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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, by 
+Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
+       Old Tales from the North
+
+Author: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
+        Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
+
+Illustrator: Kay Nielsen
+
+Release Date: January 15, 2010 [EBook #30973]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EAST OF THE SUN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dan Horwood and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: He too saw the image in the water; but he looked up at
+once, and became aware of the lovely Lassie who sate there up in the
+tree. Page 70]
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+  EAST OF THE SUN AND
+  WEST OF THE MOON
+
+  OLD TALES FROM THE NORTH
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY
+  KAY NIELSEN
+
+
+  NEW YORK
+  GEORGE H DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A folk-tale, in its primitive plainness of word and entire absence of
+complexity in thought, is peculiarly sensitive and susceptible to the
+touch of stranger hands; and he who has been able to acquaint himself
+with the _Norske Folkeeventyr_ of Asbjörnsen and Moe (from which these
+stories are selected), has an advantage over the reader of an English
+rendering. Of this advantage Mr. Kay Nielsen has fully availed
+himself: and the exquisite _bizarrerie_ of his drawings aptly
+expresses the innermost significance of the old-world, old-wives'
+fables. For to term these legends, Nursery Tales, would be to curtail
+them, by nine-tenths, of their interest. They are the romances of the
+childhood of Nations: they are the never-failing springs of sentiment,
+of sensation, of heroic example, from which primeval peoples drank
+their fill at will.
+
+The quaintness, the tenderness, the grotesque yet realistic
+intermingling of actuality with supernaturalism, by which the
+original _Norske Folkeeventyr_ are characterised, will make an appeal
+to all, as represented in the pictures of Kay Nielsen. And these
+imperishable traditions, whose bases are among the very roots of all
+antiquity, are here reincarnated in line and colour, to the delight of
+all who ever knew or now shall know them.
+
+Permission to reprint the Stories in this book, which originally
+appeared in Sir G. W. Dasent's "Popular Tales from the Norse," has
+been obtained from Messrs. George Routledge & Sons, Ltd. THE THREE
+PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN is printed by arrangement with Messrs.
+David Nutt; and PRINCE LINDWORM is newly translated for this volume.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+  EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON                               9
+  THE BLUE BELT                                                     29
+  PRINCE LINDWORM                                                   53
+  THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER                                      65
+  THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE                             75
+  THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND                                79
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND                                 85
+  SORIA MORIA CASTLE                                                97
+  THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY                           117
+  THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL                                   131
+  THE WIDOW'S SON                                                  149
+  THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF                                      167
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN                        171
+  THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL                                         200
+  ONE'S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST                          203
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  EAST OF THE SUN AND
+  WEST OF THE MOON
+                                                                  Page
+    "Well, mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and
+        then there's nothing to fear," said the Bear, so
+        she rode a long, long way                                    9
+    "Tell me the way, then," she said, "and I'll search
+        you out"                                                    16
+    And then she lay on a little green patch in the
+        midst of the gloomy thick wood                              24
+    The North Wind goes over the sea                                32
+    And flitted away as far as they could from the
+        Castle that lay East of the Sun and West of the
+        Moon                                                        40
+
+  THE BLUE BELT
+
+    The Lad in the Bear's skin, and the King of Arabia's
+        daughter                                                    48
+
+  PRINCE LINDWORM
+
+    She saw the Lindworm for the first time, as he came
+        in and stood by her side                                    56
+
+  THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER
+
+    She could not help setting the door a little ajar,
+        just to peep in, when--Pop! out flew the Moon               64
+    Then he coaxed her down and took her home                       72
+    "Here are your children; now you shall have them
+        again. I am the Virgin Mary"                                80
+    He too saw the image in the water; but he looked up
+        at once, and became aware of the lovely Lassie
+        who sate there up in the tree                     FRONTISPIECE
+
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND
+
+    "You'll come to three Princesses, whom you will see
+        standing in the earth up to their necks, with
+        only their heads out"                                       88
+    So the man gave him a pair of snow shoes                        96
+    The King went into the Castle, and at first his
+        Queen didn't know him, he was so wan and thin,
+        through wandering so far and being so woeful               104
+
+  THE GIANT WHO HAD
+  NO HEART IN HIS BODY
+
+    The six brothers riding out to woo                             112
+    "On that island stands a church; in that church is a
+        well; in that well swims a duck"                           120
+    He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and
+        when he got out of the Giant's door, there stood
+        the Wolf waiting for him                                   128
+
+  THE WIDOW'S SON
+
+    When he had walked a day or so, a strange man met
+        him. "Whither away?" asked the man                         136
+    But still the Horse begged him to look behind him              144
+    And this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay
+        the lad, so lovely, and white and red, just as
+        the Princess had seen him in the morning sun               152
+    The Lad in the Battle                                          160
+
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES
+  IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN
+
+    Just as they bent down to take the rose a big dense
+        snowdrift came and carried them away                       168
+    The Troll was quite willing, and before long he fell
+        asleep and began snoring                                   176
+    As soon as they tugged at the rope, the Captain and
+        the Lieutenant pulled up the Princesses, the one
+        after the other                                            184
+    No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing
+        and a whirring from all quarters, and such a
+        large flock of birds swept down that they
+        blackened all the field in which they settled              192
+
+
+
+
+EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
+
+
+Once on a time there was a poor husbandman who had so many children
+that he hadn't much of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty
+children they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter,
+who was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness.
+
+So one day, 'twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year,
+the weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark,
+and rain fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook
+again. There they all sat round the fire, busy with this thing and
+that. But just then, all at once something gave three taps on the
+window-pane. Then the father went out to see what was the matter; and,
+when he got out of doors, what should he see but a great big _White
+Bear_.
+
+"Good-evening to you!" said the _White Bear_.
+
+"The same to you!" said the man.
+
+"Will you give me your youngest daughter? If you will, I'll make you
+as rich as you are now poor," said the _Bear_.
+
+Well, the man would not be at all sorry to be so rich; but still he
+thought he must have a bit of a talk with his daughter first; so he
+went in and told them how there was a great _White Bear_ waiting
+outside, who had given his word to make them so rich if he could only
+have the youngest daughter.
+
+The lassie said "No!" outright. Nothing could get her to say anything
+else; so the man went out and settled it with the _White Bear_ that he
+should come again the next Thursday evening and get an answer.
+Meantime he talked his daughter over, and kept on telling her of all
+the riches they would get, and how well off she would be herself; and
+so at last she thought better of it, and washed and mended her rags,
+made herself as smart as she could, and was ready to start. I can't
+say her packing gave her much trouble.
+
+[Illustration: "Well, mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then
+there's nothing to fear," said the Bear, so she rode a long, long way.]
+
+Next Thursday evening came the _White Bear_ to fetch her, and she got
+upon his back with her bundle, and off they went. So, when they had
+gone a bit of the way, the _White Bear_ said:
+
+"Are you afraid?"
+
+"No," she wasn't.
+
+"Well! mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there's
+nothing to fear," said the _Bear_.
+
+So she rode a long, long way, till they came to a great steep hill.
+There, on the face of it, the _White Bear_ gave a knock, and a door
+opened, and they came into a castle where there were many rooms all
+lit up; rooms gleaming with silver and gold; and there, too, was a
+table ready laid, and it was all as grand as grand could be. Then the
+_White Bear_ gave her a silver bell; and when she wanted anything, she
+was only to ring it, and she would get it at once.
+
+Well, after she had eaten and drunk, and evening wore on, she got
+sleepy after her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed, so
+she rang the bell; and she had scarce taken hold of it before she came
+into a chamber where there was a bed made, as fair and white as any
+one would wish to sleep in, with silken pillows and curtains and gold
+fringe. All that was in the room was gold or silver; but when she had
+gone to bed and put out the light, a man came and laid himself
+alongside her. That was the _White Bear_, who threw off his beast
+shape at night; but she never saw him, for he always came after she
+had put out the light, and before the day dawned he was up and off
+again. So things went on happily for a while, but at last she began to
+get silent and sorrowful; for there she went about all day alone, and
+she longed to go home to see her father and mother and brothers and
+sisters. So one day, when the _White Bear_ asked what it was that she
+lacked, she said it was so dull and lonely there, and how she longed
+to go home to see her father and mother and brothers and sisters, and
+that was why she was so sad and sorrowful, because she couldn't get to
+them.
+
+"Well, well!" said the _Bear_, "perhaps there's a cure for all this;
+but you must promise me one thing, not to talk alone with your mother,
+but only when the rest are by to hear; for she'll take you by the hand
+and try to lead you into a room alone to talk; but you must mind and
+not do that, else you'll bring bad luck on both of us."
+
+So one Sunday the _White Bear_ came and said, now they could set off
+to see her father and mother. Well, off they started, she sitting on
+his back; and they went far and long. At last they came to a grand
+house, and there her brothers and sisters were running about out of
+doors at play, and everything was so pretty, 'twas a joy to see.
+
+"This is where your father and mother live now," said the _White
+Bear_; "but don't forget what I told you, else you'll make us both
+unlucky."
+
+"No! bless her, she'd not forget;"--and when she had reached the
+house, the _White Bear_ turned right about and left her.
+
+Then, when she went in to see her father and mother, there was such
+joy, there was no end to it. None of them thought they could thank her
+enough for all she had done for them. Now, they had everything they
+wished, as good as good could be, and they all wanted to know how she
+got on where she lived.
+
+Well, she said, it was very good to live where she did; she had all
+she wished. What she said beside I don't know, but I don't think any
+of them had the right end of the stick, or that they got much out of
+her. But so, in the afternoon, after they had done dinner, all
+happened as the _White Bear_ had said. Her mother wanted to talk with
+her alone in her bedroom; but she minded what the _White Bear_ had
+said, and wouldn't go upstairs.
+
+"Oh! what we have to talk about will keep!" she said, and put her
+mother off. But, somehow or other, her mother got round her at last,
+and she had to tell her the whole story. So she said, how every night
+when she had gone to bed a man came and lay down beside her as soon as
+she had put out the light; and how she never saw him, because he was
+always up and away before the morning dawned; and how she went about
+woeful and sorrowing, for she thought she should so like to see him;
+and how all day long she walked about there alone; and how dull and
+dreary and lonesome it was.
+
+"My!" said her mother; "it may well be a Troll you slept with! But now
+I'll teach you a lesson how to set eyes on him. I'll give you a bit of
+candle, which you can carry home in your bosom; just light that while
+he is asleep, but take care not to drop the tallow on him."
+
+Yes! she took the candle and hid it in her bosom, and as night drew
+on, the _White Bear_ came and fetched her away.
+
+But when they had gone a bit of the way, the _White Bear_ asked if all
+hadn't happened as he had said.
+
+"Well, she couldn't say it hadn't."
+
+"Now, mind," said he, "if you have listened to your mother's advice,
+you have brought bad luck on us both, and then, all that has passed
+between us will be as nothing."
+
+"No," she said, "she hadn't listened to her mother's advice."
+
+So when she reached home, and had gone to bed, it was the old story
+over again. There came a man and lay down beside her; but at dead of
+night, when she heard he slept, she got up and struck a light, lit the
+candle, and let the light shine on him, and so she saw that he was the
+loveliest _Prince_ one ever set eyes on, and she fell so deep in love
+with him on the spot, that she thought she couldn't live if she didn't
+give him a kiss there and then. And so she did; but as she kissed him,
+she dropped three hot drops of tallow on his shirt, and he woke up.
+
+"What have you done?" he cried; "now you have made us both unlucky,
+for had you held out only this one year, I had been freed. For I have
+a step-mother who has bewitched me, so that I am a _White Bear_ by
+day, and a _Man_ by night. But now all ties are snapt between us; now
+I must set off from you to her. She lives in a Castle which stands
+_East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and there, too, is a
+_Princess_, with a nose three ells long, and she's the wife I must
+have now."
+
+She wept and took it ill, but there was no help for it; go he must.
+
+Then she asked if she mightn't go with him.
+
+No, she mightn't.
+
+"Tell me the way, then," she said, "and I'll search you out; _that_
+surely I may get leave to do."
+
+[Illustration: "Tell me the way, then," she said, "and I'll search you
+out."]
+
+"Yes," she might do that, he said; "but there was no way to that
+place. It lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and thither
+she'd never find her way."
+
+So next morning, when she woke up, both _Prince_ and castle were gone,
+and then she lay on a little green patch, in the midst of the gloomy
+thick wood, and by her side lay the same bundle of rags she had
+brought with her from her old home.
+
+[Illustration: And then she lay on a little green patch in the midst of
+the gloomy thick wood.]
+
+So when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she
+was tired, she set out on her way, and walked many, many days, till
+she came to a lofty crag. Under it sat an old hag, and played with a
+gold apple which she tossed about. Here the lassie asked if she knew
+the way to the Prince, who lived with his step-mother in the Castle,
+that lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and who was to marry
+the _Princess_ with a nose three ells long.
+
+"How did you come to know about him?" asked the old hag; "but maybe
+you are the lassie who ought to have had him?"
+
+Yes, she was.
+
+"So, so; it's you, is it?" said the old hag. "Well, all I know about
+him is, that he lives in the castle that lies _East of the Sun and
+West of the Moon_, and thither you'll come, late or never; but still
+you may have the loan of my horse, and on him you can ride to my next
+neighbour. Maybe she'll be able to tell you; and when you get there,
+just give the horse a switch under the left ear, and beg him to be off
+home; and, stay, this gold apple you may take with you."
+
+So she got upon the horse, and rode a long, long time, till she came
+to another crag, under which sat another old hag, with a gold
+carding-comb. Here the lassie asked if she knew the way to the castle
+that lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and she answered,
+like the first old hag, that she knew nothing about it, except it was
+east of the sun and west of the moon.
+
+"And thither you'll come, late or never, but you shall have the loan
+of my horse to my next neighbour; maybe she'll tell you all about it;
+and when you get there, just switch the horse under the left ear, and
+beg him to be off home."
+
+And this old hag gave her the golden carding-comb; it might be she'd
+find some use for it, she said. So the lassie got up on the horse, and
+rode a far, far way, and a weary time; and so at last she came to
+another great crag, under which sat another old hag, spinning with a
+golden spinning-wheel. Her, too, she asked if she knew the way to the
+_Prince_, and where the castle was that lay _East of the Sun and West
+of the Moon_. So it was the same thing over again.
+
+"Maybe it's you who ought to have had the _Prince_?" said the old
+hag.
+
+Yes, it was.
+
+But she, too, didn't know the way a bit better than the other two.
+"East of the sun and west of the moon it was," she knew--that was
+all.
+
+"And thither you'll come, late or never; but I'll lend you my horse,
+and then I think you'd best ride to the East Wind and ask him; maybe
+he knows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to
+him, you need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and
+he'll trot home of himself."
+
+And so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel. "Maybe you'll find
+a use for it," said the old hag.
+
+Then on she rode many many days, a weary time, before she got to the
+East Wind's house, but at last she did reach it, and then she asked
+the East Wind if he could tell her the way to the _Prince_ who dwelt
+east of the sun and west of the moon. Yes, the East Wind had often
+heard tell of it, the _Prince_ and the castle, but he couldn't tell
+the way, for he had never blown so far.
+
+"But, if you will, I'll go with you to my brother the West Wind, maybe
+he knows, for he's much stronger. So, if you will just get on my
+back, I'll carry you thither."
+
+Yes, she got on his back, and I should just think they went briskly
+along.
+
+So when they got there, they went into the West Wind's house, and the
+East Wind said the lassie he had brought was the one who ought to have
+had the _Prince_ who lived in the castle _East of the Sun and West of
+the Moon_; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he had come
+with her, and would be glad to know if the West Wind knew how to get
+to the castle.
+
+"Nay," said the West Wind, "so far I've never blown; but if you will,
+I'll go with you to our brother the South Wind, for he's much stronger
+than either of us, and he has flapped his wings far and wide. Maybe
+he'll tell you. You can get on my back, and I'll carry you to him."
+
+Yes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South Wind, and
+weren't so very long on the way, I should think.
+
+When they got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the
+way to the castle that lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, for
+it was she who ought to have had the _Prince_ who lived there.
+
+"You don't say so! That's she, is it?" said the South Wind.
+
+"Well, I have blustered about in most places in my time, but so far
+have I never blown; but if you will, I'll take you to my brother the
+North Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of the whole lot of us, and
+if he don't know where it is, you'll never find any one in the world
+to tell you. You can get on my back, and I'll carry you thither."
+
+Yes! she got on his back, and away he went from his house at a fine
+rate. And this time, too, she wasn't long on her way.
+
+So when they got to the North Wind's house, he was so wild and cross,
+cold puffs came from him a long way off.
+
+"BLAST YOU BOTH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" he roared out to them ever so far
+off, so that it struck them with an icy shiver.
+
+"Well," said the South Wind, "you needn't be so foul-mouthed, for here
+I am, your brother, the South Wind, and here is the lassie who ought
+to have had the _Prince_ who dwells in the castle that lies _East of
+the Sun and West of the Moon_, and now she wants to ask you if you
+ever were there, and can tell her the way, for she would be so glad to
+find him again."
+
+"YES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS," said the North Wind; "once in
+my life I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but, I was so tired I couldn't
+blow a puff for ever so many days, after. But if you really wish to go
+thither, and aren't afraid to come along with me, I'll take you on my
+back and see if I can blow you thither."
+
+Yes! with all her heart; she must and would get thither if it were
+possible in any way; and as for fear, however madly he went, she
+wouldn't be at all afraid.
+
+"Very well, then," said the North Wind, "but you must sleep here
+to-night, for we must have the whole day before us, if we're to get
+thither at all."
+
+Early next morning the North Wind woke her, and puffed himself up, and
+blew himself out, and made himself so stout and big, 'twas gruesome to
+look at him; and so off they went high up through the air, as if they
+would never stop till they got to the world's end.
+
+Down here below there was such a storm; it threw down long tracts of
+wood and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea, ships
+foundered by hundreds.
+
+[Illustration: The North Wind goes over the sea.]
+
+So they tore on and on--no one can believe how far they went--and all
+the while they still went over the sea, and the North Wind got more
+and more weary, and so out of breath he could scarce bring out a puff,
+and his wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low that
+the crests of the waves dashed over his heels.
+
+"Are you afraid?" said the North Wind.
+
+"No!" she wasn't.
+
+But they weren't very far from land; and the North Wind had still so
+much strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on the shore
+under the windows of the castle which lay _East of the Sun and West of
+the Moon_; but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to stay there
+and rest many days before he could get home again.
+
+Next morning the lassie sat down under the castle window, and began to
+play with the gold apple; and the first person she saw was the
+_Long-nose_ who was to have the _Prince_.
+
+"What do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?" said the
+_Long-nose_, and threw up the window.
+
+"It's not for sale, for gold or money," said the lassie.
+
+"If it's not for sale for gold or money, what is it that you will sell
+it for? You may name your own price," said the _Princess_.
+
+"Well! if I may get to the _Prince_, who lives here, and be with him
+to-night, you shall have it," said the lassie whom the North Wind had
+brought.
+
+Yes! she might; that could be done. So the _Princess_ got the gold
+apple; but when the lassie came up to the _Prince's_ bed-room at night
+he was fast asleep; she called him and shook him, and between whiles
+she wept sore; but all she could do she couldn't wake him up. Next
+morning, as soon as day broke, came the _Princess_ with the long nose,
+and drove her out again.
+
+So in the daytime she sat down under the castle windows and began to
+card with her carding-comb, and the same thing happened. The
+_Princess_ asked what she wanted for it; and she said it wasn't for
+sale for gold or money, but if she might get leave to go up to the
+_Prince_ and be with him that night, the _Princess_ should have it.
+But when she went up she found him fast asleep again, and all she
+called, and all she shook, and wept, and prayed, she couldn't get life
+into him; and as soon as the first gray peep of day came, then came
+the _Princess_ with the long nose, and chased her out again.
+
+So, in the daytime, the lassie sat down outside under the castle
+window, and began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that,
+too, the _Princess_ with the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up
+the window and asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she
+had said twice before, it wasn't for sale for gold or money; but if
+she might go up to the _Prince_ who was there, and be with him alone
+that night, she might have it.
+
+Yes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were
+some Christian folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat
+in their room, which was next the _Prince_, they had heard how a woman
+had been in there, and wept and prayed, and called to him two nights
+running, and they told that to the _Prince_.
+
+That evening, when the _Princess_ came with her sleepy drink, the
+_Prince_ made as if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he
+could guess it was a sleepy drink. So, when the lassie came in, she
+found the _Prince_ wide awake; and then she told him the whole story
+how she had come thither.
+
+"Ah," said the _Prince_, "you've just come in the very nick of time,
+for to-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won't have the
+_Long-nose_, and you are the only woman in the world who can set me
+free. I'll say I want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to
+wash the shirt which has the three spots of tallow on it; she'll say
+yes, for she doesn't know 'tis you who put them there; but that's a
+work only for Christian folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and
+so I'll say that I won't have any other for my bride than the woman
+who can wash them out, and ask you to do it."
+
+So there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next
+day, when the wedding was to be, the _Prince_ said:
+
+"First of all, I'd like to see what my bride is fit for."
+
+"Yes!" said the step-mother, with all her heart.
+
+"Well," said the _Prince_, "I've got a fine shirt which I'd like for
+my wedding shirt, but somehow or other it has got three spots of
+tallow on it, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to
+take any other bride than the woman who's able to do that. If she
+can't, she's not worth having."
+
+Well, that was no great thing they said, so they agreed, and she with
+the long-nose began to wash away as hard as she could, but the more
+she rubbed and scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew.
+
+"Ah!" said the old hag, her mother, "you can't wash; let me try."
+
+But she hadn't long taken the shirt in hand before it got far worse
+than ever, and with all her rubbing, and wringing, and scrubbing, the
+spots grew bigger and blacker, and the darker and uglier was the
+shirt.
+
+Then all the other Trolls began to wash, but the longer it lasted, the
+blacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last it was as black all
+over as if it had been up the chimney.
+
+"Ah!" said the _Prince_, "you're none of you worth a straw; you can't
+wash. Why there, outside, sits a beggar lassie, I'll be bound she
+knows how to wash better than the whole lot of you. COME IN, LASSIE!"
+he shouted.
+
+Well, in she came.
+
+"Can you wash this shirt clean, lassie you?" said he.
+
+"I don't know," she said, "but I think I can."
+
+And almost before she had taken it and dipped it in the water, it was
+as white as driven snow, and whiter still.
+
+"Yes; you are the lassie for me," said the _Prince_.
+
+At that the old hag flew into such a rage, she burst on the spot, and
+the _Princess_ with the long nose after her, and the whole pack of
+Trolls after her--at least I've never heard a word about them since.
+
+As for the _Prince_ and _Princess_, they set free all the poor
+Christian folk who had been carried off and shut up there; and they
+took with them all the silver and gold, and flitted away as far as
+they could from the Castle that lay _East of the Sun and West of the
+Moon_.
+
+[Illustration: And flitted away as far as they could from the Castle that
+lay East of the Sun and West of the Moon.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUE BELT
+
+
+Once on a time there was an old beggar-woman, who had gone out to beg.
+She had a little lad with her, and when she had got her bag full she
+struck across the hills towards her own home. So when they had gone a
+bit up the hill-side, they came upon a little _Blue Belt_ which lay
+where two paths met, and the lad asked his mother's leave to pick it
+up.
+
+"No," said she, "maybe there's witchcraft in it;" and so with threats
+she forced him to follow her. But when they had gone a bit further,
+the lad said he must turn aside a moment out of the road; and
+meanwhile his mother sat down on a tree-stump. But the lad was a long
+time gone, for as soon as he got so far into the wood that the old
+dame could not see him, he ran off to where the _Belt_ lay, took it
+up, tied it round his waist, and lo! he felt as strong as if he could
+lift the whole hill. When he got back, the old dame was in a great
+rage, and wanted to know what he had been doing all that while. "You
+don't care how much time you waste, and yet you know the night is
+drawing on, and we must cross the hill before it is dark!" So on they
+tramped; but when they had got about half-way, the old dame grew
+weary, and said she must rest under a bush.
+
+"Dear mother," said the lad, "mayn't I just go up to the top of this
+high crag while you rest, and try if I can't see some sign of folk
+hereabouts?"
+
+Yes! he might do that; so when he had got to the top he saw a light
+shining from the north. So he ran down and told his mother.
+
+"We must get on, mother; we are near a house, for I see a bright light
+shining quite close to us in the north." Then she rose and shouldered
+her bag, and set off to see; but they hadn't gone far, before there
+stood a steep spur of the hill, right across their path.
+
+"Just as I thought!" said the old dame, "now we can't go a step
+farther; a pretty bed we shall have here!"
+
+But the lad took the bag under one arm, and his mother under the
+other, and ran straight up the steep crag with them.
+
+"Now, don't you see? Don't you see that we are close to a house? Don't
+you see that bright light?"
+
+But the old dame said those were no Christian folk, but _Trolls_, for
+she was at home in all that forest far and near, and knew there was
+not a living soul in it, until you were well over the ridge and had
+come down on the other side. But they went on, and in a little while
+they came to a great house which was all painted red.
+
+"What's the good?" said the old dame. "We daren't go in, for here the
+_Trolls_ live."
+
+"Don't say so; we must go in. There must be men where the lights shine
+so," said the lad. So in he went, and his mother after him, but he had
+scarce opened the door before she swooned away, for there she saw a
+great stout man, at least twenty feet high, sitting on the bench.
+
+"Good evening, grandfather!" said the lad.
+
+"Well, here I've sat three hundred years," said the man who sat on the
+bench, "and no one has ever come and called me grandfather before."
+Then the lad sat down by the man's side, and began to talk to him as
+if they had been old friends.
+
+"But what's come over your mother?" said the man, after they had
+chatted a while. "I think she swooned away; you had better look after
+her."
+
+So the lad went and took hold of the old dame, and dragged her up the
+hall along the floor. That brought her to herself, and she kicked and
+scratched, and flung herself about, and at last sat down upon a heap
+of firewood in the corner; but she was so frightened that she scarce
+dared to look one in the face.
+
+After a while, the lad asked if they could spend the night there.
+
+"Yes, to be sure," said the man.
+
+So they went on talking again, but the lad soon got hungry, and wanted
+to know if they could get food as well as lodging.
+
+"Of course," said the man, "that might be got too." And after he had
+sat a while longer, he rose up and threw six loads of dry pitch-pine
+on the fire. This made the old hag still more afraid.
+
+"Oh! now he's going to roast us alive," she said, in the corner where
+she sat.
+
+And when the wood had burned down to glowing embers, up got the man
+and strode out of his house.
+
+"Heaven bless and help us! what a stout heart you have got!" said the
+old dame. "Don't you see we have got amongst _Trolls_?"
+
+"Stuff and nonsense!" said the lad; "no harm if we have."
+
+In a little while, back came the man with an ox so fat and big, the
+lad had never seen its like, and he gave it one blow with his fist
+under the ear, and down it fell dead on the floor. When that was done,
+he took it up by all the four legs and laid it on the glowing embers,
+and turned it and twisted it about till it was burnt brown outside.
+After that, he went to a cupboard and took out a great silver dish,
+and laid the ox on it; and the dish was so big that none of the ox
+hung over on any side. This he put on the table, and then he went down
+into the cellar and fetched a cask of wine, knocked out the head, and
+put the cask on the table, together with two knives, which were each
+six feet long. When this was done he bade them go and sit down to
+supper and eat. So they went, the lad first and the old dame after,
+but she began to whimper and wail, and to wonder how she should ever
+use such knives. But her son seized one, and began to cut slices out
+of the thigh of the ox, which he placed before his mother. And when
+they had eaten a bit, he took up the cask with both hands, and lifted
+it down to the floor; then he told his mother to come and drink, but
+it was still so high she couldn't reach up to it; so he caught her up,
+and held her up to the edge of the cask while she drank; as for
+himself, he clambered up and hung down like a cat inside the cask
+while he drank. So when he had quenched his thirst, he took up the
+cask and put it back on the table, and thanked the man for the good
+meal, and told his mother to come and thank him too, and, a-feared
+though she was, she dared do nothing else but thank the man. Then the
+lad sat down again alongside the man and began to gossip, and after
+they had sat a while the man said:
+
+"Well! I must just go and get a bit of supper too;" and so he went to
+the table and ate up the whole ox--hoofs, and horns, and all--and
+drained the cask to the last drop, and then went back and sat on the
+bench.
+
+"As for beds," he said, "I don't know what's to be done. I've only got
+one bed and a cradle; but we could get on pretty well if you would
+sleep in the cradle, and then your mother might lie in the bed
+yonder."
+
+"Thank you kindly, that'll do nicely," said the lad; and with that he
+pulled off his clothes and lay down in the cradle; but, to tell you
+the truth, it was quite as big as a four-poster. As for the old dame,
+she had to follow the man who showed her to bed, though she was out of
+her wits for fear.
+
+"Well!" thought the lad to himself, "'twill never do to go to sleep
+yet. I'd best lie awake and listen how things go as the night wears
+on."
+
+So, after a while, the man began to talk to the old dame, and at last
+he said:
+
+"We two might live here so happily together, could we only be rid of
+this son of yours."
+
+"But do you know how to settle him? Is that what you're thinking of?"
+said she.
+
+"Nothing easier," said he; at any rate he would try. He would just say
+he wished the old dame would stay and keep house for him a day or two,
+and then he would take the lad out with him up the hill to quarry
+corner-stones, and roll down a great rock on him. All this the lad lay
+and listened to.
+
+Next day the _Troll_--for it was a _Troll_ as clear as day--asked if
+the old dame would stay and keep house for him a few days; and as the
+day went on he took a great iron crowbar, and asked the lad if he had
+a mind to go with him up the hill and quarry a few corner-stones. With
+all his heart, he said, and went with him; and so, after they had
+split a few stones, the _Troll_ wanted him to go down below and look
+after cracks in the rock; and while he was doing this the _Troll_
+worked away, and wearied himself with his crowbar till he moved a
+whole crag out of its bed, which came rolling right down on the place
+where the lad was; but he held it up till he could get on one side,
+and then let it roll on.
+
+"Oh!" said the lad to the _Troll_, "now I see what you mean to do with
+me. You want to crush me to death; so just go down yourself and look
+after the cracks and refts in the rock, and I'll stand up above."
+
+The _Troll_ did not dare to do otherwise than the lad bade him, and
+the end of it was that the lad rolled down a great rock, which fell
+upon the _Troll_ and broke one of his thighs.
+
+"Well! you _are_ in a sad plight," said the lad, as he strode down,
+lifted up the rock, and set the man free. After that he had to put him
+on his back and carry him home; so he ran with him as fast as a horse,
+and shook him so that the _Troll_ screamed and screeched as if a knife
+were run into him. And when he got home, they had to put the _Troll_
+to bed, and there he lay in a sad pickle.
+
+When the night wore on, the _Troll_ began to talk to the old dame
+again, and to wonder how ever they could be rid of the lad.
+
+"Well," said the old dame, "if you can't hit on a plan to get rid of
+him, I'm sure I can't."
+
+"Let me see," said the _Troll_; "I've got twelve lions in a garden; if
+they could only get hold of the lad, they'd soon tear him to pieces."
+
+So the old dame said it would be easy enough to get him there. She
+would sham sick, and say she felt so poorly, nothing would do her any
+good but lion's milk. All that the lad lay and listened to; and when
+he got up in the morning his mother said she was worse than she
+looked, and she thought she should never be right again unless she
+could get some lion's milk.
+
+"Then I'm afraid you'll be poorly a long time, mother," said the lad,
+"for I'm sure I don't know where any is to be got."
+
+"Oh! if that be all," said the _Troll_, "there's no lack of lion's
+milk, if we only had the man to fetch it;" and then he went on to say
+how his brother had a garden with twelve lions in it, and how the lad
+might have the key if he had a mind to milk the lions. So the lad took
+the key and a milking pail, and strode off; and when he unlocked the
+gate and got into the garden, there stood all the twelve lions on
+their hind-paws, rampant and roaring at him. But the lad laid hold of
+the biggest, and led him about by the fore-paws, and dashed him
+against stocks and stones till there wasn't a bit of him left but the
+two paws. So when the rest saw that, they were so afraid that they
+crept up and lay at his feet like so many curs. After that they
+followed him about wherever he went, and when he got home, they lay
+down outside the house, with their fore-paws on the door sill.
+
+"Now, mother, you'll soon be well," said the lad, when he went in,
+"for here is the lion's milk."
+
+He had just milked a drop in the pail.
+
+But the _Troll_, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a lie. He was sure
+the lad was not the man to milk lions.
+
+When the lad heard that, he forced the _Troll_ to get out of bed,
+threw open the door, and all the lions rose up and seized the _Troll_,
+and at last the lad had to make them leave their hold.
+
+That night the _Troll_ began to talk to the old dame again. "I'm sure
+I can't tell how to put this lad out of the way--he is so awfully
+strong; can't you think of some way?"
+
+"No," said the old dame, "if you can't tell, I'm sure I can't."
+
+"Well!" said the _Troll_, "I have two brothers in a castle; they are
+twelve times as strong as I am, and that's why I was turned out and
+had to put up with this farm. They hold that castle, and round it
+there is an orchard with apples in it, and whoever eats those apples
+sleeps for three days and three nights. If we could only get the lad
+to go for the fruit, he wouldn't be able to keep from tasting the
+apples, and as soon as ever he fell asleep my brothers would tear him
+in pieces."
+
+The old dame said she would sham sick, and say she could never be
+herself again unless she tasted those apples; for she had set her
+heart on them.
+
+All this the lad lay and listened to.
+
+When the morning came the old dame was so poorly that she couldn't
+utter a word but groans and sighs. She was sure she should never be
+well again, unless she had some of those apples that grew in the
+orchard near the castle where the man's brothers lived; only she had
+no one to send for them.
+
+Oh! the lad was ready to go that instant; but the eleven lions went
+with him. So when he came to the orchard, he climbed up into the apple
+tree and ate as many apples as he could, and he had scarce got down
+before he fell into a deep sleep; but the lions all lay round him in a
+ring. The third day came the _Troll's_ brothers, but they did not
+come in man's shape. They came snorting like man-eating steeds, and
+wondered who it was that dared to be there, and said they would tear
+him to pieces, so small that there should not be a bit of him left.
+But up rose the lions and tore the _Trolls_ into small pieces, so that
+the place looked as if a dung heap had been tossed about it; and when
+they had finished the _Trolls_ they lay down again. The lad did not
+wake till late in the afternoon, and when he got on his knees and
+rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he began to wonder what had been
+going on, when he saw the marks of hoofs. But when he went towards the
+castle, a maiden looked out of a window who had seen all that had
+happened, and she said:
+
+"You may thank your stars you weren't in that tussle, else you must
+have lost your life."
+
+"What! I lose my life! No fear of that, I think," said the lad.
+
+So she begged him to come in, that she might talk with him, for she
+hadn't seen a Christian soul ever since she came there. But when she
+opened the door the lions wanted to go in too, but she got so
+frightened that she began to scream, and so the lad let them lie
+outside. Then the two talked and talked, and the lad asked how it
+came that she, who was so lovely, could put up with those ugly
+_Trolls_. She never wished it, she said; 'twas quite against her will.
+They had seized her by force, and she was the King of Arabia's
+daughter. So they talked on, and at last she asked him what he would
+do; whether she should go back home, or whether he would have her to
+wife. Of course he would have her, and she shouldn't go home.
+
+After that they went round the castle, and at last they came to a
+great hall, where the _Trolls'_ two great swords hung high up on the
+wall.
+
+"I wonder if you are man enough to wield one of these," said the
+_Princess_.
+
+"Who? I?" said the lad. "'Twould be a pretty thing if I couldn't wield
+one of these."
+
+With that he put two or three chairs one a-top of the other, jumped
+up, and touched the biggest sword with his finger tips, tossed it up
+in the air, and caught it again by the hilt; leapt down, and at the
+same time dealt such a blow with it on the floor that the whole hall
+shook. After he had thus got down, he thrust the sword under his arm
+and carried it about with him.
+
+So, when they had lived a little while in the castle, the _Princess_
+thought she ought to go home to her parents, and let them know what
+had become of her; so they loaded a ship, and she set sail from the
+castle.
+
+After she had gone, and the lad had wandered about a little, he called
+to mind that he had been sent out on an errand thither, and had come
+to fetch something for his mother's health; and though he said to
+himself, "After all the old dame was not so bad but she's all right by
+this time"--still he thought he ought to go and just see how she was.
+So he went and found both the man and his mother quite fresh and
+hearty.
+
+"What wretches you are to live in this beggarly hut," said the lad.
+"Come with me up to my castle, and you shall see what a fine fellow I
+am."
+
+Well! they were both ready to go, and on the way his mother talked to
+him, and asked how it was he had got so strong.
+
+"If you must know it came of that blue belt which lay on the hill-side
+that time when you and I were out begging," said the lad.
+
+"Have you got it still?" asked she.
+
+"Yes"--he had. It was tied round his waist.
+
+"Might she see it?"
+
+"Yes"--she might; and with that he pulled open his waistcoat and shirt
+to show it to her.
+
+Then she seized it with both hands, tore it off, and twisted it round
+her fist.
+
+"Now," she cried, "what shall I do with such a wretch as you? I'll
+just give you one blow, and dash your brains out!"
+
+"Far too good a death for such a scamp," said the _Troll_. "No! let's
+first burn out his eyes, and then turn him adrift in a little boat."
+
+So they burned out his eyes and turned him adrift, in spite of his
+prayers and tears; but, as the boat drifted, the lions swam after, and
+at last they laid hold of it and dragged it ashore on an island, and
+placed the lad under a fir tree. They caught game for him, and they
+plucked the birds and made him a bed of down; but he was forced to eat
+his meat raw and he was blind. At last, one day the biggest lion was
+chasing a hare which was blind, for it ran straight over stock and
+stone, and the end was, it ran right up against a fir-stump and
+tumbled head over heels across the field right into a spring; but lo!
+when it came out of the spring it saw its way quite plain, and so
+saved its life.
+
+"So, so!" thought the lion, and went and dragged the lad to the
+spring, and dipped him over head and ears in it. So, when he had got
+his sight again, he went down to the shore and made signs to the lions
+that they should all lie close together like a raft; then he stood
+upon their backs while they swam with him to the mainland. When he had
+reached the shore he went up into a birchen copse, and made the lions
+lie quiet. Then he stole up to the castle, like a thief, to see if he
+couldn't lay hands on his belt; and when he got to the door, he peeped
+through the keyhole, and there he saw his belt hanging up over a door
+in the kitchen. So he crept softly in across the floor, for there was
+no one there; but as soon as he had got hold of the belt, he began to
+kick and stamp about as though he were mad. Just then his mother came
+rushing out:
+
+"Dear heart, my darling little boy! do give me the belt again," she
+said.
+
+"Thank you kindly," said he. "Now you shall have the doom you passed
+on me," and he fulfilled it on the spot. When the old _Troll_ heard
+that, he came in and begged and prayed so prettily that he might not
+be smitten to death.
+
+"Well, you may live," said the lad, "but you shall undergo the same
+punishment you gave me;" and so he burned out the _Troll's_ eyes, and
+turned him adrift on the sea in a little boat, but he had no lions to
+follow him.
+
+Now the lad was all alone, and he went about longing and longing for
+the _Princess_; at last he could bear it no longer; he must set out to
+seek her, his heart was so bent on having her. So he loaded four ships
+and set sail for Arabia.
+
+For some time they had fair wind and fine weather, but after that they
+lay wind-bound under a rocky island. So the sailors went ashore and
+strolled about to spend the time, and there they found a huge egg,
+almost as big as a little house. So they began to knock it about with
+large stones, but, after all, they couldn't crack the shell. Then the
+lad came up with his sword to see what all the noise was about, and
+when he saw the egg, he thought it a trifle to crack it; so he gave it
+one blow and the egg split, and out came a chicken as big as an
+elephant.
+
+"Now we have done wrong," said the lad; "this can cost us all our
+lives;" and then he asked his sailors if they were men enough to sail
+to Arabia in four-and-twenty hours if they got a fine breeze. Yes!
+they were good to do that, they said, so they set sail with a fine
+breeze, and got to Arabia in three-and-twenty hours. As soon as they
+landed, the lad ordered all the sailors to go and bury themselves up
+to the eyes in a sandhill, so that they could barely see the ships.
+The lad and the captains climbed a high crag and sate down under a
+fir.
+
+In a little while came a great bird flying with an island in its
+claws, and let it fall down on the fleet, and sunk every ship. After
+it had done that, it flew up to the sandhill and flapped its wings, so
+that the wind nearly took off the heads of the sailors, and it flew
+past the fir with such force that it turned the lad right about, but
+he was ready with his sword, and gave the bird one blow and brought it
+down dead.
+
+After that he went to the town, where every one was glad because the
+_King_ had got his daughter back; but now the _King_ had hidden her
+away somewhere himself, and promised her hand as a reward to any one
+who could find her, and this though she was betrothed before. Now as
+the lad went along he met a man who had white bear-skins for sale, so
+he bought one of the hides and put it on; and one of the captains was
+to take an iron chain and lead him about, and so he went into the town
+and began to play pranks. At last the news came to the _King's_ ears,
+that there never had been such fun in the town before, for here was a
+white bear that danced and cut capers just as it was bid. So a
+messenger came to say the bear must come to the castle at once, for
+the _King_ wanted to see its tricks. So when it got to the castle
+every one was afraid, for such a beast they had never seen before; but
+the captain said there was no danger unless they laughed at it. They
+mustn't do that, else it would tear them to pieces. When the _King_
+heard that, he warned all the court not to laugh. But while the fun
+was going on, in came one of the _King's_ maids, and began to laugh
+and make game of the bear, and the bear flew at her and tore her, so
+that there was scarce a rag of her left. Then all the court began to
+bewail, and the captain most of all.
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," said the _King_; "she's only a maid, besides
+it's more my affair than yours."
+
+When the show was over, it was late at night. "It's no good your going
+away, when it's so late," said the _King_. "The bear had best sleep
+here."
+
+"Perhaps it might sleep in the ingle by the kitchen fire," said the
+captain.
+
+"Nay," said the _King_, "it shall sleep up here, and it shall have
+pillows and cushions to sleep on." So a whole heap of pillows and
+cushions was brought, and the captain had a bed in a side room.
+
+But at midnight the _King_ came with a lamp in his hand and a big
+bunch of keys, and carried off the white bear. He passed along gallery
+after gallery through doors and rooms, up-stairs and down-stairs, till
+at last he came to a pier which ran out into the sea. Then the _King_
+began to pull and haul at posts and pins, this one up and that one
+down, till at last a little house floated up to the water's edge.
+There he kept his daughter, for she was so dear to him that he had hid
+her, so that no one could find her out. He left the white bear outside
+while he went in and told her how it had danced and played its pranks.
+She said she was afraid, and dared not look at it; but he talked her
+over, saying there was no danger if she only wouldn't laugh. So they
+brought the bear in, and locked the door, and it danced and played
+its tricks; but just when the fun was at its height, the _Princess's_
+maid began to laugh. Then the lad flew at her and tore her to bits,
+and the _Princess_ began to cry and sob.
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," cried the _King_; "all this fuss about a maid!
+I'll get you just as good a one again. But now I think the bear had
+best stay here till morning, for I don't care to have to go and lead
+it along all those galleries and stairs at this time of night."
+
+"Well!" said the _Princess_, "if it sleeps here, I'm sure I won't."
+
+[Illustration: The Lad in the Bear's skin, and the King of Arabia's
+daughter.]
+
+But just then the bear curled himself up and lay down by the stove;
+and it was settled at last that the _Princess_ should sleep there too,
+with a light burning. But as soon as the _King_ had well gone, the
+white bear came and begged her to undo his collar. The _Princess_ was
+so scared she almost swooned away; but she felt about till she found
+the collar, and she had scarce undone it before the bear pulled his
+head off. Then she knew him again, and was so glad there was no end to
+her joy, and she wanted to tell her father at once that her deliverer
+was come. But the lad would not hear of it; he would earn her once
+more, he said. So in the morning when they heard the _King_ rattling
+at the posts outside, the lad drew on the hide and lay down by the
+stove.
+
+"Well, has it lain still?" the king asked.
+
+"I should think so," said the _Princess_; "it hasn't so much as turned
+or stretched itself once."
+
+When they got up to the castle again, the captain took the bear and
+led it away, and then the lad threw off the hide, and went to a tailor
+and ordered clothes fit for a prince; and when they were fitted on he
+went to the _King_, and said he wanted to find the _Princess_.
+
+"You're not the first who has wished the same thing," said the _King_,
+"but they have all lost their lives; for if any one who tries can't
+find her in four-and-twenty hours his life is forfeited."
+
+Yes; the lad knew all that. Still he wished to try, and if he
+couldn't find her, 'twas his look-out. Now in the castle there was a
+band that played sweet tunes, and there were fair maids to dance with,
+and so the lad danced away.
+
+When twelve hours were gone, the _King_ said:
+
+"I pity you with all my heart. You're so poor a hand at seeking; you
+will surely lose your life."
+
+"Stuff!" said the lad; "while there's life there's hope! So long as
+there's breath in the body there's no fear; we have lots of time!" and
+so he went on dancing till there was only one hour left.
+
+Then he said he would begin to search.
+
+"It's no use now," said the _King_; "time's up."
+
+"Light your lamp; out with your big bunch of keys," said the lad, "and
+follow me whither I wish to go. There is still a whole hour left."
+
+So the lad went the same way which the _King_ had led him the night
+before, and he bade the _King_ unlock door after door till they came
+down to the pier which ran out into the sea.
+
+"It's all no use, I tell you," said the _King_; "time's up, and this
+will only lead you right out into the sea."
+
+"Still five minutes more," said the lad, as he pulled and pushed at
+the posts and pins, and the house floated up.
+
+"Now the time is up," bawled the _King_; "come hither, headsman, and
+take off his head."
+
+"Nay, nay!" said the lad; "stop a bit, there are still three minutes!
+Out with the key, and let me get into this house."
+
+But there stood the _King_ and fumbled with his keys, to draw out the
+time. At last he said he hadn't any key.
+
+"Well, if you haven't, I _have_," said the lad, as he gave the door
+such a kick that it flew to splinters inwards on the floor.
+
+At the door the _Princess_ met him, and told her father this was her
+deliverer, on whom her heart was set. So she had him; and this was how
+the beggar boy came to marry the daughter of the King of Arabia.
+
+
+
+
+PRINCE LINDWORM
+
+
+Once upon a time, there was a fine young _King_ who was married to the
+loveliest of Queens. They were exceedingly happy, all but for one
+thing--they had no children. And this often made them both sad,
+because the _Queen_ wanted a dear little child to play with, and the
+_King_ wanted an heir to the kingdom.
+
+One day the _Queen_ went out for a walk by herself, and she met an
+ugly old woman. The old woman was just like a witch: but she was a
+nice kind of witch, not the cantankerous sort. She said, "Why do you
+look so doleful, pretty lady?" "It's no use my telling you," answered
+the _Queen_, "nobody in the world can help me." "Oh, you never know,"
+said the old woman. "Just you let me hear what your trouble is, and
+maybe I can put things right."
+
+"My dear woman, how can you?" said the _Queen_: and she told her, "The
+_King_ and I have no children: that's why I am so distressed." "Well,
+you needn't be," said the old witch. "I can set that right in a
+twinkling, if only you will do exactly as I tell you. Listen.
+To-night, at sunset, take a little drinking-cup with two ears" (that
+is, handles), "and put it bottom upwards on the ground in the
+north-west corner of your garden. Then go and lift it up to-morrow
+morning at sunrise, and you will find two roses underneath it, one red
+and one white. If you eat the red rose, a little boy will be born to
+you: if you eat the white rose, a little girl will be sent. But,
+whatever you do, you mustn't eat _both_ the roses, or you'll be
+sorry,--that I warn you! Only one: remember that!" "Thank you a
+thousand times," said the _Queen_, "this is good news indeed!" And she
+wanted to give the old woman her gold ring; but the old woman wouldn't
+take it.
+
+So the _Queen_ went home and did as she had been told: and next
+morning at sunrise she stole out into the garden and lifted up the
+little drinking-cup. She _was_ surprised, for indeed she had hardly
+expected to see anything. But there were the two roses underneath it,
+one red and one white. And now she was dreadfully puzzled, for she did
+not know which to choose. "If I choose the red one," she thought, "and
+I have a little boy, he may grow up and go to the wars and get killed.
+But if I choose the white one, and have a little girl, she will stay
+at home awhile with us, but later on she will get married and go away
+and leave us. So, whichever it is, we may be left with no child after
+all."
+
+However, at last she decided on the white rose, and she ate it. And it
+tasted so sweet, that she took and ate the red one too: without ever
+remembering the old woman's solemn warning.
+
+Some time after this, the _King_ went away to the wars: and while he
+was still away, the _Queen_ became the mother of twins. One was a
+lovely baby-boy, and the other was a _Lindworm_, or Serpent. She was
+terribly frightened when she saw the _Lindworm_, but he wriggled away
+out of the room, and nobody seemed to have seen him but herself: so
+that she thought it must have been a dream. The baby _Prince_ was so
+beautiful and so healthy, the _Queen_ was full of joy: and likewise,
+as you may suppose, was the _King_ when he came home and found his son
+and heir. Not a word was said by anyone about the _Lindworm_: only the
+_Queen_ thought about it now and then.
+
+Many days and years passed by, and the baby grew up into a handsome
+young _Prince_, and it was time that he got married. The _King_ sent
+him off to visit foreign kingdoms, in the Royal coach, with six white
+horses, to look for a Princess grand enough to be his wife. But at the
+very first cross-roads, the way was stopped by an enormous _Lindworm_,
+enough to frighten the bravest. He lay in the middle of the road with
+a great wide open mouth, and cried, "A bride for me before a bride for
+you!" Then the _Prince_ made the coach turn round and try another
+road: but it was all no use. For, at the first cross-ways, there lay
+the _Lindworm_ again, crying out, "A bride for me before a bride for
+you!" So the _Prince_ had to turn back home again to the Castle, and
+give up his visits to the foreign kingdoms. And his mother, the
+_Queen_, had to confess that what the _Lindworm_ said was true. For he
+was really the eldest of her twins: and so he ought to have a wedding
+first.
+
+There seemed nothing for it but to find a bride for the _Lindworm_,
+if his younger brother, the _Prince_, were to be married at all. So
+the _King_ wrote to a distant country, and asked for a Princess to
+marry his son (but, of course, he didn't say which son), and presently
+a Princess arrived. But she wasn't allowed to see her bridegroom until
+he stood by her side in the great hall and was married to her, and
+then, of course, it was too late for her to say she wouldn't have him.
+But next morning the Princess had disappeared. The _Lindworm_ lay
+sleeping all alone: and it was quite plain that he had eaten her.
+
+A little while after, the Prince decided that he might now go
+journeying again in search of a _Princess_. And off he drove in the
+Royal chariot with the six white horses. But at the first cross-ways,
+there lay the _Lindworm_, crying with his great wide open mouth, "A
+bride for me before a bride for you!" So the carriage tried another
+road, and the same thing happened, and they had to turn back again
+this time, just as formerly. And the King wrote to several foreign
+countries, to know if anyone would marry his son. At last another
+_Princess_ arrived, this time from a very far distant land. And, of
+course, she was not allowed to see her future husband before the
+wedding took place,--and then, lo and behold! it was the _Lindworm_
+who stood at her side. And next morning the Princess had disappeared:
+and the _Lindworm_ lay sleeping all alone; and it was quite clear that
+he had eaten her.
+
+By and by the _Prince_ started on his quest for the third time: and at
+the first cross-roads there lay the _Lindworm_ with his great wide
+open mouth, demanding a bride as before. And the _Prince_ went
+straight back to the castle, and told the _King_: "You must find
+another bride for my elder brother."
+
+"I don't know where I am to find her," said the _King_, "I have
+already made enemies of two great Kings who sent their daughters here
+as brides: and I have no notion how I can obtain a third lady. People
+are beginning to say strange things, and I am sure no _Princess_ will
+dare to come."
+
+Now, down in a little cottage near a wood, there lived the _King's_
+shepherd, an old man with his only daughter. And the _King_ came one
+day and said to him, "Will you give me your daughter to marry my son
+the _Lindworm_? And I will make you rich for the rest of your
+life."--"No, sire," said the shepherd, "that I cannot do. She is my
+only child, and I want her to take care of me when I am old. Besides,
+if the _Lindworm_ would not spare two beautiful Princesses, he won't
+spare her either. He will just gobble her up: and she is much too good
+for such a fate."
+
+But the _King_ wouldn't take "No" for an answer: and at last the old
+man had to give in.
+
+Well, when the old shepherd told his daughter that she was to be
+_Prince Lindworm's_ bride, she was utterly in despair. She went out
+into the woods, crying and wringing her hands and bewailing her hard
+fate. And while she wandered to and fro, an old witch-woman suddenly
+appeared out of a big hollow oak-tree, and asked her, "Why do you look
+so doleful, pretty lass?" The shepherd-girl said, "It's no use my
+telling you, for nobody in the world can help me."--"Oh, you never
+know," said the old woman. "Just you let me hear what your trouble is,
+and maybe I can put things right."--"Ah, how can you?" said the girl,
+"For I am to be married to the _King's_ eldest son, who is a
+_Lindworm_. He has already married two beautiful Princesses, and
+devoured them: and he will eat me too! No wonder I am distressed."
+
+"Well, you needn't be," said the witch-woman. "All that can be set
+right in a twinkling: if only you will do exactly as I tell you." So
+the girl said she would.
+
+"Listen, then," said the old woman. "After the marriage ceremony is
+over, and when it is time for you to retire to rest, you must ask to
+be dressed in ten snow-white shifts. And you must then ask for a tub
+full of lye," (that is, washing water prepared with wood-ashes) "and a
+tub full of fresh milk, and as many whips as a boy can carry in his
+arms,--and have all these brought into your bed-chamber. Then, when
+the _Lindworm_ tells you to shed a shift, do you bid him slough a
+skin. And when all his skins are off, you must dip the whips in the
+lye and whip him; next, you must wash him in the fresh milk; and,
+lastly, you must take him and hold him in your arms, if it's only for
+one moment."
+
+"The last is the worst notion--ugh!" said the shepherd's daughter, and
+she shuddered at the thought of holding the cold, slimy, scaly
+_Lindworm_.
+
+"Do just as I have said, and all will go well," said the old woman.
+Then she disappeared again in the oak-tree.
+
+When the wedding-day arrived, the girl was fetched in the Royal
+chariot with the six white horses, and taken to the castle to be
+decked as a bride. And she asked for ten snow-white shifts to be
+brought her, and the tub of lye, and the tub of milk, and as many
+whips as a boy could carry in his arms. The ladies and courtiers in
+the castle thought, of course, that this was some bit of peasant
+superstition, all rubbish and nonsense. But the _King_ said, "Let her
+have whatever she asks for." She was then arrayed in the most
+wonderful robes, and looked the loveliest of brides. She was led to
+the hall where the wedding ceremony was to take place, and she saw the
+_Lindworm_ for the first time as he came in and stood by her side. So
+they were married, and a great wedding-feast was held, a banquet fit
+for the son of a king.
+
+[Illustration: She saw the Lindworm for the first time as he came in and
+stood by her side.]
+
+When the feast was over, the bridegroom and bride were conducted to
+their apartment, with music, and torches, and a great procession. As
+soon as the door was shut, the _Lindworm_ turned to her and said,
+"Fair maiden, shed a shift!" The shepherd's daughter answered him,
+"_Prince Lindworm_, slough a skin!"--"No one has ever dared tell me to
+do that before!" said he.--"But I command you to do it now!" said she.
+Then he began to moan and wriggle: and in a few minutes a long
+snake-skin lay upon the floor beside him. The girl drew off her first
+shift, and spread it on top of the skin.
+
+The _Lindworm_ said again to her, "Fair maiden, shed a shift."
+
+The shepherd's daughter answered him, "_Prince Lindworm_, slough a
+skin."
+
+"No one has ever dared tell me to do that before," said he.--"But I
+command you to do it now," said she. Then with groans and moans he
+cast off the second skin: and she covered it with her second shift.
+The _Lindworm_ said for the third time, "Fair maiden, shed a shift."
+The shepherd's daughter answered him again, "_Prince Lindworm_, slough
+a skin."--"No one has ever dared tell me to do that before," said he,
+and his little eyes rolled furiously. But the girl was not afraid, and
+once more she commanded him to do as she bade.
+
+And so this went on until nine _Lindworm_ skins were lying on the
+floor, each of them covered with a snow-white shift. And there was
+nothing left of the _Lindworm_ but a huge thick mass, most horrible to
+see. Then the girl seized the whips, dipped them in the lye, and
+whipped him as hard as ever she could. Next, she bathed him all over
+in the fresh milk. Lastly, she dragged him on to the bed and put her
+arms round him. And she fell fast asleep that very moment.
+
+Next morning very early, the _King_ and the courtiers came and peeped
+in through the keyhole. They wanted to know what had become of the
+girl, but none of them dared enter the room. However, in the end,
+growing bolder, they opened the door a tiny bit. And there they saw
+the girl, all fresh and rosy, and beside her lay--no _Lindworm_, but
+the handsomest prince that any one could wish to see.
+
+The _King_ ran out and fetched the _Queen_: and after that, there were
+such rejoicings in the castle as never were known before or since. The
+wedding took place all over again, much finer than the first, with
+festivals and banquets and merrymakings for days and weeks. No bride
+was ever so beloved by a King and Queen as this peasant maid from the
+shepherd's cottage. There was no end to their love and their kindness
+towards her: because, by her sense and her calmness and her courage,
+she had saved their son, _Prince Lindworm_.
+
+
+
+
+THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER
+
+
+Once on a time a poor couple lived far, far away in a great wood. The
+wife was brought to bed, and had a pretty girl, but they were so poor
+they did not know how to get the babe christened, for they had no
+money to pay the parson's fees. So one day the father went out to see
+if he could find any one who was willing to stand for the child and
+pay the fees; but though he walked about the whole day from one house
+to another, and though all said they were willing enough to stand, no
+one thought himself bound to pay the fees. Now, when he was going
+home again, a lovely lady met him, dressed so fine, and she looked so
+thoroughly good and kind; she offered to get the babe christened, but
+after that, she said, she must keep it for her own. The husband
+answered, he must first ask his wife what she wished to do; but when
+he got home and told his story, the wife said, right out, "No!"
+
+Next day the man went out again, but no one would stand if they had to
+pay the fees; and though he begged and prayed, he could get no help.
+And again as he went home, towards evening the same lovely lady met
+him, who looked so sweet and good, and she made him the same offer. So
+he told his wife again how he had fared, and this time she said, if he
+couldn't get any one to stand for his babe next day, they must just
+let the lady have her way, since she seemed so kind and good.
+
+The third day, the man went about, but he couldn't get any one to
+stand; and so when, towards evening, he met the kind lady again, he
+gave his word she should have the babe if she would only get it
+christened at the font. So next morning she came to the place where
+the man lived, followed by two men to stand godfathers, took the babe
+and carried it to church, and there it was christened. After that she
+took it to her own house, and there the little girl lived with her
+several years, and her _Foster-mother_ was always kind and friendly to
+her.
+
+Now, when the _Lassie_ had grown to be big enough to know right and
+wrong, her _Foster-mother_ got ready to go on a journey.
+
+"You have my leave," she said, "to go all over the house, except those
+rooms which I shew you;" and when she had said that, away she went.
+
+But the _Lassie_ could not forbear just to open one of the doors a
+little bit, when--POP! out flew a Star.
+
+When her _Foster-mother_ came back, she was very vexed to find
+that the star had flown out, and she got very angry with her
+_Foster-daughter_, and threatened to send her away; but the child
+cried and begged so hard that she got leave to stay.
+
+Now, after a while, the _Foster-mother_ had to go on another journey;
+and, before she went, she forbade the _Lassie_ to go into those two
+rooms into which she had never been. She promised to beware; but when
+she was left alone, she began to think and to wonder what there could
+be in the second room, and at last she could not help setting the door
+a little ajar, just to peep in, when--POP! out flew the Moon.
+
+[Illustration: She could not help setting the door a little ajar, just to
+peep in, when--Pop! out flew the Moon.]
+
+When her _Foster-mother_ came home and found the moon let out, she was
+very downcast, and said to the _Lassie_ she must go away, she could
+not stay with her any longer. But the _Lassie_ wept so bitterly, and
+prayed so heartily for forgiveness, that this time, too, she got leave
+to stay.
+
+Some time after, the _Foster-mother_ had to go away again, and she
+charged the Lassie, who by this time was half grown up, most earnestly
+that she mustn't try to go into, or to peep into, the third room. But
+when her _Foster-mother_ had been gone some time, and the _Lassie_ was
+weary of walking about alone, all at once she thought, "Dear me, what
+fun it would be just to peep a little into that third room." Then she
+thought she mustn't do it for her _Foster-mother's_ sake; but when the
+bad thought came the second time she could hold out no longer; come
+what might, she must and would look into the room; so she just opened
+the door a tiny bit, when--POP! out flew the Sun.
+
+But when her _Foster-mother_ came back and saw that the sun had flown
+away, she was cut to the heart, and said, "Now, there was no help for
+it, the _Lassie_ must and should go away; she couldn't hear of her
+staying any longer." Now the _Lassie_ cried her eyes out, and begged
+and prayed so prettily; but it was all no good.
+
+"Nay! but I must punish you!" said her _Foster-mother_; "but you may
+have your choice, either to be the loveliest woman in the world, and
+not to be able to speak, or to keep your speech, and to be the ugliest
+of all women; but away from me you must go."
+
+And the _Lassie_ said, "I would sooner be lovely." So she became all
+at once wondrous fair; but from that day forth she was dumb.
+
+So, when she went away from her _Foster-mother_, she walked and
+wandered through a great, great wood; but the farther she went, the
+farther off the end seemed to be. So, when the evening came on, she
+clomb up into a tall tree, which grew over a spring, and there she
+made herself up to sleep that night. Close by lay a castle, and from
+that castle came early every morning a maid to draw water to make the
+Prince's tea, from the spring over which the _Lassie_ was sitting. So
+the maid looked down into the spring, saw the lovely face in the
+water, and thought it was her own; then she flung away the pitcher,
+and ran home; and, when she got there, she tossed up her head and
+said, "If I'm so pretty, I'm far too good to go and fetch water."
+
+So another maid had to go for the water, but the same thing happened
+to her; she went back and said she was far too pretty and too good to
+fetch water from the spring for the Prince. Then the Prince went
+himself, for he had a mind to see what all this could mean. So, when
+he reached the spring, he too saw the image in the water; but he
+looked up at once, and became aware of the lovely _Lassie_ who sate
+there up in the tree. Then he coaxed her down and took her home; and
+at last made up his mind to have her for his queen, because she was so
+lovely; but his mother, who was still alive, was against it.
+
+[Illustration: Then he coaxed her down and took her home.]
+
+"She can't speak," she said, "and maybe she's a wicked witch."
+
+But the Prince could not be content till he got her. So after they had
+lived together a while, the _Lassie_ was to have a child, and when the
+child came to be born, the Prince set a strong watch about her; but at
+the birth one and all fell into a deep sleep, and her _Foster-mother_
+came, cut the babe on its little finger, and smeared the queen's mouth
+with the blood; and said:
+
+"Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let out the star;" and
+with these words she carried off the babe.
+
+But when those who were on the watch woke, they thought the queen had
+eaten her own child, and the old queen was all for burning her alive,
+but the Prince was so fond of her that at last he begged her off, but
+he had hard work to set her free.
+
+So the next time the young queen was to have a child, twice as strong
+a watch was set as the first time, but the same thing happened over
+again, only this time her _Foster-mother_ said:
+
+"Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let the moon out."
+
+And the queen begged and prayed, and wept; for when her _Foster-mother_
+was there, she could speak--but it was all no good.
+
+And now the old queen said she must be burnt, but the Prince found
+means to beg her off. But when the third child was to be born, a watch
+was set three times as strong as the first, but just the same thing
+happened. Her _Foster-mother_ came while the watch slept, took the
+babe, and cut its little finger, and smeared the queen's mouth with
+the blood, telling her now she should be as grieved as she had been
+when the _Lassie_ let out the sun.
+
+And now the Prince could not save her any longer. She must and should
+be burnt. But just as they were leading her to the stake, all at once
+they saw her _Foster-mother_, who came with all three children--two
+she led by the hand, and the third she had on her arm; and so she went
+up to the young queen and said:
+
+[Illustration: "Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I
+am the Virgin Mary."]
+
+"Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I am the
+Virgin Mary, and so grieved as you have been, so grieved was I when
+you let out sun, and moon, and star. Now you have been punished for
+what you did, and henceforth you shall have your speech."
+
+How glad the Queen and Prince now were, all may easily think, but no
+one can tell. After that they were always happy; and from that day
+even the Prince's mother was very fond of the young queen.
+
+
+
+
+THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man, so surly and cross, he never thought
+his _Wife_ did anything right in the house. So, one evening, in
+haymaking time, he came home, scolding and swearing, and showing his
+teeth and making a dust.
+
+"Dear love, don't be so angry; there's a good man," said his goody;
+"to-morrow let's change our work. I'll go out with the mowers and mow,
+and you shall mind the house at home."
+
+Yes! the _Husband_ thought that would do very well. He was quite
+willing, he said.
+
+So, early next morning, his goody took a scythe over her neck, and
+went out into the hayfield with the mowers, and began to mow; but the
+man was to mind the house, and do the work at home.
+
+First of all, he wanted to churn the butter; but when he had churned a
+while, he got thirsty, and went down to the cellar to tap a barrel of
+ale. So, just when he had knocked in the bung, and was putting the tap
+into the cask, he heard overhead the pig come into the kitchen. Then
+off he ran up the cellar steps, with the tap in his hand, as fast as
+he could, to look after the pig, lest it should upset the churn; but
+when he got up, and saw the pig had already knocked the churn over,
+and stood there, routing and grunting amongst the cream which was
+running all over the floor, he got so wild with rage that he quite
+forgot the ale-barrel, and ran at the pig as hard as he could. He
+caught it, too, just as it ran out of doors, and gave it such a kick,
+that piggy lay for dead on the spot. Then all at once he remembered he
+had the tap in his hand; but when he got down to the cellar, every
+drop of ale had run out of the cask.
+
+Then he went into the dairy and found enough cream left to fill the
+churn again, and so he began to churn, for butter they must have at
+dinner. When he had churned a bit, he remembered that their milking
+cow was still shut up in the byre, and hadn't had a bit to eat or a
+drop to drink all the morning, though the sun was high. Then all at
+once he thought 'twas too far to take her down to the meadow, so he'd
+just get her up on the house top--for the house, you must know, was
+thatched with sods, and a fine crop of grass was growing there. Now
+the house lay close up against a steep down, and he thought if he
+laid a plank across to the thatch at the back he'd easily get the cow
+up.
+
+But still he couldn't leave the churn, for there was his little babe
+crawling about on the floor, and "if I leave it," he thought, "the
+child is safe to upset it." So he took the churn on his back, and went
+out with it; but then he thought he'd better first water the cow
+before he turned her out on the thatch; so he took up a bucket to draw
+water out of the well; but, as he stooped down at the well's brink,
+all the cream ran out of the churn over his shoulders, and so down
+into the well.
+
+Now it was near dinner-time, and he hadn't even got the butter yet; so
+he thought he'd best boil the porridge, and filled the pot with water
+and hung it over the fire. When he had done that, he thought the cow
+might perhaps fall off the thatch and break her legs or her neck. So
+he got up on the house to tie her up. One end of the rope he made fast
+to the cow's neck and the other he slipped down the chimney and tied
+round his own thigh; and he had to make haste, for the water now began
+to boil in the pot, and he had still to grind the oatmeal.
+
+So he began to grind away; but while he was hard at it, down fell the
+cow off the house-top after all, and as she fell, she dragged the man
+up the chimney by the rope. There he stuck fast; and as for the cow,
+she hung half-way down the wall, swinging between heaven and earth,
+for she could neither get down nor up.
+
+And now the goody had waited seven lengths and seven breadths for her
+_Husband_ to come and call them home to dinner; but never a call they
+had. At last she thought she'd waited long enough, and went home. But
+when she got there and saw the cow hanging in such an ugly place, she
+ran up and cut the rope in two with her scythe. But, as she did this,
+down came her _Husband_ out of the chimney; and so, when his old dame
+came inside the kitchen, there she found him standing on his head in
+the porridge pot.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND
+
+
+Once on a time there was an old widow who had one son; and as she was
+poorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for
+cooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was just going down the
+steps, there came the _North Wind_ puffing and blowing, caught up the
+meal, and so away with it through the air. Then the _Lad_ went back
+into the safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if
+the _North Wind_ didn't come again and carry off the meal with a puff:
+and, more than that, he did so the third time. At this the _Lad_ got
+very angry; and as he thought it hard that the _North Wind_ should
+behave so, he thought he'd just look him up, and ask him to give up
+his meal.
+
+So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at
+last he came to the _North Wind's_ house.
+
+"Good day!" said the _Lad_, "and thank you for coming to see us
+yesterday."
+
+"GOOD DAY!" answered the _North Wind_, for his voice was loud and
+gruff, "AND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
+
+"Oh!" answered the _Lad_, "I only wished to ask you to be so good as
+to let me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for
+we haven't much to live on; and if you're to go on snapping up the
+morsel we have, there'll be nothing for it but to starve."
+
+"I haven't got your meal," said the _North Wind_; "but if you are in
+such need, I'll give you a cloth which will get you everything you
+want, if you only say, 'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds
+of good dishes!'"
+
+With this the _Lad_ was well content. But, as the way was so long he
+couldn't get home in one day, so he turned into an inn on the way; and
+when they were going to sit down to supper he laid the cloth on a
+table which stood in the corner, and said:
+
+"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes."
+
+He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who
+stood by thought it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So,
+when all were fast asleep at dead of night, she took the _Lad's_
+cloth, and put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from
+the _North Wind_, but which couldn't so much as serve up a bit of dry
+bread.
+
+So, when the _Lad_ woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and
+that day he got home to his mother.
+
+"Now," said he, "I've been to the _North Wind's_ house, and a good
+fellow he is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it,
+'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes,' I get
+any sort of food I please."
+
+"All very true, I daresay," said his mother; "but seeing is believing,
+and I shan't believe it till I see it."
+
+So the _Lad_ made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and
+said:
+
+"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes."
+
+But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up.
+
+"Well," said the _Lad_ "there's no help for it but to go to the _North
+Wind_ again;" and away he went.
+
+So he came to where the _North Wind_ lived late in the afternoon.
+
+"Good evening!" said the _Lad_.
+
+"Good evening!" said the _North Wind_.
+
+"I want my rights for that meal of ours which you took," said the
+_Lad_; "for, as for that cloth I got, it isn't worth a penny."
+
+"I've got no meal," said the _North Wind_; "but yonder you have a ram
+which coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it: 'Ram,
+ram! make money!'"
+
+So the _Lad_ thought this a fine thing; but as it was too far to get
+home that day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had
+slept before.
+
+Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the _North
+Wind_ had said of the ram, and found it all right; but, when the
+landlord saw that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the _Lad_
+had fallen asleep, he took another which couldn't coin gold ducats,
+and changed the two.
+
+Next morning off went the _Lad_; and when he got home to his mother,
+he said:
+
+"After all, the _North Wind_ is a jolly fellow; for now he has given
+me a ram which can coin golden ducats if I only say: 'Ram, ram! make
+money!'"
+
+"All very true, I daresay," said his mother; "but I shan't believe any
+such stuff until I see the ducats made."
+
+"Ram, ram! make money!" said the _Lad_; but if the ram made anything,
+it wasn't money.
+
+So the _Lad_ went back again to the _North Wind_, and blew him up, and
+said the ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the
+meal.
+
+"Well!" said the _North Wind_; "I've nothing else to give you but that
+old stick in the corner yonder; but its a stick of that kind that if
+you say: 'Stick, stick! lay on!' it lays on till you say: 'Stick,
+stick! now stop!'"
+
+So, as the way was long, the _Lad_ turned in this night too to the
+landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the
+cloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to
+snore, as if he were asleep.
+
+Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth
+something, hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad
+snore, was going to change the two; but, just as the landlord was
+about to take it, the _Lad_ bawled out:
+
+"Stick, stick! lay on!"
+
+So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs,
+and tables, and benches, and yelled and roared:
+
+"Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death,
+and you shall have back both your cloth and your ram."
+
+When the _Lad_ thought the landlord had got enough, he said:
+
+"Stick, stick! now stop!"
