking asked them if there was no one else in the kingdom who hadn\u2019t\ncome.\n\n\u201cOh, yes\u201d, said they; \u201cwe have a brother, but he never carried off the\ngolden apple. He hasn\u2019t stirred out of the dusthole on any of the three\ndays.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind that\u201d, said the king; \u201che may as well come up to the palace\nlike the rest.\u201d\n\nSo Boots had to go up to the palace.\n\n\u201cHow, now\u201d, said the king; \u201chave you got the golden apple? Speak out!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I have\u201d, said Boots; \u201chere is the first, and here is the second,\nand here is the third too\u201d; and with that he pulled all three golden\napples out of his pocket, and at the same time threw off his sooty\nrags, and stood before them in his gleaming golden mail.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said the king; \u201cyou shall have my daughter, and half my kingdom,\nfor you well deserve both her and it.\u201d\n\nSo they got ready for the wedding, and Boots got the Princess to wife,\nand there was great merry-making at the bridal-feast, you may fancy,\nfor they could all be merry though they couldn\u2019t ride up the hill of\nglass; and all I can say is, if they haven\u2019t left off their\nmerry-making yet, why, they\u2019re still at it.\n\n\n\n\nHOW ONE WENT OUT TO WOO\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a lad who went out to woo him a wife. Amongst\nother places, he came to a farm-house, where the household were little\nbetter than beggars; but when the wooer came in, they wanted to make\nout that they were well to do, as you may guess. Now the husband had\ngot a new arm to his coat.\n\n\u201cPray, take a seat\u201d, he said to the wooer; \u201cbut there\u2019s a shocking dust\nin the house.\u201d\n\nSo he went about rubbing and wiping all the benches and tables with his\nnew arm, but he kept the other all the while behind his back.\n\nThe wife she had got one new shoe, and she went stamping and sliding\nwith it up against the stools and chairs, saying, \u201cHow untidy it is\nhere! Everything is out of its place!\u201d\n\nThen they called out to their daughter to come down and put things to\nrights; but the daughter, she had got a new cap; so she put her head in\nat the door, and kept nodding and nodding, first to this side, and then\nto that.\n\n\u201cWell! for my part\u201d, she said, \u201cI can\u2019t be everywhere at once.\u201d\n\nAye! aye! that was a well-to-do household the wooer had come to.\n\n\nTHE COCK AND HEN\n\n\n(In this tale the notes of the Cock and Hen must be imitated.)\n\n_Hen_ \u2014You promise me shoes year after year, year after year, and yet I\nget no shoes!\n\n_Cock_ \u2014You shall have them, never fear! Henny penny!\n\n_Hen_ \u2014I lay egg after egg, egg after egg, and yet I go about barefoot!\n\n_Cock_ \u2014Well, take your eggs, and be off to the tryst, and buy yourself\nshoes, and don\u2019t go any longer barefoot!\n\n\n\n\nTHE MASTER-SMITH\n\n\nOnce on a time, in the days when our Lord and St Peter used to wander\non earth, they came to a smith\u2019s house. He had made a bargain with the\nDevil, that the fiend should have him after seven years, but during\nthat time he was to be the master of all masters in his trade, and to\nthis bargain both he and the Devil had signed their names. So he had\nstuck up in great letters over the door of his forge: _\u201cHere dwells the\nMaster over all Masters.\u201d_\n\nNow when our Lord passed by and saw that, he went in.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d he said to the Smith.\n\n\u201cRead what\u2019s written over the door\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cbut maybe you\ncan\u2019t read writing. If so, you must wait till some one comes to help\nyou.\u201d\n\nBefore our Lord had time to answer him, a man came with his horse,\nwhich he begged the Smith to shoe.\n\n\u201cMight I have leave to shoe it?\u201d asked our Lord.\n\n\u201cYou may try, if you like\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cyou can\u2019t do it so badly\nthat I shall not be able to make it right again.\u201d\n\nSo our Lord went out and took one leg off the horse, and laid it in the\nfurnace, and made the shoe red-hot; after that, he turned up the ends\nof the shoe, and filed down the heads of the nails, and clenched the\npoints; and then he put back the leg safe and sound on the horse again.\nAnd when he was done with that leg, he took the other fore-leg and did\nthe same with it; and when he was done with that, he took the\nhind-legs\u2014first, the off, and then the near leg, and laid them in the\nfurnace, making the shoes red-hot, turning up the ends; filing the\nheads of the nails, and clenching the points; and after all was done,\nputting the legs on the horse again. All the while, the Smith stood by\nand looked on.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re not so bad a smith after all\u201d, said he.\n\n\u201cOh, you think so, do you?\u201d said our Lord.\n\nA little while after came the Smith\u2019s mother to the forge, and called\nhim to come home and eat his dinner; she was an old, old woman with an\nugly crook on her back, and wrinkles in her face, and it was as much as\nshe could do to crawl along.\n\n\u201cMark now, what you see\u201d, said our Lord.\n\nThen he took the woman and laid her in the furnace, and smithied a\nlovely young maiden out of her.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Smith, \u201cI say now, as I said before, you are not such\na bad smith after all. There it stands over my door. _Here dwells the\nMaster over all Masters_ ; but for all that, I say right out, one\nlearns as long as one lives\u201d; and with that he walked off to his house\nand ate his dinner.\n\nSo after dinner, just after he had got back to his forge, a man came\nriding up to have his horse shod.\n\n\u201cIt shall be done in the twinkling of an eye\u201d, said the Smith, \u201cfor I\nhave just learnt a new way to shoe; and a very good way it is when the\ndays are short.\u201d\n\nSo he began to cut and hack till he had got all the horse\u2019s legs off,\nfor he said, I don\u2019t know why one should go pottering backwards and\nforwards\u2014first, with one leg, and then with another.\n\nThen he laid the legs in the furnace, just as he had seen our Lord lay\nthem, and threw on a great heap of coal, and made his mates work the\nbellows bravely; but it went as one might suppose it would go. The legs\nwere burnt to ashes, and the Smith had to pay for the horse.\n\nWell, he didn\u2019t care much about that, but just then an old beggar-woman\ncame along the road, and he thought to himself, \u201cbetter luck next\ntime\u201d; so he took the old dame and laid her in the furnace, and though\nshe begged and prayed hard for her life, it was no good.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re so old, you don\u2019t know what is good for you\u201d, said the Smith;\n\u201cnow you shall be a lovely young maiden in half no time, and for all\nthat, I\u2019ll not charge you a penny for the job.\u201d\n\nBut it went no better with the poor old woman than with the horse\u2019s\nlegs.\n\n\u201cThat was ill done, and I say it\u201d, said our Lord.\n\n\u201cOh! for that matter\u201d, said the Smith, \u201cthere\u2019s not many who\u2019ll ask\nafter her, I\u2019ll be bound; but it\u2019s a shame of the Devil, if this is the\nway he holds to what is written up over the door.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you might have three wishes from me\u201d, said our Lord, \u201cwhat would\nyou wish for?\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly try me\u201d, said the Smith, \u201cand you\u2019ll soon know.\u201d\n\nSo our Lord gave him three wishes.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Smith, \u201cfirst and foremost, I wish that any one whom I\nask to climb up into the pear-tree that stands outside by the wall of\nmy forge, may stay sitting there till I ask him to come down again. The\nsecond wish I wish is, that any one whom I ask to sit down in my easy\nchair which stands inside the workshop yonder, may stay sitting there\ntill I ask him to get up. Last of all, I wish that any one whom I ask\nto creep into the steel purse which I have in my pocket, may stay in it\ntill I give him leave to creep out again.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have wished as a wicked man\u201d, said St Peter; \u201cfirst and foremost,\nyou should have wished for God\u2019s grace and goodwill.\u201d\n\n\u201cI durstn\u2019t look so high as that\u201d, said the Smith; and after that our\nLord and St Peter bade him \u201cgood-bye\u201d, and went on their way.\n\nWell, the years went on and on, and when the time was up, the Devil\ncame to fetch the Smith, as it was written in their bargain.\n\n\u201cAre you ready?\u201d he said, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the\nforge.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the Smith, \u201cI must just hammer the head of this tenpenny\nnail first; meantime, you can just climb up into the pear-tree, and\npluck yourself a pear to gnaw at; you must be, both hungry and thirsty\nafter your journey.\u201d\n\nSo the Devil thanked him for his kind offer, and climbed up into the\npear-tree.\n\n\u201cVery good\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cbut now, on thinking the matter over, I\nfind I shall never be able to have done hammering the head of this nail\ntill four years are out at least, this iron is so plaguey hard; down\nyou can\u2019t come in all that time, but may sit up there and rest your\nbones.\u201d\n\nWhen the Devil heard this, he begged and prayed till his voice was as\nthin as a silver penny that he might have leave to come down; but there\nwas no help for it. There he was, and there he must stay. At last he\nhad to give his word of honour not to come again till the four years\nwere out, which the Smith had spoken of, and then the Smith said, \u201cVery\nwell, now you may come down.\u201d\n\nSo when the time was up, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re ready now, of course\u201d, said he; \u201cyou\u2019ve had time enough to\nhammer the head of that nail, I should think.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, the head is right enough now\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cbut still you\nhave come a little tiny bit too soon, for I haven\u2019t quite done\nsharpening the point; such plaguey hard iron I never hammered in all my\nborn days. So while I work at the point, you may just as well sit down\nin my easy chair and rest yourself; I\u2019ll be bound you\u2019re weary after\ncoming so far.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you kindly\u201d, said the Devil, and down he plumped into the easy\nchair; but just as he had made himself comfortable, the Smith said, on\nsecond thoughts, he found he couldn\u2019t get the point sharp till four\nyears were out. First of all, the Devil begged so prettily to be let\nout of the chair, and afterwards, waxing wroth, he began to threaten\nand scold; but the Smith kept on, all the while excusing himself, and\nsaying it was all the iron\u2019s fault, it was so plaguy hard, and telling\nthe Devil he was not so badly off to have to sit quietly in an easy\nchair, and that he would let him out to the minute when the four years\nwere over. Well, at last there was no help for it, and the Devil had to\ngive his word of honour not to fetch the Smith till the four years were\nout; and then the Smith said:\n\n\u201cWell now, you may get up and be off about your business\u201d, and away\nwent the Devil as fast as he could lay legs to the ground.\n\nWhen the four years were over, the Devil came again to fetch the Smith,\nand he called out, as he stuck his nose in at the door of the forge:\n\n\u201cNow, I know you must be ready.\u201d\n\n\u201cReady, aye, ready\u201d, answered the Smith; \u201cwe can go now as soon as you\nplease; but hark ye, there is one thing I have stood here and thought,\nand thought, I would ask you to tell me. Is it true what people say,\nthat the Devil can make himself as small as he pleases?\u201d\n\n\u201cGod knows, it is the very truth\u201d, said the Devil.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Smith; \u201cit _is_ true, is it? then I wish you would just\nbe so good as to creep into this steel purse of mine, and see whether\nit is sound at the bottom, for to tell you the truth, I\u2019m afraid my\ntravelling money will drop out.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith all my heart\u201d, said the Devil, who made himself small in a trice,\nand crept into the purse; but he was scarce in when the Smith snapped\nto the clasp.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, called out the Devil inside the purse; \u201cit\u2019s right and tight\neverywhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cI\u2019m glad to hear you say so, but \u2018more\nhaste the worse speed\u2019, says the old saw, and \u2018forewarned is\nforearmed\u2019, says another; so I\u2019ll just weld these links a little\ntogether, just for safety\u2019s sake\u201d; and with that he laid the purse in\nthe furnace, and made it red-hot.\n\n\u201cAU! AU!\u201d screamed the Devil, \u201care you mad? don\u2019t you know I\u2019m inside\nthe purse?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I do!\u201d said the Smith; \u201cbut I can\u2019t help you, for another old saw\nsays, \u2018one must strike while the iron is hot\u2019\u201d; and as he said this, he\ntook up his sledge-hammer, laid the purse on the anvil, and let fly at\nit as hard as he could.\n\n\u201cAU! AU! AU!\u201d bellowed the Devil, inside the purse. \u201cDear friend, do\nlet me out, and I\u2019ll never come near you again.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well!\u201d said the Smith; \u201cnow, I think, the links are pretty well\nwelded, and you may come out\u201d; so he unclasped the purse, and away went\nthe Devil in such a hurry that he didn\u2019t once look behind him.\n\nNow, some time after, it came across the Smith\u2019s mind that he had done\na silly thing in making the Devil his enemy, for, he said to himself:\n\n\u201cIf, as is like enough, they won\u2019t have me in the kingdom of Heaven, I\nshall be in danger of being houseless, since I\u2019ve fallen out with him\nwho rules over Hell.\u201d\n\nSo he made up his mind it would be best to try to get either into Hell\nor Heaven, and to try at once, rather than to put it off any longer, so\nthat he might know how things really stood. Then he threw his\nsledge-hammer over his shoulder and set off; and when he had gone a\ngood bit of the way, he came to a place where two roads met, and where\nthe path to the kingdom of Heaven parts from the path that leads to\nHell, and here he overtook a tailor, who was pelting along with his\ngoose in his hand.\n\n\u201cGood day\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cwhither are you off to?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the kingdom of Heaven\u201d, said the Tailor, \u201cif I can only get into\nit\u201d\u2014\u201cbut whither are you going yourself?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, our ways don\u2019t run together\u201d, said the Smith; \u201cfor I have made up\nmy mind to try first in Hell, as the Devil and I know something of one\nanother, from old times.\u201d\n\nSo they bade one another \u201cGood-bye\u201d, and each went his way; but the\nSmith was a stout, strong man, and got over the ground far faster than\nthe tailor, and so it wasn\u2019t long before he stood at the gates of Hell.\nThen he called the watch, and bade him go and tell the Devil there was\nsome one outside who wished to speak a word with him.\n\n\u201cGo out\u201d, said the Devil to the watch, \u201cand ask him who he is?\u201d So that\nwhen the watch came and told him that, the Smith answered:\n\n\u201cGo and greet the Devil in my name, and say it is the Smith who owns\nthe purse he wots of; and beg him prettily to let me in at once, for I\nworked at my forge till noon, and I have had a long walk since.\u201d\n\nBut when the Devil heard who it was, he charged the watch to go back\nand lock up all the nine locks on the gates of Hell.\n\n\u201cAnd, besides\u201d, he said, \u201cyou may as well put on a padlock, for if he\nonly once gets in, he\u2019ll turn Hell topsy-turvy!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Smith to himself, when he saw them busy bolting up the\ngates, \u201cthere\u2019s no lodging to be got here, that\u2019s plain; so I may as\nwell try my luck in the kingdom of Heaven\u201d; and with that he turned\nround and went back till he reached the cross-roads, and then he went\nalong the path the tailor had taken. And now, as he was cross at having\ngone backwards and forwards so far for no good, he strode along with\nall his might, and reached the gate of Heaven just as St Peter was\nopening it a very little, just enough to let the half-starved tailor\nslip in. The Smith was still six or seven strides off the gate, so he\nthought to himself, \u201cNow there\u2019s no time to be lost\u201d; and, grasping his\nsledge-hammer, he hurled it into the opening of the door just as the\ntailor slunk in; and if the Smith didn\u2019t get in then, when the door was\najar, why I don\u2019t know what has become of him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWO STEP-SISTERS\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a couple, and each of them had a daughter by a\nformer marriage. The woman\u2019s daughter was dull and lazy, and could\nnever turn her hand to anything, and the man\u2019s daughter was brisk and\nready; but somehow or other she could never do anything to her\nstepmother\u2019s liking, and both the woman and her daughter would have\nbeen glad to be rid of her.\n\nSo it fell one day the two girls were to go out and spin by the side of\nthe well, and the woman\u2019s daughter had flax to spin, but the man\u2019s\ndaughter got nothing to spin but bristles.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know how it is\u201d, said the woman\u2019s daughter, \u201cyou\u2019re always so\nquick and sharp, but still I\u2019m not afraid to spin a match with you.\u201d\n\nWell, they agreed that she whose thread first snapped, should go down\nthe well. So they span away; but just as they were hard at it, the\nman\u2019s daughter\u2019s thread broke, and she had to go down the well. But\nwhen she got to the bottom she saw far and wide around her a fair green\nmead, and she hadn\u2019t hurt herself at all.\n\nSo she walked on a bit, till she came to a hedge which she had to\ncross.\n\n\u201cAh! don\u2019t tread hard on me, pray don\u2019t, and I\u2019ll help you another\ntime, that I will\u201d, said the Hedge.\n\nThen the lassie made herself as light as she could, and trode so\ncarefully she scarce touched a twig.\n\nSo she went on a bit further, till she came to a brindled cow, which\nwalked there with a milking-pail on her horns. \u2019Twas a large pretty\ncow, and her udder was so full and round.\n\n\u201cAh! be so good as to milk me, pray\u201d, said the Cow; \u201cI\u2019m so full of\nmilk. Drink as much as you please, and throw the rest over my hoofs,\nand see if I don\u2019t help you some day.\u201d\n\nSo the man\u2019s daughter did as the cow begged. As soon as she touched the\nteats, the milk spouted out into the pail. Then she drank till her\nthirst was slaked; and the rest she threw over the cow\u2019s hoofs, and the\nmilking-pail she hung on her horns again.\n\nSo when she had gone a bit further, a big wether met her, which had\nsuch thick long wool, it hung down and draggled after him on the\nground, and on one of his horns hung a great pair of shears.\n\n\u201cAh, please clip off my wool\u201d, said the Sheep, \u201cfor here I go about\nwith all this wool, and catch up everything I meet, and besides, it\u2019s\nso warm, I\u2019m almost choked. Take as much of the fleece as you please,\nand twist the rest round my neck, and see if I don\u2019t help you some\nday.\u201d\n\nYes! she was willing enough, and the sheep lay down of himself on her\nlap, and kept quite still, and she clipped him so neatly, there wasn\u2019t\na scratch on his skin. Then she took as much of the wool as she chose,\nand the rest she twisted round the neck of the sheep.\n\nA little further on, she came to an apple tree, which was loaded with\napples; all its branches were bowed to the ground, and leaning against\nthe stem was a slender pole.\n\n\u201cAh! do be so good as to pluck my apples off me\u201d, said the Tree, \u201cso\nthat my branches may straighten themselves again, for it\u2019s bad work to\nstand so crooked; but when you beat them down, don\u2019t strike me too\nhard. Then eat as many as you please, lay the rest round my root, and\nsee if I don\u2019t help you some day or other.\u201d\n\nYes, she plucked all she could reach with her hands, and then she took\nthe pole and knocked down the rest, and afterwards she ate her fill,\nand the rest she laid neatly round the root.\n\nSo she walked on a long, long way, and then she came to a great\nfarm-house, where an old hag of the Trolls lived with her daughter.\nThere she turned in to ask if she could get a place.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the old hag; \u201cit\u2019s no use your trying. We\u2019ve had ever so\nmany maids, but none of them was worth her salt.\u201d\n\nBut she begged so prettily that they would just take her on trial, that\nat last they let her stay. So the old hag gave her a sieve, and bade\nher go and fetch water in it. She thought it strange to fetch water in\na sieve, but still she went, and when she came to the well, the little\nbirds began to sing,\n\nDaub in clay, Stuff in straw!\nDaub in clay, Stuff in straw.\n\n\nYes, she did so, and found she could carry water in a sieve well\nenough; but when she got home with the water, and the old witch saw the\nsieve, she cried out:\n\n\u201cTHIS YOU HAVEN\u2019T SUCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN BREAST.\u201d\n\nSo the old witch said, now she might go into the byre to pitch out dung\nand milk kine; but when she got there, she found a pitchfork so long\nand heavy, she couldn\u2019t stir it, much less work with it. She didn\u2019t\nknow at all what to do, or what to make of it; but the little birds\nsang again that she should take the broom-stick and toss out a little\nwith that, and all the rest of the dung would fly after it. So she did\nthat, and as soon as ever she began with the broom-stick, the byre was\nas clean as if it had been swept and washed.\n\nNow she had to milk the kine, but they were so restless that they\nkicked and frisked; there was no getting near them to milk them.\n\nBut the little birds sang outside:\n\nA little drop, a tiny sup,\nFor the little birds to drink it up.\n\n\nYes, she did that; she just milked a tiny drop, \u2019twas as much as she\ncould, for the little birds outside; and then all the cows stood still\nand let her milk them. They neither kicked nor frisked; they didn\u2019t\neven lift a leg.\n\nSo when the old witch saw her coming in with the milk, she cried out:\n\n\u201cTHIS YOU HAVEN\u2019T SUCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN BREAST. BUT NOW JUST TAKE THIS\nBLACK WOOL AND WASH IT WHITE.\u201d\n\nThis the lassie was at her wits\u2019 end to know how to do, for she had\nnever seen or heard of any one who could wash black wool white. Still\nshe said nothing, but took the wool and went down with it to the well.\nThere the little birds sang again and told her to take the wool and dip\nit into the great butt that stood there; and she did so, and out it\ncame as white as snow.\n\n\u201cWell! I never!\u201d said the old witch, when she came in with the wool,\n\u201cit\u2019s no good keeping you. You can do everything, and at last you\u2019ll be\nthe plague of my life. We\u2019d best part, so take your wages and be off.\u201d\n\nThen the old hag drew out three caskets, one red, one green, and one\nblue, and of these the lassie was to choose one as wages for her\nservice. Now she didn\u2019t know at all which to choose, but the little\nbirds sang:\n\nDon\u2019t take the red, don\u2019t take the green,\nBut take the blue, where may be seen\nThree little crosses all in a row;\nWe saw the marks, and so we know.\n\n\nSo she took the blue casket, as the birds sang.\n\n\u201cBad luck to you, then\u201d, said the old witch; \u201csee if I don\u2019t make you\npay for this!\u201d\n\nSo when the man\u2019s daughter was just setting off, the old witch shot a\nred-hot bar of iron after her, but she sprang behind the door and hid\nherself, so that it missed her, for her friends, the little birds, had\ntold her beforehand how to behave. Then she walked on and on as fast as\never she could; but when she got to the apple tree, she heard an awful\nclatter behind her on the road, and that was the old witch and her\ndaughter coming after her.\n\nSo the lassie was so frightened and scared, she didn\u2019t know what to do.\n\n\u201cCome hither to me, lassie, do you hear\u201d, said the Apple tree, \u201cI\u2019ll\nhelp you; get under my branches and hide, for if they catch you,\nthey\u2019ll tear you to death, and take the casket from you.\u201d\n\nYes! she did so, and she had hardly hidden herself before up came the\nold witch and her daughter.\n\n\u201cHave you seen any lassie pass this way, you apple tree\u201d, said the old\nhag.\n\n\u201cYes, yes\u201d, said the Apple tree; \u201cone ran by here an hour ago; but now\nshe\u2019s got so far ahead, you\u2019ll never catch her up.\u201d\n\nSo the old witch turned back and went home again. Then the lassie\nwalked on a bit, but when she came just about where the sheep was, she\nheard an awful clatter beginning on the road behind her, and she didn\u2019t\nknow what to do, she was so scared and frightened; for she knew well\nenough it was the old witch, who had thought better of it.\n\n\u201cCome hither to me, lassie\u201d, said the Wether, \u201cand I\u2019ll help you. Hide\nyourself under my fleece, and then they\u2019ll not see you; else they\u2019ll\ntake away the casket, and tear you to death.\u201d\n\nJust then up came the old witch, tearing along.\n\n\u201cHave you seen any lassie pass here, you sheep?\u201d she cried to the\nwether.\n\n\u201cOh yes\u201d, said the Wether, \u201cI saw one an hour ago, but she ran so fast,\nyou\u2019ll never catch her.\u201d\n\nSo the old witch turned round and went home.\n\nBut when the lassie had come to where she met the cow, she heard\nanother awful clatter behind her.\n\n\u201cCome hither to me, lassie\u201d, said the Cow, \u201cand I\u2019ll help you to hide\nyourself under my udder, else the old hag will come and take away your\ncasket, and tear you to death.\u201d\n\nTrue enough, it wasn\u2019t long before she came up.\n\n\u201cHave you seen any lassie pass here, you cow?\u201d said the old hag.\n\n\u201cYes, I saw one an hour ago\u201d, said the Cow, \u201cbut she\u2019s far away now,\nfor she ran so fast I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll ever catch her up!\u201d\n\nSo the old hag turned round, and went back home again.\n\nWhen the lassie had walked a long, long way farther on, and was not far\nfrom the hedge, she heard again that awful clatter on the road behind\nher, and she got scared and frightened, for she knew well enough it was\nthe old hag and her daughter, who had changed their minds.\n\n\u201cCome hither to me, lassie\u201d, said the Hedge, \u201cand I\u2019ll help you. Creep\nunder my twigs, so that they can\u2019t see you; else they\u2019ll take the\ncasket from you, and tear you to death.\u201d\n\nYes! she made all the haste she could to get under the twigs of the\nhedge.\n\n\u201cHave you seen any lassie pass this way, you hedge?\u201d said the old hag\nto the hedge.\n\n\u201cNo, I haven\u2019t seen any lassie\u201d, answered the Hedge, and was as\nsmooth-tongued as if he had got melted butter in his mouth; but all the\nwhile he spread himself out, and made himself so big and tall, one had\nto think twice before crossing him. And so the old witch had no help\nfor it but to turn round and go home again.\n\nSo when the man\u2019s daughter got home, her step-mother and her\nstep-sister were more spiteful against her than ever; for now she was\nmuch neater, and so smart, it was a joy to look at her. Still she\ncouldn\u2019t get leave to live with them, but they drove her out into a\npigsty. That was to be her house. So she scrubbed it out so neat and\nclean, and then she opened her casket, just to see what she had got for\nher wages. But as soon as ever she unlocked it, she saw inside so much\ngold and silver, and lovely things, which came streaming out till all\nthe walls were hung with them, and at last the pigsty was far grander\nthan the grandest king\u2019s palace. And when the step-mother and her\ndaughter came to see this, they almost jumped out of their skin, and\nbegan to ask what kind of a place she had down there?\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the lassie, \u201ccan\u2019t you see, when I have got such good wages.\n\u2019Twas such a family, and such a mistress to serve, you couldn\u2019t find\ntheir like anywhere.\u201d\n\nYes! the woman\u2019s daughter made up her mind to go out to serve too, that\nshe might get just such another gold casket. So they sat down to spin\nagain, and now the woman\u2019s daughter was to spin bristles, and the man\u2019s\ndaughter flax, and she whose thread first snapped, was to go down the\nwell. It wasn\u2019t long, as you may fancy, before the woman\u2019s daughter\u2019s\nthread snapped, and so they threw her down the well.\n\nSo the same thing happened. She fell to the bottom, but met with no\nharm, and found herself on a lovely green meadow. When she had walked a\nbit she came to the hedge. \u201cDon\u2019t tread hard on me, pray, lassie, and\nI\u2019ll help you again\u201d, said the Hedge.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said she, \u201cwhat should I care for a bundle of twigs?\u201d and tramped\nand stamped over the hedge till it cracked and groaned again.\n\nA little farther on she came to the cow, which walked about ready to\nburst for want of milking.\n\n\u201cBe so good as to milk me, lassie\u201d, said the Cow, \u201cand I\u2019ll help you\nagain. Drink as much as you please, but throw the rest over my hoofs.\u201d\n\nYes! she did that; she milked the cow, and drank till she could drink\nno more; but when she left off, there was none left to throw over the\ncow\u2019s hoofs, and as for the pail, she tossed it down the hill and\nwalked on.\n\nWhen she had gone a bit further, she came to the sheep which walked\nalong with his wool dragging after him.\n\n\u201cOh, be so good as to clip me, lassie\u201d, said the Sheep, \u201cand I\u2019ll serve\nyou again. Take as much of the wool as you will, but twist the rest\nround my neck.\u201d\n\nWell! she did that; but she went so carelessly to work, that she cut\ngreat pieces out of the poor sheep, and as for the wool, she carried it\nall away with her.\n\nA little while after she came to the apple tree, which stood there\nquite crooked with fruit again.\n\n\u201cBe so good as to pluck the apples off me, that my limbs may grow\nstraight, for it\u2019s weary work to stand all awry\u201d, said the Apple tree.\n\u201cBut please take care not to beat me too hard. Eat as many as you will,\nbut lay the rest neatly round my root, and I\u2019ll help you again.\u201d\n\nWell, she plucked those nearest to her, and thrashed down those she\ncouldn\u2019t reach with the pole, but she didn\u2019t care how she did it, and\nbroke off and tore down great boughs, and ate till she was as full as\nfull could be, and then she threw down the rest under the tree.\n\nSo when she had gone a good bit further, she came to the farm where the\nold witch lived. There she asked for a place, but the old hag said she\nwouldn\u2019t have any more maids, for they were either worth nothing, or\nwere too clever, and cheated her out of her goods. But the woman\u2019s\ndaughter was not to be put off, she _would_ have a place, so the old\nwitch said she\u2019d give her a trial, if she was fit for anything.\n\nThe first thing she had to do was to fetch water in a sieve. Well, off\nshe went to the well, and drew water in a sieve, but as fast as she got\nit in it ran out again. So the little birds sung:\n\nDaub in clay,\nPut in straw!\nDaub in clay,\nPut in straw!\n\n\nBut she didn\u2019t care to listen to the birds\u2019 song, and pelted them with\nclay, till they flew off far away. And so she had to go home with the\nempty sieve, and got well scolded by the old witch.\n\nThen she was to go into the byre to clean it, and milk the kine. But\nshe was too good for such dirty work, she thought. Still, she went out\ninto the byre, but when she got there, she couldn\u2019t get on at all with\nthe pitchfork, it was so big. The birds said the same to her as they\nhad said to her step-sister, and told her to take the broomstick, and\ntoss out a little dung, and then all the rest would fly after it; but\nall she did with the broomstick was to throw it at the birds. When she\ncame to milk, the kine were so unruly, they kicked and pushed, and\nevery time she got a little milk in the pail, over they kicked it. Then\nthe birds sang again:\n\nA little drop and a tiny sup\nFor the little birds to drink it up.\n\n\nBut she beat and banged the cows about, and threw and pelted at the\nbirds everything she could lay hold of, and made such a to do, \u2019twas\nawful to see. So she didn\u2019t make much either of her pitching, or\nmilking, and when she came indoors she got blows as well as hard words\nfrom the old witch, who sent her off to wash the black wool white; but\nthat, too, she did no better.\n\nThen the old witch thought this really too bad, so she set out the\nthree caskets, one red, one green, and one blue, and said she\u2019d no\nlonger any need of her services, for she wasn\u2019t worth keeping, but for\nwages she should have leave to choose whichever casket she pleased.\n\nThen sung the little birds:\n\nDon\u2019t take the red, don\u2019t take the green,\nBut choose the blue, where may be seen\nThree little crosses all in a row;v We saw the marks, and so we know.\n\n\nShe didn\u2019t care a pin for what the birds sang, but took the red, which\ncaught her eye most. And so she set out on her road home, and she went\nalong quietly and easily enough; there was no one who came after _her_.\n\nSo when she got home, her mother was ready to jump with joy, and the\ntwo went at once into the ingle, and put the casket up there, for they\nmade up their minds there could be nothing in it but pure silver and\ngold, and they thought to have all the walls and roof gilded like the\npigsty. But lo! when they opened the casket there came tumbling out\nnothing but toads, and frogs, and snakes; and worse than that, whenever\nthe woman\u2019s daughter opened her mouth, out popped a toad or a snake,\nand all the vermin one ever thought of, so that at last there was no\nliving in the house with her.\n\nThat was all the wages _she_ got for going out to service with the old\nwitch.\n\n\n\n\nBUTTERCUP\n\n\nOnce on a time there was an old wife who sat and baked. Now, you must\nknow that this old wife had a little son, who was so plump and fat, and\nso fond of good things, that they called him Buttercup; she had a dog,\ntoo, whose name was Goldtooth, and as she was baking, all at once\nGoldtooth began to bark.\n\n\u201cRun out, Buttercup, there\u2019s a dear!\u201d said the old wife, \u201cand see what\nGoldtooth is barking at.\u201d\n\nSo the boy ran out, and came back crying out:\n\n\u201cOh, Heaven help us! here comes a great big witch, with her head under\nher arm, and a bag at her back.\u201d\n\n\u201cJump under the kneading-trough and hide yourself\u201d, said his mother.\n\nSo in came the old hag!\n\n\u201cGood day\u201d, said she!\n\n\u201cGod bless you!\u201d said Buttercup\u2019s mother.\n\n\u201cIsn\u2019t your Buttercup at home to-day?\u201d asked the hag.\n\n\u201cNo, that he isn\u2019t. He\u2019s out in the wood with his father, shooting\nptarmigan.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlague take it\u201d, said the hag, \u201cfor I had such a nice little silver\nknife I wanted to give him.\u201d\n\n\u201cPip, pip! here I am\u201d, said Buttercup under the kneading-trough, and\nout he came.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m so old, and stiff in the back\u201d, said the hag, \u201cyou must creep into\nthe bag and fetch it out for yourself.\u201d\n\nBut when Buttercup was well into the bag, the hag threw it over her\nback and strode off, and when they had gone a good bit of the way, the\nold hag got tired, and asked:\n\n\u201cHow far is it off to Snoring?\u201d\n\n\u201cHalf a mile\u201d, answered Buttercup.\n\nSo the hag put down the sack on the road, and went aside by herself\ninto the wood, and lay down to sleep. Meantime Buttercup set to work\nand cut a hole in the sack with his knife; then he crept out and put a\ngreat root of a fir-tree into the sack, and ran home to his mother.\n\nWhen the hag got home and saw what there was in the sack, you may fancy\nshe was in a fine rage.\n\nNext day the old wife sat and baked again, and her dog began to bark\njust as he did the day before.\n\n\u201cRun out, Buttercup, my boy\u201d, said she, \u201cand see what Goldtooth is\nbarking at.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I never!\u201d cried Buttercup, as soon as he got out; \u201cif there\nisn\u2019t that ugly old beast coming again with her head under her arm, and\na great sack at her back.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnder the kneading-trough with you and hide\u201d, said his mother.\n\n\u201cGood day!\u201d said the hag, \u201cis your Buttercup at home to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry to say he isn\u2019t\u201d, said his mother; \u201che\u2019s out in the wood\nwith his father, shooting ptarmigan.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a bore\u201d, said the hag; \u201chere I have a beautiful little silver\nspoon I want to give him.\u201d\n\n\u201cPip, pip! here I am\u201d, said Buttercup, and crept out.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m so stiff in the back\u201d, said the old witch, \u201cyou must creep into\nthe sack and fetch it out for yourself.\u201d\n\nSo when Buttercup was well into the sack, the hag swung it over her\nshoulders and set off home as fast as her legs could carry her. But\nwhen they had gone a good bit, she grew weary, and asked:\n\n\u201cHow far is it off to Snoring?\u201d\n\n\u201cA mile and a half\u201d, answered Buttercup.\n\nSo the hag set down the sack, and went aside into the wood to sleep a\nbit, but while she slept, Buttercup made a hole in the sack and got\nout, and put a great stone into it. Now, when the old witch got home,\nshe made a great fire on the hearth, and put a big pot on it, and got\neverything ready to boil Buttercup; but when she took the sack, and\nthought she was going to turn out Buttercup into the pot, down plumped\nthe stone and made a hole in the bottom of the pot, so that the water\nran out and quenched the fire. Then the old hag was in a dreadful rage,\nand said, \u201cIf he makes himself ever so heavy next time, he shan\u2019t take\nme in again.\u201d The third day everything went just as it had gone twice\nbefore; Goldtooth began to bark, and Buttercup\u2019s mother said to him:\n\n\u201cDo run out and see what our dog is barking at.\u201d\n\nSo out he went, but he soon came back crying out:\n\n\u201cHeaven save us! Here comes the old hag again with her head under her\narm, and a sack at her back.\u201d\n\n\u201cJump under the kneading-trough and hide\u201d, said his mother.\n\n\u201cGood day!\u201d said the hag, as she came in at the door; \u201cis your\nButtercup at home to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re very kind to ask after him\u201d, said his mother; \u201cbut he\u2019s out in\nthe wood with his father, shooting ptarmigan.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a bore now\u201d, said the old hag; \u201chere have I got such a beautiful\nlittle silver fork for him.\u201d\n\n\u201cPip, pip! here I am\u201d, said Buttercup, as he came out from under the\nkneading-trough.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m so stiff in the back\u201d, said the hag, \u201cyou must creep into the sack\nand fetch it out for yourself.\u201d\n\nBut when Buttercup was well inside the sack, the old hag swung it\nacross her shoulders, and set off as fast as she could. This time she\ndid not turn aside to sleep by the way, but went straight home with\nButtercup in the sack, and when she reached her house it was Sunday.\n\nSo the old hag said to her daughter:\n\n\u201cNow you must take Buttercup and kill him, and boil him nicely till I\ncome back, for I\u2019m off to church to bid my guests to dinner.\u201d\n\nSo, when all in the house were gone to church the daughter was to take\nButtercup and kill him, but then she didn\u2019t know how to set about it at\nall.\n\n\u201cStop a bit\u201d, said Buttercup; \u201cI\u2019ll soon show you how to do it; just\nlay your head on the chopping-block, and you\u2019ll soon see.\u201d\n\nSo the poor silly thing laid her head down, and Buttercup took an axe\nand chopped her head off, just as if she had been a chicken. Then he\nlaid her head in the bed, and popped her body into the pot, and boiled\nit so nicely; and when he had done that, he climbed up on the roof, and\ndragged up with him the fir-tree root and the stone, and put the one\nover the door, and the other at the top of the chimney.\n\nSo when the household came back from church, and saw the head on the\nbed, they thought it was the daughter who lay there asleep; and then\nthey thought they would just taste the broth.\n\nGood, by my troth!\nButtercup broth,\n\n\nsaid the old hag.\n\nGood, by my troth!\nDaughter broth,\n\n\nsaid Buttercup down the chimney, but no one heeded him.\n\nSo the old hag\u2019s husband, who was every bit as bad as she, took the\nspoon to have a taste.\n\nGood, by my troth!\nButtercup broth,\n\n\nsaid he.\n\nGood, by my troth!\nDaughter broth,\n\n\nsaid Buttercup down the chimney pipe.\n\nThen they all began to wonder who it could be that chattered so, and\nran out to see. But when they came out at the door, Buttercup threw\ndown on them the fir-tree root and the stone, and broke all their heads\nto bits. After that he took all the gold and silver that lay in the\nhouse, and went home to his mother, and became a rich man.\n\n\n\n\nTAMING THE SHREW\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a king, and he had a daughter who was such a\nscold, and whose tongue went so fast, there was no stopping it. So he\ngave out that the man who could stop her tongue should have the\nPrincess to wife, and half his kingdom into the bargain. Now, three\nbrothers, who heard this, made up their minds to go and try their luck;\nand first of all the two elder went, for they thought they were the\ncleverest; but they couldn\u2019t cope with her at all, and got well\nthrashed besides.\n\nThen Boots, the youngest, set off, and when he had gone a little way he\nfound an ozier band lying on the road, and he picked it up. When he had\ngone a little farther he found a piece of a broken plate, and he picked\nthat up too. A little farther on he found a dead magpie, and a little\nfarther on still, a crooked ram\u2019s horn; so he went on a bit and found\nthe fellow to the horn; and at last, just as he was crossing the fields\nby the king\u2019s palace, where they were pitching out dung, he found a\nworn-out shoe-sole. All these things he took with him into the palace,\nand went before the Princess.\n\n\u201cGood day\u201d, said he.\n\n\u201cGood day\u201d, said she, and made a wry face.\n\n\u201cCan I get my magpie cooked here?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid it will burst\u201d, answered the Princess.\n\n\u201cOh! never fear! for I\u2019ll just tie this ozier band round it\u201d, said the\nlad, as he pulled it out.\n\n\u201cThe fat will run out of it\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll hold this under it\u201d, said the lad, and showed her the piece\nof broken plate.\n\n\u201cYou are so crooked in your words\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cthere\u2019s no\nknowing where to have you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I\u2019m not crooked\u201d, said the lad; \u201cbut this is\u201d, as he held up one\nof the horns.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cI never saw the match of this in all my\ndays.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, here you see the match to it\u201d, said the lad, as he pulled out the\nother ram\u2019s horn.\n\n\u201cI think\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cyou must have come here to wear out my\ntongue with your nonsense.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I have not\u201d, said the lad; \u201cbut this is worn out\u201d, as he pulled\nout the shoe-sole.\n\nTo this the Princess hadn\u2019t a word to say, for she had fairly lost her\nvoice with rage.\n\n\u201cNow you are mine\u201d, said the lad; and so he got the Princess to wife,\nand half the kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nSHORTSHANKS\n\n\nOnce on a time, there was a poor couple who lived in a tumble-down hut,\nin which there was nothing but black want, so that they hadn\u2019t a morsel\nto eat, nor a stick to burn. But though they had next to nothing of\nother things, they had God\u2019s blessing in the way of children, and every\nyear they had another babe. Now, when this story begins, they were just\nlooking out for a new child; and, to tell the truth, the husband was\nrather cross, and he was always going about grumbling and growling, and\nsaying, \u201cFor his part, he thought one might have too many of these\nGod\u2019s gifts.\u201d So when the time came that the babe was to be born, he\nwent off into the wood to fetch fuel, saying, \u201che didn\u2019t care to stop\nand see the young squaller; he\u2019d be sure to hear him soon enough,\nscreaming for food.\u201d\n\nNow, when her husband was well out of the house, his wife gave birth to\na beautiful boy, who began to look about the room as soon as ever he\ncame into the world.\n\n\u201cOh! dear mother\u201d, he said, \u201cgive me some of my brother\u2019s cast-off\nclothes, and a few days\u2019 food, and I\u2019ll go out into the world and try\nmy luck; you have children enough as it is, that I can see.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod help you, my son!\u201d answered his mother; \u201cthat can never be, you\nare far too young yet.\u201d\n\nBut the tiny one stuck to what he said, and begged and prayed till his\nmother was forced to let him have a few old rags, and a little food\ntied up in a bundle, and off he went right merrily and manfully into\nthe wide world. But he was scarce out of the house before his mother\nhad another boy, and he too looked about him, and said:\n\n\u201cOh, dear mother! give me some of my brother\u2019s old clothes and a few\ndays\u2019 food, and I\u2019ll go out into the world to find my twin-brother; you\nhave children enough already on your hands, that I can see.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod help you, my poor little fellow!\u201d said his mother; \u201cyou are far\ntoo little, this will never do.\u201d\n\nBut it was no good; the tiny one begged and prayed so hard, till he got\nsome old tattered rags and a bundle of food; and so he wandered out\ninto the world like a man, to find his twin-brother. Now, when the\nyounger had walked a while, he saw his brother a good bit on before\nhim, so he called out to him to stop.\n\n\u201cHolloa! can\u2019t you stop? why, you lay legs to the ground as if you were\nrunning a race. But you might just as well have stayed to see your\nyoungest, brother before you set off into the world in such a hurry.\u201d\n\nSo the elder stopped and looked round; and when the younger had come up\nto him and told him the whole story, and how he was his brother, he\nwent on to say:\n\n\u201cBut let\u2019s sit down here and see what our mother has given us for\nfood.\u201d So they sat down together, and were soon great friends.\n\nNow when they had gone a bit farther on their way, they came to a brook\nwhich ran through a green meadow, and the youngest said now the time\nwas come to give one another names, \u201cSince we set off in such a hurry\nthat we hadn\u2019t time to do it at home, we may as well do it here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the elder, \u201cand what shall your name be?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the younger, \u201cmy name shall be Shortshanks; and yours, what\nshall it be?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will be called King Sturdy\u201d, answered the eldest.\n\nSo they christened each other in the brook, and went on; but when they\nhad walked a while they came to a cross road, and agreed they should\npart there, and each take his own road. So they parted, but they hadn\u2019t\ngone half a mile before their roads met again. So they parted the\nsecond time, and took each a road; but in a little while the same thing\nhappened, and they met again, they scarce knew how; and the same thing\nhappened a third time also. Then they agreed that they should each\nchoose a quarter of the heavens, and one was to go east and the other\nwest; but before they parted, the elder said:\n\n\u201cIf you ever fall into misfortune or need, call three times on me, and\nI will come and help you; but mind you don\u2019t call on me till you are at\nthe last pinch.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said Shortshanks, \u201cif that\u2019s to be the rule, I don\u2019t think we\nshall meet again very soon.\u201d\n\nAfter that they bade each other good-bye, and Shortshanks went east,\nand King Sturdy west.\n\nNow, you must know, when Shortshanks had gone a good bit alone, he met\nan old, old crook-backed hag, who had only one eye, and Shortshanks\nsnapped it up.\n\n\u201cOh! oh!\u201d screamed the hag, \u201cwhat has become of my eye?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat will you give me\u201d, asked Shortshanks, \u201cif you get your eye back?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you a sword, and such a sword! It will put a whole army to\nflight, be it ever so great\u201d, answered the old woman.\n\n\u201cOut with it, then!\u201d said Shortshanks.\n\nSo the old hag gave him the sword, and got her eye back again. After\nthat, Shortshanks wandered on a while, and another old, old\ncrook-backed hag met him who had only one eye, which Shortshanks stole\nbefore she was aware of him.\n\n\u201cOh, oh! whatever has become of my eye\u201d, screamed the hag.\n\n\u201cWhat will you give me to get your eye back?\u201d asked Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you a ship\u201d, said the woman, \u201cwhich can sail over fresh\nwater and salt water, and over high hills and deep dales.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! out with it\u201d, said Shortshanks.\n\nSo the old woman gave him a little tiny ship, no bigger than he could\nput in his pocket, and she got her eye back again, and they each went\ntheir way. But when he had wandered on a long, long way, he met a third\ntime an old, old crook-backed hag, with only one eye. This eye, too,\nShortshanks stole; and when the hag screamed and made a great to-do,\nbawling out what had become of her eye, Shortshanks said:\n\n\u201cWhat will you give me to get back your eye?\u201d\n\nThen she answered:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you the art how to brew a hundred lasts of malt at one\nstrike.\u201d\n\nWell! for teaching that art the old hag got back her eye, and they each\nwent their way.\n\nBut when Shortshanks had walked a little way, he thought it might be\nworth while to try his ship; so he took it out of his pocket, and put\nfirst one foot into it, and then the other; and as soon as ever he set\none foot into it, it began to grow bigger and bigger, and by the time\nhe set the other foot into it, it was as big as other ships that sail\non the sea. Then Shortshanks said:\n\n\u201cOff and away, over fresh water and salt water, over high hills and\ndeep dales, and don\u2019t stop till you come to the king\u2019s palace.\u201d\n\nAnd lo! away went the ship as swiftly as a bird through the air, till\nit came down a little below the king\u2019s palace, and there it stopped.\nFrom the palace windows people had stood and seen Shortshanks come\nsailing along, and they were all so amazed that they ran down to see\nwho it could be that came sailing in a ship through the air. But while\nthey were running down, Shortshanks had stepped out of his ship and put\nit into his pocket again; for as soon as he stepped out of it, it\nbecame as small as it was when he got it from the old woman. So those\nwho had run down from the palace saw no one but a ragged little boy\nstanding down there by the strand. Then the king asked whence he came,\nbut the boy said he didn\u2019t know, nor could he tell them how he had got\nthere. There he was, and that was all they could get out of him; but he\nbegged and prayed so prettily to get a place in the king\u2019s palace;\nsaying, if there was nothing else for him to do, he could carry in wood\nand water for the kitchen-maid, that their hearts were touched, and he\ngot leave to stay there.\n\nNow when Shortshanks came up to the palace, he saw how it was all hung\nwith black, both outside and in, wall and roof; so he asked the\nkitchen-maid what all that mourning meant?\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you know?\u201d said the kitchen-maid; \u201cI\u2019ll soon tell you: the\nking\u2019s daughter was promised away a long time ago to three ogres, and\nnext Thursday evening one of them is coming to fetch her. Ritter Red,\nit is true, has given out that he is man enough to set her free, but\nGod knows if he can do it; and now you know why we are all in grief and\nsorrow.\u201d\n\nSo when Thursday evening came, Ritter Red led the Princess down to the\nstrand, for there it was she was to meet the Ogre, and he was to stay\nby her there and watch; but he wasn\u2019t likely to do the Ogre much harm,\nI reckon, for as soon as ever the Princess had sat down on the strand,\nRitter Red climbed up into a great tree that stood there, and hid\nhimself as well as he could among the boughs. The Princess begged and\nprayed him not to leave her, but Ritter Red turned a deaf ear to her,\nand all he said was:\n\n\u201cTis better for one to lose life than for two.\u201d\n\nThat was what Ritter Red said.\n\nMeantime Shortshanks went to the kitchen-maid, and asked her so\nprettily if he mightn\u2019t go down to the strand for a bit?\n\n\u201cAnd what should take you down to the strand?\u201d asked the kitchen-maid.\n\u201cYou know you\u2019ve no business there.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear friend\u201d, said Shortshanks, \u201cdo let me go? I should so like to\nrun down there and play a while with the other children; that I\nshould.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said the kitchen-maid, \u201coff with you; but don\u2019t let me\ncatch you staying there a bit over the time when the brose for supper\nmust be set on the fire, and the roast put on the spit; and let me see;\nwhen you come back, mind you bring a good armful of wood with you.\u201d\n\nYes! Shortshanks would mind all that; so off he ran down to the strand.\n\nBut just as he reached the spot where the Princess sat, what should\ncome but the Ogre tearing along in his ship, so that the wind roared\nand howled after him. He was so tall and stout it was awful to look on\nhim, and he had five heads of his own.\n\n\u201cFire and flame!\u201d screamed the Ogre.\n\n\u201cFire and flame yourself!\u201d said Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cCan you fight?\u201d roared the Ogre.\n\n\u201cIf I can\u2019t, I can learn\u201d, said Shortshanks.\n\nSo the Ogre struck at him with a great thick iron club which he had in\nhis fist, and the earth and stones flew up five yards into the air\nafter the stroke.\n\n\u201cMy!\u201d said Shortshanks, \u201cthat was something like a blow, but now you\nshall see a stroke of mine.\u201d\n\nThen he grasped the sword he had got from the old crook-backed hag, and\ncut at the Ogre; and away went all his five heads flying over the sand.\nSo when the Princess saw she was saved, she was so glad that she scarce\nknew what to do, and she jumped and danced for joy. \u201cCome, lie down,\nand sleep a little in my lap\u201d, she said to Shortshanks, and as he slept\nshe threw over him a tinsel robe.\n\nNow you must know, it wasn\u2019t long before Ritter Red crept down from the\ntree, as soon as he saw there was nothing to fear in the way, and he\nwent up to the Princess and threatened her until she promised to say it\nwas he who had saved her life; for if she wouldn\u2019t say so, he said he\nwould kill her on the spot. After that he cut out the Ogre\u2019s lungs and\ntongue, and wrapped them up in his handkerchief, and so led the\nPrincess back to the palace, and whatever honours he had not before, he\ngot then, for the king did not know how to find honour enough for him,\nand made him sit every day on his right hand at dinner.\n\nAs for Shortshanks, he went first of all on board the Ogre\u2019s ship, and\ntook a whole heap of gold and silver rings, as large as hoops, and\ntrotted off with them as hard as he could to the palace. When the\nkitchen-maid set her eyes on all that gold and silver, she was quite\nscared, and asked him:\n\n\u201cBut dear, good, Shortshanks, wherever did you get all this from?\u201d for\nshe was rather afraid he hadn\u2019t come rightly by it.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d answered Shortshanks, \u201cI went home for a bit, and there I found\nthese hoops, which had fallen off some old pails of ours, so I laid\nhands on them for you, if you must know.\u201d\n\nWell! when the kitchen-maid heard they were for her, she said nothing\nmore about the matter, but thanked Shortshanks, and they were good\nfriends again.\n\nThe next Thursday evening it was the same story over again; all were in\ngrief and trouble, but Ritter Red said, as he had saved the Princess\nfrom one Ogre, it was hard if he couldn\u2019t save her from another; and\ndown he led her to the strand as brave as a lion. But he didn\u2019t do this\nOgre much harm either, for when the time came that they looked for the\nOgre, he said, as he had said before:\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis better one should lose life than two\u201d, and crept up into his tree\nagain. But Shortshanks begged the kitchen-maid to let him go down to\nthe strand for a little.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d asked the kitchen-maid, \u201cand what business have you down there?\u201d\n\n\u201cDear friend\u201d, said Shortshanks. \u201cdo pray let me go. I long so to run\ndown and play a while with the other children.\u201d\n\nWell! the kitchen-maid gave him leave to go, but he must promise to be\nback by the time the roast was turned, and he was to mind and bring a\nbig bundle of wood with him. So Shortshanks had scarce got down to the\nstrand, when the Ogre came tearing along in his ship, so that the wind\nhowled and roared around him; he was twice as big as the other Ogre,\nand he had ten heads on his shoulders.\n\n\u201cFire and flame!\u201d screamed the Ogre.\n\nFire and flame yourself!\u201d answered Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cCan you fight?\u201d roared the Ogre.\n\n\u201cIf I can\u2019t, I can learn\u201d, said Shortshanks.\n\nThen the Ogre struck at him with his iron club; it was even bigger than\nthat which the first Ogre had, and the earth and stones flew up ten\nyards into the air.\n\nMy!\u201d said Shortshanks, \u201cthat was something like a blow now you shall\nsee a stroke of mine.\u201d Then he grasped his sword, and cut off all the\nOgre\u2019s ten heads at one blow, and sent them dancing away over the sand.\n\nThen the Princess said again to him, \u201cLie down and sleep a little while\non my lap\u201d; and while Shortshanks lay there, she threw over him a\nsilver robe. But as soon as Ritter Red marked that there was no more\ndanger in the way, he crept down from the tree, and threatened the\nPrincess, till she was forced to give her word, to say it was he who\nhad set her free; after that, he cut the lungs and tongue out of the\nOgre, and wrapped them in his handkerchief, and led the Princess back\nto the palace. Then you may fancy what mirth and joy there was, and the\nking was at his wits\u2019 end to know how to show Ritter Red honour and\nfavour enough.\n\nThis time, too, Shortshanks took a whole armful of gold and silver\nrings from the Ogre\u2019s ship, and when he came back to the palace the\nkitchen-maid clapped her hands in wonder, asking wherever he got all\nthat gold and silver from. But Shortshanks answered that he had been\nhome a while, and that the hoops had fallen off some old pails, so he\nhad laid his hands on them for his friend the kitchen-maid. So when the\nthird Thursday evening came, everything happened as it had happened\ntwice before; the whole palace was hung with black, and all went about\nmourning and weeping. But Ritter Red said he couldn\u2019t see what need\nthey had to be so afraid; he had freed the Princess from two Ogres, and\nhe could very well free her from a third; so he led her down to the\nstrand, but when the time drew near for the Ogre to come up, he crept\ninto his tree again, and hid himself. The Princess begged and prayed,\nbut it was no good, for Ritter Red said again:\n\n\u201c\u2019Tis better that one should lose life than two.\u201d\n\nThat evening, too, Shortshanks begged for leave to go down to the\nstrand.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the kitchen-maid, \u201cwhat should take you down there?\u201d\n\nBut he begged and prayed so, that at last he got leave to go, only he\nhad to promise to be back in the kitchen again when the roast was to be\nturned. So off he went, but he had scarce reached the strand when the\nOgre came with the wind howling and roaring after him. He was much,\nmuch bigger than either of the other two, and he had fifteen heads on\nhis shoulders.\n\n\u201cFire and flame!\u201d roared out the Ogre.\n\n\u201cFire and flame yourself!\u201d said Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cCan you fight?\u201d screamed the Ogre.\n\n\u201cIf I can\u2019t, I can learn\u201d, said Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon teach you\u201d, screamed the Ogre, and struck at him with his\niron club, so that the earth and stones flew up fifteen yards into the\nair.\n\n\u201cMy!\u201d said Shortshanks, \u201cthat was something like a blow; but now you\nshall see a stroke of mine.\u201d\n\nAs he said that, he grasped his sword, and cut off all the Ogre\u2019s\nfifteen heads at one blow, and sent them all dancing over the sand.\n\nSo the Princess was freed from all the Ogres, and she both blessed and\nthanked Shortshanks for saving her life.\n\n\u201cSleep now a while on my lap\u201d, she said; and he laid his head on her\nlap, and while he slept, she threw over him a golden robe.\n\n\u201cBut how shall we let it be known that it is you that have saved me?\u201d\nshe asked, when he awoke.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll soon tell you\u201d, answered Shortshanks. \u201cWhen Ritter Red has\nled you home again, and given himself out as the man who has saved you,\nyou know he is to have you to wife, and half the kingdom. Now, when\nthey ask you, on your wedding-day, whom you will have to be your\ncup-bearer, you must say, \u2018I will have the ragged boy who does odd jobs\nin the kitchen, and carries in wood and water for the kitchen-maid.\u2019 So\nwhen I am filling your cups, I will spill a drop on his plate, but none\non yours; then he will be wroth, and give me a blow, and the same thing\nwill happen three times. But the third time you must mind and say,\n\u2018Shame on you! to strike my heart\u2019s darling; he it is who set me free,\nand him will I have!\u2019\u201d\n\nAfter that Shortshanks ran back to the palace, as he had done before;\nbut he went first on board the Ogre\u2019s ship, and took a whole heap of\ngold, silver, and precious stones, and out of them he gave the\nkitchen-maid another great armful of gold and silver rings.\n\nWell! as for Ritter Red, as soon as ever he saw that all risk was over,\nhe crept down from his tree, and threatened the Princess till she was\nforced to promise she would say it was he who had saved her. After\nthat, he led her back to the palace, and all the honour shown him\nbefore was nothing to what he got now, for the king thought of nothing\nelse than how he might best honour the man who had saved his daughter\nfrom the three Ogres. As for his marrying her, and having half the\nkingdom, that was a settled thing, the king said. But-when the\nwedding-day came, the Princess begged she might have the ragged boy who\ncarried in wood and water for the cook to be her cup-bearer at the\nbridal-feast.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t think why you should want to bring that filthy beggar boy in\nhere\u201d, said Ritter Red; but the Princess had a will of her own, and\nsaid she would have him, and no one else, to pour out her wine; so she\nhad her way at last. Now everything went as it had been agreed between\nShortshanks and the Princess; he spilled a drop on Ritter Red\u2019s plate,\nbut none on hers, and each time Ritter Red got wroth and struck him. At\nthe first blow Shortshank\u2019s rags fell off which he had worn in the\nkitchen; at the second the tinsel robe fell off; and at the third the\nsilver robe; and then he stood in his golden robe, all gleaming and\nglittering in the light. Then the Princess said:\n\n\u201cShame on you! to strike my heart\u2019s darling! he has saved me, and him\nwill I have!\u201d\n\nRitter Red cursed and swore it was he who had set her free; but the\nking put in his word, and said:\n\n\u201cThe man who saved my daughter must have some token to show for it.\u201d\n\nYes! Ritter Red had something to show, and he ran off at once after his\nhandkerchief with the lungs and tongues in it, and Shortshanks fetched\nall the gold and silver, and precious things, he had taken out of the\nOgres\u2019 ships. So each laid his tokens before the king, and the king\nsaid:\n\n\u201cThe man who has such precious stores of gold, and silver, and\ndiamonds, must have slain the Ogre, and spoiled his goods, for such\nthings are not to be had elsewhere.\u201d\n\nSo Ritter Red was thrown into a pit full of snakes, and Shortshanks was\nto have the Princess and half the kingdom.\n\nOne day Shortshanks and the king were out walking, and Shortshanks\nasked the king if he hadn\u2019t any more children?\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the king, \u201cI had another daughter; but the Ogre has taken\nher away, because there was no one who could save her. Now you are\ngoing to have one daughter, but if you can set the other free whom the\nOgre has carried off, you shall have her too with all my heart, and the\nother half of my kingdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Shortshanks, \u201cI may as well try; but I must have an iron\ncable, five hundred fathoms long, and five hundred men, and food for\nthem to last fifteen weeks, for I have a long voyage before me.\u201d\n\nYes! the king said he should have them, but he was afraid there wasn\u2019t\na ship in his kingdom big enough to carry such a freight.\n\n\u201cOh! if that\u2019s all\u201d, said Shortshanks, \u201cI have a ship of my own.\u201d\n\nWith that he whipped out of his pocket the ship he had got from the old\nhag.\n\nThe king laughed, and thought it was all a joke; but Shortshanks begged\nhim only to give him what he asked, and he should soon see if it was a\njoke. So they got together what he wanted, and Shortshanks bade him put\nthe cable on board the ship first of all; but there was no one man who\ncould lift it, and there wasn\u2019t room for more than one at a time round\nthe tiny ship. Then Shortshanks took hold of the cable by one end, and\nlaid a link or two into the ship; and as he threw in the links, the\nship grew bigger and bigger, till at last it got so big, that there was\nroom enough and to spare in it for the cable, and the five hundred men,\nand their food, and Shortshanks, and all. Then he said to the ship:\n\n\u201cOff and away, over fresh water and salt water, over high hill and deep\ndale, and don\u2019t stop till you come to where the king\u2019s daughter is.\u201d\nAnd away went the ship over land and sea, till the wind whistled after\nit.\n\nSo when they had sailed far, far away, the ship stood stock still in\nthe middle of the sea.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Shortshanks, \u201cnow we have got so far; but how we are to get\nback is another story.\u201d\n\nThen he took the cable and tied one end of it round his waist, and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cNow, I must go to the bottom, but when I give the cable a good tug,\nand want to come up again, mind you all hoist away with a will, or your\nlives will be lost as well as mine\u201d; and with these words overboard he\nleapt, and dived down, so that the yellow waves rose round him in an\neddy.\n\nWell, he sank and sank, and at last he came to the bottom, and there he\nsaw a great rock rising up with a door in it, so he opened the door and\nwent in. When he got inside, he saw another Princess, who sat and\nsewed, but when she saw Shortshanks, she clasped her hands together and\ncried out:\n\n\u201cNow, God be thanked! you are the first Christian man I\u2019ve set eyes on\nsince I came here.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good\u201d, said Shortshanks; \u201cbut do you know I\u2019ve come to fetch\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d she cried, \u201cyou\u2019ll never fetch me; you\u2019ll never have that luck,\nfor if the Ogre sees you, he\u2019ll kill you on the spot.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad you spoke of the Ogre\u201d, said Shortshanks; \u201c\u2019twould be fine\nfun to see him; whereabouts is he?\u201d\n\nThen the Princess told him the Ogre was out looking for some one who\ncould brew a hundred lasts of malt at one strike, for he was going to\ngive a great feast, and less drink wouldn\u2019t do.\n\n\u201cWell! I can do that\u201d, said Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cif only the Ogre wasn\u2019t so hasty, I might\ntell him about you; but he\u2019s so cross; I\u2019m afraid he\u2019ll tear you to\npieces as soon as he comes in, without waiting to hear my story. Let me\nsee what is to be done. Oh! I have it; just hide yourself in the\nside-room yonder, and let us take our chance.\u201d\n\nWell! Shortshanks did as she told him, and he had scarce crept into the\nside-room before the Ogre came in.\n\n\u201cHUF!\u201d said the Ogre; \u201cwhat a horrid smell of Christian man\u2019s blood!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cI know there is, for a bird flew over the\nhouse with a Christian man\u2019s bone in his bill, and let it fall down the\nchimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out again, but I dare\nsay it\u2019s that you smell.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Ogre, \u201clike enough.\u201d\n\nThen the Princess asked the Ogre if he had laid hold of any one who\ncould brew a hundred lasts of malt at one strike?\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the Ogre, \u201cI can\u2019t hear of any one who can do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, she said, \u201ca while ago, there was a chap in here who said he\ncould do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust like you, with your wisdom!\u201d said the Ogre; \u201cwhy did you let him\ngo away then, when you knew he was the very man I wanted?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell then, I didn\u2019t let him go\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cbut father\u2019s\ntemper is a little hot, so I hid him away in the side-room yonder; but\nif father hasn\u2019t hit upon any one, here he is.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Ogre, \u201clet him come in then.\u201d\n\nSo Shortshanks came in, and the Ogre asked him if it were true that he\ncould brew a hundred lasts of malt at a strike?\n\n\u201cYes it is\u201d, said Shortshanks.\n\n\u201cTwas good luck then to lay hands on you\u201d, said the Ogre, \u201cand now fall\nto work this minute; but heaven help you if you don\u2019t brew the ale\nstrong enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said Shortshanks, \u201cnever fear, it shall be stinging stuff\u201d; and\nwith that he began to brew without more fuss, but all at once he cried\nout:\n\n\u201cI must have more of you Ogres to help in the brewing, for these I have\ngot a\u2019nt half strong enough.\u201d\n\nWell, he got more\u2014so many, that there was a whole swarm of them, and\nthen the brewing went on bravely. Now when the sweet-wort was ready,\nthey were all eager to taste it, you may guess; first of all the Ogre,\nand then all his kith and kin. But Shortshanks had brewed the wort so\nstrong that they all fell down dead, one after another, like so many\nflies, as soon as they had tasted it. At last there wasn\u2019t one of them\nleft alive but one vile old hag, who lay bed-ridden in the\nchimney-corner.\n\n\u201cOh you poor old wretch\u201d, said Shortshanks, \u201cyou may just as well taste\nthe wort along with the rest.\u201d\n\nSo, he went and scooped up a little from the bottom of the copper in a\nscoop, and gave her a drink, and so he was rid of the whole pack of\nthem.\n\nAs he stood there and looked about him, he cast his eye on a great\nchest, so he took it and filled it with gold and silver; then he tied\nthe cable round himself and the Princess and the chest, and gave it a\ngood tug, and his men pulled them all up, safe and sound. As soon as\never Shortshanks was well up, he said to the ship,\n\n\u201cOff and away, over fresh water and salt water, high hill and deep\ndale, and don\u2019t stop till you come to the king\u2019s palace\u201d; and\nstraightway the ship held on her course, so that the yellow billows\nfoamed round her. When the people in the palace saw the ship sailing\nup, they were not slow in meeting them with songs and music, welcoming\nShortshanks with great joy; but the gladdest of all was the king, who\nhad now got his other daughter back again.\n\nBut now Shortshanks was rather down-hearted, for you must know that\nboth the princesses wanted to have him, and he would have no other than\nthe one he had first saved, and she was the youngest. So he walked up\nand down, and thought and thought what he should do to get her, and yet\ndo something to please her sister. Well, one day as he was turning the\nthing over in his mind, it struck him if he only had his brother King\nSturdy, who was so like him that no one could tell the one from the\nother, he would give up to him the other princess and half the kingdom,\nfor he thought one-half was quite enough.\n\nWell, as soon as ever this came into his mind, he went outside the\npalace and called on King Sturdy, but no one came. So he called a\nsecond time a little louder, but still no one came. Then he called out\nthe third time \u201cKing Sturdy\u201d with all his might, and there stood his\nbrother before him. \u201cDidn\u2019t I say!\u201d he said to Shortshanks, \u201cdidn\u2019t I\nsay you were not to call me except in your utmost need? and here there\nis not so much as a gnat to do you any harm\u201d, and with that he gave him\nsuch a box on the ear that Shortshanks tumbled head over heels on the\ngrass.\n\n\u201cNow shame on you to \u201chit so hard!\u201d said Shortshanks. \u201cFirst of all I\nwon a princess and half the kingdom, and then I won another princess\nand the other half of the kingdom; and now I\u2019m thinking to give you one\nof the princesses and half the kingdom. Is there any rhyme or reason in\ngiving me such a box on the ear?\u201d\n\nWhen King Sturdy heard that, he begged his brother to forgive him, and\nthey were soon as good friends as ever again.\n\n\u201cNow\u201d, said Shortshanks, \u201cyou know, we are so much alike, that no one\ncan tell the one from the other; so just change clothes with me and go\ninto the palace; then the princesses will think it is I that am coming\nin, and the one that kisses you first you shall have for your wife, and\nI will have the other for mine.