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 THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ATO, LENOX AN
T(LEN FOUNDATION*.
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Printed in the U nued States of America

 PREFACE
Tales contained in this volume form a series

THE of those " Popular Tales from the Norse," which

have been received with much favour in this

country, and of which three editions have been pub-

lished. A part of them appeared some years ago in Once
a Week, from which they have been reprinted by per-
mission of the proprietors the Norse originals, from
which they were transited, having been' oh imunicated
(

by the translator's friend, P Chr. Asbjornsen, to various

Christmas books published 'in Christlania. In 1871,

Mr. Asbjornsen collected 'these scattered Tales and

added some more to them, which he published under
the title "Norske Folke-Eventyr fortalte of P. Chr.

Asbjornsen, Ny Samling." It is from this new series,

as revised by the collector, that the present version has

b
vi Preface
been made. In it the translator has trodden in the
"
path laid down in the first series of Tales from the

Norse," and tried to turn his Norse original into mother

English, which any one that runs may read.
This plan has met with favour abroad as well as
at home, and it is grateful to him to find that in Nor-
way, the cradle of these beautiful stories, his efforts
have been warmly appreciated by Messrs. Asbjornsen
and Moe, who in their preface to the third edition,

Christiania, 1866, speak following terms of

in the
" In France and
his version :
England collections have
appeared in which our Tales have not only been cor-

rectly and faultlessly translated, but even rendered

witn exemplary truth and care nay, with thor-

ough mastery. The English

translation, by George
Webbe Dasent, and happiest rendering
is the best

of our Tales that has appeared, and it has in England

been more successful, and become far more widely
known, than the originals here at home." Then,
speaking- of; the Introduction, Messrs. Asbjornsen and

Moe go oh r
to say,
i*
"We have here added the end
of this Introduction.-'to show how
f
the translator has

understood '.and grasped the relation in which these

:
;

Tales stand to N orse

;
;
nature a nd the life of the people,

and how they have sprung out of both."

The title of this volume, "Tales from the Fjeld,"

arose out of the form in which they were published

in Once a Week. The translator began by setting
 Preface vii

them in a frame formed by the imaginary adventures

of English sportsmen on the Fjeld or Fells in Norway.

After a while he grew weary of the setting and

framework, and when about a third of the volume

had been thus framed, he resolved to let the Tales

speak for themselves, and stand alone, as in the first

" This frame-
series of Popular Tales from the Norse."
work has been omitted in the present edition.

With regard to the bearing of these Tales on the

question of the diffusion of race and tradition, much

might be said, but he has already traversed the same
ground in the Introduction to the "Tales from the
Norse." It will be enough here to mention that
several of the Tales now published are variations,

though very interesting ones, from some of those in

the first series. Others are rather the harvest 01

popular experience than mythical tales ;

and on the
whole, the character of this volume is more jocose and
less poetical than that of its predecessor. In a word,

they are, many of them, what the Germans would call

"
Schwanke."
Of this kind are the Tales called "The Charcoal-

Burner,"
" Our Parish Clerk," and " The Parson and
the Clerk." In "Goody 'Gainst-the-Stream," and
"
Silly Men and Cunning Wives," the reader skilled
in popular fiction will find two tales of Indian

origin, both of which are widespread in the folk-

'ore of the West, and make their appearance in the

viii Preface
Facetiae of Poggio. The Beast Epic, in which Jacob
Grimm so delighted, is largely represented, and the
stories of that kind in this volume are among the
best that have been collected. One of the most
mythical, and at the same time one of the most
domestic, stories of those now published is, perhaps,
"
The Father of the Family," which ought rather to
have been called "The Seventh, the Father of the
Family," as it is not till the wayfarer has inquired

seven times from as many generations of old men

hat he finds the real father of the family. Mr.

Ralston, the accomplished writer and editor of

" Russian
Popular Tales," has pointed out in an
article on these Norse Tales, which appeared in

Fraser's Magazine for December 1872, the probable

antiquity of this story, which he classes with the

Rigsmal of the Elder Edda. That it was known in

England two centuries ago, is proved by the curious
fact that it has got woven into the life of "Old
Jenkins," whose mythical age, as well as that of
"
Old Parr," Mr. Thorns has recently demolished in
his book on the "Longevity of Man." The story as
"
quoted by Mr. Thorns, from Clarkson's History
and Antiquities of Richmond," in Yorkshire, is so

curious, that it is worth while to give it at length.

There had been some legal dispute in which the
evidence of Old Jenkins, as confessedly "the oldest

inhabitant," was required, and the agent of Mrs.

 Preface ix

Wastell, one of the parties, went to visit the old

" Previous
man. to Jenkins going to York," says

Mr. Clarkson, " when the agent of Mrs. Wastell went

to him to find out what account he could give of
the matter in dispute, he saw an old man sitting at

the door, to whom he told his business. The old

man said
'
He could remember nothing about it, but

that he would find his father in the house, who

perhaps could satisfy him.' When he went in, he
saw another old man sitting over the fire, bowed
down with years, to whom he repeated his former

questions. With some difficulty he made him under-

stand what he had said, and after a little while got

the following answer, which surprised him very much :

'
That he knew nothing about it, but that if he would
go into the yard he would meet with his father, who
perhaps could tell him.' The agent upon this thought
that he had met with a race of Antediluvians. How-
ever into the yard he went, and, to his no small aston-

ishment, found a venerable man with a long beard,

and a broad leathern belt about him, chopping sticks.

To this man he again told his business, and received

such information as in the end recovered the royalty
in dispute. The fact is," adds Mr. Thorns, "that
the story of Jenkins' son and grandson is only a
Yorkshire version of the story as old or older than

Jenkins himself, namely, of the very old man who

was seen crying because his father had beaten him
x Preface
for throwing stones at his grandfather." On which
it may be remarked, that however old Old Jenkins

may have been, this story has probably outlived as

many generations as popular belief gave years to his
life. Another old story is "Death and the Doctor,"
which centuries ago got entangled with the history
of the family of Bethune in Scotland, who were sup-

posed to possess an hereditary gift of leechcraft,

same way. "
derived in the Friends in Life and
"
Death is a Norse variation of Rip Van Winkle,

which is nothing more nor less than a Dutch popular

tale; while the lassie who won
the prince by fulfilling
"
his conditions of coming to him not driving and not

riding, not walking and not carried, not fasting and

not full-fed, not naked and not clad, not by daylight
and not by night," has its variations in many lands.
It is no little proof of the wonderful skill of Hans

Christian Andersen, and at the same time of his power

to enter into the spirit of popular fiction, that he has
worked the tale of "The Companion" into one of his

most happy stories.

In this volume, as in the former one, the translator,

while striving to be as truthful as possible, has in the
case of some characters adopted the English equivalent

rather than a literal rendering from the Norse. Thus

"Askpot" is still "Boots," the youngest of the family,
on whom falls all the dirty work, and not "Cinder-

or the Scottish " Ashiepet."

" " "
bob Tyrihans he has
 Preface xi

rendered almost "Taper Tom," the name

literally

meaning not slender or limber Tom, but Tom who

sits in the ingle and makes tapers or matchwood of

resinous fir Some of

to be used instead of candles.

the Tales, such as "The Charcoal-Burner," "Our

Parish Clerk," and "The Sheep and the Pig who set

up House," are filled with proverbs which it was often

very difficult to render. On this and other points it

must be left to others to say whether he has succeeded

or not. But if young and old, will only

his readers,

remember that things which seem easi-ist are often the

hardest to do, they will be as gentle readers as those
he desired to find for his first volume ; and so long as

they are of that spirit, he is sure to be well pleased.

 CONTENTS
OSBORN'S PIPE .... PAGE
I

THE HAUNTED MILL .

ANOTHER HAUNTED MILL . 17

THE HONEST PENNY . 21

THE DEATH OF CHANTICLEER . . 28

THE GREEDY CAT O *>

JJ

GRUMBLEGIZZARD 42
FATHER BRUIN IN THE CORNER . 61

REYNARD AND CHANTICLEER . .

65

THE COMPANION . 68

THE SHOPBOY AND HIS CHEESE . 90

xiii
xiv Contents
PAGE
PEIK 95
DEATH AND THE DOCTOR 108

THE WAY OF THE WORLD 116

THE PANCAKE 121

PORK AND HONEY 126

THE HARE AND THE HEIRESS 128

SLIP ROOT, CATCH REYNARD'S FOOT . . .

129
BRUIN GOODFELLOW 130
BRUIN AND REYNARD PARTNERS .... 133
REYNARD WANTS TO TASTE HORSE-FLESH .
.135
MASTER TOBACCO 137

THE CHARCOAL-BURNER 146

THE Box WITH SOMETHING PRETTY IN IT . .157

THE THREE LEMONS 158

THE PRIEST AND THE CLERK 168

FRIENDS IN LIFE AND DEATH 171

THE FATHER OF THE FAMILY 176

THREE YEARS WITHOUT WAGES . . .
.179
OUR PARISH CLERK 195

SILLY MEN AND CUNNING WIVES .... 209

TAPER TOM 213
THE TROLLS IN HEDALE WOOD .... 222

THE SKIPPER AND OLD NICK 226

GOODY 'GAINST-THE-STREAM 230

How TO WIN A PRINCE 235

BOOTS AND THE BEASTS 237

THE SWEETHEART IN THE WOOD .... 247

 Contents xv
FACE

HOW THEY GOT HAIRLOCK HOME . . .

.254
OSBORN BOOTS AND MR. GLIBTONGUE . . .261
THIS is THE LAD WHO SOLD THE PIG . .
.274
THE SHEEP AND THE WHO SET UP HOUSE
PIG .
283

THE GOLDEN PALACE THAT HUNG IN THE AIR .

289

LITTLE FREDDY WITH HIS FIDDLE . . .

.312
MOTHER ROUNDABOUT'S DAUGHTER . . .
323

THE GREEN KNIGHT 333

BOOTS AND HIS CREW 341

THE TOWN-MOUSE AND THE FELL-MOUSE . .

353

SILLY MATT 358

KING VALEMON, THE WHITE BEAR . . . .

376

THE GOLDEN BIRD 391

 PLATES
PAGE
"
The return after four hundred years " Frontispiece
' '
The queen would go herself and fetch the pipe
'
ii
" "
He
must and would have the land-tax .
51
" ' "
Aye, aye I have it,' said the lad
; 85
" There sat Death at her "
pillow .
113
" I am so "
pretty 163
The
The
' '
prince dismissing his sweetheart
princess and the falcon
Outside the gate lay the dragons
"
.... .

.
234
240
298
" All that were there fell "
a-dancing at once 320
" The "
trap-door tipped up with the bride .
389

ILLUSTRATIONS
Initial letter
' '
Her nose stuck
....... a log of wood
"
PAGE
I

"
He piped them
The princess
fast in
all together
"
.... 2
7
9
The king
"
" Paws
He gaped
off,
. .

so wide ".

pussy"
.....
......
13
15
19
"An

"The
old wife
Initial letter
cat sitting
.......
came walking by"

up at the mainmast head"

21
21
26
xvii
xviii List of Illustrations
PAGE
Initial letter 28
The handquern, the chair, and the door 29
The greedy cat 33
The squirrel 35
" So she rushed at the sun "
40
The five goodies and the egg 42
Grumblegizzard chips the egg 43
Grumblegizzard cuts down the wood 46
Old Nick beats his mother 53
The castle by the lake 54
The bridge 59
The king in the air 60
Initial letter 61
"' Bow-wow, bow-wow,' it said " 62
"
So she crawled up on her knees
' '
63
Reynard and chanticleer 65
" Here comes a hunter " 66
Initial letter 68
" "
Be so good as
to sit down 71
" "
The goat set off . 76
"The was even more high and haughty than before" . 80
princess
" "

"
She fondled the Troll
He met two u ho had
" Kissed him all
slain

shaggy as he was
a man"
"
. ..... 83
9
94
Initial letter 95
" "
There stood the king in the porch 96
" Boiled the "
porridge on the block 98
"She fell on the floor as though she were dead" . . . 101
" So he " 102
fell a-wrangling with the queen
" Miss Peik sewed and stitched " 104
" He was so
dry and lean
" no
" "

"
"
He
Now
I
tilted

can well
up the stone
I'm coming to eat you
slip through your
"
.....
feet, Goosey Poosey
"
. . .
Il6
1*8
124
" I2 5
'Ouf, ouf,' said the pig"
The hare frisking I28
X 37
Initial letter
I 37
The and the beggar-boy
little girl
" He saw an old " T4
hag
" So he went " J 45
up to the mansion-house
X 46
Initial letter
" Tell me now what there is in this tankard" . 155
the box *57
Boy and
 List of Illustrations xix
PAGE
Initial letter 158
" "
Such a swarm of little Trolls 160
"
"She was dressed and clad like a princess 165
"
The king met him out in the porch " 169
" He "
knocked at his grave 171
" "
The

The king
old
hag with her basket
" So he took
up a birch cudgel
"
. ..... 181
186
187
A ship 188
Initial letter
195
" "
He lay snoring 198
" There he "
sat upright 201
Two goodies who quarrelled 209
" "
Nothing ails me 210
Initial letter
213
" A "
wonderful figure of fun 215
" "
Hang on if you care to come 220
Initial letter 222
Initial letter 226
" "
Old Nick came on board in a gust of wind . . . .
227
"Pump, devil, pump" . 228
" "
Shall we reap the field now 231
Initial letter
237
' '
Oh !
'

said the princess, '

there is some one here
' '

. .
241
The falcon 244
Initial letter
247
" "
She saw ever
Initial letter

"Go to the smith

..........
so many
"
chests of drawers 249
254
258
" He met "
the old wife 264
The king 266
" "

"
"
Out came her
Lay your head on my lap
He caught the Troll
eldest daughter

"
"....... 267
268
272
" "
His coat-tails were higher than his neck 273
" "
Flogging the old hunks 277
" Dressed "
himself up as a doctor 278
Initial letter
283
The pig 288
" Could "
only walk with a stick
'
The likeness of a young girl or princess
A baby Troll
"
.... 289
291
294
" There sat a "
princess spinning 301
xx Lisf of Illustrations
PAOE
" There "
lay another princess 306
"A "
strange ship of war 309
The ass 311
" The sheriff "
began to dance 317
Initial letter 323
" "
He had tojump over a bog-hole 327
" So the "
goody came out of doors 329
Initial letter 333
" "
The Green Knight came to her 335
"
"The princess stepped into the church porch . . . .
338
Initial letter 34*
" He met the same old man" 344
" I'm a dead-shot
up to the world's end" 346
Initial letter 353
Silly Matt 358
" "
He set off and wooed a lass 367
" There sat that "
figure of fun 37
Initial letter 37<5

The white bear 377

The castle -379
" She held the candle over him " 381
" In that town there was an inn" 39 2
" "
One of the musicians 396
" "
He had got the bird on his fist 397
" "
I'll kill you on the spot 39 8
"
"
They came to the spot where the" lovely maiden was . 400
" Three Trolls came 4i
flying along
The end 43
TALES FROM THE FJELD

Osborn's Pipe

NCE on a time there was a

poor tenant-fanner who
had to give up his farm
to his landlord ; but, if

he had lost his farm, he

. had three sons left, and
their names were Peter,

Paul, and Osborn Boots.

They stayed at home
and sauntered about, and
wouldn't do a stroke of
work ;
that they thought was the right thing to do.

They thought, too, they were too good for everything,

and that nothing was good enough for them.
At last Peter had got to hear how the king would
have a keeper to watch his hares so he said to his
;

father that he would be off thither the place would

:

just suit him, for he would serve no lower man than

the king that was what he said.
;
The old father
thought there might be work for which he was better
2 Tales from the Fjeld

fittedthan that for he that would keep the king's

;

hares must be light and lissom, and no lazy-bones,

and when the hares began to skip and frisk there
would be quite another dance than loitering about
from house house.
to Well, it was all no good :

Peter would go, and must go, so he took his scrip

on his back, and toddled away down the hill and ;

when he had gone fcr, and farther than far, he came

to an old wife,who stood there with her nose stuck

fast in a log ofwood, and pulled and pulled at it and ;

as soon as he saw how she stood dragging and pulling

to get free he burst into a loud fit of laughter.
" Don't stand there and grin," said the old wife,
" but come and help an old cripple ; I was to have
asunder a little firewood, and I got my nose fast
split
down here, and so I have stood and tugged and torn
 Qsborns Pipe 3

and not tasted a morsel of food for hundreds of years."

That was what she said.
But for all that Peter laughed more and more.
He thought it all fine fun. All he said was, as she
had stood so for hundreds of years she might hold
out for hundreds of years still.
When he got to the king's grange, they took him
for keeper at once. It was not bad serving there,

and he was to have good food and good pay, and

maybe the princess into the bargain; but if one of
the- king's hares got lost, they were to cut three red

stripes out of his back and cast him into a pit of

snakes.
So long as Peter was in the byre and home-field
he kept all the hares in one flock but as the day:

wore on, and they got up into the wood, all the hares
began to frisk, and skip, and scuttle away up and
down the hillocks. Peter ran after them this way
and and nearly burst himself with running,
that,
so long as he could make out that he had one of
them left, and when the last was gone he was almost
broken-winded. And after that he saw nothing more
of them.
When it drew towards evening he sauntered along
on his way home, and stood and called and called to
them at each fence, but no hares came ; and when he
got home to the king's grange, there stood the king
all ready with his knife, and he took and cut three
red stripes out of Peter's back, and then rubbed pepper
and salt into them, and cast him into a pit of snakes.
After a time, Paul was for going to the king's
grange to keep the king's hares. The old gaffer said
4 Tales from the Fjeld

the same thing to him, and even still more; but he

must and would set off; there was no help for it,
and things went neither better nor worse with him
than with Peter. The old wife stood there and tugged
and tore at her nose to get it out of the
log he ;

laughed, and thought her standing

it fine fun, and left

and hacking there. He got the place at once ; no one

said him nay but the hares hopped and skipped away
;

from him down all the hillocks, while he rushed about

till he blew and panted like a collie-dog in the dog-
days ;
and when he got home at night to the king's
grange without a hare, the king stood ready with his
knife in the porch, and took and cut three broad red

stripes out of his back, and rubbed pepper and salt

into them, and so down he went into the pit of
snakes.
Now, when a little while had passed, Osborn Boots
was all for setting off to keep the king's hares, and he
told his mind to the gaffer. He thought it would be
just the right work for him to go into the woods and
fields, and along the wild strawberry brakes, and to

drag a flock of hares with him, and between whiles to

lie and sleep and warm himself on the sunny hillsides.

The gaffer thought there might be work which

suited him better ;
if it
go worse, was sure not
didn't it

to go better with him than with his two brothers. The

man to keep the king's hares must not dawdle about
like a lazy-bones with leaden soles to his stockings,
or like a fly in a tar-pot ; for when they fell to frisking
and skipping on the sunny slopes, it would be quite
another dance to catching fleas with gloves on. No ;
he that would get rid of that work with a whole back
 Osborns Pipe 5

had need to be more than lithe and lissom, and he

must fly about faster than a bladder or a bird's wing.

"Well, well, it was all no good, however bad it

might be," said Osborn Boots. He would go to the
king's grange and serve the king, for no lesser man
would he serve, and he would soon keep the hares.
They couldn't well be worse than the goat and calf at
home. So Boots threw his scrip on his shoulder, and
down the hill he toddled.
So when he had gone far, and farther than far,
and had begun to get right down hungry, he too came
to the old wife, who stood with her nose fast in the

log, who
tugged, and tore, and tried to get loose.
" " Are
Good-day, grandmother," said Boots. you
standing there whetting your nose, poor old cripple
"
that you are ?

"Now, not a soul has called me 'mother' for hun-

"
Do come and help
dreds of years," said the old wife.
me and give me something to live on for
to get free, ;

I haven't had meat in my mouth all that time. See

if I don't do you a motherly turn afterwards."
Yes he thought she might well ask for a bit of
;

food and a drop of drink.

So he cleft the log for her, that she might get her
nose out of the split, and sat down to eat and drink
with her; and as the old wife had a good appetite,
you may fancy she got the lion's share of the meal.
When they were done, she gave Boots a pipe,
which was in this wise: when he blew into one end
of it, anything that he wished away was scattered to
the four winds, and when he blew into the other, all

tilings gathered themselves together again ;

and if the
6 Tales from the Fje/d

pipe were lost or taken from him, he had only to wish

for it, and it came back to him.
"
Something like a pipe, this," said Osborn Boots.
When he got to the king's grange, they chose
him for keeper on the spot. It was no bad service
there,and food and wages he should have, and, if he
were man enough to keep the king's hares, he might,

perhaps, get the princess too; but if one of them got

away, if it were only a leveret, they were to cut three
red stripes out of his back. And the king was so sure
of this that he went off at once and ground his knife.
It would be a small thing to keep these hares,

thought Osborn Boots for when they set out they

;

were almost as tame as a flock of sheep, and so long

as he was in the lane and in the home-field, he had
them all easily in a flock and following; but when they
got upon the hill by the wood, and it looked towards
midday, and the sun began to burn and shine on the
slopes and hillsides, all the hares fell to frisking and
skipping about, and away over the hills.
"Ho, ho! stop! will you all go? Go, then!" said
Boots and he blew into one end of the pipe, so that
;

they ran off on all sides, and there was not one of them
left. But as he went on, and came to an old charcoal
pit, he blew into the other end of the pipe and before ;

he knew where he was, the hares were all there, and

stood in lines and rows, so that he could take them all
in at a glance, just like a troop of soldiers on parade.

"Something like a pipe, this," said Osborn Boots; and

with that he laid him down to sleep away under a sunny
slope, and the hares frisked and frolicked about till
eventide. Then he piped them all together again, and
 Osborn s
Pipe 7
came down to the king's grange with them, like a flock

of sheep.
The king and the queen, and the princess, too, all
stood in the porch, and wondered what sort of fellow
this was who so kept the hares that he brought them
home again and the king told and reckoned them on
;

his fingers, and counted them over and over again;

but there was not one of them missing no ! not so

much as a leveret.
"
Something like a lad, this," said the princess.
Next day he went off to the wood, and was to
keep the hares again; but as he lay and rested him-
self on a strawberry brake, the}' sent the maid after
him from the grange that she might find out how it
8 Tales from the Fjeld

was that he was man enough to keep the king's hares

so well.
So he took out the pipe and showed it her, and
then he blew into one end and made them fly like the
wind over all the hills and dales
and then he blew into ;

the other end, and they all came scampering back to

the brake, and all stood in row and rank again.
"What a pretty pipe," said the maid. She would
willingly give a hundred dollars for it, if he would sell
it, she said.
"Yes! it is something like a pipe," said Osborn
Boots " and was not to be had for
;
it
money alone ;

but she would give him the hundred dollars, and a

if

kiss for each dollar, she should have it," he said.

Well why not ? of course she would she would will-
!
;

ingly give him two for each dollar, and thanks besides.
So she got the pipe but when she had got as far
;

as the king's grange, the pipe was gone, for Osborn

Boots had wished for it back, and so, when it drew
towards eventide, home he came with his hares just
like any other flock of sheep and for all the king's
;

counting or telling, there was no help, not a hair of

the hares was missing.
The day that he kept the hares, they sent the
third

princess on her way to try and get the pipe from him.
She made herself as blithe as a lark, and she bade him
two hundred dollars if he would sell her the pipe and
tell her how she was to behave to bring it safe home

with her.
"Yes! yes! it is something like a pipe," said Os-
" but
born Boots ; " and it was not for sale," he said,
all the same, he would do it for her sake, if she would
 Osborns Pipe 9

give him two hundred dollars, and a kiss into the bar-
gain for each dollar then she might have the pipe.
;

If she wished to keep it, she must look sharp after it.

That was her look-out."

" This is a very high price for a hare-pipe," thought
the princess ;
and she made mouths at giving him the
kisses; "but, after all," she said, "it's far away in the

wood, no one can see it or hear it

it can't be helped ;
for I must
and have the pipe."
will
So when Osborn Boots had got
all he was to have, she got the

pipe, off she went, and held

and
it with her fingers the whole
fast

way; but when she came to the

grange, and was going to take it
out, it slipped through her fingers
and was gone !

Next day the queen would go

herself and fetch the pipe from
him. She made sure she would
bring the pipe back with her.
Now she was more stingy about the money, and
bade no more than fifty dollars ; but she had to raise
her price till it came to three hundred. Boots said it

was something like a pipe, and it was no price at all ;

still might go, if she would give him

for her sake it

three hundred dollars, and a smacking kiss for each

dollar into the bargain then she might have it. And
;

he got the kisses well paid, for on that part of the bar-
gain she was not so squeamish.
So when she had got the pipe, she both bound it
I o Tales from the Fjeld

fast, and looked after it well ;

but shewas nc. a hair
better off than the others, for when she was going to
pull it out at home, the pipe was gone; and at even
down came Osborn Boots, driving the king's hares
home for all the world like a flock of tame sheep.
" the king see I must set "
It is all stuff," said I ;

off myself, if we
are to get this wretched pipe from
him; there's no other help for it, I can see." And
when Osborn Boots had got well into the woods next
day with the hares, the king stole after him, and found
him lying on the same sunny hillside, where the women
had tried their hands on him.
Well they were good friends and very happy
!
;

and Osborn Boots showed him the pipe, and blew

first on one end and then on the other, and the king

thought it a pretty pipe, and wanted at last to buy it,

even though he gave a thousand dollars for it.
"Yes! something like a pipe," said Boots, "and
it is

it's not to be had for money but do you see that white
;

"
horse yonder down there ? and he pointed away into
the wood.
" See it ! of course I see it ;
it's my own horse
Whitey," said the king. No one had need to tell him
that.
"Well! if you will give me a thousand dollars, and
then go and kiss yon white horse down in the marsh
there, behind the big fir-tree, you shall have my pipe."
" Isn't it to be had for other ?
"
asked the
any price
king.
"
No, it is not," said Osborn.
"
Well but I may put my silken pocket-handker-
!

"
chief between us ? said the king.
 1 '"^X
^i' -v
'

's^^5=&*^^

; -
gk&>>
1
r-
' '''*'
'", lh

.'.-
%." **
'ttG-*,'
VI,, \

"
The queen would go herself and fetch the pipe." Page 9.'
 Osborn s
Pipe
" he might have leave to do that." And
Very good ;

so he got the pipe, and put it into his purse. And the
purse he put into his pocket, and buttoned it up tight
and so off he strode to his home. But when he reached
the grange, and was
going pull out
to
his pipe, he fared
no better than the
women folk ;
he
hadn't the pipe any
more than they, and
there came Osborn
Boots driving home
the flock of hares,
and not a hair was
missing.
The king was
both spiteful and
wroth, to think
that he had fooled
them round, and
all

cheated him out of

the pipe as well;
and now he said Boots must lose his life, there was no
question of it, and the queen said the same it was :

best to put such a rogue out of the way red-handed.

Osborn thought it neither fair nor right, for he
had done nothing but what they told him to do; and
so he had guarded his back and life as best he might.
So the king said there was no help for it but if ;

he could lie the great brewing-vat so full of lies that

it ran over, then he might keep his life.
1
4 Tales from the Fjeld

That was neither a long nor perilous piece ol

work he was quite game to do that, said Osborn
:

Boots. So he began to tell how it had all happened

from the very first. He told about the old wife and
her nose in the log, and then he went on to say, "Well,
but I must lie faster if the vat is to be full." So he
went on to tell of the pipe and
got how he it ;
and of
the maid, how she came to him and wanted to buy
it for a hundred dollars, and of all the kisses she had to

give besides,away there in the wood. Then he told of

the princesshow she came and kissed him so sweetly
for the pipe when no one could see or hear it all

away there in the wood. Then he stopped and said,

" I must lie faster if the vat is ever to be full." So he
told of the queen, how close she was about the money
and how overflowing she was with her smacks. " You
know I must lie hard to get the vat full," said Osborn.
" For "
my part," said the queen, I think it's pretty
full already."
"No! no! it isn't," said the king.
So he fell to telling how the king came to him, and
about the white horse down on the marsh, and how, if
the king was to have the pipe, he must "Yes, your
majesty, if the vat is ever to be full I must go on and
lie hard," said Osborn Boots.
"
Hold !
hold, lad It's full to the brim," roared out
!

" "
the king; don't you see how it is foaming over ?
So both the king and the queen thought it best
he should have the princess to wife and half the king-
dom. There was no help for it.
"That was something like a pipe," said Osborn
Boots.
 The Haunted Mill

on a time there was a man who had a mill

ONCE by the side of a force, and in the mill there

was a brownie. Whether the man, as is the
custom in most places, gave the brownie porridge and
ale at Yule to bring grist to the mill, I can't say, but
I don't think he did, for every time he turned the

water on the mill, the brownie

took hold of the spindle and
stopped the mill, so that he
couldn't grind a sack.
The man knew well enough
it was all the brownie's work,
and at last one evening, when
he went into the mill, he took
a pot full of pitch and tar, and
lit a fire under it. Well when
!

he turned the water on the

wheel, it went round awhile,
but soon after it made a dead
stop. So he turned, and and put his shoulder
twisted,
to the top of the wheel, but it was
all no good. By
this time the pot of pitch was boiling hot, and then he

opened the trap-door which opened on to the ladder

that went down into the wheel, and if he didn't see
1 6 Tales from the Fjeld

the brownie standing on the steps of the ladder with

his jaws all a-gape, and he gaped so wide that his
mouth filled up the whole trap-door.
" Did "
you ever see such a wide mouth ? said the
brownie.
But the man was handy with his pitch. He caught
up the pot and threw it, pitch and all, into the gaping

jaws.
" Did "
you ever feel such hot pitch ?
Then the brownie let the wheel go, and yelled and
howled frightfully. Since then he has been never
known to stop the wheel in that mill, and there they
grind in peace.
 Another Haunted Mill

on a time there was a mill ;

this mill was
ONCE not in these parts, it was somewhere up the
country; but wherever it was, north of the
Fells or south of the Fells, it was not canny. No
one could grind a grain of corn in it for weeks to-

gether, when something came and haunted it. But

the worst was that, besides haunting it, the trolls,
or whatever they were, took to burning the mill down.
Two Whitsun-eves running it had caught fire and
burned to the ground.
Well, the third year, as Whitsuntide was drawing
on, the man had a tailor in his house hard by the mill,
who was making Sunday-clothes for the miller.
" I
wonder, now," said the man on Whitsun-eve,
"whether the mill will burn down this Whitsuntide,
too?"
"No, it shan't," said the tailor. "Why should it?
Give me
the keys I'll watch the mill."
:

Well, the man thought that brave, and so, as the

evening drew on, he gave the tailor the keys, and
showed him into the mill. It was empty, you know,
for it was and so the tailor sat down
just new-built,
in the middle of the floor, and took out his chalk and
chalked a great circle round about him, and outside
7 B
1 8 Tales from the Fjeld

the ring all round he wrote the Lord's Prayer, and

when he had done that he wasn't afraid no, not if
Old Nick himself came.
So at dead of night the door flew open with a
bang, and there came in such a swarm of black cats
you couldn't count them they were as thick as ants.
;

They were not long before they had put a big pot
on the fireplace and set light under it, and the pot
began to boil and bubble, and as for the broth, it
was for all the world like pitch and tar.
"Ha! ha!" thought the tailor, "that's your game,
"
is it !

And he had hardly thought this before one of the

cats thrust her paw under the pot and tried to up-
set it.

"Paws off, pussy," said the tailor, "you'll burn

your whiskers."
" Hark to the
tailor, who says Paws off, pussy,'
'

to me," said the cat to the other cats,and in a trice

they all ran away from the fireplace, and began to
dance and jump round the circle and then all at ;

once the same cat stole off to the fireplace and tried
to upset the pot.
" Paws burn your whiskers,"
off, pussy, you'll
bawled out the tailor again, and again he scared them
from the fireplace.
"Hark who
says 'Paws off, pussy,"
to the tailor,

said the cat to the others, and again they all began
to dance and jump round the circle, and then all at
once they were off again to the pot, trying to upset it.
" Paws
off, pussy, you'll burn your whiskers,"
screamed out the tailor the third time, and this time
 Another Haunted Mill 19
he gave them such a fright that they tumbled head
over heels on the floor, and began dancing and jump-
ing as before.
Then they closed round the circle, and danced
faster and faster: so fast at last that the tailor's

head began to turn round, and they glared at him

with such big ugly eyes, as though they would
swallow him up alive.
Now just as they were at the fastest, the same

cat which had tried so often to upset the pot, stuck

her paw inside the circle, as though she meant to
claw the tailor. But as soon as the tailor saw that,
he drew his knife out of the sheath and held it ready ;
just then the cat thrust her paw in again, and in a
trice the tailor chopped it off, and then, pop ! all the
cats took to their heels as fast as they could, with

yells and caterwauls, right out at the door.

But the tailor lay down inside his circle, and slept
till the sun shone bright in upon the floor. Then
2O Tales from the Fjeld

he rose, locked the mill, and went away to the miller's

house.
When he got there, both the miller and his wife
were still abed, for you know it was Whitsunday
morning.
"
Good morning," said the tailor, as he went to the

bedside, and held out his hand to the miller.

"Good morning," said the miller, who was both
glad and astonished to see the tailor safe and sound,
you must know.
"Good morning, mother!" said the tailor, and held
out his hand to the wife.
"Good morning," said she; but she looked so wan
and worried ; and as for her hand, she hid it under
the quilt but at last she stuck out the left.
;
Then the
tailor saw plainly how things stood, but what he said
to the man and what was done to the wife, I never
heard,
 The Honest Penny

NCE on a time there was

a poor woman who lived
in a tumble-down hut
far away in the wood.
i>,(

''^^T Ml Little had she to eat,

\"-Mr
/Jwl / la. and nothing at all to
burn, and so she sent
a little boy she had out
into the wood to gather
fuel. He
ran and jumped, and jumped and ran, to
keep himself warm, for it was a cold grey autumn
day, and every time he found a bough or a root for
his billet,he had to beat his arms across his breast,
for his were as red as the cranberries over
fists

which he walked, for very cold. So when he had got

his billet of wood and was off home, he came upon
22 Tales from the Fjeld

a clearing of stumps on the hillside, and there he

saw a white crooked stone.
"Ah! you poor old stone," said the boy; "how
white and wan you are I'll be bound you are
!

"
frozen to death and with that he took off his jacket
;

and laid it on the stone. So when he got home with

his billet of wood his mother asked what it all meant
that he walked about in wintry weather in his shirt-
sleeves. Then he told her how he had seen an old
crooked stone which was all whife and wan for frost,
and how he had given it his jacket.
"
What a fool you mother " do you
are !
"
said his ;

think a stone can freeze ? But even if it froze till it

shook again, know this every one is nearest to his
own self. It costs quite enough to get clothes to your
back, without your going and hanging them on stones
"
in the clearings; and as she said that, she hur\ted the
boy out of the house to fetch his jacket.
So when he came where the stone stood, lo it !

had turned itself and lifted itself up on one side from

" Yes since
the ground. !
yes ! this is you got the
jacket, poor old thing," said the boy.
But when he looked a little closer at the stone,
he saw a money-box, full of bright silver, under it.
"
This is stolen money, no doubt," thought the boy;
"
no one puts money, come by honestly, under a stone
away in the wood."
So he took the money-box and bore it down to a tarn
hard by and threw the whole hoard into the tarn but ;

one silver penny-piece floated on the top of the water.

"Ah! ah that is honest," said the lad; "for what
!

is honest never sinks."

 The Honest Penny 23
So he took penny and went home with
the silver
it and his jacket. told his mother how it had
Then he
all happened, how the stone had turned itself, and
how he had found a money-box full of silver money,
which he had thrown out into the tarn because it was
stolen money, and how one silver penny floated on
the top.
"That I took," said the boy, "because it was
honest."
"
are a born fool," said his mother, for she was
You
very angry; "were naught else honest than what floats
on water, there wouldn't be much honesty in the
world. And even though
the money were stolen ten
times over, you had
still found it and I tell you again
;

what I told you before, every one is nearest to his

own self. Had you only taken that money we might

have lived well and happy all our days. But a ne'er-
do-weel thou art, and a ne'er-do-weel thou wilt be,
and now I won't drag on any longer toiling and moiling
for thee. Be off with thee into the world and earn
thine own bread."
So the lad had to go out into the wide world,
and he went both far and long seeking a place. But
wherever he came, folk thought him too little and
weak, and said they could put him to no use. At
last he came to a merchant, and there he got leave

to be in the kitchen and carry in wood and water for

the cook. Well, after he had been there a long time,
the merchant had to make a journey into foreign

lands, and so he asked all his servants what he

should buy and bring home
for each of them. So,
when all had said what they would have, the turn
24 Tales from the Fjeld

came to the scullion too, who brought in wood and

water for the cook. Then he held out his penny.
"
Well, what shall I buy with this ? " asked the
merchant; "there won't be much time lost over this
bargain."
"Buy what I can get for it. It is honest, that I

know," said the lad.

That his master gave his word to do, and so he
sailed away.
So when the merchant had unladed his ship
and laded her again in foreign lands, and bought
what he had promised his servants to buy, he came
down to and was just going to shove off
his ship,
from the wharf. Then
all at once it came into his

head that the scullion had sent out a silver penny

with him, that he might buy something for him.
"
Must I
go all the way back to the town for the
sake of a silver penny ? One would then have small
gain in taking such a beggar into one's house," thought
the merchant.

Just then an old wife came walking by with a bag

at her back.
" "
What have you got in your bag, mother ? asked
the merchant.
"
Oh !
nothing else than a cat. I can't afford to
feed it
thought would throw it into
any longer, so I I

the sea, and make away with it," answered the woman.
Then the merchant said to himself, " Didn't the lad
"
say I was to buy what I could get for his penny ?
So he asked the old wife if she would take four
farthings for her cat. Yes the goody was not slow
!

to say "done," and so the bargain was soon struck.

 The Honest Penny 25
Now when the merchant had sailed a bit, fearful
weather on him, and such a storm, there was
fell

nothing for it but to drive and drive till he did not

know whither he was going. At last he came to a
land on which he had never set foot before, and so
up he went into the town.
At the inn where he turned in, the board was laid

with a rod for each man who sat at it. The merchant
thought very strange, for he couldn't at all make
it

out what they were to do with all these rods; but

he sat him down, and thought he would watch well
what the others did, and do like them. Well! as
soon as the meat was set on the board, he saw well
enough what the rods meant for out swarmed mice in
;

thousands, and each one who sat at the board had

to take to his rod and flog and flap about him, and

naught else could be heard than one cut of the rod

harder than the one which went before it. Sometimes
they whipped one another in the face, and just gave
"
themselves time to say, Beg pardon," and then at it
again.
" "
Hard work to dine in this land ! said the mer-
" "
chant. But don't folk keep cats here ?
" Cats ? " know what
they all asked, for they did not
cats were.
So the merchant sent and fetched the cat he had

bought for the scullion, and as soon as the cat got on the
mice to their holes, and folks had never
table, off ran the
in the memory of man had such rest at their meat.
Then they begged and prayed the merchant to sell
them the cat, and at last, after a long, long time, he
promised to let them have it but he would have a
;
26 Tales from the Fjeld

hundred dollars for it; and that sum they gave and
thanks besides.
So the merchant sailed off again ; but he had scarce
got good sea-room before he saw the cat sitting up at
the mainmast head, and all at once again came foul
weather and a storm worse than the first, and he
drove and drove till he got to a country where he had
never been before. The merchant went up to an inn,
and here, the board was spread
too,
with rods ;
but they were much bigger
and longer than the first. And, to
tell the truth, they had need to be ;

for here the mice were many

more, and every mouse was

twice as big as those he
had before seen.
So he sold the cat

again, and this time

he got two hundred dol-
lars for it, and that without

any haggling.
So when he had sailed away from
that land and got a bit out at sea,
there sat Grimalkin again at the masthead and the ;

bad weather began at once again, and the end of it

was, he was again driven to a land where he had
never been before.
He went ashore, up to the town, and turned into an
inn. There, too, the board was laid with rods, but
every rod was an ell and a half long, and as thick as a

small broom and the folk said that to sit at meat was
;

the hardest trial they had, for there were thousands of

 The Honest Penny 27

big ugly rats, so that it was only with sore toil and
trouble one could get a morsel into one's mouth, 'twas
such hard work to keep off the rats. So the cat had to
be fetched up from the ship once more, and then folks

got their food in peace. Then they all begged and

prayed the merchant, for heaven's sake, to sell them
For a long time he said " No
"
his cat. but at last he ;

gave his word to take three hundred dollars for it.

That sum they paid down at once, and thanked him

and blessed him for it into the bargain.
Now, when the merchant got out to sea, he fell a-
thinking how much the lad had made out of the penny
he had sent out with him.
"
Yes, yes, some of the money he shall have," said
" but not all. Me it is that
the merchant to himself,
he has to thank for the cat I bought; and besides,
every man is nearest to his own self."

But as soon as ever the merchant thought this, such

a storm and gale arose that every one thought the ship
must founder. So the merchant saw there was no
help for it, and he had to vow that the lad should have
every penny and no sooner had he vowed this vow,
;

than the weather turned good, and he got a snoring

breeze fair for home.
So, when he got to land, he gave the lad the six hun-
dred dollars, and his daughter besides for now the ;

little scullion was just as rich as his master, the mer-

chant, and even richer; and, after that, the lad lived
all his days in mirth and jollity ; and he sent for his

mother, and treated her as well as or better than he

" " I
treated himself; for," said the lad, don't think that

every one is nearest to his own self."

 The Death of Chanticleer

NCE on a time there was

a Cock and a Hen, who
walked out into the field,
> and scratched, and scraped,
and scrabbled. All at once
Chanticleer found a burr of
hop, and Partlet found a
barleycorn ;
and the}- said
they would make malt and
brew Yule ale.
"Oh! I
pluck barley,
and malt malt, and I brew
I

ale, and the ale is good,"

cackled dame Partlet.
"Is the wort strong enough?" crew Chanticleer,
and as he crowed he flew up on the edge of the cask,
and tried to have a taste; but, just as he bent over
to drink a drop, he took to flapping his wings, and so
he fell head over heels into the cask, and was drowned.
When dame Partlet saw that, she clean lost her
wits, and flew up into the chimney-corner, and fell
" Harm in the house
a-screaming and screeching out. !

"
narm in the house ! she screeched out all in a breath,
and there was no stopping her.
23
 The Death of Chanticleer 29
"What ails you, dame Partlet, that you sit there

sobbing and sighing?" said the Handquern.

"Why not," said dame Partlet, "when goodman
Chanticleer has fallen into the cask and drowned him-
self, and lies dead ? That's why I sigh and sob."
"Well, if I can do naught else, I will grind and
groan," said the Handquern ;
and so it fell to grinding
as fast as it could.
When the Chair heard that, it said

"What ails you, Handquern, that you griixd and

groan so fast and oft ? "

"Why not, when goodman Chanticleer has fallen
into the cask and drowned himself; and dame Partlet
sits in the ingle and sighs and sobs ? That's why I
grind and groan," said the Handquern.
"If I can do naught else I will crack," said the
Chair; and with that he fell to creaking and cracking.
When the Door heard that, it said
" What's the matter ?
"
Why do you creak and
crack so, Mr. Chair V
"
Why not?" said the Chair "goodman Chanticleer
;
30 Tales from the Fjeld

has fallen into the cask and drowned himself; dame

Partlet sits in the ingle sighing and sobbing; and the
Handquern grinds and groans. That's why I creak
and crackle, and croak and crack."
"Well," said the Door, "if I can do naught else, 1
"
can rattle and bang, and whistle and slam and with ;

that it began to open and shut, and bang and slam,

it deaved one to hear, and all one's teeth chattered.

All this the Stove heard, and it opened its mouth

and called out
" "
Door ! Door why! all this slamming and banging ?
"Why not," said the Door, "when goodman Chanti-
cleer has fallen into the cask and drowned himself;
dame Partlet sits in the ingle sighingand sobbing ;

the Handquern grinds and groans and the Chair ;

creaks and cracks. That's why I bang and slam."

"Well," said the Stove, "if I can do naught else,
I can smoulder and smoke " and so it fell a-smoking
;

and steaming till the room was all in a cloud.

The Axe saw this as it stood outside, and peeped
with its shaft through the window.
"What's all this smoke about, Mrs. Stove?" said
the Axe in a sharp voice.
"Why not," said the Stove, "when goodman
Chanticleer has fallen into the cask and drowned
himself; dame Partlet sits in the ingle sighing and

sobbing ; Handquern grinds and groans the Chair

the ;

creaks and cracks and the Door bangs and slams.

;

That's why I smoke and steam."

"
Well, if I can do naught else, I can rive and rend,
said the Axe; and with that it fell to riving and
rending all around about.
 The Death of Chanticleer 3 1

This the Aspen stood by and saw.

"
Why do you rive and rend everything
"
so, Mr.
Axe ? said the Aspen.
"
Goodman Chanticleer has fallen into the ale-cask
and drowned himself," said the Axe; "dame Partlet
sits in the ingle sighing and sobbing; the Handquern

grinds and groans the Chair creaks and cracks the

; ;

Door slams and bangs and the Stove smokes and ;

steams. That's why I rive and rend all about."

"Well, if I can do naught else," said the Aspen,
" can quiver and quake
"
I in all my leaves ;
so it grew
all of a quake.
The Birds saw this, and twittered out
" do you quiver and quake, Miss Aspen ? "
Why
" Goodman Chanticleer has fallen into
the ale-cask
and drowned himself," said the Aspen, with a trembling
voice; "dame Partlet sits in the ingle sighing and
sobbing; the Handquern grinds and groans; the
Chair creaks and cracks the Door slams and bangs ; ,

the Stove steams and smokes and the Axe rives and ;

rends. That's why I quiver and quake."

"Well, if we can do naught else, we will pluck
off allour feathers," said the Birds and with that ;

they fell a-pilling and plucking themselves till the

room was full of feathers.
This the Master stood by and saw, and, when the
feathers flew about like fun, he asked the Birds
"
Why
"
do you pluck off all your feathers, you
Birds ?
"
Oh !
goodman Chanticleer has lallen into the ale-
cask and drowned himself," twittered out the Birds;
"
dame Partlet sits sighing and sobbing in the ingle
32 Tales from the Fjeld

the Handquern grinds and groans; the Chair creaks

and cracks the Door slams and bangs
; the Stove ;

smokes and steams; the Axe rives and rends; and

the Aspen quivers and quakes. That's why we are

pilling and plucking all our feathers off."

"Well, if I can do nothing else, I can tear the
brooms asunder," said the man and with that he fell ;

tearing and tossing the brooms till the birch-twigs

flew about east and west.
The goody stood cooking porridge for supper, and
saw all this.

"Why, man!" she called out, "what are you tear-

"
ing the brooms to bits for ?
" Oh " said the "
!
man, goodman Chanticleer has
fallen into and drowned himself; dame
the ale-vat
Partlet sits
sighing and sobbing in the ingle; the
Handquern grinds and groans the Chair cracks and ;

creaks the Door slams and bangs the Stove smokes

; ;

and steams the Axe rives and rends

;
the Aspen ;

quivers and quakes the Birds are pilling and pluck-

;

ing all their feathers off; and that's why I am tearing

the besoms to bits."
"So, so!" said the goody; "then I'll dash the
porridge over all the walls," and she did it for she ;

took one spoonful after the other, and dashed it

against the walls, so that no one could see what
they were made of for very porridge.
That was how they drank the burial ale after

goodman Chanticleer, who fell into the brewing-vat

and was drowned and, ;
if you don't believe it, you
may set off thither and have a taste both of the ale
and the porridge.
 The Greedy Cat

on a time there was a man who had a

ONCE cat,and she was so awfully big, and such a
beast to eat, he couldn't keep her any longer.
So she was to go down to the river with a stone
round her neck, but before she started she was to
have a meal of meat. So the goody set before her
a bowl of porridge and a little trough of fat. That
she crammed into her, and ran off and jumped through
the window. Outside stood the goodman by the barn
door threshing.
" Good day, goodman," said the cat.
33 C
34 Tales from the Fjeld

" Good " have

day, pussy," said the goodman ; you
"
had any food to-day ?
"
Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting/' said
the cat ;
"it was only a bowl of porridge end a trough
of fat and, now I it, I'll take you too," and
think of
so she took the goodman and gobbled him up.
When she had done that, she went into the byre,
and theresat the goody milking.
"Good day, goody," said the cat.
"Good day, pussy," said the goody; "are you here,
and have you eaten up your food yet ? "
"Oh, I've eaten a little to-day, but I'm 'iTiost fast-
" was only a bowl of porridge,
ing," said pussy ;
it

and a trough of fat, and the goodman and, now I

think of it, I'll take you too," and so she took the

goody and gobbled her up.

