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diff --git a/old/60095-0.txt b/old/60095-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bb17d9f..0000000 --- a/old/60095-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5639 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Croatian Tales of Long Ago, by Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic - -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/license - - -Title: Croatian Tales of Long Ago - -Author: Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic - -Illustrator: Vladimir Kirin - -Translator: Fanny S. Copeland - -Release Date: August 12, 2019 [EBook #60095] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROATIAN TALES OF LONG AGO *** - - - - -Produced by Peter Podgorsek, Barry Abrahamsen, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - CROATIAN TALES - OF LONG AGO - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - Croatian Tales of Long Ago - - BY - IVANA BRLIĆ-MAŽURANIĆ - -[Illustration] - - TRANSLATED BY - F. S. COPELAND - - - NEW YORK - FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - (_All rights reserved_) - - _Printed in Great Britain_ - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - - Page - - How Quest Sought the Truth 9 - - Fisherman Plunk and His Wife 55 - - Reygoch 93 - - Bridesman Sun and Bride Bridekins 137 - - Stribor’s Forest 161 - - Little Brother Primrose and Sister 185 - Lavender - - Notes 255 - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - BY - VLADIMIR KIRIN - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - How Quest Sought the Truth - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - How Quest Sought the Truth - - - I - - -[Illustration] - -ONCE upon a time very long ago there lived an old man in a glade in the -midst of an ancient forest. His name was Witting, and he lived there -with his three grandsons. Now this old man was all alone in the world -save for these three grandsons, and he had been father and mother to -them from the time when they were quite little. But now they were -full-grown lads, so tall that they came up to their grandfather’s -shoulder, and even taller. Their names were Bluster, Careful and Quest. - -One spring morning old Witting got up early, before the sun had risen, -called his three grandsons and told them to go into the wood where they -had gathered honey last year; to see how the little bees had come -through the winter, and whether they had waked up yet from their winter -sleep. Careful, Bluster and Quest got up, dressed, and went out. - -It was a good way to the place where the bees lived. Now all three -brothers knew every pathway in the woods, and so they strode cheerily -and boldly along through the great forest. All the same it was somewhat -dark and eerie under the trees, for the sun was not yet up and neither -bird nor beast stirring. Presently the lads began to feel a little -scared in that great silence, because just at dawn, before sunrise, the -wicked Rampogusto, King of Forest Goblins, loves to range the forest, -gliding softly from tree to tree in the gloom. - -So the brothers started to ask one another about all the wonderful -things there might be in the world. But as not one of them had ever been -outside the forest, none could tell the others anything about the world; -and so they only became more and more depressed. At last, to keep up -their courage a bit, they began to sing and call upon All-Rosy to bring -out the Sun: - - Little lord All-Rosy bright. - Bring golden Sun to give us light; - Show thyself, All-Rosy bright, - Loora-la, Loora-la lay! - -Singing at the top of their voices, the lads walked through the woods -towards a spot from where they could see a second range of mountains. As -they neared the spot they saw a light above those mountains brighter -than they had ever seen before, and it fluttered like a golden banner. - -The lads were dumbfounded with amazement, when all of a sudden the light -vanished from off the mountain and reappeared above a great rock nearer -at hand, then still nearer, above an old limetree, and at last shone -like burnished gold right in front of them. And then they saw that it -was a lovely youth in glittering raiment, and that it was his golden -cloak which fluttered like a golden banner. They could not bear to look -upon the face of the youth, but covered their eyes with their hands for -very fear. - -“Why do you call me, if you are afraid of me, you silly fellows?” -laughed the golden youth—for he was All-Rosy. “You call on All-Rosy, and -then you are afraid of All-Rosy. You talk about the wide world, but you -do not know the wide world. Come along with me and I will show you the -world, both earth and heaven, and tell you what is in store for you.” - -Thus spoke All-Rosy, and twirled his golden cloak so that he caught up -Bluster, Careful and Quest, all three in its shimmering folds. Round -went All-Rosy and round went the cloak, and the brothers, clinging to -the hem of the cloak, spun round with it, round and round and round -again, and all the world passed before their eyes. First they saw all -the treasure and all the lands and all the possessions and the riches -that were then in the world. And they went on whirling round and round -and round again, and saw all the armies, and all spears and all arrows -and all the captains and all plunder which were then in the world. And -the cloak twirled yet more quickly, round and round and round again, and -all of a sudden they saw all the stars, great and small, and the moon -and the Seven Sisters and the winds and all the clouds. The brothers -were quite dazed with so many sights, and still the cloak went on -twirling and whirling with a rustling, rushing sound like a golden -banner. At last the golden hem fluttered down; and Bluster, Careful and -Quest stood once more on the turf. Before them stood the golden youth -All-Rosy as before, and said to them: - -“There, my lads, now you have seen all there is to see in the world. -Listen to what is in store for you and what you must do to be lucky.” - -At that the brothers became more scared than ever, yet they pricked up -their ears and paid good heed, so as to remember everything very -carefully. But All-Rosy went on at once: - -“There! this is what you must do. Stay in the glade, and don’t leave -your grandfather until he leaves you; and do not go into the world, -neither for good nor for evil, until you have repaid your grandfather -for all his love to you.” And as All-Rosy said this, he twirled his -cloak round and vanished, as though he had never been; and lo, it was -day in the forest. - -But Rampogusto, King of the Forest Goblins, had seen and heard -everything. Like a wraith of mist he had slipped from tree to tree and -kept himself hidden from the brothers among the branches of an old -beech-tree. - -Rampogusto had always hated old Witting. He hated him as a mean -scoundrel hates an upright man, and above all things he hated him -because the old man had brought the sacred fire to the glade so that it -might never go out, and the smoke of that fire made Rampogusto cough -most horribly. - -So Rampogusto wasn’t pleased with the idea that the brothers should obey -All-Rosy, and stay beside their grandfather and look after him; but he -bethought himself how he could harm old Witting, and somehow turn his -grandsons against him. - -[Illustration] - -Therefore, no sooner had Bluster, Careful and Quest recovered from their -amazement and turned to go home than Rampogusto slipped swiftly, like a -cloud before the wind, to a wooded glen where there was a big osier -clump, which was chock-full of goblins—tiny, ugly, humpy, grubby, -boss-eyed, and what not, all playing about like mad creatures. They -squeaked and they squawked, they jumped and they romped; they were a -pack of harum-scarum imps, no good to anybody and no harm either, so -long as a man did not take them into his company. But Rampogusto knew -how to manage that. - -So he picked out three of them, and told them to jump each on one of the -brothers, and see how they might harm old Witting through his grandsons. - -Now while Rampogusto was busy choosing his goblins, Bluster, Careful and -Quest went on their way; and so scared were they that they clean forgot -all they had seen during their flight and everything that All-Rosy had -told them. - -So they came back to the cabin, and sat down on a stone outside and told -their grandfather what had happened to them. - -“And what did you see as you were flying round, and what did All-Rosy -tell you?” Witting asked Careful, his eldest grandson. Now Careful was -in a real fix, because he had clean forgotten, neither could he remember -what All-Rosy had told him. But from under the stone where they were -sitting crept a wee hobgoblin—ugly and horned and grey as a mouse. - -The goblin tweaked Careful’s shirt from behind and whispered: “Say: I -have seen great riches, hundreds of beehives, a house of carved wood and -heaps of fine furs. And All-Rosy said to me: ‘Thou shalt be the richest -of all the three brothers.’” - -Careful never bothered to think whether this was the truth that the imp -was suggesting, but just turned and repeated it word for word to his -grandfather. No sooner had he spoken than the goblin hopped into his -pouch, curled himself up in a corner of the pouch—and there stopped! - -Then Witting asked Bluster, the second grandson, what he might have seen -in his flight, and what All-Rosy might have told him? And Bluster, too, -had noticed nothing and remembered nothing. But from under the stone -crept the second hobgoblin, quite small, ill-favoured, horned and smutty -as a polecat. The goblin plucked Bluster by the shirt and whispered: -“Say: I saw lots of armed men, many bows and arrows and slaves galore in -chains. And All-Rosy said to me: ‘Thou shalt be the mightiest of the -brothers.’” - -Bluster considered no more than Careful had done, but was very pleased, -and lied to his grandfather even as the goblin had prompted him. And the -goblin at once jumped on his neck and crawled down his shirt, hid in his -bosom, and stopped there. - -Now the grandfather asked the youngest grandson, Quest, but he, too, -could recall nothing. And from under the stone crept the third -hobgoblin, the youngest, the ugliest, horned with big horns, and black -as a mole. - -The hobgoblin tugged Quest by the shirt and whispered: “Say: I have seen -all the heavens and all the stars and all clouds. And All-Rosy said to -me: ‘Thou shalt be the wisest among men and know what the winds say and -the stars tell.’” - -But Quest loved the truth, and so he would not listen to the goblin nor -lie to his grandfather, but kicked the goblin and said to his -grandfather: - -“I don’t know, grandfather, what I saw or what I heard.” - -The goblin gave a squeal, bit Quest’s foot, and then scuttled away under -the stone like a lizard. But Quest gathered potent herbs and bound up -his foot with them, so that it might heal quickly. - - - II - -Now the goblin whom Quest had kicked first scooted away under the stone, -and then wriggled into the grass, and hopped off through the grass into -the woods, and through the woods into the osier clump. - -He went up to Rampogusto all shaking with fright and said: “Rampogusto, -dread sovereign, I wasn’t able to jump on that youth whom you gave into -my care.” - -Then Rampogusto fell into a frightful rage, because he knew those three -brothers well, and most of all he feared Quest, lest he should remember -the truth. For if Quest were to remember the truth, why, then Rampogusto -would never be able to get rid of old Witting nor the sacred fire. - -So he seized the little goblin by the horns, picked him up and dusted -him soundly with a big birchrod. - -“Go back!” he roared—“go back to the young man, and it will be a black -day for you if ever he remembers the truth!” - -With these words Rampogusto let the goblin go; and the goblin, scared -half out of his wits, squatted for three days in the osier clump and -considered and considered how he might fulfil his difficult task. “I -shall have as much trouble with Quest, for sure, as Quest with me,” -reflected the goblin. For he was a scatter-brained little silly, and did -not care at all for a tiresome job. - -But while he squatted in the osier clump those other two imps were -already at work, the one in Careful’s pouch and the other in Bluster’s -bosom. From that day forth Careful and Bluster began to rove over hill -and dale, and even slept but little at home—and all because of the -goblins! - -There was the goblin curled up in the bottom of Careful’s pouch, and -that goblin loved riches better than the horn over his right eye. - -So all day long he butted Careful in the ribs, teasing and goading him -on: “Hurry up, get on! We must seek, we must find! Let’s look for bees, -let’s gather honey, and then we will keep a tally with rows and rows of -scores!” - -So said the goblin, because in those days they reckoned up a man’s -possessions with tallies. - -Now a tally is only a long wooden stick with a notch cut in it for every -sum that is owing to a man! - -But Bluster’s goblin butted him in the breast, and that goblin wanted to -be the strongest of all and lord of all the earth. So he worried and -worried Bluster, and urged him to roam through the woods looking for -young ash plants and slender maple saplings to make a warrior’s outfit -and weapons. “Hurry up, get on!” teased the goblin. “You must seek, you -must find! Spears, bows and arrows to suit a hero’s mind, so that man -and beast may tremble before us.” - -And both Bluster and Careful listened to their goblins, and went off -after their own concerns as the goblins led them. - -But Quest stayed with his grandfather that day and yet other three days, -and all the time he puzzled and puzzled over whatever it was that -All-Rosy might have told him; because Quest wanted to tell his -grandfather the truth; but, alas! he could not remember it at all! - -So that day went by, and the next, and so three days; and on the third -day Quest said to his grandfather: - -“Good-bye, grandfather. I am going to the hills, and shall not come back -until I remember the truth, if it should take me ten years.” - -Now Witting’s hair was grey, and there was little he cared for in this -world except his grandson Quest, and him he loved and cherished as a -withered leaf cherishes a drop of dew. So the old man started sadly and -said: - -“What good will the truth be to me, my boy, when I may be dead and gone -long before you remember it?” - -This he said, and in his heart he grieved far more even than he showed -in his words; and he thought: “How could the boy leave me!” - -But Quest replied: - -“I must go, grandfather, because I have thought it out, and that seems -the right thing to me.” - -Witting was a wise old man, and considered: “Perhaps there is more -wisdom in a young head than in an old one; only if the poor lad is doing -wrong it’s a sad weird he will have to dree—because he is so gentle and -upright.” And as Witting thought of that he grew sadder than ever, but -said nothing more. He just kissed his grandson good-bye and bade him go -where he wished. - -But Quest’s heart sadly misgave him because of his grandfather, and he -very, very nearly changed his mind on the threshold and stayed beside -him. But he forced himself to do as he had made up his mind to, and went -out and away into the hills. - -Just as Quest parted from his grandfather his imp thought he might as -well get out of the osier clump and tackle that tiresome job; and he -reached the clearing just as Quest was hurrying away. - -So Quest went off to the hills, very downcast and sad; and when he came -to the first rock, lo and behold, there was the goblin, gibbering. - -“Why,” thought Quest, “it’s the very same one—quite small, misshapen, -black as a mole and with big horns.” - -The goblin stood right in Quest’s way, and would not let him pass. So -Quest got angry with the little monster for hindering him like this; he -picked up a stone, threw it at the goblin, and hit him squarely between -the horns. “Now I’ve killed him,” thought Quest. - -But when he looked again there was the goblin as spry as ever, and two -more horns had sprouted where the stone had hit him! - -“Well, evidently stones won’t drive him off,” said Quest. So he went -round the goblin and forward on his way. But the imp scuttled on in -front of him, to the right and to the left, and then straight in front, -for all the world like a rabbit. - -At last they came to a little level spot between cliffs—a very stony -place; and on one side of it there was a deep well-spring. “Here will I -stay,” said Quest; and he at once spread out his sheep-skin coat under a -crab-tree and sat down, so that he might reflect in peace and remember -what All-Rosy had verily and truly told him. - -But when the imp saw that, he squatted down straight in front of Quest -under the tree, played silly tricks on him, and worried him horribly. He -chased lizards under Quest’s feet, threw burrs at his shirt, and slipped -grasshoppers up his sleeves. - -“Oh dear, this is most annoying!” thought Quest, when it had gone on for -some little time. “I have left my wise old grandfather, my brothers and -my home, so that I might be in quiet and remember the truth—and here am -I wasting my time with this horned imp of mischief!” - -But as he had come out in a good cause, he nevertheless thought it the -right thing to stay where he was. - - - III - -So Quest and the goblin lived together on that lone ledge between the -cliffs, and each day was like the first. The goblin worried Quest so -that he couldn’t get on with his thinking. - -On a clear morning Quest would rise from sleep and feel happy. “How -still it is, how lovely! Surely to-day I shall remember the truth!” And -lo, from the branch overhead a handful of crabs would come tumbling -about his ears, so that his head buzzed and his thoughts all got mixed. -And there was the little monster mocking him from the crabtree and -laughing fit to burst. Or Quest would be lying in the shade, thinking -most beautifully, till he felt like saying: “There, there now, _now_ it -will come back to me, _now_ I shall puzzle out the truth!” And then the -goblin would squirt him all over with ice-cold water from the spring -through a hollow elder twig—and again Quest would clean forget what he -had already thought out. - -There was no silly trick nor idle joke that the goblin did not play on -Quest on the ledge there. And yet all might have been well, if Quest -hadn’t found it just a tiny bit amusing to watch these tomfooleries; and -though he was thinking hard about his task, yet his eyes _would_ wander -and look round to see what the imp might be doing next. - -Quest was angry with himself over this, because he was wearying more and -more for his grandfather, and he saw full well that he would never -remember the truth while the goblin was about. - -“I must get rid of him,” said Quest. - -Well, one fine morning the goblin invented a new game. He climbed up the -cliff where there was a steep water-course in the face of the rock, got -astride a smooth bit of wood as if it had been a hobby-horse, and then -scooted down the water-course like a streak of lightning! This prank -pleased the little wretch so mightily that he must needs have company to -enjoy it the better! So he whistled on a blade of grass till it rang -over hill and dale, and lo, from scrub and rock and osier clump the -goblins came scuttling along, all tiny like himself. He gave orders, and -every man-jack of them took a stick and shinned up the cliff with it. My -word! how they got astride their hobby-horses and hurtled down the -water-course! There were all sorts and sizes and kinds of goblins—red as -a robin’s breast, green as greenfinches, woolly as lambs, naked as -frogs, horned as snails, bald as mice. They careered down the -water-course like a crazy company on crazy horses. Down they flew, each -close at the other’s heels, never stopping till they came to the middle -of the ledge; and there was a great stone all overgrown with moss. There -they were brought up short, and what with the bump of stopping so -suddenly and sheer high spirits they tumbled and scrambled about all -atop of one another in the moss! - -Shrieking with glee, the silly crew had made the trip some two or three -times already, and poor Quest was hard put to it between two thoughts. -For one thing, he wanted to watch the imps and be amused by them, and -for another he was angry with them for making such a hullabaloo that he -could not remember the truth. So he shilly-shallied awhile, and at last -he said: “Well, this is past a joke. I must get rid of these -good-for-nothing loons, because while they are here I might as well have -stopped at home.” - -And as Quest considered the matter, he noticed that as they rushed down -the water-course they made straight for the spring, and that, but for -the big stone, they would all have toppled into it head foremost. So -Quest crouched behind the stone, and when the imps came dashing down -again guffawing and chuckling as before, he quickly rolled the stone -aside, and the whole mad party rushed straight on to the -well-spring—right on to it and then into it, head first, each on top of -the other—red as robin’s breasts, green as greenfinches, woolly as -lambs, naked as frogs, horned as snails, bald-headed as mice—and first -of all the one who had fastened himself on to Quest.... - -And then Quest tipped a big flat stone over the well, and all the -goblins were caught inside like flies in a pitcher. - -Quest was ever so pleased to have got rid of the goblins, sat down and -made sure he would now recollect the truth in good earnest. - -But he had no luck, because down in the well the goblins began to -wriggle and to ramp as never before. Through every gap and chink shot up -tiny flames which the goblins gave out in their fright and distress. The -flames danced and wavered round the spring till Quest’s head was all in -a whirl. He closed his eyes, so that their flashing should not make him -giddy. - -But then there arose from the pit such a noise, hubbub, knocking and -banging, barking and yowling, such yelling and shrieking for help, that -Quest’s ears were like to burst; and how could he even try to think -through it? He stopped his ears so as not to hear. - -Then a smell of brimstone and sulphur drifted over to him. Through every -crack and crevice oozed thick sooty smoke which the imps belched forth -in their extremity. Smoke and sulphur fumes writhed round Quest; they -choked and smothered him. - -So Quest saw there was no help for it. “Goblins shut up,” said he, “are -a hundred times worse than goblins at large. So I’ll just go and let -them out, since I can’t get rid of them anyhow. After all, I am better -off with their tomfooleries than with all that yammering.” - -So he went and lifted off the stone; and the terrified goblins scuttled -away in all directions like so many wild cats, and ran away into the -woods and never came back to the ledge any more. - -None stayed behind, but only the one black as a mole and with big horns, -because he did not dare to leave Quest for fear of Rampogusto. - -But even he sobered down a little from that day forward, and had more -respect for Quest than before. - -And so these two came to a sort of arrangement between them; they got -used to one another and lived side by side on the stony ledge. - -In that way close on to a year slipped by, and Quest was no nearer -remembering what All-Rosy had really truly told him. - -When the year was almost gone the goblin began to be most horribly -bored. - -“How much longer have I got to stick here?” thought he. So one evening, -just as Quest was about to fall asleep, the imp wriggled up to him and -said: - -“Well, my friend, here you’ve been sitting for close on a year and a -day, and what’s the good of it? Who knows but perhaps in the meantime -your old grand-dad has died all alone in his cabin.” - -[Illustration] - -A pang shot through Quest’s heart as if he had been struck with a knife, -but he said: “There, I have made up my mind not to budge from here until -I remember the truth, because truth comes before all things.” Thus said -Quest, because he was upright and of good parts. - -But all the same he was deeply troubled by what the goblin had said -about his grandfather. He never slept a wink all night, but racked his -brains and thought: “How is it with the old man, my dear grandfather?” - - - IV - -Now all this time the grandfather went on living with Careful and -Bluster in the glade—only life had taken a very sad turn for the old -man. His grandsons ceased to trouble about him, nor would they stay near -him. They bade him neither “Good-morning” nor “Good-night,” and only -went about their own affairs and listened to the goblins they harboured, -the one in his pouch and the other in his bosom. - -Every day Careful brought more bees from the forest, felled timber, -shaped rafters, and gradually built a new cabin. He carved himself ten -tallies, and every day he counted and reckoned over and over again when -these tallies would be filled up. - -As for Bluster, he went hunting and reiving, bringing home game and -furs, plunder and treasure; and one day he even brought along two slaves -whom he had taken, so that they might work for the brothers and wait -upon them. - -All this was very hard and disagreeable for the old man, and harder and -more disagreeable still were the looks he got from his grandsons. What -use had they for an old man who would not be served by the slaves, but -disgraced his grandsons by cutting wood and drawing water from the well -for himself? At last there wasn’t a thing about the old man that didn’t -annoy his grandsons, even this, that every day he would put a log on the -sacred fire. - -Old Witting saw very well whither all this would lead, and that very -soon they would be thinking of getting rid of him altogether. He did not -care so much about his life, because life was not much use to him, but -he was sorry to die before seeing Quest once more, the dear lad who was -the joy of his old age. - -One evening—and it was the very evening when Quest was so troubled in -his mind thinking of his grandfather—Careful said to Bluster: “Come -along, brother, let’s get rid of grandfather. You have weapons. Wait for -him by the well and kill him.” - -Now Careful said this because he specially wanted the old cabin at all -costs, so as to put up beehives on that spot. “I can’t,” replied -Bluster, whose heart had not grown so hard, amidst bloodshed and -robbery, as Careful’s among his riches and his tallies. - -But Careful would not give over, because the imp in his bag went on -whispering and nagging. The imp in his pouch knew very well that Careful -would be the first to put the old man away, and so gain him great credit -with Rampogusto. - -Careful tried hard to talk over Bluster, but Bluster could not bring -himself to kill his grandfather with his own hand. So at last they -agreed and arranged that they would that very night burn down the old -man’s hut—burn it down with the old man inside! - -When all was quiet in the glade, they sent out the slaves to watch the -traps in the woods that night. But the brothers crept up softly to -Witting’s cabin, shut the outer door tight with a thick wedge, so that -the old man might not escape from the flames, and then set fire to the -four corners of the house.... - -When all was done they went away and away into the hills so as not to -hear their poor old grandfather crying out for help. They made up their -minds to go over the whole of the mountain as far as they could, and not -to come back until next day, when all would be over, and their -grandfather and the cabin would be burnt up together. - -So they went, and the flames began to lick upwards slowly round the -corners. But the rafters were of seasoned walnut, hard as stone, and -though the fire licked and crept all round them it could not catch -properly, and so it was late at night before the flames took hold of the -roof. - -Old Witting awoke, opened his eyes and saw that the roof was ablaze over -his head. He got up and went to the door, and when he found that it was -fastened with a heavy wedge he knew at once whose doing it was. - -“Oh, my children! my poor darlings!” said the old man, “you have taken -from your hearts to add to your wretched tallies; and behold, your -tallies are not even full, and there are many notches still lacking; but -your hearts are empty to the bottom already, since you could burn your -own grandfather and the cabin where you were born.” - -That was all the thought that Father Witting gave to Careful and -Bluster. After that he thought neither good nor bad about them, nor did -he grieve over them further, but went and sat down quietly to wait for -death. - -He sat on the oak chest and meditated upon his long life; and whatever -there had been in it, there was nothing he was sorry for save only this, -that Quest was not with him in his last hour—Quest, his darling child, -for whom he had grieved so much. - -So he sat still, while the roof was already blazing away like a torch. - -The rafters burned and burned, the ceiling began to crack. It blazed, -cracked, then gave way on either side of the old man, and rafters and -ceiling crashed down amid the flames into the cabin. The flames billowed -round Witting, the roof gaped above his head. Already he saw the dawn -pale in the sky before sunrise. Old Witting rose to his feet, raised his -hands to heaven, and so waited for the flames to carry him away from -this world, the old man and his old homestead together. - - - V - -Quest worried terribly that night, and when morning broke he went to the -spring to cool his burning face. - -The sun was just up in the sky when Quest reached the spring, and when -he came there he saw a light shining in the water. It shone, it rose, -and lo! beside the spring and before Quest stood a lovely youth in -golden raiment. It was All-Rosy. - -Quest started with joy, and said: - -“My little lord All-Rosy bright, how I have longed for you! Do tell me -what you told me then that I must do? Here I have been racking my brains -and tormenting myself and calling on all my wits for a year and a -day—and I cannot remember the truth!” - -As Quest said this, All-Rosy rather crossly shook his head and his -golden curls. - -“Eh, boy, boy! I told you to stay with your grandfather till you had -rendered him the love you owe him, and not to leave him till he left -you,” said All-Rosy. - -And then he went on: - -“I thought you were wiser than your brothers, and there you are the most -foolish of the three. Here you have been racking your brains and calling -on your wits to help you for a year and a day so that you might remember -the truth; and if you had listened to your heart when it told you on the -threshold of your cabin to turn back and not to leave your old -grandfather—why then, you silly boy, you would have had the truth, even -without wits!” - -Thus spoke All-Rosy. Once more he crossly shook his head with the golden -curls; then he took his golden cloak about him and vanished. - -Shamed and troubled, Quest remained alone beside the spring, and from -between the stones he heard the imp giggling—the hobgoblin, quite small, -misshapen, and horned with big horns. The little wretch was pleased -because All-Rosy had shamed Quest, who always gave himself such -righteous airs; but when Quest roused himself from his first amazement -he called out joyfully: - -“Now I’ll just wash quickly and then fly to my dear old grandfather.” -This he said and knelt by the spring to wash. Quest leaned down to reach -the water, leaned down too far, lost his balance, and fell into the -spring. - -Fell into the spring and was drowned.... - - - VI - -[Illustration] - -THE hobgoblin jumped up from among the stones, leaped to the edge of the -spring, and looked down to see with his own eyes whether it was really -true. - -Yes, Quest was really truly drowned. There he lay at the bottom of the -water, white as wax. - -“Yoho, yoho, yo hey!” yelled the goblin, who was only a poor silly. -“Yoho, yoho, yo hey! my friend, we’re off to-day!” - -The imp yelled so that all the rocks round the ledge rang with the -noise. Then he heaved up the stone that lay by the edge of the spring, -and the stone toppled over and covered the spring like a lid. Next the -imp flung Quest’s skin-coat on the top of the stone; last of all he went -and sat on the coat, and then he began to skip and to frolic. - -“Yoho, yoho! my job is done!” yelled the goblin. - -But it wasn’t for long that he skipped on the skin; it wasn’t for long -that he yelled. - -For when the goblin had tired himself out, he looked round the ledge, -and a queer feeling came over him. - -You see, the goblin had got used to Quest. Never before had he had such -an easy time as with that good youth. He had been allowed to fool about -as he chose, without anybody scolding him or telling him to stop; and -now that he came to think of it, he would have to go back to the osier -clump, to the mire, to his angry King Rampogusto, and go on repeating -the old goblin chatter among five hundred other goblins—all of them just -as he used to be himself. - -He had lost the habit of it. He began to think—to _think_ a very little. -He began to feel sad—just a little sad, then more and more miserable; -and at last he was wringing and beating his hands, and the silly, -thoughtless goblin, who a minute ago had been yelling with glee, was now -weeping and wailing with grief and rolling about on the coat all crazy -with distress. - -He wept and he howled till all his former yelling was clean nothing in -comparison. For a goblin is always a goblin. Once he starts wailing he -wails with a vengeance. And he pulled the fur out of the skin-coat in -handfuls, and rolled about on it as if he had taken leave of his senses. - -Now just at that moment Bluster and Careful came to the lone ledge. - -They had wandered all over the mountain, and were now on their way home -to the glade to see if their grandfather and the cabin were quite burnt -up. On the way back they came to a lone ledge where they had never been -before. - -Bluster and Careful heard something wailing, and caught sight of Quest’s -skin-coat; and they thought at once that Quest must have come to grief -somehow. - -Not that they felt sorry for their brother because they could not grieve -for anybody while the goblins were about them. - -But at that moment their goblins began to wriggle, because they could -hear that one of their own kind was in trouble. Now there is no sort -that sticks more closely together and none more faithful in trouble than -the hobgoblins were. In the osier clump they would fight and squabble -all day; but if there was trouble each would give the skin off his shins -for the other! - -So they wriggled and they worried; they pricked up their ears, and then -peered out, the one from the pouch and the other from the shirt. And as -they peered they at once saw a brother of theirs rolling about with -somebody or something—rolling and writhing, and nothing to be seen but -the fur flying. - -“A wild beast is worrying him!” cried the terrified goblins. They jumped -out, one out of Careful’s pouch and the other out of Bluster’s bosom, -and scuttled off to help their friend. - -But when they reached him, he would still do nothing but roll about on -the skin and howl: - -“The boy is dead!—the boy is dead!” The other two goblins tried to quiet -him, and thought: “Maybe a thorn has got into his paw, or a midge into -his ear”—because they had never lived with a righteous man, and did not -know what it means to lament for others. - -But the first goblin went on wailing so that you couldn’t hear yourself -speak, and he wouldn’t be comforted either. - -So the other goblins were in a fine taking as to what they were to do -with him? Nor could they leave him there in his sore trouble. At last -they had an idea. Each laid hold of the sheep-skin coat by one sleeve, -and so they dragged along the coat with their brother inside, scuttled -away into the woods, and out of the woods into the osier clump and home -to Rampogusto. - -So for the first time for a year and a day Bluster and Careful were quit -of their goblins. When the imps hopped away from them, the brothers felt -as though they had walked the world like blind men for a year and a day, -and were seeing it plainly again now for the first time there on the -rocky ledge. - -First they looked at each other in a maze, and then they knew at once -what a terrible wrong they had done their grandfather. - -“Brother! kinsman!” each cried to the other, “let us fly and save our -grandfather.” And they flew as if they had falcon’s wings, home to the -clearing. - -When they came to the glade the cabin was roofless. Flames were rising -like a column from the hut. Only the walls and the door were still -standing, and the door was still tightly wedged. - -The brothers hurried up, tore out the wedge, rushed into the cabin, and -carried out the old man in their arms from amid the flames, which were -just going to take hold on his feet. - -They carried him out and laid him on the cool green turf, and then they -stood beside him and neither dared speak a word. - -After a while old Witting opened his eyes, and as he saw them he asked -nothing about them. The only question he put was: - -“Did you find Quest anywhere in the mountain?” - -“No, grandfather,” answered the brothers. “Quest is dead. He was drowned -this morning in the well-spring. But, grandfather, forgive us, and we -will serve you and wait upon you like slaves.” - -As they were speaking thus, old Witting arose and stood upon his feet. - -“I see that you are already forgiven, my children,” said he, “since you -are standing here alive. But he who was the most upright of you three -had to pay with his life for his fault. Come, children, take me to the -place where he died.” - -Humbly penitent, Careful and Bluster supported their grandfather as they -led him to the ledge. - -But when they had walked a little while they saw that they had gone -astray, and had never been that way before. They told their grandfather; -but he just bade them keep on in that path. - -So they came to a steep slope, and the road led up the slope right to -the crest of the mountain. - -“Our grandfather will die,” whispered the brothers, “with him so feeble -and the hillside so steep.” - -But old Witting only said: “On, children, on—follow the path.” - -So they began to climb up the track, and the old man grew ever more grey -and pallid in the face. And on the mountain’s crest there was something -fair that rustled and crooned and sparkled and shone. - -And when they reached the crest, they stood silent and stone still for -very wonder and awe. - -For before them was neither hill nor dale, nor mountain nor plain, nor -anything at all, but only a great white cloud stretched out before them -like a great white sea—a white cloud, and on the white cloud a pink -cloud. Upon the pink cloud stood a glass mountain, and on the glass -mountain a golden castle with wide steps leading up to the gates. - -That was the Golden Castle of All-Rosy. A soft light streamed from the -Castle—some of it from the pink cloud, some from the glass mountain, and -some from the pure gold walls; but most of all from the windows of the -Castle itself. For there sit the guests of All-Rosy, drinking from -golden goblets health and welcome to each new-comer. - -[Illustration] - -But All-Rosy does not enjoy the company of such as harbour any guilt in -their souls, nor will he let them into his Castle. Wherefore it is a -noble and chosen company that is assembled in his courts, and from them -streams the light through the windows. - -Upon the ridge stood old Witting with his grandsons, all speechless as -they gazed at the marvel. They looked—and of a sudden they saw someone -sitting on the steps that led to the Castle. His face was hidden in his -hands and he wept. - -The old man looked and knew him—knew him for Quest. - -The old man’s soul was shaken within him. He roused himself and called -out across the cloud: - -“What ails you, my child?” - -“I am here, grandfather,” answered Quest. “A great light lifted me up -out of the well-spring and brought me here. So far have I come; but they -won’t let me into the Castle, because I have sinned against you.” - -Tears ran down the old man’s cheeks. His hands and heart went out to -caress his dear child, to comfort him, to help him, to set his darling -free. - -Careful and Bluster looked at their grandfather, but his face was -altogether changed. It was ashen, it was haggard, and not at all like -the face of a living man. - -“The old man will die of these terrors,” whispered the brothers to each -other. - -But the old man drew himself up to his full height, and already he was -moving away from them, when he looked back once more and said: - -“Go home, children, back to the glade, since you are forgiven. Live and -enjoy in all righteousness what shall fall to your part. But I go to -help him to whom has been given the best part at the greatest cost.” - -Old Witting’s voice was quite faint, but he stood before them upright as -a dart. - -Bluster and Careful looked at one another. Had their grandfather gone -crazy, that he thought of walking across the clouds when he had no -breath even for speech? - -But already the old man had left them. He left them, went on and stepped -out upon the cloud as though it were a meadow. And as he stepped out he -went forward. On he walked, the old man, and his feet carried him as -though he were a feather, and his cloak fluttered in the wind as if it -were a cloud upon that cloud. Thus he came to the pink cloud, and to the -glass mountain, and to the broad steps. He flew up the steps to his -grandson. Oh the joy of it, when the old man clasped his grandson! He -hugged him and he held him close as if he would never let him go. And -Careful and Bluster heard it all. Across the cloud they could hear the -old man and his grandchild weeping in each other’s arms for pure joy! - -Then the old man took Quest by the hand and led him up to the Castle -gates. With his left hand he led his grandson, and with his right he -knocked at the gate. - -And lo, a wonder! At once the great gates flew open, all the splendour -of the Castle was thrown open, and the company within, the noble guests, -welcomed grandfather Witting and grandson Quest upon the threshold. - -They welcomed them, held out their hands to them, and led them in. - -Careful and Bluster just saw them pass by the window, and saw where they -were placed at the table. The first place of all was given to old -Witting, and beside him sat Quest, where All-Rosy, the golden youth, -drinks welcome to his guests from a goblet of gold. - -A great fear fell upon Bluster and Careful when they were left alone -with these awesome sights. - -“Come away, brother, to our clearing,” whispered Careful; and they -turned and went. Bewildered by many marvels, they got back to their -clearing, and never again could they find either the path or the slope -that led to the mountain’s crest. - - - VII - -Thus it was and thus it befell. - -Careful and Bluster went on living in the glade. They lived long as -valiant men and true, and brought up goodly families, sons and -grandsons. All good parts went down from father to son, and, of course, -also the sacred fire, which was fed with a fresh log every day so that -it might never go out. - -So, you see, Rampogusto was right in being afraid of Quest, because if -Quest had not died in his search for truth those goblins would never -have left Careful and Bluster, and in the glade there would have been -neither righteous men nor sacred fire. - -But so everything fell out. To the great shame and discomfiture of -Rampogusto and all his crew. - -When those two goblins dragged Quest’s sheep-skin before Rampogusto, and -inside it the third goblin, who was still yammering and carrying on like -one demented, Rampogusto flew into a furious rage, for he knew that all -three youths had escaped him. In his great wrath he gave orders that all -three goblins should have their horns cropped close, and so run about -for everyone to make fun of! - -But the worst of Rampogusto’s discomfiture was this: Every day the -sacred smoke gets into his throat and makes him cough most horribly. -Moreover, he never dare venture out into the woods for fear of meeting -some one of the valiant people. - -So Rampogusto got nothing out of it but Quest’s cast-off sheep-skin; and -I’m sure he is welcome to that, for Quest doesn’t want a sheep-skin coat -anyhow in All-Rosy’s Golden Halls. - -[Illustration] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Fisherman Plunk and his Wife - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Fisherman Plunk and His Wife - - - I - - -FISHERMAN PLUNK was sick and tired of his miserable life. He lived alone -by the desolate sea-shore, and every day he caught fish with a bone -hook, because they didn’t know about nets in those parts at that time. -And how much fish can you catch with a hook, anyhow? - -“What a dog’s life it is, to be sure!” cried Plunk to himself. “What I -catch in the morning I eat up at night, and there’s no joy for me in -this world at all, at all.” - -And then Plunk heard that there were also rich sheriffs in the land, and -men of great power and might, who lived in luxury and comfort, lapped in -gold and fed on truffles. Then Plunk fell a-thinking how he too might -come to look upon such riches and live in the midst of them. So he made -up his mind that for three whole days he would sit still in his boat on -the sea and not take any fish at all, but see if that spell would help -him. - -So Plunk sat for three days and nights in his boat on the face of the -sea—three days he sat there, three days he fasted, for three days he -caught no fish. When the third day began to dawn, lo and behold, a -silver boat arose from the sea—a silver boat with golden oars—and in the -boat, fair as a king’s daughter, stood the Pale Dawn-Maiden. - -“For three days you have spared my little fishes’ lives,” said the -Dawn-Maiden, “and now tell me what you would like me to do for you?” - -“Help me out of this miserable and dreary life. Here am I all day long -slaving away in this desolate place. What I catch during the day I eat -up at night, and there is no joy for me in the world at all, at all,” -said Plunk. - -“Go home,” said the Dawn-Maiden, “and you will find what you need.” And -as she spoke, she sank in the sea, silver boat and all. - -Plunk hurried back to the shore and then home. When he came to the -house, a poor orphan girl came out to meet him, all weary with the long -tramp across the hills. The girl said: “My mother is dead, and I am all -alone in the world. Take me for your wife, Plunk.” - -Plunk hardly knew what to do. “Is this the good fortune which the -Dawn-Maiden has sent me?” Plunk could see that the girl was just a poor -body like himself; on the other hand, he was afraid of making a mistake -and turning away his luck. So he consented, and took the poor girl to be -his wife; and she, being very tired, lay down and slept till the -morning. - -Plunk could scarcely await the next day for wondering how his good -fortune would show itself. But nothing happened that day except that -Plunk took his hook and went out fishing, and the Woman went up the hill -to gather wild spinach. Plunk came home at night, and so did the Woman, -and they supped upon fish and wild spinach. “Eh, if that is all the good -luck there is to it, I could just as well have done without,” thought -Plunk. - -As the evening wore on, the Woman sat down beside Plunk to tell him -stories, to wile away the time for him. She told him about nabobs and -kings’ castles, about dragons that watch treasure-hoards, and kings’ -daughters who sow their gardens with pearls and reap gems. Plunk -listened, and his heart within him began to sing for joy. Plunk forgot -that he was poor; he could have sat and listened to her for three years -together. But Plunk was still better pleased when he considered: “She is -a fairy wife. She can show me the way to the dragons’ hoards or the -kings’ gardens. I need only be patient and not make her angry.” - -So Plunk waited; and day after day went by, a year went by, two years -passed. A little son was born to them; they called him little Winpeace. -Yet all went on as usual. Plunk caught fish, and his wife gathered wild -spinach in the mountains. In the evening she cooked the supper, and -after supper she rocked the baby and told Plunk stories. Her stories -grew prettier and prettier, and Plunk found it harder and harder to -wait, till at last, one evening, he had had enough of it; and just as -his wife was telling him about the immense treasures of the Sea King, -Plunk jumped up in a rage, shook her by the arm and cried: - -“I tell you I’ll wait no longer. To-morrow in the morning you shall take -me down to the Sea King’s Castle!” - -The Woman was quite frightened when Plunk jumped up like that. She told -him that she did not know where the Sea King had his Castle; but Plunk -began to beat his poor wife most unmercifully, and threatened to kill -her unless she told him her fairy secret. - -Then the poor girl understood that Plunk had taken her for a fairy. She -burst into tears and cried: - -“Truly I am no fairy, but a poor orphan girl who knows no spells nor -magic. And for the tales I have told you, I had them from my own heart -to beguile your weariness.” - -Now this only put Plunk all the more in a rage, because he had lived in -a fool’s paradise for over two years; and he angrily bade the Woman go -away next morning ere dawn with the child, along the sea-shore to the -right-hand side, and he, Plunk, would go to the left, and she was not to -come back again till she had found the way to the Sea King’s Castle. - -When the dawn came, the Woman wept and begged Plunk not to send her -away. “Who knows where one of us may be destroyed on this desolate -sea-shore?” said she. But Plunk fell upon her again, so that she took up -her child and went away crying whither her husband had bidden her. And -Plunk went off in the opposite direction. - -So the Woman went on with her baby, little Winpeace. She went on for a -week; she went on for a fortnight, and nowhere did she find the way to -the Sea King. She grew so terribly tired that one day she fell asleep on -a stone beside the sea. When she woke up, her baby was gone—her little -Winpeace. - -Her grief was so great that the tears froze fast in her heart, and not a -word could she speak for sorrow, but became dumb from that hour. - -So the poor dumb creature wandered back along the sea-shore and home. -And next day Plunk came home, too. He had not found the way to the Sea -King, and he came back disappointed and cross. - -When he got home, there was no baby Winpeace, and his wife had gone -dumb. She could not tell him what had happened, but was all haggard with -the great trouble. - -And so it was with them from that day forward. The Woman neither wept -nor complained, but did her housework and waited upon Plunk in silence; -and the house was still and quiet as the grave. For some time Plunk -stood it, but in the end he got thoroughly weary. He had just felt -almost sure of the Sea King’s treasure, and lo! all this trouble and -worry had come upon him. - -So Plunk made up his mind to try his sea-spell once more. Again for -three whole days he sat in his boat on the sea, for three days he -fasted, for three days he caught no fish. At the third day, at daybreak, -the Dawn-Maiden arose before him. - -Plunk told her what had happened, and complained bitterly. - -“I’m worse off than ever before. The baby is gone, the wife is dumb, and -my house dreary as the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.” - -To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, but just asked Plunk a -question: - -“What do you want? I will help you just this once more.” - -But Plunk was such a zany that he couldn’t think of anything else but -just this, that he was set on seeing and enjoying the Sea King’s -treasure; and so he didn’t wish for his child back again, or that his -wife should regain the power of speech, but he begged the Dawn-Maiden: - -“Fair Dawn-Maiden,” said he, “show me the way to the Sea King.” - -And again the Dawn-Maiden said nothing, but very kindly set Plunk on his -way: - -“When day dawns at the next New Moon, get into your boat, wait for the -wind, and then drift eastward with the wind. The wind will carry you to -the Isle Bountiful, to the stone Gold-a-Fire. And there I shall be -waiting for you to show you the way to the Sea King.” - -Plunk went joyfully home. - -When it was about the New Moon (but he never told his wife anything) he -went out at the streak of dawn, got into his boat, waited for the wind, -and let the wind carry him away toward the east. - -[Illustration] - -The wind caught the boat and carried it along to the Unknown Sea, to the -Isle Bountiful. Like a green garden the fruitful island floats upon the -sea. The grass grows rank, and the meadows lush, the vines are full of -grapes and the almondtrees pink with blossom. In the midst of the island -there is precious stone, the white blazing stone Gold-a-Fire. One half -of the stone sheds its glow upon the island, and the other half lights -up the sea under the island. And there on the Isle Bountiful, on the -stone Gold-a-Fire, sits the Dawn-Maiden. - -Very kindly did the Dawn-Maiden receive Plunk, very kindly she set him -on his way. She showed him a mill-wheel drifting on the sea towards the -island, and the mermaids dancing in a ring around the wheel. Then she -told him—always very kindly—how he must ask the mill-wheel politely to -take him down to the Sea King and not let the Dark Deeps of the Sea -swallow him. - -Last of all the Dawn-Maiden said: - -“Great store of gold and treasure will you enjoy in the Sea King’s -domain. But mark—to earth you cannot return, for three terrible watchers -bar the way. One troubles the waves, the second raises the storm, and -the third wields the lightning.” - -But Plunk was happy as a grig in his boat as he paddled towards the -mill-wheel, and thought to himself: - -“It’s easy to see, fair Dawn-Maiden, that you’ve never known want in -this world. I shan’t hanker back after this earth, where I’m leaving -nothing but ill-luck behind!” - -So he paddled up to the mill-wheel, where round the mill-wheel the -mermaids were playing their foolish games. They dived and chased each -other through the water; their long hair floated on the waves, their -silver fins glittered, and their red lips smiled. And they sat on the -mill-wheel and made the sea all foamy around it. - -The boat reached the mill-wheel, and Plunk did as the Dawn-Maiden had -told him. He held his paddle aloft so that the Dark Deeps should not -swallow him, and he politely asked the mill-wheel: - -“Round wheel giddy-go-round, please take me down, either to the Dead -Dark Deep or to the Sea King’s Palace.” - -As Plunk said this, the mermaids came swishing along like so many silver -fish, swarmed round the mill-wheel, seized the spokes in their snowy -hands, and began to turn the wheel—swiftly, giddily. - -An eddy formed in the sea—a fierce eddy, a terrible whirlpool. The -whirlpool caught Plunk; it swept him round like a twig, and sucked him -down to the Sea King’s fastness. - -Plunk’s ears were still ringing with the swirl of the sea and the -mermaids’ silly laughter when he suddenly found himself sitting on -beautiful sand—fine sand of pure gold. - -Plunk looked round and cried out: “Ho, there’s a wonder for you! A whole -field of golden sand.” - -Now what Plunk had taken to be a big field was only the great Hall of -the Sea King. Round the Hall stood the sea like a marble wall, and above -the Hall hung the sea, like a glass dome. Down from the stone -Gold-a-Fire streamed a bluish glare, livid and pale as moonlight. From -the ceiling hung festoons of pearls, and on the floor below stood tables -of coral. - -And at the end—the far end, where slender pipes were piping and tiny -bells tinkling—there lazed and lounged the Sea King himself; he -stretched his limbs on the golden sand, raising only his great bullock’s -head, beside him a coral table, and behind him a golden hedge. - -What with the quick, shrill music of the pipes, the tinkling of the -bells, and the sheen and glimmer all around him, Plunk wouldn’t have -believed there could be so much pleasure or wealth in the world! - -Plunk went clean mad for pure joy—joy went to his head like strong wine; -his heart sang; he clapped his hands; he skipped about the golden sand -like a frolicsome child; he turned head over heels once, twice, and -again—just like a jolly boy. - -Now this amused the Sea King vastly. For the Sea King’s feet are -heavy—far too heavy—and his great bullock’s head is heavier still. The -Sea King guffawed as he lounged on the golden sand; he laughed so -heartily that the golden sand blew up all round him. - -“You’re fine and light on your feet, my boy,” said the Sea King, and he -reached up and pulled down a branch of pearls and gave it to Plunk. And -then the Sea King ordered the Under Seas Fairies to bring choice viands -and honeyed drink in golden vessels. And Plunk had leave to sit beside -the Sea King at the coral table, and surely that was a great honour! - -When Plunk had dined, the Sea King asked him: - -“Is there anything else you would like, my man?” - -Now what should a poor man ask for, who had never known what it is to -have a good time? But Plunk was hungry from his long journey, and he had -made but a poor meal of it off the choice viands and the honeyed drinks. -So he said to the Sea King: - -“Just as you were saying that, O King of the Sea, I was wishing that I -had a good helping of boiled wild spinach.” - -The Sea King was rather surprised, but he recovered himself quickly, -laughed and said to Plunk: - -“Eh, brother of mine, wild spinach is very dear down here, dearer than -pearls and mother-o’-pearl, because it’s a long way from here to the -place where it grows. But since you have just asked for it, I will send -a Foam Fairy to bring you some from the land where the wild spinach -grows. But you must turn three more coach-wheels for me.” - -As Plunk was already in the best of humours he didn’t find that hard -either. Lightly he leapt to his feet, and quickly they all flocked round -him, the mermaids and the tiny folk in the Palace, and all for to see -that wonder! - -Plunk took a run over the golden sand, turned a beautiful coach-wheel, -then a second and a third, light as a squirrel, and the Sea King and all -the tiny folk rocked with laughter at such cunning. - -But heartiest of all laughed a little baby, and that was the little King -whom the mermaids themselves had crowned King for fun and idle sport. -The wee baby was sitting up in a golden cradle. His little shirt was of -silk, the cradle was hung with tiny bells of pearl, and in his hands the -child held a golden apple. - -While Plunk was turning coach-wheels and the little King laughed so -heartily, Plunk looked round at him. He looked at the little King, and -then—Plunk started. It was his own baby boy, little Winpeace. - -Well, Plunk was suddenly disgusted. He would never have guessed that he -would grow sick of it so soon. - -Plunk frowned; he was angry, and when he had got over his shock a bit he -thought: - -“Look at him, the urchin, how he’s got on, lording it here in idleness -and sport, and his mother at home gone dumb with grieving!” - -Plunk was vexed; he hated seeing himself or the child in this Palace; -yet he dared not say a word, lest they should part him from the boy. So -he made himself the servant of his son, of little Winpeace, and thought -to himself: “Perhaps I shall be left alone with him sometimes. Then I -will remind the boy of his Father and Mother; I will run away with him; -I will carry off the little brat and go back with him to his mother.” - -So thought Plunk, and one fine day, when he happened to be alone with -the little King, he whispered to the child: “Come along, my boy; let’s -run away with father.” - -But Winpeace was only a baby, and what with living so long under the -sea, he had quite forgotten his father. He laughed; the little King -laughed. He thought: “Plunk is making fun,” and he kicked Plunk with his -little foot. - -“You are not my father; you are the silly-billy who turns head over -heels before the Sea King.” - -That stung Plunk to the heart, so that he well-nigh died with the pain -of it. He went out and wept for sheer bitter sorrow. All the Sea King’s -attendants gathered round him and said one to the other: - -“Well, well, he must have been a great lord on earth, to weep amid such -splendours.” - -“Upon my soul,” cried Plunk wrathfully, “I was the same as your Sea King -here. I had a son who tugged my beard, a wife who showed me marvels, and -wild spinach, brothers, as much as you want—and no need to turn -coach-wheels before anybody either.” - -[Illustration] - -The sea-folk marvelled at such magnificence, and left Plunk to mourn his -lost greatness. But Plunk went on serving the little King. He did all he -could to please the boy, thinking: “I shall get him somehow to run away -with me.” But the little King grew sillier and more wayward every day; -the days passed, and every day the child only thought Plunk more than -ever a zany. - - - II - -Now all this time Plunk’s wife was at home, all alone and grieving. The -first evening she made up the fire and kept the supper hot for Plunk; -but when she gave up expecting Plunk, she let the fire go out, nor did -she kindle it again. - -So the poor dumb soul sat on her threshold. She neither worked, nor -tidied, nor wept, nor lamented, but just pined away with grief and -sorrow. She could not take counsel with anyone, because she was dumb; -nor could she cross the sea after Plunk, because she was all broken up -with grieving. - -Where could she go, poor soul! but back one day to the far hills, where -her mother lay buried. And as she stood by her mother’s grave a -beautiful Hind up came to her. - -And as the dumb animals speak, so the Hind spoke to the Woman: - -“You must not sit there and pine away, my daughter, for else your heart -will break and your house will perish. But every evening you must get -Plunk’s supper ready for him, and after supper you must unpick some fine -hemp. If Plunk does not come home, then you must take his supper in the -morning and the fine hemp as well, and also the slender twin pipes, and -go up into the rocky mountain. Play upon the twin pipes; the snakes and -their young will come and eat up the supper, and the sea-fowl will line -their nests with the hemp.” - -Full well the daughter understood all that her mother said, and as she -was bid so did she do. Every evening she cooked supper, and after supper -she unpicked hemp. Plunk did not come back; and so the Woman took her -little twin pipes in the morning, and carried both supper and hemp to -the rocky mountain. And as she played on her little pipes, played softly -on the right-hand pipe, lo, snakes and baby snakes came out of the -rocks. They ate up the supper and thanked the Woman in the dumb speech. -And when she played on the left-hand pipe, lo, gulls great and small -came flying, carried off the hemp to their nests, and thanked the Woman. - -For three months the Woman went on in this way; thrice the moon waxed -and waned, and still Plunk had not come home. - -Again grief overcame the poor dumb soul, so that she went again to her -mother’s grave. - -The Hind came up, and in dumb speech the Woman said to her: - -“Well, Mother, I have done all you told me, and Plunk has not come back. -I am weary of waiting. Shall I throw myself into the sea, or fling -myself down from the cliffs?” - -“Daughter of mine,” said the Hind, “you must not fail in your trust. -Your Plunk is in grievous trouble. Now listen and hear how you may help -him. In the Unknown Sea there is a Big Bass, and that Bass has a golden -fin, and on that fin grows a golden apple. If you catch that Bass by -moonlight you will deliver your dear Plunk from his trouble. But on the -road to the Unknown Sea you will have to pass three caverns of cloud. In -the first there is a monstrous Snake, the Mother of All Snakes—it is she -who troubles the sea and stirs up the waves; in the second there is a -monstrous Bird, the Mother of All Birds—it is she who raises the storm; -and in the third there is a Golden Bee—it is she who flashes and wields -the lightning. Go, daughter dear, to the Unknown Sea, and take nothing -with you but your bone hook and slender twin pipes, and if you should -find yourself in great trouble, rip open your right-hand sleeve, all -white and unhemmed.” - -The daughter gave good heed. Next day she took out the boat and put off -to sea, taking nothing with her but her hook and the slender twin pipes. - -She drifted and sailed on the face of the sea till the waters bore her -to a far-off place, and there on the sea, lo, three terrible caverns of -lowering cloud! - -From the entrance of the first cavern peered the head of a fearsome -Snake, the Mother of All Snakes. Her grisly head blocked up all the -entrance, her body lay coiled along the cave, and with her monstrous -tail she lashed the sea, troubling the waters and stirring up the waves. - -The Woman did not dare go near the terrible sight, but remembered her -little pipes, and began to play upon the right-hand pipe. And as she -played, there came from the far-off, rock-bound lands snakes and baby -snakes galore swimming over the sea. Great coloured snakes and tiny -little snakes all came hurrying up and scurrying up and begged the -fearsome Snake— - -“Let the Woman take her boat through your cavern, Mother