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diff --git a/old/64189-0.txt b/old/64189-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 34d7f32..0000000 --- a/old/64189-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10225 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Selection from the Norse Tales for the Use -of Children, by G. W. Dasent - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A Selection from the Norse Tales for the Use of Children - -Author: G. W. Dasent - -Release Date: December 31, 2020 [eBook #64189] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SELECTION FROM THE NORSE TALES -FOR THE USE OF CHILDREN *** - - - - - A Selection from the Norse Tales. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PRINTED BY R. & R. CLARK, - - FOR - - EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH. - - LONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, & - CO. - - CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN & CO. - - DUBLIN W. ROBERTSON. - - GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL -] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - A SELECTION - - - - FROM - - - - _THE NORSE TALES_ - - - - FOR THE USE OF CHILDREN. - - - - - BY - - - G. W. DASENT, D.C.L. - - - - - - - _EDINBURGH_: - - _EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS_. - - 1862. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - NOTICE. - - ------- - - -IT was said by one of old time that a child’s heart is a holy place, and -Scripture in awful words has uttered woe on him who wounds the feelings -“of one of these little ones.” So this selection has been made to meet -the scruples of those good people who thought some of _The Norse Tales_ -too outspoken for their children. Whether these worthy folk were not -mistaken; whether here, too, “evil to him who evil thinks” might not -have been a fitting answer; it is now needless to ask. The book is -printed. “Hacon Grizzlebeard,” “Why the Sea is salt,” “The Master -Smith,” “The Mastermaid,” “The Master Thief,” and other naughty stories, -are blotted out, and no doubt the rest feel glad to be rid of such bad -company, and proud to be raised to the rank of “Moral Tales.” The -beautiful illustrations and bright binding will make them vain too. They -had best be ware. Pride and Vanity hand in hand can hardly fail to trip. -But if any little readers before whose eyes either of the earlier -editions may have come, should chance to miss some of their old friends, -and ask why they have been left out of this volume, it is hoped that -their mothers will be better able to answer the question than the writer -of these lines can ever be, for he still sees no harm at all in them. - - -BROAD SANCTUARY, _Dec. 6, 1861_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS. - - ------- - - - PAGE - - True and Untrue 1 - - The Old Dame and her Hen 11 - - East o’ the Sun and West o’ the 23 - Moon - - Boots who ate a Match with the 43 - Troll - - Boots, who made the Princess say, 48 - “That’s a Story” - - The Twelve Wild Ducks 52 - - The Giant who had no Heart in his 64 - Body - - The Fox as Herdsman 77 - - The Cat on the Dovrefell 80 - - Princess on the Glass Hill 83 - - How one went out to Woo 101 - - The Cock and Hen 102 - - The Two Step-Sisters 103 - - Buttercup 119 - - Taming the Shrew 126 - - Shortshanks 129 - - Gudbrand on the Hill-Side 157 - - The Blue Belt 165 - - Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed 189 - - Not a Pin to choose between them 191 - - One’s own Children are always 201 - Prettiest - - The Three Princesses of Whiteland 202 - - The Lassie and her Godmother 213 - - The Three Aunts 221 - - The Cock, the Cuckoo, and the 229 - Black-Cock - - Rich Peter the Pedlar 230 - - Boots and the Troll 251 - - The Lad who went to the North Wind 261 - - The Best Wish 267 - - The Three Billy-Goats Gruff 284 - - Well Done and Ill Paid 287 - - The Husband who was to mind the 292 - House - - Dapplegrim 296 - - The Seven Foals 315 - - The Widow’s Son 328 - - Bushy Bride 344 - - Boots and his Brothers 356 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS._ - - ------- - - - PAGE - _Princess on the Glass Hill_ _Frontispiece_ - _The Cat on the Dovrefell_ 80 - _The Three Princesses of Whiteland_ 202 - _The Three Aunts_ 221 - _Rich Peter the Pedlar_ 230 - _The Three Billy-Goats Gruff_ 284 - _Dapplegrim_ 296 - _The Seven Foals_ 315 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TALES FROM THE NORSE. - - ------- - - - - - TRUE AND UNTRUE. - - -ONCE on a time there were two brothers; one was called True, and the -other Untrue. True was always upright and good towards all, but Untrue -was bad and full of lies, so that no one could believe what he said. -Their mother was a widow, and hadn’t much to live on; so when her sons -had grown up, she was forced to send them away that they might earn -their bread in the world. Each got a little scrip with some food in it, -and then they went their way. - -Now, when they had walked till evening, they sat down on a windfall in -the wood, and took out their scrips, for they were hungry after walking -the whole day, and thought a morsel of food would be sweet enough. - -“If you’re of my mind,” said Untrue, “I think we had better eat out of -your scrip, so long as there is anything in it, and after that we can -take to mine.” - -Yes! True was well pleased with this, so they fell to eating, but Untrue -got all the best bits, and stuffed himself with them, while True got -only the burnt crusts and scraps. - -Next morning they broke their fast off True’s food, and they dined off -it too, and then there was nothing left in his scrip. So when they had -walked till late at night, and were ready to eat again, True wanted to -eat out of his brother’s scrip, but Untrue said “No,” the food was his, -and he had only enough for himself. - -“Nay! but you know you ate out of my scrip so long as there was anything -in it,” said True. - -“All very fine, I daresay,” answered Untrue; “but if you are such a fool -as to let others eat up your food before your face, you must make the -best of it; for now all you have to do is to sit here and starve.” - -“Very well!” said True, “you’re Untrue by name and untrue by nature; so -you have been, and so you will be all your life long.” - -Now when Untrue heard this, he flew into a rage, and rushed at his -brother, and plucked out both his eyes. “Now, try if you can see whether -folk are untrue or not, you blind buzzard!” and so saying, he ran away -and left him. - -Poor True! there he went, walking along and feeling his way through the -thick wood. Blind and alone, he scarce knew which way to turn, when all -at once he caught hold of the trunk of a great bushy lime-tree; so he -thought he would climb up into it, and sit there till the night was over -for fear of the wild beasts. - -“When the birds begin to sing,” he said to himself, “then I shall know -it is day, and I can try to grope my way farther on.” So he climbed up -into the lime-tree. After he had sat there a little time, he heard how -some one came and began to make a stir and clatter under the tree, and -soon after others came; and when they began to greet one another, he -found out it was Bruin the bear, and Greylegs the wolf, and Slyboots the -fox, and Longears the hare, who had come to keep St. John’s eve under -the tree. So they began to eat and drink, and be merry; and when they -had done eating they fell to gossipping together. At last the Fox said— - -“Shan’t we, each of us, tell a little story while we sit here?” - -Well! the others had nothing against that. It would be good fun, they -said, and the Bear began; for you may fancy he was king of the company. - -“The king of England,” said Bruin, “has such bad eyesight, that he can -scarce see a yard before him; but if he only came to this lime-tree in -the morning, while the dew is still on the leaves, and took and rubbed -his eyes with the dew, he would get back his sight as good as ever.” - -“Very true!” said Greylegs. “The king of England has a deaf and dumb -daughter too; but if he only knew what I know, he would soon cure her. -Last year she went to the communion. She let a crumb of the bread fall -out of her mouth, and a great toad came and swallowed it down; but if -they only dug up the chancel floor they would find the toad sitting -right under the altar rails, with the bread still sticking in his -throat. If they were to cut the toad open and take and give the bread to -the princess, she would be like other folk again as to her speech and -hearing.” - -“That is all very well,” said the Fox; “but if the king of England knew -what I know, he would not be so badly off for water in his palace; for -under the great stone, in his palace-yard, is a spring of the clearest -water one could wish for, if he only knew to dig for it there.” - -“Ah!” said the Hare in a small voice; “the king of England has the -finest orchard in the whole land, but it does not bear so much as a -crab, for there lies a heavy gold chain in three turns round the -orchard. If he got that dug up, there would not be a garden like it for -bearing in all his kingdom.” - -“Very true, I dare say,” said the Fox; “but now it’s getting very late, -and we may as well go home.” - -So they all went away together. - -After they were gone, True fell asleep as he sat up in the tree; but -when the birds began to sing at dawn, he woke up, and took the dew from -the leaves, and rubbed his eyes with it, and so got his sight back as -good as it was before Untrue plucked his eyes out. - -Then he went straight to the king of England’s palace, and begged for -work, and got it on the spot. So one day the king came out into the -palace-yard, and when he had walked about a bit, he wanted to drink out -of his pump; for you must know the day was hot, and the king very -thirsty; but when they poured him out a glass, it was so muddy, and -nasty, and foul, that the king got quite vexed. - -“I don’t think there’s ever a man in my whole kingdom who has such bad -water in his yard as I, and yet I bring it in pipes from far, over hill -and dale,” cried out the king. - -“Like enough, your Majesty;” said True, “but if you would let me have -some men to help me to dig up this great stone which lies here in the -middle of your yard, you would soon see good water, and plenty of it.” - -Well! the king was willing enough; and they had scarcely got the stone -well out, and dug under it a while, before a jet of water sprang out -high up into the air, as clear and full as if it came out of a conduit, -and clearer water was not to be found in all England. - -A little while after the king was out in his palace-yard again, and -there came a great hawk flying after his chicken, and all the king’s men -began to clap their hands and bawl out, “There he flies! There he -flies!” The king caught up his gun and tried to shoot the hawk, but he -couldn’t see so far, so he fell into great grief. - -“Would to Heaven,” he said, “there was any one who could tell me a cure -for my eyes; for I think I shall soon go quite blind!” - -“I can tell you one soon enough,” said True; and then he told the king -what he had done to cure his own eyes, and the king set off that very -afternoon to the lime-tree, as you may fancy, and his eyes were quite -cured as soon as he rubbed them with the dew which was on the leaves in -the morning. From that time forth there was no one whom the king held so -dear as True, and he had to be with him wherever he went, both at home -and abroad. - -So one day as they were walking together in the orchard, the king said, -“I can’t tell how it is _that_ I can’t! there isn’t a man in England who -spends so much on his orchard as I, and yet I can’t get one of the trees -to bear so much as a crab.” - -“Well! well!” said True; “if I may have what lies three times twisted -round your orchard and men to dig it up, your orchard will bear well -enough.” - -Yes! the king was quite willing, so True got men and began to dig, and -at last he dug up the whole gold chain. Now True was a rich man, far -richer indeed than the king himself, but still the king was well -pleased, for his orchard bore so that the boughs of the trees hung down -to the ground, and such sweet apples and pears nobody had ever tasted. - -Another day too the king and True were walking about, and talking -together, when the princess passed them, and the king was quite downcast -when he saw her. - -“Isn’t it a pity, now, that so lovely a princess as mine should want -speech and hearing,” he said to True. - -“Ay, but there is a cure for that,” said True. - -When the king heard that, he was so glad that he promised him the -princess to wife, and half his kingdom into the bargain, if he could get -her right again. So True took a few men, and went into the church, and -dug up the toad which sat under the altar-rails. Then he cut open the -toad, and took out the bread and gave it to the king’s daughter; and -from that hour she got back her speech, and could talk like other -people. - -Now True was to have the princess, and they got ready for the bridal -feast, and such a feast had never been seen before; it was the talk of -the whole land. Just as they were in the midst of dancing the -bridal-dance, in came a beggar lad, and begged for a morsel of food, and -he was so ragged and wretched that every one crossed themselves when -they looked at him; but True knew him at once, and saw that it was -Untrue, his brother. - -“Do you know me again?” said True. - -“Oh! where should such a one as I ever have seen so great a lord,” said -Untrue. - -“Still you _have_ seen me before,” said True. “It was I whose eyes you -plucked out a year ago this very day. Untrue by name, and untrue by -nature. So I said before, and so I say now; but you are still my -brother, and so you shall have some food. After that, you may go to the -lime-tree where I sat last year; if you hear anything that can do you -good, you will be lucky.” - -So Untrue did not wait to be told twice. “If True has got so much good -by sitting in the lime-tree, that in one year he has come to be king -over half England, what good may not I get,” he thought. So he set off -and climbed up into the lime-tree. He had not sat there long, before all -the beasts came as before, and ate and drank, and kept St. John’s eve -under the tree. When they had left off eating, the Fox wished that they -should begin to tell stories, and Untrue got ready to listen with all -his might, till his ears were almost fit to fall off. But Bruin the bear -was surly, and growled and said— - -“Some one has been chattering about what we said last year, and so now -we will hold our tongues about what we know;” and with that the beasts -bid one another “Good night,” and parted, and Untrue was just as wise as -he was before, and the reason was, that his name was Untrue, and his -nature untrue too. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE OLD DAME AND HER HEN. - - -ONCE on a time there was an old widow who lived far away from the rest -of the world, up under a hill-side, with her three daughters. She was so -poor that she had no stock but one single hen, which she prized as the -apple of her eye; in short, it was always cackling at her heels, and she -was always running to look after it. Well! one day, all at once, the hen -was missing. The old wife went out, and round and round the cottage, -looking and calling for her hen, but it was gone, and there was no -getting it back. - -So the woman said to her eldest daughter, “You must just go out and see -if you can find our hen, for have it back we must, even if we have to -fetch it out of the hill.” - -Well! the daughter was ready enough to go, so she set off and walked up -and down, and looked and called, but no hen could she find. But all at -once, just as she was about to give up the hunt, she heard some one -calling out in a cleft in the rock— - - “Your hen trips inside the hill! - Your hen trips inside the hill!” - -So she went into the cleft to see what it was, but she had scarce set -her foot inside the cleft, before she fell through a trap-door, deep, -deep down, into a vault under ground. When she got to the bottom she -went through many rooms, each finer than the other; but in the innermost -room of all, a great ugly man of the hill-folk came up to her and asked, -“Will you be my sweetheart?” - -“No! I will not,” she said. She wouldn’t have him at any price! not she; -all she wanted was to get above ground again as fast as ever she could, -and to look after her hen which was lost. Then the Man o’ the Hill got -so angry that he took her up and wrung her head off, and threw both head -and trunk down into the cellar. - -While this was going on, her mother sat at home waiting and waiting, but -no daughter came. So after she had waited a bit longer, and neither -heard nor saw anything of her daughter, she said to her midmost -daughter, that she must go out and see after her sister, and she added— - -“You can just give our hen a call at the same time.” - -Well! the second sister had to set off, and the very same thing befell -her; she went about looking and calling, and all at once she too heard a -voice away in the cleft of the rock saying— - - “Your hen trips inside the hill! - Your hen trips inside the hill!” - -She thought this strange, and went to see what it could be; and so she -too fell through the trap-door, deep, deep down, into the vault. There -she went from room to room, and in the innermost one the Man o’ the Hill -came to her and asked if she would be his sweetheart? No! that she -wouldn’t; all she wanted was to get above ground again, and hunt for her -hen which was lost. So the Man o’ the Hill got angry, and took her up -and wrung her head off, and threw both head and trunk down into the -cellar. - -Now, when the old dame had sat and waited seven lengths and seven -breadths for her second daughter, and could neither see nor hear -anything of her, she said to the youngest,— - -“Now, you really must set off and see after your sisters. ’Twas silly to -lose the hen, but ’twill be sillier still if we lose both your sisters; -and you can give the hen a call at the same time,”—for the old dame’s -heart was still set on her hen. - -Yes! the youngest was ready enough to go; so she walked up and down, -hunting for her sisters and calling the hen, but she could neither see -nor hear anything of them. So at last she too came up to the cleft in -the rock, and heard how something said— - - “Your hen trips inside the hill! - Your hen trips inside the hill!” - -She thought this strange, so she too went to see what it was, and fell -through the trap-door too, deep, deep down, into a vault. When she -reached the bottom she went from one room to another, each grander than -the other; but she wasn’t at all afraid, and took good time to look -about her. So as she was peeping into this and that, she cast her eye on -the trap-door into the cellar, and looked down it, and what should she -see there but her sisters, who lay dead. She had scarce time to slam to -the trap-door before the Man o’ the Hill came to her and asked— - -“Will you be my sweetheart?” - -“With all my heart,” answered the girl, for she saw very well how it had -gone with her sisters. So, when the Man o’ the Hill heard that, he got -her the finest clothes in the world; she had only to ask for them, or -for anything else she had a mind to, and she got what she wanted, so -glad was the Man o’ the Hill that any one would be his sweetheart. - -But when she had been there a little while, she was one day even more -doleful and downcast than was her wont. So the Man o’ the Hill asked her -what was the matter, and why she was in such dumps. - -“Ah!” said the girl, “it’s because I can’t get home to my mother. She’s -hard pinched, I know, for meat and drink, and has no one with her.” - -“Well!” said the Man o’ the Hill, “I can’t let you go to see her; but -just stuff some meat and drink into a sack, and I’ll carry it to her.” - -Yes! she would do so, she said, with many thanks; but at the bottom of -the sack she stuffed a lot of gold and silver, and afterwards she laid a -little food on the top of the gold and silver. Then she told the ogre -the sack was ready, but he must be sure not to look into it. So he gave -his word he wouldn’t, and set off. Now, as the Man o’ the Hill walked -off, she peeped out after him through a chink in the trap-door; but when -he had gone a bit on the way, he said,— - -“This sack is so heavy, I’ll just see what there is inside it.” - -And so he was about to untie the mouth of the sack, but the girl called -out to him,— - - “I see what you’re at! - I see what you’re at!” - -“The deuce you do!” said the Man o’ the Hill; “then you must have plaguy -sharp eyes in your head, that’s all!” - -So he threw the sack over his shoulder, and dared not try to look into -it again. When he reached the widow’s cottage, he threw the sack in -through the cottage door, and said,— - -“Here you have meat and drink from your daughter; she doesn’t want for -anything.” - -So, when the girl had been in the hill a good bit longer, one day a -billy-goat fell down the trap-door. - -“Who sent for you, I should like to know? you long-bearded beast!” said -the Man o’ the Hill, who was in an awful rage, and with that he whipped -up the goat, and wrung his head off, and threw him down into the cellar. - -“Oh!” said the girl, “why did you do that? I might have had the goat to -play with down here.” - -“Well!” said the Man o’ the Hill, “you needn’t be so down in the mouth -about it, I should think, for I can soon put life into the billy-goat -again.” - -So saying, he took a flask which hung up against the wall, put the -billy-goat’s head on his body again, and smeared it with some ointment -out of the flask, and he was as well and as lively as ever again. - -“Ho! ho!” said the girl to herself; “that flask is worth something—that -it is.” - -So when she had been some time longer in the hill, she watched for a day -when the Man o’ the Hill was away, took her eldest sister, and putting -her head on her shoulders, smeared her with some of the ointment out of -the flask, just as she had seen the Man o’ the Hill do with the -billy-goat, and in a trice her sister came to life again. Then the girl -stuffed her into a sack, laid a little food over her, and as soon as the -Man o’ the Hill came home, she said to him,— - -“Dear friend! Now do go home to my mother with a morsel of food again; -poor thing! she’s both hungry and thirsty, I’ll be bound; and besides -that, she’s all alone in the world. But you must mind and not look into -the sack.” - -Well! he said he would carry the sack; and he said, too, that he would -not look into it; but when he had gone a little way, he thought the sack -got awfully heavy; and when he had gone a bit farther he said to -himself,— - -“Come what will, I must see what’s inside this sack, for however sharp -her eyes may be, she can’t see me all this way off.” - -But just as he was about to untie the sack, the girl who sat inside the -sack called out,— - - “I see what you’re at! - I see what you’re at!” - -“The deuce you do!” said the ogre; “then you must have plaguy sharp -eyes;” for he thought all the while it was the girl inside the hill who -was speaking. So he didn’t dare so much as to peep into the sack again, -but carried it straight to her mother as fast as he could, and when he -got to the cottage door he threw it in through the door, and bawled out— - -“Here you have meat and drink from your daughter; she wants for -nothing.” - -Now, when the girl had been in the hill a while longer, she did the very -same thing with her other sister. She put her head on her shoulders, -smeared her with ointment out of the flask, brought her to life, and -stuffed her into the sack; but this time she crammed in also as much -gold and silver as the sack would hold, and over all laid a very little -food. - -“Dear friend,” she said to the Man o’ the Hill, “you really must run -home to my mother with a little food again; and mind you don’t look into -the sack.” - -Yes! the Man o’ the Hill was ready enough to do as she wished, and he -gave his word too that he wouldn’t look into the sack; but when he had -gone a bit of the way he began to think the sack got awfully heavy, and -when he had gone a bit further, he could scarce stagger along under it, -so he set it down, and was just about to untie the string and look into -it, when the girl inside the sack bawled out,— - - “I see what you’re at! - I see what you’re at!” - -“The deuce you do!” said the Man o’ the Hill, “then you must have plaguy -sharp eyes of your own.” - -Well, he dared not try to look into the sack, but made all the haste he -could, and carried the sack straight to the girl’s mother. When he got -to the cottage door he threw the sack in through the door, and roared -out,— - -“Here you have food from your daughter; she wants for nothing.” - -So when the girl had been there a good while longer, the Man o’ the Hill -made up his mind to go out for the day; then the girl shammed to be sick -and sorry, and pouted and fretted. - -“It’s no use your coming home before twelve o’clock at night,” she said, -“for I shan’t be able to have supper ready before—I’m so sick and -poorly.” - -But when the Man o’ the Hill was well out of the house, she stuffed some -of her clothes with straw, and stuck up this lass of straw in the corner -by the chimney, with a besom in her hand, so that it looked just as if -she herself were standing there. After that she stole off home, and got -a sharp-shooter to stay in the cottage with her mother. - -So when the clock struck twelve, or just about it, home came the Man o’ -the Hill, and the first thing he said to the straw-girl was, “Give me -something to eat.” - -But she answered him never a word. - -“Give me something to eat I say!” called out the Man o’ the Hill, “for I -am almost starved.” - -No! she hadn’t a word to throw at him. - -“Give me something to eat!” roared out the ogre the third time. “I think -you’d better open your ears and hear what I say, or else I’ll wake you -up, that I will!” - -No! the girl stood just as still as ever; so he flew into a rage, and -gave her such a slap in the face, that the straw flew all about the -room; but when he saw that, he knew he had been tricked, and began to -hunt everywhere; and at last, when he came to the cellar, and found both -the girl’s sisters missing, he soon saw how the cat jumped, and ran off -to the cottage, saying, “I’ll soon pay her off!” - -But when he reached the cottage, the sharp-shooter fired off his piece, -and then the Man o’ the Hill dared not go into the house, for he thought -it was thunder. So he set off home again as fast as he could lay legs to -the ground, but what do you think, just as he got to the trap-door, the -sun rose and the Man o’ the Hill burst. - -Oh! if one only knew where the trap-door was, I’ll be bound there’s a -whole heap of gold and silver down there still! - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON. - - -ONCE on a time there was a poor husbandman who had so many children that -he hadn’t much of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty children -they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter, who was so -lovely there was no end to her loveliness. - -So one day, ’twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year, -the weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark, -and rain fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook again. -There they all sat round the fire busy with this thing and that. But -just then, all at once something gave three taps on the window-pane. -Then the father went out to see what was the matter; and, when he got -out of doors, what should he see but a great big White Bear. - -“Good evening to you!” said the White Bear. - -“The same to you,” said the man. - -“Will you give me your youngest daughter? If you will, I’ll make you as -rich as you are now poor,” said the Bear. - -Well, the man would not be at all sorry to be so rich; but still he -thought he must have a bit of a talk with his daughter first; so he went -in and told them how there was a great White Bear waiting outside, who -had given his word to make them so rich if he could only have the -youngest daughter. - -The lassie said “No!” outright. Nothing could get her to say anything -else; so the man went out and settled it with the White Bear, that he -should come again the next Thursday evening and get an answer. Meantime -he talked his daughter over, and kept on telling her of all the riches -they would get, and how well off she would be herself; and so at last -she thought better of it, and washed and mended her rags, made herself -as smart as she could, and was ready to start. I can’t say her packing -gave her much trouble. - -Next Thursday evening came the White Bear to fetch her, and she got upon -his back with her bundle, and off they went. So, when they had gone a -bit of the way, the White Bear said,— - -“Are you afraid?” - -“No! she wasn’t.” - -“Well! mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there’s nothing -to fear,” said the Bear. - -So she rode a long, long way, till they came to a great steep hill. -There, on the face of it, the White Bear gave a knock, and a door -opened, and they came into a castle, where there were many rooms all lit -up; rooms gleaming with silver and gold; and there too was a table ready -laid, and it was all as grand as grand could be. Then the White Bear -gave her a silver bell; and when she wanted anything, she was only to -ring it, and she would get it at once. - -Well, after she had eaten and drunk, and evening wore on, she got sleepy -after her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed, so she rang -the bell; and she had scarce taken hold of it before she came into a -chamber, where there was a bed made, as fair and white as any one would -wish to sleep in, with silken pillows and curtains and gold fringe. All -that was in the room was gold or silver; but when she had gone to bed, -and put out the light, a man came and laid himself alongside her. That -was the White Bear, who threw off his beast shape at night; but she -never saw him, for he always came after she had put out the light, and -before the day dawned he was up and off again. So things went on happily -for a while, but at last she began to get silent and sorrowful; for -there she went about all day alone, and she longed to go home to see her -father and mother, and brothers and sisters. So one day, when the White -Bear asked what it was that she lacked, she said it was so dull and -lonely there, and how she longed to go home to see her father and -mother, and brothers and sisters, and that was why she was so sad and -sorrowful, because she couldn’t get to them. - -“Well, well!” said the Bear, “perhaps there’s a cure for all this; but -you must promise me one thing, not to talk alone with your mother, but -only when the rest are by to hear; for she’ll take you by the hand and -try to lead you into a room alone to talk; but you must mind and not do -that, else you’ll bring bad luck on both of us.” - -So one Sunday the White Bear came and said, now they could set off to -see her father and mother. Well, off they started, she sitting on his -back; and they went far and long. At last they came to a grand house, -and there her brothers and sisters were running about out of doors at -play, and everything was so pretty, ’twas a joy to see. - -“This is where your father and mother live now,” said the White Bear; -“but don’t forget what I told you, else you’ll make us both unlucky.” - -“No! bless her, she’d not forget;” and when she had reached the house, -the White Bear turned right about and left her. - -Then when she went in to see her father and mother, there was such joy, -there was no end to it. None of them thought they could thank her enough -for all she had done for them. Now, they had everything they wished, as -good as good could be, and they all wanted to know how she got on where -she lived. - -Well, she said, it was very good to live where she did; she had all she -wished. What she said beside I don’t know; but I don’t think any of them -had the right end of the stick, or that they got much out of her. But so -in the afternoon, after they had done dinner, all happened as the White -Bear had said. Her mother wanted to talk with her alone in her bed-room; -but she minded what the White Bear had said, and wouldn’t go up stairs. - -“Oh! what we have to talk about, will keep,” she said, and put her -mother off. But some how or other, her mother got round her at last, and -she had to tell her the whole story. So she said, how every night, when -she had gone to bed, a man came and lay down beside her as soon as she -had put out the light, and how she never saw him, because he was always -up and away before the morning dawned; and how she went about woeful and -sorrowing, for she thought she should so like to see him, and how all -day long she walked about there alone, and how dull, and dreary, and -lonesome it was. - -“My!” said her mother; “it may well be a Troll you slept with! But now -I’ll teach you a lesson how to set eyes on him. I’ll give you a bit of -candle, which you can carry home in your bosom; just light that while he -is asleep, but take care not to drop the tallow on him.” - -Yes! she took the candle and hid it in her bosom, and as night drew on, -the White Bear came and fetched her away. - -But when they had gone a bit of the way, the White Bear asked if all -hadn’t happened as he had said? - -“Well she couldn’t say it hadn’t.” - -“Now, mind,” said he, “if you have listened to your mother’s advice, you -have brought bad luck on us both, and then, all that has passed between -us will be as nothing.” - -“No,” she said, “she hadn’t listened to her mother’s advice.” - -So when she reached home, and had gone to bed, it was the old story over -again. There came a man and lay down beside her; but at dead of night, -when she heard he slept, she got up and struck a light, lit the candle, -and let the light shine on him, and so she saw that he was the loveliest -Prince one ever set eyes on, and she fell so deep in love with him on -the spot, that she thought she couldn’t live if she didn’t give him a -kiss there and then. And so she did, but as she kissed him, she dropped -three hot drops of tallow on his shirt, and he woke up. - -“What have you done?” he cried; “now you have made us both unlucky, for -had you held out only this one year, I had been freed. For I have a -step-mother who has bewitched me, so that I am a White Bear by day, and -a Man by night. But now all ties are snapt between us; now I must set -off from you to her. She lives in a Castle which stands EAST O’ THE SUN -AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and there, too, is a Princess, with a nose three -ells long, and she’s the wife I must have now.” - -She wept and took it ill, but there was no help for it; go he must. - -Then she asked if she mightn’t go with him? - -No, she mightn’t. - -“Tell me the way then,” she said; “and I’ll search you out; _that_ -surely I may get leave to do.” - -“Yes, she might do that,” he said; “but there was no way to that place. -It lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and thither she’d never -find her way.” - -So next morning, when she woke up, both Prince and castle were gone, and -then she lay on a little green patch, in the midst of the gloomy thick -wood, and by her side lay the same bundle of rags she had brought with -her from her old home. - -So when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was -tired, she set out on her way, and walked many, many days, till she came -to a lofty crag. Under it sat an old hag, and played with a gold apple -which she tossed about. Her the lassie asked if she knew the way to the -Prince, who lived with his step-mother in the Castle, that lay EAST O’ -THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and who was to marry the Princess, with a -nose three ells long. - -“How did you come to know about him?” asked the old hag; “but maybe you -are the lassie who ought to have had him?” - -Yes, she was. - -“So, so; it’s you, is it?” said the old hag. “Well, all I know about him -is, that he lives in the castle that lies EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ -THE MOON, and thither you’ll come, late or never; but still you may have -the loan of my horse, and on him you can ride to my next neighbour. -Maybe she’ll be able to tell you; and when you get there, just give the -horse a switch under the left ear, and beg him to be off home; and, -stay, this gold apple you may take with you.” - -So she got upon the horse, and rode a long long time, till she came to -another crag, under which sat another old hag, with a gold carding comb. -Her the lassie asked if she knew the way to the castle that lay EAST O’ -THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and she answered, like the first old hag, -that she knew nothing about it, except it was east o’ the sun and west -o’ the moon. - -“And thither you’ll come, late or never, but you shall have the loan of -my horse to my next neighbour; maybe she’ll tell you all about it; and -when you get there, just switch the horse under the left ear, and beg -him to be off home.” - -And this old hag gave her the golden carding comb; it might be she’d -find the use for it, she said. So the lassie got up on the horse, and -rode a far far way, and a weary time; and so at last she came to another -great crag, under which sat another old hag, spinning with a golden -spinning-wheel. Her, too, she asked if she knew the way to the Prince, -and where the castle was that lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON. -So it was the same thing over again. - -“Maybe it’s you who ought to have had the Prince?” said the old hag. - -Yes, it was. - -But she, too, didn’t know the way a bit better than the other two, “East -o’ the sun and west o’ the moon it was,” she knew—that was all. - -“And thither you’ll come, late or never; but I’ll lend you my horse, and -then I think you’d best ride to the East Wind and ask him; maybe he -knows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to him, -you need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and he’ll trot -home of himself.” - -And so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel. “Maybe you’ll find a -use for it,” said the old hag. - -Then on she rode many many days, a weary time, before she got to the -East Wind’s house, but at last she did reach it, and then she asked the -East Wind if he could tell her the way to the Prince who dwelt east o’ -the sun and west o’ the moon. Yes, the East Wind had often heard tell of -it, the Prince, and the castle, but he couldn’t tell the way, for he had -never blown so far. - -“But, if you will, I’ll go with you to my brother the West Wind, maybe -he knows, for he’s much stronger. So, if you will just get on my back, -I’ll carry you thither.” - -Yes, she got on his back, and I should just think they went briskly -along. - -So when they got there, they went into the West Wind’s house, and the -East Wind said the lassie he had brought was the one who ought to have -had the Prince who lived in the castle EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE -MOON; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he had come with her, -and would be glad to know if the West Wind knew how to get to the -castle. - -“Nay,” said the West Wind, “so far I’ve never blown; but if you will, -I’ll go with you to our brother the South Wind, for he’s much stronger -than either of us, and he has flapped his wings far and wide. Maybe -he’ll tell you. You can get on my back, and I’ll carry you to him.” - -Yes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South Wind, and -weren’t so very long on the way, I should think. - -When they got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the -way to the castle that lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, for it -was she who ought to have had the Prince who lived there. - -“You don’t say so. That’s she, is it?” said the South Wind. - -“Well, I have blustered about in most places in my time, but so far have -I never blown; but if you will, I’ll take you to my brother the North -Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of the whole lot of us, and if he -don’t know where it is, you’ll never find any one in the world to tell -you. You can get on my back, and I’ll carry you thither.” - -Yes! she got on his back, and away he went from his house at a fine -rate. And this time, too, she wasn’t long on her way. - -So when they got to the North Wind’s house, he was so wild and cross, -cold puffs came from him a long way off. - -“BLAST YOU BOTH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he roared out to them ever so far -off, so that it struck them with an icy shiver. - -“Well,” said the south Wind, “you needn’t be so foul-mouthed, for here I -am, your brother the South Wind, and here is the lassie who ought to -have had the Prince who dwells in the castle that lies EAST O’ THE SUN -AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and now she wants to ask you if you ever were -there, and can tell her the way, for she would be so glad to find him -again.” - -“YES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS,” said the North Wind; “once in my -life I blew an aspen leaf thither, but I was so tired I couldn’t blow a -puff for ever so many days after. But if you really wish to go thither, -and aren’t afraid to come along with me, I’ll take you on my back and -see if I can blow you thither.” - -Yes! with all her heart; she must and would get thither if it were -possible in any way; and as for fear, however madly he went, she -wouldn’t be at all afraid. - -“Very well then,” said the North Wind, “but you must sleep here -to-night, for we must have the whole day before us if we’re to get -thither at all.” - -Early next morning the North Wind woke her, and puffed himself up, and -blew himself out, and made himself so stout and big, ’twas gruesome to -look at him; and so off they went, high up through the air, as if they -would never stop till they got to the world’s end. - -Down here below there was such a storm; it threw down long tracts of -wood and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea ships -foundered by hundreds. - -So they tore on and on,—no one can believe how far they went,—and all -the while they still went over the sea, and the North Wind got more and -more weary, and so out of breath he could scarce bring out a puff, and -his wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low that the -crests of the waves dashed over his heels. - -“Are you afraid?” said the North Wind. - -No! she wasn’t. - -But they weren’t very far from land; and the North Wind had still so -much strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on the shore -under the windows of the castle which lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ -THE MOON; but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to stay there and -rest many days before he could get home again. - -Next morning the lassie sat down under the castle window, and began to -play with the gold apple; and the first person she saw was the Long-nose -who was to have the Prince. - -“What do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?” said the Long-nose, -and threw up the window. - -“It’s not for sale for gold or money,” said the lassie. - -“If it’s not for sale for gold or money, what is it that you will sell -it for! You may name your own price,” said the Princess. - -“Well! if I may get to the Prince, who lives here, and be with him to -night, you shall have it,” said the lassie whom the North Wind had -brought. - -Yes! she might; that could be done. So the Princess got the gold apple; -but when the lassie came up to the Prince’s bed-room at night he was -fast asleep; she called him and shook him, and between whiles she wept -sore; but all she could do she couldn’t wake him up. Next morning, as -soon as day broke, came the Princess with the long nose, and drove her -out again. - -So in the daytime she sat down under the castle windows and began to -card with her golden carding-comb, and the same thing happened. The -Princess asked what she wanted for it; and she said it wasn’t for sale -for gold or money, but if she might get leave to go up to the Prince and -be with him that night, the Princess should have it. But when she went -up, she found him fast asleep again, and all she called, and all she -shook, and wept, and prayed, she couldn’t get life into him; and as soon -as the first gray peep of day came, then came the Princess with the long -nose, and chased her out again. - -So, in the day time, the lassie sat down outside under the castle -window, and began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that, too, -the Princess with the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up the -window and asked what she wanted for it. The lassie said, as she had -said twice before, it wasn’t for sale for gold or money; but if she -might go up to the Prince who was there, and be with him alone that -night, she might have it. - -Yes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were -some Christian folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat in -their room, which was next the Prince, they had heard how a woman had -been in there, and wept and prayed, and called to him two nights -running, and they told that to the Prince. - -That evening, when the Princess came with her sleepy drink, the Prince -made as if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he could guess -it was a sleepy drink. So, when the lassie came in, she found the Prince -wide awake; and then she told him the whole story how she had come -thither. - -“Ah,” said the Prince, “you’ve just come in the very nick of time, for -to-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won’t have the Long-nose, -and you are the only woman in the world who can set me free. I’ll say I -want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to wash the shirt which -has the three spots of tallow on it; she’ll say yes, for she doesn’t -know ’tis you who put them there; but that’s a work only for Christian -folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and so I’ll say that I won’t -have any other for my bride than the woman who can wash them out, and -ask you to do it.” - -So there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next -day, when the wedding was to be, the Prince said,— - -“First of all, I’d like to see what my bride is fit for.” - -“Yes!” said the step-mother, with all her heart. - -“Well,” said the Prince, “I’ve got a fine shirt which I’d like for my -wedding shirt, but somehow or other it has got three spots of tallow on -it, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to take any -other bride than the woman who’s able to do that. If she can’t, she’s -not worth having.” - -Well, that was no great thing they said, so they agreed, and she with -the Long-nose began to wash away as hard as she could, but the more she -rubbed and scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew. - -“Ah!” said the old hag, her mother, “you can’t wash; let me try.” - -But she hadn’t long taken the shirt in hand, before it got far worse -than ever, and with all her rubbing, and wringing, and scrubbing, the -spots grew bigger and blacker, and the darker and uglier was the shirt. - -Then all the other Trolls began to wash, but the longer it lasted, the -blacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last it was as black all over -as if it had been up the chimney. - -“Ah!” said the Prince, “you’re none of you worth a straw; you can’t -wash. Why there, outside, sits a beggar lassie, I’ll be bound she knows -how to wash better than the whole lot of you. COME IN LASSIE!” he -shouted. - -Well, in she came. - -“Can you wash this shirt clean, lassie, you?” said he. - -“I don’t know,” she said, “but I think I can.” - -And almost before she had taken it and dipped it in the water, it was as -white as driven snow, and whiter still. - -“Yes; you are the lassie for me,” said the Prince. - -At that the old hag flew into such a rage, she burst on the spot, and -the Princess with the long nose after her, and the whole pack of Trolls -after her,—at least I’ve never heard a word about them since. - -As for the Prince and Princess, they set free all the poor Christian -folk who had been carried off and shut up there; and they took with them -all the silver and gold, and flitted away as far as they could from the -Castle that lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BOOTS WHO ATE A MATCH WITH THE TROLL. - - -ONCE on a time there was a farmer, who had three sons; his means were -small, and he was old and weak, and his sons would take to nothing. A -fine large wood belonged to the farm, and one day the father told his -sons to go and hew wood, and try to pay off some of his debts. - -Well, after a long talk, he got them to set off, and the eldest was to -go first. But when he had got well into the wood, and began to hew at a -mossy old fir, what should he see coming up to him but a great sturdy -Troll. - -“If you hew in this wood of mine,” said the Troll, “I’ll kill you!” - -When the lad heard that, he threw the axe down, and ran off home as fast -as he could lay legs to the ground; so he came in quite out of breath, -and told them what had happened, but his father called him -“hare-heart,”—no Troll would ever have scared him from hewing when he -was young, he said. - -Next day the second son’s turn came, and he fared just the same. He had -scarce hewn three strokes at the fir, before the Troll came to him too, -and said,— - -“If you hew in this wood of mine, I’ll kill you!” - -The lad dared not so much as look at him, but threw down the axe, took -to his heels, and came scampering home just like his brother. So when he -got home, his father was angry again, and said no Troll had ever scared -him when he was young. - -The third day Boots wanted to set off. - -“You, indeed!” said the two elder brothers; “you’ll do it bravely, no -doubt! you, who have scarce ever set your foot out of the door.” - -Boots said nothing to this, but only begged them to give him a good -store of food. His mother had no cheese, so she set the pot on the fire -to make him a little, and he put it into a scrip and set off. So when he -had hewn a bit, the Troll came to him too, and said,— - -“If you hew in this wood of mine, I’ll kill you.” - -But the lad was not slow; he pulled his cheese out of the scrip in a -trice, and squeezed it till the whey spurted out. - -“Hold your tongue!” he cried to the Troll, “or I’ll squeeze you as I -squeeze the water out of this white stone.” - -“Nay, dear friend!” said the Troll, “only spare me, and I’ll help you to -hew.” - -Well, on those terms the lad was willing to spare him, and the Troll -hewed so bravely, that they felled and cut up many, many fathoms in the -day. - -But when even drew near the Troll said,— - -“Now you’d better come home with me, for my house is nearer than yours.” - -So the lad was willing enough; and when they reached the Troll’s house, -the Troll was to make up the fire, while the lad went to fetch water for -their porridge, and there stood two iron pails so big and heavy, that he -couldn’t so much as lift them from the ground. - -“Pooh!” said the lad, “it isn’t worth while to touch these -finger-basins. I’ll just go and fetch the spring itself.” - -“Nay, nay, dear friend!” said the Troll; “I can’t afford to lose my -spring; just you make up the fire, and I’ll go and fetch the water.” - -So when he came back with the water, they set to and boiled up a great -pot of porridge. - -“It’s all the same to me,” said the lad; “but if you’re of my mind, -we’ll eat a match!” - -“With all my heart,” said the Troll, for he thought he could surely hold -his own in eating. So they sat down; but the lad took his scrip unawares -to the Troll, and hung it before him, and so he spooned more into the -scrip than he ate himself; and when the scrip was full, he took up his -knife and made a slit in the scrip. The Troll looked on all the while, -but said never a word. So when they had eaten a good bit longer, the -Troll laid down his spoon, saying, “Nay! but I can’t eat a morsel more.” - -“But you shall eat,” said the youth; “I’m only half done; why don’t you -do as I did, and cut a hole in your paunch? You’ll be able to eat then -as much as you please.” - -“But doesn’t it hurt one cruelly?” asked the Troll. - -“Oh,” said the youth, “nothing to speak of.” - -So the Troll did as the lad said, and then you must know very well that -he lost his life; but the lad took all the silver and gold that he found -in the hill-side, and went home with it, and you may fancy it went a -great way to pay off the debt. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BOOTS, WHO MADE THE PRINCESS SAY, “THAT’S A STORY.” - - -ONCE on a time there was a king who had a daughter, and she was such a -dreadful story-teller that the like of her was not to be found far or -near. So the king gave out, that if any one could tell such a string of -lies as would get her to say, “That’s a story,” he should have her to -wife, and half the kingdom besides. Well, many came, as you may fancy, -to try their luck, for every one would have been very glad to have the -Princess, to say nothing of the kingdom; but they all cut a sorry -figure, for the Princess was so given to story telling, that all their -lies went in at one ear and out of the other. Among the rest came three -brothers to try their luck, and the two elder went first, but they fared -no better than those who had gone before them. Last of all the third, -Boots, set off and found the Princess in the farm-yard. - -“Good morning,” he said, “and thank you for nothing.” - -“Good morning,” said she, “and the same to you.” - -Then she went on— - -“You haven’t such a fine farm-yard as ours, I’ll be bound; for when two -shepherds stand, one at each end of it, and blow their ram’s horns, the -one can’t hear the other.” - -“Haven’t we though!” answered Boots; “ours is far bigger; for when a cow -begins to go with calf at one end of it, she doesn’t get to the other -end before the time to drop her calf is come.” - -“I daresay!” said the Princess. “Well, but you haven’t such a big ox, -after all, as ours yonder; for when two men sit, one on each horn, they -can’t touch each other with a twenty-foot rule.” - -“Stuff!” said Boots; “is that all? why, we have an ox who is so big, -that when two men sit, one on each horn, and each blows his great -mountain-trumpet, they can’t hear one another.” - -“I dare say!” said the Princess; “but you haven’t so much milk as we, -I’ll be bound; for we milk our kine into great pails, and carry them -in-doors, and empty them into great tubs, and so we make great, great -cheeses.” - -“Oh! you do, do you?” said Boots. “Well, we milk ours into great tubs, -and then we put them in carts and drive them in-doors, and then we turn -them out into great brewing vats, and so we make cheeses as big as a -great house. We had, too, a dun mare to tread the cheese well together -when it was making; but once she tumbled down into the cheese, and we -lost her; and after we had eaten at this cheese seven years, we came -upon a great dun mare, alive and kicking. Well, once after that I was -going to drive this mare to the mill, and her back-bone snapped in two; -but I wasn’t put out, not I, for I took a spruce sapling, and put it -into her for a back-bone, and she had no other back-bone all the while -we had her. But the sapling grew up into such a tall tree, that I -climbed right up to heaven by it, and when I got there, I saw the Virgin -Mary sitting and spinning the foam of the sea into pig’s-bristle ropes; -but just then the spruce-fir broke short off, and I couldn’t get down -again; so the Virgin Mary let me down by one of the ropes, and down I -slipped straight into a fox’s hole, and who should sit there but my -mother and your father cobbling shoes; and just as I stepped in, my -mother gave your father such a box on the ear, that it made his whiskers -curl.” - -“That’s a story!” said the Princess; “my father never did any such thing -in all his born days!” - -So Boots got the Princess to wife, and half the kingdom besides. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE TWELVE WILD DUCKS. - - -ONCE on a time there was a Queen who was out driving, when there had -been a new fall of snow in the winter; but when she had gone a little -way, she began to bleed at the nose, and had to get out of her sledge. -And so, as she stood there, leaning against the fence, and saw the red -blood on the white snow, she fell a-thinking how she had twelve sons and -no daughter, and she said to herself, - -“If I only had a daughter as white as snow and as red as blood, I -shouldn’t care what became of all my sons.” - -But the words were scarce out of her mouth before an old witch of the -Trolls came up to her. - -“A daughter you shall have,” she said, “and she shall be as white as -snow, and as red as blood; and your sons shall be mine, but you may keep -them till the babe is christened.” - -So when the time came the Queen had a daughter, and she was as white as -snow, and as red as blood, just as the Troll had promised, and so they -called her “Snow-white and Rosy-red.” Well, there was great joy at the -King’s court, and the Queen was as glad as glad could be; but when what -she had promised to the old witch came into her mind, she sent for a -silversmith, and bade him make twelve silver spoons, one for each -prince, and after that she bade him make one more, and that she gave to -Snow-white and Rosy-red. But as soon as ever the Princess was -christened, the Princes were turned into twelve wild ducks, and flew -away. They never saw them again,—away they went, and away they stayed. - -So the Princess grew up, and she was both tall and fair, but she was -often so strange and sorrowful, and no one could understand what it was -that failed her. But one evening the Queen was also sorrowful, for she -had many strange thoughts when she thought of her sons. She said to -Snow-white and Rosy-red, - -“Why are you so sorrowful, my daughter? Is there anything you want? if -so, only say the word, and you shall have it.” - -“Oh, it seems so dull and lonely here,” said Snow-white and Rosy-red; -“every one else has brothers and sisters, but I am all alone; I have -none; and that’s why I’m so sorrowful.” - -“But you _had_ brothers, my daughter,” said the Queen; “I had twelve -sons who were your brothers, but I gave them all away to get you;” and -so she told her the whole story. - -So when the Princess heard that, she had no rest; for, in spite of all -the Queen could say or do, and all she wept and prayed, the lassie would -set off to seek her brothers, for she thought it was all her fault; and -at last she got leave to go away from the palace. On and on she walked -into the wide world, so far, you would never have thought a young lady -could have strength to walk so far. - -So, once, when she was walking through a great, great wood, one day she -felt tired, and sat down on a mossy tuft and fell asleep. Then she -dreamt that she went deeper and deeper into the wood, till she came to a -little wooden hut, and there she found her brothers; just then she woke, -and straight before her she saw a worn path in the green moss, and this -path went deeper into the wood; so she followed it, and after a long -time she came to just such a little wooden house as that she had seen in -her dream. - -Now, when she went into the room there was no one at home, but there -stood twelve beds, and twelve chairs, and twelve spoons—a dozen of -everything, in short. So when she saw that, she was so glad, she hadn’t -been so glad for many a long year, for she could guess at once that her -brothers lived here, and that they owned the beds, and chairs, and -spoons. So she began to make up the fire, and sweep the room, and make -the beds, and cook the dinner, and to make the house as tidy as she -could; and when she had done all the cooking and work, she ate her own -dinner, and crept under her youngest brother’s bed, and lay down there, -but she forgot her spoon upon the table. - -So she had scarcely laid herself down before she heard something -flapping and whirring in the air, and so all the twelve wild ducks came -sweeping in; but as soon as ever they crossed the threshold they became -Princes. - -“Oh, how nice and warm it is in here,” they said. “Heaven bless him who -made up the fire, and cooked such a good dinner for us.” - -And so each took up his silver spoon, and was going to eat. But when -each had taken his own, there was one still left lying on the table, and -it was so like the rest that they couldn’t tell it from them. - -“This is our sister’s spoon,” they said; “and if her spoon be here, she -can’t be very far off herself.” - -“If this be our sister’s spoon, and she be here,” said the eldest, “she -shall be killed, for she is to blame for all the ill we suffer.” - -And this she lay under the bed and listened to. - -“No,” said the youngest; “’twere a shame to kill her for that. She has -nothing to do with our suffering ill; for if any one’s to blame, it’s -our own mother.” - -So they set to work hunting for her both high and low, and at last they -looked under all the beds, and so when they came to the youngest -Prince’s bed, they found her, and dragged her out. Then the eldest -Prince wished again to have her killed, but she begged and prayed so -prettily for herself. - -“Oh! gracious goodness! don’t kill me, for I’ve gone about seeking you -these three years, and if I could only set you free, I’d willingly lose -my life.” - -“Well!” said they, “if you will set us free, you may keep your life; for -you can if you choose.” - -“Yes; only tell me,” said the Princess; “how it can be done, and I’ll do -it, whatever it be.” - -“You must pick thistle-down,” said the Princes, “and you must card it, -and spin it, and weave it; and after you have done that, you must cut -out and make twelve coats, and twelve shirts, and twelve neckerchiefs, -one for each of us, and while you do that, you must neither talk, nor -laugh, nor weep. If you can do that, we are free.” - -“But where shall I ever get thistle-down enough for so many -neckerchiefs, and shirts, and coats?” asked Snow-white and Rosy-red. - -“We’ll soon shew you,” said the Princes; and so they took her with them -to a great wide moor, where there stood such a crop of thistles, all -nodding and nodding in the breeze, and the down all floating and -glistening like gossamers through the air in the sunbeams. The Princess -had never seen such a quantity of thistle-down in her life, and she -began to pluck and gather it as fast and as well as she could; and when -she got home at night she set to work carding and spinning yarn from the -down. So she went on a long long time, picking, and carding, and -spinning, and all the while keeping the Princes’ house, cooking and -making their beds. At evening home they came, flapping and whirring like -wild ducks, and all night they were Princes, but in the morning off they -flew again, and were wild ducks the whole day. - -But now it happened once, when she was out on the moor to pick -thistle-down,—and if I don’t mistake, it was the very last time she was -to go thither,—it happened that the young King who ruled that land was -out hunting, and came riding across the moor and saw her. So he stopped -there and wondered who the lovely lady could be that walked along the -moor picking thistle-down, and he asked her her name, and when he could -get no answer, he was still more astonished; and at last he liked her so -much, that nothing would do but he must take her home to his castle and -marry her. So he ordered his servants to take her and put her upon his -horse. Snow-white and Rosy-red, she wrung her hands, and made signs to -them, and pointed to the bags in which her work was, and when the King -saw she wished to have them with her, he told his men to take up the -bags behind them. When they had done that the Princess came to herself -little by little, for the King was both a wise man and a handsome man -too, and he was as soft and kind to her as a doctor. But when they got -home to the palace, and the old Queen, who was his step-mother, set eyes -on Snow-white and Rosy-red, she got so cross and jealous of her because -she was so lovely, that she said to the king,— - -“Can’t you see now, that this thing whom you have picked up, and whom -you are going to marry, is a witch. Why? she can’t either talk, or -laugh, or weep!” - -But the King didn’t care a pin for what she said, but held on with the -wedding, and married Snow-white and Rosy-red, and they lived in great -joy and glory; but she didn’t forget to go on sewing at her shirts. - -So when the year was almost out Snow-white and Rosy-red brought a Prince -into the world; and then the old Queen was more spiteful and jealous -than ever, and at dead of night, she stole in to Snow-white and -Rosy-red, while she slept, and took away her babe, and threw it into a -pit full of snakes. After that she cut Snow-white and Rosy-red in her -finger, and smeared the blood over her mouth, and went straight to the -King. - -“Now come and see,” she said, “what sort of a thing you have taken for -your Queen; here she has eaten up her own babe.” - -Then the King was so downcast, he almost burst into tears, and said— - -“Yes, it must be true, sure I see it with my own eyes; but she’ll not do -it again, I’m sure, and so this time I’ll spare her life.” - -So before the next year was out she had another son, and the same thing -happened. The King’s step-mother got more and more jealous and spiteful. -She stole in to the young Queen at night while she slept, took away the -babe, and threw it into a pit full of snakes, cut the young Queen’s -finger, and smeared the blood over her mouth, and then went and told the -King she had eaten up her own child. Then the King was so sorrowful, you -can’t think how sorry he was, and he said,— - -“Yes, it must be true, since I see it with my own eyes; but she’ll not -do it again, I’m sure, and so this time too I’ll spare her life.” - -Well! before the next year was out, Snow-white and Rosy-red brought a -daughter into the world, and her, too, the old Queen took and threw into -the pit full of snakes, while the young Queen slept. Then she cut her -finger, smeared the blood over her mouth, and went again to the King and -said,— - -“Now you may come and see if it isn’t as I say; she’s a wicked, wicked -witch, for here she has gone and eaten up her third babe too.” - -Then the King was so sad, there was no end to it, for now he couldn’t -spare her any longer, but had to order her to be burnt alive on a pile -of wood. But just when the pile was all a-blaze, and they were going to -put her on it, she made signs to them to take twelve boards and lay them -round the pile, and on these she laid the neckerchiefs, and the shirts, -and the coats for her brothers, but the youngest brother’s shirt wanted -its left arm, for she hadn’t had time to finish it. And as soon as ever -she had done that, they heard such a flapping and whirring in the air, -and down came twelve wild ducks flying over the forest, and each of them -snapped up his clothes in his bill and flew off with them. - -“See now!” said the old Queen to the King, “wasn’t I right when I told -you she was a witch; but make haste and burn her before the pile burns -low.” - -“Oh!” said the King, “we’ve wood enough and to spare, and so I’ll wait a -bit, for I have a mind to see what the end of all this will be.” - -As he spoke, up came the twelve princes riding along, as handsome -well-grown lads as you’d wish to see; but the youngest prince had a wild -duck’s wing instead of his left arm. - -“What’s all this about?” asked the Princes. - -“My Queen is to be burnt,” said the King, “because she’s a witch, and -because she has eaten up her own babes.” - -“She hasn’t eaten them at all,” said the Princes. “Speak now, sister; -you have set us free and saved us, now save yourself.” - -Then Snow-white and Rosy-red spoke, and told the whole story; how every -time she was brought to bed, the old Queen, the King’s step-mother, had -stolen into her at night, had taken her babes away, and cut her little -finger, and smeared the blood over her mouth; and then the Princes took -the King, and shewed him the snake-pit where three babes lay playing -with adders and toads, and lovelier children you never saw. - -So the King had them taken out at once, and went to his step-mother, and -asked her what punishment she thought that woman deserved who could find -it in her heart to betray a guiltless Queen and three such blessed -little babes. - -“She deserves to be fast bound between twelve unbroken steeds, so that -each may take his share of her,” said the old Queen. - -“You have spoken your own doom,” said the King, “and you shall suffer it -at once.” - -So the wicked old Queen was fast bound between twelve unbroken steeds, -and each got his share of her. But the King took Snow-white and -Rosy-red, and their three children, and the twelve Princes; and so they -all went home to their father and mother, and told all that had befallen -them, and there was joy and gladness over the whole kingdom, because the -Princess was saved and set free, and because she had set free her twelve -brothers. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART IN HIS BODY. - - -ONCE on a time there was a king who had seven sons, and he loved them so -much that he could never bear to be without them all at once, but one -must always be with him. Now, when they were grown up, six were to set -off to woo, but as for the youngest, his father kept him at home, and -the others were to bring back a princess for him to the palace. So the -king gave the six the finest clothes you ever set eyes on, so fine that -the light gleamed from them a long way off, and each had his horse, -which cost many, many hundred dollars, and so they set off. Now, when -they had been to many palaces, and seen many princesses, at last they -came to a king who had six daughters; such lovely king’s daughters they -had never seen, and so they fell to wooing them, each one, and when they -had got them for sweethearts, they set off home again, but they quite -forgot that they were to bring back with them a sweetheart for Boots, -their brother, who stayed at home, for they were over head and ears in -love with their own sweethearts. - -But when they had gone a good bit on their way, they passed close by a -steep hill-side, like a wall, where the giant’s house was, and there the -giant came out, and set his eyes upon them, and turned them all into -stone, princes and princesses and all. Now, the king waited and waited -for his six sons, but the more he waited, the longer they stayed away; -so he fell into great trouble, and said he should never know what it was -to be glad again. - -“And if I had not you left,” he said to Boots, “I would live no longer, -so full of sorrow am I for the loss of your brothers.” - -“Well, but now I’ve been thinking to ask your leave to set out and find -them again; that’s what I’m thinking of,” said Boots. - -“Nay, nay!” said his father; “that leave you shall never get, for then -you would stay away too.” - -But Boots had set his heart upon it; go he would; and he begged and -prayed so long that the king was forced to let him go. Now, you must -know the king had no other horse to give Boots but an old broken-down -jade, for his six other sons and their train had carried off all his -horses; but Boots did not care a pin for that, he sprang up on his sorry -old steed. - -“Farewell, father,” said he; “I’ll come back, never fear, and like -enough I shall bring my six brothers back with me;” and with that he -rode off. - -So when he had ridden a while he came to a Raven, which lay in the road -and flapped its wings, and was not able to get out of the way, it was so -starved. - -“Oh, dear friend,” said the Raven, “give me a little food, and I’ll help -you again at your utmost need.” - -“I haven’t much food,” said the Prince, “and I don’t see how you’ll ever -be able to help me much; but still I can spare you a little. I see you -want it.” - -So he gave the Raven some of the food he had brought with him. - -Now, when he had gone a bit further, he came to a brook, and in the -brook lay a great Salmon, which had got upon a dry place and dashed -itself about, and could not get into the water again. - -“Oh, dear friend,” said the Salmon to the Prince, “shove me out into the -water again, and I’ll help you again at your utmost need.” - -“Well!” said the Prince, “the help you’ll give me will not be great, I -daresay, but it’s a pity you should lie there and choke;” and with that -he shot the fish out into the stream again. - -After that he went a long, long way, and there met him a Wolf, which was -so famished that it lay and crawled along the road on its belly. - -“Dear friend, do let me have your horse,” said the Wolf; “I’m so hungry -the wind whistles through my ribs; I’ve had nothing to eat these two -years.” - -“No,” said Boots, “this will never do; first I came to a Raven, and I -was forced to give him my food; next I came to a Salmon, and him I had -to help into the water again; and now you will have my horse. It can’t -be done, that it can’t, for then I should have nothing to ride on.” - -“Nay, dear friend, but you can help me,” said Greylegs the wolf; “you -can ride upon my back, and I’ll help you again in your utmost need.” - -“Well! the help I shall get from you will not be great, I’ll be bound,” -said the Prince; “but you may take my horse, since you are in such -need.” - -So when the wolf had eaten the horse, Boots took the bit and put it into -the Wolf’s jaw, and laid the saddle on his back; and now the Wolf was so -strong, after what he had got inside, that he set off with the Prince -like nothing. So fast he had never ridden before. - -“When we have gone a bit farther,” said Greylegs; “I’ll shew you the -Giant’s house.” - -So after a while they came to it. - -“See here is the Giant’s house,” said the Wolf; “and see, here are your -six brothers, whom the Giant has turned into stone; and see here are -their six brides, and away yonder is the door, and in at that door you -must go.” - -“Nay, but I daren’t go in,” said the Prince; “he’ll take my life.” - -“No! no!” said the Wolf; “when you get in you’ll find a Princess, and -she’ll tell you what to do to make an end of the Giant. Only mind and do -as she bids you.” - -Well! Boots went in, but, truth to say, he was very much afraid. When he -came in the Giant was away, but in one of the rooms sat the Princess, -just as the wolf had said, and so lovely a princess Boots had never yet -set eyes on. - -“Oh! heaven help you! whence have you come?” said the Princess, as she -saw him; “it will surely be your death. No one can make an end of the -Giant who lives here, for he has no heart in his body.” - -“Well! well!” said Boots; “but now that I am here, I may as well try -what I can do with him; and I will see if I can’t free my brothers, who -are standing turned to stone out of doors; and you, too, I will try to -save, that I will.” - -“Well, if you must, you must,” said the Princess; “and so let us see if -we can’t hit on a plan. Just creep under the bed yonder, and mind and -listen to what he and I talk about. But, pray, do lie as still as a -mouse.” - -So he crept under the bed, and he had scarce got well underneath it, -before the Giant came. - -“Ha!” roared the Giant, “what a smell of Christian blood there is in the -house!” - -“Yes, I know there is,” said the Princess, “for there came a magpie -flying with a man’s bone, and let it fall down the chimney. I made all -the haste I could to get it out, but all one can do, the smell doesn’t -go off so soon.” - -So the Giant said no more about it, and when night came, they went to -bed. After they had lain a while, the Princess said,— - -“There is one thing I’d be so glad to ask you about, if I only dared.” - -“What thing is that?” asked the Giant. - -“Only where it is you keep your heart, since you don’t carry it about -you,” said the Princess. - -“Ah! that’s a thing you’ve no business to ask about; but if you must -know, it lies under the door-sill,” said the Giant. - -“Ho! ho!” said Boots to himself under the bed, “then we’ll soon see if -we can’t find it.” - -Next morning the Giant got up cruelly early, and strode off to the wood; -but he was hardly out of the house before Boots and the Princess set to -work to look under the door-sill for his heart; but the more they dug, -and the more they hunted, the more they couldn’t find it. - -“He has baulked us this time,” said the Princess, “but we’ll try him -once more.” - -So she picked all the prettiest flowers she could find, and strewed them -over the door-sill which they had laid in its right place again; and -when the time came for the Giant to come home again, Boots crept under -the bed. Just as he was well under, back came the Giant. - -Snuff—snuff, went the Giant’s nose. “My eyes and limbs, what a smell of -Christian blood there is in here,” said he. - -“I know there is,” said the Princess, “for there came a magpie flying -with a man’s bone in his bill, and let it fall down the chimney. I made -as much haste as I could to get it out, but I daresay it’s that you -smell.” - -So the Giant held his peace, and said no more about it. A little while -after, he asked who it was that had strewed flowers about the door-sill. - -“Oh, I, of course,” said the Princess. - -“And, pray, what’s the meaning of all this,” said the Giant. - -“Ah!” said the Princess, “I’m so fond of you that I couldn’t help -strewing them, when I knew that your heart lay under there.” - -“You don’t say so,” said the Giant; “but after all it doesn’t lie there -at all.” - -So when they went to bed again in the evening, the Princess asked the -Giant again where his heart was, for she said she would so like to know. - -“Well,” said the Giant, “if you must know, it lies away yonder in the -cupboard against the wall.” - -“So, so!” thought Boots and the Princess; “then we’ll soon try to find -it.” - -Next morning the Giant was away early, and strode off to the wood, and -so soon as he was gone Boots and the Princess were in the cupboard -hunting for his heart, but the more they sought for it the less they -found it. - -“Well,” said the Princess, “we’ll just try him once more.” - -So she decked out the cupboard with flowers and garlands, and when the -time came for the Giant to come home, Boots crept under the bed again. - -Then back came the Giant. - -Snuff—snuff! “My eyes and limbs, what a smell of Christian blood there -is in here!” - -“I know there is,” said the Princess; “for a little while since there -came a magpie flying with a man’s bone in his bill, and let it fall down -the chimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out of the house -again; but after all my pains, I dare say it’s that you smell.” - -When the Giant heard that he said no more about it; but a little while -after, he saw how the cupboard was all decked about with flowers, and -garlands; so he asked who it was that had done that? Who could it be but -the Princess. - -“And, pray, what’s the meaning of all this tomfoolery?” asked the Giant. - -“Oh, I’m so fond of you, I couldn’t help doing it when I knew that your -heart lay there,” said the Princess. - -“How can you be so silly as to believe any such thing?” said the Giant. - -“Oh yes; how can I help believing it, when you say it,” said the -Princess. - -“You’re a goose,” said the Giant; “where my heart is, you will never -come.” - -“Well,” said the Princess; “but for all that, ’twould be such a pleasure -to know where it really lies.” - -Then the poor Giant could hold out no longer, but was forced to say,— - -“Far, far away in a lake lies an island; on that island stands a church; -in that church is a well; in that well swims a duck; in that duck there -is an egg, and in that egg there lies my heart,—you darling!” - -In the morning early, while it was still gray dawn, the Giant strode off -to the wood. - -“Yes! now I must set off too,” said Boots; “if I only knew how to find -the way. He took a long, long farewell of the Princess, and when he got -out of the Giant’s door, there stood the Wolf waiting for him. So Boots -told him all that had happened inside the house, and said now he wished -to ride to the well in the church, if he only knew the way. So the Wolf -bade him jump on his back, he’d soon find the way; and away they went -till the wind whistled after them, over hedge and field, over hill and -dale. After they had travelled many, many days, they came at last to the -lake. Then the Prince did not know how to get over it, but the Wolf bade -him only not be afraid, but stick on, and so he jumped into the lake -with the Prince on his back, and swam over to the island. So they came -to the church; but the church keys hung high, high up on the top of the -tower, and at first the Prince did not know how to get them down. - -“You must call on the Raven,” said the Wolf. - -So the Prince called on the Raven, and immediately the Raven came, and -flew up and fetched the keys, and so the Prince got into the church. But -when he came to the well, there lay the duck, and swam about backwards -and forwards, just as the Giant had said. So the Prince stood and coaxed -it and coaxed it, till it came to him, and he grasped it in his hand; -but just as he lifted it up from the water the duck dropped the egg into -the well, and then Boots was beside himself to know how to get it out -again. - -“Well, now you must call on the Salmon, to be sure,” said the Wolf; and -the king’s son called on the Salmon, and the Salmon came and fetched up -the egg from the bottom of the well. - -Then the Wolf told him to squeeze the egg, and as soon as ever he -squeezed it the Giant screamed out. - -“Squeeze it again,” said the Wolf; and when the Prince did so, the Giant -screamed still more piteously, and begged and prayed so prettily to be -spared, saying he would do all that the Prince wished if he would only -not squeeze his heart in two. - -“Tell him, if he will restore to life again your six brothers and their -brides, whom he has turned to stone, you will spare his life,” said the -Wolf. - -Yes, the Giant was ready to do that, and he turned the six brothers into -king’s sons again, and their brides into king’s daughters. - -“Now, squeeze the egg in two,” said the Wolf. So Boots squeezed the egg -to pieces, and the Giant burst at once. - -Now, when he had made an end of the Giant, Boots rode back again on the -Wolf to the Giant’s house, and there stood all his six brothers alive -and merry, with their brides. Then Boots went into the hill-side after -his bride, and so they all set off home again to their father’s house. -And you may fancy how glad the old king was when he saw all his seven -sons come back, each with his bride;—“But the loveliest bride of all was -the bride of Boots after all,” said the king, “and he shall sit -uppermost at the table, with her by his side.” - -So he sent out, and called a great wedding-feast, and the mirth was both -loud and long, and if they have not done feasting, why they are still at -it. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE FOX AS HERDSMAN. - - -ONCE on a time there was a woman who went out to hire a herdsman, and -she met a bear. - -“Whither away, Goody?” said Bruin. - -“Oh, I’m going out to hire a herdsman,” answered the woman. - -“Why not have me for a herdsman?” said Bruin. - -“Well, why not?” said the woman. “If you only knew how to call the -flock; just let me hear?” - -“OW, OW!” growled the bear. - -“No, no! I won’t have you,” said the woman, as soon as she heard him say -that, and off she went on her way. - -So, when she had gone a bit further, she met a wolf. - -“Whither away, Goody?” asked the Wolf. - -“Oh!” said she, “I’m going out to hire a herdsman.” - -“Why not have me for a herdsman?” said the Wolf. - -“Well, why not? if you can only call the flock; let me hear?” said she. - -“Uh, uh!” said the Wolf. - -“No, no!” said the woman; “you will never do for me.” - -Well, after she had gone a while longer, she met a fox. - -“Whither away, Goody?” asked the Fox. - -“Oh, I’m just going out to hire a herdsman,” said the woman. - -“Why not have me for your herdsman?” asked the Fox. - -“Well, why not?” said she; “if you only knew how to call the flock; let -me hear?” - -“Dil-dal-holom,” sung out the Fox, in such a fine clear voice. - -“Yes; I’ll have you for my herdsman,” said the woman; and so she set the -Fox to herd her flock. - -The first day the Fox was herdsman he ate up all the woman’s goats; the -next day he made an end of all her sheep; and the third day he ate up -all her kine. So, when he came home at even, the woman asked what he had -done with all her flocks? - -“Oh!” said the Fox, “their skulls are in the stream, and their bodies in -the holt.” - -Now, the Goody stood and churned when the fox said this, but she thought -she might as well step out and see after her flock; and while she was -away the Fox crept into the churn and ate up the cream. So when the -Goody came back and saw that, she fell into such a rage, that she -snatched up the little morsel of the cream that was left, and threw it -at the fox as he ran off, so that he got a dab of it on the end of his -tail, and that’s the reason why the fox has a white tip to his brush. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man up in Finnmark who had caught a great -white bear, which he was going to take to the king of Denmark. Now, it -so fell out, that he came to the Dovrefell just about Christmas Eve, and -there he turned into a cottage where a man lived, whose name was Halvor, -and asked the man if he could get house-room there, for his bear and -himself. - -“Heaven never help me, if what I say isn’t true!” said the man; “but we -can’t give any one house-room just now, for every Christmas Eve such a -pack of Trolls come down upon us, that we are forced to flit, and -haven’t so much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of lending -one to any one else.” - -“Oh!” said the man, “if that’s all, you can very well lend me your -house; my bear can lie under the stove yonder, and I can sleep in the -side-room.” - -[Illustration: - - THE CAT ON THE DOVREFELL. -] - -Well, he begged so hard, that at last he got leave to stay there; so the -people of the house flitted out, and before they went, everything was -got ready for the Trolls; the tables were laid, and there was rice -porridge, and fish boiled in lye, and sausages, and all else that was -good, just as for any other grand feast. - -So, when everything was ready, down came the Trolls. Some were great and -some were small; some had long tails and some had no tails at all; some, -too, had long, long noses; and they ate and drank, and tasted every -thing. Just then, one of the little Trolls caught sight of the white -bear, who lay under the stove; so he took a piece of sausage and stuck -it on a fork, and went and poked it up against the bear’s nose, -screaming out— - -“Pussy, will you have some sausage?” - -Then the white bear rose up and growled, and hunted the whole pack of -them out of doors, both great and small. - -Next year Halvor was out in the wood, on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, -cutting wood before the holidays, for he thought the Trolls would come -again; and just as he was hard at work, he heard a voice in the wood -calling out,— - -“Halvor, Halvor!” - -“Well,” said Halvor, “here I am.” - -“Have you got your big cat with you still?” - -“Yes, that I have,” said Halvor; “she’s lying at home under the stove, -and what’s more, she has now got seven kittens, far bigger and fiercer -than she is herself.” - -“Oh, then, we’ll never come to see you again,” bawled out the Troll away -in the wood, and he kept his word; for since that time the Trolls have -never eaten their Christmas brose with Halvor on the Dovrefell. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man who had a meadow which lay high up on the -hill-side, and in the meadow was a barn, which he had built to keep his -hay in. Now, I must tell you, there hadn’t been much in the barn for the -last year or two, for every St. John’s night, when the grass stood -greenest and deepest, the meadow was eaten down to the very ground the -next morning, just as if a whole drove of sheep had been there feeding -on it over night. This happened once, and it happened twice; so at last -the man grew weary of losing his crop of hay, and said to his sons—for -he had three of them, and the youngest was nicknamed Boots, of -course—that now one of them must just go and sleep in the barn in the -outlying field when St. John’s night came, for it was too good a joke -that his grass should be eaten, root and blade, this year, as it had -been the last two years. So whichever of them went must keep a sharp -look-out; that was what their father said. - -Well, the eldest son was ready to go and watch the meadow; trust him for -looking after the grass! It shouldn’t be his fault if man or beast, or -the fiend himself got a blade of grass. So, when evening came, he set -off to the barn, and lay down to sleep; but a little on in the night -came such a clatter, and such an earthquake that walls and roof shook, -and groaned, and creaked; then up jumped the lad, and took to his heels -as fast as ever he could; nor dared he once look round till he reached -home; and as for the hay, why it was eaten up this year just as it had -been twice before. - -The next St. John’s night, the man said again it would never do to lose -all the grass in the outlying field year after year in this way, so one -of his sons must just trudge off to watch it, and watch it well too. -Well, the next oldest son was ready to try his luck, so he set off, and -lay down to sleep in the barn as his brother had done before him; but as -the night wore on, there came on a rumbling and quaking of the earth, -worse even than on the last St. John’s night, and when the lad heard it, -he got frightened, and took to his heels as though he were running a -race. - -Next year the turn came to Boots; but when he made ready to go, the -other two began to laugh and to make game of him, saying,— - -“You’re just the man to watch the hay, that you are; you, who have done -nothing all your life but sit in the ashes and toast yourself by the -fire.” - -But Boots did not care a pin for their chattering, and stumped away as -evening drew on up the hill-side to the outlying field. There he went -inside the barn and lay down; but in about an hour’s time the barn began -to groan and creak, so that it was dreadful to hear. - -“Well,” said Boots to himself, “if it isn’t worse than this, I can stand -it well enough.” - -A little while after came another creak and an earthquake, so that the -litter in the barn flew about the lad’s ears. - -“Oh!” said Boots to himself, “if it isn’t worse than this, I daresay I -can stand it out.” - -But just then came a third rumbling, and a third earthquake, so that the -lad thought walls and roof were coming down on his head; but it passed -off, and all was still as death about him. - -“It’ll come again, I’ll be bound,” thought Boots; but no, it didn’t come -again; still it was, and still it stayed; but after he had lain a little -while, he heard a noise as if a horse were standing just outside the -barn-door, and cropping the grass. He stole to the door, and peeped -through a chink, and there stood a horse feeding away. So big, and fat, -and grand a horse, Boots had never set eyes on; by his side on the grass -lay a saddle and bridle, and a full set of armour for a knight, all of -brass, so bright that the light gleamed from it. - -“Ho, ho!” thought the lad; “it’s you, is it, that eats up our hay? I’ll -soon put a spoke in your wheel, just see if I don’t.” - -So he lost no time, but took the steel out of his tinder-box, and threw -it over the horse; then it had no power to stir from the spot, and -became so tame that the lad could do what he liked with it. So he got on -its back, and rode off with it to a place which no one knew of, and -there he put up the horse. When he got home, his brothers laughed and -asked how he had fared? - -“You didn’t lie long in the barn, even if you had the heart to go so far -as the field.” - -“Well,” said Boots, “all I can say is, I lay in the barn till the sun -rose, and neither saw nor heard anything; I can’t think what there was -in the barn to make you both so afraid.” - -“A pretty story,” said his brothers; “but we’ll soon see how you have -watched the meadow;” so they set off; but when they reached it, there -stood the grass as deep and thick as it had been over night. - -Well, the next St. John’s eve it was the same story over again; neither -of the elder brothers dared to go out to the outlying field to watch the -crop; but Boots, he had the heart to go, and everything happened just as -it had happened the year before. First a clatter and an earthquake, then -a greater clatter and another earthquake, and so on a third time; only -this year the earthquakes were far worse than the year before. Then all -at once everything was as still as death, and the lad heard how -something was cropping the grass outside the barn-door, so he stole to -the door, and peeped through a chink; and what do you think he saw? why, -another horse standing right up against the wall, and chewing and -champing with might and main. It was far finer and fatter than that -which came the year before, and it had a saddle on its back, and a -bridle on its neck, and a full suit of mail for a knight lay by its -side, all of silver, and as grand as you would wish to see. - -“Ho, ho!” said Boots to himself; “it’s you that gobbles up our hay, is -it? I’ll soon put a spoke in your wheel; and with that he took the steel -out of his tinder-box, and threw it over the horse’s crest, which stood -as still as a lamb. Well, the lad rode this horse too to the -hiding-place where he kept the other one, and after that he went home. - -“I suppose you’ll tell us,” said one of his brothers, “there’s a fine -crop this year too, up in the hayfield.” - -“Well, so there is,” said Boots; and off ran the others to see, and -there stood the grass thick and deep, as it was the year before, but -they didn’t give Boots softer words for all that. - -Now when the third St. John’s eve came, the two elder still hadn’t the -heart to lie out in the barn and watch the grass, for they had got so -scared at heart the night they lay there before, that they couldn’t get -over the fright; but Boots, he dared to go; and, to make a long story -short, the very same thing happened this time as had happened twice -before. Three earthquakes came, one after the other, each worse than the -one which went before, and when the last came, the lad danced about with -the shock from one barn wall to the other; and after that, all at once, -it was still as death. Now, when he had lain a little while, he heard -something tugging away at the grass outside the barn, so he stole again -to the door-chink, and peeped out, and there stood a horse close -outside—far, far bigger and fatter than the two he had taken before. - -“Ho, ho!” said the lad to himself, “it’s you, is it, that comes here -eating up our hay? I’ll soon stop that—I’ll soon put a spoke in your -wheel.” So he caught up his steel and threw it over the horse’s neck, -and in a trice it stood as if it were nailed to the ground, and Boots -could do as he pleased with it. Then he rode off with it to the hiding, -where he kept the other two, and then went home. When he got home, his -two brothers made game of him as they had done before, saying, they -could see he had watched the grass well, for he looked for all the world -as if he were walking in his sleep, and many other spiteful things they -said; but Boots gave no heed to them, only asking them to go and see for -themselves; and when they went, there stood the grass as fine and deep -this time as it had been twice before. - -Now, you must know that the king of the country where Boots lived had a -daughter, whom he would only give to the man who could ride up over the -hill of glass, for there was a high, high hill, all of glass, as smooth -and slippery as ice, close by the king’s palace. Upon the tip top of the -hill the king’s daughter was to sit, with three golden apples in her -lap, and the man who could ride up and carry off the three golden -apples, was to have half the kingdom, and the Princess to wife. This the -king had stuck up on all the church-doors in his realm, and had given it -out in many other kingdoms besides. Now, this Princess was so lovely, -that all who set eyes on her, fell over head and ears in love with her, -whether they would or no. So I needn’t tell you how all the princes and -knights who heard of her were eager to win her to wife, and half the -kingdom beside; and how they came riding from all parts of the world on -high prancing horses, and clad in the grandest clothes, for there wasn’t -one of them who hadn’t made up his mind that he, and he alone, was to -win the Princess. - -So when the day of trial came, which the king had fixed, there was such -a crowd of princes and knights under the glass hill, that it made one’s -head whirl to look at them; and every one in the country who could even -crawl along was off to the hill, for they all were eager to see the man -who was to win the Princess. So the two elder brothers set off with the -rest; but as for Boots, they said outright he shouldn’t go with them, -for if they were seen with such a dirty changeling, all begrimed with -smut from cleaning their shoes and sifting cinders in the dust-hole, -they said folk would make game of them. - -“Very well,” said Boots; “it’s all one to me. I can go alone, and stand -or fall by myself.” - -Now, when the two brothers came to the hill of glass, the knights and -princes were all hard at it, riding their horses till they were all in a -foam; but it was no good, by my troth; for as soon as ever the horses -set foot on the hill, down they slipped, and there wasn’t one who could -get a yard or two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as smooth as a -sheet of glass, and as steep as a house-wall. But all were eager to have -the Princess and half the kingdom. So they rode and slipped, and slipped -and rode, and still it was the same story over again. At last all their -horses were so weary that they could scarce lift a leg, and in such a -sweat that the lather dripped from them, and so the knights had to give -up trying any more. So the king was just thinking that he would proclaim -a new trial for the next day, to see if they would have better luck, -when all at once a knight came riding up on so brave a steed, that no -one had ever seen the like of it in his born days, and the knight had -mail of brass, and the horse a brass bit in his mouth, so bright that -the sunbeams shone from it. Then all the others called out to him he -might just as well spare himself the trouble of riding at the hill, for -it would lead to no good; but he gave no heed to them, and put his horse -at the hill, and went up it like nothing for a good way, about a third -of the height; and when he had got so far, he turned his horse round, -and rode down again. So lovely a knight the Princess thought she had -never yet seen; and while he was riding, she sat and thought to herself— - -“Would to heaven he might only come up and down the other side.” - -And when she saw him turning back, she threw down one of the golden -apples after him, and