" Goodday, you cow at the manger," said the cat
to Daisy the cow.
" Good "
day, pussy," said the bell-cow ; have you
"
had any food to-day ?
" I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said
Oh,
"
the cat ;
I've only had a bowl of porridge, and a

trough of fat, and the goodman, and the goody and,

now I think of it, I'll
take you too," and so she took
the cow and gobbled her up.
Then off she set up into the home-field, and there
stood a man picking up leaves.
"Good day, you leaf-picker in the field," said the
cat.
" Good day, pussy ; have you had anything to eat
"
to-day ? said the leaf-picker.
" Oh. I've had a but I'm 'most fasting," said
little,
 The Greedy Cat 35
the cat; "it was only a bowl of porridge, and a trough
of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and Daisy the
cow and, now I think of it, I'll take you too." So
she took the leaf-picker and gobbled him up.
Then she came to a heap of stones, and there
stood a stoat and peeped out.
"Good day, Mr. Stoat of Stoneheap," said the cat.
" Good
day, Mrs. Pussy ; have you had anything
"
to eat to-day ?

"Oh, had a little, but I'm 'most

I've fasting," said
"
was only a bowl of
the cat ;
it

porridge, and a trough of fat,

and the goodman, and the goody,
and the cow, and the leaf-picker
and, now I think of it, I'll
take you too." So she took the
stoat and gobbled him up.
When she had gone a bit

farther, she came to a hazel-

brake, and there sat a squirrel
gathering nuts.
"
Good day, Sir Squirrel of
the Brake," said the cat.
"Good day, Mrs. Pussy; have you had anything
"
to eat to-day ?

"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said

the cat; was only a bowl of porridge, and a
"it

trough of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and

the cow, and the leaf-picker, and the stoat and, now
I think of it, I'll take you too." So she took the
squirrel and gobbled him up.
When she had gone a little farther, she saw Reynard
36 Tales from the Fjeld

the Fox, who was prowling about by the wood-

side.
" Good day, Reynard Slyboots," said the cat.
" Good day, Mrs. Pussy ; have you had anything
"
to eat to-day ?
" I've had a but I'm 'most fasting," said
Oh, little,

cat
" was only a bowl of porridge, and a
the ;
it

trough of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and

the cow, and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the
squirrel and, now I think of it, I'll take you too."
So she took Reynard and gobbled him up.
Whenshe had gone a while farther she met Long
Ears the Hare.
"Good day, Mr. Hopper the Hare," said the cat.
Good day, Mrs. Pussy; have you had anything
"
to eat to-day ?
" I've had a but I'm 'most fasting," said
Oh, little,
"
was only a bowl of porridge, and a trough
the cat ;
it

of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel,
and the fox and, now I think of it, I'll take you too."
So she took the hare and gobbled him up.
When she had gone a bit farther she met a wolf.
" Good said the
day, you Greedy Greylegs,"
cat.

"Good day, Mrs. Pussy; have you had anything

"
to eat to-day ?
"
Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said
the cat
"
was only a bowl of porridge, and
it a trough
;

of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel,
and the fox and the hare and, now I think of it, I
 The Greedy Cat 37
may as well take you too." So she took and gobbled
up Grey legs too.
So she went on into the wood, and when she had
gone far and farther than far, o'er hill and dale, she
met a bear-cub.
" Good day, you bare-breeched bear," said the cat.
"Good day, Mrs. Pussy," said the bear-cub; "have
"
you had anything to eat to-day ?
"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said
" it was
the cat ; only a bowl of porridge, and a trough
of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel, and
the fox, and the hare, and the wolf and, now I think
of it, I may as well take you too," and so she took the
bear-cub and gobbled him up.
When the cat had gone a bit farther, she met a
she-bear, who was tearing away at a stump till the
splinters flew, so angry was she at having lost her cub,
" Good day, you Mrs. Bruin," said the cat.
"Good day, Mrs. Pussy; have you had anything to
"
eat to-day ?

"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said

"
the cat ;
was only a bowl of porridge, and a
it

trough of fat, and the goodman, and the goody,

and the cow, and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and
the squirrel, and the fox, and the hare, and the wolf,
and the bear-cub and, now I think of it, I'll take
you too," and so she took Mrs. Bruin and gobbled
her up too.
When the cat got still farther on, she met Baron
Bruin himself.
"
Good day, you Baron Bruin," said the cat.
38 Tales from the Fjeld
"Good day, Mrs. Pussy," said Bruin; "have you
"
had anything to eat to-day ?

"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said

the cat " it was only a bowl of porridge, and a trough
;

of and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,

fat,
and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel, and
the fox, and the hare, and the wolf, and the bear-cub,
and the she-bear and, now I think of it, I'll take you
too," and so she took Bruin and ate him up too.
So the cat went on and on, and farther than far, till
she came to the abodes of men again, and there she
met a bridal train on the road.
"
Good day, you bridal train on the king's high-
way," said she.
"Good day, Mrs. Pussy; have you had anything
"
to eat to-day ?

"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said

"
the cat ;
it was only a bowl of
porridge, and a trough
of fat,and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel, and
the fox, and the hare, and the wolf, and the bear-cub,
and the she-bear, and the he-bear and, now I think
of it, I'll take you too," and so she rushed at them, and

gobbled up both the bride and bridegroom, and the

whole train, with the cook and the fiddler, and the
horses and all.
When she had gone still farther, she came to a
church, and there she met a funeral.
" Good day, you funeral train," said she.
"Goodday, Mrs. Pussy; have you had anything to
"
eat to-day ?

"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said

 The Greedy Cat 39
"
it was only a bowl of porridge, and a trough
the cat ;

of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel, and
the fox, and the hare, and the wolt, and the bear-cub,
and the she-bear, and the he-bear, and the bride and
bridegroom, and the whole train and, now, I don't
mind if I take you too," and so she fell on the funeral
train and gobbled up both the body and the bearers.
Now when the cat had got the body in her, she was
taken up to the sky, and when she had gone a long,
long way, she met the moon.
" Good
day, Mrs. Moon," said the cat.
" Good
day, Mrs. Pussy ; have you had anything to
"
eat to-day ?
" I've had a but I'm 'most fasting," said
Oh, little,

the cat
" it was only
a bowl of porridge, and a trough
;

of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
and the and the stoat, and the squirrel, and
leaf-picker,
the fox, and the hare, and the wolf, and the bear-cub,
and the she-bear, and the he-bear, and the bride and
bridegroom, and the whole train, and the funeral train
and, now I think of it, I don't mind if I take you too,"
and so she seized hold of the moon, and gobbled her
up, both new and full.
So the cat went a long way still, and then she met
the sun.
" Good Sun in heaven."
day, you
"Good-day, Mrs. Pussy," said the sun; "have you
"
had anything to eat to-day ?

"Oh, had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said

I've
"
the cat ;
was only a bowl of porridge, and a trough
it

of fat, and the goodman, and the goody, and the cow,
 Tales from the Fjeld

and the leaf-picker, and the stoat, and the squirrel, and
the fox, and the hare, and the wolf, and the bear-cub,
and the she-bear, and the he-bear, and the bride and
bridegroom, and the whole train, and the funeral train,
and the moon and, now I think of it, I don't mind if I
take you too," and so she rushed at the sun in heaven
and gobbled him up.

So the cat went far and farther than far, till she came
to a bridge, and on it she met a big billy-goat.
"Good da}-, you Billy-goat on Broad-bridge," said
the cat.
" have you had anything to
Good-day, Mrs. Pussy ;

"
eat to-day ? said the billy-goat.
" I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting
I've only
Oh, ;

had a bowl of porridge, and a trough of fat, and the

goodman, and the goody in the byre, and Daisy the

cow at the manger, and the leaf-picker in the home-
 The Greedy Cat 41

field, and Mr. Stoat of Stoneheap, and Sir Squirrel of

the Brake, and Reynard Slyboots, and Mr. Hopper
the hare, and Greedy Greylegs the wolf, and Bare-
breech the bear-cub, and Mrs. Bruin, and Baron Bruin,
and a bridal train on the king's highway, and a funeral
at the church, and Lady Moon in the sky, and Lord
Sun in heaven and, now I think of it,
I'll take you
too."
"That we'll fight about," said the billy-goat, and
butted at the cat till shefell right over the bridge into

the river, and there she burst.

So they all crept out one after the other, and went
about their business, and were just as good as ever,
all that the cat had gobbled up. The goodman of
the house, and the goody in the byre, and Daisy the
cow at the manger, and the leaf-picker in the home-

field, and Mr. Stoat of Stoneheap, and Sir Squirrel

of the Brake, and Reynard Slyboots, and Mr. Hopper
the hare, and Greedy Greylegs the wolf, and Bare-
breech the bear-cub, and Mrs. Bruin, and Baron Bruin,
and the bridal train on the highway, and the funeral
train at the church, and Lady Moon in the sky, and
Lord Sun in heaven.
 Grumblegizzard

on a time there were five goodies, who

ONCE were all

and
reaping in a field
wished to
all
they were all child-
;

have a bairn. All at

less,
once they set eyes on a strangely big goose-egg,
almost as big as a man's head.
" Isaw it first," said one.
" Isaw it just as soon as you," screamed another.
"
Heaven help me, but I will have it," swore the
"
third; I was the first to see it."

So they flocked round it and squabbled so much

about the egg that they were tearing one another's
hair. But at last they agreed that they would own
it in common, all five of them, and each was to sit on
 Grumb/egizzara 43
it in turn like a goose,and so hatch the gosling. The
first lay sitting eight days, and sat and sat, but nothing

came of it; meanwhile the others had to drag about

to find food both for themselves and her. At last

one of them began to scold her.

"Well," said the one that sat, "you did not chip
the egg yourself before you could cry, not you but
;

it seems
this egg, I think, has something in it,
for
'

to me to mumble, and this is what it says, Herrings

and brose, porridge and milk, all at once.' And now

you may come and sit for eight days too, and we will
change and change about and get food for you."
So when all five had sat on it eight days, the fifth
heard plainly that there was a gosling in the egg,
which screeched out, " Herrings and brose, porridge
and milk." So she picked a hole in it, but instead
of a gosling out came a man child, and awfully xigly
it was, with a big head and little body. And the
44 Tales from the Fjeld

first thing it bawled out when it chipped the egg was,

"
Herrings and brose, porridge and milk."
So they called it
"
Grumblegizzard."
Ugly as was, they were still glad to have it, at
it

first; but it was not long before it got so greedy that

it ate up all the meat in their house. When they
boiled a kettle of soup or a pot of porridge, which they

thought would be enough for all six, it tossed it all

down its own throat. So they would not keep it
any
longer.
" I've not known what it is to have a full meal since
this changeling crept out of the egg-shell," said one
of them, and when Grumblegizzard heard all the rest
were of the same mind, he said he was quite willing
to be off. If they did not care for him, he didn't care

for them ;
and with that he strode off trom the farm.
After a long time he came to a farmer's house,
which lay in a stone country, and there he asked for
a place. WeJl, they wanted a labourer, and the good-
man set him to pick up stones off the field. Yes !

Grumblegizzard gathered the stones from the

field,
and he took them so big that there were many horse-
loads in them, and whether they were big or little,
he stuffed them all into his pocket. 'Twas not long
before he was done with that work, and then he
wanted to know what he was to do next.
" I've told
you to pluck out the stones from the
" can't be done before
field," said the goodman you ;

you begin, I trow."

But Grumblegizzard turned out his pockets and
threw the stones in a heap. Then the goodman saw
that he had done his work, and felt he ought to keep a
 Grumblegizzard 45
workman who was so strorg. He had better come
in and have something to eat, he said. Grumble-
gizzard thought so too, and he alone ate all that was
ready for the master and mistress and for the servants,
and after all he was not half full.
"That was a man and a half to work, but a fearful
fellow to eat, too there was no stopping him," said
;

the goodman. " Such a labourer would eat a

poor
farmer out of house and home before one could turn
round."
So he told him he had no more work for him. He
had best be off to the king's grange.
Then Grumblegizzard strode on to the king, and

got a place at once. In the king's grange there was

enough both of work and food. He was to be odd
man, and help the lasses to bring in wood and water,
and other small jobs. So he asked what he was to
do first.
"
Oh, if you would be so good as to chop us a little
firewood."
Yes. Grumblegizzard fell to chopping and hewing
tillthe splinters flew about him. 'Twas not long
before he had chopped up all that there was, both
of firewood and timber, both planks and beams ;
and
when he had done, he came back and asked what he
was to do now.
"
Go on chopping wood," they said.
" There's no more left to chop," said he.
"
That couldn't be true," said the king's grieve, and
he went and looked out in the wood-yard. But it was
quite true Grumblegizzard
: had chopped everything
up he had made firewood both of sawn planks and
;
46 Tales from the Fjeld

hewn beams. That was bad work tne grieve said, and
he told him he should not taste a morsel of food till
he had gone into the forest and cut down as much
timber as he had chopped up into firewood.
Grumblegizzard went off to the smithy, and got the
smith to help him to make an axe of fifteen
pounds of iron and so he went into the
;

forest and began to clear it ;

down toppled
tall spruces and firs fit for

masts. Everything went down

that he found either
on the king's or
his neighbour's
ground ;
he did not
stay to top or lop
them, and there
they lay like so

many windfalls.
Then he laid a good
load on a sledge,
and put all the
horses to it, but
they could not stir
the load from the
K spot,and when he
took them by the
heads and wished to set them a-going, he pulled their
heads off. Then he tumbled the horses out of the
traces on to the ground, and drew the load home by
himself.
When he came down to the king's grange, the king
and his wood-grieve stood in the gallery to take him
 Grumblegizzard 47
having been so wasteful in the forest the
to task foi

wood-grieve had been up to see what he was at but

when Grumblegizzard came along dragging back half
a wood of timber, the king got both angry and afraid,
and he thought he must be careful with him, since ho
was so strong.
"That I call a workman, and no mistake," said the
" now you
king; but how much do you eat at once, for
"
may well be hungry ?
"
When he was
have a good meal of porridge, he
to

could do with twelve barrels of meal," said Grumble-

gizzard "but when he had got so much inside him,
;

he could hold out for some time."

It took time to get the porridge boiled, and, mean-
time, he was to draw in a little wood for the cook ; so
he laid the whole pile of wood on a sledge, but when
he was to get through the doorway with it, he got into
a scrape again. The house was so shaken that it gave
way at every joist, and he was within an ace of drag-
ging the whole grange over on end.
When the hour drew near for dinner, they sent him
out to call home the folk from the field he bawled;

and bellowed so that the rocks and rang again ; hills

but they did not come quick enough for him, so he fell
out with them, and slew twelve of them on the spot.
" He has slain twelve "
men," said the king; and he
eats for twelve times twelve. But for how many do
"
you work, I should like to know ?
" For twelve times twelve
too," said Grumble-
gizzard.
When he had eaten his dinner, he was to go out
into the barn to thrash ;
so he took off the roof-tree and
48 Tales from the fjeui
made a out of it; and when the roof was just
flail

about to he took a great spruce fir, branches and

fall,

all, and stuck it up for a roof-tree and then he ;

thrashed the floor and the straw and hay altogether.

He did great harm, for the grain and chaff and beard
flew about together, and a cloud arose over the whole

grange.
When he was nearly done thrashing, enemies came
into the land, and there was to be war. So the king
told him to take folk with him and go on the way to
meet the foe and fight them, for he thought they
" No he would have no
would put him to death. !

folk with him to be slain ;

he would fight alone, that
he would," said Grumblegizzard.
"All the better; I shall be sooner rid of him," said

the king.
But he must have a mighty club.

They sent off to the smith to forge a club of fifty

pounds. "That might do very well to crack nuts,"
said Grumblegizzard. So they smithied him one of a
hundred pounds. "That might do well enough to
nail shoes with," he said, \\ell, the smith couldn't

smithy any bigger with all his men. So Grumble-

it

gizzard went off to the smithy himself, and forged a

club of fifteen tons, and it took a hundred men to
" That
turn it on the anvil. might do," said Grumble-
gizzard.
Besides, he must have a scrip for food; and he
made one out of fifteen ox-hides, and stuffed it full of
food. And so he toddled off down the hill with his

scrip at his back and his club on his shoulder.

So, when he had got so far that the enemy saw him,
 ard 49

chey sent out a man to ask if he were coming against

them.
" Bide a till I have had my dinner," said
bit,

Grumblegizzard, as he threw himself down on the

road, and fell to eating behind his great scrip.
But they couldn't wait, and began to shoot at him
at once, so that it rained and hailed rifle bullets.

"These bilberries I don't mind a bit," said Grumble-

gizzard, and fell to eating harder than ever.
Neither lead nor iron could touch him, and before
him was his scrip, like a wall, and kept off the fire.
So they took to throwing shells at him, and to fire
cannons at him and he just grinned a little every
;

time they hit him.

" Ah ah it's all no But just then
! !
good," he said.
he got a bombshell right down his throat.
" Fie " he and then
!
said, and spat it out again ;

came a chain-shot and made its way into his butter-

box, and another took the bit he was just going to eat
from between his fingers. Then he got angry, and rose
up, and took his club, and dashed it on the ground,
and asked if they were going to snatch the bread out
of his mouth with their bilberries, which they puffed
out of big peashooters. Then he gave a few more
strokes, till the rocks and hills shook, and the enemy
flew into the air like chaff, and so the war was over.
When Grumblegizzard got home again and wanted
more work, the king was in a sad way, for he thought
he should have been rid of him that time, and now
he could think of nothing but to send him to hell.
"
You must be off to Old Nick, and ask for my land-
tax."
D
50 Tales jrom the

Grumblegizzard set off from the grange, with his

scrip on his back and his club on his shoulder. He
lost no time on the way, but when he got there, Old
Nick was gone to serve on a jury. There was no one
at home but his mother, and she said she had never
in her born days heard talk of any land-tax he had ;

better come again another day.

" "
Yes, yes come to me to-morrow
! said Grumble-
!

gizzard. "That's all stuffand nonsense, for to-mor-

row never comes." Now he was there, he would stay
there. He must and would have the land-tax, and
lie had lots of time to wait.
But when he had eaten up all his food, the time
hung heavy, and so he went and asked the old dame
to give him the land-tax. She must pay it down.
" "
No," she said, she couldn't do it. That stood
as fast as the old fir-tree," she said, "that grew outside
the gate of hell, and was so big that fifteen men could

scarcely span it when they held hands."

But Grumblegizzard climbed up to the top of it, and
twisted and turned it about like an osier; and then he
asked she were ready with the land-tax.
if

Yes, she dared not do anything else, and found

so many pence as he thought he could carry in his
scrip.
And now he started for home with the land-tax;

but, as soon as he was ofi, Old Nick came back.

When he heard that Grumblegizzard had stridden off
from his house with his big scrip full of money, he
first of all beat and banged his mother, and then ran

after him to catch him on the way.

And he caught him up too, for he ran light, and
" He must and would have the land-tax."
 Grumblegizzard 53
used his wings, while Grumblegizzard had to keep
to the ground under the weight of the big scrip but, ;

just as Old Nick was at his heels, he began to run and

jump as fast as he could ; and he held his club behind
him tokeep Old Nick off.
And so they went along, Grumblegizzard holding
the haft, and Old Nick clawing at the head, till they

came to a deep dale ;

there Grumblegizzard leapt from
one hill-top to the other, and Old Nick was so hot to
follow, thathe tripped over the club and fell down into
the dale, and broke his leg, and so there he lay.
"
Here you have the land-tax," said Grumblegizzard,
as he came to the king's grange, and dashed down
the scripful of before the king, so that
money the
whole gallery creaked and cracked.
54 Tales from the
Fjeld
The king thanked him, and put a good face on it,
and promised him good pay and a safe pass home if
he cared to have it but all Grumblegizzard wanted
;

was more work.

" "
What shall I do now ? he asked. Well, when
the king had thought about it, he said he had better
travel to the Hill Troll, who had carried off his grand-
father's sword to that castle he had
by the lake, whither no one dared
to go.
So Grumblegizzard got several
loads of food into his big scrip,
and set off again and ;

f
;. i^-^a
ill he fared both far and
long, over wood and
fell, and wild wastes,

till he came to some

high hills, where the

Troll was said to dwell
who had taken the king's
grandfather's sword.
But the Troll was not
to be seen under bare sky,
and the hill was fast shut, so that even Grumble-

gizzardwas not man enough to get in.

So he joined fellowship with some quarrymen, who
were living at a hill farm, and who lay up there quarry-
ing stone in those hills. Such help they never yet had,
for he beat and battered the fell till the rocks were rent,
and great stones were rolled down as big as houses ;
but when he was to rest at noon, and take out one
load of food, the whole scrip was clean eaten out.
 Grumblegizzard 55

" I'm a trencherman myself," said

pretty good
"
Grumblegizzard ;
but whoever has been here, has
a sharper tooth, for he has eaten up bones and all."

That was how things went the first day, and it was
no better the next. The third day he set off to quarry
stones again, and took with him the third meal of
food but he lay down behind it, and shammed sleep.
;

Just then there came out of the hill a Troll with

seven heads, and began to munch and eat his food.
"Now the board is laid, and I will eat," said the
Troll.
" That we'll have a tussle
for," said Grumblegizzard ;

and gave him a blow with his club, and knocked off
all his seven heads at once.
So he went into the hill, out of which the Troll
had come, and in there stood a horse, which ate out
of a tub of glowing coals, and at its heels stood a
tub of oats.
"Why don't you eat out of the tub of oats?" said

Grumblegizzard.
" Because I am not able to turn
round," said the
horse.
"
I'll soon turn you," said he.
" Rather strike off
my head," said the horse.
" So he struck it and then the horse was turned
off,
into a handsome man. He said he had been taken
into the hill by the Troll, and turned into a horse, and
then he helped him to find the sword, which the Troll
had hidden at the bottom of his bed, and upon the
bed lay the Troll's old mother, asleep and snoring.
Home again they went by water, and when they
had got well out, the old witch came after them as ;
56 Tales from the Fjeld
she could not catch them, she fell to drinking the lake
dry, and she drank and drank, till the water in the
lake fell ;
but she could not drink the sea dry, and
so she burst.
When they came to shore, Grumblegizzard sent a
message the king, to come and fetch his sword.
to
He sent four horses. No they could not stir it !
;

he sent eight, and he sent twelve ;

but the sword
stayed where was, they could not move it an inch.
it

But Grumblegizzard took it up alone, and bore it

along.
The king could not believe his eyes when he saw
Grumblegizzard again but he put a good face on it,
;

and promised him gold and green woods and when ;

Grumblegizzard wanted more work, he said he had

better set off for a haunted castle he had, where no
one dared to be, and there he must sleep till he had
built a bridge over the Sound, so that folk could pass
over. Ifhe were good to do that he would pay him
well ; nay, he would be glad to give him his daughter
to wife.
"
Yes !
yes ! I am good to do that," said Grumble-
gizzard.
No man had ever left that castle alive; those who
reached lay there slain and torn to bits, and the king
it

thought he should never see him more, if he only got

him to go thither.
But Grumblegizzard and he took with him
set off;
his scrip of food, a very tough and twisted stump of
a fir-tree, an axe, a wedge, and a few matches, and
besides, he took the workhouse boy from the king's
grange.
 Grumblegizzard 57
When they got to the Sound, the river ran full of
ice, and was as headlong as a force but he stuck ;

his legs fast at the bottom, and waded on till he got

over at last.

When he had lighted a fire and warmed himself, and

got a bit of food, he tried to sleep ; but it was not long
before there was such a noise and din, as though the
whole castle was turned topsy-turvy. The door blew
back against the wall, and he saw nothing but a gaping
jaw, from the threshold up to the lintel.
" "
There, you have a bit taste that said Grumble-
!

gizzard, as he threw the workhouse boy into the gaping

maw.
" Now me see you, what kind you are.
let Maybe
we are old friends."
So it was, for it was Old Nick, who was outside.
Then they took to playing cards, for the Old One
wanted to try and win back some of the land-tax,
which Grumblegizzard had squeezed out of his mother,
when he went to ask it for the king; but whichever
way they cut the cards, Grumblegizzard won, for he
put a cross on all the court cards, and when he had
won all his ready money, Old Nick was forced to give
Grumblegizzard some of the gold and silver that was
in the castle.

Just as they were hard at it the fire went out, so

that they could nottell one card from another.
" Now we must chop wood,"
said Grumblegizzard,
and with that he drove his axe into the fir-stump, and
thrust thewedge in ;
but the gnarled root was tough,
and would not split at once, however much he twisted
and turned his axe.
58 Tales from the Fjeld

"They say you are very strong," he said to Old

"
Nick ; spit in your fists and bear a hand with your
claws, and rive and rend, and let me see the stuff you
are made of."
Old Nick did so, and put both his fists into the
split, and strove to rend it with might and main, but,
at the same time, Grumblegizzard struck the wedge

out, and Old Nick was caught in a trap; and then

Grumblegizzard tried his back with his axe. Old
Nick begged and prayed so prettily to be let go, but
Grumblegizzard was hard of hearing on that .side till
he gave his word never to come there again and make
a noise. And so he too had to promise to build a
bridge over the Sound, so that folks could pass over it
and it was to be ready when
at all times of the year,
the ice was gone.
"This is a hard bargain," said Old Nick. But there
was no help for it, if he wished to get out. He had to
give his word only he bargained he was to have the
;

first soul that passed over the bridge. That was to

be the Sound due.
" That he should So
have," said Grumblegizzard.
he got loose, and went home but Grumblegizzard lay
;

down to sleep, and slept till far on next day.

So when the king came to see if he was hacked to
pieces or torn to bits, he had to wade through heaps
of money before he could get to the bed. It lay in
piles and sacks high up the wall but Grumblegizzard
:

lay in the bed asleep and snoring.

" God
help both me and my daughter/' said the king
when he saw that Grumblegizzard was alive and rich.
Yes, all was good and well done; there was no gain-
 Grumblegizzard 59

saying that. But was not worth while

it talking of the
wedding till the bridge was ready.
So one day the bridge stood ready, and Old Nick
stood on it to take the toll he had bargained for.
Now Grumblegizzard wanted to take the king with
him to try the bridge, but he had no mind to do that.
So he got up himself on a horse, and threw the fat
milkmaid from the king's grange upon the pommel
before him she looked for all the world like a big fir-

stump and then he rode over till the bridge thundered

under him.
"Where is the Sound due? Where have you put
"
the soul ? screamed Old Nick.
" It sits inside this If you want it, spit in
stump.
your fists and take it," said Grumblegizzard.
" " If she
Nay, nay many thanks," said Old Nick.
!

doesn't take me, I'll not take her. You caught me once,
"
and you shan't catch me again in a cleft stick ; and
with that he flew off straight home to his old mother;
and since then he has never been seen or heard in
those parts.
6o Tales from the
Tjcld
But Grumblegizzard went home to the king's grange,
and wanted the wages the king had promised him and ;

when the king tried to wriggle out of it, and would not
keep his word, Grumblegizzard said he had better pack
up a good scrip of food, for he was going to take his
wages himself. Yes, the king did that and, when all
:

was ready, Grumblegizzard took the king out before

the door, and gave him a good push and sent him flying

up into the air. As for the scrip, he threw it after him,

that he might have something to eat. And, if he hasn't
come down again, there he is still hanging with his
scrip between heaven and earth, to this very day that
now is.
 Father Bruin in the Corner

NCE on a time there was a man who

lived far, far away in
the wood. He had
many, many goats and
sheep, but never a one
could he keep for fear
of Greylegs, the wolf.
" I'll
At last he said,
soon Grey-
trap
boots,"and so he
set to work digging a pitfall. When he had dug it
deep enough, he put a pole down in the midst of the
pit, and on the top of the pole he set a board, and on
the board he put a little dog. Over the pit itself he
spread boughs and branches and leaves, and other
rubbish, and a-top of all he strewed snow, so that
Greylegs might not see there was a pit underneath.
So when it got on in the night, the little dog grew
"
weary of sitting there : Bow-wow, bow-wow," it said,
and bayed at the moon. Just then up came a fox,
slouching and sneaking, and thought here was a fine
time for marketing, and with that gave a jump head
down into the pitfall.
over heels
And when it got a little farther on in the night, the
61
62 Tales from the Fjeld

dog got so weary and so hungry, and it fell to

little

yelping and howling: "Bow-wow, bow-wow," it cried

out. Just at that very moment up came Greylegs,
trotting and trotting. He too thought he should get
a fat steak, and he too made a spring head over heels
down into che pitialL
When was getting on towards grey dawn in the
it

morning, down fell snow, with a north wind, and it

grew so cold that the

little dog stood and
froze, and shivered and
shook it was so weary
;

and hungry, " Bow-

wow, bow-wow, bow-
wow," it called out,
and barked and yelped
and howled. Then up
came a bear, tramping
and tramping along,
and thought to him-
self how he could get a morsel for breakfast at the
very top of the morning, and so he thought and
thought the boughs and branches till he too
among
went bump head over heels down into the pitfall.
So when it got a little farther on in the morning,
an old beggar wife came walking by, who toddled
from farm to farm with a bag on her back. When
she set eyes on the little dog that stood there and
howled, she couldn't help going near to look and see
if any wild beasts had fallen into the pit during the

night. So she crawled up on her knees and peeped

down into it.
 Father Bruin in the Corner

"Art thou come into the pit at last, Reynard?"

"a
she said to the fox, for he was the first she saw ;
very good place, too, for such a hen-roost robber as
thou and thou, too, Greypaw," she said to the wolf;
:

"
many a goat and sheep hast thou torn and rent, and
now thou shalt be plagued and punished to death.
Bless my heart I
Thou, too, Bruin ! art thou, too,

sitting in this room, thou mare-flayer? Thee, too,

will we strip, and thee shall we flay, and thy skull
shall be nailed up on the wall." All this the old lass
screeched out as she
bent over towards the
bear. But just then
her bag fell over her
ears,and dragged her
down, and slap down !

went the old crone

head over heels into
the pitfall.
So there they all

four sat and glared at

one another, each in a corner the fox in one, Grey-
legs in another, Bruin in a third, and the old crone
in a fourth.

But as soon as it was broad daylight, Reynard

began to peep and peer, and to twist and turn about,
for he thought he might as well try to get out.
But the old lass cried out, "Canst thou not sit still,
thou whirligig thief, and not go twisting and turning?
Only look at Father Bruin himself in the corner, how
he sits as grave as a judge," for now she thought she
might as well make friends with the bear. But just
64 Tales jrom the Fjeld

then up came the man who owned the pitfall. First

he drew up the old wife, and after that he slew all
the beasts, and neither spared Father Bruin himself in
the corner, nor Greylegs, nor Reynard the whirligig
thief. That night, at least, he thought he had made a
good haul.
 Reynard and Chanticleer

on a time there was a cock who stood on

ONCE a dung-heap and crew and flapped his wings.

Then the fox came by.
"Good day," said Reynard. "I heard you crowing
so nicely ;
but can you stand on one leg and crow,
"
and wink your eyes ?

"Oh, "I can do that very

yes," said Chanticleer,
well." So he stood on one
leg and crew but he ;

winked only with one eye, and when he had done

that he made himself big and flapped his wings, as

though he had done a great thing.

" "
Very pretty, to be sure," said
Reynard. Almost
as pretty as when the parson preaches in church ; but
can you stand on one leg and wink both your eyes
at once ? I hardly think you can."

" Can't "

said Chanticleer, and stood on
I, though !

one leg, and winked both his eyes, and crew. But
65 E
66 Tales from the Fjcld

Reynard caught hold of him, took him by the throat,

and threw him over his back, so that he was off to
the wood before he had crowed his crow out, as fast
asReynard could lay legs to the ground.
When they had come under an old spruce fir,

Reynard threw Chanticleer on the ground, and set his

paw on his breast, and was going to take a bite !

"You are a heathen, Reynard!"

said Chanticleer. " Good Christians

say grace, and ask a blessing before

they eat."
But Reynard would be no
heathen. God forbid it So
!

he let go his hold, and was

about to fold his paws over
his breast and say grace but
pop! up flew Chanticleer into
a tree.
"You shan't get off for
all that," said Reynard
So he went
to himself.

away, and came again

with a few chips which
the woodcutters had
left. Chanticleer peeped and peered to see what they
could be.
" Whatever have "
you got there ? he asked.
"These are letters I have just got," said Reynard;
" won't
you help me to read them, for I don't know
how to read writing ? "
" I'd be so
happy, but I dare not read them
now," said Chanticleer, "for here comes a hunter;
 Reynard and Chanticleer 67
I see him, I see him, as I sit by the tree
trunk."
When Reynard heard Chanticleer chattering about
a hunter, he took to his heels as quick as he
could.
This time it was Reynard who was made game of.
 The Companion

NCE on a time there

was a farmer's son who
dreamt that he w asr
to

marry a princess far,

far out in the world.
She was as red and
white as milk and
blood, and so rich
there was no end to
her riches. When he
awoke he seemed to
see her still standing bright and living before him,
and he thought her so sweet and lovely that his life
was not worth having unless he had her too. So he
sold all he had, and set off into the world to find her
out. Well, he went far, and farther than far, and
about winter he came to a land where all the high-
roads lay right straight on end there wasn't a bend
;

in any of them. When he wandered on and on for

a quarter of a year he came to a town, and outside
the church door lay a big block of ice, in which there
stood a dead body, and the whole parish spat on it
as they passed by to church. The lad wondered at
68
 The Compern ion 69
and when the priest came out of church he asked
this,
him what it all meant.
" "
It is a great wrong-doer," said the priest. He
has been executed for his ungodliness, and set up
there to be mocked and spat upon."
" But
what was his wrong-doing ? " asked the lad.
"
When he was alive here he was a vintner," said
" and he
the priest, mixed water with his wine."
The lad thought that no such dreadful sin.
"Well," he said, "after he had atoned for it with
his life, you might as well have let him have Christian
burial and peace after death."
But the priest said that could not be in any wise,
for there must be
folk to break him out of the ice,
and money buy a grave from the church then the
to ;

graved igger must be paid for digging the grave, and

the sexton for tolling the bell, and the clerk for

singing the hymns, and the priest for sprinkling dust

over him.
"Do you think now there would be any one who
would be willing to pay all this for an executed
sinner?"
" If he could
Yes," said the lad. only get him
buried in Christian earth, he would be sure to pay
for his funeral ale out of his scanty means."
Even after that the priest hemmed and hawed ;

but when the lad came with two witnesses, and asked
him right out in their hearing if he could refuse to

sprinkle dust over the corpse, he was forced to answer

that he could not.
So they broke the vintner out of the block of ice,
and laid him in Christian earth, and they tolled the
70 Tales from the Fjeld

bell and sang hymns over him, and the priest sprinkled

dust over him, and they drank his funeral ale till they
wept and laughed by turns ; but when the lad had paid
for the ale he hadn't
many pence left in his pocket.
He set off on his way again, but he hadn't got far
ere a man overtook him, who asked if he didn't think

it dull work walking on all alone.

No the lad did not think it dull.
" I have always
;

something to think about," he said.

Then the man asked if he wouldn't like to have a
servant.

"No," said the lad; "I am wont to be my own

servant, therefore I have need of none ;
and even if I

wanted one ever so much, I have no means to get one,

for I have no money to pay for his food and wages."
"
You do need a servant, that I know better than
"
you," said the man, and you have need of one whom
you can trust in life and death. If you won't have me
as a servant, you may take me as your companion I ,

give you my word I will stand you in good stead, and

it shan't cost you a penny. I will
pay my own fare,
and as for food and clothing, you shall have no trouble
about them."
Well, on those terms he was willing enough to have
him as his companion ; so after that they travelled

together, and the man for the most part went on ahead
and showed the lad the way.
So after they had travelled on and on from land to
land, over hill and wood, they came to a crossfell that
stopped the way. There the companion went up and
knocked, arid bade them open the door and the rock ;

opened sure enough, and when they got inside the

 The Companion 71
hill up came an old witch with a chair, and asked
" Be so No doubt ye are
them, good as to sit down.
weary."
" Sit on the man. So she was
it
yourself," said

I
I

forced to take her seat, and as soon as she sat down

she stuck fast, for the chair was such that it let no one
loose that came near
it. Meanwhile they went about
inside the and the companion looked round till he
hill,

saw a sword hanging over the door. That he would

72 Tales from the Fjeld

have, and if he got it he gave his word to the old

witch that he would let her loose out of the chair.
"Nay, nay," she screeched out; "ask me anything
else. Anything else you may have, but not that, for it
is my Three-Sister Sword we are three sisters who
;

own it
together."
"
Very well ;
then you may sit there till the end of
the world," said the man. But when she heard that,
she said he might have it if he would set her free.
So he took the sword and went off with it, and left
her still sitting there.
When they had gone far, far away over naked
fellsand wide wastes, they came to another crossfell.
There, too, the companion knocked and bade them
open the door, and the same thing happened as
happened before the rock opened, and when they had
;

got a good way into the hill another old witch came up
to them with a chair and begged them to sit down.
"Ye may well be weary," she said.
"Sit down yourself," said the
companion. And
so she fared as her sister had fared she did not ;

dare to say nay, and as soon as she sat down on

the chair she stuck fast. Meanwhile the lad and his
companion went about in the hill, and the man broke
open all the chests and drawers till he found what
he sought, and that was a golden ball of yarn. That
he set his heart on, and he promised the old witch
to set her free if she would give him the golden ball.
She said he might take all she had, but that she
could not part with it was her Three-Sister Ball.
;

But when she heard that she should sit there till
doomsday unless he got it, she said he might take
 The Companion 73
it all the he would only set her free. So
same if

the companion took the golden ball, but he left her

sitting where she sat.

So on they went for many days, over waste and
wood, they came to a third crossfell. There all
till

went as had gone twice before. The companion

it

knocked, the rock opened, and inside the hill an old

witch came up, and asked them to sit on her chair,
they must be But the companion said again,
tired.
" Sit on it
yourself," and there she sat. They had
not gone through many rooms before they saw an
old hat which hung on a peg behind the door. That
the companion must and would have but the old ;

witch couldn't part with it. It was her Three-Sister

Hat, and if she gave it away, all her luck would be

lost. But when she heard that she would have to

sit there till the end of the world unless he got it,

she said he might take it if he would only let her

loose. When the companion had got well hold of
the hat, he went off, and bade her sit there still,
like the rest of her sisters.

After a long, long time, they came to a Sound ; then

the companion took the ball of yarn, and threw it so
hard against the rock on the other side of the stream,
that it bounded back, and after he had thrown it back-
wards and forwards a few times it became a bridge.
On that bridge they went over the Sound, and when
they reached the other side, the man bade the lad
to be quick and wind up the yarn again as soon as
he could, for, said he
" If we don't wind it
up quick, all those witches
will come after us, and tear us to bits."
74 Tales from the Fjeld

So wound and wound with all his might

the lad
and main, and when there was no more to wind than
the very last thread, up came the old witches on the

wings of the wind. They flew to the water, so that

the spray rose before them, and snatched at the end
of the thread ; but they could not quite get hold of
it,
and so they were drowned in the Sound.
Whenthey had gone on a few days farther, the
"
companion said, Now we are soon coming to the
castle where she is, the princess of whom you dreamt,
and when we get there, you must go in and tell
the king what you dreamt, and what it is you are

seeking."
So when they reached it he did what the man told
him, and was very heartily welcomed. He had a
room for himself, and another for his companion,
which they were to live in, and when dinner-time
drew near, he was bidden to dine at the king's own
board. As soon as ever he set eyes on the princess
he knew her at once, and saw it was she of whom
he had dreamt as his bride. Then he told her his
business, and she answered that she liked him well
enough, and would gladly have him but first he
;

must undergo three trials. So when they had dined

she gave him a pair of golden scissors, and said
" The first
proof is that 3^011 must take these scissors
and keep them, and give them to me at mid-day to-
morrow. It is not so very great a trial, I fancy," she
" but if
said, and made a face, you can't stand it you
lose your life it is the law, and so you will be drawn
;

and quartered, and your body will be stuck on stakes,

and your head over the gate, just like those lovers of
 The Companion 75
mine, whose skulls and skeletons you see outside the
king's castle."
"
That is no such great art," thought the lad.
But the princess was so merry and mad, and flirted
so much with him, that he forgot all about the scissors
and himself, and so while they played and sported, she
stole the scissors away from him without his knowing
it. When he went up to his room at night, and told
how he had fared, and what she had said to him, and
about the scissors she gave him to keep, the companion
said
"
Of course you have the scissors safe and sure ? "
Then he searched in all his pockets, but there were
no scissors, and the lad was in a sad way when he
found them wanting.
" Well " "
! well ! said the companion ;
I'll see if I

can't getyou them again."

With that he went down into the stable, and there
stood a big, fat Billygoat, which belonged to the
princess, and it was of that breed that it could fly
many times faster through the air than it could run
on land. So he took the Three-Sister Sword, and gave
it a stroke between the horns, and said
"When rides the princess to see her lover to-
"
night ?
The Billygoat baaed, and said it dared not say, but
when it had another stroke, it said the princess was
coming at eleven o'clock. Then the companion put
on the Three-Sister Hat, and all at once he became
and so he waited for her. When she came,
invisible,
she took and rubbed the Billygoat with an ointment
which she had in a great horn, and said
76 Tales from the Fjeld

"Away, away, o'er roof-tree and steeple, o'er land,

o'er sea, o'er hill, o'er dale, to my true love who awaits
me in the fell this night."
At the very moment that the goat set off, the com-

panion threw himself on behind, and away they went

like a blast through the air. They were not long on

the way, and in a trice they came to a crossfell. There

she knocked, and so the goat passed through the fell to
who was her lover.
the Troll,
" "
Now, my dear," she said, a new lover is come,
whose heart is set on having me. He is young and
handsome, but I will have no other than you," and so
she coaxed and petted the Troll.
" So I set him a
trial, and here r.re the scissors he
 The Companion 77
was to watch and keep; now do you keep them," she
said.
So the two laughed heartily, just as though they
had the lad already on wheel and stake.
"Yes! yes!" said the Troll; "I'll keep them safe
enough."
"
And I shall
sleep on the bride's white arm,
While ravens round his skeleton swarm."

And so he laid the scissors in an iron chest with

three locks; but just as he dropped them into the
chest, the companion snapped them up. Neither of
them could see him, for he had on the Three-Sister
Hat and so the Troll locked up the chest for naught,
;

and he hid the keys he had in the hollow eye-tooth in

which he had the toothache. There it would be hard
work for any one to find them, the Troll thought.
So when midnight was passed she set off home
again. The companion got up behind the goat, and
they lost no time on the way back.
Next day, about noon, the lad was asked down to
the king's board but then the princess gave herself
;

such airs, and was so high and mighty, she would

scarce look towards the side where the lad sat. After
they had dined, she dressed her face in holiday garb,
and said, as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth
" be you have those scissors which
May I
begged
"
you to keep yesterday ?

"Oh, yes, I have," said the lad, "and here they

are," and with that he pulled them out, and drove
them into the board till it jumped again. The
princess could not have been more vexed had he
78 Tales from the Fjeld

driven the scissors into her face ;

but for all that
she made
herself soft and gentle, and said
"Since you have kept the scissors so well, it won't
be any trouble to you to keep my golden ball of yarn,

and take care you give it me to-morrow at noon but ;

ifyou have lost it, you shall lose your on the

life

scaffold. It is the law."

Thelad thought that an easy thing, so he took and

put the golden ball into his pocket. But she fell a-
playing and flirting with him again, so that he forgot
both himself and the golden and while they were
ball,
at the height of theirgames and pranks, she stole it
from him, and sent him off to bed.
Then when he came up to his bedroom, and told
what they had said and done, his companion asked
"
Of course you have the golden ball she gave
"
you ?

Yes yes " said the lad, and felt in his pocket
" ! !

where he had put it but no, there was no ball to

;

be found, and he fell again into such an ill mood, and

knew not which way to turn.
"Well! well! bear up a bit," said the companion.
" hands on it " and with that he
I'll see if I can't lay ;

took the sword and hat and strode off to a smith, and
got twelve pounds of iron welded on to the back of the
sword-blade. Then he went down to the stable, and
gave the Billygoat a stroke between his horns, so that
the brute went head over heels, and he asked
" When rides the to see her lover to-
princess
night?"
"At twelve o'clock," baaed the Billygoat.
So the companion put on the Three-Sister Hat
 The Companion 79
again, and waited till she came, tearing along with
her horn of ointment, and greased the Billygoat. Then
she said, as she had said the first time
"Away, away, o'er roof-tree and steeple, o'er land,
o'er sea, o'er hill, o'er dale, to my true love who
awaits me in the fell this night."

In a trice they were off, and the companion threw

himself on behind the Billygoat, and away they went
like a blast through the air. In the twinkling of an

eye they came to the Troll's hill, and, when she had
knocked three times, they passed through the rock to
the Troll, who was her lover.
"
Where was it you hid the golden scissors I gave
you yesterday, my darling?" cried out the princess.
"
My wooer had it and gave it back to me."
"That was quite impossible," said the Troll; "for
he had locked it up in a chest with three locks and
hidden the keys in the hollow of his eye-tooth." But
when they unlocked the chest and looked for it, the
Troll had no scissors in his chest.
So the princess told him how she had given her
suitor her golden ball.
"And here it is," she said; "for I took it from him
again without his knowing it. But what shall we hit
"
upon now, since he is master of such craft ?
Well, the Troll hardly knew but, after they had;

thought a bit, they made up their minds to light a

large fire and burn the golden ball ; and so they would
be cocksure that he could not get at it. But, just as
she tossed it into the fire, the companion stood ready
and caught it and neither of them saw him,
;
lor he
had on the Three-Sister Hat.
So Tales from the Fjcld

When the princess had been with the Troll a little

while, and began

it
grow towards dawn, she set off
to
home again, and the companion got up behind her on
the goat, and they got back fast and safe.

vd!ffiffifflHI$&

Next day, when the lad was bidden down to dinner,

the companion gave him the ball. The princess was
even more high and haughty than the day before,
and, after they had dined, she perked up her mouth,
and said in a dainty voice
 The Companion 8 I

"
Perhaps it is too much to look for that you should
give me back my golden ball, which I gave you to
"
keep yesterday ?
"Is it?" said the shall soon have it.
lad. "You
"
Here it
enough
is, safeand as he said that he
;

threw it down on the board so hard, that it shook

again; and as for the king, he gave a jump high up
into the air.
The princess got as pale as a corpse, but she soon
came to herself again, and said, in a sweet, small voice
"
Well done well done " ! ! Now he had only one
more trial left, and it was this :

" If
you are so clever as to bring me what I am now
thinking of by dinner-time to-morrow, you shall win
me, and have me to wife."
That was what she said.
The lad felt like one doomed to death, for he thought
it
quite impossible to know what she was thinking
about, and still harder to bring it to her; and so, when
he went up to his bedroom, it was hard work to com-

fort him at all. His companion told him to be easy,

he would see if he could not get the right end of the
stick this time too, as he had done twice before. So
the lad at last took heart, and lay down to sleep.

Meanwhile, the companion went to the smith and got

twenty- four pounds of iron welded on to his sword ;

and, when that was done, he went down to the stable

and let fly at the Billygoat between the horns with
such a blow, that he went right head over heels against
the wall.
"When rides the princess to her lover to-night?"
he asked.
r
82 Tales from the Fjeld

11
At one o'clock," baaed the Billygoat.
So when the hour drew near, the companion stood
in the stable with his Three-Sister Hat on and, when ;

she had greased the goat, and uttered the same words
that they were to fly through the air to her true love,
who was waiting for her in the fell, off they went again
on the wings of the wind ; and, all the while, the com-
panion sat behind.
But he was not light-handed this time; for, every
now and then he gave the princess a slap, so that he
almost beat the breath out of her body.
And when they came to the wall of rock, she knocked
at the door, and it opened, and they passed on into the
fell to her lover.
As soon as she got there, she fell to bewailing, and
was very cross, and said she never knew the air could

deal such buffets; she almost thought, indeed, that

some one sat behind, who beat both the Billygoat and
herself; she was sure she was black and blue all over
her body, such a hard flight had she had through the
air.

Then she went on to tell how her lover had brought

her the golden ball too ;
how it happened, neither she
nor the Troll could tell.
" But "
now do you know what I have hit upon ?