dear! She has -done us a great good turn and fed us every day in the morning.” - -“Through my cavern I may not let her pass,” answered the fearsome Snake, -“for to-day I must stir up the waves of the sea. But if she did you such -a good turn, I will repay it with another. Would she rather have a bar -of gold or six strings of pearls?” - -But a true wife is not to be beguiled with gold or pearls, and so the -Woman answered in dumb speech: - -“’Tis only for a small matter I have come here—for the Bass that lives -in the Unknown Sea. If I have done you a good turn, let me pass through -your cavern, fearsome Snake.” - -“Let her pass, Mother dear,” said the snakes and baby snakes again. -“Here are many of us whom she has fed—full many to whom she gave meat. -You just lie down, Mother dear, and take a nap, and we’ll stir up the -waters for you.” - -Now the Snake couldn’t very well disoblige such a big family, and she -had been longing for sleep for a thousand years. So she let the Woman -through the cavern, and then curled up on the floor of the cavern and -fell into a fearsome sleep. But before she fell asleep she reminded the -snakes and baby snakes once more: - -“Now, stir me up the waters right properly, children dear, while I rest -a little.” - -So the Woman passed through the cavern, and the snakes and their young -stayed in the cavern; but instead of stirring up the sea they soothed it -and made it calm. - -The Woman sailed on, and came to the second cavern. And in the second -cavern there was a monstrous Bird, the Mother of All Birds. She craned -her frightful head through the opening, her iron beak gaped wide; she -spread her vast wings in the cavern and flapped them, and whenever she -flapped her wings she raised a storm. - -[Illustration] - -The Woman took up her twin pipes and sweetly played upon the left-hand -pipe. And from the far shore came flying gulls great and small, and -begged the monstrous bird to let the Woman pass with her boat through -her cavern, for that she had been a good friend to them and unpicked -hemp for them every day. - -“I can’t let her pass through my cavern, for to-day I must raise a -mighty storm. But if she was so kind to you, I will repay her with even -greater kindness. From my iron beak I will give her of the Water of -Life, so that the power of speech shall be restored to her.” - -Well, and wasn’t it a sore temptation for the poor dumb creature who -desired above all things that the power of speech should return to her? -But she remained steadfast, and this is what she answered the Bird: - -“’Tis not for my own good that I came, but for a small matter—for the -Bass that lives in the Unknown Sea. If I have done you a good turn, let -me pass through your cavern.” - -Then the grey gulls all entreated the Mother Bird and also advised her -to take a little nap, and they would meanwhile raise the storm for her. -The Mother Bird listened to her children’s entreaty, clung to the wall -of the cavern with her iron talons and went to sleep. - -But the gulls great and small, instead of raising the storm, calmed the -wild winds and soothed them. - -So the dumb Woman sailed through the second cavern and came to the -third. - -In the third cavern she found the Golden Bee. The Golden Bee buzzed in -the entrance; she wielded the fiery lightning and the rolling thunder. -Sea and cavern resounded; lightnings flashed from the clouds. - -Fear seized upon the Woman when she found herself all alone with these -terrors. But she remembered her right sleeve; she ripped it off, her -sleeve all white and unhemmed, flung it over the Golden Bee and caught -her in the sleeve! - -The thunder and lightning were stilled at once, and the Golden Bee began -to coax the Woman: - -“Set me free, O Woman! and in return I will show you something. Look out -over the wide waters, and it’s a joyful sight you will see.” - -The Woman looked out over the wide waters. The sun was just on the -horizon. The sky grew pink overhead; the sea grew crimson from the east, -and from the sea arose a silver boat. And in the boat sat the -Dawn-Maiden, pale and fair as a king’s daughter, and beside her a little -child in a silken shirt and with a golden apple in his hand. It was the -Dawn-Maiden taking the little King for his morning sail on the sea. - -The Woman recognised her lost baby. - -Now isn’t that a wonder of wonders, that the sea should be so wide that -a mother cannot encompass it, and the sun so high that a mother should -not be able to reach it? - -Her joy took hold of her like terror. She trembled like the slender -aspen. Should she stretch out her hand to the child? or call to him -tenderly? or should she just stand and look at him for ever and ever? - -The silver boat glided over the crimson sea. It faded away in the -distance; the boat sank under the waves, and the mother roused herself -with a start. - -“I will show you,” said the Golden Bee to the Woman, “how to get to the -little King, your son, and live with him in joy and happiness. But first -set me free, that I may wield the lightnings in the cavern—and through -my cavern I cannot let you pass!” - -A fierce pang overcame the poor mother, overwhelmed and shook her. She -had seen her darling; her eyes had beheld her heart’s desire; she had -seen and beheld him, but not hugged him, not kissed him! The pang shook -her from head to foot. Should she be true to Plunk or no? Should she let -the Bee go and win to her child, or pass through the cavern to the -Unknown Sea for the sake of the Big Bass? - -But even as the pang shot through the Woman, the tears gushed forth from -her heart; the power of speech returned to her, and ’twas in living -words that she answered the Golden Bee: - -“Don’t sting me, O Golden Bee! I shall not let you go, because I must -pass through your cavern. I have wept for my child and buried him in my -heart. I have not come here for my own happiness, but for a small -matter—for the Big Bass that lives in the Unknown Sea.” - -Thus said the Woman, and passed into the cavern. She rested in the -cavern; she took her ease in the boat, and there she waited for -nightfall and moonrise. - -Eh, my dearie, but the sea was quiet that day, with the winds at rest in -the sky, and the fearsome Snake asleep in the first cavern, and the -monstrous Bird asleep in the second, and the wearied Woman in the third! - -So the day went quietly by; evening came, and the moon rose. When the -moon rode high in the heavens, the Woman sailed out upon the Unknown Sea -at midnight, and in the midst of the Sea she let down her little bone -hook. - - - III - -That very evening the little King bade Plunk knit him a nice set of -silken reins. “First thing to-morrow morning I shall harness you to my -little carriage, and you shall give me a ride on the golden sands.” - -Dearie me, considered poor Plunk, and where was he to hide from the -Dawn-Maiden when she would go down into the sea in the morning and -behold him thus to-morrow harnessed to a cart by his own son? - -All the Sea King’s court slept. The Sea King slept. The wilful little -King slept—only Plunk was awake and knitting away at the reins. He -knitted fiercely, like one who is thinking hard. When it seemed to him -that the strings were strong enough, Plunk said to himself: - -“I never asked anyone’s counsel when I was making a fool of myself, nor -shall I do so now that I have come to my senses.” - -And as he said this he went softly up to the cradle where his son lay -fast asleep, wound the reins round and round the rockers of the cradle, -lashed the cradle to his own back, and started to run away with his son. - -Softly Plunk strode over the golden sand—strode through the mighty Hall, -spacious as a wide meadow; slipped through the golden hedge, parting the -branches of pearls; and when he came to where the sea stood up like a -wall, nothing daunted, Plunk dived into the water with his boy. - -But it is far—terribly far—from the Sea King’s fastness to the world of -day above! Plunk swam and swam; but how was a poor fisherman to swim -when he was weighed down by the little King—golden cradle, golden apple -and all—on his back? - -Plunk felt as if the sea was piling itself up above him, higher and -higher, and heavier and heavier! - -And just as Plunk was at the last gasp, he felt something scrape along -the golden cradle, something that caught in the rocker of the cradle; -and when it had caught fast, it began to haul them along apace! - -“Now it’s all up with me!” said poor Plunk to himself. “Here’s a -sea-monster carrying me away on his tusk.” - -But it wasn’t the tusk of a sea-monster; it was a bone fish-hook, the -very hook that Plunk’s wife had let down. - -When the Woman felt that her hook had caught, she joyfully summoned all -her strength, pulling and hauling with all her might, for fear of losing -the great Big Bass. - -As she began to haul in her catch the golden rocker began to show above -the water. The Woman could not distinguish it rightly by moonlight, but -thought: “It is the golden fin of the Bass.” - -Next came up the child with the golden apple. Again the Woman thought: -“It is the golden apple on the fish’s fin.” And when at last Plunk’s -head came up, the Woman cried out joyfully: “And here is the head of the -great Big Bass.” - -And as she cried out she hauled in her catch, and when she had hauled it -close alongside—why, dearie mine, how am I to tell you rightly how -overjoyed were those three when they met again in the boat, all in the -moonlight, in the middle of the Unknown Sea? - -But they dare not lose any time. They had to pass through the three -caverns ere the monstrous watchers should awaken. So they took out the -oars and rowed with all their might and main. - -But oh dear! the bad luck they had! When the little King awoke and saw -his mummy, he remembered her at once. He threw both his little arms -round his mummy’s neck—and the golden apple fell out of his hand. Down -fell the apple into the sea, down to the very bottom and into the Sea -King’s Castle, and hit the Sea King right on his shoulder! - -The Sea King woke up, and bellowed with rage. All the court jumped to -their feet. They saw at once that the little King and his servant were -missing! - -They gave chase. The mermaids swam out under the moonlight; the light -foam fairies flew out over the water; runners were sent out to rouse the -watchers in the caverns. - -But the boat had already passed through the caverns, and so they had to -pursue it farther on. Plunk and the Woman were rowing—rowing for dear -life, their pursuers close in their wake. The mermaids whipped up the -waters; the swift foam fairies darted after the boat; the angry waves -rose up in wrath behind them; the wind howled from the clouds. Nearer -and nearer came the pursuers. The finest ship afloat would not have had -a chance, and how could a tiny two-oared boat? For hours and hours the -boat flew on before the tempest, and just as the day began to break, lo, -terror gathered from all sides around the boat. - -For the hurricane beat upon the boat; the crested billows towered above -it; the mermaids joined in a ring around it. The ring heaved and swayed -around the boat; the mermaids raised their linked hands high to let the -mountainous waves pass through, but never let the little craft escape -the waves. Sea and storm whistled and roared. - -The fear of death was upon Plunk, and in his dire need he cried out: - -“Oh, fair Dawn-Maiden, help!” - -The Dawn-Maiden arose from the sea. She saw Plunk, but never looked at -him. She looked at the little King, but no gift had she for him; but to -the faithful Wife she swiftly gave her gift—a broidered kerchief and a -pin. - -Quickly they hoisted the kerchief, and it became a white sail, and the -pin turned into a rudder. The wind filled the sail, so that it bulged -like a ripe apple, and the Woman gripped the rudder with a strong hand. -The mermaids’ ring round the boat was broken; the boat rode upon the -azure sea like a star across the blue heavens! A wonder of wonders, it -flew over the sea before its terrible pursuers; the fiercer the pursuit, -the greater help it was to them; for the swifter the wind blew, the more -swiftly yet flew the boat before the wind, and the swifter the sea, the -more swiftly rode the boat upon the sea. - -Already the rock-bound shore loomed afar, and upon the shore Plunk’s -little cottage and the bar of white sand before it. - -As soon as the land hove in sight, the pursuit slackened. The foam -fairies fear the shore; the mermaids keep away from the coast. Wind and -waves stayed on the high seas, and only the boat flew straight ahead to -land like a child to its mother’s lap. - -The boat flew to land over the white sand bar, and struck on a rock. The -boat split on the rock. Down went sail and rudder; down went the golden -cradle; away flew the Golden-winged Bee; and Plunk and his wife and -child were left alone on the beach outside their cottage. - -When they sat down that night to their supper of wild spinach, they had -clean forgotten all that had happened. And but for those twin pipes, -there’s not a soul would remember it now. But whoever starts to play on -the pipes, the fat pipe at once begins to drone out about Plunk: - - Harum-scarum Plunk would go - Where the pearls and corals grow; - There he found but grief and woe. - -And then the little pipe reminds us of the Woman: - - Rise, O Dawn, in loveliness! - Here is new-born happiness; - Were it three times drown’d in ill. - Faith and Love would save it still! - -And that is the twin pipes’ message to the wide, wide world. - -[Illustration] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Reygoch - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Reygoch - - - I - -ONCE upon a beautiful summer night the men were watching their horses in -the meadow. And as they watched, they fell asleep. And as they slept, -the fairies flew out of the clouds to have some sport with the horses, -as is the fairies’ way. Each fairy caught a horse, mounted it, and then -whipped it with her golden hair, urging it round and round the dewy -meadow. - -Among the fairies there was one quite young and tiny, called Curlylocks, -who had come down to earth from the clouds for the first time that -night. - -Curlylocks thought it lovely to ride through the night like a whirlwind. -And it so happened that she had got hold of the most spirited horse of -all—a Black—small, but fierce as fire. The Black galloped round and -round with the other horses, but he was the swiftest of all. Soon he was -all in a lather of foam. - -But Curlylocks wanted to ride faster still. She bent down and pinched -the Black’s right ear. The horse started, reared, and then bolted -straight ahead, leaving behind the rest of the horses, the meadow and -all, as he flew away like the wind with Curlylocks into the wide, wide -world. - -Curlylocks thoroughly enjoyed her lightning ride. The Black went like -the wind, by field and by river, by meadow and mountain, over dale and -hill. “Good gracious! what a lot of things there are in the world!” -thought Curlylocks, full of delight as she looked at all the pretty -sights. But what pleased her best was when they came through a country -where there were mountains all covered with glorious forests, and at the -foot of the mountains two golden fields like two great gold kerchiefs, -and in the midst of them two white villages, like two white doves, and a -little further on a great sheet of water. - -[Illustration] - -But the Black would not stop, neither there nor anywhere, but rushed on -and on as if he were possessed. - -So the Black carried Curlylocks far and far away till at last they came -to a great plain, with a cold wind blowing over it. The Black galloped -into the plain, and there was nothing there but yellow sand, neither -trees nor grass, and the further they went into that great waste, the -colder it grew. But how large that plain is, I cannot tell you, for the -good reason that the man does not live who could cross it. - -The Black ran on with Curlylocks for seven days and seven nights. The -seventh day, just before sunrise, they reached the centre of the plain, -and in the centre of the plain they found the ruinous walls of the -terribly great city of Frosten, and there it is always bitterly cold. - -As the Black raced up to the ancient gates of Frosten, Curlylocks threw -her magic veil on the wall, and so caught hold of the wall. The Black -galloped away from under her, and so continued his wild career up to his -old age to and fro between the huge walls of Frosten, till at last he -found the northern gate and galloped out again into the plain—God knows -whither! - -But Curlylocks came down from the wall and began to walk about the city, -and it was cold as cold! Her magic veil, without which she could not fly -among the clouds, she wound about her shoulders, for she took great care -of it. And so Curlylocks walked and walked about the city of Frosten, -and all the time she felt as if she must come upon something very -wonderful in this city, which was so marvellous and so great. However, -nothing did she see but only great crumbling walls, and nothing did she -hear but now and again a stone cracking with the cold. - -Suddenly, just as Curlylocks had turned the corner of the very biggest -wall, she saw, fast asleep at the foot of the wall, a huge man, bigger -than the biggest oak in the biggest forest. The man was dressed in a -huge cloak of coarse linen, and the strap he wore for a belt was five -fathoms long. His head was as big as the biggest barrel, and his beard -was like a shock of corn. He was so big, that man, you might have -thought there was a church tower fallen down beside the wall! - -This giant was called Reygoch, and he lived at Frosten. All he did was -to count the stones of the city of Frosten. He could never have finished -counting them but for that huge head of his, as big as a barrel. But he -counted and counted—he had counted for a thousand years, and had already -counted thirty walls and five gates of the city. - -When Curlylocks spied Reygoch, she clasped her hands and wondered. She -never thought there could be such an immense creature in the world. - -So Curlylocks sat down by Reygoch’s ear (and Reygoch’s ear was as big as -the whole of Curlylocks), and called down his ear: - -“Aren’t you cold, daddy?” - -Reygoch woke up, laughed, and looked at Curlylocks. - -“Cold? I should think I was cold,” answered Reygoch, and his voice was -as deep as distant thunder. Reygoch’s big nose was all red with the -cold, and his hair and beard were all thick with hoar-frost. - -“Dear me!” said Curlylocks, “you’re such a big man, and you aren’t going -to build yourself a roof to keep out the cold?” - -“Why should I?” said Reygoch, and laughed again. “The sun will be out -presently.” - -Reygoch heaved himself up so as to sit. He sat up. He clapped his left -shoulder with his right hand, and his right shoulder he clapped with the -left hand, so as to beat out the hoar-frost; and the hoar-frost came off -each shoulder as if it were snow slipping off a roof! - -“Look out! look out, daddy! you’ll smother me!” cried Curlylocks. But -Reygoch could scarcely hear her, because it was a long way from -Curlylocks to his ear, so big was he when he sat up. - -So Reygoch lifted Curlylocks on to his shoulder, told her his name and -his business, and she told him how she had come. - -“And here comes the sun,” said Reygoch, and pointed for Curlylocks to -see. - -Curlylocks looked, and there was the sun rising, but so pale and feeble, -as if there were no one for him to warm. - -“Well, you are a silly, Reygoch!” said Curlylocks—“you are really silly -to live here and spend your life counting these tiresome stones of -Frosten. Come along, Reygoch, and see how beautiful the world is, and -find something more sensible to do.” - -Now it had never occurred to Reygoch to want a finer home for himself -than Frosten city, nor had he ever thought that there might be better -work than his in the world. Reygoch always thought, “I was meant to -count the stones of Frosten,” and had never asked for anything better. - -Curlylocks, however, gave him no peace, but persuaded him to come out -and see the world with her. - -“I’ll take you to a lovely country,” said Curlylocks, “where there is an -ancient forest, and beside the forest two golden fields.” - -Curlylocks talked for a long time. And old Reygoch had never had anybody -to talk to, and so he couldn’t resist persuasion. - -“Well, let’s go!” said he. - -Curlylocks was mightily pleased with this. - -But now they had to contrive something, so that Reygoch could carry -Curlylocks, because Reygoch himself had nothing. - -So Curlylocks drew out from her bosom a little bag of pearls. It was her -mother who had given Curlylocks these pearls before allowing her to go -down to earth, and told her: “If you ever should need anything, just -throw down a pearl, and it will turn into whatever you want. Be very -careful of those pearls, because there are so many things in the world -that you will want more and more as you go on.” - -Curlylocks took out a tiny seed-pearl, threw it down, and lo, before -their eyes there grew a little basket, just as big as Curlylocks, and -the basket had a loop attached, just big enough to fit Reygoch’s ear. - -Curlylocks jumped into the basket; and Reygoch picked up the basket and -hung it on his ear like an ear-ring! - -Whenever Reygoch laughed, whenever he sneezed or shook his head, -Curlylocks rocked as if she were in a swing; and she thought it a -capital way of travelling. - -So Reygoch started to walk, and had already taken a ten-yard stride, -when Curlylocks stopped him, and begged: - -“Couldn’t we go underground, perhaps, Reygoch dear, so that I might see -what there is under the earth?” - -“Why not?” answered Reygoch; for he could break into the earth as easy -as fun, only it had never entered his head to look what might be -underground. - -But Curlylocks wanted to know everything about everything, and so they -agreed to travel underground until they should arrive under the forest -by the golden fields, and there they would come up. - -When they had settled that, Reygoch began to break up the earth. He -lifted up his great feet and stamped for the first time, and at that the -whole of the great city of Frosten shook and a great many walls tumbled -down. Reygoch raised his feet a second time and stamped again, and the -whole plain quaked. Reygoch raised his feet a third time and stamped, -and lo, half the world trembled, the solid earth gaped under Reygoch, -and Reygoch and Curlylocks fell into the hole and down under the earth. - -When they got there, they found the earth all honeycombed with pillars -and passages on every side, and heaven alone knew where they all led to. -And they could hear waters rushing and the moaning of the winds. - -They followed one of the passages, and for awhile they had light from -the hole through which they had fallen. But as they went on it grew -darker and darker—black darkness, such as there is nowhere save in the -bowels of the earth. - -Reygoch tramped calmly on in the dark. With his great hands he felt his -way from pillar to pillar. - -But Curlylocks was frightened by the great darkness. - -She clung to Reygoch’s ear and cried: “It’s dark, Reygoch dear!” - -“Well, and why not?” returned Reygoch. “The dark didn’t come to us. It’s -we have come to it.” - -Then Curlylocks got cross, because Reygoch never minded anything and she -had expected great things from so huge a man. - -“I should be in a nice fix with you but for my pearls,” said Curlylocks -quite angrily. - -Then she threw down another pearl, and a tiny lantern grew in her hand, -bright as if it were lit with gold. The darkness crept back deeper into -the earth, and the light shone far through the underground passages. - -Curlylocks was delighted with her lantern, because it showed up all the -marvels which had been swallowed by the earth in days of old. In one -place she saw lordly castles, with doors and windows all fretted with -gold and framed in red marble. In another place were warriors’ weapons, -slender-barrelled muskets and heavy scimitars studded with gems and -precious stones. In a third place she saw long-buried treasures, golden -dishes and silver goblets full of gold ducats, and the Emperor’s very -crown of gold three times refined. All these treasures had been -swallowed up by God’s will, and it is God’s secret why so much treasure -should lie there undisturbed. - -[Illustration] - -But Curlylocks was quite dazzled with all these marvels; and instead of -going straight ahead by the way they had settled upon, she begged -Reygoch to put her down so that she might play about a little and admire -all the strange things and gaze upon the wonders of God’s secret. - -So Reygoch set Curlylocks down, and Curlylocks took her little lantern -and ran to the castles, and to the weapons, and to the treasure-hoards. -And lest she might lose her little bag of pearls while she was playing, -she laid it down beside a pillar. - -As for Reygoch, he sat down to rest not far off. - -Curlylocks began to play with the treasures; she looked at the beautiful -things and rummaged among them. With her tiny hands she scattered the -golden ducats, examined the goblets chased in silver, and put upon her -head the crown of gold three times refined. She played about, looked -round and admired, and at last caught sight of a very slender little -ivory staff propped up against a mighty pillar. - -But it was just that slender staff that kept the mighty pillar from -collapsing, because the pillar was already completely hollowed out by -the water. And therefore God had caused that little staff to fall down -there, and the staff held up the pillar under the earth. - -But Curlylocks wondered: - -“Why is that little staff just there?” And she went and picked up the -staff to look at it. - -But no sooner had Curlylocks taken the staff and moved it than the -subterranean passages re-echoed with a terrible rumbling noise. The -great pillar trembled, swayed and crashed down amid a whole mountain of -falling earth, closing and blocking up the path between Reygoch and -Curlylocks. They could neither see nor hear one another, nor could they -reach one another.... - -There was the poor little fairy Curlylocks caught in the bowels of the -earth! She was buried alive in that vast grave, and perhaps would never -again see those golden fields for which she had set out, and all because -she would not go straight on by the way they had intended, but would -loiter and turn aside to the right and to the left to pry into God’s -secrets! - -Curlylocks wept and cried, and tried to get to Reygoch. But she found -that there was no way through, and that her plight was hopeless; and as -for the bag of pearls, which might have helped her, it was buried under -the landslide. - -When Curlylocks realised this she stopped crying, for she was proud, and -she thought: “There is no help for it, and I must die. Reygoch won’t -come to my rescue, because his wits are too slow even to help himself, -let alone to make him remember to help me. So there is nothing for it, -and I must die.” - -So Curlylocks prepared for death. But in case folk should ever find her -in her grave she wanted them to know that she came of royal blood. So -she set the crown of gold three times refined upon her head, took the -ivory staff in her hand, and lay down to die. There was no one beside -Curlylocks except her little lantern, burning as if it were lit with -gold; and as Curlylocks began to grow cold and stiff, so the lantern -burned low and dim. - -Reygoch was really an old stupid. When the pillar crashed down and there -was the big landslide between him and Curlylocks he never moved, but sat -still in the dark. Thus he sat for quite a long time, before it occurred -to him to go and find out what had happened. - -He felt his way in the dark to the spot where Curlylocks had been, -groped about, and realised that the earth had subsided there and that -the passage was indeed blocked. - -“Eh, but that way is choked up now,” considered Reygoch. And nothing -else could he think of, but turned round, left the mound of fallen earth -and Curlylocks beyond it, and went back by the road they had travelled -from Frosten city. - - * * * * * - -Thus old Reygoch went his way, pillar by pillar. He had already gone a -goodish bit; but there was all the time something worrying him. Reygoch -himself couldn’t imagine what it was that worried him. - -He arranged the strap around his waist—perhaps it had been too tight; -and then he stretched his arm—perhaps his arm had gone to sleep. Yet it -was neither the one nor the other, but something else that worried. -Reygoch wondered what in the world it could be. He wondered, and as he -wondered he shook his head. - -And as Reygoch shook his head, the little basket swung at his ear. And -when Reygoch felt how light the basket was, and that there was no -Curlylocks inside, a bitter pang shot through his heart and breast, -and—simpleton though he was—he knew well enough that he was grieved -because he missed Curlylocks, and he realised also that he ought to save -her. - -It had taken Reygoch a lot of trouble to think out all that; but once he -had thought it out, he turned like the wind and flew back to the place -where the landslide was, to find Curlylocks behind the heap of earth. He -flew, and arrived just in time. Reygoch burrowed away with both hands, -and in a little while he had burrowed a big hole, so that he could see -Curlylocks lying there, the crown of fine gold on her head. She was -already growing cold and rigid, with her little lantern beside her, and -the flame of it as feeble as the tiniest little glow-worm. - -If Reygoch had cried out in his grief the earth would have rocked, and -the little lantern would have gone out altogether—even the little -glow-worm light by the side of Curlylocks would have died away. - -But Reygoch’s throat was all tight with pain, so that he could not cry -out. He put out his great big hand and gently picked up poor Curlylocks, -who was already quite cold, and warmed her between the hollowed palms of -his huge hands as you would warm a starved dicky-bird in winter. And lo! -in a little while Curlylocks moved her little head, and at once the -lantern burned a little brighter; and then Curlylocks moved her arm, and -the lantern burned brighter still. At last Curlylocks opened her eyes, -and the lantern burned as brightly as if its flame were pure gold! - -Then Curlylocks jumped to her feet, caught hold of Reygoch’s beard, and -they both of them cried for pure joy. Reygoch’s tears were as big as -pears and Curlylocks’ as tiny as millet-seed, but except for size they -were both the same sort; and from that moment these two were mightily -fond of one another. - -When they had finished their cry, Curlylocks found her pearls, and then -they went on. But they touched no more of the things they saw -underground, neither the sunken ships with their hoards of treasure, -which had worked their way down from the bottom of the sea, nor the red -coral, nor the yellow amber which twined round the underground pillars. -They touched nothing, but went straight along by the way that would take -them to the golden fields. - -When they had gone on thus for a long time, Curlylocks asked Reygoch to -hold her up; and when he did so, Curlylocks took a handful of earth from -above her head. - -She took the earth, looked at her hand, and there, among the soil, she -found leaves and fibres. - -“Here we are, daddy, under the forest beside the golden fields,” said -Curlylocks. “Let’s hurry up and get out.” - -So Reygoch stretched himself and began to break through the earth with -his head. - - - II - -And indeed they were under the forest, just underneath a wooded glen -between the two villages and the two counties. No one ever came to this -glen but the herd boys and girls from both villages and both counties. - -Now there was bitter strife between the two villages—strife over the -threshing-floors, and the pastures, and the mills, and the -timber-felling, and most of all over the staff of headmanship, which one -of the villages had long claimed as belonging to it by rights, and the -other would not give up. And so these two villages were at enmity with -one another. - -But the herd boys and girls of both villages were just simple young -folk, who understood nothing about the rights of their elders, and cared -less, but met every day on the boundary between the two villages and the -two counties. Their flocks mingled and fed together, while the boys -played games, and over their games would often be late in bringing the -sheep home of an evening. - -For this the poor boys and girls would be soundly rated and scolded in -both villages. But in one of the villages there was a great-grandfather -and a great-grandmother who could remember all that had ever happened in -either village, and they said: “Leave the children alone. A better -harvest will spring from their childish games than ever from your wheat -in the fields.” - -So the shepherds kept on coming, as before, with their sheep to the -glen, and in time the parents stopped bothering about what the children -did. - -And so it was on the day when Reygoch broke through the earth at that -very spot. The boys and girls happened to be all gathered together under -the biggest oak, getting ready to go home. One was tying up his shoes, -another fixing a thong to a stick, and the girls were collecting the -sheep. All of a sudden they heard a dreadful thumping in the earth right -underneath their feet! There was a thud, then a second, and at the third -thud the earth gaped, and up there came, right in the midst of the -shepherds, a fearsome large head as big as a barrel, with a beard like a -shock of corn, and the beard still bristling with hoar-frost from -Frosten city! - -The boys and girls all screamed with fright and fell down in a dead -faint—not so much because of the head as big as a barrel, but because of -the beard, that looked for all the world like a shock of corn! - -So the shepherds fainted away—all but young Lilio, who was the -handsomest and cleverest among the lads of both villages and both -counties. - -Lilio kept his feet, and went close up to see what sort of monster it -might be. - -“Don’t be afraid, children,” said Lilio to the shepherds. “The Lord -never created that monstrous giant for evil, else he would have killed -half the world by now.” - -So Lilio walked boldly up to Reygoch, and Reygoch lifted the basket with -Curlylocks down from his ear and set it on the ground. - -“Come—oh come quickly, boys!” cried Lilio. “There is a little girl with -him, little and lovely as a star!” - -The herd boys and girls got up and began to peep from behind each other -at Curlylocks; and those who had at first been the most frightened were -now the foremost in coming up to Curlylocks, because, you see, they were -always quickest in everything. - -No sooner had the herd boys and girls seen dear little Curlylocks than -they loved her. They helped her out of her basket, led her to where the -turf was softest, and fell to admiring her lovely robes, which were -light as gossamer and blue as the sky, and her hair, which was shining -and soft as the morning light; but most of all they admired her fairy -veil, for she would wave it just for a moment, and then rise from the -grass and float in the air. - -The herd boys and girls and Curlylocks danced in a ring together, and -played all kinds of games. Curlylocks’ little feet twinkled for pure -joy, her eyes laughed, and so did her lips, because she had found -companions who liked the same things as she did. - -Then Curlylocks brought out her little bag of pearls to give presents -and pleasure to her new friends. She threw down a pearl, and a little -tree grew up in their midst, all decked with coloured ribbons, silk -kerchiefs and red necklaces for the girls. She threw down a second -pearl, and from all parts of the forest came forth haughty peacocks; -they stalked and strutted, they flew up and away, shedding their -glorious feathers all over the turf, so that the grass fairly sparkled -with them. And the herd boys stuck the feathers in their caps and -doublets. Yet another pearl did Curlylocks throw out, and from a lofty -branch there dropped a golden swing with silken ropes; and when the boys -and girls got on the swing, it swooped and stooped as light as a -swallow, and as gently as the grand barge of the Duke of Venice. - -The children shouted for joy, and Curlylocks threw out all the pearls in -her bag one after another, never thinking that she ought to save them; -because Curlylocks liked nothing in the world better than lovely games -and pretty songs. And so she spent her pearls down to the last little -seed pearl, though heaven alone knew how badly she would need them soon, -both she and her new friends. - -“I shall never leave you any more,” cried Curlylocks merrily. And the -herd boys and girls clapped their hands and threw up their caps for joy -over her words. - -Only Lilio had not joined in their games, because he was rather sad and -worried that day. He stayed near Reygoch, and from there he watched -Curlylocks in all her loveliness, and all the pretty magic she made -there in the forest. - -Meantime Reygoch had come out of his hole. Out he came and stood up -among the trees of the forest, and as he stood there his head rose above -the hundred-year-old forest, so terribly big was Reygoch. - -Over the forest looked Reygoch, and out into the plain. - -The sun had already set, and the sky was all crimson. In the plain you -could see the two golden fields spread out like two gold kerchiefs, and -in the midst of the fields two villages like two white doves. A little -way beyond the two villages flowed the mighty River Banewater, and all -along the river rose great grass-grown dykes; and on the dykes you could -see herds and their keepers moving. - -“Well, well!” said Reygoch, “and to think that I have spent a thousand -years in Frosten city, in that desert, when there is so much beauty in -the world!” And Reygoch was so delighted with looking into the plain -that he just stood there with his great head as big as a barrel turning -from right to left, like a huge scarecrow nodding above the tree-tops. - -Presently Lilio called to him: - -“Sit down, daddy, for fear the elders of the villages should see you.” - -Reygoch sat down, and the two started talking, and Lilio told Reygoch -why he was so sad that day. - -“A very wicked thing is going to happen to-day,” said Lilio. “I -overheard the elders of our village talking last night, and this is what -they said: ‘Let us pierce the dyke along the River Banewater. The river -will widen the hole, the dyke will fall, and the water will flood the -enemy village; it will drown men and women, flood the graveyard and the -fields, till the water will be level above them, and nothing but a lake -to show where the enemy village has been. But our fields are higher, and -our village lies on a height, and so no harm will come to us.’ And then -they really went out with a great ram to pierce the dyke secretly and at -dead of night. But, daddy,” continued Lilio, “I know that our fields are -not so high, and I know that the water will overflow them too, and -before the night is over there will be a lake where our two villages -used to be. And that is why I am so sad.” - -They were still talking when a terrible noise and clamour arose from the -plain. - -“There!” cried Lilio, “the dreadful thing has happened!” - -Reygoch drew himself up, picked up Lilio, and the two looked out over -the plain. It was a sad sight to see! The dyke was crumbling, and the -mighty Black Banewater rolling in two arms across the beautiful fields. -One arm rolled towards the one village, and the second arm towards the -other village. Animals were drowning, the golden fields disappeared -below the flood. Above the graves the crosses were afloat, and both -villages rang with cries and shouting. For in both villages the elders -had gone out to the threshing-floors with cymbals, drums and fifes, and -there they were drumming and piping away each to spite the other -village, so crazed were they with malice, while over and above that din -the village dogs howled dismally, and the women and children wept and -wailed. - -“Daddy,” cried Lilio, “why have I not your hands to stop the water?” - -Terrified and bewildered by the dreadful clamour in the plain, the herd -boys and girls crowded round Reygoch and Lilio. - -When Curlylocks heard what was the matter she called out quick and -sprightly, as befits a little fairy: - -“Come on, Reygoch—come on and stop the water!” - -“Yes, yes, let’s go!” cried the herd boys of both villages and both -counties, as they wept and sobbed without stopping. “Come on, Reygoch, -and take us along too!” - -Reygoch stooped, gathered up Lilio and Curlylocks (who was still -carrying her lantern) in his right hand, and all the rest of the herd -boys and girls in his left, and then Reygoch raced with ten-fathom -strides through the forest clearing and down into the plain. Behind him -ran the sheep, bleating with terror. And so they reached the plain. - -Through fog and twilight ran Reygoch with the children in his arms and -the terrified flocks at his heels in frantic flight—all running towards -the dyke. And out to meet them flowed the Black Banewater, killing and -drowning as it flowed. It is terribly strong, is that water. Stronger -than Reygoch? Who knows? Will it sweep away Reygoch, too? Will it drown -those poor herd boys and girls also, and must the dear little Fairy -Curlylocks die—and she as lovely as a star? - -So Reygoch ran on across the meadow, which was still dry, and came all -breathless to the dyke, where there was a great breach, through which -the river was pouring with frightful force. - -“Stop it up, Reygoch—stop it up!” wailed the boys and girls. - -Not far from the dyke there was a little mound in the plain. - -“Put us on that mound,” cried Curlylocks briskly. - -Reygoch set down Lilio and Curlylocks and the herd boys and girls on the -hillock, and the sheep and lambs crowded round them. Already the hillock -was just an island in the middle of the water. - -But Reygoch took one mighty stride into the water and then lay down -facing the dyke, stopping up the breach with his enormous chest. For a -little while the water ceased to flow; but it was so terribly strong -that nothing on earth could stop it. The water pressed forward; it -eddied round Reygoch’s shoulders; it broke through under him, over him, -about him—everywhere—and rolled on again over the plain. Reygoch -stretched out both arms and piled up the earth in great handfuls; but as -fast as he piled it up, the water carried it away. - -And in the plain the water kept on rising higher and higher; fields, -villages, cattle, threshing-floors, not one of them could be seen any -more. Of both villages, the roofs and church steeples were all that -showed above the flood. - -Even around the hillock where the herd boys and girls were standing with -Lilio and Curlylocks the flood was rising higher and higher. The poor -young things were weeping and crying, some for their mothers, others for -their brothers and sisters, and some for their homes and gardens; -because they saw that both villages had perished, and not a soul -saved—and the water rising about them, too! - -So they crowded up higher and higher upon the hillock; they huddled -together around Lilio and Curlylocks, who were standing side by side in -the midst of their friends. - -Lilio stood still and white as marble; but Curlylocks’ eyes shone, and -she held up her lantern towards Reygoch to give him light for his work. -Curlylocks’ veil rose and fluttered in the night wind and hovered above -the water, as though the little fairy were about to fly away and vanish -from among all these terrors. - -“Curlylocks! Curlylocks! don’t go! Don’t leave us!” wailed the herd -boys, to whom it seemed as if there were an angel with them while they -could look upon Curlylocks. - -“I’m not going—I’m not going away!” cried Curlylocks. But her veil -fluttered, as if it would carry her away of its own accord, over the -water and up into the clouds. - -Suddenly they heard a scream. The water had risen and caught one of the -girls by the hem of her skirt and was washing her away. Lilio stooped -just in time, seized the girl, and pulled her back on to the hillock. - -“We must tie ourselves together,” cried the herd boys; “we must be tied -each to the other, or we shall perish.” - -“Here, children—here!” cried Curlylocks, who had a kind and pitiful -heart. - -Quickly she stripped her magic veil off her shoulders and gave it to the -herd girls. They tore the veil into strips, knotted the strips into long -ropes, and bound themselves together, each to other, round Lilio and -Curlylocks. And round the shepherds bleated the poor sheep in terror of -being drowned. - -But Curlylocks was now among these poor castaways, no better off than -the rest of them. Her pearls she had wasted on toys, and her magic veil -she had given away and torn up out of the goodness of her heart, and now -she could no longer fly, nor save herself out of this misery. - -But Lilio loved Curlylocks better than anything else in the world, and -when the water was already up to his feet he called: - -“Don’t be afraid, Curlylocks! I will save you and hold you up!” And he -held up Curlylocks in his arms. - -With one hand Curlylocks clung round Lilio’s neck, and with the other -she held up her little lantern aloft towards Reygoch. - -And Reygoch, lying on his chest in the water, was all the time steadily -fighting the flood. Right and left of Reygoch rose the ruins of the dyke -like two great horns. Reygoch’s beard was touzled, his shoulders were -bleeding. Yet he could not stop the Banewater, and the flood round the -hillock was rising and rising to drown the poor remnant there. And now -it was night—yea, midnight. - -All of a sudden a thought flashed through Curlylocks, and through all -the sobbing and crying she laughed aloud as she called to Reygoch: - -“Reygoch, you old simpleton! why don’t you _sit_ between these two horns -of the dyke? Why don’t you dam the flood with your shoulders?” - -The herd boys and girls stopped wailing at once. So dumbfounded were -they at the idea that not one of them had thought of that before! - -“Uhuhu!” was all you could hear, and that was Reygoch laughing. And when -Reygoch laughs, mind you, it’s no joke! All the water round him boiled -and bubbled as he shook with laughter over his own stupidity! - -Then Reygoch stood up, faced about, and—in a twinkling—he sat down -between those two horns! - -And then happened the most wonderful thing of all! For the Black -Banewater stood as though you had rolled a wall into the breach! It -stood, and could not rise above Reygoch’s shoulders, but followed its -usual course, as before, the whole current behind Reygoch’s back. And -surely that was a most marvellous rescue! - -The boys and girls were saved from the worst of the danger; and Reygoch, -sitting comfortably, took up earth in handfuls and all slow-and-surely -rebuilt the dyke under himself and on either hand. He began in the -middle of the night, and when the dawn broke, the job was finished. And -just as the sun rose, Reygoch got up from the dyke with his work done, -and started combing his beard, which was all caked with mud, twigs, and -little fishes. - -But the poor boys and girls were not yet done with their troubles; for -where were they to go, and how were they to get there? There they stood -on the top of the hillock. All around them was a waste of water. Nothing -was to be seen of the two villages but just a few roofs—and not a soul -alive in either. To be sure, the villagers might have saved themselves -if they had taken refuge in their attics. But in both villages everybody -had gone to the threshing-floor with cymbals and fifes to make merry, so -that each could watch the destruction of the other. And when the water -was up to their waists, they were still clanging their cymbals; and when -it was up to their necks, they still blew their fifes for gratified -spite. And so they were drowned, one and all, with their fifes and -cymbals—and serve them right for their malice and uncharitableness! - -So the poor children were left without a soul to cherish or protect -them, all houseless and homeless. - -“We’re not sparrows, to live on the housetops,” said the boys sadly, as -they saw only the roofs sticking out of the water, “and we’re not foxes, -to live in burrows in the hills. If someone could clear our villages of -the water, we might make shift to get along somehow, but as it is, we -might as well jump into the water with our flocks and be drowned like -the rest, for we have nowhere and no one to turn to.” - -That was a sad plight indeed, and Reygoch himself was dreadfully sorry -for them. But here was an evil he could in no wise remedy. He looked out -over the water and said: “There’s too much water here for me to bale out -or to drink up so as to clear your villages. Eh, children, what shall I -do for you?” - -But then up and spoke Lilio, that was the wisest lad in these parts: - -“Reygoch, daddy, if _you_ cannot drink so much water, _the Earth can_. -Break a hole in the ground, daddy, and drain off the water into the -earth.” - -Dearie me! and wasn’t that great wisdom in a lad no bigger than -Reygoch’s finger? - -Forthwith Reygoch stamped on the ground and broke a hole; and the Earth, -like a thirsty dragon, began to drink and to drink, and swallow, and -suck down into herself all that mighty water from off the whole plain. -Before long the Earth had gulped down all the water; villages, fields, -and meadows reappeared, ravaged and mud-covered, to be sure, but with -everything in its right place. - -The young castaways cheered up at the sight, but none was so glad as -Curlylocks. She clapped her hands and cried: - -“Oh, won’t it be lovely when the fields all grow golden again and the -meadows green!” - -But hereupon the herd boys and girls were all downcast once more, and -Lilio said: - -“Who will show us how to till the ground now that not one of our parents -is left alive?” - -And indeed, far and wide, there was not a soul alive older than that -company of helpless young things in the midst of the ravaged plain, and -none with them but Reygoch, who was so big and clumsy and simple that he -could not turn his head inside one of their houses, nor did he know -anything about ploughing or husbandry. - -So they were all in the dumps once more, and most of all Reygoch, who -was so fond of pretty Curlylocks, and now he could do nothing for her -nor her friends! - -And, worst of all, Reygoch was getting horribly homesick for his -desolate city of Frosten. This night he had swallowed mud enough to last -him a thousand years, and seen more than enough of trouble. And so he -was just dying to be back in his vast, empty city, where he had counted -the stones in peace for so many hundred years. - -So the herd boys were very crestfallen, and Lilio was crestfallen, and -Reygoch the most crestfallen of all. And really it was sad to look upon -all these poor boys and girls, doomed to perish without their parents -and wither like a flower cut off from its root. - -Only Curlylocks looked gaily about her, right and left, for nothing -could damp her good spirits. - -Suddenly Curlylocks cried out: - -“Look—oh look! What are those people? Oh dear, but they must have seen -sights and wonders!” - -All looked towards the village, and there, at one of the windows, -appeared the heads of an aged couple—an old man and an old woman. They -waved their kerchiefs, they called the young people by name, and laughed -till their wrinkled faces all shone with joy. They were -great-grandfather and great-grandmother, who had been the only sensible -people in the two villages, and had saved themselves by taking refuge in -the attic! - -Oh dear! If the children had seen the sun at his rising and the morning -star at that attic window, they would not have shouted so for joy. The -very heavens rang again as they called out: - -“Granny! Grandad!” - -They raced to the village like young whippets, Curlylocks in front, with -her golden hair streaming in the wind, and after them the ewes and -lambs. They never stopped till they reached the village, and there -grandfather and grandmother were waiting for them at the gate. They -welcomed them, hugged them, and none of them could find words to thank -God enough for His mercy in giving grandad and grandma so much wisdom as -to make them take refuge in the attic! And that was really a very good -thing, because these were only quite simple villages, where there were -no books nor written records; and who would have reminded the herd boys -and girls of the consequences of wickedness if grandad and grandma had -not been spared? - -When they had done hugging each other, they remembered Reygoch. They -looked round the plain, but there was no Reygoch. He was gone—gone all -of a sudden, the dear huge thing—gone like a mouse down its hole. - -And Reygoch had indeed gone like a mouse down its hole. For when grandpa -and grandma appeared at the attic window, Reygoch got a fright such as -he had never yet had in his life. He was terrified at the sight of their -furrowed, wrinkled, withered old faces. - -“Oh dear! oh dear! what a lot of trouble these old people must have been -through in these parts to have come to look like that!” thought Reygoch; -and in his terror he that very instant jumped down into the hole through -which the Black Banewater had sunk down, and so ran away back to his -desolate Frosten city. - - * * * * * - -All went well in the village. Grandad and Grandma taught the young folk, -and the young folk ploughed and sowed. Upon the grandparents’ advice -they built just one village, one threshing-floor, one church, and one -graveyard, so that there should be no more jealousy nor trouble. - -All went well; but the best of all was that in the heart of the village -stood a beautiful tower of mountain marble, and on the top of it they -had made a garden, where blossomed oranges and wild olive. There lived -Curlylocks, the lovely fairy, and looked down upon the land that had -been so dear to her from the moment when she first came to earth. - -And of an evening, when the field work was done, Lilio would lead the -herd boys and girls to the tower, and they would sing songs and dance in -a ring in the garden with Curlylocks, always lovely, gentle, and joyous. - -But under the earth Reygoch once more fell in with the Black Banewater -as it roared and burbled underneath, while he wrestled with it till he -forced it deeper and deeper into the earth, and right down to the bottom -of the Pit, so that it might never again serve the spite and envy of -man. And then Reygoch went on to Frosten city. There he is sitting to -this very day, counting the stones and praying the Lord never again to -tempt him away from that vast and desolate spot, which is the very place -for one so big and so simple. - -[Illustration] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Bridesman Sun - and - Bride Bridekins - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Bridesman Sun - and - Bride Bridekins - - -ONCE upon a time there was a miller and his wife, and both were miserly -and hard of heart. When the Emperor’s servants brought corn to be -ground, the miller would grind the corn free of all charge and send the -Emperor a gift into the bargain, only to gain favour with the mighty -Emperor and his daughter, the proud princess. But when poor folk came to -have their corn ground, the miller would take one measure in payment for -every two that he ground, and without that he would not grind at all. - -One day, just about Yuletide and in the time of bitter frost, an old -wife came to the mill—an old wife all patches and tatters. The mill -stood in a little grove by the stream, and no one could say whence that -old wife had come. - -But this wasn’t just an old wife like other old wives; it was Mother -Muggish. Now Muggish could turn herself into any mortal thing, a bird or -a snake, or an old woman or a young girl. And besides that she could do -anything, both good and bad. But woe to him who got into her bad books, -for she was very spiteful. Muggish lived in the morass on the fringe of -the bog where the autumn sun dwelt. And with her the sun put up over the -long winter night; for Muggish knew potent herbs and powerful spells; -she would nurse and cherish the feeble old sun till he grew young again -at Yuletide and started on his way once more. - -“Good day to you,” Mother Muggish called out to the miller and his wife. -“Just grind this bag of corn for me.” - -The old wife stood the bag on the floor, and the miller agreed: - -“I’ll grind it for you; half the bag for you for your cake, and half for -me for my trouble.” - -“Not so, my son! I shall not have enough for my Yuletide cake, because I -have six sons, and for seventh my grandson, the Sun, who was born -to-day.” - -“Go away and don’t talk rubbish, you old fool!” burst out the miller. “A -likely one you are to be the Sun’s grandmother!” - -So they argued this way and that; but the miller wouldn’t consent to -grind for less than one-half the bag, and so the old wife picked up her -bag again and went away by the way she came. - -But the miller had a daughter, a beautiful girl, called Bride Bridekins. -When she was born, the fairies bathed her in the water that falls from -the wheel, so that all evils should turn from her, even as water runs -away from a mill. And, moreover, the fairies foretold that at her -wedding the Sun should be bridesman. Just fancy! she was the Sun’s -little bride! So they called her Bride Bridekins, and she was most -beautiful and smiling as a summer’s day. - -Bride Bridekins was sorry when the miller sent away the old wife so -unkindly. She went out and waited in the wood for the old wife, and -said: - -“Come again to-morrow, Mother, when I shall be alone. I will grind your -corn for you for nothing.” - -Next day the miller and his wife went into the wood to cut the Yule log, -and Bride Bridekins was left alone. - -Before long the old wife came up with her bag. - -“Good fortune be yours, young maiden,” said the wife. - -“And yours, too,” returned Bride Bridekins. “Wait a moment, Mother, till -we open the mill.” - -The mill was worked by a little wheel which caught the water with four -paddles set cross-wise, which turned like a spindle. Now the miller had -shut off the water, and Bride Bridekins had to wade up to her knees in -the icy stream to open the sluice. - -The mill clattered, round went the mill-stones, and Bride Bridekins -ground the old wife’s corn. She filled up the bag with flour and took -nothing for her pains. - -“Eh, thank you kindly, maiden,” said Mother Muggish, “and I’ll help you -whithersoever your feet may carry you, since your feet you did not save -from the ice-cold wave, nor grudge your hands to soil with unrequited -toil. And, moreover, I’ll tell my grandson, the Sun, to whom he owes his -Yuletide cake.” And the old wife took up her bag and went. - -From that day nothing would prosper in the mill without Bride Bridekins. -Unless her hand was on the mill, the paddles would not take the water; -unless she looked in the bin, there would be no flour in it. No matter -how much might fall into it from the grain-box, it was all lost on the -floor; the bin remained empty unless Bride Bridekins fed the mill. And -so it was with everything in and about the mill. - -This went on for many a day, on and on and never any change, till the -miller and his wife began to be jealous of their daughter and to hate -her. The harder the girl worked and the more she earned, the blacker -they looked at her, because it came to her as easy as a song, and to -them not even with toiling and moiling. - -It was upon a morning about Beltane time, when the Sun, strong and -flaming, travels across one-half of heaven like a ball of pure gold. The -Sun no longer slept in the morass, nor did Muggish foster him now; but -the Sun was lord of the world, and sky and earth obeyed him. Bride -Bridekins sat at Beltane time beside the mill and thought to herself: - -“If I could only get away, since I cannot please these cross-patches -anyhow!” - -And just as she thought this, there appeared before her the old wife, -who was really Muggish. - -“I will help you, but you must obey me in all things, and take care not -to offend me,” said the old wife. “This very morning the proud princess -walked in the meadow and lost the keys of her chest and her wardrobe, -and now she cannot get at her crown nor her robes either. So the -princess has caused it to be proclaimed that whoever finds the keys, if -it be a youth the princess will become his true love and bride-to-be, -and if it be a maiden, the princess will take her for her first -lady-in-waiting. So you come away with me, and I will show you where the -keys are lying among the love-lies-bleeding that grows in the meadow. -You will bring the princess her keys and become her first -lady-in-waiting. You will be dressed in silk and sit by the princess’s -knee.” - -[Illustration] - -Then Muggish at once turned herself into a quail, and Bride Bridekins -followed her. - -So they came to the meadow in front of the Emperor’s castle. Gallant -knights and noble dames walked about the meadow, and around the meadow -stood their esquires holding mettlesome steeds. One steed only was not -held by a squire, but by a barefoot boy. This horse belonged to Oleg the -Warden, and it was the most fiery steed of all. And Oleg the Warden -himself was the most excellent knight under the sun. You might know Oleg -the Warden amid ever so many earls and nobles, because his attire was -plain and without ornament, but his white plume, the prize of valour, -distinguished him above all the rest. - -So the knights and dames walked about the meadow, all trampling the -grass with their shoes in their anxiety to find the keys. Only Oleg the -Warden kept but a poor look-out for the keys, taking the matter as a -mere jest and idle pastime. But from her window the Emperor’s daughter -looked out and watched to see whom fortune would favour. Very careful -watch did she keep, the proud princess, and repeated spells for luck so -that Oleg the Warden should find the keys. - -When Bride Bridekins came with the quail running before her, not a soul -in the meadow noticed her but only Oleg the Warden. - -“Never yet have I seen so sweet a maiden,” thought Oleg the Warden, and -strode towards her. - -But just then the Emperor’s daughter also noticed Bride Bridekins from -her window, and so proud and heartless was she that she never stopped to -look how sweet the maiden was, but grew very angry, and said: “A fine -plight should I be in were that common wench there to find the keys and -become my lady-in-waiting!” Thus thinking, she at once sent out her -servants to drive away the girl. - -Bride Bridekins went over the meadow where-ever the quail led her. They -came to the middle of the meadow, where the love-lies-bleeding grew -tall. The quail parted two leaves at the foot of a tuft of -love-lies-bleeding, and under them lay the keys. - -Bride Bridekins bent down and picked up the keys; but when she looked up -to the Emperor’s castle and saw the proud princess, Bride Bridekins -became frightened, and thought: “How should I become the princess’s -lady-in-waiting?” - -As she thought this she looked up, and lo, beside her stood a glorious -knight, as he might have been sworn brother to the Sun. And that was -Oleg the Warden. - -Quickly Bride Bridekins made up her mind to disobey Muggish’s commands, -and she held out the keys to Oleg the Warden. - -“Take the keys, unknown knight, and let the Emperor’s daughter be your -true love and bride-to-be,” said Bride Bridekins, and could not take her -eyes off the glorious knight. - -But at that moment came the servants with whips, and roughly rated Bride -Bridekins so as to drive her away from the meadow, according to the -princess’s commands. When Oleg the Warden saw this, he was soon -resolved, and thus did he answer Bride Bridekins: - -“Thank you for the keys, sweet maiden; but I have made up my mind -otherwise. _You_ shall be my true love and bride-to-be, because you are -fairer than the morning star. Here is my good horse; he will carry us to -my Barren Marches.” - -Gladly did Bride Bridekins go with Oleg the Warden, and he lifted her -beside him on to his horse. As the good steed carried them swiftly past -the Emperor’s daughter sitting at her window. Oleg the Warden threw her -the keys so skilfully that they caught right on the window latch! - -“There are your keys, august Princess!” cried Oleg the Warden. “Wear -your crown and your robes in all happiness, for I have taken the maiden -for myself.” - -All that night Oleg the Warden rode on with Bride Bridekins, and at dawn -they arrived in the Barren Marches, at the oaken stronghold of Oleg the -Warden. Round the stockade there were three moats, and in the midst of -the stockade stood a smoke-blacked house. - -“Behold the Castle of Oleg the Warden!” said the knight to Bride -Bridekins, and he laughed himself because his castle was not more -splendid. But Bride Bridekins laughed still more heartily because she -was to be the lady of such a glorious knight. - -So they settled at once upon the wedding guests, so as to celebrate the -marriage. They invited twenty gallants and twenty orphan maids, because -that was all the people there were in the Barren Marches. And so that -they might be more and merrier, they also asked the Wild Wolf and his -Mate from the hills, and the Tawny Eagle, and the Grey Goshawk; and -Bride Bridekins asked two bridesmaids—the Turtle Dove and the Slender -Swallow. - -And Bride Bridekins even boasted to Oleg the Warden: - -“If the Sun were to recognise me, he too would come to the wedding. The -Sun would have been bridesman at the wedding, for so did the fairies -foretell.” - -And so the wedding guests assembled in the soot-blacked castle, to make -merry—and never knew of the ill fate in store for them. - - * * * * * - -Now it had stung the proud princess to the heart when Oleg the Warden -had flung her the keys, and before so many nobles, before earls and -knights, refused the august princess and preferred a nameless maiden. - -So the princess persuaded the Emperor, her father, and begged and -entreated him till he lent her his mighty army. Well mounted, the army -advanced upon the Barren Marches of Oleg the Warden with the wrathful -princess at its head. - -The guests were just at table when the army came in sight. It was so -great that it covered all the Barren Marches till you could not see so -much as a patch of earth for it. And in front of the army a herald cried -aloud for all the world to hear: - - Behold a gallant army - Has taken the field; - The Warden is a rebel, - We bid him to yield. - Alive shall he be taken - That freedom loved best; - But the heart shall be riven - From his lady’s breast. - -When Oleg the Warden heard this, he asked Bride Bridekins: - -“Are you afraid, lovely maiden?” - -“I am not afraid,” she smilingly made answer. “I put my trust in the -Grey Wolf and his Mate, in your twenty gallants and twenty orphans, and -most of all in the knight Oleg the Warden. And besides that I have two -brave bridesmaids—the Turtle Dove and the Slender Swallow.” - -Oleg the Warden smiled, and already the wedding guests had lightly -sprung to their feet. They seized their warriors’ weapons, both gallants -and orphans, and stood by the windows of the soot-blacked castle -stringing their good bows with silken cords as they waited for the -princess and her army. But that army was so mighty that neither Oleg the -Warden, nor his wedding guests, nor the soot-blacked house were able to -withstand it. - -The first to fall were the Grey Wolf and his Mate; for they jumped the -stockade and the moats and rushed straight at the Emperor’s army to tear -out the proud princess’s eyes in the midst of her army. But a hundred -maces rose in the air; the soldiers defended the proud princess, the -Eagle and the Grey Goshawk had their pinions broken, and then the heavy -horses trampled them into the black earth. - -The great host came nearer and nearer to the soot-blacked house. When it -was fairly on the threshold the wedding guests loosed their silken -bowstrings and greeted the soldiers with a shower of arrows. - -But the wrathful archers of the wrathful princess did not stop! - -Arrows flew hither and thither. There were archers past counting in the -army, so that their arrows flew in at the windows of the soot-blacked -house like a plague from heaven. Each gallant had his two or three -wounds to show, and each orphan some ten. - -But the most grievous wound of all was upon Oleg the Warden. His good -right hand hung powerless, so greatly was he overcome by his wound. - -[Illustration] - -Quickly Bride Bridekins stepped up to Oleg the Warden to wash his wound -in the courtyard of the soot-blacked house. While she was washing his -wound, Oleg the Warden said to her: “It’s a poor fortune we have -garnered, my Bride Bridekins. There are none left for you to put your -trust in, and here is the host at the gates of the soot-blacked house. -They will break down the oak stockade, batter down the ancient gates. We -are lost; this is the end of us—wolves and eagles, and gallants and -orphans, and Oleg the Warden and his Bride Bridekins!” - -But Bride Bridekins considered sadly, and then she said: - -“Do not fear, brave Warden. I will send the Turtle Dove to fetch Muggish -from her morass. There is nothing Muggish does not know and nothing she -cannot do, and she will help us.” - -So Bride Bridekins sent out the swift Turtle Dove. Away flew the grey -dove swifter than an arrow from the string, nor did the soldiers’ darts -overtake her. Off she flew and brought back Muggish from the bog. But -Muggish had turned herself into a raven and perched upon the gable of -the soot-blacked House. - -Already the soldiers were battering at the entrance. Heavy clubs -hammered on the doors and portals, banging and clanging till all the -courts and passages of the soot-blacked house rang again, as though a -host from the nethermost Pit were beating on the gates of Oleg the -Warden. - -“Fair greeting, dear Muggish!” the lovely Bride appealed to the black -raven—“fair greeting! Help us against the Princess’s malice, or else we -must all die untimely!” - -But Muggish had only bided her time spitefully for an opportunity to -give vent to her grievance. Flapping her black wings, the raven said: - -“Save yourself, my little dove! If you had listened to me, you would -have given the Princess her keys. You would have basked in royal grace, -beside the Princess had your place, in sumptuous silk fair to behold, -sipping wine from a cup of gold. But now you have gotten your heart’s -desire. Here you are in the soot-blacked house with none but -sore-wounded beggars within and a countless host outside. Seek help from -those whose counsel brought you to this!” - -When Oleg the Warden heard this, he sprang to his feet, all wounded as -he was, and wrathfully cried out: - -“Leave this unprofitable business, Bride Bridekins! When had a hero help -from a raven? And you,” he called to Muggish, “get off my roof, you -black bird of ill-omen, lest I waste a good swift arrow and shoot the -bird upon my gable!” With that Oleg the Warden embraced Bride Bridekins -and said: - -“When I perish in the midst of the Emperor’s host, go, my lovely little -Bride! submit yourself to the Princess, and you shall be lady-in-waiting -to the proud Princess, who should have been true love and lady of Oleg -the Warden.” For a moment Oleg the Warden flinched; but then he tore -himself away from his bride, and rushed through the courtyard and -passage to raise the oaken bars, to throw open the gates to the -countless host, to perish or cut his way through their numbers. - -Bride Bridekins was left alone in the castle, and above her on the roof -perched the black raven. She could hear the heavy oaken bars falling; -now the ancient gates must yield; another moment and the cruel soldiers -will burst in, take Oleg prisoner, and rive the heart out of the breast -of her, sweet child! Bride Bridekins’ thoughts chased through her brain: -What is to be done, and how? - -The lovely bride looked all around to see if there were any found to -pity her in her distress. She bent her beauteous eyes to earth, and -raised them heavenward. As she raised them heavenward the Sun travelled -across the zenith in a blaze of pure gold. And as she looked at the Sun, -the Sun marvelled at so much loveliness, and at once looked back at her. -The Sun and Bride Bridekins looked at one another, and as they looked, -they recognised one another, and at once the Sun remembered. “Why, that -is the little bride whose Bridesman the Sun was to be! In a lucky hour -she gave me my Yuletide bread, and in a yet luckier moment she sought me -overhead.” - -Just one moment before the Sun had heard Muggish mocking Bride Bridekins -and spitefully refusing to help her. So now the Sun thundered forth his -anger. All the land fell silent with fear; axes and clubs were dropped -in terror as the Sun thundered at Muggish: - -“Eh, foster-mother, heart of stone! were the world’s justice to be -carved by spite, what crooked justice would pervert the right! If thou -from slime hast reared me, yet content art thou to keep the slime thine -element! With me thou hast not strode across the sky, nor from the -heavens downward bent thine eye to learn how justice should be born of -light. Fie, foster-mother, heart of stone! What! should the Sun at -Beltane in his might forget who sent him gifts on Yule night, when he -was a feeble babe? Or shall Bridesman Sun take it ill of the bride that -she left the Emperor’s palace and the Princess’s court because she -preferred a hero in her heart? Down with you into the earth, -black-hearted nurse! so that you underground, and I from the skies, may -help yon worthy knight and his lovely lady.” - -Sky and earth obey the Sun, and how should the black raven—and that was -Muggish—withstand his commands? Upon the instant Muggish sank into the -earth to do the Sun’s bidding. - -And strong as the Sun had been before, he now made himself yet stronger. -The Sun smote from above; he scorched the Barren Marches; he seared -heaven and earth; he would have melted the Mountain of Brass! - -Upon the cruel soldiers’ heads their helmets dissolved; their heavy -armour melted; spears and axes grew red-hot. Heat overcame the wrathful -princess; heat overcame the multitude of archers as their brains grilled -inside their helmets, and their breasts laboured with the heat under -their armour. Who had not the shelter of a roof could not live. All the -host was struck down by the heat. They fell one atop of the other. A man -would call upon his sworn brother, and then the voice would cease as the -speaker perished. - -While the Sun was thus smiting the cruel soldiers, Muggish helped the -Sun from underground. She opened deep bogholes under their feet. -Whenever the Sun struck down a man, there a boghole would gape beneath -him. He slipped into the bog, and the bog closed above him; where a man -stood, there his grave yawned for him. - -So the soldiers vanished one by one, and the archers one by one, and the -weapons of war, and the clubs and the axes. It was terrible to behold -such a vast army stricken by the judgment of the Sun from the skies. The -Sun was executioner and the earth gravedigger. Yet a little while, an -hour or two, and the great host had vanished—not a soul was left alive -in the Barren Marches. Only those who were under the roof of the -soot-blacked house, they were left alive. - -Once more all was still in the Barren Marches; and now the lovely lady. -Bride Bridekins, peeped joyously from her window to watch her bridesman -grow mild, now that he had done with slaying spite upon the earth. - - * * * * * - -Soon the wounds healed upon the gallants, for they had good luck to help -them; and the orphans recovered still more quickly, because hardship is -a good school. As for Oleg Ban, he could not pine with such a true love -as Bride Bridekins beside him. Early in the morning the Slender Swallow -flew out with a greeting for the Sun. At nightfall the Swallow returned -with greetings from the Sun, bidding them prepare the wedding feast for -the morrow, for he would come to give away the bride. - -So they made ready, and it all fell out as they had planned. And such a -wedding as they had, and such songs as were sung that day in the Barren -Marches you’ll not find again in a hundred years, nor throughout nine -empires. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Stribor’s Forest - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Stribor’s Forest - - - I - - -ONE day a young man went into Stribor’s Forest and did not know that the -Forest was enchanted and that all manner of magic abode there. Some of -its magic was good and some was bad—to each one according to his -deserts. - -Now this Forest was to remain enchanted until it should be entered by -someone who preferred his sorrows to all the joys of this world. - -The young man set to and cut wood, and presently sat down on a stump to -rest, for it was a fine winter’s day. And out of the stump slipped a -snake, and began to fawn upon him. Now this wasn’t a real snake, but a -human being transformed into a snake for its sins, and it could only be -set free by one who was willing to wed it. The snake sparkled like -silver in the sun as it looked up into the young man’s eyes. - -“Dear me, what a pretty snake! I should rather like to take it home,” -said the young man in fun. - -“Here’s the silly fool who is going to help me out of my trouble,” -thought the sinful soul within the snake. So she made haste and turned -herself at once out of a snake into a most beautiful woman standing -there before the young man. Her sleeves were white and embroidered like -butterflies’ wings, and her feet were tiny like a countess’s. But -because her thoughts had been evil, the tongue in her mouth remained a -serpent’s tongue. - -“Here I am! Take me home and marry me!” said the snake-woman to the -youth. - -Now if this youth had only had presence of mind and remembered quickly -to brandish his hatchet at her and call out: “I certainly never thought -of wedding a piece of forest magic,” why, then the woman would at once -have turned again into a snake, wriggled back into the stump, and no -harm done to anybody. - -But he was one of your good-natured, timid and shy youths; moreover, he -was ashamed to say “No” to her, when she had transformed herself all on -his account. Besides, he liked her because she was pretty, and he -couldn’t know in his innocence what had remained inside her mouth. - -So he took the Woman by the hand and led her home. Now that youth lived -with his old Mother, and he cherished his Mother as though she were the -image of a saint. - -“This is your daughter-in-law,” said the youth, as he entered the house -with the Woman. - -“The Lord be thanked, my son,” replied his Mother, and looked at the -pretty girl. But the Mother was old and wise, and knew at once what was -inside her daughter-in-law’s mouth. - -The daughter-in-law went out to change her dress, and the Mother said to -her son: - -“You have chosen a very pretty bride, my boy; only beware, lest she be a -snake.” - -The youth was dumbfounded with astonishment. How could his Mother know -that the other had been a snake? And his heart grew angry within him as -he thought: “Surely my Mother is a witch.” And from that moment he hated -his Mother. - -So the three began to live together, but badly and discordantly. The -daughter-in-law was ill-tempered, spiteful, greedy and proud. - -Now there was a mountain peak there as high as the clouds, and one day -the daughter-in-law bade the old Mother go up and fetch her snow from -the summit for her to wash in. - -“There is no path up there,” said the Mother. - -“Take the goat and let her guide you. Where she can go up, there you can -tumble down,” said the daughter-in-law. - -The son was there at the time, but he only laughed at the words, simply -to please his wife. - -This so grieved the Mother that she set out at once for the peak to -fetch the snow, because she was tired of life. As she went her way she -thought to ask God to help her; but she changed her mind and said: “For -then God would know that my son is undutiful.” - -But God gave her help all the same, so that she safely brought the snow -back to her daughter-in-law from the cloud-capped peak. - -Next day the daughter-in-law gave her a fresh order: - -“Go out on to the frozen lake. In the middle of the lake there is a -hole. Catch me a carp there for dinner.” - -“The ice will give way under me, and I shall perish in the lake,” -replied the old Mother. - -“The carp will be pleased if you go down with him,” said the -daughter-in-law. - -And again the son laughed, and the Mother was so grieved that she went -out at once to the lake. The ice cracked under the old woman, and she -wept so that the tears froze on her face. But yet she would not pray to -God for help; she would keep it from God that her son was sinful. - -“It is better that I should perish,” thought the Mother as she walked -over the ice. - -But her time had not yet come. And therefore a gull flew over her head, -bearing a fish in its beak. The fish wriggled out of the gull’s beak and -fell right at the feet of the old woman. The Mother picked up the fish -and brought it safely to her daughter-in-law. - -On the third day the Mother sat by the fire, and took up her son’s shirt -to mend it. When her daughter-in-law saw that, she flew at her, snatched -the shirt out of her hands, and screamed: - -“Stop that, you blind old fool! That is none of your business.” - -And she would not let the Mother mend her son’s shirt. - -Then the old woman’s heart was altogether saddened, so that she went -outside, sat in that bitter cold on the bench before the house, and -cried to God: - -“Oh God, help me!” - -At that moment she saw a poor girl coming towards her. The girl’s bodice -was all torn and her shoulder blue with the cold, because the sleeve had -given way. But still the girl smiled, for she was bright and -sweet-tempered. Under her arm she carried a bundle of kindling-wood. - -“Will you buy wood for kindling, Mother?” asked the girl. - -“I have no money, my dear; but if you like I will mend your sleeve,” -sadly returned the old Mother, who was still holding the needle and -thread with which she had wanted to mend her son’s shirt. - -So the old Mother mended the girl’s sleeve, and the girl gave her a -bundle of kindling-wood, thanked her kindly, and went on happy because -her shoulder was no longer cold. - - - II - -That evening the daughter-in-law said to the Mother: - -“We are going out to supper with godmother. Mind you have hot water for -me when I come back.” - -The daughter-in-law was greedy and always on the look-out to get invited -for a meal. - -So the others went out, and the old woman was left alone. She took out -the kindling-wood which the poor girl had given her, lit the fire on the -hearth, and went into the shed for wood. - -As she was in the shed fetching the wood, she suddenly heard something -in the kitchen a-bustling and a-rustling—“hist, hist!” - -“Whoever is that?” called the old Mother from the shed. - -“Brownies! Brownies!” came the answer from the kitchen in voices so -tiny, for all the world like sparrows chirping under the roof. - -The old woman wondered what on earth was going on there in the dark, and -went into the kitchen. And when she got there the kindling-chips just -flared up on the hearth, and round the flame there were Brownies dancing -in a ring—all tiny little men no bigger than half an ell. They wore -little fur coats; their caps and shoes were red as flames; their beards -were grey as ashes, and their eyes sparkled like live coal. - -More and more of them danced out of the flames, one for each chip. And -as they appeared they laughed and chirped, turned somersaults on the -hearth, twittered with glee, and then took hands and danced in a ring. - -[Illustration] - -And how they danced! Round the hearth, in the ashes, under the cupboard, -on the table, in the jug, on the chair! Round and round! Faster and -faster! They chirped and they chattered, chased and romped all over the -place. They scattered the salt; they spilt the barm; they upset the -flour—all for sheer fun. The fire on the hearth blazed and shone, -crackled and glowed; and the old woman gazed and gazed. She never -regretted the salt nor the barm, but was glad of the jolly little folk -whom God had sent to comfort her. - -It seemed to the old woman as though she were growing young again. She -laughed like a dove; she tripped like a girl; she took hands with the -Brownies and danced. But all the time there was the load on her heart, -and that was so heavy that the dance stopped at once. - -“Little brothers,” said the Mother to the Brownies, “can you not help me -to get a sight of my daughter-in-law’s tongue, so that when I can show -my son what I have seen with my own eyes he will perhaps come to his -senses?” - -And the old woman told the Brownies all that had happened. The Brownies -sat round the edge of the hearth, their little feet thrust under the -grate, each wee mannikin beside his neighbour, and listened to the old -woman, all wagging their heads in wonder. And as they wagged their -heads, their red caps caught the glow of the fire, and you’d have -thought there was nothing there but the fire burning on the hearth. - -When the old woman had finished her story, one of the Brownies called -out, and his name was Wee Tintilinkie: - -“I will help you! I will go to the sunshiny land and bring you magpies’ -eggs. We will put them under the sitting hen, and when the magpies are -hatched your daughter-in-law will betray herself. She will crave for -little magpies like any ordinary forest snake, and so put out her -tongue.” - -All the Brownies twittered with joy because Wee Tintilinkie had thought -of something so clever. They were still at the height of their glee when -in came the daughter-in-law from supper with a cake for herself. - -She flew to the door in a rage to see who was chattering in the kitchen. -But just as she opened the door, the door went bang! the flame leapt, up -jumped the Brownies, gave one stamp all round the hearth with their tiny -feet, rose up above the flames, flew up to the roof,—the boards in the -roof creaked a bit, and the Brownies were gone! - -Only Wee Tintilinkie did not run away, but hid among the ashes. - -When the flame leapt so unexpectedly and the door banged to, the -daughter-in-law got a start, so that for sheer fright she plumped on the -floor like a sack. The cake broke in her hand; her hair came down, combs -and all; her eyes goggled, and she called out angrily: - -“What was that, you old wretch?” - -“The wind blew up the flame when the door opened,” said the Mother, and -kept her wits about her. - -“And what is that among the ashes?” said the daughter-in-law again. For -from the ashes peeped the red heel of Wee Tintilinkie’s shoe. - -“That is a live ember,” said the Mother. - -However, the daughter-in-law would not believe her, but, all dishevelled -as she was, she got up and went over to see close to what was on the -hearth. As she bent down with her face over the ashes Wee Tintilinkie -quickly let out with his foot, so that his heel caught the -daughter-in-law on the nose. The Woman screamed as if she were drowning -in the sea; her face was all over soot, and her tumbled hair all -smothered with ashes. - -“What was that, you miserable old woman?” hissed the daughter-in-law. - -“A chestnut bursting in the fire,” answered the Mother; and Wee -Tintilinkie in the ashes almost split with laughter. - -While the daughter-in-law went out to wash, the Mother showed Wee -Tintilinkie where the daughter-in-law had set the hen, so as to have -little chickens for Christmas. That very night Wee Tintilinkie fetched -magpies’ eggs and put them under the hen instead of hens’ eggs. - - - III - -The daughter-in-law bade the Mother take good care of the hen and to -tell her at once whenever the chickens were hatched. Because the -daughter-in-law intended to invite the whole village to come and see -that she had chickens at Christmas, when nobody else had any. - -In due time the magpies were hatched. The Mother told her -daughter-in-law that the chickens had come out, and the daughter-in-law -invited the village. Gossips and neighbours came along, both great and -small, and the old woman’s son was there too. The Wife told her -mother-in-law to fetch the nest and bring it into the passage. - -The Mother brought in the nest, lifted off the hen, and behold, there -was something chirping in the nest. The naked magpies scrambled out, and -hop, hop, hopped all over the passage. - -When the Snake-Woman so unexpectedly caught sight of _magpies_, she -betrayed herself. Her serpent’s nature craved its prey; she darted down -the passage after the little magpies and shot out her thin quivering -tongue at them as she used to do in the Forest. - -Gossips and neighbours screamed and crossed themselves, and took their -children home, because they realised that the woman was indeed a snake -from the Forest. - -But the Mother went up to her son full of joy. - -[Illustration] - -“Take her back to where you brought her from, my son. Now you have seen -with your own eyes what it is you are cherishing in your house;” and the -Mother tried to embrace her son. - -But the son was utterly infatuated, so that he only hardened himself the -more against the village, and against his Mother, and against the -evidence of his own eyes. He would not turn away the Snake-Woman, but -cried out upon his Mother: - -“Where did you get young magpies at this time of year, you old witch? Be -off with you out of my house!” - -Eh, but the poor Mother saw that there was no help for it. She wept and -cried, and only begged her son not to turn her out of the house in broad -daylight for all the village to see what manner of son she had reared. - -So the son allowed his Mother to stay in the house until nightfall. - -When evening came, the old Mother put some bread into her bag, and a few -of those kindling-chips which the poor girl had given her, and then she -went weeping and sobbing out of her son’s house. - -But as the Mother crossed the threshold, the fire went out on the -hearth, and the crucifix fell from the wall. Son and daughter-in-law -were left alone in the darkened cottage. And now the son felt that he -had sinned greatly against his Mother, and he repented bitterly. But he -did not dare to speak of it to his wife, because he was afraid. So he -just said: - -“Let’s follow Mother and see her die of cold.” - -Up jumped the wicked daughter-in-law, overjoyed, and fetched their fur -coats, and they dressed and followed the old woman from afar. - -The poor Mother went sadly over the snow, by night, over the fields. She -came to a wide stubble-field, and there she was so overcome by the cold -that she could go no farther. So she took the kindling-wood out of her -bag, scraped the snow aside, and fit a fire to warm herself by. - -But lo! no sooner had the chips caught fire than the Brownies came out -of them, just the same as on the household hearth! - -They skipped out of the fire and all round in the snow, and the sparks -flew about them in all directions into the night. - -The poor old woman was so glad she could almost have cried for joy -because they had not forsaken her on her way. And the Brownies crowded -round her, laughed and whistled. - -“Oh, dear Brownies,” said the Mother, “I don’t want to be amused just -now; help me in my sore distress!” - -Then she told the Brownies how her silly son had grown still more bitter -against her since even he and all the village had come to know that his -wife truly had a serpent’s tongue: - -“He has turned me away; help me if you can.” - -For a while the Brownies were silent, for a while their little shoes -tapped the snow, and they did not know what to advise. - -At last Wee Tintilinkie said: - -“Let’s go to Stribor, our master. He always knows what to do.” - -And at once Wee Tintilinkie shinned up a hawthorn-tree; he whistled on -his fingers, and out of the dark and over the stubble-field there came -trotting towards them a stag and twelve squirrels! - -They set the old Mother on the stag, and the Brownies got on the twelve -squirrels, and off they went to Stribor’s Forest. - -Away and into the night they rode. The stag had mighty antlers with many -points, and at the end of each point there burned a little star. The -stag gave light on the way, and at his heels sped the twelve squirrels, -each squirrel with eyes that shone like two diamonds. They sped and they -fled, and far behind them toiled the daughter-in-law and her husband, -quite out of breath. - -So they came to Stribor’s Forest, and the stag carried the old woman -through the forest. - -Even in the dark the daughter-in-law knew that this was Stribor’s -Forest, where she had once before been enchanted for her sins. But she -was so full of spite that she could not think of her new sins nor feel -fear because of them, but triumphed all the more to herself and said: -“Surely the simple old woman will perish in this Forest amid all the -magic!” and she ran still faster after the stag. - -[Illustration] - -But the stag carried the Mother before Stribor. Now Stribor was lord of -that Forest. He dwelt in the heart of the Forest, in an oak so huge that -there was room in it for seven golden castles, and a village all fenced -about with silver. In front of the finest of the castles sat Stribor -himself on a throne, arrayed in a cloak of scarlet. - -“Help this old woman, who is being destroyed by her serpent -daughter-in-law,” said the Brownies to Stribor, after both they and the -Mother had bowed low before him. And they told him the whole story. But -the son and daughter-in-law crept up to the oak, and looked and listened -through a wormhole to see what would happen. - -When the Brownies had finished, Stribor said to the old woman: - -“Fear nothing, Mother! Leave your daughter-in-law. Let her continue in -her wickedness until it shall bring her again to the state from which -she freed herself too soon. As for yourself, I can easily help you. Look -at yonder village, fenced about with silver.” - -The Mother looked, and lo! it was her own native village, where she had -lived when she was young, and in the village there was holiday and -merry-making. Bells were ringing, fiddles playing, flags waving, and -songs resounding. - -“Cross the fence, clap your hands, and you will at once regain your -youth. You will remain in your village to be young and blithe once more -as you were fifty years ago,” said Stribor. - -At that the old woman was glad as never before in her life. She ran to -the fence; already her hand was on the silver gate, when she suddenly -bethought herself of something, and asked Stribor: - -“And what will become of my son?” - -“Don’t talk foolishness, old woman!” replied Stribor. “How would you -know about your son? He will remain in this present time, and you will -go back to your youth. You will know nothing about any son!” - -When the old woman heard that, she considered sadly. And then she turned -slowly away from the gate, went back to Stribor, bowed low before him, -and said: - -“I thank you, kind lord, for all the favour you would show me. But I -would rather abide in my misery and know that I have a son than that you -should give me all the riches and happiness in the world and I forget my -son.” - -As the Mother said this, the whole Forest rang again. There was an end -to the magic in Stribor’s Forest, because the Mother preferred her -sorrows to all the joys of this world. - -The entire Forest quaked, the earth fell in, and the huge oak, with its -castles and its silver-fenced village, sank underground. Stribor and the -Brownies vanished, the daughter-in-law gave a shriek, turned into a -snake, wriggled away down a hole, and Mother and Son were left alone -side by side in the middle of the Forest. - -The son fell on his knees before his mother, kissed the hem of her -garment and her sleeve, and then he lifted her up in his arms and -carried her back to their home, which they happily reached by daybreak. - -The son prayed God and his Mother to forgive him. God forgave him, and -his Mother had never been angry with him. - -Later on the young man married that poor but sweet girl who had brought -the Brownies to their house. They are all three living happily together -to this day, and Wee Tintilinkie loves to visit their hearth of a -winter’s evening. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Little Brother Primrose and Sister Lavender - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration] - - - - - Little Brother Primrose and Sister Lavender - - - I - -THE stronghold of a wise and noble princess was attacked by her enemies. -The princess could not gather together her large and faithful army -quickly enough to defend her castle, but had to fly by night with her -little prince in her arms. - -So she fled all through the night, and at daybreak they reached the foot -of grisly Mount Kitesh, which was on the border of the principality. - -At that time there were no more dragons anywhere in the world, nor -fairies, nor witches, nor any monsters. The Holy Cross and human reason -had driven them forth. But in the fastnesses of Mount Kitesh the last of -the Fiery Dragons had found a refuge, and seven Votaress Fairies -attended upon him. That is why Mount Kitesh was so grisly. But at the -foot of the mountain lay a quiet valley. There dwelt the shepherdess -Miloika in her little willow cabin, and tended her flock. - -To that very valley came the princess at dawn with her baby, and when -she saw Miloika sitting outside her cabin she went up to her and begged: -“Hide me and the little prince in your cabin through the day. At -nightfall I will continue my flight with the prince.” Miloika made the -fugitives welcome, gave them ewes’ milk to drink, and hid them in her -cabin. - -As evening approached, the kind and noble princess said: “I must go on -now with the prince. But will you take my Golden Girdle and the prince’s -little Gold Cross on a red ribbon? If our enemies should chance to find -us they would know us by the Girdle and the Cross. Put these two things -by and take good care of them in your little cabin. When my faithful -captains have gathered together an army and driven out the enemy, I -shall return to my castle and there you shall be my dear friend and -companion.” - -“Your companion I cannot be, noble princess,” said Miloika, “for I am -not your equal either by birth or understanding. But I will take care of -your Girdle and your Cross, because in time of real sorrow and trouble -even the heart of a beggar can be companion to the heart of a king.” - -As she said this, Miloika received the Girdle and the Cross from the -princess for safe keeping, and the princess took up the little prince -and went out and away with him into the night, which was so dark that -you could not tell grass from stone, nor field from sea. - - - II - -Many years passed, but the princess did not return to her lands nor to -her castle. - -Her great army and her illustrious captains were so disloyal that they -all immediately went over to her enemies. And so the enemy conquered the -lands of the good and noble princess, and settled down in her castle. - -No one knew or could discover what had become of the princess and the -little prince. Most probably her escape on that dark night had ended by -her falling into the sea, or over a precipice, or perishing in some -other way with her baby. - -But Miloika the shepherdess faithfully kept the Golden Girdle of the -princess and the prince’s little Gold Cross. - -The smartest and wealthiest swains of the village came to ask Miloika to -marry them, because the Golden Girdle and the little Gold Cross on the -red ribbon were worth as much as ten villages. But Miloika would have -none of them for her husband, saying: “You come because of the Golden -Girdle and the little Cross; but they are not mine, and I must take -better care of them than of my sheep or my cabin.” - -So said Miloika, and chose a penniless and gentle youth to be her -husband, who cared nothing about the Girdle and Cross of Gold. - -They lived in great poverty, and at times there was neither bread nor -meal in the house, but they never thought of selling either Girdle or -Cross. - -Within a few years Miloika’s husband fell ill and died; and not long -afterwards a sore sickness came upon Miloika, and she knew that she too -must die. So she called her two children, her little daughter Lavender -and her still smaller son Primrose, and gave them each a keepsake. Round -Lavender’s waist she bound the Golden Girdle, and round Primrose’s neck -she hung the Gold Cross on the red ribbon. And Miloika said: - -“Farewell, my children! You will be left alone in this world, and I have -taught you but little craft or skill; but with God’s help, what I have -taught you will just suffice for your childish needs. Cleave to one -another, and guard as a sacred trust what your mother gave into your -keeping, and then I shall always remain with you.” Thus spoke the -mother, and died. - -Lavender and Primrose were so little that they did not know how their -mother had come by the Girdle and Cross, and still less did they -understand the meaning of their mother’s words. But they just sat side -by side by their dead mother like two poor little orphans and waited to -see what would become of them. - -Presently the good folk of the village came along and said that Miloika -would have to be buried next day. - - - III - -But that was not the only thing that happened next day. For when the -people came back from the funeral, they all went into the house to -gossip, and only Lavender and Primrose remained outside, because they -still fancied that their mother would yet somehow come back to them. - -Suddenly a huge Eagle pounced down upon them from the sky, knocked -Lavender down, caught her by the Girdle with his talons, and carried her -off into the clouds. - -The Eagle flew away with Lavender to his eyrie, high up on Mount Kitesh. - -It did not hurt Lavender at all to fly along like that, hanging by her -Gold Girdle. She was only sorry at being parted from her only brother, -and kept on thinking: “Why didn’t the Eagle take Primrose too!” - -So they flew over Mount Kitesh, and there, all of a sudden, Lavender saw -what neither she nor anyone else of the inhabitants of the valley had -ever seen; for everyone avoided the grisly mountains, and of those who -had happened to stray into them not one had ever returned. What Lavender -saw was this: all the seven Votaress Fairies who waited upon the Fiery -Dragon assembled together upon a rock. They called themselves -_Votaresses_ because they had vowed, as the last of the fairy kin, to -take vengeance upon the human race. - -The Fairies looked up, and there was the eagle carrying a little girl. -Now the Fairies and the Eagles had made a bargain between them that each -should bring his prey to that rock, and there hold a prizecourt upon the -rock to settle what was to be done with the prey and who was to have it. -And for that reason the rock was called _Share-spoil_. - -So the Fairies called out to the Eagle: - -“Ho, brother Klickoon! come and alight on Share-spoil!” - -But luckily the bargain was no sounder than the parties to it. - -The Eagle Klickoon had taken a fancy to Lavender, so he did not keep to -the bargain, nor would he alight on Share-spoil, but carried Lavender on -to his eyrie for his eaglets to play with. - -But he had to fly right across the summit of the Mountain, because his -eyrie was on the far side. - -Now, on the top of the Mountain there was a lake, and in the lake there -was an island, and on the island there was a little old chapel. Around -the lake was a tiny meadow, and all round the meadow ran a furrow -ploughed in days of old. Across this furrow neither the Dragon, nor the -Fairies, nor any monster of the Mountain could pass. About the lake -bloomed flowers, and spread their perfume; there doves took refuge, and -nightingales, and all gentle creatures from the mountains. - -[Illustration] - -Neither clouds nor mist hung over the holy furrow-surrounded Lake; but -evermore the sun and moon in turn shed their light upon it. - -As Klickoon flew over the Lake with Lavender, she caught sight of the -chapel. And as she caught sight of the chapel, she remembered her -mother; and as she remembered her mother, she pressed her hand to her -heart; and as she pressed her hand to her heart, her mother’s trust, the -Golden Girdle, came undone upon Lavender. - -The Girdle came undone; Lavender dropped from the Eagle’s talons -straight into the Lake, and the Girdle after her. Lavender caught hold -of the Golden Girdle and stepped over the reeds, and the water-lilies, -and the water-weeds, and the rushes to the island. There she sat down on -a stone outside the chapel. But Klickoon flew on like a whirlwind in a -rage, because he could not come near the Holy Lake. - -Lavender was safe enough now, for nothing evil could reach her across -the furrow. But what was the good of that, when the poor little child -was all alone on the top of the grisly Mount Kitesh, and none could come -to her, and she could not get away? - - - IV - -Meantime the people who had buried Miloika noticed that the Eagle had -carried off Lavender. At first they all burst out lamenting, but then -one of them said: - -“Good people, it is really as well that the Eagle carried off Lavender. -It would have been hard to find someone in the village who could take -charge of the _two_ children. But for Primrose alone we shall easily -find someone who will look after him.” - -“Yes, yes,” the others all immediately agreed, “it is better so. We can -easily look after Primrose.” - -They stood yet awhile outside the cabin gazing in the direction towards -which the Eagle had disappeared with Lavender into the skies, and then -they went back indoors to drink and to talk, repeating all the time: - -“There’s not one of us but will be glad to take Primrose.” - -So they said. But not one of them troubled so much about Primrose as to -offer him a drink of water, although it was very hot. Now Primrose was -thirsty and went in to ask for water. But he was so tiny that not one of -those people could understand what he said. Primrose wanted someone to -get him his little wooden mug; but not one of those people knew that -Primrose’s little wooden mug was behind the beam. - -When Primrose saw all this, he looked round the room for a moment, and -then the child thought: “This is no good to me. I am left all alone in -the world.” So he leaned over the pitcher that stood on the floor, drank -as much water as he could, and then set out to see if he could find his -little sister Lavender. - -He went out of the house and set off towards the sun—the direction in -which he had seen the Eagle fly away with Lavender. - - - V - -The sun was setting beyond Mount Kitesh, and so Primrose, always looking -at the sun, presently came to Mount Kitesh, too. There was no one beside -Primrose to say to him: “Don’t go up the Mountain, child! The Mountain -is full of terrors.” And so he went on, poor, foolish baby, and began to -climb up the Mountain. - -But Primrose did not know what fear was. His mother had kept him safe -like a flower before the altar, so that no harm, not even the smallest, -had ever befallen him; he had never been pricked by a thorn, nor scared -by a harsh word. - -And so no fear could enter Primrose’s heart, no matter what his eyes -beheld or his ears heard. - -Meantime, Primrose had got well up into the Mountain and already reached -the first rocks and crags. - -And there, below Share-spoil, the Votaress Fairies were all assembled -and still discussing how Klickoon had cheated them. Suddenly they saw a -child coming towards them, climbing up the Mountain. The Votaresses were -delighted; it would be easy to deal with such a little child! - -As Primrose came nearer, the Votaresses went down to meet him. In less -than no time they had surrounded him. Primrose only wondered when he -suddenly saw so many ladies coming towards him, each with a great pair -of wings! One of the Votaresses went close up to the child to take him -by the hand. - -Now Primrose was wearing the little Cross round his neck. When the Fairy -saw the Cross, she screamed and started away from Primrose, for she -could not touch him because of the Cross. - -But the Fairies had no intention of letting the child off so easily. -They hovered about him in a wide circle and conferred softly about what -was to be done with him. - -Little Primrose’s heart was untroubled within him. The Fairies -conferred, and their thoughts were so black that they came out in a -cloud of black forest wasps buzzing round their heads. But Primrose just -looked at them, and as he could see no harm in them, how was he to be -frightened? On the contrary, the wings of one of the Votaresses took his -fancy, flapping like that, and so he toddled up to her to see what she -was really like. - -“That will do nicely,” thought the Votaress. “I cannot touch him, but I -will entice him into the Wolf’s Pit.” - -For near by there was a pit all covered over with boughs, so that you -could not see it; and the bottom of the pit was full of horrible stakes -and spikes. Whoever stepped on the boughs was bound to fall through and -kill himself on the spikes. - -So the Votaress Fairy enticed Primrose to the Wolf’s Pit, always -slipping away from him, and he always following to see what her wings -really were. And so they came to the Pit. The Fairy flew over the Pit; -but poor little misguided Primrose stepped on the boughs and fell down -the hole. - -The Votaresses shrieked for joy, and hurried up to see the child perish -on the spikes. - -But what do Fairies know about a baby! - -Primrose was light as a chicken. Some of the boughs and branches fell -down with him, the branches covered the spikes, and Primrose was so -small and light that he came to rest upon the leaves as if they had been -a bed. - -When Primrose found himself lying down upon something soft, he thought: -“I suppose I had better go to sleep!” So he tucked his little hand under -his head and went sound asleep, never thinking that he was caught in a -deep hole and could not get out. - -Round him there were still many bare spikes, and the wicked Fairies were -bending over the Pit. But Primrose slept peacefully and quietly, as -though he were bedded on sweet basil. Primrose never moved. His mother -had taught him: “When you are in your bed, darling, shut your little -eyes and lie quite still, so as not to frighten your guardian angel.” - -So the Fairies stood round the Pit, and saw the baby falling asleep like -a little duke in his golden crib. “That child is not so easy to deal -with, after all,” said the Votaresses. So they flew off to Share-spoil, -and took counsel as to how they might kill him, since they could not -touch him because of the little Cross. - -They argued and argued, and at last one of the Votaresses had an idea. -“We will raise a storm,” said she; “we will cause a terrific rain. A -torrent will pour down the Mountain, and the child will be drowned in -the Pit.” - -“Whoo-ee, whoo-ee!” howled the Votaresses. They flapped their wings for -joy, and at once rose up into the air and above the Mountain to roll up -the clouds and raise a storm. - - - VI - -Little Lavender was sitting on the top of the Mountain on her island in -the Holy Lake. Round her fluttered lovely butterflies, even settling on -her shoulders; and the grey dove guided her young to her lap to let her -feed them with seeds. A wild raspberry-cane bent over Lavender, and -Lavender ate the crimson fruit, and wanted for nothing. - -But she was all alone, poor child! and sad at heart, because she -believed she was parted for ever from Primrose, her only brother; and, -moreover, she thought: “Did anyone, I wonder, remember to give him a -drink or to put him to bed?” - -In the midst of these sad thoughts Lavender looked up at the sky and saw -a mist, black as night, rolling up round the Mountain. Over Lavender and -over the holy furrow-surrounded Lake the sun shone brightly; but all -around the mist was gathering and rising, inky clouds drifted and -whirled, rose and fell like a pall of smoke, and every now and again -fiery flashes darted from the gloom. - -It was the Votaresses, flapping their great wings, who had piled up -those black clouds upon the Mountain, and it was from their eyes that -the fiery flashes shot across the darkness. And then suddenly it began -to thunder most terribly within the clouds; heavy rain beat down all -around upon the Mountain, and the Votaresses howled and darted to an fro -through the thunder and the rain. - -When Lavender saw that, she considered: “Over my head there is sunshine, -and no harm can come to me. But perhaps there is someone abroad on the -Mountain in need of help in this storm.” - -And although Lavender thought there was never a Christian soul on the -Mountain, yet she did as her mother had taught her to do in a storm: she -crossed herself and prayed. And as there was still a bell in the ruined -chapel, Lavender took hold of the rope and began to toll the bell -against the storm. Lavender did not know for whom she was praying or for -whom she was tolling, but she tolled for a help to anyone who might be -in distress. - -When the bell on the island began to ring so unexpectedly, after having -been silent for a hundred years, the Votaresses took fright up there in -the clouds; they got worried and confused; they left off making a storm; -they fled in terror in all directions, and hid under the rocks, under -the crags, in hollow trees, or in the fern. - -In a little while the Mountain was clear, and the sun shone on the -Mountain, where there had been no sunshine for a hundred years. - -The sun shone; the rain stopped suddenly. But for poor little Primrose -the danger was not yet over. - -That first great downpour had formed a big torrent in the Mountain, and -the wild water was rushing fast towards the very Pit where Primrose was -sleeping. - -Primrose had heard neither the storm nor the thunder, and now he did not -hear the torrent either as it came rushing and roaring with frightful -swiftness towards him to drown him. - -The water poured into the Pit, poured in, and in a moment it had -overwhelmed the child. - -It covered him, overwhelmed him in a moment. There was not a thing to be -seen, neither Pit, nor spikes, nor Primrose, nothing but the wild water -foaming down the Mountain. - -But as the flood rushed into the pit, it eddied at the bottom, surged -round and up and back upon itself, and then suddenly the water lifted up -the boughs and branches, and little Primrose, too, upon the boughs. It -lifted him up, clean out of the Pit, and carried him downhill on a -bough. - -The torrent was so strong that it carried away great stones and ancient -oaks, rolling them along, and nothing could stop them, because they were -heavy and stout, and the torrent very fierce. - -But tiny Primrose on his bough floated lightly down the flood, as -lightly as a white rose-bud, so that any bush could stop him. - -And indeed, there was a bush in the way, and the bough with Primrose -caught in its branches. Primrose woke up with a start, caught hold of -the branch with his little hands, climbed up into the bush, and there he -sat on the top of the bush, just like a little bird. - -Above Primrose the sun shone clear and sweet; below Primrose foamed the -dreadful water; and he sat in the bush in his little white shirt, and -rubbed his eyes in wonder, because he could not make out what had -happened and what had waked him up so suddenly. - -By the time he had finished rubbing his eyes the water had all run away -downhill; the torrent was gone. Primrose watched the mud squelching and -writhing round the bush, and then Primrose climbed down, because he -thought: - -“I suppose I ought to go on now, since they have waked me up.” - -And so he went on up the hill. And he had slept so sweetly that he felt -quite happy, and thought: “Now I shall find Lavender.” - - - VII - -No sooner had the bell stopped ringing than the Votaresses recovered -their strength. They took courage and crept out of their hidie-holes. -When they got out, lo! the sun was shining on the Mountain, and there is -nothing in the world the wicked Fairies fear more than the sunlight. And -as they could not wrap the whole Mountain in mist all in a hurry, each -one quickly rolled herself up in a bit of fog, and off they flew to the -Pit to make sure that Primrose was drowned. - -But when they got there and looked into the Pit, the Pit was empty; -Primrose was gone! - -The Fairies cried aloud with vexation, and looked all over the Mountain -to see whether the water had not dashed him against a stone. But as the -Votaresses looked, why, this is what they saw: Primrose going blithely -on his way; the sun was drying his little shirt for him on his back, and -he was crooning away to himself as little children will. - -“That child will escape us at this rate,” sobbed one of the Votaresses. -“The child is stronger than we are. Hadn’t we better ask the Fiery -Dragon to help us?” - -“Don’t disgrace yourselves, my sisters,” said another Votaress. “Surely -we can get the better of a feeble infant by ourselves.” - -So said the Fairy, but she did not know that Primrose in his simplicity -was stronger than all the evil and all the cunning in Mount Kitesh. - -“We will send the She-bear to kill the child for us,” suggested a -Votaress. “Dumb animals do not fear the Cross.” And she flew off at once -to the bears’ den. - -There lay the She-bear, a-playing with her cub. - -“Run along, Bruineen, down that path. There is a child coming up the -path. Wait for him and kill him, Bruineen dear,” said the Votaress. - -“I can’t leave my cub,” answered Bruineen. - -“I’ll amuse him for you,” said the Votaress, and straightway began to -play with the little bear. - -Bruineen went away down the path, and there was Primrose already in -sight. - -The great She-bear rose up on her hind-legs, stretched out her front -paws, and so went forwards towards Primrose to kill him. - -The She-bear was terrible to see, but Primrose saw nothing terrible in -her, and could only think: - -“Here’s somebody coming and offering me his hand, so I must give him -mine.” - -So Primrose raised both his little hands and held them out to the -She-bear, and went straight up to her, as though his mother had called -him to her arms. - -Well, another moment, and the dreadful She-bear would seize him. She had -come up to him, and would have caught and killed him at once had he -offered to run. But she saw that she had time to consider how she had -best take hold of him. So she drew herself right up, looked at Primrose -from the right and from the left, and now she was going to pounce. - -But at that very moment the little bear cub in the den began to squeal. -One of the black wasps that always buzzed round the Votaress’s head had -stung him. The cub howled lustily, because, although the Bruins are a -spiteful folk themselves, they won’t stand spite from anybody else. So -the cub squealed at the top of his voice, and when Bruineen heard her -baby crying she forgot about Primrose and the Mountain! Bruineen dropped -on all-fours and trundled away like fury to her den. - -The angry She-bear caught the Votaress by the hair with her great paw. -They fought, they rolled, they tore at each other, and left Primrose in -peace. - -Primrose followed the She-bear and looked on for a bit while they fought -and scuffled; he looked, and then he laughed aloud, silly baby! and went -on up the Mountain, and never knew what a narrow escape he had had! - - - VIII - -Once more the Votaresses assembled on Share-spoil to discuss what was to -be done about Primrose. They saw that they were weaker than he. - -Moreover, they were getting tired of flying to Share-spoil and back and -conferring about Primrose, and so they were very angry. - -“Well, we will poison the child. Neither spells nor cunning shall help -him now,” they resolved. And straightaway one of them took a wooden -platter and hurried off to a certain meadow in the Mountain to gather -poison berries. - -But Primrose, never dreaming that anybody should be talking about him or -worrying their brains about him, walked gaily over the Mountain, cooing -softly to himself like a little dove. - -Presently he came to the poison meadow. The path led through the middle -of it. On one side of the path the meadow was covered with red berries -and on the other side with black. Both were poisonous, and whoever ate -of either the one or the other was sure to die. - -But how was Primrose to know that there was such a thing as poison in -the world, when he had never known any food but what his mother gave -him? - -Primrose was hungry, and he liked the look of the red berries in the -meadow. But he saw someone over there in front of him on the red side -picking berries and seemingly in a great hurry, for she never raised her -head. It was the Votaress, and she was gathering red berries to poison -Primrose. - -“That is her side,” thought Primrose, and went over to the black -berries, because he had never been taught to take what belonged to -another. So he sat down among the black berries and began to eat; and -the Fairy wandered far away among the red berries and never noticed that -Primrose had already come up and was eating black ones. - -When Primrose had eaten enough he got up to go on. But, oh dear! a mist -rose before his eyes; his head began to ache most dreadfully, and the -earth seemed to rock beneath his feet. - -That was because of the black poison. - -Poor little Primrose! indeed you know neither spells nor cunning, and -how are you going to save yourself from this new danger? - -But Primrose struggled on all the same, because he thought it was -nothing that a mist should rise before his eyes and the ground rock -beneath his feet! - -And so he came up with the Fairy where she was picking berries. The -Votaress caught sight of Primrose, and at once she ran on to the path in -front of him with her plateful of red berries. She laid down the platter -before him and invited him by signs to eat. - -The Votaress did not know that Primrose had already eaten of the black -berries; and if she had known, she would never have offered him red -ones, but would have let him die of the black poison. - -Primrose did not care for any more berries, because his head ached -cruelly; but his mother used to say to him: “Eat, darling, when I offer -you something, and don’t grieve your mother.” - -Now this was neither spell nor cunning what Primrose had been taught by -his mother. But it was in a good hour that Primrose did as his mother -had taught him. - -He took the plate and ate of the red berries; and as he ate, the mist -cleared before his eyes, his head and his heart stopped aching, and the -ground no longer rocked beneath his feet. - -The red poison killed the black in Primrose’s veins. He merrily clapped -his hands and went on his way as sound as a bell and as happy as a grig. - -And now he could see the top of the Mountain ahead of him, and Primrose -thought: - -“This is the end of the world. There is nothing beyond the top. There I -shall find Lavender.” - - - IX - -The Votaress would not believe her eyes; she stared after Primrose, and -there was he toddling along and the dreadful poison doing him no harm! - -She looked and she looked—and then she shrieked with rage. She could not -imagine by what miracle Primrose had escaped. All she could see was that -the child would slip through her hands and reach the Lake, for he was -getting near the top. - -The Votaress had no time to fly to Share-spoil and confer with her -sisters. In time of real trouble people don’t hold conferences. But she -flew straight to her brother, the thunder-voiced bird Belleroo. - -Belleroo’s nest was in a little bog on the Mountain, close to the furrow -which ran round the Holy Lake. As he was an ill-tempered bird, he too -could not cross the furrow, but the evil Things of the Mountain had -appointed his place here on the boundary, so that he might trouble the -peace of the Lake with his booming. - -“Kinsman, brother, Belleroo,” the Votaress cried out to Belleroo, “there -is a child coming up the path. Delay him here at the furrow with your -booming, so that he may not escape me across the farrow to the Lake. I -am going for the Fiery Dragon.” - -No sooner had the Votaress said this than she flew like an arrow down -the Mountain to fetch the Fiery Dragon, who was lying asleep in a deep -gully. - -As for Belleroo, he was always all impatience to be told to boom, -because he was horribly proud of his loud voice. - -Dusk was beginning to fall. It was evening. Nearer and nearer to the -furrow came Primrose. Beyond the furrow he could see the Lake, and the -chapel looming white on the Lake. - -“Here I am at the end of the world; I have only to cross that furrow,” -thought Primrose. - -Suddenly the Mountain rang with the most awful noise, so that the -branches swayed and the leaves trembled on the trees, and the rocks and -cliffs re-echoed down to the deepest cavern. It was Belleroo roaring. - -His boom was terrible. It would have scared the great Skanderbeg -himself, for it would have reminded Skanderbeg of the boom of the -Turkish guns. - -But it did not in the least frighten the little innocent Primrose, who -had never yet been shouted at in grief or anger. - -Primrose heard something making such a noise that the very Mountain -shook, and so he went up to see what great thing it might be. When he -got there, lo! it was a bird no bigger than a hen! - -The bird dipped its beak in a pool, then threw up its head and puffed -out its throat like a pair of bellows, and boomed—heavens, it boomed so -that Primrose’s sleeves fluttered on him! This new wonder took -Primrose’s fancy so much that he sat down so as to see from near by how -Belleroo boomed. - -Primrose sat down just below the holy furrow beside Belleroo, and peered -under his throat—because by now it was dark—the better to see how -Belleroo puffed out his throat. - -Had Primrose been wiser he would not have lingered there on the Mountain -just below the furrow, where every evil Thing could hurt him, but he -would have taken that one step across the furrow so as to be safe where -the evil Things could not come. - -But Primrose was just a little simpleton, and might easily have come to -grief just there, within sight of safety. - -Primrose was much amused by Belleroo. - -He was amused; he was beguiled. - -And while he was amusing himself in this fashion, the Fairy went and -roused the Fiery Dragon where he slept in a deep gully. - -She roused him and led him up the Mountain. On came the fearsome Fiery -Dragon, spouting flame out of both nostrils and crushing firs and -pine-trees as he went. There wasn’t room enough for him, you see, in the -forest and the Mountain. - -Why don’t you run, little Primrose? One jump across the furrow, and you -will be safe and happy! - -But Primrose did not think of running away. He went on sitting quite -calmly below the furrow, and when he saw the flames from the Dragon -flaring up in the darkness, he thought to himself: “What is making that -pretty light on the Mountain?” - -It was a cruel fire coming along to devour Primrose, and he, foolish -baby! sat looking at it, all pleased and wondering: “What is making that -pretty light on the Mountain?” - -The Votaress caught sight of Primrose, and said to the Fiery Dragon: - -“There is the child. Fiery Dragon! Get your best fire ready!” - -But the Dragon was panting with the stiff climb. - -“Wait a moment, sister, while I get my breath,” answered the Dragon. - -So the Dragon took a deep breath, once, twice, three times! - -But that is just where the Dragon made a mistake. - -Because his mighty breath caused an equally great wind on the Mountain. -The wind blew, and bowled Primrose over the furrow and right up to the -Holy Lake! - -The Votaress gave one shriek, threw herself down on the ground, rolled -herself up in her black wings, and sobbed and cried like mad. - -The angry Dragon snorted and puffed; he belched fire as from ten red-hot -furnaces. But the flames could not cross the furrow; when they reached -the furrow they just rose straight upwards as if they had come up -against a marble wall. - -Sparks and flame crackled and spurted and returned upon Mount Kitesh. -Half the Mountain did the Dragon set on fire, but he lost little -Primrose! - -When the wind bowled Primrose over like that, Primrose only laughed at -being carried away so fast. He laughed once; he laughed twice.... - - - X - -On the island in the Lake, beside the little chapel, sat Lavender. - -It was evening, but Lavender could not go to sleep because of the -hurly-burly in the Mountain. Lavender heard the Votaresses howling and -shrieking and Bruineen growling. She heard the Dragon come snorting up -from his lair, and saw him spout fire all over the Mountain. - -And now she saw the blazing flames shooting upwards to the skies. - -But then she heard something—good gracious! what was it she heard? A -laugh, like a little silver bell. Lavender’s heart throbbed within her. - -The tiny voice laughed again. - -Then Lavender could bear it no longer, but called from the Island: - -“Who is that laughing in the Mountain?” asked Lavender gently, and all -a-tremble at the thought of _who_ might answer. - -“Who is that calling me from the Island?” answered little Primrose. - -And Lavender recognised Primrose’s baby-talk. - -“Primrose! my own only Brother!” cried Lavender, and stood up white in -the moonlight. - -“Lavender, little sister!” cried Primrose; and, light as a moth, he -stepped over the reeds and the rushes and the water-weeds to the Island. -They hugged and they kissed; they sat down side by side in the moonlight -by the little chapel. A little did they talk, but they were not clever -at making a long story. They clasped each other’s little hands and went -to sleep. - - - XI - -That was how they began to live day after day on the Holy Lake. Primrose -was quite happy and desired nothing better. - -There was clear water in the Lake, and there were sweet raspberries. -There were plenty of flowers and butterflies in the meadow, and -fireflies and dew by night. Nightingales and doves nested in the trees. - -Every evening Lavender would make Primrose a bed of leaves, and in the -morning she bathed him in the Lake and tied up his little shoes. And -Primrose thought: “What do we want with a wider world than this within -the furrow?” - -Primrose was well off; he was only a baby! - -And Lavender was happy, but she was troubled about Primrose, how she -should look after him and get him food. Because God has so ordered it -that the young folk can never get food without the old folk having to -think about it. - -That is so all the world over, and couldn’t be otherwise even on the -Holy Lake. - -So Lavender was worried. “To-morrow will be St. Peter’s Day. Will the -raspberries be over when St. Peter’s is past? Will the water grow cold -and the sun fail when autumn comes? How shall we get through the winter -all alone? Will