\u201d\n\nAnd he said this because he knew well enough that the elder king\u2019s\ndaughter was the stronger, and so he could very well guess how things\nwould go. As for King Sturdy, he was willing enough, so he changed\nclothes with his brother and went into the palace. But when he came\ninto the Princesses\u2019 bower they thought it was Shortshanks, and both\nran up to him to kiss him; but the elder, who was stronger and bigger,\npushed her sister on one side, and threw her arms round King Sturdy\u2019s\nneck, and gave him a kiss; and so he got her for his wife, and\nShortshanks got the younger Princess. Then they made ready for the\nwedding, and you may fancy what a grand one it was, when I tell you,\nthat the fame of it was noised abroad over seven kingdoms.\n\n\n\n\nGUDBRAND ON THE HILL-SIDE\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man whose name was Gudbrand; he had a farm\nwhich lay far, far away upon a hill-side, and so they called him\nGudbrand on the Hill-side.\n\nNow, you must know this man and his goodwife lived so happily together,\nand understood one another so well, that all the husband did the wife\nthought so well done there was nothing like it in the world, and she\nwas always glad whatever he turned his hand to. The farm was their own\nland, and they had a hundred dollars lying at the bottom of their\nchest, and two cows tethered up in a stall in their farm-yard.\n\nSo one day his wife said to Gudbrand:\n\n\u201cDo you know, dear, I think we ought to take one of our cows into town,\nand sell it; that\u2019s what I think; for then we shall have some money in\nhand, and such well-to-do people as we ought to have ready money like\nthe rest of the world. As for the hundred dollars at the bottom of the\nchest yonder, we can\u2019t make a hole in them, and I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know\nwhat we want with more than one cow. Besides, we shall gain a little in\nanother way, for then I shall get off with only looking after one cow,\ninstead of having, as now, to feed and litter and water two.\u201d\n\nWell, Gudbrand thought his wife talked right good sense, so he set off\nat once with the cow on his way to town to sell her; but when he got to\nthe town, there was no one who would buy his cow.\n\n\u201cWell! well! never mind\u201d, said Gudbrand, \u201cat the worst, I can only go\nback home again with my cow. I\u2019ve both stable and tether for her, I\nshould think, and the road is no farther out than in\u201d; and with that he\nbegan to toddle home with his cow.\n\nBut when he had gone a bit of the way, a man met him who had a horse to\nsell, so Gudbrand thought \u2019twas better to have a horse than a cow, so\nhe swopped with the man. A little farther on he met a man walking along\nand driving a fat pig before him, and he thought it better to have a\nfat pig than a horse, so he swopped with the man. After that he went a\nlittle farther, and a man met him with a goat; so he thought it better\nto have a goat than a pig, and he swopped with the man that owned the\ngoat. Then he went on a good bit till he met a man who had a sheep, and\nhe swopped with him too, for he thought it always better to have a\nsheep than a goat. After a while he met a man with a goose, and he\nswopped away the sheep for the goose; and when he had walked a long,\nlong time, he met a man with a cock, and he swopped with him, for he\nthought in this wise, \u201c\u2019Tis surely better to have a cock than a goose.\u201d\nThen he went on till the day was far spent, and he began to get very\nhungry, so he sold the cock for a shilling, and bought food with the\nmoney, for, thought Gudbrand on the Hill-side, \u201c\u2019Tis always better to\nsave one\u2019s life than to have a cock.\u201d\n\nAfter that he went on home till he reached his nearest neighbour\u2019s\nhouse, where he turned in.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the owner of the house, \u201chow did things go with you in\ntown?\u201d\n\n\u201cRather so so\u201d, said Gudbrand, \u201cI can\u2019t praise my luck, nor do I blame\nit either\u201d, and with that he told the whole story from first to last.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said his friend, \u201cyou\u2019ll get nicely called over the coals, that\none can see, when you get home to your wife. Heaven help you, I\nwouldn\u2019t stand in your shoes for something.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said Gudbrand on the Hill-side, \u201cI think things might have gone\nmuch worse with me; but now, whether I have done wrong or not, I have\nso kind a goodwife, she never has a word to say against anything that I\ndo.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d answered his neighbour, \u201cI hear what you say, but I don\u2019t believe\nit for all that.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall we lay a bet upon it?\u201d asked Gudbrand on the Hill-side. \u201cI have\na hundred dollars at the bottom of my chest at home; will you lay as\nmany against them?\u201d\n\nYes! the friend was ready to bet; so Gudbrand stayed there till\nevening, when it began to get dark, and then they went together to his\nhouse, and the neighbour was to stand outside the door and listen,\nwhile the man went in to see his wife.\n\n\u201cGood evening!\u201d said Gudbrand on the Hill-side.\n\n\u201cGood evening!\u201d said the goodwife. \u201cOh! is that you? now God be\npraised.\u201d\n\nYes! it was he. So the wife asked how things had gone with him in town?\n\n\u201cOh! only so so\u201d, answered Gudbrand; \u201cnot much to brag of. When I got\nto the town there was no one who would buy the cow, so you must know I\nswopped it away for a horse.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor a horse\u201d, said his wife; \u201cwell that is good of you; thanks with\nall my heart. We are so well to do that we may drive to church, just as\nwell as other people; and if we choose to keep a horse we have a right\nto get one, I should think. So run out, child, and put up the horse.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Gudbrand, \u201cbut you see I\u2019ve not got the horse after all; for\nwhen I got a bit farther on the road, I swopped it away for a pig.\u201d\n\n\u201cThink of that, now!\u201d said the wife; \u201cyou did just as I should have\ndone myself; a thousand thanks! Now I can have a bit of bacon in the\nhouse to set before people when they come to see me, that I can. What\ndo we want with a horse? People would only say we had got so proud that\nwe couldn\u2019t walk to church. Go out, child, and put up the pig in the\nsty.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019ve not got the pig either\u201d, said Gudbrand; \u201cfor when I got a\nlittle farther on, I swopped it away for a milch goat.\u201d\n\n\u201cBless us!\u201d cried his wife, \u201chow well you manage everything! Now I\nthink it over, what should I do with a pig? People would only point at\nus and say, \u2018Yonder they eat up all they have got.\u2019 No! now I have got\na goat, and I shall have milk and cheese, and keep the goat too. Run\nout, child, and put up the goat.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, but I haven\u2019t got the goat either\u201d, said Gudbrand, \u201cfor a little\nfarther on I swopped it away, and got a fine sheep instead.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t say so!\u201d cried his wife; \u201cwhy, you do everything to please\nme, just as if I had been with you; what do we want with a goat? If I\nhad it I should lose half my time in climbing up the hills to get it\ndown. No! if I have a sheep, I shall have both wool and clothing, and\nfresh meat in the house. Run out, child, and put up the sheep.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I haven\u2019t got the sheep any more than the rest\u201d, said Gudbrand;\n\u201cfor when I had gone a bit farther, I swopped it away for a goose.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you! thank you! with all my heart\u201d, cried his wife; \u201cwhat should\nI do with a sheep? I have no spinning-wheel, nor carding-comb, nor\nshould I care to worry myself with cutting, and shaping, and sewing\nclothes. We can buy clothes now, as we have always done; and now I\nshall have roast goose, which I have longed for so often; and, besides,\ndown to stuff my little pillow with. Run out, child, and put up the\ngoose.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Gudbrand, \u201cbut I haven\u2019t the goose either; for when I had\ngone a bit farther I swopped it away for a cock.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear me!\u201d cried his wife, \u201chow you think of everything! just as I\nshould have done myself. A cock! think of that! why it\u2019s as good as an\neight-day clock, for every morning the cock crows at four o\u2019clock, and\nwe shall be able to stir our stumps in good time. What should we do\nwith a goose? I don\u2019t know how to cook it; and as for my pillow, I can\nstuff it with cotton-grass. Run out, child, and put up the cock.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, after all, I haven\u2019t got the cock\u201d, said Gudbrand; \u201cfor when I\nhad gone a bit farther, I got as hungry as a hunter, so I was forced to\nsell the cock for a shilling, for fear I should starve.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, God be praised that you did so!\u201d cried his wife; \u201cwhatever you\ndo, you do it always just after my own heart. What should we do with\nthe cock? We are our own masters, I should think, and can lie a-bed in\nthe morning as long as we like. Heaven be thanked that I have got you\nsafe back again; you who do everything so well that I want neither cock\nnor goose; neither pigs nor kine.\u201d\n\nThen Gudbrand opened the door and said; \u201cWell, what do you say now?\nHave I won the hundred dollars?\u201d and his neighbour was forced to allow\nthat he had.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BLUE BELT\n\n\nOnce on a time there was an old beggar-woman, who had gone out to beg.\nShe had a little lad with her, and when she had got her bag full, she\nstruck across the hills towards her own home. So when they had gone a\nbit up the hill-side, they came upon a little blue belt, which lay\nwhere two paths met, and the lad asked his mother\u2019s leave to pick it\nup.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said she, \u201cmaybe there\u2019s witchcraft in it\u201d; and so with threats\nshe forced him to follow her. But when they had gone a bit further, the\nlad said he must turn aside a moment out of the road, and meanwhile his\nmother sat down on a tree-stump. But the lad was a long time gone, for\nas soon as he got so far into the wood, that the old dame could not see\nhim, he ran off to where the belt lay, took it up, tied it round his\nwaist, and lo! he felt as strong as if he could lift the whole hill.\nWhen he got back, the old dame was in a great rage, and wanted to know\nwhat he had been doing all that while. \u201cYou don\u2019t care how much time\nyou waste, and yet you know the night is drawing on, and we must cross\nthe hill before it is dark!\u201d So on they tramped; but when they had got\nabout half-way, the old dame grew weary, and said she must rest under a\nbush.\n\n\u201cDear mother\u201d, said the lad, \u201cmayn\u2019t I just go up to the top of this\nhigh crag while you rest, and try if I can\u2019t see some sign of folk\nhereabouts?\u201d\n\nYes! he might do that; so when he had got to the top, he saw a light\nshining from the north. So he ran down and told his mother.\n\n\u201cWe must get on, mother; we are near a house, for I see a bright light\nshining quite close to us in the north.\u201d Then she rose and shouldered\nher bag, and set off to see; but they hadn\u2019t gone far, before there\nstood a steep spur of the hill, right across their path.\n\n\u201cJust as I thought!\u201d said the old dame; \u201cnow we can\u2019t go a step\nfarther; a pretty bed we shall have here!\u201d\n\nBut the lad took the bag under one arm, and his mother under the other,\nand ran straight up the steep crag with them.\n\n\u201cNow, don\u2019t you see! don\u2019t you see that we are close to a house! don\u2019t\nyou see the bright light?\u201d\n\nBut the old dame said those were no Christian folk, but Trolls, for she\nwas at home in all that forest far and near, and knew there was not a\nliving soul in it, until you were well over the ridge, and had come\ndown on the other side. But they went on, and in a little while they\ncame to a great house which was all painted red.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the good?\u201d said the old dame, \u201cwe daren\u2019t go in, for here the\nTrolls live.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t say so; we must go in. There must be men where the lights shine\nso\u201d, said the lad. So in he went, and his mother after him, but he had\nscarce opened the door before she swooned away, for there she saw a\ngreat stout man, at least twenty feet high, sitting on the bench.\n\n\u201cGood evening, grandfather!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cWell, here I\u2019ve sat three hundred years\u201d, said the man who sat on the\nbench, \u201cand no one has ever come and called me grandfather before.\u201d\nThen the lad sat down by the man\u2019s side, and began to talk to him as if\nthey had been old friends.\n\n\u201cBut what\u2019s come over your mother?\u201d said the man, after they had\nchattered a while. \u201cI think she swooned away; you had better look after\nher.\u201d\n\nSo the lad went and took hold of the old dame; and dragged her up the\nhall along the floor. That brought her to herself, and she kicked, and\nscratched, and flung herself about, and at last sat down upon a heap of\nfirewood in the corner; but she was so frightened that she scarce dared\nto look one in the face.\n\nAfter a while, the lad asked if they could spend the night there.\n\n\u201cYes, to be sure\u201d, said the man.\n\nSo they went on talking again, but the lad soon got hungry, and wanted\nto know if they could get food as well as lodging.\n\n\u201cOf course\u201d, said the man, \u201cthat might be got too.\u201d And after he had\nsat a while longer, he rose up and threw six loads of dry pitch-pine on\nthe fire. This made the old hag still more afraid.\n\n\u201cOh! now he\u2019s going to roast us alive\u201d, she said, in the corner where\nshe sat.\n\nAnd when the wood had burned down to glowing embers, up got the man and\nstrode out of his house.\n\n\u201cHeaven bless and help us! what a stout heart you have got\u201d, said the\nold dame; \u201cdon\u2019t you see we have got amongst Trolls?\u201d\n\n\u201cStuff and nonsense!\u201d said the lad; \u201cno harm if we have.\u201d\n\nIn a little while back came the man with an ox so fat and big, the lad\nhad never seen its like, and he gave it one blow with his fist under\nthe ear, and down it fell dead on the floor. When that was done, he\ntook it up by all the four legs, and laid it on the glowing embers, and\nturned it and twisted it about till it was burnt brown outside. After\nthat, he went to a cupboard and took out a great silver dish, and laid\nthe ox on it; and the dish was so big that none of the ox hung over on\nany side. This he put on the table, and then he went down into the\ncellar, and fetched a cask of wine, knocked out the head, and put the\ncask on the table, together with two knives, which were each six feet\nlong. When this was done, he bade them go and sit down to supper and\neat. So they went, the lad first and the old dame after, but she began\nto whimper and wail, and to wonder how she should ever use such knives.\nBut her son seized one, and began to cut slices out of the thigh of the\nox, which he placed before his mother. And when they had eaten a bit,\nhe took up the cask with both hands, and lifted it down to the floor;\nthen he told his mother to come and drink, but it was still so high she\ncouldn\u2019t reach up to it; so he caught her up, and held her up to the\nedge of the cask while she drank; as for himself, he clambered up and\nhung down like a cat inside the cask while he drank. So when he had\nquenched his thirst, he took up the cask and put it back on the table,\nand thanked the man for the good meal, and told his mother to come and\nthank him too, and a-feared though she was, she dared do nothing else\nbut thank the man. Then the lad sat down again alongside the man and\nbegan to gossip, and after they had sat a while, the man said,\n\n\u201cWell! I must just go and get a bit of supper too\u201d; and so he went to\nthe table and ate up the whole ox\u2014hoofs, and horns, and all\u2014and drained\nthe cask to the last drop, and then went back and sat on the bench.\n\nAs for beds\u201d, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s to be done. I\u2019ve only got\none bed and a cradle; but we could get on pretty well if you would\nsleep in the cradle, and then your mother might lie in the bed yonder.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you kindly, that\u2019ll do nicely\u201d, said the lad; and with that he\npulled off his clothes and lay down in the cradle; but, to tell you the\ntruth; it was quite as big as a four-poster. As for the old dame, she\nhad to follow the man who showed her to bed, though she was out of her\nwits for fear.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d thought the lad to himself, \u201c\u2019twill never do to go to sleep\nyet. I\u2019d best lie awake and listen how things go as the night wears\non.\u201d\n\nSo after a while the man began to talk to the old dame, and at last he\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWe two might live here so happily together, could we only be rid of\nthis son of yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut do you know how to settle him? Is that what you\u2019re thinking of?\u201d\nsaid she.\n\n\u201cNothing easier\u201d, said he; at any rate he would try. He would just say\nhe wished the old dame would stay and keep house for him a day or two,\nand then he would take the lad out with him up the hill to quarry\ncorner-stones, and roll down a great rock on him. All this the lad lay\nand listened to.\n\nNext day the Troll\u2014for it was a Troll as clear as day\u2014asked if the old\ndame would stay and keep house for him a few days; and as the day went\non he took a great iron crowbar, and asked the lad if he had a mind to\ngo with him up the hill and quarry a few corner-stones. With all his\nheart, he said, and went with him; and so, after they had split a few\nstones, the Troll wanted him to go down below and look after cracks in\nthe rock; and while he was doing this, the Troll worked away, and\nwearied himself with his crowbar till he moved a whole crag out of its\nbed, which came rolling right down on the place where the lad was; but\nhe held it up till he could get on one side, and then let it roll on.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the lad to the Troll, \u201cnow I see what you mean to do with\nme. You want to crush me to death; so just go down yourself and look\nafter the cracks and refts in the rock, and I\u2019ll stand up above.\u201d\n\nThe Troll did not dare to do otherwise than the lad bade him, and the\nend of it was that the lad rolled down a great rock, which fell upon\nthe Troll, and broke one of his thighs.\n\n\u201cWell! you are in a sad plight\u201d, said the lad, as he strode down,\nlifted up the rock, and set the man free. After that he had to put him\non his back and carry him home; so he ran with him as fast as a horse,\nand shook him so that the Troll screamed and screeched as if a knife\nwere run into him. And when he got home, they had to put the Troll to\nbed, and there he lay in a sad pickle.\n\nWhen the night wore on the Troll began to talk to the old dame again,\nand to wonder how ever they could be rid of the lad.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the old dame, \u201cif you can\u2019t hit on a plan to get rid of\nhim, I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me see\u201d, said the Troll; \u201cI\u2019ve got twelve lions in a garden; if\nthey could only get hold of the lad they\u2019d soon tear him to pieces.\u201d\n\nSo the old dame said it would be easy enough to get him there. She\nwould sham sick, and say she felt so poorly, nothing would do her any\ngood but lion\u2019s milk. All that the lad lay and listened to; and when he\ngot up in the morning his mother said she was worse than she looked,\nand she thought she should never be right again unless she could get\nsome lion\u2019s milk.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019m afraid you\u2019ll be poorly a long time, mother\u201d, said the lad,\n\u201cfor I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t know where any is to be got.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! if that be all\u201d, said the Troll, \u201cthere\u2019s no lack of lion\u2019s milk,\nif we only had the man to fetch it\u201d; and then he went on to say how his\nbrother had a garden with twelve lions in it, and how the lad might\nhave the key if he had a mind to milk the lions. So the lad took the\nkey and a milking pail, and strode off; and when he unlocked the gate\nand got into the garden, there stood all the twelve lions on their\nhind-paws, rampant and roaring at him. But the lad laid hold of the\nbiggest, and led him about by the fore-paws, and dashed him against\nstocks and stones, till there wasn\u2019t a bit of him left but the two\npaws. So when the rest saw that, they were so afraid that they crept up\nand lay at his feet like so many curs. After that they followed him\nabout wherever he went, and when he got home, they lay down outside the\nhouse, with their fore-paws on the door sill.\n\n\u201cNow, mother, you\u2019ll soon be well\u201d, said the lad, when he went in, \u201cfor\nhere is the lion\u2019s milk.\u201d\n\nHe had just milked a drop in the pail.\n\nBut the Troll, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a lie. He was sure\nthe lad was not the man to milk lions.\n\nWhen the lad heard that, he forced the Troll to get out of bed, threw\nopen the door, and all the lions rose up and seized the Troll, and at\nlast the lad had to make them leave their hold.\n\nThat night the Troll began to talk to the old dame again.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure I can\u2019t tell how to put this lad out of the way\u2014he is so\nawfully strong; can\u2019t you think of some way?\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the old dame, \u201cif you can\u2019t tell, I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Troll, \u201cI have two brothers in a castle; they are\ntwelve times as strong as I am, and that\u2019s why I was turned out and had\nto put up with this farm. They hold that castle, and round it there is\nan orchard with apples in it, and whoever eats those apples sleeps for\nthree days and three nights. If we could only get the lad to go for the\nfruit, he wouldn\u2019t be able to keep from tasting the apples, and as soon\nas ever he fell asleep my brothers would tear him in pieces.\u201d\n\nThe old dame said she would sham sick, and say she could never be\nherself again unless she tasted those apples; for she had set her heart\non them.\n\nAll this the lad lay and listened to.\n\nWhen the morning came the old dame was so poorly that she couldn\u2019t\nutter a word but groans and sighs. She was sure she should never be\nwell again, unless she had some of those apples that grew in the\norchard near the castle where the man\u2019s brothers lived; only she had no\none to send for them.\n\nOh! the lad was ready to go that instant; but the eleven lions went\nwith him. So when he came to the orchard, he climbed up into the apple\ntree and ate as many apples as he could, and he had scarce got down\nbefore he fell into a deep sleep; but the lions all lay round him in a\nring. The third day came the Troll\u2019s brothers, but they did not come in\nman\u2019s shape. They came snorting like man-eating steeds, and wondered\nwho it was that dared to be there, and said they would tear him to\npieces, so small that there should not be a bit of him left. But up\nrose the lions and tore the Trolls into small pieces, so that the place\nlooked as if a dung heap had been tossed about it; and when they had\nfinished the Trolls they lay down again. The lad did not wake till late\nin the afternoon, and when he got on his knees and rubbed the sleep out\nof his eyes, he began to wonder what had been going on, when he saw the\nmarks of hoofs. But when he went towards the castle, a maiden looked\nout of a window who had seen all that had happened, and she said:\n\n\u201cYou may thank your stars you weren\u2019t in that tussle, else you must\nhave lost your life.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! I lose my life! No fear of that, I think,\u201d said the lad.\n\nSo she begged him to come in, that she might talk with him, for she\nhadn\u2019t seen a Christian soul ever since she came there. But when she\nopened the door the lions wanted to go in too, but she got so\nfrightened that she began to scream, and so the lad let them lie\noutside. Then the two talked and talked, and the lad asked how it came\nthat she, who was so lovely, could put up with those ugly Trolls. She\nnever wished it, she said; \u2019twas quite against her will. They had\nseized her by force, and she was the King of Arabia\u2019s daughter. So they\ntalked on, and at last she asked him what he would do; whether she\nshould go back home, or whether he would have her to wife. Of course he\nwould have her, and she shouldn\u2019t go home.\n\nAfter that they went round the castle, and at last they came to a great\nhall, where the Trolls\u2019 two great swords hung high up on the wall.\n\n\u201cI wonder if you are man enough to wield one of these,\u201d said the\nPrincess.\n\n\u201cWho?\u2014I?\u201d said the lad. \u201c\u2019Twould be a pretty thing if I couldn\u2019t wield\none of these.\u201d\n\nWith that he put two or three chairs one a-top of the other, jumped up,\nand touched the biggest sword with his finger tips, tossed it up in the\nair, and caught it again by the hilt; leapt down, and at the same time\ndealt such a blow with it on the floor that the whole hall shook. After\nhe had thus got down, he thrust the sword under his arm and carried it\nabout with him.\n\nSo, when they had lived a little while in the castle, the Princess\nthought she ought to go home to her parents, and let them know what had\nbecome of her; so they loaded a ship, and she set sail from the castle.\n\nAfter she had gone, and the lad had wandered about a little, he called\nto mind that he had been sent on an errand thither, and had come to\nfetch something for his mother\u2019s health; and though he said to himself,\n\u201cAfter all, the old dame was not so bad but she\u2019s all right by this\ntime\u201d\u2014still he thought he ought to go and just see how she was. So he\nwent and found both the man and his mother quite fresh and hearty.\n\n\u201cWhat wretches you are to live in this beggarly hut\u201d, said the lad.\n\u201cCome with me up to my castle, and you shall see what a fine fellow I\nam.\u201d\n\nWell! they were both ready to go, and on the way his mother talked to\nhim, and asked, \u201cHow it was he had got so strong?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you must know, it came of that blue belt which lay on the hill-side\nthat time when you and I were out begging\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cHave you got it still?\u201d asked she.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d\u2014he had. It was tied round his waist.\n\n\u201cMight she see it?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, she might\u201d; and with that he pulled open his waistcoat and shirt\nto show it her.\n\nThen she seized it with both hands, tore it off, and twisted it round\nher fist.\n\n\u201cNow\u201d, she cried, \u201cwhat shall I do with such a wretch as you? I\u2019ll just\ngive you one blow, and dash your brains out!\u201d\n\n\u201cFar too good a death for such a scamp\u201d, said the Troll. \u201cNo! let\u2019s\nfirst burn out his eyes, and then turn him adrift in a little boat.\u201d\n\nSo they burned out his eyes and turned him adrift, in spite of his\nprayers and tears; but, as the boat drifted, the lions swam after, and\nat last they laid hold of it and dragged it ashore on an island, and\nplaced the lad under a fir tree. They caught game for him, and they\nplucked the birds and made him a bed of down; but he was forced to eat\nhis meat raw, and he was blind. At last, one day the biggest lion was\nchasing a hare which was blind, for it ran straight over stock and\nstone, and the end was, it ran right up against a fir-stump and tumbled\nhead over heels across the field right into a spring; but lo! when it\ncame out of the spring it saw its way quite plain, and so saved its\nlife.\n\n\u201cSo, so!\u201d thought the lion, and went and dragged the lad to the spring,\nand dipped him over head and ears in it. So, when he had got his sight\nagain, he went down to the shore and made signs to the lions that they\nshould all lie close together like a raft; then he stood upon their\nbacks while they swam with him to the mainland. When he had reached the\nshore he went up into a birchen copse, and made the lions lie quiet.\nThen he stole up to the castle, like a thief, to see if he couldn\u2019t lay\nhands on his belt; and when he got to the door, he peeped through the\nkeyhole, and there he saw his belt hanging up over a door in the\nkitchen. So he crept softly in across the floor, for there was no one\nthere; but as soon as he had got hold of the belt, he began to kick and\nstamp about as though he were mad. Just then his mother came rushing\nout.\n\n\u201cDear heart, my darling little boy! do give me the belt again\u201d, she\nsaid.\n\n\u201cThank you kindly\u201d, said he. \u201cNow you shall have the doom you passed on\nme\u201d, and he fulfilled it on the spot. When the old Troll heard that, he\ncame in and begged and prayed so prettily that he might not be smitten\nto death.\n\n\u201cWell, you may live\u201d, said the lad, \u201cbut you shall undergo the same\npunishment you gave me\u201d; and so he burned out the Troll\u2019s eyes, and\nturned him adrift on the sea in a little boat, but he had no lions to\nfollow him.\n\nNow the lad was all alone, and he went about longing and longing for\nthe Princess; at last he could bear it no longer; he must set out to\nseek her, his heart was so bent on having her. So he loaded four ships\nand set sail for Arabia. For some time they had fair wind and fine\nweather, but after that they lay wind-bound under a rocky island. So\nthe sailors went ashore and strolled about to spend the time, and there\nthey found a huge egg, almost as big as a little house. So they began\nto knock it about with large stones, but, after all, they couldn\u2019t\ncrack the shell. Then the lad came up with his sword to see what all\nthe noise was about, and when he saw the egg, he thought it a trifle to\ncrack it; so he gave it one blow and the egg split, and out came a\nchicken as big as an elephant.\n\n\u201cNow we have done wrong\u201d, said the lad; \u201cthis can cost us all our\nlives\u201d; and then he asked his sailors if they were men enough to sail\nto Arabia in four-and-twenty hours if they got a fine breeze. Yes! they\nwere good to do that, they said, so they set sail with a fine breeze,\nand got to Arabia in three-and-twenty hours. As soon as they landed,\nthe lad ordered all the sailors to go and bury themselves up to the\neyes in a sandhill, so that they could barely see the ships. The lad\nand the captains climbed a high crag and sate down under a fir.\n\nIn a little while came a great bird flying with an island in its claws,\nand let it fall down on the fleet, and sunk every ship. After it had\ndone that, it flew up to the sandhill and flapped its wings, so that\nthe wind nearly took off the heads of the sailors, and it flew past the\nfir with such force that it turned the lad right about, but he was\nready with his sword, and gave the bird one blow and brought it down\ndead.\n\nAfter that he went to the town, where every one was glad because the\nking had got his daughter back; but now the king had hidden her away\nsomewhere himself, and promised her hand as a reward to any one who\ncould find her, and this though she was betrothed before. Now as the\nlad went along he met a man who had white bear-skins for sale, so he\nbought one of the hides and put it on; and one of the captains was to\ntake an iron chain and lead him about, and so he went into the town and\nbegan to play pranks. At last the news came to the king\u2019s ears, that\nthere never had been such fun in the town before, for here was a white\nbear that danced and cut capers just as it was bid. So a messenger came\nto say the bear must come to the castle at once, for the king wanted to\nsee its tricks. So when it got to the castle every one was afraid, for\nsuch a beast they had never seen before; but the captain said there was\nno danger unless they laughed at it. They mustn\u2019t do that, else it\nwould tear them to pieces. When the king heard that, he warned all the\ncourt not to laugh. But while the fun was going on, in came one of the\nking\u2019s maids, and began to laugh and make game of the bear, and the\nbear flew at her and tore her, so that there was scarce a rag of her\nleft. Then all the court began to bewail, and the captain most of all.\n\n\u201cStuff and nonsense\u201d, said the king; \u201cshe\u2019s only a maid, besides it\u2019s\nmore my affair than yours.\u201d\n\nWhen the show was over, it was late at night. \u201cIt\u2019s no good your going\naway, when it\u2019s so late\u201d, said the king. \u201cThe bear had best sleep\nhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps it might sleep in the ingle by the kitchen fire\u201d, said the\ncaptain.\n\n\u201cNay\u201d, said the king, \u201cit shall sleep up here, and it shall have\npillows and cushions to sleep on.\u201d So a whole heap of pillows and\ncushions was brought, and the captain had a bed in a side-room.\n\nBut at midnight the king came with a lamp in his hand and a big bunch\nof keys, and carried off the white bear. He passed along gallery after\ngallery, through doors and rooms, up-stairs and down-stairs, till at\nlast he came to a pier which ran out into the sea. Then the king began\nto pull and haul at posts and pins, this one up and that one down, till\nat last a little house floated up to the water\u2019s edge. There he kept\nhis daughter, for she was so dear to him that he had hid her, so that\nno one could find her out. He left the white bear outside while he went\nin and told her how it had danced and played its pranks. She said she\nwas afraid, and dared not look at it; but he talked her over, saying\nthere was no danger, if she only wouldn\u2019t laugh. So they brought the\nbear in, and locked the door, and it danced and played its tricks; but\njust when the fun was at its height, the Princess\u2019s maid began to\nlaugh. Then the lad flew at her and tore her to bits, and the Princess\nbegan to cry and sob.\n\n\u201cStuff and nonsense\u201d, cried the king; \u201call this fuss about a maid! I\u2019ll\nget you just as good a one again. But now I think the bear had best\nstay here till morning, for I don\u2019t care to have to go and lead it\nalong all those galleries and stairs at this time of night.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cif it sleeps here, I\u2019m sure I won\u2019t.\u201d\n\nBut just then the bear curled himself up and lay down by the stove; and\nit was settled at last that the Princess should sleep there too, with a\nlight burning. But as soon as the king was well gone, the white bear\ncame and begged her to undo his collar. The Princess was so scared she\nalmost swooned away; but she felt about till she found the collar, and\nshe had scarce undone it before the bear pulled his head off. Then she\nknew him again, and was so glad there was no end to her joy, and she\nwanted to tell her father at once that her deliverer was come. But the\nlad would not hear of it; he would earn her once more, he said. So in\nthe morning when they heard the king rattling at the posts outside, the\nlad drew on the hide, and lay down by the stove.\n\n\u201cWell, has it lain still?\u201d the king asked.\n\n\u201cI should think so\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cit hasn\u2019t so much as turned or\nstretched itself once.\u201d\n\nWhen they got up to the castle again, the captain took the bear and led\nit away, and then the lad threw off the hide, and went to a tailor and\nordered clothes fit for a prince; and when they were fitted on he went\nto the king, and said he wanted to find the Princess.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re not the first who has wished the same thing\u201d, said the king,\n\u201cbut they have all lost their lives; for if any one who tries can\u2019t\nfind her in four-and-twenty hours his life is forfeited.\u201d\n\nYes; the lad knew all that. Still he wished to try, and if he couldn\u2019t\nfind her, \u2019twas his look-out. Now in the castle there was a band that\nplayed sweet tunes, and there were fair maids to dance with, and so the\nlad danced away. When twelve hours were gone, the king said:\n\n\u201cI pity you with all my heart. You\u2019re so poor a hand at seeking; you\nwill surely lose your life.\u201d\n\n\u201cStuff!\u201d said the lad; \u201cwhile there\u2019s life there\u2019s hope! So long as\nthere\u2019s breath in the body there\u2019s no fear; we have lots of time\u201d; and\nso he went on dancing till there was only one hour left.\n\nThen he said he would begin to search.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s no use now\u201d, said the king; \u201ctime\u2019s up.\u201d\n\n\u201cLight your lamp; out with your big bunch of keys\u201d, said the lad, \u201cand\nfollow me whither I wish to go. There is still a whole hour left.\u201d\n\nSo the lad went the same way which the king had led him the night\nbefore, and he bade the king unlock door after door till they came down\nto the pier which ran out into the sea.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all no use, I tell you\u201d, said the king; \u201ctime\u2019s up, and this will\nonly lead you right out into the sea.\u201d\n\n\u201cStill five minutes more\u201d, said the lad, as he pulled and pushed at the\nposts and pins, and the house floated up.\n\n\u201cNow the time is up\u201d, bawled the king; \u201ccome hither, headsman, and take\noff his head.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay!\u201d said the lad; \u201cstop a bit, there are still three minutes!\nOut with the key, and let me get into this house.\u201d\n\nBut there stood the king and fumbled with his keys, to draw out the\ntime. At last he said he hadn\u2019t any key.\n\n\u201cWell, if you haven\u2019t, I _have_\u201d, said the lad, as he gave the door\nsuch a kick that it flew to splinters inwards on the floor.\n\nAt the door the Princess met him, and told her father this was her\ndeliverer, on whom her heart was set. So she had him; and this was how\nthe beggar boy came to marry the king\u2019s daughter of Arabia.\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE BEAR IS STUMPY-TAILED\n\n\nOne day the Bear met the Fox, who came slinking along with a string of\nfish he had stolen.\n\n\u201cWhence did you get those from?\u201d asked the Bear.\n\n\u201cOh! my Lord Bruin, I\u2019ve been out fishing and caught them\u201d, said the\nFox.\n\nSo the Bear had a mind to learn to fish too, and bade the Fox tell him\nhow he was to set about it.\n\n\u201cOh! it\u2019s an easy craft for you\u201d, answered the Fox, \u201cand soon learnt.\nYou\u2019ve only got to go upon the ice, and cut a hole and stick your tail\ndown into it; and so you must go on holding it there as long as you\ncan. You\u2019re not to mind if your tail smarts a little; that\u2019s when the\nfish bite. The longer you hold it there the more fish you\u2019ll get; and\nthen all at once out with it, with a cross pull sideways, and with a\nstrong pull too.\u201d\n\nYes; the Bear did as the Fox had said, and held his tail a long, long\ntime down in the hole, till it was fast frozen in. Then he pulled it\nout with a cross pull, and it snapped short off. That\u2019s why Bruin goes\nabout with a stumpy tail this very day.\n\n\n\n\nNOT A PIN TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man, and he had a wife. Now this couple\nwanted to sow their fields, but they had neither seed-corn nor money to\nbuy it with. But they had a cow, and the man was to drive it into town\nand sell it, to get money to buy corn for seed. But when it came to the\npinch, the wife dared not let her husband start for fear he should\nspend the money in drink, so she set off herself with the cow, and took\nbesides a hen with her.\n\nClose by the town she met a butcher, who asked:\n\n\u201cWill you sell that cow, Goody?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that I will\u201d, she answered.\n\n\u201cWell, what do you want for her?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I must have five shillings for the cow, but you shall have the hen\nfor ten pounds.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery good!\u201d said the man; \u201cI don\u2019t want the hen, and you\u2019ll soon get\nit off your hands in the town, but I\u2019ll give you five shillings for the\ncow.\u201d\n\nWell, she sold her cow for five shillings, but there was no one in the\ntown who would give ten pounds for a lean tough old hen, so she went\nback to the butcher, and said:\n\n\u201cDo all I can, I can\u2019t get rid of this hen, master! you must take it\ntoo, as you took the cow.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the butcher, \u201ccome along and we\u2019ll see about it.\u201d Then he\ntreated her both with meat and drink, and gave her so much brandy that\nshe lost her head, and didn\u2019t know what she was about, and fell fast\nasleep. But while she slept, the butcher took and dipped her into a\ntar-barrel, and then laid her down on a heap of feathers; and when she\nwoke up, she was feathered all over, and began to wonder what had\nbefallen her.\n\n\u201cIs it me, or is it not me? No, it can never be me; it must be some\ngreat strange bird. But what shall I do to find out whether it is me or\nnot. Oh! I know how I shall be able to tell whether it is me; if the\ncalves come and lick me, and our dog Tray doesn\u2019t bark at me when I get\nhome, then it must be me, and no one else.\u201d\n\nNow, Tray, her dog, had scarce set his eyes on the strange monster\nwhich came through the gate, than he set up such a barking, one would\nhave thought all the rogues and robbers in the world were in the yard.\n\n\u201cAh, deary me\u201d, said she, \u201cI thought so; it can\u2019t be me surely.\u201d So she\nwent to the straw-yard, and the calves wouldn\u2019t lick her, when they\nsnuffed in the strong smell of tar. \u201cNo, no!\u201d she said, \u201cit can\u2019t be\nme; it must be some strange outlandish bird.\u201d\n\nSo she crept up on the roof of the safe and began to flap her arms, as\nif they had been wings, and was just going to fly off.\n\nWhen her husband saw all this, out he came with his rifle, and began to\ntake aim at her.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d cried his wife, \u201cdon\u2019t shoot, don\u2019t shoot! it is only me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf it\u2019s you\u201d, said her husband, \u201cdon\u2019t stand up there like a goat on a\nhouse-top, but come down and let me hear what you have to say for\nyourself.\u201d\n\nSo she crawled down again, but she hadn\u2019t a shilling to shew, for the\ncrown she had got from the butcher she had thrown away in her\ndrunkenness. When her husband heard her story, he said, \u201cYou\u2019re only\ntwice as silly as you were before\u201d, and he got so angry that he made up\nhis mind to go away from her altogether, and never to come back till he\nhad found three other Goodies as silly as his own.\n\nSo he toddled off, and when he had walked a little way he saw a Goody,\nwho was running in and out of a newly-built wooden cottage with an\nempty sieve, and every time she ran in, she threw her apron over the\nsieve just as if she had something in it, and when she got in she\nturned it upside down on the floor.\n\n\u201cWhy, Goody!\u201d he asked, \u201cwhat are you doing?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, she answered, \u201cI\u2019m only carrying in a little sun; but I don\u2019t\nknow how it is, when I\u2019m outside, I have the sun in my sieve, but when\nI get inside, somehow or other I\u2019ve thrown it away. But in my old\ncottage I had plenty of sun, though I never carried in the least bit. I\nonly wish I knew some one who would bring the sun inside; I\u2019d give him\nthree hundred dollars and welcome.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you got an axe?\u201d asked the man. \u201cIf you have, I\u2019ll soon bring the\nsun inside.\u201d\n\nSo he got an axe and cut windows in the cottage, for the carpenters had\nforgotten them; then the sun shone in, and he got his three hundred\ndollars.\n\n\u201cThat was one of them\u201d, said the man to himself, as he went on his way.\n\nAfter a while he passed by a house, out of which came an awful\nscreaming and bellowing; so he turned in and saw a Goody, who was hard\nat work banging her husband across the head with a beetle, and over his\nhead she had drawn a shirt without any slit for the neck.\n\n\u201cWhy, Goody!\u201d he asked, \u201cwill you beat your husband to death?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, she said, \u201cI only must have a hole in this shirt for his neck to\ncome through.\u201d\n\nAll the while the husband kept on screaming and calling out:\n\n\u201cHeaven help and comfort all who try on new shirts. If anyone would\nteach my Goody another way of making a slit for the neck in my new\nshirts, I\u2019d give him three hundred dollars down and welcome.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll do it in the twinkling of an eye\u201d, said the man, \u201cif you\u2019ll only\ngive me a pair of scissors.\u201d\n\nSo he got a pair of scissors, and snipped a hole in the neck, and went\noff with his three hundred dollars.\n\n\u201cThat was another of them\u201d, he said to himself, as he walked along.\n\nLast of all, he came to a farm, where he made up his mind to rest a\nbit. So when he went in, the mistress asked him:\n\n\u201cWhence do you come, master?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said he, \u201cI come from Paradise Place\u201d, for that was the name of\nhis farm.\n\n\u201cFrom Paradise Place!\u201d she cried, \u201cyou don\u2019t say so! Why, then, you\nmust know my second husband Peter, who is dead and gone, God rest his\nsoul.\u201d\n\nFor you must know this Goody had been married three times, and as her\nfirst and last husbands had been bad, she had made up her mind that the\nsecond only was gone to heaven.\n\n\u201cOh yes\u201d, said the man; \u201cI know him very well.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, asked the Goody, \u201chow do things go with him, poor dear soul?\u201d\n\n\u201cOnly middling\u201d, was the answer; \u201che goes about begging from house to\nhouse, and has neither food nor a rag to his back. As for money, he\nhasn\u2019t a sixpence to bless himself with.\u201d\n\n\u201cMercy on me\u201d, cried out the Goody; \u201che never ought to go about such a\nfigure when he left so much behind him. Why, there\u2019s a whole cupboard\nfull of old clothes up-stairs which belonged to him, besides a great\nchest full of money yonder. Now, if you will take them with you, you\nshall have a horse and cart to carry them. As for the horse, he can\nkeep it, and sit on the cart, and drive about from house to house, and\nthen he needn\u2019t trudge on foot.\u201d\n\nSo the man got a whole cart-load of clothes, and a chest full of\nshining dollars, and as much meat and drink as he would; and when he\nhad got all he wanted, he jumped into the cart and drove off.\n\n\u201cThat was the third\u201d, he said to himself, as he went along. Now this\nGoody\u2019s third husband was a little way off in a field ploughing, and\nwhen he saw a strange man driving off from the farm with his horse and\ncart, he went home and asked his wife who that was that had just\nstarted with the black horse.\n\n\u201cOh, do you mean him?\u201d said the Goody; \u201cwhy, that was a man from\nParadise, who said that Peter, my dear second husband, who is dead and\ngone, is in a sad plight, and that he goes from house to house begging,\nand has neither clothes nor money; so I just sent him all those old\nclothes he left behind him, and the old money box with the dollars in\nit.\u201d The man saw how the land lay in a trice, so he saddled his horse\nand rode off from the farm at full gallop. It wasn\u2019t long before he was\nclose behind the man who sat and drove the cart; but when the latter\nsaw this he drove the cart into a thicket by the side of the road,\npulled out a handful of hair from the horse\u2019s tail, jumped up on a\nlittle rise in the wood, where he tied the hair fast to a birch, and\nthen lay down under it, and began to peer and stare up at the sky.\n\n\u201cWell, well, if I ever!\u201d he said, as Peter the third came riding up.\n\u201cNo! I never saw the like of this in all my born days!\u201d\n\nThen Peter stood and looked at him for some time, wondering what had\ncome over him; but at last he asked:\n\n\u201cWhat do you lie there staring at?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, kept on the man, \u201cI never did see anything like it!\u2014here is a man\ngoing straight up to heaven on a black horse, and here you see his\nhorse\u2019s tail still hanging in this birch; and yonder up in the sky you\nsee the black horse.\u201d\n\nPeter looked first at the man, and then at the sky, and said:\n\n\u201cI see nothing but the horse hair in the birch; that\u2019s all I see!\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course you can\u2019t where you stand\u201d, said the man; \u201cbut just come and\nlie down here, and stare straight up, and mind you don\u2019t take your eyes\noff the sky; and then you shall see what you shall see.\u201d\n\nBut while Peter the third lay and stared up at the sky till his eyes\nfilled with tears, the man from Paradise Place took his horse and\njumped on its back and rode off both with it and the cart and horse.\n\nWhen the hoofs thundered along the road, Peter the third jumped up; but\nhe was so taken aback when he found the man had gone off with his horse\nthat he hadn\u2019t the sense to run after him till it was too late.\n\nHe was rather down in the mouth when he got home to his Goody; but when\nshe asked him what he had done with the horse, he said,\n\n\u201cI gave it to the man too for Peter the second, for I thought it wasn\u2019t\nright he should sit in a cart, and scramble about from house to house;\nso now he can sell the cart and buy himself a coach to drive about in.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you heartily!\u201d said his wife; \u201cI never thought you could be so\nkind.\u201d\n\nWell, when the man reached home, who had got the six hundred dollars\nand the cart-load of clothes and money, he saw that all his fields were\nploughed and sown, and the first thing he asked his wife was, where she\nhad got the seed-corn from.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, she said, \u201cI have always heard that what a man sows he shall\nreap, so I sowed the salt which our friends the north-country men laid\nup here with us, and if we only have rain I fancy it will come up\nnicely.\u201d\n\n\u201cSilly you are\u201d, said her husband, \u201cand silly you will be so long as\nyou live; but that is all one now, for the rest are not a bit wiser\nthan you. There is not a pin to choose between you.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nONE\u2019S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST\n\n\nA sportsman went out once into a wood to shoot, and he met a Snipe.\n\n\u201cDear friend\u201d, said the Snipe, \u201cdon\u2019t shoot my children!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow shall I know your children?\u201d asked the Sportsman; \u201cwhat are they\nlike?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Snipe, \u201cmine are the prettiest children in all the\nwood.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well\u201d, said the Sportsman, \u201cI\u2019ll not shoot them; don\u2019t be\nafraid.\u201d\n\nBut for all that, when he came back, there he had a whole string of\nyoung snipes in his hand which he had shot.\n\n\u201cOh, oh!\u201d said the Snipe, \u201cwhy did you shoot my children after all?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! these your children!\u201d said the Sportsman; \u201cwhy, I shot the\nugliest I could find, that I did!\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me!\u201d said the Snipe; \u201cdon\u2019t you know that each one thinks his\nown children the prettiest in the world?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a fisherman who lived close by a palace, and\nfished for the king\u2019s table. One day when he was out fishing he just\ncaught nothing. Do what he would\u2014however he tried with bait and\nangle\u2014there was never a sprat on his hook. But when the day was far\nspent a head bobbed up out of the water, and said:\n\n\u201cIf I may have what your wife bears under her girdle, you shall catch\nfish enough.\u201d\n\nSo the man answered boldly, \u201cYes\u201d; for he did not know that his wife\nwas going to have a child. After that, as was like enough, he caught\nplenty of fish of all kinds. But when he got home at night and told his\nstory, how he had got all that fish, his wife fell a-weeping and\nmoaning, and was beside herself for the promise which her husband had\nmade, for she said, \u201cI bear a babe under my girdle.\u201d\n\nWell, the story soon spread, and came up to the castle; and when the\nking heard the woman\u2019s grief and its cause, he sent down to say he\nwould take care of the child, and see if he couldn\u2019t save it.\n\nSo the months went on and on, and when her time came the fisher\u2019s wife\nhad a boy; so the king took it at once, and brought it up as his own\nson, until the lad grew up. Then he begged leave one day to go out\nfishing with his father; he had such a mind to go, he said. At first\nthe king wouldn\u2019t hear of it, but at last the lad had his way, and\nwent. So he and his father were out the whole day, and all went right\nand well till they landed at night. Then the lad remembered he had left\nhis handkerchief, and went to look for it; but as soon as ever he got\ninto the boat, it began to move off with him at such speed that the\nwater roared under the bow, and all the lad could do in rowing against\nit with the oars was no use; so he went and went the whole night, and\nat last he came to a white strand, far far away.\n\nThere he went ashore, and when he had walked about a bit, an old, old\nman met him, with a long white beard.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the name of this land?\u201d asked the lad.\n\n\u201cWhiteland\u201d, said the man, who went on to ask the lad whence he came,\nand what he was going to do. So the lad told him all.\n\n\u201cAye, aye!\u201d said the man; \u201cnow when you have walked a little farther\nalong the strand here, you\u2019ll come to three Princesses, whom you will\nsee standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads out.\nThen the first\u2014she is the eldest\u2014will call out and beg you so prettily\nto come and help her; and the second will do the same; to neither of\nthese shall you go; make haste past them, as if you neither saw nor\nheard anything. But the third you shall go to, and do what she asks. If\nyou do this, you\u2019ll have good luck\u2014that\u2019s all.\u201d\n\nWhen the lad came to the first Princess, she called out to him, and\nbegged him so prettily to come to her, but he passed on as though he\nsaw her not. In the same way he passed by the second; but to the third\nhe went straight up.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019ll do what I bid you\u201d, she said, \u201cyou may have which of us you\nplease.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d; he was willing enough; so she told him how three Trolls had set\nthem down in the earth there; but before they had lived in the castle\nup among the trees.\n\n\u201cNow\u201d, she said, \u201cyou must go into that castle, and let the Trolls whip\nyou each one night for each of us. If you can bear that, you\u2019ll set us\nfree.\u201d\n\nWell, the lad said he was ready to try.\n\n\u201cWhen you go in\u201d, the Princess went on to say, \u201cyou\u2019ll see two lions\nstanding at the gate; but if you\u2019ll only go right in the middle between\nthem they\u2019ll do you no harm. Then go straight on into a little dark\nroom, and make your bed. Then the Troll will come to whip you; but if\nyou take the flask which hangs on the wall, and rub yourself with the\nointment that\u2019s in it, wherever his lash falls, you\u2019ll be as sound as\never. Then grasp the sword that hangs by the side of the flask and\nstrike the Troll dead.\u201d\n\nYes, he did as the Princess told him; he passed in the midst between\nthe lions, as if he hadn\u2019t seen them, and went straight into the little\nroom, and there he lay down to sleep. The first night there came a\nTroll with three heads and three rods, and whipped the lad soundly; but\nhe stood it till the Troll was done; then he took the flask and rubbed\nhimself, and grasped the sword and slew the Troll.\n\nSo, when he went out next morning, the Princesses stood out of the\nearth up to their waists.\n\nThe next night \u2019twas the same story over again, only this time the\nTroll had six heads and six rods, and he whipped him far worse than the\nfirst; but when he went out next morning, the Princesses stood out of\nthe earth as far as the knee. The third night there came a Troll that\nhad nine heads and nine rods, and he whipped and flogged the lad so\nlong that he fainted away; then the Troll took him up and dashed him\nagainst the wall; but the shock brought down the flask, which fell on\nthe lad, burst, and spilled the ointment all over him, and so he became\nas strong and sound as ever again. Then he wasn\u2019t slow; he grasped the\nsword and slew the Troll; and next morning when he went out of the\ncastle the Princesses stood before him with all their bodies out of the\nearth. So he took the youngest for his Queen, and lived well and\nhappily with her for some time.\n\nAt last he began to long to go home for a little to see his parents.\nHis Queen did not like this; but at last his heart was so set on it,\nand he longed and longed so much, there was no holding him back, so she\nsaid,\n\n\u201cOne thing you must promise me. This\u2014Only to do what your father begs\nyou to do, and not what your mother wishes\u201d; and that he promised.\n\nThen she gave him a ring, which was of that kind that any one who wore\nit might wish two wishes. So he wished himself home, and when he got\nhome his parents could not wonder enough what a grand man their son had\nbecome.\n\nNow, when he had been at home some days, his mother wished him to go up\nto the palace and show the king what a fine fellow he had come to be.\nBut his father said:\n\n\u201cNo! don\u2019t let him do that; if he does, we shan\u2019t have any more joy of\nhim this time.\u201d\n\nBut it was no good, the mother begged and prayed so long, that at last\nhe went. So when he got up to the palace, he was far braver, both in\nclothes and array, than the other king, who didn\u2019t quite like this, and\nat last he said:\n\n\u201cAll very fine; but here you can see my queen, what like she is, but I\ncan\u2019t see yours, that I can\u2019t. Do you know, I scarce think she\u2019s so\ngood-looking as mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould to Heaven\u201d, said the young king, \u201cshe were standing here, then\nyou\u2019d see what she was like.\u201d And that instant there she stood before\nthem.\n\nBut she was very woeful, and said to him:\n\n\u201cWhy did you not mind what I told you; and why did you not listen to\nwhat your father said? Now, I must away home, and as for you, you have\nhad both your wishes.\u201d\n\nWith that she knitted a ring among his hair with her name on it, and\nwished herself home, and was off.\n\nThen the young king was cut to the heart, and went, day out day in,\nthinking and thinking how he should get back to his queen. \u201cI\u2019ll just\ntry\u201d, he thought, \u201cif I can\u2019t learn where Whiteland lies\u201d; and so he\nwent out into the world to ask. So when he had gone a good way, he came\nto a high hill, and there he met one who was lord over all the beasts\nof the wood, for they all came home to him when he blew his horn; so\nthe king asked if he knew where Whiteland was?\n\n\u201cNo, I don\u2019t\u201d, said he, \u201cbut I\u2019ll ask my beasts.\u201d Then he blew his horn\nand called them, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland lay? but\nthere was no beast that knew.\n\nSo the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.\n\n\u201cWhen you get on these\u201d, he said, \u201cyou\u2019ll come to my brother, who lives\nhundreds of miles off; he is lord over all the birds of the air. Ask\nhim. When you reach his house, just turn the shoes, so that the toes\npoint this way, and they\u2019ll come home of themselves.\u201d So when the king\nreached the house, he turned the shoes as the lord of the beasts had\nsaid, and away they went home of themselves.\n\nSo he asked again after Whiteland, and the man called all the birds\nwith a blast of his horn, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland\nlay; but none of the birds knew. Now, long, long after the rest of the\nbirds, came an old eagle, which had been away ten round years, but he\ncouldn\u2019t tell any more than the rest.\n\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d said the man, \u201cI\u2019ll lend you a pair of snow-shoes, and\nwhen you get them on, they\u2019ll carry you to my brother, who lives\nhundreds of miles off; he\u2019s lord of all the fish in the sea; you\u2019d\nbetter ask him. But don\u2019t forget to turn the toes of the shoes this\nway.\u201d\n\nThe king was full of thanks, got on the shoes, and when he came to the\nman who was lord over the fish of the sea, he turned the toes round,\nand so off they went home like the other pair. After that, he asked\nagain after Whiteland.\n\nSo the man called the fish with a blast, but no fish could tell where\nit lay. At last came an old pike, which they had great work to call\nhome, he was such a way off. So when they asked him he said:\n\n\u201cKnow it! I should think I did. I\u2019ve been cook there ten years, and\nto-morrow I\u2019m going there again; for now, the queen of Whiteland, whose\nking is away, is going to wed another husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the man, \u201cas this is so, I\u2019ll give you a bit of advice.\nHereabouts, on a moor, stand three brothers, and here they have stood\nthese hundred years, fighting about a hat, a cloak, and a pair of\nboots. If any one has these three things he can make himself invisible,\nand wish himself any where he pleases. You can tell them you wish to\ntry the things, and after that, you\u2019ll pass judgment between them,\nwhose they shall be.\u201d\n\nYes! the king thanked the man, and went and did as he told him.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s all this?\u201d he said to the brothers. \u201cWhy do you stand here\nfighting for ever and a day? Just let me try these things, and I\u2019ll\ngive judgment whose they shall be.\u201d\n\nThey were very willing to do this; but as soon as he had got the hat,\ncloak, and boots, he said:\n\n\u201cWhen we meet next time, I\u2019ll tell you my judgment\u201d, and with these\nwords he wished himself away.\n\nSo as he went along up in the air, he came up with the North Wind.\n\n\u201cWhither away?\u201d roared the North Wind.\n\n\u201cTo Whiteland\u201d, said the king; and then he told him all that had\nbefallen him.\n\n\u201cAh\u201d, said the North Wind, \u201cyou go faster than I\u2014you do; for you can go\nstraight, while I have to puff and blow round every turn and corner.\nBut when you get there, just place yourself on the stairs by the side\nof the door, and then I\u2019ll come storming in, as though I were going to\nblow down the whole castle. And then when the prince, who is to have\nyour queen, comes out to see what\u2019s the matter, just you take him by\nthe collar and pitch him out of doors; then I\u2019ll look after him, and\nsee if I can\u2019t carry him off.\u201d\n\nWell\u2014the king did as the North Wind said. He took his stand on the\nstairs, and when the North Wind came, storming and roaring, and took\nhold of the castle wall, so that it shook again, the prince came out to\nsee what was the matter. But as soon as ever he came, the king caught\nhim by the collar and pitched him out of doors, and then the North Wind\ncaught him up and carried him off. So when there was an end of him, the\nking went into the castle, and at first his queen didn\u2019t know him, he\nwas so wan and thin, through wandering so far and being so woeful; but\nwhen he shewed her the ring, she was as glad as glad could be; and so\nthe rightful wedding was held, and the fame of it spread far and wide.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER\n\n\nOnce on a time a poor couple lived far, far away in a great wood. The\nwife was brought to bed, and had a pretty girl, but they were so poor\nthey did not know how to get the babe christened, for they had no money\nto pay the parson\u2019s fees. So one day the father went out to see if he\ncould find any one who was willing to stand for the child and pay the\nfees; but though he walked about the whole day from one house to\nanother, and though all said they were willing enough to stand, no one\nthought himself bound to pay the fees. Now, when he was going home\nagain, a lovely lady met him, dressed so fine, and who looked so\nthoroughly good and kind; she offered to get the babe christened, but\nafter that, she said, she must keep it for her own. The husband\nanswered, he must first ask his wife what she wished to do; but when he\ngot home and told his story, the wife said, right out, \u201cNo!\u201d\n\nNext day the man went out again, but no one would stand if they had to\npay the fees; and though he begged and prayed, he could get no help.\nAnd again as he went home, towards evening the same lovely lady met\nhim, who looked so sweet and good, and she made him the same offer. So\nhe told his wife again how he had fared, and this time she said, if he\ncouldn\u2019t get any one to stand for his babe next day, they must just let\nthe lady have her way, since she seemed so kind and good.\n\nThe third day, the man went about, but he couldn\u2019t get any one to\nstand; and so when, towards evening, he met the kind lady again, he\ngave his word she should have the babe if she would only get it\nchristened at the font. So next morning she came to the place where the\nman lived, followed by two men to stand godfathers, took the babe and\ncarried it to church, and there it was christened. After that she took\nit to her own house, and there the little girl lived with her several\nyears, and her foster-mother was always kind and friendly to her.\n\nNow, when the lassie had grown to be big enough to know right and\nwrong, her foster-mother got ready to go on a journey. \u201cYou have my\nleave\u201d, she said, \u201cto go all over the house, except those rooms which I\nshew you\u201d; and when she had said that, away she went.\n\nBut the lassie could not forbear just to open one of the doors a little\nbit, when\u2014POP! out flew a Star.\n\nWhen her foster-mother came back, she was very vexed to find that the\nstar had flown out, and she got very angry with her foster-daughter,\nand threatened to send her away; but the child cried and begged so hard\nthat she got leave to stay.\n\nNow, after a while, the foster-mother had to go on another journey;\nand, before she went, she forbade the lassie to go into those two rooms\ninto which she had never been. She promised to beware; but when she was\nleft alone, she began to think and to wonder what there could be in the\nsecond room, and at last she could not help setting the door a little\najar, just to peep in, when\u2014POP! out flew the Moon.\n\nWhen her foster-mother came home and found the Moon let out, she was\nvery downcast, and said to the lassie she must go away, she could not\nstay with her any longer. But the lassie wept so bitterly, and prayed\nso heartily for forgiveness, that this time, too, she got leave to\nstay.\n\nSome time after, the foster-mother had to go away again, and she\ncharged the lassie, who by this time was half grown up, most earnestly\nthat she mustn\u2019t try to go into, or to peep into, the third room. But\nwhen her foster-mother had been gone some time, and the lassie was\nweary of walking about alone, all at once she thought, \u201cDear me, what\nfun it would be just to peep a little into that third room.\u201d Then she\nthought she mustn\u2019t do it for her foster-mother\u2019s sake; but when the\nbad thought came the second time she could hold out no longer; come\nwhat might, she must and would look into the room; so she just opened\nthe door a tiny bit, when\u2014POP! out flew the Sun.\n\nBut when her foster-mother came back and saw that the sun had flown\naway, she was cut to the heart, and said, \u201cNow, there was no help for\nit, the lassie must and should go away; she couldn\u2019t hear of her\nstaying any longer.\u201d Now the lassie cried her eyes out, and begged and\nprayed so prettily; but it was all no good.\n\n\u201cNay! but I must punish you!\u201d said her foster-mother; \u201cbut you may have\nyour choice, either to be the loveliest woman in the world, and not to\nbe able to speak, or to keep your speech, and be the ugliest of all\nwomen; but away from me you must go.\u201d\n\nAnd the lassie said, \u201cI would sooner be lovely.\u201d So she became all at\nonce wondrous fair; but from that day forth she was dumb.\n\nSo, when she went away from her foster-mother, she walked and wandered\nthrough a great, great wood; but the farther she went, the farther off\nthe end seemed to be. So, when the evening came on, she clomb up into a\ntall tree, which grew over a spring, and there she made herself up to\nsleep that night. Close by lay a castle, and from that castle came\nearly every morning a maid to draw water to make the Prince\u2019s tea, from\nthe spring over which the lassie was sitting. So the maid looked down\ninto the spring, saw the lovely face in the water, and thought it was\nher own; then she flung away the pitcher, and ran home; and, when she\ngot there, she tossed up her head and said, \u201cIf I\u2019m so pretty, I\u2019m far\ntoo good to go and fetch water.\u201d\n\nSo another maid had to go for the water, but the same thing happened to\nher; she went back and said she was far too pretty and too good to\nfetch water from the spring for the Prince. Then the Prince went\nhimself, for he had a mind to see what all this could mean. So, when he\nreached the spring, he too saw the image in the water; but he looked up\nat once, and became aware of the lovely lassie who sate there up in the\ntree. Then he coaxed her down and took her home; and at last made up\nhis mind to have her for his queen, because she was so lovely; but his\nmother, who was still alive, was against it.\n\n\u201cShe can\u2019t speak\u201d, she said, \u201cand maybe she\u2019s a wicked witch.\u201d\n\nBut the Prince could not be content till he got her. So after they had\nlived together a while, the lassie was to have a child, and when the\nchild came to be born, the Prince set a strong watch round her; but at\nthe birth one and all fell into a deep sleep, and her foster-mother\ncame, cut the babe on its little finger, and smeared the queen\u2019s mouth\nwith the blood; and said:\n\n\u201cNow you shall be as grieved as I was when you let out the star\u201d; and\nwith these words she carried off the babe.\n\nBut when those who were on the watch woke, they thought the queen had\neaten her own child, and the old queen was all for burning her alive,\nbut the Prince was so fond of her that at last he begged her off, but\nhe had hard work to set her free.\n\nSo the next time the young queen was to have a child, twice as strong a\nwatch was set as the first time, but the same thing happened over\nagain, only this time her foster-mother said:\n\n\u201cNow you shall be as grieved as I was when you let the moon out.\u201d\n\nAnd the queen begged and prayed, and wept; for when her foster-mother\nwas there, she could speak\u2014but it was all no good.\n\nAnd now the old queen said she must be burnt, but the Prince found\nmeans to beg her off. But when the third child was to be born, a watch\nwas set three times as strong as the first, but just the same thing\nhappened. Her foster-mother came while the watch slept, took the babe,\nand cut its little finger, and smeared the queen\u2019s mouth with the\nblood, telling her now she should be as grieved as she had been when\nthe lassie let out the sun.\n\nAnd now the Prince could not save her any longer. She must and should\nbe burnt. But just as they were leading her to the stake, all at once\nthey saw her foster-mother, who came with all three children\u2014two she\nled by the hand, and the third she had on her arm; and so she went up\nto the young queen and said:\n\n\u201cHere are your children; now you shall have them again. I am the Virgin\nMary, and so grieved as you have been, so grieved was I when you let\nout sun, and moon, and star. Now you have been punished for what you\ndid, and henceforth you shall have your speech.\u201d\n\nHow glad the Queen and Prince now were, all may easily think, but no\none can tell. After that they were always happy; and from that day even\nthe Prince\u2019s mother was very fond of the young queen.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE AUNTS\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor man who lived in a hut far away in the\nwood, and got his living by shooting. He had an only daughter who was\nvery pretty, and as she had lost her mother when she was a child, and\nwas now half grown up, she said she would go out into the world and\nearn her bread.\n\n\u201cWell, lassie!\u201d said the father, \u201ctrue enough you have learnt nothing\nhere but how to pluck birds and roast them, but still you may as well\ntry to earn your bread.\u201d\n\nSo the girl went off to seek a place, and when she had gone a little\nwhile, she came to a palace. There she stayed and got a place, and the\nqueen liked her so well, that all the other maids got envious of her.\nSo they made up their minds to tell the queen how the lassie said she\nwas good to spin a pound of flax in four and twenty hours, for you must\nknow the queen was a great housewife, and thought much of good work.\n\n\u201cHave you said this? then you shall do it\u201d, said the queen; \u201cbut you\nmay have a little longer time if you choose.\u201d\n\nNow, the poor lassie dared not say she had never spun in all her life,\nbut she only begged for a room to herself. That she got, and the wheel\nand the flax were brought up to her. There she sat sad and weeping, and\nknew not how to help herself. She pulled the wheel this way and that,\nand twisted and turned it about, but she made a poor hand of it, for\nshe had never even seen a spinning-wheel in her life.\n\nBut all at once, as she sat there, in came an old woman to her.\n\n\u201cWhat ails you, child?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the lassie, with a deep sigh, \u201cit\u2019s no good to tell you, for\nyou\u2019ll never be able to help me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho knows?\u201d said the old wife. \u201cMay be I know how to help you after\nall.\u201d\n\nWell, thought the lassie to herself, I may as well tell her, and so she\ntold her how her fellow-servants had given out that she was good to\nspin a pound of flax in four and twenty hours.\n\n\u201cAnd here am I, wretch that I am, shut up to spin all that heap in a\nday and a night, when I have never even seen a spinning-wheel in all my\nborn days.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, never mind, child\u201d, said the old woman. \u201cIf you\u2019ll call me Aunt\non the happiest day of your life, I\u2019ll spin this flax for you, and so\nyou may just go away and lie down to sleep.\u201d\n\nYes, the lassie was willing enough, and off she went and lay down to\nsleep.