No, the Troll did not.

" "
I have told him to bring me
Well," she went on,
what I was then thinking of by dinner-time to-morrow,
and what I thought of was your head. Do you think
he can get that, my darling?" said the princess, and
began to fondle the Troll.
" " He
No, I don't think he can," said the Troll.
 The Companion
"
would take and then the Troll
his oath he couldn't ;

burst out laughing, and scunnered worse than any

ghost, and both the princess and the Troll thought
the lad would be drawn and quartered, and that the
crows would peck out his eyes, before he could get the
Troll's head.
So when it turned towards dawn, she had to set off

home again ; but she was afraid, she said, for she
thought there was some one behind her, and so she
was afraid to ride home alone. The Troll must go
with her on the way. Yes, the Troll would go with
her, and he led out his Billygoat (for he had one
that matched the princess's), and he smeared it and
greased it between the horns. And when the Troll
got up, the companion crept on behind, and so off
84 Tales from the Fjeld

they set through the air to the king's grange. Bui

all the way the companion thrashed the Troll and
his Billygoat, and gave them cut and and thrust
thrust and cut with his sword, till they got weaker
and weaker, and at last were well on the way to
sink down into the sea over which they passed.
Now the Troll thought the weather was so wild,
he went right home with the princess up to the
king's grange, and stood outside to see that she
got home safe
well.and
But just as she shut the
door behind her, the companion struck off the Troll's
head and ran up with it to the lad's bedroom.
"
Here is what the princess thought of," said he.
Well, they were merry and joyful, one may think,
nnd when the lad was bidden down to dinner, and
they had dined, the princess was as lively as a lark.
"No doubt 3^011 have got what I thought of?" said
she.

"Aye, aye; I have it," said the lad, and he tore

it out from under his coat, and threw it down on
the board with such a thump that the board, trestles
and all, was upset. As for the princess, she was
as though she had been dead and buried but she ;

could not say that this was not what she was think-
ing of, and so now he was to have her to wife, as
she had given her word. So they made a bridal

feast, and there was drinking and gladness all over

the kingdom.
But the companion took the lad on one side, and
told him that he must just shut his eyes and sham
sleep on the bridal night; but if he held his life
dear, and would listen to him, he wouldn't let a
1

Aye, aye ; I have it,' said the lad.'

 The Companion 87
wink come over them till he had stripped her of
her troll-skin, which had been thrown over her, but
he must flog it off her with a rod made of nine new
birch twigs, and he must tear it off her in three tubs
of milk first he was to scrub her in a tub of year-
:

old whey, and then he was to scour her in the

tub of buttermilk, and lastly, he was to rub her in
a tub of new milk. The birch twigs lay under the
bed, and the tubs he had set in the corner of the
room. Everything was ready to his hand. Yes ;

the lad gave his word to do as he was bid, and to

listen to him. So when they got into the bridal
bed at even, the lad shammed as though he had
given himself up to sleep. Then
the princess raised
herself up on her elbow and looked at him to see
if he slept, and tickled him under the nose; but
the lad slept on still. Then she tugged his hair
and but he lay like a log, as she thought.
his beard ;

After that she drew out a big butcher's knife from

under the bolster, and was just going to hack off
his head but the lad jumped up, dashed the knife
;

out of her hand, and caught her by the hair. Then

he flogged her with the birch rods, and wore them
out upon her till there was not a twig left. When
that was over he tumbled her into the tub of whey,
and then he got to see what sort of beast she was :

she was black as a raven over her body; but

all

when he scrubbed her well in the whey, and scoured

her with and rubbed her well in new
buttermilk,
milk, her troll-skin dropped off her, and she was
fair and lovely and gentle; so lovely she had never
looked before.
88 Tales from the Fjeld

Next day the companion said they must set off home.
Yes the lad was ready enough, and the princess too,
;

for her dower had been long waiting. In the night the

companion fetched to the king's grange all the gold and

silver and precious things which the Troll had left
behind him in the fell, and when they were ready to
start in the morning the whole grange was so full of

silver, and gold, and jewels, there was no walking

without treading on them. That dower was worth
more than all the king's land and realm, and they were
at their wits' end to know how to carry it with them.
But the companion knew a way out of every strait.
The Troll left behind him six billy goats, who could
all fly through the air. Those he so laded with silver
and gold that they were forced to walk along the
ground, and had no strength to mount aloft and fly,
and what the billygoats could not carry had to stay
behind in the king's grange. So they travelled far
and farther than far, but at last the billygoats got so
footsore and tired they could not go another step. The
lad and the princess knew not what to do but when
;

the companion saw they could not get on, he took the
whole dower on his back, and the billygoats a-top of it,
and bore it all so far on that there was only half a mile
left to the lad's home.

Then the companion said, " Now we must part. I

can't stay withyou any longer."
But the lad would not part from him, he would not
lose him for much or little. Well, he went with them
a quarter of a mile more, but farther he could not go,
and when the lad begged and prayed him to go home
and stav with him altogether, or at least as long a? they
 The Companion 89
had drunk his home-coming ale in his father's house,
"
thecompanion said, No. That could not be. Now
he must part, for he heard heaven's bells ringing for
him." He was the vintner who had stood in the block
of ice outside the church door, whom all spat upon ;

and he had been his companion and helped him because

he had given all he had to get him peace and rest in
Christian earth.
" I had " to follow
leave," he said, you a year, and
now the year is out."
When he was gone, the lad laid together all his
wealth in a safe place, and went home without any
baggage. Then they drank his home-coming ale, till
the news spread and
farwide over seven kingdoms,
and when they had got to the end of the feast, they
had carting and carrying all the winter both with the
billygoats and the twelve horses which his father had
before they got all that gold and silver safely carted
home.
 The Shopboy and his Cheese

on a time there was a shopboy who was

ONCE so well liked by all who knew him, that they

thought him too good to stand behind the

counter with a yard measure, and weights and scales.
So they made up their minds to send him out with
a venture to foreign parts, and they let him choose
what he would take out. He chose old cheese, and
set off with it to Turkey. There he sold his cheeses
very well ;
but as he was on his way home, he met
two who had slain a man, andwas not enough
it

that they had him in this life, but they ill-treated

slain
his body after he was dead. This the shopbo}' could
not bear to see, how wickedly they behaved so he
;

bought the body of them, and got a grave with his

 The Shopboy and his Cheese 91

money, and buried it, and then he had spent all he

had.
After a long, long time, he got safe home, and was
both illcome and welcome. Some of those who had
helped and fitted him out thought he had done a good
deed but others were ill-pleased that he should have
;

so thrown away his money. But for all that they were
ready to try if he could not do better another time, so
they lethim choose his lading again. He chose the
same and took the same way, and sold his
freight,
cheese even better than before. But, as he was on
his way home, he met two who had stolen a king's

daughter, and they had put harness on her, and had

got so far as to drive her; they had stripped off her
clothes to the waist, and one went on either side of
her and whipped her. The lad's heart melted at this,
for she was a lovely lass. So he asked if they would
sell her. Yes, if he would pay down her weight in
silver he might have her, and there was no long bar-

gaining he paid all they asked.

:

After a long, long time, he got safe home ;

but those
who had fitted him out were one and all so ill-pleased
at his dealing, that So he
they banished him the land.
had to set off to There he stayed for four
England.
years with his sweetheart, and the way they got their
living was by her weaving ribbons, which she wove so
well that he sold two shillings' worth a day.
One day he met two who were foes, and one wished
to thrash the other because he owed him eighteenpence.
That seemed to the lad wrong, and he paid the debt for
him. Another day he met two travellers, who began
to talk with him, and asked if he had anything to sell.
92 Tales from the Fjeld

"Nothing but ribbons," he said. Well, they would

have three shillings' worth, and asked him where he
lived, and fixed a day to come and fetch them and ;

when the day came, they came too, and lo when they !

came, if one of them was not the princess's brother,

and the other an emperor's son, to whom she was
betrothed. So they got the ribbons for which they had
bargained, and wanted to take her home with them.
But she wouldn't go unless they would let him go with
them, and take care of him ; for she would not forsake
the man who had freed her, so long as she had breath
in her body. So they had to give way to her if they
were to take her at But when they were to go on
all.

board ship, the brother and sister went first into the
boat, and when the emperor's son was to get into her,
he shoved her off, and jumped into her himself, and
so the lad was left standing on the shore. The ship
lay ready for sea, and they sailed as soon as ever they
came on board. But then up came the man for whom
the lad had paid eighteenpence, in a boat and put him
on board. Then the princess was so glad, and took a
gold ring off her finger and gave it to him, and made
him go down into the cabin where she lay.
Well, they sailed many days, till they came to a
desert island, where they landed to look for game, and
they settled things so that the brother, and the Norse-
man who had saved the princess's life, were to go each
on his side of the island, and the emperor's son in the
middle, and when the lad was well gone, so that they
could neither see him nor he them, they got on board,
and he was walk about the island alone. Then
left to

he saw there was no help for it but to stay there and ;

 The Shopboy and his Cheese 93
there he stayed seven years. He got his food from
a fruit-bearing tree which he found, and when the
seven years were up, an old, old man came to him and
said

"To-day your true love is to be married. They

have not got a kind word out of her these seven years,
since you parted ; but for all that the emperor's son
wants to marry her, for that he knows she is wise
and witty, and for that she is so rich."
After that the man asked if he had not a mind to
be at the wedding. So he said well ! what he said
any one can guess, but he saw no way of getting there.
But lo ! in a little while there he stood in the palace
where the wedding was to be. Then he wanted to
know what kind of man that was who had brought
him thither. " He was no man," he said, " but a spirit."
He it was whose body he had bought and buried in
Turkey.
After that, he gave him a glass and a bottle, with
wine in it, and told him to send some one in with a

message to the cook to come out to him.

"
When
he comes, you must first pour out a glass
and drink it yourself; and then another, and give it to
the cook and then you must pour out a third, and send
;

it to the bride ;
but first of all you must take the ring
off your finger, and put it into the glass which you
send her."
So when the cook came in with the glass, they all

cried out, "She mustn't drink." But the cook said,

" First he
drank, and then I drank, so she may very
safely drink the wine."
And when she drank the glass out, she saw the
94 Tales from t/ie
Fjeld

ring that lay at the bottom, and ran out, and as soon
as she got outside she knew him again, and fell on
his neckand kissed him, all shaggy as he was, for
you may fancy, he had neither lather nor razor on
his beard for seven years.
But now the king came after, and wanted to know
the meaning of all this fondling be-
tween them. So they were brought
into a room, and told the whole

story from first to last. Then the

king bade them go and fetch a

barber, and scrape the bristles off

him, and trim him, and a tailor with

a new court dress, and then the king
went into the bridal hall, and asked
the bridegroom, that emperor's son,
what doom should be passed
on one who had robbed a
man both of life and honour.
"
He answered, Such a
scoundrel should be first hanged on a gallows, and
then his body should be burnt quick."
So he was taken at his word, and suffered the doom
that he uttered over himself, and the shopboy was
wedded to the king's daughter, and lived both long
and luckily.
 Peik

NCE on a time there was a man,

and he had a wife; they had a
son and a daughter who were
twins, and they were so like, no
one could tell the one from the
other by anything else than their
clothing. The boy they called
Peik. He was of little good
while his father and mother
lived, he had no mood to do aught else than to
for
befool folk, and he was so full of tricks and pranks
that no one could be at peace for him but when they
;

were dead it got worse and worse, he wouldn't turn his

hand to anything all he would do was to squander
;

what they left behind them, and as for his neighbours

he fell out with all of them. His sister toiled and
moiled all she could, but it helped little so at last she
;

said to him how silly this was that he would do naught

for the house, and ended by asking him
"What shall we have to live on when you have
"
wasted everything ?

"Oh, go out and befool somebody," said Peik.

I'll

"Yes, Peik, I'll be bound you'll do that soon

enough," said his sister.
95
 Tales from the Fjeld

"
Well, I'll try," said Peik.
So had nothing more, for there was an
at last they
end of everything; and Peik trotted off, and walked

and walked till he came to the King's Grange. There

stood the King in the porch, and as soon as he set
eyes on the lad, he said
 Peik 97
" Whither away to-day, Peik ?"
" could befool any-
Oh, I was going out to see if I

body," said Peik.

" "
Can't you befool me, now ? said the King.
" "
I'm sure I can't," said Peik, for I've for-
No,
gotten my fooling rods at home."
"Can't you go and fetch them?" said the King,
" for I should be
very glad to see if you are such a
trickster as folks say."
" I've no
strength to walk," said Peik.
"
I'll lend you a horse and saddle," said the King.

''But I can't ride either," said Peik.

"Then we'll lift you up," said the King; "then
you'll be able to stick
on."

Well, Peik stood and clawed and scratched his

head, as though he would pull the hair off, and let

them lift him up the saddle, and there he sat

into

swinging this side and that so long as the King could

see him, and the King laughed till the tears came
into his eyes, for such a tailor on horseback he had
never before seen. But when Peik was come well
into the wood behind the hill, so that he was out of
the King's sight, he sat as though he were nailed to
the horse, and off he rode as though he had stolen
both steed and bridle, and when he got to the town-
he sold both horse and saddle.
All the while the King walked up and down, and
loitered and waited for Peik to come tottering back

again with his fooling rods; and every now and then
he laughed when he called to mind how wretched
he looked as he sat swinging about on the horse like
a sack of corn, not knowing on which side to fall off;
G
98 Tales from the F'*eld

but this lasted for seven lengths and seven breadths

and no Peik came, and so at last the King saw that
he was fooled and cheated out of his horse and saddle,
even though Peik had not his fooling rods with him.
And So there was another story, for the King got
wroth, and was all for setting off to kill Peik.
But Peik had found out the day he was coming,

and told his sister she must put on tne big boiler,
with a drop of water in it. But just as the King
came in Peik dragged the boiler off the fire and ran
off with it to the chopping-block and so boiled the
porridge on the block.
The King wondered at that, and wondered on and
on so much that he clean fo.got what brought him
there.
 Peik 99
" "
What do you want for that pot ? said he.
" I can't spare said Peik.
it,"
" " "
Why not ? said the King ;
I'll pay what you
ask."
"
No, no!" said Peik. "It saves me time and money,
wood hire and chopping hire, carting and carrying."
" Never " I'll
mind," said the King, give you a
hundred dollars. It's true you've fooled me out of
a horse and saddle, and bridle besides, but all that
shall go for nothing if I can only get the pot."
" Well if
you must have it you must," said Peik.
!

When King got home he asked guests and made

the
a feast, but the meat was to be boiled in the new pot,
and so he took it up and set it in the middle of the
floor. guests thought the King had lost his wits,
The
and went about elbowing one another, and laughing
at him. But he walked round and round the pot, and
cackled and chattered, saying all in a breath
"
Well, well bide a bit, bide a bit 'twill boil in a
! !

minute."
But there was no boiling. So he saw that Peik had
been out again with his fooling rods and cheated him,
and now he would set off at once and slay him.
When the King came, Peik stood out by the barn
" "
door. Wouldn't it boil ? he asked.
"No, it would not," said the King; "but now you
shall smart for it," and so he was just going to un-
sheath his knife.
" " for
can well believe that," said Peik,
I you did
not take the block too."
"I wish I thought," said the King, "you weren't
telling me a pack of lies."
i oo Tales from the Fjeld

" it's all because of the block stands on

I tell you it

it won't boil without it," said Peik.

" "
Well, what did he want for it ? It was well

worth three hundred dollars but for the King's sake ;

it should
go for two. So he got the block and travelled
home with it,and bade guests again, and made a feast,
and set the pot on the chopping-block in the middle of
the room. The guests thought he was both daft and
mad, and they went about making game of him, while
he cackled and chattered round the pot, calling out,
" Bide a bit ! now it boils ! now it boils in a trice."
But it wouldn't boil a bit more on the block than on
the bare floor. So he saw again that Peik had been
out with his fooling rods this time too. Then he
fella-tearing his hair, and swore he would set off at

once and slay him. He wouldn't spare him this time,

whether he put a good or a bad face on it.

But Peik had taken steps to meet him again. He

slaughtered a wether and caught the blood in the
bladder, and stuffed it into his sister's bosom, and
told her what to say and do.
" Where's Peik "
! screeched out the King. He was
in such a rage that his tongue faltered.
" He is so
poorly that he can't stir hand or foot,"
she said, "and now he's trying to get a nap."
"Wake him up," said the King.
" daren't he
so hasty," said the sister.
is
Nay, I ;

"Well! I'm hastier still," said the King, "and if

you don't wake him, I will," and with that he tapped

his side where his knife hung.
" Well "
she would go and wake him
! but Peik ;

turned hastily in his bed, drew out a little knife, and

 Peik 101

that a stream
ripped open the bladder in her bosom, so
of blood gushed out, and down she fell on the floor as

though she were dead.

"What a daredevil you are, Peik!" said the King,
"if you haven't stabbed your sister to death, and here
"
I stood by and saw it with my own eyes !

"There's no risk with her body so long as there's

"
breath in my nostrils and with that he pulled out a
;

ram's-horn and began to toot upon it, and when he had

tooted a bridal tune, he put the end to her body, and
blew life into her again, and up she rose as though
there was naught the matter with her.
" Bless and blow
me, Peik ! can you kill folk life into
them again? Can you do that?" said the King.
"
Why! said Peik, "how could I get on at all if I
couldn't? I'm always killing every one I come near;
"
don't you know I'm very hasty ?
102 Tales from the Fjeld

"So am I hot-tempered," said the King, "and that

horn I must have. I'll
give you a hundred dollars for it,

and besides I'll forgive you for cheating me out of my

horse, and for fooling me about the pot and the block,
and all else."
Peik was very loth to part with it, but for his sake
he would let him have it and so the King went off
;

home with it, and he had hardly got back before he

must try it. So he fell a-wrangling and quarrelling

with the Queen and his eldest daughter, and they paid
him back in the same coin but before they knew a
;

word about it, he whipped out his knife and cut their

throats, so that they fell down stone dead, and every

one else ran out of the room, they were so afraid.
The King walked and paced about the floor for a

while, and kept chattering that there was no harm done

so long as there was breath in him, and a pack of such
 Peik 103
stuff which had flowed out of Peik's mouth, and then
he pulled out the horn and began to blow "Toot-i-too,
Toot-i-too," but though he blew and tooted as hard as
he
could all that day and the next too, he couldn't blow
life into them again. Dead they were, and dead they
stayed, both the Queen and his daughter, and he was
forced to buy graves for them in the churchyard, and
tospend money on their funeral ale into the bargain.
So he must and would go and cut Peik off; but Peik
had his spies out, and knew when the King was coming,
and then he said to his sister
"Now you must change clothes with me and set
off. If you will do that, you may have we have
all

got."
Well, she changed clothes with him, and packed up
and started off as fast as she could ; but Peik sat al)
alone in his sister's clothes.
" "
Where is that Peik ? said the King as he came
in a towering rage through the door.
"He has run away," said Peik.
"Ah! had he been at home," said the King, "I'd
have slain him on the spot. It's no good sparing the
life of such a rogue."
"Yes he knew by his spies that your Majesty was
!

coming, and was going to take his life for his wicked
tricks but he has left me all alone without a morsel of
;

bread or a penny in my purse," said Peik, who made

himself as soft and mealy-mouthed as a young lady.
"
along, then, to the King's Grange, and you
Come
shall have enough to live on. There's no good sitting
here and starving in this cabin by yourself," said the
King.
104 Tales from the "Fjeld

Yes! he was glad to do that; so the King took

him with him, and had him taught everything, and
treated him as his own daughter, and it was almost
as if the King had his three daughters again, for
Miss Peik sewed and stitched, and sung and played
with the others, and was with them early and late.
After a time a king's son came to look for a wife.

"Yes! Ihave three daughters," said the King; "it

rests with you which you will have."
So he got leave to go up to their bower to make
friends with them, and the end was that he liked
Miss Peik best, and threw a silk kerchief into her
lap as a love token. So they set to work to get
ready the bridal feast, and in a little while his kins-
folk came, and the King's men, and they all fell to
feasting and drinking on the bridal eve; but as night
was falling Miss Peik daren't stay longer, but ran
 Peik 105

away from the King's Grange, out into the wide

world, and the bride was lost.

The King got both wroth and sorrowful, and began
to wonder if it wasn't Peik again that had a finger in
this pie.
So he mounted his horse and rode out, for he
thoughtit dull work staying at home; but when he

got out among the ploughed fields, there sat Peik on

a stone playing on a Jew's harp.
"
"What are you sitting there, Peik ?
! said the King.
" "
Here I sit, sure enough," said Peik ;
where else
"
should I sit ?
" Now you have cheated me foully time after time,"
" but now you must come along home
said the King,
with me, and I'll kill you."
"Well, well!" said Peik, "if it can't be helped it

can't I I must go along with you."

; suppose
When they got home to the King's Grange they
got ready a cask which Peik was to be put in, and
when it was ready they carted it up to a high fell ;

there he was to lie three days thinking on all the

evil he had done, then they were to roll him down
the fell into the firth.
The third day a rich man passed by, but Peik sat
inside the cask and sang

" To heaven's bliss and Paradise,

To heaven's bliss and Paradise."

" I'd sooner far stay here and not be made an

angel."
When the man heard that, he asked what he would
take to change places with him.
1 06 Tales from the Fjeld
" It "
ought to be a good sum," said Peik, for there
wasn't a coach ready to start for Paradise every day."
So the man said he would give all he had ; ana so
he knocked out the head of the cask and crept into it
instead of Peik.
" A "
happy journey said the King when he came
!

"
to roll him down ;
now you'll go faster to the firth
than if you were in a sledge with reindeer; and now
it's allover with you and your fooling rods."
Before the cask was half-way down the fell, there
wasn't a whole stave of it left, nor a limb of him who
was But when the King came back
inside. to the
Grange, Peik was there before him, and sat in the
courtyard playing on the Jew's harp.
"What! you Peik?"
sitting here, you,
"
Yes ! here I sit, where else should I
sure enough ;

" "
sit ? said Peik. Maybe I can get house-room here
for all my horses and sheep and money."
"But whither was it that I rolled you that you got
all this wealth ?" asked the King.

"Oh, you rolled me into the firth," said Peik, "and

when I got to the bottom there was more than enough
and to spare, both of horses and sheep and of gold
and silver. The cattle went about in great flocks, and
the gold and silver lay in large heaps as big as houses."
"What will you take to roll me down the same
"
way ? asked the King.
"Oh,"said Peik, "it costs little or nothing to do it.

Besides, you took nothing from me, and so I'll take

nothing from you either."
So he stuffed the King into a cask and rolled him
over, and when he had given him a ride down to
 Peik 1
07
the firth for nothing, he went home to the King's
Grange. Then he began to hold his bridal least with
the youngest princess, and afterwards he ruled both
land and realm, but he kept his fooling rods to him-
self, and kept them so well that nothing was ever after-
"
wards heard of Peik and his tricks, but only of OUR
SELF THE KING."
 Death and the Doctor

on a time there was a lad who had lived

ONCE
North
as a servant a long time with a
This man was a master at
man of the

Country.
ale-brewing; was so it
out-of-the-way good the like
of it was not to be found. So, when the lad was to
leave his place and the man was to pay him the wages
he had earned, he would take no other pay than a keg
of Yule-ale. Well, he got it and set off with it, and he
carried both far and long, but the longer he carried
it

the keg the heavier it got, and so he began to look

about to see if any one were coming with whom he
might have a drink, that the might lessen and the
ale

keg lighten. And after a long, long time, he met an

old man with a big beard.

" Good
day," said the man.
" Good
day to you," said the lad.
" Whither "
? asked the man.
away
" I'm some one drink with, and get
looking after to

my keg lightened," said the lad.

" Can't
you drink as well with me as with any one
" "
else ? said the man. I have fared both far and
wide, and I am both tired and thirsty."
" Well " " but
!
why shouldn't I ? said the lad ;
tell
108
 Death and the Doctor 109

me, whence do you come, and what sort of man are

you?"
"
I am Our and come from Heaven," said
'

Lord,'
the man.
" " for thou
Thee will I not drink with," said the lad ;

makest such distinction between persons here in the

world, and sharest rights so unevenly that some get
so rich and some so poor. No with thee I will not !

drink/' and as he said this he trotted off with his keg

again.
So when he had gone a bit farther the keg grew
too heavy again he thought he never could carry it
;

any longer unless some one came with whom he might

drink, and so lessen the ale in the keg. Yes he met !

an ugly, scrawny man who came along fast and furious.

"
Good day," said the man.
" Good day to you," said the lad.
"Whither away?" asked the man.
"
Oh, I'm looking for some one to drink with, and
get my keg lightened," said the lad.
u Can't
you drink with me as well as with any one
" " I have fared both far and
else ? said the man ; wide,
and I am tired and thirsty."
" "
said the lad
" but who are you,
Well, why not ? ;

"
and whence do you come ?
" Who am I ? I am the and I come from
De'il,

Hell; that's where I come from,"

man. said the
"
No " said the lad " thou only pinest and plaguest
!
;

poor folk, and if there is any unhappiness astir, they

always say it is thy fault. Thee I will not drink with."
So he went far and farther than far again with his
ale-keg on his back, till he thought it grew so heavy
I 10 Tales from the Fjeld

there was no carrying it any farther, lie began to look

round again if any one were coming with whom he
could drink and lighten his keg. So after a long, long

time, anotherman came, and he was so dry and lean

'twas a wonder his bones hung together.
"Good day," said the man.
" Good
day to you," said the lad.
"Whither away?" asked the man.
"Oh, I was only looking about to see if I could find
 Death and the Doctor 1 1 1

some one to drink with, that my keg might be lightened

a little, itso heavy to carry."
is
"
Can't you drink as well with me as with any one
"
else ? said the man.

"Yes; why not?" said the lad. "But what sort of

"
man are you ?

"They call me Death," said the man.

The very man for my money," said the lad. " Thee
"

I am glad to drink with," and as he said this he

put down his keg, and began to tap the ale into a
bowl. " Thou art an
honest, trustworthy man, for
thou treatest all alike, both rich and poor."
So he drank his health, and Death drank his health,
and Death said he had never tasted such drink, and
as the lad was fond of him, they drank bowl and
bowl about, till the ale was lessened, and the keg grew
light.
At last Death said, " I have never known drink
which smacked better, or did me so much good as this
ale that you have given me, and I scarce know what
to give you in return." But, after he had thought
awhile, he said the keg should never get empty, how-
ever much they drank out of it, and the ale that was
in should become a healing drink, by which the
it

lad could make the sick whole again better than any
doctor. And he also said that when the lad came into
the sick man's room, Death would always be there, and
show himself to him, and it should be to him for a
sure token if he saw Death at the foot of the bed that

he could cure the sick with a draught from the keg;

but if he sat by the pillow, there was no healing nor
medicine, for then the sick belonged to Death.
1 1 2 Tales from the Fjeld

Well, the lad soon grew famous, and was called in

farand near, and he helped many to health again who
had been given over. When he came in and saw how
Death sat by the sick man's bed, he foretold either
or death, and his foretelling was never wrong. He
life

got both a rich and powerful man, and at last he was

called in to a king's daughter far, far away in the
world. She was so dangerously ill no doctor thought
he could do her any good, and so they promised him all
that he cared either to ask or have if he would only
save her life.

Now, when he came into the princess's room, there

sat Death at her pillow but as he sat he dozed and
;

nodded, and while he did this she felt herself better.

"Now, life or death is at stake," said the doctor;
" and I fear, from what I see, there is no hope."
But the}' said he must save her, if it cost land and
realm. So he looked at Death, and while he sat there
and dozed again, he made a sign to the servants to
turn the bed round so quickly that Death was left

sitting at the foot, and at the very moment the}' turned

the bed, the doctor gave her the draught, and her life
was saved.
"Now you have cheated me," said Death, "and we
are quits."
"I was forced to do it,'' said the doctor, "unless i

wished to lose land and realm."

"That shan't help you much," said Death; "your
time is up, for now you belong to me."
"Well," said the lad, "what must be must be; but
you'll let me have time to read the Lord's Prayer
first?"
(The
\
x "Princess
*
i

" There sat Death at her pillow."

H
 Death and the Doctor 115
Yes, he might have leave to do that ; but he took
very good care not to read the Lord's Prayer ; every-
thing else he read, but the Lord's Prayer never crossed
his lips,and at last he thought he had cheated Death
for good and all. But when Death thought he had
really waited too long, he went to the lad's house
one night, and hung up a great tablet with the Lord's
Prayer painted on it over against his bed. So when
the lad woke in the morning he began to read the
tablet, and did not quite see what he was about till
he came to Amen; but then it was just too late, and
Death had him.
 The Way of the World

on a time there was a man who went into

ONCE
no
the wood to cut
trees so long
hop-poles, but he could find
and straight and slender as
he wanted, he came high up under a great heap
till

of stones. There he heard groans and moans as

though some one were at Death's door. So he went
up to see who it was
that needed help,
and then he heard
that the noise
came from under
a great flat stone
which lay upon
the heap. It was so
heavy it would have
taken many man to
a
lift it. But the man
went down again into
the wood and cut down
a tree, which he turned into a lever, and with that he
out from under it crawled
tilted up the stone, and lo !

a Dragon, and made at the man to swallow him up.

But the man said he had saved the Dragon's life, and
116
 The Way of the World 1 1
7
it was shameful thanklessness in him to want to eat
him up.
"May be," said the Dragon, "but you might very
well know I must be starved when I have been here
hundreds of years and never tasted meat. Besides,
it's the way of the world that's how it pays its

debts.
The man pleaded his cause stoutly, and begged
prettily for his life ;
and
they agreed to take at last

the first living thing that came for a daysman, and

if his doom went the other way the man should not

lose his life, but if he said the same as the Dragon, the
Dragon should eat the man.
The thing that came was an old hound, who
first

ran along the road down below under the hillside.

Him they spoke to, and begged him to be judge.
"God knows," said the hound, "I have served my
master truly ever since I was a little whelp. I have

watched and watched many and many a night through

while he lay warm asleep on his ear, and I have saved
house and home from fire and thieves more than once ;

but now
can neither see nor hear any more, and he
I

wants to shoot me. And so I must run away, and

slink from house to house, and beg for my living till I

die of hunger. No ! it's the way of the world," said

the hound; "that's how it
pays its debts."
"
Now I am coming to eat you up," said the Dragon,
and tried to swallow the
again. But the man
man
begged and prayed hard for his life, till they agreed
to take the next comer for a judge and if he said ;

the same as the Dragon and the hound, the Dragon

was to eat him, and get a meal of man's meat ; but if
n8 Tales from the Fjeld

he did not say so, the man was to get off with his
life.

So there came an old horse limping down along

the road which ran under the hill. Him they called
out to come and settle the dispute. Yes; he was quite
ready to do that.
"
Now, I have served my master," said the horse,
" as I have slaved and
long as I could draw or carry.
striven for him till the sweat trickled from every hair,

and I have worked have grown lame, and halt,

till I

and worn out with and age now I am fit for

toil ;

nothing. I am not worth my food, and so I am to

have a bullet through me, he says. Nay nay It's ! !

the way of the world. That's how the world pays its

debts."

"Well, now I'm coming to eat you," said the Dragon,

who gaped wide, and wanted to swallow the man. But
he begged again hard for his life.
But the Dragon said he must have a mouthful of
 The Way of the World 1 1
9
man's meat ;
he was so hungry, he couldn't bear it any
longer.
"
See, yonder comes one who looks as if he was
sent to be a judge between us," said the man, as he

pointed to Reynard the fox, who came stealing between

the stones of the heap.
"All good things are three," said the man; "let me
ask him, too, and if he gives doom like the others, eat
me up on the spot."

"Very well," said the Dragon. He, too, had heard

that all good things were three, and so it should be a

bargain. So the man talked to the fox as he had talked

to the others.
" " I see how it all is "
Yes, yes," said Reynard, ;

but as he said this he took the man a little on one

side.

"What will you give me if I free you from the

"
Dragon he whispered into the man's ear.
?
" You shall be
free to come to my house, and to
be lord and master over my hens and geese every
Thursday night," said the man.
"
Well, my dear Dragon," said Reynard, " this is a

very hard nut to crack. I can't get it into my head

how you, who are so big and mighty a beast, could
find room to lie under yon stone."
" " "
Can't you ? said the Dragonwell, I lay under
;

the hill-side, and sunned myself, and down came a

landslip, and hurled the stone over me."
" All very likely, dare say," said Reynard " but
I ;

still 1 can't understand it, and what's more I won't

believe it till I see it."

So the man said they had better prove it, and the
1 20 Tales from the Fjeld

Dragon crawled down into his hole again but in the ;

twinkling of an eye they whipped out the lever, and

down the stone crashed again on the Dragon.
"Lie now there till doomsday," said the fox. "You
"
would eat the man, would you, who saved your life ?
The Dragon groaned, and moaned, and begged hard
to come out but the two went their way and left him
;

alone.
The very
first Thursday night Reynard came to be

lord and master over the hen-roost, and hid himself

behind a great pile of wood hard by. When the maid
went to feed the fowls, in stole Reynard. She neither
saw nor heard anything of him but her back was ;

scarce turned before he had sucked blood enough for

a week, and stuffed himself so that he couldn't stir.
So when she came again in the morning, there Reynard
lay and snored, and slept in the morning sun, with all
four legs stretched straight and he was as sleek and
;

round as a German sausage.

Away ran the lassie for the goody, and she came,
and the lasses with her, with sticks and brooms
all

to beat Reynard; and, to tell the truth, they nearly

banged the life out of him ; but, just as it was almost

allover with him, and he thought his last hour was
come, he found a hole in the floor, and so he crept out,
and limped and hobbled off to the wood.
" "how true it Tis the
Oh, oh," said Reynard ;
is.

way of the world ; and this is how it pays its debts."

 The Pancake

on a time there was a goody who had seven

ONCE hungry bairns, and she was frying a pancake
for them. It was a sweet-milk pancake, and

there it lay in the pan bubbling and frizzling so thick

and good, it was a sight for sore eyes to look at. And
the bairns stood round about, and the goodman sat by
and looked on.
" am
Oh, give me a bit of pancake, mother, dear ;
I

so hungry," said one bairn.

"
Oh, darling mother," said the second.
"Oh, darling, good mother," said the third.
"
Oh, darling, good, nice mother," said the fourth.
"Oh, darling, pretty, good, nice mother," said the
fifth.
" clever
Oh, darling, pretty, good, nice, mother,"
said the sixth.
" sweet
Oh, darling, pretty, good, nice, clever,
mother," said the seventh.
So they begged for the pancake all round, the one
more prettily than the other for they were so hungry
;

and so good.
"
Yes, yes, bairns, only bide a bit till it turns itself,"
she ought to have said, "till I can get it turned,"
122 Tales from the Fjeld

"and then you shall all have some a lovely sweet-

milk pancake; only look how fat and happy it lies

there."
When the pancake heard that it got afraid, and in a
trice it turned itself all of itself, and tried to jump out

of the pan ; but back into it again t'other side

it fell

up, and so when had been fried a little on the other

it

side too, till it got firmer in its flesh, it sprang out on

the floor, and rolled off like a wheel through the door
and down the hill.
" Holloa "
and away went the
Stop, pancake
! !

goody after it, with the frying-pan in one hand and

the ladle in the other, as fast as she could, and her
bairns behind her, while the goodman limped after

them last of all.

" Hi won't you stop ? Seize it. Stop, pancake,"
!

they screamed
all out, one after the other, and tried to
catch it on the run and hold it but the pancake rolled
;

on and on, and in the twinkling of an eye it was so far

ahead that they couldn't see it, for the pancake was
faster on its feet than any of them.
So when it had rolled awhile it met a man.
" Good
day, pancake," said the man.
" "
God bless you, said the pancake.
Manny Panny !

"Dear pancake," said the man, " don't roll so fast ;

stop a little and let me eat you."

""When I have given the slip to Goody Poody, and
the goodman, and seven squalling children, I may well

slip through your fingers, Manny Panny," said the

pancake, and rolled on and on till it met a hen.
" Good
day, pancake," said the hen.
" The same to
you, Henny Penny," said the pancake
 The Pancake 123
" so fast bide a bit and
Pancake, dear, don't roll ;
let

me you up," said the hen.

eat
"When I have given the slip to Goody Poody, and
the goodman, and seven squalling children, and Manny
Panny, I may well slip through your claws, Henny
Penny," said the pancake, and so it rolled on like a
wheel down the road.
Just then it met a cock.
" Good day, pancake," said the cock.
"The same to you, Cocky Locky," said the pan-
cake.
" so but bide a bit and
Pancake, dear, don't roll fast,
let me eat you up."
" When I have given the slip to Goody Poody, and
the goodman, and seven squalling children, and to
Manny Panny, and Henny Penny, I may well slip
through your claws, Cocky Locky," said the pancake,
and off it set rolling away as fast as it could; and
when it had rolled a long way it met a duck.
"Good day, pancake," said the duck.
"The same to you, Ducky Lucky."
"Pancake, dear, don't roll away so fast; bide a bit

and let me eat you up.

'

" When I Goody Poody, and

have given the slip to
the goodman, and seven squalling children, and Manny
Panny, and Henny Penny, and Cocky Locky, I may

well slip through your fingers, Ducky Lucky," said the

pancake, and with that it took to rolling

and rolling
faster than ever and when it had rolled a long, long
;

while, it met a goose.

" Good day, pancake," said the goose.
" The same to you, Goosey Poosey."
I2 4 Tales from the Fjeld

"Pancake, dear, don't roll so fast ;

bide a bit and let
me eat you up."
"When I have given the slip to Goody Poody, and
the goodman, and seven squalling children, and Manny

Panny, and Henny Penny, and Cocky Locky, and

Ducky Lucky, I can
well slip through
your feet, Goosey
Poosey," said the
_<*V pancake, and off it

rolled.
So when it had
rolled a long, long-
way farther, it met a
gander.
" Good
day, pancake," said the gander.
" The same to you, Gander Pander," said the pan-
cake.
"
Pancake, dear, don't roll so fast ;
bide a bit and let

me eat you up."

"When I have given the
slip to Goody Poody, and
the goodman, and seven squalling children, and Manny
Panny, and Henny Penny, and Cocky Locky, and
Ducky Lucky, and Goosey Poosey, I may well slip
through your feet, Gander Pander," said the pancake,
which rolled off as fast as ever.
So when it had rolled a long, long time, it met a pig.
"Good day, pancake," said the pig.
" The same to
you, Piggy Wiggy," said the pancake,

which, without a word more, began to roll and roll like

nad.
" needn't be in such a
Nay, nay," said the pig, "you
 The Pancake 125

hurry ; we two can then go side by side and see

one
another over the wood they say
;
it is not too safe in

there."
The pancake thought there might be something in

that, and so they kept company. But when they had

gone awhile, they came to a brook. As for Piggy, he
was so fat he swam safe across, it was nothing to him ;
but the poor pancake couldn't get over.
" Seat "and
yourself on my snout," said the pig, I'll

carry you over."

So the pancake did that.
"
Ouf, ouf," said the pig, and swallowed the pancake
at one gulp ; and then, as the poor pancake could go
no farther, why this story can go no farther either.
 Pork and Honey

dawn the other day, when Bruin came tramping

AT over the bog with a fat pig, Reynard sat up on

a stone by the moorside.
"Good day, grandsire," said the fox; "whai's that
"
so nice that you have there ?
"
Pork," said Bruin.
"
Well, I have got a dainty bit too," said Reynard.
" What is that ? " asked the bear.
" The
biggest wild bee's comb I ever saw in my life,"
said Reynard.
" who
Indeed, you don't say so," said Bruin, grinned
and licked his lips. He thought it would be so nice to
taste a little honey. At last he said, " Shall we swop
"
our fare ?
" " " I can't do
Nay, nay said Reynard,
! that."
The end was that they made a bet, and agreed to
name three trees. If the fox could say them off faster
than the bear, he was to have leave to take one bite of
the bacon; but if the bear could say them faster, he
was to have leave to take one sup out of the comb.

Greedy Bruin thought he was sure to sup out all the

honey at one breath.

"Well," said Reynard, "it's all fair and right, no
126
 Pork and Honey 127

doubt, but all I say is, if I win, you shall be bound

to tear off the bristles where I am to bite."

" Of " I'll
course," said Bruin, help you, as you can't
help yourself."
So they were to begin and name the trees.
" SCOTCH
FIR, FIR, SPRUCE," growled out Bruin,
for he was gruff in his tongue, that he was. But for
all that he only named two trees, for Fir and Scotch

Fir are both the same.

"As/i, Aspen, Oak" screamed Reynard, so that the
wood rang again.
So he had won the wager, and down he ran and
eook the heart out of the pig at one bite, and was just
running off with it.But Bruin was angry because
he had taken the best bit out of the whole pig, and
so he laid hold of his tail and held him fast.
"
Stop a bit, stop a bit," he said, and was wild with
rage.
" Never "
mind," said the fox, it's all right ; let me
go, grandsire, and I'll give you a taste
of my honey."
When Bruin heard that, he let go his hold, and
away went Reynard after the honey.
" " lies a
Here, on this honeycomb," said Reynard,

leaf, and under this leaf is a hole,

and that hole you
are to suck."
As he said this he held up the comb under the
bear's nose, took off the leaf, jumped up on a stone,

and began to gibber and laugh, for there was neither

honey nor honeycomb, but a wasp's nest, as big as a
man's head, full of wasps, and out swarmed the wasps
and settled on Bruin's head, and stung him in his eyes
and ears, and mouth and snout. And he had such
128 Tales from the Fjeld

hard work to rid himself of them that he had no time

to think of Reynard.
And that's why, ever since that day, Bruin is so
afraid of wasps.

The Hare and the Heiress

on a time there was a hare, who was frisk-

ONCE ing up and down under the greenwood tree.

"Oh! hurrah! hip, hip, hurrah!" he cried,
and leapt and sprang, and all at once he threw a somer-
sault and stood upon his hind-legs. Just then a fox
came slouching by.
" Good " I'm so
day, good day," said the hare ;

merry to-day, for you must

know I was married this morn-
ing."
" fellow you," said the
Lucky
fox.
"
Ah, no ! not so lucky after
all," said the hare, "for she
was very heavy-handed, and it
was an old witch I got to wife."
" Then
you were an unlucky
fellow," said the fox.
"
Oh, not so unlucky either,"
" for she was an heiress. Sne had a
said the hare,

cottage of her own."

"Then you were lucky after all," said the fox.
 Slip Roof, Catch Reynard's Foot 129
" "
No, no ! not so lucky either," said the hare, for

the cottage caught fire and was burnt, and all we had
with it."

"That downright unlucky," said the fox.

I call

"Oh, no; not so very unlucky after all," said the

" for witch of a wife was burnt along with
hare, my
her cottage."

Slip Root, Catch Reynard's Foot

on a time there was a bear, who sat on

ONCE a hillside in the sun and slept.

Just then Rey-
nard came slouching by and caught sight of him.
"There you taking your ease, grandsire," said
sit

the fox. "Now, see if I don't play you a trick." So

he went and caught three field-mice and laid them on a
stump close under Bruin's nose, and then he bawled
out into his ear, "Bo! Bruin, here's Peter the Hunter,
"
just behind this stump and as he bawled this out he
;

ran off through the wood as fast as ever he could.

Bruin woke up with a start, and when he saw the
three little mice, he was as mad as a March hare, and was

lift up his paw and crush them, for he thought

going to
it was they who had bellowed in his ear.
But just as he lifted it he caught sight of Reynard's
tailamong the bushes by the woodside, and away he
set after him, so that the underwood crackled as he

went, and, to tell the truth, Bruin was so close upon

Reynard, that he caught hold of his off hind-foot just
I
30 Tales from the Fjeld

as he was crawling into an earth under a pine-root.

So there was Reynard in a pinch but for ;
that he
all

had his wits about him, forhe screeched out, " SLIP
THE PINE-ROOT AND CATCH REYNARD'S FOOT," and
so the let his foot slip and laid hold of the
sill}' bear
root But by that time Reynard was safe
instead.
inside the earth, and called out
"cheated you that time, too, didn't I, grandsire
I !
"

"
Out of sight isn't out of mind," growled Bruin
down the earth, and was wild with rage.

Bruin Goodfellow

on a time there was a husbandman who

ONCE travelled ever so far up to the fells to fetch a

load of leaves for litter for his cattle in winter.

So when he got to where the litter lay, he backed the

sledge close up to the heap, and began to roll down the

leaves on to the sledge. But under the heap lay a
bear who had made his winter lair there, and when he
felt the man trampling about he jumped outright down
on to the sledge.
As soonas the horse got wind of Bruin he was

afraid, and ran off as though he had stolen both bear

and sledge, and he went back faster by many times

than he had come up.
Bruin, they say, is a brave fellow, but even he was
not quite pleased with his drive this time. So there he
 Bruin Goodfellow 1
3 i

sat, holding fast as well as he could, and he glared and

grinned on all sides, and he thought of throwing him-

self off, but he was not used to sledge travelling, and
so he made up his mind to sit still where he was.
So when he had driven a good bit he met a pedlar.
"Whither, in heaven's name, is the sheriff bound to-
day ? He has surely little time and a long way, he
drives so fast."
But Bruin said never a word, for all he could do was
to stick fast.
A little on a beggar-woman met him. She
farther
nodded him and greeted him, and begged for a
to

penny in God's name. But Bruin said never a word,

but stuck fast and drove on faster than ever.
So when he had gone a bit farther, Reynard the fox
met him.
"Ho! ho!" said Reynard, "are you out taking a
drive ? Stop a bit, and let me get up behind and be
your postboy."
But still Bruin said never a word, but held on like
grim death, and drove on as fast as the horse could lay
legs to the ground.
"Well, well," screamed Reynard after him, "if you
won't take me with you I'll spae your fortune and ;

that is, though you drive like a daredevil to-day, you'll

be hanging up to-morrow with the hide off your back."
But Bruin never heard a word that Reynard said.
On and on he drove just as fast but when the horse
;

got to the farm, he galloped into the open stable door

at full speed, so that he tore off both sledge and harness,
and as for poor Bruin, he knocked his skull against the

lintel, and there he lay dead on the spot.

1
32 Tales from the Fjeld
All this time the man knew nothing of what had
happened. He rolled down bundle after bundle oi
leaves, and when he thought he had enough to load
his sledge, and went down to bind on the bundles, he
could find neither horse nor sledge.
So he had to tramp along the road to find his horse
again, and after a while he met the pedlar.
" "
Have you met my horse and sledge ? he asked.
"
"No," said the pedlar; but lower down along the
road I met the sheriff; he drove so fast, he was surely
going to lay some one by the heels."
A while after he met the beggar-woman.
" Have "
you seen my horse and sledge ? said the
man.
" " but I met the
No," said the beggar-woman ;

parson lower down yonder he was surely going to a

;

parish meeting, he drove so fast, and he had a bor-

rowed horse."
A while after the man met the fox.
" "
Have you seen my horse and sledge ?
"Yes, I have," said the fox; "and Bruin Good-
fellow sat on it and drove just as though he had stolen
both horse and harness."
" De'il take " be bound
him," said the man, I'll he'll

drive my horse to death."

"If he does, flay him," said Reynard, "and roast
him before the fire ! But if you get your horse again
you may give me a lift over the fell, for I can ride
well, and besides I have a fancy to see how it feels

when one has four legs before one."

" "
What will you give for the lift ? said the man.
"You can have what you like," said Reynard;
 Bruin and Reynard Partners 133

"either wet or dry. You may be sure you'll always

get more out of me than out of Bruin Good fellow, for
he a rough carle to pay off when he takes a fancy to
is

riding and hangs on a horse's back."

" Well
you shall have a lift over the fell," said
!

" if
the man, you will only meet me at this spot to-
morrow."
But he knew that Reynard was only playing off some
of his tricks upon him, and so he took with him a loaded

gun on the sledge, and when Reynard came, thinking

to get a lift for nothing, he got instead a charge of
shot in his body, and so the husbandman flayed the
coat off him too, and then he had gotten both Bruin's
hide and Reynard's skin.