it rolled down into his shoe. But when he got to -the bottom of the hill he rode off so fast that no one could tell what -had become of him. That evening all the knights and princes were to go -before the king, that he who had ridden so far up the hill might show -the apple which the princess had thrown, but there was no one who had -anything to show. One after the other they all came, but not a man of -them could show the apple. - -At even the brothers of Boots came home too, and had such a long story -to tell about the riding up the hill. - -“First of all,” they said, “there was not one of the whole lot who could -get so much as a stride up; but at last came one who had a suit of brass -mail, and a brass bridle and saddle, all so bright that the sun shone -from them a mile off. He was a chap to ride, just! He rode a third of -the way up the hill of glass, and he could easily have ridden the whole -way up, if he chose; but he turned round and rode down, thinking, maybe -that was enough for once.” - -“Oh! I should so like to have seen him, that I should,” said Boots, who -sat by the fireside, and stuck his feet into the cinders, as was his -wont. - -“Oh!” said his brothers, “you would, would you? You look fit to keep -company with such high lords, nasty beast that you are, sitting there -amongst the ashes.” - -Next day the brothers were all for setting off again, and Boots begged -them this time, too, to let him go with them and see the riding; but no, -they wouldn’t have him at any price, he was too ugly and nasty, they -said. - -“Well, well!” said Boots; “if I go at all, I must go by myself. I’m not -afraid.” - -So when the brothers got to the hill of glass, all the princes and -knights began to ride again, and you may fancy they had taken care to -shoe their horses sharp; but it was no good,—they rode and slipped, and -slipped and rode, just as they had done the day before, and there was -not one who could get so far as a yard up the hill. And when they had -worn out their horses, so that they could not stir a leg, they were all -forced to give it up as a bad job. So the king thought he might as well -proclaim that the riding should take place the day after for the last -time, just to give them one chance more; but all at once it came across -his mind that he might as well wait a little longer, to see if the -knight in brass mail would come this day too. Well! they saw nothing of -him; but all at once came one riding on a steed, far, far braver and -finer than that on which the knight in brass had ridden, and he had -silver mail, and a silver saddle and bridle, all so bright that the -sunbeams gleamed and glanced from them far away. Then the others shouted -out to him again, saying, he might as well hold hard, and not try to -ride up the hill, for all his trouble would be thrown away; but the -knight paid no heed to them, and rode straight at the hill, and right up -it, till he had gone two-thirds of the way, and then he wheeled his -horse round and rode down again. To tell the truth, the Princess liked -him still better than the knight in brass, and she sat and wished he -might only be able to come right up to the top, and down the other side; -but when she saw him turning back, she threw the second apple after him, -and it rolled down and fell into his shoe. But as soon as ever he had -come down from the hill of glass, he rode off so fast that no one could -see what became of him. - -At even, when all were to go in before the king and the Princess, that -he who had the golden apple might show it; in they went, one after the -other, but there was no one who had any apple to show, and the two -brothers, as they had done on the former day, went home and told how -things had gone, and how all had ridden at the hill, and none got up. - -“But, last of all,” they said, “came one in a silver suit, and his horse -had a silver saddle and a silver bridle. He was just a chap to ride; and -he got two-thirds up the hill, and then turned back. He was a fine -fellow, and no mistake; and the Princess threw the second gold apple to -him.” - -“Oh!” said Boots, “I should so like to have seen him too, that I -should.” - -“A pretty story,” they said. “Perhaps you think his coat of mail was as -bright as the ashes you are always poking about and sifting, you nasty -dirty beast.” - -The third day everything happened as it had happened the two days -before. Boots begged to go and see the sight, but the two wouldn’t hear -of his going with them. When they got to the hill there was no one who -could get so much as a yard up it; and now all waited for the knight in -silver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of him. At last came one -riding on a steed, so brave that no one had ever seen his match; and the -knight had a suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle and bridle, so -wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them a mile off. The -other knights and princes could not find time to call out to him not to -try his luck, for they were amazed to see how grand he was. So he rode -right at the hill, and tore up it like nothing, so that the Princess -hadn’t even time to wish that he might get up the whole way. As soon as -ever he reached the top, he took the third golden apple from the -Princess’s lap, and then turned his horse and rode down again. As soon -as he got down, he rode off at full speed, and was out of sight in no -time. - -Now, when the brothers got home at even, you may fancy what long stories -they told, how the riding had gone off that day; and amongst other -things, they had a deal to say about the knight in golden mail. - -“He just was a chap to ride!” they said; “so grand a knight isn’t to be -found in the wide world.” - -“Oh!” said Boots, “I should so like to have seen him; that I should.” - -“Ah!” said his brothers, “his mail shone a deal brighter than the -glowing coals which you are always poking and digging at; nasty dirty -beast that you are.” - -Next day all the knights and princes were to pass before the king and -the Princess—it was too late to do so the night before, I suppose—that -he who had the gold apple might bring it forth; but one came after -another, first the princes, and then the knights, and still no one could -show the gold apple. - -“Well,” said the king, “some one must have it, for it was something that -we all saw with our own eyes, how a man came and rode up and bore it -off.” - -So he commanded that every one who was in the kingdom should come up to -the palace and see if they could show the apple. Well, they all came one -after another, but no one had the golden apple, and after a long time -the two brothers of Boots came. They were the last of all, so the king -asked them if there was no one else in the kingdom who hadn’t come. - -“Oh, yes,” said they; “We have a brother, but he never carried off the -golden apple. He hasn’t stirred out of the dusthole on any of the three -days.” - -“Never mind that,” said the king; “he may as well come up to the palace -like the rest.” - -So Boots had to go up to the palace. - -“How, now,” said the king; “have you got the golden apple? Speak out!” - -“Yes, I have,” said Boots; “here is the first, and here is the second, -and here is the third too;” and with that he pulled all three golden -apples out of his pocket, and at the same time threw off his sooty rags, -and stood before them in his gleaming golden mail. - -“Yes!” said the king; “you shall have my daughter, and half my kingdom, -for you well deserve both her and it.” - -So they got ready for the wedding, and Boots got the Princess to wife, -and there was great merry-making at the bridal-feast, you may fancy, for -they could all be merry though they couldn’t ride up the hill of glass; -and all I can say is, if they haven’t left off their merry-making yet, -why they’re still at it. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - HOW ONE WENT OUT TO WOO. - - -ONCE on a time there was a lad who went out to woo him a wife. Amongst -other places, he came to a farm-house, where the household were little -better than beggars; but when the wooer came in, they wanted to make out -that they were well to do, as you may guess. Now the husband had got a -new arm to his coat. - -“Pray, take a seat,” he said to the wooer “but there’s a shocking dust -in the house.” - -So he went about rubbing and wiping all the benches and tables with his -new arm, but he kept the other all the while behind his back. - -The wife she had got one new shoe, and she went stamping and sliding -with it up against the stools and chairs, saying, “How untidy it is -here! Everything is out of its place!” - -Then they called out to their daughter to come down and put things to -rights; but the daughter, she had got a new cap; so she put her head in -at the door, and kept nodding and nodding, first to this side, and then -to that. - -“Well! for my part,” she said, “I can’t be everywhere at once.” - -Ay! ay! that was a well-to-do household the wooer had come to. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE COCK AND HEN. - - [In this tale the notes of the Cock and Hen must be imitated.] - - -_Hen_—“You promise me shoes year after year, year after year, and yet I -get no shoes!” - -_Cock_—“You shall have them, never fear Henny penny!” - -_Hen_—“I lay egg after egg, egg after egg, and yet I go about barefoot!” - -_Cock_—“Well, take your eggs, and be off to the tryst, and buy yourself -shoes, and don’t go any longer barefoot!” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE TWO STEP-SISTERS. - - -ONCE on a time there was a couple, and each of them had a daughter by a -former marriage. The woman’s daughter was dull and lazy, and could never -turn her hand to anything, and the man’s daughter was brisk and ready; -but somehow or other she could never do anything to her step-mother’s -liking, and both the woman and her daughter would have been glad to be -rid of her. - -So it fell one day the two girls were to go out and spin by the side of -the well, and the woman’s daughter had flax to spin, but the man’s -daughter got nothing to spin but bristles. - -“I don’t know how it is,” said the woman’s daughter, “you’re always so -quick and sharp, but still I’m not afraid to spin a match with you.” - -Well, they agreed that she whose thread first snapped, should go down -the well. So they span away; but just as they were hard at it, the man’s -daughter’s thread broke, and she had to go down the well. But when she -got to the bottom, she saw far and wide around her a fair green mead, -and she hadn’t hurt herself at all. - -So she walked on a bit, till she came to a hedge which she had to cross. - -“Ah! don’t tread hard on me, pray don’t, and I’ll help you another time, -that I will,” said the Hedge. - -Then the lassie made herself as light as she could, and trode so -carefully she scarce touched a twig. - -So she went on a bit further, till she came to a brindled cow, which -walked there with a milking-pail on her horns. ’Twas a large pretty cow, -and her udder was so full and round. - -“Ah be so good as to milk me, pray,” said the Cow; “I’m so full of milk. -Drink as much as you please, and throw the rest over my hoofs, and see -if I don’t help you some day.” - -So the man’s daughter did as the cow begged. As soon as she touched the -teats, the milk spouted out into the pail. Then she drank till her -thirst was slaked; and the rest she threw over the cow’s hoofs, and the -milking-pail she hung on her horns again. - -So when she had gone a bit further, a big wether met her, which had such -thick long wool, it hung down and draggled after him on the ground, and -on one of his horns hung a great pair of shears. - -“Ah, please clip off my wool,” said the Sheep, “for here I go about with -all this wool, and catch up everything I meet, and besides it’s so warm, -I’m almost choked. Take as much of the fleece as you please, and twist -the rest round my neck, and see if I don’t help you some day.” - -Yes! she was willing enough, and the sheep lay down of himself on her -lap, and kept quite still, and she clipped him so neatly, there wasn’t a -scratch on his skin. Then she took as much of the wool as she chose, and -the rest she twisted round the neck of the sheep. - -A little further on, she came to an apple tree, which was loaded with -apples; all its branches were bowed to the ground, and leaning against -the stem was a slender pole. - -“Ah! do be so good as to pluck my apples off me,” said the Tree, “so -that my branches may straighten themselves again, for it’s bad work to -stand so crooked; but when you beat them down, don’t strike me too hard. -Then eat as many as you please, lay the rest round my root, and see if I -don’t help you some day or other.” - -Yes, she plucked all she could reach with her hands, and then she took -the pole and knocked down the rest, and afterwards she ate her fill, and -the rest she laid neatly round the root. - -So she walked on a long, long way, and then she came to a great -farm-house, where an old hag of the Trolls lived with her daughter. -There she turned in to ask if she could get a place. - -“Oh!” said the old hag, “it’s no use your trying. We’ve had ever so many -maids, but none of them was worth her salt.” - -But she begged so prettily that they would just take her on trial, that -at last they let her stay. So the old hag gave her a sieve, and bade her -go and fetch water in it. She thought it strange to fetch water in a -sieve, but still she went, and when she came to the well, the little -birds began to sing— - - “Daub in clay, - Stuff in straw! - Daub in clay, - Stuff in straw.” - -Yes, she did so, and found she could carry water in a sieve well enough; -but when she got home with the water, and the old witch saw the sieve, -she cried out. - -“THIS YOU HAVEN’T SUCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN BREAST.” - -So the old witch said, now she might go into the byre to pitch out dung -and milk kine; but when she got there, she found a pitchfork so long and -heavy, she couldn’t stir it, much less work with it. She didn’t know at -all what to do, or what to make of it; but the little birds sung again -that she should take the broom-stick and toss out a little with that, -and all the rest of the dung would fly after it. So she did that, and as -soon as ever she began with the broom-stick, the byre was as clean as if -it had been swept and washed. - -Now she had to milk the kine, but they were so restless that they kicked -and frisked; there was no getting near them to milk them. - -But the little birds sung outside,— - - “A little drop, a tiny sup, - For the little birds to drink it up.” - -Yes, she did that; she just milked a tiny drop, ’twas as much as she -could, for the little birds outside; and then all the cows stood still -and let her milk them. They neither kicked nor frisked; they didn’t even -lift a leg. - -So when the old witch saw her coming in with the milk, she cried out,— - -“THIS YOU HAVEN’T SUCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN BREAST. BUT NOW JUST TAKE THIS -BLACK WOOL AND WASH IT WHITE.” - -This the lassie was at her wit’s end to know how to do, for she had -never seen or heard of any one who could wash black wool white. Still -she said nothing, but took the wool and went down with it to the well. -There the little birds sung again, and told her to take the wool and dip -it into the great butt that stood there; and she did so, and out it came -as white as snow. - -“Well! I never!” said the old witch, when she came in with the wool, -“it’s no good keeping you. You can do everything, and at last you’ll be -the plague of my life. We’d best part, so take your wages and be off.” - -Then the old hag drew out three caskets, one red, one green, and one -blue, and of these the lassie was to choose one as wages for her -service. Now she didn’t know at all which to choose, but the little -birds sung— - - “Don’t take the red, don’t take the green, - But take the blue, where may be seen - Three little crosses all in a row, - We saw the marks, and so we know.” - -So she took the blue casket, as the birds sang. - -“Bad luck to you, then,” said the old witch; “see if I don’t make you -pay for this!” - -So when the man’s daughter was just setting off, the old witch shot a -red-hot bar of iron after her, but she sprang behind the door and hid -herself, so that it missed her, for her friends, the little birds, had -told her beforehand how to behave. Then she walked on and on as fast as -ever she could; but when she got to the apple tree, she heard an awful -clatter behind her on the road, and that was the old witch and her -daughter coming after her. - -So the lassie was so frightened and scared, she didn’t know what to do. - -“Come hither to me, lassie, do you hear,” said the Apple Tree, “I’ll -help you; get under my branches and hide, for if they catch you, they’ll -tear you to death, and take the casket from you.” - -Yes! she did so, and she had hardly hidden herself before up came the -old witch and her daughter. - -“Have you seen any lassie pass this way, you apple tree,” said the old -hag. - -“Yes, yes,” said the Apple Tree; “one ran by here an hour ago; but now -she’s got so far a-head, you’ll never catch her up.” - -So the old witch turned back and went home again. - -Then the lassie walked on a bit, but when she came just about where the -sheep was, she heard an awful clatter beginning on the road behind her, -and she didn’t know what to do, she was so scared and frightened; for -she knew well enough it was the old witch who had thought better of it. - -“Come hither to me, lassie,” said the Wether, “and I’ll help you. Hide -yourself under my fleece, and then they’ll not see you; else they’ll -take away the casket, and tear you to death.” - -Just then up came the old witch, tearing along. - -“Have you seen any lassie pass here, you sheep?” she cried to the -wether. - -“Oh, yes,” said the Wether, “I saw one an hour ago, but she ran so fast, -you’ll never catch her.” - -So the old witch turned round and went home. - -But when the lassie had come to where she met the cow, she heard another -awful clatter behind her. - -“Come hither to me, lassie,” said the Cow, “and I’ll help you to hide -yourself under my udder, else the old hag will come and take away your -casket, and tear you to death.” - -True enough, it wasn’t long before she came up. - -“Have you seen any lassie pass here, you cow?” said the old hag. - -“Yes, I saw one an hour ago,” said the Cow, “but she’s far away now, for -she ran so fast I don’t think you’ll ever catch her up.” - -So the old hag turned round, and went back home again. - -When the lassie had walked a long, long way farther on, and was not far -from the hedge, she heard again that awful clatter on the road behind -her, and she got scared and frightened, for she knew well enough it was -the old hag and her daughter, who had changed their minds. - -“Come hither to me, lassie,” said the Hedge, “and I’ll help you. Creep -under my twigs, so that they can’t see you; else they’ll take the casket -from you, and tear you to death.” - -Yes! she made all the haste she could to get under the twigs of the -hedge. - -“Have you seen any lassie pass this way, you hedge?” said the old hag to -the hedge. - -“No, I haven’t seen any lassie,” answered the Hedge, and was as -smooth-tongued as if he had got melted butter in his mouth; but all the -while he spread himself out, and made himself so big and tall, one had -to think twice before crossing him. And so the old witch had no help for -it but to turn round and go home again. - -So when the man’s daughter got home, her step-mother and her stepsister -were more spiteful against her than ever; for now she was much neater, -and so smart, it was a joy to look at her. Still she couldn’t get leave -to live with them, but they drove her out into a pig-sty. That was to be -her house. So she scrubbed it out so neat and clean, and then she opened -her casket, just to see what she had got for her wages. But as soon as -ever she unlocked it, she saw inside so much gold and silver, and lovely -things, which came streaming out till all the walls were hung with them, -and at last the pig-sty was far grander than the grandest king’s palace. -And when the step-mother and her daughter came to see this, they almost -jumped out of their skin, and began to ask what kind of a place she had -down there? - -“Oh,” said the lassie “can’t you see when I have got such good wages. -’Twas such a family, and such a mistress to serve, you couldn’t find -their like anywhere.” - -Yes! the woman’s daughter made up her mind to go out to serve too, that -she might get just such another gold casket. So they sat down to spin -again, and now the woman’s daughter was to spin bristles, and the man’s -daughter flax, and she whose thread first snapped, was to go down the -well. It wasn’t long, as you may fancy, before the woman’s daughter’s -thread snapped, and so they threw her down the well. - -So the same thing happened. She fell to the bottom, but met with no -harm, and found herself on a lovely green meadow. When she had walked a -bit she came to the hedge. - -“Don’t tread hard on me, pray, lassie, and I’ll help you again,” said -the Hedge. - -“Oh!” said she, “what should I care for a bundle of twigs?” and tramped -and stamped over the hedge till it cracked and groaned again. - -A little farther on she came to the cow, which walked about ready to -burst for want of milking. - -“Be so good as to milk me, lassie,” said the Cow, “and I’ll help you -again. Drink as much as you please, but throw the rest over my hoofs.” - -Yes? she did that; she milked the cow, and drank till she could drink no -more; but when she left off, there was none left to throw over the cow’s -hoofs, and as for the pail, she tossed it down the hill and walked on. - -When she had gone a bit further, she came to the sheep which walked -along with his wool dragging after him. - -“Oh, be so good as to clip me, lassie,” said the Sheep, “And I’ll serve -you again. Take as much of the wool as you will, but twist the rest -round my neck.” - -Well! she did that; but she went so carelessly to work, that she cut -great pieces out of the poor sheep, and as for the wool, she carried it -all away with her. - -A little while after she came to the apple tree, which stood there quite -crooked with fruit again. - -“Be so good as to pluck the apples off me, that my limbs may grow -straight, for it’s weary work to stand all awry,” said the Apple Tree. -“But please take care not to beat me too hard. Eat as many as you will, -but lay the rest neatly round my root, and I’ll help you again.” - -Well, she plucked those nearest to her, and thrashed down those she -couldn’t reach with the pole, but she didn’t care how she did it, and -broke off and tore down great boughs, and ate till she was as full as -full could be, and then she threw down the rest under the tree. - -So when she had gone a good bit further, she came to the farm where the -old witch lived. There she asked for a place, but the old hag said she -wouldn’t have any more maids, for they were either worth nothing, or -were too clever, and cheated her out of her goods. But the woman’s -daughter was not to be put off, she _would_ have a place, so the old -witch said she’d give her a trial, if she was fit for anything. - -The first thing she had to do was to fetch water in a sieve. Well, off -she went to the well, and drew water in a sieve, but as fast as she got -it in it ran out again. So the little birds sung— - - “Daub in clay, - Put in straw; - Daub in clay, - Put in straw!” - -But she didn’t care to listen to the birds’ song, and pelted them with -clay, till they flew off, far away. And so she had to go home with the -empty sieve, and got well scolded by the old witch. - -Then she was to go into the byre to clean it, and milk the kine. But she -was too good for such dirty work, she thought. Still, she went out into -the byre, but when she got there, she couldn’t get on at all with the -pitchfork, it was so big. The birds said the same to her as they had -said to her step-sister, and told her to take the broom-stick and toss -out a little dung, and then all the rest would fly after it; but all she -did with the broom-stick was to throw it at the birds. When she came to -milk, the kine were so unruly, they kicked and pushed, and every time -she got a little milk in the pail, over they kicked it. Then the birds -sang again— - - “A little drop and a tiny sup - For the little birds to drink it up.” - -But she beat and banged the cows about, and threw and pelted at the -birds everything she could lay hold of, and made such a to do, ’twas -awful to see. So she didn’t make much either of her pitching or milking, -and when she came in-doors she got blows as well as hard words from the -old witch, who sent her off to wash the black wool white; but that, too, -she did no better. - -Then the old witch thought this really too bad, so she set out the three -caskets, one red, one green, and one blue, and said she’d no longer any -need of her services, for she wasn’t worth keeping, but for wages she -should have leave to choose whichever casket she pleased. - -Then sung the little birds,— - - “Don’t take the red, don’t take the green, - But choose the blue, where may be seen - Three little crosses, all in a row; - We saw the marks, and so we know.” - -She didn’t care a pin for what the birds sang, but took the red, which -caught her eye most. And so she set out on her road home, and she went -along quietly and easily enough; there was no one who came after _her_. - -So when she got home, her mother was ready to jump with joy, and the two -went at once into the ingle, and put the casket up there, for they made -up their minds there could be nothing in it but pure silver and gold, -and they thought to have all the walls and roof gilded like the pig-sty. -But lo! when they opened the casket there came tumbling out nothing but -toads, and frogs, and snakes; and worse than that, whenever the woman’s -daughter opened her mouth, out popped a toad or a snake, and all the -vermin one ever thought of, so that at last there was no living in the -house with her. - -That was all the wages _she_ got for going out to service with the old -witch. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BUTTERCUP. - - -ONCE on a time there was an old wife who sat and baked. Now you must -know that this old wife had a little son, who was so plump and fat, and -so fond of good things, that they called him Buttercup; she had a dog, -too, whose name was Goldtooth, and as she was baking, all at once -Goldtooth began to bark. - -“Run out, Buttercup, there’s a dear!” said the old wife, “and see what -Goldtooth is barking at.” - -So the boy ran out, and came back crying out,— - -“Oh, Heaven help us! here comes a great big witch, with her head under -her arm, and a bag at her back.” - -“Jump under the kneading-trough and hide yourself,” said his mother. - -So in came the old hag! - -“Good day,” said she. - -“God bless you,” said Buttercup’s mother. - -“Isn’t your Buttercup at home to-day?” asked the hag. - -“No, that he isn’t. He’s out in the wood with his father, shooting -ptarmigan.” - -“Plague take it,” said the hag, “for I had such a nice little silver -knife I wanted to give him.” - -“Pip, pip! here I am,” said Buttercup under the kneading-trough, and out -he came. - -“I’m so old and stiff in the back,” said the hag, “you must creep into -the bag and fetch it out for yourself.” - -But when Buttercup was well into the bag, the hag threw it over her back -and strode off, and when they had gone a good bit of the way, the old -hag got tired, and asked,— - -“How far is it off to Snoring?” - -“Half a mile,” answered Buttercup. - -So the hag put down the sack on the road and went aside by herself into -the wood, and lay down to sleep. Meantime Buttercup set to work and cut -a hole in the sack with his knife; then he crept out and put a great -root of a fir-tree into the sack, and ran home to his mother. - -When the hag got home and saw what there was in the sack, you may fancy -she was in a fine rage. - -Next day the old wife sat and baked again, and her dog began to bark -just as he did the day before. - -“Run out, Buttercup, my boy,” said she, “and see what Goldtooth is -barking at.” - -“Well, I never!” cried Buttercup, as soon as he got out; “if there isn’t -that ugly old beast coming again with her head under her arm, and a -great sack at her back.” - -“Under the kneading-trough with you and hide,” said his mother. - -“Good day,” said the hag, “is your Buttercup at home to-day?” - -“I’m sorry to say he isn’t,” said his mother; “he’s out in the wood with -his father shooting ptarmigan.” - -“What a bore,” said the hag; “here I have a beautiful little silver -spoon I want to give him.” - -“Pip, pip! here I am,” said Buttercup, and crept out. - -“I’m so stiff in the back,” said the old witch “you must creep into the -sack and fetch it out for yourself.” - -So when Buttercup, was well into the sack, the hag swung it over her -shoulders and set off home as fast as her legs could carry her. But when -they had gone a good bit, she grew weary, and asked,— - -“How far is it off to Snoring?” - -“A mile and a half,” answered Buttercup. - -So the hag set down the sack, and went aside into the wood to sleep a -bit, but while she slept, Buttercup made a hole in the sack and got out, -and put a great stone into it. Now, when the old witch got home, she -made a great fire on the hearth, and put a big pot on it, and got -everything ready to boil Buttercup; but when she took the sack, and -thought she was going to turn out Buttercup into the pot, down plumped -the stone and made a hole in the bottom of the pot, so that the water -ran out and quenched the fire. Then the old hag was in a dreadful rage, -and said, “If he makes himself ever so heavy next time, he shan’t take -me in again.” - -The third day everything went just as it had gone twice before; -Goldtooth began to bark, and Buttercup’s mother said to him,— - -“Do run out and see what our dog is barking at.” - -So out he went, but he soon came back crying out,— - -“Heaven save us! Here comes the old hag again with her head under her -arm, and a sack at her back.” - -“Jump under the kneading-trough and hide,” said his mother. - -“Good day!” said the hag, as she came in at the door; “is your Buttercup -at home to-day?” - -“You’re very kind to ask after him,” said his mother; “but he’s out in -the wood with his father shooting ptarmigan.” - -“What a bore now,” said the old hag; “here have I got such a beautiful -little silver fork for him.” - -“Pip, pip! here I am,” said Buttercup, as he came out from under the -kneading-trough. - -“I’m so stiff in the back,” said the hag, “you must creep into the sack -and fetch it out for yourself.” - -But when Buttercup was well inside the sack, the old hag swung it across -her shoulders, and set off as fast as she could. This time she did not -turn aside to sleep by the way, but went straight home with Buttercup in -the sack, and when she reached her house it was Sunday. - -So the old hag said to her daughter,— - -“Now you must take Buttercup and kill him, and boil him nicely till I -come back, for I’m off to church to bid my guests to dinner.” - -So, when all in the house were gone to church, the daughter was to take -Buttercup and kill him, but then she didn’t know how to set about it at -all. - -“Stop a bit,” said Buttercup; “I’ll soon shew you how to do it; just lay -your head on the chopping-block, and you’ll soon see.” - -So the poor silly thing laid her head down, and Buttercup took an axe -and chopped her head off, just as if she had been a chicken. Then he -laid her head in the bed, and popped her body into the pot, and boiled -it so nicely; and when he had done that, he climbed up on the roof, and -dragged up with him the fir-tree root and the stone, and put the one -over the door, and the other at the top of the chimney. - -So when the household came back from church, and saw the head on the -bed, they thought it was the daughter who lay there asleep; and then -they thought they would just taste the broth. - - “Good, by my troth! - Buttercup broth,” - -said the old hag. - - “Good by my troth! - Daughter broth,” - -said Buttercup down the chimney, but no one heeded him. - -So the old hag’s husband, who was every bit as bad as she, took the -spoon to have a taste. - - “Good by my troth! - Buttercup broth,” - -said he. - - “Good, by my troth! - Daughter broth,” - -said Buttercup down the chimney pipe. - -Then they all began to wonder who it could be that chattered so, and ran -out to see. But when they came out at the door, Buttercup threw down on -them the fir-tree root and the stone, and broke all their heads to bits. -After that he took all the gold and silver that lay in the house, and -went home to his mother, and became a rich man. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TAMING THE SHREW. - - -ONCE on a time there was a king, and he had a daughter who was such a -scold, and whose tongue went so fast, there was no stopping it. So he -gave out that the man who could stop her tongue should have the Princess -to wife, and half his kingdom into the bargain. Now, three brothers, who -heard this, made up their minds to go and try their luck; and first of -all the two elder went, for they thought they were the cleverest; but -they couldn’t cope with her at all, and got well thrashed besides. - -Then Boots, the youngest, set off, and when he had gone a little way he -found an ozier band lying on the road, and he picked it up. When he had -gone a little farther he found a piece of a broken plate, and he picked -that up too. A little farther on he found a dead magpie, and a little -farther on still, a crooked ram’s horn; so he went on a bit and found -the fellow to the horn; and at last, just as he was crossing the fields -by the king’s palace, where they were pitching out dung, he found a -worn-out shoe-sole. All these things he took with him into the palace, -and went before the Princess. - -“Good day,” said he. - -“Good day,” said she, and made a wry face. - -“Can I get my magpie cooked here?” he asked. - -“I’m afraid it will burst,” answered the Princess. - -“Oh! never fear! for I’ll just tie this ozier band round it,” said the -lad, as he pulled it out. - -“The fat will run out of it,” said the Princess. - -“Then I’ll hold this under it,” said the lad, and shewed her the piece -of broken plate. - -“You are so crooked in your words,” said the Princess, “there’s no -knowing where to have you.” - -“No, I’m not crooked,” said the lad; but “this is,” as he held up one of -the horns. - -“Well!” said the Princess, “I never saw the match of this in all my -days.” - -“Why, here you see the match to it,” said the lad, as he pulled out the -other ram’s horn. - -“I think,” said the Princess, “you must have come here to wear out my -tongue with your nonsense.” - -“No, I have not,” said the lad; “but this is worn out,” as he pulled out -the shoe-sole. - -To this the Princess hadn’t a word to say, for she had fairly lost her -voice with rage. - -“Now you are mine,” said the lad; and so he got the Princess to wife, -and half the kingdom. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - SHORTSHANKS. - - -ONCE on a time there was a poor couple who lived in a tumble-down hut, -in which there was nothing but black want, so that they hadn’t a morsel -to eat, nor a stick to burn. But though they had next to nothing of -other things, they had God’s blessing in the way of children, and every -year they had another babe. Now, when this story begins, they were just -looking out for a new child; and to tell the truth, the husband was -rather cross, and he was always going about grumbling and growling, and -saying “For his part, he thought one might have too many of these God’s -gifts.” So when the time came that the babe was to be born, he went off -into the wood to fetch fuel, saying “he didn’t care to stop and see the -young squaller; he’d be sure to hear him soon enough, screaming for -food.” - -Now when her husband was well out of the house, his wife gave birth to a -beautiful boy, who began to look about the room as soon as ever he came -into the world. - -“Oh! dear mother,” he said, “give me some of my brother’s cast-off -clothes, and a few days’ food, and I’ll go out into the world and try my -luck; you have children enough as it is, that I can see.” - -“God help you, my son!” answered his mother; “that can never be, you are -far too young yet.” - -But the tiny one stuck to what he said, and begged and prayed till his -mother was forced to let him have a few old rags, and a little food tied -up in a bundle, and off he went right merrily and manfully into the wide -world. But he was scarce out of the house before his mother had another -boy, and he too looked about him, and said— - -“Oh, dear mother! give me some of my brother’s old clothes and a few -days’ food, and I’ll go out into the world to find my twin brother; you -have children enough already on your hands, that I can see.” - -“God help you, my poor little fellow!” said his mother; “you are far too -little, this will never do.” - -But it was no good; the tiny one begged and prayed so hard, till he got -some old tattered rags and a bundle of food; and so he wandered out into -the world like a man, to find his twin-brother. Now, when the younger -had walked a while, he saw his brother a good bit on before him, so he -called out to him to stop. - -“Holloa! can’t you stop? why you lay legs to the ground as if you were -running a race. But you might just as well have stayed to see your -youngest brother before you set off into the world in such a hurry.” - -So the elder stopped and looked round; and when the younger had come up -to him and told him the whole story, and how he was his brother, he went -on to say,— - -“But let’s sit down here and see what our mother has given us for food.” -So they sat down together, and were soon great friends. - -Now, when they had gone a bit further on their way, they came to a brook -which ran through a green meadow, and the youngest said now the time was -come to give one another names, “Since we set off in such a hurry that -we hadn’t time to do it at home, we may as well do it here.” - -“Well,” said the elder, “and what shall your name be?” - -“Oh!” said the younger, “my name shall be Shortshanks; and yours, what -shall it be?” - -“I will be called King Sturdy,” answered the eldest. - -So they christened each other in the brook, and went on; but when they -had walked a while they came to a cross road, and agreed they should -part there, and each take his own road. So they parted, but they hadn’t -gone half a mile before their roads met again. So they parted the second -time, and took each a road; but in a little while the same thing -happened, and they met again, they scarce knew how; and the same thing -happened a third time also. Then they agreed that they should each -choose a quarter of the heavens, and one was to go east and the other -west; but before they parted, the elder said,— - -“If you ever fall into misfortune or need, call three times on me, and I -will come and help you; but mind you don’t call on me till you are at -the last pinch.” - -“Well!” said Shortshanks, “if that’s to be the rule, I don’t think we -shall meet again very soon.” - -After that they bade each other good-bye, and Shortshanks went east, and -King Sturdy west. Now, you must know, when Shortshanks had gone a good -bit alone, he met an old, old crook-backed hag, who had only one eye, -and Shortshanks snapped it up. - -“Oh! oh!” screamed the hag, “what has become of my eye?” - -“What will you give me,” asked Shortshanks, “if you get your eye back?” - -“I’ll give you a sword, and such a sword! It will put a whole army to -flight, be it ever so great,” answered the old woman. - -“Out with it, then!” said Shortshanks. - -So the old hag gave him the sword, and got her eye back again. After -that, Shortshanks wandered on a while, and another old, old crook-backed -hag met him who had only one eye, which Shortshanks stole before she was -aware of him. - -“Oh, oh! whatever has become of my eye,” screamed the hag. - -“What will you give me to get your eye back?” asked Shortshanks. - -“I’ll give you a ship,” said the woman, “which can sail over fresh water -and salt water, and over high hills and deep dales.” - -“Well! out with it,” said Shortshanks. - -So the old woman gave him a little tiny ship, no bigger than he could -put in his pocket, and she got her eye back again, and they each went -their way. But when he had wandered on a long, long way, he met a third -time an old, old crook-backed hag, with only one eye. This eye, too, -Shortshanks stole; and when the hag screamed and made a great to-do, -bawling out what had become of her eye, Shortshanks said,— - -“What will you give me to get back your eye?” - -Then she answered,— - -“I’ll give you the art how to brew a hundred lasts of malt at one -strike.” - -Well! for teaching that art the old hag got back her eye, and they each -went their way. - -But when Shortshanks had walked a little way, he thought it might be -worth while to try his ship; so he took it out of his pocket, and put -first one foot into it, and then the other; and as soon as ever he set -one foot into it, it began to grow bigger and bigger, and by the time he -set the other foot into it, it was as big as other ships that sail on -the sea. Then Shortshanks said,— - -“Off and away, over fresh water and salt water, over high hills and deep -dales, and don’t stop till you come to the king’s palace.” - -And lo! away went the ship as swiftly as a bird through the air, till it -came down a little below the king’s palace, and there it stopped. From -the palace windows people had stood and seen Shortshanks come sailing -along, and they were all so amazed that they ran down to see who it -could be that came sailing in a ship through the air. But while they -were running down, Shortshanks had stepped out of his ship and put it -into his pocket again; for as soon as he stepped out of it, it became as -small as it was when he got it from the old woman. So those who had run -down from the palace saw no one but a ragged little boy standing down -there by the strand. Then the king asked whence he came, but the boy -said he didn’t know, nor could he tell them how he had got there. There -he was, and that was all they could get out of him; but he begged and -prayed so prettily to get a place in the king’s palace; saying, if there -was nothing else for him to do, he could carry in wood and water for the -kitchen-maid, that their hearts were touched, and he got leave to stay -there. - -Now when Shortshanks came up to the palace, he saw how it was all hung -with black, both outside and in, wall and roof; so he asked the -kitchen-maid what all that mourning meant? - -“Don’t you know?” said the kitchen-maid; “I’ll soon tell you: the king’s -daughter was promised away a long time ago to three ogres, and next -Thursday evening one of them is coming to fetch her. Ritter Red, it is -true, has given out that he is man enough to set her free, but God knows -if he can do it; and now you know why we are all in grief and sorrow.” - -So when Thursday evening came, Ritter Red led the Princess down to the -strand, for there it was she was to meet the Ogre, and he was to stay by -her there and watch; but he wasn’t likely to do the Ogre much harm, I -reckon, for as soon as ever the Princess had sat down on the strand, -Ritter Red climbed up into a great tree that stood there, and hid -himself as well as he could among the boughs. The Princess begged and -prayed him not to leave her, but Ritter Red turned a deaf ear to her, -and all he said was,— - -“’Tis better for one to lose life than for two.” That was what Ritter -Red said. - -Meantime Shortshanks went to the kitchen-maid, and asked her so prettily -if he mightn’t go down to the strand for a bit? - -“And what should take you down to the strand?” asked the kitchen-maid. -“You know you’ve no business there.” - -“Oh, dear friend,” said Shortshanks, “do let me go? I should so like to -run down there and play a while with the other children; that I should.” - -“Well, well!” said the kitchen-maid, “off with you; but don’t let me -catch you staying there a bit over the time when the brose for supper -must be set on the fire, and the roast put on the spit; and let me see; -when you come back, mind you bring a good armful of wood with you.” - -Yes! Shortshanks would mind all that; so off he ran down to the strand. - -But just as he reached the spot where the Princess sat, what should come -but the Ogre tearing along in his ship, so that the wind roared and -howled after him. He was so tall and stout it was awful to look on him, -and he had five heads of his own. - -“Fire and flame!” screamed the Ogre. - -“Fire and flame yourself!” said Shortshanks. - -“Can you fight?” roared the Ogre. - -“If I can’t, I can learn,” said Shortshanks. - -So the Ogre struck at him with a great thick iron club which he had in -his fist, and the earth and stones flew up five yards into the air after -the stroke. - -“My!” said Shortshanks, “that was something like a blow, but now you -shall see a stroke of mine.” - -Then he grasped the sword he had got from the old crook-backed hag, and -cut at the Ogre; and away went all his five heads flying over the sand. -So when the Princess saw she was saved, she was so glad that she scarce -knew what to do, and she jumped and danced for joy. “Come, lie down, and -sleep a little in my lap,” she said to Shortshanks, and as he slept she -threw over him a tinsel robe. - -Now you must know, it wasn’t long before Ritter Red crept down from the -tree, as soon as he saw there was nothing to fear in the way, and he -went up to the Princess and threatened her until she promised to say it -was he who had saved her life; for if she wouldn’t say so, he said he -would kill her on the spot. After that he cut out the Ogre’s lungs and -tongue, and wrapped them up in his handkerchief, and so led the Princess -back to the palace, and whatever honours he had not before he got then, -for the king did not know how to find honour enough for him, and made -him sit every day on his right hand at dinner. - -As for Shortshanks, he went first of all on board the Ogre’s ship, and -took a whole heap of gold and silver rings, as large as hoops, and -trotted off with them as hard as he could to the palace. When the -kitchen-maid set her eyes on all that gold and silver, she was quite -scared, and asked him,— - -“But dear, good, Shortshanks, wherever did you get all this from?” for -she was rather afraid he hadn’t come rightly by it. - -“Oh!” answered Shortshanks, “I went home for a bit, and there I found -these hoops, which had fallen off some old pails of ours, so I laid -hands on them for you, if you must know.” - -Well! when the kitchen-maid heard they were for her, she said nothing -more about the matter, but thanked Shortshanks, and they were good -friends again. - -The next Thursday evening it was the same story over again; all were in -grief and trouble, but Ritter Red said, as he had saved the Princess -from one Ogre, it was hard if he couldn’t save her from another; and -down he led her to the strand as brave as a lion. But he didn’t do this -Ogre much harm either, for when the time came that they looked for the -Ogre, he said, as he had said before,— - -“’Tis better one should lose life than two,” and crept up into his tree -again. But Shortshanks begged the kitchen-maid to let him go down to the -strand for a little. - -“Oh!” asked the kitchen-maid, “and what business have you down there?” - -“Dear friend,” said Shortshanks, “do pray let me go. I long so to run -down and play a while with the other children.” - -Well! the kitchen-maid gave him leave to go, but he must promise to be -back by the time the roast was turned, and he was to mind and bring a -big bundle of wood with him. So Shortshanks had scarce got down to the -strand, when the Ogre came tearing along in his ship, so that the wind -howled and roared around him; he was twice as big as the other Ogre, and -he had ten heads on his shoulders. - -“Fire and flame!” screamed the Ogre. - -“Fire and flame yourself!” answered Shortshanks. - -“Can you fight?” roared the Ogre. - -“If I can’t, I can learn,” said Shortshanks. - -Then the Ogre struck at him with his iron club; it was even bigger than -that which the first Ogre had, and the earth and stones flew up ten -yards into the air. - -“My!” said Shortshanks, “that was something like a blow; now you shall -see a stroke of mine.” Then he grasped his sword, and cut off all the -Ogre’s ten heads at one blow, and sent them dancing away over the sand. - -Then the Princess said again to him, “Lie down and sleep a little while -on my lap;” and while Shortshanks lay there, she threw over him a silver -robe. But as soon as Ritter Red marked that there was no more danger in -the way, he crept down from the tree, and threatened the Princess, till -she was forced to give her word, to say it was he who had set her free; -after that, he cut the lungs and tongue out of the Ogre, and wrapped -them in his handkerchief, and led the Princess back to the palace. Then -you may fancy what mirth and joy there was, and the King was at his -wit’s end to know how to shew Ritter Red honour and favour enough. - -This time, too, Shortshanks took a whole armful of gold and silver rings -from the Ogre’s ship, and when he came back to the palace the -kitchen-maid clapped her hands in wonder, asking wherever he got all -that gold and silver from. But Shortshanks answered that he had been -home a while, and that the hoops had fallen off some old pails, so he -had laid his hands on them for his friend the kitchen-maid. - -So when the third Thursday evening came, everything happened as it had -happened twice before; the whole palace was hung with black, and all -went about mourning and weeping. But Ritter Red said he couldn’t see -what need they had to be so afraid; he had freed the Princess from two -Ogres, and he could very well free her from a third; so he led her down -to the strand, but when the time drew near for the Ogre to come up, he -crept into his tree again, and hid himself. The Princess begged and -prayed, but it was no good, for Ritter Red said again,— - -“’Tis better that one should lose life than two.” - -That evening, too, Shortshanks begged for leave to go down to the -strand. - -“Oh!” said the kitchen-maid, “what should take you down there?” - -But he begged and prayed so, that at last he got leave to go, only he -had to promise to be back in the kitchen again when the roast was to be -turned. So off he went, but he had scarce reached the strand when the -Ogre came with the wind howling and roaring after him. He was much, much -bigger than either of the other two, and he had fifteen heads on his -shoulders. - -“Fire and flame!” roared out the Ogre. - -“Fire and flame yourself,” said Shortshanks. - -“Can you fight?” screamed the Ogre. - -“If I can’t, I can learn,” said Shortshanks. - -“I’ll soon teach you,” screamed the Ogre, and struck at him with his -iron club, so that the earth and stones flew up fifteen yards into the -air. - -“My!” said Shortshanks, “that was something like a blow; but now you -shall see a stroke of mine.” - -As he said that, he grasped his sword, and cut off all the Ogre’s -fifteen heads at one blow, and sent them all dancing over the sand. - -So the Princess was freed from all the Ogres, and she both blessed and -thanked Shortshanks for saving her life. - -“Sleep now a while on my lap,” she said; and he laid his head on her -lap, and while he slept, she threw over him a golden robe. - -“But how shall we let it be known that it is you that have saved me?” -she asked, when he awoke. - -“Oh, I’ll soon tell you,” answered Shortshanks. “When Ritter Red has led -you home again, and given himself out as the man who has saved you, you -know he is to have you to wife, and half the kingdom. Now, when they ask -you, on your wedding-day, whom you will have to be your cup-bearer, you -must say, ‘I will have the ragged boy who does odd jobs in the kitchen, -and carries in wood and water for the kitchen-maid.’ So when I am -filling your cups, I will spill a drop on his plate, but none on yours; -then he will be wroth, and give me a blow, and the same thing will -happen three times. But the third time you must mind and say, ‘Shame on -you! to strike my heart’s darling; he it is who set me free, and him -will I have!’” - -After that Shortshanks ran back to the palace, as he had done before; -but he went first on board the Ogre’s ship, and took a whole heap of -gold, silver, and precious stones, and out of them he gave the -kitchen-maid another great armful of gold and silver rings. - -Well! as for Ritter Red, as soon as ever he saw that all risk was over, -he crept down from his tree, and threatened the Princess till she was -forced to promise she would say it was he who had saved her. After that -he led her back to the palace, and all the honour shown him before was -nothing to what he got now, for the king thought of nothing else than -how he might best honour the man who had saved his daughter from the -three Ogres. As for his marrying her, and having half the kingdom, that -was a settled thing, the king said. But when the wedding-day came, the -Princess begged she might have the ragged boy who carried in wood and -water for the cook to be her cup-bearer at the bridal-feast. - -“I can’t think why you should want to bring that filthy beggar boy in -here,” said Ritter Red; but the Princess had a will of her own, and said -she would have him, and no one else, to pour out her wine; so she had -her way at last. Now everything went as it had been agreed between -Shortshanks and the Princess; he spilled a drop on Ritter Red’s plate, -but none on her’s, and each time Ritter Red got wroth and struck him. At -the first blow Shortshank’s rags fell off which he had worn in the -kitchen; at the second the tinsel robe fell off; and at the third the -silver robe; and then he stood in his golden robe, all gleaming and -glittering in the light. Then the Princess said,— - -“Shame on you! to strike my heart’s darling! he has saved me, and him -will I have!” - -Ritter Red cursed and swore it was he who had set her free; but the king -put in his word, and said,— - -“The man who saved my daughter must have some token to show for it.” - -Yes! Ritter Red had something to show, and he ran off at once after his -handkerchief with the lungs and tongues in it, and Shortshanks fetched -all the gold and silver, and precious things, he had taken out of the -Ogres’ ships. So each laid his tokens before the king, and the king -said,— - -“The man who has such precious stores of gold, and silver, and diamonds, -must have slain the Ogre, and spoiled his goods, for such things are not -to be had elsewhere.” - -So Ritter Red was thrown into a pit full of snakes, and Shortshanks was -to have the Princess and half the kingdom. - -One day Shortshanks and the king were out walking, and Shortshanks asked -the king if he hadn’t any more children? - -“Yes,” said the king, “I had another daughter; but the Ogre has taken -her away, because there was no one who could save her. Now you are going -to have one daughter, but if you can set the other free whom the Ogre -has carried off, you shall have her too with all my heart, and the other -half of my kingdom.” - -“Well,” said Shortshanks, “I may as well try; but I must have an iron -cable, five hundred fathoms long, and five hundred men, and food for -them to last fifteen weeks, for I have a long voyage before me.” - -Yes! the king said he should have them, but he was afraid there wasn’t a -ship in his kingdom big enough to carry such a freight. - -“Oh! if that’s all,” said Shortshanks, “I have a ship of my own.” - -With that he whipped out of his pocket the ship he had got from the old -hag. - -The king laughed, and thought it was all a joke; but Shortshanks begged -him only to give him what he asked, and he should soon see if it was a -joke. So they got together what he wanted, and Shortshanks bade him put -the cable on board the ship first of all; but there was no one man who -could lift it, and there wasn’t room for more than one at a time round -the tiny ship. Then Shortshanks took hold of the cable by one end, and -laid a link or two into the ship; and as he threw in the links, the ship -grew bigger and bigger, till at last it got so big, that there was room -enough and to spare in it for the cable, and the five hundred men, and -their food, and Shortshanks, and all. Then he said to the ship,— - -“Off and away, over fresh water and salt water, over high hill and deep -dale, and don’t stop till you come to where the king’s daughter is.” And -away went the ship over land and sea, till the wind whistled after it. - -So when they had sailed far, far away, the ship stood stock still in the -middle of the sea. - -“Ah!” said Shortshanks, “now we have got so far; but how we are to get -back is another story.” - -Then he took the cable and tied one end of it round his waist, and -said,— - -“Now, I must go to the bottom, but when I give the cable a good tug, and -want to come up again, mind you all hoist away with a will, or your -lives will be lost as well as mine;” and with these words overboard he -leapt, and dived down, so that yellow waves rose round him in an eddy. - -Well, he sank and sank, and at last he came to the bottom, and there he -saw a great rock rising up with a door in it, so he opened the door and -went in. When he got inside, he saw another Princess, who sat and sewed, -but when she saw Shortshanks, she clasped her hands together and cried -out,— - -“Now, God be thanked! you are the first Christian man I’ve set eyes on -since I came here.” - -“Very good,” said Shortshanks; “but do you know I’ve come to fetch you?” - -“Oh!” she cried, “you’ll never fetch me; you’ll never have that luck, -for if the Ogre sees you, he’ll kill you on the spot.” - -“I’m glad you spoke of the Ogre,” said Shortshanks; “’twould be fine fun -to see him; whereabouts is he?” - -Then the Princess told him the Ogre was out looking for some one who -could brew a hundred lasts of malt at one strike, for he was going to -give a great feast, and less drink wouldn’t do. - -“Well! I can do that,” said Shortshanks. - -“Ah!” said the Princess; “if only the Ogre wasn’t so hasty, I might tell -him about you; but he’s so cross; I’m afraid he’ll tear you to pieces as -soon as he comes in, without waiting to hear my story. Let me see what -is to be done. Oh! I have it; just hide yourself in the side-room -yonder, and let us take our chance.” - -Well! Shortshanks did as she told him, and he had scarce crept into the -side-room before the Ogre came in. - -“HUF!” said the Ogre; “what a horrid smell of Christian man’s blood!” - -“Yes!” said the Princess, “I know there is, for a bird flew over the -house with a Christian man’s bone in his bill and let it fall down the -chimney. I made all the haste I could to get it out again, but I daresay -it’s that you smell.” - -“Ah!” said the Ogre, “like enough.” - -Then the Princess asked the Ogre if he had laid hold of any one who -could brew a hundred lasts of malt at one strike? - -“No,” said the Ogre, “I can’t hear of any one who can do it.” - -“Well,” she said, “a while ago, there was a chap in here who said he -could do it.” - -“Just like you with your wisdom!” said the Ogre; “why did you let him go -away then, when you knew he was the very man I wanted?” - -“Well then, I didn’t let him go,” said the Princess; “but father’s -temper is a little hot, so I hid him away in the side-room yonder; but -if father hasn’t hit upon any one, here he is.” - -“Well,” said the Ogre, “let him come in then.” - -So Shortshanks came in, and the Ogre asked him if it were true that he -could brew a hundred lasts of malt at a strike? - -“Yes it is,” said Shortshanks. - -“’Twas good luck then to lay hands on you,” said the Ogre “and now fall -to work this minute; but heaven help you if you don’t brew the ale -strong enough.” - -“Oh,” said Shortshanks, “never fear, it shall be stinging stuff;” and -with that he began to brew without more fuss, but all at once he cried -out,— - -“I must have more of you Ogres to help in the brewing, for these I have -got a’nt half strong enough.” - -Well, he got more—so many that there was a whole swarm of them, and then -the brewing went on bravely. Now when the sweet-wort was ready, they -were all eager to taste it, you may guess; first of all the Ogre, and -then all his kith and kin. But Shortshanks had brewed the wort so strong -that they all fell down dead, one after another, like so many flies, as -soon as they had tasted it. At last there wasn’t one of them left alive -but one vile old hag, who lay bed-ridden in the chimney-corner. - -“Oh, you poor old wretch,” said Shortshanks, “you may just as well taste -the wort along with the rest.” - -So he went and scooped up a little from the bottom of the copper in a -scoop, and gave her a drink, and so he was rid of the whole pack of -them. - -As he stood there and looked about him, he cast his eye on a great -chest, so he took it and filled it with gold and silver; then he tied -the cable round himself and the Princess and the chest, and gave it a -good tug, and his men pulled them all up, safe and sound. As soon as -ever Shortshanks was well up, he said to the ship. - -“Off and away, over fresh water and salt water, high hill and deep dale, -and don’t stop till you come to the king’s palace;” and straightway the -ship held on her course, so that the yellow billows foamed round her. -When the people in the palace saw the ship sailing up, they were not -slow in meeting them with songs and music, welcoming Shortshanks with -great joy; but the gladdest of all was the king, who had now got his -other daughter back again. - -But now Shortshanks was rather down-hearted for you must know that both -the princesses wanted to have him, and he would have no other than the -one he had first saved, and she was the youngest. So he walked up and -down, and thought and thought what he should do to get her, and yet do -something to please her sister. Well, one day as he was turning the -thing over in his mind, it struck him if he only had his brother King -Sturdy, who was so like him that no one could tell the one from the -other, he would give up to him the other princess and half the kingdom, -for he thought one-half was quite enough. - -Well, as soon as ever this came into his mind he went outside the palace -and called on King Sturdy, but no one came. So he called a second time a -little louder, but still no one came. Then he called out the third time -“King Sturdy” with all his might, and there stood his brother before -him. - -“Didn’t I say!” he said to Shortshanks, “didn’t I say you were not to -call me except in your utmost need? and here there is not so much as a -gnat to do you any harm,” and with that he gave him such a box on the -ear that Shortshanks tumbled head over heels on the grass. - -“Now shame on you to hit so hard!” said Shortshanks. “First of all I won -a princess and half the kingdom, and then I won another princess and the -other half of the kingdom; and now I’m thinking to give you one of the -princesses and half the kingdom. Is there any rhyme or reason in giving -me such a box on the ear?” - -When King Sturdy heard that, he begged his brother to forgive him, and -they were soon as good friends as ever again. - -“Now,” said Shortshanks, “you know we are so much alike that no one can -tell the one from the other; so just change clothes with me and go into -the palace; then the princesses will think it is I that am coming in, -and the one that kisses you first you shall have for your wife, and I -will have the other for mine.” - -And he said this because he knew well enough that the elder king’s -daughter was the stronger, and so he could very well guess how things -would go. As for King Sturdy, he was willing enough, so he changed -clothes with his brother and went into the palace. But when he came into -the princesses’ bower they thought it was Shortshanks, and both ran up -to him to kiss him; but the elder, who was stronger and bigger, pushed -her sister on one side, and threw her arms round King Sturdy’s neck, and -gave him a kiss; and so he got her for his wife, and Shortshanks got the -younger Princess. Then they made ready for the wedding, and you may -fancy what a grand one it was, when I tell you that the fame of it was -noised abroad over seven kingdoms. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - GUDBRAND ON THE HILL-SIDE. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man whose name was Gudbrand; he had a farm -which lay far, far away upon a hill-side, and so they called him -Gudbrand on the Hill-side. - -Now, you must know this man and his goodwife lived so happily together, -and understood one another so well, that all the husband did the wife -thought so well done there was nothing like it in the world, and she was -always glad whatever he turned his hand to. The farm was their own land, -and they had a hundred dollars lying at the bottom of their chest, and -two cows tethered up in a stall in their farm-yard. - -So one day his wife said to Gudbrand,— - -“Do you know, dear, I think we ought to take one of our cows into town -and sell it; that’s what I think; for then we shall have some money in -hand, and such well to-do people as we ought to have ready money like -the rest of the world. As for the hundred dollars at the bottom of the -chest yonder, we can’t make a hole in them, and I’m sure I don’t know -what we want with more than one cow. Besides, we shall gain a little in -another way, for then I shall get off with only looking after one cow, -instead of having, as now, to feed and litter and water two.” - -Well, Gudbrand thought his wife talked right good sense, so he set off -at once with the cow on his way to town to sell her; but when he got to -the town, there was no one who would buy his cow. - -“Well! well! never mind,” said Gudbrand, “at the worst, I can only go -back home again with my cow. I’ve both stable and tether for her, I -should think, and the road is no farther out than in;” and with that he -began to toddle home with his cow. - -But when he had gone a bit of the way, a man met him who had a horse to -sell, so Gudbrand thought ’twas better to have a horse than a cow, so he -swopped with the man. A little farther on, he met a man walking along, -and driving a fat pig before him, and he thought it better to have a fat -pig than a horse, so he swopped with the man. After that he went a -little farther, and a man met him with a goat; so he thought it better -to have a goat than a pig, and he swopped with the man that owned the -goat. Then he went on a good bit till he met a man who had a sheep, and -he swopped with him too, for he thought it always better to have a sheep -than a goat. After a while he met a man with a goose, and he swopped -away the sheep for the goose; and when he had walked a long, long time, -he met a man with a cock, and he swopped with him, for he thought in -this wise, “’Tis surely better to have a cock than a goose.” Then he -went on till the day was far spent, and he began to get very hungry, so -he sold the cock for a shilling, and bought food with the money, for, -thought Gudbrand on the Hill-side, “’Tis always better to save one’s -life than to have a cock.” - -After that he went on home till he reached his nearest neighbour’s -house, where he turned in. - -“Well,” said the owner of the house, “how did things go with you in -town?” - -“Rather so so,” said Gudbrand; “I can’t praise my luck, nor do I blame -it either,” and with that he told the whole story from first to last. - -“Ah!” said his friend, “you’ll get nicely called over the coals, that -one can see, when you get home to your wife. Heaven help you, I wouldn’t -stand in your shoes for something.” - -“Well!” said Gudbrand on the Hill-side, “I think things might have gone -much worse with me; but now, whether I have done wrong or not, I have so -kind a goodwife, she never has a word to say against anything that I -do.” - -“Oh!” answered his neighbour, “I hear what you say, but I don’t believe -it for all that.” - -“Shall we lay a bet upon it?” asked Gudbrand on the Hill-side. “I have a -hundred dollars at the bottom of my chest at home; will you lay as many -against them?” - -Yes! the friend was ready to bet; so Gudbrand stayed there till evening, -when it began to get dark, and then they went together to his house, and -the neighbour was to stand outside the door and listen, while the man -went in to see his wife. - -“Good evening!” said Gudbrand on the Hill-side. - -“Good evening!” said the goodwife. “Oh! is that you? now, God be -praised.” - -Yes! it was he. So the wife asked how things had gone with him in town? - -“Oh! only so so,” answered Gudbrand; “not much to brag of. When I got to -the town there was no one who would buy the cow, so you must know I -swopped it away for a horse.” - -“For a horse!” said his wife; “well that is good of you; thanks with all -my heart. We are so well to do that we may drive to church, just as well -as other people; and if we choose to keep a horse we have a right to get -one, I should think. So run out, child, and put up the horse.” - -“Ah!” said Gudbrand, “but you see I’ve not got the horse after all; for -when I got a bit farther on the road, I swopped it away for a pig.” - -“Think of that, now!” said the wife; “you did just as I should have done -myself; a thousand thanks! Now I can have a bit of bacon in the house to -set before people when they come to see me, that I can. What do we want -with a horse? People would only say we had got so proud that we couldn’t -walk to church. Go out, child, and put up the pig in the stye.” - -“But I’ve not got the pig either,” said Gudbrand; “for when I got a -little farther on, I swopped it away for a milch goat.” - -“Bless us!” cried his wife, “how well you manage every thing! Now I -think it over, what should I do with a pig? People would only point at -us and say, ‘Yonder they eat up all they have got.’ No! now I have got a -goat, and I shall have milk and cheese, and keep the goat too. Run out, -child, and put up the goat.” - -“Nay, but I haven’t got the goat either,” said Gudbrand, “for a little -farther on I swopped it away, and got a fine sheep instead.” - -“You don’t say so!” cried his wife; “why you do everything to please me, -just as if I had been with you; what do we want with a goat? If I had it -I should lose half my time in climbing up the hills to get it down. No! -if I have a sheep, I shall have both wool and clothing, and fresh meat -in the house. Run out, child, and put up the sheep.” - -“But I haven’t got the sheep any more than the rest,” said Gudbrand, -“for when I had gone a bit farther, I swopped it away for a goose.” - -“Thank you! thank you! with all my heart,” cried his wife; “what should -I do with a sheep? I have no spinning-wheel, nor carding-comb, nor -should I care to worry myself with cutting, and shaping, and sewing -clothes. We can buy clothes now, as we have always done; and now I shall -have roast goose, which I have longed for so often; and, besides, down -to stuff my little pillow with. Run out, child, and put up the goose.” - -“Ah!” said Gudbrand, “but I haven’t the goose either; for when I had -gone a bit farther I swopped it away for a cock.” - -“Dear me!” cried his wife, “how you think of everything! just as I -should have done myself. A cock! think of that! why it’s as good as an -eight-day clock, for every morning the cock crows at four o’clock, and -we shall be able to stir our stumps in good time. What should we do with -a goose? I don’t know how to cook it; and as for my pillow, I can stuff -it with cotton-grass. Run out, child, and put up the cock.” - -“But, after all, I haven’t got the cock,” said Gudbrand; “for when I had -gone a bit farther, I got as hungry as a hunter, so I was forced to sell -the cock for a shilling, for fear I should starve.” - -“Now, God be praised that you did so!” cried his wife; “whatever you do, -you do it always just after my own heart. What should we do with the -cock? We are our own masters, I should think, and can lie a-bed in the -morning as long as we like. Heaven be thanked that I have got you safe -back again; you who do everything so well that I want neither cock nor -goose; neither pigs nor kine.” - -Then Gudbrand opened the door and said,— - -“Well, what do you say now? Have I won the hundred dollars?” and his -neighbour was forced to allow that he had. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE BLUE BELT. - - -ONCE on a time there was an old beggar-woman, who had gone out to beg. -She had a little lad with her, and when she had got her bag full, she -struck across the hills towards her own home. So when they had gone a -bit up the hill-side, they came upon a little blue belt, which lay where -two paths met, and the lad asked his mother’s leave to pick it up. - -“No,” said she, “may be there’s witchcraft in it;” and so with threats -she forced him to follow her. But when they had gone a bit farther, the -lad said he must turn aside a moment out of the road, and meanwhile his -mother sat down on a tree-stump. But the lad was a long time gone, for -as soon as he got so far into the wood, that the old dame could not see -him, he ran off to where the belt lay, took it up, tied it round his -waist, and lo! he felt as strong as if he could lift the whole hill. -When he got back, the old dame was in a great rage, and wanted to know -what he had been doing all that while. “You don’t care how much time you -waste, and yet you know the night is drawing on, and we must cross the -hill before it is dark!” So on they tramped; but when they had got about -half-way, the old dame grew weary, and said she must rest under a bush. - -“Dear mother,” said the lad, “mayn’t I just go up to the top of this -high crag while you rest, and try if I can’t see some sign of folk -hereabouts?” - -Yes! he might do that; so when he had got to the top, he saw a light -shining from the north. So he ran down and told his mother. - -“We must get on mother; we are near a house, for I see a bright light -shining quite close to us in the north.” Then she rose and shouldered -her bag, and set off to see; but they hadn’t gone far, before there -stood a steep spur of the hill, right across their path. - -“Just as I thought!” said the old dame; “now we can’t go a step farther; -a pretty bed we shall have here!” - -But the lad took the bag under one arm, and his mother under the other, -and ran straight up the steep crag with them. - -“Now, don’t you see! don’t you see that we are close to a house! don’t -you see the bright light?” - -But the old dame said those were no Christian folk, but Trolls, for she -was at home in all that forest far and near, and knew there was not a -living soul in it, until you were well over the ridge, and had come down -on the other side. But they went on, and in a little while they came to -a great house which was all painted red. - -“What’s the good?” said the old dame, “we daren’t go in, for here the -Trolls live.” - -“Don’t say so; we must go in. There must be men where the lights shine -so,” said the lad. So in he went, and his mother after him, but he had -scarce opened the door before she swooned away, for there she saw a -great stout man, at least twenty feet high, sitting on the bench. - -“Good evening, grandfather!” said the lad. - -“Well, here I’ve sat three hundred years,” said the man who sat on the -bench, “and no one has ever come and called me grandfather before.” Then -the lad sat down by the man’s side, and began to talk to him as if they -had been old friends. - -“But what’s come over your mother?” said the man, after they had -chattered a while. “I think she swooned away; you had better look after -her.” - -So the lad went and took hold of the old dame; and dragged her up the -hall along the floor. That brought her to herself, and she kicked, and -scratched, and flung herself about, and at last sat down upon a heap of -firewood in the corner; but she was so frightened that she scarce dared -to look one in the face. - -After a while, the lad asked if they could spend the night there. - -“Yes, to be sure,” said the man. - -So they went on talking again, but the lad soon got hungry, and wanted -to know if they could get food as well as lodging. - -“Of course,” said the man, “that might be got too.” And after he had sat -a while longer, he rose up and threw six loads of dry pitch-pine on the -fire. This made the old hag still more afraid. - -“Oh! now he’s going to roast us alive,” she said, in the corner where -she sat. - -And when the wood had burned down to glowing embers, up got the man and -strode out of his house. - -“Heaven bless and help us! what a stout heart you have got,” said the -old dame; “don’t you see we have got amongst Trolls?” - -“Stuff and nonsense!” said the lad; “no harm if we have.” - -In a little while back came the man with an ox so fat and big, the lad -had never seen its like, and he gave it one blow with his fist under the -ear, and down it fell dead on the floor. When that was done, he took it -up by all the four legs, and laid it on the glowing embers, and turned -it and twisted it about till it was burnt brown outside. After that, he -went to a cupboard and took out a great silver dish, and laid the ox on -it; and the dish was so big that none of the ox hung over on any side. -This he put on the table, and then he went down into the cellar, and -fetched a cask of wine, knocked out the head, and put the cask on the -table, together with two knives, which were each six feet long. When -this was done, he bade them go and sit down to supper and eat. So they -went, the lad first and the old dame after, but she began to whimper and -wail, and to wonder how she should ever use such knives. But her son -seized one, and began to cut slices out of the thigh of the ox, which he -placed before his mother. And when they had eaten a bit, he took up the -cask with both hands, and lifted it down to the floor; then he told his -mother to come and drink, but it was still so high she couldn’t reach up -to it; so he caught her up, and held her up to the edge of the cask -while she drank; as for himself, he clambered up and hung down like a -cat inside the cask while he drank. So when he had quenched his thirst, -he took up the cask and put it back on the table, and thanked the man -for the good meal, and told his mother to come and thank him too, and -a-feared though she was, she dared do nothing else but thank the man. -Then the lad sat down again alongside the man and began to gossip, and -after they had sat a while, the man said— - -“Well! I must just go and get a bit of supper too;” and so he went to -the table and ate up the whole ox—hoofs, and horns, and all—and drained -the cask to the last drop, and then went back and sat on the bench. - -“As for beds,” he said, “I don’t know what’s to be done. I’ve only got -one bed and a cradle; but we could get on pretty well if you would sleep -in the cradle, and then your mother might lie in the bed yonder.” - -“Thank you kindly, that’ll do nicely,” said the lad; and with that he -pulled off his clothes and lay down in the cradle; but, to tell you the -truth it was quite as big as a four-poster. As for the old dame, she had -to follow the man who showed her to bed, though she was out of her wits -for fear. - -“Well!” thought the lad to himself, “’twill never do to go to sleep yet. -I’d best lie awake and listen how things go as the night wears on.” - -So after a while the man began to talk to the old dame, and at last he -said— - -“We two might live here so happily together, could we only be rid of -this son of yours.” - -“But do you know how to settle him? Is that what you’re thinking of?” -said she. - -“Nothing easier,” said he; at any rate he would try. He would just say -he wished the old dame would stay and keep house for him a day or two, -and then he would take the lad out with him up the hill to quarry -corner-stones, and roll down a great rock on him. All this the lad lay -and listened to. - -Next day the Troll—for it was a Troll as clear as day—asked if the old -dame would stay and keep house for him a few days; and as the day went -on he took a great iron crowbar, and asked the lad if he had a mind to -go with him up the hill and quarry a few corner-stones. With all his -heart, he said, and went with him; and so, after they had split a few -stones, the Troll wanted him to go down below and look after cracks in -the rock; and while he was doing this, the Troll worked away, and -wearied himself with his crowbar till he moved a whole crag out of its -bed, which came rolling right down on the place where the lad was; but -he held it up till he could get on one side, and then let it roll on. - -“Oh!” said the lad to the Troll, “now I see what you mean to do with me. -You want to crush me to death; so just go down yourself and look after -the cracks and refts in the rock, and I’ll stand up above.” - -The Troll did not dare to do otherwise than the lad bade him, and the -end of it was that the lad rolled down a great rock, which fell upon the -Troll, and broke one of his thighs. - -“Well! you _are_ in a sad plight,” said the lad, as he strode down, -lifted up the rock, and set the man free. After that he had to put him -on his back and carry him home; so he ran with him as fast as a horse, -and shook him so that the Troll screamed and screeched as if a knife -were run into him. And when he got home, they had to put the Troll to -bed, and there he lay in a sad pickle. - -When the night wore on the Troll began to talk to the old dame again, -and to wonder how ever they could be rid of the lad. - -“Well,” said the old dame, “if you can’t hit on a plan to get rid of -him, I’m sure I can’t.” - -“Let me see,” said the Troll; “I’ve got twelve lions in a garden; if -they could only get hold of the lad they’d soon tear him to pieces.” - -So the old dame said it would be easy enough to get him there. She would -sham sick, and say she felt so poorly, nothing would do her any good but -lion’s milk. All that the lad lay and listened to; and when he got up in -the morning his mother said she was worse than she looked, and she -thought she should never be right again unless she could get some lion’s -milk. - -“Then I’m afraid you’ll be poorly a long time, mother,” said the lad, -“for I’m sure I don’t know where any is to be got.” - -“Oh! if that be all,” said the Troll, “there’s no lack of lion’s milk, -if we only had the man to fetch it;” and then he went on to say how his -brother had a garden with twelve lions in it, and how the lad might have -the key if he had a mind to milk the lions. So the lad took the key and -a milking-pail, and strode off; and when he unlocked the gate and got -into the garden, there stood all the twelve lions on their hind-paws, -rampant and roaring at him. But the lad laid hold of the biggest, and -led him about by the fore-paws, and dashed him against stocks and -stones, till there wasn’t a bit of him left but the two paws. So when -the rest saw that, they were so afraid that they crept up and lay at his -feet like so many curs. After that they followed him about where-ever he -went, and when he got home, they lay down outside the house, with their -fore-paws on the door-sill. - -“Now, mother, you’ll soon be well,” said the lad, when he went in, “for -here is the lion’s milk.” - -He had just milked a drop in the pail. - -But the Troll, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a lie. He was sure the -lad was not the man to milk lions. - -When the lad heard that, he forced the Troll to get out of bed, threw -open the door, and all the lions rose up and seized the Troll, and at -last the lad had to make them leave their hold. - -That night the Troll began to talk to the old dame again. “I’m sure I -can’t tell how to put this lad out of the way—he is so awfully strong; -can’t you think of some way?” - -“No!” said the old dame, “if you can’t tell, I’m sure I can’t.” - -“Well!” said the Troll, “I have two brothers in a castle; they are -twelve times as strong as I am, and that’s why I was turned out and had -to put up with this farm. They hold that castle, and round it there is -an orchard with apples in it, and whoever eats those apples sleeps for -three days and three nights. If we could only get the lad to go for the -fruit, he wouldn’t be able to keep from tasting the apples, and as soon -as ever he fell asleep my brothers would tear him in pieces.” - -The old dame said she would sham sick, and say she could never be -herself again unless she tasted those apples; for she had set her heart -on them. - -All this the lad lay and listened to. - -When the morning came the old dame was so poorly that she couldn’t utter -a word but groans and sighs. She was sure she should never be well -again, unless she had some of those apples that grew in the orchard near -the castle where the man’s brothers lived; only she had no one to send -for them. - -Oh! the lad was ready to go that instant; but the eleven lions went with -him. So when he came to the orchard, he climbed up into the apple tree -and ate as many apples as he could, and he had scarce got down before he -fell into a deep sleep; but the lions all lay round him in a ring. The -third day came the Troll’s brothers, but they did not come in man’s -shape. They came snorting like man-eating steeds, and wondered who it -was that dared to be there, and said they would tear him to pieces, so -small that there should not be a bit of him left. But up rose the lions -and tore the Trolls into small pieces, so that the place looked as if a -dungheap had been tossed about it; and when they had finished the Trolls -they lay down again. The lad did not wake till late in the afternoon, -and when he got on his knees and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he -began to wonder what had been going on, when he saw the marks of hoofs. -But when he went towards the castle, a maiden looked out of a window who -had seen all that had happened, and she said,— - -“You may thank your stars you weren’t in that tussle, else you must have -lost your life.” - -“What! I lose my life! no fear of that, I think,” said the lad. - -So she begged him to come in that she might talk with him, for she -hadn’t seen a Christian soul ever since she came there. But when she -opened the door the lions wanted to go in too, but she got so -frightened, that she began to scream, and so the lad let them lie -outside. Then the two talked and talked, and the lad asked how it came -that she, who was so lovely, could put up with those ugly Trolls. She -never wished it, she said; ’twas quite against her will. They had seized -her by force, and she was the King of Arabia’s daughter. So they talked -on, and at last she asked him what he would do; whether she should go -back home, or whether he would have her to wife. Of course he would have -her, and she shouldn’t go home. - -After that they went round the castle, and at last they came to a great -hall, where the Trolls’ two great swords hung high up on the wall. - -“I wonder if you are man enough to wield one of these,” said the -Princess. - -“Who?—I?” said the lad. “’Twould be a pretty thing if I couldn’t wield -one of these.” - -With that he put two or three chairs one a-top of the other, jumped up, -and touched the biggest sword with his finger tips, tossed it up in the -air, and caught it again by the hilt; leapt down, and at the same time -dealt such a blow with it on the floor, that the whole hall shook. After -he had thus got down, he thrust the sword under his arm, and carried it -about with him. - -So, when they had lived a little while in the castle, the Princess -thought she ought to go home to her parents, and let them know what had -become of her; so they loaded a ship, and she set sail from the castle. - -After she had gone, and the lad had wandered about a little, he called -to mind that he had been sent on an errand thither, and had come to -fetch something for his mother’s health; and though he said to himself, -“After all, the old dame was not so bad but she’s all right by this -time,”—still he thought he ought to go and just see how she was. So he -went and found both the man and his mother quite fresh and hearty. - -“What wretches you are to live in this beggarly hut,” said the lad. -“Come with me up to my castle, and you shall see what a fine fellow I -am.” - -Well! they were both ready to go, and on the way his mother talked to -him, and asked, “How it was he had got so strong?” - -“If you must know, it came of that blue belt which lay on the hill-side -that time when you and I were out begging,” said the lad. - -“Have you got it still!” asked she. - -“Yes,”—he had. It was tied round his waist. - -“Might she see it?” - -“Yes, she might;” and with that he pulled open his waistcoat and shirt -to show it her. - -Then she seized it with both hands, tore it off, and twisted it round -her fist. - -“Now,” she cried, “what shall I do with such a wretch as you? I’ll just -give you one blow, and dash your brains out!” - -“Far too good a death for such a scamp,” said the Troll. “No! let’s -first burn out his eyes, and then turn him adrift in a little boat.” - -So they burned out his eyes and turned him adrift, in spite of his -prayers and tears; but, as the boat drifted, the lions swam after, and -at last they laid hold of it and dragged it ashore on an island, and -placed the lad under a fir-tree. They caught game for him, and they -plucked the birds and made him a bed of down; but he was forced to eat -his meat raw, and he was blind. At last, one day the biggest lion was -chasing a hare which was blind, for it ran straight over stock and -stone, and the end was, it ran right up against a fir-stump and tumbled -head over heels across the field right into a spring; but lo! when it -came out of the spring it saw its way quite plain, and so saved its -life. - -“So, so!” thought the lion, and went and dragged the lad to the spring, -and dipped him over head and ears in it. So, when he had got his sight -again, he went down to the shore and made signs to the lions that they -should all lie close together like a raft; then he stood upon their -backs while they swam with him to the mainland. When he had reached the -shore he went up into a birchen copse, and made the lions lie quiet. -Then he stole up to the castle, like a thief, to see if he couldn’t lay -hands on his belt; and when he got to the door, he peeped through the -key-hole, and there he saw his belt hanging up over a door in the -kitchen. So he crept softly in across the floor, for there was no one -there; but as soon as he had got hold of the belt, he began to kick and -stamp about as though he were mad. Just then his mother came rushing -out,— - -“Dear heart, my darling little boy! do give me the belt again,” she -said. - -“Thank you kindly,” said he. “Now you shall have the doom you passed on -me,” and he fulfilled it on the spot. When the old Troll heard that, he -came in and begged and prayed so prettily that he might not be smitten -to death. - -“Well, you may live,” said the lad, “but you shall undergo the same -punishment you gave me;” and so he burned out the Troll’s eyes, and -turned him adrift on the sea in a little boat, but he had no lions to -follow him. - -Now the lad was all alone, and he went about longing and longing for the -Princess; at last he could bear it no longer; he must set out to seek -her, his heart was so bent on having her. So he loaded four ships and -set sail for Arabia. For some time they had fair wind and fine weather, -but after that they lay wind-bound under a rocky island. So the sailors -went ashore and strolled about to spend the time, and there they found a -huge egg, almost as big as a little house. So they began to knock it -about with large stones, but after all, they couldn’t crack the shell. -Then the lad came up with his sword to see what all the noise was about, -and when he saw the egg, he thought it a trifle to crack it; so he gave -it one blow and the egg split, and out came a chicken as big as an -elephant. - -“Now we have done wrong,” said the lad; “this can cost us all our -lives;” and then he asked his sailors if they were men enough to sail to -Arabia in four and twenty hours, if they got a fine breeze. Yes! they -were good to do that, they said, so they set sail with a fine breeze, -and got to Arabia in three-and-twenty hours. As soon as they landed, the -lad ordered all the sailors to go and bury themselves up to the eyes in -a sandhill, so that they could barely see the ships. The lad and the -captains climbed a high crag and sat down under a fir. In a little while -came a great bird flying with an island in its claws and let it fall -down on the fleet, and sunk every ship. After it had done that, it flew -up to the sandhill and flapped its wings, so that the wind nearly took -off the heads of the sailors, and it flew past the fir with such force -that it turned the lad right about, but he was ready with his sword, and -gave the bird one blow and brought it down dead. - -After that he went to the town, where every one was glad because the -king had got his daughter back; but now the king had hidden her away -somewhere himself, and promised her hand as a reward to any one who -could find her, and this though she was betrothed before. Now as the lad -went along he met a man who had white bear-skins for sale, so he bought -one of the hides and put it on; and one of the captains was to take an -iron chain and lead him about, and so he went into the town and began to -play pranks. At last the news came to the king’s ears, that there never -had been such fun in the town before, for here was a white bear that -danced and cut capers just as it was bid. So a messenger came to say the -bear must come to the castle at once, for the king wanted to see its -tricks. So when it got to the castle every one was afraid, for such a -beast they had never seen before; but the captain said there was no -danger unless they laughed at it. They mustn’t do that, else it would -tear them to pieces. When the king heard that, he warned all the court -not to laugh. But while the fun was going on, in came one of the king’s -maids, and began to laugh and make game of the bear, and the bear flew -at her and tore her, so that there was scarce a rag of her left. Then -all the court began to bewail, and the captain most of all. - -“Stuff and nonsense!” said the king; “she’s only a maid, besides it’s -more my affair than yours.” - -When the show was over, it was late at night. “It’s no good your going -away, when it’s so late,” said the king. “The bear had best sleep here.” - -“Perhaps it might sleep in the ingle by the kitchen fire,” said the -captain. - -“Nay,” said the king, “it shall sleep up here, and it shall have pillows -and cushions to sleep on.” So a whole heap of pillows and cushions was -brought, and the captain had a bed in a side-room. - -But at midnight the king came with a lamp in his hand, and a big bunch -of keys, and carried off the white bear. He passed along gallery after -gallery, through doors and rooms, up-stairs and down-stairs, till at -last he came to a pier which ran out into the sea. Then the king began -to pull and haul at posts and pins, this one up and that one down, till -at last a little house floated up to the water’s edge. There he kept his -daughter, for she was so dear to him, that he had hid her, so that no -one could find her out. He left the white bear outside while he went in -and told her how it had danced and played its pranks. She said she was -afraid and dared not look at it; but he talked her over, saying there -was no danger, if she only wouldn’t laugh. So they brought the bear in, -and locked the door, and it danced and played its tricks; but just when -the fun was at its height, the Princess’s maid began to laugh. Then the -lad flew at her and tore her to bits, and the Princess began to cry and -sob. - -“Stuff and nonsense,” cried the king; “all this fuss about a maid! I’ll -get you just as good a one again. But now I think the bear had best stay -here till morning, for I don’t care to have to go and lead it along all -those galleries and stairs at this time of night.” - -“Well!” said the Princess, “if it sleeps here, I’m sure I won’t.” - -But just then the bear curled himself up and lay down by the stove; and -it was settled at last that the Princess should sleep there too, with a -light burning. But as soon as the king was well gone, the white bear -came and begged her to undo his collar. The Princess was so scared she -almost swooned away; but she felt about till she found the collar, and -she had scarce undone it before the bear pulled his head off. Then she -knew him again, and was so glad there was no end to her joy, and she -wanted to tell her father at once that her deliverer was come. But the -lad would not hear of it; he would earn her once more, he said. So in -the morning, when they heard the king rattling at the posts outside, the -lad drew on the hide and lay down by the stove. - -“Well, has it lain still?” the king asked. - -“I should think so,” said the Princess; “it hasn’t so much as turned or -stretched itself once.” - -When they got up to the castle again, the captain took the bear and led -it away, and then the lad threw off the hide, and went to a tailor and -ordered clothes fit for a prince; and when they were fitted on he went -to the king, and said he wanted to find the Princess. - -“You’re not the first who has wished the same thing,” said the king, -“but they have all lost their lives; for if any one who tries can’t find -her in four and twenty hours his life is forfeited.” - -Yes; the lad knew all that. Still he wished to try, and if he couldn’t -find her, ’twas his look-out. Now in the castle there was a band that -played sweet tunes, and there were fair maids to dance with, and so the -lad danced away. When twelve hours were gone, the king said,— - -“I pity you with all my heart. You’re so poor a hand at seeking; you -will surely lose your life.” - -“Stuff!” said the lad; “while there’s life there’s hope! So long as -there’s breath in the body there’s no fear; we have lots of time;” and -so he went on dancing till there was only one hour left. - -Then he said he would begin to search. - -“It’s no use now,” said the king; “time’s up.” - -“Light your lamp; out with your big bunch of keys,” said the lad, “and -follow me whither I wish to go. There is still a whole hour left.” - -So the lad went the same way which the king had led him the night -before, and he bade the king unlock door after door till they came down -to the pier which ran out into the sea. - -“It’s all no use, I tell you,” said the king; “time’s up, and this will -only lead you right out into the sea.” - -“Still five minutes more,” said the lad, as he pulled and pushed at the -posts and pins, and the house floated up. - -“Now the time is up,” bawled the king; “come hither, headsman, and take -off his head.” - -“Nay, nay!” said the lad; “stop a bit, there are still three minutes! -Out with the key, and let me get into this house.” - -But there stood the king and fumbled with his keys, to draw out the -time. At last he said he hadn’t any key. - -“Well, if you haven’t, I _have_,” said the lad, as he gave the door such -a kick that it flew to splinters inwards on the floor. - -At the door the Princess met him, and told her father this was her -deliverer, on whom her heart was set. So she had him; and this was how -the beggar boy came to marry the king’s daughter of Arabia. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - WHY THE BEAR IS STUMPY-TAILED. - - -ONE day the Bear met the Fox, who came slinking along with a string of -fish he had stolen. - -“Whence did you get those from?” asked the Bear. - -“Oh! my Lord Bruin, I’ve been out fishing and caught them,” said the -Fox. - -So the Bear had a mind to learn to fish too, and bade the Fox tell him -how he was to set about it. - -“Oh! it’s an easy craft for you,” answered the Fox, “and soon learnt. -You’ve only got to go upon the ice, and cut a hole and stick your tail -down into it; and so you must go on holding it there as long as you can. -You’re not to mind if your tail smarts a little; that’s when the fish -bite. The longer you hold it there the more fish you’ll get; and then -all at once out with it, with a cross pull sideways, and with a strong -pull too.” - -Yes; the Bear did as the Fox had said, and held his tail a long, long -time down in the hole, till it was fast frozen in. Then he pulled it out -with a cross pull, and it snapped short off. That’s why Bruin goes about -with a stumpy tail this very day. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - NOT A PIN TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man, and he had a wife. Now this couple -wanted to sow their fields, but they had neither seed-corn nor money to -buy it with. But they had a cow, and the man was to drive it into town -and sell it, to get money to buy corn for seed. But when it came to the -pinch, the wife dared not let her husband start for fear he should spend -the money in drink, so she set off herself with the cow, and took -besides a hen with her. - -Close by the town she met a butcher, who asked,— - -“Will you sell that cow, Goody?” - -“Yes, that I will,” she answered. - -“Well, what do you want for her?” - -“Oh! I must have five shillings for the cow, but you shall have the hen -for ten pound.” - -“Very good!” said the man; “I don’t want the hen, and you’ll soon get it -off your hands in the town, but I’ll give you five shillings for the -cow. - -Well, she sold her cow for five shillings, but there was no one in the -town who would give ten pound for a lean tough old hen, so she went back -to the butcher, and said,— - -“Do all I can, I can’t get rid of this hen, master! you must take it -too, as you took the cow.” - -“Well,” said the butcher, “come along and we’ll see about it.” Then he -treated her both with meat and drink, and gave her so much brandy that -she lost her head, and didn’t know what she was about, and fell fast -asleep. But while she slept, the butcher took and dipped her into a -tar-barrel, and then laid her down on a heap of feathers; and when she -woke up, she was feathered all over, and began to wonder what had -befallen her. - -“Is it me, or is it not me? No, it can never be me; it must be some -great strange bird. But what shall I do to find out whether it is me or -not. Oh! I know how I shall be able to tell whether it is me; if the -calves come and lick me, and our dog Tray doesn’t bark at me when I get -home, then it must be me, and no one else.” - -Now, Tray, her dog, had scarce set his eyes on the strange monster which -came through the gate, than he set up such a barking, one would have -thought all the rogues and robbers in the world were in the yard. - -“Ah, deary me,” said she, “I thought so; it can’t be me surely.” So she -went to the straw-yard, and the calves wouldn’t lick her, when they -snuffed in the strong smell of tar. - -“No, no!” she said, “it can’t be me; it must be some strange outlandish -bird.” - -So she crept up on the roof of the safe, and began to flap her arms, as -if they had been wings, and was just going to fly off. - -When her husband saw all this, out he came with his rifle, and began to -take aim at her. - -“Oh!” cried his wife, “don’t shoot, don’t shoot! it is only me.” - -“If it’s you,” said her husband, “don’t stand up there like a goat on a -house-top, but come down and let me hear what you have to say for -yourself.” - -So she crawled down again, but she hadn’t a shilling to shew, for the -crown she had got from the butcher she had thrown away in her -drunkenness. When her husband heard her story, he said, “You’re only -twice as silly as you were before,” and he got so angry that he made up -his mind to go away from her altogether, and never to come back till he -had found three other Goodies as silly as his own. - -So he toddled off, and when he had walked a little way he saw a Goody, -who was running in and out of a newly-built wooden cottage with an empty -sieve, and every time she ran in, she threw her apron over the sieve -just as if she had something in it, and when she got in she turned it -upside down on the floor. - -“Why, Goody!” he asked, “what are you doing!” - -“Oh,” she answered, “I’m only carrying in a little sun; but I don’t know -how it is, when I’m outside, I have the sun in my sieve, but when I get -inside, somehow or other I’ve thrown it away. But in my old cottage I -had plenty of sun, though I never carried in the least bit. I only wish -I knew some one who would bring the sun inside; I’d give him three -hundred dollars and welcome.” - -“Have you got an axe?” asked the man. “If you have, I’ll soon bring the -sun inside.” - -So he got an axe, and cut windows in the cottage, for the carpenters had -forgotten them; then the sun shone in, and he got his three hundred -dollars. - -“That was one of them,” said the man to himself, as he went on his way. - -After a while he passed by a house, out of which came an awful screaming -and bellowing; so he turned in and saw a Goody, who was hard at work -banging her husband across the head with a beetle, and over his head she -had drawn a shirt without any slit for the neck. - -“Why, Goody!” he asked, “will you beat your husband to death?” - -“No,” she said, “I only must have a hole in this shirt for his neck to -come through.” - -All the while the husband kept on screaming and calling out,— - -“Heaven help and comfort all who try on new shirts. If any one would -teach my Goody another way of making a slit for the neck in my new -shirts, I’d give him three hundred dollars down and welcome.” - -“I’ll do it in the twinkling of an eye,” said the man, “if you’ll only -give me a pair of scissors.” - -So he got a pair of scissors, and snipped a hole in the neck, and went -off with his three hundred dollars. - -“That was another of them,” he said to himself, as he walked along. - -Last of all, he came to a farm, where he made up his mind to rest a bit. -So when he went in, the mistress asked him,— - -“Whence do you come, master?” - -“Oh!” said he, “I come from Paradise Place,” for that was the name of -his farm. - -“From Paradise Place!” she cried, “you don’t say so! Why, then you must -know my second husband Peter, who is dead and gone, God rest his soul.” - -For you must know this Goody had been married three times, and as her -first and last husbands had been bad, she had made up her mind that the -second only was gone to heaven. - -“Oh yes,” said the man; “I know him very well.” - -“Well,” asked the Goody, “how do things go with him, poor dear soul?” - -“Only middling,” was the answer; “he goes about begging from house to -house, and has neither food nor a rag to his back. As for money, he -hasn’t a sixpence to bless himself with.” - -“Mercy on me!” cried out the Goody; “he never ought to go about such a -figure when he left so much behind him. Why, there’s a whole cupboard -full of old clothes up-stairs which belonged to him, besides a great -chest full of money yonder. Now, if you will take them with you, you -shall have a horse and cart to carry them. As for the horse, he can keep -it, and sit on the cart, and drive about from house to house, and then -he needn’t trudge on foot.” - -So the man got a whole cart-load of clothes, and a chest full of shining -dollars, and as much meat and drink as he would; and when he had got all -he wanted, he jumped into the cart and drove off. - -“That was the third,” he said to himself, as he went along. - -Now this Goody’s third husband was a little way off in a field -ploughing, and when he saw a strange man driving off from the farm with -his horse and cart, he went home and asked his wife who that was that -had just started with the black horse. - -“Oh, do you mean him?” said the Goody; “why, that was a man from -Paradise, who said that Peter, my dear second husband, who is dead and -gone, is in a sad plight, and that he goes from house to house begging, -and has neither clothes nor money; so I just sent him all those old -clothes he left behind him, and the old money-box with the dollars in -it.” - -The man saw how the land lay in a trice, so he saddled his horse and -rode off from the farm at full gallop. It wasn’t long before he was -close behind the man who sat and drove the cart; but when the latter saw -this he drove the cart into a thicket by the side of the road, pulled -out a handfull of hair from the horse’s tail, jumped up on a little rise -in the wood, where he tied the hair fast to a birch, and then lay down -under it, and began to peer and stare up at the sky. - -“Well, well, if I ever!” he said, as Peter the third came riding up. -“No! I never saw the like of this in all my born days!” - -Then Peter stood and looked at him for some time, wondering what had -come over him; but at last he asked,— - -“What do you lie there staring at?” - -“No,” kept on the man, “I never did see anything like it!—here is a man -going straight up to heaven on a black horse, and here you see his -horse’s tail still hanging in this birch; and yonder up in the sky you -see the black horse.” - -Peter looked first at the man, and then at the sky, and said,— - -“I see nothing but the horse hair in the birch; that’s all I see!” - -“Of course you can’t where you stand,” said the man; “but just come and -lie down here, and stare straight up, and mind you don’t take your eyes -off the sky; and then you shall see what you shall see.” - -But while Peter the third lay and stared up at the sky till his eyes -filled with tears, the man from Paradise Place took his horse and jumped -on its back, and rode off both with it and the cart and horse. - -When the hoofs thundered along the road Peter the third jumped up; but -he was so taken aback when he found the man had gone off with his horse -that he hadn’t the sense to run after him till it was too late. - -He was rather down in the mouth when he got home to his Goody; but when -she asked him what he had done with the horse, he said,— - -“I gave it to the man too for Peter the second, for I thought it wasn’t -right he should sit in a cart, and scramble about from house to house; -so now he can sell the cart and buy himself a coach to drive about in.” - -“Thank you heartily!” said his wife; “I never thought you could be so -kind.” - -Well, when the man reached home, who had got the six hundred dollars and -the cart-load of clothes and money, he saw that all his fields were -ploughed and sown, and the first thing he asked his wife was, where she -had got the seed-corn from. - -“Oh,” she said, “I have always heard that what a man sows he shall reap, -so I sowed the salt which our friends the north-country men laid up here -with us, and if we only have rain I fancy it will come up nicely.” - -“Silly you are,” said her husband, “and silly you will be so long as you -live; but that is all one now, for the rest are not a bit wiser than -you. There is not a pin to choose between you.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ONE’S OWN CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS PRETTIEST. - - -A SPORTSMAN went out once into a wood to shoot, and he met a Snipe. - -“Dear friend,” said the Snipe, “don’t shoot my children!” - -“How shall I know your children?” asked the Sportsman; “what are they -like?” - -“Oh!” said the Snipe, “mine are the prettiest children in all the wood.” - -“Very well,” said the Sportsman, “I’ll not shoot them; don’t be afraid.” - -But for all that, when he came back, there he had a whole string of -young snipes in his hand which he had shot. - -“Oh, oh!” said the Snipe, “why did you shoot my children after all?” - -“What! these your children!” said the Sportsman; “why, I shot the -ugliest I could find, that I did!” - -“Woe is me!” said the Snipe; “don’t you know that each one thinks his -own children the prettiest in the world?” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND. - - -ONCE on a time there was a fisherman who lived close by a palace, and -fished for the king’s table. One day when he was out fishing he just -caught nothing. Do what he would—however he tried with bait and -angle—there was never a sprat on his hook. But when the day was far -spent a head bobbed up out of the water, and said,— - -“If I may have what your wife bears under her girdle, you shall catch -fish enough.” - -So the man answered boldly, “Yes;” for he did not know that his wife was -going to have a child. After that, as was like enough, he caught plenty -of fish of all kinds. But when he got home at night, and told his story, -how he had got all that fish, his wife fell a weeping and moaning, and -was beside herself for the promise which her husband had made, for she -said, “I bear a babe under my girdle.” - -[Illustration: - - THE THREE PRINCESSES OF WHITELAND -] - -Well the story soon spread, and came up to the castle; and when the king -heard the woman’s grief and its cause, he sent down to say he would take -care of the child, and see if he couldn’t save it. - -So the months went on and on, and when her time came the fisher’s wife -had a boy; so the king took it at once, and brought it up as his own -son, until the lad grew up. Then he begged leave one day to go out -fishing with his father; he had such a mind to go, he said. At first the -king wouldn’t hear of it, but at last the lad had his way, and went. So -he and his father were out the whole day, and all went right and well -till they landed at night. Then the lad remembered he had left his -handkerchief, and went to look for it; but as soon as ever he got into -the boat, it began to move off with him at such speed that the water -roared under the bow, and all the lad could do in rowing against it with -the oars was no use; so he went and went the whole night, and at last he -came to a white strand, far, far away. - -There he went ashore, and when he had walked about a bit, an old, old -man met him, with a long white beard. - -“What’s the name of this land?” asked the lad. - -“Whiteland,” said the man, who went on to ask the lad whence he came, -and what he was going to do. So the lad told him all. - -“Ay, ay!” said the man; “now when you have walked a little farther along -the strand here, you’ll come to three Princesses, whom you will see -standing in the earth up to their necks, with only their heads out. Then -the first—she is the eldest—will call out and beg you so prettily to -come and help her; and the second will do the same; to neither of these -shall you go; make haste past them, as if you neither saw nor heard -anything. But the third you shall go to, and do what she asks. If you do -this you’ll have good luck—that’s all.” - -When the lad came to the first Princess, she called out to him, and -begged him so prettily to come to her, but he passed on as though he saw -her not. In the same way he passed by the second; but to the third he -went straight up. - -“If you’ll do what I bid you,” she said, “you may have which of us you -please.” - -“Yes;” he was willing enough; so she told him how three Trolls had set -them down in the earth there; but before they had lived in the castle up -among the trees. - -“Now,” she said, “you must go into that castle, and let the Trolls whip -you each one night for each of us. If you can bear that you’ll set us -free.” - -Well, the lad said he was ready to try. - -“When you go in,” the Princess went on to say, “you’ll see two lions -standing at the gate; but if you’ll only go right in the middle between -them they’ll do you no harm. Then go straight on into a little dark -room, and make your bed. Then the Troll will come to whip you; but if -you take the flask which hangs on the wall, and rub yourself with the -ointment that’s in it wherever his lash falls, you’ll be as sound as -ever. Then grasp the sword that hangs by the side of the flask and -strike the Troll dead.” - -Yes, he did as the Princess told him; he passed in the midst between the -lions, as if he hadn’t seen them, and went straight into the little -room, and there he lay down to sleep. The first night there came a Troll -with three heads and three rods, and whipped the lad soundly; but he -stood it till the Troll was done; then he took the flask and rubbed -himself, and grasped the sword and slew the Troll. - -So, when he went out next morning, the Princesses stood out of the earth -up to their waists. - -The next night ’twas the same story over again, only this time the Troll -had six heads and six rods, and he whipped him far worse than the first; -but when he went out next morning, the Princesses stood out of the earth -as far as the knee. - -The third night there came a Troll that had nine heads and nine rods, -and he whipped and flogged the lad so long that he fainted away; then -the Troll took him up and dashed him against the wall; but the shock -brought down the flask, which fell on the lad, burst, and spilled the -ointment all over him, and so he became as strong and sound as ever -again. Then he wasn’t slow; he grasped the sword and slew the Troll; and -next morning when he went out of the castle the Princesses stood before -him with all their bodies out of the earth. So he took the youngest for -his Queen, and lived well and happily with her for some time. - -At last he began to long to go home for a little to see his parents. His -Queen did not like this: but at last his heart was so set on it, and he -longed and longed so much, there was no holding him back, so she said,— - -“One thing you must promise me. This.—Only to do what your father begs -you to do, and not what your mother wishes;” and that he promised. - -Then she gave him a ring, which was of that kind that any one who wore -it might wish two wishes. So he wished himself home, and when he got -home his parents could not wonder enough what a grand man their son had -become. - -Now, when he had been at home some days, his mother wished him to go up -to the palace and shew the king what a fine fellow he had come to be. -But his father said,— - -“No! don’t let him do that; if he does, we shan’t have any more joy of -him this time.” - -But it was no good, the mother begged and prayed so long, that at last -he went. So when he got up to the palace, he was far braver, both in -clothes and array, than the other king, who didn’t quite like this, and -at last he said,— - -“All very fine; but here you can see my queen, what like she is, but I -can’t see yours, that I can’t. Do you know, I scarce think she’s so -good-looking as mine.” - -“Would to Heaven,” said the young king, “she were standing here, then -you’d see what she was like.” And that instant there she stood before -them. - -But she was very woeful, and said to him,— - -“Why did you not mind what I told you; and why did you not listen to -what your father said? Now, I must away home, and as for you, you have -had both your wishes.” - -With that she knitted a ring among his hair, with her name on it, and -wished herself home, and was off. - -Then the young king was cut to the heart, and went, day out day in, -thinking and thinking how he should get back to his queen. “I’ll just -try,” he thought, “if I can’t learn where Whiteland lies;” and so he -went out into the world to ask. So when he had gone a good way, he came -to a high hill, and there he met one who was lord over all the beasts of -the wood, for they all came home to him when he blew his horn; so the -king asked if he knew where Whiteland was? - -“No, I don’t,” said he, “but I’ll ask my beasts.” Then he blew his horn -and called them, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland lay? but -there was no beast that knew. - -So the man gave him a pair of snow-shoes. - -“When you get on these,” he said, “you’ll come to my brother, who lives -hundreds of miles off; he is lord over all the birds of the air. Ask -him. When you reach his house, just turn the shoes, so that the toes -point this way, and they’ll come home of themselves.” So when the king -reached the house, he turned the shoes as the lord of the beasts had -said, and away they went home of themselves. - -So he asked again after Whiteland, and the man called all the birds with -a blast of his horn, and asked if any of them knew where Whiteland lay; -but none of the birds knew. Now, long, long after the rest of the birds, -came an old eagle, which had been away ten round years, but he couldn’t -tell any more than the rest. - -“Well! well!” said the man, “I’ll lend you a pair of snow-shoes, and -when you get them on, they’ll carry you to my brother, who lives -hundreds of miles off; he’s lord of all the fish in the sea; you’d -better ask him. But don’t forget to turn the toes of the shoes this -way.” - -The king was full of thanks, got on the shoes, and when he came to the -man who was lord over the fish of the sea, he turned the toes round, and -so off they went home like the other pair. After that, he asked again -after Whiteland. - -So the man called the fish with a blast, but no fish could tell where it -lay. At last came an old pike which they had great work to call home, he -was such a way off. So when they asked him he said,— - -“Know it! I should think I did. I’ve been cook there ten years, and -to-morrow I’m going there again; for now, the queen of Whiteland, whose -king is away, is going to wed another husband.” - -“Well!” said the man, “as this is so, I’ll give you a bit of advice. -Hereabouts, on a moor, stand three brothers, and here they have stood -these hundred years, fighting about a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots. -If any one has these three things, he can make himself invisible, and -wish himself anywhere he pleases. You can tell them you wish to try the -things, and after that, you’ll pass judgment between them, whose they -shall be.” - -Yes! the king thanked the man, and went and did as he told him. - -“What’s all this?” he said to the brothers. “Why do you stand here -fighting for ever and a day? Just let me try these things, and I’ll give -judgment whose they shall be.” - -They were very willing to do this; but as soon as he had got the hat, -cloak, and boots, he said,— - -“When we meet next time I’ll tell you my judgment,” and with these words -he wished himself away. - -So as he went along up in the air, he came up with the North Wind. - -“Whither away?” roared the North Wind. - -“To Whiteland,” said the king; and then he told him all that had -befallen him. - -“Ah,” said the North Wind, “you go faster than I—you do; for you can go -straight, while I have to puff and blow round every turn and corner. But -when you get there, just place yourself on the stairs by the side of the -door, and then I’ll come storming in, as though I were going to blow -down the whole castle. And then when the prince, who is to have your -queen, comes out to see what’s the matter, just you take him by the -collar and pitch him out of doors; then I’ll look after him, and see if -I can’t carry him off.” - -Well—the king did as the North Wind said. He took his stand on the -stairs, and when the North Wind came, storming and roaring, and took -hold of the castle wall, so that it shook again, the prince came out to -see what was the matter. But as soon as ever he came, the king caught -him by the collar and pitched him out of doors, and then the North Wind -caught him up, and carried him off. So when there was an end of him, the -king went into the castle, and at first his queen didn’t know him, he -was so wan and thin, through wandering so far and being so woeful; but -when he shewed her the ring, she was as glad as glad could be; and so -the rightful wedding was held, and the fame of it spread far and wide. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE LASSIE AND HER GODMOTHER. - - -ONCE on a time a poor couple lived far, far away in a great wood. The -wife was brought to bed, and had a pretty girl, but they were so poor -they did not know how to get the babe christened, for they had no money -to pay the parson’s fees. So one day the father went out to see if he -could find any one who was willing to stand for the child and pay the -fees; but though he walked about the whole day from one house to -another, and though all said they were willing enough to stand, no one -thought himself bound to pay the fees. Now, when he was going home -again, a lovely lady met him, dressed so fine, and who looked so -thoroughly good and kind; she offered to get the babe christened, but -after that, she said, she must keep it for her own. The husband -answered, he must first ask his wife what she wished to do; but when he -got home and told his story, the wife said, right out, “No!” - -Next day the man went out again, but no one would stand if they had to -pay the fees; and though he begged and prayed, he could get no help. And -again as he went home, towards evening the same lovely lady met him, who -looked so sweet and good, and she made him the same offer. So he told -his wife again how he had fared, and this time she said, if he couldn’t -get any one to stand for his babe next day, they must just let the lady -have her way, since she seemed so kind and good. - -The third day, the man went about, but he couldn’t get any one to stand; -and so when, towards evening, he met the kind lady again, he gave his -word she should have the babe if she would only get it christened at the -font. So next morning she came to the place where the man lived, -followed by two men to stand godfathers, took the babe and carried it to -church, and there it was christened. After that she took it to her own -house, and there the little girl lived with her several years, and her -foster-mother was always kind and friendly to her. - -Now, when the lassie had grown to be big enough to know right and wrong, -her foster-mother got ready to go on a journey. - -“You have my leave,” she said, “to go all over the house, except those -rooms which I shew you;” and when she had said that, away she went. - -But the lassie could not forbear just to open one of the doors a little -bit, when—Pop! out flew a Star. - -When her foster-mother came back, she was very vexed to find that the -star had flown out, and she got very angry with her foster-daughter, and -threatened to send her away; but the child cried and begged so hard that -she got leave to stay. - -Now, after a while, the foster-mother had to go on another journey; and, -before she went, she forbade the lassie to go into those two rooms into -which she had never been. She promised to beware; but when she was left -alone, she began to think and to wonder what there could be in the -second room, and at last she could not help setting the door a little -a-jar, just to peep in, when—Pop! out flew the Moon. - -When her foster-mother came home and found the Moon let out, she was -very downcast, and said to the lassie she must go away, she could not -stay with her any longer. But the lassie wept so bitterly, and prayed so -heartily for forgiveness, that this time, too, she got leave to stay. - -Some time after, the foster-mother had to go away again, and she charged -the lassie, who by this time was half grown up, most earnestly that she -mustn’t try to go into, or to peep into, the third room. But when her -foster-mother had been gone some time, and the lassie was weary of -walking about alone, all at once she thought, “Dear me, what fun it -would be just to peep a little into that third room.” Then she thought -she mustn’t do it for her foster-mother’s sake; but when the bad thought -came the second time, she could hold out no longer; come what might, she -must and would look into the room; so she just opened the door a tiny -bit, when—POP! out flew the Sun. - -But when her foster-mother came back and saw that the sun had flown -away, she was cut to the heart, and said, “Now, there was no help for -it, the lassie must and should go away; she couldn’t hear of her staying -any longer.” Now the lassie cried her eyes out, and begged and prayed so -prettily; but it was all no good. - -“Nay! but I must punish you!” said her foster-mother; “but you may have -your choice, either to be the loveliest woman in the world, and not to -be able to speak, or to keep your speech, and be the ugliest of all -women; but away from me you must go.” - -And the lassie said, “I would sooner be lovely.” So she became all at -once wondrous fair; but from that day forth she was dumb. - -So, when she went away from her foster-mother, she walked and wandered -through a great, great wood; but the farther she went, the farther off -the end seemed to be. So, when the evening came on, she clomb up into a -tall tree, which grew over a spring, and there she made herself up to -sleep that night. Close by lay a castle, and from that castle came early -every morning a maid to draw water, to make the Prince’s tea, from the -spring over which the lassie was sitting. So the maid looked down into -the spring, saw the lovely face in the water, and thought it was her -own; then she flung away the pitcher, and ran home; and, when she got -there, she tossed up her head and said, “If I’m so pretty, I’m far too -good to go and fetch water.” - -So another maid had to go for the water, but the same thing happened to -her; she went back and said she was far too pretty and too good to fetch -water from the spring for the Prince. Then the Prince went himself, for -he had a mind to see what all this could mean. So, when he reached the -spring, he too saw the image in the water; but he looked up at once, and -became aware of the lovely lassie who sat there up in the tree. Then he -coaxed her down and took her home; and at last made up his mind to have -her for his queen, because she was so lovely; but his mother, who was -still alive, was against it. - -“She can’t speak,” she said, “and maybe she’s a wicked witch.” - -But the Prince could not be content till he got her. So after they had -lived together a while, the lassie was to have a child, and when the -child came to be born, the Prince set a strong watch round her; but at -the birth one and all fell into a deep sleep, and her foster-mother -came, cut the babe on its little finger, and smeared the Queen’s mouth -with the blood; and said,— - -“Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let out the star;” and -with these words she carried off the babe. - -But when those who were on the watch woke, they thought the Queen had -eaten her own child, and the old queen was all for burning her alive but -the Prince was so fond of her that at last he begged her off, but he had -hard work to set her free. - -So the next time the young Queen was to have a child, twice as strong a -watch was set as the first time, but the same thing happened over again, -only this time her foster-mother said,— - -“Now you shall be as grieved as I was when you let the moon out.” - -And the Queen begged, and prayed, and wept; for when her foster-mother -was there, she could speak—but it was all no good. - -And now the old queen said she must be burnt, but the Prince found means -to beg her off. But when the third child was to be born, a watch was set -three times as strong as the first, but just the same thing happened. -Her foster-mother came while the watch slept, took the babe and cut its -little finger, and smeared the Queen’s mouth with the blood, telling her -now she should be as grieved as she had been when the lassie let out the -sun. - -And now the Prince could not save her any longer. She must and should be -burnt. But just as they were leading her to the stake, all at once they -saw her foster-mother, who came with all three children—two she led by -the hand, and the third she had on her arm; and so she went up to the -young Queen and said,— - -“Here are your children; now you shall have them again. I am the Virgin -Mary, and so grieved as you have been, so grieved was I when you let out -sun, and moon, and star. Now you have been punished for what you did, -and henceforth you shall have your speech.” - -How glad the Queen and Prince now were, all may easily think, but no one -can tell. After that they were always happy; and from that day even the -Prince’s mother was very fond of the young Queen. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - THE THREE AUNTS -] - - - - - THE THREE AUNTS. - - -ONCE on a time there was a poor man who lived in a hut far away in the -wood, and got his living by shooting. He had an only daughter who was -very pretty, and as she had lost her mother when she was a child, and -was now half grown up, she said she would go out into the world and earn -her bread. - -“Well, lassie!” said the father, “true enough you have learnt nothing -here but how to pluck birds and roast them, but still you may as well -try to earn your bread.” - -So the girl went off to seek a place, and when she had gone a little -while, she came to a palace. There she stayed and got a place, and the -queen liked her so well, that all the other maids got envious of her. So -they made up their minds to tell the queen how the lassie said she was -good to spin a pound of flax in four and twenty hours, for you must know -the queen was a great housewife, and thought much of good work. - -“Have you said this? then you shall do it,” said the queen; “but you may -have a little longer time if you choose.” - -Now, the poor lassie dared not say she had never spun in all her life, -but she only begged for a room to herself. That she got, and the wheel -and the flax were brought up to her. There she sat sad and weeping, and -knew not how to help herself. She pulled the wheel this way and that, -and twisted and turned it about, but she made a poor hand of it, for she -had never even seen a spinning-wheel in her life. - -But all at once, as she sat there, in came an old woman to her. - -“What ails you child?” she said. - -“Ah!” said the lassie, with a deep sigh, “it’s no good to tell you, for -you’ll never be able to help me.” - -“Who knows?” said the old wife. “May be I know how to help you after -all.” - -Well, thought the lassie to herself, I may as well tell her, and so she -told her how her fellow-servants had given out that she was good to spin -a pound of flax in four and twenty hours. - -“And here am I, wretch that I am, shut up to spin all that heap in a day -and a night, when I have never even seen a spinning-wheel in all my born -days.” - -“Well, never mind, child,” said the old woman, “if you’ll call me Aunt -on the happiest day of your life, I’ll spin this flax for you, and so -you may just go away and lie down to sleep.” - -Yes the lassie was willing enough, and off she went and lay down to -sleep. - -Next morning when she awoke, there lay all the flax spun on the table, -and that so clean and fine, no one had ever seen such even and pretty -yarn. The queen was very glad to get such nice yarn, and she set greater -store by the lassie than ever. But the rest were still more envious, and -agreed to tell the queen how the lassie had said she was good to weave -the yarn she had spun in four and twenty hours. So the queen said again, -as she had said it she must do it; but if she couldn’t quite finish it -in four and twenty hours, she wouldn’t be too hard upon her, she might -have a little more time. This time, too, the lassie dared not say No, -but begged for a room to herself, and then she would try. There she sat -again, sobbing and crying, and not knowing which way to turn, when -another old woman came in and asked,— - -“What ails you, child?” - -At first the lassie wouldn’t say, but at last she told her the whole -story of her grief. - -“Well, well!” said the old wife, “never mind. If you’ll call me Aunt on -the happiest day of your life, I’ll weave this yarn for you, and so you -may just be off, and lie down to sleep.” - -Yes, the lassie was willing enough; so she went away and lay down to -sleep. When she awoke, there lay the piece of linen on the table, woven -so neat and close, no woof could be better. So the lassie took the piece -and ran down to the queen, who was very glad to get such beautiful -linen, and set greater store than ever by the lassie. But as for the -others, they grew still more bitter against her, and thought of nothing -but how to find out something to tell about her. - -At last they told the queen the lassie had said she was good to make up -the piece of linen into shirts in four and twenty hours. Well, all -happened as before; the lassie dared not say she couldn’t sew; so she -was shut up again in a room by herself, and there she sat in tears and -grief. But then another old wife came, who said she would sew the shirts -for her if she would call her Aunt on the happiest day of her life. The -lassie was only too glad to do this, and then she did as the old wife -told her, and went and lay down to sleep. - -Next morning when she woke she found the piece of linen made up into -shirts, which lay on the table—and such beautiful work no one had ever -set eyes on; and more than that, the shirts were all marked and ready -for wear. So when the queen saw the work, she was so glad at the way in -which it was sewn, that she clapped her hands and said,— - -“Such sewing I never had, nor even saw in all my born days;” and after -that she was as fond of the lassie as of her own children; and she said -to her,— - -“Now, if you like to have the Prince for your husband, you shall have -him; for you will never need to hire workwomen. You can sew, and spin, -and weave all yourself.” - -So as the lassie was pretty, and the Prince was glad to have her, the -wedding soon came on. But just as the Prince was going to sit down with -the bride to the bridal feast, in came an ugly old hag with a long -nose—I’m sure it was three ells long. - -So up got the bride and made a curtsey, and said,— - -“Good-day, Auntie.” - -“_That_ Auntie to my bride,” said the Prince. - -“Yes, she was!” - -“Well, then, she’d better sit down with us to the feast,” said the -Prince; but, to tell you the truth, both he and the rest thought she was -a loathsome woman to have next you. - -But just then in came another ugly old hag. She had a back so humped and -broad, she had hard work to get through the door. Up jumped the bride in -a trice, and greeted her with “Good-day, Auntie!” - -And the Prince asked again if that were his bride’s aunt. They both said -Yes; so the Prince said, if that were so, she too had better sit down -with them to the feast. - -But they had scarce taken their seats before another ugly old hag came -in, with eyes as large as saucers, and so red and bleared, ’twas -gruesome to look at her. But up jumped the bride again, with her -“Good-day, Auntie,” and her, too, the Prince asked to sit down; but I -can’t say he was very glad, for he thought to himself,— - -“Heaven shield me from such Aunties as my bride has!” So when he had sat -a while, he could not keep his thoughts to himself any longer, but -asked,— - -“But how, in all the world, can my bride, who is such a lovely lassie, -have such loathsome, misshapen Aunts?” - -“I’ll soon tell you how it is,” said the first. “I was just as -good-looking when I was her age; but the reason why I’ve got this long -nose is, because I was always kept sitting, and poking, and nodding over -my spinning, and so my nose got stretched and stretched, until it got as -long as you now see it.” - -“And I,” said the second, “ever since I was young, I have sat and -scuttled backwards and forwards over my loom, and that’s how my back has -got so broad and humped, as you now see it.” - -“And I,” said the third, “ever since I was little, I have sat, and -stared, and sewn, and sewn and stared, night and day; and that’s why my -eyes have got so ugly and red, and now there’s no help for them.” - -“So! so!” said the Prince, “’twas lucky I came to know this; for if folk -can get so ugly and loathsome by all this, then my bride shall neither -spin, nor weave, nor sew, all her life long.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE COCK, THE CUCKOO, AND THE BLACK-COCK. - - [This is another of those tales in which the birds’ notes must be - imitated.] - - -ONCE on a time the Cock, the Cuckoo, and the Black-cock bought a cow -between them. But when they came to share it, and couldn’t agree which -should buy the others out, they settled that he who woke first in the -morning should have the cow. - -So the Cock woke first. - -“Now the cow’s mine! Now the cow’s mine! Hurrah! hurrah!” he crew, and -as he crew, up woke the Cuckoo. - -“Half cow! Half cow!” sang the Cuckoo, and woke up the Black-cock. - -“A like share, a like share; dear friends, that’s only fair! Saw see! -See saw!” - -That’s what the Black-cock said. - -And now, can you tell me which of them ought to have the cow? - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - RICH PETER THE PEDLAR. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man whom they called Rich Peter the Pedlar, -because he used to travel about with a pack, and got so much money, that -he became quite rich. This Rich Peter had a daughter, whom he held so -dear that all who came to woo her, were sent about their business, for -no one was good enough for her, he thought. Well, this went on and on, -and at last no one came to woo her, and as years rolled on, Peter began -to be afraid that she would die an old maid. - -“I wonder now,” he said to his wife, “why suitors no longer come to woo -our lass, who is so rich. ’Twould be odd if nobody cared to have her, -for money she has, and more she shall have. I think I’d better just go -off to the Stargazers, and ask them whom she shall have, for not a soul -comes to us now.” - -“But how,” asked the wife, “can the Stargazers answer that?” - -[Illustration: - - RICH PETER THE PEDLAR -] - -“Can’t they?” said Peter; “why! they read all things in the stars.” - -So he took with him a great bag of money, and set off to the Stargazers, -and asked them to be so good as to look at the stars, and tell him the -husband his daughter was to have. - -Well! the Stargazers looked and looked, but they said they could see -nothing about it. But Peter begged them to look better, and to tell him -the truth; he would pay them well for it. So the Stargazers looked -better, and at last they said that his daughter’s husband was to be the -miller’s son, who was only just born, down at the mill below Rich -Peter’s house. Then Peter gave the Stargazers a hundred dollars, and -went home with the answer he had got. - -Now, he thought it too good a joke that his daughter should wed one so -newly born, and of such poor estate. He said this to his wife, and -added,— - -“I wonder now if they would sell me the boy; then I’d soon put him out -of the way?” - -“I daresay they would,” said his wife; “you know they’re very poor.” - -So Peter went down to the mill, and asked the miller’s wife whether she -would sell him her son; she should get a heap of money for him. - -“No!” that she wouldn’t. - -“Well!” said Peter, “I’m sure I can’t see why you shouldn’t; you’ve hard -work enough as it is to keep hunger out of the house, and the boy won’t -make it easier, I think.” - -But the mother was so proud of the boy, she couldn’t part with him. So -when the miller came home, Peter said the same thing to him, and gave -his word to pay six hundred dollars for the boy, so that they might buy -themselves a farm of their own, and not have to grind other folks’ corn, -and to starve when they ran short of water. The miller thought it was a -good bargain, and he talked over his wife; and the end was, that Rich -Peter got the boy. The mother cried and sobbed, but Peter comforted her -by saying, the boy should be well cared for; only they had to promise -never to ask after him, for he said he meant to send him far away to -other lands, so that he might learn foreign tongues. - -So when Peter the Pedlar got home with the boy, he sent for a carpenter, -and had a little chest made, which was so tidy and neat, ’twas a joy to -see. This he made water-tight with pitch, put the miller’s boy into it, -locked it up, and threw it into the river, where the stream carried it -away. - -“Now, I’m rid of him,” thought Peter the Pedlar. - -But when the chest had floated ever so far down the stream, it came into -the mill-head of another mill, and ran down and hampered the shaft of -the wheel, and stopped it. Out came the miller to see what stopped the -mill, found the chest, and took it up. So when he came home to dinner to -his wife, he said,— - -“I wonder now whatever there can be inside this chest which came -floating down the mill-head, and stopped our mill to-day?” - -“That we’ll soon know,” said his wife; “see there’s the key in the lock, -just turn it.” - -So they turned the key and opened the chest, and lo! there lay the -prettiest child you ever set eyes on. So they were both glad, and were -ready to keep the child, for they had no children of their own, and were -so old, they could now hope for none. - -“Now, after a little while Peter the Pedlar began to wonder how it was -no one came to woo his daughter, who was so rich in land, and had so -much ready money. At last, when no one came, off he went again to the -Stargazers, and offered them a heap of money if they could tell him whom -his daughter was to have for a husband. - -“Why! we have told you already, that she is to have the miller’s son -down yonder,” said the Stargazers. - -“All very true I daresay,” said Peter the Pedlar; “but it so happens -he’s dead; but if you can tell me whom she’s to have, I’ll give you two -hundred dollars, and welcome.” - -So the Stargazers looked at the stars again, but they got quite cross, -and said,— - -“We told you before, and we tell you now, she is to have the miller’s -son, whom you threw into the river, and wished to make an end of; for he -is alive, safe and sound, in such and such a mill, far down the stream.” - -So Peter the Pedlar gave them two hundred dollars for this news, and -thought how he could best be rid of the miller’s son. The first thing -Peter did when he got home, was to set off for the mill. By that time -the boy was so big that he had been confirmed, and went about the mill -and helped the miller. Such a pretty boy you never saw. - -“Can’t you spare me that lad yonder?” said Peter the Pedlar to the -miller. - -“No! that I can’t,” he answered; “I’ve brought him up as my own son, and -he has turned out so well, that now he’s a great help and aid to me in -the mill, for I’m getting old and past work.” - -“It’s just the same with me,” said Peter the Pedlar; “that’s why I’d -like to have some one to learn my trade. Now, if you’ll give him up to -me, I’ll give you six hundred dollars, and then you can buy yourself a -farm, and live in peace and quiet the rest of your days.” - -Yes! when the miller heard that, he let Peter the Pedlar have the lad. - -Then the two travelled about far and wide with their packs and wares, -till they came to an inn, which lay by the edge of a great wood. From -this Peter the Pedlar sent the lad home with a letter to his wife, for -the way was not so long if you took the short cut across the wood, and -told him to tell her she was to be sure and do what was written in the -letter as quickly as she could. But it was written in the letter, that -she was to have a great pile made there and then, fire it, and cast the -miller’s son into it. If she didn’t do that, he’d burn her alive himself -when he came back. So the lad set off with the letter across the wood, -and when evening came on he reached a house far, far away in the wood, -into which he went; but inside he found no one. In one of the rooms was -a bed ready made, so he threw himself across it and fell asleep. The -letter he had stuck into his hat-band, and the hat he pulled over his -face. So when the robbers came back—for in that house twelve robbers had -their abode—and saw the lad lying on the bed, they began to wonder who -he could be, and one of them took the letter and broke it open and read -it. - -“Ho! ho!” said he; “this comes from Peter the Pedlar, does it? Now we’ll -play him a trick. It would be a pity if the old niggard made an end of -such a pretty lad.” - -So the robbers wrote another letter to Peter the Pedlar’s wife, and -fastened it under his hat-band while he slept; and in that they wrote, -that as soon as ever she got it she was to make a wedding for her -daughter and the miller’s boy, and give them horses and cattle, and -household stuff, and set them up for themselves in the farm which he had -under the hill; and if he didn’t find all this done by the time he came -back, she’d smart for it—that was all. - -Next day the robbers let the lad go, and when he came home and delivered -the letter, he said he was to greet her kindly from Peter the Pedlar, -and to say that she was to carry out what was written in the letter as -soon as ever she could. - -“You must have behaved very well then,” said Peter the Pedlar’s wife to -the miller’s boy, “if he can write so about you now, for when you set -off, he was so mad against you, he didn’t know how to put you out of the -way.” So she married them on the spot, and set them up for themselves, -with horses, and cattle, and household stuff, in the farm up under the -hill. - -No long time after Peter the Pedlar came home, and the first thing he -asked was, if she had done what he had written in his letter. - -“Ay! ay!” she said; “I thought it rather odd, but I dared not do -anything else;” and so Peter asked where his daughter was. - -“Why, you know well enough where she is,” said his wife. “Where should -she be but up at the farm under the hill, as you wrote in the letter.” - -So when Peter the Pedlar came to hear the whole story, and came to see -the letter, he got so angry he was ready to burst with rage, and off he -ran up to the farm to the young couple. - -“It’s all very well, my son, to say you have got my daughter,” he said -to the miller’s lad; “but if you wish to keep her, you must go to the -Dragon of Deepferry, and get me three feathers out of his tail; for he -who has them may get anything he chooses.” - -“But where shall I find him?” said his son-in-law. - -“I’m sure I can’t tell,” said Peter the Pedlar; “that’s your look-out, -not mine.” - -So the lad set off with a stout heart, and after he had walked some way, -he came to a king’s palace. - -“Here I’ll just step in and ask,” he said to himself; “for such great -folk know more about the world than others, and perhaps I may here learn -the way to the Dragon.” - -Then the King asked him whence he came, and whither he was going? - -“Oh!” said the lad, “I’m going to the Dragon of Deepferry to pluck three -feathers out of his tail, if I only knew where to find him.” - -“You must take luck with you, then,” said the King, “for I never heard -of any one who came back from that search. But if you find him, just ask -him from me why I can’t get clear water in my well; for I’ve dug it out -time after time, and still I can’t get a drop of clear water.” - -“Yes, I’ll be sure to ask him,” said the lad. So he lived on the fat of -the land at the palace, and got money and food when he left it. - -At even he came to another king’s palace, and when he went into the -kitchen, the King came out of the parlour, and asked whence he came, and -on what errand he was bound? - -“Oh!” said the lad, “I’m going to the Dragon of Deepferry to pluck three -feathers out of his tail.” - -“Then you must take luck with you,” said the King, “for I never yet -heard that any one came back who went to look for him. But if you find -him, be so good as to ask him from me where my daughter is, who has been -lost so many years. I have hunted for her, and had her name given out in -every church in the country, but no one can tell me anything about her.” - -“Yes, I’ll mind and do that,” said the lad; and in that palace too he -lived on the best, and when he went away he got both money and food. - -So when evening drew on again he came at last to another king’s palace. -Here who should come out into the kitchen but the Queen and she asked -him whence he came, and on what errand he was bound? - -“I’m going to the Dragon of Deepferry to pluck three feathers out of his -tail,” said the lad. - -“Then you’d better take a good piece of luck with you,” said the Queen, -“for I never heard of any one that came back from him. But if you find -him, just be good enough to ask him from me where I shall find my gold -keys which I have lost.” - -“Yes! I’ll be sure to ask him,” said the lad. - -Well! when he left the palace he came to a great broad river; and while -he stood there and wondered whether he should cross it, or go down along -the bank, an old hunchbacked man came up, and asked whither he was -going? - -“Oh, I’m going to the Dragon of Deepferry, if I could only find any one -to tell where I can find him.” - -“I can tell you that,” said the man; “for here I go backwards and -forwards, and carry those over who are going to see him. He lives just -across, and when you climb the hill you’ll see his castle; but mind, if -you come to talk with him, to ask him from me how long I’m to stop here -and carry folk over. - -“I’ll be sure to ask him,” said the lad. - -So the man took him on his back and carried him over the river; and when -he climbed the hill, he saw the castle, and went in. - -He found there a Princess who lived with the Dragon all alone; and she -said,— - -“But, dear friend, how can Christian folk dare to come hither? None have -been here since I came, and you’d best be off as fast as you can; for as -soon as the Dragon comes home, he’ll smell you out, and gobble you up in -a trice, and that’ll make me so unhappy.” - -“Nay! nay!” said the lad; “I can’t go before I’ve got three feathers out -of his tail.” - -“You’ll never get them,” said the Princess; “you’d best be off.” - -But the lad wouldn’t go; he would wait for the Dragon, and get the -feathers, and an answer to all his questions. - -“Well, since you’re so steadfast, I’ll see what I can do to help you,” -said the Princess; “just try to lift that sword that hangs on the wall -yonder.” - -No; the lad could not even stir it. - -“I thought so,” said the Princess; “but just take a drink out of this -flask.” - -So when the lad had sat a while, he was to try again; and then he could -just stir it. - -“Well! you must take another drink,” said the Princess, “and then you -may as well tell me your errand hither.” - -So he took another drink, and then he told her how one king had begged -him to ask the Dragon, how it was he couldn’t get clean water in his -well?