\n\nNext morning when she awoke, there lay all the flax spun on the table,\nand that so clean and fine, no one had ever seen such even and pretty\nyarn. The queen was very glad to get such nice yarn, and she set\ngreater store by the lassie than ever. But the rest were still more\nenvious, and agreed to tell the queen how the lassie had said she was\ngood to weave the yarn she had spun in four and twenty hours. So the\nqueen said again, as she had said it she must do it; but if she\ncouldn\u2019t quite finish it in four and twenty hours, she wouldn\u2019t be too\nhard upon her, she might have a little more time. This time, too, the\nlassie dared not say No, but begged for a room to herself, and then she\nwould try. There she sat again, sobbing and crying, and not knowing\nwhich way to turn, when another old woman came in and asked:\n\n\u201cWhat ails you, child?\u201d\n\nAt first the lassie wouldn\u2019t say, but at last she told her the whole\nstory of her grief.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said the old wife, \u201cnever mind. If you\u2019ll call me Aunt on\nthe happiest day of your life, I\u2019ll weave this yarn for you, and so you\nmay just be off, and lie down to sleep.\u201d\n\nYes, the lassie was willing enough; so she went away and lay down to\nsleep. When she awoke, there lay the piece of linen on the table, woven\nso neat and close, no woof could be better. So the lassie took the\npiece and ran down to the queen, who was very glad to get such\nbeautiful linen, and set greater store than ever by the lassie. But as\nfor the others, they grew still more bitter against her, and thought of\nnothing but how to find out something to tell about her.\n\nAt last they told the queen the lassie had said she was good to make up\nthe piece of linen into shirts in four and twenty hours. Well, all\nhappened as before; the lassie dared not say she couldn\u2019t sew; so she\nwas shut up again in a room by herself, and there she sat in tears and\ngrief. But then another old wife came, who said she would sew the\nshirts for her if she would call her Aunt on the happiest day of her\nlife. The lassie was only too glad to do this, and then she did as the\nold wife told her, and went and lay down to sleep.\n\nNext morning when she woke she found the piece of linen made up into\nshirts, which lay on the table\u2014and such beautiful work no one had ever\nset eyes on; and more than that, the shirts were all marked and ready\nfor wear. So, when the queen saw the work, she was so glad at the way\nin which it was sewn, that she clapped her hands, and said:\n\n\u201cSuch sewing I never had, nor even saw in all my born days\u201d; and after\nthat she was as fond of the lassie as of her own children; and she said\nto her:\n\n\u201cNow, if you like to have the Prince for your husband, you shall have\nhim; for you will never need to hire work-women. You can sew, and spin,\nand weave all yourself.\u201d\n\nSo as the lassie was pretty, and the Prince was glad to have her, the\nwedding soon came on. But just as the Prince was going to sit down with\nthe bride to the bridal feast, in came an ugly old hag with a long\nnose\u2014I\u2019m sure it was three ells long.\n\nSo up got the bride and made a curtsey, and said: \u201cGood-day, Auntie.\u201d\n\n\u201c_That_ Auntie to my bride?\u201d said the Prince.\n\n\u201cYes, she was!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then, she\u2019d better sit down with us to the feast\u201d, said the\nPrince; but, to tell you the truth, both he and the rest thought she\nwas a loathsome woman to have next you.\n\nBut just then in came another ugly old hag. She had a back so humped\nand broad, she had hard work to get through the door. Up jumped the\nbride in a trice, and greeted her with \u201cGood-day, Auntie!\u201d\n\nAnd the Prince asked again if that were his bride\u2019s aunt. They both\nsaid Yes; so the Prince said, if that were so, she too had better sit\ndown with them to the feast.\n\nBut they had scarce taken their seats before another ugly old hag came\nin, with eyes as large as saucers, and so red and bleared, \u2019twas\ngruesome to look at her. But up jumped the bride again, with her\n\u201cGood-day, Auntie\u201d, and her, too, the Prince asked to sit down; but I\ncan\u2019t say he was very glad, for he thought to himself: \u201cHeaven shield\nme from such Aunties as my bride has!\u201d So when he had sat awhile, he\ncould not keep his thoughts to himself any longer, but asked,\n\n\u201cBut how, in all the world, can my bride, who is such a lovely lassie,\nhave such loathsome, misshapen Aunts?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon tell you how it is\u201d, said the first. \u201cI was just as\ngood-looking when I was her age; but the reason why I\u2019ve got this long\nnose is, because I was always kept sitting, and poking, and nodding\nover my spinning, and so my nose got stretched and stretched, until it\ngot as long as you now see it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I\u201d, said the second, \u201cever since I was young, I have sat and\nscuttled backwards and forwards over my loom, and that\u2019s how my back\nhas got so broad and humped as you now see it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I\u201d, said the third, \u201cever since I was little, I have sat, and\nstared, and sewn, and sewn and stared, night and day; and that\u2019s why my\neyes have got so ugly and red, and now there\u2019s no help for them.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo! so! \u201csaid the Prince, \u201c\u2019twas lucky I came to know this; for if\nfolk can get so ugly and loathsome by all this, then my bride shall\nneither spin, nor weave, nor sew all her life long.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE COCK, THE CUCKOO, AND THE BLACK-COCK\n\n\n[This is another of those tales in which the birds\u2019 notes must be\nimitated.]\n\nOnce on a time the Cock, the Cuckoo, and the Black-cock bought a cow\nbetween them. But when they came to share it, and couldn\u2019t agree which\nshould buy the others out, they settled that he who woke first in the\nmorning should have the cow.\n\nSo the Cock woke first.\n\nNow the cow\u2019s mine!\nNow the cow\u2019s mine!\nHurrah! hurrah!\n\n\nhe crew, and as he crew, up awoke the Cuckoo.\n\nHalf cow!\nHalf cow!\n\n\nsang the Cuckoo, and woke up the Black-cock.\n\nA like share, a like share;\nDear friends, that\u2019s only fair!\nSaw see! See saw!\n\n\nThat\u2019s what the Black-cock said.\n\nAnd now, can you tell me which of them ought to have the cow?\n\n\n\n\nRICH PETER THE PEDLAR\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man whom they called Rich Peter the Pedlar,\nbecause he used to travel about with a pack, and got so much money,\nthat he became quite rich. This Rich Peter had a daughter, whom he held\nso dear that all who came to woo her, were sent about their business,\nfor no one was good enough for her, he thought. Well, this went on and\non, and at last no one came to woo her, and as years rolled on, Peter\nbegan to be afraid that she would die an old maid.\n\n\u201cI wonder now\u201d, he said to his wife, \u201cwhy suitors no longer come to woo\nour lass, who is so rich. \u2019Twould be odd if no body cared to have her,\nfor money she has, and more she shall have. I think I\u2019d better just go\noff to the Stargazers, and ask them whom she shall have, for not a soul\ncomes to us now.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how\u201d, asked the wife, \u201ccan the Stargazers answer that?\u201d\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t they?\u201d said Peter; \u201cwhy! they read all things in the stars.\u201d\n\nSo he took with him a great bag of money, and set off to the\nStargazers, and asked them to be so good as to look at the stars, and\ntell him the husband his daughter was to have. Well! the Stargazers\nlooked and looked, but they said they could see nothing about it. But\nPeter begged them to look better, and to tell him the truth; he would\npay them well for it. So the Stargazers looked better, and at last they\nsaid that his daughter\u2019s husband was to be the miller\u2019s son, who was\nonly just born, down at the mill below Rich Peter\u2019s house. Then Peter\ngave the Stargazers a hundred dollars, and went home with the answer he\nhad got. Now, he thought it too good a joke that his daughter should\nwed one so newly born, and of such poor estate. He said this to his\nwife, and added:\n\n\u201cI wonder now if they would sell me the boy; then I\u2019d soon put him out\nof the way?\u201d\n\n\u201cI daresay they would\u201d, said his wife; \u201cyou know they\u2019re very poor.\u201d\n\nSo Peter went down to the mill, and asked the miller\u2019s wife whether she\nwould sell him her son; she should get a heap of money for him?\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d that she wouldn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said Peter, \u201cI\u2019m sure I can\u2019t see why you shouldn\u2019t; you\u2019ve\nhard work enough as it is to keep hunger out of the house, and the boy\nwon\u2019t make it easier, I think.\u201d\n\nBut the mother was so proud of the boy, she couldn\u2019t part with him. So\nwhen the miller came home, Peter said the same thing to him, and gave\nhis word to pay six hundred dollars for the boy, so that they might buy\nthemselves a farm of their own, and not have to grind other folks\u2019\ncorn, and to starve when they ran short of water. The miller thought it\nwas a good bargain, and he talked over his wife; and the end was, that\nRich Peter got the boy. The mother cried and sobbed, but Peter\ncomforted her by saying the boy should be well cared for; only they had\nto promise never to ask after him, for he said he meant to send him far\naway to other lands, so that he might learn foreign tongues.\n\nSo when Peter the Pedlar got home with the boy, he sent for a\ncarpenter, and had a little chest made, which was so tidy and neat,\n\u2019twas a joy to see. This he made water-tight with pitch, put the\nmiller\u2019s boy into it, locked it up, and threw it into the river, where\nthe stream carried it away.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019m rid of him\u201d, thought Peter the Pedlar.\n\nBut when the chest had floated ever so far down the stream, it came\ninto the mill-head of another mill, and ran down and hampered the shaft\nof the wheel, and stopped it. Out came the miller to see what stopped\nthe mill, found the chest and took it up. So when he came home to\ndinner to his wife, he said:\n\n\u201cI wonder now whatever there can be inside this chest which came\nfloating down the mill-head, and stopped our mill to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat we\u2019ll soon know\u201d, said his wife; \u201csee, there\u2019s the key in the\nlock, just turn it.\u201d\n\nSo they turned the key and opened the chest, and lo! there lay the\nprettiest child you ever set eyes on. So they were both glad, and were\nready to keep the child, for they had no children of their own, and\nwere so old, they could now hope for none.\n\nNow, after a little while, Peter the Pedlar began to wonder how it was\nno one came to woo his daughter, who was so rich in land, and had so\nmuch ready money. At last, when no one came, off he went again to the\nStargazers, and offered them a heap of money if they could tell him\nwhom his daughter was to have for a husband.\n\n\u201cWhy! we have told you already, that she is to have the miller\u2019s son\ndown yonder\u201d, said the Stargazers.\n\n\u201cAll very true, I daresay\u201d, said Peter the Pedlar; \u201cbut it so happens\nhe\u2019s dead; but if you can tell me whom she\u2019s to have, I\u2019ll give you two\nhundred dollars, and welcome.\u201d So the Stargazers looked at the stars\nagain, but they got quite cross, and said,\n\n\u201cWe told you before, and we tell you now, she is to have the miller\u2019s\nson, whom you threw into the river, and wished to make an end of; for\nhe is alive, safe and sound, in such and such a mill, far down the\nstream.\u201d\n\nSo Peter the Pedlar gave them two hundred dollars for this news, and\nthought how he could best be rid of the miller\u2019s son. The first thing\nPeter did when he got home, was to set off for the mill. By that time\nthe boy was so big that he had been confirmed, and went about the mill\nand helped the miller. Such a pretty boy you never saw.\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you spare me that lad yonder?\u201d said Peter the Pedlar to the\nmiller.\n\n\u201cNo! that I can\u2019t\u201d, he answered; \u201cI\u2019ve brought him up as my own son,\nand he has turned out so well, that now he\u2019s a great help and aid to me\nin the mill, for I\u2019m getting old and past work.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s just the same with me\u201d, said Peter the Pedlar; \u201cthat\u2019s why I\u2019d\nlike to have some one to learn my trade. Now, if you\u2019ll give him up to\nme, I\u2019ll give you six hundred dollars, and then you can buy yourself a\nfarm, and live in peace and quiet the rest of your days.\u201d\n\nYes! when the miller heard that, he let Peter the Pedlar have the lad.\n\nThen the two travelled about far and wide, with their packs and wares,\ntill they came to an inn, which lay by the edge of a great wood. From\nthis Peter the Pedlar sent the lad home with a letter to his wife, for\nthe way was not so long if you took the short cut across the wood, and\ntold him to tell her she was to be sure and do what was written in the\nletter as quickly as she could. But it was written in the letter, that\nshe was to have a great pile made there and then, fire it, and cast the\nmiller\u2019s son into it. If she didn\u2019t do that, he\u2019d burn her alive\nhimself when he came back. So the lad set off with the letter across\nthe wood, and when evening came on he reached a house far, far away in\nthe wood, into which he went; but inside he found no one. In one of the\nrooms was a bed ready made, so he threw himself across it and fell\nasleep. The letter he had stuck into his hat-band, and the hat he\npulled over his face. So when the robbers came back\u2014for in that house\ntwelve robbers had their abode\u2014and saw the lad lying on the bed, they\nbegan to wonder who he could be, and one of them took the letter and\nbroke it open, and read it.\n\n\u201cHo! ho!\u201d said he; \u201cthis comes from Peter the Pedlar, does it? Now\nwe\u2019ll play him a trick. It would be a pity if the old niggard made an\nend of such a pretty lad.\u201d\n\nSo the robbers wrote another letter to Peter the Pedlar\u2019s wife, and\nfastened it under his hat-band while he slept; and in that they wrote,\nthat as soon as ever she got it she was to make a wedding for her\ndaughter and the miller\u2019s boy, and give them horses and cattle, and\nhousehold stuff, and set them up for themselves in the farm which he\nhad under the hill; and if he didn\u2019t find all this done by the time he\ncame back, she\u2019d smart for it\u2014that was all.\n\nNext day the robbers let the lad go, and when he came home and\ndelivered the letter, he said he was to greet her kindly from Peter the\nPedlar, and to say that she was to carry out what was written in the\nletter as soon as ever she could.\n\n\u201cYou must have behaved very well then\u201d, said Peter, the Pedlar\u2019s wife\nto the miller\u2019s boy, \u201cif he can write so about you now, for when you\nset off, he was so mad against you, he didn\u2019t know how to put you out\nof the way.\u201d So she married them on the spot, and set them up for\nthemselves, with horses, and cattle, and household stuff, in the farm\nup under the hill.\n\nNo long time after Peter the Pedlar came home, and the first thing he\nasked was, if she had done what he had written in his letter.\n\n\u201cAye! aye!\u201d she said; \u201cI thought it rather odd, but I dared not do\nanything else\u201d; and so Peter asked where his daughter was.\n\n\u201cWhy, you know well enough where she is\u201d, said his wife. \u201cWhere should\nshe be but up at the farm under the hill, as you wrote in the letter.\u201d\n\nSo when Peter the Pedlar came to hear the whole story, and came to see\nthe letter, he got so angry he was ready to burst with rage, and off he\nran up to the farm to the young couple.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all very well, my son, to say you have got my daughter\u201d, he said\nto the miller\u2019s lad; \u201cbut if you wish to keep her, you must go to the\nDragon of Deepferry, and get me three feathers out of his tail; for he\nwho has them may get anything he chooses.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where shall I find him?\u201d said his son-in-law.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure I can\u2019t tell\u201d, said Peter the Pedlar; \u201cthat\u2019s your look-out,\nnot mine.\u201d\n\nSo the lad set off with a stout heart, and after he had walked some\nway, he came to a king\u2019s palace.\n\n\u201cHere I\u2019ll just step in and ask\u201d, he said to himself; \u201cfor such great\nfolk know more about the world than others, and perhaps I may here\nlearn the way to the Dragon.\u201d\n\nThen the King asked him whence he came, and whither he was going?\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the lad, \u201cI\u2019m going to the Dragon of Deepferry to pluck\nthree feathers out of his tail, if I only knew where to find him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must take luck with you, then\u201d, said the King, \u201cfor I never heard\nof any one who came back from that search. But if you find him, just\nask him from me why I can\u2019t get clear water in my well; for I\u2019ve dug it\nout time after time, and still I can\u2019t get a drop of clear water.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ll be sure to ask him\u201d, said the lad. So he lived on the fat of\nthe land at the palace, and got money and food when he left it.\n\nAt even he came to another king\u2019s palace; and when he went into the\nkitchen, the King came out of the parlour, and asked whence he came,\nand on what errand he was bound?\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the lad, \u201cI\u2019m going to the Dragon of Deepferry to pluck\nthree feathers out of his tail.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you must take luck with you\u201d, said the King, \u201cfor I never yet\nheard that any one came back who went to look for him. But if you find\nhim, be so good as to ask him from me where my daughter is, who has\nbeen lost so many years. I have hunted for her, and had her name given\nout in every church in the country, but no one can tell me anything\nabout her.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ll mind and do that\u201d, said the lad; and in that palace too he\nlived on the best, and when he went away he got both money and food.\n\nSo when evening drew on again he came at last to another king\u2019s palace.\nHere who should come out into the kitchen but the Queen, and she asked\nhim whence he came, and on what errand he was bound?\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going to the Dragon of Deepferry to pluck three feathers out of\nhis tail\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cThen you\u2019d better take a good piece of luck with you\u201d, said the Queen,\n\u201cfor I never heard of any one that came back from him. But if you find\nhim, just be good enough to ask him from me where I shall find my gold\nkeys which I have lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes! I\u2019ll be sure to ask him\u201d, said the lad.\n\nWell! when he left the palace he came to a great broad river; and while\nhe stood there and wondered whether he should cross it, or go down\nalong the bank, an old hunchbacked man came up, and asked whither he\nwas going?\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m going to the Dragon of Deepferry, if I could only find any one\nto tell where I can find him.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can tell you that\u201d, said the man; \u201cfor here I go backwards and\nforwards, and carry those over who are going to see him. He lives just\nacross, and when you climb the hill you\u2019ll see his castle; but mind, if\nyou come to talk with him, to ask him from me how long I\u2019m to stop here\nand carry folk over.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll be sure to ask him\u201d, said the lad.\n\nSo the man took him on his back and carried him over the river; and\nwhen he climbed the hill, he saw the castle, and went in.\n\nHe found there a Princess who lived with the Dragon all alone; and she\nsaid:\n\n\u201cBut, dear friend, how can Christian folk dare to come hither? None\nhave been here since I came, and you\u2019d best be off as fast as you can;\nfor as soon as the Dragon comes home, he\u2019ll smell you out, and gobble\nyou up in a trice, and that\u2019ll make me so unhappy.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay! nay!\u201d said the lad; \u201cI can\u2019t go before I\u2019ve got three feathers\nout of his tail.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll never get them\u201d, said, the Princess; \u201cyou\u2019d best be off.\u201d\n\nBut the lad wouldn\u2019t go; he would wait for the Dragon, and get the\nfeathers, and an answer to all his questions.\n\n\u201cWell, since you\u2019re so steadfast I\u2019ll see what I can do to help you\u201d,\nsaid the Princess; \u201cjust try to lift that sword that hangs on the wall\nyonder.\u201d\n\nNo; the lad could not even stir it.\n\n\u201cI thought so\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cbut just take a drink out of this\nflask.\u201d\n\nSo when the lad had sat a while, he was to try again; and then he could\njust stir it.\n\n\u201cWell! you must take another drink\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cand then you\nmay as well tell me your errand hither.\u201d\n\nSo he took another drink, and then he told her how one king had begged\nhim to ask the Dragon, how it was he couldn\u2019t get clean water in his\nwell?\u2014how another had bidden him ask, what had become of his daughter,\nwho had been lost many years since?\u2014and how a queen had begged him to\nask the Dragon what had become of her gold keys?\u2014and, last of all, how\nthe ferryman had begged him to ask the Dragon, how long he was to stop\nthere and carry folk over?? When he had done his story, and took hold\nof the sword, he could lift it; and when he had taken another drink, he\ncould brandish it.\n\n\u201cNow\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cif you don\u2019t want the Dragon to make an end\nof you, you\u2019d best creep under the bed, for night is drawing on, and\nhe\u2019ll soon be home, and then you must lie as still as you can, lest he\nshould find you out. And when we have gone to bed, I\u2019ll ask him, but\nyou must keep your ears open, and snap up all that he says; and under\nthe bed you must lie till all is still, and the Dragon falls asleep;\nthen creep out softly and seize the sword, and as soon as he rises,\nlook out to hew off his head at one stroke, and at the same time pluck\nout the three feathers, for else he\u2019ll tear them out himself, that no\none may get any good by them.\u201d\n\nSo the lad crept under the bed, and the Dragon came home.\n\n\u201cWhat a smell of Christian flesh\u201d, said the Dragon.\n\n\u201cOh, yes\u201d, said the Princess, \u201ca raven came flying with a man\u2019s bone in\nhis bill, and perched on the roof. No doubt it\u2019s that you smell.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it is, I daresay\u201d, said the Dragon.\n\nSo the Princess served supper; and after they had eaten, they went to\nbed. But after they had lain a while, the Princess began to toss about,\nand all at once she started up and said:\n\n\u201cAh! ah!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d said the Dragon.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cI can\u2019t rest at all, and I\u2019ve had such a\nstrange dream.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat did you dream about? Let\u2019s hear?\u201d said the Dragon.\n\n\u201cI thought a king came here, and asked you what he must do to get clear\nwater in his well.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the Dragon, \u201che might just as well have found that out for\nhimself. If he dug the well out, and took out the old rotten stump\nwhich lies at the bottom, he\u2019d get clean water, fast enough. But be\nstill now, and don\u2019t dream any more.\u201d\n\nWhen the Princess had lain a while, she began to toss about, and at\nlast she started up with her\n\n\u201cAh! ah!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter now?\u201d said the Dragon.\n\n\u201cOh! I can\u2019t get any rest at all, and I\u2019ve had such a strange dream\u201d,\nsaid the Princess.\n\n\u201cWhy, you seem full of dreams to-night\u201d, said the Dragon what was your\ndream now?\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought a king came here, and asked you what had become of his\ndaughter who had been lost many years since\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cWhy, you are she\u201d, said the Dragon; \u201cbut he\u2019ll never set eyes on you\nagain. But now, do pray be still, and let me get some rest, and don\u2019t\nlet\u2019s have any more dreams, else I\u2019ll break your ribs.\u201d\n\nWell, the Princess hadn\u2019t lain much longer before she began to toss\nabout again. At last she started up with her\n\n\u201cAh! ah!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! Are you at it again?\u201d said the Dragon. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter now?\u201d\nfor he was wild and sleep-surly, so that he was ready to fly to pieces.\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t be angry\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cbut I\u2019ve had such a strange\ndream.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe deuce take your dreams\u201d, roared the Dragon; \u201cwhat did you dream\nthis time?\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought a queen came here, who asked you to tell her where she would\nfind her gold keys, which she has lost.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the Dragon, \u201cshe\u2019ll find them soon enough if she looks among\nthe bushes where she lay that time she wots of. But do now let me have\nno more dreams, but sleep in peace.\u201d\n\nSo they slept a while; but then the Princess was just as restless as\never, and at last she screamed out:\n\n\u201cAh! ah!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll never behave till I break your neck\u201d, said the Dragon, who was\nnow so wroth that sparks of fire flew out of his eyes. \u201cWhat\u2019s the\nmatter now?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t be so angry\u201d, said the Princess; \u201cI can\u2019t bear that; but\nI\u2019ve had such a strange dream.\u201d\n\n\u201cBless me!\u201d said the Dragon, \u201cif I ever heard the like of these\ndreams\u2014there\u2019s no end to them. And pray, what did you dream now?\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought the ferryman down at the ferry came and asked how long he\nwas to stop there and carry folk over\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cThe dull fool!\u201d said the Dragon; \u201che\u2019d soon be free, if he chose. When\nany one comes who wants to go across, he has only to take and throw him\ninto the river, and say, \u2018Now, carry folk over yourself till someone\nsets you free.\u2019 But now, pray let\u2019s have an end of these dreams, else\nI\u2019ll lead you a pretty dance.\u201d\n\nSo the Princess let him sleep on. But as soon as all was still, and the\nmiller\u2019s lad heard that the Dragon snored, he crept out. Before it was\nlight the Dragon rose; but he had scarce set both his feet on the floor\nbefore the lad cut off his head, and plucked three feathers out of his\ntail. Then came great joy, and both the lad and the Princess took as\nmuch gold, and silver, and money, and precious things as they could\ncarry; and when they came down to the ford, they so puzzled the\nferryman with all they had to tell, that he quite forgot to ask what\nthe Dragon had said about him till they had got across.\n\n\u201cHalloa, you sir\u201d, he said, as they were going off, \u201cdid you ask the\nDragon what I begged you to ask?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes I did\u201d, said the lad, \u201cand he said, \u2018When any one comes and wants\nto go over, you must throw him into the midst of the river, and say,\n\u201cNow, carry folk over yourself till some one comes to set you free,\u201d\u2019\nand then you\u2019ll be free.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, bad luck to you\u201d, said the ferryman; \u201chad you told me that before,\nyou might have set me free yourself.\u201d\n\nSo, when they got to the first palace, the Queen asked if he had spoken\nto the Dragon about her gold keys? \u201cYes\u201d, said the lad, and whispered\nin the Queen\u2019s ear, \u201che said you must look among the bushes where you\nlay the day you wot of.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush! hush! Don\u2019t say a word\u201d, said the Queen, and gave the lad a\nhundred dollars.\n\nWhen they came to the second palace, the King asked if he had spoken to\nthe Dragon of what he begged him?\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the lad, \u201cI did; and see, here is your daughter.\u201d\n\nAt that the King was so glad, he would gladly have given the Princess\nto the miller\u2019s lad to wife, and half the kingdom beside; but as he was\nmarried already, he gave him two hundred dollars, and coaches and\nhorses, and as much gold and silver as he could carry away.\n\nWhen he came to the third King\u2019s palace, out came the King and asked if\nhe had asked the Dragon of what he begged him?\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the lad, \u201cand he said you must dig out the well, and take\nout the rotten old stump which lies at the bottom, and then you\u2019ll get\nplenty of clear water.\u201d\n\nThen the King gave him three hundred dollars, and he set out home; but\nhe was so loaded with gold and silver, and so grandly clothed, that it\ngleamed and glistened from him, and he was now far richer than Peter\nthe Pedlar.\n\nWhen Peter got the feathers he hadn\u2019t a word more to say against the\nwedding; but when he saw all that wealth, he asked if there was much\nstill left at the Dragon\u2019s castle.\n\n\u201cYes, I should think so\u201d, said the lad; \u201cthere was much more than I\ncould carry with me\u2014so much, that you might load many horses with it;\nand if you choose to go, you may be sure there\u2019ll be enough for you.\u201d\n\nSo his son-in-law told him the way so clearly, that he hadn\u2019t to ask it\nof any one.\n\n\u201cBut the horses\u201d, said the lad \u201cyou\u2019d best leave this side the river;\nfor the old ferryman, he\u2019ll carry you over safe enough.\u201d\n\nSo Peter set off, and took with him great store of food and many\nhorses; but these he left behind him on the river\u2019s brink, as the lad\nhad said. And the old ferryman took him upon his back; but when they\nhad come a bit out into the stream, he cast him into the midst of the\nriver, and said,\n\n\u201cNow you may go backwards and forwards here, and carry folk over till\nyou are set free.\u201d\n\nAnd unless some one has set him free, there goes Rich Peter the Pedlar\nbackwards and forwards, and carries folk across this very day.\n\n\n\n\nGERTRUDE\u2019S BIRD\n\n\nIn those days when our Lord and St Peter wandered upon earth, they came\nonce to an old wife\u2019s house, who sat baking. Her name was Gertrude, and\nshe had a red mutch on her head. They had walked a long way, and were\nboth hungry, and our Lord begged hard for a bannock to stay their\nhunger. Yes, they should have it. So she took a little tiny piece of\ndough and rolled it out, but as she rolled it, it grew and grew till it\ncovered the whole griddle.\n\nNay, that was too big; they couldn\u2019t have that. So she took a tinier\nbit still; but when that was rolled out, it covered the whole griddle\njust the same, and that bannock was too big, she said; they couldn\u2019t\nhave that either.\n\nThe third time she took a still tinier bit\u2014so tiny you could scarce see\nit; but it was the same story over again\u2014the bannock was too big.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Gertrude, \u201cI can\u2019t give you anything; you must just go\nwithout, for all these bannocks are too big.\u201d\n\nThen our Lord waxed wroth, and said:\n\n\u201cSince you loved me so little as to grudge me a morsel of food, you\nshall have this punishment: you shall become a bird, and seek your food\nbetween bark and bole; and never get a drop to drink save when it\nrains.\u201d\n\nHe had scarce said the last word before she was turned into a great\nblack woodpecker, or Gertrude\u2019s bird, and flew from her kneading-trough\nright up the chimney; and till this very day you may see her flying\nabout, with her red mutch on her head, and her body all black, because\nof the soot in the chimney; and so she hacks and taps away at the trees\nfor her food, and whistles when rain is coming, for she is ever\nathirst, and then she looks for a drop to cool her tongue.\n\n\n\n\nBOOTS AND THE TROLL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor man who had three sons. When he died,\nthe two elder set off into the world to try their luck, but the\nyoungest they wouldn\u2019t have with them at any price.\n\n\u201cAs for you\u201d, they said, \u201cyou\u2019re fit for nothing but to sit and poke\nabout in the ashes.\u201d\n\nSo the two went off and got places at a palace\u2014the one under the\ncoachman, and the other under the gardener. But Boots, he set off too,\nand took with him a great kneading-trough, which was the only thing his\nparents left behind them, but which the other two would not bother\nthemselves with. It was heavy to carry, but he did not like to leave it\nbehind, and so, after he had trudged a bit, he too came to the palace,\nand asked for a place. So they told him they did not want him, but he\nbegged so prettily that at last he got leave to be in the kitchen, and\ncarry in wood and water for the kitchen maid. He was quick and ready,\nand in a little while every one liked him; but the two others were\ndull, and so they got more kicks than halfpence, and grew quite envious\nof Boots, when they saw how much better he got on.\n\nJust opposite the palace, across a lake, lived a Troll, who had seven\nsilver ducks which swam on the lake, so that they could be seen from\nthe palace. These the king had often longed for; and so the two elder\nbrothers told the coachman:\n\n\u201cIf our brother only chose, he has said he could easily get the king\nthose seven silver ducks.\u201d\n\nYou may fancy it wasn\u2019t long before the coachman told this to the king;\nand the king called Boots before him, and said:\n\n\u201cYour brothers say you can get me the silver ducks; so now go and fetch\nthem.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure I never thought or said anything of the kind,\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cYou did say so, and you shall fetch them\u201d, said the king, who would\nhold his own.\n\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d said the lad; \u201cneeds must, I suppose; but give me a\nbushel of rye, and a bushel of wheat, and I\u2019ll try what I can do.\u201d\n\nSo he got the rye and the wheat, and put them into the kneading-trough\nhe had brought with him from home, got in, and rowed across the lake.\nWhen he reached the other side he began to walk along the shore, and to\nsprinkle and strew the grain, and at last he coaxed the ducks into his\nkneading-trough, and rowed back as fast as ever he could.\n\nWhen he got half over, the Troll came out of his house, and set eyes on\nhim.\n\n\u201cHALLOA!\u201d roared out the Troll; \u201cis it you that has gone off with my\nseven silver ducks.\u201d\n\n\u201cAYE! AYE!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cShall you be back soon?\u201d asked the Troll.\n\n\u201cVery likely\u201d, said the lad.\n\nSo when he got back to the king, with the seven silver ducks, he was\nmore liked than ever, and even the king was pleased to say, \u201cWell\ndone!\u201d But at this his brothers grew more and more spiteful and\nenvious; and so they went and told the coachman that their brother had\nsaid, if he chose, he was man enough to get the king the Troll\u2019s\nbed-quilt, which had a gold patch and a silver patch, and a silver\npatch and a gold patch; and this time, too, the coachman was not slow\nin telling all this to the king. So the king said to the lad, how his\nbrothers had said he was good to steal the Troll\u2019s bed-quilt, with gold\nand silver patches; so now he must go and do it, or lose his life.\n\nBoots answered, he had never thought or said any such thing; but when\nhe found there was no help for it, he begged for three days to think\nover the matter.\n\nSo when the three days were gone, he rowed over in his kneading-trough,\nand went spying about. At last he saw those in the Troll\u2019s cave come\nout and hang the quilt out to air, and as soon as ever they had gone\nback into the face of the rock, Boots pulled the quilt down, and rowed\naway with it as fast as he could.\n\nAnd when he was half across, out came the Troll and set eyes on him,\nand roared out:\n\n\u201cHALLOA! Is it you who took my seven silver ducks?\u201d\n\n\u201cAYE! AYE!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cAnd now, have you taken my bed-quilt, with silver patches and gold\npatches, and gold patches and silver patches?\u201d\n\n\u201cAye! aye!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cShall you come back again?\u201d\n\n\u201cVery likely\u201d, said the lad.\n\nBut when he got back with the gold and silver patchwork quilt, every\none was fonder of him than ever, and he was made the king\u2019s\nbody-servant.\n\nAt this, the other two were still more vexed, and, to be revenged, they\nwent and told the coachman:\n\n\u201cNow, our brother has said, he is man enough to get the king the gold\nharp which the Troll has, and that harp is of such a kind, that all who\nlisten when it is played grow glad, however sad they may be.\u201d\n\nYes! the coachman went and told the king, and he said to the lad:\n\n\u201cIf you have said this, you shall do it. If you do it, you shall have\nthe Princess and half the kingdom. If you don\u2019t, you shall lose your\nlife.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure I never thought or said anything of the kind\u201d, said the lad;\n\u201cbut if there\u2019s no help for it, I may as well try; but I must have six\ndays to think about it.\u201d\n\nYes! he might have six days, but when they were over, he must set out.\n\nThen he took a tenpenny nail, a birch-pin, and a waxen taper-end in his\npocket, and rowed across, and walked up and down before the Troll\u2019s\ncave, looking stealthily about him. So when the Troll came out, he saw\nhim at once.\n\n\u201cHO, HO!\u201d roared the Troll; \u201cis it you who took my seven silver ducks?\u201d\n\n\u201cAYE! AYE!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cAnd it is you who took my bed-quilt, with the gold and silver\npatches?\u201d asked the Troll.\n\n\u201cAye! aye!\u201d said the lad.\n\nSo the Troll caught hold of him at once, and took him off into the cave\nin the face of the rock.\n\n\u201cNow, daughter dear\u201d, said the Troll, \u201cI\u2019ve caught the fellow who stole\nthe silver ducks and my bed-quilt, with gold and silver patches; put\nhim into the fattening coop, and when he\u2019s fat, we\u2019ll kill him, and\nmake a feast for our friends.\u201d\n\nShe was willing enough, and put him at once into the fattening coop,\nand there he stayed eight days, fed on the best, both in meat and\ndrink, and as much as he could cram. So, when the eight days were over,\nthe Troll said to his daughter to go down and cut him in his little\nfinger, that they might see if he were fat. Down she came to the coop.\n\n\u201cOut with your little finger!\u201d she said.\n\nBut Boots stuck out his tenpenny nail, and she cut at it.\n\n\u201cNay! nay! he\u2019s as hard as iron still\u201d, said the Troll\u2019s daughter, when\nshe got back to her father; \u201cwe can\u2019t take him yet.\u201d\n\nAfter another eight days the same thing happened, and this time Boots\nstuck out his birchen pin.\n\n\u201cWell, he\u2019s a little better\u201d, she said, when she got back to the Troll;\n\u201cbut still he\u2019ll be as hard as wood to chew.\u201d\n\nBut when another eight days were gone, the Troll told his daughter to\ngo down and see if he wasn\u2019t fat now.\n\n\u201cOut with your little finger\u201d, said the Troll\u2019s daughter, when she\nreached the coop, and this time Boots stuck out the taper end.\n\n\u201cNow he\u2019ll do nicely\u201d, she said.\n\n\u201cWill he?\u201d said the Troll. \u201cWell, then, I\u2019ll just set off and ask the\nguests; meantime you must kill him, and roast half and boil half.\u201d\n\nSo when the Troll had been gone a little while, the daughter began to\nsharpen a great long knife.\n\n\u201cIs that what you\u2019re going to kill me with?\u201d asked the lad.\n\n\u201cYes it is,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cBut it isn\u2019t sharp\u201d, said the lad. \u201cJust let me sharpen it for you,\nand then you\u2019ll find it easier work to kill me.\u201d\n\nSo she let him have the knife, and he began to rub and sharpen it on\nthe whetstone.\n\n\u201cJust let me try it on one of your hair plaits; I think it\u2019s about\nright now.\u201d\n\nSo he got leave to do that; but at the same time that he grasped the\nplait of hair, he pulled back her head, and at one gash, cut off the\nTroll\u2019s daughter\u2019s head; and half of her he roasted and half of her he\nboiled, and served it all up.\n\nAfter that he dressed himself in her clothes, and sat away in the\ncorner.\n\nSo when the Troll came home with his guests, he called out to his\ndaughter\u2014for he thought all the time it was his daughter\u2014to come and\ntake a snack.\n\n\u201cNo, thank you\u201d, said the lad, \u201cI don\u2019t care for food, I\u2019m so sad and\ndowncast.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Troll, \u201cif that\u2019s all, you know the cure; take the harp,\nand play a tune on it.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said the lad; \u201cbut where has it got to; I can\u2019t find it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, you know well enough\u201d, said the Troll; \u201cyou used it last; where\nshould it be but over the door yonder?\n\nThe lad did not wait to be told twice; he took down the harp, and went\nin and out playing tunes; but, all at once he shoved off the\nkneading-trough, jumped into it, and rowed off, so that the foam flew\naround the trough.\n\nAfter a while the Troll thought his daughter was a long while gone, and\nwent out to see what ailed her; and then he saw the lad in the trough,\nfar, far out on the lake.\n\n\u201cHALLOA! Is it you\u201d, he roared, \u201cthat took my seven silver ducks?\u201d\n\n\u201cAYE, AYE!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cIs it you that took my bed-quilt, with the gold and silver patches.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cAnd now you have taken off my gold harp?\u201d screamed the Troll.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said the lad; \u201cI\u2019ve got it, sure enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd haven\u2019t I eaten you up after all, then?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no! \u2019twas your own daughter you ate\u201d, answered the lad.\n\nBut when the Troll heard that, he was so sorry, he burst; and then\nBoots rowed back, and took a whole heap of gold and silver with him, as\nmuch as the trough could carry. And so, when he came to the palace with\nthe gold harp, he got the Princess and half the kingdom, as the king\nhad promised him; and, as for his brothers, he treated them well, for\nhe thought they had only wished his good when they said what they had\nsaid.\n\n\n\n\nGOOSEY GRIZZEL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a widower, who had a housekeeper named\nGrizzel, who set her mutch at him and teazed him early and late to\nmarry her. At last the man got so weary of her, he was at his wits\u2019 end\nto know how to get rid of her. So it fell on a day, between hay time\nand harvest, the two went out to pull hemp. Grizzel\u2019s head was full of\nher good looks and her handiness, and she worked away at the hemp till\nshe grew giddy from the strong smell of the ripe seed, and at last down\nshe fell flat, fast asleep among the hemp. While she slept, her master\ngot a pair of scissors and cut her skirts short all round, and then he\nrubbed her all over, face and all, first with tallow and then with\nsoot, till she looked worse than the Deil himself. So, when Grizzel\nwoke and saw how ugly she was, she didn\u2019t know herself.\n\n\u201cCan this be me now?\u201d said Grizzel. \u201cNay, nay! it can never be me. So\nugly have I never been; it\u2019s surely the Deil himself?\u201d\n\nWell! that she might really know the truth, she went off and knocked at\nher master\u2019s door, and asked,\n\n\u201cIs your Girzie at home the day, father?\u201d\n\n\u201cAye, aye, our Girzie is at home safe enough\u201d, said the man, who wanted\nto be rid of her.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d she said to herself, \u201cthen I can\u2019t be his Grizzel,\u201d and\nstole away; and right glad the man was, I can tell you.\n\nSo, when she had walked a bit she came to a great wood, where she met\ntwo thieves. \u201cThe very men for my money, thought Grizzel, \u201csince I am\nthe Deil, thieves are just fit fellows for me.\u201d\n\nBut the thieves were not of the same mind, not they. As soon as they\nset eyes on her, they took to their heels as fast as they could, for\nthey thought the Evil One was come to catch them. But it was no good,\nfor Grizzel was long-legged and swift-footed, and she came up with them\nbefore they knew where they were.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019re going out to steal, I\u2019ll go with you and help,\u201d said\nGrizzel, \u201cfor I know the whole country round.\u201d So, when the thieves\nheard that, they thought they had found a good mate, and were no longer\nafraid.\n\nThen they said they were off to steal a sheep, only they didn\u2019t know\nwhere to lay hold of one.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Grizzel, \u201cthat\u2019s a small matter, for I was maid with a\nfarmer ever so long out in the wood yonder, and I could find the\nsheepfold, though the night were dark as pitch.\u201d\n\nThe thieves thought that grand; and when they came to the place,\nGrizzel was to go into the fold and turn out the sheep, and they were\nto lay hold on it. Now, the sheepfold lay close to the wall of the room\nwhere the farmer slept, so Grizzel crept quite softly and carefully\ninto the fold; but, as soon as she got in, she began to scream out to\nthe thieves, \u201cWill you have a wether or a ewe? here are lots to choose\nfrom.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush, hush!\u201d said the thieves, \u201conly take one that is fine and fat.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes! but will you have a wether or a ewe? will you have a wether\nor a ewe? for here are lots to choose from,\u201d screeched Grizzel.\n\n\u201cHush, hush!\u201d said the thieves again, \u201conly take one that\u2019s fine and\nfat; it\u2019s all the same to us whether it\u2019s a wether or a ewe.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d screeched Grizzel, who stuck to her own; \u201cbut will you have a\nwether or a ewe\u2014a wether or a ewe? here are lots to choose from.\u201d\n\n\u201cHold your jaw!\u201d said the thieves, \u201cand take a fine fat one, wether or\newe, its all one to us.\u201d\n\nBut just then out came the farmer in his shirt, who had been waked by\nall this clatter, and wanted to see what was going on. So the thieves\ntook to their heels, and Grizzel after them, upsetting the farmer in\nher flight.\n\n\u201cStop, boys! stop, boys!\u201d she screamed; but the farmer, who had only\nseen the black monster, grew so afraid that he could scarce stand, for\nhe thought it was the Deil himself that had been in his sheepfold. The\nonly help he knew was, to go indoors and wake up the whole house; and\nthey all sat down to read and pray, for he had heard that was the way\nto send the Deil about his business.\n\nNow the next night the thieves said they must go and steal a fat goose,\nand Grizzel was to shew them the way. So when they came to the\ngoosepen, Grizzel was to go in and turn one out, for she knew the ways\nof the place, and the thieves were to stand outside and catch it. But\nas soon as ever she got in she began to scream,\n\n\u201cWill you have goose or gander? you may pick and choose here.\u201d\n\n\u201cHush hush! choose only a fine fat one\u201d, said the thieves. \u201cYes, yes!\nbut will you have goose or gander\u2014goose or gander? you may pick and\nchoose\u201d, screamed Grizzel.\n\n\u201cHush, hush! only choose one that\u2019s fine and fat, and it\u2019s all one to\nus whether it\u2019s goose or gander; but do hold your jaw\u201d, said they.\n\nBut while Grizzel and the thieves were settling this, one of the geese\nbegan to cackle, and then another cackled, and then the whole flock\ncackled and hissed, and out came the farmer to see what all the noise\ncould mean, and away went the thieves, and Grizzel after them, at full\nspeed, and the farmer thought again it was the black Deil flying away;\nfor long-legged she was, and she had no skirts to hamper her.\n\n\u201cStop a bit, boys!\u201d she kept on screaming, \u201cyou might as well have said\nwhether you would have goose or gander?\u201d\n\nBut they had no time to stop, they thought; and, as for the farmer, he\nbegan to read and pray with all his house, small and great, for they\nthought it was the Deil, and no mistake.\n\nNow, the third day, when night came, the thieves and Grizzel were so\nhungry they did not know what to do; so they made up their minds to go\nto the larder of a rich farmer, who lived by the wood\u2019s side, and steal\nsome food. Well, off they went, but the thieves did not dare to venture\nthemselves, so Grizzel was to go up the steps which led to the larder,\nand hand the food out, and the others were to stand below and take it\nfrom her. So when Grizzel got inside, she saw the larder was full of\nall sorts of things, fresh meat and salt, and sausages and oat-cake.\nThe thieves begged her to be still, and just throw out something to\neat, and to bear in mind how badly they had fated for two nights. But\nGrizzel stuck to her own, that she did.\n\n\u201cWill you have fresh meat, or salt, or sausages, or oat-cake? Just\nlook, what a lovely oat-cake\u201d, she bawled out enough to split your\nhead. \u201cYou may have what you please, for here\u2019s plenty to choose from.\u201d\n\nBut the farmer woke with all this noise, and ran out to see what it all\nmeant. As for the thieves, off they ran as fast as they could; but\nwhile the farmer was looking after them, down came Grizzel so black and\nugly.\n\n\u201cStop a bit! stop a bit, boys!\u201d she bellowed; \u201cyou may have what you\nplease, for there\u2019s plenty to choose from.\u201d\n\nAnd when the farmer saw that ugly monster, he, too, thought the Deil\nwas loose, for he had heard what had happened to his neighbours the\nevenings before; so he began both to read and pray, and every one in\nthe whole parish began to read and pray, for they knew that you could\nread the Deil away.\n\nThe next evening was Saturday evening, and the thieves wanted to steal\na fat ram for their Sunday dinner; and well they might, for they had\nfasted many days. But they wouldn\u2019t have Grizzel with them at any\nprice. She brought bad luck with her jaw, they said; so while Grizzel\nwas walking about waiting for them on Sunday morning, she got so\nawfully hungry\u2014for she had fasted for three days\u2014that she went into a\nturnip-field and pulled up some turnips to eat. But when the farmer who\nowned the turnips rose, he felt uneasy in his mind, and thought he\nwould just go and take a look at his turnips on the Sunday morning. So\nhe pulled on his trousers and went across the moss which lay under the\nhill, where the turnip-field lay. But when he got to the bottom of the\nfield, he saw something black walking about in the field and pulling up\nhis turnips, and he soon made up his mind that it was the Deil. So away\nhe ran home as fast as he could, and said the Deil was among the\nturnips. This frightened the whole house out of their wits, and they\nagreed they\u2019d best send for the priest, and get him to bind the Deil.\n\n\u201cThat won\u2019t do\u201d, said the goodwife, \u201cthis is Sunday morning, you\u2019ll\nnever get the priest to come; for either he\u2019ll be in bed; or if he\u2019s\nup, he\u2019ll be learning his sermon by heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the goodman, \u201cnever fear; I\u2019ll promise him a fat loin of\nveal, and then he\u2019ll come fast enough.\u201d\n\nSo off he went to the priest\u2019s house; but when he got there, sure\nenough, the priest was still in bed. The maid begged the farmer to walk\ninto the parlour while she ran up to the priest, and said:\n\n\u201cFarmer So-and-So was downstairs, and wished to have a word with him.\u201d\n\nWell! when the priest heard that such a worthy man was downstairs, he\ngot up at once, and came down just as he was, in his slippers and\nnightcap.\n\nSo the goodman told his errand; how the Deil was loose in his\nturnip-field; and if the priest would only come and bind him, he would\nsend him a fat loin of veal. Yes! the priest was willing enough, and\ncalled out to his groom, to saddle his horse, while he dressed himself.\n\n\u201cNay, nay, father!\u201d said the man; \u201cthe Deil won\u2019t wait for us long, and\nno one knows where we shall find him again if we miss him now. Your\nreverence must come at once, just as you are.\u201d\n\nSo the priest followed him just as he was, with the clothes he stood\nin, and went off in his nightcap and slippers. But when they got to the\nmoss, it was so moist the priest couldn\u2019t cross it in his slippers. So\nthe goodman took him on his back to carry him over. On they went, the\ngoodman picking his way from one clump to the other, till they got to\nthe middle; then Grizzel caught sight of them, and thought it was the\nthieves bringing the ram.\n\n\u201cIs he fat?\u201d she screamed; \u201cis he fat?\u201d and made such a noise that the\nwood rang again.\n\n\u201cThe Deil knows if he\u2019s fat or lean; I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t\u201d, said the\ngoodman, when he heard that; \u201cbut, if you want to know, you had better\ncome yourself and see.\u201d\n\nAnd then he got so afraid, he threw the priest head over heels into the\nsoft wet moss, and took to his legs; and if the priest hasn\u2019t got out,\nwhy I dare say he\u2019s lying there still.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND\n\n\nOnce on a time there was an old widow who had one son; and as she was\npoorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for\ncooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was just going down the\nsteps, there came the North Wind, puffing and blowing, caught up the\nmeal, and so away with it through the air. Then the lad went back into\nthe safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if the\nNorth Wind didn\u2019t come again and carry off the meal with a puff; and,\nmore than that, he did so the third time. At this the lad got very\nangry; and as he thought it hard that the North Wind should behave so,\nhe thought he\u2019d just look him up, and ask him to give up his meal.\n\nSo off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at\nlast he came to the North Wind\u2019s house.\n\n\u201cGood day!\u201d said the lad, \u201cand thank you for coming to see us\nyesterday.\u201d\n\n\u201cGOOD DAY!\u201d answered the North Wind, for his voice was loud and gruff,\n\u201cAND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d answered the lad, \u201cI only wished to ask you to be so good as to\nlet me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for we\nhaven\u2019t much to live on; and if you\u2019re to go on snapping up the morsel\nwe have, there\u2019ll be nothing for it but to starve.\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t got your meal\u201d, said the North Wind; \u201cbut if you are in such\nneed, I\u2019ll give you a cloth which will get you everything you want, if\nyou only say, \u201cCloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kind of good\ndishes!\u201d\n\nWith this the lad was well content. But, as the way was so long he\ncouldn\u2019t get home in one day, so he turned into an inn on the way; and\nwhen they were going to sit down to supper he laid the cloth on a table\nwhich stood in the corner, and said,\n\n\u201cCloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes.\u201d\n\nHe had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who\nstood by thought it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So,\nwhen all were fast asleep at dead of night, she took the lad\u2019s cloth,\nand put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from the\nNorth Wind, but which couldn\u2019t so much as serve up a bit of dry bread.\n\nSo, when the lad woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and that\nday he got home to his mother.\n\n\u201cNow\u201d, said he, \u201cI\u2019ve been to the North Wind\u2019s house, and a good fellow\nhe is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it, \u2018Cloth,\nspread yourself, and serve up all kind of good dishes\u2019, I get any sort\nof food I please.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll very true, I daresay,\u201d said his mother; \u201cbut seeing is believing,\nand I shan\u2019t believe it till I see it.\u201d\n\nSo the lad made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cCloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kind of good dishes.\u201d\n\nBut never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the lad, \u201cthere\u2019s no help for it but to go to the North\nWind again\u201d; and away he went.\n\nSo he came to where the North Wind lived late in the afternoon.\n\n\u201cGood evening!\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cGood evening!\u201d said the North Wind.\n\n\u201cI want my rights for that meal of ours which you took\u201d, said the lad;\n\u201cfor, as for that cloth I got, it isn\u2019t worth a penny.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve got no meal\u201d, said the North Wind; \u201cbut yonder you have a ram\nwhich coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it:\n\n\u2018Rain, ram! make money!\u2019\n\nSo the lad thought this a fine thing; but as it was too far to get home\nthat day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had slept\nbefore.\n\nBefore he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the North\nWind had said of the ram, and found it all right; but, when the\nlandlord saw that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the lad\nhad fallen asleep, he took another which couldn\u2019t coin gold ducats, and\nchanged the two.\n\nNext morning off went the lad; and when he got home to his mother, he\nsaid:\n\n\u201cAfter all, the North Wind is a jolly fellow; for now he has given me a\nram which can coin golden ducats if I only say \u2018Ram, ram! make money.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAll very true, I daresay\u201d, said his mother; \u201cbut I shan\u2019t believe any\nsuch stuff until I see the ducats made.\u201d\n\n\u201cRam, ram! make money!\u201d said the lad; but if the Ram made anything, it\nwasn\u2019t money.\n\nSo the lad went back again to the North Wind, and blew him up, and said\nthe ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the meal.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the North Wind; \u201cI\u2019ve nothing else to give you but that\nold stick in the corner yonder; but it\u2019s a stick of that kind that if\nyou say:\n\n\u201c\u2018Stick, stick! lay on!\u2019 it lays on till you say: \u2018Stick, stick! now\nstop!\u2019\u201d\n\nSo, as the way was long, the lad turned in this night too to the\nlandlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the\ncloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to snore,\nas if he were asleep.\n\nNow the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth\nsomething, hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad\nsnore, was going to change the two; but, just as the landlord was about\nto take it, the lad bawled out: \u201cStick, stick! lay on!\u201d\n\nSo the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs,\nand tables, and benches, and yelled and roared:\n\n\u201cOh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death,\nand you shall have back both your cloth and our ram.\u201d\n\nWhen the lad thought the landlord had got enough, he said:\n\n\u201cStick, stick! now stop!\u201d\n\nThen he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with\nhis stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and\nso he got his rights for the meal he had lost.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MASTER THIEF\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor cottager who had three sons. He had\nnothing to leave them when he died, and no money with which to put them\nto any trade, so that he did not know what to make of them. At last he\nsaid he would give them leave to take to anything each liked best, and\nto go whithersoever they pleased, and he would go with them a bit of\nthe way; and so he did. He went with them till they came to a place\nwhere three roads met, and there each of them chose a road, and their\nfather bade them good-bye, and went back home. I have never heard tell\nwhat became of the two elder; but as for the youngest, he went both far\nand long, as you shall hear.\n\nSo it fell out one night as he was going through a great wood that such\nbad weather overtook him. It blew, and sleeted, and drove so that he\ncould scarce keep his eyes open; and in a trice, before he knew how it\nwas, he got bewildered, and could not find either road or path. But as\nhe went on and on, at last he saw a glimmering of light far far off in\nthe wood. So he thought he would try and get to the light; and after a\ntime he did reach it. There it was in a large house, and the fire was\nblazing so brightly inside, that he could tell the folk had not yet\ngone to bed; so he went in and saw an old dame bustling about and\nminding the house.\n\n\u201cGood evening!\u201d said the youth.\n\n\u201cGood evening!\u201d said the old dame.\n\n\u201cHutetu! it\u2019s such foul weather out of doors to-night\u201d, said he.\n\n\u201cSo it is\u201d, said she.\n\n\u201cCan I get leave to have a bed and shelter here to-night?\u201d asked the\nyouth.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no good by sleeping here\u201d, said the old dame; \u201cfor if the\nfolk come home and find you here, they\u2019ll kill both me and you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat sort of folk, then, are they who live here?\u201d asked the youth.\n\n\u201cOh, robbers! And a bad lot of them too\u201d, said the old dame. \u201cThey\nstole me away when I was little, and have kept me as their housekeeper\never since.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, for all that, I think I\u2019ll just go to bed\u201d, said the youth.\n\u201cCome what may, I\u2019ll not stir out at night in such weather.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well\u201d, said the old dame; \u201cbut if you stay, it will be the worse\nfor you.\u201d\n\nWith that the youth got into a bed which stood there, but he dared not\ngo to sleep, and very soon after in came the robbers; so the old dame\ntold them how a stranger fellow had come in whom she had not been able\nto get out of the house again.\n\n\u201cDid you see if he had any money?\u201d said the robbers.\n\n\u201cSuch a one as he money!\u201d said the old dame, \u201cthe tramper! Why, if he\nhad clothes to his back, it was as much as he had.\u201d\n\nThen the robbers began to talk among themselves what they should do\nwith him; if they should kill him outright, or what else they should\ndo. Meantime the youth got up and began to talk to them, and to ask if\nthey didn\u2019t want a servant, for it might be that he would be glad to\nenter their service.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said they, \u201cif you have a mind to follow the trade that we\nfollow, you can very well get a place here.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all one to me what trade I follow\u201d, said the youth; \u201cfor when I\nleft home, father gave me leave to take to any trade I chose.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, have you a mind to steal?\u201d asked the robbers.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care\u201d, said the youth, for he thought it would not take long\nto learn that trade.\n\nNow there lived a man a little way off who had three oxen. One of these\nhe was to take to the town to sell, and the robbers had heard what he\nwas going to do, so they said to the youth, if he were good to steal\nthe ox from the man by the way without his knowing it, and without\ndoing him any harm, they would give him leave to be their serving-man.\n\nWell! the youth set off, and took with him a pretty shoe, with a silver\nbuckle on it, which lay about the house; and he put the shoe in the\nroad along which the man was going with his ox; and when he had done\nthat, he went into the wood and hid himself under a bush. So when the\nman came by he saw the shoe at once.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a nice shoe\u201d, said he. \u201cIf I only had the fellow to it, I\u2019d\ntake it home with me, and perhaps I\u2019d put my old dame in a good humour\nfor once.\u201d For you must know he had an old wife, so cross and snappish,\nit was not long between each time that she boxed his ears. But then he\nbethought him that he could do nothing with the odd shoe unless he had\nthe fellow to it; so he went on his way and let the shoe lie on the\nroad.\n\nThen the youth took up the shoe, and made all the haste he could to get\nbefore the man by a short cut through the wood, and laid it down before\nhim in the road again. When the man came along with his ox, he got\nquite angry with himself for being so dull as to leave the fellow to\nthe shoe lying in the road instead of taking it with him; so he tied\nthe ox to the fence, and said to himself, \u201cI may just as well run back\nand pick up the other, and then I\u2019ll have a pair of good shoes for my\nold dame, and so, perhaps, I\u2019ll get a kind word from her for once.\u201d\n\nSo he set off, and hunted and hunted up and down for the shoe, but no\nshoe did he find; and at length he had to go back with the one he had.\nBut, meanwhile the youth had taken the ox and gone off with it; and\nwhen the man came and saw his ox gone, he began to cry and bewail, for\nhe was afraid his old dame would kill him outright when she came to\nknow that the ox was lost. But just then it came across his mind that\nhe would go home and take the second ox, and drive it to the town, and\nnot let his old dame know anything about the matter. So he did this,\nand went home and took the ox without his dame\u2019s knowing it, and set\noff with it to the town. But the robbers knew all about it, and they\nsaid to the youth, if he could get this ox too, without the man\u2019s\nknowing it, and without his doing him any harm, he should be as good as\nany one of them. If that were all, the youth said, he did not think it\na very hard thing.\n\nThis time he took with him a rope, and hung himself up under the\narm-pits to a tree right in the man\u2019s way. So the man came along with\nhis ox, and when he saw such a sight hanging there he began to feel a\nlittle queer.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said he, \u201cwhatever heavy thoughts you had who have hanged\nyourself up there, it can\u2019t be helped; you may hang for what I care! I\ncan\u2019t breathe life into you again\u201d; and with that he went on his way\nwith his ox. Down slipped the youth from the tree, and ran by a\nfootpath, and got before the man, and hung himself up right in his way\nagain.\n\n\u201cBless me!\u201d said the man, \u201cwere you really so heavy at heart that you\nhanged yourself up there\u2014or is it only a piece of witchcraft that I see\nbefore me? Aye, aye! you may hang for all I care, whether you are a\nghost or whatever you are.\u201d So he passed on with his ox.\n\nNow the youth did just as he had done twice before; he jumped down from\nthe tree, ran through the wood by a footpath, and hung himself up right\nin the man\u2019s way again. But when the man saw this sight for the third\ntime, he said to himself:\n\n\u201cWell! this is an ugly business! Is it likely now that they should have\nbeen so heavy at heart as to hang themselves, all these three? No! I\ncannot think it is anything else than a piece of witchcraft that I see.\nBut now I\u2019ll soon know for certain; if the other two are still hanging\nthere, it must be really so; but if they are not, then it can be\nnothing but witchcraft that I see.\u201d\n\nSo he tied up his ox, and ran back to see if the others were still\nreally hanging there. But while he went and peered up into all the\ntrees, the youth jumped down and took his ox and ran off with it. When\nthe man came back and found his ox gone, he was in a sad plight, and,\nas any one might know without being told, he began to cry and bemoan;\nbut at last he came to take it easier, and so he thought:\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no other help for it than to go home and take the third ox\nwithout my dame\u2019s knowing it, and to try and drive a good bargain with\nit, so that I may get a good sum of money for it.\u201d\n\nSo he went home and set off with the ox, and his old dame knew never a\nword about the matter. But the robbers, they knew all about it, and\nthey said to the youth, that if he could steal this ox as he had stolen\nthe other two, then he should be master over the whole band. Well, the\nyouth set off, and ran into the wood; and as the man came by with his\nox he set up a dreadful bellowing, just like a great ox in the wood.\nWhen the man heard that, you can\u2019t think how glad he was, for it seemed\nto him that he knew the voice of his big bullock, and he thought that\nnow he should find both of them again; so he tied up the third ox, and\nran off from the road to look for them in the wood; but meantime the\nyouth went off with the third ox. Now, when the man came back and found\nhe had lost this ox too, he was so wild that there was no end to his\ngrief. He cried and roared and beat his breast, and, to tell the truth,\nit was many days before he dared go home; for he was afraid lest his\nold dame should kill him outright on the spot.\n\nAs for the robbers, they were not very well pleased either, when they\nhad to own that the youth was master over the whole band. So one day\nthey thought they would try their hands at something which he was not\nman enough to do; and they set off all together, every man Jack of\nthem, and left him alone at home. Now, the first thing that he did when\nthey were all well clear of the house, was to drive the oxen out to the\nroad, so that they might run back to the man from whom he had stolen\nthem; and right glad he was to see them, as you may fancy. Next he took\nall the horses which the robbers had, and loaded them with the best\nthings he could lay his hands on-gold and silver, and clothes and other\nfine things; and then he bade the old dame to greet the robbers when\nthey came back, and to thank them for him, and to say that now he was\nsetting off on his travels, and they would have hard work to find him\nagain; and with that, off he started.\n\nAfter a good bit he came to the road along which he was going when he\nfell among the robbers, and when he got near home, and could see his\nfather\u2019s cottage, he put on a uniform which he had found among the\nclothes he had taken from the robbers, and which was made just like a\ngeneral\u2019s. So he drove up to the door as if he were any other great\nman. After that he went in and asked if he could have a lodging? No;\nthat he couldn\u2019t at any price.\n\n\u201cHow ever should I be able\u201d, said the man, \u201cto make room in my house\nfor such a fine gentleman\u2014I who scarce have a rag to lie upon, and\nmiserable rags too?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou always were a stingy old hunks\u201d, said the youth, \u201cand so you are\nstill, when you won\u2019t take your own son in.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat, you my son!\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you know me again?\u201d said the youth. Well, after a little while\nhe did know him again.\n\n\u201cBut what have you been turning your hand to, that you have made\nyourself so great a man in such haste?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019ll soon tell you\u201d, said the youth. \u201cYou said I might take to any\ntrade I chose, and so I bound myself apprentice to a pack of thieves\nand robbers, and now I\u2019ve served my time out, and am become a Master\nThief.\u201d\n\nNow there lived a Squire close by to his father\u2019s cottage, and he had\nsuch a great house, and such heaps of money, he could not tell how much\nhe had. He had a daughter too, and a smart and pretty girl she was. So\nthe Master Thief set his heart upon having her to wife, and he told his\nfather to go to the Squire and ask for his daughter for him.\n\n\u201cIf he asks by what trade I get my living, you can say I\u2019m a Master\nThief.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think you\u2019ve lost your wits\u201d, said the man, \u201cfor you can\u2019t be in\nyour right mind when you think of such stuff.\u201d\n\nNo! he had not lost his wits, his father must and should go to the\nSquire, and ask for his daughter.\n\n\u201cNay, but I tell you, I daren\u2019t go to the Squire and be your spokesman;\nhe who is so rich, and has so much money\u201d, said the man.\n\nYes, there was no help for it, said the Master Thief; he should go\nwhether he would or no; and if he did not go by fair means, he would\nsoon make him go by foul. But the man was still loath to go; so he\nstepped after him, and rubbed him down with a good birch cudgel, and\nkept on till the man came crying and sobbing inside the Squire\u2019s door.\n\n\u201cHow now, my man! what ails you?\u201d said the Squire. So he told him the\nwhole story; how he had three sons who set off one day, and how he had\ngiven them leave to go whithersoever they would, and to follow whatever\ncalling they chose. \u201cAnd here now is the youngest come home, and has\nthrashed me till he has made me come to you and ask for your daughter\nfor him to wife; and he bids me say, besides, that he\u2019s a Master\nThief.\u201d And so he fell to crying and sobbing again.\n\n\u201cNever mind, my man\u201d, said the Squire, laughing; \u201cjust go back and tell\nhim from me, he must prove his skill first. If he can steal the roast\nfrom the spit in the kitchen on Sunday, while all the household are\nlooking after it, he shall have my daughter. Just go and tell him\nthat.\u201d\n\nSo he went back and told the youth, who thought it would be an easy\njob. So he set about and caught three hares alive, and put them into a\nbag, and dressed himself in some old rags, until he looked so poor and\nfilthy that it made one\u2019s heart bleed to see; and then he stole into\nthe passage at the back-door of the Squire\u2019s house on the Sunday\nforenoon, with his bag, just like any other beggar-boy. But the Squire\nhimself and all his household were in the kitchen watching the roast.\nJust as they were doing this, the youth let one hare go, and it set off\nand ran round and round the yard in front of the house.\n\n\u201cOh, just look at that hare!\u201d said the folk in the kitchen, and were\nall for running out to catch it.\n\nYes, the Squire saw it running too. \u201cOh, let it run\u201d, said he; \u201cthere\u2019s\nno use in thinking to catch a hare on the spring.\u201d\n\nA little while after, the youth let the second hare go, and they saw it\nin the kitchen, and thought it was the same they had seen before, and\nstill wanted to run out and catch it; but the Squire said again it was\nno use. It was not long before the youth let the third hare go, and it\nset off and ran round and round the yard as the others before it. Now,\nthey saw it from the kitchen, and still thought it was the same hare\nthat kept on running about, and were all eager to be out after it.