Bruin and Reynard Partners

on a time Bruin and Reynard were to own a

ONCE field in common. They had a little clearing up

in the wood, and the first year they sowed rye.
" Now we must share the crop as is fair and right,"
said Reynard. "If you like to have the root, I'll take
the top."
Yes, Bruin was ready to do that but when they had
;

threshed out the crop, Reynard got all the corn, but
Bruin got nothing but roots and rubbish. He did not
like that at all ;
but Reynard said it was how they had
agreed to share it.
1
34 Tales from the Fjeld

"This year I have the gain," said Reynard ;

"next
year it will be your turn. Then you shall have the
top,and I shall have to put up with the root."
But when spring came, and it was time to sow,
Reynard asked Bruin what he thought of turnips.
"Aye, aye!" said Bruin, "that's better food than
"
corn and so Reynard thought also.
;
But when
harvest came Reynard got the roots, while Bruin
got the turnip-tops. And then Bruin was so angry
with Reynard that he put an end at once to his
partnership with him.
Reynard wants to Taste Horse-flesh

day as Bruin lay by a horse which he had

ONE slain,and was hard at work eating it, Reynard
was out that day too, and came up spying about
and licking his lips, if he might get a taste of the
horse-flesh. So he doubled and turned till he got
just
behind Bruin's back, and then he jumped on the other
side of the carcassand snapped a mouthful as he ran
by. Bruin was not slow either, for he made a grab at
Reynard and caught the tip of his red brush in his
paw and ever since then Reynard's brush is white
;

at the tip, as any one may see.

But that day Bruin was merry, and called out
" Bide a and come hither, and I'll tell
bit, Reynard ;

you how to catch a horse for yourself."

Yes, Reynard was ready enough to learn, but he
did not for all that trust himself to go very close to
Bruin.
" "
Listen," said
Bruin, when you see a horse
asleep, sunning himself in the sunshine, you must
mind and bind yourself fast by the hair of his tail
to your brush, and then you must make your teeth
meet in the flesh of his thigh."
As you may fancy, it was not long before Reynard
135
136 Tales from the Fjeld

found out a horse that lay asleep in the sunshine, and

then he did as Bruin had told him for he knotted
;

and bound himself well into the hair of his tail, and
made his teeth meet in the horse's thigh.
sprang the horse, and began to kick and rear
Up
and gallop, so that Reynard was dashed against stock
and stone, and got battered black and blue, so that
he was not far off losing both wit and sense. And
while the horse galloped, they passed Jack Longears,
the hare.
"Whither away so fast, Reynard?" cried Jack
Longears.
" and death, dear
Post-haste, on business of life

Jack," cried Reynard.

And with that Jack stood up on his hind-legs, and
laughed till his sides ached and his jaws split right
up to his ears. It was so funny to see Reynard ride

post-haste.
But you must know, since that ride Reynard has
never thought of catching a horse for himself. For
that once at least it was Bruin who had the best of it

though they do say he

in wit, is most often as simple-
minded as the Trolls.
 Master Tobacco

NCE upon a time there

was a poor woman who
went about begging with
her son for at home she
;

had neither a morsel to

eat nor a stick to burn.
First she tried the coun-

try, and went from parish

to parish ;
but it was
poor work, and so she
came into the town.
There she went about
from house to house for awhile, and at last she came
to the Lord Mayor. He was both open-hearted and
open-handed, and he was married
to the daughter of the richest mer-
chant in the town, and they had
one little daughter. As they had
no more children, you may fancy
she was sugar and spice and all
that's nice, and in a word there
was nothing too good for her.
This little girl soon came to know
the beggar-boy as he went about
with his mother; and as the Lord
Mayor was a wise man, as soon as
he saw what friends the two were,
he took the boy into h;s house, that
137
1
38 Tales from the Fjdd
he might be his daughter's playmate. Yes, they
played and read arid went to school together, and
never had so much as one quarrel.
One day the Lady Mayoress stood at the window,
and watched the children as they were trudging off
to school. There had been a shower of rain, and
the street was flooded, and she saw how the boy
first carried the basket with their dinner over the
stream, and then he went back and lifted the little
girl over, and when he set her down he gave her
a kiss.
When the Lady Mayoress saw
this, she got very

angry. "To
think of such a ragamuffin kissing our
"
daughter we who are the best people in the place !

That was what she said. Her husband did his best
" No one
to stop her tongue. knew," he said,
" how children would turn out in
life, or what might

befall his own the boy was a clever, handy lad, and
:

often and often a great tree sprang from a slender

plant."
But no it was all the same, whatever he said
!

and whichever way he put it. The Lady Mayoress

held her own, and said beggars on horseback always
rode their cattle to death, and that no one had ever
heard of a silk purse being made out of a sow's
ear; adding, that a penny would never turn into
a shilling, even though it glittered like a guinea.
The end of it all was that the poor lad was turned
out of the house, and had to pack up his rags and
be off.
When the Lord Mayor saw there was no help for it,

he sent him away with a trader who had come thither

 Master Tobacco 139
tvith a ship, and he was to be cabin-boy on board her.
He told his wife he had sold the boy for a roll of
tobacco.
But before he went the Lord Mayor's daughter broke
her ring into two bits, and gave the boy one bit, that it
might be a token to know him by if they ever met
again ;
and so the ship sailed away, and the lad came
to a town, far, far off in the world, and to that town a
priest had just come who was so good a preacher that
every one went to church to hear him, and the crew of
the ship went with the rest the Sunday after to hear
the sermon. As for the lad, he was left behind to
mind the ship and to cook the dinner. So while he
was hard at work he heard some one calling out across
the water on an island. So he took the boat and
rowed across, and there he saw an old hag, who called
and roared.
"Aye," she said, "you have come at last! Here
have I stood a hundred years calling and bawling, and
thinking now I should ever get over this water; but
no one has ever heard or heeded but you, and you
shall be well paid if you will put me over to the other
side."
So the had to row her to her sister's house, who
lad
lived on a hill on the other side close by; and when
they got there, she told him to beg for the old table-
cloth which lay on the dresser. Yes he would beg for
!

it;
and when the old witch who lived there knew that
he had helped her sister over the water, she said he
might have whatever he chose to ask.
"Oh," said the boy, "then I won't have anything
else than that old table-cloth on the dresser yonder."
140 Tales from the Fjeld

" " that

Oh," said the old witch, you never asked
out of your own wits."
"Now I must be off," said the lad, "to cook the

Sunday dinner for the church-goers."

"Never mind that," said the first old hag; "it will
cook itself while you are away. Stop with me, and

I pay you better still. Here have I stood and

will

called and bawled for a hundred years, but no one

has ever heeded me but you."
The end was he had to go with her to another sister,
and when he got there the old hag said he was to be
sure and ask for the old sword, which was such that
he could put it into his pocket and it became a knife,
 Master Tobacco 1
41
and when he drew it out it was a long sword again.

One edge was black and the other white ; and if he

smote with the black edge everything fell dead, and if

with the white everything came to life again. So when

they came over, and the second old witch heard how
he had helped her sister across, she said he might
have anything he chose to ask for her fare.
" "
Oh," said the lad, then I will have nothing else
but that old sword which hangs up over the cupboard."
"That you never asked out of your own wits," said
the old witch but for all that he got the sword.
;

" Come on with me to

Then the old hag said again,

my third sister. Here have I stood and called and

bawled for a hundred years, and no one has heeded
me but you. Come on to my third sister, and you
shall have better pay still."

So he went with her, and on the way she told him

he was to ask for the old hymn-book and that was ;

such a book that when any one was sick and the nurse
sang one of the hymns, the sickness passed away, and
they were well again. Well when they got across,!

and the third old witch heard he had helped her sister
across, she said he was to have whatever he chose to

ask for his fare.

" " then won't have anything else
Oh," said the lad, I

but granny's old hymn-book."

"That," said the old hag, "you never asked out of
your own wits."
When he got back to the ship the crew were still at
church, so he tried his table-cloth, and spread just a
little bit of it out, for he wanted to see what good it was

before he laid it on the table. Yes ! in a trice it was

 r

142 ales from the Fjela

covered with good food and strong drink, enough and

to spare. So he just took a little snack, and then he
gave the ship's dog as much as it could eat.
When the church goers came on board, the captain
" Wherever did you get all that food for the
said,

dog ? Why, he's as round as a sausage, and as lazy

as a snail."
"
Oh,if you must know," said the lad, "I gave him
the bones."
"Good boy," said the captain, "to think of the
dog."
So he spread out the cloth, and at once the whole
was covered all over with such brave meat and
table
drink as they had never before seen in all their born

days.
Now when was again alone with the dog, he
the boy
wanted sword, so he smote at the dog with
to try the

the black edge, and it fell dead on the deck but when ,

he turned the blade and smote with the white edge,

the dog came to life again and wagged his tail and
fawned on his playmate. But the book that he could
not get tried just then.
Then they sailed well and far till a storm overtook
them, which lasted many days; so they lay to and
drove till they were quite out of their course, and
could not tell where they were. At last the wind fell,
and then they came to a country far, far off, that none

of them knewbut they could easily see there was

;

great grief there, as well there might be, for the king's
daughter was a leper. The king came down to the
shore, and asked was there any one on board who could
cure her and make her well again.
 Master Tobacco 143
" That was what they
No, there was not." all said
who were on deck.
" Is there no one else on board the
ship than those I
"
see ? asked the king.
" Yes there's a little
; beggar-boy."
"Well," said the king, "let him come on deck."
So when he came, and heard what the king wanted,
he said he thought he might cure her; and then the
captain got so wroth and mad with rage that he ran
round and round he thought
like a squirrel in a cage, for

the boy was only putting himself forward to do some-

thing in which he was sure to fail, and he told the king

not to listen to such childish chatter.
But the king only said that wit came as children
grew, and that there was the making of a man in
every bairn. The boy had said he could do it, and
he might as well try. After all, there were many who
had tried and failed before him. So he took him home
to his daughter, and the lad sang a hymn once. Then
the princess could lift her arm. Once again he sang
it, and she could sit up in bed. And when he had sung
it thrice the king's daughter was as well as you and
I are.
The king was so glad, he wanted to give him half
his kingdom and the princess to wife.
" the lad, " land and power are fine
Yes," said
"
things to have half of," and was very grateful ; but
as for the princess, he was betrothed to another," he
" and he could not take her
said, to wife."
So he stayed there awhile, and got half the kingdom ;
and when he had not been very long there, war broke
out, and the lad went out to battle with the rest, and
1
44 Tales from the jeld

you may fancy he did not spare the black edge of hii
sword. The enemy's soldiers fell before him like flies,
and the king won the day. But when they had con-
quered, he turned the white edge, and they all rose up
alive and became the king's soldiers, who had granted
them their lives. But then there were so many of them
that they were badly off for food, though the king
wished to send them away full, both of meat and drink.
So the lad had to bring out his table-cloth, and then
there was not a man that lacked anything.
Now when he had lived a little longer with the king,
he began to long to see the Lord Mayor's daughter. So
he fitted out four ships of war and set sail and when
;

he came off the town where the Lord Mayor lived, he

fired off his cannon like thunder, till half the panes of

glass in the town were shivered. On board those ships

everything was as grand as in a king's palace; and as
for himself, he had gold on every seam of his coat, so
fine he was. It was not long before the Lord Mayor

came down to the shore and asked if the foreign lord

would not be so good as to come up and dine with
him. " Yes, he would go," he said and so he went up
;

to the mansion-house where the Lord Mayor lived, and

there he took his seat between the Lady Mayoress and
her daughter.
So as they sat there in the greatest state, and ate
and drank and were merry, he threw the half of the
ring into the daughter's glass, and no one saw it but ;

she was not slow to find out what he meant, and ex-
cused herself from the feast and went out and fitted his
half to her half. Her mother saw there was something
in the wind and hurried after her as fast as she could.
 Master Tobacco

"Do you know who that is in there, mother?" said

the daughter.
" No " said the
!
Lady Mayoress.
" He whom for a roll of tobacco," said the
papa sold
daughter.
At these words the Lady Mayoress fainted and fell

down flat on the floor.

In a little while the Lord Mayor came out to see

what was the matter, and when he heard how things

stood he was almost as uneasy as his wife.
" There is
nothing to make a fuss about," said Master
" I
Tobacco. have only come to claim the little girl
I kissed as we were going to school."

But to the Lady Mayoress he said

"You should never despise the children of the poor
and needy, for none can tell how they may turn out ; for
there is the making of a man in every child of man, and
wit and wisdom come with growth and strength."
K
 The Charcoal-Burner

NCE on a time there

was a charcoal-burner,
who had a son, who
was a charcoal-burner
too. When the father
was dead, the son took
him a wife but he was
;

lazy and would turn his

hand to nothing. He
was careless in mind-
ing his pits too, and
the end was no one would have him to burn char-
coal for them.
It so fell out that one day he had burned a pit full
for himself, and set off to the town with a few loads
and sold them and when he had done selling, he
;

loitered in the streetand looked about him. On his

way home he fell in with townsmen and neighbours,

and made merry, and drank, and chattered of all he

had seen in the town. " The prettiest thing I saw,"
he said, " was a great crowd of priests, and all the
folks greeted them and took off their hats to them.
I only wish I were a priest myself; then maybe they
 The Charcoal-Burner 1
47
would take off their hats to me As it was,
too. they
looked as though they did not even see me at all."
friends, "if you are nothing
"Well, well!" said his
else,you can't
say you're not as black as a priest.
And now we are about it, we can go to the sale of
the old priest, who is dead, and have a glass, and
meanwhile you can buy his gown and hood." That
was what the neighbours said and what they said he
;

did, and when he got home he had not so much as

a penny left.
"
Nowyou have both means and money, I dare
say," said his goody, when she heard he
had sold his
charcoal.
" "
I should Means, indeed
think so. said the !

charcoal-burner, "for you must know I have been

ordained priest. Here you see both gown and hood."
" never believe that," said the
Nay, I'll goody ;

" makes big words. You are just as bad,

strong ale
whichever end of you turns up ;
that you are," she said.
"You shall neither scold nor sorrow for the pit, for

its last coal is quenched and cold," said the charcoal-

burner.
out one day that many people in priests' robes
It fell

passed by the charcoal-burner's cottage on their way

to the king's palace, so that it was easy to see that
there was something in the wind there. Yes the char- !

coal burner would go too, and so he put on his gown

and hood.
His goody thought it would be far better to stay at
home for even if he chanced to hold a horse for some
;

great man, the drink-money he got would only go

down his throat, like so much before it.
1
48 Tales from the Fjcld

There are many, mother, who talk of drink," said

11

the man, "who never think of thirst. All I know is,

"
the more one drinks the more one thirsts and with ;

that he set off for the palace. When he got there, all

the strangers were bidden to come in, and the charcoal-

burner followed with the rest. So the king made
them a speech, and said he had lost his costliest ring,
and was quite sure it had been stolen. That was
why he had summoned all the learned priests in the
land, to see if there were one of them who could tell
him who the thief was. And he made a vow there
and then, and said what reward he would give to the
man who found out the thief. If he were a curate,
he should have a living if he were a rector, he should
;

be made a dean ; if he were a dean, he should be

made a bishop and if he were a bishop, he should
;

become the first man in the kingdom after the king.

the king went round and round among them all,
So
from one to the other, asking them if they could find
the thief; and when he came to the charcoal-burner he
said
" "
Who are you ?
" I am the wise priest and the true prophet," said the
charcoal-burner.
"Then you can tell me," said the king, "who has
"
taken my ring ?
" " "
Yes ! said the charcoal-burner ;
it isn't so right

against rhyme and reason that what has happened in

darkness should come to light but it isn't every year ;

that salmon spawn in fir-tree tops. Here have I been

a curate rbr seven years, trying to feed myself and my
children, and I haven't got a living yet If that thief is
 The Charcoal- Bur tier 1
49
to be found out, I must have lots of time and reams of

paper; for I must write and reckon, and track him out
through many lands."
Yes he should have as much time and paper as
!

he chose, if he would only lay his finger on the thief.

So they shut him up by himself in a room in the
king's palace, and it was not long before they found out
that hemust know much more than his Lord's Prayer ;

forhe scribbled over so much paper that it lay in great

heaps and rolls, and yet there was not a man who
could make out a word of what he wrote, for it looked
like nothing else than pot-hooks and hangers.
But, as
he did this, time went on, and still there was not a trace
of the thief. At last the king got weary, and so he said
that if the priest couldn't find the thief in three days
he should lose his life.
" More worse speed. You can't cart coal till
haste,
the pit is cool," said the charcoal-burner. But the king
stuck to his word that he did and the charcoal-burner
;

felt his life wasn't worth much

Now there were three of the king's servants who
waited on the charcoal-burner day by day in turn, and
these three fellows had stolen the ring between them.
So when one of these servants came into the room and
cleared the table when he had
eaten his supper, and was
going out again, the charcoal-burner heaved a deep sigh
as he looked after him, and said
" THERE
GOES THE FIRST OF THEM " But he only !

meant the first of the three days he had still to live.

"
That priest knows more than how to fill his mouth,"
said the servant, when he was alone with his fellows ;
" for
he said I was the first of them."
1
5o Tales from the Fjeld
The next day, the second servant was to mark what
the prisoner said when he waited on him, and sure

enough when he went out, after clearing the table, the

charcoal-burner stared him full in the face, and fetched
a deep sigh, and said
"THERE GOES THE SECOND OF THEM!"
So the third was to take heed to what the charcoal-
burner said on the third day, and it was all worse and
no better; for when the servant had his hand on the
door as he went out with the plates and dishes, the
charcoal-burner clasped his hands together, and said
with a sigh as though his heart would break
"THERE GOES THE THIRD OF THEM!"
So the man went down to his fellows with his heart
in his throat, and said it was clear as day the priest
knew all about it and so they all three went into
;

his room and fell on their knees before him, and

begged and prayed he would not say it was they who
had stolen the ring. If he would do this, they were
ready to give him, each of them, a hundred dollars,
if he would not bring them into trouble.

Well, he gave his word like a man, to do that and

keep them harmless, if they would only give him the
money and the ring and a great bowl of porridge.
And what do you think he did with the ring when
he got ? it
Why, he stuffed it well down into the
porridge, and bade them go and give it to the biggest
pig in the king's stye.
Next morning the king came, and was in no mood
for jokes, and said he must know all about the
thief.
" now have written and reckoned
Well, well ! I all
 The Charcoal-Eurner 1
5 1

" but
the world round," said the charcoal-burner, it

is no child of man that stole your majesty's ring."

" Pooh " said the " who was "
! then ?
king; it,
" was the biggest pig
It in your stye," said the
charcoal-burner.
Yes !
they killed the pig, and there the ring was
inside it ;
there was no mistake about that and so the ;

charcoal-burner got a living, and the king was so

glad he gave him a farm and a horse, and a hundred
dollars into the bargain.
You may fancy the charcoal-burner was not slow in
flitting to the living, and the first Sunday after he got
there he was going to church to read himself in ;
but
before he left his house he was to have his breakfast,

and so he took the king's letter and laid it on a bit

of dry toast, and then, by mistake, he dipped both
toast and letter into his brose, and when he found
it tough to chew, he gave the whole morsel to his

dog Tray, and Tray gobbled up both toast and letter.

And now he scarce knew what to do or how to
turn. To church he must, for the people were wait-
ing and when he got there, he went straight up into
;

the pulpit. In the pulpit he put on such a grave face

that all thought he was a grand priest ; but as the
went on, it was not so good
service after all. This
was how he began :

"The words, my brethren, which you should have

heard this day have gone, alas to the dogs but !
;

come next Sunday, dear parishioners, and you shall

hear something else ;
and so this sermon comes to
an end. Amen " !

All the parish thought they had got a strange priest,

 i
52 Tales from the Fjcld
for they had never heard such a funny sermon before
but " He'll
still they said to themselves, be better per-
haps by-and-bye, and if he isn't better we shall know
how to deal with him."

Next Sunday, when there was service again, the

church was so crowded full with folk who wished to
hear the new priest that there was scarce standing-
room. Well, he came again, and went straight up
into the pulpit, and there he stood awhile and said
never a word. But all at once he burst out, and
bawled at the top of his voice
" Hearken to me, old Nannygoat Bridget !
Why in
"
the world do you sit so far back in the church ?
" "
Oh, your reverence," said she, if you must know,
it's because my shoes are all in holes."
"That's no reason ;
for you might take an old bit of

pig-skin and stitch yourself new shoes, and then you

could also come far forward in the church, like the
-other fine ladies. For the rest, you all ought to bethink

yourselves of the way you are going for I see when ;

ye come to church, some of you come from the north

and some from the south, and it is the same when you
go from church again. But sometimes ye stand and
loiter on the way, and then it may well be asked,
'What will become of you ? Yea who can tell what
'

will become of every one of us ? By the way, I have

to give notice of a black mare which has strayed from
the old priest's widow. She has hair on her fetlocks
and a falling mane, and other marks which I will
not name in this place. Besides, I may tell you I

have a hole in my old breeches-pocket, and I know it,

but you do not know it ;

and another thing you do not
 The Charcoal-Burner 153

know, and which I do not know, is whether any of you

has a of cloth to patch that hole.
bit Amen."
Some few of the hearers were very well pleased
with this sermon. They thought it sure he would
make a brave priest in time; but, to tell the truth,
most of them thought it too bad, and when the dean
came they complained of the priest, and said no one
had ever heard such sermons before, and there was
even one of them who knew the last by heart, and
wrote it down and read it to the dean.
" " for
I call a very good sermon," said the dean,
it

itwas likely that he spoke in parables as to seeking

light and shunning darkness and deeds, and as to its

those who were walking either on the broad or the

" that was a
strait path ; but most of all," he said,

grand parable when he gave that notice about the

priest's black mare, and how it would fare with us
all at the last. The pocket with the hole in it was
to show the need of the church, and the piece of

cloth to
patch was the gifts and offerings of the
it

congregation." That was what the dean said.

As for the parish, what they said was, " Ay ay ! !

so much we could understand that it was to go into

the priest's pocket."
The end was, the dean said he thought the parish
had got such a good and understanding priest, there
was no fault to find with him, and so they had to make
the best of him; but after awhile, as he got worse
instead of better, they complained of him to the

bishop.
Well sooner or later the bishop came, and there
!

was to be a visitation. But, the day before, the priest

154 Tales from the Fjeld
had gone into the church, unbeknown to anybody, and
sawed the props of the pulpit all but in two, so that it
would only just hang together if one went up into
it very carefully. So when the people were gathered
together and he was to preach before the bishop, he

crept up into the pulpit and began to expound as he was

wont; and when he had gone on awhile, he got more
in earnest, threw his arms about and bawled out
" If there be
any here who is wicked or given to ill

deeds, it were better he left this place ; for this very

day there shall be a fall, such as hath not been seen
since the world began."
With that he struck the reading-desk like thunder,
and lo the desk and the priest and the whole pulpit
!

tumbled down on the floor of the church with such a

crash, that thewhole congregation ran out of church
as if doomsday were at their heels.
But then the bishop told the fault-finders he was
amazed that they dared to complain of a priest who
had such gifts in the pulpit, and so much wisdom that
he could foresee things about to happen. For his
part, he thought he ought to be a dean at least, and it
was not long either before he was a dean. So there
was no help for it they had to put up with him.
;

Now it so happened that the king and queen had no

children ;
but when the king heard that perhaps there
was one coming, he was eager to know if it would be
an heir to his crown and realm, or if it would only be
a princess. So all the wise men in the land were
gathered to the palace, that they might say beforehand
what it would be. But when there was not a man of

them that could say that, both the king and the bishop
 The Charcoal-Burner 155
it was
thought of the charcoal-burner, and not long
before they got him between them, and asked him
about it. "No!" he said, "that was past his power,
for it was not good to guess at what no man alive could
know."
"All very dare sa}
fine, I
r
," said the king. "It's all

the same to me, of course, if you know it or if you

don't know it ; but, you know, you are the wise priest

and the true prophet who can foretell things to come ;

and all I can say is, if you don't tell it me, you shall
lose your gown. And, now I think of it, I'll try you
first."

So he took the biggest silver tankard he had and

went down to the seashore, and in a little while called
the priest.
" If me now what there
you can tell is in this tankard,"
said the king, "you will be able to tell me the other
I
5 6 Tales Jrom the Fjeld
"
also ;
and as he said this, he held the lid of the
tankard tight.
The charcoal-burner only wrung his hands and be-
moaned himself.
"
Oh !
you most wretched crab and cripple on this
"
earth," he cried out, this is what all your back-

slidings and sidelong tricks have brought on you."

" "
Ah "
! how could you say you
cried out the king,
"
did not know
you must know he had a crab in
? for
the tankard. So the charcoal-burner had to go into
the parlour to the queen. He took a chair and sat
down in the middle of the floor, while the queen

walked up and down the room.

"
One should never count one's chickens before they
are hatched, and never quarrel about a baby's name
before it is born," said the charcoal-burner; "but I
never heard or saw such a thing before When the !

queen comes toward me, I almost think it will be a

prince, and when she goes away from me it looks as
if it would be a princess."

Lo when the time came, it was both a prince and a

!

princess, for twins were born and so the charcoal- ;

burner had hit the mark that time too. And because
he could tell that which no man could know, he got
money in carts full, and was the next man to the king
in the recxlm.

"
Trip, trap, trill,
A man is often more than he will."
 The Box with Something
Pretty in it

on a time there was a little boy who was

ONCE out walking on the road, and
walked a bit he found a box.
when he had

" I am
sure there must be something pretty in this
box," he said to himself; but however much he turned

it, and however much he twisted it,

he was not able to get it open.
But when he had walked a bit

farther, he found a little tiny key.

Then he got tired and sat down, and
all once he thought what fun it
at

would be if the key fitted the box,

for it had a little keyhole in it. So
he took the little key out of his

pocket, and then he blew first into

the pipe of the key, and afterwards
into the keyhole, and then he put
the key into the keyhole and turned
" "
it went within the lock
it.
Snap !
;

and when he tried the hasp, the box "IS

was open.
But can you guess what there was in the box ? Why,
a cow's tail; andif the cow's tail had been
longer, this
story would have been longer too.

157
 The Three Lemons

NCE on a time there were

three brothers, who had
lost their parents; and as

they had left nothing be-

hind them on which the
lads could live, they had
to go out into the world to
try their luck. The two
elder fitted themselves out
as well as they could ;
but the youngest, whom they
called Taper Tom, because he always sat
in the

chimney-corner and held tapers of pine-wood, him

they would not have with them.
The two set out early in the grey dawn but, how- ;

ever fast they went, or did not go, Taper Tom came
just as soon as the others to the king's palace. So
when they got there, they asked for work. The king
said he had nothing for them to do ; but as they were
so pressing, he'd see if he could not find them some-
thing there must be always something to do in such
a big house. Yes they might drive nails into the
!

wall ; and when they had done driving them in, they
might pull them out again. When they had done that,
they might carry wood and water into the kitchen.
158
 The Three Lemons 159

Taper Tom was the handiest in driving nails into

the wall and in pulling them out again, and he was the
handiest also in carrying wood and water. So his
brothers were jealous of him, and said he had given
out that he was good enough to get the king the

prettiest princess who was to be found in the twelve

kingdoms ;
for you must know the king had lost his
old dame and was a widower. When the king heard
that, he told Taper Tom he must do what he had said,
or else he would make them lay him on the block and

chop his head off.

Taper Tom answered he had never said nor
thought anything of the kind, but, as the king was so
stern, he would try what he could do. So he got him
a scrip of food over his shoulders, and set off from the

palace but he had not gone far on the road before he

;

grew hungry, and wanted to taste the food they had

given him when he set out. So when he had seated
himself to rest at his ease under a spruce by the road-
side, up came an old hag hobbling, who asked what he
had in his scrip.
" meat and fresh meat," said the lad. " If you
Salt
are hungry, granny, come and take a snack with me."
Yes She thanked him, and then she said may
!

be she would do him a good turn herself; and away

she hobbled through the wood. So when Taper Tom
had eaten and had rested, he threw his scrip
his fill

over his shoulder and set off again but he had not ;

gone far before he found a pipe. That, he thought,

would be nice to have with him and play on by the
way and it was not long before he brought the sound
;

out of it, you may fancy. But then there came about
160 Tales from the Fjeld

him such a swarm of little Trolls, and each asked the

other in full cry
" What has
my lord to order ? What has my lord
"
to order ?

Taper Tom said he never knew he was lord over

them but if he was to order anything, he wished they
;

would fetch him the prettiest princess to be found in

twelve kingdoms. Yes that was no great thing, the

!

Trolls thought ; they knew well enough where

little

she was, and they could show him the way, and then
he might go and get her for himself, for they had no
power to touch her.
Then they showed him the way, and he got to the
end of his journey well and happily. There was not
any one who laid so much as t\vo sticks across in his
way. It was a Troll's castle, and in it sat three lovely
 The Three Lemons 161

princesses ;
but as soon as ever Taper Tom came in,
they all lost their wits for fear, and ran about like
scared lambs, and all at once they were turned into
three lemons that lay in the window. Taper Tom was
so sorry and unhappy at that, he scarce knew which
way But when he had thought a little, he
to turn.
took and put the lemons into his pocket, for he
thought they would be good to have if he got thirsty
by the way, for he had heard say lemons were sour.
So when he had gone a bit of the way, he got so hot
and thirsty; water was not to be had, and he did not
know what he should do to quench his thirst. So
he thinking of the lemons, and took one of
fell to
them out and bit a hole in it. But lo inside sat the !

princess as far as her armpits, and screamed out

" Water "
water ! Unless she got water, she
! must
die, she said.
Yesthe lad ran about looking for water as though
!

he were a mad thing; but there was no water to be

got, and all at once the princess was dead.
So when he had gone a bit farther, he got still hotter
and thirstier ;
and as he could find nothing to quench
his thirst, he pulled out the second lemon and bit a hole
in it. Inside it was also a princess, sitting as far as
her armpits, and she was still lovelier than the first.
She, too, screamed for water, and said if she could not
get it she must die outright. So Taper Tom hunted
under stone and moss, but he could find no water; and
so the end was the second princess died too.
Taper Tom thought things got worse and worse, and
so it was, for the farther he went the hotter it got. The
earth was so dry and burnt up, there was not a drop
L
1 62 Tales from the Fjeld

of water to be found, and he was not far off being half

dead of thirst. He kept himself as long as he could
from biting a hole in the lemon he still had, but at last
there was no help for it. So when he had bitten the
hole, there sat a princess inside it also ;
she was the
loveliest in twelve kingdoms, and she screamed out if
she could not get water she must die at once. So Taper
Tom ran about hunting for water; and this time he fell
upon the king's miller, and he showed him the way to
the mill-dam. So when he came to the dam with her
and gave her some water, she came quite out of the
lemon, and was stark naked. So Taper Tom had to
let her have the wrap he had to throw over her, and

then she hid herself up a tree while he went up to the

king's palace to fetch her clothes, and to tell the king
how he had got her, and, in a word, told him the whole
story.
But while this was going on, the cook came down to

the mill-dam to fetch water; and when she saw the

lovely face which played on the water, she thought it
was her own, and grew so glad she fell a-dancing and
jumping because she had grown so pretty.
"The de'ilcarry water," she cried, "since I am so
"
pretty ;
and away she threw the water-buckets. But
in a little while she got to see that the face in the
mill-dam belonged to the princess who sat up in the
tree ;
and then she got so cross, that she tore her
down from the tree, and threw her out into the dam.
But she herself put on Taper Tom's cloak, and crept
up into the tree.
So when the king came and set eyes on the ugly

swarthy kitchen-maid, he turned white and red but ;

" I am so pretty. "
 The Three Lemons

when he heard how they said she was the loveliest

in twelve kingdoms, he thought he could not help be-

lieving there must be something in it; and besides,

he felt for poor Taper Tom, who had taken so much

pains to get her for him.
" She'll
get better, perhaps, as time goes on," he
thought, "when she dressed smartly and wears
ia
"
fine clothes ;
and so he took her home with him.
Then they sent for all the wig-makers and needle-
I 66 Tales from the Fjeld

women, and she was dressed and clad like a princess ;

all they washed and dressed her, she was still

but for
as ugly and black as ever.
After a while the kitchen-maid was to go to the dam
to fetch
water, and then she caught a great silver
fish in her bucket. She bore it up to the palace, and
showed it to the king, and he thought it grand and
fine ;
but the ugly princess said it was some witch-
craft, and they must burn it, for she soon saw what
it was. Well the fish was burnt, and next morning
!

they found a lump of silver in the ashes. So the cook

came and told it to the king, and he thought it passing
strange; but the princess said it was all witchcraft,
and bade them bury it the dung-heap.
in The king
was much against it ;
but she left him neither rest nor

peace, and so he saidat last they might do it.

But next day stood a tall lovely linden tree on
lo !

the spot where they had buried the lump of silver, and
that linden had leaves which gleamed like silver. So
when they told the king that, he thought it passing

strange but the princess said it was nothing but

;

witchcraft, and they must cut down the linden at once.

The king was against that ;
but the princess plagued
him so long that at last he had to give way to her in
this also.
But lo ! when the lasses went out to gather the chips
fires, they were pure silver.
of the linden to light the
"It worth while," one of them said, "to say
isn't

anything about this to the king or the princess, or else

they too will be burnt and melted. It is better to

hide them in our drawers. They will be good to have

when a lover conies, and we are going to marry."
 The Three Lemons 1
67

Yes they were all of one mind as to that but

! ;

when they had borne the chips awhile, they grew so

fearfully heavy that they could not help looking to see
what it was and then they found the chips had been
;

changed into a child, and it was not long before it grew

into the loveliest princess you ever set eyes on.
The lasses could see very well that something wrong
lay under all this. So they got her clothes, and flew
off to find the lad who was to fetch the loveliest prin-
cess in twelvekingdoms, and told him their story.
So when Taper Tom came, the princess told him
her story, and how the cook had come and torn her
from the tree and thrown her into the dam and how;

she had been the silver fish,and the silver lump, and
the linden, and the chips, and how she was the true
princess.
It was not so easy to get the king's ear, for the ugly
black cook hung over him early and late but at last ;

they made out a story, and said that a challenge had

come from a neighbour king, and so they got him out ;

and when he came to see the lovely princess, he was

so taken with her, he was for holding the bridal feast
on the spot and when he heard how badly the ugly
;

black cook had behaved to her, he said they should

take her and roll her down-hill in a cask full of nails.
Then they kept the bridal feast at such a rate that it

was heard and talked of over twelve kingdoms.

 The Priest and the Clerk

on a time there was a priest who was such

ONCE a bully that he bawled out, ever so
whenever he met
far off,

any one driving on the king's

highway
" Out out of the Here comes the
of the way !
way !

"
priest !

One day when he was driving along and behaving

so, he met the king himself
" "
Out of the way ! he bawled a
out of the way !

long way But the

off. king drove on and kept his
own so that time it was the priest who had to turn
;

his horse aside, and when the king came alongside

him, he said, "To-morrow you shall come to me to

the palace, and if you can't answer three questions
which I will set you, you shall lose hood and gown
for your pride's sake."
This was something else than the priest was wont
to hear. He could bawl and bully, shout, and behave
worse than badly. All THAT he could do, but ques-
tion and answer was out of his power. So he set off
to the clerk, who was said to be better in a gown than
the priest himself, and told him he had no mind to go
to the king.
1 68
 The Priest and the Clerk 169
" For one fool can ask more than ten wise men can
"
answer ; and the end was, he got the clerk to go in
his stead.
Yes ! the clerk set off, and came to the palace in
the priest's gown and hood. There the king met him

nn iiiiiiiiiiiiiini)iiiiiiuniui|iHiinuiiii mi IIMII

out in the porch with crown and sceptre, and was so

grand, it glittered and gleamed from him.
" Well are "
! there ?
you said the king.
Yes ;
he was there, sure enough.
"Tell me first," said the king, "how far the east is
"
from the west ?

"Just a day's journey," said the clerk.

"
How is that ? " asked the king.
1
70 Tales from the Fjeld
"Don't you know," said the clerk, "that the sun
rises in the east and sets in the west, and he does it
"
just nicely in one day ?
"Very well!" said the king; "but tell me now
what you think I am worth, as you see me stand
"
here ?
" " our Lord was valued at
Well," said the clerk,
thirty pieces of silver, so I don't think I can set your
price higher than twenty-nine."
" All "
said the king
" but as
very fine !
; you are
so wise, perhaps you can tell me what I am thinking
"
about now ?
"Oh!" said the clerk, "you are thinking it's the

priest who stands before you ;

but so help me if you
don't think wrong, for I am the clerk."
"Be off home with you," said the king, "and be you
"
priest, and let him be clerk ; and so it was.
 '

'/S* j-j-

?j i j. > '_

Friends in Life and Death

on a time there were two young men whc

ONCE were such great friends that they swore to one
another they would never part, either in life or
death. One of them died before he was at all old, and
a while after the other wooed a farmer's daughter,
little

and was to be married to her. So when they were

bidding guests to the wedding, the bridegroom went
himself to the churchyard where his friend lay, and
knocked at his grave and called him by name. No ! he
neither answered nor came. Heknocked again, and he
called again, but no one came. A third time he knocked
louder and called louder to him, to come that he might
171
172 Taks from the Fjeld

talk to him. So, after a long, long time, he heard a

rustling-, and at last thedead man came up out of the
grave.
" It was well you came at last," said the bridegroom,
" for I have been standing here ever so long, knocking
and calling for you."
" " so
I was a long way off," said the dead man,
that I did not quite hear you till the last time you
called."
"All right!" said the bridegroom; "but I am going
to stand bridegroom to-day, and you mind well, I dare
say, what we used to talk about, and how we were
to stand by each other at our weddings as best man."
" I mind it well," said the dead man, " but you must
wait a bittill I have made myself a little smart and, ;

after no one can say I have on a wedding garment."

all,

The lad was hard put to it for time, for he was over-
due at home to meet the guests, and it was all but time
to go to church ;
but still he had to wait awhile and let

the dead man go room by

himself, as he begged,
into a
so that he might brush himself up a bit, and come
smart to church like the rest ; for, of course, he was to
go with the bridal train to church.
Yes the dead man went with him both to church
!

and from church, but when they had got so far on with
the wedding that they had taken off the bride's crown,
he said he must go. So, for old friendship's sake, the
bridegroom said he would go with him to the grave
again. And
as they walked to the churchyard the
bridegroom asked his friend if he had seen much that
was wonderful, or heard anything that was pleasant to
know.
 Friends in Life and Death 173
"Yes! that I have," said the dead man. "I have
seen much, and heard many strange things."
"That must be fine to see," said the bridegroom.
" have a mind
Do you know, I to go along with you,
and see all that with eyes." my own
" " but
You are quite welcome," said the dead man ;
it may chance that you may be away some time."
"So might," said the bridegroom; but for all that
it

he would go down into the grave.

But before they went down the dead man took and
cut a turf out of the graveyard and put it on the
young man's head. Down and down they went, far
and far away, through dark, silent wastes, across
wood, and moor, and bog, till they came to a great,
heavy gate, which opened to them as soon as the dead
man touched it. Inside it began to grow lighter, first
as though it were moonshine, and the farther they
wtnt the lighter it got. At last they got to a spot
where there were such green hills, knee-deep in grass,
and on them fed a large herd of kine, who grazed
as they went but for all they ate those kine looked
;

poor, and thin, and wretched.

" What's all this ? " said the lad who had been bride-
"
groom why are they so thin and in such bad case,
;

though they eat, every one of them, as though they were

"
well paid to eat ?
"This is a likeness of those who never can have
enough, though they rake and scrape it together ever
so much," said the dead man.
So they journeyed on far and farther than far, till
they came to some hill pastures, where there was
naught but bare rocks and stones, with here and there
1
74 Tales from the Fjeld

a blade of grass. Here was grazing another herd of

kine, which were so sleek, and fat, and smooth that
their coats shone again.
"What are these," asked the bridegroom, "who
have so little to live on, and yet are in such good
I wonder what
plight ? they can be."
"This," said the dead man, "is a likeness of those
who are content with the little they have, however
poor it be."
So they went farther and farther on till
they came
to a great lake, and it and all about it was so bright
and shining that the bridegroom could scarce bear to
look at it it was so dazzling.
"
Now, you must sit down here," said the dead man,
"till I come back. I shall be away a little while."

With that he set off, and the bridegroom sat down,

and as he sat sleep fell on him, and he forgot every-
thing in sweet deep slumber. After a while the dead
man came back.
" It was of
good to sit you still here, so that I could
findyou again."
But when the bridegroom tried to get up, he was all
overgrown with moss and bushes, so that he found
himself sitting in a thicket of thorns and brambles.
So when he had made his way out of it, they
journeyed back again, and the dead man ledhim by
the same way to the brink of the grave. There they
parted and said farewell, and as soon as the bride-
groom got out of the grave he went straight home to
the house where the wedding was.
But when he got where he thought the house stood,
he could not find his way. Then he looked about on
 Friends in Life and Death 175
all sides, and asked every one he met, but he could
neither hear nor learn anything of the bride, or the

wedding, or his kindred, or his father and mother ;

nay, he could not so much as find any one whom he
knew. And all he met wondered at the strange shape,

who went about and looked for all the world like a
scarecrow.
Well ! as he could find no one he knew, he made
his w ay
r
and told him of his kinsmen and
to the priest,
all had happened up to the time he stood Lride-
that

groom, and how he had gone away in the midst of his

wedding. But the priest knew nothing at all about
it at first; but when he had hunted in his old registers,

he found out that the marriage he spoke of had hap-

pened a long, long time ago, and that all the folk he
talked of had lived four hundred years before.

grown up a great stout oak

In that time there had
and when he saw it he clambered
in the priest's yard,

up into it, that he might look about him. But the

greybeard who had sat in heaven and slumbered for
four hundred years, and had now at last come back,
did not come down from the oak as well as he went

up. He was stiff and gouty, as was likely enough ;

and so when he was coming down he made a false
step, fell down, broke his neck, and that was the endi
of him.
 The Father of the Family

on a time there was a man who was out

ONCE on a journey so at last he

;

a fine farm, and there was

came to a big
a house so grand
and

that it might well have been a little palace.

" Here it would be leave to spend the
good to get
night," said the man to himself, as he went inside the
gate. Hard by stood an old man with grey hair and
beard, who was hewing wood.
" " Can
Good evening, father," said the wayfarer. I
"
have house-room here to-night ?
" I'm not father in the
house," said the greybeard.
"
Go into the kitchen, and talk to my father."
The wayfarer went into the kitchen, and there he
met a man who was still older, and he lay on his knees
before the hearth, and was blowing up the fire.
"Good evening, father," said the wayfarer. "Can I

get house-room to-night?"

"I'm not father in the house," said the old man ;

"but go in and talk to my father. You'll find him

sitting at the table in the parlour."
So the wayfarer went into the parlour, and talked to

him who sat at the table. He was much older than

either of the other two, and there he sat, with his teeth
176
 The Father of the Family 1
77
chattering, and shivered and shook, and read out of a

big book, almost like a little child.

"
Good evening, father," said the man. "Will you
let me have house-room here to-night?"
" I'm not man who sat
father in the house," said the
at the table, whose teeth chattered, and who shivered
" but
and shook ; speak to my father yonder he who
sits on the bench."

So the wayfarer went to him who sat on the bench,

and he was trying to fill himself a pipe of tobacco but ;

he was so withered up and his hands shook so with the

palsy that he could scarce hold the pipe.
"Good evening, father," said the wayfarer again.
" Can I "
get house-room here to-night ?
" I'm not father in the
house," said the old withered
"
fellow ; but speak to my father who lies in bed
yonder."
So the wayfarer went to the bed, and there lay an
old, old man, who but for his pair of big staring eyes

scarcely looked alive.

"Good evening, father," said the wayfarer. "Can I

get house-room here to-night ?"

" I'm not father in the
house," said the old carle with
the big eyes ; " but go and speak to my father, who
lies yonder in the cradle."

Yes, the wayfarer went to the cradle, and there lay

a carle as old as the hills, so withered and shrivelled
he was no bigger than a baby, and it was hard to tell

that there was any life in him, except that there was a
sound of breathing every now and then in his throat.
"Good evening, father," said the wayfarer. "May
"
I have house-room here to-night ?
M
1
78 Tales from the Fjeld

It was long before he got an answer, and still longer

before the carle brought it out but the end was he
;

said, as all the rest, that he was not father in the

" But "
and speak to my father
house. go," said he, ;

you'll find him hanging up in the horn yonder against

the wall."
So the wayfarer stared about round the walls, and
at last he caught sight of the horn ; but when he
looked for him who hung in it, he looked more like a

film of ashes that had the likeness of a man's face.

Then he was so frightened that he screamed out
"
Good evening, father ! will you let me have house-
"
room here to-night ?
Then came out of the horn like a little
a chirping

torn-tit, and it he could do to make out that the

was all

chirping meant, "YES, MY CHILD."

And now a table came in which was covered with
the costliest dishes, and with ale and brandy ; and
when he had eaten and drank, there came in a good
bed, with reindeer skins; and the wayfarer was so
very glad because he had at last found the right father
in the house.
 Three Years without Wages

on a time there was a poor householder

ONCE who had an
only son, but he was so lazy and
unhandy, this son, that he would neither mix
with folk nor turn his hand to anything in the world.
So the father said
" If I'm not to
go on for ever feeding this long lazy
fellow, I must pack him off a long way, where no one
knows him. If he runs away then it won't be so easy
for him to come home."
Yes the man took his son with him, and went
!

about far and wide offering him as a serving-man but ;

there was no one who would have him.

So last of all they came to a rich man, of whom the
story went that he turned a penny over seven times
before he let it go. He was to take the lad as a
ploughboy, and there he was to serve three years
without wages. But when the three years were over
the man was go to the town two mornings, and buy
to
the first
thing he met that was for sale, but the third
morning the lad was to go himself to the town, and

buy the first thing he met, and these three things he

was to have instead of wages.
Well, the lad served his three years out, and
179
1 80 Tales from the Fjeld
behaved better than any one would have believed.
He was not the best ploughboy in the world, sure
enough ;
but then his master was not of the best
sort either, for he let him go the whole time with the
same clothes he had when he came, so that at last they
were nothing else but patch on patch and mend on
mend. Now, when the man was to ret off and buy, he
was up and away at cockcrow, long before dawn.
" Dear wares must be seen
by daylight," he said ;

"
they are not to be found on the road to town so
early. Still, they may be dear enough, for after all it's

all risk and chance what I find."

Well, the first person he found in the street was

an old hag, and she carried a basket with a cover.
" Good
day, granny," said the man.
" Good day to you, father," said the old hag.
"What have you got in your basket?" asked the
man.
" "
Do you mean business ? said the old hag.

"Yes, I do, for was to buy the first thing I met."

I
"
Well, if you want to know you had better buy it,"
said the old hag.
" But what does "
it cost ? asked the man.
she must have fourpence.
Yes !

The man thought that no such very high price after

all. He couldn't do better, and lifted the lid, and it
was a puppy that lay in the basket.
When the man came home from his trip to town, the
lad stood out in the yard, and wondered what he should
get for his wages for the first year.
" So soon "
home, master ? said the lad.
Yes, he was.
 Three Tears without Wages 181

"What was it you bought ? " he asked.

"What I bought," said the man, "was not worth
much. scarcely know if I ought to show it ; but I
I

bought the first thing that was to be had, and it was a

puppy."
" "
Now, thank you
so much," said the lad. I have
always been so fond of dogs."
Next morning things went no better, The man was
up at dawn again, and he
had not got well into the
town before he saw the
old hag with her basket.
" Good
day, granny,"
he said.
" Good day to you, sir,"

she said.
"What have you got
"
in your basket to-day ?
asked the man.
" If wish to know
you
you had better buy it,"
said the old hag.
" What does it cost ? "
asked the man.
" Yesshe must have fourpence
!
;
she never had
more than one price," she said.
So the man said he would take it ;
it would be hard
to find anything cheaper. When he lifted the lid this

time there lay a kitten in it.

When he got home the lad stood out in the yard,

waiting and wondering what he should get for his
wages the second year.
" Is that "
you, master ? he said.
i 82 Tales from the Fjeld

Yes, there he was.

"
What did you buy to-day now ? " asked the lad.
"
Oh it was worse, and no better," said the man
!
;

"
but it was just as we bargained. I
bought the first

thing I met, and it was nothing else than this kitten."

"You could not have met anything better," said the
" have been as fond of cats
lad ;
I all my life as of
dogs."
" " I
Well," thought the man, did not get so badly
out of that after all but there's another day to come,
;

when he is to go to town himself."