+
+Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with
+his stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and
+so he got his rights for the meal he had lost.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND
+
+
+Once on a time there was a fisherman who lived close by a palace, and
+fished for the _King's_ table. One day when he was out fishing he just
+caught nothing. Do what he would--however he tried with bait and
+angle--there was never a sprat on his hook. But when the day was far
+spent a head bobbed up out of the water, and said:
+
+"If I may have what your wife bears under her girdle, you shall catch
+fish enough."
+
+So the man answered boldly, "Yes;" for he did not know that his wife
+was going to have a child. After that, as was like enough, he caught
+plenty of fish of all kinds. But when he got home at night and told
+his story, how he had got all that fish, his wife fell a-weeping and
+moaning, and was beside herself for the promise which her husband had
+made, for she said, "I bear a babe under my girdle."
+
+Well, the story soon spread, and came up to the castle; and when the
+_King_ heard the woman's grief and its cause, he sent down to say he
+would take care of the child, and see if he couldn't save it.
+
+So the months went on and on, and when her time came the fisher's wife
+had a boy; so the king took it at once, and brought it up as his own
+son, until the lad grew up. Then he begged leave one day to go out
+fishing with his father; he had such a mind to go, he said. At first
+the _King_ wouldn't hear of it, but at last the lad had his way, and
+went. So he and his father were out the whole day, and all went right
+and well till they landed at night. Then the lad remembered he had
+left his handkerchief, and went to look for it; but as soon as ever he
+got into the boat, it began to move off with him at such speed that
+the water roared under the bow, and all the lad could do in rowing
+against it with the oars was no use; so he went and went the whole
+night, and at last he came to a white strand, far far away.
+
+There he went ashore, and when he had walked about a bit, an old, old
+man met him, with a long white beard.
+
+"What's the name of this land?" asked the lad.
+
+"Whiteland," said the man, who went on to ask the lad whence he came,
+and what he was going to do. So the lad told him all.
+
+[Illustration: "You'll come to three Princesses, whom you will see
+standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads out."]
+
+"Aye, aye!" said the man; "now when you have walked a little farther
+along the strand here, you'll come to three _Princesses_, whom you
+will see standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their
+heads out. Then the first--she is the eldest--will call out and beg
+you so prettily to come and help her; and the second will do the same;
+to neither of these shall you go; make haste past them, as if you
+neither saw nor heard anything. But the third you shall go to, and do
+what she asks. If you do this, you'll have good luck--that's all."
+
+When the lad came to the first _Princess_, she called out to him, and
+begged him so prettily to come to her, but he passed on as though he
+saw her not. In the same way he passed by the second; but to the third
+he went straight up.
+
+"If you'll do what I bid you," she said, "you may have which of us you
+please."
+
+"Yes;" he was willing enough; so she told him how three _Trolls_ had
+set them down in the earth there; but before they had lived in the
+castle up among the trees.
+
+"Now," she said, "you must go into that castle, and let the _Trolls_
+whip you each one night for each of us. If you can bear that, you'll
+set us free."
+
+Well, the lad said he was ready to try.
+
+"When you go in," the _Princess_ went on to say, "you'll see two lions
+standing at the gate; but if you'll only go right in the middle
+between them they'll do you no harm. Then go straight on into a little
+dark room, and make your bed. Then the _Troll_ will come to whip you;
+but if you take the flask which hangs on the wall, and rub yourself
+with the ointment that's in it, wherever his lash falls, you'll be as
+sound as ever. Then grasp the sword that hangs by the side of the
+flask and strike the _Troll_ dead."
+
+Yes, he did as the _Princess_ told him; he passed in the midst between
+the lions, as if he hadn't seen them, and went straight into the
+little room, and there he lay down to sleep. The first night there
+came a _Troll_ with three heads and three rods, and whipped the lad
+soundly; but he stood it till the _Troll_ was done; then he took the
+flask and rubbed himself, and grasped the sword and slew the _Troll_.
+
+So, when he went out next morning, the _Princesses_ stood out of the
+earth up to their waists.
+
+The next night 'twas the same story over again, only this time the
+_Troll_ had six heads and six rods, and he whipped him far worse than
+the first; but when he went out next morning, the _Princesses_ stood
+out of the earth as far as the knee.
+
+The third night there came a _Troll_ that had nine heads and nine
+rods, and he whipped and flogged the lad so long that he fainted away;
+then the _Troll_ took him up and dashed him against the wall; but the
+shock brought down the flask, which fell on the lad, burst, and
+spilled the ointment all over him, and so he became as strong and
+sound as ever again. Then he wasn't slow; he grasped the sword and
+slew the _Troll_; and next morning when he went out of the castle the
+_Princesses_ stood before him with all their bodies out of the earth.
+So he took the youngest for his _Queen_, and lived well and happily
+with her for some time.
+
+At last he began to long to go home for a little to see his parents.
+His _Queen_ did not like this; but at last his heart was so set on it,
+and he longed and longed so much, there was no holding him back, so
+she said:
+
+"One thing you must promise me. This--only to do what your father begs
+you to do, and not what mother wishes;" and that he promised.
+
+Then she gave him a ring, which was of that kind that any one who wore
+it might wish two wishes. So he wished himself home, and when he got
+home his parents could not wonder enough what a grand man their son
+had become.
+
+Now, when he had been at home some days, his mother wished him to go
+up to the palace and show the _King_ what a fine fellow he had come
+to be. But his father said:
+
+"No! don't let him do that; if he does, we shan't have any more joy of
+him this time."
+
+But it was no good, the mother begged and prayed so long that at last
+he went. So when he got up to the palace he was far braver, both in
+clothes and array, than the other king, who didn't quite like this,
+and at last he said:
+
+"All very fine; but here you can see my _Queen_, what like she is, but
+I can't see yours: that I can't. Do you know, I scarce think she's so
+good-looking as mine."
+
+"Would to Heaven," said the young _King_, "she were standing here,
+then you'd see what she was like." And that instant there she stood
+before them.
+
+But she was very woeful, and said to him:
+
+"Why did you not mind what I told you; and why did you not listen to
+what your father said? Now, I must away home, and as for you, you have
+had both your wishes."
+
+With that she knitted a ring among his hair with her name on it, and
+wished herself home, and was off.
+
+Then the young _King_ was cut to the heart, and went, day out day in,
+thinking and thinking how he should get back to his _Queen_. "I'll
+just try," he thought, "if I can't learn where Whiteland lies;" and so
+he went out into the world to ask. So when he had gone a good way, he
+came to a high hill, and there he met one who was lord over all the
+beasts of the wood, for they all came home to him when he blew his
+horn; so the _King_ asked if he knew where Whiteland was.
+
+"No, I don't," said he, "but I'll ask my beasts." Then he blew his
+horn and called them, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland
+lay. But there was no beast that knew.
+
+So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.
+
+[Illustration: So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.]
+
+"When you get on these," he said, "you'll come to my brother, who
+lives hundreds of miles off; he is lord over all the birds of the air.
+Ask him. When you reach his house, just turn the shoes so that the
+toes point this way, and they'll come home of themselves." So when the
+_King_ reached the house, he turned the shoes as the lord of the
+beasts had said, and away they went home of themselves.
+
+So he asked again after Whiteland, and the man called all the birds
+with a blast of his horn, and asked if any of them knew where
+Whiteland lay; but none of the birds knew. Now, long, long after the
+rest of the birds came an old eagle, which had been away ten round
+years, but he couldn't tell any more than the rest.
+
+"Well, well," said the man, "I'll lend you a pair of snow-shoes, and,
+when you get them on, they'll carry you to my brother, who lives
+hundreds of miles off; he's lord of all the fish in the sea; you'd
+better ask him. But don't forget to turn the toes of the shoes this
+way."
+
+The _King_ was full of thanks, got on the shoes, and when he came to
+the man who was lord over the fish of the sea, he turned the toes
+round, and so off they went home like the other pair. After that, he
+asked again after Whiteland.
+
+So the man called the fish with a blast, but no fish could tell where
+it lay. At last came an old pike, which they had great work to call
+home, he was such a way off. So when they asked him he said:
+
+"Know it? I should think I did! I've been cook there ten years, and
+to-morrow I'm going there again; for now the queen of Whiteland, whose
+king is away, is going to wed another husband."
+
+"Well!" said the man, "as this is so, I'll give you a bit of advice.
+Hereabouts, on a moor, stand three brothers, and here they have stood
+these hundred years, fighting about a hat, a cloak, and a pair of
+boots. If any one has these three things he can make himself
+invisible, and wish himself anywhere he pleases. You can tell them you
+wish to try the things, and, after that, you'll pass judgment between
+them, whose they shall be."
+
+Yes! the _King_ thanked the man, and went and did as he told him.
+
+"What's all this?" he said to the brothers. "Why do you stand here
+fighting for ever and a day? Just let me try these things, and I'll
+give judgment whose they shall be."
+
+They were very willing to do this; but, as soon as he had got the hat,
+cloak, and boots, he said:
+
+"When we meet next time, I'll tell you my judgment," and with these
+words he wished himself away.
+
+So as he went along up in the air, he came up with the North wind.
+
+"Whither away?" roared the North Wind.
+
+"To Whiteland," said the _King_; and then he told him all that had
+befallen him.
+
+"Ah," said the North Wind, "you go faster than I--you do; for you can
+go straight, while I have to puff and blow round every turn and
+corner. But when you get there, just place yourself on the stairs by
+the side of the door, and then I'll come storming in, as though I were
+going to blow down the whole castle. And then when the prince, who is
+to have your _Queen_, comes out to see what's the matter, just you
+take him by the collar and pitch him out of doors; then I'll look
+after him, and see if I can't carry him off."
+
+[Illustration: The King went into the Castle, and at first his Queen
+didn't know him, he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and
+being so woeful.]
+
+Well, the _King_ did as the North Wind said. He took his stand on the
+stairs, and when the North Wind came, storming and roaring, and took
+hold of the castle wall, so that it shook again, the prince came out
+to see what was the matter. But as soon as ever he came, the _King_
+caught him by the collar and pitched him out of doors, and then the
+North Wind caught him up and carried him off. So when there was an end
+of him, the _King_ went into the castle, and at first his _Queen_
+didn't know him, he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and
+being so woeful; but when he shewed her the ring, she was as glad as
+glad could be; and so the rightful wedding was held, and the fame of
+it spread far and wide.
+
+
+
+
+SORIA MORIA CASTLE
+
+
+Once on a time there was a poor couple who had a son whose name was
+_Halvor_. Ever since he was a little boy he would turn his hand to
+nothing, but just sat there and groped about in the ashes. His father
+and mother often put him out to learn this trade or that, but _Halvor_
+could stay nowhere; for, when he had been there a day or two, he ran
+away from his master, and never stopped till he was sitting again in
+the ingle, poking about in the cinders.
+
+Well, one day a skipper came, and asked _Halvor_ if he hadn't a mind
+to be with him, and go to sea, and see strange lands. Yes, _Halvor_
+would like that very much; so he wasn't long in getting himself
+ready.
+
+How long they sailed I'm sure I can't tell; but the end of it was,
+they fell into a great storm, and when it was blown over, and it got
+still again, they couldn't tell where they were; for they had been
+driven away to a strange coast, which none of them knew anything
+about.
+
+Well, as there was just no wind at all, they stayed lying wind-bound
+there, and _Halvor_ asked the skipper's leave to go on shore and look
+about him; he would sooner go, he said, than lie there and sleep.
+
+"Do you think now you're fit to show yourself before folk," said the
+skipper, "why, you've no clothes but those rags you stand in?"
+
+But _Halvor_ stuck to his own, and so at last he got leave, but he was
+to be sure and come back as soon as ever it began to blow. So off he
+went and found a lovely land; wherever he came there were fine large
+flat cornfields and rich meads, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of a
+living soul. Well, it began to blow, but _Halvor_ thought he hadn't
+seen enough yet, and he wanted to walk a little farther just to see if
+he couldn't meet any folk. So after a while he came to a broad high
+road, so smooth and even, you might easily roll an egg along it.
+_Halvor_ followed this, and when evening drew on he saw a great castle
+ever so far off, from which the sunbeams shone. So as he had now
+walked the whole day and hadn't taken a bit to eat with him, he was as
+hungry as a hunter, but still the nearer he came to the castle, the
+more afraid he got.
+
+In the castle kitchen a great fire was blazing, and _Halvor_ went into
+it, but such a kitchen he had never seen in all his born days. It was
+so grand and fine; there were vessels of silver and vessels of gold,
+but still never a living soul. So when _Halvor_ had stood there a
+while and no one came out, he went and opened a door, and there inside
+sat a _Princess_ who span upon a spinning-wheel.
+
+"Nay, nay, now!" she called out, "dare Christian folk come hither? But
+now you'd best be off about your business, if you don't want the
+_Troll_ to gobble you up; for here lives a _Troll_ with three heads."
+
+"All one to me," said the lad, "I'd be just as glad to hear he had
+four heads beside; I'd like to see what kind of fellow he is. As for
+going, I won't go at all. I've done no harm; but meat you must get me,
+for I'm almost starved to death."
+
+When _Halvor_ had eaten his fill, the _Princess_ told him to try if he
+could brandish the sword that hung against the wall; no, he couldn't
+brandish it, he couldn't even lift it up.
+
+"Oh!" said the _Princess_, "now you must go and take a pull of that
+flask that hangs by its side; that's what the _Troll_ does every time
+he goes out to use the sword."
+
+So _Halvor_ took a pull, and in the twinkling of an eye he could
+brandish the sword like nothing; and now he thought it high time the
+_Troll_ came; and lo! just then up came the _Troll_ puffing and
+blowing. _Halvor_ jumped behind the door.
+
+"HUTETU," said the _Troll_, as he put his head in at the door, "what a
+smell of Christian man's blood!"
+
+"Aye," said _Halvor_, "you'll soon know that to your cost," and with
+that he hewed off all his heads.
+
+Now the _Princess_ was so glad that she was free, she both danced and
+sang, but then all at once she called her sisters to mind, and so she
+said:
+
+"Would my sisters were free too!"
+
+"Where are they?" asked _Halvor_.
+
+Well, she told him all about it; one was taken away by a _Troll_ to
+his Castle which lay fifty miles off, and the other by another _Troll_
+to his Castle which was fifty miles further still.
+
+"But now," she said, "you must first help me to get this ugly carcass
+out of the house."
+
+Yes, _Halvor_ was so strong he swept everything away, and made it all
+clean and tidy in no time. So they had a good and happy time of it,
+and next morning he set off at peep of grey dawn; he could take no
+rest by the way, but ran and walked the whole day. When he first saw
+the Castle he got a little afraid; it was far grander than the first,
+but here too there wasn't a living soul to be seen. So _Halvor_ went
+into the kitchen, and didn't stop there either, but went straight
+further on into the house.
+
+"Nay, nay," called out the _Princess_, "dare Christian folk come
+hither? I don't know I'm sure how long it is since I came here, but in
+all that time I haven't seen a Christian man. 'Twere best you saw how
+to get away as fast as you came; for here lives a _Troll_ who has six
+heads."
+
+"I shan't go," said _Halvor_, "if he has six heads besides."
+
+"He'll take you up and swallow you down alive," said the _Princess_.
+
+But it was no good, _Halvor_ wouldn't go; he wasn't at all afraid of
+the _Troll_, but meat and drink he must have, for he was half starved
+after his long journey. Well, he got as much of that as he wished, but
+then the _Princess_ wanted him to be off again.
+
+"No," said _Halvor_, "I won't go, I've done no harm, and I've nothing
+to be afraid about."
+
+"He won't stay to ask that," said the _Princess_, "for he'll take you
+without law or leave; but as you won't go, just try if you can
+brandish that sword yonder, which the _Troll_ wields in war."
+
+He couldn't brandish it, and then the _Princess_ said he must take a
+pull at the flask which hung by its side, and when he had done that he
+could brandish it.
+
+Just then back came the _Troll_, and he was both stout and big, so
+that he had to go sideways to get through the door. When the _Troll_
+got his first head in he called out:
+
+"HUTETU, what a smell of Christian man's blood!"
+
+But that very moment _Halvor_ hewed off his first head, and so on all
+the rest as they popped in. The _Princess_ was overjoyed, but just
+then she came to think of her sisters, and wished out loud they were
+free. _Halvor_ thought that might easily be done, and wanted to be off
+at once; but first he had to help the _Princess_ to get the _Troll's_
+carcass out of the way, and so he could only set out next morning.
+
+It was a long way to the Castle, and he had to walk fast and run hard
+to reach it in time; but about nightfall he saw the Castle, which was
+far finer and grander than either of the others. This time he wasn't
+the least afraid, but walked straight through the kitchen, and into
+the Castle. There sat a _Princess_ who was so pretty, there was no end
+to her loveliness. She too like the others told him there hadn't been
+Christian folk there ever since she came thither, and bade him go away
+again, else the _Troll_ would swallow him alive, and do you know, she
+said, he has nine heads.
+
+"Aye, aye," said _Halvor_, "if he had nine other heads, and nine other
+heads still, I won't go away," and so he stood fast before the stove.
+The _Princess_ kept on begging him so prettily to go away, lest the
+_Troll_ should gobble him up, but _Halvor_ said:
+
+"Let him come as soon as he likes."
+
+So she gave him the _Troll's_ sword, and bade him take a pull at the
+flask, that he might be able to brandish and wield it.
+
+Just then back came the _Troll_ puffing and blowing and tearing along.
+He was far bigger and stouter than the other two, and he too had to go
+on one side to get through the door. So when he got his first head in,
+he said as the others had said:
+
+"HUTETU, what a smell of Christian man's blood!"
+
+That very moment _Halvor_ hewed off the first head and then all the
+rest; but the last was the toughest of them all, and it was the
+hardest bit of work _Halvor_ had to do, to get it hewn off, although
+he knew very well he had strength enough to do it.
+
+So all the _Princesses_ came together to that Castle, which was called
+_Soria Moria Castle_, and they were glad and happy as they had never
+been in all their lives before, and they all were fond of _Halvor_
+and _Halvor_ of them, and he might choose the one he liked best for
+his bride; but the youngest was fondest of him of all the three.
+
+But there after a while, _Halvor_ went about, and was so strange and
+dull and silent. Then the Princesses asked him what he lacked, and if
+he didn't like to live with them any longer? Yes, he did, for they had
+enough and to spare, and he was well off in every way, but still
+somehow or other he did so long to go home, for his father and mother
+were alive, and them he had such a great wish to see.
+
+Well, they thought that might be done easily enough.
+
+"You shall go thither and come back hither, safe and unscathed, if you
+will only follow our advice," said the _Princesses_.
+
+Yes, he'd be sure to mind all they said. So they dressed him up till
+he was as grand as a king's son, and then they set a ring on his
+finger, and that was such a ring, he could wish himself thither and
+hither with it; but they told him to be sure and not take it off, and
+not to name their names, for there would be an end of all his bravery,
+and then he'd never see them more.
+
+"If I only stood at home I'd be glad," said _Halvor_; and it was done
+as he had wished. Then stood _Halvor_ at his father's cottage door
+before he knew a word about it. Now it was about dusk at even, and so,
+when they saw such a grand stately lord walk in, the old couple got so
+afraid they began to bow and scrape. Then _Halvor_ asked if he
+couldn't stay there, and have a lodging there that night. No; that he
+couldn't.
+
+"We can't do it at all," they said, "for we haven't this thing or that
+thing which such a lord is used to have; 'twere best your lordship
+went up to the farm, no long way off, for you can see the chimneys,
+and there they have lots of everything."
+
+_Halvor_ wouldn't hear of it--he wanted to stop; but the old couple
+stuck to their own, that he had better go to the farmer's; there he
+would get both meat and drink; as for them, they hadn't even a chair
+to offer him to sit down on.
+
+"No," said _Halvor_, "I won't go up there till to-morrow early, but
+let me just stay here to-night; worst come to the worst, I can sit in
+the chimney corner."
+
+Well, they couldn't say anything against that; so _Halvor_ sat down by
+the ingle, and began to poke about in the ashes, just as he used to do
+when he lay at home in old days, and stretched his lazy bones.
+
+Well, they chattered and talked about many things; and they told
+_Halvor_ about this thing and that; and so he asked them if they had
+never had any children.
+
+Yes, yes, they had once a lad whose name was _Halvor_, but they didn't
+know whither he had wandered; they couldn't even tell whether he were
+dead or alive.
+
+"Couldn't it be me, now?" said _Halvor_.
+
+"Let me see; I could tell him well enough," said the old wife, and
+rose up. "Our _Halvor_ was so lazy and dull, he never did a thing; and
+besides, he was so ragged, that one tatter took hold of the next
+tatter on him. No; there never was the making of such a fine fellow
+in him as you are, master."
+
+A little while after the old wife went to the hearth to poke up the
+fire, and when the blaze fell on _Halvor's_ face, just as when he was
+at home of old poking about in the ashes, she knew him at once.
+
+"Ah! but it is you after all, _Halvor_?" she cried; and then there was
+such joy for the old couple, there was no end to it; and he was forced
+to tell how he had fared, and the old dame was so fond and proud of
+him, nothing would do but he must go up at once to the farmer's, and
+show himself to the lassies, who had always looked down on him. And
+off she went first, and _Halvor_ followed after. So, when she got up
+there, she told them all how _Halvor_ had come home again, and now
+they should only just see how grand he was, for, said she, "he looks
+like nothing but a King's son."
+
+"All very fine," said the lassies, and tossed up their heads. "We'll
+be bound he's just the same beggarly ragged boy he always was."
+
+Just then in walked _Halvor_, and then the lassies were all so taken
+aback, they forgot their sarks in the ingle, where they were sitting
+darning their clothes, and ran out in their smocks. Well, when they
+were got back again, they were so shamefaced they scarce dared look at
+_Halvor_, towards whom they had always been proud and haughty.
+
+"Aye, aye," said _Halvor_, "you always thought yourselves so pretty
+and neat, no one could come near you; but now you should just see the
+eldest _Princess_ I have set free; against her you look just like
+milkmaids, and the midmost is prettier still; but the youngest, who is
+my sweetheart, she's fairer than both sun and moon. Would to Heaven
+they were only here," said _Halvor_, "then you'd see what you would
+see."
+
+He had scarce uttered these words before there they stood, but then he
+felt so sorry, for now what they had said came into his mind. Up at
+the farm there was a great feast got ready for the _Princesses_, and
+much was made of them, but they wouldn't stop there.
+
+"No, we want to go down to your father and mother," they said to
+_Halvor_; "and so we'll go out now and look about us."
+
+So he went down with them, and they came to a great lake just outside
+the farm. Close by the water was such a lovely green bank; here the
+_Princesses_ said they would sit and rest a while; they thought it so
+sweet to sit down and look over the water.
+
+So they sat down there, and when they had sat a while the youngest
+_Princess_ said:
+
+"I may as well comb your hair a little, _Halvor_."
+
+Well, _Halvor_ laid his head on her lap, and she combed his bonny
+locks, and it wasn't long before _Halvor_ fell fast asleep. Then she
+took the ring from his finger, and put another in its stead; and she
+said:
+
+"Now hold me all together! and now would we were all in _Soria Moria
+Castle_."
+
+So when _Halvor_ woke up, he could very well tell that he had lost the
+_Princesses_, and began to weep and wail; and he was so downcast, they
+couldn't comfort him at all. In spite of all his father and mother
+said, he wouldn't stop there, but took farewell of them, and said he
+was safe not to see them again; for if he couldn't find the
+_Princesses_ again, he thought it not worth while to live.
+
+Well, he had still about sixty pounds left, so he put them into his
+pocket, and set out on his way. So, when he had walked a while, he met
+a man with a tidy horse, and he wanted to buy it, and began to chaffer
+with the man.
+
+"Aye," said the man, "to tell the truth, I never thought of selling
+him; but if we could strike a bargain perhaps--"
+
+"What do you want for him?" asked _Halvor_.
+
+"I didn't give much for him, nor is he worth much; he's a brave horse
+to ride, but he can't draw at all; still he's strong enough to carry
+your knapsack and you too, turn and turn about," said the man.
+
+At last they agreed on the price, and _Halvor_ laid the knapsack on
+him, and so he walked a bit, and rode a bit, turn and turn about. At
+night he came to a green plain where stood a great tree, at the roots
+of which he sat down. There he let the horse loose, but he didn't lie
+down to sleep, but opened his knapsack and took a meal. At peep of day
+off he set again, for he could take no rest. So he rode and walked
+and walked and rode the whole day through the wide wood, where there
+were so many green spots and glades that shone so bright and lovely
+between the trees. He didn't know at all where he was or whither he
+was going, but he gave himself no more time to rest than when his
+horse cropped a bit of grass, and he took a snack out of his knapsack
+when they came to one of those green glades. So he went on walking and
+riding by turns, and as for the wood there seemed to be no end to it.
+
+But at dusk the next day he saw a light gleaming away through the
+trees.
+
+"Would there were folk hereaway," thought _Halvor_, "that I might warm
+myself a bit and get a morsel to keep body and soul together."
+
+When he got up to it he saw the light came from a wretched little hut,
+and through the window he saw an old old, couple inside. They were as
+grey-headed as a pair of doves, and the old wife had such a nose! why,
+it was so long she used it for a poker to stir the fire as she sat in
+the ingle.
+
+"Good evening," said _Halvor_.
+
+"Good evening," said the old wife.
+
+"But what errand can you have in coming hither?" she went on, "for no
+Christian folk have been here these hundred years and more."
+
+Well, _Halvor_ told her all about himself, and how he wanted to get to
+_Soria Moria Castle_, and asked if she knew the way thither.
+
+"No," said the old wife, "that I don't, but see now, here comes the
+Moon, I'll ask her, she'll know all about it, for doesn't she shine on
+everything?"
+
+So when the Moon stood clear and bright over the tree-tops, the old
+wife went out.
+
+"THOU MOON, THOU MOON," she screamed, "canst thou tell me the way to
+_Soria Moria Castle_?"
+
+"No," said the Moon, "that I can't, for the last time I shone there a
+cloud stood before me."
+
+"Wait a bit still," said the old wife to _Halvor_, "bye and bye comes
+the West Wind; he's sure to know it, for he puffs and blows round
+every corner."
+
+"Nay, nay," said the old wife when she went out again, "you don't mean
+to say you've got a horse too; just turn the poor beastie loose in our
+'toun,' and don't let him stand there and starve to death at the
+door."
+
+Then she ran on:
+
+"But won't you swop him away to me?--we've got an old pair of boots
+here, with which you can take twenty miles at each stride; those you
+shall have for your horse, and so you'll get all the sooner to _Soria
+Moria Castle_."
+
+That _Halvor_ was willing to do at once; and the old wife was so glad
+at having the horse, she was ready to dance and skip for joy.
+
+"For now," she said, "I shall be able to ride to church. I, too, think
+of that."
+
+As for _Halvor_, he had no rest, and wanted to be off at once, but the
+old wife said there was no hurry.
+
+"Lie down on the bench with you and sleep a bit, for we've no bed to
+offer you, and I'll watch and wake you when the West Wind comes."
+
+So after a while up came the West Wind, roaring and howling along till
+the walls creaked and groaned again.
+
+Out ran the old wife.
+
+"THOU WEST WIND, THOU WEST WIND! Canst thou tell me the way to _Soria
+Moria Castle_? Here's one who wants to get thither."
+
+"Yes, I know it very well," said the West Wind, "and now I'm just off
+thither to dry clothes for the wedding that's to be; if he's swift of
+foot he can go along with me."
+
+Out ran _Halvor_.
+
+"You'll have to stretch your legs if you mean to keep up," said the
+West Wind.
+
+So off he set over field and hedge, and hill and fell, and _Halvor_
+had hard work to keep up.
+
+"Well," said the West Wind, "now I've no time to stay with you any
+longer, for I've got to go away yonder and tear down a strip of spruce
+wood first before I go to the bleaching-ground to dry the clothes; but
+if you go alongside the hill you'll come to a lot of lassies standing
+washing clothes, and then you've not far to go to _Soria Moria
+Castle_."
+
+In a little while _Halvor_ came upon the lassies who stood washing,
+and they asked if he had seen anything of the West Wind who was to
+come and dry the clothes for the wedding.
+
+"Aye, aye, that I have," said _Halvor_, "he's only gone to tear down a
+strip of spruce wood. It'll not be long before he's here," and then he
+asked them the way to _Soria Moria Castle_.
+
+So they put him into the right way, and when he got to the Castle it
+was full of folk and horses; so full it made one giddy to look at
+them. But _Halvor_ was so ragged and torn from having followed the
+West Wind through bush and brier and bog, that he kept on one side,
+and wouldn't show himself till the last day when the bridal feast was
+to be.
+
+So when all, as was then right and fitting, were to drink the bride
+and bridegroom's health and wish them luck, and when the cupbearer was
+to drink to them all again, both knights and squires, last of all he
+came in turn to _Halvor_. He drank their health, but let the ring
+which the _Princess_ had put upon his finger as he lay by the lake
+fall into the glass, and bade the cupbearer go and greet the bride and
+hand her the glass.
+
+Then up rose the _Princess_ from the board at once.
+
+"Who is most worthy to have one of us," she said, "he that has set us
+free, or he that here sits by me as bridegroom?"
+
+Well they all said there could be but one voice and will as to that,
+and when _Halvor_ heard that he wasn't long in throwing off his
+beggar's rags, and arraying himself as bridegroom.
+
+"Aye, aye, here is the right one after all," said the youngest
+_Princess_ as soon as she saw him, and so she tossed the other one out
+of the window, and held her wedding with _Halvor_.
+
+
+
+
+THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY
+
+
+Once on a time there was a _King_ who had _seven sons_, and he loved
+them so much that he could never bear to be without them all at once,
+but one must always be with him. Now, when they were grown up, six
+were to set off to woo, but as for the youngest, his father kept him
+at home, and the others were to bring back a princess for him to the
+palace. So the _King_ gave the six the finest clothes you ever set
+eyes on, so fine that the light gleamed from them a long way off, and
+each had his horse, which cost many, many hundred pounds, and so they
+set off. Now, when they had been to many palaces, and seen many
+princesses, at last they came to a _King_ who had _six daughters_;
+such lovely king's daughters they had never seen, and so they fell to
+wooing them, each one, and when they had got them for sweethearts,
+they set off home again, but they quite forgot that they were to bring
+back with them a sweetheart for _Boots_, their brother, who stayed at
+home, for they were over head and ears in love with their own
+sweethearts.
+
+[Illustration: The six brothers riding out to woo.]
+
+But when they had gone a good bit on their way, they passed close by a
+steep hill-side, like a wall, where the _Giant's_ house was, and there
+the _Giant_ came out, and set his eyes upon them, and turned them all
+into stone, princes and princesses and all. Now the _King_ waited and
+waited for his _six sons_, but the more he waited, the longer they
+stayed away; so he fell into great trouble, and said he should never
+know what it was to be glad again.
+
+"And if I had not you left," he said to _Boots_, "I would live no
+longer, so full of sorrow am I for the loss of your brothers."
+
+"Well, but now I've been thinking to ask your leave to set out and
+find them again; that's what I'm thinking of," said _Boots_.
+
+"Nay, nay!" said his father; "that leave you shall never get, for then
+you would stay away too."
+
+But _Boots_ had set his heart upon it; go he would; and he begged and
+prayed so long that the _King_ was forced to let him go. Now, you must
+know the _King_ had no other horse to give _Boots_ but an old
+broken-down jade, for his six other sons and their train had carried
+off all his horses; but _Boots_ did not care a pin for that, he sprang
+up on his sorry old steed.
+
+"Farewell, father," said he; "I'll come back, never fear, and like
+enough I shall bring my six brothers back with me;" and with that he
+rode off.
+
+So, when he had ridden a while, he came to a _Raven_, which lay in the
+road and flapped its wings, and was not able to get out of the way, it
+was so starved.
+
+"Oh, dear friend," said the _Raven_, "give me a little food, and I'll
+help you again at your utmost need."
+
+"I haven't much food," said the _Prince_, "and I don't see how you'll
+ever be able to help me much; but still I can spare you a little. I
+see you want it."
+
+So he gave the raven some of the food he had brought with him.
+
+Now, when he had gone a bit further, he came to a brook, and in the
+brook lay a great _Salmon_, which had got upon a dry place and dashed
+itself about, and could not get into the water again.
+
+"Oh, dear friend," said the _Salmon_ to the _Prince_; "shove me out
+into the water again, and I'll help you again at your utmost need."
+
+"Well!" said the _Prince_, "the help you'll give me will not be great,
+I daresay, but it's a pity you should lie there and choke;" and with
+that he shot the fish out into the stream again.
+
+After that he went a long, long way, and there met him a _Wolf_ which
+was so famished that it lay and crawled along the road on its belly.
+
+"Dear friend, do let me have your horse," said the _Wolf_; "I'm so
+hungry the wind whistles through my ribs; I've had nothing to eat
+these two years."
+
+"No," said _Boots_, "this will never do; first I came to a raven, and
+I was forced to give him my food; next I came to a salmon, and him I
+had to help into the water again; and now you will have my horse. It
+can't be done, that it can't, for then I should have nothing to ride
+on."
+
+"Nay, dear friend, but you can help me," said _Graylegs_ the wolf;
+"you can ride upon my back, and I'll help you again in your utmost
+need."
+
+"Well! the help I shall get from you will not be great, I'll be
+bound," said the _Prince_; "but you may take my horse, since you are
+in such need."
+
+So when the _Wolf_ had eaten the horse, _Boots_ took the bit and put
+it into the _Wolf's_ jaw, and laid the saddle on his back; and now the
+_Wolf_ was so strong, after what he had got inside, that he set off
+with the _Prince_ like nothing. So fast he had never ridden before.
+
+"When we have gone a bit farther," said _Graylegs_, "I'll show you the
+_Giant's_ house."
+
+So after a while they came to it.
+
+"See, here is the _Giant's_ house," said the _Wolf_; "and see, here
+are your six brothers, whom the _Giant_ has turned into stone; and
+see, here are their six brides, and away yonder is the door, and in
+that door you must go."
+
+"Nay, but I daren't go in," said the _Prince_; "he'll take my life."
+
+"No! no!" said the _Wolf_; "when you get in you'll find a _Princess_,
+and she'll tell you what to do to make an end of the _Giant_. Only
+mind and do as she bids you."
+
+Well! _Boots_ went in, but, truth to say, he was very much afraid.
+When he came in the _Giant_ was away, but in one of the rooms sat the
+_Princess_, just as the _Wolf_ had said, and so lovely a princess
+_Boots_ had never yet set eyes on.
+
+"Oh! heaven help you! whence have you come?" said the _Princess_, as
+she saw him; "it will surely be your death. No one can make an end of
+the _Giant_ who lives here, for he has no heart in his body."
+
+"Well! well!" said _Boots_; "but now that I am here, I may as well try
+what I can do with him; and I will see if I can't free my brothers,
+who are standing turned to stone out of doors; and you, too, I will
+try to save, that I will."
+
+"Well, if you must, you must," said the _Princess_; "and so let us see
+if we can't hit on a plan. Just creep under the bed yonder, and mind
+and listen to what he and I talk about. But, pray, do lie as still as
+a mouse."
+
+So he crept under the bed, and he had scarce got well underneath it,
+before the _Giant_ came.
+
+"Ha!" roared the _Giant_, "what a smell of Christian blood there is in
+the house!"
+
+"Yes, I know there is," said the _Princess_, "for there came a magpie
+flying with a man's bone, and let it fall down the chimney. I made all
+the haste I could to get it out, but all one can do, the smell doesn't
+go off so soon."
+
+So the _Giant_ said no more about it, and when night came, they went
+to bed. After they had lain a while, the _Princess_ said:
+
+"There is one thing I'd be so glad to ask you about, if I only
+dared."
+
+"What thing is that?" asked the _Giant_.
+
+"Only where it is you keep your heart, since you don't carry it about
+you," said the _Princess_.
+
+"Ah! that's a thing you've no business to ask about; but if you must
+know, it lies under the door-sill," said the _Giant_.
+
+"Ho! ho!" said _Boots_ to himself under the bed, "then we'll soon see
+if we can't find it."
+
+Next morning the _Giant_ got up cruelly early, and strode off to the
+wood; but he was hardly out of the house before _Boots_ and the
+_Princess_ set to work to look under the door-sill for his heart; but
+the more they dug, and the more they hunted, the more they couldn't
+find it.
+
+"He has baulked us this time," said the _Princess_, "but we'll try him
+once more."
+
+So she picked all the prettiest flowers she could find, and strewed
+them over the door-sill, which they had laid in its right place again;
+and when the time came for the _Giant_ to come home again, _Boots_
+crept under the bed. Just as he was well under, back came the
+_Giant_.
+
+Snuff--snuff, went the _Giant's_ nose. "My eyes and limbs, what a
+smell of Christian blood there is in here," said he.
+
+"I know there is," said the _Princess_, "for there came a magpie
+flying with a man's bone in his bill, and let it fall down the
+chimney. I made as much haste as I could to get it out, but I daresay
+it's that you smell."
+
+So the _Giant_ held his peace, and said no more about it. A little
+while after, he asked who it was that had strewed flowers about the
+door-sill.
+
+"Oh, I, of course," said the _Princess_.
+
+"And, pray, what's the meaning of all this?" said the _Giant_.
+
+"Ah!" said the _Princess_, "I'm so fond of you that I couldn't help
+strewing them, when I knew that your heart lay under there."
+
+"You don't say so," said the _Giant_; "but after all it doesn't lie
+there at all."
+
+So when they went to bed again in the evening, the _Princess_ asked
+the _Giant_ again where his heart was, for she said she would so like
+to know.
+
+"Well," said the _Giant_, "if you must know, it lies away yonder in
+the cupboard against the wall."
+
+"So, so!" thought _Boots_ and the _Princess_; "then we'll soon try to
+find it."
+
+Next morning the _Giant_ was away early, and strode off to the wood,
+and so soon as he was gone _Boots_ and the _Princess_ were in the
+cupboard hunting for his heart, but the more they sought for it, the
+less they found it.
+
+"Well," said the _Princess_, "we'll just try him once more."
+
+So she decked out the cupboard with flowers and garlands, and when the
+time came for the _Giant_ to come home, _Boots_ crept under the bed
+again.
+
+Then back came the _Giant_.
+
+Snuff--snuff! "My eyes and limbs, what a smell of Christian blood
+there is in here!"
+
+"I know there is," said the _Princess_; "for a little while since
+there came a magpie flying with a man's bone in his bill, and let it
+fall down the chimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out of
+the house again; but after all my pains, I daresay it's that you
+smell."
+
+When the _Giant_ heard that, he said no more about it; but a little
+while after, he saw how the cupboard was all decked about with flowers
+and garlands; so he asked who it was that had done that? Who could it
+be but the _Princess_?
+
+"And, pray, what's the meaning of all this tomfoolery?" asked the
+_Giant_.
+
+"Oh, I'm so fond of you, I couldn't help doing it when I knew that
+your heart lay there," said the _Princess_.
+
+"How can you be so silly as to believe any such thing?" said the
+_Giant_.
+
+"Oh yes; how can I help believing it, when you say it?" said the
+_Princess_.
+
+"You're a goose," said the _Giant_; "where my heart is, you will never
+come."
+
+"Well," said the _Princess_; "but for all that, 'twould be such a
+pleasure to know where it really lies."
+
+Then the poor _Giant_ could hold out no longer, but was forced to
+say:
+
+[Illustration: "On that island stands a church; in that church is a well;
+in that well swims a duck."]
+
+"Far, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a
+church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck; in that
+duck there is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart,--you
+darling!"
+
+In the morning early, while it was still grey dawn, the _Giant_ strode
+off to the wood.
+
+[Illustration: He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and when he
+got out of the Giant's door, there stood the Wolf waiting for him.]
+
+"Yes! now I must set off too," said _Boots_; "if I only knew how to
+find the way." He took a long, long farewell of the _Princess_, and
+when he got out of the _Giant's_ door, there stood the _Wolf_ waiting
+for him. So _Boots_ told him all that had happened inside the house,
+and said now he wished to ride to the well in the church, if he only
+knew the way. So the _Wolf_ bade him jump on his back, he'd soon find
+the way; and away they went, till the wind whistled after them, over
+hedge and field, over hill and dale. After they had travelled many,
+many days, they came at last to the lake. Then the _Prince_ did not
+know how to get over it, but the _Wolf_ bade him only not be afraid,
+but stick on, and so he jumped into the lake with the _Prince_ on his
+back, and swam over to the island. So they came to the church; but the
+church keys hung high, high up on the top of the tower, and at first
+the _Prince_ did not know how to get them down.
+
+"You must call on the raven," said the _Wolf_.
+
+So the _Prince_ called on the raven, and in a trice the raven came,
+and flew up and fetched the keys, and so the _Prince_ got into the
+church. But when he came to the well, there lay the duck, and swam
+about backwards and forwards, just as the _Giant_ had said. So the
+_Prince_ stood and coaxed it, till it came to him, and he grasped it
+in his hand; but just as he lifted it up from the water the duck
+dropped the egg into the well, and then _Boots_ was beside himself to
+know how to get it out again.
+
+"Well, now you must call on the salmon to be sure," said the _Wolf_;
+and the king's son called on the salmon, and the salmon came and
+fetched up the egg from the bottom of the well.
+
+Then the _Wolf_ told him to squeeze the egg, and as soon as ever he
+squeezed it the _Giant_ screamed out.
+
+"Squeeze it again," said the _Wolf_; and when the _Prince_ did so, the
+_Giant_ screamed still more piteously, and begged and prayed so
+prettily to be spared, saying he would do all that the _Prince_ wished
+if he would only not squeeze his heart in two.
+
+"Tell him, if he will restore to life again your six brothers and
+their brides, whom he has turned to stone, you will spare his life,"
+said the _Wolf_. Yes, the _Giant_ was ready to do that, and he turned
+the six brothers into king's sons again, and their brides into king's
+daughters.
+
+"Now, squeeze the egg in two," said the _Wolf_. So _Boots_ squeezed
+the egg to pieces, and the _Giant_ burst at once.
+
+Now, when he had made an end of the _Giant_, _Boots_ rode back again
+on the _Wolf_ to the _Giant's_ house, and there stood all his six
+brothers alive and merry, with their brides. Then _Boots_ went into
+the hill-side after his bride, and so they all set off home again to
+their father's house. And you may fancy how glad the old king was when
+he saw all his seven sons come back, each with his bride--"But the
+loveliest bride of all is the bride of _Boots_, after all," said the
+king, "and he shall sit uppermost at the table, with her by his
+side."
+
+So he sent out, and called a great wedding-feast, and the mirth was
+both loud and long, and if they have not done feasting, why, they are
+still at it.
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man who had a meadow, which lay high up on
+the hill-side, and in the meadow was a barn, which he had built to
+keep his hay in. Now, I must tell you, there hadn't been much in the
+barn for the last year or two, for every St. John's night, when the
+grass stood greenest and deepest, the meadow was eaten down to the
+very ground the next morning, just as if a whole drove of sheep had
+been there feeding on it over night. This happened once, and it
+happened twice; so at last the man grew weary of losing his crop of
+hay, and said to his sons--for he had three of them, and the youngest
+was nicknamed _Boots_, of course--that now one of them must go and
+sleep in the barn in the outlying field when St. John's night came,
+for it was too good a joke that his grass should be eaten, root and
+blade, this year, as it had been the last two years. So whichever of
+them went must keep a sharp look-out; that was what their father
+said.
+
+Well, the eldest son was ready to go and watch the meadow; trust him
+for looking after the grass! It shouldn't be his fault if man or
+beast, or the fiend himself, got a blade of grass. So, when evening
+came, he set off to the barn, and lay down to sleep; but a little on
+in the night came such a clatter, and such an earthquake, that walls
+and roof shook, and groaned, and creaked; then up jumped the lad, and
+took to his heels as fast as ever he could; nor dared he once look
+round till he reached home; and as for the hay, why it was eaten up
+this year just as it had been twice before.
+
+The next St. John's night, the man said again, it would never do to
+lose all the grass in the outlying field year after year in this way,
+so one of his sons must just trudge off to watch it, and watch it well
+too. Well, the next oldest son was ready to try his luck, so he set
+off, and lay down to sleep in the barn as his brother had done before
+him; but as the night wore on, there came on a rumbling and quaking of
+the earth, worse even than on the last St. John's night, and when the
+lad heard it, he got frightened, and took to his heels as though he
+were running a race.
+
+Next year the turn came to _Boots_; but when he made ready to go, the
+other two began to laugh and to make game of him, saying:
+
+"You're just the man to watch the hay, that you are; you, who have
+done nothing all your life but sit in the ashes and toast yourself by
+the fire."
+
+But _Boots_ did not care a pin for their chattering, and stumped away
+as evening grew on, up the hill-side to the outlying field. There he
+went inside the barn and lay down; but in about an hour's time the
+barn began to groan and creak, so that it was dreadful to hear.
+
+"Well," said _Boots_ to himself, "if it isn't worse than this, I can
+stand it well enough."
+
+A little while after came another creak and an earthquake, so that the
+litter in the barn flew about the lad's ears. "Oh!" said _Boots_ to
+himself, "if it isn't worse than this, I daresay I can stand it out."
+
+But just then came a third rumbling, and a third earthquake, so that
+the lad thought walls and roof were coming down on his head; but it
+passed off, and all was still as death about him.
+
+"It'll come again, I'll be bound," thought _Boots_; but no, it didn't
+come again; still it was, and still it stayed; but after he had lain a
+little while, he heard a noise as if a horse were standing just
+outside the barn-door, and cropping the grass. He stole to the door,
+and peeped through a chink, and there stood a horse feeding away. So
+big, and fat, and grand a horse, _Boots_ had never set eyes on; by his
+side on the grass lay a saddle and bridle, and a full set of armour
+for a knight, all of brass, so bright that the light gleamed from it.
+
+"Ho, ho!" thought the lad; "it's you, is it, that eats up our hay?
+I'll soon put a spoke in your wheel, just see if I don't."
+
+So he lost no time, but took the steel out of his tinder-box, and
+threw it over the horse; then it had no power to stir from the spot,
+and became so tame that the lad could do what he liked with it. So he
+got on its back, and rode off with it to a place which no one knew of,
+and there he put up the horse. When he got home, his brothers laughed
+and asked how he had fared?
+
+"You didn't lie long in the barn, even if you had the heart to go so
+far as the field."
+
+"Well," said _Boots_, "all I can say is, I lay in the barn till the
+sun rose, and neither saw nor heard anything; I can't think what there
+was in the barn to make you both so afraid."
+
+"A pretty story," said his brothers; "but we'll soon see how you have
+watched the meadow;" so they set off; but when they reached it, there
+stood the grass as deep and thick as it had been over night.
+
+Well, the next St. John's eve it was the same story over again;
+neither of the elder brothers dared to go out to the outlying field to
+watch the crop; but _Boots_, he had the heart to go, and everything
+happened just as it had happened the year before. First a clatter and
+an earthquake, then a greater clatter and another earthquake, and so
+on a third time; only this year the earthquakes were far worse than
+the year before. Then all at once everything was as still as death,
+and the lad heard how something was cropping the grass outside the
+barn-door, so he stole to the door, and peeped through a chink; and
+what do you think he saw? Why, another horse standing right up against
+the wall, and chewing and champing with might and main. It was far
+finer and fatter than that which came the year before, and it had a
+saddle on its back, and a bridle on its neck, and a full suit of mail
+for a knight lay by its side, all of silver, and as grand as you would
+wish to see.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said _Boots_ to himself; "it's you that gobbles up our hay,
+is it? I'll soon put a spoke in your wheel;" and with that he took the
+steel out of his tinder-box, and threw it over the horse's crest,
+which stood as still as a lamb. Well, the lad rode this horse, too, to
+the hiding-place where he kept the other one, and after that he went
+home.
+
+"I suppose you'll tell us," said one of his brothers, "there's a fine
+crop this year too, up in the hayfield."
+
+"Well, so there is," said _Boots_; and off ran the others to see, and
+there stood the grass thick and deep, as it was the year before; but
+they didn't give _Boots_ softer words for all that.
+
+Now, when the third St. John's eve came, the two elder brothers still
+hadn't the heart to lie out in the barn and watch the grass, for they
+had got so scared at heart the nights they lay there before, that they
+couldn't get over the fright; but _Boots_, he dared to go; and, to
+make a very long story short, the very same thing happened this time
+as had happened twice before. Three earthquakes came, one after the
+other, each worse than the one which went before, and when the last
+came, the lad danced about with the shock from one barn wall to the
+other; and after that, all at once, it was still as death. Now when he
+had laid a little while, he heard something tugging away at the grass
+outside the barn, so he stole again to the door-chink, and peeped out,
+and there stood a horse close outside--far, far bigger and fatter than
+the two he had taken before.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said the lad to himself, "it's you, is it, that comes here
+eating up our hay? I'll soon stop that--I'll soon put a spoke in your
+wheel." So he caught up his steel and threw it over his horse's neck,
+and in a trice it stood as if it were nailed to the ground, and
+_Boots_ could do as he pleased with it. Then he rode off with it to
+the hiding-place where he kept the other two, and then went home. When
+he got home, his two brothers made game of him as they had done
+before, saying, they could see he had watched the grass well, for he
+looked for all the world as if he were walking in his sleep, and many
+other spiteful things they said, but _Boots_ gave no heed to them,
+only asking them to go and see for themselves; and when they went,
+there stood the grass as fine and deep this time as it had been twice
+before.
+
+Now, you must know that the king of the country where _Boots_ lived
+had a daughter, whom he would only give to the man who could ride up
+over the hill of glass, for there was a high, high hill, all of glass,
+as smooth and slippery as ice, close by the _King's_ palace. Upon the
+tip top of the hill the _King's_ daughter was to sit, with three
+golden apples in her lap, and the man who could ride up and carry off
+the three golden apples, was to have half the kingdom, and the
+_Princess_ to wife. This the _King_ had stuck up on all the
+church-doors in his realm, and had given it out in many other
+kingdoms besides. Now, this _Princess_ was so lovely that all who set
+eyes on her fell over head and ears in love with her whether they
+would or no. So I needn't tell you how all the princes and knights who
+heard of her were eager to win her to wife, and half the kingdom
+beside; and how they came riding from all parts of the world on high
+prancing horses, and clad in the grandest clothes, for there wasn't
+one of them who hadn't made up his mind that he, and he alone, was to
+win the _Princess_.
+
+So when the day of trial came, which the king had fixed, there was
+such a crowd of princes and knights under the _Glass Hill_, that it
+made one's head whirl to look at them, and everyone in the country
+who could even crawl along was off to the hill, for they were all
+eager to see the man who was to win the _Princess_. So the two elder
+brothers set off with the rest; but as for _Boots_, they said outright
+he shouldn't go with them, for if they were seen with such a dirty
+changeling, all begrimed with smut from cleaning their shoes and
+sifting cinders in the dust-hole, they said folk would make game of
+them.
+
+"Very well," said _Boots_, "it's all one to me. I can go alone, and
+stand or fall by myself."
+
+Now when the two brothers came to the _Hill of Glass_, the knights and
+princes were all hard at it, riding their horses till they were all in
+a foam; but it was no good, by my troth; for as soon as ever the
+horses set foot on the hill, down they slipped, and there wasn't one
+who could get a yard or two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as
+smooth as a sheet of glass, and as steep as a house-wall. But all were
+eager to have the _Princess_ and half the kingdom. So they rode and
+slipped, and slipped and rode, and still it was the same story over
+again. At last all their horses were so weary that they could scarce
+lift a leg, and in such a sweat that the lather dripped from them, and
+so the knights had to give up trying any more. So the king was just
+thinking that he would proclaim a new trial for the next day, to see
+if they would have better luck, when all at once a knight came riding
+up on so brave a steed, that no one had ever seen the like of it in
+his born days, and the knight had mail of brass, and the horse a brass
+bit in his mouth, so bright that the sunbeams shone from it. Then all
+the others called out to him he might just as well spare himself the
+trouble of riding at the Hill, for it would lead to no good; but he
+gave no heed to them, and put his horse at the hill, and went up it
+like nothing for a good way, about a third of the height; and when he
+had got so far, he turned his horse round and rode down again. So
+lovely a knight the _Princess_ thought she had never yet seen; and
+while he was riding, she sat and thought to herself:
+
+"Would to heaven he might only come up and down the other side."
+
+And when she saw him turning back, she threw down one of the golden
+apples after him, and it rolled down into his shoe. But when he got to
+the bottom of the hill, he rode off so fast that no one could tell
+what had become of him. That evening all the knights and princes were
+to go before the king, that he who had ridden so far up the hill might
+show the apple which the _Princess_ had thrown, but there was no one
+who had anything to show. One after the other they all came, but not a
+man of them could show the apple.
+
+At even the brothers of _Boots_ came home too, and had such a long
+story to tell about the riding up the hill.
+
+"First of all," they said, "there was not one of the whole lot who
+could get so much as a stride up; but at last came one who had a suit
+of brass mail, and a brass bridle and saddle, all so bright that the
+sun shone from them a mile off. He was a chap to ride, just! He rode a
+third of the way up the _Hill of Glass_, and he could easily have
+ridden the whole way up, if he chose; but he turned round and rode
+down, thinking, maybe, that was enough for once."
+
+"Oh! I should so like to have seen him, that I should," said _Boots_,
+who sat by the fireside, and stuck his feet into the cinders, as was
+his wont.
+
+"Oh!" said his brothers, "you would, would you? You look fit to keep
+company with such high lords, nasty beast that you are, sitting there
+amongst the ashes."
+
+Next day the brothers were all for setting off again, and _Boots_
+begged them this time, too, to let him go with them and see the
+riding; but no, they wouldn't have him at any price, he was too ugly
+and nasty, they said.
+
+"Well, well!" said _Boots_; "if I go at all, I must go by myself. I'm
+not afraid."
+
+So when the brothers got to the _Hill of Glass_, all the princes and
+knights began to ride again, and you may fancy they had taken care to
+shoe their horses sharp; but it was no good--they rode and slipped,
+and slipped and rode, just as they had done the day before, and there
+was not one who could get so far as a yard up the hill. And when they
+had worn out their horses, so that they could not stir a leg, they
+were all forced to give it up as a bad job. So the king thought he
+might as well proclaim that the riding should take place the day after
+for the last time, just to give them one chance more; but all at once
+it came across his mind that he might as well wait a little longer, to
+see if the knight in brass mail would come this day too. Well, they
+saw nothing of him; but all at once came one riding on a steed, far,
+far braver and finer than that on which the knight in brass had
+ridden, and he had silver mail, and a silver saddle and bridle, all so
+bright that the sunbeams gleamed and glanced from them far away. Then
+the others shouted out to him again, saying, he might as well hold
+hard, and not try to ride up the hill, for all his trouble would be
+thrown away; but the knight paid no heed to them, and rode straight
+at the hill, and right up it, till he had gone two-thirds of the way,
+and then he wheeled his horse round and rode down again. To tell the
+truth, the _Princess_ liked him still better than the knight in brass,
+and she sat and wished he might only be able to come right up to the
+top, and down the other side; but when she saw him turning back, she
+threw the second apple after him, and it rolled down and fell into his
+shoe. But, as soon as ever he had come down from the _Hill of Glass_,
+he rode off so fast that no one could see what became of him.
+
+At even, when all were to go in before the king and the _Princess_,
+that he who had the golden apple might show it, in they went, one
+after the other, but there was no one who had any apple to show, and
+the two brothers, as they had done on the former day, went home and
+told how things had gone, and how all had ridden at the hill, and none
+got up.
+
+"But, last of all," they said, "came one in a silver suit, and his
+horse had a silver saddle and a silver bridle. He was just a chap to
+ride; and he got two-thirds up the hill, and then turned back. He was
+a fine fellow, and no mistake; and the _Princess_ threw the second
+gold apple to him."
+
+"Oh!" said _Boots_, "I should so like to have seen him too, that I
+should."
+
+"A pretty story," they said. "Perhaps you think his coat of mail was
+as bright as the ashes you are always poking about, and sifting, you
+nasty dirty beast."
+
+The third day everything happened as it had happened the two days
+before. _Boots_ begged to go and see the sight, but the two wouldn't
+hear of his going with them. When they got to the hill there was no
+one who could get so much as a yard up it; and now all waited for the
+knight in silver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of him. At last
+came one riding on a steed, so brave that no one had ever seen his
+match; and the knight had a suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle
+and bridle, so wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them a
+mile off. The other knights and princes could not find time to call
+out to him not to try his luck, for they were amazed to see how grand
+he was. So he rode right at the hill, and tore up it like nothing, so
+that the _Princess_ hadn't even time to wish that he might get up the
+whole way. As soon as ever he reached the top, he took the third
+golden apple from the _Princess'_ lap, and then turned his horse and
+rode down again. As soon as he got down, he rode off at full speed,
+and was out of sight in no time.
+
+Now, when the brothers got home at even, you may fancy what long
+stories they told, how the riding had gone off that day; and amongst
+other things, they had a deal to say about the knight in golden mail.
+
+"He just was a chap to ride!" they said; "so grand a knight isn't to
+be found in the wide world."
+
+"Oh!" said _Boots_, "I should so like to have seen him, that I
+should."
+
+"Ah!" said his brothers, "his mail shone a deal brighter than the
+glowing coals which you are always poking and digging at; nasty dirty
+beast that you are."
+
+Next day all the knights and princes were to pass before the king and
+the _Princess_--it was too late to do so the night before, I
+suppose--that he who had the gold apple might bring it forth; but one
+came after another, first the _Princes_, and then the knights, and
+still no one could show the gold apple.
+
+"Well," said the king, "some one must have it, for it was something we
+all saw with our own eyes, how a man came and rode up and bore it
+off."
+
+So he commanded that every man who was in the kingdom should come up
+to the palace and see if they could show the apple. Well, they all
+came one after another, but no one had the golden apple, and after a
+long time the two brothers of _Boots_ came. They were the last of all,
+so the king asked them if there was no one else in the kingdom who
+hadn't come.
+
+"Oh, yes," said they; "we have a brother, but he never carried off the
+golden apple. He hasn't stirred out of the dusthole on any of the
+three days."
+
+"Never mind that," said the king; "he may as well come up to the
+palace like the rest."
+
+So _Boots_ had to go up to the palace.
+
+"How now," said the king; "have you got the golden apple? Speak out!"
+
+"Yes, I have," said _Boots_; "here is the first, and here is the
+second, and here is the third too;" and with that he pulled all three
+golden apples out of his pocket, and at the same time threw off his
+sooty rags, and stood before them in his gleaming golden mail.
+
+"Yes!" said the king; "you shall have my daughter, and half my
+kingdom, for you well deserve both her and it."
+
+So they got ready for the wedding, and _Boots_ got the _Princess_ to
+wife, and there was great merry-making at the bridal-feast, you may
+fancy, for they could all be merry though they couldn't ride up the
+_Hill of Glass_; and all I can say is, if they haven't left off their
+merry-making yet, why, they're still at it.
+
+
+
+
+THE WIDOW'S SON
+
+
+Once on a time there was a poor, poor _Widow_, who had an only _Son_.
+She dragged on with the boy till he had been confirmed, and then she
+said she couldn't feed him any longer, he must just go out and earn
+his own bread. So the lad wandered out into the world, and when he had
+walked a day or so, a strange man met him.
+
+"Whither away?" asked the man.
+
+[Illustration: When he had walked a day or so, a strange man met him.
+"Whither away?" asked the man.]
+
+"Oh, I'm going out into the world to try and get a place," said the
+lad.
+
+"Will you come and serve me?" said the man.
+
+"Oh, yes; just as soon you as any one else," said the lad.
+
+"Well, you'll have a good place with me," said the man; "for you'll
+only have to keep me company, and do nothing at all else beside."
+
+So the lad stopped with him, and lived on the fat of the land, both in
+meat and drink, and had little or nothing to do; but he never saw a
+living soul in that man's house.
+
+So one day the man said:
+
+"Now, I'm going off for eight days, and that time you'll have to spend
+here all alone; but you must not go into any one of these four rooms
+here. If you do, I'll take your life when I come back."
+
+"No," said the lad, he'd be sure not to do that. But when the man had
+been gone three or four days, the lad couldn't bear it any longer, but
+went into the first room, and when he got inside he looked round, but
+he saw nothing but a shelf over the door where a bramble-bush rod
+lay.
+
+Well, indeed! thought the lad; a pretty thing to forbid my seeing
+this.
+
+So when the eight days were out, the man came home, and the first
+thing he said was:
+
+"You haven't been into any of these rooms, of course."
+
+"No, no; that I haven't," said the lad.
+
+"I'll soon see that," said the man, and went at once into the room
+where the lad had been.
+
+"Nay, but you have been in here," said he; "and now you shall lose
+your life."
+
+Then the lad begged and prayed so hard that he got off with his life,
+but the man gave him a good thrashing. And when it was over, they
+were as good friends as ever.
+
+Some time after the man set off again, and said he should be away
+fourteen days; but before he went he forbade the lad to go into any of
+the rooms he had not been in before; as for that he had been in, he
+might go into that, and welcome. Well, it was the same story over
+again, except that the lad stood out eight days before he went in. In
+this room, too, he saw nothing but a shelf over the door, and a big
+stone, and a pitcher of water on it. Well, after all, there's not much
+to be afraid of my seeing here, thought the lad.
+
+But when the man came back, he asked if he had been into any of the
+rooms. No, the lad hadn't done anything of the kind.
+
+"Well, well; I'll soon see that," said the man; and when he saw the
+lad had been in them after all, he said:
+
+"Ah! now I'll spare you no longer; now you must lose your life."
+
+But the lad begged and prayed for himself again, and so this time too
+he got off with stripes; though he got as many as his skin would
+carry. But when he got sound and well again, he led just as easy a
+life as ever, and he and the man were just as good friends.
+
+So a while after the man was to take another journey, and now he said
+he should be away three weeks, and he forbade the lad anew to go into
+the third room, for if he went in there he might just make up his mind
+at once to lose his life. Then after fourteen days the lad couldn't
+bear it, but crept into the room, but he saw nothing at all in there
+but a trap door on the floor; and when he lifted it up and looked
+down, there stood a great copper cauldron which bubbled up and boiled
+away down there; but he saw no fire under it.
+
+"Well, I should just like to know if it's hot," thought the lad, and
+struck his finger down into the broth, and when he pulled it out
+again, lo! it was gilded all over. So the lad scraped and scrubbed it,
+but the gilding wouldn't go off, so he bound a piece of rag round it;
+and when the man came back, and asked what was the matter with his
+finger, the lad said he'd given it such a bad cut. But the man tore
+off the rag, and then he soon saw what was the matter with the finger.
+First he wanted to kill the lad outright, but when he wept, and
+begged, he only gave him such a thrashing that he had to keep his bed
+three days. After that the man took down a pot from the wall, and
+rubbed him over with some stuff out of it, and so the lad was as
+sound and fresh as ever.
+
+So after a while the man started off again, and this time he was to be
+away a month. But before he went, he said to the lad, if he went into
+the fourth room he might give up all hope of saving his life.
+
+Well, the lad stood out for two or three weeks, but then he couldn't
+hold out any longer; he must and would go into that room, and so in he
+stole. There stood a great black horse tied up in a stall by himself,
+with a manger of red-hot coals at his head and a truss of hay at his
+tail. Then the lad thought this all wrong, so he changed them about,
+and put the hay at his head. Then said the _Horse_:
+
+"Since you are so good at heart as to let me have some food, I'll set
+you free, that I will. For if the _Troll_ comes back and finds you
+here, he'll kill you outright. But now you must go up to the room
+which lies just over this, and take a coat of mail out of those that
+hang there; and mind, whatever you do, don't take any of the bright
+ones, but the most rusty of all you see, that's the one to take; and
+sword and saddle you must choose for yourself just in the same way."
+
+So the lad did all that; but it was a heavy load for him to carry them
+all down at once.
+
+When he came back, the _Horse_ told him to pull off his clothes and
+get into the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and
+bathe himself there. "If I do," thought the lad, "I shall look an
+awful fright;" but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had
+taken his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white
+as milk and blood, and much stronger than he had been before.
+
+"Do you feel any change?" asked the _Horse_.
+
+"Yes," said the lad.
+
+"Try and lift me, then," said the _Horse_.
+
+Oh yes! he could do that, and as for the sword, he brandished it like
+a feather.
+
+"Now saddle me," said the _Horse_, "and put on the coat of mail, and
+then take the bramble-bush rod, and the stone, and the pitcher of
+water, and the pot of ointment, and then we'll be off as fast as we
+can."
+
+So when the lad had got on the horse, off they went at such a rate, he
+couldn't at all tell how they went. But when he had ridden awhile, the
+_Horse_ said, "I think I hear a noise; look round! can you see
+anything?"
+
+"Yes; there are ever so many coming after us, at least a score," said
+the lad.
+
+"Aye, aye, that's the _Troll_ coming," said the _Horse_; "now he's
+after us with his pack."
+
+So they rode on a while, until those who followed were close behind
+them.
+
+"Now throw your bramble-bush rod behind you, over your shoulder," said
+the _Horse_; "but mind you throw it a good way off my back."
+
+So the lad did that, and all at once a close, thick bramblewood grew
+up behind them. So the lad rode on a long, long time, while the
+_Troll_ and his crew had to go home to fetch something to hew their
+way through the wood. But at last the _Horse_ said again:
+
+"Look behind you! can you see anything now?"
+
+"Yes, ever so many," said the lad, "as many as would fill a large
+church."
+
+"Aye, aye, that's the _Troll_ and his crew," said the _Horse_; "now
+he's got more to back him; but now throw down the stone, and mind you
+throw it far behind me."
+
+And as soon as the lad did what the _Horse_ said, up rose a great
+black hill of rock behind him. So the _Troll_ had to be off home to
+fetch something to mine his way through the rock; and while the
+_Troll_ did that, the lad rode a good bit further on. But still the
+_Horse_ begged him to look behind him, and then he saw a troop like a
+whole army behind him, and they glistened in the sunbeams.
+
+[Illustration: But still the Horse begged him to look behind him.]
+
+"Aye, aye," said the _Horse_, "that's the _Troll_, and now he's got
+his whole band with him, so throw the pitcher of water behind you, but
+mind you don't spill any of it upon me."
+
+So the lad did that; but in spite of all the pains he took, he still
+spilt one drop on the horse's flank. So it became a great deep lake;
+and because of that one drop, the horse found himself far out in it,
+but still he swam safe to land. But when the _Trolls_ came to the
+lake, they lay down to drink it dry; and so they swilled and swilled
+till they burst.
+
+"Now we're rid of them," said the _Horse_.
+
+So when they had gone a long, long while, they came to a green patch
+in a wood.
+
+"Now, strip off all your arms," said the _Horse_, "and only put on
+your ragged clothes, and take the saddle off me, and let me loose, and
+hang all my clothing and your arms up inside that great hollow
+lime-tree yonder. Then make yourself a wig of fir-moss, and go up to
+the king's palace, which lies close here, and ask for a place.
+Whenever you need me, only come here and shake the bridle, and I'll
+come to you."
+
+Yes! the lad did all his _Horse_ told him, and as soon as ever he put
+on the wig of moss he became so ugly, and pale, and miserable to look
+at, no one would have known him again. Then he went up to the king's
+palace and begged first for leave to be in the kitchen, and bring in
+wood and water for the cook, but then the kitchen-maid asked him:
+
+"Why do you wear that ugly wig? Off with it. I won't have such a
+fright in here."
+
+"No, I can't do that," said the lad; "for I'm not quite right in my
+head."
+
+"Do you think then I'll have you in here about the food," cried the
+cook. "Away with you to the coachman; you're best fit to go and clean
+the stable."
+
+But when the coachman begged him to take his wig off, he got the same
+answer, and he wouldn't have him either.
+
+"You'd best go down to the gardener," said he; "you're best fit to go
+about and dig in the garden."
+
+So he got leave to be with the gardener, but none of the other
+servants would sleep with him, and so he had to sleep by himself under
+the steps of the summer-house. It stood upon beams, and had a high
+staircase. Under that he got some turf for his bed, and there he lay
+as well as he could.
+
+So, when he had been some time at the palace, it happened one morning,
+just as the sun rose, that the lad had taken off his wig, and stood
+and washed himself, and then he was so handsome, it was a joy to look
+at him.
+
+So the _Princess_ saw from her window the lovely gardener's boy, and
+thought she had never seen any one so handsome. Then she asked the
+gardener why he lay out there under the steps.
+
+"Oh," said the gardener, "none of his fellow-servants will sleep with
+him; that's why."
+
+"Let him come up to-night, and lie at the door inside my bedroom, and
+then they'll not refuse to sleep with him any more," said the
+_Princess_.
+
+So the gardener told that to the lad.
+
+"Do you think I'll do any such thing?" said the lad. "Why they'd say
+next there was something between me and the _Princess_."
+
+"Yes," said the gardener, "you've good reason to fear any such thing,
+you who are so handsome."
+
+"Well, well," said the lad, "since it's her will, I suppose I must
+go."
+
+So, when he was to go up the steps in the evening, he tramped and
+stamped so on the way, that they had to beg him to tread softly lest
+the _King_ should come to know it. So he came into the _Princess'_
+bedroom, lay down, and began to snore at once. Then the _Princess_
+said to her maid:
+
+"Go gently, and just pull his wig off;" and she went up to him.
+
+But just as she was going to whisk it off, he caught hold of it with
+both hands, and said she should never have it. After that he lay down
+again, and began to snore. Then the _Princess_ gave her maid a wink,
+and this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad so
+lovely, and white and red, just as the _Princess_ had seen him in the
+morning sun.
+
+[Illustration: And this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the
+lad, so lovely, and white and red, just as the Princess had seen him in
+the morning sun.]
+
+After that the lad slept every night in the _Princess'_ bedroom.
+
+But it wasn't long before the _King_ came to hear how the gardener's
+lad slept every night in the _Princess'_ bedroom; and he got so wroth
+he almost took the lad's life. He didn't do that, however, but he
+threw him into the prison tower; and as for his daughter, he shut her
+up in her own room, whence she never got leave to stir day or night.
+All that she begged, and all that she prayed, for the lad and herself,
+was no good. The _King_ was only more wroth than ever.
+
+Some time after came a war and uproar in the land, and the _King_ had
+to take up arms against another king who wished to take the kingdom
+from him. So when the lad heard that, he begged the gaoler to go to
+the _King_ and ask for a coat of mail and a sword, and for leave to go
+to the war. All the rest laughed when the gaoler told his errand, and
+begged the _King_ to let him have an old worn-out suit, that they
+might have the fun of seeing such a wretch in battle. So he got that,
+and an old broken-down hack besides, which went upon three legs, and
+dragged the fourth after it.
+
+[Illustration: The Lad in the Battle.]
+
+Then they went out to meet the foe; but they hadn't got far from the
+palace before the lad got stuck fast in a bog with his hack. There he
+sat and dug his spurs in, and cried, "Gee up! gee up!" to his hack.
+And all the rest had their fun out of this, and laughed, and made game
+of the lad as they rode past him. But they were scarcely gone, before
+he ran to the lime-tree, threw on his coat of mail, and shook the
+bridle, and there came the _Horse_ in a trice, and said: "Do now your
+best, and I'll do mine."
+
+But when the lad came up the battle had begun, and the _King_ was in a
+sad pinch; but no sooner had the lad rushed into the thick of it than
+the foe was beaten back, and put to flight. The _King_ and his men
+wondered and wondered who it could be who had come to help them, but
+none of them got so near him as to be able to talk to him, and as soon
+as the fight was over he was gone. When they went back, there sat the
+lad still in the bog, and dug his spurs into his three-legged hack,
+and they all laughed again.
+
+"No! only just look," they said; "there the fool sits still."
+
+The next day when they went out to battle, they saw the lad sitting
+there still, so they laughed again, and made game of him; but as soon
+as ever they had ridden by, the lad ran again to the lime-tree, and
+all happened as on the first day. Every one wondered what strange
+champion it could be that had helped them, but no one got so near him
+as to say a word to him; and no one guessed it could be the lad;
+that's easy to understand.
+
+So when they went home at night, and saw the lad still sitting there
+on his hack, they burst out laughing at him again, and one of them
+shot an arrow at him and hit him in the leg. So he began to shriek and
+to bewail; 'twas enough to break one's heart; and so the _King_ threw
+his pocket-handkerchief to him to bind his wound.
+
+When they went out to battle the third day, the lad still sat there.
+
+"Gee up! gee up!" he said to his hack.
+
+"Nay, nay," said the _King's_ men; "if he won't stick there till he's
+starved to death."