our cottage in the valley go to rack and ruin?” - -So Lavender worried, and wherever there is worry, there temptation comes -most easily. - -One day she sat and mused: “Oh dear! what luck it would be if only we -could get back to our cottage!” Just then she heard somebody calling -from the Mountain. Lavender looked, and there in the wood on the far -side of the furrow stood the youngest of the Votaresses. - -She was prettier than the other Votaresses, and loved finery. She had -noticed the Golden Girdle on Lavender, and now she wanted that Golden -Girdle above anything else in the world. - -“Little girl, sister, throw me your Girdle,” called the fairy across the -furrow. - -“I can’t do that, Fairy; I had that Girdle from my mother,” answered -Lavender. - -“Little girl, sister, it wasn’t your mother’s Girdle; it belonged to the -princess, and the princess has been dead long ago. Throw me the Girdle,” -said the Fairy, who remembered the princess. - -“I can’t, Fairy; the Girdle is from my mother,” repeated Lavender. - -“Little girl, sister, I will carry you and your brother down to the -valley, and no harm shall come to you; throw me the Girdle,” cried the -Fairy once more. - -This was a sad temptation for Lavender, who so longed to get away from -the Mountain! But all the same she would not sacrifice her mother’s -keepsake to the greedy fairy, but answered: - -“I cannot, Fairy; I had the Girdle from my mother.” - -The Fairy went away quite sadly, but next day she came back and began -again: - -“Throw me the Girdle, and I will take you down the Mountain.” - -“I cannot, Fairy; I had the Girdle from my mother,” Lavender answered -once more, but with a very heavy heart. - -For seven days did the Fairy come, and for seven days she tempted -Lavender. Temptation is worse than the sharpest care, and poor little -Lavender pined away, so great was her wish to get down to the valley. -Yet all the same she would not give up the Girdle. - -For seven days did the Fairy call, and for seven days did Lavender -answer her: - -“I cannot, Fairy; the Girdle is from my mother.” - -And when she answered thus on the seventh day, the Fairy saw that there -was no help for it. - -The Fairy went down the Mountain; she sat down on the last, lowest -stone, shook down her hair and cried bitterly, so great was her desire -for the Golden Girdle of the princess. - - - XII - -Meantime the good and noble princess was not dead, but had lived for -many a year in a far country with her son, the prince. - -The princess never told anybody how high-born a lady she was, and her -son was too young at the time of their flight for him to remember. - -And so in that country not a soul knew—not even the prince—that they -came of royal blood. But how could anybody tell that she was a princess, -when she had neither crown nor Golden Girdle? And though she was good, -gentle, and noble, that did not prove that she was a princess. - -The princess lived in the house of a worthy peasant, and there she span -and wove for his household. - -In this way she earned enough to keep herself and her son. - -The boy had grown up into a tall and handsome youth of unusual strength -and power, and the princess taught him nothing that was not good and -right. - -But one thing was bad. The prince had a very hasty and fierce temper. So -the people called him _Rowfoot Relya_, because he was so rough and -strong—and so poor withal. - -One day Rowfoot Relya was mowing his master’s meadow, and lay down at -noon in the shade to rest. And a young squire came riding by, and called -to Relya: - -“Hi, young man! jump up and run back along the road and find me my -silver spur; it fell off somewhere on the way.” - -When Relya heard that, his princely blood, his hot and hasty blood, was -roused to evil within him because the other had disturbed him in his -rest and would send him out to find his spur. - -“Won’t I, by heaven!” cried Relya, “and you can lie here and rest -instead of me!” And with that he sprang at the young squire, pulled him -off his horse, and flung him down in the shade, so that he lay there for -dead. - -But Rowfoot Relya, still furious, rushed home to his mother, and cried -out upon her: - -“Wretched mother! why was I born a rowfoot churl, for others to send me -out to find their spurs for them in the dust?” - -Relya’s face was quite distorted with rage as he said this. - -The mother looked at her son, and her heart grieved sorely. She saw that -there would be no more peace for her and her son, because she would have -to tell him what she had so far kept secret. - -“You are not a rowfoot churl, my son,” replied the princess, “but an -unfortunate prince.” And she told Relya all about herself and him. - -Relya listened; his eyes blazed with a strange fire, and he clenched his -hands in bitter anger. Then he asked: - -“Is there nothing left, then, mother, of our lands?” - -“Nothing, my son, save a little Cross on a red ribbon and a Golden -Girdle,” answered his mother. - -When Relya heard that, he cried: - -“I am going, mother, and I shall bring back that Cross and Girdle, -wherever they may be! Threefold will the sight of them increase my -princely strength!” - -And then he asked: - -“And where did you leave the Cross and the Girdle, mother? Did you leave -them with the chief of your captains for him and your great army to -guard?” - -“No, my son,” replied the princess, “and it is a good thing that I did -not, for my captains and my great army went over to the enemy, and are -now feasting and drinking with the enemy and wasting my lands.” - -“Did you perhaps leave them in the lowest room of your castle, in the -seventh vault, under seven locks?” - -“No, my son, and it is a good thing that I did not, because the enemy -got into my castle, broke open and ransacked its secret chambers, -searched its nine vaults, and fed his horses upon pearls out of my -treasure hoards,” replied the princess. - -“But where did you leave the Golden Girdle and the Cross on the red -ribbon?” asked Relya, with flashing eyes. - -“I left them with a young shepherdess in a willow cabin, where there are -neither locks nor strong boxes. Go, my son, perchance you will find them -there still.” - -Relya would not believe that the Girdle and Cross might be safe in a -willow cabin when the noble princess’s pearls had not been safe even in -the ninth vault under her castle. - -But his princely blood, so proud and masterful, was roused yet more to -evil in Relya’s veins, and he roughly said to his mother: - -“Farewell, then, mother! I shall find the Cross and Girdle wherever they -may be, and it shall be no jesting matter for those who would refuse to -let me have them! I shall bring you back your Girdle and Cross, by the -princely blood in my veins.” - -As Prince Relya said this, he took the blade of the scythe, fitted it -with a mighty hilt at the forge, and then hurried out into the world to -find his heritage. The earth rang beneath his feet; his hair streamed in -the wind, so swiftly did he stride; and his murderous blade shone in the -sun as though it were plated with flame. - - - XIII - -So Relya went on without stopping. He strode on by day, and by night he -did not rest; both great and small got out of his way. - -It is far to Mount Kitesh, but Relya had no difficulty in finding out -the way, because Mount Kitesh was known throughout seven kingdoms for -its terrors. - -On St. John’s Day Relya bade farewell to his mother, and on St. Peter’s -Day he reached the foot of the Mountain. - -When he reached the foot of the Mountain, he inquired after the willow -cabin, the shepherdess Miloika, and the Golden Girdle and Cross. - -“There is the cabin in the valley. Miloika we buried the first Sunday -after Easter, and her children have the Girdle and Cross. As for the -children, the Fairies have carried them off to Mount Kitesh,” replied -the villagers. - -Very wroth was Relya when he heard that the Girdle and Cross had been -carried off to Mount Kitesh. He was so angry that he could not make up -his mind which to do first—hasten up the Mountain or find out about the -castle, since that was uppermost in his desires. - -“And where is the princess’s castle?” shouted Relya. - -“Over there, a day’s journey from here,” answered the villagers. - -“And how stands it with the castle?” asked Relya, and his hand played -with his sword. “Tell me all you know about it!” - -“None of us has been in the castle, because the lords of it are hard of -heart. Round the castle they have placed mutes for guards and savage -bloodhounds. We cannot force our way past the bloodhounds, and we do not -know how to persuade the guards,” answered the villagers. “And within -the castle are fine lords, drinking red wine in the halls, playing upon -silver lutes, and tossing golden balls to each other over a silken -carpet. In the outer hall are two hundred workmen cutting hearts out of -mother-o’-pearl for targets for the lords. And when the lords make a -great feast, they load their guns with precious stones and shoot at the -hearts of mother-o’-pearl.” - -When the villagers told him this, a mist swam before Relya’s eyes, so -furious was he when he heard how wantonly the treasure in his mother’s -vaults was being squandered. - -[Illustration] - -For a while Relya hesitated, and then he cried: - -“I am going up the Mountain to win the Cross and Girdle, and then I -shall return to thee, O my castle.” - -Thus cried Relya; he made the sword sing through the air above his head, -and then strode swiftly up into Mount Kitesh. There he found the great -Dragon asleep in the deep gully. You see, the Dragon had tired himself -out with belching so much fire at Primrose, and now he had gone fast -asleep to gather fresh strength. - -But Relya was all impatience to fight someone so as to cool his anger -and to prove his strength. He was tired of seeing everybody, both great -and small, get out of his way all the time, so now he rushed up to the -Fiery Dragon to rouse and dare him to mortal combat. - -Relya was a Doughty Hero, and the Fiery Dragon was a Terrible Monster, -and so their combat must be sung in verse, beginning where Relya rushed -up to the Dragon: - - Childe Relya smote the Dragon on the side - With the flat blade, to rouse him from his sleep. - The Beast looked up, raising his grisly head, - Beheld the hero Relya standing by. - Up leapt the Dragon, with a rending blow - O’erturns the cliff and widens out the gap - To make a fitting space wherein to fight! - Anon unto the clouds he rears him up; - Anon on Relya pounces from the clouds, - And so with Relya joins in mortal fray. - Now groans the earth and splits the solid rock. - With tooth and flame the Dragon turns to bay, - And thrusts at Relya with his fiery head. - But Relya waits him with a ready sword, - And meets the onslaught with a ready sword; - And with his weapon beating down the flame - Seeks for the sword an undefended spot, - Where he may smite the Dragon on the head. - Deep bites the brand—so mighty was the shock - That brand and bone no more will come apart. - From dawn till noontide did the battle rage, - And weaker grew the Dragon all the while, - With brooding on the shame that galled his heart, - Because the babe, young Primrose, had escaped. - And stronger grew Childe Relya all the while, - For he did battle for his heritage. - When at high noon the sun burned overhead, - Childe Relya swung his gleaming brand aloft - Towards the sun, and called on Heaven for aid. - Down fell the sword betwixt the Dragon’s eyes— - Full swiftly fell, yet lightly struck the blade, - Yet with such force, it cleft the Beast in twain. - Into the hollow falls the Dragon, slain, - And as stretched him in his dying spasm, - The monstrous limbs block up the ancient chasm. - -Thus did the doughty Relya overcome the Fiery Dragon. But his brave arms -and shoulders ached terribly. So Relya said to himself: “I shall never -get over the Mountain at this rate. I must consider what I had better -do.” And Relya went back to the foot of the Mountain, and there the hero -sat down on a stone and considered how he was to get across the -Mountain, and how he was to overcome the monsters, and where he might -find Miloika’s children and with them the Golden Girdle and Cross. - -Relya was deep in thought, but all of a sudden he heard somebody weeping -and sobbing near him. Relya turned, and there was a Fairy sitting on a -stone, her hair all unbound, and crying her heart out. - -“What ails you, pretty maiden? Why do you weep?” asked Relya. - -“I weep, O hero, because I cannot get the Golden Girdle from the child -on the Lake,” answered the Fairy. - -When Relya heard that he was overjoyed. - -“Tell me, maiden, how can I get to that Lake?” asked Relya. - -“And who may you be, unknown hero?” returned the Fairy. - -“I am Prince Relya, and I seek a Golden Girdle and a Cross on a red -ribbon,” replied Relya. - -When the Fairy heard that, she thought within her evil heart: “How lucky -for me! Let Relya get the Girdle away from the Lake and on to the -Mountain, and I will soon destroy Relya and keep the Girdle for myself.” - -So the cunning Fairy spoke these honeyed words to Relya: - -“Let us go, noble Prince! I will guide you across the Mountain. No harm -will come to you, and I will show you where the children are. Why should -you not have what is yours by inheritance?” - -Thus sweetly did the Fairy speak, but in her heart she thought -otherwise. Relya, however, was mightily pleased, and at once agreed to -go with the Fairy. - -So they went across the Mountain. Neither Fairies nor monsters touched -Relya, because he was being guided by the young Votaress Fairy. - -On the way the Fairy advised Relya and tried to fill his heart with -anger. - -“You should but see, noble Prince, how insolent these children are! Not -even to you will they give the Girdle. But you are a hero above all -heroes, Relya, so do not let them put you to shame.” - -Relya laughed at the idea that two children should withstand him—_him_ -who had cleft in twain the Fiery Dragon! - -The Fairy then went on to tell him how the children had come up into the -Mountain, and how they did not know how to get away from it again. - -In her joy at the prospect of getting the Girdle, the Fairy talked so -much that her cunning deserted her, and she chattered to Relya and -boasted to him of her knowledge. - -“They are silly children, without any cunning. Yet if they knew what -_we_ know they would have escaped us already. There is a taper in the -chapel and a censer. If they would start the fire that is not lit with -hands, and then light the taper and censer, they could go with taper and -censer across the whole Mountain as if it were a church. Paths would -open before them and trees bow down as they passed. But for us this -would be the worst thing possible, because all we Fairies and Goblins in -Mount Kitesh would perish wherever the smoke from the taper and censer -spread. But what do these silly, insolent children know?” - -If the Votaress had not been so overjoyed, she would surely never have -told Relya about the taper and censer, but would have kept the secret of -the Votaresses. - -So they came to the furrow, and there was the Holy Lake before them. - - - XIV - -The Prince peered cautiously from behind a tree, and the Fairy pointed -out the children to him. Relya saw the little chapel on the island. -Before the chapel sat a little girl, pale as a white rose. She neither -sang nor crooned, but sat still with her hands clasped in her lap and -her eyes raised to heaven. - -On the sand beside the chapel played a little boy, baby Primrose, and -round his neck hung a little Gold Cross. - -He played on the sand, built castles and pulled them down again with his -tiny hands, and then laughed at his handiwork. - -Relya watched, and as he watched he began to think. But the Votaress had -no time to wait while the Prince finished thinking things out, so she -softly prompted Relya. - -“I will call to the little girl, noble Prince, and you shall see that -she will not give up the Girdle; then do you draw your burnished sword, -go up and take what is yours, and then come back to me to the Mountain, -and I will guide you back down the Mountain so that my sisters shall not -hurt you.” - -As the Fairy said this, she secretly rejoiced, thinking how easily she -would kill Relya and get the Girdle for herself, so long as Relya would -bring it from the Lake. But Relya only listened with half an ear to what -the Votaress was saying, for he was lost in looking at the girl. - -The Fairy called to Lavender: - -“Little girl, sister, throw me the Girdle, and I will take you and your -brother down the Mountain.” - -When Lavender heard this, her face grew yet paler, and she clasped her -little hands yet more tightly. She was so sad that she could scarcely -speak. She would so gladly have left the Mountain; her little heart was -bursting with longing. - -But all the same she would not part with her mother’s Girdle. - -Tears flowed down Lavender’s face; she wept softly, but through her -tears she answered: - -“Go away, Fairy, and do not come back again, because you will not get -the Girdle.” - -When Relya saw and heard this, his princely blood, his noble blood, was -roused within him, but to a good purpose. - -He was filled with pity for these two poor orphans in the midst of the -grisly Mount Kitesh, defending themselves all alone against monsters and -temptations, death and destruction. “Great Heavens!” thought he, “the -princess trusted in her armed warriors and her strongholds to defend her -lands, and the lands were lost; but these babes are left alone in the -world, they have fallen among Fairies and Dragons, yet neither Fairies -nor Dragons can rob them of what their mother gave them.” All Relya’s -face changed as his heart went out with pity to the children. Thus -changed, he turned towards the Votaress. - -The Votaress looked at Relya. Why did he raise his sword? Was it to cut -down those insolent children? No; Relya raised the sword aloft and -threatened the wicked Fairy with it. - -“Fairy, avaunt! as if you had never been! If you had not been my guide -across the Mountain, I would strike your fair head from off your -shoulders. I was not born a prince, nor did I forge this mighty sword -that I might roam the world a spoiler of the fatherless!” - -The poor Votaress was quite frightened. She started, and then fled to -the hills. And Relya shouted after her: - -“Go, Fairy! call your fairies and monsters! Prince Relya does not fear -them!” - -When the Fairy had run off to the hills, Relya crossed the furrow and -went towards the children on the island. - -How happy was Lavender when she saw a human being coming towards them -and looking at them kindly! She sprang to her feet and stretched out -both her arms, as a captive bird spreads its wings when you open your -hand and let it go free. - -Lavender was quite certain that Relya had come up only to bring them -safe back from the Mountain. She ran to Primrose, took him by the hand, -and both crossed over to Relya by the little bridge which they had -fashioned with their own tiny hands across the reeds. - - - XV - -A doughty hero was Relya, and he felt strange talking to children. But -the children did not feel in the least strange talking to a hero, -because they thought kindly of everybody, and there was no guile in -their hearts. - -Primrose took hold of Relya’s hand and looked at his great sword. The -sword was twice as big as Primrose! Primrose reached up with his little -hand; he stood on tip-toe, and yet he could scarcely touch the hilt of -it. Relya looked, and never had he seen such tiny hands beside his own. -Relya was now in a sad quandary; he forgot all about the Girdle and -Cross as he thought: “What shall I say to these poor orphan babes? They -are little and foolish, and they do not understand.” - -Just then Lavender asked Relya: - -“And how shall we get out of the mountains, my lord?” - -“Well, that is quite a sensible little girl,” considered Relya. “Here am -I, marvelling how small and foolish they are, and never thinking that, -after all, we have to get out of the mountains.” - -Then Relya remembered what the Votaress had told him about the taper and -censer. - -“Listen to me, little girl! The Votaress has gone to call her sisters to -help her, and I am going on to the Mountain to meet them. Please God, I -shall overcome the Votaress Fairies, return to you by the Holy Lake, and -lead you away from the Mountain. But if the fairies should overcome me, -if I perish on the Mountain, then do you start the fire that is not lit -with hands, light the taper and censer, and you will pass over the -Mountain as though it were a church.” - -When Lavender heard this, she was sadly grieved, and said to Prince -Relya: - -“You must not do that, my lord! What shall we poor orphans do if you -perish on the Mountain? You have only just come to be our protector, and -if you were to leave us straightway and get killed what should we do? -Let us rather set to at once and start the fire, so as to light taper -and censer, and do you, my lord, go forth with us over the Mountain.” - -But at that Relya became very angry, and said: - -“Don’t talk foolishness, you silly child! I was not born a hero for -taper and censer to lead me while yet I wear sword by my side.” - -“Not taper and censer will lead you, but God’s will and commandment,” -replied Lavender. - -“Don’t talk foolishness, you silly child! My sword would rust were I to -be led by taper and censer.” - -“Your sword will not rust when you go a-mowing in field and meadow.” - -Relya was troubled. It was not so much Lavender’s words as the sweet, -serious look in the little girl’s eyes that troubled him. He knew well -enough that he would scarcely overcome the fairies and monsters, and -that he would most probably perish if he were to go out to fight on the -Mountain. - -Little Primrose flung his arms round Relya’s knees and looked at him -coaxingly. And Relya’s princely heart beat quick in his bosom, so that -he forgot about Cross and Girdle and fight and castle, and all he could -think was: “Well, I have to protect and save these faithful little -orphans.” - -So he said: - -“I will not throw away my life out of sheer wilfulness. Come, children, -start the fire, light taper and censer; your little hands shall lead -me.” - - - XVI - -A few moments later, and there was a wondrous marvel to be seen on Mount -Kitesh. - -A wide path opened all the way down the Mountain, and on the path grew -turf as soft as silk. On the right-hand side walked little Primrose, -still in his little white shirt, and in his hand he held an ancient wax -taper, burning serenely and crackling softly, as though it were talking -with the sun. On the left walked Lavender, wearing the Golden Girdle and -swinging a silver censer, from which rose a cloud of white smoke. -Between the two children strode Relya, tall and strong. It seemed -strange to him, in his strength and valour, that taper and censer should -thus guide him and not his own good sword. But he smiled gently at the -children. His great sword hung over his shoulder, and as he strode on he -said to the sword: - -“Do not fear, my faithful friend. We shall go a-mowing in field and -meadow; we shall clear scrub and forest; we shall hew rafters and build -steadings. The sun will gild thee a thousand times while thou art -winning bread for these two orphan babes.” - -So they went across the Mountain as though it were a church. A thin -wraith of smoke rose from the taper, and sacred odours spread from the -censer. - -But woe and alas for the Votaresses on Mount Kitesh! wherever the smoke -and the odour of incense spread upon the Mountain, there the Votaresses -perished and died. They made an end, each one as it seemed most -beautiful and fitting to her. - -One turned herself into a grey stone, and then hurled herself down the -rocks into a chasm, where the stone broke into a thousand splinters. - -The second changed into a crimson flame, and then at once went out, -puff! into the air. - -The third dissolved into fine coloured dust, scattering herself over -rock and fern. And so each of them chose what seemed to her the most -beautiful way to die. - -But it really didn’t matter in the least. One way or another, they all -had to leave this world, and even the most beautiful ways of dying could -not make up for that! - -In this way all the seven Votaress Fairies perished, and that is why -there are no fairies, nor dragons, nor monsters now on Mount Kitesh or -anywhere else in the world. - -But Relya and the children reached the valley in safety, and Lavender -took them to their cottage. And only then did Relya remember why he had -gone up Mount Kitesh. - - - XVII - -They went into the cottage and rested a little. Lavender, who knew where -was her mother’s modest store cupboard, brought out a little dry cheese, -and they refreshed themselves. - -But now Relya was puzzled what to do about those two orphans. Ever since -they had come down into the valley, Relya’s mind had begun to run once -more upon the castle and upon his promise to his mother that he would -bring her back the Cross and Girdle. - -Therefore Relya said to Lavender: - -“Listen to me, little girl: you will have to give me the Golden Girdle -and Cross now, you and your brother, because they belong to me.” - -“But we belong to you too, my lord,” said Lavender, and looked at Relya -quite astonished, because he had not grasped that before. - -Relya laughed, and then he said: - -“But I must take the Girdle and Cross to my mother.” - -When Lavender heard that, she cried out overjoyed: - -“Oh, sir, if you have a mother, do go and bring her here to us, because -we have no mother now.” - -A stone would have wept to hear little Lavender speak of her mother in -that poor and bare little cottage! A stone would have wept at the -thought that so lovely a child should be left all alone in the world, -when she turned to Prince Relya and begged him to bring them a mother -because their mother was dead. - -Again Relya was filled with pity, so that he almost wept. Therefore he -bade the children good-bye and went away to fetch his mother. - - - XVIII - -It took Relya seven days to return to his mother. She was waiting for -him by the window, and when she saw him coming, lo, there was Relya -coming home without sword, Cross, or Girdle. Relya never gave her time -to ask questions, but called to her in a gentle voice: - -“Make ready, mother, and come with me, that we may guard what is ours.” - -So they set out together. And on the way the Princess asked Relya -whether he had found the Cross and the Girdle, whether he had raised an -army and had reconquered their castle and lands? - -“I found the Girdle and Cross, mother; but I raised no army, neither -have I reconquered our lands. We shall do better without an army, -mother, for you shall see what is left to us of our heritage,” said -Relya. - -After seven days’ travel they reached the cabin where Lavender and -Primrose were waiting for them. - -Oh, my dear! but there is great joy when kind hearts foregather! The -princess hugged Lavender and Primrose; she kissed their cheeks, eyes, -hands, and lips, and would scarcely let them go, so dear were they to -her, those orphan children from her lost lands! - - - XIX - -And so they lived together in the valley, although the little cabin was -rather too small for them. But Relya had strong hands, and he built them -a little house of stone. Their lives were uneventful, but there was a -blessing upon them. Primrose tended the ewes and lambs, Lavender looked -after the house and garden, the princess span and sewed, and Relya -worked in the fields. - -The people of the village got to know the wisdom of the princess and -Relya’s strength. Presently they remarked how well the Golden Girdle -became the princess, and, although none of them had ever seen the -princess before, they said: - -“She must be our noble princess.” And so they gave Relya and the -princess a great piece of land in the valley, and begged Relya to be -their leader in all things and the princess to be their counsellor. - -God’s blessing was with Relya’s strength and the princess’s wisdom. -Their fields and meadows increased; other villages joined them; gardens -and cottages sprang up in the villages. - -Meantime the fine lords in the castle went on drinking and feasting as -before. Now this had gone on far too long, and although the vaults and -cellars of the castle had been the richest in seven kingdoms, yet after -so many years of waste there began to be a lack of precious stones. - -First of all the gems gave out in the treasure vaults, and then the -mother-o’-pearl in the passages. Yet a little while, and there was no -more bread for the servants, who had grown lazy. At last there was not -even meat for the bloodhounds and guards. The faithless servants -rebelled, the hounds ran away, and the guards left their posts. - -But all this did not trouble the fine lords, because they had dulled -their wits with drinking and feasting. But one fine day the wine gave -out. _Then_ they decided to hold a council! They met in the great hall -and debated upon where they should get wine, because round about the -castle all was desolate: the inhabitants had left, and the vines had run -wild in the vineyards. - -So the fine lords debated. But their vengeful and rebellious servants -had cut through the rafters of the great hall, and when the lords were -in the midst of their conference the roof fell in upon them. They were -buried under the ruins of the great tower of the castle and all of them -killed. - -When the servants heard the tower crashing and falling, they too -deserted the castle. - -And so the castle was left without hounds, servants, or fine lords, -ruinous and deserted, and dead. - -Soon the news of this spread through the land, but not a soul troubled -to go and see what had happened in the dead castle. From all sides they -flocked together and went to the foot of Mount Kitesh to beg Relya to be -their prince, because they had heard of his strength and courage and of -the wisdom of the noble princess. Wherefore the people promised with -their own hands to build them a new castle, all fair and stately. - -Relya accepted the people’s offer, because he rightly judged that God -had given him such great strength and courage, and had delivered him -from his hot and cruel temper, so that he might be of use to his -country. - -So Relya became a prince; and the princess, who was getting old by now, -yet lived to see great happiness in her old age. And when the princess -and Relya, with Lavender and Primrose, entered their new and stately -castle for the first time, the village children scattered evergreens and -sweet basil on their path, men and woman pressed round the princess, -seized the hem of her robe and kissed it. - -But the princess, radiant with joy, remembered that but for the loyalty -of Lavender and Primrose none of this would ever have come to pass. She -clasped the children to her breast and said: - -“Happy the land whose treasure is not guarded by mighty armies or strong -cities, but by the mothers and children in shepherds’ cots. Such a land -will never perish!” - - * * * * * - -Later on Prince Relya married Lavender, and never in the world was there -a princess sweeter and more lovely than Princess Lavender. - -Primrose grew up into a brave and handsome youth. He rode a fiery dapple -grey, and he would often ride over Mount Kitesh, upon whose summit men -were building a new chapel by the Holy Lake. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Notes - - Interpretation of Names, Etc. - -THE original names in these Fairy Tales are either taken from Slav -folk-lore or chosen or composed so as to convey a suitable meaning. In -the English text the translator has therefore tried to render the -significance of the original names in English in preference to -reproducing the Slav names in English spelling. - - - HOW QUEST SOUGHT THE TRUTH. - -1. _Bjesomar_ (Rampogusto). The name given by the old Slavs in some -regions to the ruler of evil and malignant forces. Analysed, the name -might be translated as Cherish-goblin, one who cares for hobgoblindom. - -2. _Svarožić_ (All-Rosy). The ancient Slavs pictured the sunshine in the -form of a beautiful youth named _Svarožić_, All-rose. - -The names of the grandfather and his three grandsons—Witting, Bluster, -Careful and Quest—are as near as possible equivalents of the original -names _Vjest_, _Ljutiša_, _Marun_ and _Potjeh_. - - - FISHERMAN PLUNK AND HIS WIFE. - -1. _Zora-djevojka_ (the Dawn-Maiden). To this day many old folk-tales of -the Slavs tell of the Dawn-Maiden who sails the sea in the early morning -in her boat of gold with a silver paddle and dwells in the Island of -_Bujan_. - -2. _The Sea King._ Slovenes and Slovaks alike tell of a mighty and -wealthy Sea King who reigns in the depths of the sea. - -3. _The Island of Bujan_ (the Isle Bountiful). This is a wonderful -island, so named for its abundance and fruitfulness and luxuriant -vegetation. It was the ancient Slav’s conception of Paradise. To this -day the Russians mention it in refrains and spells against sickness, for -a plentiful harvest, etc. - -4. _The Stone Alatir_ (Gold-a-Fire). Is mentioned in ancient Slav tales -as “the white burning stone on Bujan,” and may perhaps be taken to stand -for the sun. - -5. _Sea Maidens_ (Mermaids). In Slovene and Croatian folk-tales, as with -us, this term is applied to fabulous sea creatures, which are beautiful -women to the waist, and from the waist downward shaped like a forked -fish tail. - -6. _The dumb speech._ The Jugoslavs popularly believe that animals -converse with each other in a special “language,” and that certain human -beings can “speak” and understand this “language.” - -7. _The Monstrous Snake_, the _Bird with the Iron Beak_, the _Golden -Bee_. Three monsters which, according to folk-tales, stir up the waves, -raise tempests, and provoke thunderstorms round the Isle of Bujan, -whence the storms spread throughout the world. - -_Palunko_ (Plunk) has no special significance, but the sound suggests a -doleful, feckless sort of person. - -_Winpeace_ is a translation of Vlatko. - - - REYGOCH. - -1. _Legen_ (_Ledjan_) (Frosten city). An ancient marvellous city which -is mentioned in Croatian folk-songs and tradition. _Leden_ means -_frozen_, _icy_. - -2. _Regoč_, _Regoc_ (Reygoch). A huge simple giant of fairy kin. He is -mentioned by the poet _Gjorgjić_, of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), in his -_Marunko_. - -The name _Kosjenka_ is derived from _kose_ (hair), and indicates the -little fairy’s flowing tresses. - -Apart from being a simple fairy-tale, this story contains an allegorical -element. _Reygoch_, the benevolent, simple-minded giant, is a character -from _Marunko_, by the poet Gjorgjić, of Dubrovnik. The city of _Legen_, -or _Ledjan_ (which, to all intents and purposes, means “frozen”), is to -be found in Croatian folk-tales and ballads. - - - BRIDESMAN SUN AND BRIDE BRIDEKINS. - -1. _Mokoš_ (Muggish). A mighty force which, according to the beliefs of -the ancient Slavs, ruled the earth, and especially in marshlands. She is -mentioned in connection with the heavenly thunder god. _Perun_. - -2. _Kolede_ (translated by _Yuletide_) A winter festival celebrated at -the end of December in honour of the sun, whose power once more begins -to increase in those days. - -3. _Krijes_ (translated by _Beltane_). A festival in honour of the -summer sun at the time of his greatest strength. - -4. _Omaja_, _omaha_. Water which is flung from the mill-wheel. To this -day peasants bathe children in this water so that evil may be turned -away from them. - -A _Ban_ is a Warden of the Marches. - -_Neva_ means _bride_. _Nevičica_ is the diminutive of _Neva_. - - - STRIBOR’S FOREST. - -1. _Domaći_ (“home sprites,” from _dom_, house, home), Brownies. In all -Slav nations this is the name given to the little domestic sprites which -haunt the hearth. They are sometimes harmful and sometimes beneficent. - -2. _Malik Tintilinić_ (Wee Tintilinkie). Old popular name for one of the -most lively of these _domaći_. - - - LITTLE BROTHER PRIMROSE AND SISTER LAVENDER. - -1. _Kitež_ (Mount Kitesh). The Russian author Merežkovski mentions the -mysterious Kitež region, an uninhabited forest, and the Lake Svetlojar -(which latter name might very well be transliterated by the _Holy -Lake_), which used to be inhabited by all sorts of monsters. - -2. _Vile Zatočnice_ (Votaress Fairies). The term _Votaress snakes_ -(_zmije zatočnice_) is popularly applied to snakes which are supposed to -have taken a vow in the autumn not to go to sleep for the winter without -having killed somebody. - -3 _Relya_ (_Hrelja_). A Croatian ballad makes mention of a certain -Hrelja as a better and stronger hero than even Kraljević Mark. - -The names _Rutvica_ and _Jaglenac_ have simply been translated into -_Lavender_ and _Primrose_. - -_Bukač_ is derived from _buka_, noise. Hence _Belleroo_. - -_Medunkda_, from _medved_, a bear (Bruineen). - -The term _božjak_ (applied to Relya), which suggests a powerful, -poverty-stricken churl, the translator has sought to render by _rowfoot_ -(a rough fellow). - - - PRINTED BY UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED LONDON AND WOKING GREAT BRITAIN - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - - GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD. - LONDON: 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C.1 - CAPE TOWN: 73 ST. GEORGE’S STREET - SYDNEY, N.S.W.: 218–222 CLARENCE STREET - WELLINGTON, N.Z.: 110–112 LAMBTON QUAY - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Croatian Tales of Long Ago, by -Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROATIAN TALES OF LONG AGO *** - -***** This file should be named 60095-0.txt or 60095-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/0/9/60095/ - -Produced by Peter Podgorsek, Barry Abrahamsen, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license - - -Title: Croatian Tales of Long Ago - -Author: Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic - -Illustrator: Vladimir Kirin - -Translator: Fanny S. Copeland - -Release Date: August 12, 2019 [EBook #60095] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROATIAN TALES OF LONG AGO *** - - - - -Produced by Peter Podgorsek, Barry Abrahamsen, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div> - <h1 class='c001'>CROATIAN TALES<br />OF LONG AGO</h1> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='xxlarge'>Croatian Tales of Long Ago</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xsmall'>BY</span></div> - <div>IVANA BRLIĆ-MAŽURANIĆ</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/title-illus.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='xsmall'>TRANSLATED BY</span></div> - <div>F. S. COPELAND</div> - <div class='c003'>NEW YORK</div> - <div>FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY</div> - <div>PUBLISHERS</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='small'>(<i>All rights reserved</i>)</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'><i>Printed in Great Britain</i></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c004'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='87%' /> -<col width='12%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'><span class='small'>Page</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>How Quest Sought the Truth</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#ch01'>9</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Fisherman Plunk and His Wife</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#ch02'>55</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Reygoch</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#ch03'>93</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Bridesman Sun and Bride Bridekins</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#ch04'>137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Stribor’s Forest</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#ch05'>161</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Little Brother Primrose and Sister Lavender</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#ch06'>185</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>Notes</td> - <td class='c006'><a href='#nts'>255</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>ILLUSTRATIONS</span></div> - <div><span class='xsmall'>BY</span></div> - <div><span class='large'>VLADIMIR KIRIN</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>How Quest Sought the Truth</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch01' class='c004'>How Quest Sought the Truth</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c007'>I</h3> -<div class='figleft id003'> -<img src='images/i011.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<p class='c008'>ONCE upon a time very -long ago there lived an old -man in a glade in the -midst of an ancient forest. -His name was Witting, and -he lived there with his three -grandsons. Now this old -man was all alone in the -world save for these three -grandsons, and he had -been father and mother to -them from the time when they were quite little. -But now they were full-grown lads, so tall that -they came up to their grandfather’s shoulder, and -even taller. Their names were Bluster, Careful -and Quest.</p> -<p class='c009'>One spring morning old Witting got up early, -before the sun had risen, called his three grandsons -and told them to go into the wood where they -had gathered honey last year; to see how the little -bees had come through the winter, and whether -they had waked up yet from their winter sleep. -Careful, Bluster and Quest got up, dressed, and -went out.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was a good way to the place where the bees -lived. Now all three brothers knew every pathway -in the woods, and so they strode cheerily and boldly -along through the great forest. All the same it -was somewhat dark and eerie under the trees, for -the sun was not yet up and neither bird nor beast -stirring. Presently the lads began to feel a little -scared in that great silence, because just at dawn, -before sunrise, the wicked Rampogusto, King of -Forest Goblins, loves to range the forest, gliding -softly from tree to tree in the gloom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the brothers started to ask one another about -all the wonderful things there might be in the world. -But as not one of them had ever been outside the forest, -none could tell the others anything about the world; -and so they only became more and more depressed. -At last, to keep up their courage a bit, they began -to sing and call upon All-Rosy to bring out -the Sun:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c010'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Little lord All-Rosy bright.</div> - <div class='line'>Bring golden Sun to give us light;</div> - <div class='line'>Show thyself, All-Rosy bright,</div> - <div class='line'>Loora-la, Loora-la lay!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>Singing at the top of their voices, the lads -walked through the woods towards a spot from -where they could see a second range of mountains. -As they neared the spot they saw a light above -those mountains brighter than they had ever seen -before, and it fluttered like a golden banner.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The lads were dumbfounded with amazement, -when all of a sudden the light vanished from off -the mountain and reappeared above a great rock -nearer at hand, then still nearer, above an old limetree, -and at last shone like burnished gold right in -front of them. And then they saw that it was a -lovely youth in glittering raiment, and that it was -his golden cloak which fluttered like a golden banner. -They could not bear to look upon the face of the -youth, but covered their eyes with their hands for -very fear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why do you call me, if you are afraid of -me, you silly fellows?” laughed the golden youth—for -he was All-Rosy. “You call on All-Rosy, -and then you are afraid of All-Rosy. You talk -about the wide world, but you do not know the -wide world. Come along with me and I will show -you the world, both earth and heaven, and tell -you what is in store for you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thus spoke All-Rosy, and twirled his golden -cloak so that he caught up Bluster, Careful and -Quest, all three in its shimmering folds. Round -went All-Rosy and round went the cloak, and the -brothers, clinging to the hem of the cloak, spun -round with it, round and round and round again, -and all the world passed before their eyes. First -they saw all the treasure and all the lands and all -the possessions and the riches that were then in -the world. And they went on whirling round and -round and round again, and saw all the armies, -and all spears and all arrows and all the captains -and all plunder which were then in the world. And -the cloak twirled yet more quickly, round and round -and round again, and all of a sudden they saw all -the stars, great and small, and the moon and the -Seven Sisters and the winds and all the clouds. -The brothers were quite dazed with so many sights, -and still the cloak went on twirling and whirling -with a rustling, rushing sound like a golden banner. -At last the golden hem fluttered down; and Bluster, -Careful and Quest stood once more on the turf. -Before them stood the golden youth All-Rosy as -before, and said to them:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There, my lads, now you have seen all there -is to see in the world. Listen to what is in store -for you and what you must do to be lucky.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>At that the brothers became more scared than -ever, yet they pricked up their ears and paid good -heed, so as to remember everything very carefully. -But All-Rosy went on at once:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There! this is what you must do. Stay in -the glade, and don’t leave your grandfather until -he leaves you; and do not go into the world, -neither for good nor for evil, until you have repaid -your grandfather for all his love to you.” And as -All-Rosy said this, he twirled his cloak round and -vanished, as though he had never been; and lo, -it was day in the forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Rampogusto, King of the Forest Goblins, -had seen and heard everything. Like a wraith of -mist he had slipped from tree to tree and kept -himself hidden from the brothers among the branches -of an old beech-tree.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Rampogusto had always hated old Witting. He -hated him as a mean scoundrel hates an upright -man, and above all things he hated him because the -old man had brought the sacred fire to the glade -so that it might never go out, and the smoke of -that fire made Rampogusto cough most horribly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Rampogusto wasn’t pleased with the idea -that the brothers should obey All-Rosy, and stay -beside their grandfather and look after him; but -he bethought himself how he could harm old Witting, -and somehow turn his grandsons against him.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/i016a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Therefore, no sooner had Bluster, Careful and -Quest recovered from their amazement and turned -to go home than Rampogusto slipped swiftly, like -a cloud before the wind, to a wooded glen where -there was a big osier clump, which was chock-full -of goblins—tiny, ugly, humpy, grubby, boss-eyed, -and what not, all playing about like mad creatures. -They squeaked and they squawked, they jumped -and they romped; they were a pack of harum-scarum -imps, no good to anybody and no harm either, so -long as a man did not take them into his company. -But Rampogusto knew how to manage that.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he picked out three of them, and told them -to jump each on one of the brothers, and see how -they might harm old Witting through his grandsons.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now while Rampogusto was busy choosing his -goblins, Bluster, Careful and Quest went on their -way; and so scared were they that they clean forgot -all they had seen during their flight and everything -that All-Rosy had told them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they came back to the cabin, and sat down -on a stone outside and told their grandfather what -had happened to them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And what did you see as you were flying round, -and what did All-Rosy tell you?” Witting asked -Careful, his eldest grandson. Now Careful was in -a real fix, because he had clean forgotten, neither -could he remember what All-Rosy had told him. -But from under the stone where they were sitting -crept a wee hobgoblin—ugly and horned and grey -as a mouse.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The goblin tweaked Careful’s shirt from behind -and whispered: “Say: I have seen great riches, -hundreds of beehives, a house of carved wood and -heaps of fine furs. And All-Rosy said to me: ‘Thou -shalt be the richest of all the three brothers.’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Careful never bothered to think whether this -was the truth that the imp was suggesting, but just -turned and repeated it word for word to his grandfather. -No sooner had he spoken than the goblin -hopped into his pouch, curled himself up in a corner -of the pouch—and there stopped!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Witting asked Bluster, the second grandson, -what he might have seen in his flight, and what All-Rosy -might have told him? And Bluster, too, had -noticed nothing and remembered nothing. But from -under the stone crept the second hobgoblin, quite -small, ill-favoured, horned and smutty as a polecat. -The goblin plucked Bluster by the shirt and -whispered: “Say: I saw lots of armed men, many -bows and arrows and slaves galore in chains. And -All-Rosy said to me: ‘Thou shalt be the mightiest -of the brothers.’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bluster considered no more than Careful had -done, but was very pleased, and lied to his grandfather -even as the goblin had prompted him. And -the goblin at once jumped on his neck and crawled -down his shirt, hid in his bosom, and stopped there.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now the grandfather asked the youngest grandson, -Quest, but he, too, could recall nothing. And -from under the stone crept the third hobgoblin, -the youngest, the ugliest, horned with big horns, -and black as a mole.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The hobgoblin tugged Quest by the shirt and -whispered: “Say: I have seen all the heavens and -all the stars and all clouds. And All-Rosy said to -me: ‘Thou shalt be the wisest among men and -know what the winds say and the stars tell.’”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Quest loved the truth, and so he would not -listen to the goblin nor lie to his grandfather, but -kicked the goblin and said to his grandfather:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I don’t know, grandfather, what I saw or what -I heard.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The goblin gave a squeal, bit Quest’s foot, and -then scuttled away under the stone like a lizard. -But Quest gathered potent herbs and bound up his -foot with them, so that it might heal quickly.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>II</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Now the goblin whom Quest had kicked first -scooted away under the stone, and then wriggled into -the grass, and hopped off through the grass into the -woods, and through the woods into the osier clump.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He went up to Rampogusto all shaking with -fright and said: “Rampogusto, dread sovereign, I -wasn’t able to jump on that youth whom you gave -into my care.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Rampogusto fell into a frightful rage, -because he knew those three brothers well, and most -of all he feared Quest, lest he should remember the -truth. For if Quest were to remember the truth, -why, then Rampogusto would never be able to get -rid of old Witting nor the sacred fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he seized the little goblin by the horns, picked -him up and dusted him soundly with a big birchrod.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go back!” he roared—“go back to the young -man, and it will be a black day for you if ever he -remembers the truth!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>With these words Rampogusto let the goblin -go; and the goblin, scared half out of his wits, -squatted for three days in the osier clump and considered -and considered how he might fulfil his difficult -task. “I shall have as much trouble with Quest, -for sure, as Quest with me,” reflected the goblin. -For he was a scatter-brained little silly, and did not -care at all for a tiresome job.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But while he squatted in the osier clump those -other two imps were already at work, the one in -Careful’s pouch and the other in Bluster’s bosom. -From that day forth Careful and Bluster began to -rove over hill and dale, and even slept but little at -home—and all because of the goblins!</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was the goblin curled up in the bottom -of Careful’s pouch, and that goblin loved riches -better than the horn over his right eye.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So all day long he butted Careful in the ribs, -teasing and goading him on: “Hurry up, get on! -We must seek, we must find! Let’s look for bees, -let’s gather honey, and then we will keep a tally -with rows and rows of scores!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So said the goblin, because in those days they -reckoned up a man’s possessions with tallies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now a tally is only a long wooden stick with -a notch cut in it for every sum that is owing to a -man!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Bluster’s goblin butted him in the breast, -and that goblin wanted to be the strongest of all -and lord of all the earth. So he worried and worried -Bluster, and urged him to roam through the woods -looking for young ash plants and slender maple -saplings to make a warrior’s outfit and weapons. -“Hurry up, get on!” teased the goblin. “You must -seek, you must find! Spears, bows and arrows to -suit a hero’s mind, so that man and beast may tremble -before us.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And both Bluster and Careful listened to their -goblins, and went off after their own concerns as the -goblins led them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Quest stayed with his grandfather that day -and yet other three days, and all the time he puzzled -and puzzled over whatever it was that All-Rosy might -have told him; because Quest wanted to tell his -grandfather the truth; but, alas! he could not -remember it at all!</p> - -<p class='c009'>So that day went by, and the next, and so three -days; and on the third day Quest said to his -grandfather:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good-bye, grandfather. I am going to the -hills, and shall not come back until I remember -the truth, if it should take me ten years.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now Witting’s hair was grey, and there was -little he cared for in this world except his grandson -Quest, and him he loved and cherished as a withered -leaf cherishes a drop of dew. So the old man started -sadly and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What good will the truth be to me, my boy, -when I may be dead and gone long before you -remember it?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>This he said, and in his heart he grieved far -more even than he showed in his words; and -he thought: “How could the boy leave me!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Quest replied:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I must go, grandfather, because I have thought -it out, and that seems the right thing to me.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Witting was a wise old man, and considered: -“Perhaps there is more wisdom in a young head -than in an old one; only if the poor lad is -doing wrong it’s a sad weird he will have to -dree—because he is so gentle and upright.” And -as Witting thought of that he grew sadder than -ever, but said nothing more. He just kissed his -grandson good-bye and bade him go where he wished.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Quest’s heart sadly misgave him because -of his grandfather, and he very, very nearly changed -his mind on the threshold and stayed beside him. -But he forced himself to do as he had made up his -mind to, and went out and away into the hills.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Just as Quest parted from his grandfather his -imp thought he might as well get out of the osier -clump and tackle that tiresome job; and he reached -the clearing just as Quest was hurrying away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Quest went off to the hills, very downcast -and sad; and when he came to the first rock, lo -and behold, there was the goblin, gibbering.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why,” thought Quest, “it’s the very same -one—quite small, misshapen, black as a mole and -with big horns.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The goblin stood right in Quest’s way, and -would not let him pass. So Quest got angry with -the little monster for hindering him like this; he -picked up a stone, threw it at the goblin, and hit -him squarely between the horns. “Now I’ve killed -him,” thought Quest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But when he looked again there was the goblin -as spry as ever, and two more horns had sprouted -where the stone had hit him!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, evidently stones won’t drive him off,” -said Quest. So he went round the goblin and -forward on his way. But the imp scuttled on in -front of him, to the right and to the left, and then -straight in front, for all the world like a rabbit.</p> - -<p class='c009'>At last they came to a little level spot between -cliffs—a very stony place; and on one side of it -there was a deep well-spring. “Here will I stay,” -said Quest; and he at once spread out his sheep-skin -coat under a crab-tree and sat down, so that -he might reflect in peace and remember what All-Rosy -had verily and truly told him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But when the imp saw that, he squatted down -straight in front of Quest under the tree, played -silly tricks on him, and worried him horribly. He -chased lizards under Quest’s feet, threw burrs at -his shirt, and slipped grasshoppers up his sleeves.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh dear, this is most annoying!” thought -Quest, when it had gone on for some little -time. “I have left my wise old grandfather, my -brothers and my home, so that I might be in -quiet and remember the truth—and here am I -wasting my time with this horned imp of -mischief!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But as he had come out in a good cause, he -nevertheless thought it the right thing to stay where -he was.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>III</h3> - -<p class='c011'>So Quest and the goblin lived together on that -lone ledge between the cliffs, and each day was -like the first. The goblin worried Quest so that he -couldn’t get on with his thinking.</p> - -<p class='c009'>On a clear morning Quest would rise from -sleep and feel happy. “How still it is, how lovely! -Surely to-day I shall remember the truth!” And -lo, from the branch overhead a handful of crabs -would come tumbling about his ears, so that his head -buzzed and his thoughts all got mixed. And there -was the little monster mocking him from the crabtree -and laughing fit to burst. Or Quest would be -lying in the shade, thinking most beautifully, till -he felt like saying: “There, there now, <i>now</i> it will -come back to me, <i>now</i> I shall puzzle out the truth!” -And then the goblin would squirt him all over with -ice-cold water from the spring through a hollow -elder twig—and again Quest would clean forget what -he had already thought out.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was no silly trick nor idle joke that -the goblin did not play on Quest on the ledge -there. And yet all might have been well, if -Quest hadn’t found it just a tiny bit amusing to -watch these tomfooleries; and though he was thinking -hard about his task, yet his eyes <i>would</i> wander -and look round to see what the imp might be -doing next.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Quest was angry with himself over this, because -he was wearying more and more for his grandfather, -and he saw full well that he would never -remember the truth while the goblin was about.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I must get rid of him,” said Quest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Well, one fine morning the goblin invented a -new game. He climbed up the cliff where there -was a steep water-course in the face of the rock, -got astride a smooth bit of wood as if it had been -a hobby-horse, and then scooted down the water-course -like a streak of lightning! This prank -pleased the little wretch so mightily that he must -needs have company to enjoy it the better! So he -whistled on a blade of grass till it rang over hill -and dale, and lo, from scrub and rock and osier -clump the goblins came scuttling along, all tiny -like himself. He gave orders, and every man-jack -of them took a stick and shinned up the cliff with -it. My word! how they got astride their hobby-horses -and hurtled down the water-course! There -were all sorts and sizes and kinds of goblins—red -as a robin’s breast, green as greenfinches, woolly -as lambs, naked as frogs, horned as snails, bald as -mice. They careered down the water-course like -a crazy company on crazy horses. Down they flew, -each close at the other’s heels, never stopping till -they came to the middle of the ledge; and there -was a great stone all overgrown with moss. There -they were brought up short, and what with the -bump of stopping so suddenly and sheer high -spirits they tumbled and scrambled about all atop -of one another in the moss!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shrieking with glee, the silly crew had made -the trip some two or three times already, and poor -Quest was hard put to it between two thoughts. -For one thing, he wanted to watch the imps and -be amused by them, and for another he was angry -with them for making such a hullabaloo that he -could not remember the truth. So he shilly-shallied -awhile, and at last he said: “Well, this is past a -joke. I must get rid of these good-for-nothing loons, -because while they are here I might as well have -stopped at home.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And as Quest considered the matter, he noticed -that as they rushed down the water-course they -made straight for the spring, and that, but for the -big stone, they would all have toppled into it head -foremost. So Quest crouched behind the stone, and -when the imps came dashing down again guffawing -and chuckling as before, he quickly rolled the stone -aside, and the whole mad party rushed straight on -to the well-spring—right on to it and then into it, -head first, each on top of the other—red as robin’s -breasts, green as greenfinches, woolly as lambs, naked -as frogs, horned as snails, bald-headed as mice—and -first of all the one who had fastened himself -on to Quest....</p> - -<p class='c009'>And then Quest tipped a big flat stone over the -well, and all the goblins were caught inside like flies -in a pitcher.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Quest was ever so pleased to have got rid of -the goblins, sat down and made sure he would now -recollect the truth in good earnest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But he had no luck, because down in the well -the goblins began to wriggle and to ramp as never -before. Through every gap and chink shot up tiny -flames which the goblins gave out in their fright -and distress. The flames danced and wavered round -the spring till Quest’s head was all in a whirl. He -closed his eyes, so that their flashing should not -make him giddy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But then there arose from the pit such a noise, -hubbub, knocking and banging, barking and yowling, -such yelling and shrieking for help, that Quest’s -ears were like to burst; and how could he even try -to think through it? He stopped his ears so as not -to hear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then a smell of brimstone and sulphur drifted -over to him. Through every crack and crevice -oozed thick sooty smoke which the imps belched -forth in their extremity. Smoke and sulphur fumes -writhed round Quest; they choked and smothered -him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Quest saw there was no help for it. “Goblins -shut up,” said he, “are a hundred times worse than -goblins at large. So I’ll just go and let them out, -since I can’t get rid of them anyhow. After all, I -am better off with their tomfooleries than with all -that yammering.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he went and lifted off the stone; and -the terrified goblins scuttled away in all directions -like so many wild cats, and ran away into the -woods and never came back to the ledge any -more.