The third morning the lad set off, and just as he got
into the town he met the same old hag with her basket
on her arm.
"
Good morning, granny! " said the lad.
"
Good morning to you, my son," said the old hag.
" "
What have you got in your basket ?
"
If you want to know you had better buy it," said
the old hag.
" "
Will you sell it, then ? asked the lad.
Yes, she would and fourpence was her price.
;

"
That was cheap enough," said the lad, and he
would have it, for he was to buy the first thing he
met.
" Now basket and
you may take it, all," said the old
"
hag ;
but mind you don't look inside it before you
"
get home. Do you hear what Isay ?
"
Nay, nay, never fear, he wouldn't look inside it ;

was it likely ? " But for all that he walked and

wondered what there could be inside the basket, and
whether he would or no he could not help just lifting
the lid and peeping in. In the twinkling of an eye out
 Three Tears without Wages 1 83

popped a little lizard, and ran away so fast along the

street that the air whistled after it. There was no-
thing else in the basket.
" " " and don't
Nay nay ! cried the lad,
!
stop a bit,
run off so. You know I have bought you."
" Stick "
me in the tail stick me in the tail ! bawled
the lizard.
Well, the lad was not slow in running after it and
sticking his knife into its tail just as it was crawling
into a hole in the wall, and that very minute it was
turned into a young man as fine and handsome as the

grandest prince, and a prince he was indeed.

" Now " for
you have saved me," said the prince,
that old hag with whom you and your master have
dealt is a witch, and me she has changed into a lizard,
and my brother and sister into a puppy and kitten."
" "
A
pretty story said the lad.
!

" said the " and now she was on her

Yes," prince ;

way to cast us into the fjord and kill us ;

but if any
one came and wanted to buy us she must sell us for
fourpence each ; that was settled, and that was all my
father could do. Now you must come home to him
and get the meed for what you have done."
" " it's a "
I dare say," said the lad, long way off ?
" "
Oh," said the prince, not so far at all. There it

is yonder," he said, as he pointed to a great hill in the

distance.
So they set off as fast as they could, but, as was to
be weened, it was farther off than it looked, and so they
did not reach the hill till far on in the night.
Then the prince began to knock and knock.
"WHO IS THAT," said some one inside the hill,
r
84 Tales from the Fjeld
"
that knocks at my door and spoils my rest ? and
that some one was so loud of speech that the earth

quaked.
" Oh
open the door, father, there's a dear," said the
!

"
prince. It is your son who has come home again."

Yes he opened the door fast and well.

!

" I almost
thought you lay at the bottom of the
" But
sea," said the greybeard. you are not alone,
I see," he said.
"This is the lad who saved me," said the prince.
" have asked him hither that you may give him
I

his meed."

Yes, he would see to that, said the old fellow.

" But now " I am sure
you must step in," he said ;

you have need of rest."

Yes they went in and
! sat down, and the old man
threw on the an armful of dry fuel and one or two
fire

logs, so that the fire blazed up and shone as clear as

the day in every corner, and whichever way they
looked it was grander than grand. Anything like it

the lad had never seen before, and such meat and
drink as the greybeard set before them he had never
tasted either
;
and all the plates, and cups, and stoops,
and tankards were all of pure silver or real gold.
It was not easy to stop the lads. They ate and
drank and were merry, and afterwards they slept till
far on next morning. But the lad was scarcely awake
before the greybeard came with a morning draught
in a tumbler of gold.
So when he had huddled on his clothes and broken
man took him round with him and
his fast, the old
showed him everything, that he might choose some-
 Three Tears without Wages 185

thing that he would like to have as his meed for

saving his son. There was much to see and to choose

from, you may fancy.
"Now what will you have ?" said the king; "you
see there is plenty of choice you can have what you
;

please."
But the lad said he would think it over and ask
the prince. Yes ! the king was willing he should do
that.

"Well," said the prince, "you have seen many

grand things."
"Yes, I have, as was likely," said the lad; "but
tell me, what shall I choose of all the wealth ? Do tell
me, for your father says I may choose what I please."
" Do not take
anything of all you have seen," said
" but he has a little
the prince ; ring on his finger,
thatyou must ask for."
Yes he did so, and begged
! for the little ring which
he had on his finger.
"
Why ! it is the dearest thing I have," said the
king; "but, after all, my son is just as dear, and so
you shall have it all the same. Do you know what
"
it is good for ?
No he knew nothing about it.
!

"
When you have this ring on your finger," said
the king, "you can have anything you wish for."
So the lad thanked the king, and the king and the
prince bade him God speed home, and told him to be
sure and take care of the ring.
So he had not gone far on his way before he thought
he would prove what the ring was worth, and so he
wished himself a new suit of clothes, and he had scarce
i86 Tales from the Fjeld
wished for them before he had them on him. And now
he was as grand and bright as a new-struck penny.
So he thought it would be fine fun to play his father
a trick.
" He was not so very nice all the time I was at
"
home ;
and so he wished he was standing before his

"IS

father's door, just as ragged as he was of old, and in a

second he stood at the door.
" Good
day, father, and thank you for our last

meal," said the lad.

But when the father saw that he had come back still
more ragged and tattered than when he set out, he
began to bellow and to bemoan himself.
" There's no "You have
helping you," he said. not
so much as earned clothes to your back all the time you
have been away."
 Three Years 'without Wages 187
" Don't be in such a
way, father," said the lad, "you
ought never to judge a man by his clothes; and now
you shall be my spokesman, and go up to the oalace
and woo the king's daughter for me." That was what
the lad said.
" " this is
Oh, fie, fie," said the father, only gibing
and jeering."
But the lad said it was the right down earnest, and
so he took a birch cudgel and drove his father up to
the gate of the palace, and
there he came hobbling right
up to the king with his eyes
full of tears.
" "
Now, now ! said the king,
what's the matter, my man ?
If you have suffered wrong, I

will see you righted."

No, it wasn't that, he said,
but he had a son who had
brought him great sorrow, for
he could never make a man
of him, and now he must say he had gone clean out
of the little wit he had before and then he went on
;

" For now he has hunted me up to the palace gate

with a big birch cudgel, and forced me to ask for the
king's daughter to wife."
"Hold your tongue, my man," said the king; "and
as for this son of yours, go and ask him to come here
indoors to me, and then we will see what to make of
him."
So the lad ran in before the king till his rags
fluttered behind him.
i88 Tales from the Fjeld
"
"Am I have your daughter ?
to
" That
was just what we were to talk about," said
the king; "perhaps she mayn't suit r
} ou, and perhaps
you mayn't suit her either."
"
That was very likely " said the lad.
!

Now you must know there had just come a big

ship from over the sea, and she could be seen from the
palace windows.
" All the same !" said the " If
king. you are good

to make a ship in an hour or two like that lying

yonder in the fjord and looking so brave, you may per-
haps have her." That was what the king said.
" "
Nothing worse than that said the lad.
!

So he went down to the strand and sat down on a

sandhill, and when he had sat there long enough, he
wished that a ship might be out on the fjord fully
furnished with masts and sails and rigging, the very
match of that which lay there already. And as he
 Three Tears without Wages 189
wished for it there and when the king saw there
it lay,
were two ships for one, he came down to the strand to
see the rights of it, and there he saw the lad standing
out in a boat with a brush in his hand as though he
were painting out spots and making blisters in the
paint good. But as soon as he saw the king down on
the shore he threw away the brush and said
" Now the "
ship is ready, may 1 have your daughter ?
"This is all very well," said the king, "but you try
your hand at another masterpiece first. If you can
build a palace, a match to my palace, in one or two

hours, we will see about it." That was what the king
said.
" "
Nothing worse than that bawled out the lad and
!

strode off. So when he had sauntered about so long,

that the time was nearly up, he wished that a palace

might stand there the very match of that which stood

there already.It was not long, I trow, before it stood

there, andwas not long either before the king came,

it

both with queen and princess, to look about him in

the new palace. There stood the lad again with his

broom and swept.

" Here's the
palace right and ready," he called out;
" "
may I have her now ?
"Very well, very well," said the king, "you may
come inand we will talk it over," for he saw clearly
the lad could do more than eat his meat, and so he
walked up and down, and thought and thought how he
might be rid of him. Yes there they walked, the king
!

first and foremost, and after him the queen, and then

the princess next before the lad. So as they walked

along, all at once the lad wished that he might become
190 Tales from the Fjeld

the handsomest man

world, and so he was in
in all the

a trice. When saw how handsome he had

the princess

grown in no time, she gave the queen a nudge, and the

queen passed it on to the king, and when they had all
stared their full, they saw still more plainly the lad
was more than he seemed to be when he first came in
all tattered and torn. So they settled it among them,
that the princess should go daintily to work till she
had found out all about him. Yes the princess made
!

nerself as sweet and as soft as a whole firkin of

butter, and coaxed and hoaxed the lad, telling him
she could not bear him out of her eyes day or night.
So when the first evening was coming to an end, she
said
" As we are to have one another, you and I, you
must keep nothing back from me, dearest, and so you
will tell me, I am sure, how you came to make all these

grand things."
"
"Aye, aye," then said the lad, all that you'll come
to know in good time. Only let us be man and wife ;

there's no good talking about it till then." That was

what he said.
The next evening the princess was rather put out.
" She could see with half an " that he
eye," she said,
couldn't care very much for his sweetheart when he
wouldn't tell her what she asked him. So it would be
with the rest of his love-making, when he wouldn't
all

meet her wishes in such a little thing."

Now the lad was quite cut to the heart, and that
they might be friends again he told her the whole
story from beginning to end. She was not slow in
telling it to the king and queen, and so they laid their
 Three Tears without Wages 1
9 1

heads together how they might get the ring from the
lad, and when they had done that they thought it
would be no such hard thing to be rid of him.
At night the princess come with some sleeping-
drops, and said now she would pour out a little philtre
for her own was sure he did not care
true love, for she

enough was what she said. Yes! he

for her; that

thought no harm could come of it, and so he drained

man, and in a trice he fell so sound
off the drink like a

asleep, they might have pulled the house down over

his head without waking him. So the princess took
the ring off his finger and put it on her own, and
wished the lad might lie on the dungheap outside in
the street, just as tattered and beggarly as he was
when he came in, and in his place shewished for
the handsomest prince in the world. In the twinkling
of an eye it all happened. As the night wore on the
lad woke up on the dunghill, and at first he thought
it was only a dream, but when he found the ring was
gone he knew how it had all happened, and then he
got so bewildered that he set off and was just going
to jump into the lake and drown himself.
But just then he met the cat which his master had
bought for him.
" "
Whither away ? asked the cat.
"To the lake to drown myself," said the lad.
" Don't think of
it," said the cat; "you shall get

your ring back again, never fear."

"Oh, shall I, shall I ?" said the lad.

By time the cat was already

this off, and as she
started she met a rat.
" Now I'll take and gobble you up," said the cat.
192 Tales from the Fjeld

"Oh !
pray don't," said the rat, "and I'll
get 31
ou the
ring again."
" If " or "
so, he quick about it," said the cat,
So after they had taken up their abode in the palace,
the rat ran about poking his nose into everything,

trying to get into the prince and princess's bedroom.

At last he found a little hole and crept through it.
Then he heard how they lay awake talking, and the
rat could that the prince had the ring on his
tell
" Mind
finger, for the princess said, you take great care
of my ring, dear." That was what she said ; but what
the prince said was
" Pooh no one will
! come in hither after the ring

through stone and mortar ; but, for all that, if you think
it on
isn't safe my finger, I can just as well put it into

my mouth."
In a little while the prince turned over on his back,
and go to sleep, and as he did so the ring was
tried to

just slipping down into his throat, and then he coughed

it up, so that it shot out of his mouth and rolled away

over the floor. Pop !

up the rat snapped and crept
it

off with it to the cat who sat outside watching at the

rat-hole.
All this while the king had laid hands on the lad
and put him into a strong tower and doomed him to
lose his life, he had made jeers and gibes at
for that
him and his daughter, and there he was to stay till the
day of his death. Now, as the cat was hard at work
prowling about trying to steal into the tower with the
ring to the lad, a great eagle came flying and pounced
down on her and caught her up in his claws and flew
away with her over the sea. But just in the nick of
 Three Tears without Wages 193
time came a falcon and struck at the eagle, so that he
let the cat fall into the sea; but when the cat felt the

cold water, she got so frightened she dropped the ring

and swam to shore. She had not shaken the water off
her, and smoothed her coat, before she met the dog
which his master had bought for the lad.
" "
Nay nay said the cat, and purred and was in a
! !

"
sad way, what's to be done now ? The ring is gone
and they will take the lad's life."
"I'm sure I don't know," said the dog; "all I know
is that something is riving and rending my inside. It

couldn't be worse if Iwere going to turn inside out."

" Now you see what comes of over-eating yourself,"
said the cat.
"I never more than
I can carry," said the dog;
eat
"and have eaten nothing but a dead fish
this time I

which lay floating up and down on the ebb."

"
May be that fish had swallowed the ring," said the
cat.
"And now I dare say you are going to pay for it
too, for you know you can't digest gold."
" " It's much the
It may well be," said the dog. same
whether one loses life first or last. Perhaps the lad's
life might then be saved."
"
"
Oh ! said the rat, for he was there too, " don't say
that. I don't want much of a hole to creep into, and if
the ring is there, may I never tell the truth if I don't
poke it out."
Well the rat crept down the dog's throat, and it was
!

not long before he came out again with the ring. Then
the cat set off to the tower and clambered up about it,
she found a hole into which she could put her paw,
till

and so she gave back his ring to the lad.

N
194 Tales from the Fjeld

The lad no sooner got it on his finger than he wished

the tower might rend asunder, and at the same moment
he stood in the doorway and scolded both the king and
queen and the princess as a pack of rogues. The king
was not slow in calling out his warriors, and bade them
throw a ring round the tower and seize the lad and
settle him, whether they took him dead or alive. But
the lad only wished that all the soldiers might stand

up to the armpits in the big moss up in the fjeld, and

then they had more than enough to get out again, all
that were not left sticking there. After that he began

again where he left off with the king and his folk, and
when he had got his mouth to say all the bad of them
that he knew and willed, he wished they might be shut

up all their days in the tower into which they had

thrown him. And when they were safe shut up there,
he took the land and realm as his own. Then the dog
became a prince and the cat a princess again her he ;

took and married, and the last I heard of them was,

that they kept it up at the bridal both well and long.
 Our Parish Clerk

NCE on a time there was a

clerk in our parish, who
was very sharp set after
all that was nice and good,
All the parish said his brains
were though he
in his belly, for
was very fond of pretty girls and
buxom wives, still he liked good
meat and drink even better.

"Aye, aye," our clerk;

said
"one can't live long on love and
the south wind." That was his
motto, and that was why he kept
company most with well-to-
do housewives, with those
who were new wedded, or
with pretty lasses who were
sure to marry rich husbands, for there you were sure
to find tit -bits both of beauty and food. That was
what our clerk thought. It wasn't every one, indeed,
who have such a cupboard lover,
thought it so fine to
but yet there were some who looked on it as fine
195
196 Tales from the Fjeld

enough for them, for, after all, a parish clerk stands

a higher than a farmer.
little

Now it fell out there was a rich young lass who had
married our clerk's next-door neighbour. There he
crept in and out, and soon got good friends with the
husband, and better friendsstill with his wife. When
the husband was at home all went well between them,
but as soon as he was away at the mill, or in the
wood, or at floating timber, or at a meeting, the goody
sent word and then they two spent the
to the clerk,

day in revelling There was no one who

and mirth.
found this out, before the ploughboy got wind of it,
and he thought he would just speak of it to his
master; but, somehow or other, he couldn't find a
fitting time till one day when they were together in the
outfield gathering leaves for litter. There they chatted
this and that about lasses and wives, and the master
thought he had made a lucky hit in marrying such a
rich and pretty wife, and he said as much outright.
"Thank God, she both good and clever."
is
" "
Aye, a} e," said the ladevery man is welcome
r
;

to believe what he likes, but if you knew her as well

as I do, you wouldn't say such words at random.
Pretty women are like wind in warm summer weather.

"'And love is such that, willy, nilly,

It takes up with a clerk as well as a lily.'"

" What's that "

you say ? said the man.
" I have
long thought I would tell you that there's a
black bull that walks hoof to hoof and horn to horn
with that milk-white cow in your mead, master that's

what I wanted to say."

 Our Parish Clerk 197
"One can say much in a summer day," said the
man; "but I can't understand what this points to."
"Is it so?" said the lad. "Well, I have long
thought of telling you that our clerk is often and ever
in our house with the mistress, and how they lived as

though there was a bridal every day, while we scarce

get so much as the leavings of their good cheer."

" '
He who will ever taste and try,
Will burn his fingers in the pie,"*

"
said his master. I don't believe a word of what you
say."
"
It's a strange ear that will never hear," said the

lad; "but seeing is believing, and if you will listen

to me, I'm ready to wager ten dollars that you shall
soon have the proof in your own hands."
"Done," said the master; he would bet ten dollars;
nay, for that matter he would bet horse and farm,
and a hundred dollars into the bargain.
Well, that wager was to stand. "But an old fox
is hard to hunt," said the lad, and so his master must
say and do all that his ploughboy wished. When
they got home, he was to say they must set off for the
river and land timber, and his wife must put up some
food for them in hot haste; it was best to look out
while the weather was fine, it might turn to storm in
a trice. Yes that was what the husband said, and
!

the food was ready to the minute. The lad put the
horses to the timber drags, and off they went, but no
farther than half a mile ; there they put the horses up
at a farm, and turned in themselves. As the night
198 Tales Jrom the Fjeld

came on they went back, and when they got home, the
door was locked fast.
"Now we have him," said the lad; "it's hard to
keep off the which one is wont."
field to

So they went bythe back way from the garden, and

so through a trap-door in the cellar into the kitchen.
Then they struck a light and went into the parlour, and
saw what they
saw. Well, our
clerk had eaten
so well that he
lay snoring with
his mouth open
and his nose in
the air; as for
the goody, she
was not awake
either.
" Now see was
you I right ; seeing is believing,
master," said the lad.
" I never
May speak the truth again," said the man,
" if I would have believed ten men it."
telling
" and took him out
Hush, be still," said the lad,

again.
"Man's law is not land's law," said the lad; "but
even a bear can be tamed if } r ou know how to deal
"
with him. Have you any lead, master ?

Yes ! he had, he was sure, more than seventy

bullets in his pouch. Then it was all right. They
took a saucepan, and melted the lead on the spot, and
ran it down our clerk's throat.
" "
Every man has his own taste," said the lad, and
 Our Parish Clerk 1
99
that's why all meat is eaten," as he heard the molten

lead bubbling and frizzling in our clerk's throat.

Then they went out by the way they got in, and
began to knock and thunder at the front door. The
wife woke up and asked who was there.
"
open the door, I say," said the husband.
It is I ;

Then she gave our clerk a nudge in the ribs. " It i&

the master; the master is back," she said. But no!

he did not mind her, and never so much as stirred.
Then she put her knees to his side, and tumbled him
on to the floor, and jumped up and took him by the
legs, and dragged him to the heap of wood behind the
stove, and there she hid him. Till she had done that
she had no time to open the door to her husband.
"Were you gone after christening water that you
"
were gone so long ? asked the man.
she answered, " I dozed off again to sleep,
" "
Oh !

and I did not think it could ever be you either."

"Well!" said her husband, "now you must bring
out some food for me and the boy; we are a'mosl
starved."
" I've "
got no food ready," said the goody. How
can you think of such a thing ? I never thought you
would be back either to-day or to-morrow. Why, you
know you were to go to the river to land timber."
" One can't
hang a hungry man up on the wall like
a clock," said the lad, "and self-help is the best help;
"
shall I bring in the food we packed up, master ?
Yes they did that, and they sat down to eat out
;

of the knapsack but when they got up to put a log or

;

two on the fire, there lay our clerk among the pile of
wood.
2oo Tales from the Fjeld
"
"Why, who in the world is this? asked the man.
"
Oh oh ! ! It's only a beggar-man who came here
so late and begged for house-room he was quite con- ;

tent if he might only lie among the firewood," said the

goody.
"A pretty beggar," said the man ; "why he has got
silver buckles to his shoes, and silver buttons at his
knees."
"All are not beggars who are tattered and torn,'
said the lad; "but I'm blest if this isn't our parish
clerk."
"What was he doing here, mistress," asked her
husband, who all the while kept on pulling and

kicking at him. But our clerk never so much as

stirred or lifted finger. There stood the goody
a

fumbling and stammering, and not knowing what to

say. All she could do was to bite her thumb.

" I see it in what
your face you have done, mis-
"
tress," said her husband. But life is hard to lose,

and, after all, he was our parish clerk. If I did what

was right, I should send off at once for the sheriff."

"Heaven help us," said the wife; "only get our

clerk out of the way."
" This
is your matter and not mine," said the man.
" never asked him hither, nor sent for him ; but if you
I

can get any one to help you to get rid of him, I won't
stand in your way."
Then she took the lad on one side, and said
"
I've laid up some woollen stuff for my husband,
but I'll give it to you for clothes, if you'll only get our
clerk buried, so that he shall never be seen or heard of

again."
 Our Parish Clerk 201

"There's no saying what one can do till one tries.

If we drive in the frost we shall find slippery, to our
it

cost. Have you ropes and cord, master? If so, I'll

see if I can't cure this."
Well ! he got our clerk fast in a slipknot, threw him
on his back, caught up his hat as well, and away he
went. But he hadn't gone far along the path in the
meadow when he met some horses ; so he caught one
of these, and tied
and bound our clerk _
fast on his back.
He put his hat,
too, on his head,
and his hand down
on his thigh, and
there he
sat up-

right, and jogged

up and down just
as a man on horse-
back.
"One may kill

Trolls at any time

of night," said the
lad when he got home; "who can say when a man
is
'
? But he will never rise up who is safe buried
fey
'

under ground, and the cock that is slain crows never

again.
Now, whetherall this were true or no, there was a

way from the meadow across the fields to a barn, and

along it they had carted hay, and dropped it as they
went along so the horse went that way, picking up the
;

hay as he went and out in that barn were two men

2O2 Tales from the Fjeld

watching for thieves who used to steal the hay, for it

had been a bad year for fodder.

"Here comes the thief/' they said, when they heard
"
the horse's hoofs ;
now we shall catch him."
"Who's there?" they called out, so that it rang
against the hill-side. No ! there was no answer, the
horse paid heed, and our clerk less.
little
"
If you don't answer I'll send a bullet through your

brains, you horse-thief," they both called out, and then

off went the gun, at which the horse gave such a sudden

jump, that our clerk gave a bob and fell bump on the
ground.
" I think," said one of the watchers, as he jumped up
" "
to look, I think you've shot him dead as mutton ;

" "
and then, when he saw who it was, O Lord ! he
said, "if it ain't our parish clerk. You ought to have
aimed at his legs, and not killed him outright."
"What's done is done, and can't 'be helped," said
the other. "Least said soonest mended. We must
keep our ears close, and bury him for a little while
among the hay in the barn."

Yes they
! did that, and when it was over, they

lay them down to rest. In a little while came some one

puffing and stamping, that the field shook again. The
two who lay among the hay nudged one another, for
they thought it was thieves again. Close to the barn
was a stepping-stone, and there the new-comer sat
down with his load, and began to talk to himself. He
had been killing pigs at a farm a few days before, and
thought he had been paid too little for his work, too
little pay and too little board, and so he had set off and
" He
stolen the biggest porker. that swaps with a
 Our Parish Clerk 203
" and so
bear always comes worst off," he said ;
it's

best to help one's self to what is right, and a little

share is better than a long lawsuit. But, bitter death !

if haven't forgotten my gloves

I ;
ifthey find them
at the farm, they'll soon find out who has inherited
their porker." And as he said this he bolted back after
his gloves.
The two who were in the barn lay and listened to all

this.
" He who comes into the trap
lays traps for others,
himself," said one.
"There's no sin in stealing from a thief," said the
" and no one
is hanged save those who can't
other ;

steal right. would be fine fun to get rid of our clerk

It

in an easy way, and get a fat pig instead. I think, old

chap, we had better make a swap."

The other burst out laughing at this, and so they
tumbled the pig out of the sack and tossed in our clerk,
head foremost, hat and all, and tied up the mouth of
the sack as tight as they could.
Just as they had done, back came the thief flying
with his gloves, snatched up the sack, and strode off
home. There he cast the sack down on the floor at

his goody's feet.

" Here's what I call a porker, old lass," he said.
"Plow grand!" said the goody. "Nothing is all
very fine to the eye, but not to the mouth. One can't
get on without meat, for meat is man's strength. Thank
Heaven we have now a bit of meat in the house, and
shall be able to live well awhile."
" I took the biggest I could," said the man, who sat

down in his armchair, and puffed and wiped the sweat

204 Tales from the Fjeld
"
off his brow. He had both breeches and drawers, he
was well covered, that he was." By which he meant
the pig was well fed and fat. Then he went on,
" Have
"
you any meat in the house, old lass ?
" " "
No," she said ;
meat ! where should I
get meat ?

"Make up the fire then," said the man "and sharpen ;

your knife, and cut off a wee bit, and fry it with salt,
and let's have a pork chop."
She did as he bade, and tore open the mouth of the
sack, and was just going to cut off a steak.
"What's all this?" she cried. "He has got his
trotters on," when she saw his shoes
" and he's as
;

black as a coal."
" Don't
you know," said her husband, "all cats are
grey and all pigs black ? "
in the dark,

"I dare say," she said; "but black or white is

always bright, and a fog is not like a bilberry. This
pig has got breeches on."
" " "
Plague take him said the man. ! I know well

enough he is covered with fat all down his legs.

Haven't I carried him till the sweat ran down my
face?"
" " " He has silver
Nay, nay goody.
! said the
buckles in his shoes, and silver buttons at his knees.
"
My if it isn't our parish clerk she screamed out.
! !

" was a
I tell
you it fat pig I took," said the man,
"
as he jumped up to see how things stood. Well !

well !
Seeing is believing." It was our clerk, both
with shoes and buckles; but, for all, he stuck to it it
was the fattest pig he had put into the sack.
"
But what's done can't be undone," he said; "the
best servant is one's own self; but, for all that, help is
 Our Parish Clerk 205

good, even if it comes out of the porridge-pot ! Wake

up our Mary, old girl."
Now you must know Mary was their daughter, a
ready and trusty lass she had the strength of a man
;

too, and always had her wits about her. So she was
to take our clerk and bury him in an out-of-the-way
dale, so that nothing should ever be heard of him. If

she did this, she was to have a new suit of working

clothes, which were meant for her mother.
Well the lassie took our clerk round the body,
!

tossed him on her back, and strode off from the farm,
not forgetting to take his hat. But when she had
gone a bit of the way, she heard a fiddle going, for
there was a dance at a farm near the road, and so she

crept in and set our clerk down upright behind the

backstairs. There he sat with his hat between his

hands, just as though he were begging an alms, and

leaning against the wall and a post.
After a while came a girl in a flurry.
" " The
I wonder whoever this can be ?" she said.

master of the house as grey as a goose, but this

is

fellow is as black as a raven. Hulloa, you, sir, why

are you sitting there, blocking up the way ? One can
scarce get by."
But our clerk said never a word.
" Are you poor ? Do you beg for a penny for
Heaven's sake ? Ah
poor fellow
! Here's twopence
!

for you," and as she said this she tossed them into his
hat. Still our clerk said never a word. She waited a
little, for she thought he would say "Thank you," but

our clerk did not so much as nod his head.

"
No, I never," said the girl, when she went back
206 Tales from the Fjeld
"
into the ball-room. I never did see the like of a
beggar who out yonder by the staircase.
sits He isn't
"
at all like a starling on a fence," she went on, for he
won't answer, and he won't say 'Thank you/ and
won't so much as lift a finger, though I did give him
twopence."
" "
The least a beggar can do is to say
'
Thank you,'
cried a young sheriff's clerk who was of the party.
" He must be a
pretty fellow whom I cannot get to
speak, for I've made thieves and stiff-necked folk open
their mouths wide before this."

As he said this he ran out to the stairs, and bawled

out in our clerk's ear, for he thought he was hard of

hearing
" "
What do you sit here for, you, sir ? And then
" "
again, Are you poor ? Do you beg ?
No, our clerk said never a word. So he took out
and threw it into his hat, saying, "There's
half-a-dollar,
something for you." But our clerk was still silent,
and made no sign. So when he could get no thanks
out of him, the sheriff's officer gave him a blow under
the ear, as hard as he could, and down fell our clerk
head over heels across the staircase. And you may
be sure the girl Mary was not slow in running to the

spot.
"Are you in a swoon, or are you dead, father," she
screeched out, and then she went on screaming and
bewailing herself.
"It's quite true," she said; "there's no peace for
the poor after all, but I never yet heard of any one
laying themselves out to strike beggars dead."
"
Hush Hold your tongue," said the sheriff's
!
 Our Parish Clerk 207
" Don't Here you have ten
make a fuss.
officer.

dollars, keep your peace and take him away. I only

gave him a blow that made him swoon."
"
Well ! she was
enough. Money brings
glad
money," she thought; "with fair words and money,
one can go far in a day, and one need never care for
food with a purse full of pence." So she took GUI
clerk on her back again, and strode off to the nearest
farm, and there she put him athwart the brink of the
well. When our Mary got home she said she had
borne him off to the wood, and buried him far far away
in a side dale.
"Thank Heaven," said the goody. "Now we are
well quit of him, you shall have all I promised, and
more besides. Be sure of that."
So there lay our clerk as though he were peering
down into the well, till at dawn of day the ploughboy
came running up to draw water.
"
Why are you lying there, and what are you
gazing at? Out of the way. I want some water,"

said the lad.

No ! he neither stirred hand nor foot. Then the
lad let drive at him, so that went plump, and there
it

lay our clerk in the well. Then he must have help to

get him out, but there was no help for it till the hind
came with a boat-hook and dragged him out.
" "
Why ! it'sour parish clerk they all bawled out,
!

and they all thought he had eaten and drank so much

at some feast, that he had fallen asleep by the well-
side.
But when the master of the house came and saw
our clerk, and heard how it had all happened, he said
2.o8 Tales from the Fje/J
"
Harm watches while men sleep but man's scathe
;

is the worst scathe. When one pot strikes against

another, both break. Take the saddle and lay it on
Blackie, and ride to fetch the sheriff, my lad, and then
we shall be. out of harm's way, for our clerk's sake.
Mishaps never come single, but it's hard to drown on
dry land." That was what the master said.
Yes ! the lad rode off to the sheriff, and after a
while the sheriff came. But, as the saying is, more
haste, worse speed, and work done in haste will never
last. So
took time before they got the doctor and
it

witnesses to come. Now you all know we owe a

death to God but then it was made as plain as day
;

that our clerk had been killed three times before he

tumbled into the well. First the ladle of lead had
taken away his breath, next he had a bullet through
his forehead, and third and last his neck was broken.
" "
when he set out to see the goody.
Surely he was fey
It is hard to tell how all this was found out at last;
but tongues will clack behind a man's back, and hard
things are said of a man when he's dead.
 Silly
Men and Cunning Wives

on a time there were two goodies who

ONCE quarrelled, as women often will and when ;

they had nothing else to quarrel about, they

fell to fighting about their husbands, as to which was
the silliest of them. The longer they strove the worse

they got, and at last they had almost come to pulling

caps about it ;

for, as
every
one knows, it is
easier to begin

than to end, and

it is a bad look-
out when wit is

wanting. At last
one of them said
there was no-

thing she could

not get her hus-
band to believe, if she only said it, for he was as easy
as a Troll. Then the other said there was nothing
so silly that she could not get her husband to do,
if she only said it must be done, for he was such a

fool, he could not tell B from a bull's foot.

" Well ! let us put it to the proof, which of us can
209 o
2IO Tales from the Fjeld
fool them best, and then we'll see which is the silliest."
That was what they said once, and so it was settled.
Now when the first husband, Master Northgrange,
came home from the wood, his goody said
"
Heaven help us both what is the matter ? you
!

are surely ill,

if you are not at death's door " !

"Nothing ails me but want of meat and drink," said

the man.
"Now, Heaven be my witness !" screamed out the
wife, "it getsworse and worse. You look just like a
corpse in face you must go to bed
;
Dear dear this! ! !

never can last long And so she went on till she got
!

her husband to believe he was hard at death's door,

and she put him to bed and then she made him fold
;
 Silly Men and Cunning Wives 2 1 1

his hands on his breast, and shut his eyes; and so she
stretched his limbs, and laid him out, and put him into
a coffin ; but that he might not be smothered while he

lay there, she had some holes made in the sides, so

thathe could breathe and peep out.

The other goody, she took a pair of carding combs
and began to card wool but she had no wool on them. ;

In came the man, and saw this tomfoolery.

" There's no " in
use," he said, a wheel without wool ;

but carding combs without wool is work for a fool."

" " "
Without wool said the goody !I have
wool, ;

only you can't see it it's of the fine sort." So when

;

she had carded it all, she took her wheel and fell

a-spinning.
" "
nay this is all labour lost
Nay ! ! said the man. !

"
There you sit, wearing out your wheel, as it spins
and hums, and all the while you've nothing on it."
" " " the
Nothing on it said the goody ! thread is ;

so fine, it takes better eyes than yours to see it,

that's all."

So, when her spinning was over, she set up her loom,
and put the woof in, and threw the shuttle, and wove
cloth. Then she took it out of the loom and pressed it
and cut it out, and sewed a new suit of clothes for her
husband out of it,
and when it was ready, she hung the
suit up in the linen closet. As for the man, he could
see neither cloth nor clothes ;
but as he had once for
all got it into his head that it was too fine for him to

see, he went on saying, " Aye, aye ! I understand it all ;

it is so fine because it is so fine."

Well, in a day or two his goody said to him
"
To-day you must go to a funeral. Farmer North
212 Tales from the Fjeld

grange is dead, and they bury him to-day, and so you

had better put on your new clothes."
" "
Yes, very true, he must go to the funeral and she ;

helped him on with his new suit, for it was so fine, he

might tear it asunder if he put it on alone.
So when he came up to the farm where the funeral
was to be, they had all drank hard and long, and you
may fancy their grief was not greater when they saw
him come in in his new suit. But when the train set
off for the churchyard, and the dead man peeped
through the breathing holes, he burst out into a loud
fit of laughter.
" "
he said, " I can't help laughing, though
Nay nay ! !

it is my funeral, for if there isn't Olof

Southgrange
"
walking to my funeral stark naked !

When the bearers heard that, they were not slow in

taking the lid off the coffin, and the other husband, he
in the new suit, asked how it was that he, over whom

they had just drank his funeral ale, lay there in his
coffinand chattered and laughed, when it would be
more seemly if he wept.
" Ah " "
! said the other, you know tears never yet

dug up any one out of his grave that's why I laughed

myself to life
again."
But the end of all their talk was that it came out
that their goodies had played them those tricks. So
the husbands went home, and did the wisest thing
either ofthem had done for a long time and if any ;

one wishes to know what it was, he had better go and

ask the birch cudgel.
 Taper Tom

NCE on a time there

was a king, who had
a daughter, and she was
so lovely, that her good
looks were well known
and near; but she
far
was so sad and serious she
could never be got to laugh;
and, besides, she was so high
and mighty, that she said
" No " to all who wooed her
to wife, and she would have
none of them, were they ever
so grand lords and princes,
itwas all the same. The king had long ago got tired
of this, for he thought she might just as well marry,

she, too, like the rest of the world. There was no good
waiting she was quite old enough, nor would she be
;

any richer, for she was to have half the kingdom that
came to her as her mother's heir.
So he had it given out at the church door both quick
and soon, that any one who could get his daughter to
laugh should have her and half the kingdom. But if
there was any one who tried and could not, he was to
213
2 1
4 Tales from the Fjeld

have three stripes cut out of his back, and salt rubbed
in and sure it was that there were many sore backs
;

in that kingdom, for lovers and wooers came from north

and south, and east and west, thinking it nothing at all
to make a king's daughter laugh and brave fellows ;

they were some of them too but for all their tricks
;

and capers, there sat the princess, just as sad and

serious as she had been before.
Now hard by the palace lived a man who had three
sons, and they too had heard how the king had given
it out that the man who could make the princess
laugh was to have her to wife and half the kingdom.
The eldest, he was for setting off first so he strode ;

off; and when he came to the king's grange, he told

the king he would be glad to try to make the princess

laugh.
"All very well, my man," said the king; "but it's
sure to be no good, for so many have been here and
tried. My daughter is so sorrowful, it's no use trying,
and I don't at all wish that any one should come to

grief."
But he thought there was use. It couldn't be such
a very hard thing for him to get the princess to laugh,
for so many had laughed at him, both gentle and

simple, when he listed for a soldier, and learnt his

drill under Corporal Jack. So he went off to the
courtyard, under the princess's window, and began to
go through his drill as Corporal Jack had taught him.
But it was no good, the princess was just as sad and
serious, and did not so much as smile at him once. So
they took him, and cut three broad red stripes out of
his back, and sent him home again.
 Taper Tom 215
Well he had hardly got
! home before his second
brother wanted to set off. He was a schoolmaster,
and a wonderful figure of fun besides he was lop-
;

sided, for he had one leg shorter than the other, and
one moment he was as little as a boy, and in another,
when he stood on his long leg, he was as tall and long
as a Troll. Besides this, he was a powerful preacher.

So when he came to the king's grange, and said he

wished to make the princess laugh, the king thought it
" But Heaven
might not be so unlikely after all. help
you," he said,
"
if you don't make her laugh. We are
for cutting the stripes broader and broader for every
one that tries."

Then the schoolmaster strode off to the courtyard,

and put himself before the princess's window, and read
2 1 6 Tales from the Fjeld

and preached like seven parsons, and sang and chanted

like seven clerks, as loud as all the parsons and clerks
in the country round. The king laughed loud at him,
and was forced to hold the posts in the gallery, and
the princess was just going to put a smile on her lips,
but all at once she got as sad and serious as ever; and
so it fared no better with Paul the schoolmaster than
with Peter the soldier you must know one was
for
called So they took him
Peter and the other Paul.
and cut three red stripes out of his back, and rubbed
the salt well in, and then they sent him home again.
Then the youngest was all for setting out, and his
name was Taper Tom but his brothers laughed and
;

jeered at him, and showed him their sore backs, and

his father would not give him leave, for he said how
could it be of any use to him when he had no sense,
for wasn't it true that he neither knew anything or
could do anything ? There he sat in the ingle by the
chimney-corner, like a cat, and grubbed in the ashes
and split fir tapers. That was why they called him
"Taper Tom." But Taper Tom wouldn't give in, for

he growled and grizzled so long, that they got tired

of his growling, and so at last he too got leave to go
to the king'sgrange and try his luck.
Whenhe got to the king's grange he did not say he
wished to try to make the princess laugh, but asked if
he could get a place there. No, they had no place
for him ; Taper Tom wouldn't take an
but for all that

answer; they must want some one, he said, to carry

wood and water for the kitchen-maid, in such a big
grange as that that was what he said and the king ;

thought it might very well be, for he too got tired of

 Taper Tom 2 1
7
his worry, and the end was Taper Tom got leave to
stay there and carry wood and water for the kitchen-
maid.
So one day, when he was going to fetch water from

the beck, he set eyes on a big fish which lay under an

old fir stump, where the water had eaten into the bank,
and he put his bucket so softly under the fish, and
caught it. But as he was going home to the grange he
met an old woman who led a golden goose by a string.
" " that's
Goodday, godmother," said Taper Tom ;

a pretty bird you have got and what fine feathers

;
!

they dazzle one a long way off. If one only had such

feathers one might leave off splitting fir tapers."

The goody was just as pleased with the fish Tom had
in his bucket,and said if he would give her the fish,
he might have the golden goose; and it was such a
goose, that when any one touched it he stuck fast to
"
it, if Tom only said, Hang on, if you care to come
with us."
Yes ! that swap Taper Tom was willing enough to

make.
"A bird is as good as a fish, any day," he said to
himself; "and if it's such a bird as you say, I can use
it as a fish-hook." That was what he said to the
goody, and was so pleased with the goose. Now, he
hadn't gone far before he met another old woman, and
as soon as she saw the lovely golden goose she was all

for running up and patting it; and she spoke so

to it

prettily, and coaxed him so, and begged him give

her leave to stroke his lovely golden goose.
"With all my heart," said Taper Tom; "but mind
you don't pluck out any of its feathers."
2 1 8 Tales from the Fjeld

Just as she stroked the goose, he said

"Hang on, if you care to come with us!"
The goodypulled and tore, but she was forced to
hang on, whether she would or no, and Taper Tom
went before, as though he alone were with the golden
goose. So when he had gone a bit farther, he met
a man who had a thorn in his side against the goody
for a trick she had played him. So when he saw
how hard she struggled and strove to get free, and
how fast she stuck, he thought he would be quite
safe in giving her one for her nob, to pay off the
old grudge, and so he just gave her a kick with his
foot.
" "
Hang you care to come with us
on, if called out !

Tom, and then the man had to limp along on one leg,
whether he would or no, and when he jibbed and jibed,
and tried to break loose, it was still worse for him, for
he was all but falling flat on his back every step he
took.
So they went ongood bit till they had about come
a
to the king's grange.There they met the king's smith,
who was going to the smithy, and had a great pair of
tongs in his hand. Now you must know this smith
was a merry fellow, who was as full of tricks and
pranks as an egg is full of meat, and when he saw this
string come hobbling and limping along, he laughed
so that he was almost bent in two, and then he bawled
"
out, Surely this is a new flock of geese the princess
is going to have who can tell which is goose and
;

which gander? Ah! I see, this must be the gander

"
that toddles in front. Goosey
goosey goosey
! ! !

he called out ;
and with that he coaxed them to him,
 Taper Tom 219
and threw his hands about as though he were scattering
corn for the geese.
But the flock never stopped on it went, and all

that the goody and the man did was to lookdaggers at

the smith for making game of them. Then the smith
went on
"
It would be fine fun to see if I could hold the
"
whole flock, so many as they are for he was a stout
;

strong fellow, and so he took hold, with his big tongs,

by the old man's coat tail, and the man all the while
bellowed and wriggled but Taper Tom only said
;

" care to come with us."

Hang on, you if

So the smith had to

go along He bent his
too.

back and stuck his heels into the hill, and tried to get
loose but it was all no good he stuck fast, as though
; ;

he had been screwed tight with his own anvil, and,

whether he would or no, he had to dance along with
the rest.

So, when they came near to the king's grange, the

mastiff ran out and began to bay and bark as though

they were wolves or beggars and when the princess

;

looked out of the window to see what was the matter,

and set eyes on this strange pack, she
laughed inwardly.
But Taper Tom was not content with that.
" Bide a " she'll soon have to
bit," he said, open the
door of her mouth wider;" and as he said that he
turned off with his band to the back of the grange.
So, when they passed by the kitchen, the door stood
open, and the cook was just beating the porridge ; but
when she saw Taper Tom and his pack she came run-
ning out at the door, with her brush in one hand,
and a wooden ladle full of smoking porridge in the other,
22O 1 a/es from the Fjeld

and she laughed as though her sides would split and ;

when she saw the smith there too, she slapped her
thigh and
went o ff
again a m
loud peal.
But when
she had
laughed
her ^
laugh
out, she too thought the
golden goose so lovely she
must just stroke it.
"Taper Tom! Taper
"
Tom ! she bawled out,

\\ and came running out with the ladle

of porridge in her fist, "may I have
leave to stroke that pretty bird of
"
T
3 ours ?

"Better let her stroke me," said

the smith.
" dare say," said Taper Tom.
I

But when the cook heard that she got angry.

 Taper Tom 22 1

"What is that you say?" she cried, and let fly at

the smith with the ladle.

M
Hang on, if you care to come with us," said Taper
Tom. So she stuck fast, she too ;
and for all her
kicks and plunges, and her scolding and screaming,
all

and all her riving and striving, and all her rage, she
too had to limp along with them.
But when they came outside the window of the
them and when
princess, there she stood, waiting for ;

she saw they had taken the cook too, with her ladle
and brush, she opened her mouth wide, and laughed
loud, so that the king had to hold her upright. So
Taper Tom got the princess and half the kingdom ;

and they had such a merry wedding, it was heard and

talked of far and -.vide
 The Trolls in Hedale Wood

at a place in Vaage, in

Gudbrandsdale, there
lived once on a time in
the days of old a poor

couple. They had

many children, and
two of the sons who
were about half grown
up had to be always
roaming about the
country begging. So
were well acquainted with all the highways
that they
and byways, and they also knew the short cut into
Hedale.
It happened once that they wanted to go thither,

but at the same time they heard that some falconers

had built themselves a hut at Msela, and so they
wished to kill two birds with one stone, and see the
birds, and how they are taken, and so they took the
cut across Longmoss. But you must know it was
far on towards autumn, and so the milkmaids had all
gone home from the shielings, and they could neither
get shelter nor food. Then they had to keep straight
 The Trolls in Hedale Wood 223
on for Hedale, but the path was a mere track, and
when night fell they lost it and, worse still, they
;

could not find the falconers' hut either, and before

they knew where they were, they found themselves in

the very depths of the forest. As soon as they saw
they could not get on, they began to break boughs, lit
a fire, and built themselves a bower of branches, for
they had a hand-axe with them and, after that, they ;

plucked heather and moss and made themselves a bed.

So a little while after they had lain down, they heard
something which sniffed and snuffed so with its nose;
then the boys pricked up their ears and listened
sharp to hear whether it were wild beasts or wood
Trolls, and just then something snuffed up the air
louder than ever, and said
"
"There's a smell of Christian Mood here !

At the same time they heard such a heavy footfall

that the earth shook under it, and then they knew
well enough the Trolls must be about.
"
Heaven help us what shall we do ? " said the
!

younger boy to his brother.

"
Oh !
you must stand as you are under the fir, and
be ready to take our bags and run away when you see
them coming ;
as for me, I will take the hand-axe,"
said the other.
All at once they saw the Trolls coming at them like
mad, and they were so tall and stout, their heads were

just as high as the fir-tops but it was a good thing

;

they had only one eye between them all three, and that
they used turn and turn about. They had a hole in
their foreheads into which they put it, and turned and
twisted it with their hands. The one that went first
224 Tales from the Fjeld

he must have it to see his way, and the others went

behind and took hold of the first.
"Take up the traps," said the elder of the boys,
"but don't run away too far, but see how things go;
as they carry their eye so high aloft they'll find it hard
to see me when I get behind them."
Yes the brother ran before and the Trolls after him,
!

meanwhile the elder got behind them and chopped the

hindmost Troll with his axe on the ankle, so that the
Troll gave an awful shriek, and the foremost Troll got
so afraid he was all of a shake and dropped the eye.
But the boy was not slow to snap it up. It was bigger
than two quart pots put together, and so clear and
bright, that though it was pitch dark, everything was
as clear as day as soon as he looked through it.
When the Trolls saw he had taken their eye and
done one of them harm, they began to threaten him
with all the evil in the world if he didn't give back the
eye at once.
" don't care a farthing for Trolls and threats," said
I
" now I've
the boy, got three eyes to myself and you
three have got none, and besides two of you have to
carry the third."
" If we don't
get our eye back this minute, you shall
be both turned to stocks and stones," screeched the
Trolls.
But the boy thought things needn't go so fast ; he
was not afraid for witchcraft or hard words. If they
didn't leave him in peace he'd chop them all three, so
that they would have to creep and crawl along the
earth like cripples and crabs.
When the Trolls heard that they got still more afraid,
 The Trolls in Hedale Wood 225
and began to use soft words. They begged so prettily
that he would give them their eye back, and then he
should have both gold and silver and all that he wished
to ask. Yes that seemed all very fine to the lad, but
!

he must have the gold and silver first, and so he said

if one of them would go home and fetch as much gold

and silver as would fill his and his brother's bags, and
give them two good cross-bows beside, they might have
their eye, but he should keep it until they did what he
O aid.
The Trolls were very put out, and said none of them
could go when he hadn't his eye to see with but all at
;

once one of them began to bawl out for their goody for
;

you must know they had a goody between them all

three as well as an eye. After a while an answer came
from a knoll a long way off to the north. So the Trolls
said she must come with two steel cross-bows and two
ouckets full of gold and silver and then it was not Ion g,
;

you may fancy, before she was there. And when she
heard what had happened, she too began to threaten
them with witchcraft. But the Trolls got so afraid, and
begged her beware of the little wasp, for they couldn't
be sure he would not take away her eye too. So she
threw them the cross-bows and the buckets and the
gold and the silver, and strode off to the knoll with the
Trolls and since that time no one has ever heard that
;

the Trolls have walked in Hedale Wood snuffing after

Christian blood.
 The Skipper and Old Nick

NCE on a time there

was a skipper who
was so wonderfully

lucky in everything
he undertook there ;

was no one who got

such freights, and no
one who earned so
much money, for it

rolled in upon him

on all sides, and, in

a word, there was

no one who was
good to make such
voyages as he, for whithersoever he sailed, he took the
wind with him nay, men did say he had only to turn his
hat and the wind turned the way he wished it to blow.
So he sailed for many years, both in the timber trade
and to China, and he had gathered money together like
grass. But it so happened that once he was coming
home across the North Sea with every sail set, as though
he had stolen both ship and lading but he who wanted
;

to lay hold on him went faster still. It was Old Nick,

for with him he had made a bargain, as one may well

226
 The Skipper and Old Nick 227

fancy, and that very day the time was up, and he might
look any moment that Old Nick would come and fetch
him.
Well, the skipper came up on deck out of the cabin
and looked at the
weather ;
then he
called for the car-

penter and some

others of the crew,
and said they must
go down into the
hold andhew two
holes in the ship's
bottom, and when
they had done that
they were to lift

the pumps out of

their beds and drive
them down tight
into the holes they
had made, so that
the sea might rise
high up into the
pumps.
The crew wondered at all this, and thought it a
funny bit of work, but they did as the skipper ordered ;

they hewed holes in the ship's bottom and drove the

pumps in so tight that never a drop of water could
come to the cargo, but up in the pump itself the North
Sea stood seven feet high.
They had only just thrown the chips overboard
after their piece of work when Old Nick came on
228 Tales from the Fjeld

board in a gust of wind and caught the skipper by the

throat.