+
+And then they rode on, and laughed at him till they were fit to fall
+from their horses. When they were gone, he ran again to the lime, and
+came up to the battle just in the very nick of time. This day he slew
+the enemy's king, and then the war was over at once.
+
+When the battle was over, the _King_ caught sight of his handkerchief,
+which the strange warrior had bound round his leg, and so it wasn't
+hard to find him out. So they took him with great joy between them to
+the palace, and the _Princess_, who saw him from her window, got so
+glad, no one can believe it.
+
+"Here comes my own true love," she said.
+
+Then he took the pot of ointment and rubbed himself on the leg, and
+after that he rubbed all the wounded, and so they all got well again
+in a moment.
+
+So he got the _Princess_ to wife; but when he went down into the
+stable where his horse was on the day the wedding was to be, there it
+stood so dull and heavy, and hung its ears down, and wouldn't eat its
+corn. So when the young _King_--for he was now a king, and had got
+half the kingdom--spoke to him, and asked what ailed him, the _Horse_
+said:
+
+"Now I have helped you on, and now I won't live any longer. So just
+take the sword, and cut my head off."
+
+"No, I'll do nothing of the kind," said the young _King_; "but you
+shall have all you want, and rest all your life."
+
+"Well," said the _Horse_, "if you don't do as I tell you, see if I
+don't take your life somehow."
+
+So the _King_ had to do what he asked; but when he swung the sword and
+was to cut his head off, he was so sorry he turned away his face, for
+he would not see the stroke fall. But as soon as ever he had cut off
+the head, there stood the loveliest _Prince_ on the spot where the
+horse had stood.
+
+"Why, where in all the world did you come from?" asked the _King_.
+
+"It was I who was a horse," said the _Prince_; "for I was king of
+that land whose king you slew yesterday. He it was who threw this
+_Troll's_ shape over me, and sold me to the _Troll_. But now he is
+slain I get my own again, and you and I will be neighbour kings, but
+war we will never make on one another."
+
+And they didn't either; for they were friends as long as they lived,
+and each paid the other very many visits.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF
+
+
+Once on a time there were three _Billy-goats_, who were to go up to
+the hill-side to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was
+"_Gruff_."
+
+On the way up was a bridge over a burn they had to cross; and under
+the bridge lived a great ugly _Troll_, with eyes as big as saucers,
+and a nose as long as a poker.
+
+So first of all came the youngest billy-goat _Gruff_ to cross the
+bridge.
+
+"Trip, trap! trip, trap!" went the bridge.
+
+"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh! it is only I, the tiniest billy-goat _Gruff_; and I'm going up to
+the hill-side to make myself fat," said the billy-goat, with such a
+small voice.
+
+"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh, no! pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the
+billy-goat; "wait a bit till the second billy-goat _Gruff_ comes, he's
+much bigger."
+
+"Well! be off with you," said the _Troll_.
+
+A little while after came the second billy-goat _Gruff_ to cross the
+bridge.
+
+"TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!" went the bridge.
+
+"WHO'S THAT tripping over my bridge?" roared the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh! It's the second billy-goat _Gruff_, and I'm going up to the
+hill-side to make myself fat," said the billy-goat, who hadn't such a
+small voice.
+
+"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh, no! don't take me, wait a little till the big billy-goat _Gruff_
+comes, he's much bigger."
+
+"Very well! be off with you," said the _Troll_.
+
+But just then up came the big billy-goat _Gruff_.
+
+"TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!" went the bridge, for the
+billy-goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under
+him.
+
+"WHO'S THAT tramping over my bridge?" roared the _Troll_.
+
+"IT'S I! THE BIG BILLY-GOAT GRUFF," said the billy-goat, who had an
+ugly hoarse voice of his own.
+
+"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," roared the _Troll_.
+
+            "Well, come along! I've got two spears,
+            And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;
+            I've got besides two curling-stones,
+            And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones."
+
+That was what the big billy-goat said; and so he flew at the _Troll_
+and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body
+and bones, and tossed him out into the burn, and after that he went up
+to the hill-side. There the billy-goats got so fat they were scarce
+able to walk home again; and if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why
+they're still fat; and so:
+
+                        Snip, snap, snout,
+                        This tale's told out.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN
+
+
+There were once upon a time a _King_ and _Queen_ who had no children,
+and they took it so much to heart that they hardly ever had a happy
+moment. One day the _King_ stood in the portico and looked out over
+the big meadows and all that was his. But he felt he could have no
+enjoyment out of it all, since he did not know what would become of it
+after his time. As he stood there pondering, an old beggar woman came
+up to him and asked him for a trifle in heaven's name. She greeted him
+and curtsied, and asked what ailed the _King_, since he looked so
+sad.
+
+"You can't do anything to help me, my good woman," said the _King_;
+"it's no use telling you."
+
+"I am not so sure about that," said the beggar woman. "Very little is
+wanted when luck is in the way. The _King_ is thinking that he has no
+heir to his crown and kingdom, but he need not mourn on that account,"
+she said. "The _Queen_ shall have three daughters, but great care must
+be taken that they do not come out under the open heavens before they
+are all fifteen years old; otherwise a snowdrift will come and carry
+them away."
+
+When the time came the _Queen_ had a beautiful baby girl; the year
+after she had another, and the third year she also had a girl.
+
+The _King_ and _Queen_ were glad beyond all measure; but although the
+_King_ was very happy, he did not forget to set a watch at the Palace
+door, so that the _Princesses_ should not get out.
+
+As they grew up they became both fair and beautiful, and all went well
+with them in every way. Their only sorrow was that they were not
+allowed to go out and play like other children. For all they begged
+and prayed their parents, and for all they besought the sentinel, it
+was of no avail; go out they must not before they were fifteen years
+old, all of them.
+
+So one day, not long before the fifteenth birthday of the youngest
+_Princess_, the _King_ and the _Queen_ were out driving, and the
+_Princesses_ were standing at the window and looking out. The sun was
+shining, and everything looked so green and beautiful that they felt
+that they must go out, happen what might. So they begged and entreated
+and urged the sentinel, all three of them, that he should let them
+down into the garden. "He could see for himself how warm and pleasant
+it was; no snowy weather could come on such a day." Well, he didn't
+think it looked much like it either, and if they must go they had
+better go, the soldier said; but it must only be for a minute, and he
+himself would go with them and look after them.
+
+When they got down into the garden they ran up and down, and filled
+their laps with flowers and green leaves, the prettiest they could
+find. At last they could manage no more, but just as they were going
+indoors they caught sight of a large rose at the other end of the
+garden. It was many times prettier than any they had gathered, so they
+must have that also. But just as they bent down to take the rose a big
+dense snowdrift came and carried them away.
+
+[Illustration: Just as they bent down to take the rose a big dense
+snow-drift came and carried them away.]
+
+There was great mourning over the whole country, and the _King_ made
+known from all the churches that any one who could save the
+_Princesses_ should have half the kingdom and his golden crown and
+whichever princess he liked to choose.
+
+You can well understand there were plenty who wanted to gain half the
+kingdom, and a princess into the bargain; so there were people of both
+high and low degree who set out for all parts of the country. But
+there was no one who could find the _Princesses_, or even get any
+tidings of them.
+
+When all the grand and rich people in the country had had their turn,
+a captain and a lieutenant came to the Palace, and wanted to try their
+luck. The _King_ fitted them out both with silver and gold, and wished
+them success on their journey.
+
+Then came a soldier, who lived with his mother in a little cottage
+some way from the Palace. He had dreamt one night that he also was
+trying to find the _Princesses_. When the morning came he still
+remembered what he had dreamt, and told his mother about it.
+
+"Some witchery must have got hold of you," said the woman, "but you
+must dream the same thing three nights running, else there is nothing
+in it." And the next two nights the same thing happened; he had the
+same dream, and he felt he must go. So he washed himself and put on
+his uniform, and went into the kitchen at the Palace. It was the day
+after the captain and the lieutenant had set out.
+
+"You had better go home again," said the _King_, "the _Princesses_ are
+beyond your reach, I should say; and besides, I have spent so much
+money on outfits that I have nothing left to-day. You had better come
+back another time."
+
+"If I go, I must go to-day," said the soldier. "Money I do not want; I
+only need a drop in my flask and some food in my wallet," he said;
+"but it must be a good walletful--as much meat and bacon as I can
+carry."
+
+Yes, that he might have if that was all he wanted.
+
+So he set off, and he had not gone many miles before he overtook the
+captain and the lieutenant.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked the captain, when he saw the man in
+uniform.
+
+"I'm going to try if I can find the _Princesses_," answered the
+soldier.
+
+"So are we," said the captain, "and since your errand is the same, you
+may keep company with us, for if we don't find them, you are not
+likely to find them either, my lad," said he.
+
+When they had gone awhile the soldier left the high road, and took a
+path into the forest.
+
+"Where are you going?" said the captain; "it is best to follow the
+high road."
+
+"That may be," said the soldier, "but this is my way."
+
+He kept to the path, and when the others saw this they turned round
+and followed him. Away they went further and further, far across big
+moors and along narrow valleys.
+
+And at last it became lighter, and when they had got out of the forest
+altogether they came to a long bridge, which they had to cross. But on
+that bridge a bear stood on guard. He rose on his hind legs and came
+towards them, as if he wanted to eat them.
+
+"What shall we do now?" said the captain.
+
+"They say that the bear is fond of meat," said the soldier, and then
+he threw a fore quarter to him, and so they got past. But when they
+reached the other end of the bridge, they saw a lion, which came
+roaring towards them with open jaws as if he wanted to swallow them.
+
+"I think we had better turn right-about, we shall never be able to get
+past him alive," said the captain.
+
+"Oh, I don't think he is so very dangerous," said the soldier; "I have
+heard that lions are very fond of bacon, and I have half a pig in my
+wallet;" and then he threw a ham to the lion, who began eating and
+gnawing, and thus they got past him also.
+
+In the evening they came to a fine big house. Each room was more
+gorgeous than the other; all was glitter and splendour wherever they
+looked; but that did not satisfy their hunger. The captain and the
+lieutenant went round rattling their money, and wanted to buy some
+food; but they saw no people nor could they find a crumb of anything
+in the house, so the soldier offered them some food from his wallet,
+which they were not too proud to accept, nor did they want any
+pressing. They helped themselves of what he had as if they had never
+tasted food before.
+
+The next day the captain said they would have to go out shooting and
+try to get something to live upon. Close to the house was a large
+forest where there were plenty of hares and birds. The lieutenant was
+to remain at home and cook the remainder of the food in the soldier's
+wallet. In the meantime the captain and the soldier shot so much game
+that they were hardly able to carry it home. When they came to the
+door they found the lieutenant in such a terrible plight that he was
+scarcely able to open the door to them.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" said the captain. The lieutenant then
+told them that as soon as they were gone a tiny, little man, with a
+long beard, who went on crutches, came in and asked so plaintively for
+a penny; but no sooner had he got it than he let it fall on the
+floor, and for all he raked and scraped with his crutch he was not
+able to get hold of it, so stiff and stark was he.
+
+"I pitied the poor, old body," said the lieutenant, "and so I bent
+down to pick up the penny, but then he was neither stiff nor stark any
+longer. He began to belabour me with his crutches till very soon I was
+unable to move a limb."
+
+"You ought to be ashamed of yourself! you, one of the king's officers,
+to let an old cripple give you a thrashing, and then tell people of it
+into the bargain!" said the captain. "Pshaw! to-morrow I'll stop at
+home, and then you'll hear another story."
+
+The next day the lieutenant and the soldier went out shooting and the
+captain remained at home to do the cooking and look after the house.
+But if he fared no worse, he certainly fared no better than the
+lieutenant. In a little while the old man came in and asked for a
+penny. He let it fall as soon as he got it; gone it was and could not
+be found. So he asked the captain to help him to find it, and the
+captain, without giving a thought, bent down to look for it. But no
+sooner was he on his knees than the cripple began belabouring him with
+his crutches, and every time the captain tried to rise, he got a blow
+which sent him reeling. When the others came home in the evening, he
+still lay on the same spot and could neither see nor speak.
+
+The third day the soldier was to remain at home, while the other two
+went out shooting. The captain said he must take care of himself, "for
+the old fellow will soon put an end to you, my lad," said he.
+
+"Oh, there can't be much life in one if such an old crook can take
+it," said the soldier.
+
+They were no sooner outside the door, than the old man came in and
+asked for a penny again.
+
+"Money I have never owned," said the soldier, "but food I'll give you,
+as soon as it is ready," said he, "but if we are to get it cooked, you
+must go and cut the wood."
+
+"That I can't," said the old man.
+
+"If you can't, you must learn," said the soldier. "I will soon show
+you. Come along with me down to the wood-shed." There he dragged out a
+heavy log and cut a cleft in it, and drove in a wedge till the cleft
+deepened.
+
+"Now you must lie down and look right along the cleft, and you'll soon
+learn how to cut wood," said the soldier. "In the meantime I'll show
+you how to use the axe."
+
+The old man was not sufficiently cunning, and did as he was told; he
+lay down and looked steadily along the log. When the soldier saw the
+old man's beard had got well into the cleft, he struck out the wedge;
+the cleft closed and the old man was caught by the beard. The soldier
+began to beat him with the axe handle, and then swung the axe round
+his head, and vowed that he would split his skull if he did not tell
+him, there and then, where the _Princesses_ were.
+
+"Spare my life, spare my life, and I'll tell you!" said the old man.
+"To the east of the house there is a big mound; on top of the mound
+you must dig out a square piece of turf, and then you will see a big
+stone slab. Under that there is a deep hole through which you must let
+yourself down, and you'll then come to another world where you will
+find the _Princesses_. But the way is long and dark and it goes both
+through fire and water."
+
+When the soldier got to know this, he released the old man, who was
+not long in making off.
+
+When the captain and lieutenant came home they were surprised to find
+the soldier alive. He told them what had happened from first to last,
+where the _Princesses_ were and how they should find them. They
+became as pleased as if they had already found them, and when they had
+had some food, they took with them a basket and as much rope as they
+could find, and all three set off to the mound. There they first dug
+out the turf just as the old man had told them, and underneath they
+found a big stone slab, which it took all their strength to turn over.
+They then began to measure how deep it was; they joined on ropes both
+two and three times, but they were no nearer the bottom the last time
+than the first. At last they had to join all the ropes they had, both
+the coarse and fine, and then they found it reached the bottom.
+
+The captain was, of course, the first who wanted to descend; "But when
+I tug at the rope you must make haste to drag me up again," he said.
+He found the way both dark and unpleasant, but he thought he would go
+on as long as it became no worse. But all at once he felt ice cold
+water spouting about his ears; he became frightened to death and began
+tugging at the rope.
+
+The lieutenant was the next to try, but it fared no better with him.
+No sooner had he got through the flood of water than he saw a blazing
+fire yawning beneath him, which so frightened him that he also turned
+back.
+
+The soldier then got into the bucket, and down he went through fire
+and water, right on till he came to the bottom, where it was so pitch
+dark that he could not see his hand before him. He dared not let go
+the basket, but went round in a circle, feeling and fumbling about
+him. At last he discovered a gleam of light far, far away like the
+dawn of day, and he went on in that direction.
+
+When he had gone a bit it began to grow light around him, and before
+long he saw a golden sun rising in the sky and everything around him
+became as bright and beautiful as if in a fairy world.
+
+First he came to some cattle, which were so fat that their hides
+glistened a long way off, and when he had got past them he came to a
+fine, big palace. He walked through many rooms without meeting
+anybody. At last he heard the hum of a spinning wheel, and when he
+entered the room he found the eldest _Princess_ sitting there spinning
+copper yarn; the room and everything in it was of brightly polished
+copper.
+
+"Oh, dear; oh, dear! what are Christian people doing here?" said the
+_Princess_. "Heaven preserve you! what do you want?"
+
+"I want to set you free and get you out of the mountain," said the
+soldier.
+
+"Pray do not stay. If the troll comes home he will put an end to you
+at once; he has three heads," said she.
+
+"I do not care if he has four," said the soldier. "I am here, and here
+I shall remain."
+
+"Well, if you will be so headstrong, I must see if I can help you,"
+said the _Princess_.
+
+She then told him to creep behind the big brewing vat which stood in
+the front hall; meanwhile she would receive the troll and scratch his
+heads till he went to sleep.
+
+"And when I go out and call the hens you must make haste and come in,"
+she said. "But you must first try if you can swing the sword which is
+lying on the table." No, it was too heavy, he could not even move it.
+He had then to take a strengthening draught from the horn, which hung
+behind the door; after that he was just able to stir it, so he took
+another draught, and then he could lift it. At last he took a right,
+big draught, and he could swing the sword as easily as anything.
+
+All at once the troll came home; he walked so heavily that the palace
+shook.
+
+"Ugh, ugh! I smell Christian flesh and blood in my house," said he.
+
+"Yes," answered the _Princess_, "a raven flew past here just now, and
+in his beak he had a human bone, which he dropped down the chimney; I
+threw it out and swept and cleaned up after it, but I suppose it still
+smells."
+
+"So it does," said the troll.
+
+"But come and lie down and I'll scratch your heads," said the
+_Princess_; "the smell will be gone by the time you wake."
+
+[Illustration: The Troll was quite willing, and before long he fell
+asleep and began snoring.]
+
+The troll was quite willing, and before long he fell asleep and began
+snoring. When she saw he was sleeping soundly, she placed some stools
+and cushions under his heads and went to call the hens. The soldier
+then stole into the room with the sword, and with one blow cut all
+the three heads off the troll.
+
+The _Princess_ was as pleased as a fiddler, and went with the soldier
+to her sisters, so that he could also set them free. First of all they
+went across a courtyard and then through many long rooms till they
+came to a big door.
+
+"Here you must enter: here she is," said the _Princess_. When he
+opened the door he found himself in a large hall, where everything
+was of pure silver; there sat the second sister at a silver
+spinning-wheel.
+
+"Oh, dear; oh, dear!" she said. "What do you want here?"
+
+"I want to set you free from the troll," said the soldier.
+
+"Pray do not stay, but go," said the _Princess_. "If he finds you here
+he will take your life on the spot."
+
+"That would be awkward--that is if I don't take his first," said the
+soldier.
+
+"Well, since you will stay," she said, "you will have to creep behind
+the big brewing-vat in the front hall. But you must make haste and
+come as soon as you hear me calling the hens."
+
+First of all he had to try if he was able to swing the troll's sword,
+which lay on the table; it was much larger and heavier than the first
+one; he was hardly able to move it. He then took three draughts from
+the horn and he could then lift it, and when he had taken three more
+he could handle it as if it were a rolling pin.
+
+Shortly afterwards he heard a heavy, rumbling noise that was quite
+terrible, and directly afterwards a troll with six heads came in.
+
+"Ugh, ugh!" he said as soon as he got his noses inside the door. "I
+smell Christian blood and bone in my house."
+
+"Yes, just think! A raven came flying past here with a thigh-bone,
+which he dropped down the chimney," said the _Princess_. "I threw it
+out, but the raven brought it back again. At last I got rid of it and
+made haste to clean the room, but I suppose the smell is not quite
+gone," she said.
+
+"No, I can smell it well," said the troll; but he was tired and put
+his heads in the _Princess's_ lap, and she went on scratching them
+till they all fell a-snoring. Then she called the hens, and the
+soldier came and cut off all the six heads as if they were set on
+cabbage stalks.
+
+She was no less glad than her elder sister, as you may imagine, and
+danced and sang; but in the midst of their joy they remembered their
+youngest sister. They went with the soldier across a large courtyard,
+and, after walking through many, many rooms, he came to the hall of
+gold where the third sister was.
+
+She sat at a golden spinning-wheel spinning gold yarn, and the room
+from ceiling to floor glistened and glittered till it hurt one's
+eyes.
+
+"Heaven preserve both you and me, what do you want here?" said the
+_Princess_. "Go, go, else the troll will kill us both."
+
+"Just as well two as one," answered the soldier. The _Princess_ cried
+and wept; but it was all of no use, he must and would remain. Since
+there was no help for it he would have to try if he could use the
+troll's sword on the table in the front hall. But he was only just
+able to move it; it was still larger and heavier than the other two
+swords.
+
+He then had to take the horn down from the wall and take three
+draughts from it, but was only just able to stir the sword. When he
+had taken three more draughts he could lift it, and when he had taken
+another three he swung it as easily as if it had been a feather.
+
+The _Princess_ then settled with the soldier to do the same as her
+sisters had done. As soon as the troll was well asleep she would call
+the hens, and he must then make haste and come in and put an end to
+the troll.
+
+All of a sudden they heard such a thundering, rambling noise, as if
+the walls and roof were tumbling in.
+
+"Ugh! Ugh! I smell Christian blood and bone in my house," said the
+troll, sniffing with all his nine noses.
+
+"Yes, you never saw the like! Just now a raven flew past here and
+dropped a human bone down the chimney. I threw it out, but the raven
+brought it back, and this went on for some time," said the _Princess_;
+but she got it buried at last, she said, and she had both swept and
+cleaned the place, but she supposed it still smelt.
+
+"Yes, I can smell it well," said the troll.
+
+"Come here and lie down in my lap and I will scratch your heads," said
+the _Princess_. "The smell will be all gone when you awake."
+
+He did so, and when he was snoring at his best she put stools and
+cushions under the heads so that she could get away to call the hens.
+The soldier then came in in his stockinged feet and struck at the
+troll, so that eight of the heads fell off at one blow. But the sword
+was too short and did not reach far enough; the ninth head woke up and
+began to roar.
+
+"Ugh! Ugh! I smell a Christian."
+
+"Yes, here he is," answered the soldier, and before the troll could
+get up and seize hold of him the soldier struck him another blow and
+the last head rolled along the floor.
+
+You can well imagine how glad the _Princesses_ became now that they no
+longer had to sit and scratch the trolls' heads; they did not know how
+they could do enough for him who had saved them. The youngest
+_Princess_ took off her gold ring and knotted it in his hair. They
+then took with them as much gold and silver as they thought they
+could carry and set off on their way home.
+
+[Illustration: As soon as they tugged at the rope, the Captain and the
+Lieutenant pulled up the Princesses, the one after the other.]
+
+As soon as they tugged at the rope the captain and the lieutenant
+pulled up the _Princesses_, the one after the other. But when they
+were safely up, the soldier thought it was foolish of him not to have
+gone up before the _Princesses_, for he had not very much belief in
+his comrades. He thought he would first try them, so he put a heavy
+lump of gold in the basket and got out of the way. When the basket was
+half-way up they cut the rope and the lump of gold fell to the bottom
+with such a crash that the pieces flew about his ears.
+
+"Now we are rid of him," they said, and threatened the _Princesses_
+with their life if they did not say that it was they who had saved
+them from the trolls. They were forced to agree to this, much against
+their will, and especially the youngest _Princess_; but life was
+precious, and so the two who were strongest had their way.
+
+When the captain and lieutenant got home with the _Princesses_ you may
+be sure there were great rejoicings at the palace. The _King_ was so
+glad he didn't know which leg to stand on; he brought out his best
+wine from his cupboard and wished the two officers welcome. If they
+had never been honoured before they were honoured now in full measure,
+and no mistake. They walked and strutted about the whole of the day,
+as if they were the cocks of the walk, since they were now going to
+have the _King_ for father-in-law. For it was understood they should
+each have whichever of the _Princesses_ they liked and half the
+kingdom between them. They both wanted the youngest _Princess_, but
+for all they prayed and threatened her it was of no use; she would not
+hear or listen to either.
+
+They then asked the _King_ if they might have twelve men to watch over
+her; she was so sad and melancholy since she had been in the mountain
+that they were afraid she might do something to herself.
+
+Yes, that they might have, and the _King_ himself told the watch they
+must look well after her and follow her wherever she went and stood.
+
+They then began to prepare for the wedding of the two eldest
+sisters; it should be such a wedding as never was heard or spoken
+of before, and there was no end to the brewing and the baking and the
+slaughtering.
+
+In the meantime the soldier walked and strolled about down in the
+other world. He thought it was hard that he should see neither people
+nor daylight any more; but he would have to do something, he thought,
+and so for many days he went about from room to room and opened all
+the drawers and cupboards and searched about on the shelves and looked
+at all the fine things that were there. At last he came to a drawer in
+a table, in which there lay a golden key; he tried this key to all the
+locks he could find, but there was none it fitted till he came to a
+little cupboard over the bed, and in that he found an old rusty
+whistle. "I wonder if there is any sound in it," he thought, and put
+it to his mouth. No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing
+and a whirring from all quarters, and such a large flock of birds
+swept down, that they blackened all the field in which they settled.
+
+[Illustration: No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing and a
+whirring from all quarters, and such a large flock of birds swept down
+that they blackened all the field in which they settled.]
+
+"What does our master want to-day?" they asked.
+
+If he were their master, the soldier said, he would like to know if
+they could tell him how to get up to the earth again. No, none of them
+knew anything about that; "But our mother has not yet arrived," they
+said; "if she can't help you, no one can."
+
+So he whistled once more, and shortly heard something flapping its
+wings far away, and then it began to blow so hard that he was carried
+away between the houses like a wisp of hay across the courtyard, and
+if he had not caught hold of the fence he would no doubt have been
+blown away altogether.
+
+A big eagle--bigger than you can imagine--then swooped down in front
+of him.
+
+"You come rather sharply," said the soldier.
+
+"As you whistle so I come," answered the eagle. So he asked her if she
+knew any means by which he could get away from the world in which they
+were.
+
+"You can't get away from here unless you can fly," said the eagle,
+"but if you will slaughter twelve oxen for me, so that I can have a
+really good meal, I will try and help you. Have you got a knife?"
+
+"No, but I have a sword," he said. When the eagle had swallowed the
+twelve oxen she asked the soldier to kill one more for victuals on the
+journey. "Every time I gape you must be quick and fling a piece into
+my mouth," she said, "else I shall not be able to carry you up to
+earth."
+
+He did as she asked him and hung two large bags of meat round her neck
+and seated himself among her feathers. The eagle then began to flap
+her wings and off they went through the air like the wind. It was as
+much as the soldier could do to hold on, and it was with the greatest
+difficulty he managed to throw the pieces of flesh into the eagle's
+mouth every time she opened it.
+
+At last the day began to dawn, and the eagle was then almost exhausted
+and began flapping with her wings, but the soldier was prepared and
+seized the last hind quarter and flung it to her. Then she gained
+strength and brought him up to earth. When she had sat and rested a
+while at the top of a large pine-tree she set off with him again at
+such a pace that flashes of lightning were seen both by sea and land
+wherever they went.
+
+Close to the palace the soldier got off and the eagle flew home again,
+but first she told him that if he at any time should want her he need
+only blow the whistle and she would be there at once.
+
+In the meantime everything was ready at the palace, and the time
+approached when the captain and lieutenant were to be married with the
+two eldest _Princesses_, who, however, were not much happier than
+their youngest sister; scarcely a day passed without weeping and
+mourning, and the nearer the wedding-day approached the more sorrowful
+did they become.
+
+At last the _King_ asked what was the matter with them; he thought it
+was very strange that they were not merry and happy now that they
+were saved and had been set free and were going to be married. They
+had to give some answer, and so the eldest sister said they never
+would be happy any more unless they could get such checkers as they
+had played with in the blue mountain.
+
+That, thought the _King_, could be easily managed, and so he sent word
+to all the best and cleverest goldsmiths in the country that they
+should make these checkers for the _Princesses_. For all they tried
+there was no one who could make them. At last all the goldsmiths had
+been to the palace except one, and he was an old, infirm man who had
+not done any work for many years except odd jobs, by which he was just
+able to keep himself alive. To him the soldier went and asked to be
+apprenticed. The old man was so glad to get him, for he had not had an
+apprentice for many a day, that he brought out a flask from his chest
+and sat down to drink with the soldier. Before long the drink got into
+his head, and when the soldier saw this he persuaded him to go up to
+the palace and tell the _King_ that he would undertake to make the
+checkers for the _Princesses_.
+
+He was ready to do that on the spot; he had made finer and grander
+things in his day, he said. When the _King_ heard there was some one
+outside who could make the checkers he was not long in coming out.
+
+"Is it true what you say, that you can make such checkers as my
+daughters want?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, it is no lie," said the goldsmith; that he would answer for.
+
+"That's well!" said the _King_. "Here is the gold to make them with;
+but if you do not succeed you will lose your life, since you have come
+and offered yourself, and they must be finished in three days."
+
+The next morning when the goldsmith had slept off the effects of the
+drink, he was not quite so confident about the job. He wailed and wept
+and blew up his apprentice, who had got him into such a scrape while
+he was drunk. The best thing would be to make short work of himself at
+once, he said, for there could be no hope for his life; when the best
+and grandest goldsmiths could not make such checkers, was it likely
+that he could do it?
+
+"Don't fret on that account," said the soldier, "but let me have the
+gold and I'll get the checkers ready in time; but I must have a room
+to myself to work in," he said. This he got, and thanks into the
+bargain.
+
+The time wore on, and the soldier did nothing but lounge about, and
+the goldsmith began to grumble, because he would not begin with the
+work.
+
+"Don't worry yourself about it," said the soldier, "there is plenty of
+time! If you are not satisfied with what I have promised you had
+better make them yourself." The same thing went on both that day and
+the next; and when the smith heard neither hammer nor file from the
+soldier's room the whole of the last day, he quite gave himself up for
+lost; it was now no use to think any longer about saving his life, he
+thought.
+
+But when the night came on the soldier opened the window and blew his
+whistle. The eagle then came and asked what he wanted.
+
+"Those gold checkers, which the _Princesses_ had in the blue
+mountain," said the soldier; "but you'll want something to eat first,
+I suppose? I have two ox carcases lying ready for you in the hay-loft
+yonder; you had better finish them," he said. When the eagle had done
+she did not tarry, and long before the sun rose she was back again
+with the checkers. The soldier then put them under his bed and lay
+down to sleep.
+
+Early next morning the goldsmith came and knocked at his door.
+
+"What are you after now again?" asked the soldier. "You rush about
+enough in the day, goodness knows! If one cannot have peace when one
+is in bed, whoever would be an apprentice here?" said he.
+
+Neither praying nor begging helped that time; the goldsmith must and
+would come in, and at last he was let in.
+
+And then, you may be sure, there was soon an end to his wailing.
+
+But still more glad than the goldsmith were the _Princesses_, when he
+came up to the palace with the checkers, and gladdest of all was the
+youngest _Princess_.
+
+"Have you made them yourself?" she asked.
+
+"No, if I must speak the truth, it is not I," he said, "but my
+apprentice, who has made them."
+
+"I should like to see that apprentice," said the _Princess_. In fact
+all three wanted to see him, and if he valued his life, he would have
+to come.
+
+He was not afraid, either of women-folk or grand-folk, said the
+soldier, and if it could be any amusement to them to look at his rags,
+they should soon have that pleasure.
+
+The youngest _Princess_ recognised him at once; she pushed the
+soldiers aside and ran up to him, gave him her hand, and said:
+
+"Good day, and many thanks for all you have done for us. It is he who
+freed us from the trolls in the mountain," she said to the _King_. "He
+is the one I will have!" and then she pulled off his cap and showed
+them the ring she had tied in his hair.
+
+It soon came out how the captain and lieutenant had behaved, and so
+they had to pay the penalty of their treachery with their lives, and
+that was the end of their grandeur. But the soldier got the golden
+crown and half the kingdom, and married the youngest _Princess_.
+
+At the wedding they drank and feasted both well and long; for feast
+they all could, even if they could not find the _Princesses_, and if
+they have not yet done feasting and drinking they must be at it
+still.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man up in Finnmark who had caught a great
+white bear, which he was going to take to the King of Denmark. Now, it
+so fell out, that he came to the _Dovrefell_ just about Christmas Eve,
+and there he turned into a cottage where a man lived, whose name was
+Halvor, and asked the man if he could get house-room there for his
+bear and himself.
+
+"Heaven never help me, if what I say isn't true!" said the man; "but
+we can't give anyone house-room just now, for every Christmas Eve such
+a pack of _Trolls_ come down upon us, that we are forced to flit, and
+haven't so much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of
+lending one to anyone else."
+
+"Oh?" said the man, "if that's all, you can very well lend me your
+house; my bear can lie under the stove yonder, and I can sleep in the
+side-room."
+
+Well, he begged so hard, that at last he got leave to stay there; so
+the people of the house flitted out, and before they went, everything
+was got ready for the _Trolls_; the tables were laid, and there was
+rice porridge, and fish boiled in lye, and sausages, and all else that
+was good, just as for any other grand feast.
+
+So, when everything was ready, down came the _Trolls_. Some were
+great, and some were small; some had long tails, and some had no tails
+at all; some, too, had long, long noses; and they ate and drank, and
+tasted everything. Just then one of the little _Trolls_ caught sight
+of the white bear, who lay under the stove; so he took a piece of
+sausage and stuck it on a fork, and went and poked it up against the
+bear's nose, screaming out:
+
+"Pussy, will you have some sausage?"
+
+Then the white bear rose up and growled, and hunted the whole pack of
+them out of doors, both great and small.
+
+Next year Halvor was out in the wood, on the afternoon of Christmas
+Eve, cutting wood before the holidays, for he thought the _Trolls_
+would come again; and just as he was hard at work, he heard a voice in
+the wood calling out:
+
+"Halvor! Halvor!"
+
+"Well," said Halvor, "here I am."
+
+"Have you got your big cat with you still?"
+
+"Yes, that I have," said Halvor; "she's lying at home under the stove,
+and what's more, she has now got seven kittens, far bigger and fiercer
+than she is herself."
+
+"Oh, then, we'll never come to see you again," bawled out the _Troll_
+away in the wood, and he kept his word; for since that time the
+_Trolls_ have never eaten their Christmas brose with Halvor on the
+_Dovrefell_.
+
+
+
+
+ONE'S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST
+
+
+A sportsman went out once into a wood to shoot, and he met a _Snipe_.
+
+"Dear friend," said the _Snipe_, "don't shoot my children!"
+
+"How shall I know your children?" asked the _Sportsman_. "What are
+they like?"
+
+"Oh!" said the _Snipe_, "mine are the prettiest children in all the
+wood."
+
+"Very well," said the _Sportsman_, "I'll not shoot them; don't be
+afraid."
+
+But for all that, when he came back, there he had a whole string of
+young snipes in his hand which he had shot.
+
+"Oh, oh!" said the _Snipe_, "why did you shoot my children after
+all?"
+
+"What! these your children!" said the _Sportsman_; "why, I shot the
+ugliest I could find, that I did!"
+
+"Woe is me!" said the _Snipe_; "don't you know that each one thinks
+his own children the prettiest in the world?"
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+  Illustrations have been moved closer to their relevant paragraphs.
+  The page numbers in the List of Illustrations do not reflect the new
+  placement of the illustrations, but are as in the original.
+
+  Author's archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation is
+  preserved.
+
+  Author's punctuation style is preserved.
+
+  Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.
+
+  Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=.
+
+  Typographical problems have been changed and are listed below.
+
+
+Transcriber's Changes:
+
+  TOC: Page number for "The Cat on the Dovrefell" was corrected from
+           '201' to '200'
+
+  TOC: Page number for "One's Own Children are Always Prettiest" was
+           corrected from '205' to '203'
+
+  Page 25: Was 'over over' (the _Prince_ made as if he drank, but
+           threw it =over= his shoulder)
+
+  Page 38: Added italics (But the =_Troll_=, as he lay in bed, swore
+           it was all a lie.)
+
+  Page 43: Added 'to': Was 'it her' (he pulled open his waistcoat and
+           shirt to show =it to her=.)
+
+  Page 55: Added italics (Some time after this, the =_King_= went away
+           to the wars)
+
+  Page 59: Standardised hyphenation from 'witchwoman' ("Well, you
+           needn't be," said the =witch-woman=. "All that can be set
+           right in a twinkling)
+
+  Page 94: Removed extra double-quote ("To Whiteland," said the
+           _King_; =and= then he told him all that had befallen him.)
+
+  Page 125: Added italics (Then back came the =_Giant_=.)
+
+  Page 155: Was 'again.' (home to fetch something to hew their way
+            through the wood. But at last the _Horse_ said =again:=)
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, by 
+Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
+
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+
+    #loi td           {padding:0em 0em 1em 2em; text-indent:-2em;}
+    .caption          {font-size: 90%; text-align:center; margin-left:20%; margin-right:20%;}
+    .center, div.center p{text-align:center;}
+    .figcenter        {margin: 2em auto 2em auto; text-align: center; width: auto; clear:both;}
+    .loi_ch           {text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; margin-top:2em; text-indent:0em; padding-left:0em;}
+    .smcap            {font-variant:small-caps;}
+    .trnote           {background-color: #EEE; color: inherit; margin: 2em 5% 1em 5%; font-size: 80%; padding: 0.5em 1em 0.5em 1em; border: dotted 1px gray;}
+    div.loipage       {position:relative; width:600px; height:402px; background-image:url(images/loipage.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; margin:auto;}
+    div.loipage p     {text-align:center; line-height:1; margin:0; padding:0;}
+    div.trchange      {padding-left:4em; text-indent:-4em;}
+    h1                {font-size:1.8em; line-height:1.8;}
+    h1,h2             {font-weight:normal; text-align:center;}
+    h2                {font-size:1.5em; width:13em; margin:auto;}
+    hr.minor          {width: 35%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black;}
+    img               {border-style:none;}
+    img.dcap          {float:left; padding:0 0.5em 0.5em 0;}
+    ins.trchange      {text-decoration: none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray;}
+    span.dcap         {display:none;}
+
+    .chsp             {margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;}
+    .figright         {padding: .5em 0 0 .5em; float: right; width: auto;}
+    .figtag           {height: 1px;}
+    a                 {text-decoration: none;}
+    hr.toprule        {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; clear:both;}
+    p.cg              {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; text-align: left; width: 101%;}
+    table             {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;}
+    td.chalgn         {text-align:right; margin-top:0; padding-right:1em;}
+</style>
+
+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, by 
+Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
+       Old Tales from the North
+
+Author: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
+        Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
+
+Illustrator: Kay Nielsen
+
+Release Date: January 15, 2010 [EBook #30973]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EAST OF THE SUN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dan Horwood and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class='trnote'>
+<p class='center'>Illustrations in this book may be viewed full-size by clicking on them.</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_1' id='linki_1'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='Book Cover' title='' width='280' height='400' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_2' id='linki_2'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col01.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col01.jpg' alt='' title='' width='291' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>He too saw the image in the water; but he looked up at once, and became aware of the lovely Lassie who sate there up in the tree. <a href='#page_70'>Page 70</a></i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_1' name='page_1'></a>1</span></div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_3' id='linki_3'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_tpage.png'>
+<img src='images/tpage.png' alt='' title='' width='376' height='500' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<div class='center'>
+<h1 style='line-height:1; padding-top:1.5em;'>EAST OF THE SUN AND<br />
+WEST OF THE MOON</h1>
+
+<p style='font-size:1.3em;'>OLD TALES FROM THE NORTH</p>
+<p style='margin:2em auto; font-size:1.2em;'>ILLUSTRATED BY
+KAY NIELSEN</p>
+
+<hr class='minor' />
+<p style='font-size:0.9em;'>NEW YORK<br />
+GEORGE H DORAN COMPANY</p>
+<hr class='minor' style='margin-bottom:2em;' />
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_2' name='page_2'></a>2</span>
+<a name='PREFACE' id='PREFACE'></a>
+<h2>PREFACE</h2>
+</div>
+<p>A folk-tale, in its primitive plainness of word
+and entire absence of complexity in thought,
+is peculiarly sensitive and susceptible to the
+touch of stranger hands; and he who has been able to
+acquaint himself with the <i>Norske Folkeeventyr</i> of Asbj&ouml;rnsen
+and Moe (from which these stories are selected),
+has an advantage over the reader of an English rendering.
+Of this advantage Mr. Kay Nielsen has fully availed
+himself: and the exquisite <i>bizarrerie</i> of his drawings
+aptly expresses the innermost significance of the old-world,
+old-wives&rsquo; fables. For to term these legends,
+Nursery Tales, would be to curtail them, by nine-tenths,
+of their interest. They are the romances of the childhood
+of Nations: they are the never-failing springs of sentiment,
+of sensation, of heroic example, from which primeval
+peoples drank their fill at will.</p>
+<p>The quaintness, the tenderness, the grotesque yet
+realistic intermingling of actuality with supernaturalism,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_3' name='page_3'></a>3</span>
+by which the original <i>Norske Folkeeventyr</i> are characterised,
+will make an appeal to all, as represented in the pictures
+of Kay Nielsen. And these imperishable traditions, whose
+bases are among the very roots of all antiquity, are here
+reincarnated in line and colour, to the delight of all who
+ever knew or now shall know them.</p>
+<p>Permission to reprint the Stories in this book, which
+originally appeared in Sir G. W. Dasent&rsquo;s &ldquo;Popular Tales
+from the Norse,&rdquo; has been obtained from Messrs. George
+Routledge &amp; Sons, Ltd. <span class='smcap'>The Three Princesses in the
+Blue Mountain</span> is printed by arrangement with Messrs.
+David Nutt; and <span class='smcap'>Prince Lindworm</span> is newly translated for
+this volume.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_4' id='linki_4'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec03.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='299' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_4' name='page_4'></a>4</span>
+<a name='CONTENTS' id='CONTENTS'></a>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+</div>
+<table id='toc' border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<tr>
+  <td />
+  <td valign='top' align='right'>PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#EAST_OF_THE_SUN_AND_WEST_OF_THE_MOON'>9</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE BLUE BELT</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_BLUE_BELT'>29</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>PRINCE LINDWORM</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#PRINCE_LINDWORM'>53</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_LASSIE_AND_HER_GODMOTHER'>65</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_HUSBAND_WHO_WAS_TO_MIND_THE_HOUSE'>75</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_LAD_WHO_WENT_TO_THE_NORTH_WIND'>79</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_THREE_PRINCESSES_OF_WHITELAND'>85</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>SORIA MORIA CASTLE</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#SORIA_MORIA_CASTLE'>97</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_GIANT_WHO_HAD_NO_HEART_IN_HIS_BODY'>117</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_PRINCESS_ON_THE_GLASS_HILL'>131</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE WIDOW&rsquo;S SON</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_WIDOWS_SON'>149</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_THREE_BILLYGOATS_GRUFF'>167</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE THREE PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_THREE_PRINCESSES_IN_THE_BLUE_MOUNTAIN'>171</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#THE_CAT_ON_THE_DOVREFELL'>200</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>ONE&rsquo;S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST</td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#ONES_OWN_CHILDREN_ARE_ALWAYS_PRETTIEST'>203</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5' name='page_5'></a>5</span></div>
+<div class='loipage'>
+<h2 style='position:relative; top:250px;'>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+<p class='loi_ch' style='position:relative; top:300px;'>EAST OF THE SUN AND<br />WEST OF THE MOON</p>
+</div>
+<div style='max-width:580px; margin:auto;'>
+<table id='loi' border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Illustrations' style='margin:1em auto;'>
+<col style='width:75%;' />
+<col style='width:25%;' />
+<tr>
+  <td />
+  <td valign='top' align='right'><i>Page</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>&ldquo;Well, mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there&rsquo;s nothing to fear,&rdquo; said the Bear, so she rode a long, long way</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_5'> 9</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>&ldquo;Tell me the way, then,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll search you out&rdquo;</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_7'> 16</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>And then she lay on a little green patch in the midst of the gloomy thick wood</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_8'> 24</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>The North Wind goes over the sea</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_10'> 32</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>And flitted away as far as they could from the Castle that lay East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_11'> 40</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'>THE BLUE BELT</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>The Lad in the Bear&rsquo;s skin, and the King of Arabia&rsquo;s daughter</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_13'> 48</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6' name='page_6'></a>6</span>PRINCE LINDWORM</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>She saw the Lindworm for the first time, as he came in and stood by her side</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_17'> 56</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'>THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>She could not help setting the door a little ajar, just to peep in, when&mdash;Pop! out flew the Moon</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_20'> 64</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>Then he coaxed her down and took her home</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_22'> 72</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>&ldquo;Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I am the Virgin Mary&rdquo;</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_23'> 80</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>He too saw the image in the water; but he looked up at once, and became aware of the lovely Lassie who sate there up in the tree</i></td>
+  <td valign='top' align='right'><p style='font-size:0.7em; text-align:right;'><a href='#linki_2'>FRONTISPIECE</a></p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'>THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll come to three Princesses, whom you will see standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads out&rdquo;</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_29'> 88</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>So the man gave him a pair of snow shoes</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_31'> 96</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>The King went into the Castle, and at first his Queen didn&rsquo;t know him, he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and being so woeful</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_32'> 104</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7' name='page_7'></a>7</span>THE GIANT WHO HAD<br />NO HEART IN HIS BODY</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>The six brothers riding out to woo</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_36'> 112</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>&ldquo;On that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck&rdquo;</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_38'> 120</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and when he got out of the Giant&rsquo;s door, there stood the Wolf waiting for him</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_39'> 128</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'>THE WIDOW'S SON</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>When he had walked a day or so, a strange man met him. &ldquo;Whither away?&rdquo; asked the man</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_43'> 136</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>But still the Horse begged him to look behind him</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_44'> 144</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>And this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad, so lovely, and white and red, just as the Princess had seen him in the morning sun</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_46'> 152</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>The Lad in the Battle</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_47'> 160</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' colspan='2'><p class='loi_ch'><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8' name='page_8'></a>8</span>THE THREE PRINCESSES<br />IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN</p></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>Just as they bent down to take the rose a big dense snowdrift came and carried them away</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_52'> 168</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>The Troll was quite willing, and before long he fell asleep and began snoring</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_54'> 176</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>As soon as they tugged at the rope, the Captain and the Lieutenant pulled up the Princesses, the one after the other</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_56'> 184</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td valign='top' align='left'><i>No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing and a whirring from all quarters, and such a large flock of birds swept down that they blackened all the field in which they settled</i></td>
+  <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#linki_57'> 192</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9' name='page_9'></a>9</span>
+<a name='EAST_OF_THE_SUN_AND_WEST_OF_THE_MOON' id='EAST_OF_THE_SUN_AND_WEST_OF_THE_MOON'></a>
+<h2>EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png' alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a poor husbandman
+who had so many children that he hadn&rsquo;t much
+of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty
+children they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest
+daughter, who was so lovely there was no end to her
+loveliness.</p>
+<p>So one day, &rsquo;twas on a Thursday evening late at the
+fall of the year, the weather was so wild and rough outside,
+and it was so cruelly dark, and rain fell and wind blew,
+till the walls of the cottage shook again. There they all
+sat round the fire, busy with this thing and that. But
+just then, all at once something gave three taps on the
+window-pane. Then the father went out to see what
+was the matter; and, when he got out of doors, what
+should he see but a great big <i>White Bear</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good-evening to you!&rdquo; said the <i>White Bear</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The same to you!&rdquo; said the man.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Will you give me your youngest daughter? If you
+will, I&rsquo;ll make you as rich as you are now poor,&rdquo; said
+the <i>Bear</i>.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10' name='page_10'></a>10</span></div>
+<p>Well, the man would not be at all sorry to be so rich;
+but still he thought he must have a bit of a talk with his
+daughter first; so he went in and told them how there
+was a great <i>White Bear</i> waiting outside, who had given
+his word to make them so rich if he could only have the
+youngest daughter.</p>
+<p>The lassie said &ldquo;No!&rdquo; outright. Nothing could get
+her to say anything else; so the man went out and settled
+it with the <i>White Bear</i> that he should come again the
+next Thursday evening and get an answer. Meantime he
+talked his daughter over, and kept on telling her of all
+the riches they would get, and how well off she would be
+herself; and so at last she thought better of it, and washed
+and mended her rags, made herself as smart as she could,
+and was ready to start. I can&rsquo;t say her packing gave her
+much trouble.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_5' id='linki_5'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col02.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col02.jpg' alt='' title='' width='242' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>&ldquo;Well, mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there&rsquo;s nothing to fear,&rdquo; said the Bear, so she rode a long, long way.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_6' id='linki_6'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs01.png'>
+<img src='images/gs01.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='284' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>Next Thursday evening came the <i>White Bear</i> to fetch
+her, and she got upon his back with her bundle, and off
+they went. So, when they had gone a bit of the way,
+the <i>White Bear</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you afraid?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she wasn&rsquo;t.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span>
+then there&rsquo;s nothing
+to fear,&rdquo; said
+the <i>Bear</i>.</p>
+<p>So she rode a
+long, long way,
+till they came to a
+great steep hill.
+There, on the face
+of it, the <i>White
+Bear</i> gave a knock,
+and a door opened,
+and they came into
+a castle where
+there were many
+rooms all lit up; rooms gleaming with silver and gold;
+and there, too, was a table ready laid, and it was all as
+grand as grand could be. Then the <i>White Bear</i> gave her
+a silver bell; and when she wanted anything, she was only
+to ring it, and she would get it at once.</p>
+<p>Well, after she had eaten and drunk, and evening wore
+on, she got sleepy after her journey, and thought she would
+like to go to bed, so she rang the bell; and she had scarce
+taken hold of it before she came into a chamber where there
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span>
+was a bed made, as fair and white as any one would wish
+to sleep in, with silken pillows and curtains and gold fringe.
+All that was in the room was gold or silver; but when she
+had gone to bed and put out the light, a man came and
+laid himself alongside her. That was the <i>White Bear</i>, who
+threw off his beast shape at night; but she never saw him,
+for he always came after she had put out the light, and
+before the day dawned he was up and off again. So things
+went on happily for a while, but at last she began to get
+silent and sorrowful; for there she went about all day
+alone, and she longed to go home to see her father and
+mother and brothers and sisters. So one day, when the
+<i>White Bear</i> asked what it was that she lacked, she said it
+was so dull and lonely there, and how she longed to go
+home to see her father and mother and brothers and
+sisters, and that was why she was so sad and sorrowful,
+because she couldn&rsquo;t get to them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; said the <i>Bear</i>, &ldquo;perhaps there&rsquo;s a cure
+for all this; but you must promise me one thing, not to
+talk alone with your mother, but only when the rest are
+by to hear; for she&rsquo;ll take you by the hand and try to
+lead you into a room alone to talk; but you must mind
+and not do that, else you&rsquo;ll bring bad luck on both of us.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div>
+<p>So one Sunday the <i>White Bear</i> came and said, now
+they could set off to see her father and mother. Well,
+off they started, she sitting on his back; and they went
+far and long. At last they came to a grand house, and
+there her brothers and sisters were running about out of
+doors at play, and everything was so pretty, &rsquo;twas a joy
+to see.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;This is where your father and mother live now,&rdquo; said
+the <i>White Bear</i>; &ldquo;but don&rsquo;t forget what I told you, else
+you&rsquo;ll make us both unlucky.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No! bless her, she&rsquo;d not forget;&rdquo;&mdash;and when she had
+reached the house, the <i>White Bear</i> turned right about
+and left her.</p>
+<p>Then, when she went in to see her father and mother,
+there was such joy, there was no end to it. None of
+them thought they could thank her enough for all she
+had done for them. Now, they had everything they
+wished, as good as good could be, and they all wanted
+to know how she got on where she lived.</p>
+<p>Well, she said, it was very good to live where she did;
+she had all she wished. What she said beside I don&rsquo;t
+know, but I don&rsquo;t think any of them had the right end of
+the stick, or that they got much out of her. But so, in
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span>
+the afternoon, after they had done dinner, all happened
+as the <i>White Bear</i> had said. Her mother wanted to talk
+with her alone in her bedroom; but she minded what
+the <i>White Bear</i> had said, and wouldn&rsquo;t go upstairs.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! what we have to talk about will keep!&rdquo; she said,
+and put her mother off. But, somehow or other, her
+mother got round her at last, and she had to tell her the
+whole story. So she said, how every night when she had
+gone to bed a man came and lay down beside her as soon
+as she had put out the light; and how she never saw him,
+because he was always up and away before the morning
+dawned; and how she went about woeful and sorrowing,
+for she thought she should so like to see him; and how
+all day long she walked about there alone; and how dull
+and dreary and lonesome it was.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;My!&rdquo; said her mother; &ldquo;it may well be a Troll you
+slept with! But now I&rsquo;ll teach you a lesson how to set
+eyes on him. I&rsquo;ll give you a bit of candle, which you
+can carry home in your bosom; just light that while he
+is asleep, but take care not to drop the tallow on him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! she took the candle and hid it in her bosom,
+and as night drew on, the <i>White Bear</i> came and fetched
+her away.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></div>
+<p>But when they had gone a bit of the way, the <i>White
+Bear</i> asked if all hadn&rsquo;t happened as he had said.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, she couldn&rsquo;t say it hadn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, mind,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;if you have listened to your
+mother&rsquo;s advice, you have brought bad luck on us both, and
+then, all that has passed between us will be as nothing.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;she hadn&rsquo;t listened to her mother&rsquo;s
+advice.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when she reached home, and had gone to bed, it
+was the old story over again. There came a man and lay
+down beside her; but at dead of night, when she heard
+he slept, she got up and struck a light, lit the candle, and
+let the light shine on him, and so she saw that he was the
+loveliest <i>Prince</i> one ever set eyes on, and she fell so deep
+in love with him on the spot, that she thought she couldn&rsquo;t
+live if she didn&rsquo;t give him a kiss there and then. And so
+she did; but as she kissed him, she dropped three hot
+drops of tallow on his shirt, and he woke up.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What have you done?&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;now you have
+made us both unlucky, for had you held out only this
+one year, I had been freed. For I have a step-mother
+who has bewitched me, so that I am a <i>White Bear</i> by
+day, and a <i>Man</i> by night. But now all ties are snapt
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span>
+between us; now I must set off from you to her. She
+lives in a Castle which stands <i>East of the Sun and West
+of the Moon</i>, and there, too, is a <i>Princess</i>, with a nose
+three ells long, and she&rsquo;s the wife I must have now.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>She wept and took it ill, but there was no help for it;
+go he must.</p>
+<p>Then she asked if she mightn&rsquo;t go with him.</p>
+<p>No, she mightn&rsquo;t.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Tell me the way, then,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll search
+you out; <i>that</i> surely I may get leave to do.&rdquo;</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_7' id='linki_7'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col03.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col03.jpg' alt='' title='' width='310' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>&ldquo;Tell me the way, then,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;ll search you out.&rdquo;</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she might do that, he said; &ldquo;but there was
+no way to that place. It lay <i>East of the Sun and West
+of the Moon</i>, and thither she&rsquo;d never find her way.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So next morning, when she woke up, both <i>Prince</i> and
+castle were gone, and then she lay on a little green patch,
+in the midst of the gloomy thick wood, and by her side
+lay the same bundle of rags she had brought with her from
+her old home.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_8' id='linki_8'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col04.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col04.jpg' alt='' title='' width='287' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>And then she lay on a little green patch in the midst of the gloomy thick wood.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_9' id='linki_9'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs02.png'>
+<img src='images/gs02.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='275' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>So when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and
+wept till she was tired, she set out on her way, and walked
+many, many days, till she came to a lofty crag. Under it
+sat an old hag, and played with a gold apple which she
+tossed about. Here the lassie asked if she knew the way
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span>
+to the Prince, who
+lived with his
+step-mother in the
+Castle, that lay
+<i>East of the Sun
+and West of the
+Moon</i>, and who
+was to marry the
+<i>Princess</i> with a
+nose three ells
+long.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How did
+you come to know
+about him?&rdquo; asked
+the old hag; &ldquo;but maybe you are the lassie who ought to
+have had him?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes, she was.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So, so; it&rsquo;s you, is it?&rdquo; said the old hag. &ldquo;Well,
+all I know about him is, that he lives in the castle that
+lies <i>East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i>, and thither
+you&rsquo;ll come, late or never; but still you may have the loan
+of my horse, and on him you can ride to my next neighbour.
+Maybe she&rsquo;ll be able to tell you; and when you
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span>
+get there, just give the horse a switch under the left ear,
+and beg him to be off home; and, stay, this gold apple
+you may take with you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So she got upon the horse, and rode a long, long time,
+till she came to another crag, under which sat another old
+hag, with a gold carding-comb. Here the lassie asked if
+she knew the way to the castle that lay <i>East of the Sun
+and West of the Moon</i>, and she answered, like the first
+old hag, that she knew nothing about it, except it was east
+of the sun and west of the moon.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And thither you&rsquo;ll come, late or never, but you shall
+have the loan of my horse to my next neighbour; maybe
+she&rsquo;ll tell you all about it; and when you get there, just switch
+the horse under the left ear, and beg him to be off home.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And this old hag gave her the golden carding-comb;
+it might be she&rsquo;d find some use for it, she said. So the
+lassie got up on the horse, and rode a far, far way, and a
+weary time; and so at last she came to another great crag,
+under which sat another old hag, spinning with a golden
+spinning-wheel. Her, too, she asked if she knew the way
+to the <i>Prince</i>, and where the castle was that lay <i>East of
+the Sun and West of the Moon</i>. So it was the same thing
+over again.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s you who ought to have had the <i>Prince</i>?&rdquo;
+said the old hag.</p>
+<p>Yes, it was.</p>
+<p>But she, too, didn&rsquo;t know the way a bit better than the
+other two. &ldquo;East of the sun and west of the moon it
+was,&rdquo; she knew&mdash;that was all.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And thither you&rsquo;ll come, late or never; but I&rsquo;ll lend
+you my horse, and then I think you&rsquo;d best ride to the
+East Wind and ask him; maybe he knows those parts, and
+can blow you thither. But when you get to him, you
+need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and
+he&rsquo;ll trot home of himself.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel.
+&ldquo;Maybe you&rsquo;ll find a use for it,&rdquo; said the old hag.</p>
+<p>Then on she rode many many days, a weary time,
+before she got to the East Wind&rsquo;s house, but at last she
+did reach it, and then she asked the East Wind if he could
+tell her the way to the <i>Prince</i> who dwelt east of the sun
+and west of the moon. Yes, the East Wind had often
+heard tell of it, the <i>Prince</i> and the castle, but he couldn&rsquo;t
+tell the way, for he had never blown so far.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But, if you will, I&rsquo;ll go with you to my brother the
+West Wind, maybe he knows, for he&rsquo;s much stronger.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span>
+So, if you will just get on my back, I&rsquo;ll carry you thither.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes, she got on his back, and I should just think they
+went briskly along.</p>
+<p>So when they got there, they went into the West
+Wind&rsquo;s house, and the East Wind said the lassie he had
+brought was the one who ought to have had the <i>Prince</i>
+who lived in the castle <i>East of the Sun and West of the
+Moon</i>; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he
+had come with her, and would be glad to know if the
+West Wind knew how to get to the castle.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said the West Wind, &ldquo;so far I&rsquo;ve never blown;
+but if you will, I&rsquo;ll go with you to our brother the South
+Wind, for he&rsquo;s much stronger than either of us, and he
+has flapped his wings far and wide. Maybe he&rsquo;ll tell you.
+You can get on my back, and I&rsquo;ll carry you to him.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South
+Wind, and weren&rsquo;t so very long on the way, I should think.</p>
+<p>When they got there, the West Wind asked him if he
+could tell her the way to the castle that lay <i>East of the
+Sun and West of the Moon</i>, for it was she who ought to
+have had the <i>Prince</i> who lived there.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say so! That&rsquo;s she, is it?&rdquo; said the South
+Wind.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I have blustered about in most places in my time,
+but so far have I never blown; but if you will, I&rsquo;ll take
+you to my brother the North Wind; he is the oldest and
+strongest of the whole lot of us, and if he don&rsquo;t know
+where it is, you&rsquo;ll never find any one in the world to tell
+you. You can get on my back, and I&rsquo;ll carry you thither.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! she got on his back, and away he went from his
+house at a fine rate. And this time, too, she wasn&rsquo;t long
+on her way.</p>
+<p>So when they got to the North Wind&rsquo;s house, he was
+so wild and cross, cold puffs came from him a long way
+off.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Blast you both, what do you want?</span>&rdquo; he roared out
+to them ever so far off, so that it struck them with an icy
+shiver.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the South Wind, &ldquo;you needn&rsquo;t be so foul-mouthed,
+for here I am, your brother, the South Wind,
+and here is the lassie who ought to have had the <i>Prince</i>
+who dwells in the castle that lies <i>East of the Sun and
+West of the Moon</i>, and now she wants to ask you if you
+ever were there, and can tell her the way, for she would
+be so glad to find him again.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Yes, I know well enough where it is</span>,&rdquo; said the North
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span>
+Wind; &ldquo;once in my life I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but,
+I was so tired I couldn&rsquo;t blow a puff for ever so many days,
+after. But if you really wish to go thither, and aren&rsquo;t
+afraid to come along with me, I&rsquo;ll take you on my back
+and see if I can blow you thither.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! with all her heart; she must and would get
+thither if it were possible in any way; and as for fear,
+however madly he went, she wouldn&rsquo;t be at all afraid.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; said the North Wind, &ldquo;but you
+must sleep here to-night, for we must have the whole day
+before us, if we&rsquo;re to get thither at all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Early next morning the North Wind woke her, and
+puffed himself up, and blew himself out, and made himself
+so stout and big, &rsquo;twas gruesome to look at him; and so
+off they went high up through the air, as if they would
+never stop till they got to the world&rsquo;s end.</p>
+<p>Down here below there was such a storm; it threw
+down long tracts of wood and many houses, and when it
+swept over the great sea, ships foundered by hundreds.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_10' id='linki_10'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col05.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col05.jpg' alt='' title='' width='241' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>The North Wind goes over the sea.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>So they tore on and on&mdash;no one can believe how far
+they went&mdash;and all the while they still went over the sea,
+and the North Wind got more and more weary, and so
+out of breath he could scarce bring out a puff, and his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span>
+wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low
+that the crests of the waves dashed over his heels.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Are you afraid?&rdquo; said the North Wind.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No!&rdquo; she wasn&rsquo;t.</p>
+<p>But they weren&rsquo;t very far from land; and the North
+Wind had still so much strength left in him that he
+managed to throw her up on the shore under the windows
+of the castle which lay <i>East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i>;
+but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to stay
+there and rest many days before he could get home again.</p>
+<p>Next morning the lassie sat down under the castle
+window, and began to play with the gold apple; and the
+first person she saw was the <i>Long-nose</i> who was to have
+the <i>Prince</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?&rdquo;
+said the <i>Long-nose</i>, and threw up the window.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not for sale, for gold or money,&rdquo; said the lassie.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s not for sale for gold or money, what is it that
+you will sell it for? You may name your own price,&rdquo;
+said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! if I may get to the <i>Prince</i>, who lives here,
+and be with him to-night, you shall have it,&rdquo; said the lassie
+whom the North Wind had brought.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span></div>
+<p>Yes! she might; that could be done. So the <i>Princess</i>
+got the gold apple; but when the lassie came up to the
+<i>Prince&rsquo;s</i> bed-room at night he was fast asleep; she called
+him and shook him, and between whiles she wept sore;
+but all she could do she couldn&rsquo;t wake him up. Next
+morning, as soon as day broke, came the <i>Princess</i> with
+the long nose, and drove her out again.</p>
+<p>So in the daytime she sat down under the castle windows
+and began to card with her carding-comb, and the
+same thing happened. The <i>Princess</i> asked what she
+wanted for it; and she said it wasn&rsquo;t for sale for gold or
+money, but if she might get leave to go up to the <i>Prince</i>
+and be with him that night, the <i>Princess</i> should have it.
+But when she went up she found him fast asleep again,
+and all she called, and all she shook, and wept, and
+prayed, she couldn&rsquo;t get life into him; and as soon as the
+first gray peep of day came, then came the <i>Princess</i> with
+the long nose, and chased her out again.</p>
+<p>So, in the daytime, the lassie sat down outside under
+the castle window, and began to spin with her golden
+spinning-wheel, and that, too, the <i>Princess</i> with the long
+nose wanted to have. So she threw up the window and
+asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she had
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span>
+said twice before, it wasn&rsquo;t for sale for gold or money;
+but if she might go up to the <i>Prince</i> who was there, and
+be with him alone that night, she might have it.</p>
+<p>Yes! she might do that and welcome. But now you
+must know there were some Christian folk who had been
+carried off thither, and as they sat in their room, which
+was next the <i>Prince</i>, they had heard how a woman had
+been in there, and wept and prayed, and called to him
+two nights running, and they told that to the <i>Prince</i>.</p>
+<p>That evening, when the <i>Princess</i> came with her sleepy
+drink, the <i>Prince</i> made as if he drank, but threw it <a name='TC_1'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Was 'over over'">over</ins>
+his shoulder, for he could guess it was a sleepy drink.
+So, when the lassie came in, she found the <i>Prince</i> wide
+awake; and then she told him the whole story how she
+had come thither.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>, &ldquo;you&rsquo;ve just come in the very
+nick of time, for to-morrow is to be our wedding-day;
+but now I won&rsquo;t have the <i>Long-nose</i>, and you are the
+only woman in the world who can set me free. I&rsquo;ll say
+I want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to wash
+the shirt which has the three spots of tallow on it; she&rsquo;ll
+say yes, for she doesn&rsquo;t know &rsquo;tis you who put them
+there; but that&rsquo;s a work only for Christian folk, and not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span>
+for such a pack of Trolls, and so I&rsquo;ll say that I won&rsquo;t
+have any other for my bride than the woman who can
+wash them out, and ask you to do it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So there was great joy and love between them all that
+night. But next day, when the wedding was to be, the
+<i>Prince</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;First of all, I&rsquo;d like to see what my bride is fit for.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes!&rdquo; said the step-mother, with all her heart.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a fine shirt which
+I&rsquo;d like for my wedding shirt, but somehow or other it
+has got three spots of tallow on it, which I must have
+washed out; and I have sworn never to take any other
+bride than the woman who&rsquo;s able to do that. If she
+can&rsquo;t, she&rsquo;s not worth having.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, that was no great thing they said, so they
+agreed, and she with the long-nose began to wash away
+as hard as she could, but the more she rubbed and
+scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said the old hag, her mother, &ldquo;you can&rsquo;t
+wash; let me try.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But she hadn&rsquo;t long taken the shirt in hand before it
+got far worse than ever, and with all her rubbing, and
+wringing, and scrubbing, the spots grew bigger and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span>
+blacker, and the darker and uglier was the shirt.</p>
+<p>Then all the other Trolls began to wash, but the longer
+it lasted, the blacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last
+it was as black all over as if it had been up the chimney.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re none of you worth a
+straw; you can&rsquo;t wash. Why there, outside, sits a beggar
+lassie, I&rsquo;ll be bound she knows how to wash better than
+the whole lot of you. <span class='smcap'>Come in, Lassie!</span>&rdquo; he shouted.</p>
+<p>Well, in she came.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Can you wash this shirt clean, lassie you?&rdquo; said he.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I think I can.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And almost before she had taken it and dipped it in
+the water, it was as white as driven snow, and whiter still.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; you are the lassie for me,&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>.</p>
+<p>At that the old hag flew into such a rage, she burst
+on the spot, and the <i>Princess</i> with the long nose after
+her, and the whole pack of Trolls after her&mdash;at least I&rsquo;ve
+never heard a word about them since.</p>
+<p>As for the <i>Prince</i> and <i>Princess</i>, they set free all the
+poor Christian folk who had been carried off and shut up
+there; and they took with them all the silver and gold,
+and flitted away as far as they could from the Castle that
+lay <i>East of the Sun and West of the Moon</i>.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_11' id='linki_11'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col06.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col06.jpg' alt='' title='' width='293' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>And flitted away as far as they could from the Castle that lay East of the Sun and West of the Moon.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span>
+<a name='THE_BLUE_BELT' id='THE_BLUE_BELT'></a>
+<h2>THE BLUE BELT</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was an old beggar-woman,
+who had gone out to beg. She had a little lad
+with her, and when she had got her bag full
+she struck across the hills towards her own home. So
+when they had gone a bit up the hill-side, they came upon
+a little <i>Blue Belt</i> which lay where two paths met, and the
+lad asked his mother&rsquo;s leave to pick it up.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;maybe there&rsquo;s witchcraft in it;&rdquo;
+and so with threats she forced him to follow her. But
+when they had gone a bit further, the lad said he must
+turn aside a moment out of the road; and meanwhile his
+mother sat down on a tree-stump. But the lad was a long
+time gone, for as soon as he got so far into the wood that
+the old dame could not see him, he ran off to where the
+<i>Belt</i> lay, took it up, tied it round his waist, and lo! he
+felt as strong as if he could lift the whole hill. When he
+got back, the old dame was in a great rage, and wanted to
+know what he had been doing all that while. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t
+care how much time you waste, and yet you know the
+night is drawing on, and we must cross the hill before it is
+dark!&rdquo; So on they tramped; but when they had got
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span>
+about half-way, the old dame grew weary, and said she
+must rest under a bush.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear mother,&rdquo; said the lad, &ldquo;mayn&rsquo;t I just go up to
+the top of this high crag while you rest, and try if I can&rsquo;t
+see some sign of folk hereabouts?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! he might do that; so when he had got to the top
+he saw a light shining from the north. So he ran down
+and told his mother.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We must get on, mother; we are near a house, for I
+see a bright light shining quite close to us in the north.&rdquo;
+Then she rose and shouldered her bag, and set off to see;
+but they hadn&rsquo;t gone far, before there stood a steep spur
+of the hill, right across their path.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Just as I thought!&rdquo; said the old dame, &ldquo;now we can&rsquo;t
+go a step farther; a pretty bed we shall have here!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the lad took the bag under one arm, and his
+mother under the other, and ran straight up the steep crag
+with them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, don&rsquo;t you see? Don&rsquo;t you see that we are
+close to a house? Don&rsquo;t you see that bright light?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the old dame said those were no Christian folk,
+but <i>Trolls</i>, for she was at home in all that forest far and
+near, and knew there was not a living soul in it, until
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span>
+you were well over the ridge and had come down on the
+other side. But they went on, and in a little while they
+came to a great house which was all painted red.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the good?&rdquo; said the old dame. &ldquo;We daren&rsquo;t
+go in, for here the <i>Trolls</i> live.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t say so; we must go in. There must be men
+where the lights shine so,&rdquo; said the lad. So in he went,
+and his mother after him, but he had scarce opened the
+door before she swooned away, for there she saw a great
+stout man, at least twenty feet high, sitting on the bench.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good evening, grandfather!&rdquo; said the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, here I&rsquo;ve sat three hundred years,&rdquo; said the
+man who sat on the bench, &ldquo;and no one has ever come
+and called me grandfather before.&rdquo; Then the lad sat down
+by the man&rsquo;s side, and began to talk to him as if they had
+been old friends.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But what&rsquo;s come over your mother?&rdquo; said the man,
+after they had chatted a while. &ldquo;I think she swooned
+away; you had better look after her.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the lad went and took hold of the old dame, and
+dragged her up the hall along the floor. That brought
+her to herself, and she kicked and scratched, and flung
+herself about, and at last sat down upon a heap of firewood
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span>
+in the corner; but she was so frightened that she scarce
+dared to look one in the face.</p>
+<p>After a while, the lad asked if they could spend the
+night there.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, to be sure,&rdquo; said the man.</p>
+<p>So they went on talking again, but the lad soon got
+hungry, and wanted to know if they could get food as
+well as lodging.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;that might be got too.&rdquo;
+And after he had sat a while longer, he rose up and threw
+six loads of dry pitch-pine on the fire. This made the
+old hag still more afraid.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! now he&rsquo;s going to roast us alive,&rdquo; she said, in
+the corner where she sat.</p>
+<p>And when the wood had burned down to glowing
+embers, up got the man and strode out of his house.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Heaven bless and help us! what a stout heart you
+have got!&rdquo; said the old dame. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you see we have
+got amongst <i>Trolls</i>?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stuff and nonsense!&rdquo; said the lad; &ldquo;no harm if we
+have.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In a little while, back came the man with an ox so fat
+and big, the lad had never seen its like, and he gave it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span>
+one blow with his fist under the ear, and down it fell dead
+on the floor. When that was done, he took it up by all
+the four legs and laid it on the glowing embers, and turned
+it and twisted it about till it was burnt brown outside.