\n\n\u201cWell, it is a fine hare\u201d, said the Squire; \u201ccome let\u2019s see if we can\u2019t\nlay our hands on it.\u201d\n\nSo out he ran, and the rest with him\u2014away they all went, the hare\nbefore, and they after; so that it was rare fun to see. But meantime\nthe youth took the roast and ran off with it; and where the Squire got\na roast for his dinner that day I don\u2019t know; but one thing I know, and\nthat is, that he had no roast hare, though he ran after it till he was\nboth warm and weary.\n\nNow it chanced that the Priest came to dinner that day, and when the\nSquire told him what a trick the Master Thief had played him, he made\nsuch game of him that there was no end of it.\n\n\u201cFor my part\u201d, said the Priest, \u201cI can\u2019t think how it could ever happen\nto me to be made such a fool of by a fellow like that.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well\u2014only keep a sharp look-out\u201d, said the Squire; \u201cmaybe he\u2019ll\ncome to see you before you know a word of it.\u201d But the Priest stuck to\nhis text\u2014that he did, and made game of the Squire because he had been\nso taken in.\n\nLater in the afternoon came the Master Thief, and wanted to have the\nSquire\u2019s daughter, as he had given his word. But the Squire began to\ntalk him over, and said, \u201cOh, you must first prove your skill a little\nmore; for what you did to-day was no great thing, after all. Couldn\u2019t\nyou now play off a good trick on the Priest, who is sitting in there,\nand making game of me for letting such a fellow as you twist me round\nhis thumb.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, as for that, it wouldn\u2019t be hard\u201d, said the Master Thief. So he\ndressed himself up like a bird, threw a great white sheet over his\nbody, took the wings of a goose and tied them to his back, and so\nclimbed up into a great maple which stood in the Priest\u2019s garden. And\nwhen the Priest came home in the evening, the youth began to bawl out:\n\n\u201cFather Laurence! Father Laurence!\u201d\u2014for that was the Priest\u2019s name.\n\n\u201cWho is that calling me?\u201d said the Priest.\n\n\u201cI am an angel\u201d, said the Master Thief, \u201csent from God to let you know\nthat you shall be taken up alive into heaven for your piety\u2019s sake.\nNext Monday night you must hold yourself ready for the journey, for I\nshall come then to fetch you in a sack; and all your gold and your\nsilver, and all that you have of this world\u2019s goods, you must lay\ntogether in a heap in your dining-room.\u201d\n\nWell, Father Laurence fell on his knees before the angel, and thanked\nhim; and the very next day he preached a farewell sermon, and gave it\nout how there had come down an angel unto the big maple in his garden,\nwho had told him that he was to be taken up alive into heaven for his\npiety\u2019s sake; and he preached and made such a touching discourse, that\nall who were at church wept, both young and old.\n\nSo the next Monday night came the Master Thief like an angel again, and\nthe Priest fell on his knees and thanked him before he was put into the\nsack; but when he had got him well in, the Master Thief drew and\ndragged him over stocks and stones.\n\n\u201cOW! OW!\u201d groaned the Priest inside the sack, \u201cwherever are we going?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is the narrow way which leadeth unto the kingdom of heaven\u201d, said\nthe Master Thief, who went on dragging him along till he had nearly\nbroken every bone in his body. At last he tumbled him into a\ngoose-house that belonged to the Squire, and the geese began pecking\nand pinching him with their bills, so that he was more dead than alive.\n\n\u201cNow you are in the flames of purgatory, to be cleansed and purified\nfor life everlasting\u201d, said the Master Thief; and with that he went his\nway, and took all the gold which the Priest had laid together in his\ndining-room. The next morning, when the goose-girl came to let the\ngeese out, she heard how the Priest lay in the sack, and bemoaned\nhimself in the goose-house.\n\n\u201cIn heaven\u2019s name, who\u2019s there, and what ails you?\u201d she cried.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Priest, \u201cif you are an angel from heaven, do let me out,\nand let me return again to earth, for it is worse here than in hell.\nThe little fiends keep on pinching me with tongs.\u201d\n\n\u201cHeaven help us, I am no angel at all\u201d, said the girl, as she helped\nthe Priest out of the sack; \u201cI only look after the Squire\u2019s geese, and\nlike enough they are the little fiends which have pinched your\nreverence.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d groaned the Priest, \u201cthis is all that Master Thief\u2019s doing. Ah!\nmy gold and my silver, and my fine clothes.\u201d And he beat his breast,\nand hobbled home at such a rate that the girl thought he had lost his\nwits all at once.\n\nNow when the Squire came to hear how it had gone with the Priest, and\nhow he had been along the narrow way, and into purgatory, he laughed\ntill he well-nigh split his sides. But when the Master Thief came and\nasked for his daughter as he had promised, the Squire put him off\nagain, and said:\n\n\u201cYou must do one masterpiece better still, that I may see plainly what\nyou are fit for. Now, I have twelve horses in my stable, and on them I\nwill put twelve grooms, one on each. If you are so good a thief as to\nsteal the horses from under them, I\u2019ll see what I can do for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, I daresay I can do it\u201d, said the Master Thief; \u201cbut shall I\nreally have your daughter if I can?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, if you can, I\u2019ll do my best for you\u201d, said the Squire. So the\nMaster Thief set off to a shop, and bought brandy enough to fill two\npocket-flasks, and into one of them he put a sleepy drink, but into the\nother only brandy. After that he hired eleven men to lie in wait at\nnight, behind the Squire\u2019s stable-yard; and last of all, for fair words\nand a good bit of money, he borrowed a ragged gown and cloak from an\nold woman; and so, with a staff in his hand, and a bundle at his back,\nhe limped off, as evening drew on, towards the Squire\u2019s stable. Just as\nhe got there they were watering the horses for the night, and had their\nhands full of work. \u201cWhat the devil do you want?\u201d said one of the\ngrooms to the old woman.\n\n\u201cOh, oh! hutetu! it is so bitter cold\u201d, said she, and shivered and\nshook, and made wry faces. \u201cHutetu! it is so cold, a poor wretch may\neasily freeze to death\u201d; and with that she fell to shivering and\nshaking again.\n\n\u201cOh! for the love of heaven, can I get leave to stay here a while, and\nsit inside the stable door?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the devil with your leave\u201d, said one. \u201cPack yourself off this\nminute, for if the Squire sets his eye on you, he\u2019ll lead us a pretty\ndance.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! the poor old bag-of-bones\u201d, said another, whose heart took pity on\nher, \u201cthe old hag may sit inside and welcome; such a one as she can do\nno harm.\u201d\n\nAnd the rest said, some she should stay, and some she shouldn\u2019t; but\nwhile they were quarrelling and minding the horses, she crept further\nand further into the stable, till at last she sat herself down behind\nthe door; and when she had got so far, no one gave any more heed to\nher.\n\nAs the night wore on, the men found it rather cold work to sit so still\nand quiet on horseback.\n\n\u201cHutetu! it is so devilish cold\u201d, said one, and beat his arms\ncrosswise.\n\n\u201cThat it is\u201d, said another; \u201cI freeze so, that my teeth chatter.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf one only had a quid to chew\u201d, said a third.\n\nWell! there was one who had an ounce or two; so they shared it between\nthem, though it wasn\u2019t much, after all, that each got; and so they\nchewed and spat, and spat and chewed. This helped them somewhat; but in\na little while they were just as bad as ever.\n\n\u201cHutetu!\u201d said one, and shivered and shook.\n\n\u201cHutetu!\u201d said the old woman, and shivered so, that every tooth in her\nhead chattered. Then she pulled out the flask with brandy in it, and\nher hand shook so that the spirit splashed about in the flask, and then\nshe took such a gulp, that it went \u201cbop\u201d in her throat.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that you\u2019ve got in your flask, old girl?\u201d said one of the\ngrooms.\n\n\u201cOh! it\u2019s only a drop of brandy, old man\u201d, said she.\n\n\u201cBrandy! Well, I never! Do let me have a drop\u201d, screamed the whole\ntwelve, one after another.\n\n\u201cOh! but it is such a little drop\u201d, mumbled the old woman, \u201cit will not\neven wet your mouths round.\u201d But they must and would have it; there was\nno help for it; and so she pulled out the flask with the sleepy drink\nin it, and put it to the first man\u2019s lips; then she shook no more, but\nguided the flask so that each of them got what he wanted, and the\ntwelfth had not done drinking before the first sat and snored. Then the\nMaster Thief threw off his beggar\u2019s rags, and took one groom after the\nother so softly off their horses, and set them astride on the beams\nbetween the stalls; and so he called his eleven men, and rode off with\nthe Squire\u2019s twelve horses. But when the Squire got up in the morning,\nand went to look after his grooms, they had just begun to come to; and\nsome of them fell to spurring the beams with their spurs, till the\nsplinters flew again, and some fell off, and some still hung on and sat\nthere looking like fools.\n\n\u201cHo! ho!\u201d said the Squire; \u201cI see very well who has been here; but as\nfor you, a pretty set of blockheads you must be to sit here and let the\nMaster Thief steal the horses from between your legs.\u201d\n\nSo they all got a good leathering because they had not kept a sharper\nlook-out.\n\nFurther on in the day came the Master Thief again, and told how he had\nmanaged the matter, and asked for the Squire\u2019s daughter, as he had\npromised; but the Squire gave him one hundred dollars down, and said he\nmust do something better still.\n\n\u201cDo you think now\u201d, said he, \u201cyou can steal the horse from under me\nwhile I am out riding on his back?\u201d \u201cO, yes! I daresay I could\u201d, said\nthe Master Thief, \u201cif I were really sure of getting your daughter.\u201d\n\nWell, well, the Squire would see what he could do; and he told the\nMaster Thief a day when he would be taking a ride on a great common\nwhere they drilled the troops. So the Master Thief soon got hold of an\nold worn-out jade of a mare, and set to work, and made traces and\ncollar of withies and broom-twigs, and bought an old beggarly cart and\na great cask. After that he told an old beggar woman, he would give her\nten dollars if she would get inside the cask, and keep her mouth agape\nover the taphole, into which he was going to stick his finger. No harm\nshould happen to her; she should only be driven about a little; and if\nhe took his finger out more than once, she was to have ten dollars\nmore. Then he threw a few rags and tatters over himself, and stuffed\nhimself out, and put on a wig and a great beard of goat\u2019s hair, so that\nno one could know him again, and set off for the common, where the\nSquire had already been riding about a good bit. When he reached the\nplace, he went along so softly and slowly that he scarce made an inch\nof way. \u201cGee up! Gee up!\u201d and so he went on a little; then he stood\nstock still, and so on a little again; and altogether the pace was so\npoor it never once came into the Squire\u2019s head that this could be the\nMaster Thief.\n\nAt last the Squire rode right up to him, and asked if he had seen any\none lurking about in the wood thereabouts. \u201cNo\u201d, said the man, \u201cI\nhaven\u2019t seen a soul.\u201d\n\n\u201cHarkye, now\u201d, said the Squire, \u201cif you have a mind to ride into the\nwood, and hunt about and see if you can fall upon any one lurking about\nthere, you shall have the loan of my horse, and a shilling into the\nbargain, to drink my health, for your pains.\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t see how I can go\u201d, said the man, \u201cfor I am going to a wedding\nwith this cask of mead, which I have been to town to fetch, and here\nthe tap has fallen out by the way, and so I must go along, holding my\nfinger in the taphole.\u201d\n\n\u201cRide off\u201d, said the Squire; \u201cI\u2019ll look after your horse and cask.\u201d\n\nWell, on these terms the man was willing to go; but he begged the\nSquire to be quick in putting his finger into the taphole when he took\nhis own out, and to mind and keep it there till he came back. At last\nthe Squire grew weary of standing there with his finger in the taphole,\nso he took it out.\n\n\u201cNow I shall have ten dollars more!\u201d screamed the old woman inside the\ncask; and then the Squire saw at once how the land lay, and took\nhimself off home; but he had not gone far before they met him with a\nfresh horse, for the Master Thief had already been to his house, and\ntold them to send one. The day after, he came to the Squire and would\nhave his daughter, as he had given his word; but the Squire put him off\nagain with fine words, and gave him two hundred dollars, and said he\nmust do one more masterpiece. If he could do that, he should have her.\nWell, well, the Master Thief thought he could do it, if he only knew\nwhat it was to be.\n\n\u201cDo you think, now\u201d, said the Squire, \u201cyou can steal the sheet off our\nbed, and the shift off my wife\u2019s back. Do you think you could do that?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done\u201d, said the Master Thief. \u201cI only wish I was as sure\nof getting your daughter.\u201d\n\nSo when night began to fall, the Master Thief went out and cut down a\nthief who hung on the gallows, and threw him across his shoulders, and\ncarried him off. Then he got a long ladder and set it up against the\nSquire\u2019s bedroom window, and so climbed up, and kept bobbing the dead\nman up and down, just for all the world like one that was peeping in at\nthe window.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the Master Thief, old lass!\u201d said the Squire, and gave his wife\na nudge on the side. \u201cNow see if I don\u2019t shoot him, that\u2019s all.\u201d\n\nSo saying he took up a rifle which he had laid at his bedside.\n\n\u201cNo! no! pray don\u2019t shoot him after telling him he might come and try\u201d,\nsaid his wife.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t talk to me, for shoot him I will\u201d, said he; and so he lay there\nand aimed and aimed; but as soon as the head came up before the window,\nand he saw a little of it, so soon was it down again. At last he\nthought he had a good aim; \u201cbang\u201d went the gun, down fell the dead body\nto the ground with a heavy thump, and down went the Master Thief too as\nfast as he could.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Squire, \u201cit is quite true that I am the chief\nmagistrate in these parts; but people are fond of talking, and it would\nbe a bore if they came to see this dead man\u2019s body. I think the best\nthing to be done is that I should go down and bury him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must do as you think best, dear\u201d, said his wife. So the Squire got\nout of bed and went downstairs, and he had scarce put his foot out of\nthe door before the Master Thief stole in, and went straight upstairs\nto his wife.\n\n\u201cWhy, dear, back already!\u201d said she, for she thought it was her\nhusband.\n\n\u201cO yes, I only just put him into a hole, and threw a little earth over\nhim. It is enough that he is out of sight, for it is such a bad night\nout of doors; by-and-by I\u2019ll do it better. But just let me have the\nsheet to wipe myself with\u2014he was so bloody\u2014and I have made myself in\nsuch a mess with him.\u201d\n\nSo he got the sheet.\n\nAfter a while he said:\n\n\u201cDo you know I am afraid you must let me have your nightshift too, for\nthe sheet won\u2019t do by itself; that I can see.\u201d\n\nSo she gave him the shift also. But just then it came across his mind\nthat he had forgotten to lock the house-door, so he must step down and\nlook to that before he came back to bed, and away he went with both\nshift and sheet.\n\nA little while after came the true Squire.\n\n\u201cWhy! what a time you\u2019ve taken to lock the door, dear!\u201d said his wife;\n\u201cand what have you done with the sheet and shift?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you say?\u201d said the Squire.\n\n\u201cWhy, I am asking what you have done with the sheet and shift that you\nhad to wipe off the blood\u201d, said she.\n\n\u201cWhat, in the Deil\u2019s name!\u201d said the Squire, \u201chas he taken me in this\ntime too?\u201d\n\nNext day came the Master Thief and asked for the Squire\u2019s daughter, as\nhe had given his word; and then the Squire dared not do anything else\nthan give her to him, and a good lump of money into the bargain; for,\nto tell the truth, he was afraid lest the Master Thief should steal the\neyes out of his head, and that the people would begin to say spiteful\nthings of him if he broke his word. So the Master Thief lived well and\nhappily from that time forward. I don\u2019t know whether he stole any more;\nbut if he did, I am quite sure it was only for the sake of a bit of\nfun.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEST WISH\n\n\nOnce on a time there were three brothers; I don\u2019t quite know how it\nhappened, but each of them had got the right to wish one thing,\nwhatever he chose. So the two elder were not long a-thinking; they\nwished that every time they put their hands in their pockets they might\npull out a piece of money; for, said they:\n\n\u201cThe man who has as much money as he wishes for is always sure to get\non in the world.\u201d\n\nBut the youngest wished something better still. He wished that every\nwoman he saw might fall in love with him as soon as she saw him; and\nyou shall soon hear how far better this was than gold and goods.\n\nSo, when they had all wished their wishes, the two elder were for\nsetting out to see the world; and Boots, their youngest brother, asked\nif he mightn\u2019t go along with them; but they wouldn\u2019t hear of such a\nthing.\n\n\u201cWherever we go\u201d, they said, \u201cwe shall be treated as counts and kings;\nbut you, you starveling wretch, who haven\u2019t a penny, and never will\nhave one, who do you think will care a bit about you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, but in spite of that, I\u2019d like to go with you\u201d, said Boots;\n\u201cperhaps a dainty bit may fall to my share too off the plates of such\nhigh and mighty lords.\u201d\n\nAt last, after begging and praying, he got leave to go with them, if he\nwould be their servant, else they wouldn\u2019t hear of it.\n\nSo, when they had gone a day or so, they came to an inn, where the two\nwho had the money alighted, and called for fish and flesh, and fowl,\nand brandy and mead, and everything that was good; but Boots, poor\nfellow, had to look after their luggage and all that belonged to the\ntwo great people. Now, as he went to and fro outside, and loitered\nabout in the inn-yard, the innkeeper\u2019s wife looked out of window and\nsaw the servant of the gentlemen upstairs; and, all at once, she\nthought she had never set eyes on such a handsome chap. So she stared\nand stared, and the longer she looked the handsomer he seemed.\n\n\u201cWhy what, by the Deil\u2019s skin and bones, is it that you are standing\nthere gaping at out of the window?\u201d said her husband. \u201cI think \u2019twould\nbe better if you just looked how the sucking pig is getting on, instead\nof hanging out of window in that way. Don\u2019t you know what grand folk we\nhave in the house to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said his old dame, \u201cI don\u2019t care a farthing about such a pack of\nrubbish; if they don\u2019t like it they may lump it, and be off; but just\ndo come and look at this lad out in the yard; so handsome a fellow I\nnever saw in all my born days; and, if you\u2019ll do as I wish, we\u2019ll ask\nhim to step in and treat him a little, for, poor lad, he seems to have\na hard fight of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you lost the little brains you had, Goody?\u201d said the husband,\nwhose eyes glistened with rage; \u201cinto the kitchen with you, and mind\nthe fire; but don\u2019t stand there glowering after strange men.\u201d\n\nSo the wife had nothing left for it but to go into the kitchen, and\nlook after the cooking; as for the lad outside, she couldn\u2019t get leave\nto ask him in, or to treat him either; but just as she was about\nspitting the pig in the kitchen, she made an excuse for running out\ninto the yard, and then and there she gave Boots a pair of scissors, of\nsuch a kind that they cut of themselves out of the air the loveliest\nclothes any one ever saw, silk and satin, and all that was fine.\n\n\u201cThis you shall have because you are so handsome,\u201d said the innkeeper\u2019s\nwife.\n\nSo when the two elder brothers had crammed themselves with roast and\nboiled, they wished to be off again, and Boots had to stand behind\ntheir carriage, and be their servant; and so they travelled a good way,\ntill they came to another inn. There the two brothers again alighted\nand went indoors, but Boots, who had no money, they wouldn\u2019t have\ninside with them; no, he must wait outside and watch the luggage. \u201cAnd\nmind\u201d, they said, \u201cif any one asks whose servant you are, say we are\ntwo foreign Princes.\u201d\n\nBut the same thing happened now as happened before; while Boots stood\nhanging about out in the yard, the innkeeper\u2019s wife came to the window\nand saw him, and she too fell in love with him, just like the first\ninnkeeper\u2019s wife; and there she stood and stared, for she thought she\ncould never have her fill of looking at him. Then her husband came\nrunning through the room with something the two Princes had ordered.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t stand there staring like a cow at a barn-door, but take this\ninto the kitchen, and look after your fish-kettle, Goody\u201d, said the\nman; \u201cdon\u2019t you see what grand people we have in the house to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care a farthing for such a pack of rubbish\u201d, said the wife;\n\u201cif they don\u2019t like what they get they may lump it, and eat what they\nbrought with them. But just do come here, and see what you shall see!\nSuch a handsome fellow as walks here, out in the yard, I never saw in\nall my born days. Shan\u2019t we ask him in and treat him a little; he looks\nas if he needed it, poor chap?\u201d and then she went on:\n\n\u201cSuch a love! such a love!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou never had much wit, and the little you had is clean gone, I can\nsee\u201d, said the man, who was much more angry than the first innkeeper,\nand chased his wife back, neck and crop, into the kitchen.\n\n\u201cInto the kitchen with you, and don\u2019t stand glowering after lads\u201d, he\nsaid.\n\nSo she had to go in and mind her fish-kettle, and she dared not treat\nBoots, for she was afraid of her old man; but as she stood there making\nup the fire, she made an excuse for running out into the yard, and then\nand there she gave Boots a table-cloth, which was such that it covered\nitself with the best dishes you could think of, as soon as it was\nspread out.\n\n\u201cThis you shall have\u201d, she said, \u201cbecause you\u2019re so handsome.\u201d\n\nSo when the two brothers had eaten and drank of all that was in the\nhouse, and had paid the bill in hard cash, they set off again, and\nBoots stood up behind their carriage. But when they had gone so far\nthat they grew hungry again, they turned into a third inn, and called\nfor the best and dearest they could think of.\n\n\u201cFor\u201d, said they, \u201cwe are two kings on our travels, and as for our\nmoney, it grows like grass.\u201d\n\nWell, when the innkeeper heard that, there was such a roasting, and\nbaking, and boiling; why! you might smell the dinner at the next\nneighbour\u2019s house, though it wasn\u2019t so very near; and the innkeeper was\nat his wits\u2019 end to find all he wished to put before the two kings. But\nBoots, he had to stand outside here too, and look after the things in\nthe carriage.\n\nSo it was the same story over again. The innkeeper\u2019s wife came to the\nwindow and peeped out, and there she saw the servant standing by the\ncarriage. Such a handsome chap she had never set eyes on before; so she\nlooked and looked, and the more she stared the handsomer he seemed to\nthe innkeeper\u2019s wife. Then out came the innkeeper, scampering through\nthe room, with some dainty which the travelling kings had ordered, and\nhe wasn\u2019t very soft-tongued when he saw his old dame standing and\nglowering out of the window.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you know better than to stand gaping and staring there, when we\nhave such great folk in the house\u201d, he said; \u201cback into the kitchen\nwith you this minute, to your custards.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d she said, \u201cas for them, I don\u2019t care a pin. If they can\u2019t\nwait till the custards are baked, they may go without\u2014that\u2019s all. But\ndo, pray, come here, and you\u2019ll see such a lovely lad standing out here\nin the yard. Why I never saw such a pretty fellow in my life. Shan\u2019t we\nask him in now, and treat him a little, for he looks as if it would do\nhim good. Oh! what a darling! What a darling!\u201d\n\n\u201cA wanton gadabout you\u2019ve been all your days, and so you are still\u201d,\nsaid her husband, who was in such a rage he scarce knew which leg to\nstand on; \u201cbut if you don\u2019t be off to your custards this minute, I\u2019ll\nsoon find out how to make you stir your stumps; see if I don\u2019t.\u201d\n\nSo the wife had off to her custards as fast as she could, for she knew\nthat her husband would stand no nonsense; but as she stood there over\nthe fire she stole out into the yard, and gave Boots a tap.\n\n\u201cIf you only turn this tap\u201d, she said; \u201cyou\u2019ll get the finest drink of\nwhatever kind you choose, both mead, and wine, and brandy; and this you\nshall have because you are so handsome.\u201d\n\nSo when the two brothers had eaten and drunk all they could, they\nstarted from the inn, and Boots stood up behind again as their servant,\nand thus they drove far and wide, till they came to a king\u2019s palace.\nThere the two elder gave themselves out for two emperor\u2019s sons, and as\nthey had plenty of money, and were so fine that their clothes shone\nagain ever so far off, they were well treated. They had rooms in the\npalace, and the king couldn\u2019t tell how to make enough of them. But\nBoots, who went about in the same rags he stood in when he left home,\nand who had never a penny in his pocket, he was taken up by the king\u2019s\nguard, and put across to an island, whither they used to row over all\nthe beggars and rogues that came to the palace. This the king had\nordered, because he wouldn\u2019t have the mirth at the palace spoilt by\nthose dirty blackguards; and thither, too, only just as much food as\nwould keep body and soul together was sent over everyday. Now Boots\u2019\nbrothers saw very well that the guard was rowing him over to the\nisland, but they were glad to be rid of him, and didn\u2019t pay the least\nheed to him.\n\nBut when Boots got over there, he just pulled out his scissors and\nbegan to snip and cut in the air; so the scissors cut out the finest\nclothes any one would wish to see; silk and satin both, and all the\nbeggars on the island were soon dressed far finer than the king and all\nhis guests in the palace. After that, Boots pulled out his table-cloth,\nand spread it out, and so they got food too, the poor beggars. Such a\nfeast had never been seen at the king\u2019s palace, as was served that day\nat the Beggars\u2019 Isle.\n\n\u201cThirsty, too, I\u2019ll be bound you all are\u201d, said Boots, and out with his\ntap, gave it a turn, and so the beggars got all a drop to drink; and\nsuch ale and mead the king himself had never tasted in all his life.\n\nSo, next morning, when those who were to bring the beggars their food\non the island, came rowing over with the scrapings of the porridge-pots\nand cheese-parings\u2014that was what the poor wretches had\u2014the beggars\nwouldn\u2019t so much as taste them, and the king\u2019s men fell to wondering\nwhat it could mean; but they wondered much more when they got a good\nlook at the beggars, for they were so fine the guard thought they must\nbe Emperors or Popes at least, and that they must have rowed to a wrong\nisland; but when they looked better about them, they saw they were come\nto the old place.\n\nThen they soon found out it must be he whom they had rowed out the day\nbefore who had brought the beggars on the island all this state and\nbravery; and as soon as they got back to the palace, they were not slow\nto tell how the man, whom they had rowed over the day before, had\ndressed out all the beggars so fine and grand that precious things fell\nfrom their clothes.\n\n\u201cAnd as for the porridge and cheese we took, they wouldn\u2019t even taste\nthem, so proud have they got\u201d, they said.\n\nOne of them, too, had smelt out that the lad had a pair of scissors\nwhich he cut out the clothes with.\n\n\u201cWhen he only snips with those scissors up in the air he snips and cuts\nout nothing but silk and satin\u201d, said he.\n\nSo, when the Princess heard that, she had neither peace nor rest till\nshe saw the lad and his scissors that cut out silk and satin from the\nair; such a pair was worth having, she thought, for with its help she\nwould soon get all the finery she wished for. Well, she begged the king\nso long and hard, he was forced to send a messenger for the lad who\nowned the scissors; and when he came to the palace, the Princess asked\nhim if it were true that he had such and such a pair of scissors, and\nif he would sell it to her. Yes, it was all true he had such a pair,\nsaid Boots, but sell it he wouldn\u2019t; and with that he took the scissors\nout of his pocket, and snipped and snipped with them in the air till\nstrips of silk and satin flew all about him.\n\n\u201cNay, but you must sell me these scissors\u201d, said the Princess. \u201cYou may\nask what you please for them, but have them I must.\u201d\n\nNo! Such a pair of scissors he wouldn\u2019t sell at any price, for he could\nnever get such a pair again; and while they stood and haggled for the\nscissors, the Princess had time to look better at Boots, and she too\nthought with the innkeepers\u2019 wives that she had never seen such a\nhandsome fellow before. So she began to bargain for the scissors over\nagain, and begged and prayed Boots to let her have them; he might ask\nmany, many hundred dollars for them, \u2019twas all the same to her, so she\ngot them.\n\n\u201cNo! sell them I won\u2019t\u201d, said Boots; \u201cbut all the same, if I can get\nleave to sleep one night on the floor of the Princess\u2019 bedroom, close\nby the door, I\u2019ll give her the scissors. I\u2019ll do her no harm, but if\nshe\u2019s afraid, she may have two men to watch inside the room.\u201d\n\nYes! the Princess was glad enough to give him leave, for she was ready\nto grant him anything if she only got the scissors. So Boots lay on the\nfloor inside the Princess\u2019 bedroom that night, and two men stood watch\nthere too; but the Princess didn\u2019t get much rest after all; for when\nshe ought to have been asleep, she must open her eyes to look at Boots,\nand so it went on the whole night. If she shut her eyes for a minute,\nshe peeped out at him again the next, such a handsome fellow he seemed\nto her to be.\n\nNext morning Boots was rowed over to the Beggars\u2019 isle again; but when\nthey came with the porridge scrapings and cheese parings from the\npalace, there was no one who would taste them that day either, and so\nthose who brought the food were more astonished than ever. But one of\nthose who brought the food contrived to smell out that the lad who had\nowned the scissors owned also a table-cloth, which he only needed to\nspread out, and it was covered with all the good things he could wish\nfor. So when he got back to the palace, he wasn\u2019t long before he said:\n\n\u201cSuch hot joints and such custards I never saw the like of in the\nking\u2019s palace.\u201d\n\nAnd when the Princess heard that, she told it to the king, and begged\nand prayed so long, that he was forced to send a messenger out to the\nisland to fetch the lad who owned the table-cloth; and so Boots came\nback to the palace. The Princess must and would have the cloth of him,\nand offered him gold and green woods for it, but Boots wouldn\u2019t sell it\nat any price.\n\n\u201cBut if I may have leave to lie on the bench by the Princess\u2019 bed-side\nto-night, she shall have the cloth; but if she\u2019s afraid, she is welcome\nto set four men to watch inside the room.\u201d\n\nYes! the Princess agreed to this, so Boots lay down on the bench by the\nbed-side, and the four men watched; but if the Princess hadn\u2019t much\nsleep the night before, she had much less this, for she could scarce\nget a wink of sleep; there she lay wide awake looking at the lovely lad\nthe whole night through, and after all, the night seemed too short.\n\nNext morning Boots was rowed off again to the Beggars\u2019 island, though\nsorely against the Princess\u2019 will, so happy was she to be near him; but\nit was past praying for; to the island he must go, and there was an end\nof it. But when those who brought the food to the beggars came with the\nporridge scrapings and cheese parings, there wasn\u2019t one of them who\nwould even look at what the king sent, and those who brought it didn\u2019t\nwonder either; though they all thought it strange that none of them\nwere thirsty. But just then, one of the king\u2019s guard smelled out that\nthe lad who had owned the scissors and the table-cloth had a tap\nbesides, which, if one only turned it a little, gave out the rarest\ndrink, both ale, and mead, and wine. So when he came back to the\npalace, he couldn\u2019t keep his mouth shut this time any more than before;\nhe went about telling high and low about the tap, and how easy it was\nto draw all sorts of drink out of it.\n\n\u201cAnd as for that mead and ale, I\u2019ve never tasted the like of them in\nthe king\u2019s palace; honey and syrup are nothing to them for sweetness.\u201d\n\nSo when the Princess heard that, she was all for getting the tap, and\nwas nothing loath to strike a bargain with the owner either. So she\nwent again to the king, and begged him to send a messenger to the\nBeggars\u2019 Isle after the lad who had owned the scissors and cloth, for\nnow he had another thing worth having, she said; and when the king\nheard it was a tap, that was good to give the best ale and wine any one\ncould drink, when one gave it a turn, he wasn\u2019t long in sending the\nmessenger, I should think.\n\nSo when Boots came up to the palace, the Princess asked whether it were\ntrue he had a tap which could do such and such things? \u201cYes! he had\nsuch a tap in his waistcoat pocket\u201d, said Boots; but when the Princess\nwished with all her might to buy it, Boots said, as he had said twice\nbefore, he wouldn\u2019t sell it, even if the Princess bade half the kingdom\nfor it.\n\n\u201cBut all the same\u201d, said Boots; \u201cif I may have leave to sleep on the\nPrincess\u2019 bed to-night, outside the quilt, she shall have my tap. I\u2019ll\nnot do her any harm; but, if she\u2019s afraid, she may set eight men to\nwatch in her room.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cthere was no need of that, she knew him\nnow so well\u201d; and so Boots lay outside the Princess\u2019 bed that night.\nBut if she hadn\u2019t slept much the two nights before, she had less sleep\nthat night; for she couldn\u2019t shut her eyes the livelong night, but lay\nand looked at Boots, who lay alongside her outside the quilt.\n\nSo, when she got up in the morning, and they were going to row Boots\nback to the island, she begged them to hold hard a little bit; and in\nshe ran to the king, and begged him so prettily to let her have Boots\nfor a husband, she was so fond of him, and, unless she had him, she did\nnot care to live.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said the king, \u201cyou shall have him if you must; for he\nwho has such things is just as rich as you are.\u201d\n\nSo Boots got the Princess and half the kingdom\u2014the other half he was to\nhave when the king died; and so everything went smooth and well; but as\nfor his brothers, who had always been so bad to him, he packed them off\nto the Beggars\u2019 island.\n\n\u201cThere\u201d, said Boots, \u201cperhaps they may find out which is best off, the\nman who has his pockets full of money, or the man whom all women fall\nin love with.\u201d\n\nNor, to tell you the truth, do I think it would help them much to\nwander about upon the Beggars\u2019 island pulling pieces of money out of\ntheir pockets; and so, if Boots hasn\u2019t taken them off the island, there\nthey are still walking about to this very day, eating cheese-parings\nand the scrapings of the porridge-pots.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF\n\n\nOnce on a time there were three Billy-goats, who were to go up to the\nhill-side to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was\n\u201cGruff\u201d.\n\nOn the way up was a bridge over a burn they had to cross; and under the\nbridge lived a great ugly Troll, with eyes as big as saucers, and a\nnose as long as a poker.\n\nSo first of all came the youngest billy-goat Gruff to cross the bridge.\n\n\u201cTrip, trap; trip, trap!\u201d went the bridge.\n\n\u201cWHO\u2019S THAT tripping over my bridge?\u201d roared the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh! it is only I, the tiniest billy-goat Gruff; and I\u2019m going up to\nthe hill-side to make myself fat\u201d, said the billy-goat, with such a\nsmall voice.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019m coming to gobble you up\u201d, said the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh, no! pray don\u2019t take me. I\u2019m too little, that I am\u201d, said the\nbilly-goat; \u201cwait a bit till the second billy-goat Gruff comes, he\u2019s\nmuch bigger.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell! be off with you\u201d, said the Troll.\n\nA little while after came the second billy-goat Gruff to cross the\nbridge.\n\n\u201cTRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!\u201d went the bridge.\n\n\u201cWHO\u2019S THAT tripping over my bridge?\u201d roared the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh! it\u2019s the second billy-goat Gruff, and I\u2019m going up to the\nhill-side to make myself fat\u201d, said the billy-goat, who hadn\u2019t such a\nsmall voice.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019m coming to gobble you up\u201d, said the Troll.\n\n\u201cOh, no! don\u2019t take me, wait a little till the big billy-goat Gruff\ncomes, he\u2019s much bigger.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well! be off with you\u201d, said the Troll.\n\nBut just then up came the big billy-goat Gruff.\n\n\u201cTRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!\u201d went the bridge, for the\nbilly-goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him.\n\n\u201cWHO\u2019S THAT tramping over my bridge?\u201d roared the Troll.\n\n\u201cIT\u2019S I! THE BIG BILLY-GOAT GRUFF\u201d, said the billy-goat, who had an\nugly hoarse voice of his own.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019m coming to gobble you up\u201d, roared the Troll.\n\nWell, come along! I\u2019ve got two spears,\nAnd I\u2019ll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;\nI\u2019ve got besides two curling-stones,\nAnd I\u2019ll crush you to bits, body and bones.\n\n\nThat was what the big billy-goat said; and so he flew at the Troll and\npoked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body and\nbones, and tossed him out into the burn, and after that he went up to\nthe hill-side. There the billy-goats got so fat they were scarce able\nto walk home again; and if the fat hasn\u2019t fallen off them, why they\u2019re\nstill fat; and so:\n\nSnip, snap, snout,\nThis tale\u2019s told out.\n\n\n\n\nWELL DONE AND ILL PAID\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man, who had to drive his sledge to the wood\nfor fuel. So a Bear met him.\n\n\u201cOut with your horse\u201d, said the Bear, \u201cor I\u2019ll strike all your sheep\ndead by summer.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! heaven help me then\u201d, said the man; \u201cthere\u2019s not a stick of\nfirewood in the house; you must let me drive home a load of fuel, else\nwe shall be frozen to death. I\u2019ll bring the horse to you to-morrow\nmorning.\u201d\n\nYes! on those terms he might drive the wood home, that was a bargain;\nbut Bruin said, \u201cif he didn\u2019t come back, he should lose all his sheep\nby summer\u201d.\n\nSo the man got the wood on the sledge and rattled homewards, but he\nwasn\u2019t over pleased at the bargain you may fancy. So just then a Fox\nmet him.\n\n\u201cWhy, what\u2019s the matter?\u201d said the Fox; \u201cwhy are you so down in the\nmouth?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, if you want to know\u201d, said the man; \u201cI met a Bear up yonder in the\nwood, and I had to give my word to him to bring Dobbin back to-morrow,\nat this very hour; for if he didn\u2019t get him, he said he would tear all\nmy sheep to death by summer.\u201d\n\n\u201cStuff, nothing worse than that\u201d, said the Fox; \u201cif you\u2019ll give me your\nfattest wether, I\u2019ll soon set you free; see if I don\u2019t.\u201d\n\nYes! the man gave his word, and swore he would keep it too.\n\n\u201cWell, when you come with Dobbin to-morrow for the bear\u201d, said the Fox,\n\u201cI\u2019ll make a clatter up in that heap of stones yonder, and so when the\nbear asks what that noise is, you must say \u2019tis Peter the Marksman, who\nis the best shot in the world; and after that you must help yourself.\u201d\n\nNext day off set the man, and when he met the Bear, something began to\nmake a clatter up in the heap of stones.\n\n\u201cHist! what\u2019s that?\u201d said the Bear.\n\n\u201cOh! that\u2019s Peter the Marksman, to be sure\u201d, said the than; \u201che\u2019s the\nbest shot in the world. I know him by his voice.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you seen any bears about here, Eric?\u201d shouted out a voice in the\nwood.\n\n\u201cSay, no!\u201d said the Bear.\n\n\u201cNo, I haven\u2019t seen any\u201d, said Eric.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that then, that stands alongside your sledge?\u201d bawled out the\nvoice in the wood.\n\n\u201cSay it\u2019s an old fir-stump\u201d, said the Bear.\n\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s only an old fir-stump\u201d, said the man.\n\n\u201cSuch fir-stumps we take in our country and roll them on our sledges\u201d,\nbawled out the voice; \u201cif you can\u2019t do it yourself, I\u2019ll come and help\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay you can help yourself, and roll me up on the sledge\u201d, said the\nBear.\n\n\u201cNo, thank ye, I can help myself well enough\u201d, said the man, and rolled\nthe Bear on to the sledge.\n\n\u201cSuch fir-stumps we always bind fast on our sledges in our part of the\nworld\u201d, bawled out the voice; \u201cshall I come and help you?\u201d\n\n\u201cSay you can help yourself, and bind me fast, do\u201d, said the Bear.\n\n\u201cNo, thanks, I can help myself well enough\u201d, said the man, who set to\nbinding Bruin fast with all the ropes he had, so that at last the bear\ncouldn\u2019t stir a paw.\n\n\u201cSuch fir-stumps we always drive our axes into, in our part of the\nworld\u201d, bawled out the voice; \u201cfor then we guide them better going down\nthe steep pitches.\u201d\n\n\u201cPretend to drive your axe into me, do now\u201d, said the bear. Then the\nman took up his axe, and at one blow split the bear\u2019s skull, so that\nBruin lay dead in a trice, and so the man and the Fox were great\nfriends, and on the best terms. But when they came near the farm, the\nFox said:\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve no mind to go right home with you, for I can\u2019t say I like your\ntykes; so I\u2019ll just wait here, and you can bring the wether to me, but\nmind and pick out one nice and fat.\u201d\n\nYes! the man would be sure to do that, and thanked the Fox much for his\nhelp. So when he had put up Dobbin, he went across to the sheep-stall.\n\n\u201cWhither away, now?\u201d asked his old dame.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the man, \u201cI\u2019m only going to the sheep-stall to fetch a fat\nwether for that cunning Fox, who set our Dobbin free. I gave him my\nword I would.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhither, indeed\u201d, said the old dame; \u201cnever a one shall that thief of\na Fox get. Haven\u2019t we got Dobbin safe, and the bear into the bargain;\nand as for the Fox, I\u2019ll be bound he\u2019s stolen more of our geese than\nthe wether is worth; and even if he hasn\u2019t stolen them, he will. No,\nno; take a brace of your swiftest hounds in a sack, and slip them loose\nafter him; and then, perhaps, we shall be rid of this robbing Reynard.\u201d\n\nWell, the man thought that good advice; so he took two fleet red\nhounds, put them into a sack, and set off with them.\n\n\u201cHave you brought the wether?\u201d said the Fox.\n\n\u201cYes, come and take it\u201d, said the man, as he untied the sack and let\nslip the hounds.\n\n\u201cHUF\u201d, said the Fox, and gave a great spring; \u201ctrue it is what the old\nsaw says, \u2018Well done is often ill paid\u2019; and now, too, I see the truth\nof another saying, \u2018The worst foes are those of one\u2019s own house.\u2019\u201d That\nwas what the Fox said as he ran off, and saw the red foxy hounds at his\nheels.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man, so surly and cross, he never thought\nhis wife did anything right in the house. So, one evening, in\nhay-making time, he came home, scolding and swearing, and showing his\nteeth and making a dust.\n\n\u201cDear love, don\u2019t be so angry; there\u2019s a good man\u201d, said his goody;\n\u201cto-morrow let\u2019s change our work. I\u2019ll go out with the mowers and mow,\nand you shall mind the house at home.\u201d\n\nYes! the husband thought that would do very well. He was quite willing,\nhe said.\n\nSo, early next morning, his goody took a scythe over her neck, and went\nout into the hay-field with the mowers, and began to mow; but the man\nwas to mind the house, and do the work at home.\n\nFirst of all, he wanted to churn the butter; but when he had churned a\nwhile, he got thirsty, and went down to the cellar to tap a barrel of\nale. So, just when he had knocked in the bung, and was putting the tap\ninto the cask, he heard overhead the pig come into the kitchen. Then\noff he ran up the cellar steps, with the tap in his hand, as fast as he\ncould, to look after the pig, lest it should upset the churn; but when\nhe got up, and saw the pig had already knocked the churn over, and\nstood there, routing and grunting amongst the cream which was running\nall over the floor, he got so wild with rage that he quite forgot the\nale-barrel, and ran at the pig as hard as he could. He caught it, too,\njust as it ran out of doors, and gave it such a kick, that piggy lay\nfor dead on the spot.\n\nThen all at once he remembered he had the tap in his hand; but when he\ngot down to the cellar, every drop of ale had run out of the cask.\n\nThen he went into the dairy and found enough cream left to fill the\nchurn again, and so he began to churn, for butter they must have at\ndinner. When he had churned a bit, he remembered that their milking cow\nwas still shut up in the byre, and hadn\u2019t had a bit to eat or a drop to\ndrink all the morning, though the sun was high. Then all at once he\nthought \u2019twas too far to take her down to the meadow, so he\u2019d just get\nher up on the house top-for the house, you must know, was thatched with\nsods, and a fine crop of grass was growing there. Now their house lay\nclose up against a steep down, and he thought if he laid a plank across\nto the thatch at the back he\u2019d easily get the cow up.\n\nBut still he couldn\u2019t leave the churn, for there was his little babe\ncrawling about on the floor, and \u201cif I leave it\u201d, he thought, \u201cthe\nchild is safe to upset it\u201d. So he took the churn on his back, and went\nout with it; but then he thought he\u2019d better first water the cow before\nhe turned her out on the thatch; so he took up a bucket to draw water\nout of the well; but, as he stooped down at the well\u2019s brink, all the\ncream ran out of the churn over his shoulders, and so down into the\nwell.\n\nNow it was near dinner-time, and he hadn\u2019t even got the butter yet; so\nhe thought he\u2019d best boil the porridge, and filled the pot with water,\nand hung it over the fire. When he had done that, he thought the cow\nmight perhaps fall off the thatch and break her legs or her neck. So he\ngot up on the house to tie her up. One end of the rope he made fast to\nthe cow\u2019s neck and the other he slipped down the chimney and tied round\nhis own thigh; and he had to make haste, for the water now began to\nboil in the pot, and he had still to grind the oatmeal.\n\nSo he began to grind away; but while he was hard at it, down fell the\ncow off the house-top after all, and as she fell, she dragged the man\nup the chimney by the rope. There he stuck fast; and as for the cow,\nshe hung half-way down the wall, swinging between heaven and earth, for\nshe could neither get down nor up.\n\nAnd now the goody had waited seven lengths and seven breadths for her\nhusband to come and call them home to dinner; but never a call they\nhad. At last she thought she\u2019d waited long enough, and went home. But\nwhen she got there and saw the cow hanging in such an ugly place, she\nran up and cut the rope in two with her scythe. But as she did this,\ndown came her husband out of the chimney; and so when his old dame came\ninside the kitchen, there she found him standing on his head in the\nporridge pot.\n\n\n\n\nDAPPLEGRIM\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a rich couple who had twelve sons; but the\nyoungest when he was grown up, said he wouldn\u2019t stay any longer at\nhome, but be off into the world to try his luck. His father and mother\nsaid he did very well at home, and had better stay where he was. But\nno, he couldn\u2019t rest; away he must and would go. So at last they gave\nhim leave. And when he had walked a good bit, he came to a king\u2019s\npalace, where he asked for a place, and got it.\n\nNow the daughter of the king of that land had been carried off into the\nhill by a Troll, and the king had no other children; so he and all his\nland were in great grief and sorrow, and the king gave his word that\nany one who could set her free should have the Princess and half the\nkingdom. But there was no one who could do it, though many tried.\n\nSo when the lad had been there a year or so, he longed to go home again\nand see his father and mother, and back he went, but when he got home\nhis father and mother were dead, and his brothers had shared all that\nthe old people owned between them, and so there was nothing left for\nthe lad.\n\n\u201cShan\u2019t I have anything at all, then, out of father\u2019s and mother\u2019s\ngoods?\u201d said the lad.\n\n\u201cWho could tell you were still alive, when you went gadding and\nwandering about so long?\u201d said his brothers. \u201cBut all the same; there\nare twelve mares up on the hill which we haven\u2019t yet shared among us;\nif you choose to take them for your share, you\u2019re quite welcome.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad was quite content; so he thanked his brothers, and went at\nonce up on the hill, where the twelve mares were out at grass. And when\nhe got up there and found them, each of them had a foal at her side,\nand one of them had besides, along with her, a big dapple-gray foal,\nwhich was so sleek that the sun shone from its coat.\n\n\u201cA fine fellow you are, my little foal\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the foal; \u201cbut if you\u2019ll only kill all the other foals, so\nthat I may run and suck all the mares one year more, you\u2019ll see how big\nand sleek I\u2019ll be then.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad was ready to do that; so he killed all those twelve foals,\nand went home again.\n\nSo when he came back the next year to look after his foal and mares,\nthe foal was so fat and sleek, that the sun shone from its coat, and it\nhad grown so big, the lad had hard work to mount it. As for the mares,\nthey had each of them another foal.\n\n\u201cWell, it\u2019s quite plain I lost nothing by letting you suck all my\ntwelve mares\u201d, said the lad to the yearling, \u201cbut now you\u2019re big enough\nto come along with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the colt, \u201cI must bide here a year longer; and now kill all\nthe twelve foals, that I may suck all the mares this year too, and\nyou\u2019ll see how big and sleek I\u2019ll be by summer.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad did that; and next year when he went up on the hill to\nlook after his colt and the mares, each mare had her foal, but the\ndapple colt was so tall the lad couldn\u2019t reach up to his crest when he\nwanted to feel how fat he was; and so sleek he was too, that his coat\nglistened in the sunshine.\n\n\u201cBig and beautiful you were last year, my colt\u201d, said the lad, \u201cbut\nthis year you\u2019re far grander. There\u2019s no such horse in the king\u2019s\nstable. But now you must come along with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said Dapple again, \u201cI must stay here one year more. Kill the\ntwelve foals as before, that I may suck the mares the whole year, and\nthen just come and look at me when the summer comes.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad did that; he killed the foals, and went away home.\n\nBut when he went up next year to look after Dapple and the mares, he\nwas quite astonished. So tall, and stout, and sturdy, he never thought\na horse could be; for Dapple had to lie down on all fours before the\nlad could bestride him, and it was hard work to get up even then,\nalthough he lay flat; and his coat was so smooth and sleek, the\nsunbeams shone from it as from a looking-glass.\n\nThis time Dapple was willing enough to follow the lad, so he jumped up\non his back, and when he came riding home to his brothers, they all\nclapped their hands and crossed themselves, for such a horse they had\nnever heard of nor seen before.\n\n\u201cIf you will only get me the best shoes you can for my horse, and the\ngrandest saddle and bridle that are to be found\u201d, said the lad, \u201cyou\nmay have my twelve mares that graze up on the hill yonder, and their\ntwelve foals into the bargain.\u201d For you must know that this year too\nevery mare had her foal.\n\nYes, his brothers were ready to do that, and so the lad got such strong\nshoes under his horse, that the stones flew high aloft as he rode away\nacross the hills; and he had a golden saddle and a golden bridle, which\ngleamed and glistened a long way off.\n\n\u201cNow we\u2019re off to the king\u2019s palace\u201d, said Dapplegrim\u2014that was his\nname; \u201cbut mind you ask the king for a good stable and good fodder for\nme.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad said he would mind; he\u2019d be sure not to forget; and when\nhe rode off from his brothers\u2019 house, you may be sure it wasn\u2019t long,\nwith such a horse under him, before he got to the king\u2019s palace.\n\nWhen he came there the king was standing on the steps, and stared and\nstared at the man who came riding along.\n\n\u201cNay, nay!\u201d, said he, \u201csuch a man and such a horse I never yet saw in\nall my life.\u201d\n\nBut when the lad asked if he could get a place in the king\u2019s household,\nthe king was so glad he was ready to jump and dance as he stood on the\nsteps.\n\nWell, they said, perhaps he might get a place there.\n\n\u201cAye\u201d, said the lad, \u201cbut I must have good stable-room for my horse,\nand fodder that one can trust.\u201d\n\nYes! he should have meadow-hay and oats, as much as Dapple could cram,\nand all the other knights had to lead their horses out of the stable\nthat Dapplegrim might stand alone, and have it all to himself.\n\nBut it wasn\u2019t long before all the others in the king\u2019s household began\nto be jealous of the lad, and there was no end to the bad things they\nwould have done to him, if they had only dared. At last they thought of\ntelling the king he had said he was man enough to set the king\u2019s\ndaughter free\u2014whom the Troll had long since carried away into the\nhill\u2014if he only chose. The king called the lad before him, and said he\nhad heard the lad said he was good to do so and so; so now he must go\nand do it. If he did it, he knew how the king had promised his daughter\nand half the kingdom, and that promise would be faithfully kept; if he\ndidn\u2019t, he should be killed.\n\nThe lad kept on saying he never said any such thing; but it was no\ngood\u2014the king wouldn\u2019t even listen to him; and so the end of it was he\nwas forced to say he\u2019d go and try.\n\nSo he went into the stable, down in the mouth and heavy-hearted, and\nthen Dapplegrim asked him at once why he was in such dumps.\n\nThen the lad told him all, and how he couldn\u2019t tell which way to turn:\n\n\u201cFor as for setting the Princess free, that\u2019s downright stuff.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! but it might be done, perhaps\u201d, said Dapplegrim. \u201cI\u2019ll help you\nthrough; but you must first have me well shod. You must go and ask for\nten pound of iron and twelve pound of steel for the shoes, and one\nsmith to hammer and another to hold.\u201d\n\nYes, the lad did that, and got for answer \u201cYes!\u201d He got both the iron\nand the steel, and the smiths, and so Dapplegrim was shod both strong\nand well, and off went the lad from the court-yard in a cloud of dust.\n\nBut when he came to the hill into which the Princess had been carried,\nthe pinch was how to get up the steep wall of rock where the Troll\u2019s\ncave was, in which the Princess had been hid. For you must know the\nhill stood straight up and down right on end, as upright as a\nhouse-wall, and as smooth as a sheet of glass.\n\nThe first time the lad went at it he got a little way up; but then\nDapple\u2019s fore-legs slipped, and down they went again, with a sound like\nthunder on the hill.\n\nThe second time he rode at it he got some way further up; but then one\nfore-leg slipped, and down they went with a crash like a landslip.\n\nBut the third time Dapple said:\n\n\u201cNow we must show our mettle\u201d; and went at it again till the stones\nflew heaven-high about them, and so they got up.\n\nThen the lad rode right into the cave at full speed, and caught up the\nPrincess, and threw her over his saddle-bow and out and down again\nbefore the Troll had time even to get on his legs; and so the Princess\nwas freed.\n\nWhen the lad came back to the palace, the king was both happy and glad\nto get his daughter back; that you may well believe; but somehow or\nother, though I don\u2019t know how, the others about the court had so\nbrought it about that the king was angry with the lad after all.\n\n\u201cThanks you shall have for freeing my Princess\u201d, said he to the lad,\nwhen he brought the Princess into the hall, and made his bow.\n\n\u201cShe ought to be mine as well as yours; for you\u2019re a word-fast man, I\nhope\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cAye, aye!\u201d said the king, \u201chave her you shall, since I said it; but\nfirst of all, you must make the sun shine into my palace hall.\u201d\n\nNow, you must know there was a high steep ridge of rock close outside\nthe windows, which threw such a shade over the hall that never a\nsunbeam shone into it.\n\n\u201cThat wasn\u2019t in our bargain\u201d, answered the lad; \u201cbut I see this is past\npraying against; I must e\u2019en go and try my luck, for the Princess I\nmust and will have.\u201d\n\nSo down he went to Dapple, and told him what the king wanted, and\nDapplegrim thought it might easily be done, but first of all he must be\nnew shod; and for that ten pound of iron, and twelve pound of steel\nbesides, were needed, and two smiths, one to hammer and the other to\nhold, and then they\u2019d soon get the sun to shine into the palace hall.\n\nSo when the lad asked for all these things, he got them at once\u2014the\nking couldn\u2019t say nay for very shame; and so Dapplegrim got new shoes,\nand such shoes! Then the lad jumped upon his back, and off they went\nagain; and for every leap that Dapplegrim gave, down sank the ridge\nfifteen ells into the earth, and so they went on till there was nothing\nleft of the ridge for the king to see.\n\nWhen the lad got back to the king\u2019s palace, he asked the king if the\nPrincess were not his now; for now no one could say that the sun didn\u2019t\nshine into the hall. But then the others set the king\u2019s back up again,\nand he answered the lad should have her of course, he had never thought\nof anything else; but first of all he must get as grand a horse for the\nbride to ride on to church as the bridegroom had himself.\n\nThe lad said the king hadn\u2019t spoken a word about this before, and that\nhe thought he had now fairly earned the Princess; but the king held to\nhis own; and more, if the lad couldn\u2019t do that he should lose his life;\nthat was what the king said. So the lad went down to the stable in\ndoleful dumps, as you may well fancy, and there he told Dapplegrim all\nabout it; how the king had laid that task on him, to find the bride as\ngood a horse as the bridegroom had himself, else he would lose his\nlife.\n\n\u201cBut that\u2019s not so easy\u201d, he said, \u201cfor your match isn\u2019t to be found in\nthe wide world.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes, I have a match\u201d, said Dapplegrim; \u201cbut \u2019tisn\u2019t so easy to find\nhim, for he abides in Hell. Still we\u2019ll try. And now you must go up to\nthe king and ask for new shoes for me, ten pound of iron, and twelve\npound of steel; and two smiths, one to hammer and one to hold; and mind\nyou see that the points and ends of these shoes are sharp; and twelve\nsacks of rye, and twelve sacks of barley, and twelve slaughtered oxen,\nwe must have with us; and mind, we must have the twelve ox-hides, with\ntwelve hundred spikes driven into each; and, let me see, a big\ntar-barrel\u2014that\u2019s all we want.\u201d\n\nSo the lad went up to the king and asked for all that Dapplegrim had\nsaid, and the king again thought he couldn\u2019t say nay, for shame\u2019s sake,\nand so the lad got all he wanted.\n\nWell, he jumped up on Dapplegrim\u2019s back, and rode away from the palace,\nand when he had ridden far far over hill and heath, Dapple asked:\n\n\u201cDo you hear anything?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I hear an awful hissing and rustling up in the air,\u201d said the\nlad; \u201cI think I\u2019m getting afraid.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s all the wild birds that fly through the wood. They are sent to\nstop us; but just cut a hole in the corn-sacks, and then they\u2019ll have\nso much to do with the corn, they\u2019ll forget us quite.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad did that; he cut holes in the corn-sacks, so that the rye\nand barley ran out on all sides. Then all the wild birds that were in\nthe wood came flying round them so thick that the sunbeams grew dark;\nbut as soon as they saw the corn, they couldn\u2019t keep to their purpose,\nbut flew down and began to pick and scratch at the rye and barley, and\nafter that they began to fight among themselves. As for Dapplegrim and\nthe lad, they forgot all about them, and did them no harm.\n\nSo the lad rode on and on\u2014far far over mountain and dale, over\nsand-hills and moor. Then Dapplegrim began to prick up his ears again,\nand at last he asked the lad if he heard anything?\n\n\u201cYes! now I hear such an ugly roaring and howling in the wood all\nround, it makes me quite afraid.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Dapplegrim, \u201cthat\u2019s all the wild beasts that range through\nthe wood, and they\u2019re sent out to stop us. But just cast out the twelve\ncarcasses of the oxen, that will give them enough to do, and so they\u2019ll\nforget us outright.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad cast out the carcasses, and then all the wild beasts in\nthe wood, both bears, and wolves, and lions\u2014all fell beasts of all\nkinds\u2014came after them. But when they saw the carcasses, they began to\nfight for them among themselves till blood flowed in streams; but\nDapplegrim and the lad they quite forgot.\n\nSo the lad rode far away, and they changed the landscape many many\ntimes, for Dapplegrim didn\u2019t let the grass grow under him, as you may\nfancy. At last Dapple gave a great neigh.\n\n\u201cDo you hear anything?\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cYes, I hear something like a colt neighing loud, a long long way off\u201d,\nanswered the lad.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a full-grown colt then\u201d, said Dapplegrim, \u201cif we hear him neigh\nso loud such a long way off.\u201d\n\nAfter that they travelled a good bit, changing the landscape once or\ntwice, maybe. Then Dapplegrim gave another neigh.\n\n\u201cNow listen, and tell me if you hear anything\u201d, he said.\n\n\u201cYes, now I hear a neigh like a full-grown horse\u201d, answered the lad.\n\n\u201cAye! aye!\u201d said Dapplegrim, \u201cyou\u2019ll hear him once again soon, and then\nyou\u2019ll hear he\u2019s got a voice of his own.\u201d\n\nSo they travelled on and on, and changed the landscape once or twice,\nperhaps, and then Dapplegrim neighed the third time; but before he\ncould ask the lad if he heard anything, something gave such a neigh\nacross the heathy hill-side, the lad thought hill and rock would surely\nbe rent asunder.\n\n\u201cNow, he\u2019s here!\u201d said Dapplegrim; \u201cmake haste, now, and throw the ox\nhides, with the spikes in them, over me, and throw down the tar-barrel\non the plain; then climb up into that great spruce-fir yonder. When it\ncomes fire will flash out of both nostrils, and then the tar-barrel\nwill catch fire. Now, mind what I say. If the flame rises, I win; if it\nfalls, I lose; but if you see me winning take and cast the bridle\u2014you\nmust take it off me\u2014over its head, and then it will be tame enough.\u201d\n\nSo just as the lad had done throwing the ox hides, with the spikes,\nover Dapplegrim, and had cast down the tar-barrel on the plain, and had\ngot well up into the spruce-fir, up galloped a horse, with fire\nflashing out of his nostrils, and the flame caught the tar-barrel at\nonce. Then Dapplegrim and the strange horse began to fight till the\nstones flew heaven high. They fought and bit, and kicked, both with\nfore-feet and hind-feet, and sometimes the lad could see them, and\nsometimes he couldn\u2019t; but at last the flame began to rise; for\nwherever the strange horse kicked or bit, he met the spiked hides, and\nat last he had to yield. When the lad saw that, he wasn\u2019t long in\ngetting down from the tree, and in throwing the bridle over its head,\nand then it was so tame you could hold it with a pack-thread.\n\nAnd what do you think? that horse was dappled too, and so like\nDapplegrim, you couldn\u2019t tell which was which. Then the lad bestrode\nthe new Dapple he had broken, and rode home to the palace, and old\nDapplegrim ran loose by his side. So when he got home, there stood the\nking out in the yard.\n\n\u201cCan you tell me now\u201d, said the lad, \u201cwhich is the horse I have caught\nand broken, and which is the one I had before. If you can\u2019t, I think\nyour daughter is fairly mine.\u201d\n\nThen the king went and looked at both Dapples, high and low, before and\nbehind, but there wasn\u2019t a hair on one which wasn\u2019t on the other as\nwell. \u201cNo\u201d, said the king, \u201cthat I can\u2019t; and since you\u2019ve got my\ndaughter such a grand horse for her wedding, you shall have her with\nall my heart. But still, we\u2019ll have one trial more, just to see whether\nyou\u2019re fated to have her. First, she shall hide herself twice, and then\nyou shall hide yourself twice. If you can find out her hiding-place,\nand she can\u2019t find out yours, why then you\u2019re fated to have her, and so\nyou shall have her.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not in the bargain either\u201d, said the lad; \u201cbut we must just\ntry, since it must be so\u201d; and so the Princess went off to hide herself\nfirst.\n\nSo she turned herself into a duck, and lay swimming on a pond that was\nclose to the palace. But the lad only ran down to the stable, and asked\nDapplegrim what she had done with herself.\n\n\u201cOh, you only need to take your gun\u201d, said Dapplegrim, \u201cand go down to\nthe brink of the pond, and aim at the duck which lies swimming about\nthere, and she\u2019ll soon show herself.\u201d\n\nSo the lad snatched up his gun and ran off to the pond. \u201cI\u2019ll just take\na pop at this duck\u201d, he said, and began to aim at it.\n\n\u201cNay, nay, dear friend, don\u2019t shoot. It\u2019s I\u201d, said the Princess.\n\nSo he had found her once.\n\nThe second time the Princess turned herself into a loaf of bread, and\nlaid herself on the table among four other loaves; and so like was she\nto the others, no one could say which was which.\n\nBut the lad went again down to the stable to Dapplegrim, and said how\nthe Princess had hidden herself again, and he couldn\u2019t tell at all what\nhad become of her.\n\n\u201cOh, just take and sharpen a good bread-knife\u201d, said Dapplegrim,\u201d and\ndo as if you were going to cut in two the third loaf on the left hand\nof those four loaves which are lying on the dresser in the king\u2019s\nkitchen, and you\u2019ll find her soon enough.\u201d\n\nYes! the was down in the kitchen in no time, and began to sharpen the\nbiggest bread-knife he could lay hands on; then he caught hold of the\nthird loaf on the left hand, and put the knife to it, as though he was\ngoing to cut it in two. I\u2019ll just have a slice off this loaf\u201d, he said,\n\nNay, dear friend\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cdon\u2019t cut. It\u2019s I\u201d So he had\nfound her twice.\n\nThen he was to go and hide; but he and Dapplegrim had settled it all so\nwell beforehand, it wasn\u2019t easy to find him. First he turned himself\ninto a tick, and hid himself in Dapplegrim\u2019s left nostril; and the\nPrincess went about hunting him everywhere, high and low; at last she\nwanted to go into Dapplegrim\u2019s stall, but he began to bite and kick, so\nthat she daren\u2019t go near him, and so she couldn\u2019t find the lad.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, she said, \u201csince I can\u2019t find you, you must show where you are\nyourself\u201d; and in a trice the lad stood there on the stable floor.\n\nThe second time Dapplegrim told him again what to do; and then he\nturned himself into a clod of earth, and stuck himself between Dapple\u2019s\nhoof and shoe on the near forefoot. So the Princess hunted up and down,\nout and in, everywhere; at last she came into the stable, and wanted to\ngo into Dapplegrim\u2019s loose-box. This time he let her come up to him,\nand she pried high and low, but under his hoofs she couldn\u2019t come, for\nhe stood firm as a rock on his feet, and so she couldn\u2019t find the lad.\n\n\u201cWell; you must just show yourself, for I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t find you\u201d,\nsaid the Princess, and as she spoke the lad stood by her side on the\nstable floor.\n\n\u201cNow you are mine indeed\u201d, said the lad; \u201cfor now you can see I\u2019m fated\nto have you.\u201d This he said both to the father and daughter.\n\n\u201cYes; it is so fated\u201d, said the king; \u201cso it must be.\u201d Then they got\nready the wedding in right down earnest, and lost no time about it; and\nthe lad got on Dapplegrim, and the Princess on Dapplegrim\u2019s match, and\nthen you may fancy they were not long on their way to the church.\n\n\n\n\nFARMER WEATHERSKY\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man and his wife, who had an only son, and\nhis name was Jack. The old dame thought it high time for her son to go\nout into the world to learn a trade, and bade her husband be off with\nhim.\n\n\u201cBut all you do\u201d, she said, \u201cmind you bind him to some one who can\nteach him to be master above all masters\u201d; and with that she put some\nfood and a roll of tobacco into a bag, and packed them off.\n\nWell! they went to many masters; but one and all said they could make\nthe lad as good as themselves, but better they couldn\u2019t make him. So\nwhen the man came home again to his wife with that answer, she said:\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care what you make of him; but this I say and stick to, you\nmust bind him to some one where he can learn to be master above all\nmasters\u201d; and with that she packed up more food and another roll of\ntobacco, and father and son had to be off again.\n\nNow when they had walked a while they got upon the ice, and there they\nmet a man who came whisking along in a sledge, and drove a black horse.\n\n\u201cWhither away?\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the father, \u201cI\u2019m going to bind my son to some one who is\ngood to teach him a trade; but my old dame comes of such fine folk, she\nwill have him taught to be master above all masters.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell met then\u201d, said the driver; \u201cI\u2019m just the man for your money, for\nI\u2019m looking out for such an apprentice. Up with you behind!\u201d he added\nto the lad, and whisk! off they went, both of them, and sledge and\nhorse, right up into the air.\n\n\u201cNay, nay!\u201d cried the lad\u2019s father, \u201cyou haven\u2019t told me your name, nor\nwhere you live.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the master, \u201cI\u2019m at home alike north and south, and east and\nwest, and my name\u2019s _Farmer Weathersky_. In a year and a day you may\ncome here again, and then I\u2019ll tell you if I like him.\u201d So away they\nwent through the air, and were soon out of sight.\n\nSo when the man got home, his old dame asked what had become of her\nson.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the man, \u201cHeaven knows, I\u2019m sure I don\u2019t. They went up\naloft\u201d; and so he told her what had happened. But when the old dame\nheard that her husband couldn\u2019t tell at all when her son\u2019s\napprenticeship would be out, nor whither he had gone, she packed him\noff again, and gave him another bag of food and another roll of\ntobacco.\n\nSo, when he had walked a bit, he came to a great wood, which stretched\non and on all day as he walked through it. When it got dark he saw a\ngreat light, and he went towards it. After a long, long time he came to\na little but under a rock, and outside stood an old hag drawing water\nout of a well with her nose, so long was it.\n\n\u201cGood evening, mother!\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cThe same to you\u201d, said the old hag. \u201cIt\u2019s hundreds of years since any\none called me mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan I have lodging here to-night?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cNo! that you can\u2019t\u201d, said she.\n\nBut then the man pulled out his roll of tobacco, lighted his pipe, and\ngave the old dame a whiff, and a pinch of snuff. Then she was so happy\nshe began to dance for joy, and the end was, she gave the man leave to\nstop the night.