</p> - -<p class='c009'>None stayed behind, but only the one black -as a mole and with big horns, because he did not -dare to leave Quest for fear of Rampogusto.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But even he sobered down a little from that -day forward, and had more respect for Quest than -before.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so these two came to a sort of arrangement -between them; they got used to one another and -lived side by side on the stony ledge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In that way close on to a year slipped by, and -Quest was no nearer remembering what All-Rosy -had really truly told him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the year was almost gone the goblin began -to be most horribly bored.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“How much longer have I got to stick here?” -thought he. So one evening, just as Quest was -about to fall asleep, the imp wriggled up to him and -said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, my friend, here you’ve been sitting -for close on a year and a day, and what’s the good -of it? Who knows but perhaps in the meantime -your old grand-dad has died all alone in his -cabin.”</p> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i032a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>A pang shot through Quest’s heart as if he had -been struck with a knife, but he said: “There, -I have made up my mind not to budge from here -until I remember the truth, because truth comes -before all things.” Thus said Quest, because he -was upright and of good parts.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But all the same he was deeply troubled by -what the goblin had said about his grandfather. He -never slept a wink all night, but racked his brains -and thought: “How is it with the old man, my -dear grandfather?”</p> -<h3 class='c007'>IV</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Now all this time the grandfather went on living -with Careful and Bluster in the glade—only life -had taken a very sad turn for the old man. His -grandsons ceased to trouble about him, nor would -they stay near him. They bade him neither “Good-morning” -nor “Good-night,” and only went about -their own affairs and listened to the goblins they -harboured, the one in his pouch and the other in -his bosom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Every day Careful brought more bees from the -forest, felled timber, shaped rafters, and gradually -built a new cabin. He carved himself ten tallies, and -every day he counted and reckoned over and over -again when these tallies would be filled up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As for Bluster, he went hunting and reiving, -bringing home game and furs, plunder and treasure; -and one day he even brought along two slaves whom -he had taken, so that they might work for the -brothers and wait upon them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>All this was very hard and disagreeable for the -old man, and harder and more disagreeable still -were the looks he got from his grandsons. What -use had they for an old man who would not be -served by the slaves, but disgraced his grandsons by -cutting wood and drawing water from the well for -himself? At last there wasn’t a thing about the -old man that didn’t annoy his grandsons, even this, -that every day he would put a log on the sacred fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Old Witting saw very well whither all this -would lead, and that very soon they would be -thinking of getting rid of him altogether. He did -not care so much about his life, because life was -not much use to him, but he was sorry to die before -seeing Quest once more, the dear lad who was the -joy of his old age.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One evening—and it was the very evening when -Quest was so troubled in his mind thinking of his -grandfather—Careful said to Bluster: “Come along, -brother, let’s get rid of grandfather. You have -weapons. Wait for him by the well and kill -him.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now Careful said this because he specially -wanted the old cabin at all costs, so as to put up -beehives on that spot. “I can’t,” replied Bluster, -whose heart had not grown so hard, amidst bloodshed -and robbery, as Careful’s among his riches and his -tallies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Careful would not give over, because the -imp in his bag went on whispering and nagging. -The imp in his pouch knew very well that Careful -would be the first to put the old man away, and -so gain him great credit with Rampogusto.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Careful tried hard to talk over Bluster, but -Bluster could not bring himself to kill his grandfather -with his own hand. So at last they agreed -and arranged that they would that very night burn -down the old man’s hut—burn it down with the -old man inside!</p> - -<p class='c009'>When all was quiet in the glade, they sent out -the slaves to watch the traps in the woods that -night. But the brothers crept up softly to Witting’s -cabin, shut the outer door tight with a thick wedge, -so that the old man might not escape from the -flames, and then set fire to the four corners of the -house....</p> - -<p class='c009'>When all was done they went away and away -into the hills so as not to hear their poor old grandfather -crying out for help. They made up their -minds to go over the whole of the mountain as far -as they could, and not to come back until next day, -when all would be over, and their grandfather and -the cabin would be burnt up together.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they went, and the flames began to lick upwards -slowly round the corners. But the rafters were of -seasoned walnut, hard as stone, and though the fire -licked and crept all round them it could not catch -properly, and so it was late at night before the -flames took hold of the roof.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Old Witting awoke, opened his eyes and saw -that the roof was ablaze over his head. He got up -and went to the door, and when he found that it -was fastened with a heavy wedge he knew at once -whose doing it was.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh, my children! my poor darlings!” said the -old man, “you have taken from your hearts to add -to your wretched tallies; and behold, your tallies -are not even full, and there are many notches still -lacking; but your hearts are empty to the bottom -already, since you could burn your own grandfather -and the cabin where you were born.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>That was all the thought that Father Witting -gave to Careful and Bluster. After that he thought -neither good nor bad about them, nor did he grieve -over them further, but went and sat down quietly -to wait for death.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He sat on the oak chest and meditated upon his -long life; and whatever there had been in it, there -was nothing he was sorry for save only this, that -Quest was not with him in his last hour—Quest, -his darling child, for whom he had grieved so -much.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he sat still, while the roof was already -blazing away like a torch.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The rafters burned and burned, the ceiling -began to crack. It blazed, cracked, then gave way -on either side of the old man, and rafters and ceiling -crashed down amid the flames into the cabin. The -flames billowed round Witting, the roof gaped above -his head. Already he saw the dawn pale in the sky -before sunrise. Old Witting rose to his feet, raised -his hands to heaven, and so waited for the flames -to carry him away from this world, the old man -and his old homestead together.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>V</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Quest worried terribly that night, and when -morning broke he went to the spring to cool his -burning face.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sun was just up in the sky when Quest -reached the spring, and when he came there he saw -a light shining in the water. It shone, it rose, and -lo! beside the spring and before Quest stood a -lovely youth in golden raiment. It was All-Rosy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Quest started with joy, and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“My little lord All-Rosy bright, how I have -longed for you! Do tell me what you told me then -that I must do? Here I have been racking my -brains and tormenting myself and calling on all my -wits for a year and a day—and I cannot remember -the truth!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As Quest said this, All-Rosy rather crossly shook -his head and his golden curls.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Eh, boy, boy! I told you to stay with your -grandfather till you had rendered him the love you -owe him, and not to leave him till he left you,” said -All-Rosy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And then he went on:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I thought you were wiser than your brothers, -and there you are the most foolish of the three. -Here you have been racking your brains and calling -on your wits to help you for a year and a day so -that you might remember the truth; and if you had -listened to your heart when it told you on the -threshold of your cabin to turn back and not to -leave your old grandfather—why then, you silly -boy, you would have had the truth, even without -wits!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thus spoke All-Rosy. Once more he crossly -shook his head with the golden curls; then he took -his golden cloak about him and vanished.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Shamed and troubled, Quest remained alone -beside the spring, and from between the stones he -heard the imp giggling—the hobgoblin, quite small, -misshapen, and horned with big horns. The little -wretch was pleased because All-Rosy had shamed -Quest, who always gave himself such righteous airs; -but when Quest roused himself from his first amazement -he called out joyfully:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Now I’ll just wash quickly and then fly to my -dear old grandfather.” This he said and knelt by -the spring to wash. Quest leaned down to reach -the water, leaned down too far, lost his balance, and -fell into the spring.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Fell into the spring and was drowned....</p> -<h3 class='c007'>VI</h3> - -<div class='figleft id003'> -<img src='images/i041.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<p class='c012'>THE hobgoblin jumped -up from among the -stones, leaped to the -edge of the spring, and -looked down to see with -his own eyes whether it -was really true.</p> -<p class='c009'>Yes, Quest was really -truly drowned. There -he lay at the bottom of -the water, white as wax.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yoho, yoho, yo -hey!” yelled the goblin, -who was only a poor silly. “Yoho, yoho, yo hey! -my friend, we’re off to-day!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The imp yelled so that all the rocks round the -ledge rang with the noise. Then he heaved up the -stone that lay by the edge of the spring, and the -stone toppled over and covered the spring like a -lid. Next the imp flung Quest’s skin-coat on the top -of the stone; last of all he went and sat on the -coat, and then he began to skip and to frolic.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yoho, yoho! my job is done!” yelled the -goblin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it wasn’t for long that he skipped on the -skin; it wasn’t for long that he yelled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For when the goblin had tired himself out, he -looked round the ledge, and a queer feeling came -over him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>You see, the goblin had got used to Quest. -Never before had he had such an easy time as with -that good youth. He had been allowed to fool about -as he chose, without anybody scolding him or -telling him to stop; and now that he came to think -of it, he would have to go back to the osier clump, -to the mire, to his angry King Rampogusto, and go -on repeating the old goblin chatter among five -hundred other goblins—all of them just as he used -to be himself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He had lost the habit of it. He began to think—to -<i>think</i> a very little. He began to feel sad—just -a little sad, then more and more miserable; and -at last he was wringing and beating his hands, and -the silly, thoughtless goblin, who a minute ago had -been yelling with glee, was now weeping and wailing -with grief and rolling about on the coat all crazy -with distress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He wept and he howled till all his former yelling -was clean nothing in comparison. For a goblin is -always a goblin. Once he starts wailing he wails -with a vengeance. And he pulled the fur out of the -skin-coat in handfuls, and rolled about on it as if -he had taken leave of his senses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now just at that moment Bluster and Careful -came to the lone ledge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They had wandered all over the mountain, and -were now on their way home to the glade to see if -their grandfather and the cabin were quite burnt -up. On the way back they came to a lone ledge -where they had never been before.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bluster and Careful heard something wailing, and -caught sight of Quest’s skin-coat; and they thought -at once that Quest must have come to grief somehow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not that they felt sorry for their brother -because they could not grieve for anybody while the -goblins were about them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But at that moment their goblins began to wriggle, -because they could hear that one of their own -kind was in trouble. Now there is no sort that -sticks more closely together and none more faithful -in trouble than the hobgoblins were. In the osier -clump they would fight and squabble all day; but -if there was trouble each would give the skin off his -shins for the other!</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they wriggled and they worried; they pricked -up their ears, and then peered out, the one from the -pouch and the other from the shirt. And as they -peered they at once saw a brother of theirs rolling -about with somebody or something—rolling and -writhing, and nothing to be seen but the fur flying.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“A wild beast is worrying him!” cried the -terrified goblins. They jumped out, one out of -Careful’s pouch and the other out of Bluster’s -bosom, and scuttled off to help their friend.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But when they reached him, he would still do -nothing but roll about on the skin and howl:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The boy is dead!—the boy is dead!” The -other two goblins tried to quiet him, and thought: -“Maybe a thorn has got into his paw, or a midge -into his ear”—because they had never lived with -a righteous man, and did not know what it means -to lament for others.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the first goblin went on wailing so that you -couldn’t hear yourself speak, and he wouldn’t be -comforted either.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the other goblins were in a fine taking as -to what they were to do with him? Nor could they -leave him there in his sore trouble. At last they had -an idea. Each laid hold of the sheep-skin coat by one -sleeve, and so they dragged along the coat with their -brother inside, scuttled away into the woods, and -out of the woods into the osier clump and home to -Rampogusto.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So for the first time for a year and a day -Bluster and Careful were quit of their goblins. When -the imps hopped away from them, the brothers felt -as though they had walked the world like blind men -for a year and a day, and were seeing it plainly again -now for the first time there on the rocky ledge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>First they looked at each other in a maze, and -then they knew at once what a terrible wrong they -had done their grandfather.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Brother! kinsman!” each cried to the other, -“let us fly and save our grandfather.” And they -flew as if they had falcon’s wings, home to the -clearing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they came to the glade the cabin was -roofless. Flames were rising like a column from the -hut. Only the walls and the door were still standing, -and the door was still tightly wedged.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The brothers hurried up, tore out the wedge, -rushed into the cabin, and carried out the old man -in their arms from amid the flames, which were just -going to take hold on his feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They carried him out and laid him on the cool -green turf, and then they stood beside him and -neither dared speak a word.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After a while old Witting opened his eyes, and -as he saw them he asked nothing about them. The -only question he put was:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Did you find Quest anywhere in the mountain?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No, grandfather,” answered the brothers. -“Quest is dead. He was drowned this morning in -the well-spring. But, grandfather, forgive us, and -we will serve you and wait upon you like slaves.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As they were speaking thus, old Witting arose -and stood upon his feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I see that you are already forgiven, my -children,” said he, “since you are standing here -alive. But he who was the most upright of you -three had to pay with his life for his fault. Come, -children, take me to the place where he died.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Humbly penitent, Careful and Bluster supported -their grandfather as they led him to the ledge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But when they had walked a little while they -saw that they had gone astray, and had never been -that way before. They told their grandfather; but -he just bade them keep on in that path.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they came to a steep slope, and the road led -up the slope right to the crest of the mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Our grandfather will die,” whispered the -brothers, “with him so feeble and the hillside so -steep.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But old Witting only said: “On, children, on—follow -the path.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they began to climb up the track, and the -old man grew ever more grey and pallid in the -face. And on the mountain’s crest there was something -fair that rustled and crooned and sparkled -and shone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And when they reached the crest, they stood -silent and stone still for very wonder and awe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For before them was neither hill nor dale, nor -mountain nor plain, nor anything at all, but only -a great white cloud stretched out before them like -a great white sea—a white cloud, and on the white -cloud a pink cloud. Upon the pink cloud stood a -glass mountain, and on the glass mountain a golden -castle with wide steps leading up to the gates.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That was the Golden Castle of All-Rosy. A -soft light streamed from the Castle—some of it -from the pink cloud, some from the glass mountain, -and some from the pure gold walls; but most of -all from the windows of the Castle itself. For there -sit the guests of All-Rosy, drinking from golden -goblets health and welcome to each new-comer.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id006'> -<img src='images/i048a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>But All-Rosy does not enjoy the company of -such as harbour any guilt in their souls, nor will he -let them into his Castle. Wherefore it is a noble -and chosen company that is assembled in his courts, -and from them streams the light through the windows.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Upon the ridge stood old Witting with his -grandsons, all speechless as they gazed at the marvel. -They looked—and of a sudden they saw someone -sitting on the steps that led to the Castle. His face -was hidden in his hands and he wept.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The old man looked and knew him—knew him -for Quest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The old man’s soul was shaken within him. He -roused himself and called out across the cloud:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What ails you, my child?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am here, grandfather,” answered Quest. “A -great light lifted me up out of the well-spring and -brought me here. So far have I come; but they -won’t let me into the Castle, because I have sinned -against you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tears ran down the old man’s cheeks. His -hands and heart went out to caress his dear child, -to comfort him, to help him, to set his darling free.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Careful and Bluster looked at their grandfather, but -his face was altogether changed. It was ashen, it was -haggard, and not at all like the face of a living man.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The old man will die of these terrors,” -whispered the brothers to each other.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the old man drew himself up to his full -height, and already he was moving away from them, -when he looked back once more and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go home, children, back to the glade, since -you are forgiven. Live and enjoy in all righteousness -what shall fall to your part. But I go to help him to -whom has been given the best part at the greatest cost.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Old Witting’s voice was quite faint, but he stood -before them upright as a dart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bluster and Careful looked at one another. Had -their grandfather gone crazy, that he thought of -walking across the clouds when he had no breath -even for speech?</p> - -<p class='c009'>But already the old man had left them. He -left them, went on and stepped out upon the cloud -as though it were a meadow. And as he stepped out -he went forward. On he walked, the old man, and -his feet carried him as though he were a feather, -and his cloak fluttered in the wind as if it were a -cloud upon that cloud. Thus he came to the pink -cloud, and to the glass mountain, and to the broad -steps. He flew up the steps to his grandson. Oh -the joy of it, when the old man clasped his grandson! -He hugged him and he held him close as -if he would never let him go. And Careful and -Bluster heard it all. Across the cloud they could -hear the old man and his grandchild weeping in -each other’s arms for pure joy!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then the old man took Quest by the hand and led -him up to the Castle gates. With his left hand he led -his grandson, and with his right he knocked at the gate.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And lo, a wonder! At once the great gates flew -open, all the splendour of the Castle was thrown -open, and the company within, the noble guests, -welcomed grandfather Witting and grandson Quest -upon the threshold.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They welcomed them, held out their hands to -them, and led them in.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Careful and Bluster just saw them pass by the -window, and saw where they were placed at the -table. The first place of all was given to old Witting, -and beside him sat Quest, where All-Rosy, the golden -youth, drinks welcome to his guests from a goblet -of gold.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A great fear fell upon Bluster and Careful when -they were left alone with these awesome sights.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Come away, brother, to our clearing,” -whispered Careful; and they turned and went. Bewildered -by many marvels, they got back to their -clearing, and never again could they find either the -path or the slope that led to the mountain’s crest.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>VII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Thus it was and thus it befell.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Careful and Bluster went on living in the glade. -They lived long as valiant men and true, and -brought up goodly families, sons and grandsons. -All good parts went down from father to son, and, -of course, also the sacred fire, which was fed with -a fresh log every day so that it might never go -out.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So, you see, Rampogusto was right in being -afraid of Quest, because if Quest had not died -in his search for truth those goblins would never -have left Careful and Bluster, and in the glade there -would have been neither righteous men nor sacred -fire.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But so everything fell out. To the great shame -and discomfiture of Rampogusto and all his crew.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When those two goblins dragged Quest’s sheep-skin -before Rampogusto, and inside it the third -goblin, who was still yammering and carrying on -like one demented, Rampogusto flew into a furious -rage, for he knew that all three youths had escaped -him. In his great wrath he gave orders that all -three goblins should have their horns cropped close, -and so run about for everyone to make fun of!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the worst of Rampogusto’s discomfiture was -this: Every day the sacred smoke gets into his -throat and makes him cough most horribly. Moreover, -he never dare venture out into the woods for -fear of meeting some one of the valiant people.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Rampogusto got nothing out of it but Quest’s -cast-off sheep-skin; and I’m sure he is welcome to -that, for Quest doesn’t want a sheep-skin coat anyhow -in All-Rosy’s Golden Halls.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id007'> -<img src='images/i054.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Fisherman Plunk and his Wife</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch02' class='c004'>Fisherman Plunk and His Wife</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c007'>I</h3> -<p class='drop-capa0_3_0_65 c008'>FISHERMAN PLUNK was sick and tired of -his miserable life. He lived alone by the -desolate sea-shore, and every day he caught -fish with a bone hook, because they didn’t -know about nets in those parts at that time. And -how much fish can you catch with a hook, anyhow?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What a dog’s life it is, to be sure!” cried -Plunk to himself. “What I catch in the morning -I eat up at night, and there’s no joy for me in -this world at all, at all.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And then Plunk heard that there were also rich -sheriffs in the land, and men of great power and -might, who lived in luxury and comfort, lapped in -gold and fed on truffles. Then Plunk fell a-thinking -how he too might come to look upon such riches -and live in the midst of them. So he made up his -mind that for three whole days he would sit still -in his boat on the sea and not take any fish at all, -but see if that spell would help him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Plunk sat for three days and nights in his -boat on the face of the sea—three days he sat there, -three days he fasted, for three days he caught no -fish. When the third day began to dawn, lo and -behold, a silver boat arose from the sea—a silver -boat with golden oars—and in the boat, fair as a -king’s daughter, stood the Pale Dawn-Maiden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“For three days you have spared my little -fishes’ lives,” said the Dawn-Maiden, “and now -tell me what you would like me to do for you?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Help me out of this miserable and dreary -life. Here am I all day long slaving away in this -desolate place. What I catch during the day I eat -up at night, and there is no joy for me in the world -at all, at all,” said Plunk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go home,” said the Dawn-Maiden, “and you -will find what you need.” And as she spoke, she -sank in the sea, silver boat and all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk hurried back to the shore and then home. -When he came to the house, a poor orphan girl -came out to meet him, all weary with the long -tramp across the hills. The girl said: “My mother -is dead, and I am all alone in the world. Take me -for your wife, Plunk.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk hardly knew what to do. “Is this the -good fortune which the Dawn-Maiden has sent me?” -Plunk could see that the girl was just a poor body -like himself; on the other hand, he was afraid of -making a mistake and turning away his luck. So -he consented, and took the poor girl to be his wife; -and she, being very tired, lay down and slept till -the morning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk could scarcely await the next day for -wondering how his good fortune would show itself. -But nothing happened that day except that Plunk -took his hook and went out fishing, and the Woman -went up the hill to gather wild spinach. Plunk came -home at night, and so did the Woman, and they -supped upon fish and wild spinach. “Eh, if that is -all the good luck there is to it, I could just as well -have done without,” thought Plunk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As the evening wore on, the Woman sat down -beside Plunk to tell him stories, to wile away the -time for him. She told him about nabobs and kings’ -castles, about dragons that watch treasure-hoards, -and kings’ daughters who sow their gardens with -pearls and reap gems. Plunk listened, and his heart -within him began to sing for joy. Plunk forgot that -he was poor; he could have sat and listened to her -for three years together. But Plunk was still better -pleased when he considered: “She is a fairy wife. -She can show me the way to the dragons’ hoards -or the kings’ gardens. I need only be patient and -not make her angry.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Plunk waited; and day after day went by, -a year went by, two years passed. A little son was -born to them; they called him little Winpeace. Yet -all went on as usual. Plunk caught fish, and his -wife gathered wild spinach in the mountains. In -the evening she cooked the supper, and after supper -she rocked the baby and told Plunk stories. Her -stories grew prettier and prettier, and Plunk found -it harder and harder to wait, till at last, one evening, -he had had enough of it; and just as his wife was -telling him about the immense treasures of the Sea -King, Plunk jumped up in a rage, shook her by the -arm and cried:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I tell you I’ll wait no longer. To-morrow in -the morning you shall take me down to the Sea -King’s Castle!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Woman was quite frightened when Plunk -jumped up like that. She told him that she did not -know where the Sea King had his Castle; but -Plunk began to beat his poor wife most unmercifully, -and threatened to kill her unless she told him -her fairy secret.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then the poor girl understood that Plunk had -taken her for a fairy. She burst into tears and cried:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Truly I am no fairy, but a poor orphan girl -who knows no spells nor magic. And for the tales -I have told you, I had them from my own heart to -beguile your weariness.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now this only put Plunk all the more in a rage, -because he had lived in a fool’s paradise for over -two years; and he angrily bade the Woman go -away next morning ere dawn with the child, along -the sea-shore to the right-hand side, and he, Plunk, -would go to the left, and she was not to come back -again till she had found the way to the Sea King’s -Castle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the dawn came, the Woman wept and -begged Plunk not to send her away. “Who knows -where one of us may be destroyed on this desolate -sea-shore?” said she. But Plunk fell upon her again, -so that she took up her child and went away crying -whither her husband had bidden her. And Plunk -went off in the opposite direction.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Woman went on with her baby, little -Winpeace. She went on for a week; she went on -for a fortnight, and nowhere did she find the way to -the Sea King. She grew so terribly tired that one -day she fell asleep on a stone beside the sea. When -she woke up, her baby was gone—her little Winpeace.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her grief was so great that the tears froze fast -in her heart, and not a word could she speak for -sorrow, but became dumb from that hour.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the poor dumb creature wandered back along -the sea-shore and home. And next day Plunk came -home, too. He had not found the way to the Sea -King, and he came back disappointed and cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When he got home, there was no baby Winpeace, -and his wife had gone dumb. She could -not tell him what had happened, but was all haggard -with the great trouble.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so it was with them from that day forward. -The Woman neither wept nor complained, but did -her housework and waited upon Plunk in silence; -and the house was still and quiet as the grave. For -some time Plunk stood it, but in the end he got -thoroughly weary. He had just felt almost sure of -the Sea King’s treasure, and lo! all this trouble -and worry had come upon him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Plunk made up his mind to try his sea-spell -once more. Again for three whole days he sat in -his boat on the sea, for three days he fasted, for -three days he caught no fish. At the third day, at -daybreak, the Dawn-Maiden arose before him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk told her what had happened, and complained -bitterly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m worse off than ever before. The baby is -gone, the wife is dumb, and my house dreary as -the grave, and I’m just about bursting with trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>To this the Dawn-Maiden said never a word, -but just asked Plunk a question:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What do you want? I will help you just this -once more.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Plunk was such a zany that he couldn’t -think of anything else but just this, that he was set -on seeing and enjoying the Sea King’s treasure; -and so he didn’t wish for his child back again, or -that his wife should regain the power of speech, -but he begged the Dawn-Maiden:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Fair Dawn-Maiden,” said he, “show me the -way to the Sea King.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And again the Dawn-Maiden said nothing, but -very kindly set Plunk on his way:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“When day dawns at the next New Moon, get -into your boat, wait for the wind, and then drift -eastward with the wind. The wind will carry you -to the Isle Bountiful, to the stone Gold-a-Fire. And -there I shall be waiting for you to show you the way -to the Sea King.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk went joyfully home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When it was about the New Moon (but he -never told his wife anything) he went out at the -streak of dawn, got into his boat, waited for the wind, -and let the wind carry him away toward the east.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i064a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The wind caught the boat and carried it along -to the Unknown Sea, to the Isle Bountiful. Like -a green garden the fruitful island floats upon the -sea. The grass grows rank, and the meadows -lush, the vines are full of grapes and the almondtrees -pink with blossom. In the midst of the island -there is precious stone, the white blazing stone -Gold-a-Fire. One half of the stone sheds its glow -upon the island, and the other half lights up the -sea under the island. And there on the Isle Bountiful, -on the stone Gold-a-Fire, sits the Dawn-Maiden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Very kindly did the Dawn-Maiden receive Plunk, -very kindly she set him on his way. She showed -him a mill-wheel drifting on the sea towards the -island, and the mermaids dancing in a ring around -the wheel. Then she told him—always very kindly—how -he must ask the mill-wheel politely to take him -down to the Sea King and not let the Dark Deeps -of the Sea swallow him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Last of all the Dawn-Maiden said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Great store of gold and treasure will you enjoy -in the Sea King’s domain. But mark—to earth you -cannot return, for three terrible watchers bar the -way. One troubles the waves, the second raises -the storm, and the third wields the lightning.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Plunk was happy as a grig in his boat as -he paddled towards the mill-wheel, and thought to -himself:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It’s easy to see, fair Dawn-Maiden, that you’ve -never known want in this world. I shan’t hanker -back after this earth, where I’m leaving nothing but -ill-luck behind!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he paddled up to the mill-wheel, where -round the mill-wheel the mermaids were playing -their foolish games. They dived and chased each -other through the water; their long hair floated -on the waves, their silver fins glittered, and their -red lips smiled. And they sat on the mill-wheel -and made the sea all foamy around it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The boat reached the mill-wheel, and Plunk did -as the Dawn-Maiden had told him. He held his -paddle aloft so that the Dark Deeps should not -swallow him, and he politely asked the mill-wheel:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Round wheel giddy-go-round, please take me -down, either to the Dead Dark Deep or to the Sea -King’s Palace.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As Plunk said this, the mermaids came swishing -along like so many silver fish, swarmed round the -mill-wheel, seized the spokes in their snowy hands, -and began to turn the wheel—swiftly, giddily.</p> - -<p class='c009'>An eddy formed in the sea—a fierce eddy, a -terrible whirlpool. The whirlpool caught Plunk; -it swept him round like a twig, and sucked him -down to the Sea King’s fastness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk’s ears were still ringing with the swirl -of the sea and the mermaids’ silly laughter when he -suddenly found himself sitting on beautiful sand—fine -sand of pure gold.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk looked round and cried out: “Ho, there’s -a wonder for you! A whole field of golden sand.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now what Plunk had taken to be a big field -was only the great Hall of the Sea King. Round the -Hall stood the sea like a marble wall, and above the -Hall hung the sea, like a glass dome. Down from the -stone Gold-a-Fire streamed a bluish glare, livid and -pale as moonlight. From the ceiling hung festoons -of pearls, and on the floor below stood tables of -coral.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And at the end—the far end, where slender pipes -were piping and tiny bells tinkling—there lazed and -lounged the Sea King himself; he stretched his -limbs on the golden sand, raising only his great -bullock’s head, beside him a coral table, and behind -him a golden hedge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>What with the quick, shrill music of the pipes, -the tinkling of the bells, and the sheen and glimmer -all around him, Plunk wouldn’t have believed there -could be so much pleasure or wealth in the world!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk went clean mad for pure joy—joy went -to his head like strong wine; his heart sang; he -clapped his hands; he skipped about the golden -sand like a frolicsome child; he turned head over -heels once, twice, and again—just like a jolly boy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now this amused the Sea King vastly. For -the Sea King’s feet are heavy—far too heavy—and -his great bullock’s head is heavier still. The Sea -King guffawed as he lounged on the golden sand; -he laughed so heartily that the golden sand blew -up all round him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You’re fine and light on your feet, my boy,” -said the Sea King, and he reached up and pulled -down a branch of pearls and gave it to Plunk. And -then the Sea King ordered the Under Seas Fairies -to bring choice viands and honeyed drink in golden -vessels. And Plunk had leave to sit beside the Sea -King at the coral table, and surely that was a great -honour!</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Plunk had dined, the Sea King asked him:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Is there anything else you would like, my -man?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now what should a poor man ask for, who had -never known what it is to have a good time? But -Plunk was hungry from his long journey, and he -had made but a poor meal of it off the choice viands -and the honeyed drinks. So he said to the Sea -King:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Just as you were saying that, O King of the -Sea, I was wishing that I had a good helping of boiled -wild spinach.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Sea King was rather surprised, but he -recovered himself quickly, laughed and said to -Plunk:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Eh, brother of mine, wild spinach is very dear -down here, dearer than pearls and mother-o’-pearl, -because it’s a long way from here to the place where -it grows. But since you have just asked for it, I will -send a Foam Fairy to bring you some from the -land where the wild spinach grows. But you must -turn three more coach-wheels for me.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As Plunk was already in the best of humours -he didn’t find that hard either. Lightly he leapt -to his feet, and quickly they all flocked round him, -the mermaids and the tiny folk in the Palace, and -all for to see that wonder!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk took a run over the golden sand, turned -a beautiful coach-wheel, then a second and a third, -light as a squirrel, and the Sea King and all the -tiny folk rocked with laughter at such cunning.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But heartiest of all laughed a little baby, and -that was the little King whom the mermaids themselves -had crowned King for fun and idle sport. -The wee baby was sitting up in a golden cradle. -His little shirt was of silk, the cradle was hung with -tiny bells of pearl, and in his hands the child held -a golden apple.</p> - -<p class='c009'>While Plunk was turning coach-wheels and the -little King laughed so heartily, Plunk looked round -at him. He looked at the little King, and then—Plunk -started. It was his own baby boy, little Winpeace.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Well, Plunk was suddenly disgusted. He would -never have guessed that he would grow sick of it -so soon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk frowned; he was angry, and when he -had got over his shock a bit he thought:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Look at him, the urchin, how he’s got on, -lording it here in idleness and sport, and his mother -at home gone dumb with grieving!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk was vexed; he hated seeing himself or -the child in this Palace; yet he dared not say a -word, lest they should part him from the boy. So -he made himself the servant of his son, of little -Winpeace, and thought to himself: “Perhaps I -shall be left alone with him sometimes. Then I will -remind the boy of his Father and Mother; I will -run away with him; I will carry off the little brat -and go back with him to his mother.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So thought Plunk, and one fine day, when he -happened to be alone with the little King, he -whispered to the child: “Come along, my boy; -let’s run away with father.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Winpeace was only a baby, and what with -living so long under the sea, he had quite forgotten -his father. He laughed; the little King laughed. -He thought: “Plunk is making fun,” and he kicked -Plunk with his little foot.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You are not my father; you are the silly-billy -who turns head over heels before the Sea King.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>That stung Plunk to the heart, so that he well-nigh -died with the pain of it. He went out and wept -for sheer bitter sorrow. All the Sea King’s attendants -gathered round him and said one to the other:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, well, he must have been a great lord -on earth, to weep amid such splendours.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Upon my soul,” cried Plunk wrathfully, “I -was the same as your Sea King here. I had a -son who tugged my beard, a wife who showed me -marvels, and wild spinach, brothers, as much as -you want—and no need to turn coach-wheels before -anybody either.”</p> - -<div class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/i072a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The sea-folk marvelled at such magnificence, and -left Plunk to mourn his lost greatness. But Plunk -went on serving the little King. He did all he could -to please the boy, thinking: “I shall get him -somehow to run away with me.” But the little King -grew sillier and more wayward every day; the days -passed, and every day the child only thought Plunk -more than ever a zany.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>II</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Now all this time Plunk’s wife was at home, -all alone and grieving. The first evening she made -up the fire and kept the supper hot for Plunk; -but when she gave up expecting Plunk, she let the -fire go out, nor did she kindle it again.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the poor dumb soul sat on her threshold. She -neither worked, nor tidied, nor wept, nor lamented, -but just pined away with grief and sorrow. She -could not take counsel with anyone, because she was -dumb; nor could she cross the sea after Plunk, -because she was all broken up with grieving.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Where could she go, poor soul! but back one -day to the far hills, where her mother lay buried. -And as she stood by her mother’s grave a beautiful -Hind up came to her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And as the dumb animals speak, so the Hind -spoke to the Woman:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You must not sit there and pine away, my -daughter, for else your heart will break and your -house will perish. But every evening you must get -Plunk’s supper ready for him, and after supper you -must unpick some fine hemp. If Plunk does not -come home, then you must take his supper in the -morning and the fine hemp as well, and also the -slender twin pipes, and go up into the rocky -mountain. Play upon the twin pipes; the snakes -and their young will come and eat up the supper, -and the sea-fowl will line their nests with the hemp.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Full well the daughter understood all that her -mother said, and as she was bid so did she do. -Every evening she cooked supper, and after supper -she unpicked hemp. Plunk did not come back; -and so the Woman took her little twin pipes in the -morning, and carried both supper and hemp to the -rocky mountain. And as she played on her little -pipes, played softly on the right-hand pipe, lo, -snakes and baby snakes came out of the rocks. They -ate up the supper and thanked the Woman in the -dumb speech. And when she played on the left-hand -pipe, lo, gulls great and small came flying, -carried off the hemp to their nests, and thanked the -Woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For three months the Woman went on in this -way; thrice the moon waxed and waned, and still -Plunk had not come home.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Again grief overcame the poor dumb soul, so -that she went again to her mother’s grave.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Hind came up, and in dumb speech the -Woman said to her:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, Mother, I have done all you told me, -and Plunk has not come back. I am weary of waiting. -Shall I throw myself into the sea, or fling myself -down from the cliffs?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Daughter of mine,” said the Hind, “you must -not fail in your trust. Your Plunk is in grievous -trouble. Now listen and hear how you may help -him. In the Unknown Sea there is a Big Bass, and -that Bass has a golden fin, and on that fin grows -a golden apple. If you catch that Bass by moonlight -you will deliver your dear Plunk from his -trouble. But on the road to the Unknown Sea you -will have to pass three caverns of cloud. In the -first there is a monstrous Snake, the Mother of All -Snakes—it is she who troubles the sea and stirs -up the waves; in the second there is a monstrous -Bird, the Mother of All Birds—it is she who raises -the storm; and in the third there is a Golden Bee—it -is she who flashes and wields the lightning. -Go, daughter dear, to the Unknown Sea, and take -nothing with you but your bone hook and slender -twin pipes, and if you should find yourself in great -trouble, rip open your right-hand sleeve, all white -and unhemmed.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The daughter gave good heed. Next day she -took out the boat and put off to sea, taking nothing -with her but her hook and the slender twin pipes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She drifted and sailed on the face of the sea -till the waters bore her to a far-off place, and there -on the sea, lo, three terrible caverns of lowering -cloud!</p> - -<p class='c009'>From the entrance of the first cavern peered -the head of a fearsome Snake, the Mother of All -Snakes. Her grisly head blocked up all the entrance, -her body lay coiled along the cave, and with her -monstrous tail she lashed the sea, troubling the -waters and stirring up the waves.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Woman did not dare go near the terrible -sight, but remembered her little pipes, and began -to play upon the right-hand pipe. And as she -played, there came from the far-off, rock-bound -lands snakes and baby snakes galore swimming over -the sea. Great coloured snakes and tiny little snakes -all came hurrying up and scurrying up and begged -the fearsome Snake—</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let the Woman take her boat through your -cavern, Mother dear! She has done us a great -good turn and fed us every day in the morning.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Through my cavern I may not let her pass,” -answered the fearsome Snake, “for to-day I must -stir up the waves of the sea. But if she did you -such a good turn, I will repay it with another. -Would she rather have a bar of gold or six strings -of pearls?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But a true wife is not to be beguiled with gold -or pearls, and so the Woman answered in dumb -speech:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“’Tis only for a small matter I have come here—for -the Bass that lives in the Unknown Sea. If I -have done you a good turn, let me pass through -your cavern, fearsome Snake.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let her pass, Mother dear,” said the snakes -and baby snakes again. “Here are many of us whom -she has fed—full many to whom she gave meat. -You just lie down, Mother dear, and take a nap, -and we’ll stir up the waters for you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now the Snake couldn’t very well disoblige -such a big family, and she had been longing for -sleep for a thousand years. So she let the Woman -through the cavern, and then curled up on the floor -of the cavern and fell into a fearsome sleep. But -before she fell asleep she reminded the snakes and -baby snakes once more:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Now, stir me up the waters right properly, -children dear, while I rest a little.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Woman passed through the cavern, and -the snakes and their young stayed in the cavern; -but instead of stirring up the sea they soothed it -and made it calm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Woman sailed on, and came to the second -cavern. And in the second cavern there was a -monstrous Bird, the Mother of All Birds. She -craned her frightful head through the opening, her -iron beak gaped wide; she spread her vast wings in -the cavern and flapped them, and whenever she -flapped her wings she raised a storm.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id010'> -<img src='images/i079.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The Woman took up her twin pipes and sweetly -played upon the left-hand pipe. And from the far -shore came flying gulls great and small, and begged -the monstrous bird to let the Woman pass with her -boat through her cavern, for that she had been a -good friend to them and unpicked hemp for them -every day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I can’t let her pass through my cavern, for -to-day I must raise a mighty storm. But if she was -so kind to you, I will repay her with even greater -kindness. From my iron beak I will give her of the -Water of Life, so that the power of speech shall be -restored to her.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Well, and wasn’t it a sore temptation for the -poor dumb creature who desired above all things -that the power of speech should return to her? -But she remained steadfast, and this is what she -answered the Bird:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“’Tis not for my own good that I came, but -for a small matter—for the Bass that lives in the -Unknown Sea. If I have done you a good turn, -let me pass through your cavern.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then the grey gulls all entreated the Mother -Bird and also advised her to take a little nap, and -they would meanwhile raise the storm for her. The -Mother Bird listened to her children’s entreaty, -clung to the wall of the cavern with her iron talons -and went to sleep.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the gulls great and small, instead of raising -the storm, calmed the wild winds and soothed them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the dumb Woman sailed through the second -cavern and came to the third.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In the third cavern she found the Golden Bee. -The Golden Bee buzzed in the entrance; she wielded -the fiery lightning and the rolling thunder. Sea and -cavern resounded; lightnings flashed from the -clouds.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Fear seized upon the Woman when she found -herself all alone with these terrors. But she remembered -her right sleeve; she ripped it off, her -sleeve all white and unhemmed, flung it over the -Golden Bee and caught her in the sleeve!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The thunder and lightning were stilled at once, -and the Golden Bee began to coax the Woman:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Set me free, O Woman! and in return I -will show you something. Look out over the wide -waters, and it’s a joyful sight you will see.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Woman looked out over the wide waters. -The sun was just on the horizon. The sky grew -pink overhead; the sea grew crimson from the east, -and from the sea arose a silver boat. And in the -boat sat the Dawn-Maiden, pale and fair as a king’s -daughter, and beside her a little child in a silken -shirt and with a golden apple in his hand. It was -the Dawn-Maiden taking the little King for his -morning sail on the sea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Woman recognised her lost baby.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now isn’t that a wonder of wonders, that the -sea should be so wide that a mother cannot encompass -it, and the sun so high that a mother should not -be able to reach it?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her joy took hold of her like terror. She -trembled like the slender aspen. Should she stretch -out her hand to the child? or call to him tenderly? -or should she just stand and look at him for ever -and ever?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The silver boat glided over the crimson sea. -It faded away in the distance; the boat sank under -the waves, and the mother roused herself with a -start.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will show you,” said the Golden Bee to -the Woman, “how to get to the little King, your -son, and live with him in joy and happiness. But -first set me free, that I may wield the lightnings -in the cavern—and through my cavern I cannot -let you pass!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>A fierce pang overcame the poor mother, overwhelmed -and shook her. She had seen her darling; -her eyes had beheld her heart’s desire; she had -seen and beheld him, but not hugged him, not -kissed him! The pang shook her from head to foot. -Should she be true to Plunk or no? Should she let -the Bee go and win to her child, or pass through -the cavern to the Unknown Sea for the sake of the -Big Bass?</p> - -<p class='c009'>But even as the pang shot through the Woman, -the tears gushed forth from her heart; the power -of speech returned to her, and ’twas in living words -that she answered the Golden Bee:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t sting me, O Golden Bee! I shall not -let you go, because I must pass through your -cavern. I have wept for my child and buried him -in my heart. I have not come here for my own -happiness, but for a small matter—for the Big Bass -that lives in the Unknown Sea.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thus said the Woman, and passed into the -cavern. She rested in the cavern; she took her ease -in the boat, and there she waited for nightfall and -moonrise.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Eh, my dearie, but the sea was quiet that day, -with the winds at rest in the sky, and the fearsome -Snake asleep in the first cavern, and the monstrous -Bird asleep in the second, and the wearied Woman -in the third!</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the day went quietly by; evening came, -and the moon rose. When the moon rode high in -the heavens, the Woman sailed out upon the Unknown -Sea at midnight, and in the midst of the -Sea she let down her little bone hook.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>III</h3> - -<p class='c011'>That very evening the little King bade Plunk -knit him a nice set of silken reins. “First thing -to-morrow morning I shall harness you to my little -carriage, and you shall give me a ride on the golden -sands.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dearie me, considered poor Plunk, and where -was he to hide from the Dawn-Maiden when she -would go down into the sea in the morning and -behold him thus to-morrow harnessed to a cart -by his own son?</p> - -<p class='c009'>All the Sea King’s court slept. The Sea King -slept. The wilful little King slept—only Plunk was -awake and knitting away at the reins. He knitted -fiercely, like one who is thinking hard. When it -seemed to him that the strings were strong enough, -Plunk said to himself:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I never asked anyone’s counsel when I was -making a fool of myself, nor shall I do so now -that I have come to my senses.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And as he said this he went softly up to the -cradle where his son lay fast asleep, wound the -reins round and round the rockers of the cradle, -lashed the cradle to his own back, and started to -run away with his son.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Softly Plunk strode over the golden sand—strode -through the mighty Hall, spacious as a wide -meadow; slipped through the golden hedge, parting -the branches of pearls; and when he came to where -the sea stood up like a wall, nothing daunted, Plunk -dived into the water with his boy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it is far—terribly far—from the Sea King’s -fastness to the world of day above! Plunk swam -and swam; but how was a poor fisherman to swim -when he was weighed down by the little King—golden -cradle, golden apple and all—on his back?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Plunk felt as if the sea was piling itself up above -him, higher and higher, and heavier and heavier!</p> - -<p class='c009'>And just as Plunk was at the last gasp, he felt -something scrape along the golden cradle, something -that caught in the rocker of the cradle; and when -it had caught fast, it began to haul them along -apace!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Now it’s all up with me!” said poor Plunk -to himself. “Here’s a sea-monster carrying me away -on his tusk.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it wasn’t the tusk of a sea-monster; it was -a bone fish-hook, the very hook that Plunk’s wife -had let down.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the Woman felt that her hook had caught, -she joyfully summoned all her strength, pulling and -hauling with all her might, for fear of losing the -great Big Bass.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As she began to haul in her catch the golden -rocker began to show above the water. The Woman -could not distinguish it rightly by moonlight, but -thought: “It is the golden fin of the Bass.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Next came up the child with the golden apple. -Again the Woman thought: “It is the golden apple -on the fish’s fin.” And when at last Plunk’s head -came up, the Woman cried out joyfully: “And -here is the head of the great Big Bass.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And as she cried out she hauled in her catch, -and when she had hauled it close alongside—why, -dearie mine, how am I to tell you rightly how -overjoyed were those three when they met again in -the boat, all in the moonlight, in the middle of the -Unknown Sea?</p> - -<p class='c009'>But they dare not lose any time. They had to -pass through the three caverns ere the monstrous -watchers should awaken. So they took out the oars -and rowed with all their might and main.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But oh dear! the bad luck they had! When -the little King awoke and saw his mummy, he remembered -her at once. He threw both his little -arms round his mummy’s neck—and the golden -apple fell out of his hand. Down fell the apple into -the sea, down to the very bottom and into the Sea -King’s Castle, and hit the Sea King right on his -shoulder!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Sea King woke up, and bellowed with rage. -All the court jumped to their feet. They saw at once -that the little King and his servant were missing!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They gave chase. The mermaids swam out -under the moonlight; the light foam fairies flew -out over the water; runners were sent out to rouse -the watchers in the caverns.