+After that, he went to a cupboard and took out a great
+silver dish, and laid the ox on it; and the dish was so
+big that none of the ox hung over on any side. This
+he put on the table, and then he went down into the
+cellar and fetched a cask of wine, knocked out the head,
+and put the cask on the table, together with two knives,
+which were each six feet long. When this was done he
+bade them go and sit down to supper and eat. So they
+went, the lad first and the old dame after, but she began
+to whimper and wail, and to wonder how she should ever
+use such knives. But her son seized one, and began to
+cut slices out of the thigh of the ox, which he placed
+before his mother. And when they had eaten a bit, he
+took up the cask with both hands, and lifted it down to
+the floor; then he told his mother to come and drink,
+but it was still so high she couldn&rsquo;t reach up to it; so
+he caught her up, and held her up to the edge of the cask
+while she drank; as for himself, he clambered up and
+hung down like a cat inside the cask while he drank. So
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span>
+when he had quenched his thirst, he took up the cask and
+put it back on the table, and thanked the man for the
+good meal, and told his mother to come and thank him
+too, and, a-feared though she was, she dared do nothing
+else but thank the man. Then the lad sat down again
+alongside the man and began to gossip, and after they had
+sat a while the man said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! I must just go and get a bit of supper too;&rdquo;
+and so he went to the table and ate up the whole ox&mdash;hoofs,
+and horns, and all&mdash;and drained the cask to the
+last drop, and then went back and sat on the bench.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;As for beds,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s to be
+done. I&rsquo;ve only got one bed and a cradle; but we could
+get on pretty well if you would sleep in the cradle, and
+then your mother might lie in the bed yonder.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you kindly, that&rsquo;ll do nicely,&rdquo; said the lad;
+and with that he pulled off his clothes and lay down in
+the cradle; but, to tell you the truth, it was quite as big
+as a four-poster. As for the old dame, she had to follow
+the man who showed her to bed, though she was out of
+her wits for fear.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well!&rdquo; thought the lad to himself, &ldquo;&rsquo;twill never do
+to go to sleep yet. I&rsquo;d best lie awake and listen how
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span>
+things go as the night wears on.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So, after a while, the man began to talk to the old
+dame, and at last he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We two might live here so happily together, could
+we only be rid of this son of yours.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But do you know how to settle him? Is that what
+you&rsquo;re thinking of?&rdquo; said she.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nothing easier,&rdquo; said he; at any rate he would try.
+He would just say he wished the old dame would stay
+and keep house for him a day or two, and then he would
+take the lad out with him up the hill to quarry corner-stones,
+and roll down a great rock on him. All this the
+lad lay and listened to.</p>
+<p>Next day the <i>Troll</i>&mdash;for it was a <i>Troll</i> as clear as
+day&mdash;asked if the old dame would stay and keep house
+for him a few days; and as the day went on he took a
+great iron crowbar, and asked the lad if he had a mind
+to go with him up the hill and quarry a few corner-stones.
+With all his heart, he said, and went with him; and so,
+after they had split a few stones, the <i>Troll</i> wanted him
+to go down below and look after cracks in the rock;
+and while he was doing this the <i>Troll</i> worked away, and
+wearied himself with his crowbar till he moved a whole
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span>
+crag out of its bed, which came rolling right down on the
+place where the lad was; but he held it up till he could
+get on one side, and then let it roll on.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said the lad to the <i>Troll</i>, &ldquo;now I see what you
+mean to do with me. You want to crush me to death;
+so just go down yourself and look after the cracks and
+refts in the rock, and I&rsquo;ll stand up above.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The <i>Troll</i> did not dare to do otherwise than the lad
+bade him, and the end of it was that the lad rolled down
+a great rock, which fell upon the <i>Troll</i> and broke one of
+his thighs.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! you <i>are</i> in a sad plight,&rdquo; said the lad, as he
+strode down, lifted up the rock, and set the man free.
+After that he had to put him on his back and carry him
+home; so he ran with him as fast as a horse, and shook
+him so that the <i>Troll</i> screamed and screeched as if a knife
+were run into him. And when he got home, they had to
+put the <i>Troll</i> to bed, and there he lay in a sad pickle.</p>
+<p>When the night wore on, the <i>Troll</i> began to talk to
+the old dame again, and to wonder how ever they could
+be rid of the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the old dame, &ldquo;if you can&rsquo;t hit on a
+plan to get rid of him, I&rsquo;m sure I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Let me see,&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got twelve lions
+in a garden; if they could only get hold of the lad, they&rsquo;d
+soon tear him to pieces.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the old dame said it would be easy enough to get
+him there. She would sham sick, and say she felt so poorly,
+nothing would do her any good but lion&rsquo;s milk. All that
+the lad lay and listened to; and when he got up in the
+morning his mother said she was worse than she looked,
+and she thought she should never be right again unless she
+could get some lion&rsquo;s milk.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Then I&rsquo;m afraid you&rsquo;ll be poorly a long time, mother,&rdquo;
+said the lad, &ldquo;for I&rsquo;m sure I don&rsquo;t know where any is to
+be got.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! if that be all,&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>, &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no lack
+of lion&rsquo;s milk, if we only had the man to fetch it;&rdquo; and
+then he went on to say how his brother had a garden with
+twelve lions in it, and how the lad might have the key if he
+had a mind to milk the lions. So the lad took the key and
+a milking pail, and strode off; and when he unlocked the
+gate and got into the garden, there stood all the twelve
+lions on their hind-paws, rampant and roaring at him. But
+the lad laid hold of the biggest, and led him about by the
+fore-paws, and dashed him against stocks and stones till
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span>
+there wasn&rsquo;t a bit of him left but the two paws. So when
+the rest saw that, they were so afraid that they crept up and
+lay at his feet like so many curs. After that they followed
+him about wherever he went, and when he got home, they
+lay down outside the house, with their fore-paws on the
+door sill.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, mother, you&rsquo;ll soon be well,&rdquo; said the lad, when
+he went in, &ldquo;for here is the lion&rsquo;s milk.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He had just milked a drop in the pail.</p>
+<p>But the <a name='TC_2'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Added italics"><i>Troll</i></ins>, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a
+lie. He was sure the lad was not the man to milk lions.</p>
+<p>When the lad heard that, he forced the <i>Troll</i> to get
+out of bed, threw open the door, and all the lions rose
+up and seized the <i>Troll</i>, and at last the lad had to make
+them leave their hold.</p>
+<p>That night the <i>Troll</i> began to talk to the old dame
+again. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure I can&rsquo;t tell how to put this lad out of
+the way&mdash;he is so awfully strong; can&rsquo;t you think of
+some way?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said the old dame, &ldquo;if you can&rsquo;t tell, I&rsquo;m sure
+I can&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well!&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>, &ldquo;I have two brothers in a
+castle; they are twelve times as strong as I am, and that&rsquo;s
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span>
+why I was turned out and had to put up with this farm.
+They hold that castle, and round it there is an orchard
+with apples in it, and whoever eats those apples sleeps
+for three days and three nights. If we could only get
+the lad to go for the fruit, he wouldn&rsquo;t be able to keep
+from tasting the apples, and as soon as ever he fell asleep
+my brothers would tear him in pieces.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The old dame said she would sham sick, and say she
+could never be herself again unless she tasted those apples;
+for she had set her heart on them.</p>
+<p>All this the lad lay and listened to.</p>
+<p>When the morning came the old dame was so poorly
+that she couldn&rsquo;t utter a word but groans and sighs. She
+was sure she should never be well again, unless she had
+some of those apples that grew in the orchard near the
+castle where the man&rsquo;s brothers lived; only she had no
+one to send for them.</p>
+<p>Oh! the lad was ready to go that instant; but the
+eleven lions went with him. So when he came to the
+orchard, he climbed up into the apple tree and ate as
+many apples as he could, and he had scarce got down
+before he fell into a deep sleep; but the lions all lay
+round him in a ring. The third day came the <i>Troll&rsquo;s</i>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span>
+brothers, but they did not come in man&rsquo;s shape. They
+came snorting like man-eating steeds, and wondered who
+it was that dared to be there, and said they would tear
+him to pieces, so small that there should not be a bit
+of him left. But up rose the lions and tore the <i>Trolls</i>
+into small pieces, so that the place looked as if a dung
+heap had been tossed about it; and when they had
+finished the <i>Trolls</i> they lay down again. The lad did
+not wake till late in the afternoon, and when he got on
+his knees and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he began
+to wonder what had been going on, when he saw the
+marks of hoofs. But when he went towards the castle,
+a maiden looked out of a window who had seen all that
+had happened, and she said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You may thank your stars you weren&rsquo;t in that
+tussle, else you must have lost your life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What! I lose my life! No fear of that, I think,&rdquo;
+said the lad.</p>
+<p>So she begged him to come in, that she might talk
+with him, for she hadn&rsquo;t seen a Christian soul ever since
+she came there. But when she opened the door the
+lions wanted to go in too, but she got so frightened that
+she began to scream, and so the lad let them lie outside.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span>
+Then the two talked and talked, and the lad asked how
+it came that she, who was so lovely, could put up with those
+ugly <i>Trolls</i>. She never wished it, she said; &rsquo;twas quite
+against her will. They had seized her by force, and she
+was the King of Arabia&rsquo;s daughter. So they talked on, and
+at last she asked him what he would do; whether she
+should go back home, or whether he would have her to
+wife. Of course he would have her, and she shouldn&rsquo;t go
+home.</p>
+<p>After that they went round the castle, and at last they
+came to a great hall, where the <i>Trolls&rsquo;</i> two great swords
+hung high up on the wall.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I wonder if you are man enough to wield one of
+these,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who? I?&rdquo; said the lad. &ldquo;&rsquo;Twould be a pretty
+thing if I couldn&rsquo;t wield one of these.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>With that he put two or three chairs one a-top of the
+other, jumped up, and touched the biggest sword with his
+finger tips, tossed it up in the air, and caught it again by
+the hilt; leapt down, and at the same time dealt such a
+blow with it on the floor that the whole hall shook. After
+he had thus got down, he thrust the sword under his arm
+and carried it about with him.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></div>
+<p>So, when they had lived a little while in the castle, the
+<i>Princess</i> thought she ought to go home to her parents, and
+let them know what had become of her; so they loaded a
+ship, and she set sail from the castle.</p>
+<p>After she had gone, and the lad had wandered about a
+little, he called to mind that he had been sent out on an
+errand thither, and had come to fetch something for his
+mother&rsquo;s health; and though he said to himself, &ldquo;After all
+the old dame was not so bad but she&rsquo;s all right by this
+time&rdquo;&mdash;still he thought he ought to go and just see how
+she was. So he went and found both the man and his
+mother quite fresh and hearty.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What wretches you are to live in this beggarly hut,&rdquo;
+said the lad. &ldquo;Come with me up to my castle, and you
+shall see what a fine fellow I am.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well! they were both ready to go, and on the way his
+mother talked to him, and asked how it was he had got
+so strong.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If you must know it came of that blue belt which lay
+on the hill-side that time when you and I were out begging,&rdquo;
+said the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Have you got it still?&rdquo; asked she.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes&rdquo;&mdash;he had. It was tied round his waist.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Might she see it?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes&rdquo;&mdash;she might; and with that he pulled open his
+waistcoat and shirt to show <a name='TC_3'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Added 'to': Was 'it her'">it to her</ins>.</p>
+<p>Then she seized it with both hands, tore it off, and
+twisted it round her fist.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;what shall I do with such a wretch
+as you? I&rsquo;ll just give you one blow, and dash your brains
+out!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Far too good a death for such a scamp,&rdquo; said the
+<i>Troll</i>. &ldquo;No! let&rsquo;s first burn out his eyes, and then turn
+him adrift in a little boat.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So they burned out his eyes and turned him adrift, in
+spite of his prayers and tears; but, as the boat drifted, the
+lions swam after, and at last they laid hold of it and dragged
+it ashore on an island, and placed the lad under a fir tree.
+They caught game for him, and they plucked the birds and
+made him a bed of down; but he was forced to eat his meat
+raw and he was blind. At last, one day the biggest lion was
+chasing a hare which was blind, for it ran straight over stock
+and stone, and the end was, it ran right up against a fir-stump
+and tumbled head over heels across the field right
+into a spring; but lo! when it came out of the spring it saw
+its way quite plain, and so saved its life.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;So, so!&rdquo; thought the lion, and went and dragged the
+lad to the spring, and dipped him over head and ears in it.
+So, when he had got his sight again, he went down to the
+shore and made signs to the lions that they should all lie
+close together like a raft; then he stood upon their backs
+while they swam with him to the mainland. When he had
+reached the shore he went up into a birchen copse, and
+made the lions lie quiet. Then he stole up to the castle,
+like a thief, to see if he couldn&rsquo;t lay hands on his belt; and
+when he got to the door, he peeped through the keyhole,
+and there he saw his belt hanging up over a door in the kitchen.
+So he crept softly in across the floor, for there was
+no one there; but as soon as he had got hold of the belt, he
+began to kick and stamp about as though he were mad. Just
+then his mother came rushing out:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear heart, my darling little boy! do give me the belt
+again,&rdquo; she said.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Thank you kindly,&rdquo; said he. &ldquo;Now you shall have
+the doom you passed on me,&rdquo; and he fulfilled it on the spot.
+When the old <i>Troll</i> heard that, he came in and begged and
+prayed so prettily that he might not be smitten to death.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, you may live,&rdquo; said the lad, &ldquo;but you shall
+undergo the same punishment you gave me;&rdquo; and so he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span>
+burned out the <i>Troll&rsquo;s</i> eyes, and turned him adrift on the
+sea in a little boat, but he had no lions to follow him.</p>
+<p>Now the lad was all alone, and he went about longing
+and longing for the <i>Princess</i>; at last he could bear it no
+longer; he must set out to seek her, his heart was so bent on
+having her. So he loaded four ships and set sail for Arabia.</p>
+<p>For some time they had fair wind and fine weather, but
+after that they lay wind-bound under a rocky island. So
+the sailors went ashore and strolled about to spend the time,
+and there they found a huge egg, almost as big as a little
+house. So they began to knock it about with large stones,
+but, after all, they couldn&rsquo;t crack the shell. Then the lad
+came up with his sword to see what all the noise was about,
+and when he saw the egg, he thought it a trifle to crack it;
+so he gave it one blow and the egg split, and out came a
+chicken as big as an elephant.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now we have done wrong,&rdquo; said the lad; &ldquo;this can
+cost us all our lives;&rdquo; and then he asked his sailors if they
+were men enough to sail to Arabia in four-and-twenty
+hours if they got a fine breeze. Yes! they were good to
+do that, they said, so they set sail with a fine breeze, and
+got to Arabia in three-and-twenty hours. As soon as
+they landed, the lad ordered all the sailors to go and bury
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span>
+themselves up to the eyes in a sandhill, so that they could
+barely see the ships. The lad and the captains climbed
+a high crag and sate down under a fir.</p>
+<p>In a little while came a great bird flying with an island
+in its claws, and let it fall down on the fleet, and sunk every
+ship. After it had done that, it flew up to the sandhill and
+flapped its wings, so that the wind nearly took off the heads
+of the sailors, and it flew past the fir with such force that it
+turned the lad right about, but he was ready with his sword,
+and gave the bird one blow and brought it down dead.</p>
+<p>After that he went to the town, where every one was
+glad because the <i>King</i> had got his daughter back; but now
+the <i>King</i> had hidden her away somewhere himself, and
+promised her hand as a reward to any one who could find
+her, and this though she was betrothed before. Now as
+the lad went along he met a man who had white bear-skins
+for sale, so he bought one of the hides and put it on; and
+one of the captains was to take an iron chain and lead him
+about, and so he went into the town and began to play
+pranks. At last the news came to the <i>King&rsquo;s</i> ears, that
+there never had been such fun in the town before, for here
+was a white bear that danced and cut capers just as it was
+bid. So a messenger came to say the bear must come to
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span>
+the castle at once, for the <i>King</i> wanted to see its tricks. So
+when it got to the castle every one was afraid, for such a
+beast they had never seen before; but the captain said there
+was no danger unless they laughed at it. They mustn&rsquo;t
+do that, else it would tear them to pieces. When the
+<i>King</i> heard that, he warned all the court not to laugh.
+But while the fun was going on, in came one of the <i>King&rsquo;s</i>
+maids, and began to laugh and make game of the bear, and
+the bear flew at her and tore her, so that there was scarce a
+rag of her left. Then all the court began to bewail, and
+the captain most of all.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_12' id='linki_12'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs03.png'>
+<img src='images/gs03.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='280' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Stuff and nonsense,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>; &ldquo;she&rsquo;s only a
+maid, besides it&rsquo;s more my affair than yours.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the show was over, it was late at night. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s
+no good your going away, when it&rsquo;s so late,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>.
+&ldquo;The bear had best sleep here.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Perhaps it might sleep in the ingle by the kitchen
+fire,&rdquo; said the captain.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>, &ldquo;it shall sleep up here, and it
+shall have pillows and cushions to sleep on.&rdquo; So a whole
+heap of pillows and cushions was brought, and the captain
+had a bed in a side room.</p>
+<p>But at midnight the <i>King</i> came with a lamp in his hand
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span>
+and a big bunch of
+keys, and carried
+off the white bear.
+He passed along
+gallery after gallery
+through
+doors and rooms,
+up-stairs and
+down-stairs, till at
+last he came to a
+pier which ran out
+into the sea. Then
+the <i>King</i> began to
+pull and haul at
+posts and pins, this one up and that one down, till at last
+a little house floated up to the water&rsquo;s edge. There he
+kept his daughter, for she was so dear to him that he had
+hid her, so that no one could find her out. He left the
+white bear outside while he went in and told her how it had
+danced and played its pranks. She said she was afraid, and
+dared not look at it; but he talked her over, saying there
+was no danger if she only wouldn&rsquo;t laugh. So they brought
+the bear in, and locked the door, and it danced and played
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span>
+its tricks; but just when the fun was at its height, the
+<i>Princess&rsquo;s</i> maid began to laugh. Then the lad flew at her
+and tore her to bits, and the <i>Princess</i> began to cry and sob.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stuff and nonsense,&rdquo; cried the <i>King</i>; &ldquo;all this fuss
+about a maid! I&rsquo;ll get you just as good a one again. But
+now I think the bear had best stay here till morning, for
+I don&rsquo;t care to have to go and lead it along all those
+galleries and stairs at this time of night.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well!&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;if it sleeps here, I&rsquo;m
+sure I won&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_13' id='linki_13'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col07.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col07.jpg' alt='' title='' width='291' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>The Lad in the Bear&rsquo;s skin, and the King of Arabia&rsquo;s daughter.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>But just then the bear curled himself up and lay
+down by the stove; and it was settled at last that the
+<i>Princess</i> should sleep there too, with a light burning.
+But as soon as the <i>King</i> had well gone, the white bear
+came and begged her to undo his collar. The <i>Princess</i>
+was so scared she almost swooned away; but she felt
+about till she found the collar, and she had scarce undone
+it before the bear pulled his head off. Then she knew
+him again, and was so glad there was no end to her joy,
+and she wanted to tell her father at once that her deliverer
+was come. But the lad would not hear of it; he would
+earn her once more, he said. So in the morning when
+they heard the <i>King</i> rattling at the posts outside, the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span>
+lad drew on the hide and lay down by the stove.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, has it lain still?&rdquo; the king asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I should think so,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>; &ldquo;it hasn&rsquo;t so
+much as turned or stretched itself once.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When they got up to the castle again, the captain took
+the bear and led it away, and then the lad threw off the
+hide, and went to a tailor and ordered clothes fit for a
+prince; and when they were fitted on he went to the <i>King</i>,
+and said he wanted to find the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_14' id='linki_14'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs04.png'>
+<img src='images/gs04.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='278' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re not
+the first who has
+wished the same
+thing,&rdquo; said the
+<i>King</i>, &ldquo;but they
+have all lost their
+lives; for if any
+one who tries can&rsquo;t
+find her in four-and-twenty
+hours
+his life is forfeited.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes; the lad
+knew all that. Still
+he wished to try,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span>
+and if he couldn&rsquo;t find her, &rsquo;twas his look-out. Now in the
+castle there was a band that played sweet tunes, and there
+were fair maids to dance with, and so the lad danced away.</p>
+<p>When twelve hours were gone, the <i>King</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I pity you with all my heart. You&rsquo;re so poor a hand
+at seeking; you will surely lose your life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stuff!&rdquo; said the lad; &ldquo;while there&rsquo;s life there&rsquo;s hope!
+So long as there&rsquo;s breath in the body there&rsquo;s no fear; we
+have lots of time!&rdquo; and so he went on dancing till there was
+only one hour left.</p>
+<p>Then he said he would begin to search.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s no use now,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>; &ldquo;time&rsquo;s up.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Light your lamp; out with your big bunch of keys,&rdquo;
+said the lad, &ldquo;and follow me whither I wish to go. There
+is still a whole hour left.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the lad went the same way which the <i>King</i> had led
+him the night before, and he bade the <i>King</i> unlock door
+after door till they came down to the pier which ran out
+into the sea.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all no use, I tell you,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>; &ldquo;time&rsquo;s
+up, and this will only lead you right out into the sea.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Still five minutes more,&rdquo; said the lad, as he pulled
+and pushed at the posts and pins, and the house floated up.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Now the time is up,&rdquo; bawled the <i>King</i>; &ldquo;come
+hither, headsman, and take off his head.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, nay!&rdquo; said the lad; &ldquo;stop a bit, there are still
+three minutes! Out with the key, and let me get into this
+house.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But there stood the <i>King</i> and fumbled with his keys, to
+draw out the time. At last he said he hadn&rsquo;t any key.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, if you haven&rsquo;t, I <i>have</i>,&rdquo; said the lad, as he gave
+the door such a kick that it flew to splinters inwards on the
+floor.</p>
+<p>At the door the <i>Princess</i> met him, and told her father
+this was her deliverer, on whom her heart was set. So she
+had him; and this was how the beggar boy came to marry
+the daughter of the King of Arabia.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_15' id='linki_15'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/gs05.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='271' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span>
+<a name='PRINCE_LINDWORM' id='PRINCE_LINDWORM'></a>
+<h2>PRINCE LINDWORM</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> upon a time, there was a fine young <i>King</i>
+who was married to the loveliest of Queens.
+They were exceedingly happy, all but for one
+thing&mdash;they had no children. And this often made them
+both sad, because the <i>Queen</i> wanted a dear little child to
+play with, and the <i>King</i> wanted an heir to the kingdom.</p>
+<p>One day the <i>Queen</i> went out for a walk by herself,
+and she met an ugly old woman. The old woman was
+just like a witch: but she was a nice kind of witch, not
+the cantankerous sort. She said, &ldquo;Why do you look so
+doleful, pretty lady?&rdquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no use my telling you,&rdquo;
+answered the <i>Queen</i>, &ldquo;nobody in the world can help me.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Oh, you never know,&rdquo; said the old woman. &ldquo;Just you
+let me hear what your trouble is, and maybe I can put
+things right.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;My dear woman, how can you?&rdquo; said the <i>Queen</i>:
+and she told her, &ldquo;The <i>King</i> and I have no children:
+that&rsquo;s why I am so distressed.&rdquo; &ldquo;Well, you needn&rsquo;t be,&rdquo;
+said the old witch. &ldquo;I can set that right in a twinkling,
+if only you will do exactly as I tell you. Listen. To-night,
+at sunset, take a little drinking-cup with two ears&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span>
+(that is, handles), &ldquo;and put it bottom upwards on the
+ground in the north-west corner of your garden. Then
+go and lift it up to-morrow morning at sunrise, and you
+will find two roses underneath it, one red and one white.
+If you eat the red rose, a little boy will be born to you:
+if you eat the white rose, a little girl will be sent. But,
+whatever you do, you mustn&rsquo;t eat <i>both</i> the roses, or
+you&rsquo;ll be sorry,&mdash;that I warn you! Only one: remember
+that!&rdquo; &ldquo;Thank you a thousand times,&rdquo; said the <i>Queen</i>,
+&ldquo;this is good news
+indeed!&rdquo; And she
+wanted to give the
+old woman her
+gold ring; but
+the old woman
+wouldn&rsquo;t take it.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_16' id='linki_16'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs06.png'>
+<img src='images/gs06.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='279' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>So the <i>Queen</i>
+went home and did
+as she had been
+told: and next
+morning at sunrise
+she stole out into
+the garden and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span>
+lifted up the little drinking-cup. She <i>was</i> surprised, for
+indeed she had hardly expected to see anything. But
+there were the two roses underneath it, one red and one
+white. And now she was dreadfully puzzled, for she did
+not know which to choose. &ldquo;If I choose the red one,&rdquo;
+she thought, &ldquo;and I have a little boy, he may grow up
+and go to the wars and get killed. But if I choose the
+white one, and have a little girl, she will stay at home
+awhile with us, but later on she will get married and go
+away and leave us. So, whichever it is, we may be left
+with no child after all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>However, at last she decided on the white rose, and
+she ate it. And it tasted so sweet, that she took and ate
+the red one too: without ever remembering the old
+woman&rsquo;s solemn warning.</p>
+<p>Some time after this, the <a name='TC_4'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Added italics"><i>King</i></ins> went away to the wars:
+and while he was still away, the <i>Queen</i> became the mother
+of twins. One was a lovely baby-boy, and the other was
+a <i>Lindworm</i>, or Serpent. She was terribly frightened
+when she saw the <i>Lindworm</i>, but he wriggled away out
+of the room, and nobody seemed to have seen him but
+herself: so that she thought it must have been a dream.
+The baby <i>Prince</i> was so beautiful and so healthy, the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span>
+<i>Queen</i> was full of joy: and likewise, as you may suppose,
+was the <i>King</i> when he came home and found his son and
+heir. Not a word was said by anyone about the <i>Lindworm</i>:
+only the <i>Queen</i> thought about it now and then.</p>
+<p>Many days and years passed by, and the baby grew up
+into a handsome young <i>Prince</i>, and it was time that he
+got married. The <i>King</i> sent him off to visit foreign
+kingdoms, in the Royal coach, with six white horses, to
+look for a Princess grand enough to be his wife. But
+at the very first cross-roads, the way was stopped by an
+enormous <i>Lindworm</i>, enough to frighten the bravest. He
+lay in the middle of the road with a great wide open
+mouth, and cried, &ldquo;A bride for me before a bride for
+you!&rdquo; Then the <i>Prince</i> made the coach turn round and
+try another road: but it was all no use. For, at the
+first cross-ways, there lay the <i>Lindworm</i> again, crying
+out, &ldquo;A bride for me before a bride for you!&rdquo; So the
+<i>Prince</i> had to turn back home again to the Castle, and
+give up his visits to the foreign kingdoms. And his
+mother, the <i>Queen</i>, had to confess that what the <i>Lindworm</i>
+said was true. For he was really the eldest of her twins:
+and so he ought to have a wedding first.</p>
+<p>There seemed nothing for it but to find a bride for the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span>
+<i>Lindworm</i>, if his younger brother, the <i>Prince</i>, were to be
+married at all. So the <i>King</i> wrote to a distant country,
+and asked for a Princess to marry his son (but, of course,
+he didn&rsquo;t say which son), and presently a Princess arrived.
+But she wasn&rsquo;t allowed to see her bridegroom until he
+stood by her side in the great hall and was married to
+her, and then, of course, it was too late for her to say she
+wouldn&rsquo;t have him. But next morning the Princess had
+disappeared. The <i>Lindworm</i> lay sleeping all alone: and
+it was quite plain that he had eaten her.</p>
+<p>A little while after, the Prince decided that he might
+now go journeying again in search of a <i>Princess</i>. And
+off he drove in the Royal chariot with the six white
+horses. But at the first cross-ways, there lay the <i>Lindworm</i>,
+crying with his great wide open mouth, &ldquo;A bride
+for me before a bride for you!&rdquo; So the carriage tried
+another road, and the same thing happened, and they had
+to turn back again this time, just as formerly. And the
+King wrote to several foreign countries, to know if anyone
+would marry his son. At last another <i>Princess</i> arrived,
+this time from a very far distant land. And, of course,
+she was not allowed to see her future husband before the
+wedding took place,&mdash;and then, lo and behold! it was
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span>
+the <i>Lindworm</i> who stood at her side. And next morning
+the Princess had disappeared: and the <i>Lindworm</i> lay
+sleeping all alone; and it was quite clear that he had
+eaten her.</p>
+<p>By and by the <i>Prince</i> started on his quest for the third
+time: and at the first cross-roads there lay the <i>Lindworm</i>
+with his great wide open mouth, demanding a bride as
+before. And the <i>Prince</i> went straight back to the castle,
+and told the <i>King</i>: &ldquo;You must find another bride for
+my elder brother.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where I am to find her,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>,
+&ldquo;I have already made enemies of two great Kings who
+sent their daughters here as brides: and I have no notion
+how I can obtain a third lady. People are beginning to
+say strange things, and I am sure no <i>Princess</i> will dare to
+come.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Now, down in a little cottage near a wood, there lived
+the <i>King&rsquo;s</i> shepherd, an old man with his only daughter.
+And the <i>King</i> came one day and said to him, &ldquo;Will you
+give me your daughter to marry my son the <i>Lindworm</i>?
+And I will make you rich for the rest of your life.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;No,
+sire,&rdquo; said the shepherd, &ldquo;that I cannot do. She
+is my only child, and I want her to take care of me when
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span>
+I am old. Besides, if the <i>Lindworm</i> would not spare two
+beautiful Princesses, he won&rsquo;t spare her either. He will
+just gobble her up: and she is much too good for such
+a fate.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the <i>King</i> wouldn&rsquo;t take &ldquo;No&rdquo; for an answer: and
+at last the old man had to give in.</p>
+<p>Well, when the old shepherd told his daughter that
+she was to be <i>Prince Lindworm&rsquo;s</i> bride, she was utterly
+in despair. She went out into the woods, crying and
+wringing her hands and bewailing her hard fate. And
+while she wandered to and fro, an old witch-woman
+suddenly appeared out of a big hollow oak-tree, and
+asked her, &ldquo;Why do you look so doleful, pretty lass?&rdquo;
+The shepherd-girl said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no use my telling you, for
+nobody in the world can help me.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Oh, you never
+know,&rdquo; said the old woman. &ldquo;Just you let me hear what
+your trouble is, and maybe I can put things right.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Ah,
+how can you?&rdquo; said the girl, &ldquo;For I am to be
+married to the <i>King&rsquo;s</i> eldest son, who is a <i>Lindworm</i>.
+He has already married two beautiful Princesses, and
+devoured them: and he will eat me too! No wonder I
+am distressed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, you needn&rsquo;t be,&rdquo; said the <a name='TC_5'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Standardised hyphenation from 'witchwoman'">witch-woman</ins>. &ldquo;All
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span>
+that can be set right in a twinkling: if only you will do
+exactly as I tell you.&rdquo; So the girl said she would.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Listen, then,&rdquo; said the old woman. &ldquo;After the
+marriage ceremony is over, and when it is time for you to
+retire to rest, you must ask to be dressed in ten snow-white
+shifts. And you must then ask for a tub full of lye,&rdquo;
+(that is, washing water prepared with wood-ashes) &ldquo;and
+a tub full of fresh milk, and as many whips as a boy can
+carry in his arms,&mdash;and have all these brought into your
+bed-chamber. Then, when the <i>Lindworm</i> tells you to
+shed a shift, do you bid him slough a skin. And when
+all his skins are off, you must dip the whips in the lye
+and whip him; next, you must wash him in the fresh
+milk; and, lastly, you must take him and hold him in
+your arms, if it&rsquo;s only for one moment.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The last is the worst notion&mdash;ugh!&rdquo; said the shepherd&rsquo;s
+daughter, and she shuddered at the thought of
+holding the cold, slimy, scaly <i>Lindworm</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do just as I have said, and all will go well,&rdquo; said
+the old woman. Then she disappeared again in the oak-tree.</p>
+<p>When the wedding-day arrived, the girl was fetched
+in the Royal chariot with the six white horses, and taken
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span>
+to the castle to be decked as a bride. And she asked
+for ten snow-white shifts to be brought her, and the tub
+of lye, and the tub of milk, and as many whips as a boy
+could carry in his arms. The ladies and courtiers in the
+castle thought, of course, that this was some bit of peasant
+superstition, all rubbish and nonsense. But the <i>King</i>
+said, &ldquo;Let her have whatever she asks for.&rdquo; She was
+then arrayed in the most wonderful robes, and looked
+the loveliest of brides. She was led to the hall where
+the wedding ceremony was to take place, and she saw
+the <i>Lindworm</i> for the first time as he came in and stood
+by her side. So they were married, and a great wedding-feast
+was held, a banquet fit for the son of a king.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_17' id='linki_17'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col08.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col08.jpg' alt='' title='' width='293' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>She saw the Lindworm for the first time as he came in and stood by her side.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>When the feast was over, the bridegroom and bride
+were conducted to their apartment, with music, and
+torches, and a great procession. As soon as the door
+was shut, the <i>Lindworm</i> turned to her and said, &ldquo;Fair
+maiden, shed a shift!&rdquo; The shepherd&rsquo;s daughter
+answered him, &ldquo;<i>Prince Lindworm</i>, slough a skin!&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;No
+one has ever dared tell me to do that before!&rdquo; said
+he.&mdash;&ldquo;But I command you to do it now!&rdquo; said she.
+Then he began to moan and wriggle: and in a few
+minutes a long snake-skin lay upon the floor beside him.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span>
+The girl drew off her first shift, and spread it on top of
+the skin.</p>
+<p>The <i>Lindworm</i> said again to her, &ldquo;Fair maiden, shed
+a shift.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The shepherd&rsquo;s daughter answered him, &ldquo;<i>Prince
+Lindworm</i>, slough a skin.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No one has ever dared tell me to do that before,&rdquo;
+said he.&mdash;&ldquo;But I command you to do it now,&rdquo; said she.
+Then with groans and moans he cast off the second skin:
+and she covered it with her second shift. The <i>Lindworm</i>
+said for the third time, &ldquo;Fair maiden, shed a shift.&rdquo; The
+shepherd&rsquo;s daughter answered him again, &ldquo;<i>Prince Lindworm</i>,
+slough a skin.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;No one has ever dared tell me
+to do that before,&rdquo; said he, and his little eyes rolled
+furiously. But the girl was not afraid, and once more
+she commanded him to do as she bade.</p>
+<p>And so this went on until nine <i>Lindworm</i> skins were
+lying on the floor, each of them covered with a snow-white
+shift. And there was nothing left of the <i>Lindworm</i>
+but a huge thick mass, most horrible to see. Then the
+girl seized the whips, dipped them in the lye, and
+whipped him as hard as ever she could. Next, she
+bathed him all over in the fresh milk. Lastly, she dragged
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span>
+him on to the bed and put her arms round him. And
+she fell fast asleep that very moment.</p>
+<p>Next morning very early, the <i>King</i> and the courtiers
+came and peeped in through the keyhole. They wanted
+to know what had become of the girl, but none of them
+dared enter the room. However, in the end, growing
+bolder, they opened the door a tiny bit. And there they
+saw the girl, all fresh and rosy, and beside her lay&mdash;no
+<i>Lindworm</i>, but the handsomest prince that any one could
+wish to see.</p>
+<p>The <i>King</i> ran out and fetched the <i>Queen</i>: and after
+that, there were such rejoicings in the castle as never
+were known before or since. The wedding took place
+all over again, much finer than the first, with festivals
+and banquets and merrymakings for days and weeks. No
+bride was ever so beloved by a King and Queen as this
+peasant maid from the shepherd&rsquo;s cottage. There was
+no end to their love and their kindness towards her:
+because, by her sense and her calmness and her courage,
+she had saved their son, <i>Prince Lindworm</i>.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_18' id='linki_18'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec05.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='110' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span>
+<a name='THE_LASSIE_AND_HER_GODMOTHER' id='THE_LASSIE_AND_HER_GODMOTHER'></a>
+<h2>THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER</h2>
+</div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_19' id='linki_19'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs08.png'>
+<img src='images/gs08.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='280' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time a poor couple lived far, far away
+in a great wood. The wife was brought to bed,
+and had a pretty girl, but they were so poor they
+did not know how to get the babe christened, for they had
+no money to pay the parson&rsquo;s fees. So one day the father
+went out to see if he could find any one who was willing
+to stand for the
+child and pay the
+fees; but though
+he walked about
+the whole day from
+one house to another,
+and though
+all said they were
+willing enough to
+stand, no one
+thought himself
+bound to pay the
+fees. Now, when
+he was going home
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span>
+again, a lovely lady met him, dressed so fine, and she
+looked so thoroughly good and kind; she offered to get
+the babe christened, but after that, she said, she must keep
+it for her own. The husband answered, he must first ask
+his wife what she wished to do; but when he got home
+and told his story, the wife said, right out, &ldquo;No!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Next day the man went out again, but no one would
+stand if they had to pay the fees; and though he begged
+and prayed, he could get no help. And again as he went
+home, towards evening the same lovely lady met him,
+who looked so sweet and good, and she made him the
+same offer. So he told his wife again how he had fared,
+and this time she said, if he couldn&rsquo;t get any one to stand
+for his babe next day, they must just let the lady have her
+way, since she seemed so kind and good.</p>
+<p>The third day, the man went about, but he couldn&rsquo;t
+get any one to stand; and so when, towards evening,
+he met the kind lady again, he gave his word she should
+have the babe if she would only get it christened at the
+font. So next morning she came to the place where the
+man lived, followed by two men to stand godfathers, took
+the babe and carried it to church, and there it was
+christened. After that she took it to her own house, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span>
+there the little girl lived with her several years, and her
+<i>Foster-mother</i> was always kind and friendly to her.</p>
+<p>Now, when the <i>Lassie</i> had grown to be big enough to
+know right and wrong, her <i>Foster-mother</i> got ready to go
+on a journey.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You have my leave,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;to go all over the
+house, except those rooms which I shew you;&rdquo; and
+when she had said that, away she went.</p>
+<p>But the <i>Lassie</i> could not forbear just to open one of
+the doors a little bit, when&mdash;<span class='smcap'>Pop!</span> out flew a Star.</p>
+<p>When her <i>Foster-mother</i> came back, she was very
+vexed to find that the star had flown out, and she got
+very angry with her <i>Foster-daughter</i>, and threatened to
+send her away; but the child cried and begged so hard
+that she got leave to stay.</p>
+<p>Now, after a while, the <i>Foster-mother</i> had to go on
+another journey; and, before she went, she forbade the
+<i>Lassie</i> to go into those two rooms into which she had
+never been. She promised to beware; but when she
+was left alone, she began to think and to wonder what
+there could be in the second room, and at last she could
+not help setting the door a little ajar, just to peep in,
+when&mdash;<span class='smcap'>Pop!</span> out flew the Moon.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_20' id='linki_20'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col09.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col09.jpg' alt='' title='' width='294' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>She could not help setting the door a little ajar, just to peep in, when&mdash;Pop! out flew the Moon.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span></div>
+<p>When her <i>Foster-mother</i> came home and found the
+moon let out, she was very downcast, and said to the
+<i>Lassie</i> she must go away, she could not stay with her
+any longer. But the <i>Lassie</i> wept so bitterly, and prayed
+so heartily for forgiveness, that this time, too, she got
+leave to stay.</p>
+<p>Some time after, the <i>Foster-mother</i> had to go away
+again, and she charged the Lassie, who by this time was
+half grown up, most earnestly that she mustn&rsquo;t try to go
+into, or to peep into, the third room. But when her
+<i>Foster-mother</i> had been gone some time, and the <i>Lassie</i>
+was weary of walking about alone, all at once she thought,
+&ldquo;Dear me, what fun it would be just to peep a little into
+that third room.&rdquo; Then she thought she mustn&rsquo;t do it
+for her <i>Foster-mother&rsquo;s</i> sake; but when the bad thought
+came the second time she could hold out no longer;
+come what might, she must and would look into the
+room; so she just opened the door a tiny bit, when&mdash;POP!
+out flew the Sun.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_21' id='linki_21'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs09.png'>
+<img src='images/gs09.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='282' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>But when her <i>Foster-mother</i> came back and saw that
+the sun had flown away, she was cut to the heart, and
+said, &ldquo;Now, there was no help for it, the <i>Lassie</i> must
+and should go away; she couldn&rsquo;t hear of her staying
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span>
+any longer.&rdquo; Now
+the <i>Lassie</i> cried
+her eyes out, and
+begged and prayed
+so prettily; but it
+was all no good.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay! but I
+must punish you!&rdquo;
+said her <i>Foster-mother</i>;
+&ldquo;but you
+may have your
+choice, either to
+be the loveliest
+woman in the
+world, and not to be able to speak, or to keep your speech,
+and to be the ugliest of all women; but away from me
+you must go.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And the <i>Lassie</i> said, &ldquo;I would sooner be lovely.&rdquo; So
+she became all at once wondrous fair; but from that day
+forth she was dumb.</p>
+<p>So, when she went away from her <i>Foster-mother</i>, she
+walked and wandered through a great, great wood; but
+the farther she went, the farther off the end seemed to be.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span>
+So, when the evening came on, she clomb up into a tall
+tree, which grew over a spring, and there she made herself
+up to sleep that night. Close by lay a castle, and
+from that castle came early every morning a maid to draw
+water to make the Prince&rsquo;s tea, from the spring over
+which the <i>Lassie</i> was sitting. So the maid looked down
+into the spring, saw the lovely face in the water, and
+thought it was her own; then she flung away the pitcher,
+and ran home; and, when she got there, she tossed
+up her head and said, &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m so pretty, I&rsquo;m far too good
+to go and fetch water.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So another maid had to go for the water, but the same
+thing happened to her; she went back and said she was
+far too pretty and too good to fetch water from the spring
+for the Prince. Then the Prince went himself, for he
+had a mind to see what all this could mean. So, when
+he reached the spring, he too saw the image in the water;
+but he looked up at once, and became aware of the
+lovely <i>Lassie</i> who sate there up in the tree. Then he
+coaxed her down and took her home; and at last made
+up his mind to have her for his queen, because she
+was so lovely; but his mother, who was still alive, was
+against it.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_22' id='linki_22'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col10.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col10.jpg' alt='' title='' width='293' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>Then he coaxed her down and took her home.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;She can&rsquo;t speak,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and maybe she&rsquo;s a wicked
+witch.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the Prince could not be content till he got her.
+So after they had lived together a while, the <i>Lassie</i> was
+to have a child, and when the child came to be born, the
+Prince set a strong watch about her; but at the birth one
+and all fell into a deep sleep, and her <i>Foster-mother</i> came,
+cut the babe on its little finger, and smeared the queen&rsquo;s
+mouth with the blood; and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let
+out the star;&rdquo; and with these words she carried off the
+babe.</p>
+<p>But when those who were on the watch woke, they
+thought the queen had eaten her own child, and the old
+queen was all for burning her alive, but the Prince was
+so fond of her that at last he begged her off, but he had
+hard work to set her free.</p>
+<p>So the next time the young queen was to have a child,
+twice as strong a watch was set as the first time, but the
+same thing happened over again, only this time her <i>Foster-mother</i>
+said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let
+the moon out.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span></div>
+<p>And the queen begged and prayed, and wept; for
+when her <i>Foster-mother</i> was there, she could speak&mdash;but
+it was all no good.</p>
+<p>And now the old queen said she must be burnt, but
+the Prince found means to beg her off. But when the
+third child was to be born, a watch was set three times as
+strong as the first, but just the same thing happened.
+Her <i>Foster-mother</i> came while the watch slept, took the
+babe, and cut its little finger, and smeared the queen&rsquo;s
+mouth with the blood, telling her now she should be
+as grieved as she had been when the <i>Lassie</i> let out the
+sun.</p>
+<p>And now the Prince could not save her any longer.
+She must and should be burnt. But just as they were
+leading her to the stake, all at once they saw her <i>Foster-mother</i>,
+who came with all three children&mdash;two she led by
+the hand, and the third she had on her arm; and so she
+went up to the young queen and said:</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_23' id='linki_23'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col11.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col11.jpg' alt='' title='' width='294' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>&ldquo;Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I am the Virgin Mary.&rdquo;</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Here are your children; now you shall have them
+again. I am the Virgin Mary, and so grieved as you
+have been, so grieved was I when you let out sun, and
+moon, and star. Now you have been punished for what
+you did, and henceforth you shall have your speech.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></div>
+<p>How glad the Queen and Prince now were, all may
+easily think, but no one can tell. After that they were
+always happy; and from that day even the Prince&rsquo;s mother
+was very fond of the young queen.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_24' id='linki_24'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec06.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='541' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span>
+<a name='THE_HUSBAND_WHO_WAS_TO_MIND_THE_HOUSE' id='THE_HUSBAND_WHO_WAS_TO_MIND_THE_HOUSE'></a>
+<h2>THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a man, so surly and
+cross, he never thought his <i>Wife</i> did anything
+right in the house. So, one evening, in haymaking
+time, he came home, scolding and swearing, and
+showing his teeth and making a dust.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear love, don&rsquo;t be so angry; there&rsquo;s a good man,&rdquo;
+said his goody; &ldquo;to-morrow let&rsquo;s change our work. I&rsquo;ll
+go out with the mowers and mow, and you shall mind the
+house at home.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! the <i>Husband</i> thought that would do very well.
+He was quite willing, he said.</p>
+<p>So, early next morning, his goody took a scythe over
+her neck, and went out into the hayfield with the mowers,
+and began to mow; but the man was to mind the house,
+and do the work at home.</p>
+<p>First of all, he wanted to churn the butter; but when
+he had churned a while, he got thirsty, and went down to
+the cellar to tap a barrel of ale. So, just when he had
+knocked in the bung, and was putting the tap into the
+cask, he heard overhead the pig come into the kitchen.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span>
+Then off he ran up the cellar steps, with the tap in his
+hand, as fast as he could, to look after the pig, lest it
+should upset the churn; but when he got up, and saw
+the pig had already knocked the churn over, and stood
+there, routing and grunting amongst the cream which was
+running all over the floor, he got so wild with rage that
+he quite forgot the ale-barrel, and ran at the pig as hard
+as he could. He caught it, too, just as it ran out of doors,
+and gave it such a kick, that piggy lay for dead on the
+spot. Then all at once he remembered he had the tap
+in his hand; but when he got down to the cellar, every
+drop of ale had run out of the cask.</p>
+<p>Then he went into the dairy and found enough cream
+left to fill the churn again, and so he began to churn, for
+butter they must have at dinner. When he had churned
+a bit, he remembered that their milking cow was still shut
+up in the byre, and hadn&rsquo;t had a bit to eat or a drop to
+drink all the morning, though the sun was high. Then
+all at once he thought &rsquo;twas too far to take her down to
+the meadow, so he&rsquo;d just get her up on the house top&mdash;for
+the house, you must know, was thatched with sods,
+and a fine crop of grass was growing there. Now the
+house lay close up against a steep down, and he thought
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span>
+if he laid a plank across to the thatch at the back he&rsquo;d
+easily get the cow up.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_25' id='linki_25'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs10.png'>
+<img src='images/gs10.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='275' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>But still he couldn&rsquo;t leave the churn, for there was his
+little babe crawling about on the floor, and &ldquo;if I leave
+it,&rdquo; he thought, &ldquo;the child is safe to upset it.&rdquo; So he took
+the churn on his back, and went out with it; but then he
+thought he&rsquo;d better first water the cow before he turned
+her out on the thatch; so he took up a bucket to draw
+water out of the well; but, as he stooped down at the
+well&rsquo;s brink, all the cream ran out of the churn over his
+shoulders, and so down into the well.</p>
+<p>Now it was near dinner-time, and he hadn&rsquo;t even got
+the butter yet; so he thought he&rsquo;d best boil the porridge,
+and filled the pot with water and hung it over the fire.
+When he had done that, he thought the cow might perhaps
+fall off the thatch and break her legs or her neck. So he
+got up on the house to tie her up. One end of the rope
+he made fast to the cow&rsquo;s neck and the other he slipped
+down the chimney and tied round his own thigh; and he
+had to make haste, for the water now began to boil in the
+pot, and he had still to grind the oatmeal.</p>
+<p>So he began to grind away; but while he was hard at
+it, down fell the cow off the house-top after all, and as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span>
+she fell, she dragged the man up the chimney by the rope.
+There he stuck fast; and as for the cow, she hung half-way
+down the wall, swinging between heaven and earth,
+for she could neither get down nor up.</p>
+<p>And now the goody had waited seven lengths and
+seven breadths for her <i>Husband</i> to come and call them
+home to dinner; but never a call they had. At last she
+thought she&rsquo;d waited long enough, and went home. But
+when she got there and saw the cow hanging in such an ugly
+place, she ran up
+and cut the rope
+in two with her
+scythe. But, as
+she did this, down
+came her <i>Husband</i>
+out of the chimney;
+and so, when
+his old dame came
+inside the kitchen,
+there she found
+him standing on
+his head in the
+porridge pot.</p>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span>
+<a name='THE_LAD_WHO_WENT_TO_THE_NORTH_WIND' id='THE_LAD_WHO_WENT_TO_THE_NORTH_WIND'></a>
+<h2>THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND</h2>
+</div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_26' id='linki_26'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs11.png'>
+<img src='images/gs11.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='277' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was an old widow who had
+one son; and as she was poorly and weak, her
+son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal
+for cooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was
+just going down the steps, there came the <i>North Wind</i>
+puffing and blowing, caught up the meal, and so away
+with it through
+the air. Then the
+<i>Lad</i> went back
+into the safe for
+more; but when
+he came out again
+on the steps, if
+the <i>North Wind</i>
+didn&rsquo;t come again
+and carry off the
+meal with a puff:
+and, more than
+that, he did so the
+third time. At this
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span>
+the <i>Lad</i> got very angry; and as he thought it hard that
+the <i>North Wind</i> should behave so, he thought he&rsquo;d just
+look him up, and ask him to give up his meal.</p>
+<p>So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked
+and walked; but at last he came to the <i>North Wind&rsquo;s</i>
+house.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good day!&rdquo; said the <i>Lad</i>, &ldquo;and thank you for coming
+to see us yesterday.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Good Day</span>!&rdquo; answered the <i>North Wind</i>, for his
+voice was loud and gruff, &ldquo;<span class='smcap'>and thanks for coming to see
+me. What do you Want</span>?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; answered the <i>Lad</i>, &ldquo;I only wished to ask you
+to be so good as to let me have back that meal you took
+from me on the safe steps, for we haven&rsquo;t much to live on;
+and if you&rsquo;re to go on snapping up the morsel we have,
+there&rsquo;ll be nothing for it but to starve.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t got your meal,&rdquo; said the <i>North Wind</i>; &ldquo;but
+if you are in such need, I&rsquo;ll give you a cloth which will
+get you everything you want, if you only say, &lsquo;Cloth,
+spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>With this the <i>Lad</i> was well content. But, as the
+way was so long he couldn&rsquo;t get home in one day, so he
+turned into an inn on the way; and when they were going
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span>
+to sit down to supper he laid the cloth on a table which
+stood in the corner, and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good
+dishes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid;
+and all who stood by thought it a fine thing, but most of
+all the landlady. So, when all were fast asleep at dead of
+night, she took the <i>Lad&rsquo;s</i> cloth, and put another in its
+stead, just like the one he had got from the <i>North Wind</i>,
+but which couldn&rsquo;t so much as serve up a bit of dry bread.</p>
+<p>So, when the <i>Lad</i> woke, he took his cloth and went
+off with it, and that day he got home to his mother.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been to the <i>North Wind&rsquo;s</i>
+house, and a good fellow he is, for he gave me this cloth,
+and when I only say to it, &lsquo;Cloth, spread yourself, and
+serve up all kinds of good dishes,&rsquo; I get any sort of food
+I please.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All very true, I daresay,&rdquo; said his mother; &ldquo;but
+seeing is believing, and I shan&rsquo;t believe it till I see it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the <i>Lad</i> made haste, drew out a table, laid the
+cloth on it, and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of
+good dishes.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span></div>
+<p>But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the <i>Lad</i> &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no help for it but to
+go to the <i>North Wind</i> again;&rdquo; and away he went.</p>
+<p>So he came to where the <i>North Wind</i> lived late in
+the afternoon.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good evening!&rdquo; said the <i>Lad</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good evening!&rdquo; said the <i>North Wind</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I want my rights for that meal of ours which you
+took,&rdquo; said the <i>Lad</i>; &ldquo;for, as for that cloth I got, it isn&rsquo;t
+worth a penny.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got no meal,&rdquo; said the <i>North Wind</i>; &ldquo;but
+yonder you have a ram which coins nothing but golden
+ducats as soon as you say to it: &lsquo;Ram, ram! make
+money!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the <i>Lad</i> thought this a fine thing; but as it was
+too far to get home that day, he turned in for the night
+to the same inn where he had slept before.</p>
+<p>Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of
+what the <i>North Wind</i> had said of the ram, and found it
+all right; but, when the landlord saw that, he thought it
+was a famous ram, and, when the <i>Lad</i> had fallen asleep,
+he took another which couldn&rsquo;t coin gold ducats, and
+changed the two.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span></div>
+<p>Next morning off went the <i>Lad</i>; and when he got
+home to his mother, he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;After all, the <i>North Wind</i> is a jolly fellow; for now
+he has given me a ram which can coin golden ducats if I
+only say: &lsquo;Ram, ram! make money!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All very true, I daresay,&rdquo; said his mother; &ldquo;but I
+shan&rsquo;t believe any such stuff until I see the ducats made.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ram, ram! make money!&rdquo; said the <i>Lad</i>; but if the
+ram made anything, it wasn&rsquo;t money.</p>
+<p>So the <i>Lad</i> went back again to the <i>North Wind</i>, and
+blew him up, and said the ram was worth nothing, and
+he must have his rights for the meal.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well!&rdquo; said the <i>North Wind</i>; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve nothing else to
+give you but that old stick in the corner yonder; but its
+a stick of that kind that if you say: &lsquo;Stick, stick! lay on!&rsquo;
+it lays on till you say: &lsquo;Stick, stick! now stop!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So, as the way was long, the <i>Lad</i> turned in this night
+too to the landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how
+things stood as to the cloth and the ram, he lay down at
+once on the bench and began to snore, as if he were asleep.</p>
+<p>Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must
+be worth something, hunted up one which was like it, and
+when he heard the lad snore, was going to change the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span>
+two; but, just as the landlord was about to take it, the
+<i>Lad</i> bawled out:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stick, stick! lay on!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped
+over chairs, and tables, and benches, and yelled and roared:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will
+beat me to death, and you shall have back both your cloth
+and your ram.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the <i>Lad</i> thought the landlord had got enough,
+he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Stick, stick! now stop!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket,
+and went home with his stick in his hand, leading the ram
+by a cord round its horns; and so he got his rights for
+the meal he had lost.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_27' id='linki_27'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/gs12.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='232' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span>
+<a name='THE_THREE_PRINCESSES_OF_WHITELAND' id='THE_THREE_PRINCESSES_OF_WHITELAND'></a>
+<h2>THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND</h2>
+</div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_28' id='linki_28'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs13.png'>
+<img src='images/gs13.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='277' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a fisherman who lived
+close by a palace, and fished for the <i>King&rsquo;s</i>
+table. One day when he was out fishing he
+just caught nothing. Do what he would&mdash;however he
+tried with bait and angle&mdash;there was never a sprat on his
+hook. But when the day was far spent a head bobbed
+up out of the
+water, and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If I may
+have what your
+wife bears under
+her girdle, you
+shall catch fish
+enough.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the man
+answered boldly,
+&ldquo;Yes;&rdquo; for he did
+not know that his
+wife was going to
+have a child. After
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span>
+that, as was like enough, he caught plenty of fish of all
+kinds. But when he got home at night and told his
+story, how he had got all that fish, his wife fell a-weeping
+and moaning, and was beside herself for the promise
+which her husband had made, for she said, &ldquo;I bear a babe
+under my girdle.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, the story soon spread, and came up to the
+castle; and when the <i>King</i> heard the woman&rsquo;s grief and
+its cause, he sent down to say he would take care of the
+child, and see if he couldn&rsquo;t save it.</p>
+<p>So the months went on and on, and when her time
+came the fisher&rsquo;s wife had a boy; so the king took it at
+once, and brought it up as his own son, until the lad
+grew up. Then he begged leave one day to go out
+fishing with his father; he had such a mind to go, he
+said. At first the <i>King</i> wouldn&rsquo;t hear of it, but at last
+the lad had his way, and went. So he and his father
+were out the whole day, and all went right and well till
+they landed at night. Then the lad remembered he had
+left his handkerchief, and went to look for it; but as
+soon as ever he got into the boat, it began to move off
+with him at such speed that the water roared under the
+bow, and all the lad could do in rowing against it with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span>
+the oars was no use; so he went and went the whole
+night, and at last he came to a white strand, far far away.</p>
+<p>There he went ashore, and when he had walked about
+a bit, an old, old man met him, with a long white beard.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the name of this land?&rdquo; asked the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Whiteland,&rdquo; said the man, who went on to ask the
+lad whence he came, and what he was going to do. So
+the lad told him all.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_29' id='linki_29'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col12.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col12.jpg' alt='' title='' width='290' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll come to three Princesses, whom you will see standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads out.&rdquo;</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye!&rdquo; said the man; &ldquo;now when you have
+walked a little farther along the strand here, you&rsquo;ll come
+to three <i>Princesses</i>, whom you will see standing in the
+earth up to their necks, with only their heads out. Then
+the first&mdash;she is the eldest&mdash;will call out and beg you so
+prettily to come and help her; and the second will do
+the same; to neither of these shall you go; make haste
+past them, as if you neither saw nor heard anything.
+But the third you shall go to, and do what she asks.
+If you do this, you&rsquo;ll have good luck&mdash;that&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the lad came to the first <i>Princess</i>, she called
+out to him, and begged him so prettily to come to her,
+but he passed on as though he saw her not. In the same
+way he passed by the second; but to the third he went
+straight up.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;ll do what I bid you,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you may
+have which of us you please.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes;&rdquo; he was willing enough; so she told him how
+three <i>Trolls</i> had set them down in the earth there; but
+before they had lived in the castle up among the trees.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you must go into that castle, and
+let the <i>Trolls</i> whip you each one night for each of us.
+If you can bear that, you&rsquo;ll set us free.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, the lad said he was ready to try.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;When you go in,&rdquo; the <i>Princess</i> went on to say,
+&ldquo;you&rsquo;ll see two lions standing at the gate; but if you&rsquo;ll
+only go right in the middle between them they&rsquo;ll do you
+no harm. Then go straight on into a little dark room,
+and make your bed. Then the <i>Troll</i> will come to whip
+you; but if you take the flask which hangs on the wall,
+and rub yourself with the ointment that&rsquo;s in it, wherever
+his lash falls, you&rsquo;ll be as sound as ever. Then grasp the
+sword that hangs by the side of the flask and strike the
+<i>Troll</i> dead.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes, he did as the <i>Princess</i> told him; he passed in the
+midst between the lions, as if he hadn&rsquo;t seen them, and
+went straight into the little room, and there he lay down
+to sleep. The first night there came a <i>Troll</i> with three
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span>
+heads and three rods, and whipped the lad soundly; but
+he stood it till the <i>Troll</i> was done; then he took the
+flask and rubbed himself, and grasped the sword and slew
+the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>So, when he went out next morning, the <i>Princesses</i>
+stood out of the earth up to their waists.</p>
+<p>The next night &rsquo;twas the same story over again, only
+this time the <i>Troll</i> had six heads and six rods, and he
+whipped him far worse than the first; but when he went
+out next morning,
+the <i>Princesses</i>
+stood out of the
+earth as far as the
+knee.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_30' id='linki_30'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs14.png'>
+<img src='images/gs14.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='275' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>The third
+night there came a
+<i>Troll</i> that had nine
+heads and nine
+rods, and he
+whipped and
+flogged the lad so
+long that he fainted
+away; then the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span>
+<i>Troll</i> took him up and dashed him against the wall; but
+the shock brought down the flask, which fell on the lad,
+burst, and spilled the ointment all over him, and so he
+became as strong and sound as ever again. Then he wasn&rsquo;t
+slow; he grasped the sword and slew the <i>Troll</i>; and next
+morning when he went out of the castle the <i>Princesses</i>
+stood before him with all their bodies out of the earth.
+So he took the youngest for his <i>Queen</i>, and lived well
+and happily with her for some time.</p>
+<p>At last he began to long to go home for a little to see
+his parents. His <i>Queen</i> did not like this; but at last his
+heart was so set on it, and he longed and longed so much,
+there was no holding him back, so she said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;One thing you must promise me. This&mdash;only to
+do what your father begs you to do, and not what mother
+wishes;&rdquo; and that he promised.</p>
+<p>Then she gave him a ring, which was of that kind
+that any one who wore it might wish two wishes. So
+he wished himself home, and when he got home his
+parents could not wonder enough what a grand man their
+son had become.</p>
+<p>Now, when he had been at home some days, his
+mother wished him to go up to the palace and show the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span>
+<i>King</i> what a fine fellow he had come to be. But his
+father said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No! don&rsquo;t let him do that; if he does, we shan&rsquo;t
+have any more joy of him this time.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But it was no good, the mother begged and prayed so
+long that at last he went. So when he got up to the
+palace he was far braver, both in clothes and array, than
+the other king, who didn&rsquo;t quite like this, and at last he
+said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All very fine; but here you can see my <i>Queen</i>, what
+like she is, but I can&rsquo;t see yours: that I can&rsquo;t. Do you
+know, I scarce think she&rsquo;s so good-looking as mine.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Would to Heaven,&rdquo; said the young <i>King</i>, &ldquo;she were
+standing here, then you&rsquo;d see what she was like.&rdquo; And
+that instant there she stood before them.</p>
+<p>But she was very woeful, and said to him:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why did you not mind what I told you; and why
+did you not listen to what your father said? Now, I must
+away home, and as for you, you have had both your wishes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>With that she knitted a ring among his hair with her
+name on it, and wished herself home, and was off.</p>
+<p>Then the young <i>King</i> was cut to the heart, and went,
+day out day in, thinking and thinking how he should get
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span>
+back to his <i>Queen</i>. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll just try,&rdquo; he thought, &ldquo;if I can&rsquo;t
+learn where Whiteland lies;&rdquo; and so he went out into the
+world to ask. So when he had gone a good way, he came
+to a high hill, and there he met one who was lord over
+all the beasts of the wood, for they all came home to him
+when he blew his horn; so the <i>King</i> asked if he knew
+where Whiteland was.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, I don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll ask my beasts.&rdquo; Then
+he blew his horn and called them, and asked if any of
+them knew where Whiteland lay. But there was no beast
+that knew.</p>
+<p>So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_31' id='linki_31'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col13.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col13.jpg' alt='' title='' width='292' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;When you get on these,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you&rsquo;ll come to
+my brother, who lives hundreds of miles off; he is lord
+over all the birds of the air. Ask him. When you reach
+his house, just turn the shoes so that the toes point this
+way, and they&rsquo;ll come home of themselves.&rdquo; So when the
+<i>King</i> reached the house, he turned the shoes as the lord
+of the beasts had said, and away they went home of
+themselves.</p>
+<p>So he asked again after Whiteland, and the man called
+all the birds with a blast of his horn, and asked if any of
+them knew where Whiteland lay; but none of the birds
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span>
+knew. Now, long, long after the rest of the birds came
+an old eagle, which had been away ten round years, but
+he couldn&rsquo;t tell any more than the rest.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll lend you a pair of
+snow-shoes, and, when you get them on, they&rsquo;ll carry you
+to my brother, who lives hundreds of miles off; he&rsquo;s lord
+of all the fish in the sea; you&rsquo;d better ask him. But don&rsquo;t
+forget to turn the toes of the shoes this way.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The <i>King</i> was full of thanks, got on the shoes, and
+when he came to the man who was lord over the fish of
+the sea, he turned the toes round, and so off they went
+home like the other pair. After that, he asked again
+after Whiteland.</p>
+<p>So the man called the fish with a blast, but no fish
+could tell where it lay. At last came an old pike, which
+they had great work to call home, he was such a way off.
+So when they asked him he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Know it? I should think I did! I&rsquo;ve been cook there
+ten years, and to-morrow I&rsquo;m going there again; for now
+the queen of Whiteland, whose king is away, is going to
+wed another husband.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well!&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;as this is so, I&rsquo;ll give you a
+bit of advice. Hereabouts, on a moor, stand three brothers,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span>
+and here they have stood these hundred years, fighting
+about a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots. If any one has
+these three things he can make himself invisible, and wish
+himself anywhere he pleases. You can tell them you wish
+to try the things, and, after that, you&rsquo;ll pass judgment
+between them, whose they shall be.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! the <i>King</i> thanked the man, and went and did as
+he told him.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What&rsquo;s all this?&rdquo; he said to the brothers. &ldquo;Why do
+you stand here fighting for ever and a day? Just let me
+try these things, and I&rsquo;ll give judgment whose they shall be.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>They were very willing to do this; but, as soon as he
+had got the hat, cloak, and boots, he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;When we meet next time, I&rsquo;ll tell you my judgment,&rdquo;
+and with these words he wished himself away.</p>
+<p>So as he went along up in the air, he came up with
+the North wind.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Whither away?&rdquo; roared the North Wind.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To Whiteland,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>; <a name='TC_6'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Removed extra double-quote">and</ins> then he told
+him all that had befallen him.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; said the North Wind, &ldquo;you go faster than I&mdash;you
+do; for you can go straight, while I have to puff and
+blow round every turn and corner. But when you get
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span>
+there, just place yourself on the stairs by the side of the
+door, and then I&rsquo;ll come storming in, as though I were
+going to blow down the whole castle. And then when
+the prince, who is to have your <i>Queen</i>, comes out to see
+what&rsquo;s the matter, just you take him by the collar and
+pitch him out of doors; then I&rsquo;ll look after him, and see
+if I can&rsquo;t carry him off.&rdquo;</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_32' id='linki_32'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col14.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col14.jpg' alt='' title='' width='296' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>The King went into the Castle, and at first his Queen didn&rsquo;t know him, he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and being so woeful.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>Well, the <i>King</i> did as the North Wind said. He took
+his stand on the stairs, and when the North Wind came,
+storming and roaring, and took hold of the castle wall, so
+that it shook again, the prince came out to see what was
+the matter. But as soon as ever he came, the <i>King</i>
+caught him by the collar and pitched him out of doors,
+and then the North Wind caught him up and carried him
+off. So when there was an end of him, the <i>King</i> went
+into the castle, and at first his <i>Queen</i> didn&rsquo;t know him,
+he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and
+being so woeful; but when he shewed her the ring, she
+was as glad as glad could be; and so the rightful wedding
+was held, and the fame of it spread far and wide.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_33' id='linki_33'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec07.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='109' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span>
+<a name='SORIA_MORIA_CASTLE' id='SORIA_MORIA_CASTLE'></a>
+<h2>SORIA MORIA CASTLE</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a poor couple who had
+a son whose name was <i>Halvor</i>. Ever since he
+was a little boy he would turn his hand to
+nothing, but just sat there and groped about in the ashes.
+His father and mother often put him out to learn this
+trade or that, but <i>Halvor</i> could stay nowhere; for, when
+he had been there a day or two, he ran away from his
+master, and never stopped till he was sitting again in the
+ingle, poking about in the cinders.</p>
+<p>Well, one day a skipper came, and asked <i>Halvor</i> if
+he hadn&rsquo;t a mind to be with him, and go to sea, and see
+strange lands. Yes, <i>Halvor</i> would like that very much;
+so he wasn&rsquo;t long in getting himself ready.</p>
+<p>How long they sailed I&rsquo;m sure I can&rsquo;t tell; but the
+end of it was, they fell into a great storm, and when it
+was blown over, and it got still again, they couldn&rsquo;t tell
+where they were; for they had been driven away to a
+strange coast, which none of them knew anything about.</p>
+<p>Well, as there was just no wind at all, they stayed
+lying wind-bound there, and <i>Halvor</i> asked the skipper&rsquo;s
+leave to go on shore and look about him; he would
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span>
+sooner go, he said, than lie there and sleep.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you think now you&rsquo;re fit to show yourself before
+folk,&rdquo; said the skipper, &ldquo;why, you&rsquo;ve no clothes but
+those rags you stand in?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But <i>Halvor</i> stuck to his own, and so at last he got
+leave, but he was to be sure and come back as soon as
+ever it began to blow. So off he went and found a lovely
+land; wherever he came there were fine large flat cornfields
+and rich meads, but he couldn&rsquo;t catch a glimpse of
+a living soul. Well, it began to blow, but <i>Halvor</i>
+thought he hadn&rsquo;t seen enough yet, and he wanted to
+walk a little farther just to see if he couldn&rsquo;t meet any
+folk. So after a while he came to a broad high road, so
+smooth and even, you might easily roll an egg along it.
+<i>Halvor</i> followed this, and when evening drew on he saw
+a great castle ever so far off, from which the sunbeams
+shone. So as he had now walked the whole day and
+hadn&rsquo;t taken a bit to eat with him, he was as hungry as
+a hunter, but still the nearer he came to the castle, the
+more afraid he got.</p>
+<p>In the castle kitchen a great fire was blazing, and
+<i>Halvor</i> went into it, but such a kitchen he had never seen
+in all his born days. It was so grand and fine; there
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span>
+were vessels of silver and vessels of gold, but still never a
+living soul. So when <i>Halvor</i> had stood there a while and
+no one came out, he went and opened a door, and there
+inside sat a <i>Princess</i> who span upon a spinning-wheel.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, nay, now!&rdquo; she called out, &ldquo;dare Christian
+folk come hither? But now you&rsquo;d best be off about your
+business, if you don&rsquo;t want the <i>Troll</i> to gobble you up;
+for here lives a <i>Troll</i> with three heads.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All one to me,&rdquo; said the lad, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be just as glad to
+hear he had four heads beside; I&rsquo;d like to see what kind
+of fellow he is. As for going, I won&rsquo;t go at all. I&rsquo;ve
+done no harm; but meat you must get me, for I&rsquo;m almost
+starved to death.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When <i>Halvor</i> had eaten his fill, the <i>Princess</i> told him
+to try if he could brandish the sword that hung against the
+wall; no, he couldn&rsquo;t brandish it, he couldn&rsquo;t even lift it up.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;now you must go and take
+a pull of that flask that hangs by its side; that&rsquo;s what the
+<i>Troll</i> does every time he goes out to use the sword.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So <i>Halvor</i> took a pull, and in the twinkling of an eye he
+could brandish the sword like nothing; and now he thought
+it high time the <i>Troll</i> came; and lo! just then up came the
+<i>Troll</i> puffing and blowing. <i>Halvor</i> jumped behind the door.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Hutetu</span>,&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>, as he put his head in at
+the door, &ldquo;what a smell of Christian man&rsquo;s blood!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;you&rsquo;ll soon know that to your
+cost,&rdquo; and with that he hewed off all his heads.</p>
+<p>Now the <i>Princess</i> was so glad that she was free, she
+both danced and sang, but then all at once she called her
+sisters to mind, and so she said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Would my sisters were free too!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where are they?&rdquo; asked <i>Halvor</i>.</p>
+<p>Well, she told him all about it; one was taken away by
+a <i>Troll</i> to his Castle which lay fifty miles off, and the other by
+another <i>Troll</i> to his Castle which was fifty miles further still.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But now,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you must first help me to get
+this ugly carcass out of the house.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes, <i>Halvor</i> was so strong he swept everything away,
+and made it all clean and tidy in no time. So they had
+a good and happy time of it, and next morning he set off
+at peep of grey dawn; he could take no rest by the way,
+but ran and walked the whole day. When he first saw
+the Castle he got a little afraid; it was far grander than
+the first, but here too there wasn&rsquo;t a living soul to be seen.