"Stop, father!" said the skipper; "there's no need

such a hurry," and as he said that he began to
to be in
defend himself and to loose the claws which Old Nick
had stuck into him by the help of a marling-spike.
" Haven't
you made a bargain that you would always
"
keep the ship dry and tight ? asked the skipper.
"Yes! your a pretty fellow; look down the pumps;

there's the water standing seven feet high in the pipe.

Pump, devil, pump! and pump the ship dry, and then
you may take me and have me as soon and as long as
you choose."
Old Nick was not so clever that he was not taken
in;
he pumped and strove, and the sweat ran down his
back like a brook, so that you might have turned a mill
at the end of his backbone, but he only pumped out of
the North Sea and into the North Sea again. At last he
 The Skipper and Old Nick 229
got tired of that work, and when he could not pump a
stroke more, he set off in a sad temper home to his

grandmother to take a rest. As for the skipper, he let

him stay a skipper as long as he chose, and if he isn't
dead, he is still perhaps sailing on his voyages whither-
soever he will, and twisting the wind as he choses only
by turning his hat.
 Goody Gainst-the-Stream

on a time there was a man who had a

ONCE
goody who was
no with
so cross-grained that there was
her. As for her husband, he could
living
not get on with her at all, for whatever he wished she
set her face right against it.
So one Sunday in summer that the man and
it fell

his wife went out into the field to see how the crop
looked and when they came to a field of rye on the
;

other side of the river, the man said

"Ay! now it is ripe. To-morrow we must set to
work and reap it."

"Yes," said his wife, "to-morrow we can set to work

and shear it."
" What do " " shall we shear
you say ? said the man ;

"
it ? Mayn't we just as well reap it ?
"No," said the goody, "it shall be shorn."
" There is
nothing so bad as a little knowledge," said
"
the man, but you must have lost the little wit you
"
had. \Vhen did you ever hear of shearing a field ?
" I know
little, and I care to know little, I dare say,"

said the goody, "but I know very well that this field
shall be shorn and not reaped."
That was what she said, and there was no help for
it ;
it must and should be shorn.
230
 Goody Gainst-the-Stream 231
So they walked about and quarrelled and strove till
they came to the bridge across the river, just above a
deep hole.
"Tis an old saying," said the man, "that good tools
make good work, but I fancy it will be a fine swathe
that is shorn with a pair of shears. Mayn't we just as
"
well reap the field after all ? he asked.
" No no shear shear " bawled out the
! ! ! !
goody, who
jumped about and clipped like a pair of scissors under
her husban d's
nose. In her
shrewishness she
took such little

heed that she trip-

ped over a beam

on the bridge, and
down she went
plump into the
stream.
"Tis hard to
wean any one
from bad ways," said the man, "but it were strange if
I were not sometimes in the right too."

Then he swam out into the hole and caught his wife
by the hair of her head, and so got her head above water.
" Shall we "
reap the field now ? were the first words
he said.
" Shear shear shear " screeched the
! ! !
goody.
" I'll teach
you to shear," said the man, as he ducked
her under the water ; but it was no good, they must
shear it, she said, as soon as ever she came up again.
" I can't think
anything else than that the goody is
232 Tales from the Fjeld

"
mad," said the man Many are mad, and
to himself.
never know many have
it wit,;
and never show it but ;

all the same, I'll try her once more."

But as soon as ever he ducked her under the water

again, she held her hands up out of the water and began
to clip with her fingers like a pair of shears. Then the
man fell into a great rage and ducked her down both
well and long ;
but while he was about it, the goody's
head fell down below the water, and she got so heavy
all at once, that he had to let her go.
" No no " "
! he !
you wish to drag me down with
said,

you into the hole, but you may lie there by yourself."
So the goody was left in the river.
But after a while the man thought it was ill she
should lie there and not get Christian burial, and so he
went down the course of the stream and hunted and
searched for her, but for all his pains he could not find
her. Then he came with all his men and brought his
neighbours with him, and they all in a body began to
drag the stream and to search for her all along it. But
for all their searching they found no goody.
" Oh " said the " no good
!
man, I have it. All this is ;

we wrong place. This goody was a sort

search in the
by herself; there was not such another in the world while
she was alive. She was so cross and contrary, and I'll
be bound it is just the same now she is dead. We had
better just go and hunt for her up stream, and drag for
her above the force x maybe she has floated up thither."
;

And so it was. They went up stream and sought

for her above the force, and there lay the goody, sure
enough ! Yes ! she was well called GOODY GAINST-
THE-STREAM.
1
Waterfall.
 How to Win a Prince

on a time there was a king's son who made

ONCE love to a lass, but after they had become great

friends and were as good as betrothed, the

prince began to think little of her, and he got it into his

head that she wasn't clever enough for him, and so he
wouldn't have her.
So he thought how he might be rid of her and at ;

last he said he would take her to wife all the same if

she could come to him

" Not driving,
And not riding ;

Not walking,
And not carried ;

Not fasting,
And not full-fed ;

Not naked,
And not clad ;

Not in the daylight,

And not by night."

For all that he fancied she could never do.

So she took three barleycorns and swallowed them,
and then she was not fasting, and yet not full-fed and ;

next she threw a net over her, and so she was

Not naked,
And yet not clad
235
236 Tales from the Fjeld

Next she got a ram and sat on him, so that her feet
touched the ground and so she waddled along, and
;

was
Not driving,
And not riding ;

Not walking.
And not carried.

And all this happened in the twilight, betwixt night

and day.
So when she came to the guard at the palace, she

begged that she might have leave to speak with the

prince ; but they wouldn't open the gate, she looked
such a figure of fun.
But for all that the noise woke up the prince, and he
went to the window to see what it was.
So she waddled up to the window, and twisted off one
of the ram's horns, and took it and rapped with it against
the window.
And so they had to let her in and have her for their
princess.
 Boots and the Beasts

NCE on a time there was

a man who had an only
son, but he lived in
need
and wretchedness, and
when he lay on his
deathbed, he told his
son he had nothing in
the world but a sword,
a bit of coarse linen, and
a few crusts of bread-
that was all he had to
leave him. Well, when
the man was dead, the lad made up his mind to go out
into the world to try his luck ; so he girded the sword
about him, and took the crusts and laid them in the
bitof linen for his travelling fare; for you must know

they lived far away up on a hillside in the wood, far

from folk. Now the way he went took him over a
fell, and when he had got up so high that he could look
over the country, he set his eyes on a lion, a falcon,
and an ant, who stood there quarrelling over a dead
horse. The lad was sore afraid when he saw the
lion, but he called out to him and said he must come
237
238 Tales from the Fjeld
and settle the strife between them and share the horse,
so that each should get what he ought to have.
So the lad took his sword, and shared the horse as
well as he could. To the lion he gave the carcass and
the greater portion ; the falcon got some of the entrails
and other tit-bits; and the ant got the head. When
he had done, he said
" Now I think it is fairly shared. The lion shall
have most, because he is biggest and strongest the ;

falcon shall have the best, because he is nice and

dainty; and the ant shall have the skull, because he

loves to creep about in holes and crannies."
Yes they were all well pleased with his sharing ;
!

and so they asked him what he would like to have for

sharing the horse so well.
" "
Oh," he said, if I have done you a service, and
you are pleased with it, I am also pleased but I won't ;

be paid."
Yes but he must have something, they said.
;

"If you won't have anything else," said the lion,

"
you shall have three wishes."
But the lad knew not what to wish for and so thv ;

lion asked him if he wouldn't wish that he might be

able to turn himself into a lion and the two others
;

asked him if he wouldn't wish to be able to turn him-

self into a falcon and an ant. Yes all that seemed !

to him good and right and so he wished these three

;

wishes.
Then he threw aside his sword and wallet, turned
himself into a falcon, and began to fly. So he flew on
and on, till he came over a great lake; but when he
had almost flown across it he got so tired and sore on
 Boots and the Beasts 241
the wing he couldn'tfly any longer ; and as he saw a

steep rock that rose out of the water, he perched on it

and rested himself. He thought it a wondrous strong
rock, and walked about it for a while; but when he
had taken a good rest, he turned himself again into a
littlefalcon, and flew away till he came to the king's
grange. There he perched on a tree, just before the
princess's windows. When she saw the falcon, she set
her heart on catching it. So she lured it to her; and

as soon as the falcon came under the casement she

was ready, and, pop she shut-to the window, and
!

caught the bird, and put him into a cage.

In the night the lad turned himself into an ant
and crept out of the cage and then he turned him-
;

self into his own shape, and went up and sat down

by the princess's bed. Then she got so afraid, that she

fell toscreeching out and awoke the king, who made
into her room and asked whatever was the matter.
Q
2A.2 Tales from the Fjeld
" " "
Oh ! said the princess, there is some one here."
But in a trice the lad became an ant, crept into
the cage, and turned himself into a falcon. The king
could see nothing for her to be afraid of; so he said
to the princess it must have been the nightmare

riding her. But he was hardly out of the door before

it was the same story over again. The lad crept
out of the cage as an ant, and then became his own
self,and sat down by the bedside of the princess.
Then she screamed loud, and the king came again
to see what was the matter.
"There is some one here," screamed the princess.
But the lad crept into the cage again, and sat perched
up there like a falcon. The king looked and hunted
high and low and when he could see nothing, he got
;

cross that his rest was broken, and said it was all a
trick of the princess.
" If
you scream like that again," he said, "you shall
soon know that your father is the king."
But for all that, the king's back was scarcely turned
before the lad was by the princess's side again. This
time she did not scream, although she was so afraid
she did not know which way to turn.
So the she was so afraid.
lad asked why
Didn't he know
She was promised to a hill-ogre,
?

and the very first time she came under bare sky he
was to come and take her and so when the lad came
;

she thought it was the hill-ogre. And besides, every

Thursday morning came a messenger from the hill-
ogre, and that was a dragon, to whom the king had
to give nine fat pigs every time he came; and that
was why he had given it out that the man who could
 Boots and the Beasts 243
free him from the dragon should have the princess and
half the kingdom.
The lad said he would soon do that ;
and as soon
as it was daybreak the princess went to the king and
said there was a man in there who would free him
from the dragon and the tax of pigs. As soon as
the king heard that, he was very glad, for the dragon
had eaten up so many pigs, there would soon have
been no more left in the whole kingdom. It happened
that just a Thursday morning, and so the
day was
lad strode off to the spot where the dragon used to
come to eat the pigs, and the shoeblack in the king's
grange showed him the way.
Yes, the dragon came, and he had nine heads, and
he was so wild and wroth, that fire and flame flared out
of his nostrilswhen he did not see his feast of pigs ;

and he flew upon the lad as though he would gobble

him up alive. But, pop he turned himself into a lion,
!

and fought with the dragon, and tore one head off him
after another. The dragon was strong, that he was,
and he spat fire and venom. But as the fight went on
he hadn't more than one head left, though that was the
toughest. At last the lad got that torn off too; and
then it was all over with the dragon.

So he went to the king, and there was great joy all

over the palace and the lad was to have the princess.
;

But once on a time, as they were walking in the

garden, the hill-ogre came flying at them himself,

and caught up the princess and bore her off through
the air.

As for the lad, he was for going after her at once ;

but the king said he mustn't do that, for he had no one

 -44 Tales from the Fjeld

else to lean on now he had lost his daughter. But for

all that,neither prayers nor preaching were any good;
the lad turned himself into a falcon and flew off. But
when he could not see them anywhere, he called to
mind that wonderful rock in the lake, where he had
rested the first time he ever flew. So he settled there ;

and after he had done that,

he turned himself into an
ant, and crept down through
a crack in the rock. So
when he had crept about
awhile, he came to a door
which was locked. But he
knew a way how to get in,
for he through the
crept
keyhole, and what do you
think he saw there ? Why,
a strange princess combing
a hill-ogre's hair that had
three heads.
" I have come all right,"
said the lad to himself; for he
had heard how the king had
lost two daughters before,
whom the Trolls had taken.
"Maybe I shall find the second also," he said to

himself, as he crept through the keyhole of a second

door. There sat a strange princess combing a hill-
ogre's hair who had six heads. So he crept through
a third keyhole still, and there sat the youngest prin-
cess combing a hill-ogre's hair with nine heads. Then
he crept up her leg and stung her, and so she knew it
 Boots and the Beasts 245
was the lad who wished to talk to her; and then she
begged leave of the hill-ogre to go out.
When she came out the lad was himself again, and
so he told her she must ask the hill-ogre whether she
would never get away and go home to her father.
Then he turned himself into an ant and sat on her
foot, and so the princess went into
the house again,
and fell to combing the hill-ogre's hair.

So when she had done this awhile she fell a-thinking.

"You're forgetting to comb me," said the hill-ogre.
"What is it you're thinking of?"
"
Oh, I am doubting whether I shall ever get away
from this place, and home to my father's grange," said
the princess.
"Nay, nay, that you'll never do," said the hill-
" not unless
ogre ; you can find the grain of sand which
liesunder the ninth tongue of the ninth head of the
dragon to which your father paid tax but that no
;

one will ever find for if that grain of sand came over
;

the rock,all the hill-ogres would burst, and the rock

itselfwould become a gilded palace, and the lake

green meadows."
As soon as the lad heard that, he crept out through
the keyholes, and through the crack in the rock, till
he got outside. Then he turned himself into a falcon,
and flew whither the dragon lay. Then he hunted
till he found the grain of sand under the ninth tongue
of the ninth head, and flew off with it ;
but when he
came to the lake he got tired, so tired that he had
to sink down and perch on a stone by the strand.
And just as he sat there he dozed and nodded for the
twinkling of an eye and meantime the grain of sand
;
246 Tales from the Fjeld

fell out of his bill down among the sand on the shore.
So he searched for it three days before he found it

again. But as soon as he had found it he flew straight

off to the steep rock with it, and dropped it down the
crack. Then all the hill-ogres burst, and the rock
was rent, and there stood a gilded castle, which was
the grandest castle in all the world and the lake ;

became the loveliest fields and the greenest meads any

one ever saw.
So they back to the king's grange, and
travelled
there arose, as you may fancy, joy and gladness. The
lad and the youngest princess were to have one
another ;
and they kept up the bridal feast over the
whole kingdom for seven full weeks. And if they did
not fare well, I only hope you may fare better still.
 The Sweetheart in the Wood

NCE on a time
there was a
man who had
a daughter,
and she was
so pretty, her
name was
spread over
many king-
doms, and
lovers came
to her as thick
as autumn
leaves. One
of these made
out that he was richer than all the rest and grand
;

and handsome he was, too so he was to have her, and

;

after that he came over and over again to see her.

As time went on, he said he should like her to come
to his house and see how he lived. He was sorry he
could not fetch her and go with her, but the day she
came he would strew peas all along the path right up
to his house door ;
but somehow or other it fell out
that he strewed the peas a day too early.
247
248 Tales from the Fjeld

She set out and walked a long way, through wood

and waste, and at last she came to a big grand house,
which stood in a green field in the midst of the wood ;

but her lover was not at home, nor was there a soul
in the house either. First ;he went into the kitchen,
and there she saw nothing but a strange bird, which
hung in a cage from the roof. Next she went into the
parlour, and there everything was so fine, it was beyond
belief. But as she went into it, the bird called after
her
"
Pretty maiden be bold, but not too bold."
!

When she passed on into an inner room, the bird

called out the same words. There she saw ever so
many chests of drawers ;
and when she pulled open
the drawers, they were filled with gold and silver, and
everything that was rich and rare. When she went
on into a second room, the bird called out again
"
Pretty maiden be bold, but not too bold."
!

room the walls were all hung round with

In that
women's dresses, till the room was crammed full.
She went on into a third room, and then the bird
screamed out
"
Pretty maiden !
pretty maiden ! be bold, but not
too bold."
And what do you think she saw there ? Why, ever
so many pails full of blood.
So she passed on to a fourth room, and then the
bird screamed and screeched after her
"
Pretty maiden pretty maiden
! be bold, but not!

too bold."
That room was of heaps of dead bodies and
full

skeletons of slain women, and the girl got so afraid

 The Sweetheart in the Wood 249
that she was going run away out of the house, but
to

she had only got as far as the next room, where the

pails of blood stood, when the bird called out to her

"Pretty maiden! pretty maiden! jump under the

bed, jump under the bed, for now he's coming."
250 Tales from the Fjeld

She was not slow to give heed to the bird and to

hide under the bed. She crept as far back close to the
wall as she could, for she was so afraid she would
have crept into the wall itself, had she been able.
So in came her lover with another
and she girl ;

begged so prettily and so hard he would only spare

her life, and then she would never say a word against
him; but it was all no good. He tore off all her
clothes and jewels, down to a ring which she had on
her finger. That he pulled and tore at but when he ;

couldn't get off he hacked off her finger, and it rolled

it

away under the bed to the girl who lay there, and she
took it up and kept it. Her sweetheart told a little
boy who was with him to creep under the bed and
bring out the finger. Yes he bent down and crept ;

under, and saw the girl lying there but she squeezed ;

his hand hard, and then he saw what she meant.

" It lies so far under, I can't reach it," he cried.
"
Let it bide there till to-morrow, and then I'll fetch
it out."

Early next morning the robber went out, and the

boy was left behind to mind the house, and he then
went meet the girl to whom his master was be-
to

trothed, and who had come, as you know, by mistake

the day before. But before he went, the robber told
him to be sure not to let her go into the two farther-

most bedrooms.
So when he was well off in the wood, the boy went
and said she might come out now.
" You were " in
lucky, that you were," he said,
coming so soon, else he would have killed you like all
the others."
 The Sweetheart in the Wood 25 1

She did not stay there long, you may fancy, but
hurried back home
as quick as ever she could ; and
when her father asked her why she had come so soon,
she told him what sort of a man her sweetheart was,
and all had heard and seen.
that she
A short time after her lover came passing by that
way, and he looked so grand that his raiment shone
again, and he came to ask, he said, why she had never
paid him that visit, as she had promised.
" Oh !
"
said her father,
"
there came a man in the

way with a sledge and scattered the peas, and she

couldn't find her way but now you must just put up
;

with our poor house, and stay the night ;

for you must
know we have guests coming, and it will be just a
betrothal feast."
So when they had all eaten and drunk, and still sat
round the table, the daughter of the house said she
had dreamt such a strange dream a few nights before.
If they cared to hear it she would tell it them, but they
must all promise to sit quite still till she came to the end.
Yes they were all ready to hear, and they all pro-
;

mised to sit still, and her sweetheart as well.

" I dreamt I was
walking along a broad path, and it
was strewn with peas."
"Yes, yes," said her sweetheart, "just as it will
be when you go to my house, my love."
"
Then the path got narrower and narrower, and it

went far, far away through wood and waste."

"Just like the way to my house, my love," said her

sweetheart.
"And so I came to a green field, in which stood a

big grand house."

252 Tales from the Fjeld

"Just like house, my love," said her sweetheart.

my
"So I went into the kitchen, but I saw no living
soul,and from the roof hung a strange bird in a cage,
and as I passed on into the parlour it called after me,
'

Pretty maiden
'
! be bold, but not too bold.'
"Just like my house that too, my love," said her
sweetheart.
"
So 1
passed on into a bedroom, and the bird
bawled after me
same words, and in the there were
so many chests of drawers, and when I pulled the
drawers out and looked into them, they were filled
stuffs, and everything that was
with gold and silver
grand."
"
That is just like it is at my house, my love," said
her sweetheart. " have many drawers full of
I, too,

gold and and costly things."

silver
" So I went on into
another bedroom, and the bird
screeched out to me the very same words and that ;

room was all hung round on the wall with fine dresses
of women."
"Yes; that, too, is just as it is in my house," he
said; "there are dresses and finery there, both of silk
and satin."
"
Well, when I passed on to the next bedroom, the
bird began to screech and scream Pretty maiden
'
!

'

pretty maiden be bold, but

! not too bold and in this ;

room were casks and pails all around the walls, and
they were full of blood."
"Fie!" said her sweetheart, "how nasty! It isn't
at all like that in my house, my love;" for now he

began to grow uneasy and wished to be off.

"Why," said the daughter, "it's only a dream, you
 The Sweetheart in the Wood 253
know, that I am telling. Sit still. The least you can
do is to hear my dream out." Then she went on
"When I went on into the next bedroom the bird

began to scream out as loudly as before the same

words Pretty maiden pretty maiden be bold, but
'
! !

not too bold.' And there lay many dead bodies and
skeletons of slain folk."
"No, no," said her sweetheart, "there's nothing
like that in my house," and again he tried to run

out.
"Sit still, I say," she said; "it is nothing else than
a dream, and you may very well hear it out. I, too,
thought dreadful, and ran back again, but I had not
it

got farther than the next room where all these pails of
blood stood, when the bird screeched out that I must
jump under the bed and hide, for now He was coming;
and so he came, and with him he had a girl who was
so lovely, I thought I had never seen her like before.
She prayed and begged so prettily that he would spare
her life. But he did not care a pin for all her tears
and prayers he tore off her clothes, and took all she
;

had, and he neither spared her life nor aught else;

but on her left hand she had a ring, which he could
not tear off, so he hacked off her finger, and it rolled
away under the bed to me."
"Indeed, my love," said her sweetheart, "there's
nothing like that in my house."
"Yes, it was in your house," she said, "and here
is the finger and the ring, and you are the man who
hacked it off.'"

laid hands on him, and put him to death,

So they
and burnt both his body and his house m the wood.
 How they got Hairlock Home
A
'
NCE on a time there was
a goody who had three
sons. The first was called

Peter, the second Paul, and

the third Osborn Boots.
One single nanny-goat she
had who was called Hair-
lock, and she never would
come home in time for tea.
Peter and Paul both went
out to get her home, but they found no nanny-goat;
so Boots had to set off, and when he had walked a
while he saw Hairlock high, high upon a crag.
"Dear Hairlock, pretty Hairlock," he cried, "you
can't stand any longer on } on crag,
r
for you must come
home in good time for tea to-day."
" " I
No, no, that I shan't," said Hairlock won't wet
;

my socks for any one ;

and if you want me, you must
carry me."
But Osborn Boots w^ould not do that, so he went
and told his mother.
"Well," said his mother, "go to the fox and beg
him to bite Hairlock."
So the lad went to the fox.
 How they got Hair lock Home 255
"
My dear fox ! bite Hairlock, for Haidoek won't
come home in good time for tea to-day."
" "
No," said the fox, I won't blunt my snout on
and goat's beards."
pig's bristles
So the lad went and told his mother.
"Well, then," she said, "go to Greylegs, the wolf."
So the lad said to Greylegs
"
Dear Greylegs !
do, Greylegs, tear the fox, for the
fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come home
in good time for tea to-day."
" "
No," said Greylegs, I won't wear out
my paws
and teeth on a dry fox's carcass."
So the lad went and told his mother.

"Well, then, go to the bear," said his mother, "and

beg him to slay Greylegs."
So the lad said to the bear
"My dear bear! do, bear, slay Greylegs, for Grey-
legs won't tear the fox, and the fox won't bite Hairlock,
and Hairlock won't come home in good time for tea
to-day."
"No, I won't," said the bear; "I won't blunt my
claws in that work, that I won't."
So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "go to the Finn and beg

him to shoot the bear."
So the lad said to the Finn
"
Dear Finn do, Finn, shoot the bear, for the bear
!

won't slay Greylegs, Greylegs won't tear the fox,

the fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come
home in good time for tea to-day."
" "
No, that I won't," said the Finn ;
I'm not going
to shoot away my bullets for that."
256 Tales from the Fjeld

So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "go to the fir, and beg him
to fall on the Finn."
So the lad said to the fir
"
My dear fall on the Finn, for the Finn
fir !
do, fir,

won't shoot the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf, the
wolf won't tear the fox, the fox won't bite Hairlock,
and Hairlock won't come home in good time for tea

to-day."
"No, that I won't," said the fir; "I'm not going to
break off my boughs for that."
So the lad told his mother.
"
Well, then," said she, "go to the fire and beg it to
burn the fir."

So the lad said to the fire

"
My dear fire burn the fir, for the fir won't
!
do, fire,
fallon the Finn, the Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear
won't slay the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the
fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come home
in good time for tea to-day."
"No, that I won't," said the fire; "I'm not going
to burn myself out for that, that I won't."
So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "go to the water and beg it

to quench the fire."

So the lad said to the water
"
My dear water do, water, quench the fire, for the
!

fire won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn,

the Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear won't slay
the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the fox won't
bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come home in good
time for tea to-day."
 How they got Hair lock Home 257
"Nj, I
won't," said the water; "I'm not going to
run to waste for that, be sure."
So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "go to the ox, and beg him
to drink up the water."
So the lad said to the ox
"
My dear ox !
do, ox, drink up the water, for the
water won't quench the fire, the fire won't burn the
fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn, the Finn won't shoot

the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf, the wolf won't
tear the fox, the fox won't bite airlock, and H
airlock H
won't come home
good time for tea to-day."
in
" "
I
No, won't," said the ox I'm not going to burst
;

asunder in doing that, 1 trow."

So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," said she, "you must go to the yoke,

and beg him to pinch the ox."
So the lad said to the yoke
"
dear yoke do, yoke, pinch the ox, for the ox
My !

won't drink up the water, the water won't quench the

fire, the fire won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on the
Finn, the Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear won't
slay the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the fox
won't bite Hairlock, and H airlock won't come home in

good time for tea to-day."

" "
I'm not going
No, that I won't," said the yoke ;

to break myself in two in doing that."

So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "you must go to the axe,

and beg him to chop the yoke."
So the lad said to the axe
" dear axe
My !
do, axe, chop the yoke, for the yoke
258 Tales from the Fjeld

won't pinch the ox, the ox won't drink up the water t

the water won't quench the fire, the fire won't burn
the fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn, the Finn won't

shoot the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf, the wolf
won't tear the fox, the fox won't bite Hairlock, and
Ilairlock won't come home
in good time for tea to-day."
"No, that I won't," said
the axe; "I'm not going to

spoil my edge for that, that

I won't."
So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "go

to the smith, and beg him to
hammer the axe."
So the lad said to the
smith
"
My dear smith!do, smith,
hammer the axe, for the axe
won't chop the yoke, the
yoke won't pinch the ox, the
ox won't drink up the water,
the water won't quench the

fire, the fire won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on
the Finn, Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear
the
won't slay the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the
fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come
home in good time for tea to-day."

"No, I won't," said the smith; "I'm not going to

burn up my coal and wear out my sledge-hammer for
that," he said.
So the lad told his mother.
 How they got Hair lock Home 259
"Well, then," she said, "you must go to the rope,
and beg it to hang the smith."
So the lad said to the rope
"
My dear rope !
hang the smith, for the
do, rope,
smith won't hammer
the axe, the axe won't chop the

yoke, the yoke won't pinch the ox, the ox won't drink
up the water, the water won't quench the fire, the fire
won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn, the
Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf,
the wolf won't tear the fox, the fox won't bite Hairlock,
and Hairlock won't come home in good time for tea

to-day."
"No," said the rope, "that I won't; I'm not going
to fray myself out for that."
So the lad told his mother.

"Well, then," she said, "you must go to the mouse,

and beg him to gnaw the rope."
So the lad said to the mouse
"
My dear mouse !
do, mouse, gnaw the rope, for
the rope won't hang the smith, the smith won't hammer
the axe, the axe won't chop the yoke, the yoke won't

pinch the ox, the ox won't drink up the water, the

water won't quench the fire, the fire won't burn the
fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn, the Finn won't shoot

the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf, the wolf won't
tear the fox, the fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock
won't come home in good time for tea to-day."
"No, I won't," said the mouse; "I'm not going to
wear down my teeth for that."
So the lad told his mother.
" "
Well, then," she said, you must go to the cat, and
beg her to catch the mouse."
260 Tales from the Fjeld

So the lad said to the cat

"
My dear cat !
do, cat, catch the mouse, for the
mouse won't gnaw the rope, the rope won't hang the
smith, the smith won't hammer the axe, the axe won't
chop the yoke, the yoke won't pinch the ox, the ox
won't drink up the water, the water won't quench the
fire, the fire won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on the

Finn, the Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear won't
slay the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the fox
won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come home in

good time for tea to-day."

"Well," said the cat, "just give me a drop of milk
"
for my kittens, and then that's what the cat said ;

and the lad said,"Yes, she should have it."

So the cat bit mouse, and mouse gnawed rope, and
rope hanged smith, and smith hammered axe, and axe
chopped yoke, and yoke pinched ox, and ox drank
water, and water quenched fire, and fire burnt fir, and
fir felled Finn, and Finn shot bear, and bear slew Grey-

legs, and Grey legs tore fox, and fox bit Hairlock, so
that she sprang home and knocked off one of her hind-

legs against the barn wall.

So there lay the nanny-goat, and if she's not dead,
she limps about on three legs.
But as for Osborn Boots, he said it served her just
right, because she would not come home in good time
for tea that very day.
 Osborn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue

on a time there was a king who had many

ONCE hundred sheep, and many hundred goats and
kine, and many hundred horses he had too, and
silver and gold in great heaps. But for all that he was
so given to grief, that he seldom or ever saw folk,
much less said a word to them. Such he had been
ever since his youngest daughter was lost and if he had
;

never lost her, it would still have been bad enough, for
there was a Troll who was for ever making such waste
and worry there, that folk could hardly pass to the
king's grange in peace. Now the Troll let all the
horses loose, and they trampled down mead and corn-
field, and ate up the crops ;
now he tore the heads off
the king's ducks and geese sometimes he killed the
;

king's kine in the byre;

sometimes he drove the king's
sheep and goats down the rocks, and broke their necks ;

and every time they went to fish in the mill-dam, he had

hunted all the fish to land, and left them lying there
dead.
Well, there was a couple of old folk who had three
sons the first was called Peter, the second Paul, and
;

the third Osborn Boots, for he always lay and grubbed

about in the ashes.
They were hopeful youths ;
but Peter, who was the
261
262 Tales from the Fje/d

eldest, was said to be the hopefullest, and so he asked

his father if he might have leave go out into the
to
world and try his luck.
" " Better
Yes, you shall have it," said the old fellow.
late than never, my boy."
So he got brandy and food in his wallet,
in a flask,

and then he threw his fare on his back and toddled

down the hill. And when he had walked a while, he
fell upon an old wife who lay by the roadside.
" Ah my
! dear boy, give me a morsel of food to-day,"
said the old wife.
But Peter hardly so much as looked on one side,
and then he held his head straight and went on his
way.
" " "
Ay, ay said the old
!
wife, go along, and you shall
see what you shall see."
So Peter went and farther than far, till he came
far,
at last to the king's grange. There stood the king in
the gallery, feeding the cocks and hens.
"
Good evening, and God bless your majesty," said
Peter.
" "
Chick-a-biddy chick-a-biddy
! said the king, and
!

scattered corn both east and west, and took no heed

of Peter.

"Well," said Peter to himself, "you may just stand

there and scatter corn and cackle chicken-tongue till
"
you turn into a bear and so he went into the kitchen,
;

and sat down on the bench as though he were a great

man.
" "
Whatsort of a stripling are you ? said the cook,
for Peter had not yet got his beard. That he thought
jibes and mocking, and so he fell to beating and banging
 O shorn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue 263
the kitchen-maid ! But while he was hard at it, in came
the king, and made them
cut three red stripes out of
his back ; and then they rubbed salt into the wound,
and sent him home again the same way he came.
Now as soon as Peter was well home, Paul must set
off in his turn. Well, well ! he too got brandy in his
flask,and food in his wallet, and he threw his fare on
his back and toddled down the hill. When he had got
on his way, he too met the old wife, who begged for
food but he strode past her and made no answer and at
; ;

the king's grange he did not fare a pin better than Peter.
The king called " chick-a-biddy " and the kitchen-maid
!

called him a clumsy boy and when he was going to

;

bang and beat her for that, in came the king with a
butcher's knife, and cut three red stripes out of him,
and rubbed hot embers in, and sent him home again
with a sore back.
Then Boots crept out the cinders and fell to shaking
himself.The day he shook all the ashes off him,
first

the second he washed and combed himself, and the

third he dressed himself in his Sunday best.
" "
Nay, nay just look at him," said Peter.
! Now
we have got a new sun shining here. I'll be bound you
are off to the king's grange to win his daughter and half
the kingdom. Far better bide in the dusthole and lie
in the ashes, thatyou had."
But Boots was deaf in that ear, and he went in to
his father, and asked leave to go out a little into the
world.
" What are "
you to do out in the world ? said the
" It did not fare so well either with Peter
greybeard.
"
or Paul, and what do you think will become of you ?
264 Tales from the Fjeld

But Boots would not give way, and so at last he had

leave to go.
His brothers were not for letting him have a morsel
of food with him ;
but his mother gave him a cheese
rind and a bone with very little meat on it, and with

them he toddled away from the cottage. As he went

he took his time. "You'll be there soon enough," he
said to himself. "You have all the day before you,
and afterwards the moon will rise, if you have any
luck." So he put
his best foot fore-

most, and puffed

up the hills, and all
the while looked
about him on the
road.
After a long, long
way he met the
old wife, who lay
by the roadside.
"The poor old
cripple/'said Boots;
" I'll be bound you
are starving."
"Yes, she was," said the old wife.
"Are you? then go shares with you/' said
I'll

Osborn Boots, and as he said that he gave her the

rind of cheese.
"
You're freezing, too," he said, as he saw how her
" You must take this old
teeth chattered. jacket of mine.
It's not good in the arms, and thin in the back, but
once on a time, when it was new, it was a good wrap."
 Oshorn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue 265
" Bide a the old wife, as she fumbled down
bit," said
"
Here you have an old key I have
in her big pocket.
nothing better or worse to give you but when you look

through the ring at the top, you can see whatever you
choose to see."
So when he got to the king's grange, the cook was
hard at work drawing water, and that was great toil
to her.
" " but
It's too heavy for you," said Boots, it's just
what I am fit to do."
The one was glad then, you may fancy, was the
that

kitchen-maid, and from that day she always let Boots

scrape the porridge-pot but it was not long before he
;

got so many enemies by that, that they told lies of

him
to the king,and said he had told them he was man
enough to do this and that.
So one day the king came and asked Boots if it were
true that he was man enough to keep the fish in the
" For
mill-dam, so that the Troll could not harm them,
that's what they tell me you have said," spoke the
king.
" have not said so," said Boots " but if I had said
I ;

it,
I would have been as good as my word."

Well, however it was, whether he had said it or not,

he must try, if he wished to keep a whole skin on his
back ;
that was what the king said.

"Well, he must, he must," said Boots, for he said

if

he had no need to go about with red stripes under his

jacket.
In the evening Boots peeped through his key-ring,
and then he saw that the Troll was afraid of thyme.
So he fell to plucking all the thyme he could find, and
266 Tales from the Fjeld

some of he strewed in the water, and some on land,

it

and the rest he spread over the brink of the dam.

So the Troll had to leave the fish in peace but now ;

the sheep had to pay for it, for the Troll was chasing
them over all the cliffs and
crags the whole night.
Then one of the other ser-
vants came and said again
that Boots knew a cure for

the stock as well, he only if

chose, for that he had said

he was man enough to do it

was the very truth.

Well, the king went out to
him, and spoke to him as he
had spoken the first time, and
threatened that he would cut
three broad stripes out of his
back if he did not do what he
had said.
So there was no help for it.
Boots thought, I dare say, it
would be very fine to go about
in the king's livery and a
red jacket, but he thought he
would rather be without it,
if he himself had to find the

cloth for it out of the skin of his back. That was

what he thought and said.
So he betook himself to his thyme again ;
but there
was no end to his work, for as soon as he bound
thyme on the sheep they ate it off one another's backs,
 Oshorn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue 267
and as he went on binding they went on eating, and
they ate faster than he could bind. But at last he
made an ointment of thyme and tar, and rubbed it
well into them, and then they left off eating it. Then
the kine and the horses got the same ointment, and
so they had peace from the Troll.
But one day when the king was out hunting he trod
upon wild grass and got bewildered, and lost his way

in the wood so he rode round and round for many

;

days, and had nothing either to eat or drink, and his

clothing fared so ill in the thorns and thickets, that at
last he had scarce a rag to his back. So the Troll
came to him and said if he might have the first thing
the king set eyes on when he got on his own land, he
would let him go home to his grange. Yes, he should
have that, for the king thought it would be sure to be
his little dog, which always came frisking and fawning
to meet him. But just as he got near his grange so that
268 Tales from the Fjeld

they could see him, out came his eldest daughter at

the head of all the court to meet the king, and to
welcome him back safe and sound.
So when he saw that she was the first to meet him,
he was so cut to the heart, he fell to the ground on
the spot, and since
that time had been
almost half-witted.
One evening the
Troll was to come and
fetch the princess, and
she was dressed out
in her best, and sat
in a field out
by the
tarn, and wept and
bewailed. There was

a man called Glibtongue, who was to go with her, but

he was so afraid he clomb up into a tall spruce fir,
and there he stuck. Just then up came Boots, and
sat down on the ground by the side of the princess.
And she was so glad, as you may fancy, when she
saw there were still Christian folk who dared to stay
by her after all.

"Lay your head on my lap," she said, "and I'll

comb your hair;" so Osborn Boots did as she bade

him and while she combed his hair he fell asleep, and
;

she took a gold ring off her finger and knitted it into
 O shorn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue 269
his hair. Just then up came the Troll, puffing and
blowing. He was so heavy-footed that all the wood
groaned and cracked a whole mile round.
And when the Troll saw Glibtongue sitting up in the

tree-top like a blackcock, he spat at him.

little
" Pish "
he said, that was all, and down toppled
!

Glibtongue and the spruce fir to the ground, and there

he lay sprawling like a fish out of water.
" Hu
hu " said the Troll " are you sitting here
! !
;

combing Christian folk's hair? Now I'll

gobble you
up."
"Stuff!" said Boots, as soon as he woke up, and
then he fell to peering at the Troll
through the ring
on his key.
"Hu! hu !" said the Troll; "what are you staring
at? Hu! hu!"
And as he said that he hurled his iron club at him,
so that it stood fifteen ells deep in the rock ;
but Boots
was so quick and ready on his feet, that he got on one
side of the club just as the Troll hurled it.
" " out
Stuff, for such old wives' tricks," said Boots ;

with your toothpick, and you shall see something like

a throw."
Yes, the Troll plucked out the club at one pull,
and it was as Mean-
big as three weaver's beams.
while Boots stared up at the sky, both south and
north.
" "
Hu ! hu ! said the Troll ;
" what are you gazing
"
at now ?
" I'm
looking out for a star at which to throw," said
Boots. " Do
you see that tiny little one due north ?
That's the one I choose."
270 Tales from the Fjeld
11 " let it bide
Nay, nay," said the Troll, as it is.

You mustn't throw away my iron club."

"Well, well," said Boots, "you may have it again

then, but perhaps you wouldn't mind if I tossed you

up to the moon just for once."
No, the Troll would have nothing to say to that
either.

"Oh, but blindman's buff," said Boots; "haven't

you a mind to play blindman's buff?"
"
Yes, that would be fine fun, the Troll thought but ;

you shall be blindfold first," said the Troll to Boots.

"Oh yes, with all my heart," said the lad; "but the
fairest way is that we draw lots, and then we shan't

have anything to quarrel about."

Yes, yes, that was best, and then you may fancy
Boots took care the Troll should be the first to have the
handkerchief over his eyes, and was the first "buff."
But that just was a game. My how they went !

in and out of the wood, and how the Troll ran and
stumbled over the stumps, so that the dust flew and
the wood rang.
" Haw " "
! haw ! bawled the Troll at last, the de'il

take me if I'll be buff any longer," for he was in a

great rage.
"Bide a bit," said Boots, "and I'll stand still and
call you come and catch me."
till

Meanwhile he took a hemp-comb and ran round to

the other side of the tarn, which was so deep it had
no bottom.
" Now come here I
stand," bawled out Boots.
;

" I dare
say there are logs and stumps in the way,"
said the Troll.
 O shorn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue 271
"
Your ears canyou there is no wood here," said
tell

Boots, and then he swore to him there were no stumps

or stocks.
" Now
come along."
Troll set off again, but " squash he went, and
"
So the
there lay the Troll in the tarn, and Boots hacked at his

eyes with the hemp-comb every time he got his head

above water.
Now the Troll begged so prettily for his life, that
Boots thought it was a shame to take it but first he ;

had to give up the princess, and to bring back the

other whom he had stolen before. And besides, he
had to promise that folk and flock should have peace,
and then he let the Troll out, and he took himself off
home to his hill.

But now Glibtongue became a man again, and came

down out of the tree-top, and carried off the princess
to the grange, as though he had set her free. And
then he stole down and gave his arm to the other also,
when Boots had brought her as far as the garden.
And now there was such joy in the king's grange,
that was heard and talked of over land and realm, and
it

Glibtongue was to be married to the youngest daughter.

Well, it was all good and right, but after all it was
not so well ;
for just as theywere to have the feast,
if that old Troll had not gone down under earth and
stopped the springs of water.
all
" If
do them any other harm," he said, "they
I can't
shan't have water to boil their bridal brose."
So there was no help for it but to send for Boots
again. Then he got him an iron bar, which was to
be fifteen ells long, and six smiths were to make it
2/2 Tales from the Fjeld

red-hot. Then he peeped through his key-ring, and

saw where the Troll was just as well underground as
above it, and then he drove the bar down through the
ground, and into the Troll's back-bone ;
and all I can
say is, there was a
smell of burnt horn
A fifteen miles around.
"Haw! haw!"
bellowed out the

Troll, "let me out,"

and in a trice he
came tearing up
through the hole,
and all his back was
burnt and singed up
to the nape of his
neck.
But Boots was not
slow, for he caught
the Troll and laid
him on a stake that
had thyme twisted
round it, and there
he had to lie till he
told him where he had got eyes from after those had
been hacked out with the hemp-comb.
" If " I stole a
you must know," said the Troll,
turnip, and rubbed it well over with ointment, and
then I cut it to the sizes I needed, and nailed them in
tight with tenpenny nails, and better eyes I hope no
Christian man will ever have."

Then the king came with the two princesses, and

 shorn Boots and Mr. Glibtongue 273
wanted to see the Troll, and Glibtongue walked so
bent and bowed, his coat-tails were higher than his
neck. But then the king caught sight of something
glistening in the hair of Boots.
"What have you got there ?" he said.
" "
Oh," said Boots, nothing but the ring your daugh-
ter gave me when I freed her from the Troll."
And now came out how it had all happened.
it

Glibtongue begged and prayed for himself; but for all

his trying and all his crying, there was no help for

it; down he had to go into a pit full of snakes, and

there he lay till he burst.

Then they put an end to the Troll ;
and then they
began to be noisy and merry, and to drink and dance
at the bridal of Boots, for now he was king of that

company, and he got the youngest princess and half

the kingdom.

And here I lay my tale upon a sledge,

And send itthee whose tongue hath sharper edge ;
But if thy tongue in wit is not so fine,
Then shame on thee that throwest blame on mine.
This is the Lad who sold the Pig

on a time there was a widow who had a

ONCE son, and he had set his heart on being nothing
else than a tradesman. But you must know
they were so poor, that they had nothing that he could
begin his trading with. The only thing his mother
owned in the world was a sow pig, and he begged and
prayed so long and so prettily for it, that at last she
was forced to let him have it.

When he had got it, he was to set off to sell it, that
he might have some money to begin his trading. So
he offered it to this man and that, good and bad alike ;

but there was no one who just then cared to

buy a pig.
At last he came to a rich old hunks but you know
;

much will always have more, and that man was one of
the sort that never can have enough.
"Will you buy a pig to-day?" said the lad; "a
good pig, and a long pig, and a fine fat pig." That
was what he said.
The old hunks asked what he would have for it. It
was at least worth six dollars, even between brothers,
said the lad but the times were so hard, and money
;

so scarce, he didn't mind selling it for four dollars ;

and that was as good as giving it away.

274
 The Lad who sold the Pig 275

No, that the old hunks would not do he wouldn't

give so much as a dollar even he had more pigs ;

already than he wanted, and was well off for pigs of

that sort. But as the lad was so eager to sell, he
would be willing to do him a turn and deal with him;
but the most he could give for the whole pig, every
inch of it, was fourpence. If he would take that, he

might turn his pig into the sty with the rest. That
was what the old hunks said.

The lad thought itshameful that he should not get

more for his pig ;
but then he thought that something
was better than nothing, and so he took the fourpence
and turned in the pig. And then he fingered the
money, and went about his business. But when he
got out into the road, he could not get it out of his
head that he had been cheated out of his pig, and
that he was not much better off with fourpence than
with nothing. The longer he went and thought of
this, the angrier he got, and at last he thought to
himself
" could only play him a pretty wouldn't
If I trick, I
care either for the pig or the pence."
So he went away and got him a pair of stout thongs
and a and then he threw over him
cat-o'-nine-tails,
a big cloak, and put on a billygoat's beard; and so
he went back to the skinflint, and said he was from
outlandish parts, where he had learnt to be a master-
builder for you must know he had heard the old
hunks was going to build a house.
Yes, he would gladly take him as master-builder,
he said for thereabouts there were none but home-
;

taught carpenters. So off they went to look at the

276 Tales from the Fjeld

timber, and it was the finest heart of pine that any

one would wish to have in the wall of his house ;

and even the lad said it was brave timber he couldn't

say otherwise; but in outlandish parts they had got
a new fashion, which was far better than the old.
They did not take long beams and fit them into the

wall, but they cut the beams up into nice small logs,
and then they baked them in the sun and fastened
them together again and so they were both stronger
;

and prettier than an old-fashioned timber building.

" That's how the houses
they build all nowadays
in outlandish parts," said the lad.
" If must be With
it so, it must," said the hunks.
that he set all the carpenters and woodmen who were
to be found round about to chop and hew all his beams
up into small logs.
" "
But," said the lad, we still want some big trees
some of the real mast firs for our sill-beams ; maybe
there are no such big trees in your wood."
"Well," said the man, "if they're not to be found
in my wood, be hard to find them anywhere else."
it will

And so they strode off to the wood, both of them ;

and a little way up the hill they came to a big tree.

" I should think that's big enough," said the man.
" " If
No, big enough," said the lad.
it isn't you
haven't bigger trees, we shan't make much way with
our building after the new fashion."
"Yes, have bigger ones," said the man. "You
I

shall soon see but we must go farther on."

;

So they went a long way over the hill, and at last

they came to a big tree, one of the finest trees for a
mast in all the wood.
 The Lad 'who sold the Pi?
o 277
" Do you think this is big enough ? said the man. "

"I almost think it is," said the lad. "We will

fathom it, and then we shall soon see. You go on
the other side of the fir, and I will stand here. If
we are not good enough to make our hands meet, it
will be big enough ;
but mind you stretch out well.
Stretch out well, do
"
you hear ? said the
lad, as he took out his

thongs. As for the man,

he did all the lad told
him.
"Yes," said the lad,
"we shall meet nicely,
I can see. But stop
a bit, and I'll stretch

your hands better," he

said, as he slipped a
running knot over his
wrists and drew it tight,
and bound him fast to
the tree; then out came
the cat - o' - nine -
tails,
and he fell to flogging the old hunks as fast as he
could, and all the while he cried out
"This is the lad who sold the pig! and this is the
"
lad who sold the pig !