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the boat had already passed through the -caverns, and so they had to pursue it farther on. -Plunk and the Woman were rowing—rowing for -dear life, their pursuers close in their wake. The -mermaids whipped up the waters; the swift foam -fairies darted after the boat; the angry waves rose -up in wrath behind them; the wind howled from the -clouds. Nearer and nearer came the pursuers. -The finest ship afloat would not have had a chance, -and how could a tiny two-oared boat? For hours -and hours the boat flew on before the tempest, and -just as the day began to break, lo, terror gathered -from all sides around the boat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For the hurricane beat upon the boat; the -crested billows towered above it; the mermaids -joined in a ring around it. The ring heaved and -swayed around the boat; the mermaids raised their -linked hands high to let the mountainous waves -pass through, but never let the little craft escape -the waves. Sea and storm whistled and roared.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The fear of death was upon Plunk, and in his -dire need he cried out:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh, fair Dawn-Maiden, help!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Dawn-Maiden arose from the sea. She -saw Plunk, but never looked at him. She looked at -the little King, but no gift had she for him; but -to the faithful Wife she swiftly gave her gift—a -broidered kerchief and a pin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Quickly they hoisted the kerchief, and it became -a white sail, and the pin turned into a rudder. The -wind filled the sail, so that it bulged like a ripe -apple, and the Woman gripped the rudder with a -strong hand. The mermaids’ ring round the boat -was broken; the boat rode upon the azure sea like a -star across the blue heavens! A wonder of wonders, -it flew over the sea before its terrible pursuers; -the fiercer the pursuit, the greater help it was to -them; for the swifter the wind blew, the more -swiftly yet flew the boat before the wind, and the -swifter the sea, the more swiftly rode the boat -upon the sea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Already the rock-bound shore loomed afar, and -upon the shore Plunk’s little cottage and the bar -of white sand before it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As soon as the land hove in sight, the pursuit -slackened. The foam fairies fear the shore; the -mermaids keep away from the coast. Wind and -waves stayed on the high seas, and only the boat -flew straight ahead to land like a child to its mother’s -lap.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The boat flew to land over the white sand bar, -and struck on a rock. The boat split on the rock. -Down went sail and rudder; down went the golden -cradle; away flew the Golden-winged Bee; and -Plunk and his wife and child were left alone on the -beach outside their cottage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they sat down that night to their supper -of wild spinach, they had clean forgotten all that -had happened. And but for those twin pipes, there’s -not a soul would remember it now. But whoever -starts to play on the pipes, the fat pipe at once begins -to drone out about Plunk:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c010'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Harum-scarum Plunk would go</div> - <div class='line'>Where the pearls and corals grow;</div> - <div class='line'>There he found but grief and woe.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>And then the little pipe reminds us of the Woman:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c010'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Rise, O Dawn, in loveliness!</div> - <div class='line'>Here is new-born happiness;</div> - <div class='line'>Were it three times drown’d in ill.</div> - <div class='line'>Faith and Love would save it still!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>And that is the twin pipes’ message to the wide, -wide world.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i091.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Reygoch</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch03' class='c004'>Reygoch</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c007'>I</h3> -<p class='drop-capa0_3_0_65 c012'>ONCE upon a beautiful summer night the -men were watching their horses in the -meadow. And as they watched, they fell -asleep. And as they slept, the fairies -flew out of the clouds to have some sport with the -horses, as is the fairies’ way. Each fairy caught a -horse, mounted it, and then whipped it with her -golden hair, urging it round and round the dewy -meadow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Among the fairies there was one quite young and -tiny, called Curlylocks, who had come down to earth -from the clouds for the first time that night.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks thought it lovely to ride through -the night like a whirlwind. And it so happened that -she had got hold of the most spirited horse of all—a -Black—small, but fierce as fire. The Black galloped -round and round with the other horses, but he was -the swiftest of all. Soon he was all in a lather of -foam.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks wanted to ride faster still. She -bent down and pinched the Black’s right ear. The -horse started, reared, and then bolted straight ahead, -leaving behind the rest of the horses, the meadow -and all, as he flew away like the wind with Curlylocks -into the wide, wide world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks thoroughly enjoyed her lightning -ride. The Black went like the wind, by field and -by river, by meadow and mountain, over dale and -hill. “Good gracious! what a lot of things there -are in the world!” thought Curlylocks, full of delight -as she looked at all the pretty sights. But what -pleased her best was when they came through a -country where there were mountains all covered -with glorious forests, and at the foot of the mountains -two golden fields like two great gold kerchiefs, -and in the midst of them two white villages, like -two white doves, and a little further on a great sheet -of water.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id010'> -<img src='images/i096a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>But the Black would not stop, neither there -nor anywhere, but rushed on and on as if he were -possessed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Black carried Curlylocks far and far -away till at last they came to a great plain, with a -cold wind blowing over it. The Black galloped -into the plain, and there was nothing there but -yellow sand, neither trees nor grass, and the further -they went into that great waste, the colder it grew. -But how large that plain is, I cannot tell you, for -the good reason that the man does not live who -could cross it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Black ran on with Curlylocks for seven -days and seven nights. The seventh day, just before -sunrise, they reached the centre of the plain, and -in the centre of the plain they found the ruinous -walls of the terribly great city of Frosten, and there -it is always bitterly cold.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As the Black raced up to the ancient gates of -Frosten, Curlylocks threw her magic veil on the -wall, and so caught hold of the wall. The Black -galloped away from under her, and so continued -his wild career up to his old age to and fro between -the huge walls of Frosten, till at last he found the -northern gate and galloped out again into the plain—God -knows whither!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks came down from the wall and -began to walk about the city, and it was cold as -cold! Her magic veil, without which she could not -fly among the clouds, she wound about her shoulders, -for she took great care of it. And so Curlylocks -walked and walked about the city of Frosten, and -all the time she felt as if she must come upon something -very wonderful in this city, which was so -marvellous and so great. However, nothing did she -see but only great crumbling walls, and nothing did -she hear but now and again a stone cracking with -the cold.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Suddenly, just as Curlylocks had turned the -corner of the very biggest wall, she saw, fast asleep -at the foot of the wall, a huge man, bigger than the -biggest oak in the biggest forest. The man was -dressed in a huge cloak of coarse linen, and the -strap he wore for a belt was five fathoms long. -His head was as big as the biggest barrel, and his -beard was like a shock of corn. He was so big, that -man, you might have thought there was a church -tower fallen down beside the wall!</p> - -<p class='c009'>This giant was called Reygoch, and he lived -at Frosten. All he did was to count the stones of -the city of Frosten. He could never have finished -counting them but for that huge head of his, as -big as a barrel. But he counted and counted—he -had counted for a thousand years, and had already -counted thirty walls and five gates of the city.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Curlylocks spied Reygoch, she clasped -her hands and wondered. She never thought there -could be such an immense creature in the world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Curlylocks sat down by Reygoch’s ear (and -Reygoch’s ear was as big as the whole of Curlylocks), -and called down his ear:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Aren’t you cold, daddy?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch woke up, laughed, and looked at -Curlylocks.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Cold? I should think I was cold,” answered -Reygoch, and his voice was as deep as distant -thunder. Reygoch’s big nose was all red with the -cold, and his hair and beard were all thick with -hoar-frost.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Dear me!” said Curlylocks, “you’re such a -big man, and you aren’t going to build yourself a -roof to keep out the cold?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why should I?” said Reygoch, and laughed -again. “The sun will be out presently.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch heaved himself up so as to sit. He -sat up. He clapped his left shoulder with his right -hand, and his right shoulder he clapped with the -left hand, so as to beat out the hoar-frost; and the -hoar-frost came off each shoulder as if it were snow -slipping off a roof!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Look out! look out, daddy! you’ll smother -me!” cried Curlylocks. But Reygoch could scarcely -hear her, because it was a long way from Curlylocks -to his ear, so big was he when he sat up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Reygoch lifted Curlylocks on to his shoulder, -told her his name and his business, and she told -him how she had come.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And here comes the sun,” said Reygoch, and -pointed for Curlylocks to see.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks looked, and there was the sun rising, -but so pale and feeble, as if there were no one for -him to warm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, you are a silly, Reygoch!” said Curlylocks—“you -are really silly to live here and spend -your life counting these tiresome stones of Frosten. -Come along, Reygoch, and see how beautiful the -world is, and find something more sensible to do.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now it had never occurred to Reygoch to want -a finer home for himself than Frosten city, nor had -he ever thought that there might be better work -than his in the world. Reygoch always thought, -“I was meant to count the stones of Frosten,” and -had never asked for anything better.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks, however, gave him no peace, but -persuaded him to come out and see the world -with her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ll take you to a lovely country,” said Curlylocks, -“where there is an ancient forest, and beside -the forest two golden fields.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks talked for a long time. And old -Reygoch had never had anybody to talk to, and so -he couldn’t resist persuasion.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, let’s go!” said he.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks was mightily pleased with this.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But now they had to contrive something, so that -Reygoch could carry Curlylocks, because Reygoch -himself had nothing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Curlylocks drew out from her bosom a little -bag of pearls. It was her mother who had given -Curlylocks these pearls before allowing her to go -down to earth, and told her: “If you ever should -need anything, just throw down a pearl, and it will -turn into whatever you want. Be very careful of -those pearls, because there are so many things in -the world that you will want more and more as you -go on.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks took out a tiny seed-pearl, threw it -down, and lo, before their eyes there grew a little -basket, just as big as Curlylocks, and the basket had -a loop attached, just big enough to fit Reygoch’s -ear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks jumped into the basket; and Reygoch -picked up the basket and hung it on his ear like an -ear-ring!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Whenever Reygoch laughed, whenever he sneezed -or shook his head, Curlylocks rocked as if she were -in a swing; and she thought it a capital way of -travelling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Reygoch started to walk, and had already -taken a ten-yard stride, when Curlylocks stopped -him, and begged:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Couldn’t we go underground, perhaps, Reygoch -dear, so that I might see what there is under the -earth?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why not?” answered Reygoch; for he could -break into the earth as easy as fun, only it had never -entered his head to look what might be underground.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks wanted to know everything about -everything, and so they agreed to travel underground -until they should arrive under the forest -by the golden fields, and there they would come up.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they had settled that, Reygoch began to -break up the earth. He lifted up his great feet and -stamped for the first time, and at that the whole -of the great city of Frosten shook and a great many -walls tumbled down. Reygoch raised his feet a -second time and stamped again, and the whole -plain quaked. Reygoch raised his feet a third time -and stamped, and lo, half the world trembled, the -solid earth gaped under Reygoch, and Reygoch and -Curlylocks fell into the hole and down under the -earth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they got there, they found the earth all -honeycombed with pillars and passages on every side, -and heaven alone knew where they all led to. And -they could hear waters rushing and the moaning of -the winds.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They followed one of the passages, and for -awhile they had light from the hole through which -they had fallen. But as they went on it grew darker -and darker—black darkness, such as there is nowhere -save in the bowels of the earth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch tramped calmly on in the dark. With -his great hands he felt his way from pillar to pillar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks was frightened by the great -darkness.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She clung to Reygoch’s ear and cried: “It’s -dark, Reygoch dear!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, and why not?” returned Reygoch. “The -dark didn’t come to us. It’s we have come to it.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Curlylocks got cross, because Reygoch -never minded anything and she had expected great -things from so huge a man.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I should be in a nice fix with you but for my -pearls,” said Curlylocks quite angrily.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then she threw down another pearl, and a tiny -lantern grew in her hand, bright as if it were lit -with gold. The darkness crept back deeper into -the earth, and the light shone far through the -underground passages.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks was delighted with her lantern, -because it showed up all the marvels which had been -swallowed by the earth in days of old. In one place -she saw lordly castles, with doors and windows all -fretted with gold and framed in red marble. In -another place were warriors’ weapons, slender-barrelled -muskets and heavy scimitars studded with -gems and precious stones. In a third place she saw -long-buried treasures, golden dishes and silver -goblets full of gold ducats, and the Emperor’s very -crown of gold three times refined. All these treasures -had been swallowed up by God’s will, and it is -God’s secret why so much treasure should lie -there undisturbed.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id011'> -<img src='images/i106.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks was quite dazzled with all these -marvels; and instead of going straight ahead by -the way they had settled upon, she begged Reygoch -to put her down so that she might play about a little -and admire all the strange things and gaze upon the -wonders of God’s secret.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Reygoch set Curlylocks down, and Curlylocks -took her little lantern and ran to the castles, -and to the weapons, and to the treasure-hoards. -And lest she might lose her little bag of pearls while -she was playing, she laid it down beside a pillar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As for Reygoch, he sat down to rest not far off.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks began to play with the treasures; -she looked at the beautiful things and rummaged -among them. With her tiny hands she scattered -the golden ducats, examined the goblets chased in -silver, and put upon her head the crown of gold -three times refined. She played about, looked round -and admired, and at last caught sight of a very -slender little ivory staff propped up against a mighty -pillar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it was just that slender staff that kept the -mighty pillar from collapsing, because the pillar -was already completely hollowed out by the water. -And therefore God had caused that little staff to fall -down there, and the staff held up the pillar under -the earth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks wondered:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Why is that little staff just there?” And she -went and picked up the staff to look at it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But no sooner had Curlylocks taken the staff -and moved it than the subterranean passages re-echoed -with a terrible rumbling noise. The great pillar -trembled, swayed and crashed down amid a whole -mountain of falling earth, closing and blocking up -the path between Reygoch and Curlylocks. They -could neither see nor hear one another, nor could -they reach one another....</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was the poor little fairy Curlylocks caught -in the bowels of the earth! She was buried alive -in that vast grave, and perhaps would never again -see those golden fields for which she had set out, -and all because she would not go straight on by -the way they had intended, but would loiter and -turn aside to the right and to the left to pry into -God’s secrets!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Curlylocks wept and cried, and tried to get -to Reygoch. But she found that there was no way -through, and that her plight was hopeless; and as -for the bag of pearls, which might have helped her, -it was buried under the landslide.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Curlylocks realised this she stopped -crying, for she was proud, and she thought: “There -is no help for it, and I must die. Reygoch won’t -come to my rescue, because his wits are too -slow even to help himself, let alone to make him -remember to help me. So there is nothing for it, -and I must die.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Curlylocks prepared for death. But in case -folk should ever find her in her grave she wanted -them to know that she came of royal blood. So -she set the crown of gold three times refined upon -her head, took the ivory staff in her hand, and lay -down to die. There was no one beside Curlylocks -except her little lantern, burning as if it were lit -with gold; and as Curlylocks began to grow cold -and stiff, so the lantern burned low and dim.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch was really an old stupid. When the -pillar crashed down and there was the big landslide -between him and Curlylocks he never moved, but -sat still in the dark. Thus he sat for quite a long -time, before it occurred to him to go and find out -what had happened.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He felt his way in the dark to the spot where -Curlylocks had been, groped about, and realised that -the earth had subsided there and that the passage -was indeed blocked.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Eh, but that way is choked up now,” considered -Reygoch. And nothing else could he think -of, but turned round, left the mound of fallen earth -and Curlylocks beyond it, and went back by the -road they had travelled from Frosten city.</p> - -<hr class='c013' /> - -<p class='c009'>Thus old Reygoch went his way, pillar by pillar. -He had already gone a goodish bit; but there was -all the time something worrying him. Reygoch -himself couldn’t imagine what it was that worried -him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He arranged the strap around his waist—perhaps -it had been too tight; and then he stretched -his arm—perhaps his arm had gone to sleep. Yet -it was neither the one nor the other, but something -else that worried. Reygoch wondered what in the -world it could be. He wondered, and as he wondered -he shook his head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And as Reygoch shook his head, the little -basket swung at his ear. And when Reygoch felt -how light the basket was, and that there was no -Curlylocks inside, a bitter pang shot through his -heart and breast, and—simpleton though he was—he -knew well enough that he was grieved because -he missed Curlylocks, and he realised also that he -ought to save her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It had taken Reygoch a lot of trouble to think -out all that; but once he had thought it out, he -turned like the wind and flew back to the place -where the landslide was, to find Curlylocks behind -the heap of earth. He flew, and arrived just in time. -Reygoch burrowed away with both hands, and in -a little while he had burrowed a big hole, so that he -could see Curlylocks lying there, the crown of fine -gold on her head. She was already growing cold -and rigid, with her little lantern beside her, and -the flame of it as feeble as the tiniest little glow-worm.</p> - -<p class='c009'>If Reygoch had cried out in his grief the earth -would have rocked, and the little lantern would -have gone out altogether—even the little glow-worm -light by the side of Curlylocks would have died -away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Reygoch’s throat was all tight with pain, -so that he could not cry out. He put out his great -big hand and gently picked up poor Curlylocks, who -was already quite cold, and warmed her between -the hollowed palms of his huge hands as you would -warm a starved dicky-bird in winter. And lo! in -a little while Curlylocks moved her little head, and -at once the lantern burned a little brighter; and -then Curlylocks moved her arm, and the lantern -burned brighter still. At last Curlylocks opened -her eyes, and the lantern burned as brightly as if -its flame were pure gold!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Curlylocks jumped to her feet, caught -hold of Reygoch’s beard, and they both of them -cried for pure joy. Reygoch’s tears were as big as -pears and Curlylocks’ as tiny as millet-seed, but -except for size they were both the same sort; and -from that moment these two were mightily fond -of one another.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they had finished their cry, Curlylocks -found her pearls, and then they went on. But they -touched no more of the things they saw underground, -neither the sunken ships with their hoards of treasure, -which had worked their way down from the bottom -of the sea, nor the red coral, nor the yellow -amber which twined round the underground pillars. -They touched nothing, but went straight along -by the way that would take them to the golden -fields.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they had gone on thus for a long time, -Curlylocks asked Reygoch to hold her up; and -when he did so, Curlylocks took a handful of earth -from above her head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She took the earth, looked at her hand, and -there, among the soil, she found leaves and -fibres.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here we are, daddy, under the forest beside -the golden fields,” said Curlylocks. “Let’s hurry up -and get out.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Reygoch stretched himself and began to break -through the earth with his head.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>II</h3> - -<p class='c011'>And indeed they were under the forest, just -underneath a wooded glen between the two villages -and the two counties. No one ever came to this -glen but the herd boys and girls from both villages -and both counties.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now there was bitter strife between the two -villages—strife over the threshing-floors, and the -pastures, and the mills, and the timber-felling, and -most of all over the staff of headmanship, which one -of the villages had long claimed as belonging to it -by rights, and the other would not give up. And -so these two villages were at enmity with one another.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the herd boys and girls of both villages -were just simple young folk, who understood nothing -about the rights of their elders, and cared less, but -met every day on the boundary between the two -villages and the two counties. Their flocks mingled -and fed together, while the boys played games, and -over their games would often be late in bringing the -sheep home of an evening.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For this the poor boys and girls would be -soundly rated and scolded in both villages. But in -one of the villages there was a great-grandfather -and a great-grandmother who could remember all -that had ever happened in either village, and they -said: “Leave the children alone. A better harvest -will spring from their childish games than ever from -your wheat in the fields.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the shepherds kept on coming, as before, -with their sheep to the glen, and in time the parents -stopped bothering about what the children did.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so it was on the day when Reygoch broke -through the earth at that very spot. The boys and -girls happened to be all gathered together under the -biggest oak, getting ready to go home. One was -tying up his shoes, another fixing a thong to a stick, -and the girls were collecting the sheep. All of a -sudden they heard a dreadful thumping in the earth -right underneath their feet! There was a thud, -then a second, and at the third thud the earth -gaped, and up there came, right in the midst of -the shepherds, a fearsome large head as big as a -barrel, with a beard like a shock of corn, and the -beard still bristling with hoar-frost from Frosten -city!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The boys and girls all screamed with fright and -fell down in a dead faint—not so much because of -the head as big as a barrel, but because of the beard, -that looked for all the world like a shock of corn!</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the shepherds fainted away—all but young -Lilio, who was the handsomest and cleverest among -the lads of both villages and both counties.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lilio kept his feet, and went close up to see -what sort of monster it might be.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t be afraid, children,” said Lilio to the -shepherds. “The Lord never created that monstrous -giant for evil, else he would have killed half the -world by now.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Lilio walked boldly up to Reygoch, and -Reygoch lifted the basket with Curlylocks down from -his ear and set it on the ground.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Come—oh come quickly, boys!” cried Lilio. -“There is a little girl with him, little and lovely as -a star!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The herd boys and girls got up and began to -peep from behind each other at Curlylocks; and -those who had at first been the most frightened -were now the foremost in coming up to Curlylocks, -because, you see, they were always quickest in -everything.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No sooner had the herd boys and girls seen dear -little Curlylocks than they loved her. They helped -her out of her basket, led her to where the turf was -softest, and fell to admiring her lovely robes, which -were light as gossamer and blue as the sky, and her -hair, which was shining and soft as the morning -light; but most of all they admired her fairy veil, -for she would wave it just for a moment, and then -rise from the grass and float in the air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The herd boys and girls and Curlylocks danced -in a ring together, and played all kinds of games. -Curlylocks’ little feet twinkled for pure joy, her -eyes laughed, and so did her lips, because she had -found companions who liked the same things as -she did.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Curlylocks brought out her little bag of -pearls to give presents and pleasure to her new -friends. She threw down a pearl, and a little tree -grew up in their midst, all decked with coloured -ribbons, silk kerchiefs and red necklaces for the -girls. She threw down a second pearl, and from -all parts of the forest came forth haughty peacocks; -they stalked and strutted, they flew up and away, -shedding their glorious feathers all over the turf, -so that the grass fairly sparkled with them. And the -herd boys stuck the feathers in their caps and -doublets. Yet another pearl did Curlylocks throw -out, and from a lofty branch there dropped a golden -swing with silken ropes; and when the boys and -girls got on the swing, it swooped and stooped as -light as a swallow, and as gently as the grand barge -of the Duke of Venice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The children shouted for joy, and Curlylocks -threw out all the pearls in her bag one after another, -never thinking that she ought to save them; because -Curlylocks liked nothing in the world better than -lovely games and pretty songs. And so she spent -her pearls down to the last little seed pearl, though -heaven alone knew how badly she would need them -soon, both she and her new friends.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I shall never leave you any more,” cried -Curlylocks merrily. And the herd boys and girls -clapped their hands and threw up their caps for -joy over her words.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Only Lilio had not joined in their games, because -he was rather sad and worried that day. He stayed -near Reygoch, and from there he watched Curlylocks -in all her loveliness, and all the pretty magic -she made there in the forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Meantime Reygoch had come out of his hole. -Out he came and stood up among the trees of the -forest, and as he stood there his head rose above -the hundred-year-old forest, so terribly big was -Reygoch.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Over the forest looked Reygoch, and out into -the plain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sun had already set, and the sky was all -crimson. In the plain you could see the two golden -fields spread out like two gold kerchiefs, and in the -midst of the fields two villages like two white doves. -A little way beyond the two villages flowed the -mighty River Banewater, and all along the river rose -great grass-grown dykes; and on the dykes you -could see herds and their keepers moving.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, well!” said Reygoch, “and to think that -I have spent a thousand years in Frosten city, in -that desert, when there is so much beauty in the -world!” And Reygoch was so delighted with looking -into the plain that he just stood there with his great -head as big as a barrel turning from right to left, -like a huge scarecrow nodding above the tree-tops.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Presently Lilio called to him:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Sit down, daddy, for fear the elders of the -villages should see you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch sat down, and the two started talking, -and Lilio told Reygoch why he was so sad that -day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“A very wicked thing is going to happen to-day,” -said Lilio. “I overheard the elders of our -village talking last night, and this is what they said: -‘Let us pierce the dyke along the River Banewater. -The river will widen the hole, the dyke will fall, -and the water will flood the enemy village; it will -drown men and women, flood the graveyard and -the fields, till the water will be level above them, -and nothing but a lake to show where the enemy -village has been. But our fields are higher, and our -village lies on a height, and so no harm will come -to us.’ And then they really went out with a -great ram to pierce the dyke secretly and at dead of -night. But, daddy,” continued Lilio, “I know that -our fields are not so high, and I know that the water -will overflow them too, and before the night is over -there will be a lake where our two villages used to -be. And that is why I am so sad.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>They were still talking when a terrible noise -and clamour arose from the plain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There!” cried Lilio, “the dreadful thing has -happened!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch drew himself up, picked up Lilio, and -the two looked out over the plain. It was a sad -sight to see! The dyke was crumbling, and the -mighty Black Banewater rolling in two arms across -the beautiful fields. One arm rolled towards the -one village, and the second arm towards the other -village. Animals were drowning, the golden fields -disappeared below the flood. Above the graves the -crosses were afloat, and both villages rang with -cries and shouting. For in both villages the elders -had gone out to the threshing-floors with cymbals, -drums and fifes, and there they were drumming and -piping away each to spite the other village, so crazed -were they with malice, while over and above that -din the village dogs howled dismally, and the -women and children wept and wailed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Daddy,” cried Lilio, “why have I not your -hands to stop the water?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Terrified and bewildered by the dreadful clamour -in the plain, the herd boys and girls crowded round -Reygoch and Lilio.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Curlylocks heard what was the matter -she called out quick and sprightly, as befits a little -fairy:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Come on, Reygoch—come on and stop the -water!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, yes, let’s go!” cried the herd boys of -both villages and both counties, as they wept and -sobbed without stopping. “Come on, Reygoch, and -take us along too!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch stooped, gathered up Lilio and Curlylocks -(who was still carrying her lantern) in his -right hand, and all the rest of the herd boys and -girls in his left, and then Reygoch raced with ten-fathom -strides through the forest clearing and down -into the plain. Behind him ran the sheep, bleating -with terror. And so they reached the plain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Through fog and twilight ran Reygoch with the -children in his arms and the terrified flocks at his -heels in frantic flight—all running towards the dyke. -And out to meet them flowed the Black Banewater, -killing and drowning as it flowed. It is terribly -strong, is that water. Stronger than Reygoch? Who -knows? Will it sweep away Reygoch, too? Will it -drown those poor herd boys and girls also, and -must the dear little Fairy Curlylocks die—and she -as lovely as a star?</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Reygoch ran on across the meadow, which -was still dry, and came all breathless to the dyke, -where there was a great breach, through which the -river was pouring with frightful force.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Stop it up, Reygoch—stop it up!” wailed the -boys and girls.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Not far from the dyke there was a little mound -in the plain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Put us on that mound,” cried Curlylocks -briskly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Reygoch set down Lilio and Curlylocks and the -herd boys and girls on the hillock, and the sheep -and lambs crowded round them. Already the hillock -was just an island in the middle of the water.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Reygoch took one mighty stride into the -water and then lay down facing the dyke, stopping -up the breach with his enormous chest. For a little -while the water ceased to flow; but it was so terribly -strong that nothing on earth could stop it. The -water pressed forward; it eddied round Reygoch’s -shoulders; it broke through under him, over him, -about him—everywhere—and rolled on again over -the plain. Reygoch stretched out both arms and -piled up the earth in great handfuls; but as fast as -he piled it up, the water carried it away.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And in the plain the water kept on rising higher -and higher; fields, villages, cattle, threshing-floors, -not one of them could be seen any more. Of both -villages, the roofs and church steeples were all that -showed above the flood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even around the hillock where the herd boys -and girls were standing with Lilio and Curlylocks -the flood was rising higher and higher. The poor -young things were weeping and crying, some for -their mothers, others for their brothers and sisters, -and some for their homes and gardens; because -they saw that both villages had perished, and not -a soul saved—and the water rising about them, too!</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they crowded up higher and higher upon -the hillock; they huddled together around Lilio -and Curlylocks, who were standing side by side in -the midst of their friends.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lilio stood still and white as marble; but -Curlylocks’ eyes shone, and she held up her lantern -towards Reygoch to give him light for his work. -Curlylocks’ veil rose and fluttered in the night wind -and hovered above the water, as though the little -fairy were about to fly away and vanish from among -all these terrors.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Curlylocks! Curlylocks! don’t go! Don’t -leave us!” wailed the herd boys, to whom it seemed -as if there were an angel with them while they could -look upon Curlylocks.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’m not going—I’m not going away!” cried -Curlylocks. But her veil fluttered, as if it would -carry her away of its own accord, over the water -and up into the clouds.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Suddenly they heard a scream. The water had -risen and caught one of the girls by the hem of her -skirt and was washing her away. Lilio stooped just -in time, seized the girl, and pulled her back on to -the hillock.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“We must tie ourselves together,” cried the -herd boys; “we must be tied each to the other, -or we shall perish.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here, children—here!” cried Curlylocks, who -had a kind and pitiful heart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Quickly she stripped her magic veil off her -shoulders and gave it to the herd girls. They tore -the veil into strips, knotted the strips into long ropes, -and bound themselves together, each to other, round -Lilio and Curlylocks. And round the shepherds -bleated the poor sheep in terror of being drowned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Curlylocks was now among these poor castaways, -no better off than the rest of them. Her -pearls she had wasted on toys, and her magic veil -she had given away and torn up out of the goodness -of her heart, and now she could no longer fly, nor -save herself out of this misery.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Lilio loved Curlylocks better than anything -else in the world, and when the water was already -up to his feet he called:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t be afraid, Curlylocks! I will save you -and hold you up!” And he held up Curlylocks -in his arms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>With one hand Curlylocks clung round Lilio’s -neck, and with the other she held up her little -lantern aloft towards Reygoch.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Reygoch, lying on his chest in the water, -was all the time steadily fighting the flood. Right -and left of Reygoch rose the ruins of the dyke like -two great horns. Reygoch’s beard was touzled, his -shoulders were bleeding. Yet he could not stop the -Banewater, and the flood round the hillock was -rising and rising to drown the poor remnant there. -And now it was night—yea, midnight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>All of a sudden a thought flashed through -Curlylocks, and through all the sobbing and crying -she laughed aloud as she called to Reygoch:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Reygoch, you old simpleton! why don’t you -<i>sit</i> between these two horns of the dyke? Why -don’t you dam the flood with your shoulders?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The herd boys and girls stopped wailing at -once. So dumbfounded were they at the idea that -not one of them had thought of that before!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Uhuhu!” was all you could hear, and that -was Reygoch laughing. And when Reygoch laughs, -mind you, it’s no joke! All the water round him -boiled and bubbled as he shook with laughter over -his own stupidity!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Reygoch stood up, faced about, and—in -a twinkling—he sat down between those two horns!</p> - -<p class='c009'>And then happened the most wonderful thing -of all! For the Black Banewater stood as though -you had rolled a wall into the breach! It stood, and -could not rise above Reygoch’s shoulders, but followed -its usual course, as before, the whole current behind -Reygoch’s back. And surely that was a most -marvellous rescue!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The boys and girls were saved from the worst -of the danger; and Reygoch, sitting comfortably, -took up earth in handfuls and all slow-and-surely -rebuilt the dyke under himself and on either hand. -He began in the middle of the night, and when -the dawn broke, the job was finished. And just -as the sun rose, Reygoch got up from the dyke with -his work done, and started combing his beard, which -was all caked with mud, twigs, and little fishes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the poor boys and girls were not yet done -with their troubles; for where were they to go, and -how were they to get there? There they stood on -the top of the hillock. All around them was a waste -of water. Nothing was to be seen of the two villages -but just a few roofs—and not a soul alive in either. -To be sure, the villagers might have saved themselves -if they had taken refuge in their attics. But -in both villages everybody had gone to the threshing-floor -with cymbals and fifes to make merry, so -that each could watch the destruction of the other. -And when the water was up to their waists, they -were still clanging their cymbals; and when it was -up to their necks, they still blew their fifes for -gratified spite. And so they were drowned, one and -all, with their fifes and cymbals—and serve them -right for their malice and uncharitableness!</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the poor children were left without a soul -to cherish or protect them, all houseless and homeless.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“We’re not sparrows, to live on the housetops,” -said the boys sadly, as they saw only the -roofs sticking out of the water, “and we’re not -foxes, to live in burrows in the hills. If someone -could clear our villages of the water, we might -make shift to get along somehow, but as it is, we -might as well jump into the water with our flocks -and be drowned like the rest, for we have nowhere -and no one to turn to.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>That was a sad plight indeed, and Reygoch -himself was dreadfully sorry for them. But here -was an evil he could in no wise remedy. He looked -out over the water and said: “There’s too much -water here for me to bale out or to drink up so as -to clear your villages. Eh, children, what shall I -do for you?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But then up and spoke Lilio, that was the wisest -lad in these parts:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Reygoch, daddy, if <i>you</i> cannot drink so much -water, <i>the Earth can</i>. Break a hole in the ground, -daddy, and drain off the water into the earth.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dearie me! and wasn’t that great wisdom in -a lad no bigger than Reygoch’s finger?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Forthwith Reygoch stamped on the ground -and broke a hole; and the Earth, like a thirsty -dragon, began to drink and to drink, and swallow, -and suck down into herself all that mighty water -from off the whole plain. Before long the Earth -had gulped down all the water; villages, fields, -and meadows reappeared, ravaged and mud-covered, -to be sure, but with everything in its right place.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The young castaways cheered up at the sight, -but none was so glad as Curlylocks. She clapped -her hands and cried:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh, won’t it be lovely when the fields all -grow golden again and the meadows green!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But hereupon the herd boys and girls were all -downcast once more, and Lilio said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Who will show us how to till the ground -now that not one of our parents is left alive?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And indeed, far and wide, there was not a soul -alive older than that company of helpless young -things in the midst of the ravaged plain, and none -with them but Reygoch, who was so big and clumsy -and simple that he could not turn his head inside -one of their houses, nor did he know anything -about ploughing or husbandry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they were all in the dumps once more, and -most of all Reygoch, who was so fond of pretty -Curlylocks, and now he could do nothing for her -nor her friends!</p> - -<p class='c009'>And, worst of all, Reygoch was getting horribly -homesick for his desolate city of Frosten. This -night he had swallowed mud enough to last him -a thousand years, and seen more than enough of -trouble. And so he was just dying to be back in his -vast, empty city, where he had counted the stones -in peace for so many hundred years.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the herd boys were very crestfallen, and -Lilio was crestfallen, and Reygoch the most crestfallen -of all. And really it was sad to look upon -all these poor boys and girls, doomed to perish -without their parents and wither like a flower cut -off from its root.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Only Curlylocks looked gaily about her, right and -left, for nothing could damp her good spirits.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Suddenly Curlylocks cried out:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Look—oh look! What are those people? Oh -dear, but they must have seen sights and wonders!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>All looked towards the village, and there, at -one of the windows, appeared the heads of an aged -couple—an old man and an old woman. They -waved their kerchiefs, they called the young people -by name, and laughed till their wrinkled faces all -shone with joy. They were great-grandfather and -great-grandmother, who had been the only sensible -people in the two villages, and had saved themselves -by taking refuge in the attic!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh dear! If the children had seen the sun at -his rising and the morning star at that attic window, -they would not have shouted so for joy. The very -heavens rang again as they called out:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Granny! Grandad!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>They raced to the village like young whippets, -Curlylocks in front, with her golden hair streaming -in the wind, and after them the ewes and lambs. -They never stopped till they reached the village, -and there grandfather and grandmother were waiting -for them at the gate. They welcomed them, hugged -them, and none of them could find words to thank -God enough for His mercy in giving grandad and -grandma so much wisdom as to make them take -refuge in the attic! And that was really a very -good thing, because these were only quite simple -villages, where there were no books nor written -records; and who would have reminded the herd -boys and girls of the consequences of wickedness -if grandad and grandma had not been spared?</p> - -<p class='c009'>When they had done hugging each other, they -remembered Reygoch. They looked round the plain, -but there was no Reygoch. He was gone—gone all -of a sudden, the dear huge thing—gone like a mouse -down its hole.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Reygoch had indeed gone like a mouse -down its hole. For when grandpa and grandma -appeared at the attic window, Reygoch got a fright -such as he had never yet had in his life. He was -terrified at the sight of their furrowed, wrinkled, -withered old faces.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh dear! oh dear! what a lot of trouble these -old people must have been through in these parts -to have come to look like that!” thought Reygoch; -and in his terror he that very instant jumped down -into the hole through which the Black Banewater -had sunk down, and so ran away back to his -desolate Frosten city.</p> - -<hr class='c013' /> - -<p class='c009'>All went well in the village. Grandad and -Grandma taught the young folk, and the young -folk ploughed and sowed. Upon the grandparents’ -advice they built just one village, one threshing-floor, -one church, and one graveyard, so that there -should be no more jealousy nor trouble.</p> - -<p class='c009'>All went well; but the best of all was that in -the heart of the village stood a beautiful tower of -mountain marble, and on the top of it they had -made a garden, where blossomed oranges and -wild olive. There lived Curlylocks, the lovely -fairy, and looked down upon the land that had been -so dear to her from the moment when she first -came to earth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And of an evening, when the field work was -done, Lilio would lead the herd boys and girls to -the tower, and they would sing songs and dance in -a ring in the garden with Curlylocks, always lovely, -gentle, and joyous.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But under the earth Reygoch once more fell -in with the Black Banewater as it roared and -burbled underneath, while he wrestled with it till -he forced it deeper and deeper into the earth, and -right down to the bottom of the Pit, so that it might -never again serve the spite and envy of man. And -then Reygoch went on to Frosten city. There he -is sitting to this very day, counting the stones and -praying the Lord never again to tempt him away -from that vast and desolate spot, which is the very -place for one so big and so simple.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id012'> -<img src='images/i136.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Bridesman Sun</span></div> - <div><span class='xlarge'>and</span></div> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Bride Bridekins</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch04' class='c004'>Bridesman Sun<br />and<br />Bride Bridekins</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_3_0_65 c008'>ONCE upon a time there was a miller -and his wife, and both were miserly and -hard of heart. When the Emperor’s -servants brought corn to be ground, the -miller would grind the corn free of all charge and -send the Emperor a gift into the bargain, only to gain -favour with the mighty Emperor and his daughter, -the proud princess. But when poor folk came to -have their corn ground, the miller would take one -measure in payment for every two that he ground, -and without that he would not grind at all.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One day, just about Yuletide and in the time -of bitter frost, an old wife came to the mill—an -old wife all patches and tatters. The mill stood in -a little grove by the stream, and no one could -say whence that old wife had come.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But this wasn’t just an old wife like other old -wives; it was Mother Muggish. Now Muggish -could turn herself into any mortal thing, a bird or -a snake, or an old woman or a young girl. And -besides that she could do anything, both good and -bad. But woe to him who got into her bad books, -for she was very spiteful. Muggish lived in the -morass on the fringe of the bog where the autumn -sun dwelt. And with her the sun put up over the -long winter night; for Muggish knew potent herbs -and powerful spells; she would nurse and cherish -the feeble old sun till he grew young again at Yuletide -and started on his way once more.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good day to you,” Mother Muggish called -out to the miller and his wife. “Just grind this -bag of corn for me.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The old wife stood the bag on the floor, and the -miller agreed:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ll grind it for you; half the bag for -you for your cake, and half for me for my -trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Not so, my son! I shall not have enough -for my Yuletide cake, because I have six sons, and -for seventh my grandson, the Sun, who was born -to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go away and don’t talk rubbish, you old fool!” -burst out the miller. “A likely one you are to be -the Sun’s grandmother!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they argued this way and that; but the -miller wouldn’t consent to grind for less than one-half -the bag, and so the old wife picked up her bag -again and went away by the way she came.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the miller had a daughter, a beautiful girl, -called Bride Bridekins. When she was born, the -fairies bathed her in the water that falls from the -wheel, so that all evils should turn from her, even -as water runs away from a mill. And, moreover, the -fairies foretold that at her wedding the Sun should -be bridesman. Just fancy! she was the Sun’s little -bride! So they called her Bride Bridekins, and she -was most beautiful and smiling as a summer’s day.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bride Bridekins was sorry when the miller sent -away the old wife so unkindly. She went out and -waited in the wood for the old wife, and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Come again to-morrow, Mother, when I shall be -alone. I will grind your corn for you for nothing.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Next day the miller and his wife went into the -wood to cut the Yule log, and Bride Bridekins was -left alone.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Before long the old wife came up with her bag.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good fortune be yours, young maiden,” said -the wife.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And yours, too,” returned Bride Bridekins. -“Wait a moment, Mother, till we open the mill.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The mill was worked by a little wheel which -caught the water with four paddles set cross-wise, -which turned like a spindle. Now the miller had -shut off the water, and Bride Bridekins had to wade -up to her knees in the icy stream to open the sluice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The mill clattered, round went the mill-stones, -and Bride Bridekins ground the old wife’s corn. -She filled up the bag with flour and took nothing -for her pains.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Eh, thank you kindly, maiden,” said Mother -Muggish, “and I’ll help you whithersoever your -feet may carry you, since your feet you did not -save from the ice-cold wave, nor grudge your hands -to soil with unrequited toil. And, moreover, I’ll -tell my grandson, the Sun, to whom he owes his -Yuletide cake.” And the old wife took up her bag -and went.</p> - -<p class='c009'>From that day nothing would prosper in the -mill without Bride Bridekins. Unless her hand was -on the mill, the paddles would not take the water; -unless she looked in the bin, there would be no flour -in it. No matter how much might fall into it from -the grain-box, it was all lost on the floor; the bin -remained empty unless Bride Bridekins fed the mill. -And so it was with everything in and about the -mill.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This went on for many a day, on and on and -never any change, till the miller and his wife began -to be jealous of their daughter and to hate her. -The harder the girl worked and the more she earned, -the blacker they looked at her, because it came to -her as easy as a song, and to them not even with -toiling and moiling.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was upon a morning about Beltane time, -when the Sun, strong and flaming, travels across -one-half of heaven like a ball of pure gold. The -Sun no longer slept in the morass, nor did Muggish -foster him now; but the Sun was lord of the world, -and sky and earth obeyed him. Bride Bridekins -sat at Beltane time beside the mill and thought to -herself:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“If I could only get away, since I cannot please -these cross-patches anyhow!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And just as she thought this, there appeared -before her the old wife, who was really Muggish.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will help you, but you must obey me in -all things, and take care not to offend me,” said the -old wife. “This very morning the proud princess -walked in the meadow and lost the keys of her chest -and her wardrobe, and now she cannot get at her -crown nor her robes either. So the princess has -caused it to be proclaimed that whoever finds the -keys, if it be a youth the princess will become his -true love and bride-to-be, and if it be a maiden, -the princess will take her for her first lady-in-waiting. -So you come away with me, and I will show you -where the keys are lying among the love-lies-bleeding -that grows in the meadow. You will bring the -princess her keys and become her first lady-in-waiting. -You will be dressed in silk and sit by the -princess’s knee.”</p> - -<div class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i144a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Then Muggish at once turned herself into a -quail, and Bride Bridekins followed her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they came to the meadow in front of the -Emperor’s castle. Gallant knights and noble dames -walked about the meadow, and around the meadow -stood their esquires holding mettlesome steeds. -One steed only was not held by a squire, but by a -barefoot boy. This horse belonged to Oleg the -Warden, and it was the most fiery steed of all. And -Oleg the Warden himself was the most excellent -knight under the sun. You might know Oleg the -Warden amid ever so many earls and nobles, because -his attire was plain and without ornament, but his -white plume, the prize of valour, distinguished him -above all the rest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the knights and dames walked about the -meadow, all trampling the grass with their shoes -in their anxiety to find the keys. Only Oleg the -Warden kept but a poor look-out for the keys, -taking the matter as a mere jest and idle pastime. But -from her window the Emperor’s daughter looked -out and watched to see whom fortune would favour. -Very careful watch did she keep, the proud princess, -and repeated spells for luck so that Oleg the Warden -should find the keys.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Bride Bridekins came with the quail -running before her, not a soul in the meadow noticed -her but only Oleg the Warden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Never yet have I seen so sweet a maiden,” -thought Oleg the Warden, and strode towards her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But just then the Emperor’s daughter also -noticed Bride Bridekins from her window, and so -proud and heartless was she that she never stopped -to look how sweet the maiden was, but grew very -angry, and said: “A fine plight should I be in were -that common wench there to find the keys and -become my lady-in-waiting!” Thus thinking, she -at once sent out her servants to drive away the girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bride Bridekins went over the meadow where-ever -the quail led her. They came to the middle -of the meadow, where the love-lies-bleeding grew -tall. The quail parted two leaves at the foot of a -tuft of love-lies-bleeding, and under them lay the -keys.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bride Bridekins bent down and picked up the -keys; but when she looked up to the Emperor’s -castle and saw the proud princess, Bride Bridekins -became frightened, and thought: “How should I -become the princess’s lady-in-waiting?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As she thought this she looked up, and lo, beside -her stood a glorious knight, as he might have been -sworn brother to the Sun. And that was Oleg the -Warden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Quickly Bride Bridekins made up her mind to -disobey Muggish’s commands, and she held out the -keys to Oleg the Warden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Take the keys, unknown knight, and let the -Emperor’s daughter be your true love and bride-to-be,” -said Bride Bridekins, and could not take -her eyes off the glorious knight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But at that moment came the servants with -whips, and roughly rated Bride Bridekins so as to -drive her away from the meadow, according to the -princess’s commands. When Oleg the Warden saw -this, he was soon resolved, and thus did he answer -Bride Bridekins:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Thank you for the keys, sweet maiden; but -I have made up my mind otherwise. <i>You</i> shall be -my true love and bride-to-be, because you are fairer -than the morning star. Here is my good horse; -he will carry us to my Barren Marches.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Gladly did Bride Bridekins go with Oleg the -Warden, and he lifted her beside him on to his -horse. As the good steed carried them swiftly past -the Emperor’s daughter sitting at her window. Oleg -the Warden threw her the keys so skilfully that -they caught right on the window latch!</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There are your keys, august Princess!” cried -Oleg the Warden. “Wear your crown and your -robes in all happiness, for I have taken the maiden -for myself.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>All that night Oleg the Warden rode on with -Bride Bridekins, and at dawn they arrived in the -Barren Marches, at the oaken stronghold of Oleg -the Warden. Round the stockade there were three -moats, and in the midst of the stockade stood a -smoke-blacked house.