+So <i>Halvor</i> went into the kitchen, and didn&rsquo;t stop there
+either, but went straight further on into the house.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, nay,&rdquo; called out the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;dare Christian
+folk come hither? I don&rsquo;t know I&rsquo;m sure how long it
+is since I came here, but in all that time I haven&rsquo;t seen a
+Christian man. &rsquo;Twere best you saw how to get away as
+fast as you came; for here lives a <i>Troll</i> who has six heads.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I shan&rsquo;t go,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;if he has six heads besides.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll take you up and swallow you down alive,&rdquo;
+said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>But it was no good, <i>Halvor</i> wouldn&rsquo;t go; he wasn&rsquo;t
+at all afraid of the <i>Troll</i>, but meat and drink he must
+have, for he was half starved after his long journey. Well,
+he got as much of that as he wished, but then the <i>Princess</i>
+wanted him to be off again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t go, I&rsquo;ve done no harm,
+and I&rsquo;ve nothing to be afraid about.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He won&rsquo;t stay to ask that,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;for
+he&rsquo;ll take you without law or leave; but as you won&rsquo;t go,
+just try if you can brandish that sword yonder, which the
+<i>Troll</i> wields in war.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He couldn&rsquo;t brandish it, and then the <i>Princess</i> said he
+must take a pull at the flask which hung by its side, and
+when he had done that he could brandish it.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span></div>
+<p>Just then back came the <i>Troll</i>, and he was both stout
+and big, so that he had to go sideways to get through the
+door. When the <i>Troll</i> got his first head in he called out:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Hutetu</span>, what a smell of Christian man&rsquo;s blood!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But that very moment <i>Halvor</i> hewed off his first
+head, and so on all the rest as they popped in. The
+<i>Princess</i> was overjoyed, but just then she came to think of
+her sisters, and wished out loud they were free. <i>Halvor</i>
+thought that might easily be done, and wanted to be off
+at once; but first he had to help the <i>Princess</i> to get the
+<i>Troll&rsquo;s</i> carcass out of the way, and so he could only set
+out next morning.</p>
+<p>It was a long way to the Castle, and he had to walk
+fast and run hard to reach it in time; but about nightfall
+he saw the Castle, which was far finer and grander
+than either of the others. This time he wasn&rsquo;t the least
+afraid, but walked straight through the kitchen, and into
+the Castle. There sat a <i>Princess</i> who was so pretty, there
+was no end to her loveliness. She too like the others
+told him there hadn&rsquo;t been Christian folk there ever since
+she came thither, and bade him go away again, else the
+<i>Troll</i> would swallow him alive, and do you know, she
+said, he has nine heads.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;if he had nine other heads,
+and nine other heads still, I won&rsquo;t go away,&rdquo; and so he
+stood fast before the stove. The <i>Princess</i> kept on begging
+him so prettily to go away, lest the <i>Troll</i> should
+gobble him up, but <i>Halvor</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let him come as soon as he likes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So she gave him the <i>Troll&rsquo;s</i> sword, and bade him
+take a pull at the flask, that he might be able to brandish
+and wield it.</p>
+<p>Just then back came the <i>Troll</i> puffing and blowing
+and tearing along. He was far bigger and stouter than
+the other two, and he too had to go on one side to get
+through the door. So when he got his first head in, he
+said as the others had said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Hutetu</span>, what a smell of Christian man&rsquo;s blood!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>That very moment <i>Halvor</i> hewed off the first head
+and then all the rest; but the last was the toughest of them
+all, and it was the hardest bit of work <i>Halvor</i> had to do, to
+get it hewn off, although he knew very well he had strength
+enough to do it.</p>
+<p>So all the <i>Princesses</i> came together to that Castle,
+which was called <i>Soria Moria Castle</i>, and they were glad
+and happy as they had never been in all their lives before,
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span>
+and they all were
+fond of <i>Halvor</i>
+and <i>Halvor</i> of
+them, and he
+might choose the
+one he liked best
+for his bride; but
+the youngest was
+fondest of him of
+all the three.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_34' id='linki_34'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs15.png'>
+<img src='images/gs15.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='279' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>But there
+after a while, <i>Halvor</i>
+went about,
+and was so strange
+and dull and silent. Then the Princesses asked him what
+he lacked, and if he didn&rsquo;t like to live with them any
+longer? Yes, he did, for they had enough and to spare,
+and he was well off in every way, but still somehow or
+other he did so long to go home, for his father and
+mother were alive, and them he had such a great wish to
+see.</p>
+<p>Well, they thought that might be done easily
+enough.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;You shall go thither and come back hither, safe and
+unscathed, if you will only follow our advice,&rdquo; said the
+<i>Princesses</i>.</p>
+<p>Yes, he&rsquo;d be sure to mind all they said. So they
+dressed him up till he was as grand as a king&rsquo;s son, and
+then they set a ring on his finger, and that was such a
+ring, he could wish himself thither and hither with it; but
+they told him to be sure and not take it off, and not to
+name their names, for there would be an end of all his
+bravery, and then he&rsquo;d never see them more.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If I only stood at home I&rsquo;d be glad,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>;
+and it was done as he had wished. Then stood <i>Halvor</i>
+at his father&rsquo;s cottage door before he knew a word about
+it. Now it was about dusk at even, and so, when they
+saw such a grand stately lord walk in, the old couple got
+so afraid they began to bow and scrape. Then <i>Halvor</i>
+asked if he couldn&rsquo;t stay there, and have a lodging there
+that night. No; that he couldn&rsquo;t.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t do it at all,&rdquo; they said, &ldquo;for we haven&rsquo;t
+this thing or that thing which such a lord is used to have;
+&rsquo;twere best your lordship went up to the farm, no long
+way off, for you can see the chimneys, and there they
+have lots of everything.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span></div>
+<p><i>Halvor</i> wouldn&rsquo;t hear of it&mdash;he wanted to stop; but
+the old couple stuck to their own, that he had better go
+to the farmer&rsquo;s; there he would get both meat and drink;
+as for them, they hadn&rsquo;t even a chair to offer him to sit
+down on.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t go up there till to-morrow
+early, but let me just stay here to-night; worst
+come to the worst, I can sit in the chimney corner.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, they couldn&rsquo;t say anything against that; so
+<i>Halvor</i> sat down by the ingle, and began to poke about
+in the ashes, just as he used to do when he lay at home
+in old days, and stretched his lazy bones.</p>
+<p>Well, they chattered and talked about many things;
+and they told <i>Halvor</i> about this thing and that; and so
+he asked them if they had never had any children.</p>
+<p>Yes, yes, they had once a lad whose name was
+<i>Halvor</i>, but they didn&rsquo;t know whither he had wandered;
+they couldn&rsquo;t even tell whether he were dead or alive.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t it be me, now?&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let me see; I could tell him well enough,&rdquo; said the
+old wife, and rose up. &ldquo;Our <i>Halvor</i> was so lazy and
+dull, he never did a thing; and besides, he was so ragged,
+that one tatter took hold of the next tatter on him. No;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span>
+there never was the making of such a fine fellow in him
+as you are, master.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>A little while after the old wife went to the hearth to
+poke up the fire, and when the blaze fell on <i>Halvor&rsquo;s</i> face,
+just as when he was at home of old poking about in the
+ashes, she knew him at once.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah! but it is you after all, <i>Halvor</i>?&rdquo; she cried;
+and then there was such joy for the old couple, there was
+no end to it; and he was forced to tell how he had fared,
+and the old dame was so fond and proud of him, nothing
+would do but he must go up at once to the farmer&rsquo;s, and
+show himself to the lassies, who had always looked down
+on him. And off she went first, and <i>Halvor</i> followed
+after. So, when she got up there, she told them all how
+<i>Halvor</i> had come home again, and now they should only
+just see how grand he was, for, said she, &ldquo;he looks like
+nothing but a King&rsquo;s son.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;All very fine,&rdquo; said the lassies, and tossed up their
+heads. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be bound he&rsquo;s just the same beggarly
+ragged boy he always was.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Just then in walked <i>Halvor</i>, and then the lassies were
+all so taken aback, they forgot their sarks in the ingle,
+where they were sitting darning their clothes, and ran out
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span>
+in their smocks. Well, when they were got back again,
+they were so shamefaced they scarce dared look at <i>Halvor</i>,
+towards whom they had always been proud and haughty.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;you always thought yourselves
+so pretty and neat, no one could come near you;
+but now you should just see the eldest <i>Princess</i> I have set
+free; against her you look just like milkmaids, and the
+midmost is prettier still; but the youngest, who is my
+sweetheart, she&rsquo;s fairer than both sun and moon. Would
+to Heaven they were only here,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;then you&rsquo;d
+see what you would see.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He had scarce uttered these words before there they
+stood, but then he felt so sorry, for now what they had
+said came into his mind. Up at the farm there was a
+great feast got ready for the <i>Princesses</i>, and much was
+made of them, but they wouldn&rsquo;t stop there.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, we want to go down to your father and mother,&rdquo;
+they said to <i>Halvor</i>; &ldquo;and so we&rsquo;ll go out now and look
+about us.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So he went down with them, and they came to a great
+lake just outside the farm. Close by the water was such
+a lovely green bank; here the <i>Princesses</i> said they would
+sit and rest a while; they thought it so sweet to sit down
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span>
+and look over the
+water.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_35' id='linki_35'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs16.png'>
+<img src='images/gs16.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='277' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>So they sat
+down there, and
+when they had sat
+a while the youngest
+<i>Princess</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I may as
+well comb your
+hair a little, <i>Halvor</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, <i>Halvor</i>
+laid his head on
+her lap, and she
+combed his bonny locks, and it wasn&rsquo;t long before <i>Halvor</i>
+fell fast asleep. Then she took the ring from his finger,
+and put another in its stead; and she said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now hold me all together! and now would we were
+all in <i>Soria Moria Castle</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when <i>Halvor</i> woke up, he could very well tell
+that he had lost the <i>Princesses</i>, and began to weep and
+wail; and he was so downcast, they couldn&rsquo;t comfort him
+at all. In spite of all his father and mother said, he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span>
+wouldn&rsquo;t stop there, but took farewell of them, and said
+he was safe not to see them again; for if he couldn&rsquo;t find
+the <i>Princesses</i> again, he thought it not worth while to live.</p>
+<p>Well, he had still about sixty pounds left, so he put
+them into his pocket, and set out on his way. So, when
+he had walked a while, he met a man with a tidy horse,
+and he wanted to buy it, and began to chaffer with the
+man.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye,&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;to tell the truth, I never
+thought of selling him; but if we could strike a bargain
+perhaps&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What do you want for him?&rdquo; asked <i>Halvor</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t give much for him, nor is he worth much;
+he&rsquo;s a brave horse to ride, but he can&rsquo;t draw at all; still
+he&rsquo;s strong enough to carry your knapsack and you too,
+turn and turn about,&rdquo; said the man.</p>
+<p>At last they agreed on the price, and <i>Halvor</i> laid the
+knapsack on him, and so he walked a bit, and rode a bit,
+turn and turn about. At night he came to a green plain
+where stood a great tree, at the roots of which he sat
+down. There he let the horse loose, but he didn&rsquo;t lie
+down to sleep, but opened his knapsack and took a meal.
+At peep of day off he set again, for he could take no
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span>
+rest. So he rode and walked and walked and rode the
+whole day through the wide wood, where there were
+so many green spots and glades that shone so bright and
+lovely between the trees. He didn&rsquo;t know at all where
+he was or whither he was going, but he gave himself no
+more time to rest than when his horse cropped a bit of
+grass, and he took a snack out of his knapsack when they
+came to one of those green glades. So he went on walking
+and riding by turns, and as for the wood there seemed to
+be no end to it.</p>
+<p>But at dusk the next day he saw a light gleaming
+away through the trees.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Would there were folk hereaway,&rdquo; thought <i>Halvor</i>,
+&ldquo;that I might warm myself a bit and get a morsel to keep
+body and soul together.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When he got up to it he saw the light came from a
+wretched little hut, and through the window he saw an
+old old, couple inside. They were as grey-headed as a
+pair of doves, and the old wife had such a nose! why, it
+was so long she used it for a poker to stir the fire as she
+sat in the ingle.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good evening,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good evening,&rdquo; said the old wife.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;But what errand can you have in coming hither?&rdquo;
+she went on, &ldquo;for no Christian folk have been here these
+hundred years and more.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, <i>Halvor</i> told her all about himself, and how he
+wanted to get to <i>Soria Moria Castle</i>, and asked if she
+knew the way thither.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said the old wife, &ldquo;that I don&rsquo;t, but see now,
+here comes the Moon, I&rsquo;ll ask her, she&rsquo;ll know all about
+it, for doesn&rsquo;t she shine on everything?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when the Moon stood clear and bright over the
+tree-tops, the old wife went out.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Thou Moon, thou Moon</span>,&rdquo; she screamed, &ldquo;canst
+thou tell me the way to <i>Soria Moria Castle</i>?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said the Moon, &ldquo;that I can&rsquo;t, for the last time
+I shone there a cloud stood before me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Wait a bit still,&rdquo; said the old wife to <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;bye
+and bye comes the West Wind; he&rsquo;s sure to know it, for
+he puffs and blows round every corner.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, nay,&rdquo; said the old wife when she went out
+again, &ldquo;you don&rsquo;t mean to say you&rsquo;ve got a horse too;
+just turn the poor beastie loose in our &lsquo;toun,&rsquo; and don&rsquo;t
+let him stand there and starve to death at the door.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then she ran on:</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;But won&rsquo;t you swop him away to me?&mdash;we&rsquo;ve got
+an old pair of boots here, with which you can take twenty
+miles at each stride; those you shall have for your horse,
+and so you&rsquo;ll get all the sooner to <i>Soria Moria Castle</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>That <i>Halvor</i> was willing to do at once; and the old
+wife was so glad at having the horse, she was ready to
+dance and skip for joy.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;For now,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I shall be able to ride to
+church. I, too, think of that.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>As for <i>Halvor</i>, he had no rest, and wanted to be off
+at once, but the old wife said there was no hurry.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Lie down on the bench with you and sleep a bit,
+for we&rsquo;ve no bed to offer you, and I&rsquo;ll watch and wake
+you when the West Wind comes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So after a while up came the West Wind, roaring and
+howling along till the walls creaked and groaned again.</p>
+<p>Out ran the old wife.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Thou West Wind, thou West Wind!</span> Canst thou
+tell me the way to <i>Soria Moria Castle</i>? Here&rsquo;s one
+who wants to get thither.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, I know it very well,&rdquo; said the West Wind, &ldquo;and
+now I&rsquo;m just off thither to dry clothes for the wedding
+that&rsquo;s to be; if he&rsquo;s swift of foot he can go along with me.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span></div>
+<p>Out ran <i>Halvor</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll have to stretch your legs if you mean to
+keep up,&rdquo; said the West Wind.</p>
+<p>So off he set over field and hedge, and hill and fell,
+and <i>Halvor</i> had hard work to keep up.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the West Wind, &ldquo;now I&rsquo;ve no time to
+stay with you any longer, for I&rsquo;ve got to go away yonder
+and tear down a strip of spruce wood first before I go to
+the bleaching-ground to dry the clothes; but if you go
+alongside the hill you&rsquo;ll come to a lot of lassies standing
+washing clothes, and then you&rsquo;ve not far to go to <i>Soria
+Moria Castle</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In a little while <i>Halvor</i> came upon the lassies who
+stood washing, and they asked if he had seen anything of
+the West Wind who was to come and dry the clothes for
+the wedding.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye, that I have,&rdquo; said <i>Halvor</i>, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s only gone
+to tear down a strip of spruce wood. It&rsquo;ll not be long before
+he&rsquo;s here,&rdquo; and then he asked them the way to <i>Soria
+Moria Castle</i>.</p>
+<p>So they put him into the right way, and when he got
+to the Castle it was full of folk and horses; so full it made
+one giddy to look at them. But <i>Halvor</i> was so ragged and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span>
+torn from having followed the West Wind through bush and
+brier and bog, that he kept on one side, and wouldn&rsquo;t show
+himself till the last day when the bridal feast was to be.</p>
+<p>So when all, as was then right and fitting, were to
+drink the bride and bridegroom&rsquo;s health and wish them
+luck, and when the cupbearer was to drink to them all
+again, both knights and squires, last of all he came in
+turn to <i>Halvor</i>. He drank their health, but let the ring
+which the <i>Princess</i> had put upon his finger as he lay by
+the lake fall into the glass, and bade the cupbearer go and
+greet the bride and hand her the glass.</p>
+<p>Then up rose the <i>Princess</i> from the board at once.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Who is most worthy to have one of us,&rdquo; she said,
+&ldquo;he that has set us free, or he that here sits by me as
+bridegroom?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well they all said there could be but one voice and
+will as to that, and when <i>Halvor</i> heard that he wasn&rsquo;t long
+in throwing off his beggar&rsquo;s rags, and arraying himself as
+bridegroom.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye, here is the right one after all,&rdquo; said the
+youngest <i>Princess</i> as soon as she saw him, and so she tossed
+the other one out of the window, and held her wedding
+with <i>Halvor</i>.</p>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span>
+<a name='THE_GIANT_WHO_HAD_NO_HEART_IN_HIS_BODY' id='THE_GIANT_WHO_HAD_NO_HEART_IN_HIS_BODY'></a>
+<h2>THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a <i>King</i> who had <i>seven
+sons</i>, and he loved them so much that he could
+never bear to be without them all at once, but
+one must always be with him. Now, when they were
+grown up, six were to set off to woo, but as for the
+youngest, his father kept him at home, and the others
+were to bring back a princess for him to the palace. So
+the <i>King</i> gave the six the finest clothes you ever set eyes
+on, so fine that the light gleamed from them a long way
+off, and each had his horse, which cost many, many
+hundred pounds, and so they set off. Now, when they
+had been to many palaces, and seen many princesses, at
+last they came to a <i>King</i> who had <i>six daughters</i>; such
+lovely king&rsquo;s daughters they had never seen, and so they
+fell to wooing them, each one, and when they had got
+them for sweethearts, they set off home again, but they
+quite forgot that they were to bring back with them a
+sweetheart for <i>Boots</i>, their brother, who stayed at home,
+for they were over head and ears in love with their own
+sweethearts.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_36' id='linki_36'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col15.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col15.jpg' alt='' title='' width='290' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>The six brothers riding out to woo.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span></div>
+<p>But when they had gone a good bit on their way, they
+passed close by a steep hill-side, like a wall, where the
+<i>Giant&rsquo;s</i> house was, and there the <i>Giant</i> came out, and set
+his eyes upon them, and turned them all into stone,
+princes and princesses and all. Now the <i>King</i> waited
+and waited for his <i>six sons</i>, but the more he waited, the
+longer they stayed away; so he fell into great trouble, and
+said he should never know what it was to be glad again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And if I had not you left,&rdquo; he said to <i>Boots</i>, &ldquo;I would
+live no longer, so full of sorrow am I for the loss of your
+brothers.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, but now I&rsquo;ve been thinking to ask your leave
+to set out and find them again; that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m thinking
+of,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, nay!&rdquo; said his father; &ldquo;that leave you shall never
+get, for then you would stay away too.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But <i>Boots</i> had set his heart upon it; go he would; and
+he begged and prayed so long that the <i>King</i> was forced to
+let him go. Now, you must know the <i>King</i> had no other
+horse to give <i>Boots</i> but an old broken-down jade, for his
+six other sons and their train had carried off all his
+horses; but <i>Boots</i> did not care a pin for that, he sprang
+up on his sorry old steed.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Farewell,
+father,&rdquo; said he;
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll come back,
+never fear, and
+like enough I shall
+bring my six
+brothers back with
+me;&rdquo; and with
+that he rode off.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_37' id='linki_37'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs17.png'>
+<img src='images/gs17.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='280' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>So, when he
+had ridden a while,
+he came to a
+<i>Raven</i>, which lay
+in the road and
+flapped its wings, and was not able to get out of the way,
+it was so starved.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, dear friend,&rdquo; said the <i>Raven</i>, &ldquo;give me a little
+food, and I&rsquo;ll help you again at your utmost need.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t much food,&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>, &ldquo;and I don&rsquo;t
+see how you&rsquo;ll ever be able to help me much; but still I
+can spare you a little. I see you want it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So he gave the raven some of the food he had brought
+with him.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span></div>
+<p>Now, when he had gone a bit further, he came to a
+brook, and in the brook lay a great <i>Salmon</i>, which had
+got upon a dry place and dashed itself about, and could
+not get into the water again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, dear friend,&rdquo; said the <i>Salmon</i> to the <i>Prince</i>;
+&ldquo;shove me out into the water again, and I&rsquo;ll help you
+again at your utmost need.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well!&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>, &ldquo;the help you&rsquo;ll give me will
+not be great, I daresay, but it&rsquo;s a pity you should lie there
+and choke;&rdquo; and with that he shot the fish out into the
+stream again.</p>
+<p>After that he went a long, long way, and there met
+him a <i>Wolf</i> which was so famished that it lay and
+crawled along the road on its belly.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear friend, do let me have your horse,&rdquo; said the
+<i>Wolf</i>; &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so hungry the wind whistles through my ribs;
+I&rsquo;ve had nothing to eat these two years.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>, &ldquo;this will never do; first I came to
+a raven, and I was forced to give him my food; next I
+came to a salmon, and him I had to help into the water
+again; and now you will have my horse. It can&rsquo;t be
+done, that it can&rsquo;t, for then I should have nothing to
+ride on.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, dear friend, but you can help me,&rdquo; said <i>Graylegs</i>
+the wolf; &ldquo;you can ride upon my back, and I&rsquo;ll help you
+again in your utmost need.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! the help I shall get from you will not be great,
+I&rsquo;ll be bound,&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>; &ldquo;but you may take my
+horse, since you are in such need.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when the <i>Wolf</i> had eaten the horse, <i>Boots</i> took the
+bit and put it into the <i>Wolf&rsquo;s</i> jaw, and laid the saddle on
+his back; and now the <i>Wolf</i> was so strong, after what he
+had got inside, that he set off with the <i>Prince</i> like nothing.
+So fast he had never ridden before.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;When we have gone a bit farther,&rdquo; said <i>Graylegs</i>,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll show you the <i>Giant&rsquo;s</i> house.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So after a while they came to it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;See, here is the <i>Giant&rsquo;s</i> house,&rdquo; said the <i>Wolf</i>; &ldquo;and
+see, here are your six brothers, whom the <i>Giant</i> has
+turned into stone; and see, here are their six brides, and
+away yonder is the door, and in that door you must go.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, but I daren&rsquo;t go in,&rdquo; said the <i>Prince</i>; &ldquo;he&rsquo;ll
+take my life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No! no!&rdquo; said the <i>Wolf</i>; &ldquo;when you get in you&rsquo;ll
+find a <i>Princess</i>, and she&rsquo;ll tell you what to do to make an
+end of the <i>Giant</i>. Only mind and do as she bids you.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span></div>
+<p>Well! <i>Boots</i> went in, but, truth to say, he was very
+much afraid. When he came in the <i>Giant</i> was away,
+but in one of the rooms sat the <i>Princess</i>, just as the <i>Wolf</i>
+had said, and so lovely a princess <i>Boots</i> had never yet
+set eyes on.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! heaven help you! whence have you come?&rdquo; said
+the <i>Princess</i>, as she saw him; &ldquo;it will surely be your death.
+No one can make an end of the <i>Giant</i> who lives here,
+for he has no heart in his body.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! well!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>; &ldquo;but now that I am here, I
+may as well try what I can do with him; and I will see
+if I can&rsquo;t free my brothers, who are standing turned to
+stone out of doors; and you, too, I will try to save, that
+I will.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, if you must, you must,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>;
+&ldquo;and so let us see if we can&rsquo;t hit on a plan. Just
+creep under the bed yonder, and mind and listen to
+what he and I talk about. But, pray, do lie as still as a
+mouse.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So he crept under the bed, and he had scarce got well
+underneath it, before the <i>Giant</i> came.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ha!&rdquo; roared the <i>Giant</i>, &ldquo;what a smell of Christian
+blood there is in the house!&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, I know there is,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;for there
+came a magpie flying with a man&rsquo;s bone, and let it fall
+down the chimney. I made all the haste I could to get
+it out, but all one can do, the smell doesn&rsquo;t go off so
+soon.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the <i>Giant</i> said no more about it, and when night
+came, they went to bed. After they had lain a while,
+the <i>Princess</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There is one thing I&rsquo;d be so glad to ask you about,
+if I only dared.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What thing is that?&rdquo; asked the <i>Giant</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Only where it is you keep your heart, since you don&rsquo;t
+carry it about you,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah! that&rsquo;s a thing you&rsquo;ve no business to ask about;
+but if you must know, it lies under the door-sill,&rdquo; said the
+<i>Giant</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ho! ho!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i> to himself under the bed, &ldquo;then
+we&rsquo;ll soon see if we can&rsquo;t find it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Next morning the <i>Giant</i> got up cruelly early, and
+strode off to the wood; but he was hardly out of the house
+before <i>Boots</i> and the <i>Princess</i> set to work to look under
+the door-sill for his heart; but the more they dug, and the
+more they hunted, the more they couldn&rsquo;t find it.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;He has baulked us this time,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;but
+we&rsquo;ll try him once more.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So she picked all the prettiest flowers she could find,
+and strewed them over the door-sill, which they had laid
+in its right place again; and when the time came for the
+<i>Giant</i> to come home again, <i>Boots</i> crept under the bed.
+Just as he was well under, back came the <i>Giant</i>.</p>
+<p>Snuff&mdash;snuff, went the <i>Giant&rsquo;s</i> nose. &ldquo;My eyes and
+limbs, what a smell of Christian blood there is in here,&rdquo;
+said he.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I know there is,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;for there came
+a magpie flying with a man&rsquo;s bone in his bill, and let it
+fall down the chimney. I made as much haste as I could
+to get it out, but I daresay it&rsquo;s that you smell.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the <i>Giant</i> held his peace, and said no more about it.
+A little while after, he asked who it was that had strewed
+flowers about the door-sill.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I, of course,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And, pray, what&rsquo;s the meaning of all this?&rdquo; said the
+<i>Giant</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so fond of you that I
+couldn&rsquo;t help strewing them, when I knew that your heart
+lay under there.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t say so,&rdquo; said the <i>Giant</i>; &ldquo;but after all it
+doesn&rsquo;t lie there at all.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when they went to bed again in the evening, the
+<i>Princess</i> asked the <i>Giant</i> again where his heart was, for she
+said she would so like to know.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the <i>Giant</i>, &ldquo;if you must know, it lies
+away yonder in the cupboard against the wall.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So, so!&rdquo; thought <i>Boots</i> and the <i>Princess</i>; &ldquo;then we&rsquo;ll
+soon try to find it.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Next morning the <i>Giant</i> was away early, and strode off
+to the wood, and so soon as he was gone <i>Boots</i> and the
+<i>Princess</i> were in the cupboard hunting for his heart, but the
+more they sought for it, the less they found it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;we&rsquo;ll just try him once
+more.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So she decked out the cupboard with flowers and garlands,
+and when the time came for the <i>Giant</i> to come
+home, <i>Boots</i> crept under the bed again.</p>
+<p>Then back came the <a name='TC_7'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Added italics"><i>Giant</i></ins>.</p>
+<p>Snuff&mdash;snuff! &ldquo;My eyes and limbs, what a smell of
+Christian blood there is in here!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I know there is,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>; &ldquo;for a little while
+since there came a magpie flying with a man&rsquo;s bone in his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span>
+bill, and let it fall down the chimney. I made all the
+haste I could to get it out of the house again; but after
+all my pains, I daresay it&rsquo;s that you smell.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the <i>Giant</i> heard that, he said no more about it;
+but a little while after, he saw how the cupboard was all
+decked about with flowers and garlands; so he asked who
+it was that had done that? Who could it be but the <i>Princess</i>?</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And, pray, what&rsquo;s the meaning of all this tomfoolery?&rdquo;
+asked the <i>Giant</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m so fond of you, I couldn&rsquo;t help doing it
+when I knew that your heart lay there,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How can you be so silly as to believe any such thing?&rdquo;
+said the <i>Giant</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh yes; how can I help believing it, when you say
+it?&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a goose,&rdquo; said the <i>Giant</i>; &ldquo;where my heart
+is, you will never come.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>; &ldquo;but for all that, &rsquo;twould
+be such a pleasure to know where it really lies.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the poor <i>Giant</i> could hold out no longer, but
+was forced to say:</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_38' id='linki_38'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col16.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col16.jpg' alt='' title='' width='291' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>&ldquo;On that island stands a church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck.&rdquo;</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Far, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island
+stands a church; in that church is a well; in that well
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span>
+swims a duck; in that duck there is an egg, and in that
+egg there lies my heart,&mdash;you darling!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>In the morning early, while it was still grey dawn, the
+<i>Giant</i> strode off to the wood.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_39' id='linki_39'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col17.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col17.jpg' alt='' title='' width='290' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and when he got out of the Giant&rsquo;s door, there stood the Wolf waiting for him.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes! now I must set off too,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>; &ldquo;if I only
+knew how to find the way.&rdquo; He took a long, long farewell
+of the <i>Princess</i>, and when he got out of the <i>Giant&rsquo;s</i>
+door, there stood the <i>Wolf</i> waiting for him. So <i>Boots</i>
+told him all that had happened inside the house, and said
+now he wished to ride to the well in the church, if he
+only knew the way. So the <i>Wolf</i> bade him jump on his
+back, he&rsquo;d soon find the way; and away they went, till
+the wind whistled after them, over hedge and field, over
+hill and dale. After they had travelled many, many days,
+they came at last to the lake. Then the <i>Prince</i> did not
+know how to get over it, but the <i>Wolf</i> bade him only
+not be afraid, but stick on, and so he jumped into the
+lake with the <i>Prince</i> on his back, and swam over to the
+island. So they came to the church; but the church
+keys hung high, high up on the top of the tower, and
+at first the <i>Prince</i> did not know how to get them
+down.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You must call on the raven,&rdquo; said the <i>Wolf</i>.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></div>
+<p>So the <i>Prince</i> called on the raven, and in a trice the
+raven came, and flew up and fetched the keys, and so the
+<i>Prince</i> got into the church. But when he came to the
+well, there lay the duck, and swam about backwards and
+forwards, just as the <i>Giant</i> had said. So the <i>Prince</i> stood
+and coaxed it, till it came to him, and he grasped it in
+his hand; but just as he lifted it up from the water the
+duck dropped the egg into the well, and then <i>Boots</i> was
+beside himself to know how to get it out again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, now you must call on the salmon to be sure,&rdquo;
+said the <i>Wolf</i>; and the king&rsquo;s son called on the salmon,
+and the salmon came and fetched up the egg from the
+bottom of the well.</p>
+<p>Then the <i>Wolf</i> told him to squeeze the egg, and as
+soon as ever he squeezed it the <i>Giant</i> screamed out.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Squeeze it again,&rdquo; said the <i>Wolf</i>; and when the
+<i>Prince</i> did so, the <i>Giant</i> screamed still more piteously,
+and begged and prayed so prettily to be spared, saying he
+would do all that the <i>Prince</i> wished if he would only not
+squeeze his heart in two.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Tell him, if he will restore to life again your six
+brothers and their brides, whom he has turned to stone,
+you will spare his life,&rdquo; said the <i>Wolf</i>. Yes, the <i>Giant</i>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span>
+was ready to do that, and he turned the six brothers into
+king&rsquo;s sons again, and their brides into king&rsquo;s daughters.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, squeeze the egg in two,&rdquo; said the <i>Wolf</i>. So
+<i>Boots</i> squeezed the egg to pieces, and the <i>Giant</i> burst at
+once.</p>
+<p>Now, when he had made an end of the <i>Giant</i>, <i>Boots</i>
+rode back again on the <i>Wolf</i> to the <i>Giant&rsquo;s</i> house, and
+there stood all his six brothers alive and merry, with their
+brides. Then <i>Boots</i> went into the hill-side after his bride,
+and so they all set off home again to their father&rsquo;s house.
+And you may fancy how glad the old king was when he
+saw all his seven sons come back, each with his bride&mdash;&ldquo;But
+the loveliest bride of all is the bride of <i>Boots</i>, after
+all,&rdquo; said the king, &ldquo;and he shall sit uppermost at the
+table, with her by his side.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So he sent out, and called a great wedding-feast, and
+the mirth was both loud and long, and if they have not
+done feasting, why, they are still at it.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_40' id='linki_40'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/gs18.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='163' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span>
+<a name='THE_PRINCESS_ON_THE_GLASS_HILL' id='THE_PRINCESS_ON_THE_GLASS_HILL'></a>
+<h2>THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a man who had a
+meadow, which lay high up on the hill-side,
+and in the meadow was a barn, which he had
+built to keep his hay in. Now, I must tell you, there
+hadn&rsquo;t been much in the barn for the last year or two, for
+every St. John&rsquo;s night, when the grass stood greenest and
+deepest, the meadow was eaten down to the very ground
+the next morning, just as if a whole drove of sheep had
+been there feeding on it over night. This happened once,
+and it happened twice; so at last the man grew weary of
+losing his crop of hay, and said to his sons&mdash;for he had
+three of them, and the youngest was nicknamed <i>Boots</i>, of
+course&mdash;that now one of them must go and sleep in the
+barn in the outlying field when St. John&rsquo;s night came, for
+it was too good a joke that his grass should be eaten, root
+and blade, this year, as it had been the last two years. So
+whichever of them went must keep a sharp look-out; that
+was what their father said.</p>
+<p>Well, the eldest son was ready to go and watch the
+meadow; trust him for looking after the grass! It shouldn&rsquo;t
+be his fault if man or beast, or the fiend himself, got a blade
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span>
+of grass. So, when evening came, he set off to the barn,
+and lay down to sleep; but a little on in the night came
+such a clatter, and such an earthquake, that walls and roof
+shook, and groaned, and creaked; then up jumped the lad,
+and took to his heels as fast as ever he could; nor dared he
+once look round till he reached home; and as for the hay,
+why it was eaten up this year just as it had been twice before.</p>
+<p>The next St. John&rsquo;s night, the man said again, it would
+never do to lose all the grass in the outlying field year after
+year in this way, so one of his sons must just trudge off to
+watch it, and watch it well too. Well, the next oldest son
+was ready to try his luck, so he set off, and lay down to
+sleep in the barn as his brother had done before him; but
+as the night wore on, there came on a rumbling and quaking
+of the earth, worse even than on the last St. John&rsquo;s night,
+and when the lad heard it, he got frightened, and took to
+his heels as though he were running a race.</p>
+<p>Next year the turn came to <i>Boots</i>; but when he made
+ready to go, the other two began to laugh and to make
+game of him, saying:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;re just the man to watch the hay, that you are;
+you, who have done nothing all your life but sit in the
+ashes and toast yourself by the fire.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span></div>
+<p>But <i>Boots</i> did not care a pin for their chattering, and
+stumped away as evening grew on, up the hill-side to the
+outlying field. There he went inside the barn and lay
+down; but in about an hour&rsquo;s time the barn began to
+groan and creak, so that it was dreadful to hear.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i> to himself, &ldquo;if it isn&rsquo;t worse than
+this, I can stand it well enough.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>A little while after came another creak and an earthquake,
+so that the litter in the barn flew about the lad&rsquo;s ears.
+&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i> to himself, &ldquo;if it isn&rsquo;t worse than this,
+I daresay I can stand it out.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But just then came a third rumbling, and a third earthquake,
+so that the lad thought walls and roof were coming
+down on his head; but it passed off, and all was still as
+death about him.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll come again, I&rsquo;ll be bound,&rdquo; thought <i>Boots</i>; but
+no, it didn&rsquo;t come again; still it was, and still it stayed; but
+after he had lain a little while, he heard a noise as if a horse
+were standing just outside the barn-door, and cropping the
+grass. He stole to the door, and peeped through a chink,
+and there stood a horse feeding away. So big, and fat,
+and grand a horse, <i>Boots</i> had never set eyes on; by his side
+on the grass lay a saddle and bridle, and a full set of armour
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span>
+for a knight, all of brass, so bright that the light gleamed
+from it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; thought the lad; &ldquo;it&rsquo;s you, is it, that eats
+up our hay? I&rsquo;ll soon put a spoke in your wheel, just see
+if I don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So he lost no time, but took the steel out of his tinder-box,
+and threw it over the horse; then it had no power to
+stir from the spot, and became so tame that the lad could
+do what he liked with it. So he got on its back, and rode
+off with it to a place which no one knew of, and there he
+put up the horse. When he got home, his brothers
+laughed and asked how he had fared?</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t lie long in the barn, even if you had the
+heart to go so far as the field.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>, &ldquo;all I can say is, I lay in the barn
+till the sun rose, and neither saw nor heard anything; I
+can&rsquo;t think what there was in the barn to make you both so
+afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A pretty story,&rdquo; said his brothers; &ldquo;but we&rsquo;ll soon
+see how you have watched the meadow;&rdquo; so they set off;
+but when they reached it, there stood the grass as deep and
+thick as it had been over night.</p>
+<p>Well, the next St. John&rsquo;s eve it was the same story over
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span>
+again; neither of the elder brothers dared to go out to the
+outlying field to watch the crop; but <i>Boots</i>, he had the
+heart to go, and everything happened just as it had happened
+the year before. First a clatter and an earthquake, then a
+greater clatter and another earthquake, and so on a third
+time; only this year the earthquakes were far worse than
+the year before. Then all at once everything was as
+still as death, and the lad heard how something was cropping
+the grass outside the barn-door, so he stole to the door,
+and peeped through a chink; and what do you think he
+saw? Why, another horse standing right up against the
+wall, and chewing and champing with might and main.
+It was far finer and fatter than that which came the year
+before, and it had a saddle on its back, and a bridle on its
+neck, and a full suit of mail for a knight lay by its side,
+all of silver, and as grand as you would wish to see.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i> to himself; &ldquo;it&rsquo;s you that
+gobbles up our hay, is it? I&rsquo;ll soon put a spoke in your
+wheel;&rdquo; and with that he took the steel out of his tinder-box,
+and threw it over the horse&rsquo;s crest, which stood as
+still as a lamb. Well, the lad rode this horse, too, to the
+hiding-place where he kept the other one, and after that
+he went home.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;I suppose you&rsquo;ll tell us,&rdquo; said one of his brothers,
+&ldquo;there&rsquo;s a fine crop this year too, up in the hayfield.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, so there is,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>; and off ran the others
+to see, and there stood the grass thick and deep, as it was
+the year before; but they didn&rsquo;t give <i>Boots</i> softer words for
+all that.</p>
+<p>Now, when the third St. John&rsquo;s eve came, the two elder
+brothers still hadn&rsquo;t the heart to lie out in the barn and watch
+the grass, for they had got so scared at heart the nights they
+lay there before, that they couldn&rsquo;t get over the fright; but
+<i>Boots</i>, he dared to go; and, to make a very long story short,
+the very same thing happened this time as had happened
+twice before. Three earthquakes came, one after the
+other, each worse than the one which went before, and
+when the last came, the lad danced about with the shock
+from one barn wall to the other; and after that, all at
+once, it was still as death. Now when he had laid a little
+while, he heard something tugging away at the grass
+outside the barn, so he stole again to the door-chink, and
+peeped out, and there stood a horse close outside&mdash;far, far
+bigger and fatter than the two he had taken before.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; said the lad to himself, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s you, is it,
+that comes here eating up our hay? I&rsquo;ll soon stop that&mdash;I&rsquo;ll
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span>
+soon put a spoke in your wheel.&rdquo; So he caught up
+his steel and threw it over his horse&rsquo;s neck, and in a trice
+it stood as if it were nailed to the ground, and <i>Boots</i>
+could do as he pleased with it. Then he rode off with
+it to the hiding-place where he kept the other two, and
+then went home. When he got home, his two brothers
+made game of him as they had done before, saying, they
+could see he had watched the grass well, for he looked
+for all the world as if he were walking in his sleep, and
+many other spiteful things they said, but <i>Boots</i> gave no
+heed to them, only asking them to go and see for themselves;
+and when they went, there stood the grass as fine
+and deep this time as it had been twice before.</p>
+<p>Now, you must know that the king of the country
+where <i>Boots</i> lived had a daughter, whom he would only
+give to the man who could ride up over the hill of glass,
+for there was a high, high hill, all of glass, as smooth and
+slippery as ice, close by the <i>King&rsquo;s</i> palace. Upon the
+tip top of the hill the <i>King&rsquo;s</i> daughter was to sit, with
+three golden apples in her lap, and the man who could
+ride up and carry off the three golden apples, was to
+have half the kingdom, and the <i>Princess</i> to wife. This
+the <i>King</i> had stuck up on all the church-doors in his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span>
+realm, and had
+given it out in
+many other kingdoms
+besides.
+Now, this <i>Princess</i>
+was so lovely that
+all who set eyes on
+her fell over head
+and ears in love
+with her whether
+they would or no.
+So I needn&rsquo;t tell
+you how all the
+princes and
+knights who heard of her were eager to win her to wife,
+and half the kingdom beside; and how they came riding
+from all parts of the world on high prancing horses, and
+clad in the grandest clothes, for there wasn&rsquo;t one of them
+who hadn&rsquo;t made up his mind that he, and he alone, was
+to win the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_41' id='linki_41'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs19.png'>
+<img src='images/gs19.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='276' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>So when the day of trial came, which the king had
+fixed, there was such a crowd of princes and knights under
+the <i>Glass Hill</i>, that it made one&rsquo;s head whirl to look at
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span>
+them, and everyone in the country who could even crawl
+along was off to the hill, for they were all eager to see
+the man who was to win the <i>Princess</i>. So the two elder
+brothers set off with the rest; but as for <i>Boots</i>, they said
+outright he shouldn&rsquo;t go with them, for if they were seen
+with such a dirty changeling, all begrimed with smut from
+cleaning their shoes and sifting cinders in the dust-hole,
+they said folk would make game of them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s all one to me. I can go
+alone, and stand or fall by myself.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Now when the two brothers came to the <i>Hill of Glass</i>,
+the knights and princes were all hard at it, riding their
+horses till they were all in a foam; but it was no good, by
+my troth; for as soon as ever the horses set foot on the hill,
+down they slipped, and there wasn&rsquo;t one who could get
+a yard or two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as
+smooth as a sheet of glass, and as steep as a house-wall.
+But all were eager to have the <i>Princess</i> and half the kingdom.
+So they rode and slipped, and slipped and rode,
+and still it was the same story over again. At last all
+their horses were so weary that they could scarce lift a
+leg, and in such a sweat that the lather dripped from them,
+and so the knights had to give up trying any more. So the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span>
+king was just thinking that he would proclaim a new trial
+for the next day, to see if they would have better luck,
+when all at once a knight came riding up on so brave a
+steed, that no one had ever seen the like of it in his born
+days, and the knight had mail of brass, and the horse a brass
+bit in his mouth, so bright that the sunbeams shone from it.
+Then all the others called out to him he might just as well
+spare himself the trouble of riding at the Hill, for it would
+lead to no good; but he gave no heed to them, and put his
+horse at the hill, and went up it like nothing for a good
+way, about a third of the height; and when he had got so
+far, he turned his horse round and rode down again. So
+lovely a knight the <i>Princess</i> thought she had never yet seen;
+and while he was riding, she sat and thought to herself:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Would to heaven he might only come up and down
+the other side.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And when she saw him turning back, she threw down
+one of the golden apples after him, and it rolled down into
+his shoe. But when he got to the bottom of the hill, he
+rode off so fast that no one could tell what had become of
+him. That evening all the knights and princes were to go
+before the king, that he who had ridden so far up the hill
+might show the apple which the <i>Princess</i> had thrown, but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span>
+there was no one who had anything to show. One after
+the other they all came, but not a man of them could show
+the apple.</p>
+<p>At even the brothers of <i>Boots</i> came home too, and had
+such a long story to tell about the riding up the hill.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;First of all,&rdquo; they said, &ldquo;there was not one of the
+whole lot who could get so much as a stride up; but at last
+came one who had a suit of brass mail, and a brass bridle
+and saddle, all so bright that the sun shone from them a mile
+off. He was a chap to ride, just! He rode a third of the
+way up the <i>Hill of Glass</i>, and he could easily have ridden
+the whole way up, if he chose; but he turned round and
+rode down, thinking, maybe, that was enough for once.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! I should so like to have seen him, that I should,&rdquo;
+said <i>Boots</i>, who sat by the fireside, and stuck his feet into
+the cinders, as was his wont.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said his brothers, &ldquo;you would, would you?
+You look fit to keep company with such high lords, nasty
+beast that you are, sitting there amongst the ashes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Next day the brothers were all for setting off again, and
+<i>Boots</i> begged them this time, too, to let him go with them
+and see the riding; but no, they wouldn&rsquo;t have him at any
+price, he was too ugly and nasty, they said.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>; &ldquo;if I go at all, I must go by
+myself. I&rsquo;m not afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when the brothers got to the <i>Hill of Glass</i>, all the
+princes and knights began to ride again, and you may fancy
+they had taken care to shoe their horses sharp; but it was
+no good&mdash;they rode and slipped, and slipped and rode, just
+as they had done the day before, and there was not one who
+could get so far as a yard up the hill. And when they had
+worn out their horses, so that they could not stir a leg, they
+were all forced to give it up as a bad job. So the king
+thought he might as well proclaim that the riding should
+take place the day after for the last time, just to give them
+one chance more; but all at once it came across his mind
+that he might as well wait a little longer, to see if the knight
+in brass mail would come this day too. Well, they saw
+nothing of him; but all at once came one riding on a steed,
+far, far braver and finer than that on which the knight in
+brass had ridden, and he had silver mail, and a silver saddle
+and bridle, all so bright that the sunbeams gleamed and
+glanced from them far away. Then the others shouted
+out to him again, saying, he might as well hold hard, and
+not try to ride up the hill, for all his trouble would be
+thrown away; but the knight paid no heed to them, and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span>
+rode straight at the hill, and right up it, till he had gone
+two-thirds of the way, and then he wheeled his horse
+round and rode down again. To tell the truth, the
+<i>Princess</i> liked him still better than the knight in brass, and
+she sat and wished he might only be able to come right
+up to the top, and down the other side; but when she
+saw him turning back, she threw the second apple after
+him, and it rolled down and fell into his shoe. But, as
+soon as ever he had come down from the <i>Hill of Glass</i>, he
+rode off so fast that no one could see what became of him.</p>
+<p>At even, when all were to go in before the king and
+the <i>Princess</i>, that he who had the golden apple might show
+it, in they went, one after the other, but there was no one
+who had any apple to show, and the two brothers, as they
+had done on the former day, went home and told how
+things had gone, and how all had ridden at the hill, and
+none got up.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But, last of all,&rdquo; they said, &ldquo;came one in a silver
+suit, and his horse had a silver saddle and a silver bridle.
+He was just a chap to ride; and he got two-thirds up the
+hill, and then turned back. He was a fine fellow, and no
+mistake; and the <i>Princess</i> threw the second gold apple to
+him.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>, &ldquo;I should so like to have seen him
+too, that I should.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A pretty story,&rdquo; they said. &ldquo;Perhaps you think
+his coat of mail was as bright as the ashes you are always
+poking about, and sifting, you nasty dirty beast.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The third day everything happened as it had happened
+the two days before. <i>Boots</i> begged to go and see the
+sight, but the two wouldn&rsquo;t hear of his going with them.
+When they got to the hill there was no one who could
+get so much as a yard up it; and now all waited for the
+knight in silver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of
+him. At last came one riding on a steed, so brave that
+no one had ever seen his match; and the knight had a
+suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle and bridle, so
+wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them
+a mile off. The other knights and princes could not
+find time to call out to him not to try his luck, for they
+were amazed to see how grand he was. So he rode
+right at the hill, and tore up it like nothing, so that the
+<i>Princess</i> hadn&rsquo;t even time to wish that he might get up
+the whole way. As soon as ever he reached the top, he
+took the third golden apple from the <i>Princess&rsquo;</i> lap, and
+then turned his horse and rode down again. As soon as
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span>
+he got down, he rode off at full speed, and was out of
+sight in no time.</p>
+<p>Now, when the brothers got home at even, you may
+fancy what long stories they told, how the riding had
+gone off that day; and amongst other things, they had
+a deal to say about the knight in golden mail.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;He just was a chap to ride!&rdquo; they said; &ldquo;so grand a
+knight isn&rsquo;t to be found in the wide world.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>, &ldquo;I should so like to have seen him,
+that I should.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said his brothers, &ldquo;his mail shone a deal
+brighter than the glowing coals which you are always
+poking and digging at; nasty dirty beast that you
+are.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Next day all the knights and princes were to pass before
+the king and the <i>Princess</i>&mdash;it was too late to do so
+the night before, I suppose&mdash;that he who had the gold
+apple might bring it forth; but one came after another,
+first the <i>Princes</i>, and then the knights, and still no one could
+show the gold apple.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the king, &ldquo;some one must have it, for
+it was something we all saw with our own eyes, how a
+man came and rode up and bore it off.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></div>
+<p>So he commanded that every man who was in the
+kingdom should come up to the palace and see if they
+could show the apple. Well, they all came one after
+another, but no one had the golden apple, and after a long
+time the two brothers of <i>Boots</i> came. They were the last
+of all, so the king asked them if there was no one else in
+the kingdom who hadn&rsquo;t come.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes,&rdquo; said they; &ldquo;we have a brother, but he
+never carried off the golden apple. He hasn&rsquo;t stirred out
+of the dusthole on any of the three days.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Never mind that,&rdquo; said the king; &ldquo;he may as well
+come up to the palace like the rest.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So <i>Boots</i> had to go up to the palace.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How now,&rdquo; said the king; &ldquo;have you got the golden
+apple? Speak out!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, I have,&rdquo; said <i>Boots</i>; &ldquo;here is the first, and
+here is the second, and here is the third too;&rdquo; and with
+that he pulled all three golden apples out of his pocket, and
+at the same time threw off his sooty rags, and stood before
+them in his gleaming golden mail.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes!&rdquo; said the king; &ldquo;you shall have my daughter,
+and half my kingdom, for you well deserve both her
+and it.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></div>
+<p>So they got ready for the wedding, and <i>Boots</i> got the
+<i>Princess</i> to wife, and there was great merry-making at the
+bridal-feast, you may fancy, for they could all be merry
+though they couldn&rsquo;t ride up the <i>Hill of Glass</i>; and all I
+can say is, if they haven&rsquo;t left off their merry-making yet,
+why, they&rsquo;re still at it.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_42' id='linki_42'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec08.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='487' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span>
+<a name='THE_WIDOWS_SON' id='THE_WIDOWS_SON'></a>
+<h2>THE WIDOW&rsquo;S SON</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a poor, poor <i>Widow</i>,
+who had an only <i>Son</i>. She dragged on with the
+boy till he had been confirmed, and then she
+said she couldn&rsquo;t feed him any longer, he must just go out
+and earn his own bread. So the lad wandered out into
+the world, and when he had walked a day or so, a strange
+man met him.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Whither away?&rdquo; asked the man.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_43' id='linki_43'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col18.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col18.jpg' alt='' title='' width='290' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>When he had walked a day or so, a strange man met him. &ldquo;Whither away?&rdquo; asked the man.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I&rsquo;m going out into the world to try and get a
+place,&rdquo; said the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Will you come and serve me?&rdquo; said the man.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes; just as soon you as any one else,&rdquo; said
+the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;ll have a good place with me,&rdquo; said the
+man; &ldquo;for you&rsquo;ll only have to keep me company, and do
+nothing at all else beside.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the lad stopped with him, and lived on the fat
+of the land, both in meat and drink, and had little or
+nothing to do; but he never saw a living soul in that
+man&rsquo;s house.</p>
+<p>So one day the man said:</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m going off for eight days, and that time
+you&rsquo;ll have to spend here all alone; but you must not go
+into any one of these four rooms here. If you do, I&rsquo;ll
+take your life when I come back.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said the lad, he&rsquo;d be sure not to do that. But
+when the man had been gone three or four days, the lad
+couldn&rsquo;t bear it any longer, but went into the first room,
+and when he got inside he looked round, but he saw
+nothing but a shelf over the door where a bramble-bush
+rod lay.</p>
+<p>Well, indeed! thought the lad; a pretty thing to
+forbid my seeing this.</p>
+<p>So when the eight days were out, the man came home,
+and the first thing he said was:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You haven&rsquo;t been into any of these rooms, of
+course.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, no; that I haven&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll soon see that,&rdquo; said the man, and went at once
+into the room where the lad had been.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, but you have been in here,&rdquo; said he; &ldquo;and
+now you shall lose your life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the lad begged and prayed so hard that he got
+off with his life, but the man gave him a good thrashing.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span>
+And when it was over, they were as good friends as ever.</p>
+<p>Some time after the man set off again, and said he
+should be away fourteen days; but before he went he
+forbade the lad to go into any of the rooms he had not
+been in before; as for that he had been in, he might go
+into that, and welcome. Well, it was the same story
+over again, except that the lad stood out eight days before
+he went in. In this room, too, he saw nothing but a
+shelf over the door, and a big stone, and a pitcher of
+water on it. Well, after all, there&rsquo;s not much to be
+afraid of my seeing here, thought the lad.</p>
+<p>But when the man came back, he asked if he had
+been into any of the rooms. No, the lad hadn&rsquo;t done
+anything of the kind.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well; I&rsquo;ll soon see that,&rdquo; said the man; and
+when he saw the lad had been in them after all, he said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ah! now I&rsquo;ll spare you no longer; now you must
+lose your life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the lad begged and prayed for himself again,
+and so this time too he got off with stripes; though he
+got as many as his skin would carry. But when he got
+sound and well again, he led just as easy a life as ever,
+and he and the man were just as good friends.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span></div>
+<p>So a while after the man was to take another journey,
+and now he said he should be away three weeks, and he
+forbade the lad anew to go into the third room, for if
+he went in there he might just make up his mind at once
+to lose his life. Then after fourteen days the lad couldn&rsquo;t
+bear it, but crept into the room, but he saw nothing at
+all in there but a trap door on the floor; and when he
+lifted it up and looked down, there stood a great copper
+cauldron which bubbled up and boiled away down there;
+but he saw no fire under it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, I should just like to know if it&rsquo;s hot,&rdquo; thought
+the lad, and struck his finger down into the broth, and
+when he pulled it out again, lo! it was gilded all over.
+So the lad scraped and scrubbed it, but the gilding
+wouldn&rsquo;t go off, so he bound a piece of rag round it;
+and when the man came back, and asked what was the
+matter with his finger, the lad said he&rsquo;d given it such a
+bad cut. But the man tore off the rag, and then he
+soon saw what was the matter with the finger. First he
+wanted to kill the lad outright, but when he wept, and
+begged, he only gave him such a thrashing that he had
+to keep his bed three days. After that the man took
+down a pot from the wall, and rubbed him over with
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span>
+some stuff out of it, and so the lad was as sound and
+fresh as ever.</p>
+<p>So after a while the man started off again, and this
+time he was to be away a month. But before he went,
+he said to the lad, if he went into the fourth room he
+might give up all hope of saving his life.</p>
+<p>Well, the lad stood out for two or three weeks, but
+then he couldn&rsquo;t hold out any longer; he must and
+would go into that room, and so in he stole. There
+stood a great black horse tied up in a stall by himself,
+with a manger of red-hot coals at his head and a truss
+of hay at his tail. Then the lad thought this all wrong,
+so he changed them about, and put the hay at his head.
+Then said the <i>Horse</i>:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Since you are so good at heart as to let me have
+some food, I&rsquo;ll set you free, that I will. For if the
+<i>Troll</i> comes back and finds you here, he&rsquo;ll kill you outright.
+But now you must go up to the room which
+lies just over this, and take a coat of mail out of those
+that hang there; and mind, whatever you do, don&rsquo;t take
+any of the bright ones, but the most rusty of all you
+see, that&rsquo;s the one to take; and sword and saddle you
+must choose for yourself just in the same way.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span></div>
+<p>So the lad did all that; but it was a heavy load for
+him to carry them all down at once.</p>
+<p>When he came back, the <i>Horse</i> told him to pull off
+his clothes and get into the cauldron which stood and
+boiled in the other room, and bathe himself there. &ldquo;If
+I do,&rdquo; thought the lad, &ldquo;I shall look an awful fright;&rdquo;
+but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had
+taken his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and
+as red and white as milk and blood, and much stronger
+than he had been before.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you feel any change?&rdquo; asked the <i>Horse</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Try and lift me, then,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>.</p>
+<p>Oh yes! he could do that, and as for the sword, he
+brandished it like a feather.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now saddle me,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>, &ldquo;and put on the
+coat of mail, and then take the bramble-bush rod, and
+the stone, and the pitcher of water, and the pot of
+ointment, and then we&rsquo;ll be off as fast as we can.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So when the lad had got on the horse, off they went
+at such a rate, he couldn&rsquo;t at all tell how they went. But
+when he had ridden awhile, the <i>Horse</i> said, &ldquo;I think I
+hear a noise; look round! can you see anything?&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes; there are ever so many coming after us, at
+least a score,&rdquo; said the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye, that&rsquo;s the <i>Troll</i> coming,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>;
+&ldquo;now he&rsquo;s after us with his pack.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So they rode on a while, until those who followed
+were close behind them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now throw your bramble-bush rod behind you,
+over your shoulder,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>; &ldquo;but mind you
+throw it a good way off my back.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the lad did that, and all at once a close, thick
+bramblewood grew up behind them. So the lad rode on
+a long, long time, while the <i>Troll</i> and his crew had to go
+home to fetch something to hew their way through the
+wood. But at last the <i>Horse</i> said <a name='TC_8'></a><ins class="trchange" title="Was 'again.'">again:</ins></p>
+<p>&ldquo;Look behind you! can you see anything now?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, ever so many,&rdquo; said the lad, &ldquo;as many as would
+fill a large church.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye, that&rsquo;s the <i>Troll</i> and his crew,&rdquo; said the
+<i>Horse</i>; &ldquo;now he&rsquo;s got more to back him; but now throw
+down the stone, and mind you throw it far behind me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And as soon as the lad did what the <i>Horse</i> said, up
+rose a great black hill of rock behind him. So the <i>Troll</i>
+had to be off home to fetch something to mine his way
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span>
+through the rock; and while the <i>Troll</i> did that, the lad
+rode a good bit further on. But still the <i>Horse</i> begged
+him to look behind him, and then he saw a troop like a
+whole army behind him, and they glistened in the sunbeams.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_44' id='linki_44'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col19.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col19.jpg' alt='' title='' width='290' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>But still the Horse begged him to look behind him.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Aye, aye,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the <i>Troll</i>, and
+now he&rsquo;s got his whole band with him, so throw the
+pitcher of water behind you, but mind you don&rsquo;t spill
+any of it upon me.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the lad did that; but in spite of all the pains he
+took, he still spilt one drop on the horse&rsquo;s flank. So it
+became a great deep lake; and because of that one drop,
+the horse found himself far out in it, but still he swam
+safe to land. But when the <i>Trolls</i> came to the lake, they
+lay down to drink it dry; and so they swilled and swilled
+till they burst.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now we&rsquo;re rid of them,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>.</p>
+<p>So when they had gone a long, long while, they came
+to a green patch in a wood.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, strip off all your arms,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>, &ldquo;and
+only put on your ragged clothes, and take the saddle off
+me, and let me loose, and hang all my clothing and
+your arms up inside that great hollow lime-tree yonder.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span>
+Then make yourself a wig of fir-moss, and go up to the
+king&rsquo;s palace, which lies close here, and ask for a place.
+Whenever you need me, only come here and shake the
+bridle, and I&rsquo;ll come to you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes! the lad did all his <i>Horse</i> told him, and as soon
+as ever he put on the wig of moss he became so ugly, and
+pale, and miserable to look at, no one would have known
+him again. Then he went up to the king&rsquo;s palace and
+begged first for leave to be in the kitchen, and bring in
+wood and water for the cook, but then the kitchen-maid
+asked him:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why do you wear that ugly wig? Off with it.
+I won&rsquo;t have such a fright in here.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, I can&rsquo;t do that,&rdquo; said the lad; &ldquo;for I&rsquo;m not
+quite right in my head.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you think then I&rsquo;ll have you in here about the
+food,&rdquo; cried the cook. &ldquo;Away with you to the coachman;
+you&rsquo;re best fit to go and clean the stable.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But when the coachman begged him to take his wig
+off, he got the same answer, and he wouldn&rsquo;t have him
+either.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You&rsquo;d best go down to the gardener,&rdquo; said he;
+&ldquo;you&rsquo;re best fit to go about and dig in the garden.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_45' id='linki_45'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs20.png'>
+<img src='images/gs20.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='278' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>So he got leave
+to be with the gardener,
+but none of
+the other servants
+would sleep with
+him, and so he had
+to sleep by himself
+under the steps of
+the summer-house.
+It stood upon
+beams, and had a
+high staircase.
+Under that he got
+some turf for his
+bed, and there he lay as well as he could.</p>
+<p>So, when he had been some time at the palace, it
+happened one morning, just as the sun rose, that the lad
+had taken off his wig, and stood and washed himself,
+and then he was so handsome, it was a joy to look at him.</p>
+<p>So the <i>Princess</i> saw from her window the lovely
+gardener&rsquo;s boy, and thought she had never seen any one
+so handsome. Then she asked the gardener why he lay
+out there under the steps.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; said the gardener, &ldquo;none of his fellow-servants
+will sleep with him; that&rsquo;s why.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Let him come up to-night, and lie at the door
+inside my bedroom, and then they&rsquo;ll not refuse to sleep
+with him any more,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>So the gardener told that to the lad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Do you think I&rsquo;ll do any such thing?&rdquo; said the
+lad. &ldquo;Why they&rsquo;d say next there was something between
+me and the <i>Princess</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; said the gardener, &ldquo;you&rsquo;ve good reason to
+fear any such thing, you who are so handsome.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, well,&rdquo; said the lad, &ldquo;since it&rsquo;s her will, I
+suppose I must go.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So, when he was to go up the steps in the evening,
+he tramped and stamped so on the way, that they had
+to beg him to tread softly lest the <i>King</i> should come to
+know it. So he came into the <i>Princess&rsquo;</i> bedroom, lay
+down, and began to snore at once. Then the <i>Princess</i>
+said to her maid:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Go gently, and just pull his wig off;&rdquo; and she
+went up to him.</p>
+<p>But just as she was going to whisk it off, he caught
+hold of it with both hands, and said she should never
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span>
+have it. After that he lay down again, and began to
+snore. Then the <i>Princess</i> gave her maid a wink, and
+this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad
+so lovely, and white and red, just as the <i>Princess</i> had
+seen him in the morning sun.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_46' id='linki_46'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col20.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col20.jpg' alt='' title='' width='294' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>And this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad, so lovely, and white and red, just as the Princess had seen him in the morning sun.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>After that the lad slept every night in the <i>Princess&rsquo;</i>
+bedroom.</p>
+<p>But it wasn&rsquo;t long before the <i>King</i> came to hear how
+the gardener&rsquo;s lad slept every night in the <i>Princess&rsquo;</i> bedroom;
+and he got so wroth he almost took the lad&rsquo;s life.
+He didn&rsquo;t do that, however, but he threw him into the
+prison tower; and as for his daughter, he shut her up
+in her own room, whence she never got leave to stir day
+or night. All that she begged, and all that she prayed,
+for the lad and herself, was no good. The <i>King</i> was
+only more wroth than ever.</p>
+<p>Some time after came a war and uproar in the land,
+and the <i>King</i> had to take up arms against another king
+who wished to take the kingdom from him. So when
+the lad heard that, he begged the gaoler to go to the
+<i>King</i> and ask for a coat of mail and a sword, and for
+leave to go to the war. All the rest laughed when the
+gaoler told his errand, and begged the <i>King</i> to let him
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span>
+have an old worn-out suit, that they might have the fun
+of seeing such a wretch in battle. So he got that, and
+an old broken-down hack besides, which went upon
+three legs, and dragged the fourth after it.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_47' id='linki_47'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col21.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col21.jpg' alt='' title='' width='294' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>The Lad in the Battle.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>Then they went out to meet the foe; but they hadn&rsquo;t
+got far from the palace before the lad got stuck fast in a bog
+with his hack. There he sat and dug his spurs in, and
+cried, &ldquo;Gee up! gee up!&rdquo; to his hack. And all the rest
+had their fun out of this, and laughed, and made game of the
+lad as they rode past him. But they were scarcely gone,
+before he ran to the lime-tree, threw on his coat of mail,
+and shook the bridle, and there came the <i>Horse</i> in a trice,
+and said: &ldquo;Do now your best, and I&rsquo;ll do mine.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But when the lad came up the battle had begun,
+and the <i>King</i> was in a sad pinch; but no sooner had
+the lad rushed into the thick of it than the foe was
+beaten back, and put to flight. The <i>King</i> and his men
+wondered and wondered who it could be who had come
+to help them, but none of them got so near him as to
+be able to talk to him, and as soon as the fight was
+over he was gone. When they went back, there sat the
+lad still in the bog, and dug his spurs into his three-legged
+hack, and they all laughed again.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;No! only just look,&rdquo; they said; &ldquo;there the fool sits
+still.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The next day when they went out to battle, they
+saw the lad sitting there still, so they laughed again, and
+made game of him; but as soon as ever they had ridden
+by, the lad ran again to the lime-tree, and all happened
+as on the first day. Every one wondered what strange
+champion it could be that had helped them, but no one
+got so near him as to say a word to him; and no one
+guessed it could be the lad; that&rsquo;s easy to understand.</p>
+<p>So when they went home at night, and saw the lad
+still sitting there on his hack, they burst out laughing at
+him again, and one of them shot an arrow at him and
+hit him in the leg. So he began to shriek and to bewail;
+&rsquo;twas enough to break one&rsquo;s heart; and so the <i>King</i> threw
+his pocket-handkerchief to him to bind his wound.</p>
+<p>When they went out to battle the third day, the lad
+still sat there.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Gee up! gee up!&rdquo; he said to his hack.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nay, nay,&rdquo; said the <i>King&rsquo;s</i> men; &ldquo;if he won&rsquo;t stick
+there till he&rsquo;s starved to death.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And then they rode on, and laughed at him till they
+were fit to fall from their horses. When they were
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span>
+gone, he ran again to the lime, and came up to the
+battle just in the very nick of time. This day he slew
+the enemy&rsquo;s king, and then the war was over at once.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_48' id='linki_48'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs21.png'>
+<img src='images/gs21.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='282' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>When the battle was over, the <i>King</i> caught sight of
+his handkerchief, which the strange warrior had bound
+round his leg, and so it wasn&rsquo;t hard to find him out.
+So they took him with great joy between them to the
+palace, and the <i>Princess</i>, who saw him from her window,
+got so glad, no one can believe it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here comes my own true love,&rdquo; she said.</p>
+<p>Then he took the pot of ointment and rubbed himself
+on the leg, and after that he rubbed all the wounded,
+and so they all got well again in a moment.</p>
+<p>So he got the <i>Princess</i> to wife; but when he went
+down into the stable where his horse was on the day
+the wedding was to be, there it stood so dull and heavy,
+and hung its ears down, and wouldn&rsquo;t eat its corn. So
+when the young <i>King</i>&mdash;for he was now a king, and
+had got half the kingdom&mdash;spoke to him, and asked
+what ailed him, the <i>Horse</i> said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now I have helped you on, and now I won&rsquo;t live
+any longer. So just take the sword, and cut my head
+off.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;No, I&rsquo;ll do nothing of the kind,&rdquo; said the young
+<i>King</i>; &ldquo;but you shall have all you want, and rest all
+your life.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said the <i>Horse</i>, &ldquo;if you don&rsquo;t do as I tell
+you, see if I don&rsquo;t take your life somehow.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So the <i>King</i> had to do what he asked; but when he
+swung the sword and was to cut his head off, he was so
+sorry he turned away his face, for he would not see the
+stroke fall. But as soon as ever he had cut off the
+head, there stood
+the loveliest <i>Prince</i>
+on the spot where
+the horse had
+stood.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Why, where
+in all the world
+did you come
+from?&rdquo; asked the
+<i>King</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;It was I who
+was a horse,&rdquo; said
+the <i>Prince</i>; &ldquo;for
+I was king of that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span>
+land whose king you slew yesterday. He it was who
+threw this <i>Troll&rsquo;s</i> shape over me, and sold me to the
+<i>Troll</i>. But now he is slain I get my own again, and you
+and I will be neighbour kings, but war we will never
+make on one another.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>And they didn&rsquo;t either; for they were friends as
+long as they lived, and each paid the other very many
+visits.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_49' id='linki_49'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec09.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='441' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span>
+<a name='THE_THREE_BILLYGOATS_GRUFF' id='THE_THREE_BILLYGOATS_GRUFF'></a>
+<h2>THE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there were three <i>Billy-goats</i>, who
+were to go up to the hill-side to make themselves
+fat, and the name of all three was &ldquo;<i>Gruff</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>On the way up was a bridge over a burn they had to
+cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly <i>Troll</i>, with
+eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker.</p>
+<p>So first of all came the youngest billy-goat <i>Gruff</i> to
+cross the bridge.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Trip, trap!
+trip, trap!&rdquo; went
+the bridge.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_50' id='linki_50'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs22.png'>
+<img src='images/gs22.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='277' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;Who&rsquo;s that
+tripping over my
+bridge?&rdquo; roared
+the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! it is
+only I, the tiniest
+billy-goat <i>Gruff</i>;
+and I&rsquo;m going up
+to the hill-side to
+make myself fat,&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span>
+said the billy-goat, with such a small voice.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m coming to gobble you up,&rdquo; said the
+<i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, no! pray don&rsquo;t take me. I&rsquo;m too little, that I
+am,&rdquo; said the billy-goat; &ldquo;wait a bit till the second billy-goat
+<i>Gruff</i> comes, he&rsquo;s much bigger.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well! be off with you,&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>A little while after came the second billy-goat <i>Gruff</i>
+to cross the bridge.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;<span class='smcap'>Trip, trap! trip, trap! trip, trap!</span>&rdquo; went the bridge.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;WHO&rsquo;S THAT tripping over my bridge?&rdquo; roared
+the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh! It&rsquo;s the second billy-goat <i>Gruff</i>, and I&rsquo;m going
+up to the hill-side to make myself fat,&rdquo; said the billy-goat,
+who hadn&rsquo;t such a small voice.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m coming to gobble you up,&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, no! don&rsquo;t take me, wait a little till the big billy-goat
+<i>Gruff</i> comes, he&rsquo;s much bigger.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well! be off with you,&rdquo; said the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>But just then up came the big billy-goat <i>Gruff</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!&rdquo;
+went the bridge, for the billy-goat was so heavy that the
+bridge creaked and groaned under him.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;WHO&rsquo;S THAT tramping over my bridge?&rdquo; roared
+the <i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S I! THE BIG BILLY-GOAT GRUFF,&rdquo; said
+the billy-goat, who had an ugly hoarse voice of his own.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now, I&rsquo;m coming to gobble you up,&rdquo; roared the
+<i>Troll</i>.</p>
+<table summary=''><tr><td>
+<p class='cg'>&ldquo;Well, come along! I&rsquo;ve got two spears,<br />
+And I&rsquo;ll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;<br />
+I&rsquo;ve got besides two curling-stones,<br />
+And I&rsquo;ll crush you to bits, body and bones.&rdquo;</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+<p>That was what the big billy-goat said; and so he flew
+at the <i>Troll</i> and poked his eyes out with his horns, and
+crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him out
+into the burn, and after that he went up to the hill-side.
+There the billy-goats got so fat they were scarce able to
+walk home again; and if the fat hasn&rsquo;t fallen off them,
+why they&rsquo;re still fat; and so:</p>
+<table summary=''><tr><td>
+<p class='cg'>Snip, snap, snout,<br />
+This tale&rsquo;s told out.</p>
+</td></tr></table>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_51' id='linki_51'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec10.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='150' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span>
+<a name='THE_THREE_PRINCESSES_IN_THE_BLUE_MOUNTAIN' id='THE_THREE_PRINCESSES_IN_THE_BLUE_MOUNTAIN'></a>
+<h2>THE THREE PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_t.png'  alt='T' title='' width='75' height='74' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>T</span>here</span> were once upon a time a <i>King</i> and <i>Queen</i>
+who had no children, and they took it so much
+to heart that they hardly ever had a happy
+moment. One day the <i>King</i> stood in the portico and
+looked out over the big meadows and all that was his.
+But he felt he could have no enjoyment out of it all, since
+he did not know what would become of it after his time.
+As he stood there pondering, an old beggar woman came
+up to him and asked him for a trifle in heaven&rsquo;s name.