\n\nSo next morning he began to ask after Farmer Weathersky. \u201cNo! she never\nheard tell of him, but she ruled over all the four-footed beasts;\nperhaps some of them might know him.\u201d So she played them all home with\na pipe she had, and asked them all, but there wasn\u2019t one of them who\nknew anything about Farmer Weathersky.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said the old hag, \u201cthere are three sisters of us; maybe one of\nthe other two know where he lives. I\u2019ll lend you my horse and sledge,\nand then you\u2019ll be at her house by night; but it\u2019s at least three\nhundred miles off, the nearest way.\u201d\n\nThen the man started off, and at night reached the house, and when he\ncame there, there stood another old hag before the door, drawing water\nout of the well with her nose.\n\n\u201cGood evening, mother!\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cThe same to you\u201d, said she; \u201cit\u2019s hundreds of years since any one\ncalled me mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan I lodge here to-night?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d said the old hag.\n\nBut he took out his roll of tobacco, lighted his pipe, and gave the old\ndame a whiff, and a good pinch of snuff besides, on the back of her\nhand. Then she was so happy that she began to jump and dance for joy,\nand so the man got leave to stay the night. When that was over, he\nbegan to ask after Farmer Weathersky. \u201cNo! she had never heard tell of\nhim; but she ruled all the fish in the sea; perhaps some of them might\nknow something about him.\u201d So she played them all home with a pipe she\nhad, and asked them, but there wasn\u2019t one of them who knew anything\nabout Farmer Weathersky.\n\n\u201cWell, well!\u201d said the old hag, \u201cthere\u2019s one sister of us left; maybe\nshe knows something about him. She lives six hundred miles off, but\nI\u2019ll lend you my horse and sledge, and then you\u2019ll get there by\nnightfall.\u201d\n\nThen the man started off, and reached the house by nightfall, and there\nhe found another old hag who stood before the grate, and stirred the\nfire with her nose, so long and tough it was.\n\n\u201cGood evening, mother!\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cThe same to you\u201d, said the old hag; \u201cit\u2019s hundreds of years since any\none called me mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan I lodge here to-night?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the old hag.\n\nThen the man pulled out his roll of tobacco again, and lighted his\npipe, and gave the old hag such a pinch of snuff it covered the whole\nback of her hand. Then she got so happy she began to dance for joy, and\nso the man got leave to stay. But when the night was over, he began to\nask after Farmer Weathersky. She never heard tell of him she said; but\nshe ruled over all the birds of the air, and so she played them all\nhome with a pipe she had, and when she had mustered them all, the Eagle\nwas missing. But a little while after he came flying home, and when she\nasked him, he said he had just come straight from Farmer Weathersky.\nThen the old hag said he must guide the man thither; but the eagle said\nhe must have something to eat first, and besides he must rest till the\nnext day; he was so tired with flying that long way, he could scarce\nrise from the earth.\n\nSo when he had eaten his fill and taken a good rest, the old hag pulled\na feather out of the Eagle\u2019s tail, and put the man there in its stead;\nso the Eagle flew off with the man, and flew, and flew, but they didn\u2019t\nreach Farmer Weathersky\u2019s house before midnight.\n\nSo when they got there, the Eagle said\n\n\u201cThere are heaps of dead bodies lying about outside but you mustn\u2019t\nmind them. Inside the house every man Jack of them are so sound asleep,\n\u201ct will be hard work to wake them; but you must go straight to the\ntable drawer, and take out of it three crumbs of bread, and when you\nhear some one snoring loud, pull three feathers out of his head; he\nwon\u2019t wake for all that.\u201d\n\nSo the man did as he was told, and after he had taken the crumbs of\nbread, he pulled out the first feather.\n\n\u201cOOF!\u201d growled Farmer Weathersky, for it was he who snored.\n\nSo the man pulled out another feather.\n\n\u201cOOF!\u201d he growled again.\n\nBut when he pulled out the third, Farmer Weathersky roared so, the man\nthought roof and wall would have flown asunder, but for all that the\nsnorer slept on.\n\nAfter that the Eagle told him what he was to do. He went to the yard,\nand there at the stable-door he stumbled against a big gray stone, and\nthat he lifted up; underneath it lay three chips of wood, and those he\npicked up too; then he knocked at the stable-door, and it opened of\nitself. Then he threw down the three crumbs of bread, and a hare came\nand ate them up; that hare he caught and kept. After that the Eagle\nbade him pull three feathers out of his tail, and put the hare, the\nstone, the chips, and himself there instead, and then he would fly away\nhome with them all.\n\nSo when the Eagle had flown a long way, he lighted on a rock to rest.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything?\u201d it asked.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the man, \u201cI see a flock of crows coming flying after us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019d better be off again, then\u201d, said the Eagle, who flew away.\n\nAfter a while it asked again:\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the man; \u201cnow the crows are close behind us.\u201d\n\n\u201cDrop now the three feathers you pulled out of his head, said the\nEagle.\n\nWell, the man dropped the feathers, and as soon as ever he dropped them\nthey became a flock of ravens which drove the crows home again. Then\nthe Eagle flew on far away with the man, and at last it lighted on\nanother stone to rest.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything?\u201d it said.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m not sure\u201d, said the man; \u201cI fancy I see something coming far far\naway\u201d.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019d better get on then\u201d, said the Eagle; and after a while it said\nagain:\n\n\u201cDo you see anything?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the man, \u201cnow he\u2019s close at our heels.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, you must let fall the chips of wood which you took from under the\ngray stone at the stable door\u201d, said the Eagle.\n\nYes! the man let them fall, and they grew at once up into tall thick\nwood, so that Farmer Weathersky had to go back home to fetch an axe to\nhew his way through. While he did this, the Eagle flew ever so far, but\nwhen it got tired, it lighted on a fir to rest.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything?\u201d it said.\n\n\u201cWell! I\u2019m not sure\u201d, said the man; \u201cbut I fancy I catch a glimpse of\nsomething far away.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019d best be off then\u201d, said the Eagle; and off it flew as fast as it\ncould. After a while it said:\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes! now he\u2019s close behind us\u201d, said the man.\n\n\u201cNow, you must drop the big stone you lifted up at the stable door\u201d,\nsaid the Eagle.\n\nThe man did so, and as it fell it became a great high mountain, which\nFarmer Weathersky had to break his way through. When he had got half\nthrough the mountain, he tripped and broke one of his legs, and so he\nhad to limp home again and patch it up.\n\nBut while he was doing this, the Eagle flew away to the man\u2019s house\nwith him and the hare, and as soon as they got home, the man went into\nthe churchyard and sprinkled Christian mould over the hare, and lo! it\nturned into \u201cJack\u201d, his son.\n\nWell, you may fancy the old dame was glad to get her son again, but\nstill she wasn\u2019t easy in her mind about his trade, and she wouldn\u2019t\nrest till he gave her a proof that he was \u201cmaster above all masters\u201d.\n\nSo when the fair came round, the lad changed himself into a bay horse,\nand told his father to lead him to the fair. \u201cNow, when any one comes\u201d,\nhe said, \u201cto buy me, you may ask a hundred dollars for me; but mind you\ndon\u2019t forget to take the headstall off me; if you do, Farmer Weathersky\nwill keep me for ever, for he it is who will come to deal with you.\u201d\n\nSo it turned out. Up came a horse-dealer, who had a great wish to deal\nfor the horse, and he gave a hundred dollars down for him; but when the\nbargain was struck, and Jack\u2019s father had pocketed the money, the\nhorse-dealer wanted to have the headstall. \u201cNay, nay!\u201d said the man,\n\u201cthere\u2019s nothing about that in the bargain; and besides, you can\u2019t have\nthe headstall, for I\u2019ve other horses at home to bring to town\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\nSo each went his way; but they hadn\u2019t gone far before Jack took his own\nshape and ran away, and when his father got home, there sat Jack in the\ningle.\n\nNext day he turned himself into a brown horse, and told his father to\ndrive him to the fair.\n\n\u201cAnd when any one comes to buy me, you may ask two hundred dollars for\nme\u2014he\u2019ll give that and treat you besides; but whatever you do, and\nhowever much you drink, don\u2019t forget to take the headstall off me, else\nyou\u2019ll never set eyes on me again.\u201d\n\nSo all happened as he had said; the man got two hundred dollars for the\nhorse and a glass of drink besides, and when the buyer and seller\nparted, it was as much as he could do to remember to take off the\nheadstall. But the buyer and the horse hadn\u2019t got far on the road\nbefore Jack took his own shape, and when the man got home, there sat\nJack in the ingle.\n\nThe third day, it was the same story over again: the lad turned himself\ninto a black horse, and told his father some one would come and bid\nthree hundred dollars for him, and fill his skin with meat and drink\nbesides; but however much he ate or drank, he was to mind and not\nforget to take the headstall off, else he\u2019d have to stay with Farmer\nWeathersky all his life long.\n\n\u201cNo, no; I\u2019ll not forget, never fear\u201d, said the man.\n\nSo when he came to the fair, he got three hundred dollars for the\nhorse, and as it wasn\u2019t to be a dry bargain, Farmer Weathersky made him\ndrink so much that he quite forgot to take the headstall off, and away\nwent Farmer Weathersky with the horse. Now when he had gone a little\nway, Farmer Weathersky thought he would just stop and have another\nglass of brandy; so he put a barrel of red-hot nails under his horse\u2019s\nnose, and a sieve of oats under his tail, hung the halter, upon a hook,\nand went into the inn. So the horse stood there and stamped and pawed,\nand snorted and reared. Just then out came a lassie, who thought it a\nshame to treat a horse so.\n\n\u201cOh, poor beastie\u201d, she said, \u201cwhat a cruel master you must have to\ntreat you so\u201d, and as she said this she pulled the halter off the hook,\nso that the horse might turn round and taste the oats.\n\n\u201cI\u2019M AFTER YOU\u201d, roared Farmer Weathersky, who came rushing out of the\ndoor.\n\nBut the horse had already shaken off the headstall, and jumped into a\nduck-pond, where he turned himself into a tiny fish. In went Farmer\nWeathersky after him, and turned himself into a great pike. Then Jack\nturned himself into a dove, and Farmer Weathersky made himself into a\nhawk, and chased and struck at the dove. But just then a Princess stood\nat the window of the palace and saw this struggle.\n\n\u201cAh! poor dove\u201d, she cried, \u201cif you only knew what I know, you\u2019d fly to\nme through this window.\u201d\n\nSo the dove came flying in through the window, and turned itself into\nJack again, who told his own tale.\n\n\u201cTurn yourself into a gold ring, and put yourself on my finger\u201d, said\nthe Princess.\n\n\u201cNay, nay!\u201d said Jack, \u201cthat\u2019ll never do, for then Farmer Weathersky\nwill make the king sick, and then there\u2019ll be no one who can make him\nwell again till Farmer Weathersky comes and cures him, and then, for\nhis fee, he\u2019ll ask for that gold ring.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll say I had it from my mother, and can\u2019t part with it\u201d, said\nthe Princess.\n\nWell, Jack turned himself into a gold ring, and put himself on the\nPrincess\u2019 finger, and so Farmer Weathersky couldn\u2019t get at him. But\nthen followed what the lad had foretold; the king fell sick, and there\nwasn\u2019t a doctor in the kingdom who could cure him till Farmer\nWeathersky came, and he asked for the ring off the Princess\u2019 finger for\nhis fee. So the king sent a messenger to the Princess for the ring; but\nthe Princess said she wouldn\u2019t part with it, her mother had left it\nher. When the king heard that, he flew into a rage, and said he would\nhave the ring, whoever left it to her.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cit\u2019s no good being cross about it. I can\u2019t\nget it off, and if you must have the ring, you must take my finger\ntoo.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019ll let me try, I\u2019ll soon get the ring off\u201d, said Farmer\nWeathersky.\n\n\u201cNo, thanks, I\u2019ll try myself\u201d, said the Princess, and flew off to the\ngrate and put ashes on her finger. Then the ring slipped off and was\nlost among the ashes. So Farmer Weathersky turned himself into a cock,\nwho scratched and pecked after the ring in the grate, till he was up to\nthe ears in ashes. But while he was doing this, Jack turned himself\ninto a fox, and bit off the cock\u2019s head; and so if the Evil One was in\nFarmer Weathersky, it is all over with him now.\n\n\n\n\nLORD PETER\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor couple, and they had nothing in the\nworld but three sons. What the names the two elder had I can\u2019t say, but\nthe youngest he was called Peter. So when their father and mother died,\nthe sons were to share what was left, but there was nothing but a\nporridge-pot, a griddle, and a cat.\n\nThe eldest, who was to have first choice, he took the pot; \u201cfor\u201d, said\nhe, \u201cwhenever I lend the pot to any one to boil porridge, I can always\nget leave to scrape it\u201d.\n\nThe second took the griddle; \u201cfor\u201d, said he, \u201cwhenever I lend it to any\none, I\u2019ll always get a morsel of dough to make a bannock.\u201d\n\nBut the youngest, he had no choice left him; if he was to choose\nanything it must be the cat.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said he, \u201cif I lend the cat to any one I shan\u2019t get much by\nthat; for if pussy gets a drop of milk, she\u2019ll want it all herself.\nStill, I\u2019d best take her along with me; I shouldn\u2019t like her to go\nabout here and starve.\u201d\n\nSo the brothers went out into the world to try their luck, and each\ntook his own way; but when the youngest had gorse a while, the cat\nsaid:\n\n\u201cNow you shall have a good turn, because you wouldn\u2019t let me stay\nbehind in the old cottage and starve. Now, I\u2019m off to the wood to lay\nhold of a fine fat head of game, and then you must go up to the king\u2019s\npalace that you see yonder, and say you are come with a little present\nfor the king; and when he asks who sends it, you must say, \u2018Why, who\nshould it be from but Lord Peter.\u2019\u201d\n\nWell! Peter hadn\u2019t waited long before back came the cat with a reindeer\nfrom the wood; she had jumped up on the reindeer\u2019s head, between his\nhorns, and said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t go straight to the king\u2019s palace I\u2019ll\nclaw your eyes out.\u201d\n\nSo the reindeer had to go whether he liked it or no.\n\nAnd when Peter got to the palace he went into the kitchen with the\ndeer, and said: \u201cHere I\u2019m come with a little present for the king, if\nhe won\u2019t despise it.\u201d\n\nThen the King went out into the kitchen, and when he saw the fine plump\nreindeer, he was very glad.\n\n\u201cBut, my dear friend\u201d, he said, \u201cwho in the world is it that sends me\nsuch a fine gift?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Peter, \u201cwho should send it but Lord Peter.\u201d\n\n\u201cLord Peter! Lord Peter!\u201d said the King. \u201cPray tell me where he lives\u201d;\nfor he thought it a shame not to know so great a man. But that was just\nwhat the lad wouldn\u2019t tell him; he daren\u2019t do it, he said, because his\nmaster had forbidden him.\n\nSo the King gave him a good bit of money to drink his health, and bade\nhim be sure and say all kind of pretty things, and many thanks for the\npresent to his master when he got home.\n\nNext day the Cat went again into the wood, and jumped up on a red\ndeer\u2019s head, and sat between his horns, and forced him to go to the\npalace. Then Peter went again into the kitchen, and said he was come\nwith a little present for the King, if he would be pleased to take it.\nAnd the King was still more glad to get the red deer than he had been\nto get the reindeer, and asked again who it was that sent so fine a\npresent.\n\n\u201cWhy, it\u2019s Lord Peter, of course\u201d, said the lad; but when the King\nwanted to know where Lord Peter lived, he got the same answer as the\nday before; and this day, too, he gave Peter a good lump of money to\ndrink his health with.\n\nThe third day the Cat came with an elk. And so when Peter got into the\npalace kitchen, and said he had a little present for the King, if he\u2019d\nbe pleased to take it, the King came out at once into the kitchen; and\nwhen he saw the grand big elk, he was so glad he scarce knew which leg\nto stand on; and this day, too, he gave Peter many many more dollars\u2014at\nleast a hundred. He wished now, once for all, to know where this Lord\nPeter lived, and asked and asked about this thing and that, but the lad\nsaid he daren\u2019t say, for his master\u2019s sake, who had strictly forbidden\nhim to tell.\n\n\u201cWell, then\u201d, said the King, \u201cbeg Lord Peter to come and see me.\u201d\n\nYes, the lad would take that message; but when Peter got out into the\nyard again, and met the Cat, he said,\n\n\u201cA pretty scrape you\u2019ve got me into now, for here\u2019s the King, who wants\nme to come and see him, and you know I\u2019ve nothing to go in but these\nrags I stand and walk in.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t be afraid about that\u201d, said the Cat; \u201cin three days you\nshall have coach and horses, and fine clothes, so fine that the gold\nfalls from them, and then you may go and see the king very well. But\nmind, whatever you see in the king\u2019s palace, you must say you have far\nfiner and grander things of your own. Don\u2019t forget that.\u201d\n\nNo, no, Peter would bear that in mind, never fear.\n\nSo when three days were over, the Cat came with a coach and horses, and\nclothes, and all that Peter wanted, and altogether it was as grand as\nanything you ever set eyes on; so off he set, and the Cat ran alongside\nthe coach. The King met him well and graciously; but whatever the King\noffered him, and whatever he showed him, Peter said, \u2019twas all very\nwell, but he had far finer and better things in his own house. The King\nseemed not quite to believe this, but Peter stuck to what he said, and\nat last the King got so angry, he couldn\u2019t bear it any longer.\n\n\u201cNow I\u2019ll go home with you\u201d, he said, \u201cand see if it be true what\nyou\u2019ve been telling me, that you have far finer and better things of\nyour own. But if you\u2019ve been telling a pack of lies, Heaven help you,\nthat\u2019s all I say.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, you\u2019ve got me into a fine scrape\u201d, said Peter to the Cat, \u201cfor\nhere\u2019s the King coming home with me; but my home, that\u2019s not so easy to\nfind, I think.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! never mind\u201d, said the Cat; \u201conly do you drive after me as I run\nbefore.\u201d\n\nSo off they set; first Peter, who drove after his Cat, and then the\nKing and all his court.\n\nBut when they had driven a good bit, they came to a great flock of fine\nsheep, that had wool so long it almost touched the ground.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019ll only say\u201d, said the Cat to the Shepherd, \u201cthis flock of\nsheep belongs to Lord Peter, when the King asks you, I\u2019ll give you this\nsilver spoon\u201d, which she had taken with her from the King\u2019s palace.\n\nYes! he was willing enough to do that. So when the king came up, he\nsaid to the lad who watched the sheep,\n\n\u201cWell, I never saw so large and fine a flock of sheep in my life! Whose\nis it? my little lad.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy\u201d, said the lad, \u201cwhose should it be but Lord Peter\u2019s.\u201d\n\nA little while after they came to a great, great herd of fine brindled\nkine, who were all so sleek the sun shone from them.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019ll only say\u201d, said the Cat to the neat-herd, \u201cthis herd is Lord\nPeter\u2019s, when the King asks you, I\u2019ll give you this silver ladle\u201d; and\nthe ladle too she had taken from the King\u2019s palace.\n\n\u201cYes! with all my heart\u201d, said the neat-herd.\n\nSo when the King came up, he was quite amazed at the fine fat herd, for\nsuch a herd he had never seen before, and so he asked the neat-herd who\nowned those brindled kine.\n\n\u201cWhy! who should own them but Lord Peter\u201d, said the neat-herd.\n\nSo they went on a little further, and came to a great, great drove of\nhorses, the finest you ever saw, six of each colour, bay, and black,\nand brown, and chesnut.\n\n\u201cIf you\u2019ll only say this drove of horses is Lord Peter\u2019s when the King\nasks you\u201d, said the Cat, \u201cI\u2019ll give you this silver stoop\u201d; and the\nstoop too she had taken from the palace.\n\nYes! the lad was willing enough; and so when the King came up, he was\nquite amazed at the grand drove of horses, for the matches of such\nhorses he had never yet set eyes on, he said.\n\nSo he asked the lad who watched them, whose all these blacks, and bays,\nand browns, and chesnuts were?\n\n\u201cWhose should they be\u201d, said the lad, \u201cbut Lord Peter\u2019s.\u201d\n\nSo when they had gone a good bit farther, they came to a castle; first\nthere was a gate of tin, and next there was a gate of silver, and next\na gate of gold. The castle itself was of silver, and so dazzling white,\nthat it quite hurt one\u2019s eyes to look at in the sunbeams which fell on\nit just as they reached it.\n\nSo they went into it, and the Cat told Peter to say this was his house.\nAs for the castle inside, it was far finer than it looked outside, for\neverything was pure gold\u2014chairs, and tables, and benches, and all. And\nwhen the King had gone all over it, and seen everything high and low,\nhe got quite shameful and downcast.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, he said at last; \u201cLord Peter has everything far finer than I\nhave, there\u2019s no gainsaying that\u201d, and so he wanted to be off home\nagain.\n\nBut Peter begged him to stay to supper, and the King stayed, but he was\nsour, and surly the whole time.\n\nSo as they sat at supper, back came the Troll who owned the castle, and\ngave such a great knock at the door.\n\n\u201cWHO\u2019S THIS EATING MY MEAT AND DRINKING MY MEAD LIKE SWINE IN HERE\u201d,\nroared out the Troll.\n\nAs soon as the Cat heard that, she ran down to the gate.\n\n\u201cStop a bit\u201d, she said, \u201cand I\u2019ll tell you how the farmer sets to work\nto get in his winter rye.\u201d\n\nAnd so she told him such a long story about the winter rye.\n\n\u201cFirst of all, you see, he ploughs his field, and then he dungs it, and\nthen he ploughs it again, and then he harrows it\u201d; and so she went on\ntill the sun rose.\n\n\u201cOh, do look behind you, and there you\u2019ll see such a lovely lady\u201d, said\nthe Cat to the Troll.\n\nSo the Troll turned round, and, of course, as soon as he saw the sun he\nburst.\n\n\u201cNow all this is yours\u201d, said the Cat to Lord Peter. \u201cNow, you must cut\noff my head; that\u2019s all I ask for what I have done for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay\u201d, said Lord Peter, \u201cI\u2019ll never do any such thing, that\u2019s\nflat.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t\u201d, said the Cat,\u201d see if I don\u2019t claw your eyes out.\u201d\n\nWell! so Lord Peter had to do it, though it was sore against his will.\nHe cut off the Cat\u2019s head, but there and then she became the loveliest\nPrincess you ever set eyes on, and Lord Peter fell in love with her at\nonce.\n\n\u201cYes! all this greatness was mine first\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cbut a\nTroll bewitched me to be a Cat in your father\u2019s and mother\u2019s cottage.\nNow you may do as you please, whether you take me as your queen or not,\nfor you are now king over all this realm.\u201d\n\nWell, well; there was little doubt Lord Peter would be willing enough\nto have her as his queen, and so there was a wedding that lasted eight\nwhole days, and a feast besides; and after it was over, I stayed no\nlonger with Lord Peter and his lovely queen, and so I can\u2019t say\nanything more about them.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SEVEN FOALS\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor couple who lived in a wretched hut, far\nfar away in the wood. How they lived I can\u2019t tell, but I\u2019m sure it was\nfrom hand to mouth, and hard work even then; but they had three sons,\nand the youngest of them was Boots, of course, for he did little else\nthan lie there and poke about in the ashes.\n\nSo one day the eldest lad said he would go out to earn his bread, and\nhe soon got leave, and wandered out into the world. There he walked and\nwalked the whole day, and when evening drew in, he came to a king\u2019s\npalace, and there stood the King out on the steps, and asked whither he\nwas bound.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m going about, looking after a place\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cWill you serve me?\u201d asked the King, \u201cand watch my seven foals. If you\ncan watch them one whole day, and tell me at night what they eat and\nwhat they drink, you shall have the Princess to wife, and half my\nkingdom; but if you can\u2019t, I\u2019ll cut three red stripes out of your back.\nDo you hear?\u201d\n\nYes! that was an easy task, the lad thought; he\u2019d do that fast enough,\nnever fear.\n\nSo next morning, as soon as the first peep of dawn came, the king\u2019s\ncoachman let out the seven foals. Away they went, and the lad after\nthem. You may fancy how they tore over hill and dale, through bush and\nbog. When the lad had run so a long time, he began to get weary, and\nwhen he had held on a while longer, he had more than enough of his\nwatching, and just there, he came to a cleft in a rock, where an old\nhag sat and spun with a distaff. As soon as she saw the lad who was\nrunning after the foals till the sweat ran down his brow, this old hag\nbawled out:\n\n\u201cCome hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad was willing enough; so he sat down in the cleft of the\nrock with the old hag, and laid his head on her lap, and she combed his\nhair all day whilst he lay there, and stretched his lazy bones.\n\nSo, when evening drew on, the lad wanted to go away. \u201cI may just as\nwell toddle straight home now\u201d, said he, \u201cfor it\u2019s no use my going back\nto the palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cStop a bit till it\u2019s dark\u201d, said the old hag, \u201cand then the king\u2019s\nfoals will pass by here again, and then you can run home with them, and\nthen no one will know that you have lain here all day long, instead of\nwatching the foals.\u201d\n\nSo, when they came, she gave the lad a flask of water and a clod of\nturf. Those he was to show to the King, and say that was what his seven\nfoals ate and drank.\n\n\u201cHave you watched true and well the whole day, now?\u201d asked the King,\nwhen the lad came before him in the evening.\n\n\u201cYes, I should think so\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cThen you can tell me what my seven foals eat and drink\u201d, said the\nKing.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d and so the lad pulled out the flask of water and the clod of\nturf, which the old hag had given him.\n\n\u201cHere you see their meat, and here you see their drink\u201d, said the lad.\n\nBut then the King saw plain enough how he had watched, and he got so\nwroth, he ordered his men to chase him away home on the spot; but first\nthey were to cut three red stripes out of his back, and rub salt into\nthem. So when the lad got home again, you may fancy what a temper he\nwas in. He\u2019d gone out once to get a place, he said, but he\u2019d never do\nso again.\n\nNext day the second sons aid he would go out into the world to try his\nluck. His father and mother said \u201cNo\u201d, and bade him look at his\nbrother\u2019s back; but the lad wouldn\u2019t give in; he held to his own, and\nat last he got leave to go, and set off. So when he had walked the\nwhole day, he, too, came to the king\u2019s palace. There stood the King out\non the steps, and asked whither he was bound? and when the lad said he\nwas looking about for a place, the King said he might have a place\nthere, and watch his seven foals. But the king laid down the same\npunishment, and the same reward, as he had settled for his brother.\nWell, the lad was willing enough; he took the place at once with the\nKing, for he thought he\u2019d soon watch the foals, and tell the King what\nthey ate and drank. So, in the gray of the morning, the coachman let\nout the seven foals, and off they went again over hill and dale, and\nthe lad after them. But the same thing happened to him as had befallen\nhis brother. When he had run after the foals a long long time, till he\nwas both warm and weary, he passed by the cleft in a rock, where an old\nhag sat and spun with a distaff, and she bawled out to the lad:\n\n\u201cCome hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.\u201d\n\nThat the lad thought a good offer, so he let the foals run on their\nway, and sat down in the cleft with the old hag. There he sat, and\nthere he lay, taking his ease, and stretching his lazy bones the whole\nday.\n\nWhen the foals came back at nightfall, he too got a flask of water and\nclod of turf from the old hag to show to the King. But when the King\nasked the lad:\n\n\u201cCan you tell me now, what my seven foals eat and drink?\u201d and the lad\npulled out the flask and the clod, and said:\n\n\u201cHere you see their meat, and here you see their drink.\u201d\n\nThen the King got wroth again, and ordered them to cut three red\nstripes out of the lad\u2019s back, and rub salt in, and chase him home that\nvery minute. And so when the lad got home, he also told how he had\nfared, and said, he had gone out once to get a place, but he\u2019d never do\nso any more.\n\nThe third day Boots wanted to set out; he had a great mind to try and\nwatch the seven foals, he said. The others laughed at him, and made\ngame of him, saying:\n\n\u201cWhen we fared so ill, you\u2019ll do it better\u2014a fine joke; you look like\nit\u2014you, who have never done anything but lie there and poke about in\nthe ashes.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said Boots, \u201cI don\u2019t see why I shouldn\u2019t go, for I\u2019ve got it\ninto my head, and can\u2019t get it out again.\u201d\n\nAnd so, in spite of all the jeers of the others and the prayers of the\nold people, there was no help for it, and Boots set out.\n\nSo after he had walked the whole day, he too came at dusk to the king\u2019s\npalace. There stood the King out on the steps, and asked whither he was\nbound.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said Boots, \u201cI\u2019m going about seeing if I can hear of a place.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhence do you come then?\u201d said the King, for he wanted to know a\nlittle more about them before he took any one into his service.\n\nSo Boots said whence he came, and how he was brother to those two who\nhad watched the king\u2019s seven foals, and ended by asking if he might try\nto watch them next day.\n\n\u201cOh, stuff!\u201d said the King, for he got quite cross if he even thought\nof them; \u201cif you\u2019re brother to those two, you\u2019re not worth much, I\u2019ll\nbe bound. I\u2019ve had enough of such scamps.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Boots; but since I\u2019ve come so far, I may just as well get\nleave to try, I too.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, very well; with all my heart\u201d, said the King, \u201cif you _will_ have\nyour back flayed, you\u2019re quite welcome.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019d much rather have the Princess\u201d, said Boots.\n\nSo next morning, at gray of dawn, the coachman let out the seven foals\nagain, and away they went over hill and dale, through bush and bog, and\nBoots behind them. And so, when he too had run a long while, he came to\nthe cleft in the rock, where the old hag sat, spinning at her distaff.\nSo she bawled out to Boots:\n\n\u201cCome hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you wish you may catch me\u201d, said Boots. \u201cDon\u2019t you wish you may\ncatch me\u201d, as he ran along, leaping and jumping, and holding on by one\nof the foal\u2019s tails. And when he had got well past the cleft in the\nrock, the youngest foal said:\n\n\u201cJump up on my back, my lad, for we\u2019ve a long way before us still.\u201d\n\nSo Boots jumped up on his back.\n\nSo they went on, and on, a long, long way.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now\u201d, said the Foal.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said Boots.\n\nSo they went on a good bit farther.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now?\u201d asked the Foal.\n\n\u201cOh no\u201d, said the lad.\n\nSo when they had gone a great, great way farther\u2014I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t tell\nhow far\u2014the Foal asked again:\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said Boots; \u201cnow I see something that looks white\u2014just like a\ntall, big birch trunk.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the Foal; \u201cwe\u2019re going into that trunk.\u201d So when they got\nto the trunk, the eldest foal took and pushed it on one side, and then\nthey saw a door where it had stood, and inside the door was a little\nroom, and in the room there was scarce anything but a little fireplace\nand one or two benches; but behind the door hung a great rusty sword\nand a little pitcher.\n\n\u201cCan you brandish the sword?\u201d said the Foals; \u201ctry.\u201d So Boots tried,\nbut he couldn\u2019t; then they made him take a pull at the pitcher; first\nonce, then twice, and then thrice, and then he could wield it like\nanything.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the Foals, \u201cnow you may take the sword with you, and with\nit you must cut off all our seven heads on your wedding-day, and then\nwe\u2019ll be princes again as we were before. For we are brothers of that\nPrincess whom you are to have when you can tell the King what we eat\nand drink; but an ugly Troll has thrown this shape over us. Now mind,\nwhen you have hewn off our heads, to take care to lay each head at the\ntail of the trunk which it belonged to before, and then the spell will\nhave no more power over us.\u201d\n\nYes! Boots promised all that, and then on they went. And when they had\ntravelled a long long way, the Foal asked:\n\n\u201cDo you see anything?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said Boots.\n\nSo they travelled a good bit still.\n\n\u201cAnd now?\u201d asked the Foal.\n\n\u201cNo, I see nothing\u201d, said Boots.\n\nSo they travelled many many miles again, over hill and dale.\n\n\u201cNow then\u201d, said the Foal, \u201cdo you see anything now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said Boots, \u201cnow I see something like a blue stripe, far far\naway.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the Foal, \u201cthat\u2019s a river we\u2019ve got to cross.\u201d Over the\nriver was a long, grand bridge; and when they had got over to the other\nside, they travelled on a long, long way. At last the Foal asked again:\n\n\u201cIf Boots didn\u2019t see anything?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, this time he saw something that looked black far far away, just\nas though it were a church steeple.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the Foal, \u201cthat\u2019s where we\u2019re going to turn in.\u201d\n\nSo when the foals got into the churchyard, they became men again, and\nlooked like Princes, with such fine clothes that it glistened from\nthem; and so they went into the church, and took the bread and wine\nfrom the priest who stood at the altar. And Boots he went in too; but\nwhen the priest had laid his hands on the Princes, and given them the\nblessing, they went out of the church again, and Boots went out too;\nbut he took with him a flask of wine and a wafer. And soon as ever the\nseven Princes came out into the churchyard, they were turned into foals\nagain, and so Boots got up on the back of the youngest, and so they all\nwent back the same way that they had come; only they went much, much\nfaster. First they crossed the bridge, next they passed the trunk, and\nthen they passed the old hag, who sat at the cleft and span, and they\nwent by her so fast, that Boots couldn\u2019t hear what the old hag\nscreeched after him; but he heard so much as to know she was in an\nawful rage.\n\nIt was almost dark when they got back to the palace, and the King\nhimself stood out on the steps and waited for them. \u201cHave you watched\nwell and true the whole day?\u201d said he to Boots.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve done my best\u201d, answered Boots.\n\n\u201cThen you can tell me what my seven foals eat and drink\u201d, said the\nKing.\n\nThen Boots pulled out the flask of wine and the wafer, and showed them\nto the King.\n\n\u201cHere you see their meat, and here you see their drink\u201d, said he.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the King, \u201cyou have watched true and well, and you shall\nhave the Princess and half the kingdom.\u201d\n\nSo they made ready the wedding-feast, and the King said it should be\nsuch a grand one, it should be the talk far and near.\n\nBut when they sat down to the bridal-feast, the bridegroom got up and\nwent down to the stable, for he said he had forgotten something, and\nmust go to fetch it. And when he got down there, he did as the Foals\nhad said, and hewed their heads off, all seven, the eldest first, and\nthe others after him; and at the same time he took care to lay each\nhead at the tail of the foal to which it belonged; and as he did this,\nlo! they all became Princes again.\n\nSo when he went into the bridal hall with the seven princes, the King\nwas so glad he both kissed Boots and patted him on the back, and his\nbride was still more glad of him than she had been before.\n\n\u201cHalf the kingdom you have got already\u201d, said the King, \u201cand the other\nhalf you shall have after my death; for my sons can easily get\nthemselves lands and wealth, now they are princes again.\u201d\n\nAnd so, like enough, there was mirth and fun at that wedding. I was\nthere too; but there was no one to care for poor me; and so I got\nnothing but a bit of bread and butter, and I laid it down on the stove,\nand the bread was burnt and the butter ran, and so I didn\u2019t get even\nthe smallest crumb. Wasn\u2019t that a great shame?\n\n\n\n\nTHE WIDOW\u2019S SON\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor, poor widow, who had an only son. She\ndragged on with the boy till he had been confirmed, and then she said\nshe couldn\u2019t feed him any longer, he must just go out and earn his own\nbread. So the lad wandered out into the world, and when he had walked a\nday or so, a strange man met him.\n\n\u201cWhither away?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m going out into the world to try and get a place\u201d, said the\nlad.\n\n\u201cWill you come and serve me?\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cOh yes; just as soon you as any one else\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cWell, you\u2019ll have a good place with me\u201d, said the man; \u201cfor you\u2019ll\nonly have to keep me company, and do nothing at all else beside.\u201d\n\nSo the lad stopped with him, and lived on the fat of the land, both in\nmeat and drink, and had little or nothing to do; but he never saw a\nliving soul in that man\u2019s house.\n\nSo one day the man said:\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019m going off for eight days, and that time you\u2019ll have to spend\nhere all alone; but you must not go into any one of these four rooms\nhere. If you do, I\u2019ll take your life when I come back.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the lad, he\u2019d be sure not to do that. But when the man had\nbeen gone three or four days, the lad couldn\u2019t bear it any longer, but\nwent into the first room, and when he got inside he looked round, but\nhe saw nothing but a shelf over the door where a bramble-bush rod lay.\n\nWell, indeed! thought the lad; a pretty thing to forbid my seeing this.\n\nSo when the eight days were out, the man came home, and the first thing\nhe said was:\n\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t been into any of these rooms, of course.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no; that I haven\u2019t\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll soon see that\u201d, said the man, and went at once into the room\nwhere the lad had been.\n\n\u201cNay, but you have been in here\u201d, said he; \u201cand now you shall lose your\nlife.\u201d\n\nThen the lad begged and prayed so hard that he got off with his life,\nbut the man gave him a good thrashing. And when it was over, they were\nas good friends as ever.\n\nSome time after the man set off again, and said he should be away\nfourteen days; but before he went he forbade the lad to go into any of\nthe rooms he had not been in before; as for that he had been in, he\nmight go into that, and welcome. Well, it was the same story aver\nagain, except that the lad stood out eight days before he went in. In\nthis room, too, he saw nothing but a shelf over the door, and a big\nstone, and a pitcher of water on it. Well, after all, there\u2019s not much\nto be afraid of my seeing here, thought the lad.\n\nBut when the man came back, he asked if he had been into any of the\nrooms. No, the lad hadn\u2019t done anything of the kind.\n\n\u201cWell, well; I\u2019ll soon see that,\u201d said the man; and when he saw that\nthe lad had been in them after all, he said, \u201cAh! now I\u2019ll spare you no\nlonger; now you must lose your life.\u201d\n\nBut the lad begged and prayed for himself again, and so this time too\nhe got off with stripes; though he got as many as his skin could carry.\nBut when he got sound and well again, he led just as easy a life as\never, and he and the man were just as good friends.\n\nSo a while after the man was to take another journey, and now he said\nhe should be away three weeks, and he forbade the lad anew to go into\nthe third room, for if he went in there he might just make up his mind\nat once to lose his life. Then after fourteen days the lad couldn\u2019t\nbear it, but crept into the room, but he saw nothing at all in there\nbut a trap door on the floor; and when he lifted it up and looked down,\nthere stood a great copper cauldron which bubbled and boiled away down\nthere; but he saw no fire under it.\n\n\u201cWell, I should just like to know if it\u2019s hot,\u201d thought the lad, and\nstuck his finger down into the broth, and when he pulled it out again,\nlo! it was gilded all over. So the lad scraped and scrubbed it, but the\ngilding wouldn\u2019t go off, so he bound a piece of rag round it; and when\nthe man came back, and asked what was the matter with his finger, the\nlad said he\u2019d given it such a bad cut. But the man tore off the rag,\nand then he soon saw what was the matter with the finger. First he\nwanted to kill the lad outright, but when he wept, and begged, he only\ngave him such a thrashing that he had to keep his bed three days. After\nthat the man took down a pot from the wall, and rubbed him over with\nsome stuff out of it, and so the lad was sound and fresh as ever.\n\nSo after a while the man started off again, and this time he was to be\naway a month. But before he went, he said to the lad, if he went into\nthe fourth room he might give up all hope of saving his life.\n\nWell, the lad stood out for two or three weeks, but then he couldn\u2019t\nholdout any longer; he must and would go into that room, and so in he\nstole. There stood a great black horse tied up in a stall by himself,\nwith a manger of red-hot coals at his head, and a truss of hay at his\ntail. Then the lad thought this all wrong, so he changed them about,\nand put the hay at his head. Then said the Horse:\n\n\u201cSince you are so good at heart as to let me have some food, I\u2019ll set\nyou free, that I will. For if the Troll comes back and finds you here,\nhe\u2019ll kill you outright. But now you must go up to the room which lies\njust over this, and take a coat of mail out of those that hang there;\nand mind, whatever you do, don\u2019t take any of the bright ones, but the\nmost rusty of all you see, that\u2019s the one to take; and sword and saddle\nyou must choose for yourself just in the same way.\u201d\n\nSo the lad did all that; but it was a heavy load for him to carry them\nall down at once.\n\nWhen he came back, the Horse told him to pull off his clothes and get\ninto the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and bathe\nhimself there. \u201cIf I do\u201d, thought the lad, \u201cI shall look an awful\nfright\u201d; but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had taken\nhis bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white as milk\nand blood, and much stronger than he had been before.\n\n\u201cDo you feel any change?\u201d asked the Horse.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the lad.\n\n\u201cTry to lift me, then\u201d, said the Horse.\n\nOh yes! he could do that, and as for the sword, he brandished it like a\nfeather.\n\n\u201cNow saddle me\u201d, said the Horse, \u201cand put on the coat of mail, and then\ntake the bramble-bush rod, and the stone, and the pitcher of water, and\nthe pot of ointment, and then we\u2019ll be off as fast as we can.\u201d\n\nSo when the lad had got on the horse, off they went at such a rate, he\ncouldn\u2019t at all tell how they went. But when he had ridden awhile, the\nHorse said,\n\n\u201cI think I hear a noise; look round! can you see anything?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; there are ever so many coming after us, at least a score\u201d, said\nthe lad.\n\n\u201cAye, aye, that\u2019s the Troll coming\u201d, said the Horse; \u201cnow he\u2019s after us\nwith his pack.\u201d\n\nSo they rode on a while, until those who followed were close behind\nthem.\n\n\u201cNow throw your bramble-bush rod behind you, over your shoulder\u201d, said\nthe Horse; \u201cbut mind you throw it a good way off my back.\u201d\n\nSo the lad did that, and all at once a close, thick bramble-wood grew\nup behind them. So the lad rode on a long, long time, while the Troll\nand his crew had to go home to fetch something to hew their way through\nthe wood. But at last, the Horse said again.\n\n\u201cLook behind you! can you see anything now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, ever so many\u201d, said the lad, \u201cas many as would fill a large\nchurch.\u201d\n\n\u201cAye, aye, that\u2019s the Troll and his crew\u201d, said the Horse; \u201cnow he\u2019s\ngot more to back him; but now throw down the stone, and mind you throw\nit far behind me.\u201d\n\nAnd as soon as the lad did what the Horse said, up rose a great black\nhill of rock behind him. So the Troll had to be off home to fetch\nsomething to mine his way through the rock; and while the Troll did\nthat, the lad rode a good bit further on. But still the Horse begged\nhim to look behind him, and then he saw a troop like a whole army\nbehind him, and they glistened in the sunbeams.\n\n\u201cAye, aye\u201d, said the Horse, \u201cthat\u2019s the Troll, and now he\u2019s got his\nwhole band with him, so throw the pitcher of water behind you, but mind\nyou don\u2019t spill any of it upon me.\u201d\n\nSo the lad did that; but in spite of all the pains he took, he still\nspilt one drop on the horse\u2019s flank. So it became a great deep lake;\nand because of that one drop, the horse found himself far out in it,\nbut still he swam safe to land. But when the Trolls came to the lake,\nthey lay down to drink it dry; and so they swilled and swilled till\nthey burst.\n\n\u201cNow we\u2019re rid of them\u201d, said the Horse.\n\nSo when they had gone a long, long while, they came to a green patch in\na wood.\n\n\u201cNow, strip off all your arms\u201d, said the Horse, \u201cand only put on your\nragged clothes, and take the saddle off me, and let me loose, and hang\nall my clothing and your arms up inside that great hollow lime-tree\nyonder. Then make yourself a wig of fir-moss, and go up to the king\u2019s\npalace, which lies close here, and ask for a place. Whenever you need\nme, only come here and shake the bridle, and I\u2019ll come to you.\u201d\n\nYes! the lad did all his Horse told him, and as soon as ever he put on\nthe wig of moss he became so ugly, and pale, and miserable to look at,\nno one would have known him again. Then he went up to the king\u2019s palace\nand begged first for leave to be in the kitchen, and bring in wood and\nwater for the cook, but then the kitchen-maid asked him:\n\n\u201cWhy do you wear that ugly wig? Off with it. I won\u2019t have such a fright\nin here.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I can\u2019t do that\u201d, said the lad; \u201cfor I\u2019m not quite right in my\nhead.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you think then I\u2019ll have you in here about the food\u201d, cried the\ncook. \u201cAway with you to the coachman; you\u2019re best fit to go and clean\nthe stable.\u201d\n\nBut when the coachman begged him to take his wig off, he got the same\nanswer, and he wouldn\u2019t have him either. \u201cYou\u2019d best go down to the\ngardener\u201d, said he; \u201cyou\u2019re best fit to go about and dig in the\ngarden.\u201d\n\nSo he got leave to be with the gardener, but none of the other servants\nwould sleep with him, and so he had to sleep by himself under the steps\nof the summerhouse. It stood upon beams, and had a high staircase.\nUnder that he got some turf for his bed, and there he lay as well as he\ncould.\n\nSo, when he had been some time at the palace, it happened one morning,\njust as the sun rose, that the lad had taken off his wig, and stood and\nwashed himself, and then he was so handsome, it was a joy to look at\nhim.\n\nSo the Princess saw from her window the lovely gardener\u2019s boy, and\nthought she had never seen any one so handsome. Then she asked the\ngardener why he lay out there under the steps.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the gardener, \u201cnone of his fellow-servants will sleep with\nhim; that\u2019s why.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet him come up to-night, and lie at the door inside my bedroom, and\nthen they\u2019ll not refuse to sleep with him any more\u201d, said the Princess.\n\nSo the gardener told that to the lad.\n\n\u201cDo you think I\u2019ll do any such thing?\u201d said the lad. \u201cWhy they\u2019d say\nnext there was something between me and the Princess.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said the gardener, \u201cyou\u2019ve good reason to fear any such thing,\nyou who are so handsome.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well\u201d, said the lad, \u201csince it\u2019s her will, I suppose I must go.\u201d\n\nSo, when he was to go up the steps in the evening, he tramped and\nstamped so on the way, that they had to beg him to tread softly lest\nthe King should come to know it. So he came into the Princess\u2019 bedroom,\nlay down, and began to snore at once. Then the Princess said to her\nmaid:\n\n\u201cGo gently, and just pull his wig off\u201d; and she went up to him.\n\nBut just as she was going to whisk it off, he caught hold of it with\nboth hands, and said she should never have it. After that he lay down\nagain, and began to snore. Then the Princess gave her maid a wink, and\nthis time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad so lovely, and\nwhite and red, just as the Princess had seen him in the morning sun.\n\nAfter that the lad slept every night in the Princess\u2019 bedroom.\n\nBut it wasn\u2019t long before the King came to hear how the gardener\u2019s lad\nslept every night in the Princess\u2019 bedroom; and he got so wroth he\nalmost took the lad\u2019s life. He didn\u2019t do that, however, but threw him\ninto the prison tower; and as for his daughter, he shut her up in her\nown room, whence she never got leave to stir day or night. All that she\nbegged, and all that she prayed, for the lad and herself, was no good.\nThe King was only more wroth than ever.\n\nSome time after came a war and uproar in the land, and the king had to\ntake up arms against another king who wished to take the kingdom from\nhim. So when the lad heard that, he begged the gaoler to go to the king\nand ask for a coat of mail and a sword, and for leave to go to the war.\nAll the rest laughed when the gaoler told his errand, and begged the\nking to let him have an old worn-out suit, that they might have the fun\nof seeing such a wretch in battle. So he got that, and an old\nbroken-down hack besides, which went upon three legs and dragged the\nfourth after it.\n\nThen they went out to meet the foe; but they hadn\u2019t got far from the\npalace before the lad got stuck fast in a bog with his hack. There he\nsat and dug his spurs in, and cried, \u201cGee up, gee up!\u201d to his hack. And\nall the rest had their fun out of this, and laughed, and made game of\nthe lad as they rode past him. But they were scarcely gone, before he\nran to the lime-tree, threw on his coat of mail, and shook the bridle,\nand there came the horse in a trice, and said \u201cDo now your best, and\nI\u2019ll do mine.\u201d\n\nBut when the lad came up the battle had begun, and the king was in a\nsad pinch; but no sooner had the lad rushed into the thick of it than\nthe foe was beaten back, and put to flight. The king and his men\nwondered and wondered who it could be who had come to help them, but\nnone of them got so near him as to be able to talk to him, and as soon\nas the fight was over he was gone. When they went back, there sat the\nlad still in the bog, and dug his spurs into his three-legged hack, and\nthey all laughed again.\n\n\u201cNo! only just look\u201d, they said; \u201cthere the fool sits still.\u201d\n\nThe next day when they went out to battle, they saw the lad sitting\nthere still, so they laughed again, and made game of him; but as soon\nas ever they had ridden by, the lad ran again to the lime-tree, and all\nhappened as on the first day. Every one wondered what strange champion\nit could be that had helped them, but no one got so near him as to say\na word to him; and no one guessed it could be the lad; that\u2019s easy to\nunderstand.\n\nSo when they went home at night, and saw the lad still sitting there on\nhis hack, they burst out laughing at him again, and one of them shot an\narrow at him and hit him in the leg. So he began to shriek and to\nbewail; \u2019twas enough to break one\u2019s heart; and so the king threw his\npocket-handkerchief to him to bind his wound.\n\nWhen they went out to battle the third day, the lad still sat there.\n\n\u201cGee up! gee up!\u201d he said to his hack.\n\n\u201cNay, nay\u201d, said the king\u2019s men; \u201cif he won\u2019t stick there till he\u2019s\nstarved to death.\u201d\n\nAnd then they rode on, and laughed at him till they were fit to fall\nfrom their horses. When they were gone, he ran again to the lime, and\ncame up to the battle just in the very nick of time. This day he slew\nthe enemy\u2019s king, and then the war was over at once.\n\nWhen the battle was over, the king caught sight of his handkerchief,\nwhich the strange warrior had bound round his leg, and so it wasn\u2019t\nhard to find him out. So they took him with great joy between them to\nthe palace, and the Princess, who saw him from her window, got so glad,\nno one can believe it.\n\n\u201cHere comes my own true love\u201d, she said.\n\nThen he took the pot of ointment and rubbed himself on the leg, and\nafter that he rubbed all the wounded, and so they all got well again in\na moment.\n\nSo he got the Princess to wife; but when he went down into the stable\nwhere his horse was on the day the wedding was to be, there it stood so\ndull and heavy, and hung its ears down, and wouldn\u2019t eat its corn. So\nwhen the young king\u2014for he was now a king, and had got half the\nkingdom\u2014spoke to him, and asked what ailed him, the Horse said:\n\n\u201cNow I have helped you on, and now I won\u2019t live any longer. So just\ntake the sword, and cut my head off.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I\u2019ll do nothing of the kind\u201d, said the young king; \u201cbut you shall\nhave all you want, and rest all your life.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the Horse, \u201cIf you don\u2019t do as I tell you, see if I don\u2019t\ntake your life somehow.\u201d\n\nSo the king had to do what he asked; but when he swung the sword and\nwas to cut his head off, he was so sorry he turned away his face, for\nhe would not see the stroke fall. But as soon as ever he had cut off\nthe head, there stood the loveliest Prince on the spot where the horse\nhad stood.\n\n\u201cWhy, where in all the world did you come from?\u201d asked the king.\n\n\u201cIt was I who was a horse\u201d, said the Prince; \u201cfor I was king of that\nland whose king you slew yesterday. He it was who threw this Troll\u2019s\nshape over me, and sold me to the Troll. But now he is slain I get my\nown again, and you and I will be neighbour kings, but war we will never\nmake on one another.\u201d\n\nAnd they didn\u2019t either; for they were friends as long as they lived,\nand each paid the other very many visits.\n\n\n\n\nBUSHY BRIDE\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a widower, who had a son and a daughter by his\nfirst marriage. Both were good children, and loved each other dearly.\nSome time after the man married a widow, who had a daughter by her\nfirst husband, and she was both ugly and bad, like her mother. So from\nthe day the new wife came into the house there was no peace for her\nstepchildren in any corner; and at last the lad thought he\u2019d best go\nout into the world, and try to earn his own bread. And when he had\nwandered a while he came to a king\u2019s palace, and got a place under the\ncoachman, and quick and willing he was, and the horses he looked after\nwere so sleek and clean that their coats shone again.\n\nBut the sister who stayed at home was treated worse than badly; both\nher stepmother and stepsister were always at her, and wherever she\nwent, and whatever she did, they scolded and snarled so, the poor\nlassie hadn\u2019t an hour\u2019s peace. All the hard work she was forced to do,\nand early and late she got nothing but bad words, and little food\nbesides.\n\nSo one day they had sent her to the burn to fetch water: and what do\nyou think? up popped an ugly, ugly head out of the pool, and said:\n\n\u201cWash me, you lassie.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, with all my heart I\u2019ll wash you\u201d, said the lassie. So she began\nto wash and scrub the ugly head; but truth to say, she thought it nasty\nwork.\n\nWell, as soon as she had done washing it, up popped another head out of\nthe pool, and this was uglier still.\n\n\u201cBrush me, you lassie\u201d, said the head.\n\n\u201cYes, with all my heart I\u2019ll brush you.\u201d\n\nAnd with that she took in hand the matted locks, and you may fancy she\nhadn\u2019t very pleasant work with them. But when she had got over that, if\na third head didn\u2019t pop up out of the pool, and this was far more ugly\nand loathsome than both the others put together.\n\n\u201cKiss me, you lassie!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I\u2019ll kiss you\u201d, said the lassie, and she did it too, though she\nthought it the worst work she had ever had to do in her life.\n\nThen the heads began to chatter together, and each asked what they\nshould do for the lassie who was so kind and gentle.\n\n\u201cThat she be the prettiest lassie in the world, and as fair as the\nbright day\u201d, said the first head.\n\n\u201cThat gold shall drop from her hair, every time she brushes it\u201d, said\nthe second head.\n\n\u201cThat gold shall fall from her mouth every time she speaks\u201d, said the\nthird head.\n\nSo when the lassie came home looking so lovely, and beaming as the\nbright day itself, her stepmother and her stepsister got more and more\ncross, and they got worse still when she began to talk, and they saw\nhow golden guineas fell from her mouth. As for the stepmother, she got\nso mad with rage, she chased the lassie into the pigsty. That was the\nright place for all her gold stuff, but as for coming into the house,\nshe wouldn\u2019t hear of it.\n\nWell, it wasn\u2019t long before the stepmother wished her own daughter to\ngo to the burn to fetch water. So when she came to the water\u2019s edge\nwith her buckets, up popped the first head.\n\n\u201cWash me, you lassie\u201d, it said.\n\n\u201cThe Deil wash you\u201d, said the stepdaughter.\n\nSo the second head popped up.\n\n\u201cBrush me, you lassie\u201d, it said.\n\n\u201cThe Deil brush you\u201d, said the stepdaughter.\n\nSo down it went to the bottom, and the third head popped up.\n\n\u201cKiss me, you lassie\u201d, said the head.\n\n\u201cThe Deil kiss you, you pig\u2019s-snout\u201d, said the girl.\n\nThen the heads chattered together again, and asked what they should do\nto the girl who was so spiteful and cross-grained; and they all agreed\nshe should have a nose four ells long, and a snout three ells long, and\na pine bush right in the midst of her forehead, and every time she\nspoke, ashes were to fall out of her mouth.\n\nSo when she got home with her buckets, she bawled out to her mother:\n\n\u201cOpen the door.\u201d\n\n\u201cOpen it yourself, my darling child\u201d, said the mother.\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t reach it because of my nose\u201d, said the daughter.\n\nSo, when the mother came out and saw her, you may fancy what a way she\nwas in, and how she screamed and groaned; but, for all that, there were\nthe nose and the snout and the pine bush, and they got no smaller for\nall her grief.\n\nNow the brother, who had got the place in the King\u2019s stable, had taken\na little sketch of his sister, which he carried away with him, and\nevery morning and every evening he knelt down before the picture and\nprayed to Our Lord for his sister, whom he loved so dearly. The other\ngrooms had heard him praying, so they peeped through the key-hole of\nhis room, and there they saw him on his knees before the picture. So\nthey went about saying how the lad every morning and every evening\nknelt down and prayed to an idol which he had, and at last they went to\nthe king himself and begged him only to peep through the key-hole, and\nthen His Majesty would see the lad, and what things he did. At first\nthe King wouldn\u2019t believe it, but at last they talked him over, and he\ncrept on tiptoe to the door and peeped in. Yes, there was the lad on\nhis knees before the picture, which hung on the wall, praying with\nclasped hands.\n\n\u201cOpen the door!\u201d called out the King; but the lad didn\u2019t hear him.\n\nSo the King called out in a louder voice, but the lad was so deep in\nhis prayers he couldn\u2019t hear him this time either. \u201cOPEN THE DOOR, I\nSAY!\u201d roared out the King; \u201cIt\u2019s I, the King, who want to come in.\u201d\n\nWell, up jumped the lad and ran to the door, and unlocked it, but in\nhis hurry he forgot to hide the picture. But when the King came in and\nsaw the picture, he stood there as if he were fettered, and couldn\u2019t\nstir from the spot, so lovely he thought the picture.\n\n\u201cSo lovely a woman there isn\u2019t in all the wide world\u201d, said the King.\n\nBut the lad told him she was his sister whom he had drawn, and if she\nwasn\u2019t prettier than that, at least she wasn\u2019t uglier.\n\n\u201cWell, if she\u2019s so lovely\u201d, said the King, \u201cI\u2019ll have her for my\nqueen\u201d; and then he ordered the lad to set off home that minute, and\nnot be long on the road either. So the lad promised to make as much\nhaste as he could, and started off from the King\u2019s palace.\n\nWhen the brother came home to fetch his sister, the step-mother and\nstepsister said they must go too. So they all set out, and the good\nlassie had a casket in which she kept her gold, and a little dog, whose\nname was \u201cLittle Flo\u201d; those two things were all her mother left her.\nAnd when they had gone a while, they came to a lake which they had to\ncross; so the brother sat down at the helm, and the stepmother and the\ntwo girls sat in the bow foreward, and so they sailed a long, long way.\n\nAt last they caught sight of land.\n\n\u201cThere\u201d, said the brother, \u201cwhere you see the white strand yonder,\nthere\u2019s where we\u2019re to land\u201d; and as he said this he pointed across the\nwater.\n\n\u201cWhat is it my brother says?\u201d asked the good lassie.\n\n\u201cHe says you must throw your casket overboard\u201d, said the stepmother.\n\n\u201cWell, when my brother says it, I must do it\u201d, said the lassie, and\noverboard went the casket.\n\nWhen they had sailed a bit farther, the brother pointed again across\nthe lake.\n\n\u201cThere you see the castle we\u2019re going to.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it my brother says?\u201d asked the lassie.\n\n\u201cHe says now you must throw your little dog overboard\u201d, said the\nstepmother.\n\nThen the lassie wept and was sore grieved, for Little Flo was the\ndearest thing she had in the world, but at last she threw him\noverboard.\n\n\u201cWhen my brother says it, I must do it, but heaven knows how it hurts\nme to throw you over, Little Flo\u201d, she said.\n\nSo they sailed on a good bit still.\n\n\u201cThere you see the King coming down to meet us\u201d, said the brother, and\npointed towards the strand.\n\n\u201cWhat is it my brother says\u201d, asked the lassie.\n\n\u201cNow he says you must make haste and throw yourself overboard\u201d, said\nthe stepmother.\n\nWell, the lassie wept and moaned; but when her brother told her to do\nthat, she thought she ought to do it, and so she leapt down into the\nlake.\n\nBut when they came to the palace, and the King saw the loathly bride,\nwith a nose four ells long, and a snout three ells long, and a\npine-bush in the midst of her forehead, he was quite scared out of his\nwits; but the wedding was all ready, both in brewing and baking, and\nthere sat all the wedding guests, waiting for the bride; and so the\nKing couldn\u2019t help himself, but was forced to take her for better for\nworse. But angry he was, that any one can forgive him, and so he had\nthe brother thrown into a pit full of snakes.\n\nWell, the first Thursday evening after the wedding, about midnight, in\ncame a lovely lady into the palace-kitchen, and begged the\nkitchen-maid, who slept there, so prettily, to lend her a brush. That\nshe got, and then she brushed her hair, and as she brushed, down\ndropped gold, A little dog was at her heel, and to him she said:\n\n\u201cRun out, Little Flo, and see if it will soon be day.\u201d\n\nThis she said three times, and the third time she sent the dog it was\njust about the time the dawn begins to peep. Then she had to go, but as\nshe went she sung:\n\nOut on you, ugly Bushy Bride,\nLying so warm by the King\u2019s left side;\nWhile I on sand and gravel sleep,\nAnd over my brother adders creep,\nAnd all without a tear.\n\n\n\u201cNow I come twice more, and then never again.\u201d\n\nSo next morning the kitchen-maid told what she had seen and heard, and\nthe King said he\u2019d watch himself next Thursday night in the kitchen,\nand see if it were true, and as soon as it got dark, out he went into\nthe kitchen to the kitchen-maid. But all he could do, and however much\nhe rubbed his eyes and tried to keep himself awake, it was no good; for\nthe Bushy Bride chaunted and sang till his eyes closed, and so when the\nlovely lady came, there he slept and snored. This time, too, as before,\nshe borrowed a brush, and brushed her hair till the gold dropped, and\nsent her dog out three times, and as soon as it was gray dawn, away she\nwent singing the same words, and adding:\n\n\u201cNow I come once more, and then never again.\u201d\n\nThe third Thursday evening the King said he would watch again; and he\nset two men to hold him, one under each arm, who were to shake and jog\nhim every time he wanted to fall asleep; and two men he set to watch\nhis Bushy Bride. But when the night wore on, the Bushy Bride began to\nchaunt and sing, so that his eyes began to wink, and his head hung down\non his shoulders. Then in came the lovely lady, and got the brush and\nbrushed her hair, till the gold dropped from it; after that she sent\nLittle Flo out again to see if it would soon be day, and this she did\nthree times. The third time it began, to get gray in the east; then she\nsang,\n\nOut on you, ugly Bushy Bride,\nLying so warm by the King\u2019s left side;\nWhile I on sand and gravel sleep,\nAnd over my brother adders creep,\nAnd all without a tear.\n\n\n\u201cNow I come back never more\u201d, she said, and went towards the door. But\nthe two men who held the King under the arms, clenched his hands\ntogether, and put a knife into his grasp; and so, somehow or other,\nthey got him to cut her in her little finger, and drew blood. Then the\ntrue bride was freed, and the King woke up, and she told him now the\nwhole story, and how her stepmother and sister had deceived her. So the\nKing sent at once and took her brother out of the pit of snakes, and\nthe adders hadn\u2019t done him the least harm, but the stepmother and her\ndaughter were thrown into it in his stead.\n\nAnd now no one can tell how glad the King was to be rid of that ugly\nBushy Bride, and to get a Queen who was as lovely and bright as the day\nitself. So the true wedding was held, and every one talked of it over\nseven kingdoms; and then the King and Queen drove to church in their\ncoach, and Little Flo went inside with them too, and when the blessing\nwas given they drove back again, and after that I saw nothing more of\nthem.\n\n\n\n\nBOOTS AND HIS BROTHERS\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a man who had three sons, Peter, Paul, and\nJohn. John was Boots, of course, because he was the youngest. I can\u2019t\nsay the man had anything more than these three sons, for he hadn\u2019t one\npenny to rub against another; and so he told his sons over and over\nagain they must go out into the world and try to earn their bread, for\nthere at home there was nothing to be looked for but starving to death.\n\nNow, a bit off the man\u2019s cottage was the king\u2019s palace, and you must\nknow, just against the king\u2019s windows a great oak had sprung up, which\nwas so stout and big that it took away all the light from the king\u2019s\npalace. The King had said he would give many, many dollars to the man\nwho could fell the oak, but no one was man enough for that, for as soon\nas ever one chip of the oak\u2019s trunk flew off, two grew in its stead. A\nwell, too, the King had dug, which was to hold water for the whole\nyear; for all his neighbours had wells, but he hadn\u2019t any, and that he\nthought a shame. So the King said he would give any one who could dig\nhim such a well as would hold water for a whole year round, both money\nand goods; but no one could do it, for the King\u2019s palace lay high, high\nup on a hill, and they hadn\u2019t dug a few inches before they came upon\nthe living rock.\n\nBut as the King had set his heart on having these two things done, he\nhad it given out far and wide, in all the churches of his kingdom, that\nhe who could fell the big oak in the king\u2019s court-yard, and get him a\nwell that would hold water the whole year round, should have the\nPrincess and half the kingdom. Well! you may easily know there was many\na man who came to try his luck; but for all their hacking and hewing,\nand all their digging and delving, it was no good. The oak got bigger\nand stouter at every stroke, and the rock didn\u2019t get softer either. So\none day those three brothers thought they\u2019d set off and try too, and\ntheir father hadn\u2019t a word against it; for even if they didn\u2019t get the\nPrincess and half the kingdom, it might happen they might get a place\nsomewhere with a good master; and that was all he wanted. So when the\nbrothers said they thought of going to the palace, their father said\n\u201cyes\u201d at once. So Peter, Paul, and Jack went off from their home.\n\nWell! they hadn\u2019t gone far before they came to a fir wood, and up along\none side of it rose a steep hill-side, and as they went, they heard\nsomething hewing and hacking away up on-the hill among the trees.\n\n\u201cI wonder now what it is that is hewing away up yonder?\u201d said Jack.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re always so clever with your wonderings\u201d, said Peter and Paul\nboth at once. \u201cWhat wonder is it, pray, that a woodcutter should stand\nand hack up on a hill-side?\u201d\n\n\u201cStill, I\u2019d like to see what it is, after all\u201d, said Jack; and up he\nwent.\n\n\u201cOh, if you\u2019re such a child, \u2019twill do you good to go and take a\nlesson\u201d, bawled out his brothers after him.\n\nBut Jack didn\u2019t care for what they said; he climbed the steep hill-side\ntowards where the noise came, and when he reached the place, what do\nyou think he saw? why, an axe that stood there hacking and hewing, all\nof itself, at the trunk of a fir.\n\n\u201cGood day!\u201d said Jack. \u201cSo you stand here all alone and hew, do you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; here I\u2019ve stood and hewed and hacked a long long time, waiting\nfor you\u201d, said the Axe.\n\n\u201cWell, here I am at last\u201d, said Jack, as he took the axe, pulled it off\nits haft, and stuffed both head and haft into his wallet.\n\nSo when he got down again to his brothers, they began to jeer and laugh\nat him.\n\n\u201cAnd now, what funny thing was it you saw up yonder on the hill-side?\u201d\nthey said.\n\n\u201cOh, it was only an axe we heard\u201d, said Jack.\n\nSo when they had gone a bit farther, they came under a steep spur of\nrock, and up there they heard something digging and shovelling.\n\n\u201cI wonder now,\u201d said Jack, \u201cwhat it is digging and shovelling up yonder\nat the top of the rock.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, you\u2019re always so clever with your wonderings\u201d, said Peter and Paul\nagain, \u201cas if you\u2019d never heard a woodpecker hacking and pecking at a\nhollow tree.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well\u201d, said Jack, \u201cI think it would be a piece of fun just to\nsee what it really is.\u201d\n\nAnd so off he set to climb the rock, while the others laughed and made\ngame of him. But he didn\u2019t care a bit for that; up he clomb, and when\nhe got near the top, what do you think he saw? Why, a spade that stood\nthere digging and delving.\n\n\u201cGood day!\u201d said Jack. \u201cSo you stand here all alone, and dig and\ndelve!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that\u2019s what I do\u201d, said the Spade, \u201cand that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done\nthis many a long day, waiting for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, here I am\u201d, said Jack again, as he took the spade and knocked it\noff its handle, and put it into his wallet, and then down again to his\nbrothers.