—how another had bidden him ask, what had become of his daughter, -who had been lost many years since?—and how a queen had begged him to -ask the Dragon what had become of her gold keys?—and, last of all, how -the ferryman had begged him to ask the Dragon, how long he was to stop -there and carry folk over? When he had done his story, and took hold of -the sword, he could lift it; and when he had taken another drink, he -could brandish it. - -“Now,” said the Princess, “if you don’t want the Dragon to make an end -of you, you’d best creep under the bed, for night is drawing on, and -he’ll soon be home, and then you must lie as still as you can, lest he -should find you out. And when we have gone to bed, I’ll ask him, but you -must keep your ears open, and snap up all that he says; and under the -bed you must lie till all is still, and the Dragon falls asleep; then -creep out softly and seize the sword, and as soon as he rises, look out -to hew off his head at one stroke, and at the same time pluck out the -three feathers, for else he’ll tear them out himself, that no one may -get any good by them.” - -So the lad crept under the bed, and the Dragon came home. - -“What a smell of Christian flesh,” said the Dragon. - -“Oh yes,” said the Princess, “a raven came flying with a man’s bone in -his bill, and perched on the roof. No doubt it’s that you smell.” - -“So it is, I daresay,” said the Dragon. - -So the Princess served supper; and after they had eaten, they went to -bed. But after they had lain a while, the Princess began to toss about, -and all at once she started up and said,— - -“Ah! ah!” - -“What’s the matter?” said the Dragon. - -“Oh,” said the Princess, “I can’t rest at all, and I’ve had such a -strange dream.” - -“What did you dream about? Let’s hear?” said the Dragon. - -“I thought a king came here, and asked you what he must do to get clear -water in his well.” - -“Oh,” said the Dragon, “he might just as well have found that out for -himself. If he dug the well out, and took out the old rotten stump which -lies at the bottom, he’d get clean water fast enough. But be still now, -and don’t dream any more.” - -When the Princess had lain a while, she began to toss about, and at last -she started up with her - -“Ah! ah!” - -“What’s the matter now?” said the Dragon. - -“Oh! I can’t get any rest at all, and I’ve had such a strange dream,” -said the Princess. - -“Why, you seem full of dreams to-night,” said the Dragon; “what was your -dream now?” - -“I thought a king came here, and asked you what had become of his -daughter who had been lost many years since,” said the Princess. - -“Why, you are she,” said the Dragon; “but he’ll never set eyes on you -again. But now, do pray be still, and let me get some rest, and don’t -let’s have any more dreams, else I’ll break your ribs.” - -Well, the Princess hadn’t lain much longer before she began to toss -about again. At last she started up with her - -“Ah! ah!” - -“What! Are you at it again?” said the Dragon. “What’s the matter now?” -for he was wild and sleep-surly, so that he was ready to fly to pieces. - -“Oh, don’t be angry,” said the Princess; “but I’ve had such a strange -dream.” - -“The deuce take your dreams,” roared the Dragon; “what did you dream -this time?” - -“I thought a queen came here, who asked you to tell her where she would -find her gold keys, which she has lost.” - -“Oh,” said the Dragon, “she’ll find them soon enough if she looks among -the bushes where she lay that time she wots of. But do now let me have -no more dreams, but sleep in peace.” - -So they slept a while; but then the Princess was just as restless as -ever, and at last she screamed out— - -“Ah! ah!” - -“You’ll never behave till I break your neck,” said the Dragon, who was -now so wroth that sparks of fire flew out of his eyes. “What’s the -matter now?” - -“Oh, don’t be so angry,” said the Princess; “I can’t bear that; but I’ve -had such a strange dream.” - -“Bless me!” said the Dragon, “if I ever heard the like of these -dreams—there’s no end to them. And pray, what did you dream now?” - -“I thought the ferryman down at the ferry came and asked how long he was -to stop there and carry folk over,” said the Princess. - -“The dull fool!” said the Dragon; “he’d soon be free, if he chose. When -any one comes who wants to go across, he has only to take and throw him -into the river, and say, ‘Now, carry folk over yourself till some one -sets you free.’ But now, pray let’s have an end of these dreams, else -I’ll lead you a pretty dance.” - -So the Princess let him sleep on. But as soon as all was still, and the -miller’s lad heard that the Dragon snored, he crept out. Before it was -light the Dragon rose; but he had scarce set both his feet on the floor -before the lad cut off his head, and plucked three feathers out of his -tail. Then came great joy, and both the lad and the Princess took as -much gold and silver, and money, and precious things as they could -carry; and when they came down to the ford, they so puzzled the ferryman -with all they had to tell, that he quite forgot to ask what the Dragon -had said about him till they had got across. - -“Halloa, you sir,” he said, as they were going off, “did you ask the -Dragon what I begged you to ask?” - -“Yes I did,” said the lad, “and he said, ‘When any one comes and wants -to go over, you must throw him into the midst of the river, and say, -‘Now, carry folk over yourself till some one comes to set you free,’’ -and then you’ll be free.” - -“Ah, bad luck to you,” said the ferryman; “had you told me that before, -you might have set me free yourself.” - -So, when they got to the first palace, the Queen asked if he had spoken -to the Dragon about her gold keys? - -“Yes,” said the lad, and whispered in the Queen’s ear, “he said you must -look among the bushes where you lay the day you wot of.” - -“Hush! hush! Don’t say a word,” said the Queen, and gave the lad a -hundred dollars. - -When they came to the second palace, the King asked if he had spoken to -the Dragon of what he begged him? - -“Yes,” said the lad, “I did; and see, here is your daughter.” - -At that the King was so glad, he would gladly have given the Princess to -the miller’s lad to wife, and half the kingdom beside; but as he was -married already, he gave him two hundred dollars, and coaches and -horses, and as much gold and silver as he could carry away. - -When he came to the third King’s palace, out came the King and asked if -he had asked the Dragon of what he begged him? - -“Yes,” said the lad, “and he said you must dig out the well, and take -out the rotten old stump which lies at the bottom, and then you’ll get -plenty of clear water.” - -Then the King gave him three hundred dollars, and he set out home; but -he was so loaded with gold and silver, and so grandly clothed, that it -gleamed and glistened from him, and he was now far richer than Peter the -Pedlar. - -When Peter got the feathers he hadn’t a word more to say against the -wedding; but when he saw all that wealth, he asked if there was much -still left at the Dragon’s castle. - -“Yes, I should think so,” said the lad; “there was much more than I -could carry with me—so much, that you might load many horses with it; -and if you choose to go, you may be sure there’ll be enough for you.” - -So his son-in-law told him the way so clearly, that he hadn’t to ask it -of any one. - -“But the horses,” said the lad, “you’d best leave this side the river; -for the old ferryman, he’ll carry you over safe enough.” - -So Peter set off, and took with him great store of food and many horses; -but these he left behind him on the river’s brink, as the lad had said. -And the old ferryman took him upon his back; but when they had come a -bit out into the stream, he cast him into the midst of the river, and -said,— - -“Now you may go backwards and forwards, here, and carry folk over till -you are set free.” - -And unless some one has set him free, there goes Rich Peter the Pedlar -backwards and forwards, and carries folk across this very day. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BOOTS AND THE TROLL. - - -ONCE on a time there was a poor man who had three sons. When he died, -the two elder set off into the world to try their luck, but the youngest -they wouldn’t have with them at any price. - -“As for you,” they said, “you’re fit for nothing but to sit and poke -about in the ashes.” - -So the two went off and got places at a palace—the one under the -coachman, and the other under the gardener. But Boots, he set off too, -and took with him a great kneading-trough, which was the only thing his -parents left behind them, but which the other two would not bother -themselves with. It was heavy to carry, but he did not like to leave it -behind, and so, after he had trudged a bit, he too came to the palace, -and asked for a place. So they told him they did not want him, but he -begged so prettily that at last he got leave to be in the kitchen, and -carry in wood and water for the kitchen-maid. He was quick and ready, -and in a little while every one liked him; but the two others were dull, -and so they got more kicks than halfpence, and grew quite envious of -Boots, when they saw how much better he got on. - -Just opposite the Palace, across a lake, lived a Troll, who had seven -silver ducks which swam on the lake, so that they could be seen from the -palace. These the king had often longed for; and so the two elder -brothers told the coachman,— - -“If our brother only chose, he has said he could easily get the king -those seven silver ducks.” - -You may fancy it wasn’t long before the coachman told this to the king; -and the king called Boots before him, and said,— - -“Your brothers say you can get me the silver ducks; so now go and fetch -them.” - -“I’m sure I never thought or said anything of the kind,” said the lad. - -“You did say so, and you shall fetch them,” said the king, who would -hold his own. - -“Well! well!” said the lad; “needs must, I suppose; but give me a bushel -of rye, and a bushel of wheat, and I’ll try what I can do.” - -So he got the rye and the wheat, and put them into the kneading trough -he had brought with him from home, got in, and rowed across the lake. -When he reached the other side he began to walk along the shore, and to -sprinkle and strew the grain, and at last he coaxed the ducks into his -kneading-trough, and rowed back as fast as ever he could. - -When he got half over, the Troll came out of his house, and set eyes on -him. - -“HALLOA!” roared out the Troll; “is it you that has gone off with my -seven silver ducks?” - -“AYE! AYE!” said the lad. - -“Shall you be back soon?” asked the Troll. - -“Very likely,” said the lad. - -So when he got back to the king, with the seven silver ducks, he was -more liked than ever, and even the king was pleased to say, “Well done!” -But at this his brothers grew more and more spiteful and envious; and so -they went and told the coachman that their brother had said, if he -chose, he was man enough to get the king the Troll’s bed-quilt, which -had a gold patch and a silver patch, and a silver patch and a gold -patch; and this time, too, the coachman was not slow in telling all this -to the king. So the king said to the lad, how his brothers had said he -was good to steal the Troll’s bed-quilt, with gold and silver patches; -so now he must go and do it, or lose his life. - -Boots answered, he had never thought or said any such thing; but when he -found there was no help for it, he begged for three days to think over -the matter. - -So when the three days were gone, he rowed over in his kneading-trough, -and went spying about. At last he saw those in the Troll’s cave come out -and hang the quilt out to air, and as soon as ever they had gone back -into the face of the rock, Boots pulled the quilt down, and rowed away -with it as fast as he could. - -And when he was half across, out came the Troll and set eyes on him, and -roared out,— - -“HALLOA! It is you who took my seven silver ducks?” - -“AYE! AYE!” said the lad. - -“And now, have you taken my bed-quilt, with silver patches and gold -patches, and gold patches and silver patches?” - -“Aye! aye!” said the lad. - -“Shall you come back again?” - -“Very likely,” said the lad. - -But when he got back with the gold and silver patch-work quilt, every -one was fonder of him than ever, and he was made the king’s -body-servant. - -At this, the other two were still more vexed, and to be revenged they -went and told the coachman,— - -“Now, our brother has said, he is man enough to get the king the gold -harp which the Troll has, and that harp is of such a kind, that all who -listen when it is played grow glad, however sad they may be.” - -Yes! the coachman went and told the king, and he said to the lad,— - -“If you have said this, you shall do it. If you do it, you shall have -the Princess and half the kingdom. If you don’t, you shall lose your -life.” - -“I’m sure I never thought or said anything of the kind,” said the lad; -“but if there’s no help for it, I may as well try; but I must have six -days to think about it.” - -Yes! he might have six days, but when they were over he must set out. - -Then he took a tenpenny nail, a birch-pin, and a waxen taper-end in his -pocket, and rowed across, and walked up and down before the Troll’s -cave, looking stealthily about him. So when the Troll came out, he saw -him at once. - -“HO, HO!” roared the Troll; “is it you who took my seven silver ducks?” - -“AYE! AYE!” said the lad. - -“And it is you who took my bed-quilt, with the gold and silver patches?” -asked the Troll. - -“Aye! aye!” said the lad. - -So the Troll caught hold of him at once, and took him off into the cave -in the face of the rock. - -“Now, daughter dear,” said the Troll, “I’ve caught the fellow who stole -the silver ducks and my bed-quilt with gold and silver patches; put him -into the fattening coop; and when he’s fat we’ll kill him, and make a -feast for our friends.” - -She was willing enough, and put him at once into the fattening coop, and -there he stayed eight days, fed on the best, both in meat and drink, and -as much as he could cram. So, when the eight days were over, the Troll -said to his daughter to go down and cut him in his little finger, that -they might see if he were fat. Down she came to the coop. - -“Out with your little finger!” she said. - -But Boots stuck out his tenpenny-nail, and she cut at it. - -“Nay! nay! he’s as hard as iron still,” said the Troll’s daughter, when -she got back to her father; “we can’t take him yet.” - -After another eight days the same thing happened, and this time Boots -stuck out his birchen pin. - -“Well, he’s a little better,” she said, when she got back to the Troll; -“but still he’ll be as hard as wood to chew.” - -But when another eight days were gone, the Troll told his daughter to go -down and see if he wasn’t fat now. - -“Out with your little finger,” said the Troll’s daughter, when she -reached the coop, and this time Boots stuck out the taper end. - -“Now he’ll do nicely,” she said. - -“Will he?” said the Troll. “Well, then, I’ll just set off and ask the -guests; meantime you must kill him, and roast half and boil half.” - -So when the Troll had been gone a little while, the daughter began to -sharpen a great long knife. - -“Is that what you’re going to kill me with?” asked the lad. - -“Yes it is,” said she. - -“But it isn’t sharp,” said the lad. “Just let me sharpen it for you, and -then you’ll find it easier work to kill me.” - -So she let him have the knife, and he began to rub and sharpen it on the -whetstone. - -“Just let me try it on one of your hair plaits; I think it’s about right -now.” - -So he got leave to do that; but at the same time that he grasped the -plait of hair, he pulled back her head, and at one gash, cut off the -Troll’s daughter’s head; and half of her he roasted and half of her he -boiled, and served it all up. - -After that he dressed himself in her clothes, and sat away in the -corner. - -So when the Troll came home with his guests, he called out to his -daughter—for he thought all the time it was his daughter—to come and -take a snack. - -“No thank you,” said the lad, “I don’t care for food, I’m so sad and -downcast.” - -“Oh!” said the Troll, “if that’s all, you know the cure; take the harp -and play a tune on it.” - -“Yes!” said the lad; “but where has it got to; I can’t find it.” - -“Why, you know well enough,” said the Troll; “you used it last; where -should it be but over the door yonder?” - -The lad did not wait to be told twice; he took down the harp, and went -in and out playing tunes; but, all at once he shoved off the kneading -trough, jumped into it, and rowed off, so that the foam flew around the -trough. - -After a while the Troll thought his daughter was a long while gone, and -went out to see what ailed her; and then he saw the lad in the trough, -far, far out on the lake. - -“HALLOA! Is it you,” he roared, “that took my seven silver ducks?” - -“AYE, AYE!” said the lad. - -“Is it you that took my bed-quilt with the gold and silver patches?” - -“Yes!” said the lad. - -“And now you have taken off my gold harp?” screamed the Troll. - -“Yes!” said the lad; “I’ve got it, sure enough.” - -“And haven’t I eaten you up after all, then?” - -“No, no! ’twas your own daughter you ate,” answered the lad. - -But when the Troll heard that, he was so sorry, he burst; and then Boots -rowed back, and took a whole heap of gold and silver with him, as much -as the trough could carry. And so, when he came to the palace with the -gold harp, he got the Princess and half the kingdom as the king had -promised him; and, as for his brothers, he treated them well, for he -thought they had only wished his good when they said what they had said. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE LAD WHO WENT TO THE NORTH WIND. - - -ONCE on a time there was an old widow who had one son; and as she was -poorly and weak, her son had to go up into the safe to fetch meal for -cooking; but when he got outside the safe and was just going down the -steps, there came the North Wind, puffing and blowing, caught up the -meal, and so away with it through the air. Then the lad went back into -the safe for more; but when he came out again on the steps, if the North -Wind didn’t come again and carry off the meal with a puff; and more than -that, he did so the third time. At this the lad got very angry; and as -he thought it hard that the North Wind should behave so, he thought he’d -just look him up, and ask him to give up his meal. - -So off he went, but the way was long, and he walked and walked; but at -last he came to the North Wind’s house. - -“Good day!” said the lad, “and thank you for coming to see us -yesterday.” - -“GOOD DAY!” answered the North Wind, for his voice was loud and gruff, -“AND THANKS FOR COMING TO SEE ME. WHAT DO YOU WANT?” - -“Oh!” answered the lad, “I only wished to ask you to be so good as to -let me have back that meal you took from me on the safe steps, for we -haven’t much to live on; and if you’re to go on snapping up the morsel -we have, there’ll be nothing for it but to starve.” - -“I haven’t got your meal,” said the North Wind; “but if you are in such -need, I’ll give you a cloth which will get you everything you want, if -you only say ‘Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kind of good -dishes!’” - -With this the lad was well content. But, as the way was so long he -couldn’t get home in one day, so he turned into an inn on the way; and -when they were going to sit down to supper he laid the cloth on a table -which stood in the corner, and said,— - -“Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kinds of good dishes.” - -He had scarce said so before the cloth did as it was bid; and all who -stood by thought it a fine thing, but most of all the landlady. So, when -all were fast asleep, at dead of night, she took the lad’s cloth, and -put another in its stead, just like the one he had got from the North -Wind, but which couldn’t so much as serve up a bit of dry bread. - -So, when the lad woke, he took his cloth and went off with it, and that -day he got home to his mother. - -“Now,” said he, “I’ve been to the North Wind’s house, and a good fellow -he is, for he gave me this cloth, and when I only say to it, ‘Cloth, -spread yourself, and serve up all kind of good dishes,’ I get any sort -of food I please.” - -“All very true, I dare say,” said his mother; “but seeing is believing, -and I shan’t believe it till I see it.” - -So the lad made haste, drew out a table, laid the cloth on it, and -said,— - -“Cloth, spread yourself, and serve up all kind of good dishes.” - -But never a bit of dry bread did the cloth serve up. - -“Well!” said the lad, “there’s no help for it but to go to the North -Wind again;” and away he went. - -So he came to where the North Wind lived late in the afternoon. - -“Good evening!” said the lad. - -“Good evening!” said the North Wind. - -“I want my rights for that meal of ours which you took,” said the lad; -“for, as for that cloth I got, it isn’t worth a penny.” - -“I’ve got no meal,” said the North Wind; “but yonder you have a ram -which coins nothing but golden ducats as soon as you say to it,— - -“Ram, ram! make money!” - -So the lad thought this a fine thing; but as it was too far to get home -that day, he turned in for the night to the same inn where he had slept -before. - -Before he called for anything, he tried the truth of what the North Wind -had said of the ram, and found it all right; but, when the landlord saw -that, he thought it was a famous ram, and, when the lad had fallen -asleep, he took another which couldn’t coin gold ducats, and changed the -two. - -Next morning off went the lad; and when he got home to his mother, he -said,— - -“After all, the North Wind is a jolly fellow; for now he has given me a -ram which can coin golden ducats if I only say, ‘Ram, ram! make money.’” - -“All very true, I daresay,” said his mother; “but I shan’t believe any -such stuff until I see the ducats made.” - -“Ram, ram! make money!” said the lad! but if the ram made anything it -wasn’t money. - -So the lad went back again to the North Wind and blew him up, and said -the ram was worth nothing, and he must have his rights for the meal. - -“Well!” said the North Wind; “I’ve nothing else to give up but that old -stick in the corner yonder; but it’s a stick of that kind that if you -say,— - -“‘Stick, stick! lay on!’ it lays on till you say,— - -“‘Stick, stick! now stop!’” - -So, as the way was long, the lad turned in this night too to the -landlord; but as he could pretty well guess how things stood as to the -cloth and the ram, he lay down at once on the bench and began to snore -as if he were asleep. - -Now the landlord, who easily saw that the stick must be worth something, -hunted up one which was like it, and when he heard the lad snore was -going to change the two; but, just as the landlord was about to take it, -the lad bawled out,— - -“Stick, stick! lay on!” - -So the stick began to beat the landlord, till he jumped over chairs, and -tables, and benches, and yelled and roared,— - -“Oh my! oh my! bid the stick be still, else it will beat me to death, -and you shall have back both your cloth and your ram.” - -When the lad thought the landlord had got enough, he said, - -“Stick, stick! now stop.” - -Then he took the cloth and put it into his pocket, and went home with -his stick in his hand, leading the ram by a cord round its horns; and so -he got his rights for the meal he had lost. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE BEST WISH. - - -ONCE on a time there were three brothers; I don’t quite know how it -happened, but each of them had got the right to wish one thing, whatever -he chose. So the two elder were not long a-thinking; they wished that -every time they put their hands in their pockets they might pull out a -piece of money; for, said they,— - -“The man who has as much money as he wishes for is always sure to get on -in the world.” - -But the youngest wished something better still. He wished that every -woman he saw might fall in love with him as soon as she saw him; and you -shall soon hear how far better this was than gold and goods. - -So, when they had all wished their wishes, the two elder were for -setting out to see the world; and Boots, their youngest brother, asked -if he mightn’t go along with them; but they wouldn’t hear of such a -thing. - -“Wherever we go,” they said, “we shall be treated as counts and kings; -but you, you starveling wretch, who haven’t a penny, and never will have -one, who do you think will care a bit about you? - -“Well, but in spite of that, I’d like to go with you,” said Boots; -“perhaps a dainty bit may fall to my share too off the plates of such -high and mighty lords.” - -At last, after begging and praying, he got leave to go with them, if he -would be their servant, else they wouldn’t hear of it. - -So when they had gone a day or so, they came to an inn, where the two -who had the money alighted, and called for fish, and flesh, and fowl, -and brandy and mead, and everything that was good; but Boots, poor -fellow, had to look after their luggage and all that belonged to the two -great people. Now, as he went to and fro outside, and loitered about in -the inn-yard, the innkeeper’s wife looked out of window and saw the -servant of the gentlemen up stairs; and, all at once, she thought she -had never set eyes on such a handsome chap. So she stared and stared, -and the longer she looked the handsomer he seemed. - -“Why what, by the Deil’s skin and bones, is it that you are standing -there gaping at out of the window?” said her husband. “I think ’twould -be better if you just looked how the sucking pig is getting on, instead -of hanging out of window in that way. Don’t you know what grand folk we -have in the house to-day?” - -“Oh!” said his old dame, “I don’t care a farthing about such a pack of -rubbish; if they don’t like it they may lump it, and be off; but just do -come and look at this lad out in the yard, so handsome a fellow I never -saw in all my born days; and, if you’ll do as I wish, we’ll ask him to -step in and treat him a little, for, poor lad, he seems to have a hard -fight of it.” - -“Have you lost the little brains you had Goody?” said the husband, whose -eyes glistened with rage; “into the kitchen with you, and mind the fire; -but don’t stand there glowering after strange men.” - -So the wife had nothing left for it but to go into the kitchen, and look -after the cooking; as for the lad outside, she couldn’t get leave to ask -him in, or to treat him either; but just as she was about spitting the -pig in the kitchen, she made an excuse for running out into the yard, -and then and there she gave Boots a pair of scissors, of such a kind -that they cut of themselves out of the air the loveliest clothes any one -ever saw, silk and satin, and all that was fine. - -“This you shall have because you are so handsome,” said the innkeeper’s -wife. - -So when the two elder brothers had crammed themselves with roast and -boiled, they wished to be off again, and Boots had to stand behind their -carriage, and be their servant; and so they travelled a good way, till -they came to another inn. - -There the two brothers again alighted and went in-doors, but Boots, who -had no money, they wouldn’t have inside with them; no, he must wait -outside and watch the luggage. - -“And mind,” they said, “if any one asks whose servant you are, say we -are two foreign Princes.” - -But the same thing happened now as it happened before; while Boots stood -hanging about out in the yard, the innkeeper’s wife came to the window -and saw him, and she too fell in love with him, just like the first -innkeeper’s wife; and there she stood and stared, for she thought she -could never have her fill of looking at him. Then her husband came -running through the room with something the two Princes had ordered. - -“Don’t stand there staring like a cow at a barn-door, but take this into -the kitchen, and look after your fish-kettle, Goody,” said the man; -“don’t you see what grand people we have in the house to-day?” - -“I don’t care a farthing for such a pack of rubbish,” said the wife; “if -they don’t like what they get they may lump it, and eat what they -brought with them. But just do come here, and see what you shall see! -Such a handsome fellow as walks here, out in the yard, I never saw in -all my born days. Shan’t we ask him in and treat him a little; he looks -as if he needed it, poor chap?” and then she went on,— - -“Such a love! such a love!” - -“You never had much wit, and the little you had is clean gone, I can -see,” said the man, who was much more angry than the first innkeeper, -and chased his wife back, neck and crop, into the kitchen. - -“Into the kitchen with you, and don’t stand glowering after lads,” he -said. - -So she had to go in and mind her fish-kettle, and she dared not treat -Boots, for she was afraid of her old man; but as she stood there making -up the fire, she made an excuse for running out into the yard, and then -and there she gave Boots a table-cloth, which was such that it covered -itself with the best dishes you could think of, as soon as it was spread -out. - -“This you shall have,” she said, “because you’re so handsome.” - -So when the two brothers had eaten and drank of all that was in the -house, and had paid the bill in hard cash, they set off again, and Boots -stood up behind their carriage. But when they had gone so far that they -grew hungry again, they turned into a third inn, and called for the best -and dearest they could think of. - -“For,” said they, “we are two kings on our travels, and as for our -money, it grows like grass.” - -Well, when the innkeeper heard that, there was such a roasting, and -baking, and boiling; why! you might smell the dinner at the next -neighbour’s house, though it wasn’t so very near; and the innkeeper was -at his wit’s end to find all he wished to put before the two kings. But -Boots, he had to stand outside here too, and look after the things in -the carriage. - -So it was the same story over again. The innkeeper’s wife came to the -window and peeped out, and there she saw the servant standing by the -carriage. Such a handsome chap she had never set eyes on before; so she -looked and looked, and the more she stared the handsomer he seemed to -the innkeeper’s wife. Then out came the innkeeper, scampering through -the room, with some dainty which the travelling kings had ordered, and -he wasn’t very soft-tongued when he saw his old dame standing and -glowering out of the window. - -“Don’t you know better than to stand gaping and staring there, when we -have such great folk in the house,” he said; “back into the kitchen with -you this minute, to your custards.” - -“Well! well!” she said, “as for them, I don’t care a pin. If they can’t -wait till the custards are baked, they may go without—that’s all. But -do, pray, come here, and you’ll see such a lovely lad standing out here -in the yard. Why, I never saw such a pretty fellow in my life. Shan’t we -ask him in now, and treat him a little, for he looks as if it would do -him good. Oh! what a darling! What a darling!” - -“A wanton gadabout you’ve been all your days, and so you are still,” -said her husband, who was in such a rage he scarce knew which leg to -stand on; but if you don’t be off to your custards this minute, I’ll -soon find out how to make you stir your stumps; see if I don’t.” - -So the wife had off to her custards as fast as she could, for she knew -that her husband would stand no nonsense; but as she stood there over -the fire she stole out into the yard, and gave Boots a tap. - -“If you only turn this tap,” she said; “you’ll get the finest drink of -whatever kind you choose, both mead, and wine, and brandy; and this you -shall have because you are so handsome.” - -So when the two brothers had eaten and drunk all they could, they -started from the inn, and Boots stood up behind again as their servant, -and thus they drove far and wide till they came to a king’s palace. -There the two elder gave themselves out for two emperor’s sons, and as -they had plenty of money, and were so fine that their clothes shone -again ever so far off, they were well treated. They had rooms in the -palace, and the king couldn’t tell how to make enough of them. But -Boots, who went about in the same rags he stood in when he left home, -and who had never a penny in his pocket, he was taken up by the king’s -guard, and put across to an island, whither they used to row over all -the beggars and rogues that came to the palace. This the king had -ordered, because he wouldn’t have the mirth at the palace spoilt by -those dirty blackguards; and thither, too, only just as much food as -would keep body and soul together was sent over every day. Now Boots’ -brothers saw very well that the guard was rowing him over to the island, -but they were glad to be rid of him, and didn’t pay the least heed to -him. - -But when Boots got over there, he just pulled out his scissors and began -to snip and cut in the air; so the scissors cut out the finest clothes -any one would wish to see; silk and satin both, and all the beggars on -the island were soon dressed far finer than the king and all his guests -in the palace. After that, Boots pulled out his table-cloth, and spread -it out, and so they got food too, the poor beggars. Such a feast had -never been seen at the king’s palace, as was served that day at the -Beggar’s Isle. - -“Thirsty, too, I’ll be bound you all are,” said Boots, and out with his -tap, gave it a turn, and so the beggars got all a drop to drink; and -such ale and mead the king himself had never tasted in all his life. - -So, next morning, when those who were to bring the beggars their food on -the island, came rowing over with the scrapings of the porridge-pots and -cheese parings—that was what the poor wretches had—the beggars wouldn’t -so much as taste them, and the king’s men fell to wondering what it -could mean; but they wondered much more when they got a good look at the -beggars, for they were so fine the guard thought they must be Emperors -or Popes at least, and that they must have rowed to a wrong island; but -when they looked better about them, they saw they were come to the old -place. - -Then they soon found out it must be he whom they had rowed out the day -before who had brought the beggars on the island all this state and -bravery; and as soon as they got back to the palace, they were not slow -to tell how the man, whom they had rowed over the day before, had -dressed out all the beggars so fine and grand that precious things fell -from their clothes. - -“And as for the porridge and cheese we took, they wouldn’t even taste -them, so proud have they got,” they said. - -One of them, too, had smelt out that the lad had a pair of scissors -which he cut out the clothes with. - -“When he only snips with those scissors up in the air he snips and cuts -out nothing but silk and satin,” said he. - -So, when the Princess heard that, she had neither peace nor rest till -she saw the lad and his scissors that cut out silk and satin from the -air; such a pair was worth having, she thought, for with its help she -would soon get all the finery she wished for. Well, she begged the king -so long and hard, he was forced to send a messenger for the lad who -owned the scissors; and when he came to the palace, the Princess asked -him if it were true that he had such and such a pair of scissors, and if -he would sell it to her. Yes, it was all true he had such a pair, said -Boots, but sell it he wouldn’t; and with that he took the scissors out -of his pocket, and snipped and snipped with them in the air till strips -of silk and satin flew all about him. - -“Nay, but you must sell me these scissors,” said the Princess. “You may -ask what you please for them, but have them I must.” - -No! such a pair of scissors he wouldn’t sell at any price, for he could -never get such a pair again; and while they stood and haggled for the -scissors, the Princess had time to look better at Boots, and she too -thought with the innkeepers’ wives that she had never seen such a -handsome fellow before. So she began to bargain for the scissors over -again, and begged and prayed Boots to let her have them; he might ask -many, many hundred dollars for them, ’twas all the same to her, so she -got them. - -“No! sell them I won’t,” said Boots; “but all the same, if I can get -leave to sleep one night on the floor of the Princess’ bed-room, close -by the door, I’ll give her the scissors. I’ll do her no harm, but if -she’s afraid, she may have two men to watch inside the room.” - -Yes! the Princess was glad enough to give him leave, for she was ready -to grant him anything if she only got the scissors. So Boots lay on the -floor inside the Princess’ bed-room that night, and two men stood watch -there too; but the Princess didn’t get much rest after all; for when she -ought to have been asleep, she must open her eyes to look at Boots, and -so it went on the whole night. If she shut her eyes for a minute, she -peeped out at him again the next, such a handsome fellow he seemed to -her to be. - -Next morning Boots was rowed over to the Beggar’s Isle again; but when -they came with the porridge scrapings and cheese parings from the -palace, there was no one who would taste them that day either, and so -those who brought the food were more astonished than ever. But one of -those who brought the food contrived to smell out that the lad who had -owned the scissors owned also a table-cloth, which he only needed to -spread out, and it was covered with all the good things he could wish -for. So when he got back to the palace, he wasn’t long before he said,— - -“Such hot joints and such custards I never saw the like of in the king’s -palace.” - -And when the Princess heard that, she told it to the king, and begged -and prayed so long, that he was forced to send a messenger out to the -island to fetch the lad who owned the table-cloth; and so Boots came -back to the palace. The Princess must and would have the cloth of him, -and offered him gold and green woods for it, but Boots wouldn’t sell it -at any price. - -“But if I may have leave to lie on the bench by the Princess’ bed-side -to night, she shall have the cloth; but if she’s afraid, she is welcome -to set four men to watch inside the room.” - -Yes! the Princess agreed to this, so Boots lay down on the bench by the -bed-side, and the four men watched; but if the Princess hadn’t much -sleep the night before, she had much less this, for she could scarce get -a wink of sleep; there she lay wide awake looking at the lovely lad the -whole night through, and after all, the night seemed too short. - -Next morning Boots was rowed off again to the Beggars’ Island, though -sorely against the Princess’ will, so happy was she to be near him; but -it was past praying for; to the island he must go, and there was an end -of it. But when those who brought the food to the beggars came with the -porridge scrapings and cheese parings, there wasn’t one of them who -would even look at what the king sent, and those who brought it didn’t -wonder either; though they all thought it strange that none of them were -thirsty. But just then one of the king’s guard smelled out that the lad -who had owned the scissors and the table-cloth had a tap besides, which, -if one only turned it a little, gave out the rarest drink, both ale, and -mead, and wine. So when he came back to the palace, he couldn’t keep his -mouth shut this time any more than before; he went about telling high -and low about the tap, and how easy it was to draw all sorts of drink -out of it. - -“And as for that mead and ale, I’ve never tasted the like of them in the -king’s palace; honey and syrup are nothing to them for sweetness.” - -So when the Princess heard that, she was all for getting the tap, and -was nothing loath to strike a bargain with the owner either. So she went -again to the king, and begged him to send a messenger to the Beggars’ -Isle after the lad who had owned the scissors and cloth, for now he had -another thing worth having, she said; and when the king heard it was a -tap, that was good to give the best ale and wine any one could drink, -when one gave it a turn, he wasn’t long in sending the messenger, I -should think. - -So when Boots came up to the palace, the Princess asked whether it were -true he had a tap which could do such and such things? “Yes! he had such -a tap in his waistcoat pocket,” said Boots; but when the Princess wished -with all her might to buy it, Boots said, as he had said twice before, -he wouldn’t sell it, even if the Princess bade half the kingdom for it. - -“But all the same,” said Boots; “if I may have leave to sleep on the -Princess’ bed to-night, outside the quilt, she shall have my tap. I’ll -not do her any harm; but, if she’s afraid, she may set eight men to -watch in her room.” - -“Oh, no!” said the Princess, “there was no need of that, she knew him -now so well;” and so Boots lay outside the Princess’ bed that night. But -if she hadn’t slept much the two nights before, she had less sleep that -night; for she couldn’t shut her eyes the livelong night, but lay and -looked at Boots, who lay alongside her outside the quilt. - -So, when she got up in the morning, and they were going to row Boots -back to the island, she begged them to hold hard a little bit; and in -she ran to the king, and begged him so prettily to let her have Boots -for a husband, she was so fond of him, and, unless she had him, she did -not care to live. - -“Well, well!” said the king, “you shall have him if you must; for he who -has such things is just as rich as you are.” - -So Boots got the Princess and half the kingdom—the other half he was to -have when the king died; and so everything went smooth and well; but as -for his brothers, who had always been so bad to him, he packed them off -to the Beggars’ Island. - -“There,” said Boots, “perhaps they may find out which is best off, the -man who has his pockets full of money, or the man whom all women fall in -love with.” - -Nor, to tell you the truth, do I think it would help them much to wander -about upon the Beggars’ Island pulling pieces of money out of their -pockets; and so, if Boots hasn’t taken them off the island, there they -are still walking about to this very day, eating cheese parings and the -scrapings of the porridge-pots. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF. - - -ONCE on a time there were three Billy-goats who were to go up to the -hill-side to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was “Gruff.” - -On the way up was a bridge over a burn they had to cross; and under the -bridge lived a great ugly Troll, with eyes as big as saucers, and a nose -as long as a poker. - -So first of all came the youngest billy-goat Gruff to cross the bridge. - -“Trip, trap; trip, trap!” went the bridge. - -“WHO’S THAT tripping over my bridge?” roared the Troll. - -“Oh! it is only I, the tiniest billy-goat Gruff; and I’m going up to the -hill-side to make myself fat,” said the billy-goat, with such a small -voice. - -“Now, I’m coming to gobble you up,” said the Troll. - -[Illustration: - - THE THREE BILLY-GOATS GRUFF -] - -“Oh, no! pray don’t take me. I’m too little, that I am,” said the -billy-goat; “wait a bit till the second billy-goat Gruff comes, he’s -much bigger.” - -“Well! be off with you,” said the Troll. - -A little while after came the second billy-goat Gruff to cross the -bridge. - -“TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!” went the bridge. - -“WHO’S THAT tripping over my bridge?” roared the Troll. - -“Oh! it’s the second billy-goat Gruff, and I’m going up to the hill-side -to make myself fat,” said the billy-goat, who hadn’t such a small voice. - -“Now, I’m coming to gobble you up,” said the Troll. - -“Oh, no! don’t take me, wait a little till the big billy-goat Gruff -comes, he’s much bigger.” - -“Very well! be off with you,” said the Troll. - -But just then up came the big billy-goat Gruff. - -“TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP! TRIP, TRAP!” went the bridge, for the -billy-goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him. - -“WHO’S THAT tramping over my bridge?” roared the Troll. - -“IT’S I! THE BIG BILLY-GOAT GRUFF,” said the billy-goat, who had an ugly -hoarse voice of his own. - -“Now, I’m coming to gobble you up,” roared the Troll. - - “Well, come along! I’ve got two spears, - And I’ll poke your eyeballs out at your ears; - I’ve got besides two curling stones, - And I’ll crush you to bits, body and bones.” - -That was what the big billy-goat said; and so he flew at the Troll and -poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body and -bones, and tossed him out into the burn, and after that he went up to -the hill-side. There the billy-goats got so fat they were scarce able to -walk home again; and if the fat hasn’t fallen off them, why they’re -still fat; and so,— - - “Snip, snap, snout, - This tale’s told out.” - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - WELL DONE AND ILL PAID. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man who had to drive his sledge to the wood -for fuel. So a bear met him. - -“Out with your horse,” said the Bear, “or I’ll strike all your sheep -dead by summer.” - -“Oh! heaven help me then,” said the man; “there’s not a stick of -firewood in the house; you must let me drive home a load of fuel, else -we shall be frozen to death. I’ll bring the horse to you to-morrow -morning.” - -Yes! on those terms he might drive the wood home, that was a bargain; -but Bruin said, “if he didn’t come back, he should lose all his sheep by -summer.” - -So the man got the wood on the sledge and rattled homewards, but he -wasn’t over pleased at the bargain you may fancy. So just then a fox met -him. - -“Why, what’s the matter?” said the Fox; “why are you so down in the -mouth?” - -“Oh, if you want to know,” said the man; “I met a bear up yonder in the -wood, and I had to give my word to him to bring Dobbin back to-morrow, -at this very hour; for if he didn’t get him, he said he would tear all -my sheep to death by summer.” - -“Stuff, nothing worse than that,” said the Fox; “if you’ll give me your -fattest wether, I’ll soon set you free; see if I don’t.” - -Yes! the man gave his word, and swore he would keep it too. - -“Well, when you come with Dobbin to-morrow for the bear,” said the Fox, -“I’ll make a clatter up in that heap of stones yonder, and so when the -bear asks what that noise is, you must say ’tis Peter the Marksman, who -is the best shot in the world; and after that you must help yourself.” - -Next day off set the man, and when he met the Bear, something began to -make a clatter up in the heap of stones. - -“Hist! what’s that?” said the Bear. - -“Oh! that’s Peter the Marksman, to be sure,” said the man; “he’s the -best shot in the world. I know him by his voice.” - -“Have you seen any bears about here, Eric?” shouted out a voice in the -wood. - -“Say, no!” said the Bear. - -“No, I haven’t seen any,” said Eric. - -“What’s that, then, that stands alongside your sledge?” bawled out the -voice in the wood. - -“Say it’s an old fir-stump,” said the Bear. - -“Oh, it’s only an old fir-stump,” said the man. - -“Such fir-stumps we take in our country and roll them on our sledges,” -bawled out the voice; “if you can’t do it yourself, I’ll come and help -you.” - -“Say you can help yourself, and roll me up on the sledge,” said the -Bear. - -“No, thank ye, I can help myself well enough,” said the man, and rolled -the Bear on to the sledge. - -“Such fir-stumps we always bind fast on our sledges in our part of the -world,” bawled out the voice; “shall I come and help you?” - -“Say you can help yourself, and bind me fast, do,” said the Bear. - -“No, thanks, I can help myself well enough,” said the man, who set to -binding Bruin fast with all the ropes he had, so that at last the bear -couldn’t stir a paw. - -“Such fir-stumps we always drive our axes into, in our part of the -world,” bawled out the voice; “for then we guide them better going down -the steep pitches.” - -“Pretend to drive your axe into me, do now,” said the bear. - -Then the man took up his axe, and at one blow split the bear’s skull, so -that Bruin lay dead in a trice, and so the man and the Fox were great -friends, and on the best terms. But when they came near the farm, the -Fox said,— - -“I’ve no mind to go right home with you, for I can’t say I like your -tykes; so I’ll just wait here, and you can bring the wether to me, but -mind and pick out one nice and fat. - -Yes! the man would be sure to do that, and thanked the Fox much for his -help. So when he had put up Dobbin, he went across to the sheep-stall. - -“Whither away, now?” asked his old dame. - -“Oh!” said the man, “I’m only going to the sheep-stall to fetch a fat -wether for that cunning Fox, who set our Dobbin free. I gave him my word -I would.” - -“Wether, indeed,” said the old dame; “never a one shall that thief of a -Fox get. Haven’t we got Dobbin safe, and the bear into the bargain; and -as for the Fox, I’ll be bound he’s stolen more of our geese than the -wether is worth; and even if he hasn’t stolen them, he will. No, no; -take a brace of your swiftest hounds in a sack, and slip them loose -after him; and then perhaps we shall be rid of this robbing Reynard.” - -Well, the man thought that good advice; so he took two fleet red hounds, -put them into a sack and set off with them. - -“Have you brought the wether?” said the Fox. - -“Yes, come and take it,” said the man, as he untied the sack and let -slip the hounds. - -“HUF,” said the Fox, and gave a great spring; “true it is what the old -saw says, ‘Well done is often ill paid;’ and now, too, I see the truth -of another saying, ‘The worst foes are those of one’s own house.’” That -was what the Fox said as he ran off, and saw the red foxy hounds at his -heels. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE HUSBAND WHO WAS TO MIND THE HOUSE. - - -ONCE on a time, there was a man so surly and cross, he never thought his -wife did anything right in the house. So, one evening, in hay-making -time, he came home, scolding and swearing, and showing his teeth and -making a dust. - -“Dear love, don’t be so angry; there’s a good man,” said his goody; -“to-morrow let’s change our work. I’ll go out with the mowers and mow, -and you shall mind the house at home.” - -Yes! the husband thought that would do very well. He was quite willing, -he said. - -So, early next morning, his goody took a scythe over her neck, and went -out into the hayfield with the mowers, and began to mow; but the man was -to mind the house, and do the work at home. - -First of all, he wanted to churn the butter; but when he had churned a -while, he got thirsty, and went down to the cellar to tap a barrel of -ale. So, just when he had knocked in the bung, and was putting the tap -into the cask, he heard overhead the pig come into the kitchen. Then off -he ran up the cellar steps, with the tap in his hand, as fast as he -could, to look after the pig lest it should upset the churn; but when he -got up, and saw the pig had already knocked the churn over, and stood -there, routing and grunting amongst the cream which was running all over -the floor, he got so wild with rage that he quite forgot the ale-barrel, -and ran at the pig as hard as he could. He caught it, too, just as it -ran out of doors, and gave it such a kick, that piggy lay for dead on -the spot. Then all at once he remembered he had the tap in his hand; but -when he got down to the cellar, every drop of ale had run out of the -cask. - -Then he went into the dairy and found enough cream left to fill the -churn again, and so he began to churn, for butter they must have at -dinner. When he had churned a bit, he remembered that their milking cow -was still shut up in the byre and hadn’t had a bit to eat or a drop to -drink all the morning, though the sun was high. Then all at once he -thought ’twas too far to take her down to the meadow, so he’d just get -her up on the house-top—for the house, you must know, was thatched with -sods, and a fine crop of grass was growing there. Now their house lay -close up against a steep down, and he thought if he laid a plank across -to the thatch at the back he’d easily get the cow up. - -But still he couldn’t leave the churn, for there was his little babe -crawling about on the floor, and “if I leave it,” he thought, “the child -is safe to upset it.” So he took the churn on his back, and went out -with it; but then he thought he’d better first water the cow before he -turned her out on the thatch; so he took up a bucket to draw water out -of the well; but as he stooped down at the well’s brink, all the cream -ran out of the churn over his shoulders, and so down into the well. - -Now it was near dinner-time, and he hadn’t even got the butter yet; so -he thought he’d best boil the porridge, and filled the pot with water, -and hung it over the fire. When he had done that, he thought the cow -might perhaps fall off the thatch and break her legs or her neck. So he -got up on the house to tie her up. One end of the rope he made fast to -the cow’s neck, and the other he slipped down the chimney and tied round -his own thigh; and he had to make haste, for the water now began to boil -in the pot, and he had still to grind the oatmeal. - -So he began to grind away; but while he was hard at it, down fell the -cow off the house-top after all, and as she fell, she dragged the man up -the chimney by the rope. There he stuck fast; and as for the cow, she -hung half way down the wall, swinging between heaven and earth, for she -could neither get down nor up. - -And now the goody had waited seven lengths and seven breadths for her -husband to come and call them home to dinner; but never a call they had. -At last she thought she’d waited long enough, and went home. But when -she got there and saw the cow hanging in such an ugly place, she ran up -and cut the rope in two with her scythe. But as she did this, down came -her husband out of the chimney; and so when his old dame came inside the -kitchen, there she found him standing on his head in the porridge pot. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - DAPPLEGRIM. - - -ONCE on a time there was a rich couple who had twelve sons; but the -youngest, when he was grown up, said he wouldn’t stay any longer at -home, but be off into the world to try his luck. His father and mother -said he did very well at home, and had better stay where he was. But no, -he couldn’t rest; away he must and would go. So at last they gave him -leave. And when he had walked a good bit, he came to a king’s palace, -where he asked for a place, and got it. - -Now the daughter of the king of that land had been carried off into the -hill by a Troll, and the king had no other children; so he and all his -land were in great grief and sorrow, and the king gave his word that any -one who could set her free, should have the Princess and half the -kingdom. But there was no one who could do it, though many tried. - -[Illustration: - - DAPPLEGRIM -] - -So when the lad had been there a year or so, he longed to go home again -and see his father and mother, and back he went; but when he got home -his father and mother were dead, and his brothers had shared all that -the old people owned between them, and so there was nothing left for the -lad. - -“Shan’t I have anything at all, then, out of father’s and mother’s -goods?” said the lad. - -“Who could tell you were still alive, when you went gadding and -wandering about so long?” said his brothers. “But all the same; there -are twelve mares up on the hill, which we haven’t yet shared among us; -if you choose to take them for your share, you’re quite welcome.” - -Yes! the lad was quite content; so he thanked his brothers, and went at -once up on the hill, where the twelve mares were out at grass. And when -he got up there and found them, each of them had a foal at her side, and -one of them had besides, along with her, a big dapple-gray foal, which -was so sleek that the sun shone from its coat. - -“A fine fellow you are, my little foal,” said the lad. - -“Yes,” said the foal; “but if you’ll only kill all the other foals, so -that I may run and suck all the mares one year more, you’ll see how big -and sleek I’ll be then.” - -Yes! the lad was ready to do that; so he killed all those twelve foals, -and went home again. - -So when he came back the next year to look after his foal and mares, the -foal was so fat and sleek, that the sun shone from its coat, and it had -grown so big, the lad had hard work to mount it. As for the mares, they -had each of them another foal. - -“Well, it’s quite plain I lost nothing by letting you suck all my twelve -mares,” said the lad to the yearling, “but now you’re big enough to come -along with me.” - -“No,” said the colt, “I must bide here a year longer; and now kill all -the twelve foals, that I may suck all the mares this year too, and -you’ll see how big and sleek I’ll be by summer.” - -Yes! the lad did that; and next year when he went up on the hill to look -after his colt and the mares, each mare had her foal, but the dapple -colt was so tall the lad couldn’t reach up to his crest when he wanted -to feel how fat he was; and so sleek he was too, that his coat glistened -in the sunshine. - -“Big and beautiful you were last year, my colt,” said the lad, “but this -year you’re far grander. There’s no such horse in the king’s stable. But -now you must come along with me.” - -“No,” said Dapple again, “I must stay here one year more. Kill the -twelve foals as before, that I may suck the mares the whole year, and -then just come and look at me when the summer comes.” - -Yes! the lad did that; he killed the foals, and went away home. - -But when he went up next year to look after Dapple and the mares, he was -quite astonished. So tall, and stout, and sturdy, he never thought a -horse could be; for Dapple had to lay down on all fours before the lad -could bestride him, and it was hard work to get up even then, although -he lay flat; and his coat was so smooth and sleek, the sunbeams shone -from it as from a looking-glass. - -This time Dapple was willing enough to follow the lad, so he jumped up -on his back and when he came riding home to his brothers, they all -clapped their hands and crossed themselves, for such a horse they had -never heard of nor seen before. - -“If you will only get me the best shoes you can for my horse, and the -grandest saddle and bridle that are to be found,” said the lad, “you may -have my twelve mares that graze up on the hill yonder, and their twelve -foals into the bargain.” For you must know that this year too every mare -had her foal. - -Yes, his brothers were ready to do that, and so the lad got such strong -shoes under his horse, that the stones flew high aloft as he rode away -across the hills; and he had a golden saddle and a golden bridle, which -gleamed and glistened a long way off. - -“Now we’re off to the king’s palace,” said Dapplegrim—that was his name; -“but mind you ask the king for a good stable and good fodder for me.” - -Yes! the lad said he would mind; he’d be sure not to forget; and when he -rode off from his brothers’ house, you may be sure it wasn’t long, with -such a horse under him, before he got to the king’s palace. - -When he came there the king was standing on the steps, and stared and -stared at the man who came riding along. - -“Nay, nay!” said he, “such a man and such a horse I never yet saw in all -my life.” - -But when the lad asked if he could get a place in the king’s household, -the king was so glad he was ready to jump and dance as he stood on the -steps. - -Well, they said, perhaps he might get a place there. - -“Aye,” said the lad, “but I must have good stable-room for my horse, and -fodder that one can trust.” - -Yes! he should have meadow-hay and oats, as much as Dapple could cram, -and all the other knights had to lead their horses out of the stable -that Dapplegrim might stand alone, and have it all to himself. - -But it wasn’t long before all the others in the king’s household began -to be jealous of the lad, and there was no end to the bad things they -would have done to him, if they had only dared. At last they thought of -telling the king he had said he was man enough to set the king’s -daughter free—whom the Troll had long since carried away into the -hill—if he only chose. The King called the lad before him, and said he -had heard the lad said he was good to do so and so; so now he must go -and do it. If he did it he knew how the king had promised his daughter -and half the kingdom, and that promise would be faithfully kept; if he -didn’t, he should be killed. - -The lad kept on saying he never said any such thing; but it was no -good,—the king wouldn’t even listen to him; and so the end of it was, he -was forced to say he’d go and try. - -So he went into the stable, down in the mouth and heavy-hearted, and -then Dapplegrim asked him at once why he was in such dumps. - -Then the lad told him all, and how he couldn’t tell which way to turn,— - -“For as for setting the Princess free, that’s downright stuff.” - -“Oh! but it might be done, perhaps,” said Dapplegrim. “I’ll help you -through; but you must first have me well shod. You must go and ask for -ten pound of iron and twelve pound of steel for the shoes, and one smith -to hammer and another to hold.” - -Yes, the lad did that, and got for answer “Yes!” He got both the iron -and the steel, and the smiths, and so Dapplegrim was shod both strong -and well, and off went the lad from the court-yard in a cloud of dust. - -But when he came to the hill into which the Princess had been carried, -the pinch was how to get up the steep wall of rock where the Troll’s -cave was, in which the Princess had been hid. For you must know the hill -stood straight up and down right on end, as upright as a house-wall, and -as smooth as a sheet of glass. - -The first time the lad went at it he got a little way up; but then -Dapple’s forelegs slipped, and down they went again, with a sound like -thunder on the hill. - -The second time he rode at it he got some way further up; but then one -foreleg slipped, and down they went with a crash like a landslip. - -But the third time Dapple said,— - -“Now we must show our mettle;” and went at it again till the stones flew -heaven-high about them, and so they got up. - -Then the lad rode right into the cave at full speed and caught up the -Princess, and threw her over his saddle-bow, and out and down again -before the Troll had time even to get on his legs; and so the Princess -was freed. - -When the lad came back to the palace, the king was both happy and glad -to get his daughter back; that you may well believe; but some how or -other, though I don’t know how, the others about the court had so -brought it about that the king was angry with the lad after all. - -“Thanks you shall have for freeing my Princess,” said he to the lad, -when he brought the Princess into the hall, and made his bow. - -“She ought to be mine as well as yours; for you’re a word-fast man, I -hope,” said the lad. - -“Aye, aye!” said the king, “have her you shall, since I said it; but -first of all, you must make the sun shine into my palace hall.” - -Now you must know there was a high steep ridge of rock close outside the -windows, which threw such a shade over the hall that never a sunbeam -shone into it. - -“That wasn’t in our bargain,” answered the lad; “but I see this is past -praying against; I must e’en go and try my luck, for the Princess I must -and will have.” - -So down he went to Dapple, and told him what the king wanted, and -Dapplegrim thought it might easily be done, but first of all he must be -new shod; and for that ten pound of iron, and twelve pound of steel -besides, were needed, and two smiths, one to hammer and the other to -hold, and then they’d soon get the sun to shine into the palace hall. - -So when the lad asked for all these things, he got them at once—the king -couldn’t say nay for very shame; and so Dapplegrim got new shoes, and -such shoes! Then the lad jumped upon his back, and off they went again; -and for every leap that Dapplegrim gave, down sank the ridge fifteen -ells into the earth, and so they went on till there was nothing left of -the ridge for the king to see. - -When the lad got back to the king’s palace, he asked the king if the -Princess were not his now; for now no one could say that the sun didn’t -shine into the hall. But then the others set the king’s back up again, -and he answered the lad should have her of course, he had never thought -of any thing else; but first of all he must get as grand a horse for the -bride to ride on to church as the bridegroom had himself. - -The lad said the king hadn’t spoken a word about this before, and that -he thought he had now fairly earned the Princess; but the king held to -his own; and more, if the lad couldn’t do that he should lose his life; -that was what the king said. So the lad went down to the stable in -doleful dumps, as you may well fancy, and there he told Dapplegrim all -about it; how the king had laid that task on him, to find the bride as -good a horse as the bridegroom had himself, else he would lose his life. - -“But that’s not so easy,” he said, “for your match isn’t to be found in -the wide world.” - -“Oh yes, I have a match,” said Dapplegrim; “but ’tisn’t so easy to find -him, for he abides in Hell. Still, we’ll try. And now you must go up to -the king and ask for new shoes for me, ten pound of iron, and twelve -pound of steel; and two smiths, one to hammer and one to hold; and mind -you see that the points and ends of these shoes are sharp; and twelve -sacks of rye, and twelve sacks of barley, and twelve slaughtered oxen, -we must have with us; and mind, we must have the twelve ox-hides, with -twelve hundred spikes driven into each; and, let me see, a big -tar-barrel;—that’s all we want.” - -So the lad went up to the king and asked for all that Dapplegrim had -said, and the king again thought he couldn’t say nay, for shame’s sake, -and so the lad got all he wanted. - -Well, he jumped up on Dapplegrim’s back, and rode away from the palace, -and when he had ridden far far over hill and heath, Dapple asked,— - -“Do you hear anything?” - -“Yes, I hear an awful hissing and rustling up in the air,” said the lad; -“I think I’m getting afraid.” - -“That’s all the wild birds that fly through the wood. They are sent to -stop us; but just cut a hole in the corn-sacks, and then they’ll have so -much to do with the corn, they’ll forget us quite.” - -Yes! the lad did that; he cut holes in the corn-sacks, so that the rye -and barley ran out on all sides. Then all the wild birds that were in -the wood came flying round them so thick that the sunbeams grew dark; -but as soon as they saw the corn, they couldn’t keep to their purpose, -but flew down and began to pick and scratch at the rye and barley, and -after that, they began to fight among themselves. As for Dapplegrim and -the lad, they forgot all about them, and did them no harm. - -So the lad rode on and on—far far over mountain and dale, over -sand-hills and moor. Then Dapplegrim began to prick up his ears again, -and at last he asked the lad if he heard anything? - -“Yes! now I hear such an ugly roaring and howling in the wood all round, -it makes me quite afraid.” - -“Ah?” said Dapplegrim, “that’s all the wild beasts that range through -the wood, and they’re sent out to stop us. But just cast out the twelve -carcasses of the oxen, that will give them enough to do, and so they’ll -forget us outright.” - -Yes! the lad cast out the carcasses, and then all the wild beasts in the -wood, both bears, and wolves, and lions—all fell beasts of all -kinds—came after them. But when they saw the carcasses, they began to -fight for them among themselves, till blood flowed in streams; but -Dapplegrim and the lad they quite forgot. - -So the lad rode far away, and they changed the landscape many, many -times, for Dapplegrim didn’t let the grass grow under him, as you may -fancy. At last Dapple gave a great neigh. - -“Do you hear anything?” he said. - -“Yes, I hear something like a colt neighing loud, a long, long way off,” -answered the lad. - -“That’s a full-grown colt then,” said Dapplegrim, “if we hear him neigh -so loud such a long way off.” - -After that they travelled a good bit, changing the landscape once or -twice, maybe. Then Dapplegrim gave another neigh. - -“Now listen, and tell me if you hear anything,” he said. - -“Yes, now I hear a neigh like a full-grown horse,” answered the lad. - -“Aye! aye!” said Dapplegrim, “you’ll hear him once again soon, and then -you’ll hear he’s got a voice of his own.” - -So they travelled on and on, and changed the landscape once or twice, -perhaps, and then Dapplegrim neighed the third time; but before he could -ask the lad if he heard anything, something gave such a neigh across the -heathy hill-side, the lad thought hill and rock would surely be rent -asunder. - -“Now he’s here!” said Dapplegrim; “make haste, now, and throw the ox -hides, with the spikes in them, over me, and throw down the tar-barrel -on the plain; then climb up into that great spruce-fir yonder. When it -comes, fire will flash out of both nostrils, and then the tar-barrel -will catch fire. Now, mind what I say. If the flame rises, I win; if it -falls, I lose; but if you see me winning, take and cast the bridle—you -must take it off me—over its head, and then it will be tame enough.” - -So just as the lad had done throwing the ox hides, with the spikes, over -Dapplegrim, and had cast down the tar-barrel on the plain, and had got -well up into the spruce-fir, up galloped a horse, with fire flashing out -of his nostrils, and the flame caught the tar-barrel at once. Then -Dapplegrim and the strange horse began to fight till the stones flew -heaven high. They fought, and bit, and kicked, both with fore-feet and -hind-feet, and sometimes the lad could see them, and sometimes he -couldn’t; but at last the flame began to rise; for wherever the strange -horse kicked or bit, he met the spiked hides, and at last he had to -yield. When the lad saw that, he wasn’t long in getting down from the -tree, and in throwing the bridle over its head, and then it was so tame -you could hold it with a pack-thread. - -And what do you think? that horse was dappled too, and so like -Dapplegrim, you couldn’t tell which was which. Then the lad bestrode the -new Dapple he had broken, and rode home to the palace, and old -Dapplegrim ran loose by his side. So when he got home, there stood the -king out in the yard. - -“Can you tell me now,” said the lad, “which is the horse I have caught -and broken, and which is the one I had before. If you can’t, I think -your daughter is fairly mine.” - -Then the king went and looked at both Dapples, high and low, before and -behind, but there wasn’t a hair on one which wasn’t on the other as -well. - -“No,” said the king, “that I can’t; and since you’ve got my daughter -such a grand horse for her wedding, you shall have her with all my -heart. But still we’ll have one trial more, just to see whether you’re -fated to have her. First, she shall hide herself twice, and then you -shall hide yourself twice. If you can find out her hiding-place, and she -can’t find out yours, why then you’re fated to have her, and so you -shall have her.” - -“That’s not in the bargain either,” said the lad; “but we must just try, -since it must be so;” and so the Princess went off to hide herself -first. - -So she turned herself into a duck, and lay swimming on a pond that was -close to the palace. But the lad only ran down to the stable, and asked -Dapplegrim what she had done with herself. - -“Oh, you only need to take your gun,” said Dapplegrim, “and go down to -the brink of the pond, and aim at the duck which lies swimming about -there, and she’ll soon show herself.” - -So the lad snatched up his gun and ran off to the pond. “I’ll just take -a pop at this duck,” he said, and began to aim at it. - -“Nay, nay, dear friend, don’t shoot. It’s I,” said the Princess. - -So he had found her once. - -The second time the Princess turned herself into a loaf of bread, and -laid herself on the table among four other loaves; and so like was she -to the others, no one could say which was which. - -But the lad went again down to the stable to Dapplegrim, and said how -the Princess had hidden herself again, and he couldn’t tell at all what -had become of her. - -“Oh, just take and sharpen a good breadknife,” said Dapplegrim, “and do -as if you were going to cut in two the third loaf on the left hand of -those four loaves which are lying on the dresser in the king’s kitchen, -and you’ll find her soon enough.” - -Yes! the lad was down in the kitchen in no time, and began to sharpen -the biggest breadknife he could lay hands on; then he caught hold of the -third loaf on the left hand, and put the knife to it, as though he was -going to cut it in two. - -“I’ll just have a slice off this loaf,” he said. - -“Nay, dear friend,” said the Princess, “don’t cut. It’s I.” - -So he had found her twice. - -Then he was to go and hide; but he and Dapplegrim had settled it all so -well beforehand, it wasn’t easy to find him. First he turned himself -into a tick, and hid himself in Dapplegrim’s left nostril; and the -Princess went about hunting him everywhere, high and low; at last she -wanted to go into Dapplegrim’s stall, but he began to bite and kick, so -that she daren’t go near him, and so she couldn’t find the lad. - -“Well,” she said, “since I can’t find you, you must show where you are -yourself;” and in a trice the lad stood there on the stable floor. - -The second time Dapplegrim told him again what to do; and then he turned -himself into a clod of earth, and stuck himself between Dapple’s hoof -and shoe on the near forefoot. So the Princess hunted up and down, out -and in, everywhere; at last she came into the stable, and wanted to go -into Dapplegrim’s loose-box. This time he let her come up to him, and -she pried high and low, but under his hoofs she couldn’t come, for he -stood firm as a rock on his feet, and so she couldn’t find the lad. - -“Well; you must just show yourself, for I’m sure I can’t find you,” said -the Princess, and as she spoke the lad stood by her side on the stable -floor. - -“Now you are mine indeed,” said the lad; “for now you can see I’m fated -to have you.” This he said both to the father and daughter. - -“Yes; it is so fated,” said the king; “so it must be.” - -Then they got ready the wedding in right down earnest, and lost no time -about it; and the lad got on Dapplegrim, and the Princess on -Dapplegrim’s match, and then you may fancy they were not long on their -way to the church. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - THE SEVEN FOALS -] - - - - - THE SEVEN FOALS. - - -ONCE on a time there was a poor couple who lived in a wretched hut, far, -far away in the wood. How they lived I can’t tell, but I’m sure it was -from hand to mouth, and hard work even then; but they had three sons, -and the youngest of them was Boots, of course, for he did little else -than lie there and poke about in the ashes. - -So one day the eldest lad said he would go out to earn his bread, and he -soon got leave, and wandered out into the world. There he walked and -walked the whole day, and when evening drew in, he came to a king’s -palace, and there stood the king out on the steps, and asked whither he -was bound. - -“Oh, I’m going about, looking after a place,” said the lad. - -“Will you serve me?” asked the king, “and watch my seven foals. If you -can watch them one whole day, and tell me at night what they eat and -what they drink, you shall have the Princess to wife, and half my -kingdom; but if you can’t, I’ll cut three red stripes out of your back. -Do you hear?” - -Yes! that was an easy task, the lad thought, he’d do that fast enough, -never fear. - -So next morning, as soon as the first peep of dawn came, the king’s -coachman let out the seven foals. Away they went and the lad after them. -You may fancy how they tore over hill and dale, through bush and bog. -When the lad had run so a long time, he began to get weary, and when he -had held on a while longer, he had more than enough of his watching, and -just there, he came to a cleft in a rock, where an old hag sat and spun -with a distaff. As soon as she saw the lad who was running after the -foals till the sweat ran down his brow, this old hag bawled out,— - -“Come hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.” - -Yes! the lad was willing enough; so he sat down in the cleft of the rock -with the old hag, and laid his head on her lap, and she combed his hair -all day whilst he lay there, and stretched his lazy bones. - -So, when evening drew on, the lad wanted to go away. - -“I may just as well toddle straight home now,” said he, “for it’s no use -my going back to the palace.” - -“Stop a bit till it’s dark,” said the old hag, “and then the king’s -foals will pass by here again, and then you can run home with them, and -then no one will know that you have lain here all day long, instead of -watching the foals.” - -So, when they came, she gave the lad a flask of water and a clod of -turf. Those he was to show to the king, and say that was what his seven -foals ate and drank. - -“Have you watched true and well the whole day, now?” asked the King, -when the lad came before him in the evening. - -“Yes, I should think so,” said the lad. - -“Then you can tell me what my seven foals eat and drink,” said the King. - -“Yes!” and so the lad pulled out the flask of water and the clod of -turf, which the old hag had given him. - -“Here you see their meat, and here you see their drink,” said the lad. - -But then the king saw plain enough how he had watched, and he got so -wroth, he ordered his men to chase him away home on the spot; but first -they were to cut three red stripes out of his back, and rub salt into -them. So when the lad got home again, you may fancy what a temper he was -in. He’d gone out once to get a place, he said, but he’d never do so -again. - -Next day the second son said he would go out into the world to try his -luck. His father and mother said “No,” and bade him look at his -brother’s back; but the lad wouldn’t give in; he held to his own, and at -last he got leave to go, and set off. So when he had walked the whole -day, he, too, came to the king’s palace. There stood the King out on the -steps, and asked whither he was bound? and when the lad said he was -looking about for a place, the King said he might have a place there, -and watch his seven foals. But the king laid down the same punishment, -and the same reward, as he had settled for his brother. Well, the lad -was willing enough; he took the place at once with the King, for he -thought he’d soon watch the foals, and tell the king what they ate and -drank. - -So, in the gray of the morning, the coachman let out the seven foals, -and off they went again over hill and dale, and the lad after them. But -the same thing happened to him as had befallen his brother. When he had -run after the foals a long long time, till he was both warm and weary, -he passed by the cleft in a rock, where an old hag sat and spun with a -distaff, and she bawled out to the lad,— - -“Come hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.” - -That the lad thought a good offer, so he let the foals run on their way, -and sat down in the cleft with the old hag. There he sat, and there he -lay, taking his ease, and stretching his lazy bones the whole day. - -When the foals came back at nightfall, he too got a flask of water and -clod of turf from the old hag to show to the king. But when the king -asked the lad,— - -“Can you tell me now, what my seven foals eat and drink?” and the lad -pulled out the flask and the clod, and said,— - -“Here you see their meat, and here you see their drink.” - -Then the king got wroth again, and ordered them to cut three red stripes -out of the lad’s back, and rub salt in, and chase him home that very -minute. And so when the lad got home, he also told how he had fared, and -said, he had gone out once to get a place, but he’d never do so any -more. - -The third day Boots wanted to set out; he had a great mind to try and -watch the seven foals, he said. The others laughed at him, and made game -of him, saying,— - -“When we fared so ill, you’ll do it better—a fine joke; you look like -it—you who have never done anything but lie there and poke about in the -ashes.” - -“Yes!” said Boots, “I don’t see why I shouldn’t go, for I’ve got it into -my head, and can’t get it out again.” - -And so, in spite of all the jeers of the others and the prayers of the -old people, there was no help for it, and Boots set out. - -So after he had walked the whole day, he too came at dusk to the king’s -palace. There stood the king out on the steps, and asked whither he was -bound. - -“Oh,” said Boots, “I’m going about seeing if I can hear of a place.” - -“Whence do you come, then?” said the King, for he wanted to know a -little more about them before he took any one into his service. - -So Boots said whence he came, and how he was brother to those two who -had watched the king’s seven foals, and ended by asking if he might try -to watch them next day. - -“Oh, stuff!” said the King, for he got quite cross if he even thought of -them; “if you’re brother to those two, you’re not worth much, I’ll be -bound. I’ve had enough of such scamps.” - -“Well,” said Boots; “but since I’ve come so far, I may just as well get -leave to try, I too.” - -“Oh, very well; with all my heart,” said the King, “if you _will_ have -your back flayed, you’re quite welcome.” - -“I’d much rather have the Princess,” said Boots. - -So next morning, at gray of dawn, the coachman let out the seven foals -again, and away they went over hill and dale, through bush and bog, and -Boots behind them. And so, when he too had run a long while, he came to -the cleft in the rock, where the old hag sat, spinning at her distaft. -So she bawled out to Boots,— - -“Come hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.” - -“Don’t you wish you may catch me,” said Boots. “Don’t you wish you may -catch me,” as he ran along, leaping and jumping, and holding on by one -of the foals’ tails. And when he had got well past the cleft in the -rock, the youngest foal said,— - -“Jump up on my back, my lad, for we’ve a long way before us still.” - -So Boots jumped up on his back. - -So they went on, and on, a long long way. - -“Do you see anything now?” said the Foal. - -“No,” said Boots. - -So they went on a good bit farther. - -“Do you see anything now?” asked the Foal. - -“Oh no,” said the lad. - -So when they had gone a great, great way farther—I’m sure I can’t tell -how far—the Foal asked again,— - -“Do you see anything now?” - -“Yes,” said Boots; “now I see something that looks white—just like a -tall, big birch trunk.” - -“Yes,” said the Foal; “we’re going into that trunk.” - -So when they got to the trunk, the eldest foal took and pushed it on one -side, and then they saw a door where it had stood, and inside the door -was a little room, and in the room there was scarce anything but a -little fire-place and one or two benches; but behind the door hung a -great rusty sword and a little pitcher. - -“Can you brandish the sword?” said the Foals; “try.” - -So Boots tried, but he couldn’t; then they made him take a pull at the -pitcher; first once, then twice, and then thrice, and then he could -wield it like anything. - -“Yes,” said the Foals, “now you may take the sword with you, and with it -you must cut off all our seven heads on your wedding-day, and then we’ll -be princes again as we were before. For we are brothers of that Princess -whom you are to have when you can tell the king what we eat and drink; -but an ugly Troll has thrown this shape over us. Now mind, when you have -hewn off our heads, to take care to lay each head at the tail of the -trunk which it belonged to before, and then the spell will have no more -power over us.” - -Yes! Boots promised all that, and then on they went. - -And when they had travelled a long long way, the Foal asked,— - -“Do you see anything?” - -“No,” said Boots. - -So they travelled a good bit still. - -“And now?” asked the Foal. - -“No, I see nothing,” said Boots. - -So they travelled many many miles again, over hill and dale. - -“Now then,” said the Foal, “do you see anything now?” - -“Yes,” said Boots, “now I see something like a blue stripe, far, far -away.” - -“Yes,” said the Foal, “that’s a river we’ve got to cross.” - -Over the river was a long grand bridge; and when they had got over to -the other side, they travelled on a long, long way. At last the Foal -asked again,— - -“If Boots didn’t see anything?” - -“Yes, this time he saw something that looked black far, far away, just -as though it were a church steeple.” - -“Yes,” said the Foal, “that’s where we’re going to turn in.” - -So when the foals got into the churchyard, they became men again, and -looked like Princes, with such fine clothes that it glistened from them; -and so they went into the church, and took the bread and wine from the -priest who stood at the altar. And Boots he went in too; but when the -priest had laid his hands on the Princes, and given them the blessing, -they went out of the church again, and Boots went out too; but he took -with him a flask of wine and a wafer. And as soon as ever the seven -Princes came out into the churchyard, they were turned into foals again, -and so Boots got up on the back of the youngest, and so they all went -back the same way that they had come, only they went much, much faster. -First they crossed the bridge, next they passed the trunk, and then they -passed the old hag, who sat at the cleft and span, and they went by her -so fast, that Boots couldn’t hear what the old hag screeched after him; -but he heard so much as to know she was in an awful rage. - -It was almost dark when they got back to the palace, and the King -himself stood out on the steps and waited for them. - -“Have you watched well and true the whole day?” said he to Boots. - -“I’ve done my best,” answered Boots. - -“Then you can tell me what my seven foals eat and drink,” said the King. - -Then Boots pulled out the flask of wine and the wafer, and showed them -to the King. - -“Here you see their meat, and here you see their drink,” said he. - -“Yes,” said the King, “you have watched true and well, and you shall -have the Princess and half the kingdom.” - -So they made ready the wedding-feast, and the King said it should be -such a grand one, it should be the talk far and near. - -But when they sat down to the bridal feast, the bridegroom got up and -went down to the stable, for he said he had forgotten something, and -must go to fetch it. And when he got down there, he did as the foals had -said, and hewed their heads off all seven, the eldest first, and the -others after him; and at the same time he took care to lay each head at -the tail of the foal to which it belonged; and as he did this, lo! they -all became Princes again. - -So when he went into the bridal hall with the seven princes, the King -was so glad he both kissed Boots and patted him on the back, and his -bride was still more glad of him than she had been before. - -“Half the kingdom you have got already,” said the King, “and the other -half you shall have after my death; for my sons can easily get -themselves lands and wealth, now they are princes again.” - -And so, like enough, there was mirth and fun at that wedding. I was -there too; but there was no one to care for poor me; and so I got -nothing but a bit of bread and butter, and I laid it down on the stove, -and the bread was burnt and the butter ran, and so I didn’t get even the -smallest crumb. Wasn’t that a great shame? - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE WIDOW’S SON. - - -ONCE on a time there was a poor, poor widow who had an only son. She -dragged on with the boy till he had been confirmed, and then she said -she couldn’t feed him any longer, he must just go out and earn his own -bread. So the lad wandered out into the world, and when he had walked a -day or so, a strange man met him. - -“Whither away?” asked the man. - -“Oh, I’m going out into the world to try and get a place,” said the lad. - -“Will you come and serve me?” said the man. - -“Oh yes; just as soon you as any one else,” said the lad. - -“Well, you’ll have a good place with me,” said the man; “for you’ll only -have to keep me company, and do nothing at all else beside.” - -So the lad stopped with him, and lived on the fat of the land, both in -meat and drink, and had little or nothing to do; but he never saw a -living soul in that man’s house. - -So one day the man said,— - -“Now, I’m going off for eight days, and that time you’ll have to spend -here all alone; but you must not go into any one of these four rooms -here. If you do, I’ll take your life when I come back.” - -“No,” said the lad,—he’d be sure not to do that. But when the man had -been gone three or four days, the lad couldn’t bear it any longer, but -went into the first room, and when he got inside he looked round, but he -saw nothing but a shelf over the door where a bramble-bush rod lay. - -Well, indeed! thought the lad; a pretty thing to forbid my seeing this. - -So when the eight days were out, the man came home, and the first thing -he said was,— - -“You haven’t been into any of these rooms, of course.” - -“No, no; that I haven’t,” said the lad. - -“I’ll soon see that,” said the man, and went at once into the room where -the lad had been. - -“Nay, but you have been in here,” said he; “and now you shall lose your -life.” - -Then the lad begged and prayed so hard that he got off with his life, -but the man gave him a good thrashing. And when it was over, they were -as good friends as ever. - -Some time after the man set off again, and said he should be away -fourteen days; but before he went he forbade the lad to go into any of -the rooms he had not been in before; as for that he had been in, he -might go into that and welcome. Well, it was the same story over again, -except that the lad stood out eight days before he went in. In this -room, too, he saw nothing but a shelf over the door, and a big stone, -and a pitcher of water on it. Well, after all, there’s not much to be -afraid of my seeing here, thought the lad. - -But when the man came back, he asked if he had been into any of the -rooms. No, the lad hadn’t done anything of the kind. - -“Well, well; I’ll soon see that,” said the man; and when he saw that the -lad had been in them after all, he said,— - -“Ah! now I’ll spare you no longer; now you must lose your life.” - -But the lad begged and prayed for himself again, and so this time too he -got off with stripes; though he got as many as his skin could carry. But -when he got sound and well again, he led just as easy a life as ever, -and he and the man were just as good friends. - -So a while after the man was to take another journey, and now he said he -should be away three weeks, and he forbade the lad anew to go into the -third room, for if he went in there he might just make up his mind at -once to lose his life. Then after fourteen days the lad couldn’t bear -it, but crept into the room, but he saw nothing at all in there but a -trap door on the floor; and when he lifted it up and looked down, there -stood a great copper cauldron which bubbled and boiled away down there; -but he saw no fire under it. - -“Well, I should just like to know if it’s hot,” thought the lad, and -stuck his finger down into the broth, and when he pulled it out again, -lo! it was gilded all over. So the lad scraped and scrubbed it, but the -gilding wouldn’t go off, so he bound a piece of rag round it; and when -the man came back and asked what was the matter with his finger, the lad -said he’d given it such a bad cut. But the man tore off the rag, and -then he soon saw what was the matter with the finger. First he wanted to -kill the lad outright, but when he wept and begged, he only gave him -such a thrashing that he had to keep his bed three days. After that the -man took down a pot from the wall, and rubbed him over with some stuff -out of it, and so the lad was sound and fresh as ever. - -So after a while the man started off again, and this time he was to be -away a month. But before he went, he said to the lad, if he went into -the fourth room he might give up all hope of saving his life. - -Well, the lad stood out for two or three weeks, but then he couldn’t -hold out any longer; he must and would go into that room, and so in he -stole. There stood a great black horse tied up in a stall by himself, -with a manger of red-hot coals at his head, and a truss of hay at his -tail. Then the lad thought this all wrong, so he changed them about, and -put the hay at his head. Then said the horse,— - -“Since you are so good at heart as to let me have some food, I’ll set -you free, that I will. For if the Troll comes back and finds you here, -he’ll kill you outright. But now you must go up to the room which lies -just over this, and take a coat of mail out of those that hang there; -and mind, whatever you do, don’t take any of the bright ones, but the -most rusty of all you see, that’s the one to take; and sword and saddle -you must choose for yourself just in the same way.” - -So the lad did all that; but it was a heavy load for him to carry them -all down at once. - -When he came back, the Horse told him to pull off his clothes and get -into the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and bathe -himself there. “If I do,” thought the lad, “I shall look an awful -fright;” but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had taken -his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white as milk -and blood, and much stronger than he had been before. - -“Do you feel any change?” asked the Horse. - -“Yes,” said the lad. - -“Try to lift me then,” said the Horse. - -Oh yes! he could do that, and as for the sword, he brandished it like a -feather. - -“Now saddle me,” said the Horse, “and put on the coat of mail, and then -take the bramble-bush rod, and the stone, and the pitcher of water, and -the pot of ointment, and then we’ll be off as fast as we can.” - -So when the lad had got on the horse, off they went at such a rate, he -couldn’t at all tell how they went. But when he had ridden awhile, the -Horse said, - -“I think I hear a noise; look round! can you see anything?” - -“Yes; there are ever so many coming after us, at least a score,” said -the lad. - -“Aye, aye, that’s the Troll coming,” said the Horse; “now he’s after us -with his pack.” - -So