Nor till he thought the old hunks

did he leave off
had enough, and that he had got his rights for the
pig ; and then he loosed him, and left him lying under
the tree.

Now, when the man did not come home, they made
278 Tales from the Fjeld

a hue and cry for him over the neighbourhood, and

searched the country round and at last they found
;

him under the fir-tree, more dead than alive.

So when they had got him home, the lad came, and
had dressed himself up as a doctor, and said he had
come from foreign parts, and knew a cure for all kinds
of hurt. And when the man heard
that, he was all for having him to
doctor him, and the lad said he
would not be long in curing him ;
but he must have him all alone
in a room by himself, and no one
must be by.
" If
you hear him screech and
cry out/' he said, "you must not
mind it ; for the more he screeches,

the sooner he will be well again."

So when they were alone, he
said
" First of all I must bleed you."
^^ And so he threw the man roughly
down on a bench, and bound him
fast with the and then out came the cat-o'-nine-
thongs ;

tails, and he fell him as fast as he could.

to flogging

The man screeched and screamed, for his back was

sore, and every lash went into the bare flesh and the ;

lad flogged and flogged as though there were no end

to it, and all the while he bawled out
"This is the lad who sold the pig! this is the lad
"
who sold the pig !

The old hunks bellowed as though a knife were

being stuck into him; but there was not a soul that
 The Lad 'who sold the Pig 279
cared about it,
for the more he screeched the sooner
he would be well, they thought.
So whenthe lad had done his doctoring, he set off
from the farm as fast as he could but they followed ;

fast on his and overtook him, and threw him

heels,
into prison, and the end was, he was doomed to be

hanged.
And the old hunks was so angry with him, even
then, that he would not have him hanged till he was
quite well, so that he might hang him with his own
hands.
So while the lad sat there in prison waiting to be

hanged, one of the serving-men came out by night and

stole kail in the garden of the old hunks, and the lad
saw him.
"So, so," said he to himself, "master thief, it will
be odd if I don't play off a trick or two with you before
I am hanged."
And so when time went on, and the man was so well
he thought he had strength enough to hang him, he
made them set up a gallows down by the way to the
mill, so that he might see the body hanging every time
he went to the mill. So they set out to hang the lad;
and when they had gone a bit of a way, the lad said
"You will not refuse to let me talk alone with your
servantwho grinds down yonder at the mill ? I did
him a bad turn once, and I wish now to confess it, and
beg him for forgiveness before I die."
Yes, he might have leave to do that.
" Heaven "
help you he said to the miller's man.
!

" Now your master is coming to hang you because you

stole kail in his garden."
280 Tales from the Fjeld

As soon as the miller's man heard that, he was so

taken aback he did not know which way to turn, and
so he asked the lad what he should do.
"Take and change clothes with me, and hide yourself
behind the door," said the lad, " and then he will not
know that it isn't me. And if he lays hands on any
one, then it will not be you, but me."
It was some time
before they had changed clothes
and dressed again, and the old hunks began to be
afraid lest the lad should have run away. So he
posted down to the mill door.
" Where is he ? " he said to the who stood there
lad,
as white as a miller.
" " I think
Oh, he was here just now," said the lad.
he went and hid himself behind the door."
" I'll teach
you to hide behind the door, you rogue,"
said the old hunks, as he seized the man in a great

rage, and hurried him off to the gallows, and hanged

him in a breath and all the while he never knew it
;

was not the lad that he hanged.

After that was done, he wanted to go into the mill to
talk to his man, who was busy grinding. Meantime
the lad had wedged up the upper millstone, and was
feeling under it with his hands.
"Come here, come here," he called out as soon as he
" and
saw the old hunks, you shall feel what a wonder-
ful millstone this is."

So the man went and felt the millstone with one

hand.
" "
Nay, nay," said the lad, you'll never feel it unless

you take hold of it with both hands."

Well, he did so ; and just then the lad snatched out
 The Lad <w/io sold the Pig 281

the wedge and let the upper millstone down on him,

so that he was caught fast by the hands between the
stones. Then out came the cat-o'-nine-tails again,
and he fell to flogging him as fast as he could.
" This "
is the lad who sold the pig ! he cried out till

he was hoarse.
And when he had flogged him as much as he could,
he went home to his mother; and as time went on, and
he thought the man had come to himself again, he said
to her

"Yes, now I dare say thatman will be coming to

whom I sold the pig; and now 1 know no other trick
to screen me any
longer from him, unless I dig a hole
here south of the house, and there I will lie all day ;

and you must mind and say to him just what I tell

you."
So the lad told his mother all she was to say and do.
Then he dug such a hole as he had said, and took
with him a long butcher's knife, and lay down in it ;

and his mother covered him over with boughs and

leaves and moss, so that he was quite hidden. There
he lay by day ; and after a while the man came travel-
ling along and asked for the lad.
" " " he was a
Ay, ay said his mother,
!
man, that
he was though;
he never got from me more than one
sow pig. For he became both a doctor and a master-
builder, and he was hanged after that, and rose again
from the dead and yet I never heard anything but ill
;

of him. Here he came flying home the other day, and

then he gave me the greatest joy I ever had of him, for
he laid him down and died. As for me, I did not care
enough for him to spend money on a priest and Christian
282 Tales from the Fjeld

earth ; but I just buried him yonder, south of the house,

and raked over him boughs and leaves."
"
See now," said the old hunks, " if he hasn't cheated
me after all, and slipped through my ringers. But
though I have not been avenged on him living, I will
do him a dishonour in his grave."
As he said this he strode away south to the grave,
and stooped down to spit into it but at that very
;

moment the lad stuck the knife into him up to the

handle, and bawled out
" This is the lad who sold the
pig this is the lad!

"
who sold the pig !

Away flew the man

with the knife sticking in him,
and he was so scared and afraid, that nothing has ever
been heard or seen of him since.
 The Sheep and the Pig who
set up House

NCE on a time there was a

sheep who stood in the pen
to be fattened ;
so he lived

well, and was stuffed and

crammed with everything
that was good. So it

went on, till one day

the dairymaid came
and gave him still
more food, and then
she said " Eat
away,
sheep; you won't be
much longer here ;
we
are going to kill you to-morrow."
It is an old saying, that women's counsel is
always
worth having, and that there is a cure and physic for
" But
everything but death. after all," said the sheep
to himself, "there may be a cure even for death this
time."
So he ate till he was ready to burst and when he
;

was crammed full, he butted out the door of the pen,

and took his way to the neighbouring farm. There he
283
284 Tales from the Fjeld

went to the pigsty to a pig whom he had known out

on the common, and ever since had been the best
friends with.
"Good day," said the sheep, "and thanks for our
last merry meeting."
"Good day," answered the pig, "and the same to

you."
"
Do you know," said the sheep, "why it is you are
so well off, and why it is they fatten you, and take
"
such pains with you ?
"
No, I don't," said the pig.
"Many a flask empties the cask; I suppose you
know that," said the sheep. "They are going to kill
and eat you."
"Are they?" said the pig; "well, I hope they'll

say grace after meat."

"
If you will do as I do," said the sheep, "we'll go

off to the wood, build us a house, and set up for our-

selves. A home is a home, be it ever so homely."
"
Yes, the pig was willing enough. Good company
is such a comfort," he said, and so the two set off.
So when they had gone a bit they met a goose.
"
Good day, good sirs, and thanks for our last
"
merry meeting," said the goose ;
whither away so
"
fast to-day ?
" same
Good day, and the to you," said the sheep ;

"you must know we were too well off at home, and

so we are going to set up for ourselves in the wood,
for you know every man's house is his castle."

"Well," said the goose, "it's much the same with

me w here I am. Can't I go with you too ? for it's
r

child's play when three share the day."

 The Sheep ana the Pig set
up House 285
"With
gossip and gabble is built neither house nor
stable," said the pig; "let us know what you can do."
"
By cunning and skill a cripple can do what he
"
will," said the goose. I can pluck moss and stuff it

into the seams of the planks, and your house will be

tight and warm."
Yes, they would give him leave, for, above all things,
piggy wished to be warm and comfortable.
So when they had gone a bit farther the goose had
hard work to walk so fast they met a hare, who came
frisking out of the wood.
"
Good day, good sirs, and thanks for our last merry
" "
meeting," she said ;
how far are you trotting to-day ?
"Good day, and the same to you," said the sheep;
"
we were far too well off at home, and so we're going to
the wood to build us a house, and set up for ourselves ,

for you know, try all the world round, there's nothing
like home."

for that," said the hare, "

" As I have a house in

every bush yes, a house in every bush ;

but yet, I

have often said in winter, '

If I
only live
summer,
till

I'll build me a house ;

'
and so I have half a mind to go
with you and build one up, after all."
"Yes," said the pig, "if we ever get into a scrape,
we might use you to scare away the dogs, for you don't
fancy you could help us in house-building."
"
He who lives long enough always finds work
" I
enough to do," said the hare. have teeth to gnaw
pegs, and paws to drive them into the wall, so I can
'

very well set up to be a carpenter ;

for good tools
make good work,' as the man said when he flayed the
mare with a gimlet"
286 Tales from the Fjeld

Yes, he too got leave to go with them and build

their house ; there was nothing more to be said about it.
When they had gone a bit farther they met a cock.
"Good day, good sirs," said the cock, "and thanks
for our merry meeting; whither are ye going
last
"
to-day, gentlemen ?
" Good
day, and the same to you," said the sheep ;

''at home we were too well off, and so we are going

off to the wood to build us a house, and set up for

ourselves ;
for he who out of doors shall bake, loses at
last both coal and cake."

"Well," said the cock, "that's just my case; but

it's better to sit on one's own perch, for then one can

never be left in the lurch, and besides, all cocks crow

loudest at home. Now, if I might have leave to join
such a gallant company, I also would like to go to the
wood and build a house."
" " "
Ay, aysaid the pig ;
!
flapping and crowing sets
tongues a-going, but a jaw on a stick never yet laid a
brick. How
can you ever help us to build a house ?"
" "
Oh," said the cock, that house will never have a
clock where there is neither dog nor cock. I am up
early, and I wake every one."
" the morning hour has a
"
Very true," said the pig ;

golden dower; let him come with us;" for, you must
"
know, piggy was always the soundest sleeper. Sleep
"
is the biggest thief," he said ;
he thinks nothing of

stealing half one's life."

So they all set off to the wood as a band and brother-

hood, and built the house. The pig hewed the timber,
and the sheep drew it home; the hare was carpenter,
and gnawed pegs and bolts, and hammered them into
 The Sheep and the Pig set
up House 287

the walls and roof; the goose plucked moss, and stuffed
it seams the cock crew, and looked out that
into the ;

they did not oversleep themselves in the morning; and

when the house was ready, and the roof lined with
birch bark and thatched with turf, there they lived by
" Tis
themselves, and were merry and well. good to
"
travel east and west," said the sheep, but after all a
home is best."
But you must know that a bit farther on in the
wood was a wolf's den, and there lived two greylegs.
So when they saw that a new house had risen up hard

by, they wanted to know what sort of folk their neigh-

bours were, for they thought to themselves that a good
neighbour was better than a brother in a foreign land,
and that it was better to live in a good neighbourhood

than toknow many people miles and miles off.

So one of them made up an errand, and went into
the new house and asked for a light for his pipe. But
as soon as ever he got inside the door, the sheep gave
him such a butt that he fell head foremost into the
stove. Then
the pig began to gore and bite him, the

goose and peck him, the cock upon the roost

to nip
to crow and chatter; and as for the hare, he was so

frightened out of his wits, that he ran about aloft and

on the floor, and scratched and scrambled in every
corner of the house.
So after a long time the wolf came out.
"Well," said the one who
waited for him outside,
" makes brotherhood. You must have
neighbourhood
come into a perfect paradise on bare earth since you

stayed so long. But what became of the light, for you

"
have neither pipe nor smoke ?
288 Tales from the Fjeld

"Yes, yes," said the other; "it was just a nice

light, and a pleasant company. Such manners I never
saw in all my life. But then you know we can't pick
and choose in this wicked world, and an unbidden
guest gets bad treatment. As soon as I got inside
the door, the shoemaker let fly at me with his last,
so that I fell head foremost into the stithy fire and ;

there sat two smiths, who blew the bellows and made
the sparks fly, and beat and punched me with red-
hot tongs and pincers, so that they tore whole pieces
out of my body. As for the hunter, he went scram-
bling about looking for his gun, and it was good luck
he did not find it. And all the while there was another
who satup under the roof, and slapped his arms, and
sang out, Put a hook into him and drag him hither,
'

drag him hither.' That was what he screamed, and if

he had only got hold of me, I should never have come
out alive."
 The Golden Palace that hung
in the Air

on a time there was a poor man who had

ONCE
were
three sons. When he died, the two eldest
to go out into the world to try their luck ;
but as for the youngest, they would not have him at
any price.
"
"As for you," they said,
you are fit for nothing but
to sit and hold and
fir tapers,
grub in the ashes, and blow
up the embers that's what ;

you are fit for."

"Well, well," said Boots,

"then I must e'en go alone by
myself; at any rate, I shan't
fall out with my company."

So the two went their

way ;
and when they had tra-
velled some days, they came
"is.

to a great wood. There they

sat down to rest, and were

just going to take out a meal from their knapsack, for

they were both tired and hungry. So as they sat
there up came an old hag out of a hillock, and begged
289
T
290 Tales from the Fjeld
for a morsel of meat. She was so old and feeble that
her nose and mouth met, and she nodded with her
head, and could only walk with a stick. As for meat,
she had not had, she said, a morsel in her mouth
these hundred years. But the lads only laughed at
her, and ate on, and told her as shehad lived so long
on nothing, she might very well hold out the rest of
her life, even though she did not eat up their scanty
fare, for they had little to eat, and nothing to spare.
So when they had eaten their fill and could eat no

more, and were quite rested, they went on their way

again, and, sooner or later, they came to the king's

grange, and there they each of them got a place.

A while after they had started from home, Boots
gathered together the crumbs which his brothers had
thrown on one side, and put them into his little script,
and he took with him the old gun which had no lock,
for he thought it might be some good on the way and ;

so he set off. So when he had wandered some days,

he, too, came into the big wood through which his
brothers had passed and as he got tired and hungry,
;

he sat down under a tree that he might rest and eat;

but he had his eyes about him for all that and as he ;

opened his script, he saw a picture hanging on a tree,

and on it was painted the likeness of a young girl or

princess, whom he thought so lovely he couldn't keep

his eyes off her. So he forgot both food and script,
and took down the painting and lay and stared at it.
Just then came up the old hag out of the hillock, who
hobbled along with her stick, whose nose and mouth
met, and whose head nodded. Then she begged for
a little food, for she hadn't had a morsel of bread in
 The Golden Palace 291

her mouth for a hundred years. That was what she

said.
"Then it's high time you had a little to live on,

granny/' said the lad ; and with that

he gave her some
of the crumbs he had. The old hag said no one
had ever called her

"granny" these
hundred years, and
she would be as
a mother to him in
her turn. Then she
gave him a grey
ball of wool, which
he had only to roll
on before him and
he would come to

whatever place he
wished but as for
;

the painting,she said

he mustn't bother
himself about that,
he would only fall
into ill luck if he
did. As for Boots,
he thought it was
very kind of her to say that ; but he could not bear to
be without the painting so he took it under his arm,
;

and rolled the ball of wool before him, and it was not
long before he came to the king's grange, where his
brothers served. There he, too, begged for a place, but
all the answer he got was, they had nothing to put him

to, for they had just got two new serving-men.

But
292 Tales from the Fjeld

as he begged so prettily, at last he got leave to be with

the coachman, and learn how to groom and handle
horses. That he was right glad to do, for he was fond
of horses, and he was both quick and ready, so that he
soon learnt how to bed and rub them down, and it was
not long before every one in the king's grange was
fond of him ; but every hour he had to himself he was
up in the loftlooking at the picture, for he had hung it

up in a corner of the hayloft.

As for his brothers, they were dull and lazy, and so

they often got scolding and stripes and when they ;

saw that Boots fared better than they, they got jealous
of him, and told the coachman he was a worshipper of
false gods, for he prayed to a picture and not to our
Lord. Now, even though the coachman thought well
of the lad, still he wasn't long before he told the

king what he had heard. But the king only swore

and snapped at him, for he had grown very, very sad
and sorrowful since his daughters had been carried
off by Trolls. But they so dinned it into the king's
ears, that at last he must and would know what
it was that the lad did. But when he went up into
the hayloft and set his eyes on the picture, he saw
that his youngest daughter who was painted
it was
on But when the brothers of Boots heard that,
it.

they were ready with an answer, and said to the

coachman
"
If our brother onlv would, he has said he was
.

good to get the king's daughter back."

You may fancy it was not long before the coach-
man went to the king with this story and when the ;

king heard it he called for Boots, and said

 The Golden Palace 293
"Your brothers say you can bring back my daughter
again, and now you must do it."

Boots answered, he had never known it was the

king's daughter till the king said so himself, and if he
could free her and fetch her, he would be sure to do
his best; but two days he must have to think over it
and fit himself out. Yes, he might have two days.
So Boots took the grey ball of wool and threw it
down on the road, and it rolled and rolled before him,
and he followed it till he came to the old hag from
whom he had got it. Her he asked what he must do;
and she said he must take with him that old gun of his,
and three hundred chests of nails and horseshoe brads,
and three hundred barrels of barley, and three hundred
barrels of grits, and three hundred carcasses of pigs,
and three hundred beeves, and then he was to roll the
ball of wool before him till he met a raven and a baby

Troll, and then he would be all right, for they were both
of her stock. Yes, the lad did as she bade him he ;

went right on to the king's grange, and took his old

gun with him and he asked the king for the nails
;

and the brads, and meat and flesh, and grain, and for
horses and men, and carts to carry them in. The king
thought it was a good deal to ask, but if he could
only get his daughter back, he might have whatever he
chose, even to the half of his kingdom.
So when the lad had fitted himself out, he rolled the
ball ofwool before him again, and he hadn't gone many
days before he came to a high hill, and there sat a
raven up in a fir-tree. So Boots went on till he came
close under the tree, and then he began to aim and

point at the raven with his gun.

294 Tales from the Fjeld

"No, no," cried the raven; "don't shoot me, don't

shoot me, and I'll
help you."
"
"Well,'"' said Boots, I never heard of any one who
boasted he had eaten roast raven, and since you are so
eager to save your life, I may just as well spare it."
So he threw down his gun, and the raven came
flying down to him, and said
"
Here, up on this fell there is
a baby Troll walking up and down,
for he has lost his way, and can't

get down
again. I will
help you
up, and then you can lead him
home, and ask a boon which will
stand you in good stead. When
you get to the Troll's house, he
will you all the grandest
offer

things he has, but you should not

heed them a pin. Mind you take
nothing else but the little grey
ass, which stands behind the
stable door."
Then the raven took Boots on
his back and flew up on the hill

with him, and put him off there.

When he had gone about on it a bit, he heard the
baby Troll howling and whining, because it couldn't
get down again. So the lad talked kindly to it, and
they got the best friends in the world, and he said he
would help it down and guide it to the old Troll's
house, that mightn't lose itself on the way back.
it

Then they went to the raven, and he took them both on

his back, and carried them off to the hill Troll's house.
 The Golden Palace 295
And when the old Troll saw his baby, he was so glad,
he was beside himself, and told Boots he might come
indoors and take whatever he chose, because he had
freed his child. Then they offered him both gold and
silver,and all that was rare and costly; but the lad
said he would rather have a horse than anything else.

Yes, he should have a horse, the Troll said, and off they
went to the stable. It was full of the grandest horses,
whose coats shone like the sun and moon ;
but Boots

thought they were all too big for him. So he peeped

behind the stable door, and when he set eyes on the
little grey ass that stood there, he said

"I'll take this one. It will suit me to a T, and if

I fall off, I shall be no farther from the ground than

that high."
The old Troll did not at all like to part with his ass ;

but as he had given his word, he had to stand by it.

So Boots got the ass, and saddle, and bridle, and all

that belonged to it, and then he

They set off. travelled

through wood and field, and over fells and wide wastes.
So when they had gone farther than far, the ass asked
Boots if he saw anything.
" I see naught else than a which looks blue
No, hill,

in the distance," said Boots.

" " we have
Oh," said the ass, that hill to pass
through."
" All
very fine, I dare say," said Boots, for he didn't
believe a word of it.
So when they got close to the hill an unicorn came
tearing along at them, just as if he were going to eat
them up all alive.
" I almost think now I'm afraid," said Boots.
296 Tales from the Fjeld

"Oh," sa'fl the ass, "don't say so; just throw it a

score or so of beeves, and beg it to bore a hole and
break a way for us through the hill."
So Boots did as he was told ;
and when the unicorn
had eaten his they said they would give him a score
fill,

or two of pigs' carcasses if he would go before them

and bore a hole in the hill, so that they might get
through it. So when he heard that, he set to work and
bored the hole, and broke a way so fast, that they had
hard work to keep up with him, and when he had done
his work they threw him two score of pigs.
So when they had got well out of that they travelled
far away, until they passed again through woods and

fields, and across fells and wide wastes.

" "
Do you see anything now ? asked the ass.
" Now I see naught but the bare sky and wild fells,"
said Boots.
So they travelled on far and farther than far, and the
higher up they came the fell got smoother and flatter,
so that they could see farther about them.
" "
Do you
see anything now ? said the ass.
I see something far, far away," said Boots,
"Yes,
"
and it gleams and twinkles like a little star."
" for all that," said the ass.
It's not so very little,

So when they had gone on farther and farther than

far again, the ass asked again
" "
Do you see anything now ?
" " I see
Yes," said Boots, something a long way off
that shines like a moon."
" " but the silver castle
It is no moon," said the ass,

we are bound for. Now, when we get there you will

see three dragons lying on the watch before the gate.
 > l"_ZS; J

<14 -T^l-H
1
7-A A ^
rf^^t-y
-,M -OT W
wl rji"
".
>?S t .I'x^
wr Uf^ "
I J -l t

-
irrr'^T/:--^^/

" Outside the

gate lay the dragons."
 The Golden Palace 299
They have not been awakened for hundreds of years,
and so the moss has grown over their eyes."
" I almost think I shall be afraid of them," said
Boots.
"
Oh, don't say that," said the ass "you've only got
;

to wake up the youngest, and throw it a score or so of

beeves and swine, and th n it will talk to the others,
and so you'll come into the castle."
So on they travelled far and farther than far again
before they came up to the castle; but when they reached
it, it was both grand
and great, and everything they saw
was cast in silver, and outside the gate lay the dragons,
and blocked up the way so that no one could get in ;

but they had a nice easy time of it, and had not been
much troubled in their watch for they were so over-
;

grown with moss that no one could tell what they were
made of, and at their sides underwood was springing
up between the tufts of moss. So Boots woke up the
youngest of them, and it began to rub its eyes and clear
the moss out of them. But when the dragon saw there
was folk there, he came at them with his maw wide

agape but then the lad stood ready, and tossed into it
;

the carcasses of beeves, and swung after them salted

swine, till the dragon had got his fill, and grew a little
more sensible to talk to. Then the lad begged he would
wake up his fellows, and ask them to be so good as to
get out of the way, so that he might get into the castle;
but the dragon neither would nor dared to do that at
first, for he had not been awake or tasted
said, as they

anything hundreds
for of years, he was afraid lest they
should get raving mad, and swallow up everything, alive
or dead.
300 Tales from the Fjeld
But Boots thought there was no need to fear that,
for they could leave behind them a hundred carcasses
of beeves, and a hundred salt swine, and go a little
way off, and then the dragons would have time to eat
their fill, and to come to themselves before the others
came back to the castle.
Yes, the dragon was ready to do that, and so they
did it; but before the dragons were well awake, and

got the moss rubbed off their eyes, they went about
roaring and raving, and riving and rending at every-
thing alive or dead, so that the youngest dragon had
enough to do to shield himself from them till they had
snuffed up the smell of flesh. Then they swallowed
down whole oxen and swine, and ate and ate till they
were full. And after that they were just as tame and
buxom as the youngest, and let Boots pass between
them into the castle.
When he got inside, it was all so grand, he never
could have thought anything could be so good any-
where but there was not a soul in it, for he went
;

from room to room, and opened all the doors, but he

could see no one. Well, at last he peeped through
a door that led to a bedroom, which he had not seen
before, and in there sat a princess spinning, and she
was so glad and happy when she saw him.
"No, no," she cried; "can it be that Christian folk
dare to come hither? but it will be best for you to be
off again, else the Troll might kill you, for you must
know a Troll lives here with three heads."
But Boots said he would not fly even if he had seven
heads. When the princess heard that, she said she
wished him to try if he could brandish the great rusty
 The Golden Pa/ace 301
sword that hung behind the door. No, he could not
brandish it he could not so much as even lift it.
"Ah!" said the princess, "if you can't do that, you
must take a drink of that flask yonder, that hangs

by the side of the sword, for that's what the Troll

does when he goes out
to use it."
So Boots took two or
three drinks, and then
he could brandish the
sword as though it were
a rolling-pin.
Just then came the
Troll, so that the wind
sung after him.
" Hu " he screeched
!

"
out, what a smell of
Christian blood there is

in here."
" know there is,"
I

"
said Boots, but you
needn't blow and snort
so at it ; you shan't
suffer long from that
smell," and in a trice he cut off all his heads.
The princess was so glad, just as if she had got
something so good ;
but in a little while she got heavy-
hearted, for she pined for her sister, who had been
stolen by a Troll with six heads, and lived in a golden
hundred miles on this side of the world's
castle three
end. Boots thought that was not so very bad, for he
could go and fetch both the princess and the castle;
302 Tales from the Fjeld
and so he took the sword and the flask, and got on the
ass, and bade the dragons follow him, and carry the

meat, and grain, and nails which he had.

So when they had been a while on the way, and had
away over land and strand, the ass
travelled far, far
said one day
" Do you see anything ?
"

"I "but land and water,

see naught," said Boots,
and bare sky and high crags."
So they went on far and farther than far, and then
the ass said again
" Do "
you see anything now ?
" Yes " when he had
; looked well before him, he saw
something a long, long way off that shone like a little
star.
" It will be big enough by-and-bye," said the ass.
When they had gone a good bit still, the ass asked
" Do you
see anything now ?
"

" Now I see it shining like a moon," said the lad.

" "
Ay, ay said the ass, and on they went.
!

So when they had gone far and farther than far,

away over land and strand, and hill and heath, the ass
asked
" "
Do you see anything now ?
" said Boots,
" shines most like
Now, methinks," it

the sun."
" " that's the
Ay," said the ass, golden castle for
which we are bound but outside it lives a worm,
;

which stops the way and keeps watch and ward."

" I think I
shall be afraid of it," said Boots.
" " we must
Oh, don't say so," said the ass spread
;

over it heaps of boughs, and lay between them layers

 The Golden Palace 303
of horseshoe brads and nails, and set fire to them all,

and so we shall be rid of it."

So after a long, long time they came up to where
the castle hung in the air, but the worm
lay underneath
itand stopped the way. So the lad gave the dragons
a good meal of beeves and salted swine, that they
might help him, and they spread over the worm heaps
of boughs and wood, and laid between them layers of
nails and brads, till they had used up the three hundred
chests and when it was all done, they set fire to the
;

pile and burned up the worm alive in a fire at white

heat.
So when they had done with him, one dragon flew
under the castle and lifted it up, and the two others
went up high, high into the air, and unloosed the links
and hooks by which it hung, and so they lowered it
down and set it on the ground. When that was done
Boots went inside, and there it was, grander far than in
the silvern castle, but he could see no folk
till he came

to the innermost room, and there lay a princess on a

bed of gold. She slept so sound, as though she were
dead but she was not, though he was not able to wake
;

her up, for her face was as red and white as milk and
blood. And just as Boots stood there gazing at her,
back came the Troll tearing along. As soon as he
put
head through the door he screamed out
his first
" Hu what a smell
! of Christian blood there is in

here."

"Maybe," "but you've no need to smell

said Boots,
and snort about that; you shan't surfer long from it."
And with that he cut off all nis heads, as tnough
they stood on a kail-stalK.
304 Tales from the Fjeld
So
the dragons took the golden castle on their backs
and went home with it I fancy they were not long
on the way and set it down side by side with the
silvern castle, so that it shone both far and wide.
Now, when the princess of the silvern castle came to
her window in the morning and caught sight of it, she
was so glad that she sprang over to the golden castle
at once but when she saw her sister lying there, and
;

sleeping as though she were dead, she said to Boots

that they would never get life into her before they
found the water of life and death, and that stood in
two wells on either side of a golden castle which hung
in the air, nine hundred miles beyond the world's end,
and where the third sister dwelt.

Well, Boots thought there was no help for it he ;

must go and fetch it, and it was not long before he

was on his way. So he travelled far and farther than
far through many realms, across wood and field, over
fell and firth, along and heath, and at last he got to
hill

the world's end, and after that he travelled far, far over

crags and wastes and high rocks.

" Do "
you see anything ? asked the ass one day.
" I see
naught but heaven and earth," said the lad.
" "
Do you see anything now ? asked the ass again,
when some days were past.
" " now
Yes," said Boots ;
see something that glim-
I

mers very high up, far, far away like a little star."
" It's not so for all that," said the ass.
little,

So when they had travelled on a while, the ass

asked
" Do "
you see anything now
"Yes," said Boots; "now it shines like the sun."
 The Golden Palace 305
"That's whither we are bound," said the ass; "it's
the golden castle that hangs in the air, and there lives
princess who has been stolen by a Troll
:\ with nine
heads but all the wild
;
beasts there are in the world
lie on watch, and stop the way thither."

"Uf!" said Boots; "I almost think I'm afraid of

them."
" Don't and then he told him
say so," said the ass ;

there was no danger, he would only make up his

if

mind not to linger there, but to set off on his way back
as soon as ever he had filled his flasks with the water,
for there was no going thither but during one hour in

the day, and that began at high noon ; but if he were

not man enough to be ready in time and to get away,
the beasts would tear him into a thousand pieces.

Well, Boots said he would be sure to do that ;

he
would not think of staying too long.
At the stroke of twelve they reached the castle, and
there lay all the wild and savage beasts that ever were,
as were a fence before the gate and on either side
it

of the way. But they all slumbered like stocks and

stones, and there wasn't one of them that so much as
lifted a paw. So Boots passed between them, and
took good heed not to tread on their toes or the tips
of their tails, and he filled his flasks with the waters

of and death and while he did that he looked up

life ;

at the castle, which was as though it were cast in pure

It was the grandest he had ever seen, and he
gold.
thought it would be grander still inside than out.
"Stuff!" thought Boots; "I have time enough; I
:an always look about me in half-an-hour," and so
he opened the door and went in. Well, inside it was
306 Tales from the Fjeld

grander than grand itself,. and as he went out of one

gorgeous room into another, it was as if it was all

made of gold and pearls, and everything that was
costliest in the world. Folk there were none ; but
at last he came into a bedroom where there
lay
another princess on a bed of gold, just as though she
were dead too, but she was as grand as the grandest
queen, and as red and white as blood on snow, and

so lovely, he had never seen anything so lovely but

her picture ; for she it was that was painted on it.
Then Boots forgot both the water he was to fetch,
and the wild beasts, and the castle, and everything,
and could only gaze at the princess and he thought
;

he could never have his fill of looking at her; but all

the while she slept as though she were dead, and he
was not able to wake her up.
So when it drew towards evening, the Troll came
tearing along so that the wind sung after him, and he
 The Golden Palace 307
rattled and slammed the gates and doors till the whole
castle rang again.
" "what
Huf!" he cried, a strong smell of Christian
"
blood there is in here ;
and then he stuck his first

head inside the door and snuffed up the air.

"I dare say there is," said Boots, "but you've no
need to puff and blow as though you were about to
"
burst, for it shan't vex you long and as he said that,
;

he cut off all his nine heads But when he had done
that, he got so weary he couldn't keep his eyes open.
So he laid him down on the bed by the side of the

princess, and all the while she slept both night and

day, as though she would never wake again only at ;

midnight she just woke up for the twinkling of an

eye, and then she told him that he had set her free,
but she must bide there three years still, and if she
didn't come home to him, then he must just come and
fetch her.
When the clock began to go towards one next day,
Boots woke for the first time, and the first thing he
heard was the ass braying and screaming and making
a stir, and so he thought he would get up and set off
home ;
but before he went he cut a breadth out of the

princess's skirt, and took it away with him. And

however was,
ithe had loitered so long there that

the beasts began to wake and stir, and by the time he

had mounted his ass they stood in a ring round him,
so that he thought it had rather a ghastly look. But
the ass said he must sprinkle on them a few drops
of the water of death and he did so, and in a trice
;

they all fell headlong on the spot, and never stirred

a limb more.
308 Tales from the Fjeld
As they were on their way home the ass said to
Boots
"
Now, when you come to honour and glory, see if

you don't forget me and all I have done for you, so

that I shall be broken-kneed for hunger."

"Nay, nay, that should never be," said the lad.

So when he got home to the princess with the water
of life, she sprinkled a few drops over her sister, and
woke her up, and then there was such great joy, and
they were so happy.
Then they travelled home to the king, and he too
was glad and joyful because he had got those two
back; but still he went about longing and longing that
the three years might pass away, and his youngest

daughter come home.

As for who had brought them back, the
Boots,
king made him a mighty man, so that he was the
first in the land after the king himself. But there
were many who were jealous that he should have
grown to be such a man of mark, and one of them
was Ritter Red, who they did say wished to have
the eldest princess, and he got her to sprinkle over
Boots a little of the water of death, so that he swooned
off and lay as dead.

So when the three years were over, and a bit of the

fourth was gone, there came sailing up a strange ship
of war, and on board was the third sister, and with her
she had a boy three years old. She sent word up to
the king's grange, and said she would not set her foot
on land till
they had sent him who had been in the
golden castle and set her free. So they sent down to
her one of the highest men about court, the master of
 The Golden Palace 39
the ceremonies himself; and when he came on board
the princess's ship, he took off his hat and bowed and

scraped, and bent himself before her.

" Can that be "
your father, my son ? said the princess
to her boy, who was playing with a golden apple.
" " father doesn't crawl about
said the
No," child, my
like a cheese-mite."
So they sent another of the same stamp, and this

time it was Ritter Red. But it fared no better with

him than with the first one, and the princess sent word
by him, if they didn't make haste and send the right
one, should go ill with them. When they heard that,
it

they were forced to wake up Boots with the water of life;

and so he went down to the ship to the princess, but
he didn't make too low a bow, I should think he
;

only nodded his head, and brought out the breadth he

3 1 o Tales from the Fjeld

had cut out of the skirt of the princess in the golden

castle.
" "
That's my father ! that's my father ! bawled out
the boy, and gave him the golden apple he was playing
with.
Then
there was great joy and mirth all over the
realm, and the old king was the gladdest of all of
them, because he had got his darling back again.
But when what Ritter Red and the eldest princess
had done to Boots came out, the king asked to
have them both rolled down a hill, each in a cask
fullof spikes and nails; but Boots and the youngest

princess begged hard for them, and so they got off

with life.
Now it happened one day, as they were about to
begin the bridal feast, that they stood looking out of
the window it was towards
; spring, just when they
were turning out the horses and cows after the winter,
and the last that came out of the stable was the ass ;

but it was so starved, that it came out of the stable door

on its keees.
Then Boots was cut to the heart because he had

forgotten it, and he went down and did not know how
to make it up to the poor beast. But the ass said
the best thing he could do was to cut his head off.
That he was very loath to do, but the ass begged so
prettily that he had to yield, and did it at last and ;

as soon as ever his head fell in the yard, it was all

over with shape which had been thrown over

the
him by witchcraft, and there stood the handsomest
prince any one cared to see. He got the second
princess to wife, and they fell to keeping the bridal
 The Golden Palace 3 11

feast, so that it was heard and talked of over seven

kingdoms.
Then they built themselves houses,
And stitched themselves shoon,
And had so many bairns
They reached up to the moon.
 Little
Freddy with his Fiddle

on a time there was a cottager who had an

ONCE
much
only son, and this lad was weakly, and hadn't
health to speak of; so he couldn't go
out to work in the field.

His name was Freddy, and undersized he was too;

and so they called him Little Freddy. At home there
was little either to bite or sup, and so his father went
about the country trying to bind him over as a cow-
herd or an errand-boy; but there was no one who
would takehis son till he came to the sheriff, and he
was ready he had just packed off his
to take him, for

errand-boy, and there was no one who would fill his

place, for the story went that he was a skinflint.
But the cottager thought it was better there than
nowhere he would get his food, for all the pay he was
;

to get was his board there was nothing said about

wages or clothes. So when the lad had served three

years he wanted to leave, and then the sheriff gave him
all his wages at one time. He was to have a penny a
" It couldn't well be And
year. less," said the sheriff.
so he got threepence in all.
As for little Freddy, he thought it was a great sum,
for he had never owned so much ;
but for all that, he
asked if he wasn't to have something more.
312
 Little Freddy with his Fiddle 313
"You have already had more than you ought to
have," said the sheriff.
" "
Shan't I haveanything, then, for clothes ?
asked little Freddy; "for those I had on when I
came here are worn to rags, and I have had no new
ones."
And, he was so ragged that the
to tell the truth,

tatters hung and flapped about him.

" When
you have got what we agreed on," said
the sheriff, "and three whole pennies beside, I have
"
nothing more to do with you. Be off!
But for all that, he got leave just to go into the
kitchen and get a little food to put in his script ; and
after that he seton the road to buy himself more
off

clothes. He was
both merry and glad, for he had
never seen a penny before ; and every now and then
he felt in his pockets as he went along to see if he had
them all So when he had gone far and farther
three.
than far, he got into a narrow dale, with high fells on
all sides, so that he couldn't tell if there were any way

to pass out and he began to wonder what there could

;

be on the other side of those fells, and how he ever

should get over them.
But up and up he had to go, and on he strode he ;

was not strong on his legs, and had to rest every now
and then and then he counted and counted how many
pennies he had got. So when he had got quite up to
the very top, there was nothing but a great plain over-

grown with moss. There he sat him down, and began

to see if his money was all right ; and before he was
aware of him a beggar-man came up to him, and he was
so tall and big that the lad began to scream and screech
3 1
4 Tales from the Fjeld

when he got a good look of him, and saw his height

and length.
" Don't " I'll
you be afraid," said the beggar-man ;

do you no harm. I only beg for a penny, in God's

name."
"Heaven help me!" said the lad. "I have only
three pennies, and with them I was going to the town
to buy clothes."
" It is worse for me than for you," said the beggar-
"
man. have got no penny, and I am still more
I

ragged than you."

"
Well, then, you shall have it," said the lad.
So when he had walked on awhile he got weary,
and sat down to rest again. But when he looked
up there he saw another beggar-man, and he was still
taller and uglier than the first; and so when the lad

saw how very tall and ugly and long he was, he fell
a-screeching.
"
Now, don't you be afraid of me," said the beggar ;

" I'll not

do you any harm. I only beg for a penny, in
God's name."
"
"Now, may Heaven help me! said the lad. "I've
only got two pence, and with them I was going to the
town to buy clothes. If I had only met you sooner,
"

then- -"
"
It's worse for me than for you," said the beggar-

man. " I have no penny, and a bigger body and less

clothing."
"Well, you may have it," said the lad.
So he went awhile farther, till he got weary, and
then he sat down to rest; but he had scarce sat down
than a third beggar-man came to him. He was so tall
 Little Freddy with his Fiddle 3 I
5

and ugly and long, that the lad had to look up and up.
right up to the sky. And when he took him all in
with his eyes, and saw how very, very tall and ugly
and ragged he was, he fell a-screeching and screaming
again.
"
Now, don't you be afraid of me, my lad," said the
" am
beggar-man ;
I'll do you no harm ;
for I
only a
beggar-man, who begs for a penny in God's name."
" " "
May Heaven help me ! said I have
the lad.

only one penny left, and with it I was going to the

town to buy clothes. If I had only met you sooner,
"
then
"As for that," said the beggar-man, "I have no

penny at all, that I haven't, and a bigger body and

less clothes, so it is worse for me than for you."
"Yes," said little
Freddy, he must have the

penny then there was no help for it; for so each

would have what belonged to him, and he would have
nothing.
" " since
Well," said the beggar-man, you have such
a good heart that you gave away all that you had in
the world, I will give you a wish for each penny."

For you must know it was the same beggar-man who

had got them all three he had only changed his
;

shape each time, that the lad might not know him

again.
" I have
always had such a longing to hear a riddle
go, and see folk so glad and merry that they couldn't
help dancing," said the lad; "and so, if I may wish
what I choose, I will wish myself such a fiddle, that

everything that has life must dance to its tune."

"
That he might have," said the beggar-man ;
but it
 '['aies from the Fjeld
316
was a sorry wish. " You must wish something bettei
for the other two pennies."
" I have
always had such a love for hunting and
" so if I
shooting," said little Freddy may wish what ;

will wish myself such a gun that I shall

I choose, I

hit everything I aim at, were it ever so far off."

" but
That he might have," said the beggar-man ;

" You must wish better for the

it was a sorry wish.
last penny."
"
I have always had a longing to be in company
with folk who were kind and good," said Freddy
little ;

" and could get what I I would wish it

so, if I wish,
' '

to be so that no one can say Nay to the first thing

1 ask."
"
That wish was not so sorry," said the beggar-man ;

and off he strode between the hills, and he saw him no

more. And so the lad lay down to sleep, and the

next day he came down from the fell with his fiddle
and his gun.
First he went to the storekeeper and asked for
for a horse, and
clothes, and at one farm he asked
at another for a sledge and at this place he asked
;

" "
for a fur coat, and no one said him Nay even the

stingiest folk, they were all forced to give him what he

asked for. he went through the country as a
At last

fine gentleman, and had his horse and his sledge;

and so when he had gone a bit he met the sheriff with
whom he had served.
" he pulled
day, master," said little Freddy, as
Good
up and took off his hat.
" Good
day," said the sheriff. And then he went on,
" "
When was I ever your master ?
 Little Freddy with his Fiddle 317
"Oh, yes," said little Freddy. "Don't you re-
member how I served you three years for three
"
pence ?
" " "
Heaven help us ! said the sheriff. How you
have got on of a hurry all ! And pray, how was it

that you got to be such a

"
fine gentleman ?

"Oh, that's tellings,"

said little Freddy.
"And
are you full of

you carry a fiddle

fun, that
"
about with you ? asked
the sheriff.
"Yes, yes," said Freddy.
" I have always had such
a longing to get folk to
dance but the funniest
;

thing of all is this gun,

for it brings down almost
anything that I aim at,
however far it may be off.

Do you see that magpie

yonder, sitting in the
spruce fir? What'll you bet I don't bag it as we
"
stand here ?

On was ready to stake horse and

that the sheriff

groom, and a hundred dollars beside, that he couldn't

do it but as it was, he would bet all the money he
;

had about him and he would go to fetch it when it

;

fell for he never thought it possible for any gun to

carry so far.
But as the gun went off down fell the magpie, and
3 1 8 Tales from the Fjeld
into bramble thicket
a great and away went the;

sheriffup into the brambles after it, and he picked

it up and showed it to the lad. But in a trice little
Freddy began to scrape his fiddle, and the sheriff
began to dance, and the thorns to tear him but still ;

the lad played on, and the sheriff danced, and cried,
and begged till his clothes flew to tatters, and he
scarce had a thread to his back.
" now think you're about
"Yes," said little Freddy, I

as ragged as I was when I left your service ; so now

you may get off with what you have got."
But first of all, the sheriff had to pay him what
he had wagered that he could not hit the magpie.
So when the lad came to the town he turned aside
into an inn, and he began to play, and all who came

danced, and he lived merrily and well. He had no

no one would him " "
care, for say Nay to anything he
asked.
But just as they were all in the midst of their fun,

up came the watchmen to drag the lad off to the town-

hall for the sheriff had laid a charge against him,
;

and said he had waylaid him and robbed him, and

nearly taken his life. And now he was to be hanged
they would not hear of anything else. But little
Freddy had a cure for all trouble, and that was his
fiddle. He began to play on it, and the watchmen
fell a-dancing, till they lay down and gasped for
breath.
So they sent soldiers and the guard on their way ;

but it was no better with them than with the watch-

men. As soon as ever little Freddy scraped his

fiddle, they were all bound to dance, so long as he

1

All that were there fell a-dancing at once."

 Little Freddy with his Fiddle 321
could lift a finger to play a tune ;
but they were half
dead long before he was tired. At last they stole a
inarch on him, and took him while he lay asleep by

night; and when they had caught him, he was doomed

to be hanged on the spot, and away they hurried him

to the gallows-tree.
There a great crowd of people flocked together to
see this wonder, and the sheriff, he too was there ;
and he was so glad at last at getting amends for the
money and the skin he had lost, and that he might
see him hanged with his own eyes. But they did not
get him to the gallows very fast, for little Freddy was
always weak on his legs, and now he made himself
weaker still. His fiddle and his gun he had with him
also it was hard to part him from them; and so,
when he came to the gallows, and had to mount the
steps, he halted on each step and when he got to
;

the top he sat down, and asked if they could deny

him a wish, and if he might have leave to do one
thing? He had such a longing, he said, to scrape a
tune and play a bar on his fiddle before they hanged
him.
" " were sin and shame to
No, no," they said ;
it

deny him that." For, you know, no one could gainsay

what he asked.
But the sheriff he begged them, for God's sake, not
to let him have leave to touch a string, else it was
all over with them altogether and if the lad got
;

leave, he begged them to bind him to the birch that

stood there.
So little Freddy was not slow in getting his fiddle
to speak, and all that were there fell a-dancing at once>
322 Tales from the Fjeld

those who went on two legs, and those who went

on four; both the dean and the parson, and the
lawyer, and the bailiff, and the sheriff, masters and
men, dogs and swine they all danced and laughed
and screeched at one another. Some danced till they
lay for dead some danced till they fell into a swoon.
;

It went badly with all of them, but worst of all with

the sheriff; for there he stood bound to the birch, and

he danced and scraped great bits off his back against
the trunk. There was not one of them who thought
of doing anything to little Freddy, and away he went
with his fiddle and his gun, just as he chose and he
;

lived merrilyand happily all his days, for there was

no one who could say him " Nay to the first thing he
"

asked for.
 Mother Roundabout's Daughter

NCE on a time there

was a goody who had
a son, and he was so
lazyand slow he would
never turn his hand
to anything that was

useful; but singing

and dancing he was
very fond of; and so he danced and sang as long as
it was
day, and sometimes even some way on in the
night. The longer this lasted, the harder it was for
the goody the boy grew, and meat he must have with-
;

out stint, and more and more was spent in clothing as

he grew bigger and bigger, and it was soon worn out,
I should think; for he danced and sprang about both

in wood and field.

At last the goody thought it too bad so she told
;

the lad that now he must begin to turn his hand to

work and live steadily, or else there was nothing
before both of them but starving to death. But that
the lad had no mind to do. He said he would far

rather woo Mother Roundabout's daughter for if

;
he
could only get her, he would be able to ve
l
:
well and
323
324 Tales from the Fjeld

good all his days, and sing and dance, and never do
one stroke of work.
When his mother heard that, she too thought it
would be a very fine thing and so she fitted out the
;

lad as well as she could, that he might look tidy when

he got to Mother Roundabout's house; and so he set
off on his way.
Now when he got out of doors the sun shone warm
and bright but it had rained the night before, so that
;

the ways were soft and miry, and all the bog-holes
stood full of water. The lad took a short cut to
Mother Roundabout's, and he sang and jumped, as was
ever his wont; but just as he sprang and leapt he got
to a bog-hole, and over it lay a little bridge, and from
the bridge he had to make a spring across a hole on to
a tuft of grass, that he might not dirty his shoes. But
it went all at once, and
plump, just as he put his
foot on the tuft it gave way under him, and there was
no stopping till he found himself in a nasty deep, dark
hole. At first he could see nothing, but when he had
been there a while he had a glimpse of a rat, which
came wiggle-waggle up to him with a bunch of keys at
the tip of her tail.
"
What you " " Thank
!
here, my boy ? said the rat.

you kindly for coming to me. Ihave waited long for

you. You come, of course, to woo me, and you are
eager atit, can very well see; but you must have
I

patience yet awhile, for I shall have a great dower, and

I am not ready for my wedding just yet, but I'll do

my best that it shall be as soon as ever I can."