\n\n\u201cWell, what was it, so rare and strange\u201d, said Peter and Paul, \u201cthat\nyou saw up there at the top of the rock?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d, said Jack, \u201cnothing more than a spade; that was what we heard.\u201d\n\nSo they went on again a good bit, till they came to a brook. They were\nthirsty, all three, after their long walk, and so they lay down beside\nthe brook to have a drink.\n\n\u201cI wonder now\u201d, said Jack, \u201cwhere all this water comes from.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wonder if you\u2019re right in your head\u201d, said Peter and Paul, in one\nbreath. \u201cIf you\u2019re not mad already, you\u2019ll go mad very soon, with your\nwonderings. Where the brook comes from, indeed! Have you never heard\nhow water rises from a spring in the earth?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes! but still I\u2019ve a great fancy to see where this brook comes from\u201d,\nsaid Jack.\n\nSo up alongside the brook he went, in spite of all that his brothers\nbawled after him. Nothing could stop him. On he went. So, as he went up\nand up, the brook got smaller and smaller, and at last, a little way\nfarther on, what do you think he saw? Why, a great walnut, and out of\nthat the water trickled.\n\n\u201cGood-day!\u201d said Jack again. \u201cSo you lie here, and trickle and run down\nall alone?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I do,\u201d said the Walnut; \u201cand here have I trickled and run this\nmany a long day, waiting for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, here I am\u201d, said Jack, as he took up a lump of moss and plugged\nup the hole, that the water mightn\u2019t run out. Then he put the walnut\ninto his wallet, and ran down to his brothers.\n\n\u201cWell now\u201d, said Peter and Paul, \u201chave you found out where the water\ncomes from? A rare sight it must have been!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, after all, it was only a hole it ran out of\u201d, said Jack; and so\nthe others laughed and made game of him again, but Jack didn\u2019t mind\nthat a bit.\n\n\u201cAfter all, I had the fun of seeing it\u201d, said he. So when they had gone\na bit farther, they came to the king\u2019s palace; but as every one in the\nkingdom had heard how they might win the Princess and half the realm,\nif they could only fell the big oak and dig the king\u2019s well, so many\nhad come to try their luck that the oak was now twice as stout and big\nas it had been at first, for two chips grew for every one they hewed\nout with their axes, as I daresay you all bear in mind. So the King had\nnow laid it down as a punishment, that if any one tried and couldn\u2019t\nfell the oak, he should be put on a barren island, and both his ears\nwere to be clipped off. But the two brothers didn\u2019t let themselves be\nscared by that; they were quite sure they could fell the oak, and\nPeter, as he was eldest, was to try his hand first; but it went with\nhim as with all the rest who had hewn at the oak; for every chip he cut\nout, two grew in its place. So the king\u2019s men seized him, and clipped\noff both his ears, and put him out on the island.\n\nNow Paul, he was to try his luck, but he fared just the same; when he\nhad hewn two or three strokes, they began to see the oak grow, and so\nthe king\u2019s men seized him too, and clipped his ears, and put him out on\nthe island; and his ears they clipped closer, because they said he\nought to have taken a lesson from his brother.\n\nSo now Jack was to try.\n\n\u201cIf you _will_ look like a marked sheep, we\u2019re quite ready to clip your\nears at once, and then you\u2019ll save yourself some bother\u201d, said the\nKing; for he was angry with him for his brothers\u2019 sake.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019d like just to try first\u201d, said Jack, and so he got leave.\nThen he took his axe out of his wallet and fitted it to its haft.\n\n\u201cHew away!\u201d said he to his axe; and away it hewed, making the chips fly\nagain, so that it wasn\u2019t long before down came the oak.\n\nWhen that was done, Jack pulled out his spade, and fitted it to its\nhandle.\n\n\u201cDig away!\u201d said he to the spade; and so the spade began to dig and\ndelve till the earth and rock flew out in splinters, and so he had the\nwell soon dug out, you may think.\n\nAnd when he had got it as big and deep as he chose, Jack took out his\nwalnut and laid it in one corner of the well, and pulled the plug of\nmoss out.\n\n\u201cTrickle and run\u201d, said Jack; and so the nut trickled and ran, till the\nwater gushed out of the hole in a stream, and in a short time the well\nwas brimfull.\n\nThen Jack had felled the oak which shaded the king\u2019s palace, and dug a\nwell in the palace-yard, and so he got the Princess and half the\nkingdom, as the King had said; but it was lucky for Peter and Paul that\nthey had lost their ears, else they had heard each hour and day, how\nevery one said, \u201cWell, after all, Jack wasn\u2019t so much out of his mind\nwhen he took to wondering.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBIG PETER AND LITTLE PETER\n\n\nOnce on a time there were two brothers, both named Peter, and so the\nelder was called Big Peter, and the younger Little Peter. When his\nfather was dead, Big Peter took him a wife with lots of money, but\nLittle Peter was at home with his mother, and lived on her means till\nhe grew up. So when he was of age he came into his heritage, and then\nBig Peter said he mustn\u2019t stay any longer in the old house, and eat up\nhis mother\u2019s substance; \u2019twere better he should go out into the world\nand do something for himself.\n\nYes; Little Peter thought that no bad plan; so he bought himself a fine\nhorse and a load of butter and cheese, and set off to the town; and\nwith the money he got for his goods he bought brandy, and wine, and\nbeer, and as soon as ever he got home again it was one round of\nholiday-keeping and merry-making; he treated all his old friends and\nneighbours, and they treated him again; and so he lived in fun and\nfrolic so long as his money lasted. But when his last shilling was\nspent, and Little Peter hadn\u2019t a penny in his purse, he went back home\nagain to his old mother, and brought nothing with him but a calf. When\nthe spring came he turned out the calf and let it graze on Big Peter\u2019s\nmeadow. Then Big Peter got cross and killed the calf at one blow; but\nLittle Peter, he flayed the calf, and hung the skin up in the bath-room\ntill it was thoroughly dry; then he rolled it up, stuffed it into a\nsack, and went about the country trying to sell it; but wherever he\ncame, they only laughed at him, and said they had no need of smoked\ncalfskin. So when he had walked on a long way, he came to a farm, and\nthere he turned in and asked for a night\u2019s lodging.\n\n\u201cNay, nay\u201d, said the Goody, \u201cI can\u2019t give you lodging, for my husband\nis up at the shieling on the hill, and I\u2019m alone in the house. You must\njust try to get shelter at our next neighbour\u2019s; but still if they\nwon\u2019t take you in, you may come back, for you must have a house over\nyour head, come what may.\u201d\n\nSo as little Peter passed by the parlour window, he saw that there was\na priest in there, with whom the Goody was making merry, and she was\nserving him up ale and brandy, and a great bowl of custard. But just as\nthe priest had sat down to eat and drink, back came the husband, and as\nsoon as ever the Goody heard him in the passage, she was not slow; she\ntook the bowl of custard, and put it under the kitchen grate, and the\nale and brandy into the cellar, and as for the priest, she locked him\nup in a great chest which stood there. All this Little Peter stood\noutside and saw, and as soon as the husband was well inside Little\nPeter went up to the door and asked if he might have a night\u2019s lodging.\n\n\u201cYes, to be sure\u201d, said the man, \u201cwe\u2019ll take you in\u201d; and so he begged\nLittle Peter to sit down at the table and eat. Yes, Little Peter sat\ndown, and took his calfskin with him, and laid it down at his feet.\n\nSo, when they had sat a while, Little Peter began to mutter to his\nskin:\n\n\u201cWhat are you saying now? can\u2019t you hold your tongue\u201d, said Little\nPeter.\n\n\u201cWho is it you\u2019re talking with?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d answered Little Peter, \u201cit\u2019s only a spae-maiden whom I\u2019ve got in\nmy calfskin.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd pray what does she spae?\u201d asked the man again.\n\n\u201cWhy, she says that no one can say there isn\u2019t a bowl of custard\nstanding under the grate\u201d, said Little Peter.\n\n\u201cShe may spae as much as she pleases\u201d, answered the man, \u201cbut we\nhaven\u2019t had custards in this house for a year and a day.\u201d\n\nBut Peter begged him only to look, and he did so; and he found the\ncustard-bowl. So they began to make merry with it, but just as they sat\nand took their ease, Peter muttered something again to the calfskin.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d he said, \u201ccan\u2019t you hold your jaw?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd pray what does the spae-maiden say now?\u201d asked the man.\n\n\u201cOh! she says no one can say there isn\u2019t brandy and ale standing just\nunder the trap-door which goes down into the cellar\u201d, answered Peter.\n\n\u201cWell! if she never spaed wrong in her life, she spaes wrong now\u201d, said\nthe man. \u201cBrandy and ale! why, I can\u2019t call to mind the day when we had\nsuch things in the house!\u201d\n\n\u201cJust look\u201d, said Peter; and the man did so, and there, sure enough, he\nfound the drink, and you may fancy how merry and jolly he was.\n\n\u201cWhat did you give for that spae-maiden?\u201d said the man, \u201cfor I must\nhave her, whatever you ask for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe was left me by my father\u201d, said Peter, \u201cand so she didn\u2019t cost me\nmuch. To tell you the truth, I\u2019ve no great mind to part with her, but,\nall the same, you may have her, if you\u2019ll let me have, instead of her,\nthat old chest that stands in the parlour yonder.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe chest\u2019s locked and the key lost\u201d, screamed the old dame.\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll take it without the key, that I will\u201d, said Peter. And so he\nand the man soon struck the bargain. Peter got a rope instead of the\nkey, and the man helped him to get the chest up on his back, and then\noff he stumped with it. So when he had walked a bit he came on to a\nbridge, and under the bridge ran a river in such a headlong stream; it\nleapt, and foamed, and made such a roar, that the bridge shook again.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Peter, \u201cthat brandy-that brandy! Now I can feel I\u2019ve had a\ndrop too much. What\u2019s the good of my dragging this chest about? If I\nhadn\u2019t been drunk and mad, I shouldn\u2019t have gone and swopped away my\nspae-maiden for it. But now this chest shall go out into the river this\nvery minute.\u201d\n\nAnd with that he began to untie the rope.\n\n\u201cAu! Au! do for God\u2019s sake set me free. The priest\u2019s life is at stake;\nhe it is whom you have got in the chest\u201d, screamed out some one inside.\n\n\u201cThis must be the Deil himself\u201d, said Peter, \u201cwho wants to make me\nbelieve he has turned priest; but whether he makes himself priest or\nclerk, out he goes into the river.\u201d \u201cOh no! oh no! \u201croared out the\npriest. \u201cThe parish priest is at stake. He was on a visit to the Goody\nfor her soul\u2019s health, but her husband is rough and wild, and so she\nhad to hide me in the chest. Here I have a gold watch and a silver\nwatch in my fob; you shall have them both, and eight hundred dollars\nbeside, if you will only let me out.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay\u201d, said Peter; \u201cis it really your reverence after all\u201d; and\nwith that he took up a stone, and knocked the lid of the chest to\npieces. Then the priest got out, and off he set home to his parsonage\nboth fast and light, for he no longer had his watches and money to\nweigh him down.\n\nAs for Little Peter, he went home again, and said to Big Peter, \u201cThere\nwas a good sale to-day for calfskins at the market.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what did you get for your tattered one, now?\u201d asked Big Peter.\n\n\u201cQuite as much as it was worth. I got eight hundred dollars for it, but\nbigger and stouter calves-skins fetched twice as much\u201d, said Little\nPeter, and showed his dollars.\n\n\u201c\u2019Twas well you told me this\u201d, answered Big Peter, who went and\nslaughtered all his kine and calves, and set off on the road to town\nwith their skins and hides. So when he got to the market, and the\ntanners asked what he wanted for his hides, Big Peter said he must have\neight hundred dollars for the small ones, and so on, more and more for\nthe big ones. But all the folk only laughed and made game of him, and\nsaid he oughtn\u2019t to come there; he\u2019d better turn into the madhouse for\na better bargain, and so he soon found out how things had gone, and\nthat Little Peter had played him a trick. But when he got home again,\nhe was not very soft-spoken, and he swore and cursed; so help him, if\nhe wouldn\u2019t strike Little Peter dead that very night. All this Little\nPeter stood and listened to; and so, when he had gone to bed with his\nmother, and the night had worn on a little, he begged her to change\nsides with him, for he was well-nigh frozen, he said, and might be\n\u2019twas warmer next the wall. Yes, she did that, and in a little while\ncame Big Peter with an axe in his hand, and crept up to the bedside,\nand at one blow chopped off his mother\u2019s head.\n\nNext morning, in went Little Peter into Big Peter\u2019s sitting-room.\n\n\u201cHeaven better and help you\u201d, he said; \u201cyou who have chopped our\nmother\u2019s head off. The Sheriff will not be over-pleased to hear that\nyou pay mother\u2019s dower in this way.\u201d\n\nThen Big Peter got so afraid, he begged Little Peter, for God\u2019s sake,\nto say nothing about what he knew. If he would only do that, he should\nhave eight hundred dollars.\n\nWell, Little Peter swept up the money; set his mother\u2019s head on her\nbody again; put her on a hand-sledge, and so drew her to market. There\nhe set her up with an apple-basket on each arm, and an apple in each\nhand. By and by came a skipper walking along; he thought she was an\napple-woman, and asked if she had apples to sell, and how many he might\nhave for a penny. But the old woman made no answer. So the skipper\nasked again. No! she hadn\u2019t a word to say for herself.\n\n\u201cHow many may I have for a penny\u201d, he bawled the third time, but the\nold dame sat bolt upright, as though she neither saw him, nor heard\nwhat he said. Then the skipper flew into such a rage that he gave her\none under the ear, and so away rolled her head across the market-place.\nAt that moment, up came Little Peter with a bound; he fell a-weeping\nand bewailing, and threatened to make the skipper smart for it, for\nhaving dealt his old mother her death blow.\n\n\u201cDear friend, only hold your tongue about what you know\u201d, said the\nskipper, \u201cand you shall have eight hundred dollars.\u201d\n\nAnd so they made it up.\n\nWhen Little Peter got home again, he said to Big Peter:\n\n\u201cOld women fetch a fine price at market to-day. I got eight hundred\ndollars for mother; just look\u201d, and so he showed him the money.\n\n\u201c\u2019Twas well I came to know this\u201d, said Big Peter.\n\nNow, you must know he had an old stepmother, so he took and killed her\nout of hand, and strode off to sell her. But when they heard how he\nwent about trying to sell dead bodies, the neighbours were all for\nhanding him over to the Sheriff, and it was as much as he could do to\nget out of the scrape.\n\nWhen Big Peter got home again, he was so wroth and mad against Little\nPeter, he threatened to strike him dead there and then; he needn\u2019t hope\nfor mercy, die he must.\n\n\u201cWell! well!\u201d said Little Peter, \u201cthat\u2019s the way we must all trudge,\nand betwixt to-day and to-morrow, there\u2019s only a night to come. But if\nI must set off now, I\u2019ve only one thing to ask; stuff me into that sack\nthat hangs yonder, and take and toss me into the river.\u201d\n\nWell! Big Peter had nothing to say against that, he stuffed him into\nthe sack and set off. But he hadn\u2019t gone far on his way, before it came\ninto his mind that he had forgotten something which he must go back to\nfetch; meanwhile, he set the sack down by the road side. Just then came\na man driving a fine fat flock of sheep.\n\nTo Kingdom-come, to Paradise.\nTo Kingdom-come, to Paradise.\n\n\nroared out Little Peter, who lay inside the sack, and that he kept\nbawling and bellowing out.\n\n\u201cMayn\u2019t I get leave to go with you\u201d, asked the man who drove the sheep.\n\n\u201cOf course you may\u201d, said Little Peter. \u201cIf you\u2019ll only untie the sack,\nand creep into it in my stead, you\u2019ll soon get there. As for me, I\ndon\u2019t mind biding here till next time, that I don\u2019t. But you must keep\non calling out the words I bawled out, else you\u2019ll not go to the right\nplace.\u201d\n\nThen the man untied the sack, and got into it in Little Peter\u2019s place:\nPeter tied the sack up again and the man began to bawl out:\n\nTo Kingdom-come, to Paradise.\nTo Kingdom-come, to Paradise.\n\n\nand to that text he stuck.\n\nWhen Peter had got him well into the sack, he wasn\u2019t slow; off he went\nwith the flock of sheep, and soon put a good bit of the road behind\nhim. Meantime, back came Big Peter, took the sack on his shoulders, and\nbore it across the country to the river, and all the while he went, the\ndrover sat inside bawling out:\n\nTo Kingdom-come, to Paradise.\nTo Kingdom-come, to Paradise.\n\n\n\u201cAye, aye\u201d, said Big Peter; \u201ctry now to find the way for yourself\u201d; and\nwith that, he tossed him out into the stream.\n\nSo when Big Peter had done that, and was going back home, whom should\nhe overtake but his brother, who went along driving the flock of sheep\nbefore him. Big Peter could scarce believe his eyes, and asked how\nLittle Peter had got out of the river, and whence the fine flock of\nsheep came.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Little Peter, \u201cthat just was a good brotherly turn you did\nme, when you threw me into the river. I sank right down to the bottom\nlike a stone, and there I just did see flocks of sheep; you\u2019d scarce\nbelieve now, that they go about down there by thousands, one flock\nbigger than the other. And just look here! here are fleeces for you!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said Big Peter, \u201cI\u2019m very glad you told me.\u201d\n\nSo off he ran home to his old dame; made her come with him to the\nriver; crept into a sack, and bade her make haste to tie it up, and\ntoss him over the bridge.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going after a flock of sheep\u201d, he said, \u201cbut if I stay too long,\nand you think I can\u2019t get along with the flock by myself, just jump\nover and help me; do you hear?\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, don\u2019t stay too long\u201d, said his wife, \u201cfor my heart is set on\nseeing those sheep.\u201d\n\nThere she stood and waited a while, but then she thought, perhaps her\nhusband couldn\u2019t keep the flock well together, and so down she jumped\nafter him.\n\nAnd so Little Peter was rid of them all, and the farm and fields came\nto him as heir, and horses and cattle too; and, besides, he had money\nin his pocket to buy milch kine to tether in his byre.\n\n\n\n\nTATTERHOOD\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a king and a queen who had no children, and\nthat gave the queen much grief; she scarce had one happy hour. She was\nalways bewailing and bemoaning herself, and saying how dull and\nlonesome it was in the palace.\n\n\u201cIf we had children there\u2019d be life enough\u201d, she said.\n\nWherever she went in all her realm she found God\u2019s blessing in\nchildren, even in the vilest hut; and wherever she came she heard the\nGoodies scolding the bairns, and saying how they had done that and that\nwrong. All this the queen heard, and thought it would be so nice to do\nas other women did. At last the king and queen took into their palace a\nstranger lassie to rear up, that they might have her always with them,\nto love her if she did well, and scold her if she did wrong, like their\nown child.\n\nSo one day the little lassie whom they had taken as their own, ran down\ninto the palace yard, and was playing with a gold apple. Just then an\nold beggar wife came by, who had a little girl with her, and it wasn\u2019t\nlong before the little lassie and the beggar\u2019s bairn were great\nfriends, and began to play together, and to toss the gold apple about\nbetween them. When the Queen saw this, as she sat at a window in the\npalace, she tapped on the pane for her foster-daughter to come up. She\nwent at once, but the beggar-girl went up too; and as they went into\nthe Queen\u2019s bower, each held the other by the hand. Then the Queen\nbegan to scold the little lady, and to say:\n\n\u201cYou ought to be above running about and playing with a tattered\nbeggar\u2019s brat.\u201d\n\nAnd so she wanted to drive the lassie downstairs.\n\n\u201cIf the Queen only knew my mother\u2019s power, she\u2019d not drive me out\u201d,\nsaid the little lassie; and when the Queen asked what she meant more\nplainly, she told her how her mother could get her children if she\nchose. The Queen wouldn\u2019t believe it, but the lassie held her own, and\nsaid every word of it was true, and bade the Queen only to try and make\nher mother do it. So the Queen sent the lassie down to fetch up her\nmother.\n\n\u201cDo you know what your daughter says?\u201d asked the Queen of the old\nwoman, as soon as ever she came into the room.\n\nNo; the beggar wife knew nothing about it.\n\n\u201cWell, she says you can get me children if you will\u201d, answered the\nQueen.\n\n\u201cQueens shouldn\u2019t listen to beggar lassies\u2019 silly stories\u201d, said the\nold wife, and strode out of the room.\n\nThen the Queen got angry, and wanted again to drive out the little\nlassie; but she declared it was true every word that she had said.\n\n\u201cLet the Queen only give my mother a drop to drink,\u201d said the lassie;\n\u201cwhen she gets merry she\u2019ll soon find out a way to help you.\u201d\n\nThe Queen was ready to try this; so the beggar wife was fetched up\nagain once more, and treated both with wine and mead as much as she\nchose; and so it was not long before her tongue began to wag. Then the\nQueen came out again with the same question she had asked before.\n\n\u201cOne way to help you perhaps I know\u201d, said the beggar wife. \u201cYour\nMajesty must make them bring in two pails of water some evening before\nyou go to bed. In each of them you must wash yourself, and afterwards\nthrow away the water under the bed. When you look under the bed next\nmorning, two flowers will have sprung up, one fair and one ugly. The\nfair one you must eat, the ugly one you must let stand; but mind you\ndon\u2019t forget the last.\u201d\n\nThat was what the beggar wife said.\n\nYes; the Queen did what the beggar wife advised her to do; she had the\nwater brought up in two pails, washed herself in them, and emptied them\nunder the bed; and lo! when she looked under the bed next morning,\nthere stood two flowers; one was ugly and foul, and had black leaves;\nbut the other was so bright, and fair, and lovely, she had never seen\nits like; so she ate it up at once. But the pretty flower tasted so\nsweet, that she couldn\u2019t help herself. She ate the other up too, for,\nshe thought, \u201cit can\u2019t hurt or help one much either way, I\u2019ll be\nbound\u201d.\n\nWell, sure enough, after a while the Queen was brought to bed. First of\nall, she had a girl who had a wooden spoon in her hand, and rode upon a\ngoat; loathly and ugly she was, and the very moment she came into the\nworld, she bawled out \u201cMamma\u201d.\n\n\u201cIf I\u2019m your mamma\u201d, said the Queen, \u201cGod give me grace to mend my\nways.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t be sorry\u201d, said the girl, who rode on the goat, \u201cfor one\nwill soon come after me who is better looking.\u201d\n\nSo, after a while, the Queen had another girl, who was so fair and\nsweet, no one had ever set eyes on such a lovely child, and with her\nyou may fancy the Queen was very well pleased. The elder twin they\ncalled \u201cTatterhood\u201d, because she was always so ugly and ragged, and\nbecause she had a hood which hung about her ears in tatters. The Queen\ncould scarce bear to look at her, and the nurses tried to shut her up\nin a room by herself, but it was all no good; where the younger twin\nwas, there she must also be, and no one could ever keep them apart.\n\nWell, one Christmas eve, when they were half grown up, there rose such\na frightful noise and clatter in the gallery outside the Queen\u2019s bower.\nSo Tatterhood asked what it was that dashed and crashed so out in the\npassage.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Queen, \u201cit isn\u2019t worth asking about.\u201d\n\nBut Tatterhood wouldn\u2019t give over till she found out all about it and\nso the Queen told her it was a pack of Trolls and witches who had come\nthere to keep Christmas. So Tatterhood said she\u2019d just go out and drive\nthem away; and in spite of all they could say, and however much they\nbegged and prayed her to let the Trolls alone, she must and would go\nout to drive the witches off; but she begged the Queen to mind and keep\nall the doors close shut, so that not one of them came so much as the\nleast bit ajar. Having said this, off she went with her wooden spoon,\nand began to hunt and sweep away the hags; and all this while there was\nsuch a pother out in the gallery, the like of it was never heard. The\nwhole Palace creaked and groaned as if every joint and beam were going\nto be torn out of its place. Now, how it was, I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t tell;\nbut somehow or other one door did get the least bit ajar, then her twin\nsister just peeped out to see how things were going with Tatterhood,\nand put her head a tiny bit through the opening. But, POP! up came an\nold witch, and whipped off her head, and stuck a calf\u2019s head on her\nshoulders instead; and so the Princess ran back into the room on\nall-fours, and began to \u201cmoo\u201d like a calf. When Tatterhood came back\nand saw her sister, she scolded them all round, and was very angry\nbecause they hadn\u2019t kept better watch, and asked them what they thought\nof their heedlessness now, when her sister was turned into a calf.\n\n\u201cBut still I\u2019ll see if I can\u2019t set her free\u201d, she said.\n\nThen she asked the King for a ship in full trim, and well fitted with\nstores; but captain and sailors she wouldn\u2019t have. No; she would sail\naway with her sister all alone; and as there was no holding her back,\nat last they let her have her own way.\n\nThen Tatterhood sailed off, and steered her ship right under the land\nwhere the witches dwelt, and when she came to the landing-place, she\ntold her sister to stay quite still on board the ship; but she herself\nrode on her goat up to the witches\u2019 castle. When she got there, one of\nthe windows in the gallery was open, and there she saw her sister\u2019s\nhead hung up on the window frame; so she leapt her goat through the\nwindow into the gallery, snapped up the head, and set off with it.\nAfter her came the witches to try to get the head again, and they\nflocked about her as thick as a swarm of bees or a nest of ants; but\nthe goat snorted, and puffed, and butted with his horns, and Tatterhood\nbeat and banged them about with her wooden spoon; and so the pack of\nwitches had to give it up. So Tatterhood got back to her ship, took the\ncalf\u2019s head off her sister, and put her own on again, and then she\nbecame a girl as she had been before. After that she sailed a long,\nlong way, to a strange king\u2019s realm.\n\nNow the king of that land was a widower, and had an only son. So when\nhe saw the strange sail, he sent messengers down to the strand to find\nout whence it came, and who owned it; but when the king\u2019s men came down\nthere, they saw never a living soul on board but Tatterhood, and there\nshe was, riding round and round the deck on her goat at full speed,\ntill her elf locks streamed again in the wind. The folk from the palace\nwere all amazed at this sight, and asked, were there not more on board?\nYes, there were; she had a sister with her, said Tatterhood. Her, too,\nthey wanted to see, but Tatterhood said \u201cNo\u201d:\n\n\u201cNo one shall see her, unless the king comes himself\u201d, she said; and so\nshe began to gallop about on her goat till the deck thundered again.\n\nSo when the servants got back to the palace, and told what they had\nseen and heard down at the ship, the king was for setting out at once,\nthat he might see the lassie that rode on the goat. When he got down,\nTatterhood led out her sister, and she was so fair and gentle, the king\nfell over head and ears in love with her as he stood. He brought them\nboth back with him to the Palace, and wanted to have the sister for his\nqueen; but Tatterhood said \u201cNo\u201d; the king couldn\u2019t have her in any way,\nunless the king\u2019s son chose to have Tatterhood. That you may fancy the\nprince was very loath to do, such an ugly hussy as Tatterhood was; but\nat last the king and all the others in the palace talked him over, and\nhe yielded, giving his word to take her for his queen; but it went sore\nagainst the grain, and he was a doleful man.\n\nNow they set about the wedding, both with brewing and baking; and when\nall was ready, they were to go to church; but the prince thought it the\nweariest churching he had ever had in all his life. First, the king\ndrove off with his bride, and she was so lovely and so grand, all the\npeople stopped to look after her all along the road, and they stared at\nher till she was out of sight. After them came the prince on horseback\nby the side of Tatterhood, who trotted along on her goat with her\nwooden spoon in her fist, and to look at him, it was more like going to\na burial than a wedding, and that his own; so sorrowful he seemed, and\nwith never a word to say.\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you talk?\u201d asked Tatterhood, when they had ridden a bit.\n\n\u201cWhy, what should I talk about?\u201d answered the prince.\n\n\u201cWell, you might at least ask me why I ride upon this ugly goat\u201d, said\nTatterhood.\n\n\u201cWhy do you ride on that ugly goat?\u201d asked the prince.\n\n\u201cIs it an ugly goat? why, it\u2019s the grandest horse bride ever rode on\u201d,\nanswered Tatterhood; and in a trice the goat became a horse, and that\nthe finest the prince had ever set eyes on.\n\nThen they rode on again a bit, but the prince was just as woeful as\nbefore, and couldn\u2019t get a word out. So Tatterhood asked him again why\nhe didn\u2019t talk, and when the Prince answered he didn\u2019t know what to\ntalk about, she said:\n\n\u201cYou can at least ask me why I ride with this ugly spoon in my fist.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you ride with that ugly spoon? \u201casked the prince.\n\n\u201cIs it an ugly spoon? why, it\u2019s the loveliest silver wand bride ever\nbore\u201d, said Tatterhood; and in a trice it became a silver wand, so\ndazzling bright, the sunbeams glistened from it.\n\nSo they rode on another bit, but the Prince was just as sorrowful, and\nsaid never a word. In a little while, Tatterhood asked him again why he\ndidn\u2019t talk, and bade him ask why she wore that ugly grey hood on her\nhead.\n\n\u201cWhy do you wear that ugly grey hood on your head?\u201d asked the Prince.\n\n\u201cIs it an ugly hood? why, it\u2019s the brightest golden crown bride ever\nwore\u201d, answered Tatterhood, and it became a crown on the spot.\n\nNow, they rode on a long while again, and the Prince was so woeful,\nthat he sat without sound or speech just as before. So his bride asked\nhim again why he didn\u2019t talk, and bade him ask now, why her face was so\nugly and ashen-grey?\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d asked the Prince, \u201cwhy is your face so ugly and ashen-grey?\u201d\n\n\u201cI ugly\u201d, said the bride; \u201cyou think my sister pretty, but I am ten\ntimes prettier\u201d; and lo! when the Prince looked at her, she was so\nlovely, he thought there never was so lovely a woman in all the world.\nAfter that, I shouldn\u2019t wonder if the Prince found his tongue, and no\nlonger rode along hanging down his head.\n\nSo they drank the bridal cup both deep and long, and, after that, both\nPrince and King set out with their brides to the Princess\u2019s father\u2019s\npalace, and there they had another bridal feast, and drank anew, both\ndeep and long. There was no end to the fun; and, if you make haste and\nrun to the King\u2019s palace, I dare say you\u2019ll find there\u2019s still a drop\nof the bridal ale left for you.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COCK AND HEN THAT WENT TO THE DOVREFELL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a Hen that had flown up, and perched on an\noak-tree for the night. When the night came, she dreamed that unless\nshe got to the Dovrefell, the world would come to an end. So that very\nminute she jumped down, and set out on her way. When she had walked a\nbit she met a Cock.\n\n\u201cGood day, Cocky-Locky\u201d, said the Hen.\n\n\u201cGood day, Henny-Penny\u201d, said the Cock, \u201cwhither away so early.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m going to the Dovrefell, that the world mayn\u2019t come to an end\u201d,\nsaid the Hen.\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Henny-Penny\u201d, said the Cock.\n\n\u201cI sat in the oak and dreamt it last night\u201d, said the Hen.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go with you\u201d, said the Cock.\n\nWell! they walked on a good bit, and then they met a Duck.\n\n\u201cGood day, Ducky-Lucky\u201d, said the Cock.\n\n\u201cGood day, Cocky-Locky\u201d, said the Duck, \u201cwhither away so early?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m going to the Dovrefell, that the world mayn\u2019t come to an end\u201d,\nsaid the Cock.\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Cocky-Locky?\u201d\n\n\u201cHenny-Penny\u201d, said the Cock.\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Henny-Penny?\u201d said the Duck.\n\n\u201cI sat in the oak and dreamt it last night\u201d, said the Hen.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go with you\u201d, said the Duck.\n\nSo they went off together, and after a bit they met a Goose.\n\n\u201cGood day, Goosey-Poosey\u201d, said the Duck.\n\n\u201cGood day, Ducky-Lucky\u201d, said the Goose, \u201cwhither away so early?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going to the Dovrefell, that the world mayn\u2019t come to an end\u201d,\nsaid the Duck.\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Ducky-Lucky?\u201d asked the Goose.\n\n\u201cCocky-Locky.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Cocky-Locky?\u201d\n\n\u201cHenny-Penny.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow you do know that, Henny-Penny?\u201d said the Goose.\n\n\u201cI sat in the oak and dreamt it last night, Goosey-Poosey\u201d, said the\nHen.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go with you\u201d, said the Goose.\n\nNow when they had all walked along for a bit, a Fox met them.\n\n\u201cGood day, Foxsy-Cocksy\u201d, said the Goose.\n\n\u201cGood day, Goosey-Poosey.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhither away, Foxy-Cocksy?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhither away yourself, Goosey-Poosey?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going to the Dovrefell that the world mayn\u2019t come to an end\u201d, said\nthe Goose.\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Goosey-Poosey?\u201d asked the Fox.\n\n\u201cDucky-Lucky.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Ducky-Lucky?\u201d\n\n\u201cCocky-Locky.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho told you that, Cocky-Locky?\u201d\n\n\u201cHenny-Penny.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you know that, Henny-Penny?\u201d\n\n\u201cI sat in the oak and dreamt last night, that if we don\u2019t get to the\nDovrefell, the world will come to an end\u201d, said the Hen.\n\n\u201cStuff and nonsense\u201d, said the Fox; \u201cthe world won\u2019t come to an end if\nyou don\u2019t get thither. No! come home with me to my earth. That\u2019s far\nbetter, for it\u2019s warm and jolly there.\u201d\n\nWell, they went home with the Fox to his earth, and when they got in,\nthe Fox laid on lots of fuel, so that they all got very sleepy.\n\nThe Duck and the Goose, they settled themselves down in a corner, but\nthe Cock and Hen flew up on a post. So when the Goose and Duck were\nwell asleep, the Fox, took the Goose and laid him on the embers, and\nroasted him. The Hen smelt the strong roast meat, and sprang up to a\nhigher peg, and said, half asleep:\n\nFaugh, what a nasty smell!\nWhat a nasty smell!\n\n\n\u201cOh, stuff\u201d, said the Fox; \u201cit\u2019s only the smoke driven down the\nchimney; go to sleep again, and hold your tongue.\u201d So the Hen went off\nto sleep again.\n\nNow the Fox had hardly got the Goose well down his throat, before he\ndid the very same with the Duck. He took and laid him on the embers,\nand roasted him for a dainty bit. Then the hen woke up again, and\nsprung up to a higher peg still.\n\nFaugh, what a nasty smell!\nWhat a nasty smell!\n\n\nShe said again, and then she got her eyes open, and came to see how the\nFox had eaten both the twain, goose and duck; so she flew up to the\nhighest peg of all, and perched there, and peeped up through the\nchimney.\n\n\u201cNay, nay; just see what a lovely lot of geese flying yonder\u201d, she said\nto the Fox.\n\nOut ran Reynard to fetch a fat roast. But while he was gone, the Hen\nwoke up the Cock, and told him how it had gone with Goosey-Poosey and\nDucky-Lucky; and so Cocky-Lucky and Henny-Penny flew out through the\nchimney, and if they hadn\u2019t got to the Dovrefell, it surely would have\nbeen all over with the world.\n\n\n\n\nKATIE WOODENCLOAK\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a King who had become a widower. By his Queen\nhe had one daughter, who was so clever and lovely, there wasn\u2019t a\ncleverer or lovelier Princess in all the world. So the King went on a\nlong time sorrowing for the Queen, whom he had loved so much, but at\nlast he got weary of living alone, and married another Queen, who was a\nwidow, and had, too, an only daughter; but this daughter was just as\nbad and ugly as the other was kind, and clever, and lovely, The\nstepmother and her daughter were jealous of the Princess, because she\nwas so lovely; but so long as the King was at home, they daredn\u2019t do\nher any harm, he was so fond of her.\n\nWell, after a time, he fell into war with another King, and went out to\nbattle with his host, and then the stepmother thought she might do as\nshe pleased; and so she both starved and beat the Princess, and was\nafter her in every hole and corner of the house. At last she thought\neverything too good for her, and turned her out to herd cattle. So\nthere she went about with the cattle, and herded them in the woods and\non the fells. As for food, she got little or none, and she grew thin\nand wan, and was always sobbing and sorrowful. Now in the herd there\nwas a great dun bull, which always kept himself so neat and sleek, and\noften and often he came up to the Princess, and let her pat him. So one\nday when she sat there, sad, and sobbing, and sorrowful, he came up to\nher and asked her outright why she was always in such grief. She\nanswered nothing, but went on weeping.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Bull, \u201cI know all about it quite well, though you won\u2019t\ntell me; you weep because the Queen is bad to you, and because she is\nready to starve you to death. But food you\u2019ve no need to fret about,\nfor in my left ear lies a cloth, and when you take and spread it out,\nyou may have as many dishes as you please.\u201d\n\nSo she did that, took the cloth and spread it out on the grass, and lo!\nit served up the nicest dishes one could wish to have; there was wine\ntoo, and mead, and sweet cake. Well, she soon got up her flesh again,\nand grew so plump, and rosy, and white, that the Queen and her scrawny\nchip of a daughter turned blue and yellow for spite. The Queen couldn\u2019t\nat all make out how her stepdaughter got to look so well on such bad\nfare, so she told one of her maids to go after her in the wood, and\nwatch and see how it all was, for she thought some of the servants in\nthe house must give her food. So the maid went after her, and watched\nin the wood, and then she saw how the stepdaughter took the cloth out\nof the Bull\u2019s ear, and spread it out, and how it served up the nicest\ndishes, which the stepdaughter ate and made good cheer over. All this\nthe maid told the Queen when she went home.\n\nAnd now the King came home from war, and had won the fight against the\nother king with whom he went out to battle. So there was great joy\nthroughout the palace, and no one was gladder than the King\u2019s daughter.\nBut the Queen shammed sick, and took to her bed, and paid the doctor a\ngreat fee to get him to say she could never be well again unless she\nhad some of the Dun Bull\u2019s flesh to eat. Both the king\u2019s daughter and\nthe folk in the palace asked the doctor if nothing else would help her,\nand prayed hard for the Bull, for every one was fond of him, and they\nall said there wasn\u2019t that Bull\u2019s match in all the land. But, no; he\nmust and should be slaughtered, nothing else would do. When the king\u2019s\ndaughter heard that, she got very sorrowful, and went down into the\nbyre to the Bull. There, too, he stood and hung down his head, and\nlooked so downcast that she began to weep over him.\n\n\u201cWhat are you weeping for?\u201d asked the Bull.\n\nSo she told him how the King had come home again, and how the Queen had\nshammed sick and got the doctor to say she could never be well and\nsound again unless she got some of the Dun Bull\u2019s flesh to eat, and so\nnow he was to be slaughtered.\n\n\u201cIf they get me killed first\u201d, said the Bull, \u201cthey\u2019ll soon take your\nlife too. Now, if you\u2019re of my mind, we\u2019ll just start off, and go away\nto-night.\u201d\n\nWell, the Princess thought it bad, you may be sure, to go and leave her\nfather, but she thought it still worse to be in the house with the\nQueen; and so she gave her word to the Bull to come to him.\n\nAt night, when all had gone to bed, the Princess stole down to the byre\nto the Bull, and so he took her on his back, and set off from the\nhomestead as fast as ever he could. And when the folk got up at\ncockcrow next morning to slaughter the Bull, why, he was gone; and when\nthe King got up and asked for his daughter, she was gone too. He sent\nout messengers on all sides to hunt for them, and gave them out in all\nthe parish churches; but there was no one who had caught a glimpse of\nthem. Meanwhile, the Bull went through many lands with the King\u2019s\ndaughter on his back, and so one day they came to a great copper-wood,\nwhere both the trees, and branches, and leaves, and flowers, and\neverything, were nothing but copper.\n\nBut before they went into the wood, the Bull said to the King\u2019s\ndaughter:\n\n\u201cNow, when we get into this wood, mind you take care not to touch even\na leaf of it, else it\u2019s all over both with me and you, for here dwells\na Troll with three heads who owns this wood.\u201d\n\nNo, bless her, she\u2019d be sure to take care not to touch anything. Well,\nshe was very careful, and leant this way and that to miss the boughs,\nand put them gently aside with her hands; but it was such a thick wood,\n\u2019twas scarce possible to get through; and so, with all her pains,\nsomehow or other she tore off a leaf, which she held in her hand.\n\n\u201cAU! AU! what have you done now?\u201d said the Bull; \u201cthere\u2019s nothing for\nit now but to fight for life or death; but mind you keep the leaf\nsafe.\u201d\n\nSoon after they got to the end of the wood, and a Troll with three\nheads came running up:\n\n\u201cWho is this that touches my wood?\u201d said the Troll.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s just as much mine as yours\u201d, said the Bull.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d roared the Troll, \u201cwe\u2019ll try a fall about that.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs you choose\u201d, said the Bull.\n\nSo they rushed at one another, and fought; and the Bull he butted, and\ngored, and kicked with all his might and main; but the Troll gave him\nas good as he brought, and it lasted the whole day before the Bull got\nthe mastery; and then he was so full of wounds, and so worn out, he\ncould scarce lift a leg. Then they were forced to stay there a day to\nrest, and then the Bull bade the King\u2019s daughter to take the horn of\nointment which hung at the Troll\u2019s belt, and rub him with it. Then he\ncame to himself again, and the day after they trudged on again. So they\ntravelled many, many days, until, after a long long time, they came to\na silver wood, where both the trees, and branches, and leaves, and\nflowers, and everything, were silvern.\n\nBefore the Bull went into the wood, he said to the King\u2019s daughter:\n\n\u201cNow, when we get into this wood, for heaven\u2019s sake mind you take good\ncare; you mustn\u2019t touch anything, and not pluck off so much as one\nleaf, else it is all over both with me and you; for here is a Troll\nwith six heads who owns it, and him I don\u2019t think I should be able to\nmaster.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the King\u2019s daughter; \u201cI\u2019ll take good care and not touch\nanything you don\u2019t wish me to touch.\u201d\n\nBut when they got into the wood, it was so close and thick, they could\nscarce get along. She was as careful as careful could be, and leant to\nthis side and that to miss the boughs, and put them on one side with\nher hands, but every minute the branches struck her across the eyes,\nand in spite of all her pains, it so happened she tore off a leaf.\n\n\u201cAU! AU! what have you done now?\u201d said the Bull. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing for\nit now but to fight for life and death, for this Troll has six heads,\nand is twice as strong as the other, but mind you keep the leaf safe,\nand don\u2019t lose it.\u201d\n\nJust as he said that, up came the Troll:\n\n\u201cWho is this\u201d, he said, \u201cthat touches my wood?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s as much mine as yours\u201d, said the Bull.\n\n\u201cThat we\u2019ll try a fall about\u201d, roared the Troll.\n\n\u201cAs you choose\u201d, said the Bull, and rushed at the Troll, and gored out\nhis eyes, and drove his horns right through his body, so that the\nentrails gushed out; but the Troll was almost a match for him, and it\nlasted three whole days before the Bull got the life gored out of him.\nBut then he, too, was so weak and wretched, it was as much as he could\ndo to stir a limb, and so full of wounds, that the blood streamed from\nhim. So he said to the King\u2019s daughter she must take the horn of\nointment that hung at the Troll\u2019s belt, and rub him with it. Then she\ndid that, and he came to himself; but they were forced to stay there a\nweek to rest before the Bull had strength enough to go on.\n\nAt last they set off again, but the Bull was still poorly, and they\nwent rather slowly at first. So, to spare time, the King\u2019s daughter\nsaid, as she was young and light of foot, she could very well walk, but\nshe couldn\u2019t get leave to do that. No; she must seat herself up on his\nback again. So on they travelled through many lands a long time, and\nthe King\u2019s daughter did not know in the least whither they went; but\nafter a long, long time they came to a gold wood. It was so grand, the\ngold dropped from every twig, and all the trees, and boughs, and\nflowers, and leaves, were of pure gold. Here, too, the same thing\nhappened as had happened in the silver wood and copper wood. The Bull\ntold the King\u2019s daughter she mustn\u2019t touch it for anything, for there\nwas a Troll with nine heads who owned it, and he was much bigger and\nstouter than both the others put together; and he didn\u2019t think he could\nget the better of him. No; she\u2019d be sure to take heed not to touch it;\nthat he might know very well. But when they got into the wood, it was\nfar thicker and closer than the silver wood, and the deeper they went\ninto it, the worse it got. The wood went on, getting thicker and\nthicker, and closer and closer; and at last she thought there was no\nway at all to get through it. She was in such an awful fright of\nplucking off anything, that she sat, and twisted, and turned herself\nthis way and that, and hither and thither, to keep clear of the boughs,\nand she put them on one side with her hands; but every moment the\nbranches struck her across the eyes, so that she couldn\u2019t see what she\nwas clutching at; and lo! before she knew how it came about, she had a\ngold apple in her hand. Then she was so bitterly sorry, she burst into\ntears, and wanted to throw it away; but the Bull said, she must keep it\nsafe and watch it well, and comforted her as well as he could; but he\nthought it would be a hard tussle, and he doubted how it would go.\n\nJust then up came the Troll with the nine heads, and he was so ugly,\nthe King\u2019s daughter scarcely dared to look at him.\n\n\u201cWHO IS THIS THAT TOUCHES MY WOOD?\u201d he roared.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s just as much mine as yours\u201d, said the Bull.\n\n\u201cThat we\u2019ll try a fall about\u201d, roared the Troll again.\n\n\u201cJust as you choose\u201d, said the Bull; and so they rushed at one another,\nand fought, and it was such a dreadful sight, the King\u2019s daughter was\nready to swoon away. The Bull gored out the Troll\u2019s eyes, and drove his\nhorns through and through his body, till the entrails came tumbling\nout; but the Troll fought bravely; and when the Bull got one head gored\nto death, the rest breathed life into it again, and so it lasted a\nwhole week before the Bull was able to get the life out of them all.\nBut then he was utterly worn out and wretched. He couldn\u2019t stir a foot,\nand his body was all one wound. He couldn\u2019t so much as ask the King\u2019s\ndaughter to take the horn of ointment which hung at the Troll\u2019s belt,\nand rub it over him. But she did it all the same, and then he came to\nhimself by little and little; but they had to lie there and rest three\nweeks before he was fit to go on again.\n\nThen they set off at a snail\u2019s pace, for the Bull said they had still a\nlittle further to go, and so they crossed over many high hills and\nthick woods. So after awhile they got upon the fells.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything?\u201d asked the Bull.\n\n\u201cNo, I see nothing but the sky, and the wild fell\u201d, said the King\u2019s\ndaughter.\n\nSo when they clomb higher up, the fell got smoother, and they could see\nfurther off.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now?\u201d asked the Bull.\n\n\u201cYes, I see a little castle far, far away\u201d, said the Princess.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not so little though\u201d, said the Bull.\n\nAfter a long, long time, they came to a great cairn, where there was a\nspur of the fell that stood sheer across the way.\n\n\u201cDo you see anything now?\u201d asked the Bull.\n\n\u201cYes, now I see the castle close by\u201d, said the King\u2019s daughter, \u201cand\nnow it is much, much bigger.\u201d\n\n\u201cThither you\u2019re to go\u201d, said the Bull. \u201cRight underneath the castle is\na pig-sty, where you are to dwell. When you come thither you\u2019ll find a\nwooden cloak, all made of strips of lath; that you must put on, and go\nup to the castle and say your name is \u2018Katie Woodencloak\u2019, and ask for\na place. But before you go, you must take your penknife and cut my head\noff, and then you must flay me, and roll up the hide, and lay it under\nthe wall of rock yonder, and under the hide you must lay the copper\nleaf, and the silver leaf, and the golden apple. Yonder, up against the\nrock, stands a stick; and when you want anything, you\u2019ve only got to\nknock on the wall of rock with that stick.\u201d\n\nAt first she wouldn\u2019t do anything of the kind; but when the Bull said\nit was the only thanks he would have for what he had done for her, she\ncouldn\u2019t help herself. So, however much it grieved her heart, she\nhacked and cut away with her knife at the big beast till she got both\nhis head and his hide off, and then she laid the hide up under the wall\nof rock, and put the copper leaf, and the silvern leaf, and the golden\napple inside it.\n\nSo when she had done that, she went over to the pig-sty, but all the\nwhile she went she sobbed and wept. There she put on the wooden cloak,\nand so went up to the palace. When she came into the kitchen she begged\nfor a place, and told them her name was Katie Woodencloak. Yes, the\ncook said she might have a place\u2014she might have leave to be there in\nthe scullery, and wash up, for the lassie who did that work before had\njust gone away.\n\n\u201cBut as soon as you get weary of being here, you\u2019ll go your way too,\nI\u2019ll be bound.\u201d\n\nNo; she was sure she wouldn\u2019t do that.\n\nSo there she was, behaving so well, and washing up so handily. The\nSunday after there were to be strange guests at the palace, so Katie\nasked if she might have leave to carry up water for the Prince\u2019s bath;\nbut all the rest laughed at her, and said:\n\n\u201cWhat should you do there? Do you think the Prince will care to look at\nyou, you who are such a fright!\u201d\n\nBut she wouldn\u2019t give it up, and kept on begging and praying; and at\nlast she got leave. So when she went up the stairs, her wooden cloak\nmade such a clatter, the Prince came out and asked:\n\n\u201cPray who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I was just going to bring up water for your Royal Highness\u2019s\nbath\u201d, said Katie.\n\n\u201cDo you think now\u201d, said the Prince, \u201cI\u2019d have anything to do with the\nwater you bring?\u201d and with that he threw the water over her.\n\nSo she had to put up with that, but then she asked leave to go to\nchurch; well, she got that leave too, for the church lay close by. But,\nfirst of all, she went to the rock, and knocked on its face with the\nstick which stood there, just as the Bull had said. And straightway out\ncame a man, who said:\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s your will?\u201d\n\nSo the Princess said she had got leave to go to church and hear the\npriest preach, but she had no clothes to go in. So he brought out a\nkirtle, which was as bright as the copper wood, and she got a horse and\nsaddle beside. Now, when she got to the church she was so lovely and\ngrand, all wondered who she could be, and scarce one of them listened\nto what the priest said, for they looked too much at her. As for the\nPrince, he fell so deep in love with her, he didn\u2019t take his eyes off\nher for a single moment.\n\nSo, as she went out of church, the Prince ran after her, and held the\nchurch door open for her; and so he got hold of one of her gloves,\nwhich was caught in the door. When she went away and mounted her horse,\nthe Prince went up to her again, and asked whence she came.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019m from Bath\u201d, said Katie; and while the Prince took out the\nglove to give it to her, she said:\n\nBright before and dark behind,\nClouds come rolling on the wind;\nThat this Prince may never see\nWhere my good steed goes with me.\n\n\nThe Prince had never seen the like of that glove, and went about far\nand wide asking after the land whence the proud lady, who rode off\nwithout her glove, said she came; but there was no one who could tell\nwhere \u201cBath\u201d lay.\n\nNext Sunday some one had to go up to the Prince with a towel.\n\n\u201cOh! may I have leave to go up with it?\u201d said Katie.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the good of your going?\u201d said the others; \u201cyou saw how it fared\nwith you last time.\u201d\n\nBut Katie wouldn\u2019t give in; she kept on begging and praying, till she\ngot leave; and then she ran up the stairs, so that her wooden cloak\nmade a great clatter. Out came the Prince, and when he saw it was\nKatie, he tore the towel out of her hand, and threw it into her face.\n\n\u201cPack yourself off, you ugly Troll\u201d, he cried; \u201cdo you think I\u2019d have a\ntowel which you have touched with your smutty fingers?\u201d\n\nAfter that the Prince set off to church, and Katie begged for leave to\ngo too. They all asked what business she had at church\u2014she who had\nnothing to put on but that wooden cloak, which was so black and ugly.\nBut Katie said the priest was such a brave man to preach, what he said\ndid her so much good; and so she at last got leave. Now she went again\nto the rock and knocked, and so out came the man, and gave her a kirtle\nfar finer than the first one; it was all covered with silver, and it\nshone like the silver wood; and she got besides a noble steed, with a\nsaddle-cloth broidered with silver, and a silver bit.\n\nSo when the King\u2019s daughter got to the church, the folk were still\nstanding about in the churchyard. And all wondered and wondered who she\ncould be, and the Prince was soon on the spot, and came and wished to\nhold her horse for her while she got off. But she jumped down, and said\nthere was no need, for her horse was so well broke, it stood still when\nshe bid it, and came when she called it. So they all went into church;\nbut there was scarce a soul that listened to what the priest said, for\nthey looked at her a deal too much; and the Prince fell still deeper in\nlove than the first time.\n\nWhen the sermon was over, and she went out of church and was going to\nmount her horse, up came the Prince again, and asked her whence she\ncame.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019m from Towelland\u201d, said the King\u2019s daughter; and as she said\nthat, she dropped her riding-whip, and when the Prince stooped to pick\nit up, she said:\n\nBright before and dark behind,\nClouds come rolling on the wind;\nThat this Prince may never see\nWhere my good steed goes with me.\n\n\nSo away she was again; and the Prince couldn\u2019t tell what had become of\nher. He went about far and wide asking after the land whence she said\nshe came, but there was no one who could tell him where it lay; and so\nthe Prince had to make the best he could of it.\n\nNext Sunday some one had to go up to the Prince with a comb. Katie\nbegged for leave to go up with it, but the others put her in mind how\nshe had fared the last time, and scolded her for wishing to go before\nthe Prince\u2014such a black and ugly fright as she was in her wooden cloak.\nBut she wouldn\u2019t leave off asking till they let her go up to the Prince\nwith his comb. So, when she came clattering up the stairs again, out\ncame the Prince, and took the comb, and threw it at her, and bade her\nbe off as fast as she could. After that the Prince went to church, and\nKatie begged for leave to go too. They asked again what business she\nhad there, she who was so foul and black, and who had no clothes to\nshow herself in. Might be the Prince or some one else would see her,\nand then both she and all the others would smart for it; but Katie said\nthey had something else to do than to look at her; and she wouldn\u2019t\nleave off begging and praying till they gave her leave to go.\n\nSo the same thing happened now as had happened twice before. She went\nto the rock and knocked with the stick, and then the man came out and\ngave her a kirtle which was far grander than either of the others. It\nwas almost all pure gold, and studded with diamonds; and she got\nbesides a noble steed, with a gold broidered saddle-cloth and a golden\nbit.\n\nNow when the King\u2019s daughter got to the church, there stood the priest\nand all the people in the churchyard waiting for her. Up came the\nPrince running, and wanted to hold her horse, but she jumped off, and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cNo; thanks\u2014there\u2019s no need, for my horse is so well broke, it stands\nstill when I bid him.\u201d\n\nSo they all hastened into church, and the priest got into the pulpit,\nbut no one listened to a word he said; for they all looked too much at\nher, and wondered whence she came; and the Prince, he was far deeper in\nlove than either of the former times. He had no eyes, or ears, or sense\nfor anything, but just to sit and stare at her.\n\nSo when the sermon was over, and the King\u2019s daughter was to go out of\nthe church, the Prince had got a firkin of pitch poured out in the\nporch, that he might come and help her over it; but she didn\u2019t care a\nbit\u2014she just put her foot right down into the midst of the pitch, and\njumped across it; but then one of her golden shoes stuck fast in it,\nand as she got on her horse, up came the Prince running out of the\nchurch, and asked whence she came.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m from Combland\u201d, said Katie. But when the Prince wanted to reach\nher the gold shoe, she said,\n\nBright before and dark behind,\nClouds come rolling on the wind;\nThat this Prince may never see\nWhere my good steed goes with me.\n\n\nSo the Prince couldn\u2019t tell still what had become of her, and he went\nabout a weary time all over the world asking for \u201cCombland\u201d; but when\nno one could tell him where it lay, he ordered it to be given out\neverywhere that he would wed the woman whose foot could fit the gold\nshoe.\n\nSo many came of all sorts from all sides, fair and ugly alike; but\nthere was no one who had so small a foot as to be able to get on the\ngold shoe. And after a long, long time, who should come but Katie\u2019s\nwicked stepmother, and her daughter, too, and her the gold shoe fitted;\nbut ugly she was, and so loathly she looked, the Prince only kept his\nword sore against his will. Still they got ready the wedding-feast, and\nshe was dressed up and decked out as a bride; but as they rode to\nchurch, a little bird sat upon a tree and sang:\n\nA bit off her heel,\nAnd a bit off her toe;\nKatie Woodencloak\u2019s tiny shoe\nIs full of blood\u2014that\u2019s all I know.\n\n\nAnd, sure enough, when they looked to it the bird told the truth, for\nblood gushed out of the shoe.\n\nThen all the maids and women who were about the palace had to go up to\ntry on the shoe, but there was none of them whom it would fit at all.\n\n\u201cBut where\u2019s Katie Woodencloak?\u201d asked the Prince, when all the rest\nhad tried the shoe, for he understood the song of birds very well, and\nbore in mind what the little bird had said.\n\n\u201cOh! she think of that!\u201d said the rest; \u201cit\u2019s no good her coming\nforward. Why, she\u2019s legs like a horse.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery true, I daresay\u201d, said the Prince; \u201cbut since all the others have\ntried, Katie may as well try too.\u201d\n\n\u201cKatie\u201d, he bawled out through the door; and Katie came trampling\nupstairs, and her wooden cloak clattered as if a whole regiment of\ndragoons were charging up.\n\n\u201cNow, you must try the shoe on, and be a Princess, you too,\u201d said the\nother maids, and laughed and made game of her.\n\nSo Katie took up the shoe, and put her foot into it like nothing, and\nthrew off her wooden cloak; and so there she stood in her gold kirtle,\nand it shone so that the sunbeams glistened from her; and, lo! on her\nother foot she had the fellow to the gold shoe.\n\nSo when the Prince knew her again, he grew so glad, he ran up to her\nand threw his arms round her, and gave her a kiss; and when he heard\nshe was a King\u2019s daughter, he got gladder still, and then came the\nwedding feast; and so,\n\nSnip, snip, snover,\nThis story\u2019s over.\n\n\n\n\nTHUMBIKIN\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a woman who had an only son, and he was no\ntaller than your thumb; and so they called him Thumbikin.\n\nNow, when he had come to be old enough to know right and wrong, his\nmother told him to go out and woo him a bride, for now she said it was\nhigh time he thought about getting a wife. When Thumbikin heard that,\nhe was very glad; so they got their driving gear in order and set off,\nand his mother put him into her bosom. Now they were going to a palace\nwhere there was an awfully big Princess, but when they had gone a bit\nof the way, Thumbikin was lost and gone. His mother hunted for him\neverywhere, and bawled to him, and wept because he was lost, and she\ncouldn\u2019t find him again.\n\n\u201c_Pip, Pip_\u201d, said Thumbikin, \u201chere I am\u201d; and he had hidden himself in\nthe horse\u2019s mane.\n\nSo he came out, and had to give his word to his mother that he wouldn\u2019t\ndo so any more. But when they had driven a bit further on, Thumbikin\nwas lost again. His mother hunted for him, and called him, and wept;\nbut gone he was, and gone he stayed.\n\n\u201c_Pip, Pip_\u201d, said Thumbikin at last; and then she heard how he laughed\nand tittered, but she couldn\u2019t find him at all for the life of her.\n\n\u201c_Pip, Pip_, why, here I am now!\u201d said Thumbikin, and came out of the\nhorse\u2019s ear.\n\nSo he had to give his word that he wouldn\u2019t hide himself again; but\nthey had scarce driven a bit further before he was gone again. He\ncouldn\u2019t help it. As for his mother, she hunted, and wept, and called\nhim by name; but gone he was, and gone he stayed; and the more she\nhunted, the less she could find him in any way.\n\n\u201c_Pip, Pip_, here I am then\u201d, said Thumbikin.\n\nBut she couldn\u2019t make out at all where he was, his voice sounded so\ndull, and muffled.\n\nSo she hunted, and he kept on saying, \u201cPip, here I am\u201d, and laughed and\nchuckled, but she couldn\u2019t find him; but all at once the horse snorted,\nand it snorted Thumbikin out, for he had crept up one of his nostrils.\n\nThen his mother took him and put him into a bag; she knew no other way,\nfor she saw well enough he couldn\u2019t help hiding himself.\n\nSo, when they came to the palace, the match was soon made, for the\nPrincess thought him a pretty little chap, and it wasn\u2019t long before\nthe wedding came on too.\n\nNow, when they were going to sit down to the wedding-feast, Thumbikin\nsat at the table by the Princess\u2019s side; but he had worse than no seat,\nfor when he was to eat he couldn\u2019t reach up to the table; and so if the\nPrincess hadn\u2019t helped him up on to it, he wouldn\u2019t have got a bit to\neat.\n\nNow it went good and well so long as he had to eat off a plate, but\nthen there came a great bowl of porridge\u2014that he couldn\u2019t reach up to;\nbut Thumbikin soon found out a way to help himself; he climbed up and\nsat on the lip of the bowl. But then there was a pat of melting butter\nright in the middle of the bowl, and that he couldn\u2019t reach to dip his\nporridge into it, and so he went on and took his seat at the edge of\nthe melting butter; but just then who should come but the Princess,\nwith a great spoonful of porridge to dip it into the butter; and, alas!\nshe went too near to Thumbikin, and tipped him over; and so he fell\nover head and ears, and was drowned in the melted butter.\n\n\n\n\nDOLL I\u2019 THE GRASS\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a King who had twelve sons. When they were\ngrown big he told them they must go out into the world and win\nthemselves wives, but these wives must each be able to spin, and weave,\nand sew a shirt in one day, else he wouldn\u2019t have them for\ndaughters-in-law.\n\nTo each he gave a horse and a new suit of mail, and they went out into\nthe world to look after their brides; but when they had gone a bit of\nthe way, they said they wouldn\u2019t have Boots, their youngest brother,\nwith them\u2014he wasn\u2019t fit for anything.\n\nWell, Boots had to stay behind, and he didn\u2019t know what to do or\nwhither to turn; and so he grew so downcast, he got off his horse, and\nsat down in the tall grass to weep. But when he had sat a little while,\none of the tufts in the grass began to stir and move, and out of it\ncame a little white thing, and when it came nearer, Boots saw it was a\ncharming little lassie, only such a tiny bit of a thing. So the lassie\nwent up to him, and asked if he would come down below and see \u201cDoll i\u2019\nthe Grass\u201d.\n\nYes, he\u2019d be very happy, and so he went.\n\nNow, when he got down; there sat Doll i\u2019 the Grass on a chair; she was\nso lovely and so smart, and she asked Boots whither he was going, and\nwhat was his business.\n\nSo he told her how there were twelve brothers of them, and how the King\nhad given them horses and mail, and said they must each go out into the\nworld and find them a wife who could spin, and weave, and sew a shirt\nin a day.\n\n\u201cBut if you\u2019ll only say at once you\u2019ll be my wife, I\u2019ll not go a step\nfurther\u201d, said Boots to Doll i\u2019 the Grass.\n\nWell, she was willing enough, and so she made haste and span, and wove,\nand sewed the shirt, but it was so tiny, tiny little. It wasn\u2019t longer\nthan so\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014long.\n\nSo Boots set off home with it, but when he brought it out he was almost\nashamed, it was so small. Still the King said he should have her, and\nso Boots set off, glad and happy to fetch his little sweetheart. So\nwhen he got to Doll i\u2019 the Grass, he wished to take her up before him\non his horse; but she wouldn\u2019t have that, for she said she would sit\nand drive along in a silver spoon, and that she had two small white\nhorses to draw her. So off they set, he on his horse and she on her\nsilver spoon, and the two horses that drew her were two tiny white\nmice; but Boots always kept the other side of the road, he was so\nafraid lest he should ride over her, she was so little. So, when they\nhad gone a bit of the way, they came to a great piece of water. Here\nBoots\u2019 horse got frightened, and shied across the road and upset the\nspoon, and Doll i\u2019 the Grass tumbled into the water. Then Boots got so\nsorrowful because he didn\u2019t know how to get her out again; but in a\nlittle while up came a merman with her, and now she was as well and\nfull grown as other men and women, and far lovelier than she had been\nbefore. So he took her up before him on his horse, and rode home.\n\nWhen Boots got home all his brothers had come back each with his\nsweetheart, but these were all so ugly, and foul, and wicked, that they\nhad done nothing but fight with one another on the way home, and on\ntheir heads they had a kind of hat that was daubed over with tar and\nsoot, and so the rain had run down off the hats on to their faces, till\nthey got far uglier and nastier than they had been before. When his\nbrothers saw Boots and his sweetheart, they were all as jealous as\njealous could be of her; but the King was so overjoyed with them both,\nthat he drove all the others away, and so Boots held his wedding-feast\nwith Doll i\u2019 the Grass, and after that they lived well and happily\ntogether a long long time, and if they\u2019re not dead, why they\u2019re alive\nstill.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LAD AND THE DEIL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a lad who was walking along a road cracking\nnuts, so he found one that was worm-eaten, and just at that very moment\nhe met the Deil.\n\n\u201cIs it true, now\u201d, said the lad, \u201cwhat they say, that the Deil can make\nhimself as small as he chooses, and thrust himself in through a\npinhole?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes it is\u201d, said the Deil.\n\n\u201cOh! it is, is it? then let me see you do it, and just creep into this\nnut\u201d, said the lad.\n\nSo the Deil did it.\n\nNow, when he had crept well in through the worm\u2019s hole, the lad stopped\nit up with a pin.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019ve got you safe\u201d, he said, and put the nut into his pocket.\n\nSo when he had walked on a bit, he came to a smithy, and he turned in\nand asked the smith if he\u2019d be good enough to crack that nut for him.\n\n\u201cAye, that\u2019ll be an easy job\u201d, said the smith, and took his smallest\nhammer, laid the nut on the anvil, and gave it a blow, but it wouldn\u2019t\nbreak.\n\nSo he took another hammer a little bigger, but that wasn\u2019t heavy enough\neither.\n\nThen he took one bigger still, but it was still the same story; and so\nthe smith got wroth, and grasped his great sledge-hammer.\n\n\u201cNow, I\u2019ll crack you to bits\u201d, he said, and let drive at the nut with\nall his might and main. And so the nut flew to pieces with a bang that\nblew off half the roof of the smithy, and the whole house creaked and\ngroaned as though it were ready to fall.\n\n\u201cWhy! if I don\u2019t think the Deil must have been in that nut\u201d, said the\nsmith.\n\n\u201cSo he was; you\u2019re quite right\u201d, said the lad, as he went away\nlaughing.\n\n\n\n\nTHE COCK AND HEN A-NUTTING\n\n\nOnce on a time the cock and the hen went out into the hazel-wood to\npick nuts; and so the hen got a nutshell in her throat, and lay on her\nback, flapping her wings.\n\nOff went the cock to fetch water for her; so he came to the Spring and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Spring give me a drop of water, that I may give it to\nDame Partlet, my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\nBut the Spring answered:\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no water from me until I get leaves from you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Linden, and said:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Linden, give me some of your leaves, the leaves I\u2019ll\ngive to the Spring, and the Spring\u2019ll give me water to give to Dame\nPartlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no leaves from me\u201d, said the Linden, \u201cuntil I get a red\nribbon with a golden edge from you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Virgin Mary.\n\n\u201cDear good Virgin Mary, give me a red ribbon with a golden edge, and\nI\u2019ll give the red ribbon to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves,\nthe leaves I\u2019ll give to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, and\nthe water I\u2019ll give to Dame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door,\nin the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no red ribbon from me\u201d, answered the Virgin Mary, \u201cuntil I\nget shoes from you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Shoemaker and said\n\n\u201cDear good friend Shoemaker, give me shoes, and I\u2019ll give the shoes to\nthe Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red\nribbon I\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the\nleaves I\u2019ll give to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water\nI\u2019ll give to Dame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the\nhazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no shoes from me\u201d, said the Shoemaker, \u201cuntil I get\nbristles from you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Sow and said:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Sow, give me bristles, the bristles I\u2019ll give to the\nShoemaker, the Shoemaker\u2019ll give me shoes, the shoes I\u2019ll give to the\nVirgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red ribbon\nI\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the leaves I\u2019ll\ngive to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water I\u2019ll give to\nDame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no bristles from me\u201d, said the Sow, \u201cuntil I get corn from\nyou.