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Behold the Castle of Oleg the Warden!” said -the knight to Bride Bridekins, and he laughed himself -because his castle was not more splendid. But -Bride Bridekins laughed still more heartily because -she was to be the lady of such a glorious knight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they settled at once upon the wedding -guests, so as to celebrate the marriage. They invited -twenty gallants and twenty orphan maids, because -that was all the people there were in the Barren -Marches. And so that they might be more and -merrier, they also asked the Wild Wolf and his Mate -from the hills, and the Tawny Eagle, and the Grey -Goshawk; and Bride Bridekins asked two bridesmaids—the -Turtle Dove and the Slender Swallow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Bride Bridekins even boasted to Oleg the -Warden:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“If the Sun were to recognise me, he too would -come to the wedding. The Sun would have been -bridesman at the wedding, for so did the fairies -foretell.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so the wedding guests assembled in the -soot-blacked castle, to make merry—and never -knew of the ill fate in store for them.</p> - -<hr class='c013' /> - -<p class='c009'>Now it had stung the proud princess to the -heart when Oleg the Warden had flung her the keys, -and before so many nobles, before earls and knights, -refused the august princess and preferred a nameless -maiden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the princess persuaded the Emperor, her -father, and begged and entreated him till he lent -her his mighty army. Well mounted, the army -advanced upon the Barren Marches of Oleg the -Warden with the wrathful princess at its head.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The guests were just at table when the army -came in sight. It was so great that it covered all -the Barren Marches till you could not see so much -as a patch of earth for it. And in front of the army -a herald cried aloud for all the world to hear:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c010'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Behold a gallant army</div> - <div class='line in2'>Has taken the field;</div> - <div class='line'>The Warden is a rebel,</div> - <div class='line in2'>We bid him to yield.</div> - <div class='line'>Alive shall he be taken</div> - <div class='line in2'>That freedom loved best;</div> - <div class='line'>But the heart shall be riven</div> - <div class='line in2'>From his lady’s breast.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>When Oleg the Warden heard this, he asked -Bride Bridekins:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Are you afraid, lovely maiden?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am not afraid,” she smilingly made answer. -“I put my trust in the Grey Wolf and his Mate, -in your twenty gallants and twenty orphans, and -most of all in the knight Oleg the Warden. And -besides that I have two brave bridesmaids—the -Turtle Dove and the Slender Swallow.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oleg the Warden smiled, and already the wedding -guests had lightly sprung to their feet. They seized -their warriors’ weapons, both gallants and orphans, -and stood by the windows of the soot-blacked -castle stringing their good bows with silken cords -as they waited for the princess and her army. But -that army was so mighty that neither Oleg the -Warden, nor his wedding guests, nor the soot-blacked -house were able to withstand it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The first to fall were the Grey Wolf and his -Mate; for they jumped the stockade and the moats -and rushed straight at the Emperor’s army to tear -out the proud princess’s eyes in the midst of her -army. But a hundred maces rose in the air; the -soldiers defended the proud princess, the Eagle and -the Grey Goshawk had their pinions broken, and -then the heavy horses trampled them into the black -earth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The great host came nearer and nearer to the -soot-blacked house. When it was fairly on the -threshold the wedding guests loosed their silken -bowstrings and greeted the soldiers with a shower -of arrows.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the wrathful archers of the wrathful princess -did not stop!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Arrows flew hither and thither. There were -archers past counting in the army, so that their -arrows flew in at the windows of the soot-blacked -house like a plague from heaven. Each gallant had -his two or three wounds to show, and each orphan -some ten.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the most grievous wound of all was upon -Oleg the Warden. His good right hand hung -powerless, so greatly was he overcome by his -wound.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id013'> -<img src='images/i152a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Quickly Bride Bridekins stepped up to Oleg -the Warden to wash his wound in the courtyard of -the soot-blacked house. While she was washing his -wound, Oleg the Warden said to her: -“It’s a poor fortune we have garnered, my -Bride Bridekins. There are none left for you to put -your trust in, and here is the host at the gates of -the soot-blacked house. They will break down the -oak stockade, batter down the ancient gates. We -are lost; this is the end of us—wolves and eagles, -and gallants and orphans, and Oleg the Warden -and his Bride Bridekins!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Bride Bridekins considered sadly, and then -she said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do not fear, brave Warden. I will send the -Turtle Dove to fetch Muggish from her morass. -There is nothing Muggish does not know and -nothing she cannot do, and she will help us.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Bride Bridekins sent out the swift Turtle -Dove. Away flew the grey dove swifter than an -arrow from the string, nor did the soldiers’ darts -overtake her. Off she flew and brought back Muggish -from the bog. But Muggish had turned herself into -a raven and perched upon the gable of the soot-blacked -House.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Already the soldiers were battering at the -entrance. Heavy clubs hammered on the doors and -portals, banging and clanging till all the courts and -passages of the soot-blacked house rang again, as -though a host from the nethermost Pit were beating -on the gates of Oleg the Warden.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Fair greeting, dear Muggish!” the lovely Bride -appealed to the black raven—“fair greeting! Help -us against the Princess’s malice, or else we must all -die untimely!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Muggish had only bided her time spitefully -for an opportunity to give vent to her grievance. -Flapping her black wings, the raven said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Save yourself, my little dove! If you had -listened to me, you would have given the Princess -her keys. You would have basked in royal grace, -beside the Princess had your place, in sumptuous -silk fair to behold, sipping wine from a cup of -gold. But now you have gotten your heart’s desire. -Here you are in the soot-blacked house with -none but sore-wounded beggars within and a countless -host outside. Seek help from those whose -counsel brought you to this!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Oleg the Warden heard this, he sprang -to his feet, all wounded as he was, and wrathfully -cried out:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Leave this unprofitable business, Bride Bridekins! -When had a hero help from a raven? And -you,” he called to Muggish, “get off my roof, you -black bird of ill-omen, lest I waste a good swift -arrow and shoot the bird upon my gable!” With that -Oleg the Warden embraced Bride Bridekins and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“When I perish in the midst of the Emperor’s -host, go, my lovely little Bride! submit yourself -to the Princess, and you shall be lady-in-waiting -to the proud Princess, who should have been true -love and lady of Oleg the Warden.” For a moment -Oleg the Warden flinched; but then he tore himself -away from his bride, and rushed through the courtyard -and passage to raise the oaken bars, to throw -open the gates to the countless host, to perish or -cut his way through their numbers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bride Bridekins was left alone in the castle, -and above her on the roof perched the black raven. -She could hear the heavy oaken bars falling; now -the ancient gates must yield; another moment and -the cruel soldiers will burst in, take Oleg prisoner, -and rive the heart out of the breast of her, sweet -child! Bride Bridekins’ thoughts chased through -her brain: What is to be done, and how?</p> - -<p class='c009'>The lovely bride looked all around to see if -there were any found to pity her in her distress. -She bent her beauteous eyes to earth, and raised -them heavenward. As she raised them heavenward -the Sun travelled across the zenith in a blaze of -pure gold. And as she looked at the Sun, the Sun -marvelled at so much loveliness, and at once looked -back at her. The Sun and Bride Bridekins looked -at one another, and as they looked, they recognised -one another, and at once the Sun remembered. -“Why, that is the little bride whose Bridesman -the Sun was to be! In a lucky hour she gave me -my Yuletide bread, and in a yet luckier moment -she sought me overhead.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Just one moment before the Sun had heard -Muggish mocking Bride Bridekins and spitefully -refusing to help her. So now the Sun thundered -forth his anger. All the land fell silent with fear; -axes and clubs were dropped in terror as the Sun -thundered at Muggish:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Eh, foster-mother, heart of stone! were the -world’s justice to be carved by spite, what crooked -justice would pervert the right! If thou from slime -hast reared me, yet content art thou to keep the -slime thine element! With me thou hast not strode -across the sky, nor from the heavens downward -bent thine eye to learn how justice should be born -of light. Fie, foster-mother, heart of stone! What! -should the Sun at Beltane in his might forget who -sent him gifts on Yule night, when he was a feeble -babe? Or shall Bridesman Sun take it ill of the bride -that she left the Emperor’s palace and the Princess’s -court because she preferred a hero in her heart? -Down with you into the earth, black-hearted nurse! -so that you underground, and I from the skies, -may help yon worthy knight and his lovely lady.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Sky and earth obey the Sun, and how should -the black raven—and that was Muggish—withstand -his commands? Upon the instant Muggish sank -into the earth to do the Sun’s bidding.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And strong as the Sun had been before, he now -made himself yet stronger. The Sun smote from -above; he scorched the Barren Marches; he seared -heaven and earth; he would have melted the Mountain -of Brass!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Upon the cruel soldiers’ heads their helmets -dissolved; their heavy armour melted; spears and -axes grew red-hot. Heat overcame the wrathful -princess; heat overcame the multitude of archers -as their brains grilled inside their helmets, and their -breasts laboured with the heat under their armour. -Who had not the shelter of a roof could not live. -All the host was struck down by the heat. They fell -one atop of the other. A man would call upon his -sworn brother, and then the voice would cease as -the speaker perished.</p> - -<p class='c009'>While the Sun was thus smiting the cruel soldiers, -Muggish helped the Sun from underground. She -opened deep bogholes under their feet. Whenever -the Sun struck down a man, there a boghole would -gape beneath him. He slipped into the bog, and the -bog closed above him; where a man stood, there his -grave yawned for him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the soldiers vanished one by one, and the -archers one by one, and the weapons of war, and the -clubs and the axes. It was terrible to behold such a -vast army stricken by the judgment of the Sun from -the skies. The Sun was executioner and the earth -gravedigger. Yet a little while, an hour or two, -and the great host had vanished—not a soul was left -alive in the Barren Marches. Only those who were -under the roof of the soot-blacked house, they were -left alive.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Once more all was still in the Barren Marches; -and now the lovely lady. Bride Bridekins, peeped -joyously from her window to watch her bridesman -grow mild, now that he had done with slaying spite -upon the earth.</p> - -<hr class='c013' /> - -<p class='c009'>Soon the wounds healed upon the gallants, for -they had good luck to help them; and the orphans -recovered still more quickly, because hardship is a -good school. As for Oleg Ban, he could not pine -with such a true love as Bride Bridekins beside him. -Early in the morning the Slender Swallow flew out -with a greeting for the Sun. At nightfall the Swallow -returned with greetings from the Sun, bidding them -prepare the wedding feast for the morrow, for he -would come to give away the bride.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they made ready, and it all fell out as they -had planned. And such a wedding as they had, and -such songs as were sung that day in the Barren Marches -you’ll not find again in a hundred years, nor throughout -nine empires.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i160.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Stribor’s Forest</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch05' class='c004'>Stribor’s Forest</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c007'>I</h3> -<p class='drop-capa0_3_0_65 c008'>ONE day a young man went into Stribor’s -Forest and did not know that the Forest -was enchanted and that all manner of -magic abode there. Some of its magic -was good and some was bad—to each one according -to his deserts.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now this Forest was to remain enchanted until -it should be entered by someone who preferred -his sorrows to all the joys of this world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The young man set to and cut wood, and presently -sat down on a stump to rest, for it was a fine winter’s -day. And out of the stump slipped a snake, and -began to fawn upon him. Now this wasn’t a real -snake, but a human being transformed into a snake -for its sins, and it could only be set free by one who -was willing to wed it. The snake sparkled like silver -in the sun as it looked up into the young man’s eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Dear me, what a pretty snake! I should -rather like to take it home,” said the young man -in fun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here’s the silly fool who is going to help me -out of my trouble,” thought the sinful soul within -the snake. So she made haste and turned herself -at once out of a snake into a most beautiful woman -standing there before the young man. Her sleeves -were white and embroidered like butterflies’ wings, -and her feet were tiny like a countess’s. But because -her thoughts had been evil, the tongue in her mouth -remained a serpent’s tongue.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here I am! Take me home and marry me!” -said the snake-woman to the youth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now if this youth had only had presence of -mind and remembered quickly to brandish his hatchet -at her and call out: “I certainly never thought of -wedding a piece of forest magic,” why, then the -woman would at once have turned again into a snake, -wriggled back into the stump, and no harm done to -anybody.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But he was one of your good-natured, timid -and shy youths; moreover, he was ashamed to say -“No” to her, when she had transformed herself -all on his account. Besides, he liked her because -she was pretty, and he couldn’t know in his innocence -what had remained inside her mouth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he took the Woman by the hand and led her -home. Now that youth lived with his old Mother, -and he cherished his Mother as though she were -the image of a saint.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“This is your daughter-in-law,” said the youth, -as he entered the house with the Woman.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The Lord be thanked, my son,” replied his -Mother, and looked at the pretty girl. But the -Mother was old and wise, and knew at once what -was inside her daughter-in-law’s mouth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The daughter-in-law went out to change her -dress, and the Mother said to her son:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You have chosen a very pretty bride, my boy; -only beware, lest she be a snake.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The youth was dumbfounded with astonishment. -How could his Mother know that the other had -been a snake? And his heart grew angry within -him as he thought: “Surely my Mother is a witch.” -And from that moment he hated his Mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the three began to live together, but badly -and discordantly. The daughter-in-law was ill-tempered, -spiteful, greedy and proud.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now there was a mountain peak there as high -as the clouds, and one day the daughter-in-law bade -the old Mother go up and fetch her snow from the -summit for her to wash in.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There is no path up there,” said the Mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Take the goat and let her guide you. Where -she can go up, there you can tumble down,” said -the daughter-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The son was there at the time, but he only -laughed at the words, simply to please his wife.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This so grieved the Mother that she set out -at once for the peak to fetch the snow, because she -was tired of life. As she went her way she thought -to ask God to help her; but she changed her mind -and said: “For then God would know that my son -is undutiful.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But God gave her help all the same, so that she -safely brought the snow back to her daughter-in-law -from the cloud-capped peak.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Next day the daughter-in-law gave her a fresh order:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go out on to the frozen lake. In the middle -of the lake there is a hole. Catch me a carp there -for dinner.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The ice will give way under me, and I shall -perish in the lake,” replied the old Mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The carp will be pleased if you go down with -him,” said the daughter-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And again the son laughed, and the Mother -was so grieved that she went out at once to the lake. -The ice cracked under the old woman, and she wept -so that the tears froze on her face. But yet she -would not pray to God for help; she would keep -it from God that her son was sinful.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“It is better that I should perish,” thought the -Mother as she walked over the ice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But her time had not yet come. And therefore -a gull flew over her head, bearing a fish in its beak. -The fish wriggled out of the gull’s beak and fell right -at the feet of the old woman. The Mother picked -up the fish and brought it safely to her daughter-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c009'>On the third day the Mother sat by the fire, -and took up her son’s shirt to mend it. When her -daughter-in-law saw that, she flew at her, snatched -the shirt out of her hands, and screamed:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Stop that, you blind old fool! That is none of -your business.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And she would not let the Mother mend her -son’s shirt.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then the old woman’s heart was altogether -saddened, so that she went outside, sat in that bitter -cold on the bench before the house, and cried to -God:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh God, help me!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>At that moment she saw a poor girl coming -towards her. The girl’s bodice was all torn and her -shoulder blue with the cold, because the sleeve had -given way. But still the girl smiled, for she was -bright and sweet-tempered. Under her arm she -carried a bundle of kindling-wood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Will you buy wood for kindling, Mother?” -asked the girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I have no money, my dear; but if you like -I will mend your sleeve,” sadly returned the old -Mother, who was still holding the needle and thread -with which she had wanted to mend her son’s shirt.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the old Mother mended the girl’s sleeve, -and the girl gave her a bundle of kindling-wood, -thanked her kindly, and went on happy because -her shoulder was no longer cold.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>II</h3> - -<p class='c011'>That evening the daughter-in-law said to the -Mother:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“We are going out to supper with godmother. -Mind you have hot water for me when I come back.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The daughter-in-law was greedy and always on -the look-out to get invited for a meal.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the others went out, and the old woman was -left alone. She took out the kindling-wood which -the poor girl had given her, lit the fire on the hearth, -and went into the shed for wood.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As she was in the shed fetching the wood, she -suddenly heard something in the kitchen a-bustling -and a-rustling—“hist, hist!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Whoever is that?” called the old Mother -from the shed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Brownies! Brownies!” came the answer from -the kitchen in voices so tiny, for all the world like -sparrows chirping under the roof.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The old woman wondered what on earth was -going on there in the dark, and went into the -kitchen. And when she got there the kindling-chips -just flared up on the hearth, and round the flame -there were Brownies dancing in a ring—all tiny -little men no bigger than half an ell. They wore -little fur coats; their caps and shoes were red as -flames; their beards were grey as ashes, and their -eyes sparkled like live coal.</p> - -<p class='c009'>More and more of them danced out of the -flames, one for each chip. And as they appeared -they laughed and chirped, turned somersaults on -the hearth, twittered with glee, and then took hands -and danced in a ring.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id014'> -<img src='images/i171.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>And how they danced! Round the hearth, in -the ashes, under the cupboard, on the table, in the -jug, on the chair! Round and round! Faster and -faster! They chirped and they chattered, chased -and romped all over the place. They scattered the -salt; they spilt the barm; they upset the flour—all -for sheer fun. The fire on the hearth blazed and -shone, crackled and glowed; and the old woman -gazed and gazed. She never regretted the salt nor -the barm, but was glad of the jolly little folk whom -God had sent to comfort her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It seemed to the old woman as though she were -growing young again. She laughed like a dove; she -tripped like a girl; she took hands with the Brownies -and danced. But all the time there was the load on -her heart, and that was so heavy that the dance -stopped at once.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Little brothers,” said the Mother to the -Brownies, “can you not help me to get a sight of -my daughter-in-law’s tongue, so that when I can -show my son what I have seen with my own eyes -he will perhaps come to his senses?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And the old woman told the Brownies all that -had happened. The Brownies sat round the edge -of the hearth, their little feet thrust under the grate, -each wee mannikin beside his neighbour, and -listened to the old woman, all wagging their heads -in wonder. And as they wagged their heads, their -red caps caught the glow of the fire, and you’d -have thought there was nothing there but the fire -burning on the hearth.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the old woman had finished her story, -one of the Brownies called out, and his name was -Wee Tintilinkie:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will help you! I will go to the sunshiny -land and bring you magpies’ eggs. We will put -them under the sitting hen, and when the magpies -are hatched your daughter-in-law will betray herself. -She will crave for little magpies like any -ordinary forest snake, and so put out her tongue.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>All the Brownies twittered with joy because -Wee Tintilinkie had thought of something so clever. -They were still at the height of their glee when in -came the daughter-in-law from supper with a cake -for herself.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She flew to the door in a rage to see who was -chattering in the kitchen. But just as she opened -the door, the door went bang! the flame leapt, -up jumped the Brownies, gave one stamp all round -the hearth with their tiny feet, rose up above the -flames, flew up to the roof,—the boards in the roof -creaked a bit, and the Brownies were gone!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Only Wee Tintilinkie did not run away, but -hid among the ashes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the flame leapt so unexpectedly and the -door banged to, the daughter-in-law got a start, -so that for sheer fright she plumped on the floor -like a sack. The cake broke in her hand; her hair -came down, combs and all; her eyes goggled, and she -called out angrily:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What was that, you old wretch?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“The wind blew up the flame when the door -opened,” said the Mother, and kept her wits about -her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And what is that among the ashes?” said the -daughter-in-law again. For from the ashes peeped -the red heel of Wee Tintilinkie’s shoe.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That is a live ember,” said the Mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>However, the daughter-in-law would not believe -her, but, all dishevelled as she was, she got up and -went over to see close to what was on the hearth. -As she bent down with her face over the ashes Wee -Tintilinkie quickly let out with his foot, so that his -heel caught the daughter-in-law on the nose. The -Woman screamed as if she were drowning in the -sea; her face was all over soot, and her tumbled hair -all smothered with ashes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What was that, you miserable old woman?” -hissed the daughter-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“A chestnut bursting in the fire,” answered -the Mother; and Wee Tintilinkie in the ashes almost -split with laughter.</p> - -<p class='c009'>While the daughter-in-law went out to wash, -the Mother showed Wee Tintilinkie where the -daughter-in-law had set the hen, so as to have little -chickens for Christmas. That very night Wee -Tintilinkie fetched magpies’ eggs and put them -under the hen instead of hens’ eggs.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>III</h3> - -<p class='c011'>The daughter-in-law bade the Mother take good -care of the hen and to tell her at once whenever -the chickens were hatched. Because the daughter-in-law -intended to invite the whole village to come -and see that she had chickens at Christmas, when -nobody else had any.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In due time the magpies were hatched. The -Mother told her daughter-in-law that the chickens -had come out, and the daughter-in-law invited the -village. Gossips and neighbours came along, both -great and small, and the old woman’s son was there -too. The Wife told her mother-in-law to fetch the -nest and bring it into the passage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Mother brought in the nest, lifted off the -hen, and behold, there was something chirping in -the nest. The naked magpies scrambled out, and -hop, hop, hopped all over the passage.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the Snake-Woman so unexpectedly caught -sight of <i>magpies</i>, she betrayed herself. Her serpent’s -nature craved its prey; she darted down the passage -after the little magpies and shot out her thin quivering -tongue at them as she used to do in the Forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Gossips and neighbours screamed and crossed -themselves, and took their children home, because -they realised that the woman was indeed a snake -from the Forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the Mother went up to her son full of joy.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id015'> -<img src='images/i176a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Take her back to where you brought her from, -my son. Now you have seen with your own eyes -what it is you are cherishing in your house;” and -the Mother tried to embrace her son.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the son was utterly infatuated, so that he -only hardened himself the more against the village, -and against his Mother, and against the evidence of -his own eyes. He would not turn away the Snake-Woman, -but cried out upon his Mother:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Where did you get young magpies at this time -of year, you old witch? Be off with you out of my -house!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Eh, but the poor Mother saw that there was no -help for it. She wept and cried, and only begged -her son not to turn her out of the house in broad -daylight for all the village to see what manner of -son she had reared.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the son allowed his Mother to stay in the -house until nightfall.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When evening came, the old Mother put some -bread into her bag, and a few of those kindling-chips -which the poor girl had given her, and then -she went weeping and sobbing out of her son’s house.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But as the Mother crossed the threshold, the -fire went out on the hearth, and the crucifix fell -from the wall. Son and daughter-in-law were left -alone in the darkened cottage. And now the son -felt that he had sinned greatly against his Mother, -and he repented bitterly. But he did not dare to -speak of it to his wife, because he was afraid. So -he just said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let’s follow Mother and see her die of cold.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Up jumped the wicked daughter-in-law, overjoyed, -and fetched their fur coats, and they dressed -and followed the old woman from afar.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poor Mother went sadly over the snow, -by night, over the fields. She came to a wide stubble-field, -and there she was so overcome by the cold -that she could go no farther. So she took the -kindling-wood out of her bag, scraped the snow aside, -and fit a fire to warm herself by.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But lo! no sooner had the chips caught fire -than the Brownies came out of them, just the same -as on the household hearth!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They skipped out of the fire and all round in -the snow, and the sparks flew about them in all -directions into the night.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poor old woman was so glad she could -almost have cried for joy because they had not forsaken -her on her way. And the Brownies crowded -round her, laughed and whistled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh, dear Brownies,” said the Mother, “I -don’t want to be amused just now; help me in my -sore distress!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then she told the Brownies how her silly son -had grown still more bitter against her since even -he and all the village had come to know that his -wife truly had a serpent’s tongue:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“He has turned me away; help me if you -can.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>For a while the Brownies were silent, for a while -their little shoes tapped the snow, and they did not -know what to advise.</p> - -<p class='c009'>At last Wee Tintilinkie said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let’s go to Stribor, our master. He always -knows what to do.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And at once Wee Tintilinkie shinned up a hawthorn-tree; -he whistled on his fingers, and out of -the dark and over the stubble-field there came -trotting towards them a stag and twelve squirrels!</p> - -<p class='c009'>They set the old Mother on the stag, and the -Brownies got on the twelve squirrels, and off they -went to Stribor’s Forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Away and into the night they rode. The stag -had mighty antlers with many points, and at the -end of each point there burned a little star. The -stag gave light on the way, and at his heels sped the -twelve squirrels, each squirrel with eyes that shone -like two diamonds. They sped and they fled, and -far behind them toiled the daughter-in-law and her -husband, quite out of breath.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they came to Stribor’s Forest, and the stag -carried the old woman through the forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Even in the dark the daughter-in-law knew that -this was Stribor’s Forest, where she had once before -been enchanted for her sins. But she was so full -of spite that she could not think of her new sins -nor feel fear because of them, but triumphed all the -more to herself and said: “Surely the simple old -woman will perish in this Forest amid all the -magic!” and she ran still faster after the stag.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id016'> -<img src='images/i181.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>But the stag carried the Mother before Stribor. -Now Stribor was lord of that Forest. He dwelt in -the heart of the Forest, in an oak so huge that there -was room in it for seven golden castles, and a village -all fenced about with silver. In front of the finest -of the castles sat Stribor himself on a throne, arrayed -in a cloak of scarlet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Help this old woman, who is being destroyed -by her serpent daughter-in-law,” said the Brownies -to Stribor, after both they and the Mother had -bowed low before him. And they told him the -whole story. But the son and daughter-in-law crept -up to the oak, and looked and listened through a -wormhole to see what would happen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the Brownies had finished, Stribor said -to the old woman:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Fear nothing, Mother! Leave your daughter-in-law. -Let her continue in her wickedness until it -shall bring her again to the state from which she freed -herself too soon. As for yourself, I can easily help you. -Look at yonder village, fenced about with silver.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Mother looked, and lo! it was her own -native village, where she had lived when she was -young, and in the village there was holiday and -merry-making. Bells were ringing, fiddles playing, -flags waving, and songs resounding.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Cross the fence, clap your hands, and you -will at once regain your youth. You will remain -in your village to be young and blithe once more -as you were fifty years ago,” said Stribor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>At that the old woman was glad as never before -in her life. She ran to the fence; already her hand -was on the silver gate, when she suddenly bethought -herself of something, and asked Stribor:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And what will become of my son?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t talk foolishness, old woman!” replied -Stribor. “How would you know about your son? -He will remain in this present time, and you will -go back to your youth. You will know nothing about -any son!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the old woman heard that, she considered -sadly. And then she turned slowly away from the gate, -went back to Stribor, bowed low before him, and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I thank you, kind lord, for all the favour you -would show me. But I would rather abide in my -misery and know that I have a son than that you -should give me all the riches and happiness in the -world and I forget my son.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As the Mother said this, the whole Forest rang -again. There was an end to the magic in Stribor’s -Forest, because the Mother preferred her sorrows -to all the joys of this world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The entire Forest quaked, the earth fell in, and -the huge oak, with its castles and its silver-fenced -village, sank underground. Stribor and the Brownies -vanished, the daughter-in-law gave a shriek, turned -into a snake, wriggled away down a hole, and -Mother and Son were left alone side by side in the -middle of the Forest.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The son fell on his knees before his mother, -kissed the hem of her garment and her sleeve, and -then he lifted her up in his arms and carried her -back to their home, which they happily reached by -daybreak.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The son prayed God and his Mother to forgive -him. God forgave him, and his Mother had never -been angry with him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Later on the young man married that poor -but sweet girl who had brought the Brownies to -their house. They are all three living happily -together to this day, and Wee Tintilinkie loves to -visit their hearth of a winter’s evening.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>Little Brother Primrose and Sister Lavender</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i187.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='ch06' class='c004'>Little Brother Primrose and Sister Lavender</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c007'>I</h3> -<p class='drop-capa0_3_0_65 c012'>THE stronghold of a wise and noble -princess was attacked by her enemies. -The princess could not gather together -her large and faithful army quickly enough -to defend her castle, but had to fly by night with -her little prince in her arms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So she fled all through the night, and at daybreak -they reached the foot of grisly Mount Kitesh, -which was on the border of the principality.</p> - -<p class='c009'>At that time there were no more dragons anywhere -in the world, nor fairies, nor witches, nor any -monsters. The Holy Cross and human reason had -driven them forth. But in the fastnesses of Mount -Kitesh the last of the Fiery Dragons had found a -refuge, and seven Votaress Fairies attended upon -him. That is why Mount Kitesh was so grisly. -But at the foot of the mountain lay a quiet valley. -There dwelt the shepherdess Miloika in her little -willow cabin, and tended her flock.</p> - -<p class='c009'>To that very valley came the princess at dawn -with her baby, and when she saw Miloika sitting -outside her cabin she went up to her and begged: -“Hide me and the little prince in your cabin through -the day. At nightfall I will continue my flight -with the prince.” Miloika made the fugitives welcome, -gave them ewes’ milk to drink, and hid them in -her cabin.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As evening approached, the kind and noble -princess said: “I must go on now with the prince. -But will you take my Golden Girdle and the prince’s -little Gold Cross on a red ribbon? If our enemies -should chance to find us they would know us by the -Girdle and the Cross. Put these two things by and -take good care of them in your little cabin. When -my faithful captains have gathered together an army -and driven out the enemy, I shall return to my castle -and there you shall be my dear friend and companion.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Your companion I cannot be, noble princess,” -said Miloika, “for I am not your equal either by -birth or understanding. But I will take care of your -Girdle and your Cross, because in time of real -sorrow and trouble even the heart of a beggar can -be companion to the heart of a king.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As she said this, Miloika received the Girdle -and the Cross from the princess for safe keeping, -and the princess took up the little prince and went -out and away with him into the night, which was so -dark that you could not tell grass from stone, nor -field from sea.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>II</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Many years passed, but the princess did not -return to her lands nor to her castle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Her great army and her illustrious captains were -so disloyal that they all immediately went over to -her enemies. And so the enemy conquered the lands -of the good and noble princess, and settled down -in her castle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>No one knew or could discover what had -become of the princess and the little prince. Most -probably her escape on that dark night had ended -by her falling into the sea, or over a precipice, or -perishing in some other way with her baby.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Miloika the shepherdess faithfully kept the -Golden Girdle of the princess and the prince’s -little Gold Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The smartest and wealthiest swains of the -village came to ask Miloika to marry them, because -the Golden Girdle and the little Gold Cross on the -red ribbon were worth as much as ten villages. -But Miloika would have none of them for her -husband, saying: “You come because of the Golden -Girdle and the little Cross; but they are not mine, -and I must take better care of them than of my -sheep or my cabin.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So said Miloika, and chose a penniless and -gentle youth to be her husband, who cared nothing -about the Girdle and Cross of Gold.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They lived in great poverty, and at times there -was neither bread nor meal in the house, but -they never thought of selling either Girdle or -Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Within a few years Miloika’s husband fell ill -and died; and not long afterwards a sore sickness -came upon Miloika, and she knew that she too must -die. So she called her two children, her little -daughter Lavender and her still smaller son Primrose, -and gave them each a keepsake. Round -Lavender’s waist she bound the Golden Girdle, -and round Primrose’s neck she hung the Gold Cross -on the red ribbon. And Miloika said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Farewell, my children! You will be left alone -in this world, and I have taught you but little craft -or skill; but with God’s help, what I have taught -you will just suffice for your childish needs. Cleave -to one another, and guard as a sacred trust what -your mother gave into your keeping, and then I -shall always remain with you.” Thus spoke the -mother, and died.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lavender and Primrose were so little that they -did not know how their mother had come by the -Girdle and Cross, and still less did they understand -the meaning of their mother’s words. But they just -sat side by side by their dead mother like two poor -little orphans and waited to see what would become -of them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Presently the good folk of the village came -along and said that Miloika would have to be buried -next day.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>III</h3> - -<p class='c011'>But that was not the only thing that happened -next day. For when the people came back from -the funeral, they all went into the house to gossip, -and only Lavender and Primrose remained outside, -because they still fancied that their mother would -yet somehow come back to them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Suddenly a huge Eagle pounced down upon -them from the sky, knocked Lavender down, -caught her by the Girdle with his talons, and carried -her off into the clouds.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Eagle flew away with Lavender to his eyrie, -high up on Mount Kitesh.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It did not hurt Lavender at all to fly along like -that, hanging by her Gold Girdle. She was only -sorry at being parted from her only brother, and -kept on thinking: “Why didn’t the Eagle take -Primrose too!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they flew over Mount Kitesh, and there, -all of a sudden, Lavender saw what neither she -nor anyone else of the inhabitants of the valley -had ever seen; for everyone avoided the grisly -mountains, and of those who had happened to -stray into them not one had ever returned. What -Lavender saw was this: all the seven Votaress Fairies -who waited upon the Fiery Dragon assembled -together upon a rock. They called themselves -<i>Votaresses</i> because they had vowed, as the last of the -fairy kin, to take vengeance upon the human race.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Fairies looked up, and there was the eagle -carrying a little girl. Now the Fairies and the Eagles -had made a bargain between them that each should -bring his prey to that rock, and there hold a prizecourt -upon the rock to settle what was to be done -with the prey and who was to have it. And for that -reason the rock was called <i>Share-spoil</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Fairies called out to the Eagle:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Ho, brother Klickoon! come and alight on -Share-spoil!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But luckily the bargain was no sounder than -the parties to it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Eagle Klickoon had taken a fancy to -Lavender, so he did not keep to the bargain, nor -would he alight on Share-spoil, but carried Lavender -on to his eyrie for his eaglets to play with.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But he had to fly right across the summit of the -Mountain, because his eyrie was on the far side.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now, on the top of the Mountain there was a -lake, and in the lake there was an island, and on -the island there was a little old chapel. Around the -lake was a tiny meadow, and all round the meadow -ran a furrow ploughed in days of old. Across this -furrow neither the Dragon, nor the Fairies, nor any -monster of the Mountain could pass. About the -lake bloomed flowers, and spread their perfume; -there doves took refuge, and nightingales, and all -gentle creatures from the mountains.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id017'> -<img src='images/i195.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Neither clouds nor mist hung over the holy -furrow-surrounded Lake; but evermore the sun and -moon in turn shed their light upon it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As Klickoon flew over the Lake with Lavender, -she caught sight of the chapel. And as she caught -sight of the chapel, she remembered her mother; -and as she remembered her mother, she pressed her -hand to her heart; and as she pressed her hand to -her heart, her mother’s trust, the Golden Girdle, -came undone upon Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Girdle came undone; Lavender dropped -from the Eagle’s talons straight into the Lake, and -the Girdle after her. Lavender caught hold of the -Golden Girdle and stepped over the reeds, and -the water-lilies, and the water-weeds, and the rushes -to the island. There she sat down on a stone outside -the chapel. But Klickoon flew on like a whirlwind -in a rage, because he could not come near -the Holy Lake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lavender was safe enough now, for nothing -evil could reach her across the furrow. But what -was the good of that, when the poor little child was -all alone on the top of the grisly Mount Kitesh, and -none could come to her, and she could not get away?</p> -<h3 class='c007'>IV</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Meantime the people who had buried Miloika -noticed that the Eagle had carried off Lavender. At -first they all burst out lamenting, but then one of -them said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Good people, it is really as well that the Eagle -carried off Lavender. It would have been hard to -find someone in the village who could take charge -of the <i>two</i> children. But for Primrose alone we shall -easily find someone who will look after him.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Yes, yes,” the others all immediately agreed, -“it is better so. We can easily look after Primrose.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>They stood yet awhile outside the cabin gazing -in the direction towards which the Eagle had disappeared -with Lavender into the skies, and then -they went back indoors to drink and to talk, repeating -all the time:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There’s not one of us but will be glad to take -Primrose.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they said. But not one of them troubled -so much about Primrose as to offer him a drink of -water, although it was very hot. Now Primrose was -thirsty and went in to ask for water. But he was -so tiny that not one of those people could understand -what he said. Primrose wanted someone to -get him his little wooden mug; but not one of -those people knew that Primrose’s little wooden mug -was behind the beam.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Primrose saw all this, he looked round -the room for a moment, and then the child thought: -“This is no good to me. I am left all alone in the -world.” So he leaned over the pitcher that stood -on the floor, drank as much water as he could, and -then set out to see if he could find his little sister -Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He went out of the house and set off towards -the sun—the direction in which he had seen the -Eagle fly away with Lavender.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>V</h3> - -<p class='c011'>The sun was setting beyond Mount Kitesh, -and so Primrose, always looking at the sun, presently -came to Mount Kitesh, too. There was no one -beside Primrose to say to him: “Don’t go up the -Mountain, child! The Mountain is full of terrors.” -And so he went on, poor, foolish baby, and began -to climb up the Mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Primrose did not know what fear was. His -mother had kept him safe like a flower before the -altar, so that no harm, not even the smallest, had -ever befallen him; he had never been pricked by -a thorn, nor scared by a harsh word.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so no fear could enter Primrose’s heart, -no matter what his eyes beheld or his ears heard.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Meantime, Primrose had got well up into the -Mountain and already reached the first rocks and -crags.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And there, below Share-spoil, the Votaress Fairies -were all assembled and still discussing how Klickoon -had cheated them. Suddenly they saw a child -coming towards them, climbing up the Mountain. -The Votaresses were delighted; it would be easy -to deal with such a little child!</p> - -<p class='c009'>As Primrose came nearer, the Votaresses went -down to meet him. In less than no time they had -surrounded him. Primrose only wondered when -he suddenly saw so many ladies coming towards -him, each with a great pair of wings! One of the -Votaresses went close up to the child to take him -by the hand.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now Primrose was wearing the little Cross -round his neck. When the Fairy saw the Cross, -she screamed and started away from Primrose, for -she could not touch him because of the Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the Fairies had no intention of letting the -child off so easily. They hovered about him in a -wide circle and conferred softly about what was to -be done with him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Little Primrose’s heart was untroubled within -him. The Fairies conferred, and their thoughts -were so black that they came out in a cloud of black -forest wasps buzzing round their heads. But Primrose -just looked at them, and as he could see no -harm in them, how was he to be frightened? On -the contrary, the wings of one of the Votaresses took -his fancy, flapping like that, and so he toddled up -to her to see what she was really like.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That will do nicely,” thought the Votaress. -“I cannot touch him, but I will entice him into the -Wolf’s Pit.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>For near by there was a pit all covered over with -boughs, so that you could not see it; and the bottom -of the pit was full of horrible stakes and spikes. -Whoever stepped on the boughs was bound to fall -through and kill himself on the spikes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Votaress Fairy enticed Primrose to the -Wolf’s Pit, always slipping away from him, and he -always following to see what her wings really were. -And so they came to the Pit. The Fairy flew over -the Pit; but poor little misguided Primrose stepped -on the boughs and fell down the hole.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Votaresses shrieked for joy, and hurried -up to see the child perish on the spikes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But what do Fairies know about a baby!</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose was light as a chicken. Some of the -boughs and branches fell down with him, the -branches covered the spikes, and Primrose was so -small and light that he came to rest upon the leaves -as if they had been a bed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Primrose found himself lying down upon -something soft, he thought: “I suppose I had -better go to sleep!” So he tucked his little hand -under his head and went sound asleep, never thinking -that he was caught in a deep hole and could not -get out.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Round him there were still many bare spikes, -and the wicked Fairies were bending over the Pit. -But Primrose slept peacefully and quietly, as though -he were bedded on sweet basil. Primrose never -moved. His mother had taught him: “When you -are in your bed, darling, shut your little eyes and lie -quite still, so as not to frighten your guardian angel.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Fairies stood round the Pit, and saw -the baby falling asleep like a little duke in his golden -crib. “That child is not so easy to deal with, after -all,” said the Votaresses. So they flew off to -Share-spoil, and took counsel as to how they might -kill him, since they could not touch him because -of the little Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>They argued and argued, and at last one of -the Votaresses had an idea. “We will raise a -storm,” said she; “we will cause a terrific rain. A -torrent will pour down the Mountain, and the child -will be drowned in the Pit.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Whoo-ee, whoo-ee!” howled the Votaresses. -They flapped their wings for joy, and at once rose -up into the air and above the Mountain to roll up -the clouds and raise a storm.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>VI</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Little Lavender was sitting on the top of the -Mountain on her island in the Holy Lake. Round -her fluttered lovely butterflies, even settling on her -shoulders; and the grey dove guided her young to -her lap to let her feed them with seeds. A wild -raspberry-cane bent over Lavender, and Lavender -ate the crimson fruit, and wanted for nothing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But she was all alone, poor child! and sad at -heart, because she believed she was parted for ever -from Primrose, her only brother; and, moreover, she -thought: “Did anyone, I wonder, remember to -give him a drink or to put him to bed?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>In the midst of these sad thoughts Lavender -looked up at the sky and saw a mist, black as night, -rolling up round the Mountain. Over Lavender -and over the holy furrow-surrounded Lake the sun -shone brightly; but all around the mist was gathering -and rising, inky clouds drifted and whirled, rose -and fell like a pall of smoke, and every now and -again fiery flashes darted from the gloom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was the Votaresses, flapping their great -wings, who had piled up those black clouds upon -the Mountain, and it was from their eyes that the -fiery flashes shot across the darkness. And then -suddenly it began to thunder most terribly within -the clouds; heavy rain beat down all around upon -the Mountain, and the Votaresses howled and darted -to an fro through the thunder and the rain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Lavender saw that, she considered: -“Over my head there is sunshine, and no harm can -come to me. But perhaps there is someone abroad -on the Mountain in need of help in this storm.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And although Lavender thought there was never -a Christian soul on the Mountain, yet she did as -her mother had taught her to do in a storm: she -crossed herself and prayed. And as there was still -a bell in the ruined chapel, Lavender took hold of -the rope and began to toll the bell against the storm. -Lavender did not know for whom she was praying -or for whom she was tolling, but she tolled for a -help to anyone who might be in distress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the bell on the island began to ring so -unexpectedly, after having been silent for a hundred -years, the Votaresses took fright up there in the -clouds; they got worried and confused; they left -off making a storm; they fled in terror in all -directions, and hid under the rocks, under the crags, -in hollow trees, or in the fern.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In a little while the Mountain was clear, and -the sun shone on the Mountain, where there had -been no sunshine for a hundred years.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The sun shone; the rain stopped suddenly. But -for poor little Primrose the danger was not yet over.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That first great downpour had formed a big -torrent in the Mountain, and the wild water was -rushing fast towards the very Pit where Primrose -was sleeping.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose had heard neither the storm nor the -thunder, and now he did not hear the torrent either -as it came rushing and roaring with frightful swiftness -towards him to drown him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The water poured into the Pit, poured in, and -in a moment it had overwhelmed the child.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It covered him, overwhelmed him in a moment. -There was not a thing to be seen, neither Pit, nor -spikes, nor Primrose, nothing but the wild water -foaming down the Mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But as the flood rushed into the pit, it eddied -at the bottom, surged round and up and back upon -itself, and then suddenly the water lifted up the -boughs and branches, and little Primrose, too, upon -the boughs. It lifted him up, clean out of the Pit, -and carried him downhill on a bough.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The torrent was so strong that it carried away -great stones and ancient oaks, rolling them along, -and nothing could stop them, because they were -heavy and stout, and the torrent very fierce.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But tiny Primrose on his bough floated lightly -down the flood, as lightly as a white rose-bud, so -that any bush could stop him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And indeed, there was a bush in the way, and -the bough with Primrose caught in its branches. -Primrose woke up with a start, caught hold of the -branch with his little hands, climbed up into the -bush, and there he sat on the top of the bush, just -like a little bird.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Above Primrose the sun shone clear and sweet; -below Primrose foamed the dreadful water; and he sat -in the bush in his little white shirt, and rubbed his eyes -in wonder, because he could not make out what had -happened and what had waked him up so suddenly.</p> - -<p class='c009'>By the time he had finished rubbing his eyes -the water had all run away downhill; the torrent -was gone. Primrose watched the mud squelching -and writhing round the bush, and then Primrose -climbed down, because he thought:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I suppose I ought to go on now, since they -have waked me up.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so he went on up the hill. And he had -slept so sweetly that he felt quite happy, and thought: -“Now I shall find Lavender.”</p> -<h3 class='c007'>VII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>No sooner had the bell stopped ringing than -the Votaresses recovered their strength. They took -courage and crept out of their hidie-holes. When -they got out, lo! the sun was shining on the -Mountain, and there is nothing in the world the -wicked Fairies fear more than the sunlight. And as -they could not wrap the whole Mountain in mist -all in a hurry, each one quickly rolled herself up in -a bit of fog, and off they flew to the Pit to make -sure that Primrose was drowned.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But when they got there and looked into the Pit, -the Pit was empty; Primrose was gone!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Fairies cried aloud with vexation, and looked -all over the Mountain to see whether the water had -not dashed him against a stone. But as the Votaresses -looked, why, this is what they saw: Primrose going -blithely on his way; the sun was drying his little -shirt for him on his back, and he was crooning away -to himself as little children will.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That child will escape us at this rate,” sobbed -one of the Votaresses. “The child is stronger than -we are. Hadn’t we better ask the Fiery Dragon to -help us?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t disgrace yourselves, my sisters,” said -another Votaress. “Surely we can get the better -of a feeble infant by ourselves.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So said the Fairy, but she did not know that -Primrose in his simplicity was stronger than all the -evil and all the cunning in Mount Kitesh.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“We will send the She-bear to kill the child -for us,” suggested a Votaress. “Dumb animals do -not fear the Cross.” And she flew off at once to the -bears’ den.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There lay the She-bear, a-playing with her cub.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Run along, Bruineen, down that path. There -is a child coming up the path. Wait for him and kill -him, Bruineen dear,” said the Votaress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I can’t leave my cub,” answered Bruineen.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I’ll amuse him for you,” said the Votaress, -and straightway began to play with the little bear.