+She greeted him and curtsied, and asked what ailed the
+<i>King</i>, since he looked so sad.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t do anything to help me, my good woman,&rdquo;
+said the <i>King</i>; &ldquo;it&rsquo;s no use telling you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I am not so sure about that,&rdquo; said the beggar
+woman. &ldquo;Very little is wanted when luck is in the
+way. The <i>King</i> is thinking that he has no heir to his
+crown and kingdom, but he need not mourn on that
+account,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The <i>Queen</i> shall have three
+daughters, but great care must be taken that they do not
+come out under the open heavens before they are all
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span>
+fifteen years old; otherwise a snowdrift will come and
+carry them away.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the time came the <i>Queen</i> had a beautiful baby
+girl; the year after she had another, and the third year
+she also had a girl.</p>
+<p>The <i>King</i> and <i>Queen</i> were glad beyond all measure;
+but although the <i>King</i> was very happy, he did not forget
+to set a watch at the Palace door, so that the <i>Princesses</i>
+should not get out.</p>
+<p>As they grew up they became both fair and beautiful,
+and all went well with them in every way. Their only
+sorrow was that they were not allowed to go out and play
+like other children. For all they begged and prayed
+their parents, and for all they besought the sentinel, it
+was of no avail; go out they must not before they were
+fifteen years old, all of them.</p>
+<p>So one day, not long before the fifteenth birthday of
+the youngest <i>Princess</i>, the <i>King</i> and the <i>Queen</i> were out
+driving, and the <i>Princesses</i> were standing at the window
+and looking out. The sun was shining, and everything
+looked so green and beautiful that they felt that they
+must go out, happen what might. So they begged and
+entreated and urged the sentinel, all three of them, that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span>
+he should let them down into the garden. &ldquo;He could
+see for himself how warm and pleasant it was; no snowy
+weather could come on such a day.&rdquo; Well, he didn&rsquo;t
+think it looked much like it either, and if they must go
+they had better go, the soldier said; but it must only be
+for a minute, and he himself would go with them and
+look after them.</p>
+<p>When they got down into the garden they ran up and
+down, and filled their laps with flowers and green leaves,
+the prettiest they could find. At last they could manage
+no more, but just as they were going indoors they caught
+sight of a large rose at the other end of the garden. It was
+many times prettier than any they had gathered, so they
+must have that also. But just as they bent down to take
+the rose a big dense snowdrift came and carried them away.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_52' id='linki_52'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col22.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col22.jpg' alt='' title='' width='292' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>Just as they bent down to take the rose a big dense snow-drift came and carried them away.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>There was great mourning over the whole country,
+and the <i>King</i> made known from all the churches that any
+one who could save the <i>Princesses</i> should have half the
+kingdom and his golden crown and whichever princess
+he liked to choose.</p>
+<p>You can well understand there were plenty who wanted
+to gain half the kingdom, and a princess into the bargain;
+so there were people of both high and low degree who
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span>
+set out for all parts of the country. But there was no
+one who could find the <i>Princesses</i>, or even get any tidings
+of them.</p>
+<p>When all the grand and rich people in the country
+had had their turn, a captain and a lieutenant came to the
+Palace, and wanted to try their luck. The <i>King</i> fitted
+them out both with silver and gold, and wished them
+success on their journey.</p>
+<p>Then came a soldier, who lived with his mother in a
+little cottage some way from the Palace. He had dreamt
+one night that he also was trying to find the <i>Princesses</i>.
+When the morning came he still remembered what he had
+dreamt, and told his mother about it.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Some witchery must have got hold of you,&rdquo; said the
+woman, &ldquo;but you must dream the same thing three nights
+running, else there is nothing in it.&rdquo; And the next two
+nights the same thing happened; he had the same dream,
+and he felt he must go. So he washed himself and put
+on his uniform, and went into the kitchen at the Palace.
+It was the day after the captain and the lieutenant had
+set out.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You had better go home again,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>, &ldquo;the
+<i>Princesses</i> are beyond your reach, I should say; and
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span>
+besides, I have spent so much money on outfits that I
+have nothing left to-day. You had better come back
+another time.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If I go, I must go to-day,&rdquo; said the soldier. &ldquo;Money
+I do not want; I only need a drop in my flask and some
+food in my wallet,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;but it must be a good
+walletful&mdash;as much meat and bacon as I can carry.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Yes, that he might have if that was all he wanted.</p>
+<p>So he set off, and he had not gone many miles before
+he overtook the captain and the lieutenant.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; asked the captain, when he
+saw the man in uniform.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to try if I can find the <i>Princesses</i>,&rdquo;
+answered the soldier.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So are we,&rdquo; said the captain, &ldquo;and since your
+errand is the same, you may keep company with us, for
+if we don&rsquo;t find them, you are not likely to find them
+either, my lad,&rdquo; said he.</p>
+<p>When they had gone awhile the soldier left the high
+road, and took a path into the forest.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; said the captain; &ldquo;it is best
+to follow the high road.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That may be,&rdquo; said the soldier, &ldquo;but this is my way.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span></div>
+<p>He kept to the path, and when the others saw this they
+turned round and followed him. Away they went further
+and further, far across big moors and along narrow valleys.</p>
+<p>And at last it became lighter, and when they had got
+out of the forest altogether they came to a long bridge,
+which they had to cross. But on that bridge a bear
+stood on guard. He rose on his hind legs and came
+towards them, as if he wanted to eat them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What shall we do now?&rdquo; said the captain.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;They say that the bear is fond of meat,&rdquo; said the
+soldier, and then he threw a fore quarter to him, and so
+they got past. But when they reached the other end of
+the bridge, they saw a lion, which came roaring towards
+them with open jaws as if he wanted to swallow them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I think we had better turn right-about, we shall
+never be able to get past him alive,&rdquo; said the captain.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, I don&rsquo;t think he is so very dangerous,&rdquo; said the
+soldier; &ldquo;I have heard that lions are very fond of bacon,
+and I have half a pig in my wallet;&rdquo; and then he threw
+a ham to the lion, who began eating and gnawing, and
+thus they got past him also.</p>
+<p>In the evening they came to a fine big house. Each
+room was more gorgeous than the other; all was glitter
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span>
+and splendour wherever they looked; but that did not
+satisfy their hunger. The captain and the lieutenant
+went round rattling their money, and wanted to buy some
+food; but they saw no people nor could they find a
+crumb of anything in the house, so the soldier offered
+them some food from his wallet, which they were not too
+proud to accept, nor did they want any pressing. They
+helped themselves of what he had as if they had never
+tasted food before.</p>
+<p>The next day the captain said they would have to go
+out shooting and try to get something to live upon.
+Close to the house was a large forest where there were
+plenty of hares and birds. The lieutenant was to remain
+at home and cook the remainder of the food in the
+soldier&rsquo;s wallet. In the meantime the captain and the
+soldier shot so much game that they were hardly able to
+carry it home. When they came to the door they found
+the lieutenant in such a terrible plight that he was scarcely
+able to open the door to them.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What is the matter with you?&rdquo; said the captain.
+The lieutenant then told them that as soon as they were
+gone a tiny, little man, with a long beard, who went on
+crutches, came in and asked so plaintively for a penny; but
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span>
+no sooner had he got it than he let it fall on the floor,
+and for all he raked and scraped with his crutch he was
+not able to get hold of it, so stiff and stark was he.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I pitied the poor, old body,&rdquo; said the lieutenant,
+&ldquo;and so I bent down to pick up the penny, but then he
+was neither stiff nor stark any longer. He began to
+belabour me with his crutches till very soon I was unable
+to move a limb.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You ought to be ashamed of yourself! you, one of
+the king&rsquo;s officers, to let an old cripple give you a thrashing,
+and then tell people of it into the bargain!&rdquo; said the
+captain. &ldquo;Pshaw! to-morrow I&rsquo;ll stop at home, and then
+you&rsquo;ll hear another story.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The next day the lieutenant and the soldier went out
+shooting and the captain remained at home to do the
+cooking and look after the house. But if he fared no
+worse, he certainly fared no better than the lieutenant.
+In a little while the old man came in and asked for a
+penny. He let it fall as soon as he got it; gone it was
+and could not be found. So he asked the captain to help
+him to find it, and the captain, without giving a thought,
+bent down to look for it. But no sooner was he on his
+knees than the cripple began belabouring him with his
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span>
+crutches, and every time the captain tried to rise, he got
+a blow which sent him reeling. When the others came
+home in the evening, he still lay on the same spot and
+could neither see nor speak.</p>
+<p>The third day the soldier was to remain at home,
+while the other two went out shooting. The captain
+said he must take care of himself, &ldquo;for the old fellow will
+soon put an end to you, my lad,&rdquo; said he.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, there can&rsquo;t be much life in one if such an old
+crook can take it,&rdquo; said the soldier.</p>
+<p>They were no sooner outside the door, than the old
+man came in and asked for a penny again.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Money I have never owned,&rdquo; said the soldier, &ldquo;but
+food I&rsquo;ll give you, as soon as it is ready,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;but
+if we are to get it cooked, you must go and cut the
+wood.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That I can&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said the old man.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t, you must learn,&rdquo; said the soldier.
+&ldquo;I will soon show you. Come along with me down to the
+wood-shed.&rdquo; There he dragged out a heavy log and cut
+a cleft in it, and drove in a wedge till the cleft deepened.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now you must lie down and look right along the cleft,
+and you&rsquo;ll soon learn how to cut wood,&rdquo; said the soldier.
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span>
+&ldquo;In the meantime I&rsquo;ll show you how to use the axe.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The old man was not sufficiently cunning, and did as
+he was told; he lay down and looked steadily along the
+log. When the soldier saw the old man&rsquo;s beard had got
+well into the cleft, he struck out the wedge; the cleft
+closed and the old man was caught by the beard. The
+soldier began to beat him with the axe handle, and then
+swung the axe round his head, and vowed that he would
+split his skull if he did not tell him, there and then, where
+the <i>Princesses</i> were.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Spare my life, spare my life, and I&rsquo;ll tell you!&rdquo; said
+the old man. &ldquo;To the east of the house there is a big
+mound; on top of the mound you must dig out a square
+piece of turf, and then you will see a big stone slab.
+Under that there is a deep hole through which you must
+let yourself down, and you&rsquo;ll then come to another world
+where you will find the <i>Princesses</i>. But the way is long
+and dark and it goes both through fire and water.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>When the soldier got to know this, he released the
+old man, who was not long in making off.</p>
+<p>When the captain and lieutenant came home they
+were surprised to find the soldier alive. He told them
+what had happened from first to last, where the <i>Princesses</i>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span>
+were and how they should find them. They became as
+pleased as if they had already found them, and when they
+had had some food, they took with them a basket and as
+much rope as they could find, and all three set off to the
+mound. There they first dug out the turf just as the old
+man had told them, and underneath they found a big stone
+slab, which it took all their strength to turn over. They
+then began to measure how deep it was; they joined on
+ropes both two and three times, but they were no nearer
+the bottom the last time than the first. At last they had
+to join all the ropes they had, both the coarse and fine,
+and then they found it reached the bottom.</p>
+<p>The captain was, of course, the first who wanted
+to descend; &ldquo;But when I tug at the rope you must
+make haste to drag me up again,&rdquo; he said. He found
+the way both dark and unpleasant, but he thought he
+would go on as long as it became no worse. But all at
+once he felt ice cold water spouting about his ears; he
+became frightened to death and began tugging at the rope.</p>
+<p>The lieutenant was the next to try, but it fared no
+better with him. No sooner had he got through the
+flood of water than he saw a blazing fire yawning beneath
+him, which so frightened him that he also turned back.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span></div>
+<p>The soldier then got into the bucket, and down he
+went through fire and water, right on till he came to the
+bottom, where it was so pitch dark that he could not see
+his hand before him. He dared not let go the basket,
+but went round in a circle, feeling and fumbling about
+him. At last he discovered a gleam of light far, far
+away like the dawn of day, and he went on in that
+direction.</p>
+<p>When he had gone a bit it began to grow light around
+him, and before long he saw a golden sun rising in the
+sky and everything around him became as bright and
+beautiful as if in a fairy world.</p>
+<p>First he came to some cattle, which were so fat that
+their hides glistened a long way off, and when he had got
+past them he came to a fine, big palace. He walked
+through many rooms without meeting anybody. At last
+he heard the hum of a spinning wheel, and when he
+entered the room he found the eldest <i>Princess</i> sitting
+there spinning copper yarn; the room and everything in
+it was of brightly polished copper.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, dear; oh, dear! what are Christian people doing
+here?&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>. &ldquo;Heaven preserve you! what
+do you want?&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span></div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_53' id='linki_53'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs23.png'>
+<img src='images/gs23.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='278' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;I want to
+set you free and
+get you out of the
+mountain,&rdquo; said
+the soldier.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Pray do not
+stay. If the troll
+comes home he
+will put an end to
+you at once; he
+has three heads,&rdquo;
+said she.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I do not care
+if he has four,&rdquo;
+said the soldier. &ldquo;I am here, and here I shall remain.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, if you will be so headstrong, I must see if I
+can help you,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>She then told him to creep behind the big brewing
+vat which stood in the front hall; meanwhile she would
+receive the troll and scratch his heads till he went to sleep.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And when I go out and call the hens you must
+make haste and come in,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But you must first
+try if you can swing the sword which is lying on the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span>
+table.&rdquo; No, it was too heavy, he could not even move
+it. He had then to take a strengthening draught from
+the horn, which hung behind the door; after that he
+was just able to stir it, so he took another draught,
+and then he could lift it. At last he took a right,
+big draught, and he could swing the sword as easily as
+anything.</p>
+<p>All at once the troll came home; he walked so
+heavily that the palace shook.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ugh, ugh! I smell Christian flesh and blood in
+my house,&rdquo; said he.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered the <i>Princess</i>, &ldquo;a raven flew past here
+just now, and in his beak he had a human bone, which
+he dropped down the chimney; I threw it out and swept
+and cleaned up after it, but I suppose it still smells.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;So it does,&rdquo; said the troll.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But come and lie down and I&rsquo;ll scratch your heads,&rdquo;
+said the <i>Princess</i>; &ldquo;the smell will be gone by the time
+you wake.&rdquo;</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_54' id='linki_54'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col23.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col23.jpg' alt='' title='' width='290' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>The Troll was quite willing, and before long he fell asleep and began snoring.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>The troll was quite willing, and before long he fell
+asleep and began snoring. When she saw he was sleeping
+soundly, she placed some stools and cushions under
+his heads and went to call the hens. The soldier then
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span>
+stole into the room with the sword, and with one blow
+cut all the three heads off the troll.</p>
+<p>The <i>Princess</i> was as pleased as a fiddler, and went
+with the soldier to her sisters, so that he could also set
+them free. First of all they went across a courtyard and
+then through many long rooms till they came to a big
+door.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Here you must enter: here she is,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.
+When he opened the door he found himself in a large
+hall, where everything was of pure silver; there sat the
+second sister at a silver spinning-wheel.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, dear; oh, dear!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;What do you
+want here?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I want to set you free from the troll,&rdquo; said the
+soldier.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Pray do not stay, but go,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>. &ldquo;If
+he finds you here he will take your life on the spot.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That would be awkward&mdash;that is if I don&rsquo;t take his
+first,&rdquo; said the soldier.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well, since you will stay,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;you will have
+to creep behind the big brewing-vat in the front hall. But
+you must make haste and come as soon as you hear me
+calling the hens.&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span></div>
+<p>First of all he had to try if he was able to swing the
+troll&rsquo;s sword, which lay on the table; it was much larger
+and heavier than the first one; he was hardly able to move
+it. He then took three draughts from the horn and he
+could then lift it, and when he had taken three more he
+could handle it as if it were a rolling pin.</p>
+<p>Shortly afterwards he heard a heavy, rumbling noise
+that was quite terrible, and directly afterwards a troll with
+six heads came in.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ugh, ugh!&rdquo; he said as soon as he got his noses
+inside the door. &ldquo;I smell Christian blood and bone in
+my house.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, just think! A raven came flying past here with
+a thigh-bone, which he dropped down the chimney,&rdquo; said
+the <i>Princess</i>. &ldquo;I threw it out, but the raven brought it
+back again. At last I got rid of it and made haste to
+clean the room, but I suppose the smell is not quite gone,&rdquo;
+she said.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, I can smell it well,&rdquo; said the troll; but he was
+tired and put his heads in the <i>Princess&rsquo;s</i> lap, and she went
+on scratching them till they all fell a-snoring. Then she
+called the hens, and the soldier came and cut off all the
+six heads as if they were set on cabbage stalks.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span></div>
+<p>She was no less glad than her elder sister, as you may
+imagine, and danced and sang; but in the midst of their
+joy they remembered their youngest sister. They went
+with the soldier across a large courtyard, and, after walking
+through many, many rooms, he came to the hall of gold
+where the third sister was.</p>
+<p>She sat at a golden spinning-wheel spinning gold yarn,
+and the room from ceiling to floor glistened and glittered
+till it hurt one&rsquo;s eyes.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Heaven preserve both you and me, what do you
+want here?&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>. &ldquo;Go, go, else the troll
+will kill us both.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Just as well two as one,&rdquo; answered the soldier. The
+<i>Princess</i> cried and wept; but it was all of no use, he must
+and would remain. Since there was no help for it he
+would have to try if he could use the troll&rsquo;s sword on
+the table in the front hall. But he was only just able to
+move it; it was still larger and heavier than the other two
+swords.</p>
+<p>He then had to take the horn down from the wall
+and take three draughts from it, but was only just able to
+stir the sword. When he had taken three more draughts
+he could lift it, and when he had taken another three he
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span>
+swung it as easily
+as if it had been a
+feather.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_55' id='linki_55'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs24.png'>
+<img src='images/gs24.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='280' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p>The <i>Princess</i>
+then settled with
+the soldier to do
+the same as her
+sisters had done.
+As soon as the troll
+was well asleep she
+would call the
+hens, and he must
+then make haste
+and come in and
+put an end to the troll.</p>
+<p>All of a sudden they heard such a thundering, rambling
+noise, as if the walls and roof were tumbling in.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ugh! Ugh! I smell Christian blood and bone in
+my house,&rdquo; said the troll, sniffing with all his nine noses.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, you never saw the like! Just now a raven flew
+past here and dropped a human bone down the chimney.
+I threw it out, but the raven brought it back, and this
+went on for some time,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>; but she got it
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span>
+buried at last, she said, and she had both swept and
+cleaned the place, but she supposed it still smelt.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, I can smell it well,&rdquo; said the troll.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Come here and lie down in my lap and I will
+scratch your heads,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>. &ldquo;The smell will
+be all gone when you awake.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He did so, and when he was snoring at his best she
+put stools and cushions under the heads so that she could
+get away to call the hens. The soldier then came in in
+his stockinged feet and struck at the troll, so that eight
+of the heads fell off at one blow. But the sword was
+too short and did not reach far enough; the ninth head
+woke up and began to roar.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Ugh! Ugh! I smell a Christian.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, here he is,&rdquo; answered the soldier, and before
+the troll could get up and seize hold of him the soldier
+struck him another blow and the last head rolled along
+the floor.</p>
+<p>You can well imagine how glad the <i>Princesses</i> became
+now that they no longer had to sit and scratch the trolls&rsquo;
+heads; they did not know how they could do enough for
+him who had saved them. The youngest <i>Princess</i> took off
+her gold ring and knotted it in his hair. They then took
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span>
+with them as much gold and silver as they thought they
+could carry and set off on their way home.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_56' id='linki_56'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col24.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col24.jpg' alt='' title='' width='291' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>As soon as they tugged at the rope, the Captain and the Lieutenant pulled up the Princesses, the one after the other.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>As soon as they tugged at the rope the captain and the
+lieutenant pulled up the <i>Princesses</i>, the one after the other.
+But when they were safely up, the soldier thought it was
+foolish of him not to have gone up before the <i>Princesses</i>,
+for he had not very much belief in his comrades. He
+thought he would first try them, so he put a heavy lump
+of gold in the basket and got out of the way. When the
+basket was half-way up they cut the rope and the lump
+of gold fell to the bottom with such a crash that the pieces
+flew about his ears.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Now we are rid of him,&rdquo; they said, and threatened
+the <i>Princesses</i> with their life if they did not say that it was
+they who had saved them from the trolls. They were
+forced to agree to this, much against their will, and especially
+the youngest <i>Princess</i>; but life was precious, and
+so the two who were strongest had their way.</p>
+<p>When the captain and lieutenant got home with the
+<i>Princesses</i> you may be sure there were great rejoicings at
+the palace. The <i>King</i> was so glad he didn&rsquo;t know which
+leg to stand on; he brought out his best wine from his
+cupboard and wished the two officers welcome. If they
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span>
+had never been honoured before they were honoured now
+in full measure, and no mistake. They walked and strutted
+about the whole of the day, as if they were the cocks of
+the walk, since they were now going to have the <i>King</i>
+for father-in-law. For it was understood they should
+each have whichever of the <i>Princesses</i> they liked and half
+the kingdom between them. They both wanted the
+youngest <i>Princess</i>, but for all they prayed and threatened
+her it was of no use; she would not hear or listen to
+either.</p>
+<p>They then asked the <i>King</i> if they might have twelve
+men to watch over her; she was so sad and melancholy
+since she had been in the mountain that they were afraid
+she might do something to herself.</p>
+<p>Yes, that they might have, and the <i>King</i> himself told
+the watch they must look well after her and follow her
+wherever she went and stood.</p>
+<p>They then began to prepare for the wedding of the
+two eldest sisters; it should be such a wedding as never
+was heard or spoken of before, and there was no end to
+the brewing and the baking and the slaughtering.</p>
+<p>In the meantime the soldier walked and strolled about
+down in the other world. He thought it was hard that
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span>
+he should see neither people nor daylight any more; but
+he would have to do something, he thought, and so for
+many days he went about from room to room and opened
+all the drawers and cupboards and searched about on the
+shelves and looked at all the fine things that were there.
+At last he came to a drawer in a table, in which there lay
+a golden key; he tried this key to all the locks he could
+find, but there was none it fitted till he came to a little
+cupboard over the bed, and in that he found an old rusty
+whistle. &ldquo;I wonder if there is any sound in it,&rdquo; he
+thought, and put it to his mouth. No sooner had he
+whistled than he heard a whizzing and a whirring from
+all quarters, and such a large flock of birds swept down,
+that they blackened all the field in which they settled.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_57' id='linki_57'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<a href='images/big_col25.jpg'>
+<img src='images/col25.jpg' alt='' title='' width='293' height='400' /><br />
+</a>
+<p class='caption'>
+<i>No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing and a whirring from all quarters, and such a large flock of birds swept down that they blackened all the field in which they settled.</i><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+<p>&ldquo;What does our master want to-day?&rdquo; they asked.</p>
+<p>If he were their master, the soldier said, he would
+like to know if they could tell him how to get up to the
+earth again. No, none of them knew anything about
+that; &ldquo;But our mother has not yet arrived,&rdquo; they said;
+&ldquo;if she can&rsquo;t help you, no one can.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>So he whistled once more, and shortly heard something
+flapping its wings far away, and then it began to blow so
+hard that he was carried away between the houses like a
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span>
+wisp of hay across the courtyard, and if he had not caught
+hold of the fence he would no doubt have been blown
+away altogether.</p>
+<p>A big eagle&mdash;bigger than you can imagine&mdash;then
+swooped down in front of him.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You come rather sharply,&rdquo; said the soldier.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;As you whistle so I come,&rdquo; answered the eagle. So
+he asked her if she knew any means by which he could
+get away from the world in which they were.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t get away from here unless you can fly,&rdquo;
+said the eagle, &ldquo;but if you will slaughter twelve oxen for
+me, so that I can have a really good meal, I will try and
+help you. Have you got a knife?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, but I have a sword,&rdquo; he said. When the eagle
+had swallowed the twelve oxen she asked the soldier to kill
+one more for victuals on the journey. &ldquo;Every time I gape
+you must be quick and fling a piece into my mouth,&rdquo; she
+said, &ldquo;else I shall not be able to carry you up to earth.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>He did as she asked him and hung two large bags of
+meat round her neck and seated himself among her feathers.
+The eagle then began to flap her wings and off they went
+through the air like the wind. It was as much as the soldier
+could do to hold on, and it was with the greatest
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span>
+difficulty he managed to throw the pieces of flesh into the
+eagle&rsquo;s mouth every time she opened it.</p>
+<p>At last the day began to dawn, and the eagle was then
+almost exhausted and began flapping with her wings, but
+the soldier was prepared and seized the last hind quarter
+and flung it to her. Then she gained strength and brought
+him up to earth. When she had sat and rested a while at
+the top of a large pine-tree she set off with him again at
+such a pace that flashes of lightning were seen both by
+sea and land wherever they went.</p>
+<p>Close to the palace the soldier got off and the eagle
+flew home again, but first she told him that if he at any
+time should want her he need only blow the whistle and
+she would be there at once.</p>
+<p>In the meantime everything was ready at the palace,
+and the time approached when the captain and lieutenant
+were to be married with the two eldest <i>Princesses</i>, who,
+however, were not much happier than their youngest
+sister; scarcely a day passed without weeping and mourning,
+and the nearer the wedding-day approached the more
+sorrowful did they become.</p>
+<p>At last the <i>King</i> asked what was the matter with
+them; he thought it was very strange that they were not
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span>
+merry and happy now that they were saved and had been
+set free and were going to be married. They had to give
+some answer, and so the eldest sister said they never would
+be happy any more unless they could get such checkers as
+they had played with in the blue mountain.</p>
+<p>That, thought the <i>King</i>, could be easily managed, and
+so he sent word to all the best and cleverest goldsmiths in
+the country that they should make these checkers for the
+<i>Princesses</i>. For all they tried there was no one who could
+make them. At last all the goldsmiths had been to the
+palace except one, and he was an old, infirm man who had
+not done any work for many years except odd jobs, by
+which he was just able to keep himself alive. To him the
+soldier went and asked to be apprenticed. The old man
+was so glad to get him, for he had not had an apprentice
+for many a day, that he brought out a flask from his chest
+and sat down to drink with the soldier. Before long the
+drink got into his head, and when the soldier saw this he
+persuaded him to go up to the palace and tell the <i>King</i>
+that he would undertake to make the checkers for the
+<i>Princesses</i>.</p>
+<p>He was ready to do that on the spot; he had made
+finer and grander things in his day, he said. When the
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span>
+<i>King</i> heard there was some one outside who could make
+the checkers he was not long in coming out.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Is it true what you say, that you can make such
+checkers as my daughters want?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, it is no lie,&rdquo; said the goldsmith; that he would
+answer for.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s well!&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>. &ldquo;Here is the gold
+to make them with; but if you do not succeed you will
+lose your life, since you have come and offered yourself,
+and they must be finished in three days.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The next morning when the goldsmith had slept off
+the effects of the drink, he was not quite so confident
+about the job. He wailed and wept and blew up his
+apprentice, who had got him into such a scrape while he
+was drunk. The best thing would be to make short
+work of himself at once, he said, for there could be no
+hope for his life; when the best and grandest goldsmiths
+could not make such checkers, was it likely that he could
+do it?</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t fret on that account,&rdquo; said the soldier, &ldquo;but
+let me have the gold and I&rsquo;ll get the checkers ready in time;
+but I must have a room to myself to work in,&rdquo; he said.
+This he got, and thanks into the bargain.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span></div>
+<p>The time wore on, and the soldier did nothing but
+lounge about, and the goldsmith began to grumble, because
+he would not begin with the work.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry yourself about it,&rdquo; said the soldier,
+&ldquo;there is plenty of time! If you are not satisfied with
+what I have promised you had better make them yourself.&rdquo;
+The same thing went on both that day and the next; and
+when the smith heard neither hammer nor file from the
+soldier&rsquo;s room the whole of the last day, he quite gave
+himself up for lost; it was now no use to think any longer
+about saving his life, he thought.</p>
+<p>But when the night came on the soldier opened the
+window and blew his whistle. The eagle then came and
+asked what he wanted.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Those gold checkers, which the <i>Princesses</i> had
+in the blue mountain,&rdquo; said the soldier; &ldquo;but you&rsquo;ll
+want something to eat first, I suppose? I have two
+ox carcases lying ready for you in the hay-loft yonder;
+you had better finish them,&rdquo; he said. When the eagle
+had done she did not tarry, and long before the sun
+rose she was back again with the checkers. The
+soldier then put them under his bed and lay down to
+sleep.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span></div>
+<p>Early next morning the goldsmith came and knocked
+at his door.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What are you after now again?&rdquo; asked the soldier.
+&ldquo;You rush about enough in the day, goodness knows!
+If one cannot have peace when one is in bed, whoever
+would be an apprentice here?&rdquo; said he.</p>
+<p>Neither praying nor begging helped that time; the
+goldsmith must and would come in, and at last he was
+let in.</p>
+<p>And then, you may be sure, there was soon an end
+to his wailing.</p>
+<p>But still more glad than the goldsmith were the
+<i>Princesses</i>, when he came up to the palace with the
+checkers, and gladdest of all was the youngest <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Have you made them yourself?&rdquo; she asked.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;No, if I must speak the truth, it is not I,&rdquo; he said,
+&ldquo;but my apprentice, who has made them.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I should like to see that apprentice,&rdquo; said the <i>Princess</i>.
+In fact all three wanted to see him, and if he valued his
+life, he would have to come.</p>
+<p>He was not afraid, either of women-folk or grand-folk,
+said the soldier, and if it could be any amusement to them
+to look at his rags, they should soon have that pleasure.</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span></div>
+<p>The youngest <i>Princess</i> recognised him at once; she
+pushed the soldiers aside and ran up to him, gave him her
+hand, and said:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Good day, and many thanks for all you have done
+for us. It is he who freed us from the trolls in the
+mountain,&rdquo; she said to the <i>King</i>. &ldquo;He is the one I will
+have!&rdquo; and then she pulled off his cap and showed them
+the ring she had tied in his hair.</p>
+<p>It soon came out how the captain and lieutenant had
+behaved, and so they had to pay the penalty of their
+treachery with their lives, and that was the end of their
+grandeur. But the soldier got the golden crown and
+half the kingdom, and married the youngest <i>Princess</i>.</p>
+<p>At the wedding they drank and feasted both well and
+long; for feast they all could, even if they could not find
+the <i>Princesses</i>, and if they have not yet done feasting and
+drinking they must be at it still.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_58' id='linki_58'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec11.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='189' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span>
+<a name='THE_CAT_ON_THE_DOVREFELL' id='THE_CAT_ON_THE_DOVREFELL'></a>
+<h2>THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL</h2>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_o.png'  alt='O' title='' width='75' height='73' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>O</span>nce</span> on a time there was a man up in Finnmark
+who had caught a great white bear, which he
+was going to take to the King of Denmark.
+Now, it so fell out, that he came to the <i>Dovrefell</i> just
+about Christmas Eve, and there he turned into a cottage
+where a man lived, whose name was Halvor, and asked
+the man if he could get house-room there for his bear
+and himself.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Heaven never help me, if what I say isn&rsquo;t true!&rdquo;
+said the man; &ldquo;but we can&rsquo;t give anyone house-room just
+now, for every Christmas Eve such a pack of <i>Trolls</i> come
+down upon us, that we are forced to flit, and haven&rsquo;t so
+much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of
+lending one to anyone else.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh?&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;if that&rsquo;s all, you can very well
+lend me your house; my bear can lie under the stove
+yonder, and I can sleep in the side-room.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Well, he begged so hard, that at last he got leave to
+stay there; so the people of the house flitted out, and before
+they went, everything was got ready for the <i>Trolls</i>;
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span>
+the tables were laid, and there was rice porridge, and fish
+boiled in lye, and sausages, and all else that was good,
+just as for any other grand feast.</p>
+<p>So, when everything was ready, down came the <i>Trolls</i>.
+Some were great, and some were small; some had long
+tails, and some had no tails at all; some, too, had long,
+long noses; and they ate and drank, and tasted everything.
+Just then one of the little <i>Trolls</i> caught sight of the white
+bear, who lay under the stove; so he took a piece of
+sausage and stuck it on a fork, and went and poked it up
+against the bear&rsquo;s nose, screaming out:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Pussy, will you have some sausage?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Then the white bear rose up and growled, and
+hunted the whole pack of them out of doors, both great
+and small.</p>
+<p>Next year Halvor was out in the wood, on the afternoon
+of Christmas Eve, cutting wood before the holidays,
+for he thought the <i>Trolls</i> would come again; and just as
+he was hard at work, he heard a voice in the wood calling
+out:</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Halvor! Halvor!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Halvor, &ldquo;here I am.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Have you got your big cat with you still?&rdquo;</p>
+<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></div>
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, that I have,&rdquo; said Halvor; &ldquo;she&rsquo;s lying at
+home under the stove, and what&rsquo;s more, she has now got
+seven kittens, far bigger and fiercer than she is herself.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, then, we&rsquo;ll never come to see you again,&rdquo; bawled
+out the <i>Troll</i> away in the wood, and he kept his word;
+for since that time the <i>Trolls</i> have never eaten their
+Christmas brose with Halvor on the <i>Dovrefell</i>.</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_59' id='linki_59'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec12.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='461' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='toprule' />
+<div class='chsp'>
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span>
+<a name='ONES_OWN_CHILDREN_ARE_ALWAYS_PRETTIEST' id='ONES_OWN_CHILDREN_ARE_ALWAYS_PRETTIEST'></a>
+<h2>ONE&rsquo;S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST</h2>
+</div>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_60' id='linki_60'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figright' style='width:250px'>
+<a href='images/big_gs25.png'>
+<img src='images/gs25.png' alt='' title='' width='250' height='278' /><br />
+</a>
+</div>
+<p><img class='dcap' src='images/drop_a.png'  alt='A' title='' width='75' height='75' /><span class='smcap'><span class='dcap'>A</span> sportsman</span> went out once into a wood to
+shoot, and he met a <i>Snipe</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Dear friend,&rdquo; said the <i>Snipe</i>, &ldquo;don&rsquo;t shoot
+my children!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;How shall I know your children?&rdquo; asked the <i>Sportsman</i>.
+&ldquo;What are they like?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; said
+the <i>Snipe</i>, &ldquo;mine
+are the prettiest
+children in all the
+wood.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Very well,&rdquo;
+said the <i>Sportsman</i>,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll not shoot
+them; don&rsquo;t be
+afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But for all
+that, when he
+came back, there
+he had a whole
+<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span>
+string of young snipes in his hand which he had shot.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, oh!&rdquo; said the <i>Snipe</i>, &ldquo;why did you shoot my
+children after all?&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;What! these your children!&rdquo; said the <i>Sportsman</i>;
+&ldquo;why, I shot the ugliest I could find, that I did!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Woe is me!&rdquo; said the <i>Snipe</i>; &ldquo;don&rsquo;t you know that
+each one thinks his own children the prettiest in the
+world?&rdquo;</p>
+<div class='figtag'>
+<a name='linki_61' id='linki_61'></a>
+</div>
+<div class='figcenter'>
+<img src='images/dec13.png' alt='' title='' width='500' height='440' /><br />
+</div>
+<hr class='pb' />
+<div class='trnote'>
+<p><b>Transcriber&rsquo;s Notes:</b></p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Illustrations have been moved closer to their relevant paragraphs.
+The page numbers in the List of Illustrations do not reflect the new
+placement of the illustrations, but are as in the original.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Author&rsquo;s archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation is preserved.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Author&rsquo;s punctuation style is preserved.</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'>Typographical problems have been changed and these are
+<ins class="trchange" title="Was 'hgihligthed'">highlighted</ins>.</p>
+<p style='margin-top:2em;'><b>Transcriber&rsquo;s Changes:</b></p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#page_4'>TOC</a>: Page number for "The Cat on the Dovrefell" was corrected from &rsquo;201&rsquo; to &rsquo;200&rsquo;</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#page_4'>TOC</a>: Page number for "One&rsquo;s Own Children are Always Prettiest" was corrected from &rsquo;205&rsquo; to &rsquo;203&rsquo;</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_1'>Page 25</a>: Was &rsquo;over over&rsquo; (the <i>Prince</i> made as if he drank, but threw it <b>over</b> his shoulder)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_2'>Page 38</a>: Added italics (But the <b><i>Troll</i></b>, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a lie.)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_3'>Page 43</a>: Added &rsquo;to&rsquo;: Was &rsquo;it her&rsquo; (he pulled open his waistcoat and shirt to show <b>it to her</b>.)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_4'>Page 55</a>: Added italics (Some time after this, the <b><i>King</i></b> went away to the wars)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_5'>Page 59</a>: Standardised hyphenation from &rsquo;witchwoman&rsquo; (&ldquo;Well, you needn&rsquo;t be,&rdquo; said the <b>witch-woman</b>. &ldquo;All that can be set right in a twinkling)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_6'>Page 94</a>: Removed extra double-quote (&ldquo;To Whiteland,&rdquo; said the <i>King</i>; <b>and</b> then he told him all that had befallen him.)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_7'>Page 125</a>: Added italics (Then back came the <b><i>Giant</i></b>.)</p>
+<p style='margin-left:1.0em'><a href='#TC_8'>Page 155</a>: Was &rsquo;again.&rsquo; (home to fetch something to hew their way through the wood. But at last the <i>Horse</i> said <b>again:</b>)</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- generated by ppg.rb version: 3.20 -->
+<!-- timestamp: Fri Jan 15 21:51:10 +0700 2010 -->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, by 
+Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, by
+Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Engebretsen Moe
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
+       Old Tales from the North
+
+Author: Peter Christen Asbjornsen
+        Jorgen Engebretsen Moe
+
+Illustrator: Kay Nielsen
+
+Release Date: January 15, 2010 [EBook #30973]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EAST OF THE SUN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Dan Horwood and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: He too saw the image in the water; but he looked up at
+once, and became aware of the lovely Lassie who sate there up in the
+tree. Page 70]
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+  EAST OF THE SUN AND
+  WEST OF THE MOON
+
+  OLD TALES FROM THE NORTH
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY
+  KAY NIELSEN
+
+
+  NEW YORK
+  GEORGE H DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+A folk-tale, in its primitive plainness of word and entire absence of
+complexity in thought, is peculiarly sensitive and susceptible to the
+touch of stranger hands; and he who has been able to acquaint himself
+with the _Norske Folkeeventyr_ of Asbjoernsen and Moe (from which these
+stories are selected), has an advantage over the reader of an English
+rendering. Of this advantage Mr. Kay Nielsen has fully availed
+himself: and the exquisite _bizarrerie_ of his drawings aptly
+expresses the innermost significance of the old-world, old-wives'
+fables. For to term these legends, Nursery Tales, would be to curtail
+them, by nine-tenths, of their interest. They are the romances of the
+childhood of Nations: they are the never-failing springs of sentiment,
+of sensation, of heroic example, from which primeval peoples drank
+their fill at will.
+
+The quaintness, the tenderness, the grotesque yet realistic
+intermingling of actuality with supernaturalism, by which the
+original _Norske Folkeeventyr_ are characterised, will make an appeal
+to all, as represented in the pictures of Kay Nielsen. And these
+imperishable traditions, whose bases are among the very roots of all
+antiquity, are here reincarnated in line and colour, to the delight of
+all who ever knew or now shall know them.
+
+Permission to reprint the Stories in this book, which originally
+appeared in Sir G. W. Dasent's "Popular Tales from the Norse," has
+been obtained from Messrs. George Routledge & Sons, Ltd. THE THREE
+PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN is printed by arrangement with Messrs.
+David Nutt; and PRINCE LINDWORM is newly translated for this volume.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+  EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON                               9
+  THE BLUE BELT                                                     29
+  PRINCE LINDWORM                                                   53
+  THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER                                      65
+  THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE                             75
+  THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND                                79
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND                                 85
+  SORIA MORIA CASTLE                                                97
+  THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY                           117
+  THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL                                   131
+  THE WIDOW'S SON                                                  149
+  THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF                                      167
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN                        171
+  THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL                                         200
+  ONE'S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST                          203
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  EAST OF THE SUN AND
+  WEST OF THE MOON
+                                                                  Page
+    "Well, mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and
+        then there's nothing to fear," said the Bear, so
+        she rode a long, long way                                    9
+    "Tell me the way, then," she said, "and I'll search
+        you out"                                                    16
+    And then she lay on a little green patch in the
+        midst of the gloomy thick wood                              24
+    The North Wind goes over the sea                                32
+    And flitted away as far as they could from the
+        Castle that lay East of the Sun and West of the
+        Moon                                                        40
+
+  THE BLUE BELT
+
+    The Lad in the Bear's skin, and the King of Arabia's
+        daughter                                                    48
+
+  PRINCE LINDWORM
+
+    She saw the Lindworm for the first time, as he came
+        in and stood by her side                                    56
+
+  THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER
+
+    She could not help setting the door a little ajar,
+        just to peep in, when--Pop! out flew the Moon               64
+    Then he coaxed her down and took her home                       72
+    "Here are your children; now you shall have them
+        again. I am the Virgin Mary"                                80
+    He too saw the image in the water; but he looked up
+        at once, and became aware of the lovely Lassie
+        who sate there up in the tree                     FRONTISPIECE
+
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND
+
+    "You'll come to three Princesses, whom you will see
+        standing in the earth up to their necks, with
+        only their heads out"                                       88
+    So the man gave him a pair of snow shoes                        96
+    The King went into the Castle, and at first his
+        Queen didn't know him, he was so wan and thin,
+        through wandering so far and being so woeful               104
+
+  THE GIANT WHO HAD
+  NO HEART IN HIS BODY
+
+    The six brothers riding out to woo                             112
+    "On that island stands a church; in that church is a
+        well; in that well swims a duck"                           120
+    He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and
+        when he got out of the Giant's door, there stood
+        the Wolf waiting for him                                   128
+
+  THE WIDOW'S SON
+
+    When he had walked a day or so, a strange man met
+        him. "Whither away?" asked the man                         136
+    But still the Horse begged him to look behind him              144
+    And this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay
+        the lad, so lovely, and white and red, just as
+        the Princess had seen him in the morning sun               152
+    The Lad in the Battle                                          160
+
+  THE THREE PRINCESSES
+  IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN
+
+    Just as they bent down to take the rose a big dense
+        snowdrift came and carried them away                       168
+    The Troll was quite willing, and before long he fell
+        asleep and began snoring                                   176
+    As soon as they tugged at the rope, the Captain and
+        the Lieutenant pulled up the Princesses, the one
+        after the other                                            184
+    No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing
+        and a whirring from all quarters, and such a
+        large flock of birds swept down that they
+        blackened all the field in which they settled              192
+
+
+
+
+EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
+
+
+Once on a time there was a poor husbandman who had so many children
+that he hadn't much of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty
+children they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter,
+who was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness.
+
+So one day, 'twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year,
+the weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark,
+and rain fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook
+again. There they all sat round the fire, busy with this thing and
+that. But just then, all at once something gave three taps on the
+window-pane. Then the father went out to see what was the matter; and,
+when he got out of doors, what should he see but a great big _White
+Bear_.
+
+"Good-evening to you!" said the _White Bear_.
+
+"The same to you!" said the man.
+
+"Will you give me your youngest daughter? If you will, I'll make you
+as rich as you are now poor," said the _Bear_.
+
+Well, the man would not be at all sorry to be so rich; but still he
+thought he must have a bit of a talk with his daughter first; so he
+went in and told them how there was a great _White Bear_ waiting
+outside, who had given his word to make them so rich if he could only
+have the youngest daughter.
+
+The lassie said "No!" outright. Nothing could get her to say anything
+else; so the man went out and settled it with the _White Bear_ that he
+should come again the next Thursday evening and get an answer.
+Meantime he talked his daughter over, and kept on telling her of all
+the riches they would get, and how well off she would be herself; and
+so at last she thought better of it, and washed and mended her rags,
+made herself as smart as she could, and was ready to start. I can't
+say her packing gave her much trouble.
+
+[Illustration: "Well, mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then
+there's nothing to fear," said the Bear, so she rode a long, long way.]
+
+Next Thursday evening came the _White Bear_ to fetch her, and she got
+upon his back with her bundle, and off they went. So, when they had
+gone a bit of the way, the _White Bear_ said:
+
+"Are you afraid?"
+
+"No," she wasn't.
+
+"Well! mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there's
+nothing to fear," said the _Bear_.
+
+So she rode a long, long way, till they came to a great steep hill.
+There, on the face of it, the _White Bear_ gave a knock, and a door
+opened, and they came into a castle where there were many rooms all
+lit up; rooms gleaming with silver and gold; and there, too, was a
+table ready laid, and it was all as grand as grand could be. Then the
+_White Bear_ gave her a silver bell; and when she wanted anything, she
+was only to ring it, and she would get it at once.
+
+Well, after she had eaten and drunk, and evening wore on, she got
+sleepy after her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed, so
+she rang the bell; and she had scarce taken hold of it before she came
+into a chamber where there was a bed made, as fair and white as any
+one would wish to sleep in, with silken pillows and curtains and gold
+fringe. All that was in the room was gold or silver; but when she had
+gone to bed and put out the light, a man came and laid himself
+alongside her. That was the _White Bear_, who threw off his beast
+shape at night; but she never saw him, for he always came after she
+had put out the light, and before the day dawned he was up and off
+again. So things went on happily for a while, but at last she began to
+get silent and sorrowful; for there she went about all day alone, and
+she longed to go home to see her father and mother and brothers and
+sisters. So one day, when the _White Bear_ asked what it was that she
+lacked, she said it was so dull and lonely there, and how she longed
+to go home to see her father and mother and brothers and sisters, and
+that was why she was so sad and sorrowful, because she couldn't get to
+them.
+
+"Well, well!" said the _Bear_, "perhaps there's a cure for all this;
+but you must promise me one thing, not to talk alone with your mother,
+but only when the rest are by to hear; for she'll take you by the hand
+and try to lead you into a room alone to talk; but you must mind and
+not do that, else you'll bring bad luck on both of us."
+
+So one Sunday the _White Bear_ came and said, now they could set off
+to see her father and mother. Well, off they started, she sitting on
+his back; and they went far and long. At last they came to a grand
+house, and there her brothers and sisters were running about out of
+doors at play, and everything was so pretty, 'twas a joy to see.
+
+"This is where your father and mother live now," said the _White
+Bear_; "but don't forget what I told you, else you'll make us both
+unlucky."
+
+"No! bless her, she'd not forget;"--and when she had reached the
+house, the _White Bear_ turned right about and left her.
+
+Then, when she went in to see her father and mother, there was such
+joy, there was no end to it. None of them thought they could thank her
+enough for all she had done for them. Now, they had everything they
+wished, as good as good could be, and they all wanted to know how she
+got on where she lived.
+
+Well, she said, it was very good to live where she did; she had all
+she wished. What she said beside I don't know, but I don't think any
+of them had the right end of the stick, or that they got much out of
+her. But so, in the afternoon, after they had done dinner, all
+happened as the _White Bear_ had said. Her mother wanted to talk with
+her alone in her bedroom; but she minded what the _White Bear_ had
+said, and wouldn't go upstairs.
+
+"Oh! what we have to talk about will keep!" she said, and put her
+mother off. But, somehow or other, her mother got round her at last,
+and she had to tell her the whole story. So she said, how every night
+when she had gone to bed a man came and lay down beside her as soon as
+she had put out the light; and how she never saw him, because he was
+always up and away before the morning dawned; and how she went about
+woeful and sorrowing, for she thought she should so like to see him;
+and how all day long she walked about there alone; and how dull and
+dreary and lonesome it was.
+
+"My!" said her mother; "it may well be a Troll you slept with! But now
+I'll teach you a lesson how to set eyes on him. I'll give you a bit of
+candle, which you can carry home in your bosom; just light that while
+he is asleep, but take care not to drop the tallow on him."
+
+Yes! she took the candle and hid it in her bosom, and as night drew
+on, the _White Bear_ came and fetched her away.
+
+But when they had gone a bit of the way, the _White Bear_ asked if all
+hadn't happened as he had said.
+
+"Well, she couldn't say it hadn't."
+
+"Now, mind," said he, "if you have listened to your mother's advice,
+you have brought bad luck on us both, and then, all that has passed
+between us will be as nothing."
+
+"No," she said, "she hadn't listened to her mother's advice."
+
+So when she reached home, and had gone to bed, it was the old story
+over again. There came a man and lay down beside her; but at dead of
+night, when she heard he slept, she got up and struck a light, lit the
+candle, and let the light shine on him, and so she saw that he was the
+loveliest _Prince_ one ever set eyes on, and she fell so deep in love
+with him on the spot, that she thought she couldn't live if she didn't
+give him a kiss there and then. And so she did; but as she kissed him,
+she dropped three hot drops of tallow on his shirt, and he woke up.
+
+"What have you done?" he cried; "now you have made us both unlucky,
+for had you held out only this one year, I had been freed. For I have
+a step-mother who has bewitched me, so that I am a _White Bear_ by
+day, and a _Man_ by night. But now all ties are snapt between us; now
+I must set off from you to her. She lives in a Castle which stands
+_East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and there, too, is a
+_Princess_, with a nose three ells long, and she's the wife I must
+have now."
+
+She wept and took it ill, but there was no help for it; go he must.
+
+Then she asked if she mightn't go with him.
+
+No, she mightn't.
+
+"Tell me the way, then," she said, "and I'll search you out; _that_
+surely I may get leave to do."
+
+[Illustration: "Tell me the way, then," she said, "and I'll search you
+out."]
+
+"Yes," she might do that, he said; "but there was no way to that
+place. It lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and thither
+she'd never find her way."
+
+So next morning, when she woke up, both _Prince_ and castle were gone,
+and then she lay on a little green patch, in the midst of the gloomy
+thick wood, and by her side lay the same bundle of rags she had
+brought with her from her old home.
+
+[Illustration: And then she lay on a little green patch in the midst of
+the gloomy thick wood.]
+
+So when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she
+was tired, she set out on her way, and walked many, many days, till
+she came to a lofty crag. Under it sat an old hag, and played with a
+gold apple which she tossed about. Here the lassie asked if she knew
+the way to the Prince, who lived with his step-mother in the Castle,
+that lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and who was to marry
+the _Princess_ with a nose three ells long.
+
+"How did you come to know about him?" asked the old hag; "but maybe
+you are the lassie who ought to have had him?"
+
+Yes, she was.
+
+"So, so; it's you, is it?" said the old hag. "Well, all I know about
+him is, that he lives in the castle that lies _East of the Sun and
+West of the Moon_, and thither you'll come, late or never; but still
+you may have the loan of my horse, and on him you can ride to my next
+neighbour. Maybe she'll be able to tell you; and when you get there,
+just give the horse a switch under the left ear, and beg him to be off
+home; and, stay, this gold apple you may take with you."
+
+So she got upon the horse, and rode a long, long time, till she came
+to another crag, under which sat another old hag, with a gold
+carding-comb. Here the lassie asked if she knew the way to the castle
+that lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, and she answered,
+like the first old hag, that she knew nothing about it, except it was
+east of the sun and west of the moon.
+
+"And thither you'll come, late or never, but you shall have the loan
+of my horse to my next neighbour; maybe she'll tell you all about it;
+and when you get there, just switch the horse under the left ear, and
+beg him to be off home."
+
+And this old hag gave her the golden carding-comb; it might be she'd
+find some use for it, she said. So the lassie got up on the horse, and
+rode a far, far way, and a weary time; and so at last she came to
+another great crag, under which sat another old hag, spinning with a
+golden spinning-wheel. Her, too, she asked if she knew the way to the
+_Prince_, and where the castle was that lay _East of the Sun and West
+of the Moon_. So it was the same thing over again.
+
+"Maybe it's you who ought to have had the _Prince_?" said the old
+hag.
+
+Yes, it was.
+
+But she, too, didn't know the way a bit better than the other two.
+"East of the sun and west of the moon it was," she knew--that was
+all.
+
+"And thither you'll come, late or never; but I'll lend you my horse,
+and then I think you'd best ride to the East Wind and ask him; maybe
+he knows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to
+him, you need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and
+he'll trot home of himself."
+
+And so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel. "Maybe you'll find
+a use for it," said the old hag.
+
+Then on she rode many many days, a weary time, before she got to the
+East Wind's house, but at last she did reach it, and then she asked
+the East Wind if he could tell her the way to the _Prince_ who dwelt
+east of the sun and west of the moon. Yes, the East Wind had often
+heard tell of it, the _Prince_ and the castle, but he couldn't tell
+the way, for he had never blown so far.
+
+"But, if you will, I'll go with you to my brother the West Wind, maybe
+he knows, for he's much stronger. So, if you will just get on my
+back, I'll carry you thither."
+
+Yes, she got on his back, and I should just think they went briskly
+along.
+
+So when they got there, they went into the West Wind's house, and the
+East Wind said the lassie he had brought was the one who ought to have
+had the _Prince_ who lived in the castle _East of the Sun and West of
+the Moon_; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he had come
+with her, and would be glad to know if the West Wind knew how to get
+to the castle.
+
+"Nay," said the West Wind, "so far I've never blown; but if you will,
+I'll go with you to our brother the South Wind, for he's much stronger
+than either of us, and he has flapped his wings far and wide. Maybe
+he'll tell you. You can get on my back, and I'll carry you to him."
+
+Yes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South Wind, and
+weren't so very long on the way, I should think.
+
+When they got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the
+way to the castle that lay _East of the Sun and West of the Moon_, for
+it was she who ought to have had the _Prince_ who lived there.
+
+"You don't say so! That's she, is it?" said the South Wind.
+
+"Well, I have blustered about in most places in my time, but so far
+have I never blown; but if you will, I'll take you to my brother the
+North Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of the whole lot of us, and
+if he don't know where it is, you'll never find any one in the world
+to tell you. You can get on my back, and I'll carry you thither."
+
+Yes! she got on his back, and away he went from his house at a fine
+rate. And this time, too, she wasn't long on her way.
+
+So when they got to the North Wind's house, he was so wild and cross,
+cold puffs came from him a long way off.
+
+"BLAST YOU BOTH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?" he roared out to them ever so far
+off, so that it struck them with an icy shiver.
+
+"Well," said the South Wind, "you needn't be so foul-mouthed, for here
+I am, your brother, the South Wind, and here is the lassie who ought
+to have had the _Prince_ who dwells in the castle that lies _East of
+the Sun and West of the Moon_, and now she wants to ask you if you
+ever were there, and can tell her the way, for she would be so glad to
+find him again."
+
+"YES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS," said the North Wind; "once in
+my life I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but, I was so tired I couldn't
+blow a puff for ever so many days, after. But if you really wish to go
+thither, and aren't afraid to come along with me, I'll take you on my
+back and see if I can blow you thither."
+
+Yes! with all her heart; she must and would get thither if it were
+possible in any way; and as for fear, however madly he went, she
+wouldn't be at all afraid.
+
+"Very well, then," said the North Wind, "but you must sleep here
+to-night, for we must have the whole day before us, if we're to get
+thither at all."
+
+Early next morning the North Wind woke her, and puffed himself up, and
+blew himself out, and made himself so stout and big, 'twas gruesome to
+look at him; and so off they went high up through the air, as if they
+would never stop till they got to the world's end.
+
+Down here below there was such a storm; it threw down long tracts of
+wood and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea, ships
+foundered by hundreds.
+
+[Illustration: The North Wind goes over the sea.]
+
+So they tore on and on--no one can believe how far they went--and all
+the while they still went over the sea, and the North Wind got more
+and more weary, and so out of breath he could scarce bring out a puff,
+and his wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low that
+the crests of the waves dashed over his heels.
+
+"Are you afraid?" said the North Wind.
+
+"No!" she wasn't.
+
+But they weren't very far from land; and the North Wind had still so
+much strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on the shore
+under the windows of the castle which lay _East of the Sun and West of
+the Moon_; but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to stay there
+and rest many days before he could get home again.
+
+Next morning the lassie sat down under the castle window, and began to
+play with the gold apple; and the first person she saw was the
+_Long-nose_ who was to have the _Prince_.
+
+"What do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?" said the
+_Long-nose_, and threw up the window.
+
+"It's not for sale, for gold or money," said the lassie.
+
+"If it's not for sale for gold or money, what is it that you will sell
+it for? You may name your own price," said the _Princess_.
+
+"Well! if I may get to the _Prince_, who lives here, and be with him
+to-night, you shall have it," said the lassie whom the North Wind had
+brought.
+
+Yes! she might; that could be done. So the _Princess_ got the gold
+apple; but when the lassie came up to the _Prince's_ bed-room at night
+he was fast asleep; she called him and shook him, and between whiles
+she wept sore; but all she could do she couldn't wake him up. Next
+morning, as soon as day broke, came the _Princess_ with the long nose,
+and drove her out again.
+
+So in the daytime she sat down under the castle windows and began to
+card with her carding-comb, and the same thing happened. The
+_Princess_ asked what she wanted for it; and she said it wasn't for
+sale for gold or money, but if she might get leave to go up to the
+_Prince_ and be with him that night, the _Princess_ should have it.
+But when she went up she found him fast asleep again, and all she
+called, and all she shook, and wept, and prayed, she couldn't get life
+into him; and as soon as the first gray peep of day came, then came
+the _Princess_ with the long nose, and chased her out again.
+
+So, in the daytime, the lassie sat down outside under the castle
+window, and began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that,
+too, the _Princess_ with the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up
+the window and asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she
+had said twice before, it wasn't for sale for gold or money; but if
+she might go up to the _Prince_ who was there, and be with him alone
+that night, she might have it.
+
+Yes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were
+some Christian folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat
+in their room, which was next the _Prince_, they had heard how a woman
+had been in there, and wept and prayed, and called to him two nights
+running, and they told that to the _Prince_.
+
+That evening, when the _Princess_ came with her sleepy drink, the
+_Prince_ made as if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he
+could guess it was a sleepy drink. So, when the lassie came in, she
+found the _Prince_ wide awake; and then she told him the whole story
+how she had come thither.
+
+"Ah," said the _Prince_, "you've just come in the very nick of time,
+for to-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won't have the
+_Long-nose_, and you are the only woman in the world who can set me
+free. I'll say I want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to
+wash the shirt which has the three spots of tallow on it; she'll say
+yes, for she doesn't know 'tis you who put them there; but that's a
+work only for Christian folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and
+so I'll say that I won't have any other for my bride than the woman
+who can wash them out, and ask you to do it."
+
+So there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next
+day, when the wedding was to be, the _Prince_ said:
+
+"First of all, I'd like to see what my bride is fit for."
+
+"Yes!" said the step-mother, with all her heart.
+
+"Well," said the _Prince_, "I've got a fine shirt which I'd like for
+my wedding shirt, but somehow or other it has got three spots of
+tallow on it, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to
+take any other bride than the woman who's able to do that. If she
+can't, she's not worth having."
+
+Well, that was no great thing they said, so they agreed, and she with
+the long-nose began to wash away as hard as she could, but the more
+she rubbed and scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew.
+
+"Ah!" said the old hag, her mother, "you can't wash; let me try."
+
+But she hadn't long taken the shirt in hand before it got far worse
+than ever, and with all her rubbing, and wringing, and scrubbing, the
+spots grew bigger and blacker, and the darker and uglier was the
+shirt.
+
+Then all the other Trolls began to wash, but the longer it lasted, the
+blacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last it was as black all
+over as if it had been up the chimney.
+
+"Ah!" said the _Prince_, "you're none of you worth a straw; you can't
+wash. Why there, outside, sits a beggar lassie, I'll be bound she
+knows how to wash better than the whole lot of you. COME IN, LASSIE!"
+he shouted.
+
+Well, in she came.
+
+"Can you wash this shirt clean, lassie you?" said he.
+
+"I don't know," she said, "but I think I can."
+
+And almost before she had taken it and dipped it in the water, it was
+as white as driven snow, and whiter still.
+
+"Yes; you are the lassie for me," said the _Prince_.
+
+At that the old hag flew into such a rage, she burst on the spot, and
+the _Princess_ with the long nose after her, and the whole pack of
+Trolls after her--at least I've never heard a word about them since.
+
+As for the _Prince_ and _Princess_, they set free all the poor
+Christian folk who had been carried off and shut up there; and they
+took with them all the silver and gold, and flitted away as far as
+they could from the Castle that lay _East of the Sun and West of the
+Moon_.
+
+[Illustration: And flitted away as far as they could from the Castle that
+lay East of the Sun and West of the Moon.]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLUE BELT
+
+
+Once on a time there was an old beggar-woman, who had gone out to beg.
+She had a little lad with her, and when she had got her bag full she
+struck across the hills towards her own home. So when they had gone a
+bit up the hill-side, they came upon a little _Blue Belt_ which lay
+where two paths met, and the lad asked his mother's leave to pick it
+up.
+
+"No," said she, "maybe there's witchcraft in it;" and so with threats
+she forced him to follow her. But when they had gone a bit further,
+the lad said he must turn aside a moment out of the road; and
+meanwhile his mother sat down on a tree-stump. But the lad was a long
+time gone, for as soon as he got so far into the wood that the old
+dame could not see him, he ran off to where the _Belt_ lay, took it
+up, tied it round his waist, and lo! he felt as strong as if he could
+lift the whole hill. When he got back, the old dame was in a great
+rage, and wanted to know what he had been doing all that while. "You
+don't care how much time you waste, and yet you know the night is
+drawing on, and we must cross the hill before it is dark!" So on they
+tramped; but when they had got about half-way, the old dame grew
+weary, and said she must rest under a bush.
+
+"Dear mother," said the lad, "mayn't I just go up to the top of this
+high crag while you rest, and try if I can't see some sign of folk
+hereabouts?"
+
+Yes! he might do that; so when he had got to the top he saw a light
+shining from the north. So he ran down and told his mother.
+
+"We must get on, mother; we are near a house, for I see a bright light
+shining quite close to us in the north." Then she rose and shouldered
+her bag, and set off to see; but they hadn't gone far, before there
+stood a steep spur of the hill, right across their path.
+
+"Just as I thought!" said the old dame, "now we can't go a step
+farther; a pretty bed we shall have here!"
+
+But the lad took the bag under one arm, and his mother under the
+other, and ran straight up the steep crag with them.
+
+"Now, don't you see? Don't you see that we are close to a house? Don't
+you see that bright light?"
+
+But the old dame said those were no Christian folk, but _Trolls_, for
+she was at home in all that forest far and near, and knew there was
+not a living soul in it, until you were well over the ridge and had
+come down on the other side. But they went on, and in a little while
+they came to a great house which was all painted red.
+
+"What's the good?" said the old dame. "We daren't go in, for here the
+_Trolls_ live."
+
+"Don't say so; we must go in. There must be men where the lights shine
+so," said the lad. So in he went, and his mother after him, but he had
+scarce opened the door before she swooned away, for there she saw a
+great stout man, at least twenty feet high, sitting on the bench.
+
+"Good evening, grandfather!" said the lad.
+
+"Well, here I've sat three hundred years," said the man who sat on the
+bench, "and no one has ever come and called me grandfather before."
+Then the lad sat down by the man's side, and began to talk to him as
+if they had been old friends.
+
+"But what's come over your mother?" said the man, after they had
+chatted a while. "I think she swooned away; you had better look after
+her."
+
+So the lad went and took hold of the old dame, and dragged her up the
+hall along the floor. That brought her to herself, and she kicked and
+scratched, and flung herself about, and at last sat down upon a heap
+of firewood in the corner; but she was so frightened that she scarce
+dared to look one in the face.
+
+After a while, the lad asked if they could spend the night there.
+
+"Yes, to be sure," said the man.
+
+So they went on talking again, but the lad soon got hungry, and wanted
+to know if they could get food as well as lodging.
+
+"Of course," said the man, "that might be got too." And after he had
+sat a while longer, he rose up and threw six loads of dry pitch-pine
+on the fire. This made the old hag still more afraid.
+
+"Oh! now he's going to roast us alive," she said, in the corner where
+she sat.
+
+And when the wood had burned down to glowing embers, up got the man
+and strode out of his house.
+
+"Heaven bless and help us! what a stout heart you have got!" said the
+old dame. "Don't you see we have got amongst _Trolls_?"
+
+"Stuff and nonsense!" said the lad; "no harm if we have."
+
+In a little while, back came the man with an ox so fat and big, the
+lad had never seen its like, and he gave it one blow with his fist
+under the ear, and down it fell dead on the floor. When that was done,
+he took it up by all the four legs and laid it on the glowing embers,
+and turned it and twisted it about till it was burnt brown outside.
+After that, he went to a cupboard and took out a great silver dish,
+and laid the ox on it; and the dish was so big that none of the ox
+hung over on any side. This he put on the table, and then he went down
+into the cellar and fetched a cask of wine, knocked out the head, and
+put the cask on the table, together with two knives, which were each
+six feet long. When this was done he bade them go and sit down to
+supper and eat. So they went, the lad first and the old dame after,
+but she began to whimper and wail, and to wonder how she should ever
+use such knives. But her son seized one, and began to cut slices out
+of the thigh of the ox, which he placed before his mother. And when
+they had eaten a bit, he took up the cask with both hands, and lifted
+it down to the floor; then he told his mother to come and drink, but
+it was still so high she couldn't reach up to it; so he caught her up,
+and held her up to the edge of the cask while she drank; as for
+himself, he clambered up and hung down like a cat inside the cask
+while he drank. So when he had quenched his thirst, he took up the
+cask and put it back on the table, and thanked the man for the good
+meal, and told his mother to come and thank him too, and, a-feared
+though she was, she dared do nothing else but thank the man. Then the
+lad sat down again alongside the man and began to gossip, and after
+they had sat a while the man said:
+
+"Well! I must just go and get a bit of supper too;" and so he went to
+the table and ate up the whole ox--hoofs, and horns, and all--and
+drained the cask to the last drop, and then went back and sat on the
+bench.
+
+"As for beds," he said, "I don't know what's to be done. I've only got
+one bed and a cradle; but we could get on pretty well if you would
+sleep in the cradle, and then your mother might lie in the bed
+yonder."
+
+"Thank you kindly, that'll do nicely," said the lad; and with that he
+pulled off his clothes and lay down in the cradle; but, to tell you
+the truth, it was quite as big as a four-poster. As for the old dame,
+she had to follow the man who showed her to bed, though she was out of
+her wits for fear.
+
+"Well!" thought the lad to himself, "'twill never do to go to sleep
+yet. I'd best lie awake and listen how things go as the night wears
+on."
+
+So, after a while, the man began to talk to the old dame, and at last
+he said:
+
+"We two might live here so happily together, could we only be rid of
+this son of yours."
+
+"But do you know how to settle him? Is that what you're thinking of?"
+said she.
+
+"Nothing easier," said he; at any rate he would try. He would just say
+he wished the old dame would stay and keep house for him a day or two,
+and then he would take the lad out with him up the hill to quarry
+corner-stones, and roll down a great rock on him. All this the lad lay
+and listened to.
+
+Next day the _Troll_--for it was a _Troll_ as clear as day--asked if
+the old dame would stay and keep house for him a few days; and as the
+day went on he took a great iron crowbar, and asked the lad if he had
+a mind to go with him up the hill and quarry a few corner-stones. With
+all his heart, he said, and went with him; and so, after they had
+split a few stones, the _Troll_ wanted him to go down below and look
+after cracks in the rock; and while he was doing this the _Troll_
+worked away, and wearied himself with his crowbar till he moved a
+whole crag out of its bed, which came rolling right down on the place
+where the lad was; but he held it up till he could get on one side,
+and then let it roll on.
+
+"Oh!" said the lad to the _Troll_, "now I see what you mean to do with
+me. You want to crush me to death; so just go down yourself and look
+after the cracks and refts in the rock, and I'll stand up above."
+
+The _Troll_ did not dare to do otherwise than the lad bade him, and
+the end of it was that the lad rolled down a great rock, which fell
+upon the _Troll_ and broke one of his thighs.
+
+"Well! you _are_ in a sad plight," said the lad, as he strode down,
+lifted up the rock, and set the man free. After that he had to put him
+on his back and carry him home; so he ran with him as fast as a horse,
+and shook him so that the _Troll_ screamed and screeched as if a knife
+were run into him. And when he got home, they had to put the _Troll_
+to bed, and there he lay in a sad pickle.
+
+When the night wore on, the _Troll_ began to talk to the old dame
+again, and to wonder how ever they could be rid of the lad.
+
+"Well," said the old dame, "if you can't hit on a plan to get rid of
+him, I'm sure I can't."
+
+"Let me see," said the _Troll_; "I've got twelve lions in a garden; if
+they could only get hold of the lad, they'd soon tear him to pieces."
+
+So the old dame said it would be easy enough to get him there. She
+would sham sick, and say she felt so poorly, nothing would do her any
+good but lion's milk. All that the lad lay and listened to; and when
+he got up in the morning his mother said she was worse than she
+looked, and she thought she should never be right again unless she
+could get some lion's milk.
+
+"Then I'm afraid you'll be poorly a long time, mother," said the lad,
+"for I'm sure I don't know where any is to be got."
+
+"Oh! if that be all," said the _Troll_, "there's no lack of lion's
+milk, if we only had the man to fetch it;" and then he went on to say
+how his brother had a garden with twelve lions in it, and how the lad
+might have the key if he had a mind to milk the lions. So the lad took
+the key and a milking pail, and strode off; and when he unlocked the
+gate and got into the garden, there stood all the twelve lions on
+their hind-paws, rampant and roaring at him. But the lad laid hold of
+the biggest, and led him about by the fore-paws, and dashed him
+against stocks and stones till there wasn't a bit of him left but the
+two paws. So when the rest saw that, they were so afraid that they
+crept up and lay at his feet like so many curs. After that they
+followed him about wherever he went, and when he got home, they lay
+down outside the house, with their fore-paws on the door sill.
+
+"Now, mother, you'll soon be well," said the lad, when he went in,
+"for here is the lion's milk."
+
+He had just milked a drop in the pail.
+
+But the _Troll_, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a lie. He was sure
+the lad was not the man to milk lions.
+
+When the lad heard that, he forced the _Troll_ to get out of bed,
+threw open the door, and all the lions rose up and seized the _Troll_,
+and at last the lad had to make them leave their hold.
+
+That night the _Troll_ began to talk to the old dame again. "I'm sure
+I can't tell how to put this lad out of the way--he is so awfully
+strong; can't you think of some way?"
+
+"No," said the old dame, "if you can't tell, I'm sure I can't."
+
+"Well!" said the _Troll_, "I have two brothers in a castle; they are
+twelve times as strong as I am, and that's why I was turned out and
+had to put up with this farm. They hold that castle, and round it
+there is an orchard with apples in it, and whoever eats those apples
+sleeps for three days and three nights. If we could only get the lad
+to go for the fruit, he wouldn't be able to keep from tasting the
+apples, and as soon as ever he fell asleep my brothers would tear him
+in pieces."
+
+The old dame said she would sham sick, and say she could never be
+herself again unless she tasted those apples; for she had set her
+heart on them.
+
+All this the lad lay and listened to.
+
+When the morning came the old dame was so poorly that she couldn't
+utter a word but groans and sighs. She was sure she should never be
+well again, unless she had some of those apples that grew in the
+orchard near the castle where the man's brothers lived; only she had
+no one to send for them.
+
+Oh! the lad was ready to go that instant; but the eleven lions went
+with him. So when he came to the orchard, he climbed up into the apple
+tree and ate as many apples as he could, and he had scarce got down
+before he fell into a deep sleep; but the lions all lay round him in a
+ring. The third day came the _Troll's_ brothers, but they did not
+come in man's shape. They came snorting like man-eating steeds, and
+wondered who it was that dared to be there, and said they would tear
+him to pieces, so small that there should not be a bit of him left.
+But up rose the lions and tore the _Trolls_ into small pieces, so that
+the place looked as if a dung heap had been tossed about it; and when
+they had finished the _Trolls_ they lay down again. The lad did not
+wake till late in the afternoon, and when he got on his knees and
+rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he began to wonder what had been
+going on, when he saw the marks of hoofs. But when he went towards the
+castle, a maiden looked out of a window who had seen all that had
+happened, and she said:
+
+"You may thank your stars you weren't in that tussle, else you must
+have lost your life."
+
+"What! I lose my life! No fear of that, I think," said the lad.
+
+So she begged him to come in, that she might talk with him, for she
+hadn't seen a Christian soul ever since she came there. But when she
+opened the door the lions wanted to go in too, but she got so
+frightened that she began to scream, and so the lad let them lie
+outside. Then the two talked and talked, and the lad asked how it
+came that she, who was so lovely, could put up with those ugly
+_Trolls_. She never wished it, she said; 'twas quite against her will.
+They had seized her by force, and she was the King of Arabia's
+daughter. So they talked on, and at last she asked him what he would
+do; whether she should go back home, or whether he would have her to
+wife. Of course he would have her, and she shouldn't go home.
+
+After that they went round the castle, and at last they came to a
+great hall, where the _Trolls'_ two great swords hung high up on the
+wall.
+
+"I wonder if you are man enough to wield one of these," said the
+_Princess_.
+
+"Who? I?" said the lad. "'Twould be a pretty thing if I couldn't wield
+one of these."
+
+With that he put two or three chairs one a-top of the other, jumped
+up, and touched the biggest sword with his finger tips, tossed it up
+in the air, and caught it again by the hilt; leapt down, and at the
+same time dealt such a blow with it on the floor that the whole hall
+shook. After he had thus got down, he thrust the sword under his arm
+and carried it about with him.
+
+So, when they had lived a little while in the castle, the _Princess_
+thought she ought to go home to her parents, and let them know what
+had become of her; so they loaded a ship, and she set sail from the
+castle.
+
+After she had gone, and the lad had wandered about a little, he called
+to mind that he had been sent out on an errand thither, and had come
+to fetch something for his mother's health; and though he said to
+himself, "After all the old dame was not so bad but she's all right by
+this time"--still he thought he ought to go and just see how she was.