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Thresher and said:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Thresher, give me corn, the corn I\u2019ll give to the\nSow, the Sow\u2019ll give me bristles, the bristles I\u2019ll give to the\nShoemaker, the Shoemaker\u2019ll give me shoes, the shoes I\u2019ll give to the\nVirgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red ribbon\nI\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the leaves I\u2019ll\ngive to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water I\u2019ll give to\nDame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no corn from me\u201d, said the Thresher, \u201cuntil I get a bannock\nfrom you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Baker\u2019s wife and said:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Mrs. Baker, give me a bannock, the bannock I\u2019ll give\nto the Thresher, the Thresher\u2019ll give me corn, the corn I\u2019ll give to\nthe Sow, the Sow\u2019ll give me bristles, the bristles I\u2019ll give to the\nShoemaker, the Shoemaker\u2019ll give me shoes, the shoes I\u2019ll give to the\nVirgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red ribbon\nI\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the leaves I\u2019ll\ngive to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water I\u2019ll give to\nDame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no bannock from me\u201d, said the Baker\u2019s wife, until I get\nwood from you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Woodcutter and said:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Woodcutter, give me wood, the wood I\u2019ll give to the\nBaker\u2019s wife, the Baker\u2019s wife\u2019ll give me a bannock, the bannock I\u2019ll\ngive to the Thresher, the Thresher\u2019ll give me corn, the corn I\u2019ll give\nto the Sow, the Sow\u2019ll give me bristles, the bristles I\u2019ll give to the\nShoemaker, the Shoemaker\u2019ll give me shoes, the shoes I\u2019ll give to the\nVirgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red ribbon\nI\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the leaves I\u2019ll\ngive to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water I\u2019ll give to\nDame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no wood from me\u201d, answered the Woodcutter, \u201cuntil I get an\naxe from you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Smith and said:\n\n\u201cDear good friend Smith, give me an axe, the axe I\u2019ll give to the\nWoodcutter, the Woodcutter\u2019ll give me wood, the wood I\u2019ll give to the\nBaker\u2019s wife, the Baker\u2019s wife\u2019ll give me a bannock, the bannock I\u2019ll\ngive to the Thresher, the Thresher\u2019ll give me corn, the corn I\u2019ll give\nto the Sow, the Sow\u2019ll give me bristles, the bristles I\u2019ll give to the\nShoemaker, the Shoemaker\u2019ll give me shoes, the shoes I\u2019ll give to the\nVirgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red ribbon\nI\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the leaves I\u2019ll\ngive to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water I\u2019ll give to\nDame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll get no axe from me\u201d, answered the Smith, \u201cuntil I get charcoal\nof you.\u201d\n\nSo the Cock ran to the Charcoal-burner and said\n\n\u201cDear good friend Charcoal-burner, give me charcoal, the charcoal I\u2019ll\ngive to the Smith, the Smith\u2019ll give me an axe, the axe I\u2019ll give to\nthe Woodcutter, the Woodcutter\u2019ll give me wood, the wood I\u2019ll give to\nthe Baker\u2019s wife, the Baker\u2019s wife\u2019ll give me a bannock, the bannock\nI\u2019ll give to the Thresher, the Thresher\u2019ll give me corn, the corn I\u2019ll\ngive to the Sow, the Sow\u2019ll give me bristles, the bristles I\u2019ll give to\nthe Shoemaker, the Shoemaker\u2019ll give me shoes, the shoes I\u2019ll give to\nthe Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary\u2019ll give me a red ribbon, the red\nribbon I\u2019ll give to the Linden, the Linden\u2019ll give me leaves, the\nleaves I\u2019ll give to the Spring, the Spring\u2019ll give me water, the water\nI\u2019ll give to Dame Partlet my mate, who lies at death\u2019s door in the\nhazel-wood.\n\nSo the Charcoal-burner took pity on the Cock, and gave him a bit of\ncharcoal, and then the Smith got his coal, and the Woodcutter his axe,\nand the Baker\u2019s wife her wood, and the Thresher his bannock, and the\nSow her corn, and the Shoemaker his bristles, and the Virgin Mary her\nshoes, and the Linden its red ribbon with a golden edge, and the Spring\nits leaves, and the Cock his drop of water, and he gave it to Dame\nPartlet, his mate, who lay there at death\u2019s door in the hazel-wood, and\nso she got all right again.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BIG BIRD DAN\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a king who had twelve daughters, and he was so\nfond of them they must always be at his side; but every day at noon,\nwhile the king slept, the Princesses went out to take a walk. So once,\nwhile the king was taking his noontide nap, and the Princesses had gone\nto take their walk, all at once they were missing, and worse, they\nnever came home again. Then there was great grief and sorrow all over\nthe land, but the most sorry of all was the king. He sent messengers\nout throughout his own and other realms, and gave out their names in\nall the churches, and had the bells tolled for them in all the\nsteeples; but gone the Princesses were, and gone they stayed, and none\ncould tell what was become of them. So it was as clear as day that they\nmust have been carried off by some witchcraft.\n\nWell, it wasn\u2019t long before these tidings spread far and wide, over\nland and town, aye, over many lands; and so the news came to a king\never so many lands off, who had twelve sons. So when these Princes\nheard of the twelve king\u2019s daughters, they asked leave of their father\nto go out and seek them. They had hard work to get his leave, for he\nwas afraid lest he should never see them again, but they all fell down\non their knees before the king, and begged so long, at last he was\nforced to let them go after all.\n\nHe fitted out a ship for them, and gave them Ritter Red, who was quite\nat home at sea, for a captain. So they sailed about a long, long time,\nlanded on every shore they came to, and hunted and asked after the\nPrincesses, but they could neither hear nor see anything of them. And\nnow, a few days only were wanting to make up seven years since they set\nsail, when one day a strong storm rose, and such foul weather, they\nthought they should never come to land again, and all had to work so\nhard, they couldn\u2019t get a wink of sleep so long as the storm lasted.\nBut when the third day was nearly over, the wind fell, and all at once\nit got as still as still could be. Now, they were all so weary with\nwork and the rough weather, they fell fast asleep in the twinkling of\nan eye; all but the youngest Prince, he could get no rest, and couldn\u2019t\ngo off to sleep at all.\n\nSo as he was pacing up and down the deck, the ship came to a little\nisland, and on the island ran a little dog, and bayed and barked at the\nship as if it wanted to come on board. So the Prince went to that side\nof the deck, and tried to coax the dog, and whistled and whistled to\nhim, but the more he whistled and coaxed, the more the dog barked and\nsnarled. Well, he thought it a shame the dog should run about there and\nstarve, for he made up his mind that it must have come thither from a\nship that had been cast away in the storm; but still he thought he\nshould never be able to help it after all, for he couldn\u2019t put out the\nboat by himself, and as for the others, they all slept so sound, he\nwouldn\u2019t wake them for the sake of a dog. But then the weather was so\ncalm and still; and at last he said to himself: \u201cCome what may, you\nmust go on shore and save that dog\u201d, and so he began to try to launch\nthe boat, and he found it far easier work than he thought. So he rowed\nashore, and went up to the dog; but every time he tried to catch it, it\njumped on one side, and so it went on till he found himself inside a\ngreat grand castle, before he knew where he was. Then the dog, all at\nonce, was changed into a lovely Princess; and there, on the bench, sat\na man so big and ugly, the Prince almost lost his wits for fear.\n\n\u201cYOU\u2019VE NO NEED TO BE AFRAID\u201d, said the man\u2014but the Prince, to tell you\nthe truth, got far more afraid when he heard his gruff voice\u2014\u201cfor I\nknow well enough what you want. There are twelve Princes of you, and\nyou are looking for the twelve Princesses that are lost. I know, too,\nvery well whereabouts they are; they\u2019re with my lord and master, and\nthere they sit, each of them on her chair, and comb his hair; for he\nhas twelve heads. And now you have sailed seven years, but you\u2019ll have\nto sail seven years more before you find them. As for you, you might\nstay here and welcome, and have my daughter; but you must first slay\nhim, for he\u2019s a hard master to all of us, and we\u2019re all weary of him,\nand when he\u2019s dead I shall be King in his stead; but first try if you\ncan brandish this sword\u201d.\n\nThen the King\u2019s son took hold of a rusty old sword which hung on the\nwall, but he could scarce stir it.\n\n\u201cNow you must take a pull at this flask\u201d, said the Troll; and when he\nhad done that he could stir it, and when he had taken another he could\nlift it, and when he had taken a third he could brandish the sword as\neasily as if it had been his own.\n\n\u201cNow, when you get on board\u201d, said the Troll Prince, \u201cyou must hide the\nsword well in your berth, that Ritter Red mayn\u2019t set eyes on it; he\u2019s\nnot man enough to wield it, but he\u2019ll get spiteful against you, and try\nto take your life. And when seven years are almost out all but three\ndays\u201d, he went on to say, \u201ceverything will happen just as now; foul\nweather will come on you, with a great storm, and when it is over\nyou\u2019ll all be sleepy. Then you must take the sword and row ashore, and\nso you\u2019ll come to a castle where all sorts of guards will stand\u2014wolves,\nand bears, and lions; but you needn\u2019t be afraid of them, for they\u2019ll\nall come and crouch at your feet. But when you come inside the castle,\nyou\u2019ll soon see the Troll; he sits in a splendid chamber in grand\nattire and array; twelve heads he has of his own, and the Princesses\nsit round them, each on her chair, and comb his heads, and that\u2019s a\nwork you may guess they don\u2019t much like. Then you must make haste, and\nhew off one head after the other as quick as you can; for if he wakes\nand sets his eyes on you, he\u2019ll swallow you alive\u201d.\n\nSo the King\u2019s son went on board with the sword, and he bore in mind\nwhat he had come to know. The others still lay fast asleep and snored,\nand he hid the sword in his berth, so that neither Ritter Red nor any\nof the rest got sight of it. And now it began to blow again, so he woke\nup the others and said he thought they oughtn\u2019t to sleep any longer now\nwhen there was such a good wind. And there was none of them that marked\nhe had been away. Well, after the seven years were all gone but three\ndays, all happened as the Troll had said. A great storm and foul\nweather came on that lasted three days, and when it had blown itself\nout, all the rest grew sleepy and went to rest; but the youngest King\u2019s\nson rowed ashore, and the guards fell at his feet, and so he came to\nthe castle. So when he got inside the chamber, there sat the King fast\nasleep as the Troll Prince had said, and the twelve Princesses sat each\non her chair and combed one of his heads. The king\u2019s son beckoned to\nthe Princesses to get out of the way; they pointed to the Troll, and\nbeckoned to him again to go his way as quick as ever he could, but he\nkept on making signs to them to get out of the way, and then they\nunderstood that he wanted to set them free, and stole away softly one\nafter the other, and as fast as they went, he hewed off the Troll\nKing\u2019s heads, till at last the blood gushed out like a great brook.\nWhen the Troll was slain he rowed on board and hid his sword. He\nthought now he had done enough, and as he couldn\u2019t get rid of the body\nby himself, he thought it only fair they should help him a little. So\nhe woke them all up, and said it was a shame they should be snoring\nthere, when he had found the Princesses, and set them free from the\nTroll. The others only laughed at him, and said he had been just as\nsound asleep as they, and only dreamt that he was man enough to do what\nhe said; for if any one was to set the Princesses free, it was far more\nlikely it would be one of them. But the youngest King\u2019s son told them\nall about it, and when they followed him to the land and saw first of\nall the brook of blood, and then the castle, and the Troll, and the\ntwelve heads, and the Princesses, they saw plain enough that he had\nspoken the truth, and now the whole helped him to throw the body and\nthe heads into the sea. So all were glad and happy, but none more so\nthan the Princesses, who got rid of having to sit there and comb the\nTroll\u2019s hair all day. Of all the silver and gold and precious things\nthat were there, they took as much as the ship could hold, and so they\nwent on board altogether Princes and Princesses alike.\n\nBut when they had gone a bit out on the sea, the Princesses said they\nhad forgotten in their joy their gold crowns; they lay behind in a\npress, and they would be so glad to have them. So when none of the\nothers was willing to fetch them, the youngest King\u2019s son said:\n\n\u201cI have already dared so much, I can very well go back for the gold\ncrowns too, if you will only strike sail and wait till I come again.\u201d\n\nYes, that they would do. But when he had gone back so far that they\ncouldn\u2019t see him any longer, Ritter Red, who would have been glad\nenough to have been their chief, and to have the youngest Princess,\nsaid, \u201cit was no use their lying there still waiting for him, for they\nmight know very well he would never come back; they all knew, too, how\nthe king had given him all power and authority to sail or not as he\nchose; and now they must all say \u2019twas he that had saved the\nPrincesses, and if any one said anything else, he should lose his\nlife\u201d.\n\nThe Princes didn\u2019t dare to do anything else than what Ritter Red\nwilled, and so they sailed away.\n\nMeanwhile the youngest King\u2019s son rowed to land, went up to the castle,\nfound the press with gold crowns in it, and at last lugged it down to\nthe boat, and shoved off; but when he came where he ought to have seen\nthe ship, lo! it was gone. Well, as he couldn\u2019t catch a glimpse of it\nanywhere, he could very soon tell how matters stood. To row after them\nwas no good, and so he was forced to turn about and row back to land.\nHe was rather afraid to stay alone in the castle all night, but there\nwas no other house to be got, so he plucked up a heart, locked up all\nthe doors and gates fast, and lay down in a room where there was a bed\nready made. But fearful and woeful he was, and still more afraid he got\nwhen he had lain a while and something began to creak and groan and\nquake in wall and roof, as if the whole castle were being torn asunder.\nThen all at once down something plunged close by the side of his bed,\nas if it were a whole cartload of hay. Then all was still again; but\nafter a while he heard a voice, which bade him not to be afraid, and\nsaid:\n\nHere am I the Big Bird Dan\nCome to help you all I can.\n\n\n\u201cbut the first thing you must do when you wake in the morning, will be\nto go to the barn and fetch four barrels of rye for me. I must fill my\ncrop with them for breakfast, else I can\u2019t do anything\u201d.\n\nWhen he woke up, sure enough there he saw an awfully big bird, which\nhad a feather at the nape of his neck, as thick and long as a\nhalf-grown spruce fir. So the King\u2019s son went down to the barn to fetch\nfour barrels of rye for the Big Bird Dan, and when he had crammed them\ninto his crop he told the King\u2019s son to hang the press with the gold\ncrowns on one side of his neck, and as much gold and silver as would\nweigh it down on the other side, and after that to get on his back and\nhold fast by the feather in the nape of his neck. So away they went\ntill the wind whistled after them, and so it wasn\u2019t long before they\noutstripped the ship. The King\u2019s son wanted to go on board for his\nsword, for he was afraid lest any one should get sight of it, for the\nTroll had told him that mustn\u2019t be; but Bird Dan said that mustn\u2019t be\neither.\n\n\u201cRitter Red will never see it, never fear; but if you go on board,\nhe\u2019ll try to take your life, for he has set his heart on having the\nyoungest Princess; but make your mind quite easy about her, for she\nlays a naked sword by her side in bed every night.\u201d\n\nSo after a long, long time, they came to the island where the Troll\nPrince was; and there the King\u2019s son was welcomed so heartily there was\nno end to it. The Troll Prince didn\u2019t know how to be good enough to him\nfor having slain his Lord and Master, and so made him King of the\nTrolls, and if the King\u2019s son had been willing he might easily have got\nthe Troll King\u2019s daughter, and half the kingdom. But he had so set his\nheart on the youngest of the twelve Princesses, he could take no rest,\nbut was all for going after their ship time after time. So the Troll\nKing begged him to be quiet a little longer, and said they had still\nnearly seven years to sail before they got home. As for the Princess\nthe Troll said the same thing as the Big Bird Dan.\n\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t fret yourself about her, for she lays a naked sword by her\nside every night in bed. And now if you don\u2019t believe what I say\u201d, said\nthe Troll, \u201cyou can go on board when they sail by here, and see for\nyourself, and fetch the sword too, for I may just as well have it\nagain.\u201d\n\nSo when they sailed by another great storm arose, and when the king\u2019s\nson went on board they all slept, and each Princess lay beside her\nPrince; but the youngest lay alone with a naked sword beside her in the\nbed, and on the floor by the bedside lay Ritter Red. Then the king\u2019s\nson took the sword and rowed ashore again, and none of them had seen\nthat he had been on board. But still the King\u2019s son couldn\u2019t rest, and\nhe often and often wanted to be off, and so at last when it got near\nthe end of the seven years, and only three weeks were left, the Troll\nKing said:\n\n\u201cNow you may get ready to go since you won\u2019t stay with us; and you\nshall have the loan of my iron boat, which sails of itself, if you only\nsay:\n\nBoat, boat, go on!\n\n\n\u201cIn that boat there is an iron club, and that club you must lift a\nlittle when you see the ship straight a-head of you, and then they\u2019ll\nget such a rattling fair breeze, they\u2019ll forget to look at you; but\nwhen you get alongside them, you must lift the club a little again, and\nthen they\u2019ll get such a foul wind and storm, they\u2019ll have something\nelse to do than to stare at you; and when you have run past them, you\nmust lift the club a third time, but you must always be sure and lay it\ndown carefully again, else there\u2019ll be such a storm both you and they\nwill be wrecked and lost. Now, when you have got to land, you\u2019ve no\nneed to bother yourself at all about the boat; just turn it about, and\nshove it off, and say:\n\nBoat, boat, go back home!\n\n\nWhen he set out they gave him so much gold and silver, and so many\nother costly things, and clothes and linen which the Troll Princess had\nsewn and woven for him all that long time, that he was far richer than\nany of his brothers.\n\nWell, he had no sooner seated himself in the boat, and said,\n\nBoat, boat, go on!\n\n\nthan away went the boat, and when he saw the ship right ahead he lifted\nup the club, and then they got such a fair breeze, they forgot to look\nat him. When he was alongside the ship, he lifted the club again, and\nthen such a storm arose and such foul weather, that the white foam flew\nabout the ship, and the billows rolled over the deck, and they had\nsomething else to do than to stare at him; and when he had run past\nthem he lifted the club the third time, and then the storm and the wind\nrose so, they had still less time to look after him, and to make him\nout. So he came to land long, long before the ship; and when he had got\nall his goods out of the boat, he shoved it off again, and turned it\nabout and said:\n\nBoat, boat, go back home!\n\n\nAnd off went the boat.\n\nThen he dressed himself up as a sailor\u2014whether the Troll king had told\nhim that, or it was his own device, I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t say\u2014and went up to\na wretched hut where an old wife lived, whom he got to believe that he\nwas a poor sailor who had been on board a great ship that was wrecked,\nand that he was the only soul that had got ashore. After that he begged\nfor house-room for himself and the goods he had saved.\n\n\u201cHeaven mend me!\u201d said the old wife, \u201chow can I lend any one\nhouse-room? look at me and mine, why, I\u2019ve no bed to sleep on myself,\nstill less one for any one else to lie on.\u201d\n\nWell, well, it was all the same, said the sailor; if he only got a roof\nover his head, it didn\u2019t matter where he lay. So she couldn\u2019t turn him\nout of the house, when he was so thankful for what there was. That\nafternoon he fetched up his things, and the old wife, who was very\neager to hear a bit of news to run about and tell, began at once to ask\nwho he was, whence he came, whither he was bound, what it was he had\nwith him, what his business was, and if he hadn\u2019t heard anything of the\ntwelve Princesses who had been away the Lord knew how many years. All\nthis she asked and much more, which it would be waste of time to tell.\nBut he said he was so poorly and had such a bad headache after the\nawful weather he had been out in, that he couldn\u2019t answer any of her\nquestions; she must just leave him alone and let him rest a few days\ntill he came to himself after the hard work he\u2019d had in the gale, and\nthen she\u2019d know all she wanted.\n\nThe very next day the old wife began to stir him up and ask again, but\nthe sailor\u2019s head was still so bad he hadn\u2019t got his wits together, but\nsomehow he let drop a word or two to show that he did know something\nabout the Princesses. Off ran the old wife with what she had heard to\nall the gossips and chatterboxes round about, and soon the one came\nrunning after the other to ask about the Princesses, \u201cif he had seen\nthem\u201d, \u201cif they would soon be there\u201d, \u201cif they were on the way\u201d, and\nmuch more of the same sort. He still went on groaning over his headache\nafter the storm, so that he couldn\u2019t tell them all about it, but so\nmuch he told them, unless they had been lost in the great storm they\u2019d\nmake the land in about a fortnight or before perhaps; but he couldn\u2019t\nsay for sure whether they were alive or no, for though he had seen\nthem, it might very well be that they had been cast away in the storm\nsince. So what did one of these old gossips do but run up to the Palace\nwith this story, and say that there was a sailor down in such and such\nan old wife\u2019s hut, who had seen the Princesses, and that they were\ncoming home in a fortnight or in a week\u2019s time. When the King heard\nthat he sent a messenger down to the sailor to come up to him and tell\nthe news himself.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t see how it\u2019s to be\u201d, said the sailor, \u201cfor I haven\u2019t any\nclothes fit to stand in before the King.\u201d\n\nBut the King said he must come; for the King must and would talk with\nhim, whether he were richly or poorly clad, for there was no one else\nwho could bring him any tidings of the Princesses. So he went up at\nlast to the Palace and went in before the King, who asked him if it\nwere true that he had seen anything of the Princesses.\n\n\u201cAye, aye\u201d, said the sailor, \u201cI\u2019ve seen them sure enough, but I don\u2019t\nknow whether they\u2019re still alive, for when I last caught sight of them,\nthe weather was so foul we in our ship were cast away; but if they\u2019re\nstill alive they\u2019ll come safe home in a fortnight or perhaps before.\u201d\n\nWhen the King heard that he was almost beside himself for joy; and when\nthe time came that the sailor had said they would come, the King drove\ndown to the strand to meet them in a great state; and there was joy and\ngladness over the whole land, when the ship came sailing in with the\nPrinces and Princesses and Ritter Red. But no one was gladder than the\nold King, who had got his daughters back again. The eleven eldest\nPrincesses too, were glad and merry, but the youngest who was to have\nRitter Red, who said that he had set them all free and slain the Troll,\nshe wept and was always sorrowful. The King took this ill, and asked\nwhy she wasn\u2019t cheerful and merry like the others; she hadn\u2019t anything\nto be sorry for now when she had got out of the Troll\u2019s clutches, and\nwas to have such a husband as Ritter Red. But she daredn\u2019t say\nanything, for Ritter Red had said he would take the life of any one who\ntold the truth how things had gone.\n\nBut now one day, when they were hard at work sewing and stitching the\nbridal array, in came a man in a great sailor\u2019s cloak with a pedlar\u2019s\npack on his back, and asked if the Princesses wouldn\u2019t buy something\nfine of him for the wedding; he had so many wares and costly things,\nboth gold and silver. Yes, they might do so perhaps, so they looked at\nhis wares and they looked at him, for they thought they had seen both\nhim and many of his costly things before.\n\n\u201cHe who has so many fine things\u201d, said the youngest Princess, \u201cmust\nsurely have something still more precious, and which suits us better\neven than these.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe I have\u201d, said the Pedlar.\n\nBut now all the others cried \u201cHush\u201d, and bade her bear in mind what\nRitter Red had said he would do.\n\nWell, some time after the Princesses sat and looked out of the window,\nand then the King\u2019s son came again with the great sea-cloak thrown\nabout him, and the press with the gold crowns at his back; and when he\ngot into the palace hall he unlocked the press before the Princesses,\nand when each of them knew her own gold crown again, the youngest said:\n\n\u201cI think it only right that he who set us free should get the meed that\nis his due; and he is not Ritter Red, but this man who has brought us\nour gold crowns. He it is that set us free.\u201d\n\nThen the King\u2019s son cast off the sailor\u2019s cloak, and stood there far\nfiner and grander than all the rest; and so the old King made them put\nRitter Red to death. And now there was real right down joy in the\npalace; each took his own bride, and there just was a wedding! Why, it\nwas heard of and talked about over twelve kings\u2019 realms.\n\n\n\n\nSORIA MORIA CASTLE\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a poor couple who had a son whose name was\nHalvor. Ever since he was a little boy he would turn his hand to\nnothing, but just sat there and groped about in the ashes. His father\nand mother often put him out to learn this trade or that, but Halvor\ncould stay nowhere; for, when he had been there a day or two, he ran\naway from his master, and never stopped till he was sitting again in\nthe ingle, poking about in the cinders.\n\nWell, one day a skipper came, and asked Halvor if he hadn\u2019t a mind to\nbe with him, and go to sea, and see strange lands. Yes, Halvor would\nlike that very much; so he wasn\u2019t long in getting himself ready.\n\nHow long they sailed I\u2019m sure I can\u2019t tell; but the end of it was, they\nfell into a great storm, and when it was blown over, and it got still\nagain, they couldn\u2019t tell where they were; for they had been driven\naway to a strange coast, which none of them knew anything about.\n\nWell, as there was just no wind at all, they stayed lying wind-bound\nthere, and Halvor asked the skipper\u2019s leave to go on shore and look\nabout him; he would sooner go, he said, than lie there and sleep.\n\n\u201cDo you think now you\u2019re fit to show yourself before folk\u201d, said the\nskipper, \u201cwhy, you\u2019ve no clothes but those rags you stand in?\u201d\n\nBut Halvor stuck to his own, and so at last he got leave, but he was to\nbe sure and come back as soon as ever it began to blow. So off he went\nand found a lovely land; wherever he came there were fine large flat\ncorn-fields and rich meads, but he couldn\u2019t catch a glimpse of a living\nsoul. Well, it began to blow, but Halvor thought he hadn\u2019t seen enough\nyet, and he wanted to walk a little farther just to see if he couldn\u2019t\nmeet any folk. So after a while he came to a broad high road, so smooth\nand even, you might easily roll an egg along it. Halvor followed this,\nand when evening drew on he saw a great castle ever so far off, from\nwhich the sunbeams shone. So as he had now walked the whole day and\nhadn\u2019t taken a bit to eat with him, he was as hungry as a hunter, but\nstill the nearer he came to the castle, the more afraid he got. In the\ncastle kitchen a great fire was blazing, and Halvor went into it, but\nsuch a kitchen he had never seen in all his born days. It was so grand\nand fine; there were vessels of silver and vessels of gold, but still\nnever a living soul. So when Halvor had stood there a while and no one\ncame out, he went and opened a door, and there inside sat a Princess\nwho span upon a spinning-wheel.\n\n\u201cNay, nay, now!\u201d she called out, \u201cdare Christian folk come hither? But\nnow you\u2019d best be off about your business, if you don\u2019t want the Troll\nto gobble you up; for here lives a Troll with three heads.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll one to me\u201d, said the lad, \u201cI\u2019d be just as glad to hear he had four\nheads beside; I\u2019d like to see what kind of fellow he is. As for going,\nI won\u2019t go at all. I\u2019ve done no harm; but meat you must get me, for I\u2019m\nalmost starved to death.\u201d\n\nWhen Halvor had eaten his fill, the Princess told him to try if he\ncould brandish the sword that hung against the wall; no, he couldn\u2019t\nbrandish it, he couldn\u2019t even lift it up.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said the Princess, \u201cnow you must go and take a pull of that flask\nthat hangs by its side; that\u2019s what the Troll does every time he goes\nout to use the sword.\u201d\n\nSo Halvor took a pull, and in the twinkling of an eye he could brandish\nthe sword like nothing; and now he thought it high time the Troll came;\nand lo! just then up came the Troll puffing and blowing. Halvor jumped\nbehind the door.\n\n\u201cHUTETU\u201d, said the Troll, as he put his head in at the door, \u201cwhat a\nsmell of Christian man\u2019s blood!\u201d\n\n\u201cAye\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cyou\u2019ll soon know that to your cost\u201d, and with that\nhe hewed off all his heads.\n\nNow the Princess was so glad that she was free, she both danced and\nsang, but then all at once she called her sisters to mind, and so she\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWould my sisters were free too\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are they?\u201d asked Halvor.\n\nWell, she told him all about it; one was taken away by a Troll to his\nCastle which lay fifty miles off, and the other by another Troll to his\nCastle which was fifty miles further still.\n\n\u201cBut now\u201d, she said, \u201cyou must first help me to get this ugly carcass\nout of the house.\u201d\n\nYes, Halvor was so strong he swept everything away, and made it all\nclean and tidy in no time. So they had a good and happy time of it, and\nnext morning he set off at peep of grey dawn; he could take no rest by\nthe way, but ran and walked the whole day. When he first saw the Castle\nhe got a little afraid; it was far grander than the first, but here too\nthere wasn\u2019t a living soul to be seen. So Halvor went into the kitchen,\nand didn\u2019t stop there either, but went strait further on into the\nhouse.\n\n\u201cNay, nay\u201d, called out the Princess, \u201cdare Christian folk come hither?\nI don\u2019t know I\u2019m sure how long it is since I came here, but in all that\ntime I haven\u2019t seen a Christian man. \u2019Twere best you saw how to get\naway as fast as you came; for here lives a Troll, who has six heads.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shan\u2019t go\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cif he has six heads besides.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe\u2019ll take you up and swallow you down alive\u201d, said the Princess.\n\nBut it was no good, Halvor wouldn\u2019t go; he wasn\u2019t at all afraid of the\nTroll, but meat and drink he must have, for he was half starved after\nhis long journey. Well, he got as much of that as he wished, but then\nthe Princess wanted him to be off again.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cI won\u2019t go, I\u2019ve done no harm, and I\u2019ve nothing to\nbe afraid about.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe won\u2019t stay to ask that\u201d, said the Princess, \u201cfor he\u2019ll take you\nwithout law or leave; but as you won\u2019t go, just try if you can brandish\nthat sword yonder, which the Troll wields in war.\u201d\n\nHe couldn\u2019t brandish it, and then the Princess said he must take a pull\nat the flask which hung by its side, and when he had done that he could\nbrandish it.\n\nJust then back came the Troll, and he was both stout and big, so that\nhe had to go sideways to get through the door. When the Troll got his\nfirst head in he called out \u201cHUTETU, what a smell of Christian man\u2019s\nblood!\u201d\n\nBut that very moment Halvor hewed off his first head, and so on, all\nthe rest as they popped in. The Princess was overjoyed, but just then\nshe came to think of her sisters, and wished out loud they were free.\nHalvor thought that might easily be done, and wanted to be off at once;\nbut first he had to help the Princess to get the Troll\u2019s carcass out of\nthe way, and so he could only set out next morning.\n\nIt was a long way to the Castle, and he had to walk fast and run hard\nto reach it in time; but about night-fall he saw the Castle, which was\nfar finer and grander than either of the others. This time he wasn\u2019t\nthe least afraid, but walked straight through the kitchen, and into the\nCastle. There sat a Princess who was so pretty, there was no end to her\nloveliness. She too like the others told him there hadn\u2019t been\nChristian folk there ever since she came thither, and bade him go away\nagain, else the Troll would swallow him alive, and do you know, she\nsaid, he has nine heads.\n\n\u201cAye, aye\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cif he had nine other heads, and nine other\nheads still, I won\u2019t go away\u201d, and so he stood fast before the stove.\nThe Princess kept on begging him so prettily to go away, lest the Troll\nshould gobble him up, but Halvor said:\n\n\u201cLet him come as soon as he likes.\u201d\n\nSo she gave him the Troll\u2019s sword, and bade him take a pull at the\nflask, that he might be able to brandish and wield it.\n\nJust then back came the Troll puffing and blowing and tearing along. He\nwas far stouter and bigger than the other two, and he too had to go on\none side to get through the door. So when he got his first head in, he\nsaid as the others had said:\n\n\u201cHUTETU what a smell of Christian man\u2019s blood!\n\nThat very moment Halvor hewed off the first head and then all the rest;\nbut the last was the toughest of them all, and it was the hardest bit\nof work Halvor had to do, to get it hewn off, although he knew very\nwell he had strength enough to do it.\n\nSo all the Princesses came together to that Castle, which was called\n_Soria Moria Castle_, and they were glad and happy as they had never\nbeen in all their lives before, and they all were fond of Halvor and\nHalvor of them, and he might choose the one he liked best for his\nbride; but the youngest was fondest of him of all the three.\n\nBut there after a while, Halvor went about, and was so strange and dull\nand silent. Then the Princesses asked him what he lacked, and if he\ndidn\u2019t like to live with them any longer? Yes, he did, for they had\nenough and to spare, and he was well off in every way, but still\nsomehow or other he did so long to go home, for his father and mother\nwere alive, and them he had such a great wish to see.\n\nWell, they thought that might be done easily enough.\n\n\u201cYou shall go thither and come back hither, safe and unscathed, if you\nwill only follow our advice\u201d, said the Princesses.\n\nYes, he\u2019d be sure to mind all they said. So they dressed him up till he\nwas as grand as a king\u2019s son, and then they set a ring on his finger,\nand that was such a ring, he could wish himself thither and hither with\nit; but they told him to be sure not to take it off, and not to name\ntheir names, for there would be an end of all his bravery, and then\nhe\u2019d never see them more.\n\n\u201cIf I only stood at home I\u2019d be glad\u201d, said Halvor; and it was done as\nhe had wished. Then stood Halvor at his father\u2019s cottage door before he\nknew a word about it. Now it was about dusk at even, and so, when they\nsaw such a grand stately lord walk in, the old couple got so afraid\nthey began to bow and scrape. Then Halvor asked if he couldn\u2019t stay\nthere, and have a lodging there that night. No; that he couldn\u2019t.\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t do it at all\u201d, they said, \u201cfor we haven\u2019t this thing or that\nthing which such a lord is used to have; \u2019twere best your lordship went\nup to the farm, no long way off, for you can see the chimneys, and\nthere they have lots of everything.\u201d\n\nHalvor wouldn\u2019t hear of it\u2014he wanted to stop; but the old couple stuck\nto their own, that he had better go to the farmer\u2019s; there he would get\nboth meat and drink; as for them, they hadn\u2019t even a chair to offer him\nto sit down on.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cI won\u2019t go up there till to-morrow early, but let\nthe just stay here to-night; worst come to the worst, I can sit in the\nchimney-corner.\u201d\n\nWell, they couldn\u2019t say anything against that; so Halvor sat down by\nthe ingle, and began to poke about in the ashes, just as he used to do\nwhen he lay at home in old days, and stretched his lazy bones.\n\nWell, they chattered and talked about many things; and they told Halvor\nabout this thing and that; and so he asked them if they had never had\nany children.\n\n\u201cYes, yes, they had once a lad whose name was Halvor, but they didn\u2019t\nknow whither he had wandered; they couldn\u2019t even tell whether he were\ndead or alive.\u201d\n\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t it be me, now?\u201d said Halvor.\n\n\u201cLet me see; I could tell him well enough\u201d, said the old wife, and rose\nup. \u201cOur Halvor was so lazy and dull, he never did a thing; and\nbesides, he was so ragged, that one tatter took hold of the next tatter\non him. No; there never was the making of such a fine fellow in him as\nyou are, master.\u201d\n\nA little while after the old wife went to the hearth to poke up the\nfire, and when the blaze fell on Halvor\u2019s face, just as when he was at\nhome of old poking about in the ashes, she knew him at once.\n\n\u201cAh! but is it you after all, Halvor?\u201d she cried; and then there was\nsuch joy for the old couple, there was no end to it; and he was forced\nto tell how he had fared, and the old dame was so fond and proud of\nhim, nothing would do but he must go up at once to the farmer\u2019s, and\nshow himself to the lassies, who had always looked down on him. And off\nshe went first, and Halvor followed after. So, when she got up there,\nshe told them all how her Halvor had come home again, and now they\nshould only just see how grand he was, for, said she, \u201che looks like\nnothing but a king\u2019s son\u201d.\n\n\u201cAll very fine\u201d, said the lassies, and tossed up their heads. \u201cWe\u2019ll be\nbound he\u2019s just the same beggarly ragged boy he always was.\u201d\n\nJust then in walked Halvor, and then the lassies were all so taken\naback, they forgot their sarks in the ingle, where they were sitting\ndarning their clothes, and ran out in their smocks. Well, when they\nwere got back again, they were so shamefaced they scarce dared look at\nHalvor, towards whom they had always been proud and haughty.\n\n\u201cAye, aye\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cyou always thought yourselves so pretty and\nneat, no one could come near you; but now you should just see the\neldest Princess I have set free; against her you look just like\nmilkmaids, and the midmost is prettier still; but the youngest, who is\nmy sweetheart, she\u2019s fairer than both sun and moon. Would to Heaven she\nwere only here\u201d, said Halvor, \u201cthen you\u2019d see what you would see.\u201d\n\nHe had scarce uttered these words before there they stood, but then he\nfelt so sorry, for now what they had said came into his mind. Up at the\nfarm there was a great feast got ready for the Princesses, and much was\nmade of them, but they wouldn\u2019t stop there.\n\n\u201cNo; we want to go down to your father and mother\u201d, they said to\nHalvor; \u201cand so we\u2019ll go out now and look about us.\u201d\n\nSo he went down with them, and they came to a great lake just outside\nthe farm. Close by the water was such a lovely green bank; here the\nPrincesses said they would sit and rest a while; they thought it so\nsweet to sit down and look over the water.\n\nSo they sat down there, and when they had sat a while, the youngest\nPrincess said:\n\n\u201cI may as well comb your hair a little, Halvor.\u201d\n\nYes, Halvor laid his head on her lap, and so she combed his bonny\nlocks, and it wasn\u2019t long before Halvor fell fast asleep. Then she took\nthe ring from his finger, and put another in its stead; and so she\nsaid:\n\n\u201cNow hold me all together! and now would we were all in SORIA MORIA\nCASTLE.\u201d\n\nSo when Halvor woke up, he could very well tell that he had lost the\nPrincesses, and began to weep and wail; and he was so downcast, they\ncouldn\u2019t comfort him at all. In spite of all his father and mother\nsaid, he wouldn\u2019t stop there, but took farewell of them, and said he\nwas safe not to see them again; for if he couldn\u2019t find the Princesses\nagain, he thought it not worth while to live.\n\nWell, he had still three hundred dollars left, so he put them into his\npocket, and set out on his way. So, when he had walked a while, he met\na man with a tidy horse, and he wanted to buy it, and began to chaffer\nwith the man.\n\n\u201cAye\u201d, said the man, \u201cto tell the truth, I never thought of selling\nhim; but if we could strike a bargain, perhaps\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want for him\u201d, asked Halvor.\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t give much for him, nor is he worth much; he\u2019s a brave horse\nto ride, but he can\u2019t draw at all; still he\u2019s strong enough to carry\nyour knapsack and you too, turn and turn about\u201d, said the man.\n\nAt last they agreed on the price, and Halvor laid the knapsack on him,\nand so he walked a bit, and rode a bit, turn and turn about. At night\nhe came to a green plain where stood a great tree, at the roots of\nwhich he sat down. There he let the horse loose, but he didn\u2019t lie down\nto sleep, but opened his knapsack and took a meal. At peep of day off\nhe set again, for he could take no rest. So he rode and walked and\nwalked and rode the whole day through the wide wood, where there were\nso many green spots and glades that shone so bright and lovely between\nthe trees. He didn\u2019t know at all where he was or whither he was going,\nbut he gave himself no more time to rest than when his horse cropped a\nbit of grass, and he took a snack out of his knapsack when they came to\none of those green glades. So he went on walking and riding by turns,\nand as for the wood there seemed to be no end to it.\n\nBut at dusk the next day he saw a light gleaming away through the\ntrees.\n\n\u201cWould there were folk hereaway\u201d, thought Halvor, \u201cthat I might warm\nmyself a bit and get a morsel to keep body and soul together.\u201d\n\nWhen he got up to it, he saw the light came from a wretched little hut,\nand through the window he saw an old old couple inside. They were as\ngrey-headed as a pair of doves, and the old wife had such a nose! why,\nit was so long she used it for a poker to stir the fire as she sat in\nthe ingle.\n\n\u201cGood evening\u201d, said Halvor.\n\n\u201cGood evening\u201d, said the old wife.\n\n\u201cBut what errand can you have in coming hither?\u201d she went on, \u201cfor no\nChristian folk have been here these hundred years and more.\u201d\n\nWell, Halvor told her all about himself, and how he wanted to get to\nSORIA MORIA CASTLE, and asked if she knew the way thither.\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the old wife, \u201cthat I don\u2019t, but see now, here comes the\nMoon, I\u2019ll ask her, she\u2019ll know all about it, for doesn\u2019t she shine on\neverything?\u201d\n\nSo when the Moon stood clear and bright over the tree-tops, the old\nwife went out.\n\n\u201cTHOU MOON, THOU MOON\u201d, she screamed, \u201ccanst thou tell me the way to\nSORIA MORIA CASTLE?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u201d, said the Moon, \u201cthat I can\u2019t, for the last time I shone there a\ncloud stood before me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait a bit still\u201d, said the old wife to Halvor, \u201cby and bye comes the\nWest Wind; he\u2019s sure to know it, for he puffs and blows round every\ncorner.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, nay\u201d, said the old wife when she went out again, \u201cyou don\u2019t mean\nto say you\u2019ve got a horse too; just turn the poor beastie loose in our\n\u2018toun\u2019, and don\u2019t let him stand there and starve to death at the door.\u201d\n\nThen she ran on:\n\n\u201cBut won\u2019t you swop him away to me?\u2014we\u2019ve got an old pair of boots\nhere, with which you can take twenty miles at each stride; those you\nshall have for your horse, and so you\u2019ll get all the sooner to SORIA\nMORIA CASTLE.\u201d\n\nThat Halvor was willing to do at once; and the old wife was so glad at\nhaving the horse, she was ready to dance and skip for joy.\n\n\u201cFor now\u201d, she said, \u201cI shall be able to ride to church. I too, think\nof that.\u201d\n\nAs for Halvor, he had no rest, and wanted to be off at once, but the\nold wife said there was no hurry.\n\n\u201cLie down on the bench with you and sleep a bit, for we\u2019ve no bed to\noffer you, and I\u2019ll watch and wake you when the West Wind comes.\u201d\n\nSo after a while up came the West Wind, roaring and howling along till\nthe walls creaked and groaned again.\n\nOut ran the old wife.\n\n\u201cTHOU WEST WIND, THOU WEST WIND! Canst thou tell me the way to SORIA\nMORIA CASTLE? Here\u2019s one who wants to get thither.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I know it very well\u201d, said the West Wind, and now I\u2019m just off\nthither to dry clothes for the wedding that\u2019s to be; if he\u2019s swift of\nfoot he can go along with me.\u201d\n\nOut ran Halvor.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll have to stretch your legs if you mean to keep up\u201d, said the\nWest Wind.\n\nSo off he set over field and hedge, and hill and fell, and Halvor had\nhard work to keep up.\n\n\u201cWell\u201d, said the West Wind, \u201cnow I\u2019ve no time to stay with you any\nlonger, for I\u2019ve got to go away yonder and tear down a strip of spruce\nwood first before I go to the bleaching-ground to dry the clothes; but\nif you go alongside the hill you\u2019ll come to a lot of lassies standing\nwashing clothes, and then you\u2019ve not far to go to SORIA MORIA CASTLE.\u201d\n\nIn a little while Halvor came upon the lassies who stood washing, and\nthey asked if he had seen anything of the West Wind who was to come and\ndry the clothes for the wedding. \u201cAye, aye, that I have\u201d, said Halvor,\n\u201che\u2019s only gone to tear down a strip of spruce wood. It\u2019ll not be long\nbefore he\u2019s here\u201d, and then he asked them the way to SORIA MORIA\nCASTLE.\n\nSo they put him into the right way, and when he got to the Castle it\nwas full of folk and horses; so full it made one giddy to look at them.\nBut Halvor was so ragged and torn from having followed the West Wind\nthrough bush and brier and bog, that he kept on one side, and wouldn\u2019t\nshow himself till the last day when the bridal feast was to be.\n\nSo when all, as was then right and fitting, were to drink the bride and\nbridegroom\u2019s health and wish them luck, and when the cupbearer was to\ndrink to them all again, both knights and squires, last of all he came\nin turn to Halvor. He drank their health, but let the ring which the\nPrincess had put upon his finger as he lay by the lake fall into the\nglass, and bade the cupbearer go and greet the bride and hand her the\nglass.\n\nThen up rose the Princess from the board at once.\n\n\u201cWho is most worthy to have one of us\u201d, she said, \u201che that has set us\nfree, or he that here sits by me as bridegroom?\u201d\n\nWell they all said there could be but one voice and will as to that,\nand when Halvor heard that he wasn\u2019t long in throwing off his beggar\u2019s\nrags, and arraying himself as bridegroom.\n\n\u201cAye, aye, here is the right one after all\u201d, said the youngest Princess\nas soon as she saw him, and so she tossed the other one out of the\nwindow, and held her wedding with Halvor.\n\n\n\n\nBRUIN AND REYNARD\n\n\nThe Bear and the Fox had once bought a firkin of butter together; they\nwere to have it at Yule and hid it till then under a thick spruce bush.\n\nAfter that they went a little way off and lay down on a sunny bank to\nsleep. So when they had lain a while the Fox got up, shook himself, and\nbawled out \u201cyes\u201d.\n\nThen he ran off straight to the firkin and ate a good third part of it.\nBut when he came back, and the Bear asked him where he had been, since\nhe was so fat about the paunch, he said:\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you believe then that I was bidden to barsel, to a christening\nfeast.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo, so\u201d, said the Bear, \u201cand pray what was the bairn\u2019s name.\u201d\n\n\u201cJust-begun\u201d, said the Fox.\n\nSo they lay down to sleep again. In a little while up jumped the Fox\nagain, bawled out \u201cyes\u201d, and ran off to the firkin.\n\nThis time too he ate a good lump. When he came back, and the Bear asked\nhim again where he had been, he said:\n\n\u201cOh, wasn\u2019t I bidden to barsel again, don\u2019t you think.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd pray what was the bairn\u2019s name this time\u201d, asked the Bear.\n\n\u201cHalf-eaten\u201d, said the Fox.\n\nThe Bear thought that a very queer name, but he hadn\u2019t wondered long\nover it before he began to yawn and gape and fell asleep. Well, he\nhadn\u2019t lain long before the Fox jumped up as he had done twice before,\nbawled out \u201cyes\u201d and ran off to the firkin, which this time he cleared\nright out. When he got back he had been bidden to barsel again, and\nwhen the Bear wanted to know the bairn\u2019s name, he answered:\n\n\u201cLicked-to-the-bottom.\u201d\n\nAfter that they lay down again, and slept a long time; but then they\nwere to go to the firkin to look at the butter, and when they found it\neaten up, the Bear threw the blame on the Fox, and the Fox on the Bear;\nand each said the one had been at the firkin while the other slept.\n\n\u201cWell, well\u201d, said Reynard, \u201cwe\u2019ll soon find this out, which of us has\neaten the butter. We\u2019ll just lay down in the sunshine, and he whose\ncheeks and chaps are greasiest when we wake, he is the thief.\u201d\n\nYes, that trial Bruin was ready to stand; and as he knew in his heart\nhe had never so much as tasted the butter, he lay down without a care\nto sleep in the sun.\n\nThen Reynard stole off to the firkin for a morsel of butter, which\nstuck there in a crack, and then he crept back to the Bear, and greased\nhis chaps and cheeks with it; and then he, too, lay down to sleep as if\nnothing had happened.\n\nSo when they both woke, the sun had melted the butter, and the Bear\u2019s\nwhiskers were all greasy; and so it was Bruin after all, and no one\nelse, who had eaten the butter.\n\n\n\n\nTOM TOTHERHOUSE\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a Goody who had a deaf husband. A good, easy\nman he was, but that was just why she thought more of the lad next\ndoor, whom they called \u201cTom Totherhouse\u201d. Now the lad that served the\ndeaf man saw very well that the two had something between them, and one\nday he said to the Goody:\n\n\u201cDare you wager ten dollars, mother, that I don\u2019t make you lay bare\nyour own shame?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes I dare\u201d, said she; and so they wagered ten dollars. So one day,\nwhile the lad and the deaf man stood thrashing in the barn, the lad saw\nthat Tom Totherhouse came to see the Goody. He said nothing, but a good\nwhile before dinnertime he turned toward the barn-door, and bawled out\n\u201cHalloa!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! are we to go home already?\u201d said the man, who hadn\u2019t given any\nheed to what the lad did.\n\n\u201cYes, we must, since mother calls\u201d, said the lad.\n\nSo when they got into the passage, the lad began to hem and cough, that\nthe Goody might get Tom Totherhouse out of the way. But when they came\ninto the room, there stood a whole bowl of custards on the table.\n\n\u201cNay, nay, mother\u201d, cried out the man; \u201cshall we have custards to-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, that you shall, dear\u201d, said the Goody; but she was as sour as\nverjuice, and as cross as two sticks.\n\nSo when they had eaten and drank all the good cheer up, off they went\nagain to their work, and the Goody said to Tom:\n\n\u201cDeil take that lad\u2019s sharp nose, this was all his fault; but now you\nmust be off as fast as you can, and I\u2019ll come down to you in the mead\nwith a snack between meals.\u201d\n\nThis the lad stood outside in the passage and listened to.\n\n\u201cDo you know, father\u201d, he said, \u201cI think we\u2019d best go down into the\nhollow and put our fence to rights, which is blown down, before the\nneighbours\u2019 swine get in and root up our meadow.\u201d\n\n\u201cAye, aye, let\u2019s go and do it\u201d, said the man; for he did all he was\ntold, good, easy man.\n\nSo when the afternoon was half spent, down came the Goody sneaking\nalong into the mead, with something under her apron.\n\n\u201cNay, nay, mother\u201d, said the man, \u201cit can\u2019t be you any longer; are we\nto have a snack between meals too?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, yes, that you shall\u201d, she said; but she was sourer and wilder\nthan ever.\n\nSo they made merry, and crammed themselves with bannocks and butter,\nand had a drop of brandy into the bargain.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go off to Tom Totherhouse with a snack\u2014shan\u2019t I, mother?\u201d said\nthe lad. \u201cHe\u2019s had nothing between meals, I\u2019ll be bound.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! do; there\u2019s a good fellow\u201d, said the Goody, who all at once got as\nmild as milk.\n\nAs he went along the lad broke a bannock to bits, and dropped the\ncrumbs here and there as he walked. But when he got to Tom Totherhouse\nhe said:\n\n\u201cNow, just you take care, for our old cock has found out that you come\ntoo often to see our Goody. He won\u2019t stand it any longer, and has sworn\nto drive his axe into you as soon as ever he can set eyes on you.\u201d\n\nAs for Tom, he was so frightened he scarce knew which way to turn, and\nthe lad went back again to his master.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s something wrong\u201d, he said, \u201cwith Tom\u2019s plough, and he begs you\nto be so good as to take your axe, and go and see if you can\u2019t set it\nright.\u201d\n\nYes, the man set off with his axe, but Tom Totherhouse had scarce\ncaught sight of him before he took to his heels as fast as he could.\nThe man turned and twisted the plough round and round, and looked at it\non every side, and when he couldn\u2019t see anything wrong with it he went\noff home again; but on the way he picked up the bits of broken bannock\nwhich the lad had let fall. His old dame stood in the meadow and looked\nat him as he did this for a while, and wondered and wondered what it\ncould be her husband was gathering up.\n\n\u201cOh, I know\u201d, said the lad, \u201cmaster\u2019s picking up stones, I\u2019ll be bound;\nfor he has marked how often this Tom Totherhouse runs over here; and\nthe old fellow won\u2019t stand it any longer; and now he has sworn to stone\nmother to death.\u201d\n\nOff went the Goody as fast as her legs could carry her.\n\n\u201cWhat in the world is it that mother is running after now?\u201d asked the\nman, when he reached the spot where she had stood.\n\n\u201cOh\u201d, said the lad, \u201cmaybe the house at home is on fire!\u201d\n\nSo there ran the husband behind and the Goody before; and as she ran\nshe screeched out:\n\n\u201cAh! ah! don\u2019t stone me to death; don\u2019t stone me to death! and I\u2019ll\ngive you my word never to let Tom Totherhouse come near me again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow the ten dollars are mine\u201d, bawled out the lad; and so they were.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE ANNIE THE GOOSE-GIRL\n\n\nOnce on a time there was a King who had so many geese he was forced to\nhave a lassie to tend them and watch them; her name was Annie, and so\nthey called her \u201cAnnie the Goose-girl\u201d. Now you must know there was a\nKing\u2019s son from England who went out to woo; and as he came along Ann\nsat herself down in his way.\n\n\u201cSitting all alone there, you little Annie?\u201d said the King\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cYes\u201d, said little Annie, \u201chere I sit and put stitch to stitch and\npatch on patch. I\u2019m waiting to-day for the King\u2019s son from England.\u201d\n\n\u201cHim you mustn\u2019t look to have\u201d, said the Prince.\n\n\u201cNay, but if I\u2019m to have him\u201d, said little Annie, \u201chave him I shall,\nafter all.\u201d\n\nAnd now limners were sent out into all lands and realms to take the\nlikenesses of the fairest Princesses, and the Prince was to chose\nbetween them. So he thought so much of one of them, that he set out to\nseek her, and wanted to wed her, and he was glad and happy when he got\nher for his sweetheart.\n\nBut now I must tell you this Prince had a stone with him which he laid\nby his bedside, and that stone knew everything, and when the Princess\ncame little Annie told her, if so be she\u2019d had a sweetheart before, or\ndidn\u2019t feel herself quite free from anything which she didn\u2019t wish the\nPrince to know, she\u2019d better not step on that stone which lay by the\nbedside.\n\n\u201cIf you do, it will tell him all about you\u201d, said little Annie.\n\nSo when the Princess heard that she was dreadfully downcast, and she\nfell upon the thought to ask Annie if she would get into bed that night\nin her stead and lie down by the Prince\u2019s side; and then when he was\nsound asleep, Annie should get out and the Princess should get in, and\nso when he woke up in the morning he would find the right bride by his\nside.\n\nSo they did that, and when Annie the goose-girl came and stepped upon\nthe stone the Prince asked:\n\n\u201cWho is this that steps into my bed?\u201d\n\n\u201cA maid pure and bright\u201d, said the stone, and so they lay down to\nsleep; but when the night wore on the Princess came and lay down in\nAnnie\u2019s stead.\n\nBut next morning, when they were to get up, the Prince asked the stone\nagain:\n\n\u201cWho is this that steps out of my bed?\u201d\n\n\u201cOne that has had three bairns\u201d, said the stone. When the Prince heard\nthat he wouldn\u2019t have her, you may know very well; and so he packed her\noff home again, and took another sweetheart.\n\nBut as he went to see her, little Annie went and sat down in his way\nagain.\n\n\u201cSitting all alone there, little Annie, the goose-girl\u201d, said the\nPrince.\n\n\u201cYes, here I sit, and put stitch to stitch, and patch on patch; for I\u2019m\nwaiting to-day for the king\u2019s son from England\u201d, said Annie.\n\n\u201cOh! you mustn\u2019t look to have him\u201d, said the king\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cNay, but if I\u2019m to have him, have him I shall, after all\u201d; that was\nwhat Annie thought.\n\nWell, it was the same story over again with the Prince; only this time,\nwhen his bride got up in the morning, the stone said she\u2019d had six\nbairns.\n\nSo the Prince wouldn\u2019t have her either, but sent her about her\nbusiness; but still he thought he\u2019d try once more if he couldn\u2019t find\none who was pure and spotless; and he sought far and wide in many\nlands, till at last he found one he thought he might trust. But when he\nwent to see her, little Annie the goose-girl had put herself in his way\nagain.\n\n\u201cSitting all alone there, you little Annie, the goose-girl\u201d, said the\nPrince.\n\n\u201cYes, here I sit, and put stitch to stitch, and patch on patch; for I\u2019m\nwaiting to-day for the king\u2019s son from England\u201d, said Annie.\n\n\u201cHim you mustn\u2019t look to have\u201d, said the Prince.\n\n\u201cNay, but if I\u2019m to have him, have him I shall, after all\u201d, said little\nAnnie.\n\nSo when the Princess came, little Annie the goose-girl told her the\nsame as she had told the other two, if she\u2019d had any sweetheart before,\nor if there was anything else she didn\u2019t wish the Prince to know, she\nmustn\u2019t tread on the stone that the Prince had put at his bedside; for,\nsaid she:\n\n\u201cIt tells him everything.\u201d\n\nThe Princess got very red and downcast when she heard that, for she was\njust as naughty as the others, and asked Annie if she would go in her\nstead and lie down with the Prince that night; and when he was sound\nasleep, she would come and take her place, and then he would have the\nright bride by his side when it was light next morning.\n\nYes! they did that. And when little Annie the goose-girl came and\nstepped upon the stone, the Prince asked:\n\n\u201cWho is this that steps into my bed.\u201d\n\n\u201cA maid pure and bright\u201d, said the stone; and so they lay down to rest.\n\nFarther on in the night the Prince put a ring on Annie\u2019s finger, and it\nfitted so tight she couldn\u2019t get it off again; for the Prince saw well\nenough there was something wrong, and so he wished to have a mark by\nwhich he might know the right woman again.\n\nWell, when the Prince had gone off to sleep, the Princess came and\ndrove Annie away to the pigsty, and lay down in her place. Next\nmorning, when they were to get up, the Prince asked:\n\n\u201cWho is this that steps out of my bed?\u201d\n\n\u201cOne that\u2019s had nine bairns\u201d, said the stone.\n\nWhen the Prince heard that he drove her away at once, for he was in an\nawful rage; and then he asked the stone how it all was with these\nPrincesses who had stepped on it, for he couldn\u2019t understand it at all,\nhe said.\n\nSo the stone told him how they had cheated him, and sent little Annie\nthe goose-girl to him in their stead.\n\nBut as the Prince wished to have no mistake about it, he went down to\nher where she sat tending her geese, for he wanted to see if she had\nthe ring too, and he thought, \u201cif she has it, \u2019twere best to take her\nat once for my queen\u201d.\n\nSo when he got down he saw in a moment that she had tied a bit of rag\nround one of her fingers, and so he asked her why it was tied up.\n\n\u201cOh! I\u2019ve cut myself so badly\u201d, said little Annie the goose-girl.\n\nSo he must and would see the finger, but Annie wouldn\u2019t take the rag\noff. Then he caught hold of the finger; but Annie, she tried to pull it\nfrom him, and so between them the rag came off, and then he knew his\nring.\n\nSo he took her up to the palace, and gave her much fine clothes and\nattire, and after that they held their wedding feast; and so little\nAnnie the goose-girl came to have the king of England\u2019s son for her\nhusband after all, just because it was written that she should have\nhim.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION TO APPENDIX\n\nANANZI STORIES\n\n\nThe Negroes in the West Indies still retain the tales and traditions\nwhich their fathers and grandfathers brought with them from Africa.\nSome thirty years back these \u201cAnanzi Stories\u201d, as they are called, were\ninvariably told at the Negro wakes, which lasted for nine successive\nnights. The reciters were always men. In those days when the slaves\nwere still half heathen, and when the awful _Obeah_ was universally\nbelieved in, such of the Negroes as attended church or chapel kept\ntheir children away from these funeral gatherings. The wakes are now,\nit is believed, almost entirely discontinued, and with them have gone\nthe stories. The Negroes are very shy of telling them, and both the\nclergyman of the Church of England, and the Dissenting Minister set\ntheir faces against them, and call them foolishness. The translator,\nwhose early childhood was passed in those islands, remembers to have\nheard such stories from his nurse, who was an African born; but beyond\na stray fragment here and there, the rich store which she possessed has\naltogether escaped his memory. The following stories have been taken\ndown from the mouth of a West Indian nurse in his sister\u2019s house, who,\nborn and bred in it, is rather regarded as a member of the family than\nas a servant. They are printed just as she told them, and both their\ngenuineness and their affinity with the stories of other races will be\nself-evident. Thus we have the \u201cWishing Tree\u201d of the Hindoos, the\n_Kalpa Vriksha_ of Somadeva, and of the German Fairy Tales in the\n\u201cPumpkin Tree\u201d, which throws down as many pumpkins as the poor widow\nwishes. In one story we have \u201cBoots\u201d to the life, while the man whom he\noutwits is own brother to the Norse Trolls. In another we find a\n\u201cspeaking beast\u201d, which reminds us at once of the Egyptian story of\nAnessou and Satou, as well as of the \u201cMachandelboom\u201d, and \u201cthe\nMilk-white Doo\u201d. We find here the woman who washes the dirty head\nrewarded, and the man who refuses to wash it punished, in the very\nwords used in \u201cThe Bushy Bride\u201d. We find, too, in \u201cNancy Fairy\u201d, the\nsame story, both in groundwork and incident, as we have in \u201cthe Lassie\nand her Godmother\u201d; and most surprising of all, in the story of \u201cAnanzi\nand Quanqua\u201d, we find the very trait about a trick played with the tail\nof an ox, which is met with in a variation to \u201cBoots who ate a match\nwith the Troll\u201d. Here is the variation: \u201cWhilst he was with the Troll,\nthe lad was to go out to watch the swine, so he drove them home to his\nfather\u2019s house, but first he cut their tails off, and stuck them into\nthe ground. Then he went home to the Troll, and begged him to come and\nsee how his swine were going down to Hell. But when the Troll saw the\nswine\u2019s tails sticking out of the ground he wanted to pull them back\nagain, so he caught hold of them and gave a great tug, and then down he\nfell with his heels up in the air, and the tails in his fist.\u201d\n\nThey are called \u201cAnanzi Stories\u201d, because so many of them turn on the\nfeats of Ananzi, whose character is a mixture of \u201cthe Master-thief\u201d,\nand of \u201cBoots\u201d; but the most curious thing about him, is that he\nillustrates the Beast Epic in a remarkable way. In all the West Indian\nIslands, \u201cAnanzi\u201d is the name of spiders[1] in general, and of a very\nbeautiful spider with yellow stripes in particular. The Negroes think\nthat this spider is the \u201cAnanzi\u201d of their stories, but that his\nsuperior cunning enables him to take any shape he pleases. In fact, he\nis the example which the African tribes from which these stories came,\nhave chosen to take as pointing out the superiority of wit over brute\nstrength. In this way they have matched the cleverness and dexterity of\nthe Spider, against the bone and muscle of the Lion, invariably to the\ndisadvantage of the latter.\n\n [1] Compare Crowther\u2019s _Yoruba Glossary_, where _Alansasa_ is given as\n the Yoruban for _spider_. The change of _n_ into _l_ is not uncommon,\n even supposing the West Indian word to be uncorrupt.\n\n\nAfter this introduction, we let the Tales speak for themselves, only\npremising that the \u201cJack-Spaniard\u201d in the first story is a very pretty\nfly of the wasp kind, and, like his European brother, very small in the\nwaist; that the \u201cCush-cush\u201d, is a little red yam which imparts a strong\nred dye to everything with which it is boiled; and that the \u201cDoukana\u201d\nis a forest tree which bears a fruit, though of what kind it is hard to\nsay.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\n\n\n\nWHY THE JACK-SPANIARD\u2019S WAIST IS SMALL\n\n\nAnanzi and Mosquito were talking together one day, and boasting of\ntheir fathers\u2019 crops. Ananzi said his father had never had such a crop\nin his life before; and Mosquito said, he was sure his father\u2019s was\nbigger, for one yam they dug was as big as his leg. This tickled\nJack-Spaniard so much, that he laughed till he broke his waist in two.\nThat\u2019s why the Jack-Spaniard\u2019s waist is so small.\n\n\n\n\nANANZI AND THE LION\n\n\nOnce on a time Ananzi planned a scheme. He went to town and bought ever\nso many firkins of fat, and ever so many sacks, and ever so many balls\nof string, and a very big frying pan, then he went to the bay and blew\na shell, and called the Head-fish in the sea, \u201cGreen Eel\u201d, to him. Then\nhe said to the fish, \u201cThe King sends me to tell you that you must bring\nall the fish on shore, for he wants to give them new life.\u201d\n\nSo \u201cGreen Eel\u201d said he would, and went to call them. Meanwhile Ananzi\nlighted a fire, and took out some of the fat, and got his frying pan\nready, and as fast as the fish came out of the water he caught them and\nput them into the frying pan, and so he did with all of them until he\ngot to the Head-fish, who was so slippery that he couldn\u2019t hold him,\nand he got back again into the water.\n\nWhen Ananzi had fried all, the fish, he put them into the sacks, and\ntook the sacks on his back and set off to the mountains. He had not\ngone very far when he met Lion, and Lion said to him\u201d:\n\n\u201cWell, brother Ananzi, where have you been? I have not seen you a long\ntime.\u201d\n\nAnanzi said, \u201cI have been travelling about.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what have you got there?\u201d said the Lion.\n\n\u201cOh! I have got my mother\u2019s bones\u2014she has been dead these forty-eleven\nyears, and they say I must not keep her here, so I am taking her up\ninto the middle of the mountains to bury her.\u201d\n\nThen they parted. After he had gone a little way, the Lion said, \u201cI\nknow that Ananzi is a great rogue; I daresay he has got something there\nthat he doesn\u2019t want me to see, and I will just follow him\u201d; but he\ntook care not to let Ananzi see him.\n\nNow, when Ananzi got into the wood he set his sacks down, and took one\nfish out and began to eat; then a fly came, and Ananzi said, \u201cI cannot\neat any more, for there is some one near\u201d; so he tied the sack up, and\nwent on further into the mountains, where he set his sacks down, and\ntook out two fish, which he ate; and no fly came, he said, \u201cThere\u2019s no\none near\u201d; so he took out more fish. But when he had eaten about\nhalf-a-dozen, the Lion came up, and said:\n\n\u201cWell, brother Ananzi, a pretty tale you have told me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! brother Lion, I am so glad you have come; never mind what tale I\nhave told you, but come and sit down\u2014it was only my fun.\u201d\n\nSo Lion sat down and began to eat; but before Ananzi had eaten two\nfish, Lion had emptied one of the sacks. Then said Ananzi to himself:\n\n\u201cGreedy fellow, eating up all my fish.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you say, sir?\u201d\n\n\u201cI only said you do not eat half fast enough\u201d, for he was afraid the\nLion would eat him up.\n\nThen they went on eating, but Ananzi wanted to revenge himself, and he\nsaid to the Lion, \u201cWhich of us do you think is the strongest?\u201d\n\nThe Lion said, \u201cWhy, I am, of course.\u201d\n\nThen Ananzi said, \u201cWe will tie one another to the tree and we shall see\nwhich is the stronger.\u201d\n\nNow they agreed that the Lion should tie Ananzi first, and he tied him\nwith some very fine string, and did not tie him tight. Ananzi twisted\nhimself about two or three times, and the string broke.\n\nThen it was Ananzi\u2019s turn to tie the Lion, and he took some very strong\ncord. The Lion said, \u201cYou must not tie me tight, for I did not tie you\ntight.\u201d And Ananzi said, \u201cOh! no, to be sure I will not.\u201d But he tied\nhim as tight as ever he could, and then told him to try and get loose.\n\nThe Lion tried and tried in vain\u2014he could not get loose. Then Ananzi\nthought, now is my chance; so he got a big stick and beat him, and then\nwent away and left him, for he was afraid to loose him lest he should\nkill him.\n\nNow there was a woman called Miss Nancy, who was going out one morning\nto get some \u201ccallalou\u201d (spinach) in the wood, and as she was going, she\nheard some one say, \u201cGood morning, Miss Nancy!\u201d She could not tell who\nspoke to her, but she looked where the voice came from, and saw the\nLion tied to the tree.\n\n\u201cGood morning, Mr Lion, what are you doing there?\u201d\n\nHe said, \u201cIt is all that fellow Ananzi who has tied me to the tree, but\nwill you loose me?\u201d\n\nBut she said, \u201cNo, for I am afraid, if I do, you will kill me.\u201d But he\ngave, her his word he would not; still she could not trust him; but he\nbegged her again and again, and said:\n\n\u201cWell, if I do try to eat you, I hope all the trees will cry out shame\nupon me.\u201d\n\nSo at last she consented; but she had no sooner loosed him, than he\ncame up to her to eat her, for he had been so many days without food\nthat he was quite ravenous, but the trees immediately cried out\n\u201cshame\u201d, and so he could not eat her. Then she went away as fast as she\ncould, and the Lion found his way home.\n\nWhen Lion got home he told his wife and children all that happened to\nhim, and how Miss Nancy had saved his life, so they said they would\nhave a great dinner, and ask Miss Nancy. Now when Ananzi heard of it,\nhe wanted to go to the dinner, so he went to Miss Nancy, and said she\nmust take him with her as her child, but she said \u201cNo\u201d. Then he said, I\ncan turn myself into quite a little child, and then you can take me,\nand at last she said \u201cYes\u201d; and he told her, when she was asked what\npap her baby ate, she must be sure to tell them it did not eat pap, but\nthe same food as every one else; and so they went, and had a very good\ndinner, and set off home again\u2014but somehow one of the lion\u2019s sons\nfancied that all was not right, and he told his father he was sure it\nwas Ananzi, and the Lion set out after him.\n\nNow as they were going along, before the Lion got up to them, Ananzi\nbegged Miss Nancy to put him down, that he might run, which she did,\nand he got away and ran along the wood, and the Lion ran after him.\nWhen he found the Lion was overtaking him, he turned himself into an\nold man with a bundle of wood on his head\u2014and when the Lion got up to\nhim, he said, \u201cGood-morning, Mr Lion\u201d, and the Lion said \u201cGood-morning,\nold gentleman.