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Bruineen went away down the path, and there -was Primrose already in sight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The great She-bear rose up on her hind-legs, -stretched out her front paws, and so went forwards -towards Primrose to kill him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The She-bear was terrible to see, but Primrose -saw nothing terrible in her, and could only think:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here’s somebody coming and offering me his -hand, so I must give him mine.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Primrose raised both his little hands and -held them out to the She-bear, and went straight -up to her, as though his mother had called him to -her arms.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Well, another moment, and the dreadful She-bear -would seize him. She had come up to him, -and would have caught and killed him at once had -he offered to run. But she saw that she had time to -consider how she had best take hold of him. So -she drew herself right up, looked at Primrose from -the right and from the left, and now she was going -to pounce.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But at that very moment the little bear cub in -the den began to squeal. One of the black wasps that -always buzzed round the Votaress’s head had stung -him. The cub howled lustily, because, although -the Bruins are a spiteful folk themselves, they won’t -stand spite from anybody else. So the cub squealed -at the top of his voice, and when Bruineen heard -her baby crying she forgot about Primrose and the -Mountain! Bruineen dropped on all-fours and -trundled away like fury to her den.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The angry She-bear caught the Votaress by the -hair with her great paw. They fought, they rolled, -they tore at each other, and left Primrose in peace.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose followed the She-bear and looked on -for a bit while they fought and scuffled; he looked, -and then he laughed aloud, silly baby! and went -on up the Mountain, and never knew what a narrow -escape he had had!</p> -<h3 class='c007'>VIII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Once more the Votaresses assembled on Share-spoil -to discuss what was to be done about Primrose. -They saw that they were weaker than he.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Moreover, they were getting tired of flying to -Share-spoil and back and conferring about Primrose, -and so they were very angry.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, we will poison the child. Neither spells -nor cunning shall help him now,” they resolved. -And straightaway one of them took a wooden platter -and hurried off to a certain meadow in the Mountain -to gather poison berries.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Primrose, never dreaming that anybody -should be talking about him or worrying their brains -about him, walked gaily over the Mountain, cooing -softly to himself like a little dove.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Presently he came to the poison meadow. The -path led through the middle of it. On one side of -the path the meadow was covered with red berries -and on the other side with black. Both were -poisonous, and whoever ate of either the one or the -other was sure to die.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But how was Primrose to know that there was -such a thing as poison in the world, when he had -never known any food but what his mother gave -him?</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose was hungry, and he liked the look of -the red berries in the meadow. But he saw someone -over there in front of him on the red side picking -berries and seemingly in a great hurry, for she never -raised her head. It was the Votaress, and she was -gathering red berries to poison Primrose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“That is her side,” thought Primrose, and went -over to the black berries, because he had never been -taught to take what belonged to another. So he sat -down among the black berries and began to eat; -and the Fairy wandered far away among the red -berries and never noticed that Primrose had already -come up and was eating black ones.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Primrose had eaten enough he got up to -go on. But, oh dear! a mist rose before his eyes; -his head began to ache most dreadfully, and the -earth seemed to rock beneath his feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That was because of the black poison.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Poor little Primrose! indeed you know neither -spells nor cunning, and how are you going to save -yourself from this new danger?</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Primrose struggled on all the same, because -he thought it was nothing that a mist should rise -before his eyes and the ground rock beneath his -feet!</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so he came up with the Fairy where she -was picking berries. The Votaress caught sight of -Primrose, and at once she ran on to the path in -front of him with her plateful of red berries. She -laid down the platter before him and invited him -by signs to eat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Votaress did not know that Primrose had -already eaten of the black berries; and if she had -known, she would never have offered him red -ones, but would have let him die of the black -poison.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose did not care for any more berries, -because his head ached cruelly; but his mother -used to say to him: “Eat, darling, when I offer -you something, and don’t grieve your mother.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Now this was neither spell nor cunning what -Primrose had been taught by his mother. But it -was in a good hour that Primrose did as his mother -had taught him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He took the plate and ate of the red berries; -and as he ate, the mist cleared before his eyes, his -head and his heart stopped aching, and the ground -no longer rocked beneath his feet.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The red poison killed the black in Primrose’s -veins. He merrily clapped his hands and went on -his way as sound as a bell and as happy as a -grig.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And now he could see the top of the Mountain -ahead of him, and Primrose thought:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“This is the end of the world. There is -nothing beyond the top. There I shall find -Lavender.”</p> -<h3 class='c007'>IX</h3> - -<p class='c011'>The Votaress would not believe her eyes; she -stared after Primrose, and there was he toddling -along and the dreadful poison doing him no harm!</p> - -<p class='c009'>She looked and she looked—and then she -shrieked with rage. She could not imagine by what -miracle Primrose had escaped. All she could see -was that the child would slip through her hands and -reach the Lake, for he was getting near the top.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Votaress had no time to fly to Share-spoil -and confer with her sisters. In time of real trouble -people don’t hold conferences. But she flew straight -to her brother, the thunder-voiced bird Belleroo.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Belleroo’s nest was in a little bog on the Mountain, -close to the furrow which ran round the Holy -Lake. As he was an ill-tempered bird, he too could -not cross the furrow, but the evil Things of the -Mountain had appointed his place here on the -boundary, so that he might trouble the peace of the -Lake with his booming.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Kinsman, brother, Belleroo,” the Votaress cried -out to Belleroo, “there is a child coming up the path. -Delay him here at the furrow with your booming, -so that he may not escape me across the farrow to -the Lake. I am going for the Fiery Dragon.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>No sooner had the Votaress said this than she -flew like an arrow down the Mountain to fetch the -Fiery Dragon, who was lying asleep in a deep gully.</p> - -<p class='c009'>As for Belleroo, he was always all impatience -to be told to boom, because he was horribly proud -of his loud voice.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Dusk was beginning to fall. It was evening. -Nearer and nearer to the furrow came Primrose. -Beyond the furrow he could see the Lake, and the -chapel looming white on the Lake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Here I am at the end of the world; I have -only to cross that furrow,” thought Primrose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Suddenly the Mountain rang with the most -awful noise, so that the branches swayed and the -leaves trembled on the trees, and the rocks and -cliffs re-echoed down to the deepest cavern. It was -Belleroo roaring.</p> - -<p class='c009'>His boom was terrible. It would have scared -the great Skanderbeg himself, for it would have -reminded Skanderbeg of the boom of the Turkish -guns.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it did not in the least frighten the little -innocent Primrose, who had never yet been shouted -at in grief or anger.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose heard something making such a noise -that the very Mountain shook, and so he went up to -see what great thing it might be. When he got there, -lo! it was a bird no bigger than a hen!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The bird dipped its beak in a pool, then threw -up its head and puffed out its throat like a pair of -bellows, and boomed—heavens, it boomed so that -Primrose’s sleeves fluttered on him! This new -wonder took Primrose’s fancy so much that he sat -down so as to see from near by how Belleroo boomed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose sat down just below the holy furrow -beside Belleroo, and peered under his throat—because -by now it was dark—the better to see how Belleroo -puffed out his throat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Had Primrose been wiser he would not have -lingered there on the Mountain just below the -furrow, where every evil Thing could hurt him, -but he would have taken that one step across the -furrow so as to be safe where the evil Things could -not come.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Primrose was just a little simpleton, and -might easily have come to grief just there, within -sight of safety.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose was much amused by Belleroo.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was amused; he was beguiled.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And while he was amusing himself in this fashion, -the Fairy went and roused the Fiery Dragon where -he slept in a deep gully.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She roused him and led him up the Mountain. -On came the fearsome Fiery Dragon, spouting flame -out of both nostrils and crushing firs and pine-trees -as he went. There wasn’t room enough for him, -you see, in the forest and the Mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Why don’t you run, little Primrose? One jump -across the furrow, and you will be safe and happy!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Primrose did not think of running away. -He went on sitting quite calmly below the furrow, -and when he saw the flames from the Dragon flaring -up in the darkness, he thought to himself: “What -is making that pretty light on the Mountain?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was a cruel fire coming along to devour -Primrose, and he, foolish baby! sat looking at it, -all pleased and wondering: “What is making that -pretty light on the Mountain?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Votaress caught sight of Primrose, and said -to the Fiery Dragon:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There is the child. Fiery Dragon! Get your -best fire ready!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the Dragon was panting with the stiff climb.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Wait a moment, sister, while I get my breath,” -answered the Dragon.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the Dragon took a deep breath, once, twice, -three times!</p> - -<p class='c009'>But that is just where the Dragon made a mistake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Because his mighty breath caused an equally -great wind on the Mountain. The wind blew, and -bowled Primrose over the furrow and right up to -the Holy Lake!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Votaress gave one shriek, threw herself -down on the ground, rolled herself up in her black -wings, and sobbed and cried like mad.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The angry Dragon snorted and puffed; he -belched fire as from ten red-hot furnaces. But the -flames could not cross the furrow; when they reached -the furrow they just rose straight upwards as if they -had come up against a marble wall.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Sparks and flame crackled and spurted and returned -upon Mount Kitesh. Half the Mountain -did the Dragon set on fire, but he lost little Primrose!</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the wind bowled Primrose over like that, -Primrose only laughed at being carried away so fast. -He laughed once; he laughed twice....</p> -<h3 class='c007'>X</h3> - -<p class='c011'>On the island in the Lake, beside the little chapel, -sat Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It was evening, but Lavender could not go to -sleep because of the hurly-burly in the Mountain. -Lavender heard the Votaresses howling and shrieking -and Bruineen growling. She heard the Dragon come -snorting up from his lair, and saw him spout fire -all over the Mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And now she saw the blazing flames shooting -upwards to the skies.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But then she heard something—good gracious! -what was it she heard? A laugh, like a little silver -bell. Lavender’s heart throbbed within her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The tiny voice laughed again.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Lavender could bear it no longer, but -called from the Island:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Who is that laughing in the Mountain?” asked -Lavender gently, and all a-tremble at the thought -of <i>who</i> might answer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Who is that calling me from the Island?” -answered little Primrose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Lavender recognised Primrose’s baby-talk.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Primrose! my own only Brother!” cried -Lavender, and stood up white in the moonlight.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Lavender, little sister!” cried Primrose; and, -light as a moth, he stepped over the reeds and -the rushes and the water-weeds to the Island. They -hugged and they kissed; they sat down side by side -in the moonlight by the little chapel. A little did -they talk, but they were not clever at making a long -story. They clasped each other’s little hands and -went to sleep.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XI</h3> - -<p class='c011'>That was how they began to live day after day -on the Holy Lake. Primrose was quite happy and -desired nothing better.</p> - -<p class='c009'>There was clear water in the Lake, and there -were sweet raspberries. There were plenty of flowers -and butterflies in the meadow, and fireflies and dew -by night. Nightingales and doves nested in the trees.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Every evening Lavender would make Primrose -a bed of leaves, and in the morning she bathed him -in the Lake and tied up his little shoes. And Primrose -thought: “What do we want with a wider world -than this within the furrow?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose was well off; he was only a baby!</p> - -<p class='c009'>And Lavender was happy, but she was troubled -about Primrose, how she should look after him and -get him food. Because God has so ordered it that -the young folk can never get food without the old -folk having to think about it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>That is so all the world over, and couldn’t be -otherwise even on the Holy Lake.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Lavender was worried. “To-morrow will -be St. Peter’s Day. Will the raspberries be over -when St. Peter’s is past? Will the water grow cold -and the sun fail when autumn comes? How shall -we get through the winter all alone? Will our cottage -in the valley go to rack and ruin?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Lavender worried, and wherever there is -worry, there temptation comes most easily.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One day she sat and mused: “Oh dear! what -luck it would be if only we could get back to our -cottage!” Just then she heard somebody calling -from the Mountain. Lavender looked, and there -in the wood on the far side of the furrow stood the -youngest of the Votaresses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>She was prettier than the other Votaresses, and -loved finery. She had noticed the Golden Girdle -on Lavender, and now she wanted that Golden -Girdle above anything else in the world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Little girl, sister, throw me your Girdle,” -called the fairy across the furrow.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I can’t do that, Fairy; I had that Girdle from -my mother,” answered Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Little girl, sister, it wasn’t your mother’s Girdle; -it belonged to the princess, and the princess has -been dead long ago. Throw me the Girdle,” said -the Fairy, who remembered the princess.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I can’t, Fairy; the Girdle is from my mother,” -repeated Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Little girl, sister, I will carry you and your -brother down to the valley, and no harm shall come -to you; throw me the Girdle,” cried the Fairy once -more.</p> - -<p class='c009'>This was a sad temptation for Lavender, who -so longed to get away from the Mountain! But -all the same she would not sacrifice her mother’s -keepsake to the greedy fairy, but answered:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I cannot, Fairy; I had the Girdle from my -mother.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Fairy went away quite sadly, but next day -she came back and began again:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Throw me the Girdle, and I will take you -down the Mountain.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I cannot, Fairy; I had the Girdle from my -mother,” Lavender answered once more, but with -a very heavy heart.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For seven days did the Fairy come, and for seven -days she tempted Lavender. Temptation is worse -than the sharpest care, and poor little Lavender -pined away, so great was her wish to get down to -the valley. Yet all the same she would not give up -the Girdle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>For seven days did the Fairy call, and for seven -days did Lavender answer her:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I cannot, Fairy; the Girdle is from my -mother.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And when she answered thus on the seventh -day, the Fairy saw that there was no help for it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Fairy went down the Mountain; she sat -down on the last, lowest stone, shook down her hair -and cried bitterly, so great was her desire for the -Golden Girdle of the princess.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>Meantime the good and noble princess was not -dead, but had lived for many a year in a far country -with her son, the prince.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The princess never told anybody how high-born -a lady she was, and her son was too young at the -time of their flight for him to remember.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so in that country not a soul knew—not -even the prince—that they came of royal blood. -But how could anybody tell that she was a princess, -when she had neither crown nor Golden Girdle? -And though she was good, gentle, and noble, that -did not prove that she was a princess.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The princess lived in the house of a worthy -peasant, and there she span and wove for his -household.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In this way she earned enough to keep herself -and her son.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The boy had grown up into a tall and handsome -youth of unusual strength and power, and the -princess taught him nothing that was not good and -right.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But one thing was bad. The prince had a very -hasty and fierce temper. So the people called him -<i>Rowfoot Relya</i>, because he was so rough and strong—and -so poor withal.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One day Rowfoot Relya was mowing his master’s -meadow, and lay down at noon in the shade to rest. -And a young squire came riding by, and called to -Relya:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Hi, young man! jump up and run back along -the road and find me my silver spur; it fell off somewhere -on the way.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Relya heard that, his princely blood, his -hot and hasty blood, was roused to evil within him -because the other had disturbed him in his rest and -would send him out to find his spur.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Won’t I, by heaven!” cried Relya, “and you -can lie here and rest instead of me!” And with -that he sprang at the young squire, pulled him off -his horse, and flung him down in the shade, so that -he lay there for dead.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Rowfoot Relya, still furious, rushed home to -his mother, and cried out upon her:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Wretched mother! why was I born a rowfoot -churl, for others to send me out to find their spurs -for them in the dust?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya’s face was quite distorted with rage as -he said this.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The mother looked at her son, and her heart -grieved sorely. She saw that there would be no more -peace for her and her son, because she would have -to tell him what she had so far kept secret.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You are not a rowfoot churl, my son,” replied -the princess, “but an unfortunate prince.” And -she told Relya all about herself and him.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya listened; his eyes blazed with a strange -fire, and he clenched his hands in bitter anger. Then -he asked:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Is there nothing left, then, mother, of our -lands?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Nothing, my son, save a little Cross on a -red ribbon and a Golden Girdle,” answered his -mother.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Relya heard that, he cried:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am going, mother, and I shall bring back -that Cross and Girdle, wherever they may be! -Threefold will the sight of them increase my princely -strength!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>And then he asked:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And where did you leave the Cross and the -Girdle, mother? Did you leave them with the chief -of your captains for him and your great army to -guard?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No, my son,” replied the princess, “and it is -a good thing that I did not, for my captains and my -great army went over to the enemy, and are now -feasting and drinking with the enemy and wasting -my lands.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Did you perhaps leave them in the lowest -room of your castle, in the seventh vault, under -seven locks?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“No, my son, and it is a good thing that I -did not, because the enemy got into my castle, -broke open and ransacked its secret chambers, -searched its nine vaults, and fed his horses upon -pearls out of my treasure hoards,” replied the -princess.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“But where did you leave the Golden Girdle -and the Cross on the red ribbon?” asked Relya, -with flashing eyes.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I left them with a young shepherdess in a -willow cabin, where there are neither locks nor -strong boxes. Go, my son, perchance you will find -them there still.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya would not believe that the Girdle and -Cross might be safe in a willow cabin when the noble -princess’s pearls had not been safe even in the ninth -vault under her castle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But his princely blood, so proud and masterful, -was roused yet more to evil in Relya’s veins, and -he roughly said to his mother:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Farewell, then, mother! I shall find the Cross -and Girdle wherever they may be, and it shall be no -jesting matter for those who would refuse to let me -have them! I shall bring you back your Girdle and -Cross, by the princely blood in my veins.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As Prince Relya said this, he took the blade of -the scythe, fitted it with a mighty hilt at the forge, -and then hurried out into the world to find his -heritage. The earth rang beneath his feet; his hair -streamed in the wind, so swiftly did he stride; -and his murderous blade shone in the sun as though -it were plated with flame.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XIII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>So Relya went on without stopping. He strode -on by day, and by night he did not rest; both -great and small got out of his way.</p> - -<p class='c009'>It is far to Mount Kitesh, but Relya had no -difficulty in finding out the way, because Mount -Kitesh was known throughout seven kingdoms for -its terrors.</p> - -<p class='c009'>On St. John’s Day Relya bade farewell to his -mother, and on St. Peter’s Day he reached the foot -of the Mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When he reached the foot of the Mountain, he -inquired after the willow cabin, the shepherdess -Miloika, and the Golden Girdle and Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“There is the cabin in the valley. Miloika we -buried the first Sunday after Easter, and her children -have the Girdle and Cross. As for the children, the -Fairies have carried them off to Mount Kitesh,” -replied the villagers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Very wroth was Relya when he heard that the -Girdle and Cross had been carried off to Mount -Kitesh. He was so angry that he could not make -up his mind which to do first—hasten up the Mountain -or find out about the castle, since that was uppermost -in his desires.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And where is the princess’s castle?” shouted -Relya.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Over there, a day’s journey from here,” -answered the villagers.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And how stands it with the castle?” asked -Relya, and his hand played with his sword. “Tell -me all you know about it!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“None of us has been in the castle, because -the lords of it are hard of heart. Round the castle -they have placed mutes for guards and savage bloodhounds. -We cannot force our way past the bloodhounds, -and we do not know how to persuade the -guards,” answered the villagers. “And within the -castle are fine lords, drinking red wine in the halls, -playing upon silver lutes, and tossing golden balls -to each other over a silken carpet. In the outer -hall are two hundred workmen cutting hearts out -of mother-o’-pearl for targets for the lords. And -when the lords make a great feast, they load their -guns with precious stones and shoot at the hearts -of mother-o’-pearl.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the villagers told him this, a mist swam -before Relya’s eyes, so furious was he when he heard -how wantonly the treasure in his mother’s vaults -was being squandered.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id018'> -<img src='images/i232a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>For a while Relya hesitated, and then he cried:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am going up the Mountain to win the Cross -and Girdle, and then I shall return to thee, O my -castle.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thus cried Relya; he made the sword sing -through the air above his head, and then strode -swiftly up into Mount Kitesh. There he found the -great Dragon asleep in the deep gully. You see, -the Dragon had tired himself out with belching so -much fire at Primrose, and now he had gone fast -asleep to gather fresh strength.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Relya was all impatience to fight someone so as -to cool his anger and to prove his strength. He was -tired of seeing everybody, both great and small, get out -of his way all the time, so now he rushed up to the -Fiery Dragon to rouse and dare him to mortal combat.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya was a Doughty Hero, and the Fiery Dragon -was a Terrible Monster, and so their combat must be -sung in verse, beginning where Relya rushed up to -the Dragon:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c010'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Childe Relya smote the Dragon on the side</div> - <div class='line'>With the flat blade, to rouse him from his sleep.</div> - <div class='line'>The Beast looked up, raising his grisly head,</div> - <div class='line'>Beheld the hero Relya standing by.</div> - <div class='line'>Up leapt the Dragon, with a rending blow</div> - <div class='line'>O’erturns the cliff and widens out the gap</div> - <div class='line'>To make a fitting space wherein to fight!</div> - <div class='line'>Anon unto the clouds he rears him up;</div> - <div class='line'>Anon on Relya pounces from the clouds,</div> - <div class='line'>And so with Relya joins in mortal fray.</div> - <div class='line'>Now groans the earth and splits the solid rock.</div> - <div class='line'>With tooth and flame the Dragon turns to bay,</div> - <div class='line'>And thrusts at Relya with his fiery head.</div> - <div class='line'>But Relya waits him with a ready sword,</div> - <div class='line'>And meets the onslaught with a ready sword;</div> - <div class='line'>And with his weapon beating down the flame</div> - <div class='line'>Seeks for the sword an undefended spot,</div> - <div class='line'>Where he may smite the Dragon on the head.</div> - <div class='line'>Deep bites the brand—so mighty was the shock</div> - <div class='line'>That brand and bone no more will come apart.</div> - <div class='line'>From dawn till noontide did the battle rage,</div> - <div class='line'>And weaker grew the Dragon all the while,</div> - <div class='line'>With brooding on the shame that galled his heart,</div> - <div class='line'>Because the babe, young Primrose, had escaped.</div> - <div class='line'>And stronger grew Childe Relya all the while,</div> - <div class='line'>For he did battle for his heritage.</div> - <div class='line'>When at high noon the sun burned overhead,</div> - <div class='line'>Childe Relya swung his gleaming brand aloft</div> - <div class='line'>Towards the sun, and called on Heaven for aid.</div> - <div class='line'>Down fell the sword betwixt the Dragon’s eyes—</div> - <div class='line'>Full swiftly fell, yet lightly struck the blade,</div> - <div class='line'>Yet with such force, it cleft the Beast in twain.</div> - <div class='line'>Into the hollow falls the Dragon, slain,</div> - <div class='line'>And as stretched him in his dying spasm,</div> - <div class='line'>The monstrous limbs block up the ancient chasm.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>Thus did the doughty Relya overcome the Fiery -Dragon. But his brave arms and shoulders ached -terribly. So Relya said to himself: “I shall never -get over the Mountain at this rate. I must consider -what I had better do.” And Relya went back to the -foot of the Mountain, and there the hero sat down -on a stone and considered how he was to get across -the Mountain, and how he was to overcome the -monsters, and where he might find Miloika’s children -and with them the Golden Girdle and Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya was deep in thought, but all of a sudden -he heard somebody weeping and sobbing near him. -Relya turned, and there was a Fairy sitting on a -stone, her hair all unbound, and crying her heart -out.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“What ails you, pretty maiden? Why do you -weep?” asked Relya.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I weep, O hero, because I cannot get the Golden -Girdle from the child on the Lake,” answered the -Fairy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Relya heard that he was overjoyed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Tell me, maiden, how can I get to that Lake?” -asked Relya.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And who may you be, unknown hero?” returned -the Fairy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I am Prince Relya, and I seek a Golden Girdle -and a Cross on a red ribbon,” replied Relya.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the Fairy heard that, she thought within -her evil heart: “How lucky for me! Let Relya -get the Girdle away from the Lake and on to the -Mountain, and I will soon destroy Relya and keep -the Girdle for myself.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the cunning Fairy spoke these honeyed words -to Relya:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Let us go, noble Prince! I will guide you -across the Mountain. No harm will come to you, -and I will show you where the children are. Why -should you not have what is yours by inheritance?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Thus sweetly did the Fairy speak, but in her heart -she thought otherwise. Relya, however, was mightily -pleased, and at once agreed to go with the Fairy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they went across the Mountain. Neither -Fairies nor monsters touched Relya, because he was -being guided by the young Votaress Fairy.</p> - -<p class='c009'>On the way the Fairy advised Relya and tried -to fill his heart with anger.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You should but see, noble Prince, how insolent -these children are! Not even to you will they give -the Girdle. But you are a hero above all heroes, -Relya, so do not let them put you to shame.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya laughed at the idea that two children -should withstand him—<i>him</i> who had cleft in twain -the Fiery Dragon!</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Fairy then went on to tell him how the -children had come up into the Mountain, and how -they did not know how to get away from it again.</p> - -<p class='c009'>In her joy at the prospect of getting the Girdle, -the Fairy talked so much that her cunning deserted -her, and she chattered to Relya and boasted to him -of her knowledge.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“They are silly children, without any cunning. -Yet if they knew what <i>we</i> know they would have -escaped us already. There is a taper in the chapel -and a censer. If they would start the fire that is not -lit with hands, and then light the taper and censer, -they could go with taper and censer across the whole -Mountain as if it were a church. Paths would open -before them and trees bow down as they passed. -But for us this would be the worst thing possible, -because all we Fairies and Goblins in Mount Kitesh -would perish wherever the smoke from the taper and -censer spread. But what do these silly, insolent -children know?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>If the Votaress had not been so overjoyed, she -would surely never have told Relya about the taper -and censer, but would have kept the secret of the -Votaresses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they came to the furrow, and there was the -Holy Lake before them.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XIV</h3> - -<p class='c011'>The Prince peered cautiously from behind a -tree, and the Fairy pointed out the children to him. -Relya saw the little chapel on the island. Before the -chapel sat a little girl, pale as a white rose. She -neither sang nor crooned, but sat still with her hands -clasped in her lap and her eyes raised to heaven.</p> - -<p class='c009'>On the sand beside the chapel played a little boy, -baby Primrose, and round his neck hung a little -Gold Cross.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He played on the sand, built castles and pulled -them down again with his tiny hands, and then laughed -at his handiwork.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya watched, and as he watched he began -to think. But the Votaress had no time to wait while -the Prince finished thinking things out, so she softly -prompted Relya.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will call to the little girl, noble Prince, and -you shall see that she will not give up the Girdle; -then do you draw your burnished sword, go up -and take what is yours, and then come back to me -to the Mountain, and I will guide you back down -the Mountain so that my sisters shall not hurt you.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>As the Fairy said this, she secretly rejoiced, -thinking how easily she would kill Relya and get -the Girdle for herself, so long as Relya would bring -it from the Lake. But Relya only listened with half -an ear to what the Votaress was saying, for he was -lost in looking at the girl.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Fairy called to Lavender:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Little girl, sister, throw me the Girdle, and -I will take you and your brother down the Mountain.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Lavender heard this, her face grew yet -paler, and she clasped her little hands yet more -tightly. She was so sad that she could scarcely speak. -She would so gladly have left the Mountain; her -little heart was bursting with longing.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But all the same she would not part with her -mother’s Girdle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Tears flowed down Lavender’s face; she wept -softly, but through her tears she answered:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go away, Fairy, and do not come back again, -because you will not get the Girdle.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Relya saw and heard this, his princely -blood, his noble blood, was roused within him, but -to a good purpose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>He was filled with pity for these two poor -orphans in the midst of the grisly Mount Kitesh, -defending themselves all alone against monsters and -temptations, death and destruction. “Great Heavens!” -thought he, “the princess trusted in her armed -warriors and her strongholds to defend her lands, -and the lands were lost; but these babes are left -alone in the world, they have fallen among Fairies -and Dragons, yet neither Fairies nor Dragons can -rob them of what their mother gave them.” All -Relya’s face changed as his heart went out with pity -to the children. Thus changed, he turned towards -the Votaress.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The Votaress looked at Relya. Why did he raise -his sword? Was it to cut down those insolent children? -No; Relya raised the sword aloft and threatened the -wicked Fairy with it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Fairy, avaunt! as if you had never been! -If you had not been my guide across the Mountain, -I would strike your fair head from off your shoulders. -I was not born a prince, nor did I forge this mighty -sword that I might roam the world a spoiler of the -fatherless!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>The poor Votaress was quite frightened. She -started, and then fled to the hills. And Relya shouted -after her:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Go, Fairy! call your fairies and monsters! -Prince Relya does not fear them!”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the Fairy had run off to the hills, Relya -crossed the furrow and went towards the children -on the island.</p> - -<p class='c009'>How happy was Lavender when she saw a human -being coming towards them and looking at them -kindly! She sprang to her feet and stretched out -both her arms, as a captive bird spreads its wings -when you open your hand and let it go free.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Lavender was quite certain that Relya had come -up only to bring them safe back from the Mountain. -She ran to Primrose, took him by the hand, and -both crossed over to Relya by the little bridge which -they had fashioned with their own tiny hands across -the reeds.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XV</h3> - -<p class='c011'>A doughty hero was Relya, and he felt strange -talking to children. But the children did not feel -in the least strange talking to a hero, because they -thought kindly of everybody, and there was no guile -in their hearts.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose took hold of Relya’s hand and looked -at his great sword. The sword was twice as big as -Primrose! Primrose reached up with his little hand; -he stood on tip-toe, and yet he could scarcely touch -the hilt of it. Relya looked, and never had he seen -such tiny hands beside his own. Relya was now -in a sad quandary; he forgot all about the Girdle -and Cross as he thought: “What shall I say to these -poor orphan babes? They are little and foolish, -and they do not understand.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Just then Lavender asked Relya:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“And how shall we get out of the mountains, -my lord?”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Well, that is quite a sensible little girl,” considered -Relya. “Here am I, marvelling how small -and foolish they are, and never thinking that, after -all, we have to get out of the mountains.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Then Relya remembered what the Votaress had -told him about the taper and censer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Listen to me, little girl! The Votaress has -gone to call her sisters to help her, and I am going -on to the Mountain to meet them. Please God, I -shall overcome the Votaress Fairies, return to you by -the Holy Lake, and lead you away from the Mountain. -But if the fairies should overcome me, if I perish on the -Mountain, then do you start the fire that is not lit with -hands, light the taper and censer, and you will pass -over the Mountain as though it were a church.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Lavender heard this, she was sadly -grieved, and said to Prince Relya:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“You must not do that, my lord! What shall -we poor orphans do if you perish on the Mountain? -You have only just come to be our protector, and if -you were to leave us straightway and get killed -what should we do? Let us rather set to at once -and start the fire, so as to light taper and censer, -and do you, my lord, go forth with us over the -Mountain.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>But at that Relya became very angry, and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t talk foolishness, you silly child! I was -not born a hero for taper and censer to lead me -while yet I wear sword by my side.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Not taper and censer will lead you, but God’s -will and commandment,” replied Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Don’t talk foolishness, you silly child! My -sword would rust were I to be led by taper and censer.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Your sword will not rust when you go a-mowing -in field and meadow.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya was troubled. It was not so much -Lavender’s words as the sweet, serious look in the -little girl’s eyes that troubled him. He knew well -enough that he would scarcely overcome the fairies -and monsters, and that he would most probably -perish if he were to go out to fight on the -Mountain.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Little Primrose flung his arms round Relya’s -knees and looked at him coaxingly. And Relya’s -princely heart beat quick in his bosom, so that he -forgot about Cross and Girdle and fight and castle, -and all he could think was: “Well, I have to protect -and save these faithful little orphans.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So he said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I will not throw away my life out of sheer -wilfulness. Come, children, start the fire, light taper -and censer; your little hands shall lead me.”</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XVI</h3> - -<p class='c011'>A few moments later, and there was a wondrous -marvel to be seen on Mount Kitesh.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A wide path opened all the way down the -Mountain, and on the path grew turf as soft as silk. -On the right-hand side walked little Primrose, still -in his little white shirt, and in his hand he held an -ancient wax taper, burning serenely and crackling -softly, as though it were talking with the sun. On -the left walked Lavender, wearing the Golden Girdle -and swinging a silver censer, from which rose a cloud -of white smoke. Between the two children strode -Relya, tall and strong. It seemed strange to him, in -his strength and valour, that taper and censer should -thus guide him and not his own good sword. But -he smiled gently at the children. His great sword -hung over his shoulder, and as he strode on he said -to the sword:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Do not fear, my faithful friend. We shall go -a-mowing in field and meadow; we shall clear scrub -and forest; we shall hew rafters and build steadings. -The sun will gild thee a thousand times while thou -art winning bread for these two orphan babes.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they went across the Mountain as though it -were a church. A thin wraith of smoke rose from -the taper, and sacred odours spread from the censer.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But woe and alas for the Votaresses on Mount -Kitesh! wherever the smoke and the odour of incense -spread upon the Mountain, there the Votaresses -perished and died. They made an end, each one -as it seemed most beautiful and fitting to her.</p> - -<p class='c009'>One turned herself into a grey stone, and then -hurled herself down the rocks into a chasm, where -the stone broke into a thousand splinters.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The second changed into a crimson flame, and -then at once went out, puff! into the air.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The third dissolved into fine coloured dust, -scattering herself over rock and fern. And so each -of them chose what seemed to her the most beautiful -way to die.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But it really didn’t matter in the least. One way -or another, they all had to leave this world, and even -the most beautiful ways of dying could not make up -for that!</p> - -<p class='c009'>In this way all the seven Votaress Fairies perished, -and that is why there are no fairies, nor dragons, nor -monsters now on Mount Kitesh or anywhere else -in the world.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But Relya and the children reached the valley -in safety, and Lavender took them to their cottage. -And only then did Relya remember why he had gone -up Mount Kitesh.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XVII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>They went into the cottage and rested a little. -Lavender, who knew where was her mother’s modest -store cupboard, brought out a little dry cheese, and -they refreshed themselves.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But now Relya was puzzled what to do about -those two orphans. Ever since they had come down -into the valley, Relya’s mind had begun to run once -more upon the castle and upon his promise to his -mother that he would bring her back the Cross and -Girdle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Therefore Relya said to Lavender:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Listen to me, little girl: you will have to give -me the Golden Girdle and Cross now, you and your -brother, because they belong to me.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>“But we belong to you too, my lord,” said -Lavender, and looked at Relya quite astonished, -because he had not grasped that before.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya laughed, and then he said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“But I must take the Girdle and Cross to my -mother.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>When Lavender heard that, she cried out overjoyed:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Oh, sir, if you have a mother, do go and bring -her here to us, because we have no mother now.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>A stone would have wept to hear little Lavender -speak of her mother in that poor and bare little -cottage! A stone would have wept at the thought -that so lovely a child should be left all alone in the -world, when she turned to Prince Relya and begged -him to bring them a mother because their mother -was dead.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Again Relya was filled with pity, so that he almost -wept. Therefore he bade the children good-bye -and went away to fetch his mother.</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XVIII</h3> - -<p class='c011'>It took Relya seven days to return to his mother. -She was waiting for him by the window, and when -she saw him coming, lo, there was Relya coming -home without sword, Cross, or Girdle. Relya never -gave her time to ask questions, but called to her in -a gentle voice:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Make ready, mother, and come with me, that -we may guard what is ours.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>So they set out together. And on the way the -Princess asked Relya whether he had found the Cross -and the Girdle, whether he had raised an army and -had reconquered their castle and lands?</p> - -<p class='c009'>“I found the Girdle and Cross, mother; but -I raised no army, neither have I reconquered our lands. -We shall do better without an army, mother, for you -shall see what is left to us of our heritage,” said Relya.</p> - -<p class='c009'>After seven days’ travel they reached the cabin -where Lavender and Primrose were waiting for them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Oh, my dear! but there is great joy when kind -hearts foregather! The princess hugged Lavender -and Primrose; she kissed their cheeks, eyes, hands, -and lips, and would scarcely let them go, so dear -were they to her, those orphan children from her -lost lands!</p> -<h3 class='c007'>XIX</h3> - -<p class='c011'>And so they lived together in the valley, although -the little cabin was rather too small for them. But -Relya had strong hands, and he built them a little -house of stone. Their lives were uneventful, but -there was a blessing upon them. Primrose tended -the ewes and lambs, Lavender looked after the house -and garden, the princess span and sewed, and Relya -worked in the fields.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The people of the village got to know the wisdom -of the princess and Relya’s strength. Presently they -remarked how well the Golden Girdle became the -princess, and, although none of them had ever seen -the princess before, they said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“She must be our noble princess.” And so they -gave Relya and the princess a great piece of land -in the valley, and begged Relya to be their leader -in all things and the princess to be their counsellor.</p> - -<p class='c009'>God’s blessing was with Relya’s strength and -the princess’s wisdom. Their fields and meadows -increased; other villages joined them; gardens and -cottages sprang up in the villages.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Meantime the fine lords in the castle went on -drinking and feasting as before. Now this had gone -on far too long, and although the vaults and cellars -of the castle had been the richest in seven kingdoms, -yet after so many years of waste there began to be -a lack of precious stones.</p> - -<p class='c009'>First of all the gems gave out in the treasure -vaults, and then the mother-o’-pearl in the passages. -Yet a little while, and there was no more bread for -the servants, who had grown lazy. At last there was -not even meat for the bloodhounds and guards. -The faithless servants rebelled, the hounds ran -away, and the guards left their posts.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But all this did not trouble the fine lords, because -they had dulled their wits with drinking and feasting. -But one fine day the wine gave out. <i>Then</i> they decided -to hold a council! They met in the great hall and -debated upon where they should get wine, because -round about the castle all was desolate: the inhabitants -had left, and the vines had run wild in -the vineyards.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So the fine lords debated. But their vengeful -and rebellious servants had cut through the rafters -of the great hall, and when the lords were in the -midst of their conference the roof fell in upon them. -They were buried under the ruins of the great tower -of the castle and all of them killed.</p> - -<p class='c009'>When the servants heard the tower crashing and -falling, they too deserted the castle.</p> - -<p class='c009'>And so the castle was left without hounds, -servants, or fine lords, ruinous and deserted, and -dead.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Soon the news of this spread through the land, -but not a soul troubled to go and see what had happened -in the dead castle. From all sides they flocked together -and went to the foot of Mount Kitesh to beg -Relya to be their prince, because they had heard of -his strength and courage and of the wisdom of the -noble princess. Wherefore the people promised with -their own hands to build them a new castle, all -fair and stately.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Relya accepted the people’s offer, because he -rightly judged that God had given him such great -strength and courage, and had delivered him from -his hot and cruel temper, so that he might be of use -to his country.</p> - -<p class='c009'>So Relya became a prince; and the princess, -who was getting old by now, yet lived to see great -happiness in her old age. And when the princess -and Relya, with Lavender and Primrose, entered their -new and stately castle for the first time, the village -children scattered evergreens and sweet basil on their -path, men and woman pressed round the princess, -seized the hem of her robe and kissed it.</p> - -<p class='c009'>But the princess, radiant with joy, remembered -that but for the loyalty of Lavender and Primrose -none of this would ever have come to pass. She -clasped the children to her breast and said:</p> - -<p class='c009'>“Happy the land whose treasure is not guarded -by mighty armies or strong cities, but by the mothers -and children in shepherds’ cots. Such a land will -never perish!”</p> - -<hr class='c013' /> - -<p class='c009'>Later on Prince Relya married Lavender, and -never in the world was there a princess sweeter and -more lovely than Princess Lavender.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Primrose grew up into a brave and handsome -youth. He rode a fiery dapple grey, and he would -often ride over Mount Kitesh, upon whose summit -men were building a new chapel by the Holy Lake.</p> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='nts' class='c004'>Notes<br /> <br />Interpretation of Names, Etc.</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_3_0_65 c008'>THE original names in these Fairy Tales are either -taken from Slav folk-lore or chosen or composed -so as to convey a suitable meaning. In -the English text the translator has therefore tried to -render the significance of the original names in English -in preference to reproducing the Slav names in English -spelling.</p> -<h3 class='c007'><span class='sc'>How Quest Sought the Truth.</span></h3> - -<p class='c011'>1. <i>Bjesomar</i> (Rampogusto). The name given by the -old Slavs in some regions to the ruler of evil and malignant -forces. Analysed, the name might be translated as Cherish-goblin, -one who cares for hobgoblindom.</p> - -<p class='c009'>2. <i>Svarožić</i> (All-Rosy). The ancient Slavs pictured -the sunshine in the form of a beautiful youth named -<i>Svarožić</i>, All-rose.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The names of the grandfather and his three grandsons—Witting, -Bluster, Careful and Quest—are as near -as possible equivalents of the original names <i>Vjest</i>, <i>Ljutiša</i>, -<i>Marun</i> and <i>Potjeh</i>.</p> -<h3 class='c007'><span class='sc'>Fisherman Plunk and his Wife.</span></h3> - -<p class='c011'>1. <i>Zora-djevojka</i> (the Dawn-Maiden). To this day -many old folk-tales of the Slavs tell of the Dawn-Maiden -who sails the sea in the early morning in her boat of gold -with a silver paddle and dwells in the Island of <i>Bujan</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>2. <i>The Sea King.</i> Slovenes and Slovaks alike tell -of a mighty and wealthy Sea King who reigns in the -depths of the sea.</p> - -<p class='c009'>3. <i>The Island of Bujan</i> (the Isle Bountiful). This -is a wonderful island, so named for its abundance and -fruitfulness and luxuriant vegetation. It was the ancient -Slav’s conception of Paradise. To this day the Russians -mention it in refrains and spells against sickness, for a -plentiful harvest, etc.</p> - -<p class='c009'>4. <i>The Stone Alatir</i> (Gold-a-Fire). Is mentioned in -ancient Slav tales as “the white burning stone on Bujan,” -and may perhaps be taken to stand for the sun.</p> - -<p class='c009'>5. <i>Sea Maidens</i> (Mermaids). In Slovene and Croatian -folk-tales, as with us, this term is applied to fabulous sea -creatures, which are beautiful women to the waist, and -from the waist downward shaped like a forked fish tail.</p> - -<p class='c009'>6. <i>The dumb speech.</i> The Jugoslavs popularly believe -that animals converse with each other in a special “language,” -and that certain human beings can “speak” and understand -this “language.”</p> - -<p class='c009'>7. <i>The Monstrous Snake</i>, the <i>Bird with the Iron Beak</i>, -the <i>Golden Bee</i>. Three monsters which, according to folk-tales, -stir up the waves, raise tempests, and provoke -thunderstorms round the Isle of Bujan, whence the storms -spread throughout the world.</p> - -<p class='c009'><i>Palunko</i> (Plunk) has no special significance, but the -sound suggests a doleful, feckless sort of person.</p> - -<p class='c009'><i>Winpeace</i> is a translation of Vlatko.</p> -<h3 class='c007'><span class='sc'>Reygoch.</span></h3> - -<p class='c011'>1. <i>Legen</i> (<i>Ledjan</i>) (Frosten city). An ancient marvellous -city which is mentioned in Croatian folk-songs -and tradition. <i>Leden</i> means <i>frozen</i>, <i>icy</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>2. <i>Regoč</i>, <i>Regoc</i> (Reygoch). A huge simple giant of -fairy kin. He is mentioned by the poet <i>Gjorgjić</i>, of -Dubrovnik (Ragusa), in his <i>Marunko</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The name <i>Kosjenka</i> is derived from <i>kose</i> (hair), and -indicates the little fairy’s flowing tresses.</p> - -<p class='c009'>Apart from being a simple fairy-tale, this story contains -an allegorical element. <i>Reygoch</i>, the benevolent, simple-minded -giant, is a character from <i>Marunko</i>, by the poet -Gjorgjić, of Dubrovnik. The city of <i>Legen</i>, or <i>Ledjan</i> -(which, to all intents and purposes, means “frozen”), -is to be found in Croatian folk-tales and ballads.</p> -<h3 class='c007'><span class='sc'>Bridesman Sun and Bride Bridekins.</span></h3> - -<p class='c011'>1. <i>Mokoš</i> (Muggish). A mighty force which, according -to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, ruled the earth, and -especially in marshlands. She is mentioned in connection -with the heavenly thunder god. <i>Perun</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'>2. <i>Kolede</i> (translated by <i>Yuletide</i>) A winter festival -celebrated at the end of December in honour of the sun, -whose power once more begins to increase in those days.</p> - -<p class='c009'>3. <i>Krijes</i> (translated by <i>Beltane</i>). A festival in -honour of the summer sun at the time of his greatest -strength.</p> - -<p class='c009'>4. <i>Omaja</i>, <i>omaha</i>. Water which is flung from the -mill-wheel. To this day peasants bathe children in this -water so that evil may be turned away from them.</p> - -<p class='c009'>A <i>Ban</i> is a Warden of the Marches.</p> - -<p class='c009'><i>Neva</i> means <i>bride</i>. <i>Nevičica</i> is the diminutive of <i>Neva</i>.</p> -<h3 class='c007'><span class='sc'>Stribor’s Forest.</span></h3> - -<p class='c011'>1. <i>Domaći</i> (“home sprites,” from <i>dom</i>, house, home), -Brownies. In all Slav nations this is the name given to -the little domestic sprites which haunt the hearth. They -are sometimes harmful and sometimes beneficent.</p> - -<p class='c009'>2. <i>Malik Tintilinić</i> (Wee Tintilinkie). Old popular -name for one of the most lively of these <i>domaći</i>.</p> -<h3 class='c007'><span class='sc'>Little Brother Primrose and Sister Lavender.</span></h3> - -<p class='c011'>1. <i>Kitež</i> (Mount Kitesh). The Russian author -Merežkovski mentions the mysterious Kitež region, an -uninhabited forest, and the Lake Svetlojar (which latter -name might very well be transliterated by the <i>Holy Lake</i>), -which used to be inhabited by all sorts of monsters.</p> - -<p class='c009'>2. <i>Vile Zatočnice</i> (Votaress Fairies). The term -<i>Votaress snakes</i> (<i>zmije zatočnice</i>) is popularly applied to -snakes which are supposed to have taken a vow in the -autumn not to go to sleep for the winter without having -killed somebody.</p> - -<p class='c009'>3 <i>Relya</i> (<i>Hrelja</i>). A Croatian ballad makes mention -of a certain Hrelja as a better and stronger hero than -even Kraljević Mark.</p> - -<p class='c009'>The names <i>Rutvica</i> and <i>Jaglenac</i> have simply been -translated into <i>Lavender</i> and <i>Primrose</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'><i>Bukač</i> is derived from <i>buka</i>, noise. Hence <i>Belleroo</i>.</p> - -<p class='c009'><i>Medunkda</i>, from <i>medved</i>, a bear (Bruineen).</p> - -<p class='c009'>The term <i>božjak</i> (applied to Relya), which suggests -a powerful, poverty-stricken churl, the translator has sought -to render by <i>rowfoot</i> (a rough fellow).</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='small'>PRINTED BY UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED LONDON AND WOKING GREAT BRITAIN</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c003' /> -</div> -<p class='c014'> </p> -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i260.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD.</div> - <div><span class='sc'>London: 40 Museum Street, W.C.1</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Cape Town: 73 St. George’s Street</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Sydney, N.S.W.: 218–222 Clarence Street</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Wellington, N.Z.: 110–112 Lambton Quay</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<p class='c009'> </p> -<div class='tnbox'> - - <ul class='ul_1 c003'> - <li>Transcriber’s Notes: - <ul class='ul_2'> - <li>Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - </li> - <li>Typographical errors were silently corrected. - </li> - <li>Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant - form was found in this book. - </li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - -</div> -<p class='c009'> </p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Croatian Tales of Long Ago, by -Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CROATIAN TALES OF LONG AGO *** - -***** This file should be named 60095-h.htm or 60095-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/0/9/60095/ - -Produced by Peter Podgorsek, Barry Abrahamsen, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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