+So he went and found both the man and his mother quite fresh and
+hearty.
+
+"What wretches you are to live in this beggarly hut," said the lad.
+"Come with me up to my castle, and you shall see what a fine fellow I
+am."
+
+Well! they were both ready to go, and on the way his mother talked to
+him, and asked how it was he had got so strong.
+
+"If you must know it came of that blue belt which lay on the hill-side
+that time when you and I were out begging," said the lad.
+
+"Have you got it still?" asked she.
+
+"Yes"--he had. It was tied round his waist.
+
+"Might she see it?"
+
+"Yes"--she might; and with that he pulled open his waistcoat and shirt
+to show it to her.
+
+Then she seized it with both hands, tore it off, and twisted it round
+her fist.
+
+"Now," she cried, "what shall I do with such a wretch as you? I'll
+just give you one blow, and dash your brains out!"
+
+"Far too good a death for such a scamp," said the _Troll_. "No! let's
+first burn out his eyes, and then turn him adrift in a little boat."
+
+So they burned out his eyes and turned him adrift, in spite of his
+prayers and tears; but, as the boat drifted, the lions swam after, and
+at last they laid hold of it and dragged it ashore on an island, and
+placed the lad under a fir tree. They caught game for him, and they
+plucked the birds and made him a bed of down; but he was forced to eat
+his meat raw and he was blind. At last, one day the biggest lion was
+chasing a hare which was blind, for it ran straight over stock and
+stone, and the end was, it ran right up against a fir-stump and
+tumbled head over heels across the field right into a spring; but lo!
+when it came out of the spring it saw its way quite plain, and so
+saved its life.
+
+"So, so!" thought the lion, and went and dragged the lad to the
+spring, and dipped him over head and ears in it. So, when he had got
+his sight again, he went down to the shore and made signs to the lions
+that they should all lie close together like a raft; then he stood
+upon their backs while they swam with him to the mainland. When he had
+reached the shore he went up into a birchen copse, and made the lions
+lie quiet. Then he stole up to the castle, like a thief, to see if he
+couldn't lay hands on his belt; and when he got to the door, he peeped
+through the keyhole, and there he saw his belt hanging up over a door
+in the kitchen. So he crept softly in across the floor, for there was
+no one there; but as soon as he had got hold of the belt, he began to
+kick and stamp about as though he were mad. Just then his mother came
+rushing out:
+
+"Dear heart, my darling little boy! do give me the belt again," she
+said.
+
+"Thank you kindly," said he. "Now you shall have the doom you passed
+on me," and he fulfilled it on the spot. When the old _Troll_ heard
+that, he came in and begged and prayed so prettily that he might not
+be smitten to death.
+
+"Well, you may live," said the lad, "but you shall undergo the same
+punishment you gave me;" and so he burned out the _Troll's_ eyes, and
+turned him adrift on the sea in a little boat, but he had no lions to
+follow him.
+
+Now the lad was all alone, and he went about longing and longing for
+the _Princess_; at last he could bear it no longer; he must set out to
+seek her, his heart was so bent on having her. So he loaded four ships
+and set sail for Arabia.
+
+For some time they had fair wind and fine weather, but after that they
+lay wind-bound under a rocky island. So the sailors went ashore and
+strolled about to spend the time, and there they found a huge egg,
+almost as big as a little house. So they began to knock it about with
+large stones, but, after all, they couldn't crack the shell. Then the
+lad came up with his sword to see what all the noise was about, and
+when he saw the egg, he thought it a trifle to crack it; so he gave it
+one blow and the egg split, and out came a chicken as big as an
+elephant.
+
+"Now we have done wrong," said the lad; "this can cost us all our
+lives;" and then he asked his sailors if they were men enough to sail
+to Arabia in four-and-twenty hours if they got a fine breeze. Yes!
+they were good to do that, they said, so they set sail with a fine
+breeze, and got to Arabia in three-and-twenty hours. As soon as they
+landed, the lad ordered all the sailors to go and bury themselves up
+to the eyes in a sandhill, so that they could barely see the ships.
+The lad and the captains climbed a high crag and sate down under a
+fir.
+
+In a little while came a great bird flying with an island in its
+claws, and let it fall down on the fleet, and sunk every ship. After
+it had done that, it flew up to the sandhill and flapped its wings, so
+that the wind nearly took off the heads of the sailors, and it flew
+past the fir with such force that it turned the lad right about, but
+he was ready with his sword, and gave the bird one blow and brought it
+down dead.
+
+After that he went to the town, where every one was glad because the
+_King_ had got his daughter back; but now the _King_ had hidden her
+away somewhere himself, and promised her hand as a reward to any one
+who could find her, and this though she was betrothed before. Now as
+the lad went along he met a man who had white bear-skins for sale, so
+he bought one of the hides and put it on; and one of the captains was
+to take an iron chain and lead him about, and so he went into the town
+and began to play pranks. At last the news came to the _King's_ ears,
+that there never had been such fun in the town before, for here was a
+white bear that danced and cut capers just as it was bid. So a
+messenger came to say the bear must come to the castle at once, for
+the _King_ wanted to see its tricks. So when it got to the castle
+every one was afraid, for such a beast they had never seen before; but
+the captain said there was no danger unless they laughed at it. They
+mustn't do that, else it would tear them to pieces. When the _King_
+heard that, he warned all the court not to laugh. But while the fun
+was going on, in came one of the _King's_ maids, and began to laugh
+and make game of the bear, and the bear flew at her and tore her, so
+that there was scarce a rag of her left. Then all the court began to
+bewail, and the captain most of all.
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," said the _King_; "she's only a maid, besides
+it's more my affair than yours."
+
+When the show was over, it was late at night. "It's no good your going
+away, when it's so late," said the _King_. "The bear had best sleep
+here."
+
+"Perhaps it might sleep in the ingle by the kitchen fire," said the
+captain.
+
+"Nay," said the _King_, "it shall sleep up here, and it shall have
+pillows and cushions to sleep on." So a whole heap of pillows and
+cushions was brought, and the captain had a bed in a side room.
+
+But at midnight the _King_ came with a lamp in his hand and a big
+bunch of keys, and carried off the white bear. He passed along gallery
+after gallery through doors and rooms, up-stairs and down-stairs, till
+at last he came to a pier which ran out into the sea. Then the _King_
+began to pull and haul at posts and pins, this one up and that one
+down, till at last a little house floated up to the water's edge.
+There he kept his daughter, for she was so dear to him that he had hid
+her, so that no one could find her out. He left the white bear outside
+while he went in and told her how it had danced and played its pranks.
+She said she was afraid, and dared not look at it; but he talked her
+over, saying there was no danger if she only wouldn't laugh. So they
+brought the bear in, and locked the door, and it danced and played
+its tricks; but just when the fun was at its height, the _Princess's_
+maid began to laugh. Then the lad flew at her and tore her to bits,
+and the _Princess_ began to cry and sob.
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," cried the _King_; "all this fuss about a maid!
+I'll get you just as good a one again. But now I think the bear had
+best stay here till morning, for I don't care to have to go and lead
+it along all those galleries and stairs at this time of night."
+
+"Well!" said the _Princess_, "if it sleeps here, I'm sure I won't."
+
+[Illustration: The Lad in the Bear's skin, and the King of Arabia's
+daughter.]
+
+But just then the bear curled himself up and lay down by the stove;
+and it was settled at last that the _Princess_ should sleep there too,
+with a light burning. But as soon as the _King_ had well gone, the
+white bear came and begged her to undo his collar. The _Princess_ was
+so scared she almost swooned away; but she felt about till she found
+the collar, and she had scarce undone it before the bear pulled his
+head off. Then she knew him again, and was so glad there was no end to
+her joy, and she wanted to tell her father at once that her deliverer
+was come. But the lad would not hear of it; he would earn her once
+more, he said. So in the morning when they heard the _King_ rattling
+at the posts outside, the lad drew on the hide and lay down by the
+stove.
+
+"Well, has it lain still?" the king asked.
+
+"I should think so," said the _Princess_; "it hasn't so much as turned
+or stretched itself once."
+
+When they got up to the castle again, the captain took the bear and
+led it away, and then the lad threw off the hide, and went to a tailor
+and ordered clothes fit for a prince; and when they were fitted on he
+went to the _King_, and said he wanted to find the _Princess_.
+
+"You're not the first who has wished the same thing," said the _King_,
+"but they have all lost their lives; for if any one who tries can't
+find her in four-and-twenty hours his life is forfeited."
+
+Yes; the lad knew all that. Still he wished to try, and if he
+couldn't find her, 'twas his look-out. Now in the castle there was a
+band that played sweet tunes, and there were fair maids to dance with,
+and so the lad danced away.
+
+When twelve hours were gone, the _King_ said:
+
+"I pity you with all my heart. You're so poor a hand at seeking; you
+will surely lose your life."
+
+"Stuff!" said the lad; "while there's life there's hope! So long as
+there's breath in the body there's no fear; we have lots of time!" and
+so he went on dancing till there was only one hour left.
+
+Then he said he would begin to search.
+
+"It's no use now," said the _King_; "time's up."
+
+"Light your lamp; out with your big bunch of keys," said the lad, "and
+follow me whither I wish to go. There is still a whole hour left."
+
+So the lad went the same way which the _King_ had led him the night
+before, and he bade the _King_ unlock door after door till they came
+down to the pier which ran out into the sea.
+
+"It's all no use, I tell you," said the _King_; "time's up, and this
+will only lead you right out into the sea."
+
+"Still five minutes more," said the lad, as he pulled and pushed at
+the posts and pins, and the house floated up.
+
+"Now the time is up," bawled the _King_; "come hither, headsman, and
+take off his head."
+
+"Nay, nay!" said the lad; "stop a bit, there are still three minutes!
+Out with the key, and let me get into this house."
+
+But there stood the _King_ and fumbled with his keys, to draw out the
+time. At last he said he hadn't any key.
+
+"Well, if you haven't, I _have_," said the lad, as he gave the door
+such a kick that it flew to splinters inwards on the floor.
+
+At the door the _Princess_ met him, and told her father this was her
+deliverer, on whom her heart was set. So she had him; and this was how
+the beggar boy came to marry the daughter of the King of Arabia.
+
+
+
+
+PRINCE LINDWORM
+
+
+Once upon a time, there was a fine young _King_ who was married to the
+loveliest of Queens. They were exceedingly happy, all but for one
+thing--they had no children. And this often made them both sad,
+because the _Queen_ wanted a dear little child to play with, and the
+_King_ wanted an heir to the kingdom.
+
+One day the _Queen_ went out for a walk by herself, and she met an
+ugly old woman. The old woman was just like a witch: but she was a
+nice kind of witch, not the cantankerous sort. She said, "Why do you
+look so doleful, pretty lady?" "It's no use my telling you," answered
+the _Queen_, "nobody in the world can help me." "Oh, you never know,"
+said the old woman. "Just you let me hear what your trouble is, and
+maybe I can put things right."
+
+"My dear woman, how can you?" said the _Queen_: and she told her, "The
+_King_ and I have no children: that's why I am so distressed." "Well,
+you needn't be," said the old witch. "I can set that right in a
+twinkling, if only you will do exactly as I tell you. Listen.
+To-night, at sunset, take a little drinking-cup with two ears" (that
+is, handles), "and put it bottom upwards on the ground in the
+north-west corner of your garden. Then go and lift it up to-morrow
+morning at sunrise, and you will find two roses underneath it, one red
+and one white. If you eat the red rose, a little boy will be born to
+you: if you eat the white rose, a little girl will be sent. But,
+whatever you do, you mustn't eat _both_ the roses, or you'll be
+sorry,--that I warn you! Only one: remember that!" "Thank you a
+thousand times," said the _Queen_, "this is good news indeed!" And she
+wanted to give the old woman her gold ring; but the old woman wouldn't
+take it.
+
+So the _Queen_ went home and did as she had been told: and next
+morning at sunrise she stole out into the garden and lifted up the
+little drinking-cup. She _was_ surprised, for indeed she had hardly
+expected to see anything. But there were the two roses underneath it,
+one red and one white. And now she was dreadfully puzzled, for she did
+not know which to choose. "If I choose the red one," she thought, "and
+I have a little boy, he may grow up and go to the wars and get killed.
+But if I choose the white one, and have a little girl, she will stay
+at home awhile with us, but later on she will get married and go away
+and leave us. So, whichever it is, we may be left with no child after
+all."
+
+However, at last she decided on the white rose, and she ate it. And it
+tasted so sweet, that she took and ate the red one too: without ever
+remembering the old woman's solemn warning.
+
+Some time after this, the _King_ went away to the wars: and while he
+was still away, the _Queen_ became the mother of twins. One was a
+lovely baby-boy, and the other was a _Lindworm_, or Serpent. She was
+terribly frightened when she saw the _Lindworm_, but he wriggled away
+out of the room, and nobody seemed to have seen him but herself: so
+that she thought it must have been a dream. The baby _Prince_ was so
+beautiful and so healthy, the _Queen_ was full of joy: and likewise,
+as you may suppose, was the _King_ when he came home and found his son
+and heir. Not a word was said by anyone about the _Lindworm_: only the
+_Queen_ thought about it now and then.
+
+Many days and years passed by, and the baby grew up into a handsome
+young _Prince_, and it was time that he got married. The _King_ sent
+him off to visit foreign kingdoms, in the Royal coach, with six white
+horses, to look for a Princess grand enough to be his wife. But at the
+very first cross-roads, the way was stopped by an enormous _Lindworm_,
+enough to frighten the bravest. He lay in the middle of the road with
+a great wide open mouth, and cried, "A bride for me before a bride for
+you!" Then the _Prince_ made the coach turn round and try another
+road: but it was all no use. For, at the first cross-ways, there lay
+the _Lindworm_ again, crying out, "A bride for me before a bride for
+you!" So the _Prince_ had to turn back home again to the Castle, and
+give up his visits to the foreign kingdoms. And his mother, the
+_Queen_, had to confess that what the _Lindworm_ said was true. For he
+was really the eldest of her twins: and so he ought to have a wedding
+first.
+
+There seemed nothing for it but to find a bride for the _Lindworm_,
+if his younger brother, the _Prince_, were to be married at all. So
+the _King_ wrote to a distant country, and asked for a Princess to
+marry his son (but, of course, he didn't say which son), and presently
+a Princess arrived. But she wasn't allowed to see her bridegroom until
+he stood by her side in the great hall and was married to her, and
+then, of course, it was too late for her to say she wouldn't have him.
+But next morning the Princess had disappeared. The _Lindworm_ lay
+sleeping all alone: and it was quite plain that he had eaten her.
+
+A little while after, the Prince decided that he might now go
+journeying again in search of a _Princess_. And off he drove in the
+Royal chariot with the six white horses. But at the first cross-ways,
+there lay the _Lindworm_, crying with his great wide open mouth, "A
+bride for me before a bride for you!" So the carriage tried another
+road, and the same thing happened, and they had to turn back again
+this time, just as formerly. And the King wrote to several foreign
+countries, to know if anyone would marry his son. At last another
+_Princess_ arrived, this time from a very far distant land. And, of
+course, she was not allowed to see her future husband before the
+wedding took place,--and then, lo and behold! it was the _Lindworm_
+who stood at her side. And next morning the Princess had disappeared:
+and the _Lindworm_ lay sleeping all alone; and it was quite clear that
+he had eaten her.
+
+By and by the _Prince_ started on his quest for the third time: and at
+the first cross-roads there lay the _Lindworm_ with his great wide
+open mouth, demanding a bride as before. And the _Prince_ went
+straight back to the castle, and told the _King_: "You must find
+another bride for my elder brother."
+
+"I don't know where I am to find her," said the _King_, "I have
+already made enemies of two great Kings who sent their daughters here
+as brides: and I have no notion how I can obtain a third lady. People
+are beginning to say strange things, and I am sure no _Princess_ will
+dare to come."
+
+Now, down in a little cottage near a wood, there lived the _King's_
+shepherd, an old man with his only daughter. And the _King_ came one
+day and said to him, "Will you give me your daughter to marry my son
+the _Lindworm_? And I will make you rich for the rest of your
+life."--"No, sire," said the shepherd, "that I cannot do. She is my
+only child, and I want her to take care of me when I am old. Besides,
+if the _Lindworm_ would not spare two beautiful Princesses, he won't
+spare her either. He will just gobble her up: and she is much too good
+for such a fate."
+
+But the _King_ wouldn't take "No" for an answer: and at last the old
+man had to give in.
+
+Well, when the old shepherd told his daughter that she was to be
+_Prince Lindworm's_ bride, she was utterly in despair. She went out
+into the woods, crying and wringing her hands and bewailing her hard
+fate. And while she wandered to and fro, an old witch-woman suddenly
+appeared out of a big hollow oak-tree, and asked her, "Why do you look
+so doleful, pretty lass?" The shepherd-girl said, "It's no use my
+telling you, for nobody in the world can help me."--"Oh, you never
+know," said the old woman. "Just you let me hear what your trouble is,
+and maybe I can put things right."--"Ah, how can you?" said the girl,
+"For I am to be married to the _King's_ eldest son, who is a
+_Lindworm_. He has already married two beautiful Princesses, and
+devoured them: and he will eat me too! No wonder I am distressed."
+
+"Well, you needn't be," said the witch-woman. "All that can be set
+right in a twinkling: if only you will do exactly as I tell you." So
+the girl said she would.
+
+"Listen, then," said the old woman. "After the marriage ceremony is
+over, and when it is time for you to retire to rest, you must ask to
+be dressed in ten snow-white shifts. And you must then ask for a tub
+full of lye," (that is, washing water prepared with wood-ashes) "and a
+tub full of fresh milk, and as many whips as a boy can carry in his
+arms,--and have all these brought into your bed-chamber. Then, when
+the _Lindworm_ tells you to shed a shift, do you bid him slough a
+skin. And when all his skins are off, you must dip the whips in the
+lye and whip him; next, you must wash him in the fresh milk; and,
+lastly, you must take him and hold him in your arms, if it's only for
+one moment."
+
+"The last is the worst notion--ugh!" said the shepherd's daughter, and
+she shuddered at the thought of holding the cold, slimy, scaly
+_Lindworm_.
+
+"Do just as I have said, and all will go well," said the old woman.
+Then she disappeared again in the oak-tree.
+
+When the wedding-day arrived, the girl was fetched in the Royal
+chariot with the six white horses, and taken to the castle to be
+decked as a bride. And she asked for ten snow-white shifts to be
+brought her, and the tub of lye, and the tub of milk, and as many
+whips as a boy could carry in his arms. The ladies and courtiers in
+the castle thought, of course, that this was some bit of peasant
+superstition, all rubbish and nonsense. But the _King_ said, "Let her
+have whatever she asks for." She was then arrayed in the most
+wonderful robes, and looked the loveliest of brides. She was led to
+the hall where the wedding ceremony was to take place, and she saw the
+_Lindworm_ for the first time as he came in and stood by her side. So
+they were married, and a great wedding-feast was held, a banquet fit
+for the son of a king.
+
+[Illustration: She saw the Lindworm for the first time as he came in and
+stood by her side.]
+
+When the feast was over, the bridegroom and bride were conducted to
+their apartment, with music, and torches, and a great procession. As
+soon as the door was shut, the _Lindworm_ turned to her and said,
+"Fair maiden, shed a shift!" The shepherd's daughter answered him,
+"_Prince Lindworm_, slough a skin!"--"No one has ever dared tell me to
+do that before!" said he.--"But I command you to do it now!" said she.
+Then he began to moan and wriggle: and in a few minutes a long
+snake-skin lay upon the floor beside him. The girl drew off her first
+shift, and spread it on top of the skin.
+
+The _Lindworm_ said again to her, "Fair maiden, shed a shift."
+
+The shepherd's daughter answered him, "_Prince Lindworm_, slough a
+skin."
+
+"No one has ever dared tell me to do that before," said he.--"But I
+command you to do it now," said she. Then with groans and moans he
+cast off the second skin: and she covered it with her second shift.
+The _Lindworm_ said for the third time, "Fair maiden, shed a shift."
+The shepherd's daughter answered him again, "_Prince Lindworm_, slough
+a skin."--"No one has ever dared tell me to do that before," said he,
+and his little eyes rolled furiously. But the girl was not afraid, and
+once more she commanded him to do as she bade.
+
+And so this went on until nine _Lindworm_ skins were lying on the
+floor, each of them covered with a snow-white shift. And there was
+nothing left of the _Lindworm_ but a huge thick mass, most horrible to
+see. Then the girl seized the whips, dipped them in the lye, and
+whipped him as hard as ever she could. Next, she bathed him all over
+in the fresh milk. Lastly, she dragged him on to the bed and put her
+arms round him. And she fell fast asleep that very moment.
+
+Next morning very early, the _King_ and the courtiers came and peeped
+in through the keyhole. They wanted to know what had become of the
+girl, but none of them dared enter the room. However, in the end,
+growing bolder, they opened the door a tiny bit. And there they saw
+the girl, all fresh and rosy, and beside her lay--no _Lindworm_, but
+the handsomest prince that any one could wish to see.
+
+The _King_ ran out and fetched the _Queen_: and after that, there were
+such rejoicings in the castle as never were known before or since. The
+wedding took place all over again, much finer than the first, with
+festivals and banquets and merrymakings for days and weeks. No bride
+was ever so beloved by a King and Queen as this peasant maid from the
+shepherd's cottage. There was no end to their love and their kindness
+towards her: because, by her sense and her calmness and her courage,
+she had saved their son, _Prince Lindworm_.
+
+
+
+
+THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER
+
+
+Once on a time a poor couple lived far, far away in a great wood. The
+wife was brought to bed, and had a pretty girl, but they were so poor
+they did not know how to get the babe christened, for they had no
+money to pay the parson's fees. So one day the father went out to see
+if he could find any one who was willing to stand for the child and
+pay the fees; but though he walked about the whole day from one house
+to another, and though all said they were willing enough to stand, no
+one thought himself bound to pay the fees. Now, when he was going
+home again, a lovely lady met him, dressed so fine, and she looked so
+thoroughly good and kind; she offered to get the babe christened, but
+after that, she said, she must keep it for her own. The husband
+answered, he must first ask his wife what she wished to do; but when
+he got home and told his story, the wife said, right out, "No!"
+
+Next day the man went out again, but no one would stand if they had to
+pay the fees; and though he begged and prayed, he could get no help.
+And again as he went home, towards evening the same lovely lady met
+him, who looked so sweet and good, and she made him the same offer. So
+he told his wife again how he had fared, and this time she said, if he
+couldn't get any one to stand for his babe next day, they must just
+let the lady have her way, since she seemed so kind and good.
+
+The third day, the man went about, but he couldn't get any one to
+stand; and so when, towards evening, he met the kind lady again, he
+gave his word she should have the babe if she would only get it
+christened at the font. So next morning she came to the place where
+the man lived, followed by two men to stand godfathers, took the babe
+and carried it to church, and there it was christened. After that she
+took it to her own house, and there the little girl lived with her
+several years, and her _Foster-mother_ was always kind and friendly to
+her.
+
+Now, when the _Lassie_ had grown to be big enough to know right and
+wrong, her _Foster-mother_ got ready to go on a journey.
+
+"You have my leave," she said, "to go all over the house, except those
+rooms which I shew you;" and when she had said that, away she went.
+
+But the _Lassie_ could not forbear just to open one of the doors a
+little bit, when--POP! out flew a Star.
+
+When her _Foster-mother_ came back, she was very vexed to find
+that the star had flown out, and she got very angry with her
+_Foster-daughter_, and threatened to send her away; but the child
+cried and begged so hard that she got leave to stay.
+
+Now, after a while, the _Foster-mother_ had to go on another journey;
+and, before she went, she forbade the _Lassie_ to go into those two
+rooms into which she had never been. She promised to beware; but when
+she was left alone, she began to think and to wonder what there could
+be in the second room, and at last she could not help setting the door
+a little ajar, just to peep in, when--POP! out flew the Moon.
+
+[Illustration: She could not help setting the door a little ajar, just to
+peep in, when--Pop! out flew the Moon.]
+
+When her _Foster-mother_ came home and found the moon let out, she was
+very downcast, and said to the _Lassie_ she must go away, she could
+not stay with her any longer. But the _Lassie_ wept so bitterly, and
+prayed so heartily for forgiveness, that this time, too, she got leave
+to stay.
+
+Some time after, the _Foster-mother_ had to go away again, and she
+charged the Lassie, who by this time was half grown up, most earnestly
+that she mustn't try to go into, or to peep into, the third room. But
+when her _Foster-mother_ had been gone some time, and the _Lassie_ was
+weary of walking about alone, all at once she thought, "Dear me, what
+fun it would be just to peep a little into that third room." Then she
+thought she mustn't do it for her _Foster-mother's_ sake; but when the
+bad thought came the second time she could hold out no longer; come
+what might, she must and would look into the room; so she just opened
+the door a tiny bit, when--POP! out flew the Sun.
+
+But when her _Foster-mother_ came back and saw that the sun had flown
+away, she was cut to the heart, and said, "Now, there was no help for
+it, the _Lassie_ must and should go away; she couldn't hear of her
+staying any longer." Now the _Lassie_ cried her eyes out, and begged
+and prayed so prettily; but it was all no good.
+
+"Nay! but I must punish you!" said her _Foster-mother_; "but you may
+have your choice, either to be the loveliest woman in the world, and
+not to be able to speak, or to keep your speech, and to be the ugliest
+of all women; but away from me you must go."
+
+And the _Lassie_ said, "I would sooner be lovely." So she became all
+at once wondrous fair; but from that day forth she was dumb.
+
+So, when she went away from her _Foster-mother_, she walked and
+wandered through a great, great wood; but the farther she went, the
+farther off the end seemed to be. So, when the evening came on, she
+clomb up into a tall tree, which grew over a spring, and there she
+made herself up to sleep that night. Close by lay a castle, and from
+that castle came early every morning a maid to draw water to make the
+Prince's tea, from the spring over which the _Lassie_ was sitting. So
+the maid looked down into the spring, saw the lovely face in the
+water, and thought it was her own; then she flung away the pitcher,
+and ran home; and, when she got there, she tossed up her head and
+said, "If I'm so pretty, I'm far too good to go and fetch water."
+
+So another maid had to go for the water, but the same thing happened
+to her; she went back and said she was far too pretty and too good to
+fetch water from the spring for the Prince. Then the Prince went
+himself, for he had a mind to see what all this could mean. So, when
+he reached the spring, he too saw the image in the water; but he
+looked up at once, and became aware of the lovely _Lassie_ who sate
+there up in the tree. Then he coaxed her down and took her home; and
+at last made up his mind to have her for his queen, because she was so
+lovely; but his mother, who was still alive, was against it.
+
+[Illustration: Then he coaxed her down and took her home.]
+
+"She can't speak," she said, "and maybe she's a wicked witch."
+
+But the Prince could not be content till he got her. So after they had
+lived together a while, the _Lassie_ was to have a child, and when the
+child came to be born, the Prince set a strong watch about her; but at
+the birth one and all fell into a deep sleep, and her _Foster-mother_
+came, cut the babe on its little finger, and smeared the queen's mouth
+with the blood; and said:
+
+"Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let out the star;" and
+with these words she carried off the babe.
+
+But when those who were on the watch woke, they thought the queen had
+eaten her own child, and the old queen was all for burning her alive,
+but the Prince was so fond of her that at last he begged her off, but
+he had hard work to set her free.
+
+So the next time the young queen was to have a child, twice as strong
+a watch was set as the first time, but the same thing happened over
+again, only this time her _Foster-mother_ said:
+
+"Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let the moon out."
+
+And the queen begged and prayed, and wept; for when her _Foster-mother_
+was there, she could speak--but it was all no good.
+
+And now the old queen said she must be burnt, but the Prince found
+means to beg her off. But when the third child was to be born, a watch
+was set three times as strong as the first, but just the same thing
+happened. Her _Foster-mother_ came while the watch slept, took the
+babe, and cut its little finger, and smeared the queen's mouth with
+the blood, telling her now she should be as grieved as she had been
+when the _Lassie_ let out the sun.
+
+And now the Prince could not save her any longer. She must and should
+be burnt. But just as they were leading her to the stake, all at once
+they saw her _Foster-mother_, who came with all three children--two
+she led by the hand, and the third she had on her arm; and so she went
+up to the young queen and said:
+
+[Illustration: "Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I
+am the Virgin Mary."]
+
+"Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I am the
+Virgin Mary, and so grieved as you have been, so grieved was I when
+you let out sun, and moon, and star. Now you have been punished for
+what you did, and henceforth you shall have your speech."
+
+How glad the Queen and Prince now were, all may easily think, but no
+one can tell. After that they were always happy; and from that day
+even the Prince's mother was very fond of the young queen.
+
+
+
+
+THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man, so surly and cross, he never thought
+his _Wife_ did anything right in the house. So, one evening, in
+haymaking time, he came home, scolding and swearing, and showing his
+teeth and making a dust.
+
+"Dear love, don't be so angry; there's a good man," said his goody;
+"to-morrow let's change our work. I'll go out with the mowers and mow,
+and you shall mind the house at home."
+
+Yes! the _Husband_ thought that would do very well. He was quite
+willing, he said.
+
+So, early next morning, his goody took a scythe over her neck, and
+went out into the hayfield with the mowers, and began to mow; but the
+man was to mind the house, and do the work at home.
+
+First of all, he wanted to churn the butter; but when he had churned a
+while, he got thirsty, and went down to the cellar to tap a barrel of
+ale. So, just when he had knocked in the bung, and was putting the tap
+into the cask, he heard overhead the pig come into the kitchen. Then
+off he ran up the cellar steps, with the tap in his hand, as fast as
+he could, to look after the pig, lest it should upset the churn; but
+when he got up, and saw the pig had already knocked the churn over,
+and stood there, routing and grunting amongst the cream which was
+running all over the floor, he got so wild with rage that he quite
+forgot the ale-barrel, and ran at the pig as hard as he could. He
+caught it, too, just as it ran out of doors, and gave it such a kick,
+that piggy lay for dead on the spot. Then all at once he remembered he
+had the tap in his hand; but when he got down to the cellar, every
+drop of ale had run out of the cask.
+
+Then he went into the dairy and found enough cream left to fill the
+churn again, and so he began to churn, for butter they must have at
+dinner. When he had churned a bit, he remembered that their milking
+cow was still shut up in the byre, and hadn't had a bit to eat or a
+drop to drink all the morning, though the sun was high. Then all at
+once he thought 'twas too far to take her down to the meadow, so he'd
+just get her up on the house top--for the house, you must know, was
+thatched with sods, and a fine crop of grass was growing there. Now
+the house lay close up against a steep down, and he thought if he
+laid a plank across to the thatch at the back he'd easily get the cow
+up.
+
+But still he couldn't leave the churn, for there was his little babe
+crawling about on the floor, and "if I leave it," he thought, "the
+child is safe to upset it." So he took the churn on his back, and went
+out with it; but then he thought he'd better first water the cow
+before he turned her out on the thatch; so he took up a bucket to draw
+water out of the well; but, as he stooped down at the well's brink,
+all the cream ran out of the churn over his shoulders, and so down
+into the well.
+
+Now it was near dinner-time, and he hadn't even got the butter yet; so
+he thought he'd best boil the porridge, and filled the pot with water
+and hung it over the fire. When he had done that, he thought the cow
+might perhaps fall off the thatch and break her legs or her neck. So
+he got up on the house to tie her up. One end of the rope he made fast
+to the cow's neck and the other he slipped down the chimney and tied
+round his own thigh; and he had to make haste, for the water now began
+to boil in the pot, and he had still to grind the oatmeal.
+
+So he began to grind away; but while he was hard at it, down fell the
+cow off the house-top after all, and as she fell, she dragged the man
+up the chimney by the rope. There he stuck fast; and as for the cow,
+she hung half-way down the wall, swinging between heaven and earth,
+for she could neither get down nor up.
+
+And now the goody had waited seven lengths and seven breadths for her
+_Husband_ to come and call them home to dinner; but never a call they
+had. At last she thought she'd waited long enough, and went home. But
+when she got there and saw the cow hanging in such an ugly place, she
+ran up and cut the rope in two with her scythe. But, as she did this,
+down came her _Husband_ out of the chimney; and so, when his old dame
+came inside the kitchen, there she found him standing on his head in
+the porridge pot.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND
+
+
+Once on a time there was an old widow who had one son; and as she was
+poorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for
+cooking; but when he got outside the safe, and was just going down the
+steps, there came the _North Wind_ puffing and blowing, caught up the
+meal, and so away with it through the air. Then the _Lad_ went back
+into the safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if
+the _North Wind_ didn't come again and carry off the meal with a puff:
+and, more than that, he did so the third time. At this the _Lad_ got
+very angry; and as he thought it hard that the _North Wind_ should
+behave so, he thought he'd just look him up, and ask him to give up
+his meal.
+
+So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at
+last he came to the _North Wind's_ house.
+
+"Good day!" said the _Lad_, "and thank you for coming to see us
+yesterday."
+
+"GOOD DAY!" answered the _North Wind_, for his voice was loud and
+gruff, "AND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
+
+"Oh!" answered the _Lad_, "I only wished to ask you to be so good as
+to let me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for
+we haven't much to live on; and if you're to go on snapping up the
+morsel we have, there'll be nothing for it but to starve."
+
+"I haven't got your meal," said the _North Wind_; "but if you are in
+such need, I'll give you a cloth which will get you everything you
+want, if you only say, 'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds
+of good dishes!'"
+
+With this the _Lad_ was well content. But, as the way was so long he
+couldn't get home in one day, so he turned into an inn on the way; and
+when they were going to sit down to supper he laid the cloth on a
+table which stood in the corner, and said:
+
+"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes."
+
+He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who
+stood by thought it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So,
+when all were fast asleep at dead of night, she took the _Lad's_
+cloth, and put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from
+the _North Wind_, but which couldn't so much as serve up a bit of dry
+bread.
+
+So, when the _Lad_ woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and
+that day he got home to his mother.
+
+"Now," said he, "I've been to the _North Wind's_ house, and a good
+fellow he is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it,
+'Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes,' I get
+any sort of food I please."
+
+"All very true, I daresay," said his mother; "but seeing is believing,
+and I shan't believe it till I see it."
+
+So the _Lad_ made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and
+said:
+
+"Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes."
+
+But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up.
+
+"Well," said the _Lad_ "there's no help for it but to go to the _North
+Wind_ again;" and away he went.
+
+So he came to where the _North Wind_ lived late in the afternoon.
+
+"Good evening!" said the _Lad_.
+
+"Good evening!" said the _North Wind_.
+
+"I want my rights for that meal of ours which you took," said the
+_Lad_; "for, as for that cloth I got, it isn't worth a penny."
+
+"I've got no meal," said the _North Wind_; "but yonder you have a ram
+which coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it: 'Ram,
+ram! make money!'"
+
+So the _Lad_ thought this a fine thing; but as it was too far to get
+home that day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had
+slept before.
+
+Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the _North
+Wind_ had said of the ram, and found it all right; but, when the
+landlord saw that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the _Lad_
+had fallen asleep, he took another which couldn't coin gold ducats,
+and changed the two.
+
+Next morning off went the _Lad_; and when he got home to his mother,
+he said:
+
+"After all, the _North Wind_ is a jolly fellow; for now he has given
+me a ram which can coin golden ducats if I only say: 'Ram, ram! make
+money!'"
+
+"All very true, I daresay," said his mother; "but I shan't believe any
+such stuff until I see the ducats made."
+
+"Ram, ram! make money!" said the _Lad_; but if the ram made anything,
+it wasn't money.
+
+So the _Lad_ went back again to the _North Wind_, and blew him up, and
+said the ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the
+meal.
+
+"Well!" said the _North Wind_; "I've nothing else to give you but that
+old stick in the corner yonder; but its a stick of that kind that if
+you say: 'Stick, stick! lay on!' it lays on till you say: 'Stick,
+stick! now stop!'"
+
+So, as the way was long, the _Lad_ turned in this night too to the
+landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the
+cloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to
+snore, as if he were asleep.
+
+Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth
+something, hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad
+snore, was going to change the two; but, just as the landlord was
+about to take it, the _Lad_ bawled out:
+
+"Stick, stick! lay on!"
+
+So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs,
+and tables, and benches, and yelled and roared:
+
+"Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death,
+and you shall have back both your cloth and your ram."
+
+When the _Lad_ thought the landlord had got enough, he said:
+
+"Stick, stick! now stop!"
+
+Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with
+his stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and
+so he got his rights for the meal he had lost.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND
+
+
+Once on a time there was a fisherman who lived close by a palace, and
+fished for the _King's_ table. One day when he was out fishing he just
+caught nothing. Do what he would--however he tried with bait and
+angle--there was never a sprat on his hook. But when the day was far
+spent a head bobbed up out of the water, and said:
+
+"If I may have what your wife bears under her girdle, you shall catch
+fish enough."
+
+So the man answered boldly, "Yes;" for he did not know that his wife
+was going to have a child. After that, as was like enough, he caught
+plenty of fish of all kinds. But when he got home at night and told
+his story, how he had got all that fish, his wife fell a-weeping and
+moaning, and was beside herself for the promise which her husband had
+made, for she said, "I bear a babe under my girdle."
+
+Well, the story soon spread, and came up to the castle; and when the
+_King_ heard the woman's grief and its cause, he sent down to say he
+would take care of the child, and see if he couldn't save it.
+
+So the months went on and on, and when her time came the fisher's wife
+had a boy; so the king took it at once, and brought it up as his own
+son, until the lad grew up. Then he begged leave one day to go out
+fishing with his father; he had such a mind to go, he said. At first
+the _King_ wouldn't hear of it, but at last the lad had his way, and
+went. So he and his father were out the whole day, and all went right
+and well till they landed at night. Then the lad remembered he had
+left his handkerchief, and went to look for it; but as soon as ever he
+got into the boat, it began to move off with him at such speed that
+the water roared under the bow, and all the lad could do in rowing
+against it with the oars was no use; so he went and went the whole
+night, and at last he came to a white strand, far far away.
+
+There he went ashore, and when he had walked about a bit, an old, old
+man met him, with a long white beard.
+
+"What's the name of this land?" asked the lad.
+
+"Whiteland," said the man, who went on to ask the lad whence he came,
+and what he was going to do. So the lad told him all.
+
+[Illustration: "You'll come to three Princesses, whom you will see
+standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads out."]
+
+"Aye, aye!" said the man; "now when you have walked a little farther
+along the strand here, you'll come to three _Princesses_, whom you
+will see standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their
+heads out. Then the first--she is the eldest--will call out and beg
+you so prettily to come and help her; and the second will do the same;
+to neither of these shall you go; make haste past them, as if you
+neither saw nor heard anything. But the third you shall go to, and do
+what she asks. If you do this, you'll have good luck--that's all."
+
+When the lad came to the first _Princess_, she called out to him, and
+begged him so prettily to come to her, but he passed on as though he
+saw her not. In the same way he passed by the second; but to the third
+he went straight up.
+
+"If you'll do what I bid you," she said, "you may have which of us you
+please."
+
+"Yes;" he was willing enough; so she told him how three _Trolls_ had
+set them down in the earth there; but before they had lived in the
+castle up among the trees.
+
+"Now," she said, "you must go into that castle, and let the _Trolls_
+whip you each one night for each of us. If you can bear that, you'll
+set us free."
+
+Well, the lad said he was ready to try.
+
+"When you go in," the _Princess_ went on to say, "you'll see two lions
+standing at the gate; but if you'll only go right in the middle
+between them they'll do you no harm. Then go straight on into a little
+dark room, and make your bed. Then the _Troll_ will come to whip you;
+but if you take the flask which hangs on the wall, and rub yourself
+with the ointment that's in it, wherever his lash falls, you'll be as
+sound as ever. Then grasp the sword that hangs by the side of the
+flask and strike the _Troll_ dead."
+
+Yes, he did as the _Princess_ told him; he passed in the midst between
+the lions, as if he hadn't seen them, and went straight into the
+little room, and there he lay down to sleep. The first night there
+came a _Troll_ with three heads and three rods, and whipped the lad
+soundly; but he stood it till the _Troll_ was done; then he took the
+flask and rubbed himself, and grasped the sword and slew the _Troll_.
+
+So, when he went out next morning, the _Princesses_ stood out of the
+earth up to their waists.
+
+The next night 'twas the same story over again, only this time the
+_Troll_ had six heads and six rods, and he whipped him far worse than
+the first; but when he went out next morning, the _Princesses_ stood
+out of the earth as far as the knee.
+
+The third night there came a _Troll_ that had nine heads and nine
+rods, and he whipped and flogged the lad so long that he fainted away;
+then the _Troll_ took him up and dashed him against the wall; but the
+shock brought down the flask, which fell on the lad, burst, and
+spilled the ointment all over him, and so he became as strong and
+sound as ever again. Then he wasn't slow; he grasped the sword and
+slew the _Troll_; and next morning when he went out of the castle the
+_Princesses_ stood before him with all their bodies out of the earth.
+So he took the youngest for his _Queen_, and lived well and happily
+with her for some time.
+
+At last he began to long to go home for a little to see his parents.
+His _Queen_ did not like this; but at last his heart was so set on it,
+and he longed and longed so much, there was no holding him back, so
+she said:
+
+"One thing you must promise me. This--only to do what your father begs
+you to do, and not what mother wishes;" and that he promised.
+
+Then she gave him a ring, which was of that kind that any one who wore
+it might wish two wishes. So he wished himself home, and when he got
+home his parents could not wonder enough what a grand man their son
+had become.
+
+Now, when he had been at home some days, his mother wished him to go
+up to the palace and show the _King_ what a fine fellow he had come
+to be. But his father said:
+
+"No! don't let him do that; if he does, we shan't have any more joy of
+him this time."
+
+But it was no good, the mother begged and prayed so long that at last
+he went. So when he got up to the palace he was far braver, both in
+clothes and array, than the other king, who didn't quite like this,
+and at last he said:
+
+"All very fine; but here you can see my _Queen_, what like she is, but
+I can't see yours: that I can't. Do you know, I scarce think she's so
+good-looking as mine."
+
+"Would to Heaven," said the young _King_, "she were standing here,
+then you'd see what she was like." And that instant there she stood
+before them.
+
+But she was very woeful, and said to him:
+
+"Why did you not mind what I told you; and why did you not listen to
+what your father said? Now, I must away home, and as for you, you have
+had both your wishes."
+
+With that she knitted a ring among his hair with her name on it, and
+wished herself home, and was off.
+
+Then the young _King_ was cut to the heart, and went, day out day in,
+thinking and thinking how he should get back to his _Queen_. "I'll
+just try," he thought, "if I can't learn where Whiteland lies;" and so
+he went out into the world to ask. So when he had gone a good way, he
+came to a high hill, and there he met one who was lord over all the
+beasts of the wood, for they all came home to him when he blew his
+horn; so the _King_ asked if he knew where Whiteland was.
+
+"No, I don't," said he, "but I'll ask my beasts." Then he blew his
+horn and called them, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland
+lay. But there was no beast that knew.
+
+So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.
+
+[Illustration: So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes.]
+
+"When you get on these," he said, "you'll come to my brother, who
+lives hundreds of miles off; he is lord over all the birds of the air.
+Ask him. When you reach his house, just turn the shoes so that the
+toes point this way, and they'll come home of themselves." So when the
+_King_ reached the house, he turned the shoes as the lord of the
+beasts had said, and away they went home of themselves.
+
+So he asked again after Whiteland, and the man called all the birds
+with a blast of his horn, and asked if any of them knew where
+Whiteland lay; but none of the birds knew. Now, long, long after the
+rest of the birds came an old eagle, which had been away ten round
+years, but he couldn't tell any more than the rest.
+
+"Well, well," said the man, "I'll lend you a pair of snow-shoes, and,
+when you get them on, they'll carry you to my brother, who lives
+hundreds of miles off; he's lord of all the fish in the sea; you'd
+better ask him. But don't forget to turn the toes of the shoes this
+way."
+
+The _King_ was full of thanks, got on the shoes, and when he came to
+the man who was lord over the fish of the sea, he turned the toes
+round, and so off they went home like the other pair. After that, he
+asked again after Whiteland.
+
+So the man called the fish with a blast, but no fish could tell where
+it lay. At last came an old pike, which they had great work to call
+home, he was such a way off. So when they asked him he said:
+
+"Know it? I should think I did! I've been cook there ten years, and
+to-morrow I'm going there again; for now the queen of Whiteland, whose
+king is away, is going to wed another husband."
+
+"Well!" said the man, "as this is so, I'll give you a bit of advice.
+Hereabouts, on a moor, stand three brothers, and here they have stood
+these hundred years, fighting about a hat, a cloak, and a pair of
+boots. If any one has these three things he can make himself
+invisible, and wish himself anywhere he pleases. You can tell them you
+wish to try the things, and, after that, you'll pass judgment between
+them, whose they shall be."
+
+Yes! the _King_ thanked the man, and went and did as he told him.
+
+"What's all this?" he said to the brothers. "Why do you stand here
+fighting for ever and a day? Just let me try these things, and I'll
+give judgment whose they shall be."
+
+They were very willing to do this; but, as soon as he had got the hat,
+cloak, and boots, he said:
+
+"When we meet next time, I'll tell you my judgment," and with these
+words he wished himself away.
+
+So as he went along up in the air, he came up with the North wind.
+
+"Whither away?" roared the North Wind.
+
+"To Whiteland," said the _King_; and then he told him all that had
+befallen him.
+
+"Ah," said the North Wind, "you go faster than I--you do; for you can
+go straight, while I have to puff and blow round every turn and
+corner. But when you get there, just place yourself on the stairs by
+the side of the door, and then I'll come storming in, as though I were
+going to blow down the whole castle. And then when the prince, who is
+to have your _Queen_, comes out to see what's the matter, just you
+take him by the collar and pitch him out of doors; then I'll look
+after him, and see if I can't carry him off."
+
+[Illustration: The King went into the Castle, and at first his Queen
+didn't know him, he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and
+being so woeful.]
+
+Well, the _King_ did as the North Wind said. He took his stand on the
+stairs, and when the North Wind came, storming and roaring, and took
+hold of the castle wall, so that it shook again, the prince came out
+to see what was the matter. But as soon as ever he came, the _King_
+caught him by the collar and pitched him out of doors, and then the
+North Wind caught him up and carried him off. So when there was an end
+of him, the _King_ went into the castle, and at first his _Queen_
+didn't know him, he was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and
+being so woeful; but when he shewed her the ring, she was as glad as
+glad could be; and so the rightful wedding was held, and the fame of
+it spread far and wide.
+
+
+
+
+SORIA MORIA CASTLE
+
+
+Once on a time there was a poor couple who had a son whose name was
+_Halvor_. Ever since he was a little boy he would turn his hand to
+nothing, but just sat there and groped about in the ashes. His father
+and mother often put him out to learn this trade or that, but _Halvor_
+could stay nowhere; for, when he had been there a day or two, he ran
+away from his master, and never stopped till he was sitting again in
+the ingle, poking about in the cinders.
+
+Well, one day a skipper came, and asked _Halvor_ if he hadn't a mind
+to be with him, and go to sea, and see strange lands. Yes, _Halvor_
+would like that very much; so he wasn't long in getting himself
+ready.
+
+How long they sailed I'm sure I can't tell; but the end of it was,
+they fell into a great storm, and when it was blown over, and it got
+still again, they couldn't tell where they were; for they had been
+driven away to a strange coast, which none of them knew anything
+about.
+
+Well, as there was just no wind at all, they stayed lying wind-bound
+there, and _Halvor_ asked the skipper's leave to go on shore and look
+about him; he would sooner go, he said, than lie there and sleep.
+
+"Do you think now you're fit to show yourself before folk," said the
+skipper, "why, you've no clothes but those rags you stand in?"
+
+But _Halvor_ stuck to his own, and so at last he got leave, but he was
+to be sure and come back as soon as ever it began to blow. So off he
+went and found a lovely land; wherever he came there were fine large
+flat cornfields and rich meads, but he couldn't catch a glimpse of a
+living soul. Well, it began to blow, but _Halvor_ thought he hadn't
+seen enough yet, and he wanted to walk a little farther just to see if
+he couldn't meet any folk. So after a while he came to a broad high
+road, so smooth and even, you might easily roll an egg along it.
+_Halvor_ followed this, and when evening drew on he saw a great castle
+ever so far off, from which the sunbeams shone. So as he had now
+walked the whole day and hadn't taken a bit to eat with him, he was as
+hungry as a hunter, but still the nearer he came to the castle, the
+more afraid he got.
+
+In the castle kitchen a great fire was blazing, and _Halvor_ went into
+it, but such a kitchen he had never seen in all his born days. It was
+so grand and fine; there were vessels of silver and vessels of gold,
+but still never a living soul. So when _Halvor_ had stood there a
+while and no one came out, he went and opened a door, and there inside
+sat a _Princess_ who span upon a spinning-wheel.
+
+"Nay, nay, now!" she called out, "dare Christian folk come hither? But
+now you'd best be off about your business, if you don't want the
+_Troll_ to gobble you up; for here lives a _Troll_ with three heads."
+
+"All one to me," said the lad, "I'd be just as glad to hear he had
+four heads beside; I'd like to see what kind of fellow he is. As for
+going, I won't go at all. I've done no harm; but meat you must get me,
+for I'm almost starved to death."
+
+When _Halvor_ had eaten his fill, the _Princess_ told him to try if he
+could brandish the sword that hung against the wall; no, he couldn't
+brandish it, he couldn't even lift it up.
+
+"Oh!" said the _Princess_, "now you must go and take a pull of that
+flask that hangs by its side; that's what the _Troll_ does every time
+he goes out to use the sword."
+
+So _Halvor_ took a pull, and in the twinkling of an eye he could
+brandish the sword like nothing; and now he thought it high time the
+_Troll_ came; and lo! just then up came the _Troll_ puffing and
+blowing. _Halvor_ jumped behind the door.
+
+"HUTETU," said the _Troll_, as he put his head in at the door, "what a
+smell of Christian man's blood!"
+
+"Aye," said _Halvor_, "you'll soon know that to your cost," and with
+that he hewed off all his heads.
+
+Now the _Princess_ was so glad that she was free, she both danced and
+sang, but then all at once she called her sisters to mind, and so she
+said:
+
+"Would my sisters were free too!"
+
+"Where are they?" asked _Halvor_.
+
+Well, she told him all about it; one was taken away by a _Troll_ to
+his Castle which lay fifty miles off, and the other by another _Troll_
+to his Castle which was fifty miles further still.
+
+"But now," she said, "you must first help me to get this ugly carcass
+out of the house."
+
+Yes, _Halvor_ was so strong he swept everything away, and made it all
+clean and tidy in no time. So they had a good and happy time of it,
+and next morning he set off at peep of grey dawn; he could take no
+rest by the way, but ran and walked the whole day. When he first saw
+the Castle he got a little afraid; it was far grander than the first,
+but here too there wasn't a living soul to be seen. So _Halvor_ went
+into the kitchen, and didn't stop there either, but went straight
+further on into the house.
+
+"Nay, nay," called out the _Princess_, "dare Christian folk come
+hither? I don't know I'm sure how long it is since I came here, but in
+all that time I haven't seen a Christian man. 'Twere best you saw how
+to get away as fast as you came; for here lives a _Troll_ who has six
+heads."
+
+"I shan't go," said _Halvor_, "if he has six heads besides."
+
+"He'll take you up and swallow you down alive," said the _Princess_.
+
+But it was no good, _Halvor_ wouldn't go; he wasn't at all afraid of
+the _Troll_, but meat and drink he must have, for he was half starved
+after his long journey. Well, he got as much of that as he wished, but
+then the _Princess_ wanted him to be off again.
+
+"No," said _Halvor_, "I won't go, I've done no harm, and I've nothing
+to be afraid about."
+
+"He won't stay to ask that," said the _Princess_, "for he'll take you
+without law or leave; but as you won't go, just try if you can
+brandish that sword yonder, which the _Troll_ wields in war."
+
+He couldn't brandish it, and then the _Princess_ said he must take a
+pull at the flask which hung by its side, and when he had done that he
+could brandish it.
+
+Just then back came the _Troll_, and he was both stout and big, so
+that he had to go sideways to get through the door. When the _Troll_
+got his first head in he called out:
+
+"HUTETU, what a smell of Christian man's blood!"
+
+But that very moment _Halvor_ hewed off his first head, and so on all
+the rest as they popped in. The _Princess_ was overjoyed, but just
+then she came to think of her sisters, and wished out loud they were
+free. _Halvor_ thought that might easily be done, and wanted to be off
+at once; but first he had to help the _Princess_ to get the _Troll's_
+carcass out of the way, and so he could only set out next morning.
+
+It was a long way to the Castle, and he had to walk fast and run hard
+to reach it in time; but about nightfall he saw the Castle, which was
+far finer and grander than either of the others. This time he wasn't
+the least afraid, but walked straight through the kitchen, and into
+the Castle. There sat a _Princess_ who was so pretty, there was no end
+to her loveliness. She too like the others told him there hadn't been
+Christian folk there ever since she came thither, and bade him go away
+again, else the _Troll_ would swallow him alive, and do you know, she
+said, he has nine heads.
+
+"Aye, aye," said _Halvor_, "if he had nine other heads, and nine other
+heads still, I won't go away," and so he stood fast before the stove.
+The _Princess_ kept on begging him so prettily to go away, lest the
+_Troll_ should gobble him up, but _Halvor_ said:
+
+"Let him come as soon as he likes."
+
+So she gave him the _Troll's_ sword, and bade him take a pull at the
+flask, that he might be able to brandish and wield it.
+
+Just then back came the _Troll_ puffing and blowing and tearing along.
+He was far bigger and stouter than the other two, and he too had to go
+on one side to get through the door. So when he got his first head in,
+he said as the others had said:
+
+"HUTETU, what a smell of Christian man's blood!"
+
+That very moment _Halvor_ hewed off the first head and then all the
+rest; but the last was the toughest of them all, and it was the
+hardest bit of work _Halvor_ had to do, to get it hewn off, although
+he knew very well he had strength enough to do it.
+
+So all the _Princesses_ came together to that Castle, which was called
+_Soria Moria Castle_, and they were glad and happy as they had never
+been in all their lives before, and they all were fond of _Halvor_
+and _Halvor_ of them, and he might choose the one he liked best for
+his bride; but the youngest was fondest of him of all the three.
+
+But there after a while, _Halvor_ went about, and was so strange and
+dull and silent. Then the Princesses asked him what he lacked, and if
+he didn't like to live with them any longer? Yes, he did, for they had
+enough and to spare, and he was well off in every way, but still
+somehow or other he did so long to go home, for his father and mother
+were alive, and them he had such a great wish to see.
+
+Well, they thought that might be done easily enough.
+
+"You shall go thither and come back hither, safe and unscathed, if you
+will only follow our advice," said the _Princesses_.
+
+Yes, he'd be sure to mind all they said. So they dressed him up till
+he was as grand as a king's son, and then they set a ring on his
+finger, and that was such a ring, he could wish himself thither and
+hither with it; but they told him to be sure and not take it off, and
+not to name their names, for there would be an end of all his bravery,
+and then he'd never see them more.
+
+"If I only stood at home I'd be glad," said _Halvor_; and it was done
+as he had wished. Then stood _Halvor_ at his father's cottage door
+before he knew a word about it. Now it was about dusk at even, and so,
+when they saw such a grand stately lord walk in, the old couple got so
+afraid they began to bow and scrape. Then _Halvor_ asked if he
+couldn't stay there, and have a lodging there that night. No; that he
+couldn't.
+
+"We can't do it at all," they said, "for we haven't this thing or that
+thing which such a lord is used to have; 'twere best your lordship
+went up to the farm, no long way off, for you can see the chimneys,
+and there they have lots of everything."
+
+_Halvor_ wouldn't hear of it--he wanted to stop; but the old couple
+stuck to their own, that he had better go to the farmer's; there he
+would get both meat and drink; as for them, they hadn't even a chair
+to offer him to sit down on.
+
+"No," said _Halvor_, "I won't go up there till to-morrow early, but
+let me just stay here to-night; worst come to the worst, I can sit in
+the chimney corner."
+
+Well, they couldn't say anything against that; so _Halvor_ sat down by
+the ingle, and began to poke about in the ashes, just as he used to do
+when he lay at home in old days, and stretched his lazy bones.
+
+Well, they chattered and talked about many things; and they told
+_Halvor_ about this thing and that; and so he asked them if they had
+never had any children.
+
+Yes, yes, they had once a lad whose name was _Halvor_, but they didn't
+know whither he had wandered; they couldn't even tell whether he were
+dead or alive.
+
+"Couldn't it be me, now?" said _Halvor_.
+
+"Let me see; I could tell him well enough," said the old wife, and
+rose up. "Our _Halvor_ was so lazy and dull, he never did a thing; and
+besides, he was so ragged, that one tatter took hold of the next
+tatter on him. No; there never was the making of such a fine fellow
+in him as you are, master."
+
+A little while after the old wife went to the hearth to poke up the
+fire, and when the blaze fell on _Halvor's_ face, just as when he was
+at home of old poking about in the ashes, she knew him at once.
+
+"Ah! but it is you after all, _Halvor_?" she cried; and then there was
+such joy for the old couple, there was no end to it; and he was forced
+to tell how he had fared, and the old dame was so fond and proud of
+him, nothing would do but he must go up at once to the farmer's, and
+show himself to the lassies, who had always looked down on him. And
+off she went first, and _Halvor_ followed after. So, when she got up
+there, she told them all how _Halvor_ had come home again, and now
+they should only just see how grand he was, for, said she, "he looks
+like nothing but a King's son."
+
+"All very fine," said the lassies, and tossed up their heads. "We'll
+be bound he's just the same beggarly ragged boy he always was."
+
+Just then in walked _Halvor_, and then the lassies were all so taken
+aback, they forgot their sarks in the ingle, where they were sitting
+darning their clothes, and ran out in their smocks. Well, when they
+were got back again, they were so shamefaced they scarce dared look at
+_Halvor_, towards whom they had always been proud and haughty.
+
+"Aye, aye," said _Halvor_, "you always thought yourselves so pretty
+and neat, no one could come near you; but now you should just see the
+eldest _Princess_ I have set free; against her you look just like
+milkmaids, and the midmost is prettier still; but the youngest, who is
+my sweetheart, she's fairer than both sun and moon. Would to Heaven
+they were only here," said _Halvor_, "then you'd see what you would
+see."
+
+He had scarce uttered these words before there they stood, but then he
+felt so sorry, for now what they had said came into his mind. Up at
+the farm there was a great feast got ready for the _Princesses_, and
+much was made of them, but they wouldn't stop there.
+
+"No, we want to go down to your father and mother," they said to
+_Halvor_; "and so we'll go out now and look about us."
+
+So he went down with them, and they came to a great lake just outside
+the farm. Close by the water was such a lovely green bank; here the
+_Princesses_ said they would sit and rest a while; they thought it so
+sweet to sit down and look over the water.
+
+So they sat down there, and when they had sat a while the youngest
+_Princess_ said:
+
+"I may as well comb your hair a little, _Halvor_."
+
+Well, _Halvor_ laid his head on her lap, and she combed his bonny
+locks, and it wasn't long before _Halvor_ fell fast asleep. Then she
+took the ring from his finger, and put another in its stead; and she
+said:
+
+"Now hold me all together! and now would we were all in _Soria Moria
+Castle_."
+
+So when _Halvor_ woke up, he could very well tell that he had lost the
+_Princesses_, and began to weep and wail; and he was so downcast, they
+couldn't comfort him at all. In spite of all his father and mother
+said, he wouldn't stop there, but took farewell of them, and said he
+was safe not to see them again; for if he couldn't find the
+_Princesses_ again, he thought it not worth while to live.
+
+Well, he had still about sixty pounds left, so he put them into his
+pocket, and set out on his way. So, when he had walked a while, he met
+a man with a tidy horse, and he wanted to buy it, and began to chaffer
+with the man.
+
+"Aye," said the man, "to tell the truth, I never thought of selling
+him; but if we could strike a bargain perhaps--"
+
+"What do you want for him?" asked _Halvor_.
+
+"I didn't give much for him, nor is he worth much; he's a brave horse
+to ride, but he can't draw at all; still he's strong enough to carry
+your knapsack and you too, turn and turn about," said the man.
+
+At last they agreed on the price, and _Halvor_ laid the knapsack on
+him, and so he walked a bit, and rode a bit, turn and turn about. At
+night he came to a green plain where stood a great tree, at the roots
+of which he sat down. There he let the horse loose, but he didn't lie
+down to sleep, but opened his knapsack and took a meal. At peep of day
+off he set again, for he could take no rest. So he rode and walked
+and walked and rode the whole day through the wide wood, where there
+were so many green spots and glades that shone so bright and lovely
+between the trees. He didn't know at all where he was or whither he
+was going, but he gave himself no more time to rest than when his
+horse cropped a bit of grass, and he took a snack out of his knapsack
+when they came to one of those green glades. So he went on walking and
+riding by turns, and as for the wood there seemed to be no end to it.
+
+But at dusk the next day he saw a light gleaming away through the
+trees.
+
+"Would there were folk hereaway," thought _Halvor_, "that I might warm
+myself a bit and get a morsel to keep body and soul together."
+
+When he got up to it he saw the light came from a wretched little hut,
+and through the window he saw an old old, couple inside. They were as
+grey-headed as a pair of doves, and the old wife had such a nose! why,
+it was so long she used it for a poker to stir the fire as she sat in
+the ingle.
+
+"Good evening," said _Halvor_.
+
+"Good evening," said the old wife.
+
+"But what errand can you have in coming hither?" she went on, "for no
+Christian folk have been here these hundred years and more."
+
+Well, _Halvor_ told her all about himself, and how he wanted to get to
+_Soria Moria Castle_, and asked if she knew the way thither.
+
+"No," said the old wife, "that I don't, but see now, here comes the
+Moon, I'll ask her, she'll know all about it, for doesn't she shine on
+everything?"
+
+So when the Moon stood clear and bright over the tree-tops, the old
+wife went out.
+
+"THOU MOON, THOU MOON," she screamed, "canst thou tell me the way to
+_Soria Moria Castle_?"
+
+"No," said the Moon, "that I can't, for the last time I shone there a
+cloud stood before me."
+
+"Wait a bit still," said the old wife to _Halvor_, "bye and bye comes
+the West Wind; he's sure to know it, for he puffs and blows round
+every corner."
+
+"Nay, nay," said the old wife when she went out again, "you don't mean
+to say you've got a horse too; just turn the poor beastie loose in our
+'toun,' and don't let him stand there and starve to death at the
+door."
+
+Then she ran on:
+
+"But won't you swop him away to me?--we've got an old pair of boots
+here, with which you can take twenty miles at each stride; those you
+shall have for your horse, and so you'll get all the sooner to _Soria
+Moria Castle_."
+
+That _Halvor_ was willing to do at once; and the old wife was so glad
+at having the horse, she was ready to dance and skip for joy.
+
+"For now," she said, "I shall be able to ride to church. I, too, think
+of that."
+
+As for _Halvor_, he had no rest, and wanted to be off at once, but the
+old wife said there was no hurry.
+
+"Lie down on the bench with you and sleep a bit, for we've no bed to
+offer you, and I'll watch and wake you when the West Wind comes."
+
+So after a while up came the West Wind, roaring and howling along till
+the walls creaked and groaned again.
+
+Out ran the old wife.
+
+"THOU WEST WIND, THOU WEST WIND! Canst thou tell me the way to _Soria
+Moria Castle_? Here's one who wants to get thither."
+
+"Yes, I know it very well," said the West Wind, "and now I'm just off
+thither to dry clothes for the wedding that's to be; if he's swift of
+foot he can go along with me."
+
+Out ran _Halvor_.
+
+"You'll have to stretch your legs if you mean to keep up," said the
+West Wind.
+
+So off he set over field and hedge, and hill and fell, and _Halvor_
+had hard work to keep up.
+
+"Well," said the West Wind, "now I've no time to stay with you any
+longer, for I've got to go away yonder and tear down a strip of spruce
+wood first before I go to the bleaching-ground to dry the clothes; but
+if you go alongside the hill you'll come to a lot of lassies standing
+washing clothes, and then you've not far to go to _Soria Moria
+Castle_."
+
+In a little while _Halvor_ came upon the lassies who stood washing,
+and they asked if he had seen anything of the West Wind who was to
+come and dry the clothes for the wedding.
+
+"Aye, aye, that I have," said _Halvor_, "he's only gone to tear down a
+strip of spruce wood. It'll not be long before he's here," and then he
+asked them the way to _Soria Moria Castle_.
+
+So they put him into the right way, and when he got to the Castle it
+was full of folk and horses; so full it made one giddy to look at
+them. But _Halvor_ was so ragged and torn from having followed the
+West Wind through bush and brier and bog, that he kept on one side,
+and wouldn't show himself till the last day when the bridal feast was
+to be.
+
+So when all, as was then right and fitting, were to drink the bride
+and bridegroom's health and wish them luck, and when the cupbearer was
+to drink to them all again, both knights and squires, last of all he
+came in turn to _Halvor_. He drank their health, but let the ring
+which the _Princess_ had put upon his finger as he lay by the lake
+fall into the glass, and bade the cupbearer go and greet the bride and
+hand her the glass.
+
+Then up rose the _Princess_ from the board at once.
+
+"Who is most worthy to have one of us," she said, "he that has set us
+free, or he that here sits by me as bridegroom?"
+
+Well they all said there could be but one voice and will as to that,
+and when _Halvor_ heard that he wasn't long in throwing off his
+beggar's rags, and arraying himself as bridegroom.
+
+"Aye, aye, here is the right one after all," said the youngest
+_Princess_ as soon as she saw him, and so she tossed the other one out
+of the window, and held her wedding with _Halvor_.
+
+
+
+
+THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY
+
+
+Once on a time there was a _King_ who had _seven sons_, and he loved
+them so much that he could never bear to be without them all at once,
+but one must always be with him. Now, when they were grown up, six
+were to set off to woo, but as for the youngest, his father kept him
+at home, and the others were to bring back a princess for him to the
+palace. So the _King_ gave the six the finest clothes you ever set
+eyes on, so fine that the light gleamed from them a long way off, and
+each had his horse, which cost many, many hundred pounds, and so they
+set off. Now, when they had been to many palaces, and seen many
+princesses, at last they came to a _King_ who had _six daughters_;
+such lovely king's daughters they had never seen, and so they fell to
+wooing them, each one, and when they had got them for sweethearts,
+they set off home again, but they quite forgot that they were to bring
+back with them a sweetheart for _Boots_, their brother, who stayed at
+home, for they were over head and ears in love with their own
+sweethearts.
+
+[Illustration: The six brothers riding out to woo.]
+
+But when they had gone a good bit on their way, they passed close by a
+steep hill-side, like a wall, where the _Giant's_ house was, and there
+the _Giant_ came out, and set his eyes upon them, and turned them all
+into stone, princes and princesses and all. Now the _King_ waited and
+waited for his _six sons_, but the more he waited, the longer they
+stayed away; so he fell into great trouble, and said he should never
+know what it was to be glad again.
+
+"And if I had not you left," he said to _Boots_, "I would live no
+longer, so full of sorrow am I for the loss of your brothers."
+
+"Well, but now I've been thinking to ask your leave to set out and
+find them again; that's what I'm thinking of," said _Boots_.
+
+"Nay, nay!" said his father; "that leave you shall never get, for then
+you would stay away too."
+
+But _Boots_ had set his heart upon it; go he would; and he begged and
+prayed so long that the _King_ was forced to let him go. Now, you must
+know the _King_ had no other horse to give _Boots_ but an old
+broken-down jade, for his six other sons and their train had carried
+off all his horses; but _Boots_ did not care a pin for that, he sprang
+up on his sorry old steed.
+
+"Farewell, father," said he; "I'll come back, never fear, and like
+enough I shall bring my six brothers back with me;" and with that he
+rode off.
+
+So, when he had ridden a while, he came to a _Raven_, which lay in the
+road and flapped its wings, and was not able to get out of the way, it
+was so starved.
+
+"Oh, dear friend," said the _Raven_, "give me a little food, and I'll
+help you again at your utmost need."
+
+"I haven't much food," said the _Prince_, "and I don't see how you'll
+ever be able to help me much; but still I can spare you a little. I
+see you want it."
+
+So he gave the raven some of the food he had brought with him.
+
+Now, when he had gone a bit further, he came to a brook, and in the
+brook lay a great _Salmon_, which had got upon a dry place and dashed
+itself about, and could not get into the water again.
+
+"Oh, dear friend," said the _Salmon_ to the _Prince_; "shove me out
+into the water again, and I'll help you again at your utmost need."
+
+"Well!" said the _Prince_, "the help you'll give me will not be great,
+I daresay, but it's a pity you should lie there and choke;" and with
+that he shot the fish out into the stream again.
+
+After that he went a long, long way, and there met him a _Wolf_ which
+was so famished that it lay and crawled along the road on its belly.
+
+"Dear friend, do let me have your horse," said the _Wolf_; "I'm so
+hungry the wind whistles through my ribs; I've had nothing to eat
+these two years."
+
+"No," said _Boots_, "this will never do; first I came to a raven, and
+I was forced to give him my food; next I came to a salmon, and him I
+had to help into the water again; and now you will have my horse. It
+can't be done, that it can't, for then I should have nothing to ride
+on."
+
+"Nay, dear friend, but you can help me," said _Graylegs_ the wolf;
+"you can ride upon my back, and I'll help you again in your utmost
+need."
+
+"Well! the help I shall get from you will not be great, I'll be
+bound," said the _Prince_; "but you may take my horse, since you are
+in such need."
+
+So when the _Wolf_ had eaten the horse, _Boots_ took the bit and put
+it into the _Wolf's_ jaw, and laid the saddle on his back; and now the
+_Wolf_ was so strong, after what he had got inside, that he set off
+with the _Prince_ like nothing. So fast he had never ridden before.
+
+"When we have gone a bit farther," said _Graylegs_, "I'll show you the
+_Giant's_ house."
+
+So after a while they came to it.
+
+"See, here is the _Giant's_ house," said the _Wolf_; "and see, here
+are your six brothers, whom the _Giant_ has turned into stone; and
+see, here are their six brides, and away yonder is the door, and in
+that door you must go."
+
+"Nay, but I daren't go in," said the _Prince_; "he'll take my life."
+
+"No! no!" said the _Wolf_; "when you get in you'll find a _Princess_,
+and she'll tell you what to do to make an end of the _Giant_. Only
+mind and do as she bids you."
+
+Well! _Boots_ went in, but, truth to say, he was very much afraid.
+When he came in the _Giant_ was away, but in one of the rooms sat the
+_Princess_, just as the _Wolf_ had said, and so lovely a princess
+_Boots_ had never yet set eyes on.
+
+"Oh! heaven help you! whence have you come?" said the _Princess_, as
+she saw him; "it will surely be your death. No one can make an end of
+the _Giant_ who lives here, for he has no heart in his body."
+
+"Well! well!" said _Boots_; "but now that I am here, I may as well try
+what I can do with him; and I will see if I can't free my brothers,
+who are standing turned to stone out of doors; and you, too, I will
+try to save, that I will."
+
+"Well, if you must, you must," said the _Princess_; "and so let us see
+if we can't hit on a plan. Just creep under the bed yonder, and mind
+and listen to what he and I talk about. But, pray, do lie as still as
+a mouse."
+
+So he crept under the bed, and he had scarce got well underneath it,
+before the _Giant_ came.
+
+"Ha!" roared the _Giant_, "what a smell of Christian blood there is in
+the house!"
+
+"Yes, I know there is," said the _Princess_, "for there came a magpie
+flying with a man's bone, and let it fall down the chimney. I made all
+the haste I could to get it out, but all one can do, the smell doesn't
+go off so soon."
+
+So the _Giant_ said no more about it, and when night came, they went
+to bed. After they had lain a while, the _Princess_ said:
+
+"There is one thing I'd be so glad to ask you about, if I only
+dared."
+
+"What thing is that?" asked the _Giant_.
+
+"Only where it is you keep your heart, since you don't carry it about
+you," said the _Princess_.
+
+"Ah! that's a thing you've no business to ask about; but if you must
+know, it lies under the door-sill," said the _Giant_.
+
+"Ho! ho!" said _Boots_ to himself under the bed, "then we'll soon see
+if we can't find it."
+
+Next morning the _Giant_ got up cruelly early, and strode off to the
+wood; but he was hardly out of the house before _Boots_ and the
+_Princess_ set to work to look under the door-sill for his heart; but
+the more they dug, and the more they hunted, the more they couldn't
+find it.