they rode on a while, until those who followed were close behind -them. - -“Now throw your bramble-bush rod behind you, over your shoulder,” said -the Horse; “but mind you throw it a good way off my back.” - -So the lad did that, and all at once a close, thick bramble-wood grew up -behind them. So the lad rode on a long, long time, while the Troll and -his crew had to go home to fetch something to hew their way through the -wood. But at last, the horse said again. - -“Look behind you! can you see anything now? - -“Yes, ever so many,” said the lad, “as many as would fill a large -church.” - -“Aye, aye, that’s the Troll and his crew,” said the Horse; “now he’s got -more to back him; but now throw down the stone, and mind you throw it -far behind me.” - -And as soon as the lad did what the horse said, up rose a great black -hill of rock behind him. So the Troll had to be off home to fetch -something to mine his way through the rock; and while the Troll did -that, the lad rode a good bit further on. But still the Horse begged him -to look behind him, and then he saw a troop like a whole army behind -him, and they glistened in the sunbeams. - -“Aye, aye,” said the Horse, “that’s the Troll, and now he’s got his -whole band with him, so throw the pitcher of water behind you, but mind -you don’t spill any of it upon me.” - -So the lad did that; but in spite of all the pains he took, he still -spilt one drop on the horse’s flank. So it became a great deep lake; and -because of that one drop, the horse found himself far out in it, but -still he swam safe to land. But when the Trolls came to the lake, they -lay down to drink it dry; and so they swilled and swilled till they -burst. - -“Now we’re rid of them,” said the Horse. - -So when they had gone a long long while, they came to a green patch in a -wood. - -“Now strip off all your arms,” said the Horse, “and only put on your -ragged clothes, and take the saddle off me, and let me loose, and hang -all my clothing and your arms up inside that great hollow lime-tree -yonder. Then make yourself a wig of fir-moss, and go up to the king’s -palace which lies close here, and ask for a place. Whenever you need me, -only come here and shake the bridle, and I’ll come to you.” - -Yes! the lad did all his Horse told him, and as soon as ever he put on -the wig of moss he became so ugly, and pale, and miserable to look at, -no one would have known him again. Then he went up to the king’s palace, -and begged first for leave to be in the kitchen, and bring in wood and -water for the cook, but then the kitchen-maid asked him— - -“Why do you wear that ugly wig? Off with it. I won’t have such a fright -in here.” - -“No, I can’t do that,” said the lad; “for I’m not quite right in my -head.” - -“Do you think, then, I’ll have you in here about the food,” cried the -cook. “Away with you to the coachman; you’re best fit to go and clean -the stable.” - -But when the coachman begged him to take his wig off, he got the same -answer, and he wouldn’t have him either. - -“You’d best go down to the gardener,” said he; “you’re best fit to go -about and dig in the garden.” - -So he got leave to be with the gardener, but none of the other servants -would sleep with him, and so he had to sleep by himself under the steps -of the summer-house. It stood upon beams, and had a high staircase. -Under that he got some turf for his bed, and there he lay as well as he -could. - -So, when he had been some time at the palace, it happened one morning, -just as the sun rose, that the lad had taken off his wig, and stood and -washed himself, and then he was so handsome, it was a joy to look at -him. - -So the Princess saw from her window the lovely gardener’s boy, and -thought she had never seen any one so handsome. Then she asked the -gardener why he lay out there under the steps. - -“Oh,” said the gardener, “none of his fellow-servants will sleep with -him; that’s why.” - -“Let him come up to-night, and lie at the door inside my bed-room, and -then they’ll not refuse to sleep with him any more,” said the Princess. - -So the gardener told that to the lad. - -“Do you think I’ll do any such thing?” said the lad. “Why they’d say -next there was something between me and the Princess.” - -“Yes,” said the gardener, “you’ve good reason to fear any such thing, -you who are so handsome.” - -“Well, well,” said the lad, “since it’s her will, I suppose I must go.” - -So, when he was to go up the steps in the evening, he tramped and -stamped so on the way, that they had to beg him to tread softly lest the -King should come to know it. So he came into the Princess’ bed-room, lay -down, and began to snore at once. Then the Princess said to her maid,— - -“Go gently, and just pull his wig off;” and she went up to him. - -But just as she was going to whisk it off, he caught hold of it with -both hands, and said she should never have it. After that he lay down -again, and began to snore. Then the Princess gave her maid a wink, and -this time she whisked off the wig; and there lay the lad so lovely, and -white and red, just as the Princess had seen him in the morning sun. - -After that the lad slept every night in the Princess’ bed-room. - -But it wasn’t long before the King came to hear how the gardener’s lad -slept every night in the Princess’ bed-room; and he got so wroth he -almost took the lad’s life. He didn’t do that, however, but threw him -into the prison tower; and as for his daughter, he shut her up in her -own room, whence she never got leave to stir day or night. All that she -begged, and all that she prayed, for the lad and herself, was no good. -The King was only more wroth than ever. - -Some time after came a war and uproar in the land, and the king had to -take up arms against another king who wished to take the kingdom from -him. So when the lad heard that, he begged the gaoler to go to the king -and ask for a coat of mail and a sword, and for leave to go to the war. -All the rest laughed when the gaoler told his errand, and begged the -king to let him have an old worn-out suit, that they might have the fun -of seeing such a wretch in battle. So he got that, and an old -broken-down hack besides, which went upon three legs, and dragged the -fourth after it. - -Then they went out to meet the foe; but they hadn’t got far from the -palace before the lad got stuck fast in a bog with his hack. There he -sat and dug his spurs in, and cried, “Gee up, gee up!” to his hack. And -all the rest had their fun out of this, and laughed, and made game of -the lad as they rode past him. But they were scarcely gone, before he -ran to the lime-tree, threw on his coat of mail, and shook the bridle, -and there came the horse in a trice, and said,— - -“Do now your best, and I’ll do mine.” - -But when the lad came up the battle had begun, and the king was in a sad -pinch; but no sooner had the lad rushed into the thick of it than the -foe was beaten back, and put to flight. The king and his men wondered -and wondered who it could be who had come to help them, but none of them -got so near him as to be able to talk to him, and as soon as the fight -was over he was gone. When they went back, there sat the lad still in -the bog, and dug his spurs into his three-legged hack, and they all -laughed again. - -“No! only just look,” they said; “there the fool sits still.” - -The next day when they went out to battle, they saw the lad sitting -there still, so they laughed again, and made game of him; but as soon as -ever they had ridden by, the lad ran again to the lime-tree, and all -happened as on the first day. Every one wondered what strange champion -it could be that had helped them, but no one got so near him as to say a -word to him; and no one guessed it could be the lad; that’s easy to -understand. - -So when they went home at night, and saw the lad still sitting there on -his hack, they burst out laughing at him again, and one of them shot an -arrow at him and hit him in the leg. So he began to shriek and to -bewail; ’twas enough to break one’s heart; and so the king threw his -pocket-handkerchief to him to bind his wound. - -When they went out to battle the third day, the lad still sat there. - -“Gee up! gee up!” he said to his hack. - -“Nay, nay,” said the king’s men; “if he won’t stick there till he’s -starved to death.” - -And then they rode on, and laughed at him till they were fit to fall -from their horses. When they were gone, he ran again to the lime, and -came up to the battle just in the very nick of time. This day he slew -the enemy’s king, and then the war was over at once. - -When the battle was over, the king caught sight of his handkerchief, -which the strange warrior had bound round his leg, and so it wasn’t hard -to find him out. So they took him with great joy between them to the -palace, and the Princess, who saw him from her window, got so glad, no -one can believe it. - -“Here comes my own true love,” she said. - -Then he took the pot of ointment and rubbed himself on the leg, and -after that he rubbed all the wounded, and so they all got well again in -a moment. - -So he got the Princess to wife; but when he went down into the stable -where his horse was on the day the wedding was to be, there it stood so -dull and heavy, and hung its ears down, and wouldn’t eat its corn. So -when the young king—for he was now a king, and had got half the -kingdom—spoke to him, and asked what ailed him, the Horse said,— - -“Now I have helped you on, and now I won’t live any longer. So just take -the sword, and cut my head off.” - -“No, I’ll do nothing of the kind,” said the young king; “but you shall -have all you want, and rest all your life.” - -“Well,” said the Horse, “if you don’t do as I tell you, see if I don’t -take your life somehow.” - -So the king had to do what he asked; but when he swung the sword and was -to cut his head off, he was so sorry he turned away his face, for he -would not see the stroke fall. But as soon as ever he had cut off the -head, there stood the loveliest Prince on the spot where the horse had -stood. - -“Why, where in all the world did you come from?” asked the king. - -“It was I who was a horse,” said the Prince; “for I was king of that -land whose king you slew yesterday. He it was who threw this Troll’s -shape over me, and sold me to the Troll. But now he is slain I get my -own again, and you and I will be neighbour kings, but war we will never -make on one another.” - -And they didn’t either; for they were friends as long as they lived, and -each paid the other very many visits. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BUSHY BRIDE. - - -ONCE on a time there was a widower, who had a son and a daughter by his -first marriage. - -Both were good children, and loved each other dearly. Some time after -the man married a widow, who had a daughter by her first husband, and -she was both ugly and bad, like her mother. So from the day the new wife -came into the house there was no peace for her step-children in any -corner; and at last the lad thought he’d best go out into the world, and -try to earn his own bread. And when he had wandered a while he came to a -king’s palace, and got a place under the coachman, and quick and willing -he was, and the horses he looked after were so sleek and clean that -their coats shone again. - -But the sister who staid at home was treated worse than bad; both her -step-mother and stepsister were always at her, and wherever she went, -and whatever she did, they scolded and snarled so, the poor lassie -hadn’t an hour’s peace. All the hard work she was forced to do, and -early and late she got nothing but bad words, and little food besides. - -So one day they had sent her to the burn to fetch water; and what do you -think? up popped an ugly, ugly head out of the pool, and said,— - -“Wash me, you lassie.” - -“Yes, with all my heart I’ll wash you,” said the lassie. - -So she began to wash and scrub the ugly head; but truth to say, she -thought it nasty work. - -“Well, as soon as she had done washing it, up popped another head out of -the pool, and this was uglier still. - -“Brush me, you lassie,” said the head. - -“Yes, with all my heart I’ll brush you.” - -And with that she took in hand the matted locks, and you may fancy she -hadn’t very pleasant work with them. - -But when she had got over that, if a third head didn’t pop out of the -pool, and this was far more ugly and loathsome than both the others put -together. - -“Kiss me, you lassie.” - -“Yes, I’ll kiss you,” said the lassie, and she did it too, though she -thought it the worst work she had ever had to do in her life. - -Then the heads began to chatter together, and each asked what they -should do for the lassie who was so kind and gentle. - -“That she be the prettiest lassie in the world, and as fair as the -bright day,” said the first head. - -“That gold shall drop from her hair, every time she brushes it,” said -the second head. - -“That gold shall fall from her mouth every time she speaks,” said the -third head. - -So when the lassie came home looking so lovely, and beaming as the -bright day itself; her step-mother and her stepsister got more and more -cross, and they got worse still when she began to talk, and they saw how -golden guineas fell from her mouth. As for the step-mother, she got so -mad with rage, she chased the lassie into the pig-sty. That was the -right place for all her gold stuff, but as for coming into the house, -she wouldn’t hear of it. - -Well, it wasn’t long before the step-mother wished her own daughter to -go to the burn to fetch water. So when she came to the water’s edge with -her buckets, up popped the first head. - -“Wash me, you lassie,” it said. - -“The Deil wash you,” said the stepdaughter. So the second head popped -up. - -“Brush me, you lassie,” it said. - -“The Deil brush you,” said the stepdaughter. - -So down it went to the bottom, and the third head popped up. - -“Kiss me, you lassie,” said the head. - -“The Deil kiss you, you pig’s-snout,” said the girl. - -Then the heads chattered together again, and asked what they should do -to the girl who was so spiteful and cross-grained; and they all agreed -she should have a nose four ells long, and a snout three ells long, and -a pine bush right in the midst of her forehead, and every time she -spoke, ashes were to fall out of her mouth. - -So when she got home with her buckets, she bawled out to her mother— - -“Open the door.” - -“Open it yourself, my darling child,” said the mother. - -“I can’t reach it because of my nose,” said the daughter. - -So, when the mother came out and saw her, you may fancy what a way she -was in, and how she screamed and groaned; but, for all that, there were -the nose and the snout and the pine bush, and they got no smaller for -all her grief. - -Now the brother, who had got the place in the King’s stable, had taken a -little sketch of his sister, which he carried away with him, and every -morning and every evening he knelt down before the picture and prayed to -Our Lord for his sister, whom he loved so dearly. The other grooms had -heard him praying, so they peeped through the key-hole of his room, and -there they saw him on his knees before the picture. So they went about -saying how the lad every morning and every evening knelt down and prayed -to an idol which he had, and at last they went to the king himself and -begged him only to peep through the key-hole, and then His Majesty would -see the lad, and what things he did. At first the king wouldn’t believe -it, but at last they talked him over, and he crept on tiptoe to the door -and peeped in. Yes, there was the lad on his knees before the picture, -which hung on the wall, praying with clasped hands. - -“Open the door!” called out the King; but the lad didn’t hear him. - -So the King called out in a louder voice, but the lad was so deep in his -prayers he couldn’t hear him this time either. - -“OPEN THE DOOR, I SAY!” roared out the King; “It’s I the King who want -to come in.” - -Well, up jumped the lad and ran to the door and unlocked it, but in his -hurry he forgot to hide the picture. - -But when the King came in and saw the picture, he stood there as if he -were fettered, and couldn’t stir from the spot, so lovely he thought the -picture. - -“So lovely a woman there isn’t in all the wide world,” said the King. - -But the lad told him she was his sister whom he had drawn, and if she -wasn’t prettier than that, at least she wasn’t uglier. - -“Well, if she’s so lovely,” said the King, “I’ll have her for my queen;” -and then he ordered the lad to set off home that minute, and not be long -on the road either. So the lad promised to make as much haste as he -could, and started off from the King’s palace. - -When the brother came home to fetch his sister, the step-mother and -stepsister said they must go too. So they all set out, and the good -lassie had a casket in which she kept her gold, and a little dog, whose -name was “Little Flo;” those two things were all her mother left her. -And when they had gone a while, they came to a lake which they had to -cross; so the brother sat down at the helm, and the step-mother and the -two girls sat in the bow forward, and so they sailed a long, long way. - -At last they caught sight of land. - -“There,” said the brother, “where you see the white strand yonder, -there’s where we’re to land;” and as he said this he pointed across the -water. - -“What is it my brother says?” asked the good lassie. - -“He says you must throw your casket overboard,” said the step-mother. - -“Well, when my brother says it, I must do it,” said the lassie, and -overboard went the casket, - -When they had sailed a bit further, the brother pointed again across the -lake. - -“There you see the castle we’re going to.” - -“What is it my brother says?” asked the lassie. - -“He says now you must throw your little dog overboard,” said the -step-mother. - -Then the lassie wept and was sore grieved, for little Flo was the -dearest thing she had in the world, but at last she threw him overboard. - -“When my brother says it, I must do it, but heaven knows how it hurts me -to throw you over Little Flo,” she said. - -So they sailed on a good bit still. - -“There you see the King coming down to meet us,” said the brother, and -pointed towards the strand. - -“What is it my brother says?” asked the lassie. - -“Now he says you must make haste and throw yourself overboard,” said the -step-mother. - -Well, the lassie wept and moaned; but when her brother told her to do -that, she thought she ought to do it, and so she leapt down into the -lake. - -But when they came to the palace, and the King saw the loathly bride, -with a nose four ells long, and a snout three ells long, and a pine bush -in the midst of her forehead, he was quite scared out of his wits; but -the wedding was all ready, both in brewing and baking, and there sat all -the wedding guests, waiting for the bride; and so the King couldn’t help -himself, but was forced to take her for better for worse. But angry he -was, that any one can forgive him, and so he had the brother thrown into -a pit full of snakes. - -Well, the first Thursday evening after the wedding, about midnight, in -came a lovely lady into the palace-kitchen, and begged the kitchen-maid, -who slept there, so prettily to lend her a brush. That she got, and then -she brushed her hair, and as she brushed, down dropped gold. A little -dog was at her heel, and to him she said,— - -“Run out, little Flo, and see if it will soon be day.” - -This she said three times, and the third time she sent the dog it was -just about the time the dawn begins to peep. Then she had to go, but as -she went she sung,— - - “Out on you, ugly Bushy Bride, - Lying so warm by the King’s left side; - While I on sand and gravel sleep, - And over my brother adders creep, - And all without a tear.” - -“Now I come twice more, and then never again.” - -So next morning the kitchen-maid told what she had seen and heard, and -the King said he’d watch himself next Thursday night in the kitchen, and -see if it were true, and as soon as it got dark, out he went into the -kitchen to the kitchen-maid. But all he could do, and however much he -rubbed his eyes and tried to keep himself awake, it was no good; for the -Bushy Bride chaunted and sung till his eyes closed, and so when the -lovely lady came, there he slept and snored. This time, too, as before, -she borrowed a brush, and brushed her hair till the gold dropped, and -sent her dog out three times, and as soon as it was gray dawn, away she -went singing the same words, and adding,— - -“Now I come once more, and then never again.” - -The third Thursday evening the King said he would watch again; and he -set two men to hold him, one under each arm, who were to shake and jog -him every time he wanted to fall asleep; and two men he set to watch his -Bushy Bride. But when the night wore on, the Bushy Bride began to chaunt -and sing, so that his eyes began to wink, and his head hung down on his -shoulders. Then in came the lovely lady, and got the brush and brushed -her hair, till the gold dropped from it; after that she sent Little Flo -out again to see if it would soon be day, and this she did three times. -The third time it began to get gray in the east; then she sang— - - “Out on you, ugly Bushy Bride, - Lying so warm by the King’s left side; - While I on sand and gravel sleep, - And over my brother adders creep, - And all without a tear.” - -“Now I come back never more,” she said, and went towards the door. But -the two men who held the King under the arms, clenched his hands -together, and put a knife into his grasp, and so, somehow or other, they -got him to cut her in her little finger, and drew blood. Then the true -bride was freed, and the King woke up, and she told him now the whole -story, and how her step-mother and sister had deceived her. So the King -sent at once and took her brother out of the pit of snakes, and the -adders hadn’t done him the least harm, but the step-mother and her -daughter were thrown into it in his stead. - -And now no one can tell how glad the King was to be rid of that ugly -Bushy Bride, and to get a Queen who was so lovely and bright as the day -itself. So the true wedding was held, and every one talked of it over -seven kingdoms; and then the King drove to church in their coach, and -Little Flo went inside with them too, and when the blessing was given -they drove back again, and after that I saw nothing more of them. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - BOOTS AND HIS BROTHERS. - - -ONCE on a time there was a man who had three sons, Peter, Paul, and -John. John was Boots, of course, because he was the youngest. I can’t -say the man had anything more than these three sons, for he hadn’t one -penny to rub against another; and so he told his sons over and over -again they must go out into the world and try to earn their bread, for -there at home there was nothing to be looked for but starving to death. - -Now, a bit off the man’s cottage was the king’s palace, and you must -know, just against the king’s windows a great oak had sprung up, which -was so stout and big that it took away all the light from the king’s -palace. The king had said he would give many, many dollars to the man -who could fell the oak, but no one was man enough for that, for as soon -as ever one chip of the oak’s trunk flew off, two grew in its stead. A -well, too, the King had dug, which was to hold water for the whole year; -for all his neighbours had wells, but he hadn’t any, and that he thought -a shame. So the King said he would give any one who could dig him such a -well as would hold water for a whole year round, both money and goods; -but no one could do it, for the king’s palace lay high, high up on a -hill, and they hadn’t dug a few inches, before they came upon the living -rock. - -But as the King had set his heart on having these two things done, he -had it given out far and wide, in all the churches of his kingdom, that -he who could fell the big oak in the king’s court-yard, and get him a -well that would hold water the whole year round, should have the -Princess and half the kingdom. Well! you may easily know there was many -a man who came to try his luck; but for all their hacking and hewing, -and all their digging and delving, it was no good. The oak got bigger -and stouter at every stroke, and the rock didn’t get softer either. So -one day those three brothers thought they’d set off and try too, and -their father hadn’t a word against it; for even if they didn’t get the -Princess and half the kingdom, it might happen they might get a place -somewhere with a good master; and that was all he wanted. So when the -brothers said they thought of going to the palace, their father said -“yes” at once. So Peter, Paul, and Jack went off from their home. - -Well! they hadn’t gone far before they came to a fir-wood, and up along -one side of it rose a steep hill-side, and as they went, they heard -something hewing and hacking away up on the hill among the trees. - -“I wonder now what it is that is hewing away up yonder?” said Jack. - -“You’re always so clever with your wonderings,” said Peter and Paul both -at once. “What wonder is it, pray, that a woodcutter should stand and -hack up on a hill-side?” - -“Still, I’d like to see what it is, after all,” said Jack; and up he -went. - -“Oh, if you’re such a child, ’twill do you good to go and take a -lesson,” bawled out his brothers after him. - -But Jack didn’t care for what they said; he climbed the steep hill-side -towards where the noise came, and when he reached the place, what do you -think he saw? why, an axe that stood there hacking and hewing, all of -itself, at the trunk of a fir. - -“Good day!” said Jack. “So you stand here all alone and hew, do you?” - -“Yes; here I’ve stood and hewed and hacked a long long time, waiting for -you,” said the Axe. - -“Well, here I am at last,” said Jack, as he took the axe, pulled it off -its haft, and stuffed both head and haft into his wallet. - -So when he got down again to his brothers they began to jeer and laugh -at him. - -“And now, what funny thing was it you saw up yonder on the hill-side?” -they said. - -“Oh, it was only an axe we heard,” said Jack. - -So when they had gone a bit farther, they came under a steep spur of -rock, and up there they heard something digging and shovelling. - -“I wonder now,” said Jack, “what it is digging and shovelling up yonder -at the top of the rock.” - -“Ah, you’re always so clever with your wonderings,” said Peter and Paul -again, “as if you’d never heard a woodpecker hacking and pecking at a -hollow tree.” - -“Well, well,” said Jack, “I think it would be a piece of fun just to see -what it really is.” - -And so off he set to climb the rock, while the others laughed and made -game of him. But he didn’t care a bit for that; up he clomb, and when he -got near the top, what do you think he saw? Why, a spade that stood -there digging and delving. - -“Good day!” said Jack. “So you stand here all alone, and dig and delve?” - -“Yes, that’s what I do,” said the Spade, “and that’s what I’ve done this -many a long day, waiting for you.” - -“Well, here I am,” said Jack again, as he took the spade and knocked it -off its handle, and put it into his wallet, and then down again to his -brothers. - -“Well, what was it, so rare and strange,” said Peter and Paul, “that you -saw up there at the top of the rock?” - -“Oh,” said Jack, “nothing more than a spade; that was what we heard.” - -So they went on again a good bit, till they came to a brook. They were -thirsty, all three, after their long walk, and so they lay down beside -the brook to have a drink. - -“I wonder now,” said Jack, “where all this water comes from.” - -“I wonder if you’re right in your head,” said Peter and Paul, in one -breath. “If you’re not mad already, you’ll go mad very soon, with your -wonderings. Where the brook comes from, indeed! Have you never heard how -water rises from a spring in the earth?” - -“Yes! but still I’ve a great fancy to see where this brook comes from,” -said Jack. - -So up alongside the brook he went, in spite of all that his brothers -bawled after him. Nothing could stop him. On he went. So, as he went up -and up, the brook got smaller and smaller, and at last, a little way -farther on, what do you think he saw? Why, a great walnut, and out of -that the water trickled. - -“Good-day!” said Jack again. “So you lie here, and trickle and run down -all alone?” - -“Yes, I do,” said the Walnut; “and here have I trickled and run this -many a long day, waiting for you.” - -“Well, here I am,” said Jack, as he took up a lump of moss, and plugged -up the hole, that the water mightn’t run out. Then he put the walnut -into his wallet, and ran down to his brothers. - -“Well now,” said Peter and Paul, “have you found out where the water -comes from? A rare sight it must have been!” - -“Oh, after all, it was only a hole it ran out of,” said Jack; and so the -others laughed and made game of him again, but Jack didn’t mind that a -bit. - -“After all I had the fun of seeing it,” said he. - -So when they had gone a bit further, they came to the king’s palace; but -as every one in the kingdom had heard how they might win the Princess -and half the realm, if they could only fell the big oak and dig the -king’s well, so many had come to try their luck that the oak was now -twice as stout and big as it had been at first, for two chips grew for -every one they hewed out with their axes, as I dare say you all bear in -mind. So the King had now laid it down as a punishment, that if any one -tried and couldn’t fell the oak, he should be put on a barren island, -and both his ears were to be clipped off. But the two brothers didn’t -let themselves be scared by that; they were quite sure they could fell -the oak, and Peter as he was eldest, was to try his hand first; but it -went with him as with all the rest who had hewn at the oak; for every -chip he cut out, two grew in its place. So the king’s men seized him, -and clipped off both his ears, and put him out on the island. - -Now Paul, he was to try his luck, but he fared just the same; when he -had hewn two or three strokes, they began to see the oak grow, and so -the king’s men seized him too, and clipped his ears, and put him out on -the island; and his ears they clipped closer, because they said he ought -to have taken a lesson from his brother. - -So now Jack was to try. - -“If you _will_ look like a marked sheep, we’re quite ready to clip your -ears at once, and then you’ll save yourself some bother,” said the King, -for he was angry with him for his brothers’ sake. - -“Well, I’d like just to try first,” said Jack, and so he got leave. Then -he took his axe out of his wallet and fitted it to its haft. - -“Hew away!” said he to his axe; and away it hewed, making the chips fly -again, so that it wasn’t long before down came the oak. - -When that was done, Jack pulled out his spade, and fitted it to its -handle. - -“Dig away!” said he to the spade; and so the spade began to dig and -delve till the earth and rock flew out in splinters, and so he had the -well soon dug out, you may think. - -And when he had got it as big and deep as he chose, Jack took out his -walnut and laid it in one corner of the well, and pulled the plug of -moss out. - -“Trickle and run,” said Jack; and so the nut trickled and ran, till the -water gushed out of the hole in a stream, and in a short time the well -was brimfull. - -Then Jack had felled the oak which shaded the king’s palace, and dug a -well in the palace-yard, and so he got the Princess and half the -kingdom, as the King had said; but it was lucky for Peter and Paul that -they had lost their ears, else they had heard each hour and day, how -every one said, “Well, after all, Jack wasn’t so much out of his mind -when he took to wondering.” - - - FINIS. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - _Works by the Same Author._ - -The Story of Burnt Njal; or, Life in Iceland at the end of the Tenth - Century. From the Icelandic of the Njals Saga. By G. W. DASENT, - D.C.L. In 2 vols. 8vo, with Maps and Plans, price 28s. - - “Considered as a picture of manners, customs, and characters, the - Njala has a merit equal in our eyes to that of the Homeric poems - themselves.”—_Edinburgh Review, October 1861._ - - “The majority of English readers would have been surprised to be - told that in the literature of Iceland there was preserved a story - of life and manners in the heroic age, which for simple force and - truthfulness is, as far as we know, unequalled in European history - and poetry, and is not unworthy of being compared, not indeed for - its poetic richness and power, but for the insight which it gives - into ancient society, with the Homeric poems.”—_Guardian, May 1._ - - “A work, of which we gladly repeat the judgment of a distinguished - American writer, that it is unsurpassed by any existing monument in - the narrative department of any literature, ancient or - modern.”—_Saturday Review._ - - “An historical romance of the tenth century, first narrated almost - at the very time and by the very people to whom it refers, nearly - true as to essential facts, and quite true in its pictures of the - customs and the temper of the old Norsemen, about whom it tells, is - in these volumes edited with the soundest scholarship by Dr. Dasent. - There was need of a thorough study of the life and language of the - early colonists of Iceland for the effective setting forth of this - Njala, or saga of Njal.”—_Examiner, March 30._ - - “This ‘Story of Burnt Njal’ is worthy of the translator of the Norse - Tales: a work of interest to the antiquary and the lover of - legendary lore—that is, to every one capable of appreciating those - sources of history which are at once the most poetic and the most - illustrative of the character and growth of nations. The events of - the story happened while the conflict of the two creeds of Christ - and Odin was yet going on in the minds of the Northmen. We must pass - the book over to the reader’s attentive consideration, for there are - few portions of it that are not pregnant with interest and - instruction for a reflective mind.”—_Athenæum._ - - -Popular Tales from the Norse. Second Edition, greatly Enlarged, Price - 10s. 6d., containing Thirteen New Tales, and an Appendix consisting - of Ananzi Stories, as told by the Negroes in the West Indies. - - - _Contents of Introduction._ - - I. The ORIGIN OF POPULAR TALES—Comparative Philology—the Aryan Race. - - II. DIFFUSION OF POPULAR TALES—Tell’s Mastershot and Gellert’s - Grave—Sanscrit Literature—the Pantcha Tantra, and Calila and - Dinma, Somadeva’s Stories—Modern African and Ananzi - Stories—Origin of Human Race. - - III. NORSE MYTHOLOGY—The Æsir and Frost Giants—The Wondrous Volsung - Tale (The Elder Version of the Nibelungen Lied)—The Norseman’s - Gods and Faith—Christianity in the North—The Heathen Gods—The - Wild Huntsman—The Church of Rome. - - IV. NORSE POPULAR TALES—The Gods on Earth—Heathen Gods in Christian - Garb—The Norseman’s God—The God of Wish and Wishing - Things—Frodi’s Quern—The Devil and Hel—The Norseman’s Hell—Dame - Habonde and Herodias—Witchcraft and the Mediæval - Witch—Transformation into Beasts—Were Wolves—Were Bears—The - Beast Epic in the North—The Wolf, Horse, Bull, Dog—The Goat and - Little Birds—Giants and Trolls—The Trolls are Finns and - Lapps—The Naked Sword. - - V. CONCLUSION—Literature of Popular Tales—Characters in Norse - Tales—Norse Nature. - -“The loves and feuds of the Powers of Nature, after they had been told, -first of gods, then of heroes, appear in the tales of the people as the -flirting and teasing of fairies and imps. Christianity had destroyed the -old gods of the Teutonic tribes, and supplied new heroes in the saints -and martyrs of the Church. The gods were dead, and the heroes, the sons -of the gods, forgotten. But the stories told of them would not die, and -in spite of the excommunications of the priests, they were welcomed -wherever they appeared in their strange disguises. Kind-hearted grannies -would tell the pretty stories of old, if it was only to keep their -little folk quiet. They did not tell them of the gods; for those gods -were dead; or, worse than that, had been changed into devils. They told -them of nobody; ay, sometimes they would tell them of the very saints -and martyrs, and the apostles themselves have had to wear some of the -old rags that belonged by right to Odin and other heathen gods. The -oddest figure is that of the Devil in his half-Christian and -half-heathen garb. The Aryan nations had no Devil. Pluto, though of a -sombre character, was a very respectable personage; and Loki, though a -mischievous person, was not a fiend. The German goddess, Hell, too—like -Proserpina—had once seen better days. Thus, when the Germans were -indoctrinated with the idea of a real Devil, the Semitic Satan or -Diabolus, they treated him in the most good-humoured manner. They -ascribed to him all the mischievous tricks of their most mischievous -gods. But while the old Northern story-tellers delighted in the success -of cunning, the new generation felt in duty bound to represent the Devil -in the end as always defeated. He was outwitted in all the tricks which -had formerly proved successful, and thus quite a new character was -produced—the poor or stupid Devil, who appears not unfrequently in the -German and in Norwegian tales. - -All this Mr. Dasent has described very tersely and graphically in his -Introduction, and we recommend the readers of his tales not to treat -that Introduction as most introductions are treated.”—_Saturday Review, -January 15, 1859._ - - -APPENDIX—Ananzi Stories. Why the Jack Spaniard’s Waist is Small—Ananzi - and the Lion—Ananzi and Quanqua—The Ear of Corn and the Twelve - Men—The King and the Ant’s Tree—The Little Child and the Pumpkin - Tree—The Brother and his Sisters—The Girl and the Fish—The Lion, the - Goat, and the Baboon—Ananzi and Baboon—The Man and the Doukana - Tree—Nancy Fairy—The Dancing Gang. - - - _In preparation._ - -The Prose, or Younger Edda. Commonly ascribed to Snorri Sturluson. - Translated from the Old Norse, by GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L. A New - Edition, with an Introduction, in one volume crown 8vo. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - _Books Suitable for Children._ - - ------- - - In One Vol., fcap. 8vo, Price 5s. - -Aunt Ailie, by the late Catherine D. Bell, Author of “Cousin Kate’s - Story,” etc. etc. etc. Second Edition 16mo., Cloth, Price 3s. 6d. - Cloth, Extra Gilt, 4s. - - -Little Ella and the Fire-King, and other Fairy Tales, by M. W., with - Illustrations by Henry Warren. In fcap. 8vo, with Coloured - Illustrations, Price 5s. - - -The Diary of Three Children; or, Fifty-Two Saturdays. In One Vol., Small - 4to, with Illustrations by J. B. - - -History of Sir Thomas Thumb, by the Author of “The Heir of Redcliffe,” - “Heartsease,” “Little Duke,” etc. etc. Royal 16mo, Price 3s. 6d. - - -Charlie and Ernest; or, Play and Work. A story of Hazlehurst School, - with four Illustrations by J. 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JOHN BRUCE, D.D., Minister of Free St. Andrew’s Church, Edinburgh. - -The Biography of Samson. Illustrated and Applied. Second Edition. 18mo, - cloth, 2s. - - - J. F. CAMPBELL. - -Popular Tales of the West Highlands, orally collected, with a - Translation by J. F. Campbell. 2 vols., extra fcap., cloth, 16s. - - “Mr. Campbell has published a collection of tales, which will be - regarded as one of the greatest literary surprises of the present - century. It is the first instalment of what was to be expected from - any fair statement of the scientific value of popular tales.... It - required some striking demonstration of the real worth of popular - tales to arouse Gaelic scholars from their apathy. They have been - aroused, and here is the first fruit, in a work that is most - admirably edited by the head of a family beloved and honoured in - those breezy western isles, who has produced a book which will be - equally prized in the nursery, in the drawing-room, and in the - library.”—_Times, November 5th._ - - “They are the ‘Arabian Nights of Celtic Scotland,’ and as such we - recommend them as a present for the young.”—_Critic, November 24th._ - - “We feel assured that Mr. Campbell’s labours will be rewarded with - such signal success as shall encourage him to extend them in every - direction over the rich field which he has been the first to explore - and cultivate.”—_Spectator, November 24th._ - - “The book is one that no modern student can afford to miss, and that - few persons of any age or degree of culture would not come to again - and again.—_Daily News, December 28th._ - - -A New Volume of West Highland Tales. By J. F. CAMPBELL. Crown 8vo. [_In - the press._ - - - F. H. CARTER. - -Book-keeping, adapted to Commercial and Judicial Accounting, with - Styles. By F. H. CARTER, Member of the Society of Chartered - Accountants, Edinburgh. 8vo, cloth, price 10s. - - - Rev. THOMAS CHALMERS, D.D., LL.D. - -_Life and Works of Rev. Thomas Chalmers;_ Memoirs by Rev. W. Hanna, - LL.D. 4 vols., 8vo, cloth, £2: 2s. —— Cheap Edition, 2 vols., crown - 8vo, cloth, 12s. - - -A Selection from the Correspondence of Dr. Chalmers, uniform with the - Memoirs. 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That something might be found in the west - had been hinted, in accounts of some curious relics, by Professor - Innes and his friend, Dr. Reeves, but it has fallen to the author of - the present volume to go thoroughly to work and excavate the - neglected treasure.”—_Scotsman, April 24._ - - “This volume certainly fulfils its title, and gives us an excellent - idea of the Characteristics of the Ancient Religious Architecture of - the Mainland and Western Isles of Scotland.”—_Saturday Review, July - 27, 1861._ - - - NATHANIEL CULVERWELL, M.A. - -Of the Light of Nature, a Discourse by Nathaniel Culverwell, M.A. Edited - by John Brown, D.D., with a critical Essay on the Discourse by John - Cairns, D.D. 8vo, cloth, 12s. - - - PROFESSOR DALZEL. - -The Annals of the University of Edinburgh. By ANDREW DALZEL, formerly - Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh; with a Memoir of - the Compiler, and Portrait after Raeburn. In one vol. demy 8vo. [_In - preparation._ - - - GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L. - -The Story of Burnt Njal; or, Life in Iceland at the end of the Tenth - Century. From the Icelandic of the Njals Saga. By G. W. DASENT, - D.C.L. In 2 vols. 8vo, with Maps and Plans, price 28s. - - “Considered as a picture of manners, customs, and characters, the - Njala has a merit equal in our eyes to that of the Homeric poems - themselves.”—_Edinburgh Review, October 1861._ - - “The majority of English readers would have been surprised to be - told that in the literature of Iceland there was preserved a story - of life and manners in the heroic age, which for simple force and - truthfulness is, as far as we know, unequalled in European history - and poetry, and is not unworthy of being compared, not indeed for - its poetic richness and power, but for the insight which it gives - into ancient society, with the Homeric poems.”—_Guardian, May 1._ - - “A work, of which we gladly repeat the judgment of a distinguished - American writer, that it is unsurpassed by any existing monument in - the narrative department of any literature, ancient or - modern.”—_Saturday Review._ - - “An historical romance of the tenth century, first narrated almost - at the very time and by the very people to whom it refers, nearly - true as to essential facts, and quite true in its pictures of the - customs and the temper of the old Norsemen, about whom it tells, is - in these volumes edited with the soundest scholarship by Dr. Dasent. - There was need of a thorough study of the life and language of the - early colonists of Iceland for the effective setting forth of this - Njala, or saga of Njal.”—_Examiner, March 30._ - - “This ‘Story of Burnt Njal’ is worthy of the translator of the Norse - Tales: a work of interest to the antiquary and the lover of - legendary lore—that is, to every one capable of appreciating those - sources of history which are at once the most poetic and the most - illustrative of the character and growth of nations. The events of - the story happened while the conflict of the two creeds of Christ - and Odin was yet going on in the minds of the Northmen. We must pass - the book over to the reader’s attentive consideration, for there are - few portions of it that are not pregnant with interest and - instruction for a reflective mind.”—_Athenæum._ - - “Hurriedly and imperfectly as we have traced the course of this tale - divine, it must be evident to all who have accompanied us in our - progress that there is real Homeric stuff in it. The Saga has a - double value, an æsthetic and an historic value. Through it we may - learn how men and women in Iceland, near a thousand years ago, - lived, loved, and died.”—_Spectator, April 20._ - - “Mr. Dasent has given us a thoroughly faithful and accurate - translation of the ‘Njala; or, the Story of Njal,’ the longest and - certainly the best of all the Icelandic Sagas. The style is that - pure Saxon idiom with which the readers of his ‘Norse Popular Tales’ - are familiar. To the translation are prefixed disquisitions on - Iceland; its religion, constitution, and public and private life; - and the appendix contains a very amusing essay on piracy and the - Vikings, the biography of Gunnhillda, the wicked queen of Eric of - the Bloody-axe, king of Norway, and afterwards warder of - Northumberland, and a disquisition on the old Icelandic currency.”— - - - GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L. - -Popular Tales from the Norse, with an Introductory Essay on the origin - and diffusion of Popular Tales. Second Edition, enlarged. Crown 8vo, - 10s. 6d. - -A Selection from Dasent’s Popular Tales from the Norse. With - Illustrations. 1 vol. crown 8vo. - -The Prose, or Younger Edda. Commonly ascribed to Snorri Sturluson. - Translated from the Old Norse, by GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L. A New - Edition, with an Introduction, in one volume, crown 8vo. 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These men, whatever be the reader’s prepossessions, are - really worth reading about. There was manhood in them.”—_Spectator._ - - - DUNBAR. - -From London to Nice. A Journey through France, and Winter in the Sunny - South. By Rev. W. B. DUNBAR, of Glencairn. 12mo, cloth, price 3s. - - -Edinburgh University Calendar, 1861-1862, Corrected to October 15, 1861, - and containing all the new Lists for Examination in Medicine and - Arts. Authorized by the Senatus Academicus. 12mo, price 1s. 6d. - - - M. LAMÉ FLEURY, Auteur de plusieurs ouvrages d’education. - -L’Histoire d’Angleterre racontée à la Jeunesse, augmentée d’une table - analitique. 18mo, cloth, 2s. 6d. - - -L’Histoire de France, racontée à la Jeunesse. 18mo, cloth, 2s. 6d. - - - Rev. A. L. R. FOOTE, author of “Incidents in the Life of our Saviour.” - -Christianity viewed in some of its Leading Aspects. 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Of the home - life in Scotland, Mr. Innes gives us some very attractive notices, - passing in review no less than four collections of family - documents—the Morton, the Breadalbane, the Cawdor, and the Kilravock - papers. Abounding, as these papers do, in social illustrations, and - sketching, as they do, the character and spirit of the age, the - condition and customs of the people, they cannot fail to instruct - and entertain. Touches of reality, pleasant bits of gossip, records - of wind and weather, household doings and sayings, are all to be - found scattered over these family papers.”—_Spectator, April 6._ - - ... “The length of our quotations prevents us from dwelling on the - encomiums this work so really deserves. The charms of literary - composition are hardly expected in antiquarian researches. Knowledge - and judgment are more looked for, but how well Mr. Innes has - combined acumen with the power of investing his subject with - interest, the most casual inspection will prove. He has added an - important volume to the literature of his country, and doubtless - will have many followers in a branch of authorship which is at once - instructive and amusing.”—_Glasgow Courier, March 28._ - - -Concerning Some Scotch Surnames. 1 vol., small 4to, cloth antique, 5s. - - “We can safely recommend this volume to those who are interested in - the subject.”—_Caledonian Mercury, October 26._ - - “Those fond of etymological pursuits will find in it matter to - interest them; and the general reader cannot open it without finding - in it something that will suit even his capricious taste.”—_Atlas, - October 27._ - - -Instructive Picture Books. 3 vols., folio, boards, 10s. 6d. each. - - - I. - - The Instructive Picture Book. A few Attractive Lessons from the - Natural History of Animals. 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We may expect that such a book will become a favourite among - those who read for amusement, and, endowed as it is with a careful - index, a standard work of reference to those who are in search of - facts.—_Times, May 24._ - - “The concluding chapters of this volume teem with interest”—_Critic, - April 20._ - - -Dugald Stewart’s Collected Works—Vols. I. to X. 8vo, cloth, each 12s. - - Vol. I.—Dissertation. - - Vols. II., III., and IV.—Elements of the Philosophy of the Human - Mind. 3 vols. - - Vol. V.—Philosophical Essays. - - Vols. VI. and VII.—Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man. - 2 vols. - - Vols. VIII. and IX.—Lectures on Political Economy. 2 vols. - - Vol. X.—Biographical Memoirs of Adam Smith, LL.D., William - Robertson, D.D., and Thomas Reid, D.D. 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