\u201d\n\nThen the old man said, \u201cWhat are you after now? \u201cand the Lion asked if\nhe had seen Ananzi pass that way, but the old man said \u201cNo, that fellow\nAnanzi is always meddling with some one; what mischief has he been up\nto now?\u201d\n\nThen the Lion told him, but the old man said it was no use to follow\nhim any more, for he would never catch him, and so the Lion wished him\ngood day, and turned and went home again.\n\n\n\n\nANANZI AND QUANQUA\n\n\nQuanqua was a very clever fellow, and he had a large house full of all\nsorts of meat. But you must know he had a way of saying _Quan? qua?_\n(how? what?) when any one asked him anything and so they called him\n\u201cQuanqua\u201d. One day when he was out, he met Atoukama, Ananzi\u2019s wife, who\nwas going along driving an ox, but the ox would not walk, so Atoukama\nasked Quanqua to help her; and they got on pretty well, till they came\nto a river, when the ox would not cross through the water. Then\nAtoukama called to Quanqua to drive the ox across, but all she could\nget out of him was, \u201cQUAN? QUA? _Quan? qua?_\u201d At last she said, \u201cOh!\nyou stupid fellow, you\u2019re no good; stop here and mind the ox while I go\nand get help to drive him across.\u201d So off she went to fetch Ananzi. As\nsoon as Atoukama was gone away, Quanqua killed the ox, and hid it all\naway, where Ananzi should not see it; but first he cut off the tail,\nthen he dug a hole near the river side and stuck the tail partly in,\nleaving out the tip. When he saw Ananzi coming, he caught hold of the\ntail, pretending to tug at it as if he were pulling the ox out of the\nhole. Ananzi seeing this, ran up as fast as he could, and tugging at\nthe tail with all his might, fell over into the river, but he still had\nhold of the tail, and contrived to get across the water, when he called\nout to Quanqua, \u201cYou idle fellow, you couldn\u2019t take care of the ox, so\nyou shan\u2019t have a bit of the tail\u201d, and then on he went. When he was\ngone quite out of sight, Quanqua took the ox home, and made a very good\ndinner.\n\nNext day he went to Ananzi\u2019s house, and said, Ananzi must give him some\nof the tail, for he had got plenty of yams, but he had no meat. Then\nthey agreed to cook their pot together. Quanqua was to put in white\nyams, and Ananzi the tail, and red yams. When they came to put the yams\nin, Quanqua put in a great many white yams, but Ananzi only put in one\nlittle red cush-cush yam. Quanqua asked him if that little yam would be\nenough, he said, \u201cOh! plenty\u201d, for I don\u2019t eat much.\n\nWhen the pot boiled, they uncovered it, and sat down to eat their\nshares, but they couldn\u2019t find any white yams at all; the little red\none had turned them all red. So Ananzi claimed them all, and Quanqua\nwas glad to take what Ananzi would give him.\n\nNow, when they had done eating, they said they would try which could\nbear heat best, so they heated two irons, and Ananzi was to try first\non Quanqua, but he made so many attempts, that the iron got cold before\nhe got near him; then it was Quanqua\u2019s turn, and he pulled the iron out\nof the fire, and poked it right down Ananzi\u2019s throat.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EAR OF CORN AND THE TWELVE MEN\n\n\n[This tale is imperfect at the beginning.]\n\nAnanzi said to the King, that if he would give him an ear of corn, he\nwould bring him twelve strong men. The King gave him the ear of corn,\nand he went away. At last he got to a house, where he asked for a\nnight\u2019s lodging which was given him; the next morning he got up very\nearly, and threw the ear of corn out of the door to the fowls, and went\nback to bed. When he got up in the morning, he looked for his ear of\ncorn, and could not find it anywhere, so he told them he was sure the\nfowls had eaten it, and he would not be satisfied unless they gave him\nthe best cock they had. So they were obliged to give him the cock, and\nhe went away with it, all day, until night, when he came to another\nhouse, and asked again for a night\u2019s lodging, which he got; but when\nthey wanted to put the cock into the fowl-house, he said no, the cock\nmust sleep in the pen with the sheep, so they put the cock with the\nsheep. At midnight he got up, killed the cock, threw it back into the\npen, and went back to bed. Next morning when it was time for him to go\naway, his cock was dead, and he would not take anything for it but one\nof the best sheep, so they gave it to him, and he went off with it all\nthat day, until night-fall, when he got to a village, where he again\nasked for a night\u2019s lodging, which was given to him, and when they\nwanted to put his sheep with the other sheep, he said, no, the sheep\nmust sleep with the cattle; so they put the sheep with the cattle. In\nthe middle of the night he got up and killed the sheep, and went back\nto bed. Next morning he went for his sheep, which was dead, so he told\nthem they must give him the best heifer for his sheep, and if they\nwould not do so, he would go back and tell the King, who would come and\nmake war on them.\n\nSo to get rid of him, they were glad to give him the heifer, and let\nhim go; and away he went, and walked nearly all day with the heifer.\nTowards evening he met a funeral, and asked whose it was? one of the\nmen said, it was his sister, so he asked the men if they would let him\nhave her; they said no, but after a while, he begged so hard, saying he\nwould give them the heifer, that they consented, and he took the dead\nbody and walked away, carrying it until it was dark, when he came to a\nlarge town, where he went to a house and begged hard for a night\u2019s\nlodging for himself and his sister, who was so tired he was obliged to\ncarry her, and they would be thankful if they would let them rest there\nthat night. So they let them in, and he asked them to let them sit in\nthe dark, as his sister could not bear the light. So they took them\ninto a room, and left them in the dark; and when they were alone, he\nseated himself on a bench near the table, and put his sister close by\nhis side, with his arm round her to keep her up. Presently they brought\nthem in some supper; one plate he set before his sister, and put her\nhand in it, and the other plate for himself, but he ate out of both\nplates. When it was time to go to bed, he asked if they would allow his\nsister to sleep in a room where there were twelve strong men sleeping,\nfor she had fits, and if she had one in the night, they would be able\nto hold her, and would not disturb the rest of the house. So they\nagreed to this, and he carried her in his arms, because, he said she\nwas so tired, she was asleep, and laid her in a bed; he charged the men\nnot to disturb her, and went himself to sleep in the next room. In the\nmiddle of the night he heard the men calling out, for they smelt a\nhorrid smell, and tried to wake the woman-first one man gave her a\nblow, and then another, until all the men had struck her, but Ananzi\ntook no notice of the noise. In the morning when he went in for his\nsister and found her dead, he declared they had killed her, and that he\nmust have the twelve men; to this the townsmen said no, not supposing\nthat all the men had killed her, but the men confessed that they had\neach given her a blow-so he would not be satisfied with less than the\ntwelve, and he carried them off to the King, and delivered them up.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KING AND THE ANT\u2019S TREE\n\n\nThere was a King who had a very beautiful daughter, and he said,\nwhoever would cut down an Ant\u2019s tree, which he had in his kingdom,\nwithout brushing off the ants, should marry his daughter. Now a great\nmany came and tried, but no one could do it, for the ants fell out upon\nthem and stung them, and they were forced to brush them off. There was\nalways someone watching to see if they brushed the ants off.\n\nThen Ananzi went, and the King\u2019s son was set to watch him. When they\nshowed him the tree, he said, \u201cWhy, that\u2019s nothing, I know I can do\nthat.\u201d So they gave him the axe, and he began to hew, but each blow he\ngave the tree, he shook himself and brushed himself, saying all the\nwhile, \u201cDid you see me do that? I suppose you think I\u2019m brushing\nmyself, but I am not.\u201d And so he went, on until he had cut down the\ntree. But the boy thought he was only pretending to brush himself all\nthe time, and the King was obliged to give him his daughter.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE CHILD AND THE PUMPKIN TREE\n\n\nThere was once a poor widow who had six children. One day when she was\ngoing out to look for something to eat, for she was very poor, she met\nan old man sitting by the river side. He said to her \u201cGood morning.\u201d\n\nAnd she answered, \u201cGood morning, father.\u201d\n\nHe said to her, \u201cWill you wash my head?\u201d\n\nShe said she would, so she washed it, and when she was going away, he\ngave her a \u201cstampee,\u201d[1] and told her to go a certain distance, and she\nwould see a large tree full of pumpkins; she was then to dig a hole at\nthe root of the tree and bury the money, and when she had done so, she\nwas to call for as many pumpkins as she liked, and she should have\nthem.\n\n [1] A small coin.\n\n\nSo the woman went, and did as she was told, and she called for six\npumpkins, one for each child, and six came down, and she carried them\nhome; and now they always had pumpkins enough to eat, for whenever they\nwanted any, the woman had only to go to the tree and call, and they had\nas many as they liked. One morning when she got up, she found a little\nbaby before the door, so she took it up and carried it in, and took\ncare of it. Every day she went out, but in the morning she boiled\nenough pumpkins to serve the children all day. One day when she came\nback she found the food was all gone, so she scolded her children, and\nbeat them for eating it all up. They told her they had not taken\nany\u2014that it was the baby\u2014but she would not believe them, and said, \u201cHow\ncould a little baby get up and help itself\u201d; but the children still\npersisted it was the baby. So one day when she was going out, she put\nsome pumpkin in a calabash, and set a trap over it. When she was gone\nthe baby got up as usual to eat the food, and got its head fastened in\nthe trap, so that it could not get out, and began knocking its head\nabout and crying out, \u201cOh! do loose me, for that woman will kill me\nwhen she comes back.\u201d When the woman came in, she found the baby\nfastened in the trap, so she beat it well, and turned it out of doors,\nand begged her children\u2019s pardon for having wronged them.\n\nThen after she turned the baby out, he changed into a great big man,\nand went to the river, where he saw the old man sitting by the river\nside, who asked him to wash his head, as he had asked the poor woman,\nbut the man said:\n\n\u201cNo, he would not wash his dirty head\u201d, and so he wished the old man\n\u201cgood bye\u201d.\n\nThen the old man asked him if he would like to have a pumpkin, to which\nhe said \u201cyes\u201d, and the old man told him to go on till he saw a large\ntree with plenty of pumpkins on it, and then he must ask for one. So he\nwent on till he got to the tree, and the pumpkins looked so nice he\ncould not be satisfied with one, so he called out, \u201cTen pumpkins come\ndown\u201d, and the ten pumpkins fell and crushed him.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BROTHER AND HIS SISTERS\n\n\nThere were once upon a time three sisters and a brother. The sisters\nwere all proud, and one was very beautiful, and she did not like her\nlittle brother, \u201cbecause\u201d, she said, \u201che was dirty\u201d. Now, this\nbeautiful sister was to be married, and the brother begged their mother\nnot to let her marry, as he was sure the man would kill her, for he\nknew his house was full of bones. So the mother told her daughter, but\nshe would not believe it, and said, \u201cshe wouldn\u2019t listen to anything\nthat such a dirty little scrub said\u201d, and so she was married.\n\nNow, it was agreed that one sister was to remain with their mother and\nthe other was to go with the bride, and so they set out on their way.\nWhen they got to the beach, the husband picked up a beautiful\ntortoise-shell comb, which he gave to his bride. Then they got into his\nboat and rowed away over the sea, and when they reached their home,\nthey were so surprised to see their little brother, for the comb had\nturned into their brother. They were not at all glad to see him, and\nthe husband thought to himself he would kill him without telling his\nwife. When night came the boy told the husband that at home his mother\nalways put him to sleep in the blacksmith\u2019s shop, and so the husband\nsaid he should sleep in the smithy.\n\nIn the middle of the night the man got up, intending to kill them all,\nand went to his shop to get his irons ready, but the boy jumped up as\nsoon as he went in, and he said, \u201cBoy, what is the matter with you?\u201d So\nthe boy said, when he was at home his mother always gave him two bags\nof gold to put his head on. Then the man said, he should have them, and\nwent and fetched him two bags of gold, and told him to go to sleep.\n\nBut the boy said, \u201cNow mind, when you hear me snore I\u2019m not asleep, but\nwhen I am not snoring, then I\u2019m asleep.\u201d Then the boy went to sleep and\nbegan to snore, and as long as the man heard the snoring, he blew his\nbellows; but as soon as the snoring stopped, the man took his irons out\nof the fire, and the boy jumped up.\n\nThen the man said, \u201cWhy, what\u2019s the matter? why, can\u2019t you sleep?\u201d\n\nThe boy said \u201cNo; for at home my mother always gave me four bags of\nmoney to lie upon.\n\nWell, the man said he should have them, and brought him four bags of\nmoney. Then the boy told him again the same thing about his snoring and\nthe man bade him go to sleep, and he began to snore, and the man to\nblow his bellows until the snoring stopped. Then the man took out his\nirons again, and the boy jumped up, and the man dropped the irons,\nsaying, \u201cWhy, what\u2019s the matter now that you can\u2019t sleep?\u201d\n\nThe boy said, \u201cAt home my mother always gave me two bushels of corn.\u201d\n\nSo the man said he should have the corn, and went and brought it, and\ntold him to go to sleep. Then the boy snored, and the man blew his\nbellows till the snoring stopped, when he again took out his irons, and\nthe boy jumped up, and the man said, \u201cWhy, what\u2019s it now?\u201d\n\nThe boy said, \u201cAt home my mother always goes to the river with a sieve\nto bring me some water.\u201d\n\nSo the man said \u201cVery well, I will go, but I have a cock here, and\nbefore I go, I must speak to it.\u201d\n\nThen the man told the cock if he saw any one moving in the house, he\nmust crow; that the cock promised to do, and the man set off.\n\nNow when the boy thought the man was gone far away, he got up, and gave\nthe cock some of the corn; then he woke up his sisters and showed them\nall the bones the man had in the house, and they were very frightened.\nThen he took the two bags of gold on his shoulders, and told his\nsisters to follow him. He took them to the bay, and put them into the\nboat with the bags of gold, and left them whilst he went back for the\nfour bags of money. When he was leaving the house he emptied the bags\nof corn to the cock, who was so busy eating, he forget to crow, until\nthey had got quite away.\n\nWhen the man returned home and could not find them in the house, he\nwent to the river, where he found his boat gone, and so he had no way\nof going after them. When they landed at their own place, the boy\nturned the boat over and stove it in, so that it was of no use any\nmore; and he took his sisters home, and told their mother all that had\nhappened, and his sisters loved him, and they lived very happily\ntogether ever afterwards, and do so still if they are not dead.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GIRL AND THE FISH\n\n\nThere was once a girl who used to go to the river to fetch water, but\nwhen she went she was never in a hurry to come back, but staid so long,\nthat they made up their minds to watch her. So one day they followed\nher to the river, and found when she got there, she said something (the\nreciter forgets the words), and a fish came up and talked to her; and\nshe did not like to leave it, for it was her sweetheart. So next day\nthey went to the river to see if the fish would come up, for they\nremembered what the girl said and used the same words. Then up came the\nfish immediately, and they caught it, and took it home, and cooked it\nfor dinner\u2014and a part they set by, and gave to the girl when she came\nin. Whilst she was eating, a voice said, \u201cDo you know what you are\neating? I am he you have so often talked with. If you look in the pig\u2019s\ntub, you will see my heart.\u201d Then the voice told her to take the heart,\nand wrap it up in a handkerchief, and carry it to the river. When she\ngot to the river she would see three stones in the water, she was to\nstand on the middle stone, and dip the handkerchief three times into\nthe water. All this she did, and then she sank suddenly, and was\ncarried down to a beautiful place, where she found her lover changed\nfrom a fish into his proper form, and there she lived happily with him\nfor ever. And this is the reason why there are mermaids in the water.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LION, THE GOAT, AND THE BABOON\n\n\nA Lion had a Goat for his wife. One day Goat went out to market, and\nwhile she was gone, Lion went out in the wood, where he met with\nBaboon, who made friends with Lion, for fear he would eat him, and\nasked him to go home with him; but the Lion thought it would be a good\nchance, so he asked the Baboon to go home with him and see his little\nones. When they got home, the Baboon said to the Lion.\n\n\u201cWhy, you have got plenty of little goats here.\u201d\n\nThe Lion said, \u201cYes, they are my children.\u201d\n\nSo the Baboon said, \u201cIf they are, they are little goats, and they are\nvery good meat.\u201d\n\nSo the Lion said, \u201cDon\u2019t make a noise; their mother will come\npresently, and we will see.\u201d\n\nSo these little goats took no notice, but went out to meet their\nmother, and told her what had passed.\n\nTheir mother said to them, \u201cGo back, take no notice, and I shall come\nhome presently, and shall do for him.\u201d\n\nSo she went and bought some molasses, and took it home with her. The\nLion said, \u201cAre you come; what news?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d she said, \u201cgood news, taste here.\u201d He tasted, and said, \u201cIt\u2019s\nvery good, it\u2019s honey.\u201d\n\nAnd she said, \u201cIt\u2019s baboon\u2019s blood; they have been killing one to-day,\nthe blood is running in the street, and every one is carrying it away.\u201d\n\nThe Lion said, \u201cHush, there\u2019s one in the house, and we shall have him.\u201d\n\nAt this the Baboon rushed off, and when they looked for him, he was\ngone, and never came near them again, which saved the little goats\u2019\nlives.\n\n\n\n\nANANZI AND BABOON\n\n\nAnanzi and Baboon were disputing one day which was fattest. Ananzi said\nhe was sure he was fat, but Baboon declared he was fatter. Then Ananzi\nproposed that they should prove it; so they made a fire, and agreed\nthat they should hang up before it, and see which would drop most fat.\n\nThen Baboon hung up Ananzi first, but no fat dropped.\n\nThen Ananzi hung up Baboon, and very soon the fat began to drop, which\nsmelt so good that Ananzi cut a slice out of Baboon, and said,\n\n\u201cOh! brother Baboon, you\u2019re fat for true.\u201d\n\nBut Baboon didn\u2019t speak.\n\nSo Ananzi said, \u201cWell, speak or not speak, I\u2019ll eat you every bit\nto-day\u201d, which he really did. But when he had eaten up all Baboon, the\nbits joined themselves together in his stomach, and began to pull him\nabout so much that he had no rest, and was obliged to go to a doctor.\n\nThe doctor told him not to eat anything for some days, then he was to\nget a ripe banana, and hold it to his mouth; when the Baboon, who would\nbe hungry, smelt the banana, he would be sure to run up to eat it, and\nso he would run out of his mouth.\n\nSo Ananzi starved himself, and got the banana, and did as the doctor\ntold him; but when he put the banana to his mouth, he was so hungry he\ncouldn\u2019t help eating it. So he didn\u2019t get rid of the Baboon, which went\non pulling him about till he was obliged to go back to the doctor, who\ntold him he would soon cure him; and he took the banana, and held it to\nAnanzi\u2019s mouth, and very soon the Baboon jumped up to catch it, and ran\nout of his mouth; and Ananzi was very glad to get rid of him. And\nBaboons to this very day like bananas.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAN AND THE DOUKANA TREE\n\n\nThere was once a man and his wife, who were very poor, and they had a\ngreat many children. The man was very lazy, and would do nothing to\nhelp his family. The poor mother did all she could. In the wood close\nby grew a Doukana Tree, which was full of fruit. Every day the man went\nand ate some of the fruit, but never took any home, so he ate and he\nate, until there were only two Doukanas left on the Tree. One he ate,\nand left the other. Next day, when he went for that one, he was obliged\nto climb up the tree to reach it; but when he got up, the Doukana fell\ndown; when he got down the Doukana jumped up; and so it went on until\nhe was quite tired.\n\nThen he asked all the animals that passed by to help him, but they all\nmade some excuse. They all had something to do. The horse had his work\nto do, or he would have no grass to eat. The donkey brayed. Last came a\ndog, and the man begged him hard to help him; so the dog said he would.\nThen the man climbed up the tree, and the Doukana jumped to the ground\nagain, when the dog picked it up and ran off with it The man was very\nvexed, and ran after the dog, but it ran all the faster, so that the\nman could not overtake him. The dog, seeing the man after him, ran to\nthe sea shore, and scratching a hole in the ground, buried himself all\nbut his nose, which he left sticking out.\n\nSoon after the man came up, and seeing the nose, cried out that he had\n\u201cnever seen ground have nose\u201d; and catching hold of it he tugged till\nhe pulled out the dog, when he squeezed him with all his might to make\nhim give up the Doukana. And that\u2019s why dogs are so small in their\nbodies to this very day.\n\n\n\n\nNANCY FAIRY\n\n\nThere was once an old woman called \u201cNancy Fairy\u201d. She was a witch, and\nused to steal all the little babies as soon as they were born, and eat\nthem. One day she stole a little baby, who was so beautiful that she\nhad not the heart to eat her; but she took her home and brought her up.\nShe called her \u201cdaughter\u201d, named her \u201cNancy Fairy\u201d, after herself, and\nthe girl called the old woman \u201cGranny\u201d.\n\nSo the girl grew up, and the more she grew the more beautiful she got.\n\nThe old woman never let her daughter know of her doings; but one day\nwhen she had brought a baby home, and had locked herself in a room, her\ndaughter peeped through a chink to see what she was about, and the old\nwoman saw her shadow, and thought her daughter had seen what she was\ndoing, and the daughter thought her granny had seen her, and was very\nmuch afraid.\n\nSo the old woman asked her, \u201cNancy Fairy, did you see what I was\ndoing?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Granny.\u201d\n\nShe asked the girl several times, \u201cNancy Fairy, did you see what I was\ndoing?\u201d and the girl always said, \u201cNo, Granny.\u201d\n\nSo the old woman took her up to a hut in a wood, and left her there as\na punishment; and she took her food every day.\n\nOne day it happened that the king\u2019s servant, going that way, saw the\nbeautiful girl come out of the hut. Next day he went again and saw the\nsame beautiful girl again. So he went home and told the prince that he\ncould show him in the wood a girl more beautiful than he had ever seen.\nThe prince went and saw the girl, and then sent a band of soldiers to\nfetch her home, and took her for his bride.\n\nA year after she had a baby. Soldiers were set to keep guard at the\ngate, and the room was full of nurses; but in the middle of the night\nthe old woman came in a whirlwind and put them all to sleep. She stole\nthe child, and on going away gave the mother a slap on the mouth which\nmade her dumb.\n\nNext morning there was a great stir, and they said the mother had eaten\nthe child. There was a trial, but the mother was let off that time.\n\nNext year she had another baby, and the same thing happened again. The\nold woman came in the middle of the night in a whirlwind, and put them\nall to sleep. She stole the child, and struck the mother on the mouth,\nwhich made it bleed.\n\nIn the morning there was a stir; and the servant maid, who was jealous,\nsaid the mother had eaten the child. All believed it, as her mouth was\ncovered with blood; and, besides, what would be expected of a girl\nbrought out of the wood? So she was tried again, and condemned to be\nhanged.\n\nInvitations were sent out to all the grand folk to come and see her\nhanged; so many fine carriages came driving up. At last, just before\nthe time, there came a very grand carriage, all of gold, which\nglistened in the sun. In it were the old woman and two children,\ndressed in fine clothes, with the king\u2019s star on them. When the queen\nsaw this grand carriage she got her speech and sung,\n\n\u201cDo spare me till I see that grand carriage.\u201d\n\nThe old woman came into the courtyard, and asked the people if they saw\nany likeness to any one in the children. They said, \u201cthey were like the\nprince\u201d, and asked her how she came by them, and told her she had\nstolen them. She said she had not stolen them; she had taken them, for\nthey were her own; the prince had taken away her daughter without her\nleave, and so she had taken his children; but she was willing to give\nthem back, if they would allow that she was right.\n\nSo they consented, and the old woman made the prince and his queen a\npresent of the grand carriage, and so they lived happily. The old woman\nwas allowed to come and see the children whenever she liked. But the\nservant girl, who said the queen had eaten her babies, was hanged.\n\n\n\n\n\u201cTHE DANCING GANG\u201d\n\n\nA water carrier once went to the river to fetch water. She dipped in\nher calabash, and brought out a cray-fish. The cray-fish began beating\nhis claws on the calabash, and played such a beautiful tune, that the\ngirl began dancing, and could not stop.\n\nThe driver of the gang wondered why she did not come, and sent another\nto see after her. When she came, she too began to dance. So the driver\nsent another, who also began to dance when she heard the music and the\ncray-fish singing:\n\nVaitsi, Vaitsi, O sulli Van.\nStay for us, stay for us, how long will you stay for us?\n\n\nThen the driver sent another and another, till he had sent the whole\ngang.\n\nAt last he went himself, and when he found the whole gang dancing, he\ntoo began to dance; and they all danced till night, when the cray-fish\nwent back into the water; and if they haven\u2019t done dancing, they are\ndancing still.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES TO INTRODUCTION\n\n [1] How strange is the terror of Natural Science, which seems to\n possess, with a religious possession, so many good and pious people!\n How rigidly do they bind themselves hand and foot with the mere letter\n of the law, forgetting Him who came to teach us, that \u201cthe letter\n killeth, but the Spirit giveth life!\u201d What are we to say of those who,\n when the old crust which clogs and hampers human knowledge is cracking\n and breaking all around them, when the shell is too narrow an abode\n for the life within it, which is preparing to cast it off, still cling\n to the crust and shell, looking, like the disciples by the sepulchre,\n at the linen clothes lying, and know not that He has risen in glory?\n These are they who obstinately refuse to believe in the \u201cTestimony of\n the Rocks\u201d, who deny Geology the thousands, nay millions, of years\n which she requires to make her deposits in Nature\u2019s great saving-bank.\n These are they for whom the Nile, as he brings down year by year his\n tribute to the sea from Central Africa, lays down in vain layer after\n layer of alluvial deposit, which can be measured to an inch for tens\n of thousands of years. These are they to whom the comparatively\n younger growth of trees, the dragon tree of Orotava, and the cedars of\n California, plead in vain when they show, year after year, ring on\n ring of wood for thousands of years. \u201cNo; the world is only five or\n six thousands of years old, or thereabouts. The Old Testament\u201d\u2014the\n dates in which have been confessedly tampered with, and in some cases\n forged and fabricated by Hebrew scribes\u2014\u201csays so. We believe in it\u2014we\n will believe in nothing else, not even in our senses. We will believe\n literally in the first chapter of Genesis, in working days and nights\n of twenty-four hours, even before the sun and moon were made, on the\n fourth day, \u2018to divide the day from the night\u2019, and to be \u2018for signs\n and for seasons, and for days and years\u2019. We will not hear of ages or\n periods, but \u2018days\u2019, because the \u2018letter\u2019 says so\u201d. This is what our\n Western Brahmins say; but if they remembered that He who set sun and\n moon also planted the eye and ear, that he gave sense, and speech, and\n mind; if they considered that faith is a lively thing, elastic and\n expansive; that it embraces a thousand or a million years as easily as\n a moment of time; that bonds cannot fetter it, nor distance darken and\n dismay it; that it is given to man to grow with his growth and\n strengthen with his strength; that it rises at doubts and\n difficulties, and surmounts them; they would cease to condemn all the\n world to wear their own strait-waistcoat, cut and sewn by rabbis and\n doctors some thousand years ago; a garment which the human intellect\n has altogether outgrown, which it is ridiculous to wear, which\n careless and impious men laugh at when it is seen in the streets; and\n might begin to see that spirit is spirit, and flesh is flesh; that\n while one lives for ever, the other is corruptible and passes away;\n that there are developments in faith as in every thing else; that as\n man\u2019s intellect and human knowledge have grown and expanded, so his\n faith must grow and expand too; that it really matters nothing at all,\n as an act of faith, whether the world is six thousand or six million\n years old; that it must have had a beginning; that there must be one\n great first cause, God. Surely there is no better way to bring His\n goodness into question, to throw doubt on His revelation, and to make\n it the laughing stock of the irreligious, than thus to clip the wings\n of faith, to throw her into a dungeon, to keep her from the light of\n day, to make her read through. Hebrew spectacles, and to force her to\n be a laggard and dullard, instead of a bright and volatile spirit,\n forward and foremost in the race of life.\n\n [2] But if the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be\n sorry it had so noble a godfather, and never after _ear_ so barren a\n land, for fear it yield me still so bad a harvest\u201d\u2014SHAKESPEARE,\n _Dedication to Venus and Adonis_.\n\n [3] As a specimen of their thoughtful turn of mind, even in the\n _Vedas_, at a time before the monstrous avatars of the Hindoo Pantheon\n were imagined, and when their system of philosophy, properly so\n called, had no existence, the following metrical translation of the\n 129th hymn of the 10th book of the _Rig-Veda_ may be quoted, which\n Professor M\u00fcller assures us is of a very early date:\n\n\nNor aught nor naught existed; yon bright sky\nWas not, nor Heaven\u2019s broad woof outstretched above.\nWhat covered all? what sheltered? what concealed?\nWas it the water\u2019s fathomless abyss?\nThere was not death\u2014yet was there nought immortal.\nThere was no confine betwixt day and night;\nThe only One breathed breathless by itself,\nOther than It there nothing since has been.\nDarkness there was, and all at first was veiled\nIn gloom profound\u2014an ocean without light\u2014\nThe germ that still lay covered in the husk\nBurst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat.\nThen first came love upon it, the new spring\nOf mind\u2014yea, poets in their hearts discerned,\nPondering, this bond between created things\nAnd uncreated. Comes this spark from earth,\nPiercing and all pervading, or from Heaven?\nThen seeds were sown, and mighty powers arose\u2014\nNature below, and power and will above\u2014\nWho knows the secret? who proclaimed it here,\nWhence, whence this manifold creation sprang?\nThe Gods themselves came later into being\u2014\nWho knows from whence this great creation sprang?\nHe from whom all this great creation came,\nWhether His will created or was mute,\nThe Most High Seer that is in highest heaven,\nHe knows it\u2014or perchance even he knows not.\n\n\nIf we reflect that this hymn was composed centuries before the time of\nHesiod, we shall be better able to appreciate the speculative character\nof the Indian mind in its earliest stage.\n\n [4] \u201cA Brahmin, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to the market to buy a\n goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to get hold of the goat. They\n stationed themselves at intervals on the high road. When the Brahmin,\n who carried the goat on his back, approached the first thief, the\n thief said, \u2018Brahmin, why do you carry a dog on your back?\u2019 The\n Brahmin replied: \u2018It is not a dog, it is a goat.\u2019 A little while\n after, he was accosted by the second thief, who said, \u2018Brahmin, why do\n you carry a dog on your back?\u2019 The Brahmin felt perplexed, put the\n goat down, examined it, and walked on. Soon after he was stopped by\n the third thief, who said, \u2018Brahmin, why do you carry a dog on your\n back?\u2019 Then the Brahmin was frightened, threw down the goat, and\n walked home to perform his ablutions for having touched an unclean\n animal. The thieves took the goat and ate it.\u201d See the notice of the\n Norse Tales in _The Saturday Review_, January 15. In Max M\u00fcller\u2019s\n translation of the _Hitopadesa_, the story has a different ending. See\n also _Le Piacevoli Notti_, di M. Giovan Francesco Straparola da\n Caravaggio (Venice, 1567), Notte Prima, Favola III: \u201cPre Scarpacifico\n da tre malandrini una sol volta gabbato, tre fiate gabba loro,\n finalmente vittorioso con la sua Nina lietamente rimane\u201d. In which\n tale the beginning is a parallel to the first part of \u201cThe Master\n Thief\u201d, while the end answers exactly to the Norse tale added in this\n edition, and called Big Peter and Little Peter.\u201d\n\n [5] Fornm. S\u00f6g., 2, 272.\n\n [6] M\u00fcller\u2019s Saga Bibl., 3, 359.\n\n [7] See the ballad in Percy\u2019s Reliques.\n\n [8] The following are translations from Saxo, the _Wilkina Saga_, and\n the _Malleus Maleficarum_. The question is completely set at rest by\n Grimm, _D. M._ p. 353 fol. and p. 1214.\n    \u201cNor is the following story to be wrapped in silence. A certain\n    Palnatoki, for some time among King Harold\u2019s bodyguard, had made\n    his bravery odious to very many of his fellow-soldiers by the zeal\n    with which he surpassed them in the discharge of his duty. This man\n    once, when talking tipsily over his cups, had boasted that he was\n    so skilled an archer, that he could hit the smallest apple placed a\n    long way off on a wand at the first shot; which talk, caught up at\n    first by the ears of backbiters, soon came to the hearing of the\n    king. Now, mark how the wickedness of the king turned the\n    confidence of the sire to the peril of the son, by commanding that\n    this dearest pledge of his life should be placed instead of the\n    wand, with a threat that, unless the author of this promise could\n    strike off the apple at the first flight of the arrow, he should\n    pay the penalty of his empty boasting by the loss of his head. The\n    king\u2019s command forced the soldier to perform more than he had\n    promised, and what he _had_ said, reported by the tongues of\n    slanderers, bound him to accomplish what he had _not_ said\u201d\u2026\u201cNor\n    did his sterling courage, though caught in the snare of slander,\n    suffer him to lay aside his firmness of heart; nay, he accepted the\n    trial the more readily because it was hard. So Palnatoki warned the\n    boy urgently when he took his stand to await the coming of the\n    hurtling arrow with calm ears and unbent head, lest by a slight\n    turn of his body he should defeat the practised skill of the\n    bowman; and, taking further counsel to prevent his fear, he turned\n    away his face lest he should be scared at the sight of the weapon.\n    Then taking three arrows from the quiver, he struck the mark given\n    him with the first he fitted to the string. But, if chance had\n    brought the head of the boy before the shaft, no doubt the penalty\n    of the son would have recoiled to the peril of the father, and the\n    swerving of the shaft that struck the boy would have linked them\n    both in common ruin. I am in doubt, then, whether to admire most\n    the courage of the father or the temper of the son, of whom the one\n    by skill in his art avoided being the slayer of his child, while\n    the other by patience of mind and quietness of body saved himself\n    alive, and spared the natural affection of his father. Nay, the\n    youthful frame strengthened the aged heart, and showed as much\n    courage in awaiting the arrow as the father, skill in launching it.\n    But Palnatoki, when asked by the king why he had taken more arrows\n    from the quiver, when it had been settled that he should only try\n    the fortune of the bow _once_, made answer \u2018That I might avenge on\n    thee the swerving of the first by the points of the rest, lest\n    perchance my innocence might have been punished, while your\n    violence escaped scot-free\u2019\u201d.\u2014 _Saxo Gram._, Book X, (p. 166, ed.\n    Frankf.)\n    \u201cAbout that time the young Egill, Wayland\u2019s brother, came to the\n    court of King Nidung, because Wayland (Smith) had sent him word.\n    Egill was the fairest of men and one thing he had before all other\n    men\u2014he shot better with the bow than any other man. The king took\n    to him well, and Egill was there a long time. Now, the king wished\n    to try whether Egill shot so well as was said or not, so he let\n    Egill\u2019s son, a boy of three years old, be taken, and made them put\n    an apple on his head, and bade Egill shoot so that the shaft struck\n    neither above the head nor to the left nor to the right; the apple\n    only was he to split. But it was not forbidden him to shoot the\n    boy, for the king thought it certain that he would do that on no\n    account if he could at all help it. And he was to shoot one arrow\n    only, no more. So Egill takes three, and strokes their feathers\n    smooth, and fits one to his string, and shoots and hits the apple\n    in the middle, so that the arrow took along with it half the apple,\n    and then fell to the ground. This master-shot has long been talked\n    about, and the king made much of him, and he was the most famous of\n    men. Now, King Nidung asked Egill why he took out _three_ arrows,\n    when it was settled that one only was to be shot with. Then Egill\n    answered \u2018Lord\u2019, said he, \u2018I will not lie to you; had I stricken\n    the lad with that one arrow, then I had meant these two for you.\u2019\n    But the king took that well from him, and all thought it was boldly\n    spoken\u201d.\u2014_Wilkina Saga_, ch. 27 (ed. Pering).\n    \u201cIt is related of him (Puncher) that a certain lord, who wished to\n    obtain a sure trial of his skill, set up his little son as a butt,\n    and for a mark a shilling on the boy\u2019s cap, commanding him to carry\n    off the shilling without the cap with his arrow. But when the\n    wizard said he could do it, though he would rather abstain, lest\n    the Devil should decoy him to destruction; still, being led on by\n    the words of the chief, he thrust one arrow through his collar,\n    and, fitting the other to his crossbow, struck off the coin from\n    the boy\u2019s cap without doing him any harm; seeing which, when the\n    lord asked the wizard why he had placed the arrow in his collar? he\n    answered \u2018If by the Devil\u2019s deceit I had slain the boy, when I\n    needs must die, I would have transfixed you suddenly with the other\n    arrow, that even so I might have avenged my death.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Malleus\n    Malef._, p. ii, ch. 16.\n\n [9] See _Pantcha-Tantra_, v. ii of Wilson\u2019s _Analysis_, quoted by\n Loiseleur Deslongchamps, _Essai sur les Fables Indiennes_ (Paris,\n Techener, 1838, p. 54), where the animal that protects the child is a\n mangouste (Viverra Mungo). See also _Hitopadesa_, (Max M\u00fcller\u2019s\n Translation, Leipzig, Brockhaus, p. 178) where the guardian is an\n otter. In both the foe is a snake.\n\n [10] Moe Introd. xxxii.-iii\n\n [11] The account in the _Nibelungen_ respecting the _Tarnhut_ is\n confused, and the text probably corrupt; but so much is plain, that\n Siegfried got it from Elberich in the struggle which ensued with\n Schilbung and Niblung, after he had shared the Hoard.\n\n [12] Thus we find it in the originals or the parallels of Grendel in\n _Beowulf_, of Rumpelstiltskin, of the recovery of the Bride by the\n ring dropped into the cup, as related in \u201cSoria Moria Castle,\u201d and\n other tales; of the \u201cwishing ram\u201d, which in the Indian story becomes a\n \u201cwishing cow\u201d, and thus reminds us of the bull in one of these Norse\n Tales, out of whose ear came a \u201cwishing cloth\u201d; of the lucky child,\n who finds a purse of gold under his pillow every morning; and of the\n red lappet sown on the sleeping lover, as on Siegfried in the\n _Nibelungen_. The devices of Upakosa, the faithful wife, remind us at\n once of \u201cthe Master-maid\u201d, and the whole of the stories of Saktideva\n and the Golden City, and of Viduschaka, King Adityasena\u2019s daughter,\n are the same in groundwork and in many of their incidents as \u201cEast o\u2019\n the Sun, and West o\u2019 the Moon\u201d, \u201cthe Three Princesses of Whiteland\u201d,\n and \u201cSoria Moria Castle\u201d.\n\n [13] J. Grimm, _Reinhart Fuchs_, cclxiii, Intr.\n\n [14] _Kinder and Hausm\u00e4rchen_, vol. 3, _3d_ edition (G\u00f6ttingen, 1856)\n a volume worthy of the utmost attention.\n\n [15] note K\u00f6lle, _Kanuri Proverbs and Fables_ (London Church\n Missionary House, 1854), a book of great philological interest, and\n one which reflects great credit on the religious society by which it\n was published.\n\n [16] _Kanuri Proverbs_, p. 167.\n\n [17] Notte Duodecima. Favola terza. \u201cPederigo da Pozzuolo che\n intendeva il linguaggio de gli animali, astretto dalla moglie dirle un\n segreto, quella stranamente batt\u00e8.\u201d\n\n [18] The story of the Two Brothers Anesou and Satou, from the\n _D\u2019Orbiney Papyrus_, by De Ronge, Paris, 1852.\n\n [19] See the Ananzi Stories in the Appendix, which have been taken\n down from the mouth of a West Indian nurse.\n\n [20] _The Deeds of Bogda Gesser Chan_, by I. J. Schmidt (Petersburg\n and Leipzig, 1839).\n\n [21] _Oxford Essays for_ 1858: \u201cThe Norsemen in Iceland\u201d.\n\n [22] See _Anecd. and Trad._, Camd. Soc. 1839, pp. 92 fol. See also the\n passages from Anglo-Saxon laws against \u201cwell-waking\u201d, which Grimm has\n collected: _D. M._, p. 550.\n\n [23] D. M., p. 900: _W\u00fctendes Heer_\n\n [24] Heb., xiii, 1: \u201cLet brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to\n entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels\n unawares.\u201d\n\n [25] One of Odin\u2019s names, when on these adventures, was Gangradr, or\n Gangleri. Both mean \u201cthe _Ganger_, or way-farer\u201d. We have the latter\n epithet in the \u201c_Gangrel_ carle\u201d, and \u201c_Gangrel loon_\u201d, of the early\n Scotch ballads.\n\n [26] So also Orion\u2019s Belt was called by the Norsemen, Frigga\u2019s spindle\n or _rock, Friggjar rock_. In modern Swedish, _Friggerock_, where the\n old goddess holds her own; but in Danish, _Mariaerock_, Our Lady\u2019s\n rock or spindle. Thus, too, _Karlavagn_, the \u201ccar of men\u201d, or heroes,\n who rode with Odin, which we call \u201cCharles\u2019 Wain\u201d, thus keeping\n something, at least, of the old name, though none of its meaning,\n became in Scotland \u201cPeter\u2019s-pleugh\u201d, from the Christian saint, just as\n Orion\u2019s sword became \u201cPeter\u2019s-staff\u201d. But what do \u201cLady Landers\u201d and\n \u201cLady Ellison\u201d mean, as applied to the \u201cLady-Bird\u201d in Scotland?\n\n [27] D. M., p. 126 fol., where they are cited at length.\n\n [28] Snorro\u2019s _Edda_, Stockholm, 1842, translated by the writer.\n\n [29] See the well-known story of \u201cThe Luck of Eden Hall\u201d.\n\n [30] Hist., ii, 16.\n\n [31] Snor. _Ed. Skaldsk._, ch. 43.\n\n [32] St Luke, x, 18.\n\n [33] Snor. _Edda,_ ch. 34, Engl. Transl.\n\n [34] Here are a few of these passages which might be much extended:\n Burchard of Worms, p. 194, a. \u201ccredidisti ut aliqua femina sit quae\n hoc facere possit quod quaedam a diabolo deceptae se affirmant\n necessario et ex praecepto facere debere; id est cum daemonum turba in\n similitudinem mulierum transformata, quam vulgaris stultitia _Holdam_\n vocat, certis noctibus equitare debere super quasdam bestias, et in\n eorum se consortio annumeratam esse.\u201d\n    \u201cIllud etiam non omittendum, quod quasdam sceleratae mulieres retro\n    post Sathanam conversae, daemonum illusionibus et phantasmatibus\n    seductae credunt se et profitentur nocturnis horis cum _Diana_\n    paganorum dea, vel cum _Herodiade_ et innumera multitudine mulierum\n    equitare super quasdam bestias, et multa terrarum spatia\n    intempestae noctis silentio pertransire, ejusque jussionibus velut\n    _Dominae_ obedire et certis noctibus ad ejus servitium evocari.\u201d\n    \u2014Burchard of Worms, 10, I.\n    \u201cQuale est, quod noctilucam quandam, vel _Herodiadem_, vel\n    praesidem noctis Dominam concilia et conventus de nocte asserunt\n    convocare, varia celebrari convivia, etc.\u201d\u2014Joh. Sarisberiensis\n    Polycrat. 2, 17 (died 1182).\n    \u201c_Herodiam_ illam baptistae Christi interfectricem, quasi reginam,\n    immo deam proponant, asserentes tertiam totius mundi partem illi\n    traditam.\u201d\u2014Rather. Cambrens. (died 974).\n    \u201cSic et daemon qui praetextu mulieris cum aliis de nocte, domos et\n    cellaria dicitur frequentare, et vocant eam _Satiam_ a satietate,\n    et _Dominam Abundiam_ pro abundantia, quam eam praestare dicunt\n    domibus quas frequentaverit; hujusmodi etiam daemones quas _dominas\n    vocant_, vetulae penes quas error iste remansit et a quibus solis\n    creditur et somniatur.\u201d\u2014Guilielmus Alvernus, 1, 1036 (died 1248).\n    So also the Roman de la Rose (Meon line 18, 622.)\n\n\nQui les cinc sens ainsinc de\u00e7oit\nPar les fantosmes, qu\u2019il re\u00e7oit,\nDon maintes gens par lor folie\nCuident estre par nuit estries,\n_Errans_ aveques _Dame Habonde;_\nEt dient, que par tout le monde\n_Li tiers enfant_ de nacion\n_Sunt de ceste condicion._\n\n\nAnd again, line 18,686:\n\n\nDautre part, _que li tiers du monde_\n_Aille_ ainsinc _eavec Dame Habonde_.\n\n [35] See the derivation of _pagan_ from paganus, one who lived in the\n country, as opposed to urbanus, a townsman.\n\n [36] Snorro\u2019s _Edda_, Dasent\u2019s Translation, pp. 29 (Stockholm 1842).\n\n [37] Keisersberg Omeiss, 46 b., quoted by Grimm, _D.M._ pp. 991, says:\n    \u201cWen man ein man verbrent, so brent man wol zehen frauen.\u201d\n\n [38] See the passage from Vincent, _Bellov. Spec. Mor._, iii, 2, 27,\n quoted in Grimm, _D. M._ pp. 1,012-3.\n\n [39] The following passage from _The Fortalice of Faith_ of Alphonso\n Spina, written about the year 1458, will suffice to show how\n disgustingly the Devil, in the form of a goat, had supplanted the\n \u201cGood Lady\u201d: Quia nimium abundant tales perversae mulieres ine\n Delphinatu et Guasconia, ubi se asserunt concurrere de nocte in qu\u00e2dam\n planitie deserta ubi est _caper quidam in rupe_, qui vulgariter\n dicitur _el boch de Biterne_ et clued ibi _conveniunt cum candelis\n accensis et adorant illum caprum osculpntes eum in ano suo_. Ideo\n captae plures earum, ab inquisitoribus fidei et convictae\n comburuntur.\u201d\n    About the same time, too, began to spread the notion of formal\n    written agreements between the Fiend and men who were to be his\n    after a certain time, during which he was to help them to all\n    earthly goods. This, too, came with Christianity from the East. The\n    first instance was Theophilus, vicedominus of the Bishop of Adana,\n    whose fall and conversion form the original of all the Faust\n    Legends. See Grimm, D. M. 969, and \u201cTheophilus in Icelandic, Low\n    German, and other tongues, by G. W. Dasent, Stockholm, 1845.\u201d There\n    a complete account of the literature of the legend may be found. In\n    almost all these early cases the Fiend is outwitted by the help of\n    the Virgin or some other saint, and in this way the reader is\n    reminded of the Norse Devil, the successor of the Giants, who\n    always makes bad bargains. When the story was applied to Faust in\n    the sixteenth century, the terrible Middle Age Devil was paramount,\n    and knew how to exact his due.\n\n [40] How strangely full of common sense sounds the following article\n from the Capitularies of Charlemagne, _De part. Sax._, 5:\n    \u201cSi quis a diabolo deceptus crediderit secundum morem. Paganorum,\n    virum aliquem aut faeminam strigam esse et homines comedere, et\n    propter hoc ipsum incenderit, vel carnem eius ad comedendum\n    dederit, capitis sententia punietur.\u201d And this of Rotharius, Lex.\n    Roth., 379: \u201cNullus praesumat aldiam alienam aut ancillam quasi\n    strigam occidere, quod Christianis mentibus nullatenus est\n    credendum nec possible est, ut hominem mulier vivum intrinsecus\n    possit comedere.\u201d\n    Here the law warns the common people from believing in witches, and\n    from taking its functions into their own hands, and reasons with\n    them against the absurdity of such delusions. So, too, that\n    reasonable parish priest who thrashed the witch, though earlier in\n    time, was far in advance of Gregory and his inquisitors, and even\n    of our wise King James.\n\n [41] The following is the title of this strange tract, _Newes from\n Scotland, declaring the damnable life of Doctor Fian, a notable\n Sorcerer, who was burned at Edenbrough, in Januarie last 1591, which\n Doctor was register to the devil, that sundrie times preached at North\n Baricke Kirke to a number of notorious Witches. With the true\n examinations of the said Doctor and witches, as they uttered them in\n the presence of the Scottish king. Discovering how they pretended to\n bewitch and drowne his Majestic in the sea, comming from Denmarke,\n with such other wonderfull matters as the like, hath not bin heard at\n anie time_. Published according to the Scottish copie. Printed for\n William Wright. It was reprinted in 1816 for the Roxburghe Club by Mr\n H. Freeling, and is very scarce even in the reprint, which, all things\n considered, is perhaps just as well.\n\n [42] The following specimens of the tortures and confessions may\n suffice; but most of the crimes and confessions are unutterable. One\n Geillis Duncane was tortured by her master, David Seaton, dwelling\n within the town of Tranent, who, \u201cwith the help of others, did torment\n her with the torture of the Pilliwinkes (thumbscrews), upon her\n fingers, and binding and wrinching her head with a cord or roape,\n which is a most cruel torment also.\u201d So also Agnes Sampson, \u201cthe\n eldest witch of them all, dwelling in Haddington, being brought to\n Haleriud House before the kinge\u2019s majestie and sundry other of the\n nobilitie of Scotland, had her head thrawne with a rope according to\n the custom of that countrie, beeing a payne most greevous.\u201d After the\n Devil\u2019s mark is found on her she confesses that she went to sea with\n two hundred others in sieves to the kirk of North Berwick in East\n Lothian, and after they had landed they \u201ctook handes on the lande and\n daunted, this reill or short daunce, saying all with one voice:\n\n\nCommer goe ye before, Commer goe ye,\nGif ye will not goe before, Commer let me.\n\n\n\u201cAt which time she confessed that this Geillis Duncane did goe before\nthem playing this reill or daunce upon a small trumpe called a Jew\u2019s\ntrump, until they entered into the kirk of North Barrick.\u201d \u201cAs touching\nthe aforesaid Doctor Fian\u201d, he \u201cwas taken and imprisoned, and used with\nthe accustomed paine provided for these offences, inflicted upon the\nrest, as is aforesaid. First by thrawing of his head with a rope,\nwhereat he would confesse nothing! Secondly, he was persuaded by faire\nmeans to confesse his follies, but that would prevaile as little.\nLastly, he was put to the most severe and cruell paine in the world,\ncalled the Bootes, who, after he had received three strokes, being\ninquired if he would confesse his damnable actes and wicked life, his\ntoong would not serve him to spaake.\u201d This inability, produced no doubt\nby pain, the other witches explain by saying that the Devil\u2019s mark had\nnot been found, which, being found, \u201cthe charm\u201d was \u201cstinted\u201d, and the\nDoctor, in dread probably of a fourth stroke, confessed unutterably\nshameful things. Having escaped from prison, of course by the aid of\nthe Devil, he was pursued, and brought back and re-examined before the\nking. \u201cBut this Doctor, notwithstanding that his own confession\nappeareth remaining in recorde, under his owne handewriting, and the\nsame thereunto fixed in the presence of the King\u2019s majestie and sundrie\nof his councell, yet did he utterly deny the same, whereupon the King\u2019s\nmajestie, perceiving his stubborne wilfulness\u2026he was commanded to have\na most strange torment, which was done in this manner following: His\nnailes upon all his fingers were riven and pulled off with an\ninstrument called in Scottish a Turkas, which in England wee call a\npayre of pincars, and under everie nayle there was thrust in two\nneedels over even up to the heads. At all which torments,\nnotwithstanding the Doctor never shronke anie whit; neither would he\nthen confesse it the sooner for all the tortures inflicted upon him.\n    \u201cThen was he with all convenient speed, by commandement convaied\n    againe to the torment of the Bootes, wherein hee continued a long\n    time, and did abide so many blowes in them, that his legges were\n    crusht and beaten together as small as might bee, and the bones and\n    flesh so brused that the blond and marrow spouted forth in great\n    abundance, wherby they were made unserviceable for ever. And\n    notwithstanding all these grievous panes and cruel torments, he\n    would not confesse aniething, so deepely had the Devil entered into\n    his heart, that hee utterly denied all that which he had before\n    avouched, and would saie nothing thereunto but this, that what he\n    had done and sayde before, was onely done and saide for fear of\n    paynes which he had endured.\u201d Thereupon as \u201ca due execution of\n    justice\u201d \u201cand \u201cfor example sake\u201d, he was tried, sentenced, put into\n    a cart, strangled and immediately put into a great fire, being\n    readie provided for that purpose, and there burned in the Castle\n    Hill of Edenbrough on a saterdaie, in the ende of Januaire last\n    past, 1591.\u201d The tract ends significantly: \u201cThe rest of the witches\n    which are not yet executed remayne in prison till further triall\n    and knowledge of his majestie\u2019s pleasure.\u201d\n\n [43] Od., iii, 372; and xxii, 239\n\n [44] _Ecl._, viii, 97:\n    His ego s\u00e6pe lupum fieri et se condere silvis\n    M\u00e6rin\u2014vidi.\n\n [45] See Grimm\u2019s _D.M._, 1,047 fol.; and for this translation from\n Petronius, a very interesting letter prefixed to Madden\u2019s Ed. of the\n old English Romance of _William and the Werewolf_, 1832, one of the\n Roxburghe Club Publications. This letter, which was by the hand of Mr\n Herbert of Petworth, contains all that was known on this subject\n before Grimm; but when Grimm came he was, compared with all who had\n treated the subject, as a sober man amongst drunkards.\n\n [46] _Bisclavaret_ in the _Lais_ of Marie de France, 1, 178 seems to\n be a corruption of Bleizgarou, as the Norman _garwal_ is of _garwolf_.\n See also Jamieson Dict., under _warwolf_.\n\n [47] _Fornald S\u00f6g_, i, 130, 131.\n\n [48] See Landnama in many places. _Egil\u2019s Sag., Hrolf Krak. Sag._\n\n [49] _Troldham, at kaste ham paa._ Comp. the old Norse _hamr, hamf\u00f6r,\n hammadr, hamrammr_, which occur repeatedly in the same sense.\n\n [50] Reinhart Fuchs, Introduction\n\n [51] Grimm, _Irisch. Elfenm._, 114-9, and _D. M._, 447.\n\n [52] Comp. Vict. Hugo, _N\u00f4tre-Dame de Paris_, where he tells us that\n the gipsies called the wolf _piedgris_. See also Grimm, _D. M._, 633\n and _Reinhart_, lv, ccvii, and 446.\n\n [53] Douce, _Illust. to Shakspeare_, ii, 33, 344, quoted in _Reinhart\n Fuchs_, ccxxi.\n\n [54] _Germania_, 9, 10.\n\n [55] Snorro\u2019s _Edda_, ch. vi, English translation.\n\n [56] Thus from the earliest times \u201cdog\u201d, \u201chound\u201d, has been a term of\n reproach. Great instances of fidelity, such as \u201cGellert\u201d or the \u201cDog\n of Montargis\u201d, both of which are Eastern and primeval, have scarcely\n redeemed the cringing currish nature of the race in general from\n disgrace. M. Francisque Michel, in his _Histoire des Races Maudites de\n da France et de l\u2019Espagne_, thinks it probable that _Cagot_, the\n nickname by which the heretical Goths who fled into Aquitaine in the\n time of Charles Martel, and received protection from that king and his\n successors, were called by the Franks, was derived from the term\n _Canis Gothicus_ or _Canes Gothi_. In modern French the word means\n hypocrite, and this would come from the notion of the outward\n conformity to the Catholic formularies imposed on the Arian Goths by\n their orthodox protectors. Etymologically, the derivation is good\n enough, according to Diez, _Romanisches W\u00f6rterbuch_ ; Proven\u00e7al _ca_,\n dog; _Get_, Gothic. Before quitting _Cagot_, we may observe that the\n derivation of _bigot_, our bigot, another word of the same kind, is\n not so clear. Michel says it comes from _Vizigothus, Bizigothus_. Diez\n says this is too far-fetched, especially as \u201cBigot\u201d, \u201cBigod\u201d, was a\n term applied to the Normans, and not to the population of the South of\n France. There is, besides another derivation given by Ducange from a\n Latin chronicle of the twelfth century. In speaking of the homage done\n by Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, to the King of France, he says:\n    Hic non dignatus pedem Caroli osculari nisi ad os suum levaret,\n    cumque sui comites illum admonerent ut pedem Regis in acceptione\n    tanti muneris, Neustriae provinciae, oscularetur, Anglica lingua\n    respondit \u201c_ne se bi got_\u201d, quod interpretatur \u201cne per deum\u201d. Rex\n    vero et sui illum deridentes, et sermonem ejus corrupte referentes,\n    illum vocaverunt Bigottum; unde Normanni adhuc Bigothi vocantur.\n    Wace, too, says, in the _Roman de Rou_, that the French had abused\n    the Normans in many ways, calling them Bigos. It is also termed, in\n    a French record of the year 1429, \u201c_un mot tr\u00e8s injurieux_\u201d. Diez\n    says it was not used in its present sense before the sixteenth\n    century.\n\n [57] The most common word for a giant in the Eddas was J\u00f6tunn (A. S.\n _coten_ ), which, strange to say, survives in the Scotch Etin. In one\n or two places the word _ogre_ has been used, which is properly a\n Romance word, and comes from the French _ogre_, Ital. _orco_, Lat.\n _orcus_. Here, too, we have an old Roman god of the nether world\n degraded.\n\n [58] These paroxysms were called in Old Norse _J\u00f6tunmodr_, the _Etin\n mood_, as opposed to _Asmodr, the mood of the Aesir_, that diviner\n wrath which, though burning hot, was still under the control of\n reason.\n\n [59] It may be worth while here to shew how old and widespread this\n custom or notion of the \u201cnaked sword\u201d was. In the North, besides being\n told of Sigurd and Brynhildr, we hear it of Hr\u00f3lf and Ingigerd, who\n took rest at night in a hut of leaves in the wood, and lay together,\n \u201cbut laid a naked sword between them\u201d. So also Saxo Grammaticus says\n of King Gorm, \u201cCaeterum ne inconcessum virginis amorem libidinoso\n complexu praeripere videretur, vicina latera non solum alterius\n complexibus exult, sed etiam _districto mucrone_ secrevit. Lib. 9,\n p.179. So also Tristan and Isolt in Gottfried of Strasburg\u2019s poem,\n line 17,407-17.\n\n\nHier\u00fcber vant Tristan einen sin,\nSi giengen an ir bette wider,\nUnd leiten sich d\u00e2 wider nider,\nVon einander wol pin dan,\nReht als man and man,\nNiht als man and w\u00eep;\nD\u00e2 lac l\u00eep and l\u00eep,\nIn fremder gelegenheit,\nOuch h\u00e2t Tristan geleit\nS\u00een _swert bar_ enzwischen si.\n\n\nAnd the old French Tristan in the same way:\n\n\nEt qant il vit la nue _espee_\nQui entre eus deus les deseurout.\n\n\nSo the old English Tristrem, line 2,002-3:\n\n\nHis sword he drough titly\nAnd laid it _hem bitvene_.\n\n\nAnd the old German ballad in _Des Knaben Wunderhorn_, 2, 276:\n\n\nDer Herzog zog aus sein goldiges schwert,\nEr leit es zwischen beide hert\nDas schwert soll weder hauen noch schneiden,\nDas Annelein soll ein megedli bleiben.\n\n\nSo Fonzo and Fenizia in the _Pentamerone_, I, 9:\n    Ma segnenno havere fatto vuto a Diana, de non toccare la mogliere\n    la notte, mese la spata arranata comme staccione \u201cmiezo ad isso ed\n    a Fenizia.\n    And in Grimm\u2019s story of \u201cThe Two Brothers\u201d where the second brother\n    lays \u201ca double-edged sword\u201d at night between himself and his\n    brother\u2019s wife, who has mistaken him for his twin brother. In fact\n    the custom as William Wackernagel has shewn in _Haupt\u2019s Zeitschrift\n    f\u00fcr Deutsches Alterthum_ was one recognized by the law; and so late\n    as 1477, when Lewis, County Palatine of Veldenz represented\n    Maximilian of Austria as his proxy at the betrothal of Mary of\n    Burgundy, he got into the bed of state, booted and spurred, and\n    laid a naked sword between him and the bride. Comp. Birkens\n    Ehrenspiegel, p. 885. See also as a proof that the custom was known\n    in England as late as the seventeenth century, _The Jovial Crew_, a\n    comedy first acted in 1641, and quoted by Sir W. Scott in his\n    _Tristrem_, p. 345, where it is said (Act V, sc. 2): \u201cHe told him\n    that he would be his proxy, and marry her for him, and lie with her\n    the first night with a naked cudgel betwixt them.\u201d And see for the\n    whole subject, J. Grimm\u2019s _Deutsche Rechts-Alterth\u00fcmer_, G\u00f6ttingen,\n    1828, p. 168-70.\n\n [60] M. Moe, _Introd. Norsk. Event_ (Christiania, 1851, 2d Ed.), to\n which the writer is largely indebted.\n\n [61] _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ (Ed. 1847).\n\n [62] The following list, which only selects the more prominent\n collections, will suffice to show that Popular Tales have a literature\n of their own:\u2014Sanscrit. The _Pantcha Tantra_, \u201cThe Five Books\u201d, a\n collection of fables of which only extracts have as yet been\n published, but of which Professor Wilson has given an analysis in the\n Transactions of the Asiatic Society, vol. I, sect. 2. The\n _Hitopadesa_, or \u201cWholesome Instruction\u201d, a selection of tales and\n fables from the Pantcha Tantra, first edited by Carey at Serampore in\n 1804; again by Hamilton in London in 1810; again in Germany by A. W.\n von Schlegel in 1829, an edition which was followed in 1831 by a\n critical commentary by Lassen; and again in 1830 at Calcutta with a\n Bengali and English translation. The work had been translated into\n English by Wilkins so early as 1787, when it was published in London,\n and again by Sir William Jones, whose rendering, which is not so good\n as that by Wilkins, appeared after his death in the collected edition\n of his works. Into German it has been translated in a masterly way by\n Max M\u00fcller, Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1844. Versions of these Sanscrit\n collections, the date of the latter of which is ascribed to the end of\n the second century of the Christian era, varying in many respects, but\n all possessing sufficient resemblance to identify them with their\n Sanscrit originals, are found in almost every Indian dialect, and in\n Zend, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Greek and Turkish. We are happy to be\n able to state here that the eminent Sanscrit scholar, Professor Benfey\n of G\u00f6ttingen, is now publishing a German translation of the _Pantcha\n Tantra_, which will be accompanied by translations of numerous\n compositions of the same kind, drawn from unpublished Sanscrit works,\n and from the legends current amongst the Mongolian tribes. The work\n will be preceded by an introduction embracing the whole question of\n the origin and diffusion of fables and popular tales. The following\n will be the title of Prof. Benfey\u2019s work: \u201c_Pantcha Tantra. Erster\n Theil, F\u00fcnf B\u00fccher Indischer Fabeln, M\u00e4rchen, and Erz\u00e4hlungen_. Aus\n dem Sanskrit \u00fcbersetzt, mit Anmerkungen and Einleitung \u00fcber das\n Indische Grundwerk und dessen Ausfl\u00fcsse, so wie \u00fcber die Quellen und\n Verbreitung des Inhalts derselben. Zweiter Theil, \u00dcbersetzungen und\n Anmerkungen.\u201d Most interesting of all for our purpose is the\n collection of Sanscrit Tales, collected in the twelfth century of our\n era, by Somadeva Bhatta of Cashmere. This has been published in\n Sanscrit, and translated into German by Hermann Brockhaus, and the\n nature of its contents has already been sufficiently indicated. We may\n add, however, that Somadeva\u2019s collection exhibits the Hindoo mind in\n the twelfth century in a condition, as regards popular tales, which\n the mind of Europe has not yet reached. How old these stories and\n fables must have been in the East, we see both from the _Pantcha\n Tantra_ and the _Hitopadesa_, which are strictly didactic works, and\n only employ tales and fables to illustrate and inculcate a moral\n lesson. We in the West have got beyond fables and apologues, but we\n are only now collecting our popular tales. In Somadeva\u2019s time the\n simple tale no longer sufficed; it had to be fitted into and arranged\n with others, with an art and dexterity which is really marvellous; and\n so cleverly is this done, that it requires a mind of no little\n cultivation, and a head of more than ordinary clearness, to carry\n without confusion all the wheels within wheels, and fables within\n fables, which spring out of the original story as it proceeds. In\n other respects the popular tale loses in simplicity what it gains in\n intricacy by this artificial arrangement; and it is evident that in\n the twelfth century the Hindoo tales had been long since collected out\n of the mouths of the people, and reduced to writing; in a word, that\n the popular element had disappeared, and that they had passed into the\n written literature of the race. We may take this opportunity, too, to\n mention that a most curious collection of tales and fables, translated\n from Sanscrit, has recently been discovered in Chinese. They are on\n the eve of publication by M. Stanislas Julien, the first of Chinese\n scholars; and from the information on the matter which Professor Max\n M\u00fcller has kindly furnished to the translator, it appears that they\n passed with Buddhism from India into China. The work from which M.\n Julien has taken these fables, which are all the more precious because\n the Sanscrit originals have in all probability perished,\u2014is called\n _Yu-lin_, or \u201cThe Forest of Comparisons\u201d. It was the work of\n Youen-thai, a great Chinese scholar, who was President of the Ministry\n of justice at Pekin in the year 1565 of our era. He collected in\n twenty-four volumes, after the labour of twenty years, during which he\n read upwards of four hundred works, all the fables and comparisons he\n could find in ancient books. Of those works, two hundred were\n translations from the Sanscrit made by Buddhist monks, and it is from\n eleven of these that M. Julien has translated his Chinese Fables. We\n need hardly say that this work is most anxiously expected by all who\n take an interest in such matters. Let it be allowed to add here, that\n it was through no want of respect towards the memory of M. de Sacy\n that the translator has given so much prominence to the views and\n labours of the Brothers Grimm in this Introduction. To M. de Sacy\n belongs all the merit of exploring what may be called the old written\n world of fable. He, and Warton, and Dunlop, and Price, too, did the\n day\u2019s work of Giants, in tracing out and classifying those tales and\n fables which had passed into the literature of the Aryan race. But,\n besides this old region, there is another new hemisphere of fiction\n which lies in the mouths and in the minds of the people. This new\n world of fable the Grimms discovered, and to them belongs the glory of\n having brought all its fruits and flowers to the light of day. This is\n why their names must ever be foremost in a work on Popular Tales,\n shining, as their names must ever shine, a bright double star in that\n new hemisphere. In more modern times, the earliest collection of\n popular tales is to be found in the _Piacevoli Notte_ of John Francis\n Straparola of Caravaggio, near Milan, the first edition of which\n appeared at Venice in 1550. The book, which is shamefully indecent,\n even for that age, and which at last, in 1606, was placed in the\n _Index Expurgatorius_, contains stories from all sources, and amongst\n them nineteen genuine popular tales, which are not disfigured by the\n filth with which the rest of the volume is full. Straparola\u2019s work has\n been twice translated into German, once at Vienna, 1791, and again by\n Schmidt in a more complete form, _M\u00e4rchen-Saal_, Berlin, 1817. But a\n much more interesting Italian collection appeared at Naples in the\n next century. This was the _Pentamerone_ of Giambattista Basile, who\n wrote in the Neapolitan dialect, and whose book appeared in 1637. This\n collection contains forty-eight tales, and is in tone, and keeping,\n and diction, one of the best that has ever appeared in any language.\n It has been repeatedly reprinted at Naples. It has been translated\n into German, and a portion of it, a year or two back, by Mr. Taylor,\n into English. In France the first collection of this kind was made by\n Charles Perrault, who, in 1697, published eight tales, under a title\n taken from an old _Fabliau_, _Contes de ma m\u00e8re L\u2019Oye_, whence comes\n our \u201cMother Goose\u201d. To these eight, three more tales were added in\n later editions. Perrault was shortly followed by Madame D\u2019Aulnoy (born\n in 1650, died 1705), whose manner of treating her tales is far less\n true to nature than Perrault\u2019s, and who inserts at will, verses,\n alterations, additions, and moral reflections. Her style is\n sentimental and over-refined; the courtly airs of the age of Louis XIV\n predominate, and nature suffers by the change from the cottage to the\n palace. Madame d\u2019Aulnoy was followed by a host of imitators; the\n Countess M\u00fcrat, who died in 1710; Countess d\u2019Auneuil, who died in\n 1700; M. de Preschac, born 1676, who composed tales of utter\n worthlessness, which may be read as examples of what popular tales are\n not, in the collection called _Le Cabinet des F\u00e9es_, which was\n published in Paris in 1785. Not much better are the attempts of Count\n Hamilton, who died in 1720; of M. de Moncrif, who died in 1770; of\n Mademoiselle de la Force, died 1724; of Mademoiselle l\u2019Heritier died\n 1737; of Count Caylus, who wrote his _F\u00e9eries Nouvelles_ in the first\n half of the 18th century, for the popular element fails almost\n entirely in their works. Such as they are, they may also be read in\n the _Cabinet des F\u00e9es_, a collection which ran to no fewer than\n forty-one volumes, and with which no lover of popular tradition need\n trouble himself much. To the playwright and the story-teller it has\n been a great repository, which has supplied the lack of original\n invention. In Germany we need trouble ourselves with none of the\n collections before the time of the Grimms, except to say that they are\n nearly worthless. In 1812-14 the two brothers, Jacob and William,\n brought out the first edition of their _Kinder-und Haus-M\u00e4rchen_,\n which was followed by a second and more complete one in 1822: 3 vols.,\n Berlin, Reimer. The two first volumes have been repeatedly\n republished, but few readers in England are aware of the existence of\n the third, a third edition of which appeared in 1856 at G\u00f6ttingen,\n which contains the literature of these traditions, and is a monument\n of the care and pains with which the brothers, or rather William, for\n it is his work, even so far back as 1820, had traced out parallel\n traditions in other tribes and lands. This work formed an era in\n popular literature, and has been adopted as a model by all true\n collectors ever since. It proceeded on the principle of faithfully\n collecting these traditions from the mouths of the people, without\n adding one jot or tittle, or in any way interfering with them, except\n to select this or that variation as most apt or beautiful. To the\n adoption of this principle we owe the excellent Swedish collection of\n George Stephens and Hylten Cavallius, _Svenska Folk-Sagor og\n Aefventyr_, 2 vols. Stockholm 1844, and following years; and also this\n beautiful Norse one, to which Jacob Grimm awards the palm over all\n collections, except perhaps the Scottish, of MM. Asbj\u00f6rnsen and Moe.\n To it also we owe many most excellent collections in Germany, over\n nearly the whole of which an active band of the Grimm\u2019s pupils have\n gone gathering up as gleaners the ears which their great masters had\n let fall or let lie. In Denmark the collection of M. Winther, _Danske\n Folkeeventyr_, Copenhagen, 1823, is a praiseworthy attempt in the same\n direction; nor does it at all detract from the merit of H. C. Andersen\n as an original writer, to observe how often his creative mind has\n fastened on one of these national stories, and worked out of that\n piece of native rock a finished work of art. Though last not least,\n are to be reckoned the Scottish stories collected by Mr. Robert\n Chambers, of the merit of which we have already expressed our opinion\n in the text.\n\n [63] After all, there is, it seems, a Scottish word which answers to\n _Askepot_ to a hair. See Jamieson\u2019s _Dictionary_, where the reader\n will find _Ashiepattle_ as used in Shetland for a \u201cneglected child\u201d;\n and not in Shetland alone, but in Ayrshire, _Ashypet_, an adjective,\n or rather a substantive degraded to do the dirty work of an adjective,\n \u201cone employed in the lowest kitchen work\u201d. See too the quotation,\n \u201cwhen I reached Mrs. Damask\u2019s house she was gone to bed, and nobody to\n let me in, dripping wet as I was, but an _ashypet_ lassy, that helps\n her for a servant.\u201d\u2014_Steamboat_, p. 259. So again _Assiepet_,\n substantive \u201ca dirty little creature, one that is constantly soiled\n with _ass_ or ashes\u201d.\n\n [64] The Sagas contain many instances of Norsemen who sat thus idly\n over the fire, and were thence called _Kolbitr_, _coalbiters_, but who\n afterwards became mighty men.\n\n [65] Moe, _Introd. Norsk. Event._","title":"Popular Tales from the Norse","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":175274}