+
+"He has baulked us this time," said the _Princess_, "but we'll try him
+once more."
+
+So she picked all the prettiest flowers she could find, and strewed
+them over the door-sill, which they had laid in its right place again;
+and when the time came for the _Giant_ to come home again, _Boots_
+crept under the bed. Just as he was well under, back came the
+_Giant_.
+
+Snuff--snuff, went the _Giant's_ nose. "My eyes and limbs, what a
+smell of Christian blood there is in here," said he.
+
+"I know there is," said the _Princess_, "for there came a magpie
+flying with a man's bone in his bill, and let it fall down the
+chimney. I made as much haste as I could to get it out, but I daresay
+it's that you smell."
+
+So the _Giant_ held his peace, and said no more about it. A little
+while after, he asked who it was that had strewed flowers about the
+door-sill.
+
+"Oh, I, of course," said the _Princess_.
+
+"And, pray, what's the meaning of all this?" said the _Giant_.
+
+"Ah!" said the _Princess_, "I'm so fond of you that I couldn't help
+strewing them, when I knew that your heart lay under there."
+
+"You don't say so," said the _Giant_; "but after all it doesn't lie
+there at all."
+
+So when they went to bed again in the evening, the _Princess_ asked
+the _Giant_ again where his heart was, for she said she would so like
+to know.
+
+"Well," said the _Giant_, "if you must know, it lies away yonder in
+the cupboard against the wall."
+
+"So, so!" thought _Boots_ and the _Princess_; "then we'll soon try to
+find it."
+
+Next morning the _Giant_ was away early, and strode off to the wood,
+and so soon as he was gone _Boots_ and the _Princess_ were in the
+cupboard hunting for his heart, but the more they sought for it, the
+less they found it.
+
+"Well," said the _Princess_, "we'll just try him once more."
+
+So she decked out the cupboard with flowers and garlands, and when the
+time came for the _Giant_ to come home, _Boots_ crept under the bed
+again.
+
+Then back came the _Giant_.
+
+Snuff--snuff! "My eyes and limbs, what a smell of Christian blood
+there is in here!"
+
+"I know there is," said the _Princess_; "for a little while since
+there came a magpie flying with a man's bone in his bill, and let it
+fall down the chimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out of
+the house again; but after all my pains, I daresay it's that you
+smell."
+
+When the _Giant_ heard that, he said no more about it; but a little
+while after, he saw how the cupboard was all decked about with flowers
+and garlands; so he asked who it was that had done that? Who could it
+be but the _Princess_?
+
+"And, pray, what's the meaning of all this tomfoolery?" asked the
+_Giant_.
+
+"Oh, I'm so fond of you, I couldn't help doing it when I knew that
+your heart lay there," said the _Princess_.
+
+"How can you be so silly as to believe any such thing?" said the
+_Giant_.
+
+"Oh yes; how can I help believing it, when you say it?" said the
+_Princess_.
+
+"You're a goose," said the _Giant_; "where my heart is, you will never
+come."
+
+"Well," said the _Princess_; "but for all that, 'twould be such a
+pleasure to know where it really lies."
+
+Then the poor _Giant_ could hold out no longer, but was forced to
+say:
+
+[Illustration: "On that island stands a church; in that church is a well;
+in that well swims a duck."]
+
+"Far, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a
+church; in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck; in that
+duck there is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart,--you
+darling!"
+
+In the morning early, while it was still grey dawn, the _Giant_ strode
+off to the wood.
+
+[Illustration: He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and when he
+got out of the Giant's door, there stood the Wolf waiting for him.]
+
+"Yes! now I must set off too," said _Boots_; "if I only knew how to
+find the way." He took a long, long farewell of the _Princess_, and
+when he got out of the _Giant's_ door, there stood the _Wolf_ waiting
+for him. So _Boots_ told him all that had happened inside the house,
+and said now he wished to ride to the well in the church, if he only
+knew the way. So the _Wolf_ bade him jump on his back, he'd soon find
+the way; and away they went, till the wind whistled after them, over
+hedge and field, over hill and dale. After they had travelled many,
+many days, they came at last to the lake. Then the _Prince_ did not
+know how to get over it, but the _Wolf_ bade him only not be afraid,
+but stick on, and so he jumped into the lake with the _Prince_ on his
+back, and swam over to the island. So they came to the church; but the
+church keys hung high, high up on the top of the tower, and at first
+the _Prince_ did not know how to get them down.
+
+"You must call on the raven," said the _Wolf_.
+
+So the _Prince_ called on the raven, and in a trice the raven came,
+and flew up and fetched the keys, and so the _Prince_ got into the
+church. But when he came to the well, there lay the duck, and swam
+about backwards and forwards, just as the _Giant_ had said. So the
+_Prince_ stood and coaxed it, till it came to him, and he grasped it
+in his hand; but just as he lifted it up from the water the duck
+dropped the egg into the well, and then _Boots_ was beside himself to
+know how to get it out again.
+
+"Well, now you must call on the salmon to be sure," said the _Wolf_;
+and the king's son called on the salmon, and the salmon came and
+fetched up the egg from the bottom of the well.
+
+Then the _Wolf_ told him to squeeze the egg, and as soon as ever he
+squeezed it the _Giant_ screamed out.
+
+"Squeeze it again," said the _Wolf_; and when the _Prince_ did so, the
+_Giant_ screamed still more piteously, and begged and prayed so
+prettily to be spared, saying he would do all that the _Prince_ wished
+if he would only not squeeze his heart in two.
+
+"Tell him, if he will restore to life again your six brothers and
+their brides, whom he has turned to stone, you will spare his life,"
+said the _Wolf_. Yes, the _Giant_ was ready to do that, and he turned
+the six brothers into king's sons again, and their brides into king's
+daughters.
+
+"Now, squeeze the egg in two," said the _Wolf_. So _Boots_ squeezed
+the egg to pieces, and the _Giant_ burst at once.
+
+Now, when he had made an end of the _Giant_, _Boots_ rode back again
+on the _Wolf_ to the _Giant's_ house, and there stood all his six
+brothers alive and merry, with their brides. Then _Boots_ went into
+the hill-side after his bride, and so they all set off home again to
+their father's house. And you may fancy how glad the old king was when
+he saw all his seven sons come back, each with his bride--"But the
+loveliest bride of all is the bride of _Boots_, after all," said the
+king, "and he shall sit uppermost at the table, with her by his
+side."
+
+So he sent out, and called a great wedding-feast, and the mirth was
+both loud and long, and if they have not done feasting, why, they are
+still at it.
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man who had a meadow, which lay high up on
+the hill-side, and in the meadow was a barn, which he had built to
+keep his hay in. Now, I must tell you, there hadn't been much in the
+barn for the last year or two, for every St. John's night, when the
+grass stood greenest and deepest, the meadow was eaten down to the
+very ground the next morning, just as if a whole drove of sheep had
+been there feeding on it over night. This happened once, and it
+happened twice; so at last the man grew weary of losing his crop of
+hay, and said to his sons--for he had three of them, and the youngest
+was nicknamed _Boots_, of course--that now one of them must go and
+sleep in the barn in the outlying field when St. John's night came,
+for it was too good a joke that his grass should be eaten, root and
+blade, this year, as it had been the last two years. So whichever of
+them went must keep a sharp look-out; that was what their father
+said.
+
+Well, the eldest son was ready to go and watch the meadow; trust him
+for looking after the grass! It shouldn't be his fault if man or
+beast, or the fiend himself, got a blade of grass. So, when evening
+came, he set off to the barn, and lay down to sleep; but a little on
+in the night came such a clatter, and such an earthquake, that walls
+and roof shook, and groaned, and creaked; then up jumped the lad, and
+took to his heels as fast as ever he could; nor dared he once look
+round till he reached home; and as for the hay, why it was eaten up
+this year just as it had been twice before.
+
+The next St. John's night, the man said again, it would never do to
+lose all the grass in the outlying field year after year in this way,
+so one of his sons must just trudge off to watch it, and watch it well
+too. Well, the next oldest son was ready to try his luck, so he set
+off, and lay down to sleep in the barn as his brother had done before
+him; but as the night wore on, there came on a rumbling and quaking of
+the earth, worse even than on the last St. John's night, and when the
+lad heard it, he got frightened, and took to his heels as though he
+were running a race.
+
+Next year the turn came to _Boots_; but when he made ready to go, the
+other two began to laugh and to make game of him, saying:
+
+"You're just the man to watch the hay, that you are; you, who have
+done nothing all your life but sit in the ashes and toast yourself by
+the fire."
+
+But _Boots_ did not care a pin for their chattering, and stumped away
+as evening grew on, up the hill-side to the outlying field. There he
+went inside the barn and lay down; but in about an hour's time the
+barn began to groan and creak, so that it was dreadful to hear.
+
+"Well," said _Boots_ to himself, "if it isn't worse than this, I can
+stand it well enough."
+
+A little while after came another creak and an earthquake, so that the
+litter in the barn flew about the lad's ears. "Oh!" said _Boots_ to
+himself, "if it isn't worse than this, I daresay I can stand it out."
+
+But just then came a third rumbling, and a third earthquake, so that
+the lad thought walls and roof were coming down on his head; but it
+passed off, and all was still as death about him.
+
+"It'll come again, I'll be bound," thought _Boots_; but no, it didn't
+come again; still it was, and still it stayed; but after he had lain a
+little while, he heard a noise as if a horse were standing just
+outside the barn-door, and cropping the grass. He stole to the door,
+and peeped through a chink, and there stood a horse feeding away. So
+big, and fat, and grand a horse, _Boots_ had never set eyes on; by his
+side on the grass lay a saddle and bridle, and a full set of armour
+for a knight, all of brass, so bright that the light gleamed from it.
+
+"Ho, ho!" thought the lad; "it's you, is it, that eats up our hay?
+I'll soon put a spoke in your wheel, just see if I don't."
+
+So he lost no time, but took the steel out of his tinder-box, and
+threw it over the horse; then it had no power to stir from the spot,
+and became so tame that the lad could do what he liked with it. So he
+got on its back, and rode off with it to a place which no one knew of,
+and there he put up the horse. When he got home, his brothers laughed
+and asked how he had fared?
+
+"You didn't lie long in the barn, even if you had the heart to go so
+far as the field."
+
+"Well," said _Boots_, "all I can say is, I lay in the barn till the
+sun rose, and neither saw nor heard anything; I can't think what there
+was in the barn to make you both so afraid."
+
+"A pretty story," said his brothers; "but we'll soon see how you have
+watched the meadow;" so they set off; but when they reached it, there
+stood the grass as deep and thick as it had been over night.
+
+Well, the next St. John's eve it was the same story over again;
+neither of the elder brothers dared to go out to the outlying field to
+watch the crop; but _Boots_, he had the heart to go, and everything
+happened just as it had happened the year before. First a clatter and
+an earthquake, then a greater clatter and another earthquake, and so
+on a third time; only this year the earthquakes were far worse than
+the year before. Then all at once everything was as still as death,
+and the lad heard how something was cropping the grass outside the
+barn-door, so he stole to the door, and peeped through a chink; and
+what do you think he saw? Why, another horse standing right up against
+the wall, and chewing and champing with might and main. It was far
+finer and fatter than that which came the year before, and it had a
+saddle on its back, and a bridle on its neck, and a full suit of mail
+for a knight lay by its side, all of silver, and as grand as you would
+wish to see.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said _Boots_ to himself; "it's you that gobbles up our hay,
+is it? I'll soon put a spoke in your wheel;" and with that he took the
+steel out of his tinder-box, and threw it over the horse's crest,
+which stood as still as a lamb. Well, the lad rode this horse, too, to
+the hiding-place where he kept the other one, and after that he went
+home.
+
+"I suppose you'll tell us," said one of his brothers, "there's a fine
+crop this year too, up in the hayfield."
+
+"Well, so there is," said _Boots_; and off ran the others to see, and
+there stood the grass thick and deep, as it was the year before; but
+they didn't give _Boots_ softer words for all that.
+
+Now, when the third St. John's eve came, the two elder brothers still
+hadn't the heart to lie out in the barn and watch the grass, for they
+had got so scared at heart the nights they lay there before, that they
+couldn't get over the fright; but _Boots_, he dared to go; and, to
+make a very long story short, the very same thing happened this time
+as had happened twice before. Three earthquakes came, one after the
+other, each worse than the one which went before, and when the last
+came, the lad danced about with the shock from one barn wall to the
+other; and after that, all at once, it was still as death. Now when he
+had laid a little while, he heard something tugging away at the grass
+outside the barn, so he stole again to the door-chink, and peeped out,
+and there stood a horse close outside--far, far bigger and fatter than
+the two he had taken before.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said the lad to himself, "it's you, is it, that comes here
+eating up our hay? I'll soon stop that--I'll soon put a spoke in your
+wheel." So he caught up his steel and threw it over his horse's neck,
+and in a trice it stood as if it were nailed to the ground, and
+_Boots_ could do as he pleased with it. Then he rode off with it to
+the hiding-place where he kept the other two, and then went home. When
+he got home, his two brothers made game of him as they had done
+before, saying, they could see he had watched the grass well, for he
+looked for all the world as if he were walking in his sleep, and many
+other spiteful things they said, but _Boots_ gave no heed to them,
+only asking them to go and see for themselves; and when they went,
+there stood the grass as fine and deep this time as it had been twice
+before.
+
+Now, you must know that the king of the country where _Boots_ lived
+had a daughter, whom he would only give to the man who could ride up
+over the hill of glass, for there was a high, high hill, all of glass,
+as smooth and slippery as ice, close by the _King's_ palace. Upon the
+tip top of the hill the _King's_ daughter was to sit, with three
+golden apples in her lap, and the man who could ride up and carry off
+the three golden apples, was to have half the kingdom, and the
+_Princess_ to wife. This the _King_ had stuck up on all the
+church-doors in his realm, and had given it out in many other
+kingdoms besides. Now, this _Princess_ was so lovely that all who set
+eyes on her fell over head and ears in love with her whether they
+would or no. So I needn't tell you how all the princes and knights who
+heard of her were eager to win her to wife, and half the kingdom
+beside; and how they came riding from all parts of the world on high
+prancing horses, and clad in the grandest clothes, for there wasn't
+one of them who hadn't made up his mind that he, and he alone, was to
+win the _Princess_.
+
+So when the day of trial came, which the king had fixed, there was
+such a crowd of princes and knights under the _Glass Hill_, that it
+made one's head whirl to look at them, and everyone in the country
+who could even crawl along was off to the hill, for they were all
+eager to see the man who was to win the _Princess_. So the two elder
+brothers set off with the rest; but as for _Boots_, they said outright
+he shouldn't go with them, for if they were seen with such a dirty
+changeling, all begrimed with smut from cleaning their shoes and
+sifting cinders in the dust-hole, they said folk would make game of
+them.
+
+"Very well," said _Boots_, "it's all one to me. I can go alone, and
+stand or fall by myself."
+
+Now when the two brothers came to the _Hill of Glass_, the knights and
+princes were all hard at it, riding their horses till they were all in
+a foam; but it was no good, by my troth; for as soon as ever the
+horses set foot on the hill, down they slipped, and there wasn't one
+who could get a yard or two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as
+smooth as a sheet of glass, and as steep as a house-wall. But all were
+eager to have the _Princess_ and half the kingdom. So they rode and
+slipped, and slipped and rode, and still it was the same story over
+again. At last all their horses were so weary that they could scarce
+lift a leg, and in such a sweat that the lather dripped from them, and
+so the knights had to give up trying any more. So the king was just
+thinking that he would proclaim a new trial for the next day, to see
+if they would have better luck, when all at once a knight came riding
+up on so brave a steed, that no one had ever seen the like of it in
+his born days, and the knight had mail of brass, and the horse a brass
+bit in his mouth, so bright that the sunbeams shone from it. Then all
+the others called out to him he might just as well spare himself the
+trouble of riding at the Hill, for it would lead to no good; but he
+gave no heed to them, and put his horse at the hill, and went up it
+like nothing for a good way, about a third of the height; and when he
+had got so far, he turned his horse round and rode down again. So
+lovely a knight the _Princess_ thought she had never yet seen; and
+while he was riding, she sat and thought to herself:
+
+"Would to heaven he might only come up and down the other side."
+
+And when she saw him turning back, she threw down one of the golden
+apples after him, and it rolled down into his shoe. But when he got to
+the bottom of the hill, he rode off so fast that no one could tell
+what had become of him. That evening all the knights and princes were
+to go before the king, that he who had ridden so far up the hill might
+show the apple which the _Princess_ had thrown, but there was no one
+who had anything to show. One after the other they all came, but not a
+man of them could show the apple.
+
+At even the brothers of _Boots_ came home too, and had such a long
+story to tell about the riding up the hill.
+
+"First of all," they said, "there was not one of the whole lot who
+could get so much as a stride up; but at last came one who had a suit
+of brass mail, and a brass bridle and saddle, all so bright that the
+sun shone from them a mile off. He was a chap to ride, just! He rode a
+third of the way up the _Hill of Glass_, and he could easily have
+ridden the whole way up, if he chose; but he turned round and rode
+down, thinking, maybe, that was enough for once."
+
+"Oh! I should so like to have seen him, that I should," said _Boots_,
+who sat by the fireside, and stuck his feet into the cinders, as was
+his wont.
+
+"Oh!" said his brothers, "you would, would you? You look fit to keep
+company with such high lords, nasty beast that you are, sitting there
+amongst the ashes."
+
+Next day the brothers were all for setting off again, and _Boots_
+begged them this time, too, to let him go with them and see the
+riding; but no, they wouldn't have him at any price, he was too ugly
+and nasty, they said.
+
+"Well, well!" said _Boots_; "if I go at all, I must go by myself. I'm
+not afraid."
+
+So when the brothers got to the _Hill of Glass_, all the princes and
+knights began to ride again, and you may fancy they had taken care to
+shoe their horses sharp; but it was no good--they rode and slipped,
+and slipped and rode, just as they had done the day before, and there
+was not one who could get so far as a yard up the hill. And when they
+had worn out their horses, so that they could not stir a leg, they
+were all forced to give it up as a bad job. So the king thought he
+might as well proclaim that the riding should take place the day after
+for the last time, just to give them one chance more; but all at once
+it came across his mind that he might as well wait a little longer, to
+see if the knight in brass mail would come this day too. Well, they
+saw nothing of him; but all at once came one riding on a steed, far,
+far braver and finer than that on which the knight in brass had
+ridden, and he had silver mail, and a silver saddle and bridle, all so
+bright that the sunbeams gleamed and glanced from them far away. Then
+the others shouted out to him again, saying, he might as well hold
+hard, and not try to ride up the hill, for all his trouble would be
+thrown away; but the knight paid no heed to them, and rode straight
+at the hill, and right up it, till he had gone two-thirds of the way,
+and then he wheeled his horse round and rode down again. To tell the
+truth, the _Princess_ liked him still better than the knight in brass,
+and she sat and wished he might only be able to come right up to the
+top, and down the other side; but when she saw him turning back, she
+threw the second apple after him, and it rolled down and fell into his
+shoe. But, as soon as ever he had come down from the _Hill of Glass_,
+he rode off so fast that no one could see what became of him.
+
+At even, when all were to go in before the king and the _Princess_,
+that he who had the golden apple might show it, in they went, one
+after the other, but there was no one who had any apple to show, and
+the two brothers, as they had done on the former day, went home and
+told how things had gone, and how all had ridden at the hill, and none
+got up.
+
+"But, last of all," they said, "came one in a silver suit, and his
+horse had a silver saddle and a silver bridle. He was just a chap to
+ride; and he got two-thirds up the hill, and then turned back. He was
+a fine fellow, and no mistake; and the _Princess_ threw the second
+gold apple to him."
+
+"Oh!" said _Boots_, "I should so like to have seen him too, that I
+should."
+
+"A pretty story," they said. "Perhaps you think his coat of mail was
+as bright as the ashes you are always poking about, and sifting, you
+nasty dirty beast."
+
+The third day everything happened as it had happened the two days
+before. _Boots_ begged to go and see the sight, but the two wouldn't
+hear of his going with them. When they got to the hill there was no
+one who could get so much as a yard up it; and now all waited for the
+knight in silver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of him. At last
+came one riding on a steed, so brave that no one had ever seen his
+match; and the knight had a suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle
+and bridle, so wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them a
+mile off. The other knights and princes could not find time to call
+out to him not to try his luck, for they were amazed to see how grand
+he was. So he rode right at the hill, and tore up it like nothing, so
+that the _Princess_ hadn't even time to wish that he might get up the
+whole way. As soon as ever he reached the top, he took the third
+golden apple from the _Princess'_ lap, and then turned his horse and
+rode down again. As soon as he got down, he rode off at full speed,
+and was out of sight in no time.
+
+Now, when the brothers got home at even, you may fancy what long
+stories they told, how the riding had gone off that day; and amongst
+other things, they had a deal to say about the knight in golden mail.
+
+"He just was a chap to ride!" they said; "so grand a knight isn't to
+be found in the wide world."
+
+"Oh!" said _Boots_, "I should so like to have seen him, that I
+should."
+
+"Ah!" said his brothers, "his mail shone a deal brighter than the
+glowing coals which you are always poking and digging at; nasty dirty
+beast that you are."
+
+Next day all the knights and princes were to pass before the king and
+the _Princess_--it was too late to do so the night before, I
+suppose--that he who had the gold apple might bring it forth; but one
+came after another, first the _Princes_, and then the knights, and
+still no one could show the gold apple.
+
+"Well," said the king, "some one must have it, for it was something we
+all saw with our own eyes, how a man came and rode up and bore it
+off."
+
+So he commanded that every man who was in the kingdom should come up
+to the palace and see if they could show the apple. Well, they all
+came one after another, but no one had the golden apple, and after a
+long time the two brothers of _Boots_ came. They were the last of all,
+so the king asked them if there was no one else in the kingdom who
+hadn't come.
+
+"Oh, yes," said they; "we have a brother, but he never carried off the
+golden apple. He hasn't stirred out of the dusthole on any of the
+three days."
+
+"Never mind that," said the king; "he may as well come up to the
+palace like the rest."
+
+So _Boots_ had to go up to the palace.
+
+"How now," said the king; "have you got the golden apple? Speak out!"
+
+"Yes, I have," said _Boots_; "here is the first, and here is the
+second, and here is the third too;" and with that he pulled all three
+golden apples out of his pocket, and at the same time threw off his
+sooty rags, and stood before them in his gleaming golden mail.
+
+"Yes!" said the king; "you shall have my daughter, and half my
+kingdom, for you well deserve both her and it."
+
+So they got ready for the wedding, and _Boots_ got the _Princess_ to
+wife, and there was great merry-making at the bridal-feast, you may
+fancy, for they could all be merry though they couldn't ride up the
+_Hill of Glass_; and all I can say is, if they haven't left off their
+merry-making yet, why, they're still at it.
+
+
+
+
+THE WIDOW'S SON
+
+
+Once on a time there was a poor, poor _Widow_, who had an only _Son_.
+She dragged on with the boy till he had been confirmed, and then she
+said she couldn't feed him any longer, he must just go out and earn
+his own bread. So the lad wandered out into the world, and when he had
+walked a day or so, a strange man met him.
+
+"Whither away?" asked the man.
+
+[Illustration: When he had walked a day or so, a strange man met him.
+"Whither away?" asked the man.]
+
+"Oh, I'm going out into the world to try and get a place," said the
+lad.
+
+"Will you come and serve me?" said the man.
+
+"Oh, yes; just as soon you as any one else," said the lad.
+
+"Well, you'll have a good place with me," said the man; "for you'll
+only have to keep me company, and do nothing at all else beside."
+
+So the lad stopped with him, and lived on the fat of the land, both in
+meat and drink, and had little or nothing to do; but he never saw a
+living soul in that man's house.
+
+So one day the man said:
+
+"Now, I'm going off for eight days, and that time you'll have to spend
+here all alone; but you must not go into any one of these four rooms
+here. If you do, I'll take your life when I come back."
+
+"No," said the lad, he'd be sure not to do that. But when the man had
+been gone three or four days, the lad couldn't bear it any longer, but
+went into the first room, and when he got inside he looked round, but
+he saw nothing but a shelf over the door where a bramble-bush rod
+lay.
+
+Well, indeed! thought the lad; a pretty thing to forbid my seeing
+this.
+
+So when the eight days were out, the man came home, and the first
+thing he said was:
+
+"You haven't been into any of these rooms, of course."
+
+"No, no; that I haven't," said the lad.
+
+"I'll soon see that," said the man, and went at once into the room
+where the lad had been.
+
+"Nay, but you have been in here," said he; "and now you shall lose
+your life."
+
+Then the lad begged and prayed so hard that he got off with his life,
+but the man gave him a good thrashing. And when it was over, they
+were as good friends as ever.
+
+Some time after the man set off again, and said he should be away
+fourteen days; but before he went he forbade the lad to go into any of
+the rooms he had not been in before; as for that he had been in, he
+might go into that, and welcome. Well, it was the same story over
+again, except that the lad stood out eight days before he went in. In
+this room, too, he saw nothing but a shelf over the door, and a big
+stone, and a pitcher of water on it. Well, after all, there's not much
+to be afraid of my seeing here, thought the lad.
+
+But when the man came back, he asked if he had been into any of the
+rooms. No, the lad hadn't done anything of the kind.
+
+"Well, well; I'll soon see that," said the man; and when he saw the
+lad had been in them after all, he said:
+
+"Ah! now I'll spare you no longer; now you must lose your life."
+
+But the lad begged and prayed for himself again, and so this time too
+he got off with stripes; though he got as many as his skin would
+carry. But when he got sound and well again, he led just as easy a
+life as ever, and he and the man were just as good friends.
+
+So a while after the man was to take another journey, and now he said
+he should be away three weeks, and he forbade the lad anew to go into
+the third room, for if he went in there he might just make up his mind
+at once to lose his life. Then after fourteen days the lad couldn't
+bear it, but crept into the room, but he saw nothing at all in there
+but a trap door on the floor; and when he lifted it up and looked
+down, there stood a great copper cauldron which bubbled up and boiled
+away down there; but he saw no fire under it.
+
+"Well, I should just like to know if it's hot," thought the lad, and
+struck his finger down into the broth, and when he pulled it out
+again, lo! it was gilded all over. So the lad scraped and scrubbed it,
+but the gilding wouldn't go off, so he bound a piece of rag round it;
+and when the man came back, and asked what was the matter with his
+finger, the lad said he'd given it such a bad cut. But the man tore
+off the rag, and then he soon saw what was the matter with the finger.
+First he wanted to kill the lad outright, but when he wept, and
+begged, he only gave him such a thrashing that he had to keep his bed
+three days. After that the man took down a pot from the wall, and
+rubbed him over with some stuff out of it, and so the lad was as
+sound and fresh as ever.
+
+So after a while the man started off again, and this time he was to be
+away a month. But before he went, he said to the lad, if he went into
+the fourth room he might give up all hope of saving his life.
+
+Well, the lad stood out for two or three weeks, but then he couldn't
+hold out any longer; he must and would go into that room, and so in he
+stole. There stood a great black horse tied up in a stall by himself,
+with a manger of red-hot coals at his head and a truss of hay at his
+tail. Then the lad thought this all wrong, so he changed them about,
+and put the hay at his head. Then said the _Horse_:
+
+"Since you are so good at heart as to let me have some food, I'll set
+you free, that I will. For if the _Troll_ comes back and finds you
+here, he'll kill you outright. But now you must go up to the room
+which lies just over this, and take a coat of mail out of those that
+hang there; and mind, whatever you do, don't take any of the bright
+ones, but the most rusty of all you see, that's the one to take; and
+sword and saddle you must choose for yourself just in the same way."
+
+So the lad did all that; but it was a heavy load for him to carry them
+all down at once.
+
+When he came back, the _Horse_ told him to pull off his clothes and
+get into the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and
+bathe himself there. "If I do," thought the lad, "I shall look an
+awful fright;" but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had
+taken his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white
+as milk and blood, and much stronger than he had been before.
+
+"Do you feel any change?" asked the _Horse_.
+
+"Yes," said the lad.
+
+"Try and lift me, then," said the _Horse_.
+
+Oh yes! he could do that, and as for the sword, he brandished it like
+a feather.
+
+"Now saddle me," said the _Horse_, "and put on the coat of mail, and
+then take the bramble-bush rod, and the stone, and the pitcher of
+water, and the pot of ointment, and then we'll be off as fast as we
+can."
+
+So when the lad had got on the horse, off they went at such a rate, he
+couldn't at all tell how they went. But when he had ridden awhile, the
+_Horse_ said, "I think I hear a noise; look round! can you see
+anything?"
+
+"Yes; there are ever so many coming after us, at least a score," said
+the lad.
+
+"Aye, aye, that's the _Troll_ coming," said the _Horse_; "now he's
+after us with his pack."
+
+So they rode on a while, until those who followed were close behind
+them.
+
+"Now throw your bramble-bush rod behind you, over your shoulder," said
+the _Horse_; "but mind you throw it a good way off my back."
+
+So the lad did that, and all at once a close, thick bramblewood grew
+up behind them. So the lad rode on a long, long time, while the
+_Troll_ and his crew had to go home to fetch something to hew their
+way through the wood. But at last the _Horse_ said again:
+
+"Look behind you! can you see anything now?"
+
+"Yes, ever so many," said the lad, "as many as would fill a large
+church."
+
+"Aye, aye, that's the _Troll_ and his crew," said the _Horse_; "now
+he's got more to back him; but now throw down the stone, and mind you
+throw it far behind me."
+
+And as soon as the lad did what the _Horse_ said, up rose a great
+black hill of rock behind him. So the _Troll_ had to be off home to
+fetch something to mine his way through the rock; and while the
+_Troll_ did that, the lad rode a good bit further on. But still the
+_Horse_ begged him to look behind him, and then he saw a troop like a
+whole army behind him, and they glistened in the sunbeams.
+
+[Illustration: But still the Horse begged him to look behind him.]
+
+"Aye, aye," said the _Horse_, "that's the _Troll_, and now he's got
+his whole band with him, so throw the pitcher of water behind you, but
+mind you don't spill any of it upon me."
+
+So the lad did that; but in spite of all the pains he took, he still
+spilt one drop on the horse's flank. So it became a great deep lake;
+and because of that one drop, the horse found himself far out in it,
+but still he swam safe to land. But when the _Trolls_ came to the
+lake, they lay down to drink it dry; and so they swilled and swilled
+till they burst.
+
+"Now we're rid of them," said the _Horse_.
+
+So when they had gone a long, long while, they came to a green patch
+in a wood.
+
+"Now, strip off all your arms," said the _Horse_, "and only put on
+your ragged clothes, and take the saddle off me, and let me loose, and
+hang all my clothing and your arms up inside that great hollow
+lime-tree yonder. Then make yourself a wig of fir-moss, and go up to
+the king's palace, which lies close here, and ask for a place.
+Whenever you need me, only come here and shake the bridle, and I'll
+come to you."
+
+Yes! the lad did all his _Horse_ told him, and as soon as ever he put
+on the wig of moss he became so ugly, and pale, and miserable to look
+at, no one would have known him again. Then he went up to the king's
+palace and begged first for leave to be in the kitchen, and bring in
+wood and water for the cook, but then the kitchen-maid asked him:
+
+"Why do you wear that ugly wig? Off with it. I won't have such a
+fright in here."
+
+"No, I can't do that," said the lad; "for I'm not quite right in my
+head."
+
+"Do you think then I'll have you in here about the food," cried the
+cook. "Away with you to the coachman; you're best fit to go and clean
+the stable."
+
+But when the coachman begged him to take his wig off, he got the same
+answer, and he wouldn't have him either.
+
+"You'd best go down to the gardener," said he; "you're best fit to go
+about and dig in the garden."
+
+So he got leave to be with the gardener, but none of the other
+servants would sleep with him, and so he had to sleep by himself under
+the steps of the summer-house. It stood upon beams, and had a high
+staircase. Under that he got some turf for his bed, and there he lay
+as well as he could.
+
+So, when he had been some time at the palace, it happened one morning,
+just as the sun rose, that the lad had taken off his wig, and stood
+and washed himself, and then he was so handsome, it was a joy to look
+at him.
+
+So the _Princess_ saw from her window the lovely gardener's boy, and
+thought she had never seen any one so handsome. Then she asked the
+gardener why he lay out there under the steps.
+
+"Oh," said the gardener, "none of his fellow-servants will sleep with
+him; that's why."
+
+"Let him come up to-night, and lie at the door inside my bedroom, and
+then they'll not refuse to sleep with him any more," said the
+_Princess_.
+
+So the gardener told that to the lad.
+
+"Do you think I'll do any such thing?" said the lad. "Why they'd say
+next there was something between me and the _Princess_."
+
+"Yes," said the gardener, "you've good reason to fear any such thing,
+you who are so handsome."
+
+"Well, well," said the lad, "since it's her will, I suppose I must
+go."
+
+So, when he was to go up the steps in the evening, he tramped and
+stamped so on the way, that they had to beg him to tread softly lest
+the _King_ should come to know it. So he came into the _Princess'_
+bedroom, lay down, and began to snore at once. Then the _Princess_
+said to her maid:
+
+"Go gently, and just pull his wig off;" and she went up to him.
+
+But just as she was going to whisk it off, he caught hold of it with
+both hands, and said she should never have it. After that he lay down
+again, and began to snore. Then the _Princess_ gave her maid a wink,
+and this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad so
+lovely, and white and red, just as the _Princess_ had seen him in the
+morning sun.
+
+[Illustration: And this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the
+lad, so lovely, and white and red, just as the Princess had seen him in
+the morning sun.]
+
+After that the lad slept every night in the _Princess'_ bedroom.
+
+But it wasn't long before the _King_ came to hear how the gardener's
+lad slept every night in the _Princess'_ bedroom; and he got so wroth
+he almost took the lad's life. He didn't do that, however, but he
+threw him into the prison tower; and as for his daughter, he shut her
+up in her own room, whence she never got leave to stir day or night.
+All that she begged, and all that she prayed, for the lad and herself,
+was no good. The _King_ was only more wroth than ever.
+
+Some time after came a war and uproar in the land, and the _King_ had
+to take up arms against another king who wished to take the kingdom
+from him. So when the lad heard that, he begged the gaoler to go to
+the _King_ and ask for a coat of mail and a sword, and for leave to go
+to the war. All the rest laughed when the gaoler told his errand, and
+begged the _King_ to let him have an old worn-out suit, that they
+might have the fun of seeing such a wretch in battle. So he got that,
+and an old broken-down hack besides, which went upon three legs, and
+dragged the fourth after it.
+
+[Illustration: The Lad in the Battle.]
+
+Then they went out to meet the foe; but they hadn't got far from the
+palace before the lad got stuck fast in a bog with his hack. There he
+sat and dug his spurs in, and cried, "Gee up! gee up!" to his hack.
+And all the rest had their fun out of this, and laughed, and made game
+of the lad as they rode past him. But they were scarcely gone, before
+he ran to the lime-tree, threw on his coat of mail, and shook the
+bridle, and there came the _Horse_ in a trice, and said: "Do now your
+best, and I'll do mine."
+
+But when the lad came up the battle had begun, and the _King_ was in a
+sad pinch; but no sooner had the lad rushed into the thick of it than
+the foe was beaten back, and put to flight. The _King_ and his men
+wondered and wondered who it could be who had come to help them, but
+none of them got so near him as to be able to talk to him, and as soon
+as the fight was over he was gone. When they went back, there sat the
+lad still in the bog, and dug his spurs into his three-legged hack,
+and they all laughed again.
+
+"No! only just look," they said; "there the fool sits still."
+
+The next day when they went out to battle, they saw the lad sitting
+there still, so they laughed again, and made game of him; but as soon
+as ever they had ridden by, the lad ran again to the lime-tree, and
+all happened as on the first day. Every one wondered what strange
+champion it could be that had helped them, but no one got so near him
+as to say a word to him; and no one guessed it could be the lad;
+that's easy to understand.
+
+So when they went home at night, and saw the lad still sitting there
+on his hack, they burst out laughing at him again, and one of them
+shot an arrow at him and hit him in the leg. So he began to shriek and
+to bewail; 'twas enough to break one's heart; and so the _King_ threw
+his pocket-handkerchief to him to bind his wound.
+
+When they went out to battle the third day, the lad still sat there.
+
+"Gee up! gee up!" he said to his hack.
+
+"Nay, nay," said the _King's_ men; "if he won't stick there till he's
+starved to death."
+
+And then they rode on, and laughed at him till they were fit to fall
+from their horses. When they were gone, he ran again to the lime, and
+came up to the battle just in the very nick of time. This day he slew
+the enemy's king, and then the war was over at once.
+
+When the battle was over, the _King_ caught sight of his handkerchief,
+which the strange warrior had bound round his leg, and so it wasn't
+hard to find him out. So they took him with great joy between them to
+the palace, and the _Princess_, who saw him from her window, got so
+glad, no one can believe it.
+
+"Here comes my own true love," she said.
+
+Then he took the pot of ointment and rubbed himself on the leg, and
+after that he rubbed all the wounded, and so they all got well again
+in a moment.
+
+So he got the _Princess_ to wife; but when he went down into the
+stable where his horse was on the day the wedding was to be, there it
+stood so dull and heavy, and hung its ears down, and wouldn't eat its
+corn. So when the young _King_--for he was now a king, and had got
+half the kingdom--spoke to him, and asked what ailed him, the _Horse_
+said:
+
+"Now I have helped you on, and now I won't live any longer. So just
+take the sword, and cut my head off."
+
+"No, I'll do nothing of the kind," said the young _King_; "but you
+shall have all you want, and rest all your life."
+
+"Well," said the _Horse_, "if you don't do as I tell you, see if I
+don't take your life somehow."
+
+So the _King_ had to do what he asked; but when he swung the sword and
+was to cut his head off, he was so sorry he turned away his face, for
+he would not see the stroke fall. But as soon as ever he had cut off
+the head, there stood the loveliest _Prince_ on the spot where the
+horse had stood.
+
+"Why, where in all the world did you come from?" asked the _King_.
+
+"It was I who was a horse," said the _Prince_; "for I was king of
+that land whose king you slew yesterday. He it was who threw this
+_Troll's_ shape over me, and sold me to the _Troll_. But now he is
+slain I get my own again, and you and I will be neighbour kings, but
+war we will never make on one another."
+
+And they didn't either; for they were friends as long as they lived,
+and each paid the other very many visits.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF
+
+
+Once on a time there were three _Billy-goats_, who were to go up to
+the hill-side to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was
+"_Gruff_."
+
+On the way up was a bridge over a burn they had to cross; and under
+the bridge lived a great ugly _Troll_, with eyes as big as saucers,
+and a nose as long as a poker.
+
+So first of all came the youngest billy-goat _Gruff_ to cross the
+bridge.
+
+"Trip, trap! trip, trap!" went the bridge.
+
+"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh! it is only I, the tiniest billy-goat _Gruff_; and I'm going up to
+the hill-side to make myself fat," said the billy-goat, with such a
+small voice.
+
+"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh, no! pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the
+billy-goat; "wait a bit till the second billy-goat _Gruff_ comes, he's
+much bigger."
+
+"Well! be off with you," said the _Troll_.
+
+A little while after came the second billy-goat _Gruff_ to cross the
+bridge.
+
+"TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!" went the bridge.
+
+"WHO'S THAT tripping over my bridge?" roared the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh! It's the second billy-goat _Gruff_, and I'm going up to the
+hill-side to make myself fat," said the billy-goat, who hadn't such a
+small voice.
+
+"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the _Troll_.
+
+"Oh, no! don't take me, wait a little till the big billy-goat _Gruff_
+comes, he's much bigger."
+
+"Very well! be off with you," said the _Troll_.
+
+But just then up came the big billy-goat _Gruff_.
+
+"TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!" went the bridge, for the
+billy-goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under
+him.
+
+"WHO'S THAT tramping over my bridge?" roared the _Troll_.
+
+"IT'S I! THE BIG BILLY-GOAT GRUFF," said the billy-goat, who had an
+ugly hoarse voice of his own.
+
+"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," roared the _Troll_.
+
+            "Well, come along! I've got two spears,
+            And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;
+            I've got besides two curling-stones,
+            And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones."
+
+That was what the big billy-goat said; and so he flew at the _Troll_
+and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body
+and bones, and tossed him out into the burn, and after that he went up
+to the hill-side. There the billy-goats got so fat they were scarce
+able to walk home again; and if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why
+they're still fat; and so:
+
+                        Snip, snap, snout,
+                        This tale's told out.
+
+
+
+
+THE THREE PRINCESSES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN
+
+
+There were once upon a time a _King_ and _Queen_ who had no children,
+and they took it so much to heart that they hardly ever had a happy
+moment. One day the _King_ stood in the portico and looked out over
+the big meadows and all that was his. But he felt he could have no
+enjoyment out of it all, since he did not know what would become of it
+after his time. As he stood there pondering, an old beggar woman came
+up to him and asked him for a trifle in heaven's name. She greeted him
+and curtsied, and asked what ailed the _King_, since he looked so
+sad.
+
+"You can't do anything to help me, my good woman," said the _King_;
+"it's no use telling you."
+
+"I am not so sure about that," said the beggar woman. "Very little is
+wanted when luck is in the way. The _King_ is thinking that he has no
+heir to his crown and kingdom, but he need not mourn on that account,"
+she said. "The _Queen_ shall have three daughters, but great care must
+be taken that they do not come out under the open heavens before they
+are all fifteen years old; otherwise a snowdrift will come and carry
+them away."
+
+When the time came the _Queen_ had a beautiful baby girl; the year
+after she had another, and the third year she also had a girl.
+
+The _King_ and _Queen_ were glad beyond all measure; but although the
+_King_ was very happy, he did not forget to set a watch at the Palace
+door, so that the _Princesses_ should not get out.
+
+As they grew up they became both fair and beautiful, and all went well
+with them in every way. Their only sorrow was that they were not
+allowed to go out and play like other children. For all they begged
+and prayed their parents, and for all they besought the sentinel, it
+was of no avail; go out they must not before they were fifteen years
+old, all of them.
+
+So one day, not long before the fifteenth birthday of the youngest
+_Princess_, the _King_ and the _Queen_ were out driving, and the
+_Princesses_ were standing at the window and looking out. The sun was
+shining, and everything looked so green and beautiful that they felt
+that they must go out, happen what might. So they begged and entreated
+and urged the sentinel, all three of them, that he should let them
+down into the garden. "He could see for himself how warm and pleasant
+it was; no snowy weather could come on such a day." Well, he didn't
+think it looked much like it either, and if they must go they had
+better go, the soldier said; but it must only be for a minute, and he
+himself would go with them and look after them.
+
+When they got down into the garden they ran up and down, and filled
+their laps with flowers and green leaves, the prettiest they could
+find. At last they could manage no more, but just as they were going
+indoors they caught sight of a large rose at the other end of the
+garden. It was many times prettier than any they had gathered, so they
+must have that also. But just as they bent down to take the rose a big
+dense snowdrift came and carried them away.
+
+[Illustration: Just as they bent down to take the rose a big dense
+snow-drift came and carried them away.]
+
+There was great mourning over the whole country, and the _King_ made
+known from all the churches that any one who could save the
+_Princesses_ should have half the kingdom and his golden crown and
+whichever princess he liked to choose.
+
+You can well understand there were plenty who wanted to gain half the
+kingdom, and a princess into the bargain; so there were people of both
+high and low degree who set out for all parts of the country. But
+there was no one who could find the _Princesses_, or even get any
+tidings of them.
+
+When all the grand and rich people in the country had had their turn,
+a captain and a lieutenant came to the Palace, and wanted to try their
+luck. The _King_ fitted them out both with silver and gold, and wished
+them success on their journey.
+
+Then came a soldier, who lived with his mother in a little cottage
+some way from the Palace. He had dreamt one night that he also was
+trying to find the _Princesses_. When the morning came he still
+remembered what he had dreamt, and told his mother about it.
+
+"Some witchery must have got hold of you," said the woman, "but you
+must dream the same thing three nights running, else there is nothing
+in it." And the next two nights the same thing happened; he had the
+same dream, and he felt he must go. So he washed himself and put on
+his uniform, and went into the kitchen at the Palace. It was the day
+after the captain and the lieutenant had set out.
+
+"You had better go home again," said the _King_, "the _Princesses_ are
+beyond your reach, I should say; and besides, I have spent so much
+money on outfits that I have nothing left to-day. You had better come
+back another time."
+
+"If I go, I must go to-day," said the soldier. "Money I do not want; I
+only need a drop in my flask and some food in my wallet," he said;
+"but it must be a good walletful--as much meat and bacon as I can
+carry."
+
+Yes, that he might have if that was all he wanted.
+
+So he set off, and he had not gone many miles before he overtook the
+captain and the lieutenant.
+
+"Where are you going?" asked the captain, when he saw the man in
+uniform.
+
+"I'm going to try if I can find the _Princesses_," answered the
+soldier.
+
+"So are we," said the captain, "and since your errand is the same, you
+may keep company with us, for if we don't find them, you are not
+likely to find them either, my lad," said he.
+
+When they had gone awhile the soldier left the high road, and took a
+path into the forest.
+
+"Where are you going?" said the captain; "it is best to follow the
+high road."
+
+"That may be," said the soldier, "but this is my way."
+
+He kept to the path, and when the others saw this they turned round
+and followed him. Away they went further and further, far across big
+moors and along narrow valleys.
+
+And at last it became lighter, and when they had got out of the forest
+altogether they came to a long bridge, which they had to cross. But on
+that bridge a bear stood on guard. He rose on his hind legs and came
+towards them, as if he wanted to eat them.
+
+"What shall we do now?" said the captain.
+
+"They say that the bear is fond of meat," said the soldier, and then
+he threw a fore quarter to him, and so they got past. But when they
+reached the other end of the bridge, they saw a lion, which came
+roaring towards them with open jaws as if he wanted to swallow them.
+
+"I think we had better turn right-about, we shall never be able to get
+past him alive," said the captain.
+
+"Oh, I don't think he is so very dangerous," said the soldier; "I have
+heard that lions are very fond of bacon, and I have half a pig in my
+wallet;" and then he threw a ham to the lion, who began eating and
+gnawing, and thus they got past him also.
+
+In the evening they came to a fine big house. Each room was more
+gorgeous than the other; all was glitter and splendour wherever they
+looked; but that did not satisfy their hunger. The captain and the
+lieutenant went round rattling their money, and wanted to buy some
+food; but they saw no people nor could they find a crumb of anything
+in the house, so the soldier offered them some food from his wallet,
+which they were not too proud to accept, nor did they want any
+pressing. They helped themselves of what he had as if they had never
+tasted food before.
+
+The next day the captain said they would have to go out shooting and
+try to get something to live upon. Close to the house was a large
+forest where there were plenty of hares and birds. The lieutenant was
+to remain at home and cook the remainder of the food in the soldier's
+wallet. In the meantime the captain and the soldier shot so much game
+that they were hardly able to carry it home. When they came to the
+door they found the lieutenant in such a terrible plight that he was
+scarcely able to open the door to them.
+
+"What is the matter with you?" said the captain. The lieutenant then
+told them that as soon as they were gone a tiny, little man, with a
+long beard, who went on crutches, came in and asked so plaintively for
+a penny; but no sooner had he got it than he let it fall on the
+floor, and for all he raked and scraped with his crutch he was not
+able to get hold of it, so stiff and stark was he.
+
+"I pitied the poor, old body," said the lieutenant, "and so I bent
+down to pick up the penny, but then he was neither stiff nor stark any
+longer. He began to belabour me with his crutches till very soon I was
+unable to move a limb."
+
+"You ought to be ashamed of yourself! you, one of the king's officers,
+to let an old cripple give you a thrashing, and then tell people of it
+into the bargain!" said the captain. "Pshaw! to-morrow I'll stop at
+home, and then you'll hear another story."
+
+The next day the lieutenant and the soldier went out shooting and the
+captain remained at home to do the cooking and look after the house.
+But if he fared no worse, he certainly fared no better than the
+lieutenant. In a little while the old man came in and asked for a
+penny. He let it fall as soon as he got it; gone it was and could not
+be found. So he asked the captain to help him to find it, and the
+captain, without giving a thought, bent down to look for it. But no
+sooner was he on his knees than the cripple began belabouring him with
+his crutches, and every time the captain tried to rise, he got a blow
+which sent him reeling. When the others came home in the evening, he
+still lay on the same spot and could neither see nor speak.
+
+The third day the soldier was to remain at home, while the other two
+went out shooting. The captain said he must take care of himself, "for
+the old fellow will soon put an end to you, my lad," said he.
+
+"Oh, there can't be much life in one if such an old crook can take
+it," said the soldier.
+
+They were no sooner outside the door, than the old man came in and
+asked for a penny again.
+
+"Money I have never owned," said the soldier, "but food I'll give you,
+as soon as it is ready," said he, "but if we are to get it cooked, you
+must go and cut the wood."
+
+"That I can't," said the old man.
+
+"If you can't, you must learn," said the soldier. "I will soon show
+you. Come along with me down to the wood-shed." There he dragged out a
+heavy log and cut a cleft in it, and drove in a wedge till the cleft
+deepened.
+
+"Now you must lie down and look right along the cleft, and you'll soon
+learn how to cut wood," said the soldier. "In the meantime I'll show
+you how to use the axe."
+
+The old man was not sufficiently cunning, and did as he was told; he
+lay down and looked steadily along the log. When the soldier saw the
+old man's beard had got well into the cleft, he struck out the wedge;
+the cleft closed and the old man was caught by the beard. The soldier
+began to beat him with the axe handle, and then swung the axe round
+his head, and vowed that he would split his skull if he did not tell
+him, there and then, where the _Princesses_ were.
+
+"Spare my life, spare my life, and I'll tell you!" said the old man.
+"To the east of the house there is a big mound; on top of the mound
+you must dig out a square piece of turf, and then you will see a big
+stone slab. Under that there is a deep hole through which you must let
+yourself down, and you'll then come to another world where you will
+find the _Princesses_. But the way is long and dark and it goes both
+through fire and water."
+
+When the soldier got to know this, he released the old man, who was
+not long in making off.
+
+When the captain and lieutenant came home they were surprised to find
+the soldier alive. He told them what had happened from first to last,
+where the _Princesses_ were and how they should find them. They
+became as pleased as if they had already found them, and when they had
+had some food, they took with them a basket and as much rope as they
+could find, and all three set off to the mound. There they first dug
+out the turf just as the old man had told them, and underneath they
+found a big stone slab, which it took all their strength to turn over.
+They then began to measure how deep it was; they joined on ropes both
+two and three times, but they were no nearer the bottom the last time
+than the first. At last they had to join all the ropes they had, both
+the coarse and fine, and then they found it reached the bottom.
+
+The captain was, of course, the first who wanted to descend; "But when
+I tug at the rope you must make haste to drag me up again," he said.
+He found the way both dark and unpleasant, but he thought he would go
+on as long as it became no worse. But all at once he felt ice cold
+water spouting about his ears; he became frightened to death and began
+tugging at the rope.
+
+The lieutenant was the next to try, but it fared no better with him.
+No sooner had he got through the flood of water than he saw a blazing
+fire yawning beneath him, which so frightened him that he also turned
+back.
+
+The soldier then got into the bucket, and down he went through fire
+and water, right on till he came to the bottom, where it was so pitch
+dark that he could not see his hand before him. He dared not let go
+the basket, but went round in a circle, feeling and fumbling about
+him. At last he discovered a gleam of light far, far away like the
+dawn of day, and he went on in that direction.
+
+When he had gone a bit it began to grow light around him, and before
+long he saw a golden sun rising in the sky and everything around him
+became as bright and beautiful as if in a fairy world.
+
+First he came to some cattle, which were so fat that their hides
+glistened a long way off, and when he had got past them he came to a
+fine, big palace. He walked through many rooms without meeting
+anybody. At last he heard the hum of a spinning wheel, and when he
+entered the room he found the eldest _Princess_ sitting there spinning
+copper yarn; the room and everything in it was of brightly polished
+copper.
+
+"Oh, dear; oh, dear! what are Christian people doing here?" said the
+_Princess_. "Heaven preserve you! what do you want?"
+
+"I want to set you free and get you out of the mountain," said the
+soldier.
+
+"Pray do not stay. If the troll comes home he will put an end to you
+at once; he has three heads," said she.
+
+"I do not care if he has four," said the soldier. "I am here, and here
+I shall remain."
+
+"Well, if you will be so headstrong, I must see if I can help you,"
+said the _Princess_.
+
+She then told him to creep behind the big brewing vat which stood in
+the front hall; meanwhile she would receive the troll and scratch his
+heads till he went to sleep.
+
+"And when I go out and call the hens you must make haste and come in,"
+she said. "But you must first try if you can swing the sword which is
+lying on the table." No, it was too heavy, he could not even move it.
+He had then to take a strengthening draught from the horn, which hung
+behind the door; after that he was just able to stir it, so he took
+another draught, and then he could lift it. At last he took a right,
+big draught, and he could swing the sword as easily as anything.
+
+All at once the troll came home; he walked so heavily that the palace
+shook.
+
+"Ugh, ugh! I smell Christian flesh and blood in my house," said he.
+
+"Yes," answered the _Princess_, "a raven flew past here just now, and
+in his beak he had a human bone, which he dropped down the chimney; I
+threw it out and swept and cleaned up after it, but I suppose it still
+smells."
+
+"So it does," said the troll.
+
+"But come and lie down and I'll scratch your heads," said the
+_Princess_; "the smell will be gone by the time you wake."
+
+[Illustration: The Troll was quite willing, and before long he fell
+asleep and began snoring.]
+
+The troll was quite willing, and before long he fell asleep and began
+snoring. When she saw he was sleeping soundly, she placed some stools
+and cushions under his heads and went to call the hens. The soldier
+then stole into the room with the sword, and with one blow cut all
+the three heads off the troll.
+
+The _Princess_ was as pleased as a fiddler, and went with the soldier
+to her sisters, so that he could also set them free. First of all they
+went across a courtyard and then through many long rooms till they
+came to a big door.
+
+"Here you must enter: here she is," said the _Princess_. When he
+opened the door he found himself in a large hall, where everything
+was of pure silver; there sat the second sister at a silver
+spinning-wheel.
+
+"Oh, dear; oh, dear!" she said. "What do you want here?"
+
+"I want to set you free from the troll," said the soldier.
+
+"Pray do not stay, but go," said the _Princess_. "If he finds you here
+he will take your life on the spot."
+
+"That would be awkward--that is if I don't take his first," said the
+soldier.
+
+"Well, since you will stay," she said, "you will have to creep behind
+the big brewing-vat in the front hall. But you must make haste and
+come as soon as you hear me calling the hens."
+
+First of all he had to try if he was able to swing the troll's sword,
+which lay on the table; it was much larger and heavier than the first
+one; he was hardly able to move it. He then took three draughts from
+the horn and he could then lift it, and when he had taken three more
+he could handle it as if it were a rolling pin.
+
+Shortly afterwards he heard a heavy, rumbling noise that was quite
+terrible, and directly afterwards a troll with six heads came in.
+
+"Ugh, ugh!" he said as soon as he got his noses inside the door. "I
+smell Christian blood and bone in my house."
+
+"Yes, just think! A raven came flying past here with a thigh-bone,
+which he dropped down the chimney," said the _Princess_. "I threw it
+out, but the raven brought it back again. At last I got rid of it and
+made haste to clean the room, but I suppose the smell is not quite
+gone," she said.
+
+"No, I can smell it well," said the troll; but he was tired and put
+his heads in the _Princess's_ lap, and she went on scratching them
+till they all fell a-snoring. Then she called the hens, and the
+soldier came and cut off all the six heads as if they were set on
+cabbage stalks.
+
+She was no less glad than her elder sister, as you may imagine, and
+danced and sang; but in the midst of their joy they remembered their
+youngest sister. They went with the soldier across a large courtyard,
+and, after walking through many, many rooms, he came to the hall of
+gold where the third sister was.
+
+She sat at a golden spinning-wheel spinning gold yarn, and the room
+from ceiling to floor glistened and glittered till it hurt one's
+eyes.
+
+"Heaven preserve both you and me, what do you want here?" said the
+_Princess_. "Go, go, else the troll will kill us both."
+
+"Just as well two as one," answered the soldier. The _Princess_ cried
+and wept; but it was all of no use, he must and would remain. Since
+there was no help for it he would have to try if he could use the
+troll's sword on the table in the front hall. But he was only just
+able to move it; it was still larger and heavier than the other two
+swords.
+
+He then had to take the horn down from the wall and take three
+draughts from it, but was only just able to stir the sword. When he
+had taken three more draughts he could lift it, and when he had taken
+another three he swung it as easily as if it had been a feather.
+
+The _Princess_ then settled with the soldier to do the same as her
+sisters had done. As soon as the troll was well asleep she would call
+the hens, and he must then make haste and come in and put an end to
+the troll.
+
+All of a sudden they heard such a thundering, rambling noise, as if
+the walls and roof were tumbling in.
+
+"Ugh! Ugh! I smell Christian blood and bone in my house," said the
+troll, sniffing with all his nine noses.
+
+"Yes, you never saw the like! Just now a raven flew past here and
+dropped a human bone down the chimney. I threw it out, but the raven
+brought it back, and this went on for some time," said the _Princess_;
+but she got it buried at last, she said, and she had both swept and
+cleaned the place, but she supposed it still smelt.
+
+"Yes, I can smell it well," said the troll.
+
+"Come here and lie down in my lap and I will scratch your heads," said
+the _Princess_. "The smell will be all gone when you awake."
+
+He did so, and when he was snoring at his best she put stools and
+cushions under the heads so that she could get away to call the hens.
+The soldier then came in in his stockinged feet and struck at the
+troll, so that eight of the heads fell off at one blow. But the sword
+was too short and did not reach far enough; the ninth head woke up and
+began to roar.
+
+"Ugh! Ugh! I smell a Christian."
+
+"Yes, here he is," answered the soldier, and before the troll could
+get up and seize hold of him the soldier struck him another blow and
+the last head rolled along the floor.
+
+You can well imagine how glad the _Princesses_ became now that they no
+longer had to sit and scratch the trolls' heads; they did not know how
+they could do enough for him who had saved them. The youngest
+_Princess_ took off her gold ring and knotted it in his hair. They
+then took with them as much gold and silver as they thought they
+could carry and set off on their way home.
+
+[Illustration: As soon as they tugged at the rope, the Captain and the
+Lieutenant pulled up the Princesses, the one after the other.]
+
+As soon as they tugged at the rope the captain and the lieutenant
+pulled up the _Princesses_, the one after the other. But when they
+were safely up, the soldier thought it was foolish of him not to have
+gone up before the _Princesses_, for he had not very much belief in
+his comrades. He thought he would first try them, so he put a heavy
+lump of gold in the basket and got out of the way. When the basket was
+half-way up they cut the rope and the lump of gold fell to the bottom
+with such a crash that the pieces flew about his ears.
+
+"Now we are rid of him," they said, and threatened the _Princesses_
+with their life if they did not say that it was they who had saved
+them from the trolls. They were forced to agree to this, much against
+their will, and especially the youngest _Princess_; but life was
+precious, and so the two who were strongest had their way.
+
+When the captain and lieutenant got home with the _Princesses_ you may
+be sure there were great rejoicings at the palace. The _King_ was so
+glad he didn't know which leg to stand on; he brought out his best
+wine from his cupboard and wished the two officers welcome. If they
+had never been honoured before they were honoured now in full measure,
+and no mistake. They walked and strutted about the whole of the day,
+as if they were the cocks of the walk, since they were now going to
+have the _King_ for father-in-law. For it was understood they should
+each have whichever of the _Princesses_ they liked and half the
+kingdom between them. They both wanted the youngest _Princess_, but
+for all they prayed and threatened her it was of no use; she would not
+hear or listen to either.
+
+They then asked the _King_ if they might have twelve men to watch over
+her; she was so sad and melancholy since she had been in the mountain
+that they were afraid she might do something to herself.
+
+Yes, that they might have, and the _King_ himself told the watch they
+must look well after her and follow her wherever she went and stood.
+
+They then began to prepare for the wedding of the two eldest
+sisters; it should be such a wedding as never was heard or spoken
+of before, and there was no end to the brewing and the baking and the
+slaughtering.
+
+In the meantime the soldier walked and strolled about down in the
+other world. He thought it was hard that he should see neither people
+nor daylight any more; but he would have to do something, he thought,
+and so for many days he went about from room to room and opened all
+the drawers and cupboards and searched about on the shelves and looked
+at all the fine things that were there. At last he came to a drawer in
+a table, in which there lay a golden key; he tried this key to all the
+locks he could find, but there was none it fitted till he came to a
+little cupboard over the bed, and in that he found an old rusty
+whistle. "I wonder if there is any sound in it," he thought, and put
+it to his mouth. No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing
+and a whirring from all quarters, and such a large flock of birds
+swept down, that they blackened all the field in which they settled.
+
+[Illustration: No sooner had he whistled than he heard a whizzing and a
+whirring from all quarters, and such a large flock of birds swept down
+that they blackened all the field in which they settled.]
+
+"What does our master want to-day?" they asked.
+
+If he were their master, the soldier said, he would like to know if
+they could tell him how to get up to the earth again. No, none of them
+knew anything about that; "But our mother has not yet arrived," they
+said; "if she can't help you, no one can."
+
+So he whistled once more, and shortly heard something flapping its
+wings far away, and then it began to blow so hard that he was carried
+away between the houses like a wisp of hay across the courtyard, and
+if he had not caught hold of the fence he would no doubt have been
+blown away altogether.
+
+A big eagle--bigger than you can imagine--then swooped down in front
+of him.
+
+"You come rather sharply," said the soldier.
+
+"As you whistle so I come," answered the eagle. So he asked her if she
+knew any means by which he could get away from the world in which they
+were.
+
+"You can't get away from here unless you can fly," said the eagle,
+"but if you will slaughter twelve oxen for me, so that I can have a
+really good meal, I will try and help you. Have you got a knife?"
+
+"No, but I have a sword," he said. When the eagle had swallowed the
+twelve oxen she asked the soldier to kill one more for victuals on the
+journey. "Every time I gape you must be quick and fling a piece into
+my mouth," she said, "else I shall not be able to carry you up to
+earth."
+
+He did as she asked him and hung two large bags of meat round her neck
+and seated himself among her feathers. The eagle then began to flap
+her wings and off they went through the air like the wind. It was as
+much as the soldier could do to hold on, and it was with the greatest
+difficulty he managed to throw the pieces of flesh into the eagle's
+mouth every time she opened it.
+
+At last the day began to dawn, and the eagle was then almost exhausted
+and began flapping with her wings, but the soldier was prepared and
+seized the last hind quarter and flung it to her. Then she gained
+strength and brought him up to earth. When she had sat and rested a
+while at the top of a large pine-tree she set off with him again at
+such a pace that flashes of lightning were seen both by sea and land
+wherever they went.
+
+Close to the palace the soldier got off and the eagle flew home again,
+but first she told him that if he at any time should want her he need
+only blow the whistle and she would be there at once.
+
+In the meantime everything was ready at the palace, and the time
+approached when the captain and lieutenant were to be married with the
+two eldest _Princesses_, who, however, were not much happier than
+their youngest sister; scarcely a day passed without weeping and
+mourning, and the nearer the wedding-day approached the more sorrowful
+did they become.
+
+At last the _King_ asked what was the matter with them; he thought it
+was very strange that they were not merry and happy now that they
+were saved and had been set free and were going to be married. They
+had to give some answer, and so the eldest sister said they never
+would be happy any more unless they could get such checkers as they
+had played with in the blue mountain.
+
+That, thought the _King_, could be easily managed, and so he sent word
+to all the best and cleverest goldsmiths in the country that they
+should make these checkers for the _Princesses_. For all they tried
+there was no one who could make them. At last all the goldsmiths had
+been to the palace except one, and he was an old, infirm man who had
+not done any work for many years except odd jobs, by which he was just
+able to keep himself alive. To him the soldier went and asked to be
+apprenticed. The old man was so glad to get him, for he had not had an
+apprentice for many a day, that he brought out a flask from his chest
+and sat down to drink with the soldier. Before long the drink got into
+his head, and when the soldier saw this he persuaded him to go up to
+the palace and tell the _King_ that he would undertake to make the
+checkers for the _Princesses_.
+
+He was ready to do that on the spot; he had made finer and grander
+things in his day, he said. When the _King_ heard there was some one
+outside who could make the checkers he was not long in coming out.
+
+"Is it true what you say, that you can make such checkers as my
+daughters want?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, it is no lie," said the goldsmith; that he would answer for.
+
+"That's well!" said the _King_. "Here is the gold to make them with;
+but if you do not succeed you will lose your life, since you have come
+and offered yourself, and they must be finished in three days."
+
+The next morning when the goldsmith had slept off the effects of the
+drink, he was not quite so confident about the job. He wailed and wept
+and blew up his apprentice, who had got him into such a scrape while
+he was drunk. The best thing would be to make short work of himself at
+once, he said, for there could be no hope for his life; when the best
+and grandest goldsmiths could not make such checkers, was it likely
+that he could do it?
+
+"Don't fret on that account," said the soldier, "but let me have the
+gold and I'll get the checkers ready in time; but I must have a room
+to myself to work in," he said. This he got, and thanks into the
+bargain.
+
+The time wore on, and the soldier did nothing but lounge about, and
+the goldsmith began to grumble, because he would not begin with the
+work.
+
+"Don't worry yourself about it," said the soldier, "there is plenty of
+time! If you are not satisfied with what I have promised you had
+better make them yourself." The same thing went on both that day and
+the next; and when the smith heard neither hammer nor file from the
+soldier's room the whole of the last day, he quite gave himself up for
+lost; it was now no use to think any longer about saving his life, he
+thought.
+
+But when the night came on the soldier opened the window and blew his
+whistle. The eagle then came and asked what he wanted.
+
+"Those gold checkers, which the _Princesses_ had in the blue
+mountain," said the soldier; "but you'll want something to eat first,
+I suppose? I have two ox carcases lying ready for you in the hay-loft
+yonder; you had better finish them," he said. When the eagle had done
+she did not tarry, and long before the sun rose she was back again
+with the checkers. The soldier then put them under his bed and lay
+down to sleep.
+
+Early next morning the goldsmith came and knocked at his door.
+
+"What are you after now again?" asked the soldier. "You rush about
+enough in the day, goodness knows! If one cannot have peace when one
+is in bed, whoever would be an apprentice here?" said he.
+
+Neither praying nor begging helped that time; the goldsmith must and
+would come in, and at last he was let in.
+
+And then, you may be sure, there was soon an end to his wailing.
+
+But still more glad than the goldsmith were the _Princesses_, when he
+came up to the palace with the checkers, and gladdest of all was the
+youngest _Princess_.
+
+"Have you made them yourself?" she asked.
+
+"No, if I must speak the truth, it is not I," he said, "but my
+apprentice, who has made them."
+
+"I should like to see that apprentice," said the _Princess_. In fact
+all three wanted to see him, and if he valued his life, he would have
+to come.
+
+He was not afraid, either of women-folk or grand-folk, said the
+soldier, and if it could be any amusement to them to look at his rags,
+they should soon have that pleasure.
+
+The youngest _Princess_ recognised him at once; she pushed the
+soldiers aside and ran up to him, gave him her hand, and said:
+
+"Good day, and many thanks for all you have done for us. It is he who
+freed us from the trolls in the mountain," she said to the _King_. "He
+is the one I will have!" and then she pulled off his cap and showed
+them the ring she had tied in his hair.
+
+It soon came out how the captain and lieutenant had behaved, and so
+they had to pay the penalty of their treachery with their lives, and
+that was the end of their grandeur. But the soldier got the golden
+crown and half the kingdom, and married the youngest _Princess_.
+
+At the wedding they drank and feasted both well and long; for feast
+they all could, even if they could not find the _Princesses_, and if
+they have not yet done feasting and drinking they must be at it
+still.
+
+
+
+
+THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL
+
+
+Once on a time there was a man up in Finnmark who had caught a great
+white bear, which he was going to take to the King of Denmark. Now, it
+so fell out, that he came to the _Dovrefell_ just about Christmas Eve,
+and there he turned into a cottage where a man lived, whose name was
+Halvor, and asked the man if he could get house-room there for his
+bear and himself.
+
+"Heaven never help me, if what I say isn't true!" said the man; "but
+we can't give anyone house-room just now, for every Christmas Eve such
+a pack of _Trolls_ come down upon us, that we are forced to flit, and
+haven't so much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of
+lending one to anyone else."
+
+"Oh?" said the man, "if that's all, you can very well lend me your
+house; my bear can lie under the stove yonder, and I can sleep in the
+side-room."
+
+Well, he begged so hard, that at last he got leave to stay there; so
+the people of the house flitted out, and before they went, everything
+was got ready for the _Trolls_; the tables were laid, and there was
+rice porridge, and fish boiled in lye, and sausages, and all else that
+was good, just as for any other grand feast.
+
+So, when everything was ready, down came the _Trolls_. Some were
+great, and some were small; some had long tails, and some had no tails
+at all; some, too, had long, long noses; and they ate and drank, and
+tasted everything. Just then one of the little _Trolls_ caught sight
+of the white bear, who lay under the stove; so he took a piece of
+sausage and stuck it on a fork, and went and poked it up against the
+bear's nose, screaming out:
+
+"Pussy, will you have some sausage?"
+
+Then the white bear rose up and growled, and hunted the whole pack of
+them out of doors, both great and small.
+
+Next year Halvor was out in the wood, on the afternoon of Christmas
+Eve, cutting wood before the holidays, for he thought the _Trolls_
+would come again; and just as he was hard at work, he heard a voice in
+the wood calling out:
+
+"Halvor! Halvor!"
+
+"Well," said Halvor, "here I am."
+
+"Have you got your big cat with you still?"
+
+"Yes, that I have," said Halvor; "she's lying at home under the stove,
+and what's more, she has now got seven kittens, far bigger and fiercer
+than she is herself."
+
+"Oh, then, we'll never come to see you again," bawled out the _Troll_
+away in the wood, and he kept his word; for since that time the
+_Trolls_ have never eaten their Christmas brose with Halvor on the
+_Dovrefell_.
+
+
+
+
+ONE'S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST
+
+
+A sportsman went out once into a wood to shoot, and he met a _Snipe_.
+
+"Dear friend," said the _Snipe_, "don't shoot my children!"
+
+"How shall I know your children?" asked the _Sportsman_. "What are
+they like?"
+
+"Oh!" said the _Snipe_, "mine are the prettiest children in all the
+wood."
+
+"Very well," said the _Sportsman_, "I'll not shoot them; don't be
+afraid."
+
+But for all that, when he came back, there he had a whole string of
+young snipes in his hand which he had shot.
+
+"Oh, oh!" said the _Snipe_, "why did you shoot my children after
+all?"
+
+"What! these your children!" said the _Sportsman_; "why, I shot the
+ugliest I could find, that I did!"
+
+"Woe is me!" said the _Snipe_; "don't you know that each one thinks
+his own children the prettiest in the world?"
+
+
+
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+  Illustrations have been moved closer to their relevant paragraphs.
+  The page numbers in the List of Illustrations do not reflect the new
+  placement of the illustrations, but are as in the original.
+
+  Author's archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation is
+  preserved.
+
+  Author's punctuation style is preserved.
+
+  Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.
+
+  Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=.
+
+  Typographical problems have been changed and are listed below.
+
+
+Transcriber's Changes:
+
+  TOC: Page number for "The Cat on the Dovrefell" was corrected from
+           '201' to '200'
+
+  TOC: Page number for "One's Own Children are Always Prettiest" was
+           corrected from '205' to '203'
+
+  Page 25: Was 'over over' (the _Prince_ made as if he drank, but
+           threw it =over= his shoulder)
+
+  Page 38: Added italics (But the =_Troll_=, as he lay in bed, swore
+           it was all a lie.)
+
+  Page 43: Added 'to': Was 'it her' (he pulled open his waistcoat and
+           shirt to show =it to her=.)
+
+  Page 55: Added italics (Some time after this, the =_King_= went away
+           to the wars)
+
+  Page 59: Standardised hyphenation from 'witchwoman' ("Well, you
+           needn't be," said the =witch-woman=. "All that can be set
+           right in a twinkling)
+
+  Page 94: Removed extra double-quote ("To Whiteland," said the
+           _King_; =and= then he told him all that had befallen him.)
+
+  Page 125: Added italics (Then back came the =_Giant_=.)
+
+  Page 155: Was 'again.' (home to fetch something to hew their way
+            through the wood. But at last the _Horse_ said =again:=)
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, by
+Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Engebretsen Moe
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