When she had said that, she brought out ever so
many egg-shells, with all sorts of bits and scraps, such
 Mother Roundabout's Daughter 325
as rats are wont to eat, and set them before him, and
said

"Now, you must sit down and eat; I am sure you

must be both tired and hungry."
But the lad thought he had no liking for such food.
"
If I were only well away from this, above ground

again," he thought to himself, but he said nothing out

loud.
" dare say you'd be glad to go home again,"
Now, I
"
said the rat. I know your heart is set on this

wedding, and I'll make all the haste I can ; and you
must take with you this linen thread, and when you
get up above you must not look round, but go straight
home, and on the way you must mind and say nothing
but
'
Short before, and long back,
Short before, and long back ;'"

and as she said this, she put the linen thread into his
hand.
" "
Heaven be praised ! said the lad, when he got
above ground. "Thither I'll never come again, if I
can help it."
But he still had the thread in his hand, and he
sprang and sang as he was wont but even though he ;

thought no more of the rat-hole, he had got his tongue

into the tune, and so he sang,

" Short
before, and long back,
Short before, and long back."

So when he got back home into the porch he turned

round, and there lay many many hundred ells of the
326 Tales from the Fjeld

whitest linen, so fine that the handiest weaving girl

could not have woven it finer.
"Mother! mother! come out," he cried and roared.
Out came the goody in a bustle, and asked whatever
was the matter; but when she saw the linen woof,
which stretched as far back as she could see and a bit

beside, she couldn't believe her eyes, till the lad told
her how it had all happened. And when she had
heard it, and tried the woof between her fingers,
she got so glad that she, too, began to dance and
sing.
So she took the linen and cut it out, and sewed
shirts out of it both for herself and her son, and the
rest she took into thetown and sold, and got money
for it. And now
they both lived well and happily a

while; but when the money was all gone, the goody
had no more food in the house, and so she told her
son he really must now
begin to go to work, and live
like the rest of the world, else there was nothing for
it but starving for them both.
But the lad had more mind to go to Mother Round-
about and woo her daughter. Well, the goody
thought that a very fine thing, for now he had good
clothes on his back, and he was not such a bad

looking fellow either. So she made him smart, and

fitted him out as well as she could and he took out
;

his new shoes and brushed them till they were as

bright as glass, and when he had done that, off he

went.
But all happened just as it did before. When he
got out of doors the sun shone warm and bright ; but
it had rained over
night, so that it was soft and miry,
 Mother Roundabout's Daughter 327
and all the bog-holes were full of water. The lad
took the short cut to Mother Roundabout, and he
sang and sprang as he was ever wont. Now he took
another way than the one he went before; but just
as he leaped and jumped, he got upon the bridge over
the moor again, and from it he had to jump over a

bog-hole on to a turf, that he might not dirty his shoes.

But plump it went, and
down it went under him,
and there was no stopping
till he found himself in a

nasty deep, dark hole. At

first he could see nothing ;

but when he had been

there a while he got a
glimpse of a rat with a
bunch of keys at the tip
of her tail, who came
wiggle-waggle up to him.
"
What
you here, my
!

boy?" said the rat. "That

was nice of you to wish
to see me so soon again.
You are very eager, that I can see; but you really
must wait a while, for there is still something wanting
to my dower, but the next time you come it shall be
all right."

When she had said this she set before him all kinds
of scraps and bits in egg-shells, such as rats eat and
like; but the lad thought it all looked like meat that
had been already eaten once, and he wasn't hungry,
he said ;
and all the time he thought, " If I could only
328 Tales from the Fjeld

once get above ground, well out of this hole." But

he said nothing out loud.
So after a while the rat said
"
Idare say now you would be glad to get home
again ; but I'll hasten on the wedding as fast as ever
I can. And now you must take with you this thread
of wool and when you come above ground you must
;

not look round, but go straight home, and all the

way you must mind and say nothing than
'
Short before, and long back,
"
Short before, and long back ;
'

and as she said that she gave him a thread of wool

into his hand.
said the lad, " that
" "
Heaven be praised ! I
got
"
away. Thither never go again, if I can help it
I'll ;

and so he sang and jumped as he was wont. As for

the rat-hole, he thought no more about it but as he had ;

got his tongue into tune he sang,

"
Short before, and long back,
Short before, and long back ;"

so he kept on the whole way home.

So when he had got into the yard at home again he
turned and looked behind him, and there lay the finest
cloth, more than many hundred ells ay, almost above
;

half a mile long, and so fine, that no town dandy could

have had finer cloth to his coat.
" Mother mother come
!
out," bawled the lad.
!

So the goody came out of doors, and clapped her

hands, and was almost ready to swoon for joy when
she saw all that lovely cloth and then he had to tell
;
 Mother Roundabout's Daughter 329
her how he had it, and
got how it had all happened
from first to last. Then they had a fine time of it, you
may fancy. The lad got new clothes of the finest sort,
and the goody went off to the town and sold the cloth
by little and little, and made heaps of money. Then
she decked out her cottage, and got so smart in her old
days, as though she had been
born
a lady. So they lived well and
happily ;
but at last that money
came to an end too, and so the
day came when the goody had no
more food in the house, and then
she told her son he really must
turn his hand to work, and live
like the rest of the world, else

there was nothing but starvation

staring both of them in the face.
But the lad thought it far bet-

ter to go to Mother Roundabout

and woo her daughter. This time
the goody thought so too, and said
not a word against it for now he
;

had new clothes of the finest kind,

and he looked so well, she thought it quite out of the
" No " to so smart
question that any one could say
a lad. So she smartened him up, and made him as
tidy as she could and he himself brought out his new
;

shoes, and rubbed them till they shone so he could

see his face in them, and when he had done that, off

he went.
This time he did not take the short cut, but made a
great bend, for down to the rats he would not go if he
330 Tales from the

could help it,

he was so tired of all that wiggle-waggk
and that everlasting bridal gossip. As for the weather
and the ways, they were just as they had been twice
before. The sun shone, so that it was dazzling on the
pools and bog-holes, and the lad sang and sprang as he
was wont; but just as he sang and jumped, before he
knew where he was, he was on the very same bridge
across the bog again. So he was to jump from the
bridge over a bog-hole on to a tuft, that he might not
dirty his bright shoes. Plump it went, and it gave
way with him, and there was no stopping till he was
down in the same nasty deep, dark hole again. At first
he was glad, for he could see nothing but when he had
;

been there a while he had a glimpse of the ugly rat,

and he was so loath to see her with the bunch of keys
at the end of her tail.

"Good day, my boy!" said the rat; "you shall be

heartilywelcome again, for I see you can't bear to be
any longer without me. Thank you, thank you kindly ;

but now everything is ready for the wedding, and we

shall set off to church at once."
"
Something dreadful is going to happen," thought
the lad, but he said nothing out loud.
Then the rat whistled, and there came swarming out
such a lot of small rats and mice out of all the holes

and crannies, and six big rats came harnessed to a

frying-pan two mice got up behind as footmen, and
;

two got up before and drove some, too, got into the
;

pan, and the rat with the bunch of keys at her tail
took her seat among them. Then she said to the
lad
"The road is a little narrow here, so you must be
 Mother 'Roundabout's Daughter 331
good enough to walk by the side of the carriage, my
darling boy, till it gets broader, and then you shall
have leave to sit up in the carriage alongside of me."
"Very fine that will
be, dare say," thought the
I
" If I were
lad. only well above ground, I'd run away
from the whole pack of you." That was what he
thought, but he said nothing out loud.
So he followed them as well as he could sometimes
;

he had to creep on all fours, and sometimes he had to

stoop and bend his back well, for the road was low
and narrow in places but when it got broader he
;

went on in front, and looked about him how he might

best give them the slip and run away. But as he
went forward he heard a clear, sweet voice behind
him, which said
"
Now the road is good. Come, my dear, and get
up into the carriage."
The lad turned round
in a trice, and had near lost
both nose and ears. There stood the grandest carriage,
with six white horses to it, and in the carriage sat a
maiden as bright and lovely as the sun, and round
her sat others who were as pretty and soft as stars.
They were a princess and her playfellows, who had
been bewitched all together. But now they were free,
because he had come down to them, and never said a
word against them.
"
Come now," said the princess. So the lad stepped
up and they drove to church and
into the carriage, ;

when they drove from church again the princess said,

"
Now we will drive first to my house, and then we'll
send to fetch your mother."
"
That is all very well," thought the lad, for he still
332 Tales from the Fjeld

said nothing, even now; but, for all that, he thought

it would be better to go home to his mother than down

into that nasty rat-hole. But just as he thought that,

they came to a grand castle ; into it they turned, and
there they were to dwell. And so a grand carriage
with six horses was sent to fetch the goody, and when
it came back they set to work at the wedding feast. It

lasted fourteen days, and maybe they are still at it.

So let us all make hasteperhaps we too may come
;

in time to drink the bridegroom's health and dance

with the bride.
 The Green Knight

NCE on a time there

was a king who was
a widower, and he
had an only daughter.
But it is an old say-
ing, that a widower's
grief is like
knocking
your funny bone it

hurts, but it soon

passes away and so;

the king married a

queen who had two

daughters. Now this

queen well, she

was no better than
stepmothers are
wont to be; snappish
and spiteful shealways was to her stepdaughter.
Well, a long time after, when they were grown up,
these three girls, war broke out, and the king had to go
forth to fight for his country and his kingdom. But
before he went the three daughters had leave to say
what the king should buy and bring home for each
of them, if he won the day against the foe.
333
334 ales
'L'
from the Fjeld

So the stepdaughters were to speak first, as you

may fancy, and say what they wished.

Well, the first wished for a golden spinning-wheel,
so small that it could stand on a sixpenny-piece and ;

the second, she begged for a golden winder, so small

that it could stand on a sixpenny-piece that was what
;

they wanted to have, and they had them there was

till

no spinning or winding to be got out of them. But

his own daughter, she would ask for no other thing
than that he would greet the Green Knight in her
name.
So the king went out to war, and whithersoever he
went he won, and however things turned out he brought
the things he had promised his stepdaughters; but he
had clean forgotten what his own daughter had begged
him to do, till at last he made a feast because he had
won the day.
Then it was that he set eyes on a Green Knight, and
all once his daughter's words came into his head,
at

and he greeted him in her name. The Green Knight

thanked him for the greeting, and gave him a book
which looked like a hymn-book with parchment clasps.
That the king was to take home and give her; but he
was not to unclasp it, or the princess either, till she
was all alone.
So, when the king had done fighting and feasting he
went home again, and he had scarce got inside the door
before his stepdaughters clung round him to get what
he had promised to buy them. Yes, he said, he had
brought them what they wished ; but his own daughter,
she held back and asked for nothing, and the king
forgot all about it too, till one day when he was going
 The Green Knight 335

out, and he put on the coat he had worn at the feast,

and just as he thrust his hand into his pocket for his
handkerchief, he felt the book, and knew what it was.
So he gave it to his daughter, and said he was
to greet her with it from- the Green Knight, and she
mustn't unclasp it till she was all alone.
Well, that evening when she was by herself in her
bedroom she un-
clasped the
book,
and as soon as she
did so she heard
a strain of music,
so sweet she had
never heard the
like of it; and then,
what do you think ?
Why, the Green
Knight came to her
and told her the
book was such a
book that whenever
she unclasped it he
must come to her,
and it would be all the same wherever she might be,
and when she clasped it again he would be off and
away again.
Well, she unclasped the book often and often in the
evenings when she was alone and at rest, and the
knight always came to her, and was almost always
there. But her stepmother, who was always thrust-
ing her nose into everything, she found out there was
some one with her in her room, and she was not long
33 6 Tales from the Fjeld

in telling it to the king. But he wouldn't believe it.

No, he they must watch first and see if it was

said,
so before they trumped up such stories, and took her
to task for them.
So one evening they stood outside the door and
listened, and seemed as though they heard some
it

one talking inside but when they went in there was

;

no one.
"Who was it you were talking with?" asked the
stepmother, both sharp and cross.
" It was no
one, indeed," said the princess.
" " I heard it as
Nay," said she, plain as day."
" " I
Oh," said the princess, only lay and read aloud
out of a prayer-book."
" Show it
me," said the queen.
"
Well, then, it was only a prayer-book after all,

and she must have leave to read that," the king said.
But the stepmother thought just the same as before,
and so she bored a hole through the wall and stood
prying about there. So one evening when she heard
that the knight was in the room, she tore open the
door and came flying into her stepdaughter's room
like a blast of wind but she was not slow in clasping
;

the book and he was off and away in a trice

either, ;

but however quick she had been, for all that her step-
mother caught a glimpse of him, so that she was sure
some one had been there.
It happened just then that the king was setting out

on a long, long journey and while he was away the

;

queen had a deep pit dug down into the ground, and
there she built up a dungeon, and in the stone and
mortar she laid ratsbane and other strong poisons, so
 The Green Knight 337
that not so much
as a mouse could get through the
wall. As master-mason, he was well paid, and
for the

gave his word to fly the land but he didn't, for he

;

stayed where he was. Then the princess was thrown

into that dungeon with her maid, and when they were
inside the queen walled up the door, and left only a
little hole open at the top to let down food to them.

So there she sat and sorrowed, and the time seemed

long, and longer than long; but at last she remembered

she had her book with her, and took it out and un-
clasped it. First of all she heard the same sweet
had heard before, and then arose a grievous
strain she
sound of wailing, and just then the Green Knight
came.
"
I am at death's door," he said ;
and then he told
her that her stepmother had laid poison in the mortar,
and he did not know if he should ever come out alive.
So when she clasped the book up as fast as she could,
she heard the same wailing sound.
But you must know the maid who was shut up with
her had a sweetheart, and she sent word to him to go
to the master-mason, and beg him to make the hole at

top big enough for them to creep out at it. If he would

do that, the princess would pay him so well he could
live in plenty allhis days. Yes, he did so, and they
set out and travelled far, far
away in strange lands, she
and her maid, and wherever they came they asked after
the Green Knight.
So after a long, long time they came to a castle which
was all hung with black ; and just as they were passing
by it a shower of rain fell, and so the princess stepped
into the church porch to wait till the rain was over.
Y
338 Tales from the Fjeld
As she stood there, a }
r
oung man and an old man came
by, who also wished to take shelter ;
but the princess
drew away farther into a corner, so that they did not
see her.

"Why is it," said the young man, "that the

king's
"
hung with black ?
castle is
"Don't you know," said the greybeard, "the prince

here is sick to death, he whom they call the Green

"
Knight ? And so he went on telling him how it had all
happened. So when the young man had listened to
the story, he asked if there was any one who could
make him well again.

"Nay, na} ," 7

said the other; "there is but one
cure, and that is if the maiden who was shut up in the
 The Green Knight 339
dungeon were to come and pluck healing plants in the
fields, and boil them in sweet milk, and wash him with
them thrice."
Then he went on reckoning up the plants that were
needful before he could get well again.
All this the princess heard, and she kept it in her
head and when the rain was over the two men went
;

away, nor did she bide there long either.

So when they got home in which they
to the house
lived, out they went at once to getkinds of plants
all

and grasses in the field and wood, she and the maid,
and they plucked and gathered early and late till she
had got all that she was to boil. Then she bought
her a doctor's hat and a doctor's gown, and went to
the king's castle, and offered to make the prince well

again.
"No, no; it is no good," said the king. So many
had been there and tried, but he always got worse
instead of better. But she would not yield, and gave
her word he should be well, and that soon and happily.
Well, then, she might have leave to try, and so she
went into the Green Knight's bedroom and washed
him the first time. And when she came the next day
he was so well he could sit up in bed the day after ;

he was man enough to walk about the room, and the

third he was as well and lively as a fish in the water.
" Now he may go out hunting," said the doctor.
Then the king was as overjoyed with the doctor as
a bird in broad day. But the doctor said he must go
home.
Then she threw off her hat and gown, and dressed
made a feast, and then she unclasped
herself smart, and
34-O Tales from the Fjeld

the book. Then arose the same joyful strain as of old,

and in a trice the Green Knight was there, and he
wondered much to know how she had got thither.
So she told him all about it, and how it had hap-
pened and when they had eaten and drunk he took her
;

straight up to the castle, and told the king the whole

story from beginning to end. Then there was such a
bridal and such a feast ;
and when it was over they set
off to the bride's home, and there was great joy in her
father's heart
;
but they took the stepmother and rolled
her down-hill in a cask full of spikes.
 Boots and his Crew

NCE on a time there

was a king, and that
king had heard talk of
a ship that went as fast
by land as it did by
water ;
so he set his
heart on having such a

ship, and he gave his

word that the man who
could build it should
have the princess and
half the kingdom. And
this promise he had
given out in every
parish church in the

realm, and at every

parish meeting. There
were many that tried
it was a nice thing to
for
their hands, you may fancy ;

have half the kingdom, and was brave to get the

it

princess into the bargain ;

but it went ill with most of
them.
So there were three brothers away in the wood ; the
eldest was called Peter, the second Paul, and the
341
342 Tales from the Fjeld

youngest Osborn Boots, because he was for ever sitting

and grubbing in the ashes. But it so happened that
on the Sunday when the king's promise was given out,
he was at church too. So when he got home and told

the story, his eldest brother, Peter, begged his mothei

for some food, for he was bent on setting off, and trying
his luck, if he couldn't build the ship and win the
princess and half the realm. So when he had got his
wallet full he strode off from the farm, and on the

way he met an old, old man, who was so bent and

wretched.
" "
Whither awayasked the old man.
?
" " I'm off to the wood to make
Oh," said Peter, a

platter for my father, for he doesn't like to eat out ot

the same dish with us."

" " but
A platter shall be," said the
it man ; what
"
have you in your knapsack ?
"Muck," said Peter.
" Muck it man, and they parted.
shall be," said the
So Peter strode on till he came to a grove of oaks,

and then he fell to chopping and carpentering but for ;

all his hewing and all his carpentering he could turn

out nothing but platter after platter. So when it got

towards mid-day he was going to take a snack, and
opened his wallet. But there was not a morsel of food
in and as he had nothing to eat, and did not get on
it ;

any better with the carpentering, he got weary of the

work, and took his axe and wallet on his back, and strode
off home to his mother again.
Next Paul was for setting off to try if he had any
luck in shipbuilding, and could win the king's daughter
and half the kingdom. He, too, begged his mother
 Boots and his Crew 343
for food ; and when he had got it, he threw his wallet
over his shoulder and set off from their farm. On
the way he met an old man, who was so bent and
wretched.
" "
Whither away ? said the man.
"Oh, I'm just going to the wood to make a pig
trough for our little pig," said Paul.
" A it shall be," said the man.
pig trough
"What have you got in your wallet?" asked the
man.
"
Muck," said Paul.
"
Muck it man.
shall be," said the
So Paul trudged wood, and fell to hewing
off to the
and carpentering as hard as he could but however ;

he hewed and however he carpentered, he could turn

out nothing but pig troughs and pig tubs. Still he

wouldn't give in, but worked till far on in the afternoon

before he thought of taking a little snack ; then he got
so hungry all at once that he must take out his knap-
sack, but when he opened it there was not a morsel
of food in it.

Then Paul got so cross that he rolled up the knap-

sack and dashed it against a stump, and then he
shouldered his axe, and trudged away home from the
wood as fast as he could.
So when Paul had come home, Boots was all for

setting out in his turn, and begged his mother for

food.
"
Maybe I
might be man enough to get the ship
built, and win the princess and half the kingdom."
That v/as what he said.
" "
Yes, yes, a likely thing," said his mother. You
344 Tales from the Fjeld
look like winning the princess and the kingdom, that
you do, by my troth ; you, who have done naught else
than grub and poke about in the ashes. No, no, you
don't get any food," said the goody.
But Boots would not give in he begged so Icng, ;

that at last he got leave. As for food, he got none ;

was it But he got by

likely ?
stealth two oatcakes and a drop
of stale beer, and with them he
trudged off from the farm.
Well, when he had walked a
while he met the same old man,
who was so bent and vile and
wretched.
"Whither away?" asked the
man.
"Oh, I'm going into the wood
to build me
a ship which will go
as well on land as on sea; for
you must know that the king
has given out that the man who can build such a
ship shall have the princess and half the realm."
" "
What have you got in your wallet ? asked the man.
" Not "
much to brag of," said Boots, though it's

called travelling fare."

" If me some of your food, I'll
you'll give help you,"
said the man.
" "
With all myheart," said Boots ;
but there's nothing
but two oatcakes and a drop of stale beer."
It was all the same to him what it was, said the
man, so that he got something and he would be sure
;

to help him.
 Boots and his Crew 345
So when they got up to the old oak in the wood, the
man said to the lad
" Now
you must chop out one chip, and you must
it came from, and when
back where
put it
you have
done that you may lie down and sleep.
Yes Boots did as he said he laid him down to
; ;

sleep, and in his slumber he thought he heard some

one hewing and hammering, and carpentering, and
sawing, and planing, but he could not wake up till
the man called him, and then there stood the ship all

ready alongside the oak.

" Now
you must go aboard her, and every one you
meet you must take as one of your crew," he said.
Yes ;
Boots thanked him for the ship, and sailed off,

saying he'd be sure to do what he said.

So when he had sailed a while, he came upon a
great, long, thin fellow, who lay away by the hillside
and ate granite.
"Whatkind of chap are you," said Boots, "that
"
you here
lieeating granite ?
Well, he was so sharp set for meat he could never
have his and that was why he was forced to eat
fill,

granite. That was what he said and then he begged ;

if he might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

" " if
Oh, yes," said Boots
" you care to come, step on
;

board."
Yes, he was willing enough, and he took with him a
few big granite boulders as his sea stores.
So when they had sailed a bit farther they met a
man who lay on a sunny brae and sucked at a tap.
" What sort of a " "
chap are you ? asked Boots, and
"
what good is it that you lie there sucking at that tap ?
34 6 Tales from the Fjeld

" " when one hasn't got the cask, one

Oh," said he,
must be thankful for the tap. I am
always so thirsty
for ale, thatcan never drink enough ale or wine "
I ;

and then he asked if he might have leave to be one

of the ship's company.
"If you care to come, step on board," said Boots.
Yes, he was willing enough,
and he stepped on board and
took the tap with him lest he
should be a-thirst.
So when they had sailed
a bit farther they met one
who lay with one ear on the
ground listening.
"What sort of a chap are
you?" asked Boots; "and
what good is it that you
lie there on the ground list-
"
ening ?
" I am to the
listening
" for
grass growing," he said,
I am so quick of hearing that
"
I can hear it grow; and so
he begged that he might be
one of the ship's company.
"
Well, he too did not get Nay."
" If
you care to come, step on board," said Boots.
Yes, he was willing enough, and so up he, too,
stepped into the ship.
So when they had sailed a bit farther, they came to
a man who stood aiming and aiming.
"What sort of a chap are you?" said Boots;
 Boots and his Crew 347
"and why is it that you stand there aiming and
"
aiming ?
" " that I'm a dead
I am
so sharp-sighted," he said,
"
shot up to the world's end and so he, too, asked if he
;

might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

" If
you care to come, step in," said Boot?.
Yes, he was willing enough, and so he stepped up
into the ship and joined Boots and his comrades.
So when they had sailed a bit farther, they came on
a man who went about hopping on one leg, and on the
other he had seven hundredweight.
" What sort of a " "
chap are you ? asked Boots and ;

what's the good of your limping and hopping on one

leg, with seven hundredweight on
the other?"
" " I'm as
Oh," said he, light as a feather, and if I
went on both legs I should be at the world's end in
"
less than five minutes ;
and so he, too, begged if he

might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

"
you care to come, step in," said Boots.
It

Yes, he was willing enough, and he stepped on

board to Boots and his comrades.
So when they had sailed a bit farther, they met a
man who stood holding his throat.
"
"
What sort of a chap are you ? " asked Boots ;
and
why in the world do you stand here holding your
"
throat ?

"Oh," said he, "you must know I have got seven

summers and fifteen winters inside me, so I've good

need to hold my gullet, for if they all slipped out at
once they'd freeze the whole world in a trice." That
was what he said, and so he begged leave to be with
them.
348 Tales from the Fjeld
"
you care to come, step in," said Boots.
If

Yes, he was willing enough, and so he, too, stepped

on board the ship to the rest.

So when they had sailed a good bit farther, they

came to the king's grange. Then Boots strode straight
into the king, and said that the ship was ready out
in the courtyard, and now he was come to claim the

princess, as the king had given his word.

But the king wouldn't hear of it, for Boots did not
look very nice he was grimy and sooty, and the king
;

was loath to give his daughter to such a fellow. So he

said he must wait a little he couldn't have the princess
;

until they cleared a barn which the king had with three
hundred casks of salt meat in it.
" All the "
same," said the king, if you can do it
by
this time to-morrow, you shall have her."
" I can but " I
try," said Boots may have leave,
;

"
perhaps, to take one of my crew with me ?
Yes, he might have leave to do that, even if he
took them all six, said the king; for he thought it quite
beyond his power, though he had six hundred to help

him.
But Boots only took with him the man who ate
granite, and was always so sharp set; and so when
they came next morning and unlocked the barn, if he
hadn't eaten all the casks, so that there was nothing

left but half-a-dozen spare-ribs, and that was only one

for each of his other comrades. So Boots strode in to
the king, and said now the barn was empty, and now
he might have the princess.
Then the king went out to the barn, and empty it
was, that was plain enough; but still Boots was so
 Boots and his Crew 349
sooty and smutty, that the king thought it a shame
that such a fellow should have his daughter. So he
said he had a cellar full of ale and old wine, three
hundred casks of each kind, which he must have drunk
out first, and said the king
"
All the same, if you are man enough to drink them
out by this time to-morrow, you shall have her."
" I can but " but I
try," said Boots ; may have leave,
perhaps, to take one of my comrades with me."
"With all my heart," said the king, who thought he
had so much ale and wine that the whole seven of them
would soon get more than their skins could hold.
But Boots only took with him the man who sucked
the tap, and who had such a swallow for ale, and then
the king locked them both up in the cellar.
So he drunk cask after cask as long as there were
any left, but at last he spared a drop or two, about as
much as a quart or two, for each of his comrades.
Next morning they unlocked the cellar, and Boots
strode off at once to the king, and said he was done
with the ale and wine, and now he must have his
daughter as he had given his word.
"
Ay, ay but I must first go down into the cellar
!

and see," said the king, for he didn't believe it. But
when he got to the cellar, there was nothing in it but
empty casks. But Boots was still black and smutty,
and the king thought he never could bear to have such
a fellow for his son-in-law. So he said, " No " but all
;

the same, if he could fetch him water from the world's

end in ten minutes for the princess's tea, he should
have both her and half the realm ; for he thought that
quite out of his power.
35 Tales from the Fjeld
" I can but try," said Boots so he laid hand on him
;

who limped on one leg with seven hundredweight on

the other, and said he must unbuckle the weights, and
use both his legs as fast as ever he could for he must ;

have water from the world's end for the princess's tea
in ten minutes.
So he took off the weights, and got a pail, and set
off, and was out of sight in a trice. But time went on
and on, for seven lengths and seven breadths, and yet
he did not come back. At last there were no more
than three minutes left till the time was up, and the
king was as pleased as though some one had given
him a horse. But just then Boots bawled out to him
who heard the grass grow, and bade him listen and
hear what had become of him.
" He has " I can
fallen asleep at the well," he said.
hear him snoring, and the Trolls are combing his hair."
So Boots called him who could shoot to the world's

end, and bade him put a bullet into the Troll. Yes,
he did that, and shot him right in the eye, and the
Troll set up such a howl that he woke up at once him
that was to fetch the water for tea ;
and when he got
back to the king's grange, there was still one minute

left of the ten.

Then Boots strode into the king, and said there was
the water, and now he must have the princess, there
must be no w ords about it. But more the king thought
r

him just as sooty and smutty as before, and did not

at all like to have him for a son-in-law. So the king
said he had three hundred fathoms of wood, with
which he was about to dry corn in the malt-house,
and "all the same, if you are man enough to gef
 Boots and his Crew 35 i

inside it burn up all that fuel, you shall have

while I

her, and I will make no more bones about it."

" I " but I must have leave
can but try," said Boots ;

to take one of my crew with me."

"Yes, yes," said the king, "all six of them if you
like;" for he thought it would be warm enough in
there for all of them.
But Boots took with him the man who had fifteen
winters and seven summers inside him, and they
trudged off to the malt-house at night. But the king
had laid the and there was such a
fuel on thick,

pne burning, it Out again

almost melted the stove.
they could not come, for they had scarce set foot

inside than the king shot the bolt behind them, and
hung two padlocks on the door besides. Then Boots
said
"You'd better slip out six or seven winters at once,
so that it may be a nice summer heat."
Then the heat fell, and they could bear it, but on in
the night it began to grow chilly so Boots said he
;

must make milder with two summers, and then they

it

slept till far on next day.

But when they heard the king rattling at the door

outside, Boots said
" Now two more winters, but lay
you must let slip
them so that the last may go full on his face."
Yes, he did so and when the king unlocked the
;

malt-house door, and thought to find them lying there

burnt to cinders, there they sat shivering and shaking
till their teeth chattered, and the man with the fifteen

winters let slip the last right into the king's face, so
that it swelled UD at once into a big frost-bite.
352 Tales from the Fjeld

"MAY I HAVE YOUR DAUGHTER NOW?" said

Boots.

"Yes, yes; pray take her and keep her, and half
the realm besides," said the king, for he couldn't say
"
No" any longer.
So they held and kept it up and
the bridal feast,

rejoiced and fired off witch-shots, and meanwhile they

went looking about for charges and then they took me
;

and gave me porridge in a flask and milk in a basket,

and then they shot me off here to you, that I
might
tell you all how the wedding went off.
 The Town-Mouse and the

Fell-Mouse

NCE on a time there was a fell-

mouse and a town-mouse, and
they met on a hill brae, where
the fell -mouse sat in a hazel
thicket and plucked nuts.
"God help you! sister," said
the town -mouse. "Do I meet
"
my kinsfolk here so far out in the country ?

"Yes, so it is," said the fell-mouse.

"
You gather these nuts and carry them to your
"
house ? said the town-mouse.

"Yes, must do it," said the fell-mouse, "if we are

I

to have anything to live on."

"The husks are long and the kernels full this year,'*
said the town-mouse, "so I dare say they will help
to fill out a starveling body."
"
You are quite right," said the fell-mouse ;
and then
she told her how well and happily she lived. But the
town-mouse thought she was better off; and the fell-
mouse would not give in, but said there was no place
so good as wood and fell, and as for herself, she had
far the best of it.

353 Z
354 Tales from the Fjeld

Still the town-mouse said she was sure she had the
best of and they could not agree at ali. So at last
it,

they promised to pay one another a visit at Yule, that

they might taste and see which lived best. The town-
mouse was the one that had to pay the first visit, and
she went through woods and deep dales for though ;

the fell-mouse had come down to the lowlands for the

winter, the road was both long and heavy. It was

uphill work, and the snow was both deep and soft,
so that she was both weary and hungry by the time
she got to her journey's end.
" Now shall be glad to get some
I food," she said,
when she got there. As for the fell-mouse, she had
scraped together all sorts of good things. There were
kernels of nuts, and liquorice-root and other roots,
and much else that grows in wood and field. All
this she had in a hole deep under-ground where it
would not freeze, and close by was a spring which was
open all the winter, so that she could drink as much
water as she chose. There was plenty of what was
to be had, and they fed both well and good but the ;

town-mouse thought it was not more than sorry fare.

"One can keep together with this," she said;

life

"but it isn't choice, not at all. But now you must be

so kind as come to me, and taste w7 hat we have in
town."
Well, the fell-mouse was willing, and it was not
long before she came. Then the town-mouse had
gathered together something of all the Christmas fare
which the mistress of the house had dropped as she
went about, when she had taken a drop too much at
Yule. There were bits of cheese, and odds and ends
 The Town-Mouse and the Fell-Mouse 355
of butter and tallow, and cheese-cakes and tipsy-cake,
and much else that was nice. In the jar under the
ale-tap she had drink enough, and the whole room was
full of all kinds of dainties. They fed and lived well,
and there was no end to the fell-mouse's greediness.
Such fare she had never tasted. At las: sne go
thirsty, for the food was both strong and rich, and
now she must have a drink of water.
"
It not far off to the ale," said the town-mouse;
is

"that's the drink for us;" and with that she jumped

up on the edge of the jar, and drank her thirst out;

but she drank no more than she could carry, for she
knew the Yule ale, and how strong it was. But as for
the fell-mouse, she thought it famous drink, for she
had never tasted anything but water, and now she
took sip after sip; but she was no judge of strong
drink, and so the end was she got drunk, for she
oimbled down and got wild in her head, and felt her
feet tingle, till she began to run and to jump about
from one beer-barrel to the other, and to dance and
cut capers on the shelves among the cups and jugs,
and to whistle and whine, just as though she were
tipsy and silly; and tipsy she was, there was no gain-
it.
saying
"You mustn't behave as though you had just come
from the "
hills," said the town-mouse. Don't make
such a noise, and don't lead us such a life ;
we have a
hard master here."
But the fell-mouse said she cared not a pin for man
or master.
But all this while the cat sat up on the trap-door
above the cellar, and listened and spied both to their
356 Tales from the Fjeld

talk and pranks. Just then the goody came down to

draw a mug of ale, and, as she lifted the trap-door,
the cat stole into the cellar and fixed her claws into
the fell-mouse. Then there was another dance. The
town-mouse crept into her hole, and sat safe looking
on but the fell-mouse got sober all at once, as soon as
;

she felt the cat's claws.

"Oh, my dear master, my dear master! be merciful
and spare my life, and I'll tell
you a story." That was
what she said.
" Out with
then," said the cat.
it,

"Once ona time there were two small mice," said

the fell-mouse ; and she squeaked so pitifully and

slowly, for she wanted to drag the story out as long

as she could.
"Then they were not alone," said the cat, both
sharply and drily.
" And so we had a steak we were going to cook."
"Then you were not starved," said the cat.
" So we
put it up on the roof that it might cool itself
well," said the fell-mouse.
"Then you didn't burn your tongues," said the
cat.
" So then the fox and the crow came and gobbled
it up," said the fell-mouse.
" And so I'll
gobble you up," said the cat.
But just then the goody slammed to the trap-door
again, so that the cat got afraid
and loosed her hold,
and pop ! the was away in the town-
fell-mouse
mouse's hole, and from it there was a way out into
the snow, and the fell-mouse was not slow in setting
off home.
 The Town-Mouse and the Fell-Mouse 357
"This you call living well, and you say that you
live best?" she said to the town-mouse. "Heaven
help me to a better mind for with such a big house,
!

and such a hawk for a master, I could scarce get off

with my life."
 Silly Matt

on a time there was a goody who had a

ONCE son called Matthew

he had
but he was so stupid, that
;

no sense for anything, nor would he

do much either; and the little he did was always
topsy-turvy and never right, and so they never called
him anything but " Silly Matt."
All this the goody thought bad ;

and it was still worse, she thought,

that her son idled about and never
turned his hand to anything else
than yawning and stretching him-
self between the four walls.
Now close to where they lived
ran a great river, and the stream
was strong and bad to cross. So,
one day, the goody said to the
lad, that as there was no lack of
timber there, for grew almost
it

up he must
to the cottage-wall,
cut some down and drag ic to
the bank and try to build a bridge
over the river and take toll, and then he would
both have something to do and something to live upon
besides.
358
 Silly Matt 359

Yes, Matt thought so too, for his mother had said

it ;
what she begged him do, he would do. That
was and sure, he said, for what she said must
safe
be so, and not otherwise. So he hewed down timber,
and dragged it down and built a bridge. It didn't

go so awfully fast with the work, but at any rate,

he had his hands full while it went on.
When the bridge was ready, the lad was to stand

down at its end and take toll of those who wanted to

cross, and his mother bade him be sure not to let any
one over unless they paid the toll. It was all the

same, she said, if it were not always in money. Goods

and wares were just as good pay.
So the first day came three chaps with each his load
of hay, and wanted to cross the bridge.
"No, no," said the lad, "you can't go over till I've

taken the toll."

"
We've nothing to pay it with," they said.
"Well, then, you can't cross; but it's all the same,
if it isn't money goods will do just as well."
;

So they gave him each a wisp of hay, and he had

as much as would go on a little hand-sledge, and then

they had leave to pass over the bridge.

Next came a pedlar with his pack, who sold needles
and thread and such like small wares, and he wanted
to cross.
" You can't cross till you have paid the toll," said

the lad.
" I've
nothing to pay it with," said the pedlar.
"You have
wares, at any rate."
So the pedlar took out two needles and gave them
him, and then he had leave to cross the bridge. As
360 Tales from the FjefJ
for the needles, the lad stuck them into the hay, and
soon set off home.
So when he got home, he "
said, Now, I have taken
the and got something to live on."
toll,
" What did you get ? " asked the goody.
"Oh," said he, "there came three chaps, each with
his load of hay. They each gave me a wisp of hay, so
that I got a little sledge-load; and next, I got two
needles from a pedlar."
" What did "
you do with the hay ? asked the
goody.
" I tried between but
it my teeth ;
it tasted only of

grass, so I threw it into the river."

"You ought to have spread it out on the byre-floor,"
said the goody.

"Well, I'll do that next time, mother," he said.

" "
And what, then, did you do with the needles ? said
the goody.
" I stuck them in the
hay."
" Ah " said his "
!
mother, you are a born fool.
You should have stuck them in and out of your cap."
"
Well, don't say another word, mother, and I'll be
sure to do so next time."
Next day, when the lad stood down at the foot of
the bridge again, there came a man from the mill with
a sack of meal, and wanted to cross.
" You can't cross till
you pay the toll," said the
lad.
" I've no
pence to pay it with," said the man.
"Well, you can't cross," said the lad; "but goods
are good pay." So he got a pound of meal, and the
man had leave to cross.
 Silly Matt 361
Not long after came a smith with a horse-pack of
smith's work, and wanted to cross but it was still the
;

same.
"You mustn't cross till
you've paid the toll," said

the lad. But he, too, had no money either so he ;

gave the lad a gimlet, and then he had leave to

cross.
So when the lad got home to his mother, the toll

was the first thing she asked about.

" "
What you take for toll to-day ?
did
" there came a man from the mill with a sack
Oh,
of meal, and he gave me a pound of meal and then ;

came a smith, with a horse-load of smith's-work, and

he gave me a gimlet."
"And pray, what did you do with the gimlet?"
asked the goody.
" "
I did as you bade me, mother," said the lad ;
I

stuck it in and out of my cap."

"Oh, but that was silly," said the goody; "you
oughtn't to have stuck it out and in your cap; but you
should have stuck it up your shirt-sleeve."
"Ay, ay! only be still, mother, and I'll be sure to
do it next time."
"And what did you do with the meal, I'd like to
"
know ? said the goody.
"
Oh, I did as you bade me, mother ; I spread it
over the byre-floor."
"
Never heard anything so silly in my born days,"
" to have gone home
said the goody. Why, you ought
for a pail and put it into it."

"Well, well! only be still, mother," said the lad,

"
and I'll be sure to do it next time."
 Tales from the Fjeld
362
Next day the lad was down at the foot of the bridge
to take toll, and so there came a man with a horse-load
of brandy, and wanted to cross.
"
You till you pay the toll," said the lad.
can't cross
"
no money," said the man.
I've got

"Well, then, you can't cross; but you have goods,

of course," said the lad. Yes; so he got half a quart
of brandy, and that he poured up his shirt-sleeve.
A while after came a man with a drove of goats, and
wanted to cross the bridge.

"You can't cross till you pay the toll," said the lad.

Well, he was He had no

no richer than the rest.
money; but still he gave the lad a little billy-goat,
and he got over with his drove. But the lad took the
goat and trod itdown into a bucket he had brought
with him. So when he got home, the goody asked
again-
" "
What you take to-day ?
did
"
Oh, there came a man with a load of brandy, and
from him I got a pint of brandy."
"
And what did you do with it ? "
" I did as
you bade me, mother; I poured it up my
shirt-sleeve."
"
Ay ! but that was silly, my son ; you .should have
come home to fetch a bottle and poured it into it."

"Well, well! be still this time, mother, and I'll be

"
sure to do what you say next time ; and then he went
"
on, Next came a man with a drove of goats, and he
gave me a little billy-goat, and that I trod down into

the bucket."
"
Dear me," said his mother, " that was silly, and
sillier than silly, my son you should have twisted a
;
 Silly
Matt 363
vvithy round its neck, and led the billy-goat home
by it."
"
Well, be still, mother, and see if I don't do as you
say next time."
Next day he set off for the bridge again to take toll,
and so a man came with a load of butter, and wanted
to cross. But the lad said he couldn't cross unless
he paid toll.
"
I've nothing to pay it with," said the man.
"Well, then, you "but
can't cross," said the lad;
have and I'll take them instead of
you goods, money."
So the man gave him a pat of butter, and then he had
leave to cross the bridge and the lad strode off to a
;

grove of willows, and twisted a withy, and twined it

round the butter, and dragged it home along the road ;

but so long as he went he some of the butter left

behind him, and when he got home there was none

left.
" "
And what did you take to-day ? asked his mother.
"There came a man with a load of butter, and he
gave me a pat."
" " " where is it ? "
Butter said the goody,
!

" "
I did as
you bade me, mother," said the lad. I

tied a withy round the pat and led it home but it was ;

all lost by the way."

"Oh," said the goody, "you were born a fool, and

you'll die a fool. Now you are not one bit better off
for allyour toil but had you been like other folk, you
;

might have had both meat and brandy, and both hay
and tools. If you don't know better how to behave, I
don't know what's to be done with you. Maybe you
might be more like the rest of the world, and get some
364 Tales from the Fjeld
sense into you, if you were married to some one who
could settle things for you, and so I think you had
better set off and see about finding a brave lass; but

you must be sure you know how to behave well on

the way, and to greet folk prettily when you meet
them."
" And "
pray, what shall I say to them ? asked the
lad.
"To think of your asking that," said his mother.
" of course, you must bid them God's peace.' '

Why,
"
Don't you know that ?
"
Yes, yes, I'll do as you bid," said the lad ;
and
so he set off on his way to woo him a wife.
So, when he had gone a bit of the way he met
Greylegs the wolf, with her seven cubs and when he ;

got so far as to be alongside them, he stood still and

" "
greeted them with God's peace and when he had
;

said that, he went home again.

" I said it all as you bade me, mother," said Matt.

"And what was that ? " asked his mother.

" '
God's peace,'
"
said Matt.
" And whom "
pray, did you meet ?
" A she-wolf with seven cubs ;
that was all I met,"
said Matt.

"Ay, ay! you are like yourself," said his mother;

" so
was, and
it so it will ever be.
Why in the world
did you say 'God's peace' to a wolf? You should
have clapped your hands and said 'Huf! huf! you
jade of a she-wolf!' That's what you ought to have
said."

"Well, well! be still, mother," he said, "I'll be

"
sure to say so another time ;
and with that he strode
 Silly Matt 365
off from the farm;
and when he had gone a bit on the
way, he met a bridal train. So he stood still when he
had got well up to the bride and bridegroom, and
clapped his hands, and said, "Huf! huf! you jade of
a she-wolf!" After that he went home to his mother,
and said
"I did as you bade me, mother; but I got a good
thrashing for it, that I did."
"
"What was you did ? she asked.
it

"Oh, I
clapped my hands and called out, 'Huf!
huf! you jade of a she-wolf!'
" "
And what was it
you met ?
"
I met a bridal train."
" Ah and always will be a fool,"
!
you are a fool,
"
said his mother. Why should you say such things
to a bridal train? You should have said, 'Ride happily,
'
bride and bridegroom.'

"Well, well! see if I don't say so next time,"

said the lad, he
and went off
again.
So he met a bear, who was taking a ride on a horse,
and Matt waited till he came alongside him, and then
he said, "A happy ride to you, bride and bridegroom,"
and then he went back to his mother, and told her how
he had said what she bade him.
"And pray, what was it you said ?" she asked.
"I said, 'A happy ride to you both, bride and
'

bridegroom.'
"And whom did you meet ?"
" met a bear taking a ride on a horse," said Matt.
I

"
My goodness! what a fool you are," said his mother.
"You ought to have said, 'To the de'il with you.'
That's what you ought to have said."
366 Tales from the Fjeld

"Well, well, mother! I'll be sure to say so nexi

time."
So he set off again, and this time he met a funeral;
and when he had come well up to the coffin, he greeted
it and said,
"
To the de'il with you " and then he ran !

home to his mother, and told her he had said what she
bade him.
"And what was that ?" she asked.

"Oh, said,
I 'To the de'il with you.'"
"And what was it you met?"
" I met a
funeral," said Matt; "but I got more kicks
than halfpence."
"You didn't get half enough," said the goody.
"Why, of course, you ought to have said, 'May your
poor soul have mercy.' That's what you ought to have
said."

"Ay, mother so I will next time, only be still,"

ay, !

said Matt, and off he went again.

So when he had gone a bit of the way he fell on two
ugly gipsies who were skinning a dog. So when he
came up to them he greeted them and said, " May your
"
poor soul have mercy and when he had said so he
;

went home and told his mother he had said what she
bade him, but all he got was such a drubbing he could
scarce drag one leg after the other.
" But what was it "
you said ? asked the goody.
" '

your poor soul have mercy; that was what

'
May"

I said."
"And whom did you meet?"
"A pair of gipsies skinning a dog," he said.
" " " there's no
Well, well said the goody,
!
hope of
your changing ; you'll always be a shame and sorrow
 Silly Matt 3 67

to us wherever you go. I never heard such shocking

words. But now, you must set out and take no notice
of any one you meet, for you must be off to woo a wife ;

and see you can get some one who knows more of
if

the ways of the world, and has a better head on her

shoulders than yours. And now you must behave
like other folk and if all
;

goes you may bless

well,

your stars, and bawl out,

Hurrah " !

Yes, the lad did all

that his mother bade

him. He set off and
wooed a lass, and she
thought he couldn't be
so bad a fellow after
all; and so she said,
"
Yes, she would have
him."
When the lad got home the goody wanted to know
what his sweetheart's name was but he did not know. ;

So the goody got angry, and said he must just set off
again, for she would know what the girl's name was.
So when Matt was going home again he had sense
enough to ask her what she was called. "Well," she
said, "my name is Solvy; but I thought you knew it

already."
So Matt ran off home, and as he went he mumbled
to himself
"Solvy, Solvy,
Is my darling !

Solvy, Solvy 5

j>
Is my darling i
368 Tales from the Fjeld

But just as he was running as hard as he could to

reach home before he forgot it, he tripped over a tuft
of grass, and forgot the name again. So when he got
on his feet again he began to search all round the
hillock, all he could find was a spade.
but So he
seized and began to dig and search as hard as he
it

could, and as he was hard at it up came an old man.

"
What are you digging for ? " said the man. " Have
"
you lost anything here ?

"Oh, yes! oh, yes! I have lost my sweetheart's

name, and I can't find it again."
"
I think her name is Solvy," said the man.
"Oh, said Matt, and away he ran
yes, that's it,"

with the spade in his hand, bawling out

"
Solvy, Solvy,
Is my darling !"

But when he had gone a little way he called to mind

that he had taken the spade, and so he threw it behind

him, right on to the man's leg. Then the man began

to roar and bemoan himself as though he had a knife
stuck in him ; and then Matt forgot the name again,
and ran home as fast as he could and when he got
;

there, the first thing his mother asked was

" "
What's your sweetheart's name ?
But Matt was just as wise as when he set out, for he

did not know the name any better the last than the
first time.

"You are the same big fool, that you are," said the
goody. "You won't do any better this time either.
But now I'll just set off myself and fetch the girl home
and get you married. Meanwhile you must fetch
 Silly
Matt 369

water up to the fifth plank all round the room, and

wash it, and then you must take a little fat and a little
find in the
lean, and the greenest thing you can
cabbage garden, and boil them all up together;
and
when you have done that you must put yourself into

fine feather,and look sweet when your lassie comes,

and then you may sit down on the dresser."
Yes, all that Matt thought he could do very well.
He fetched water and dashed it about the room in
floods ;
but he couldn't get it to stand above the fourth

plank, for when it rose higher it ran out. So he had

work. But now you must know they
to leave off that
had a dog whose name was " Fat," and a cat whose
name was " Lean " both these he took and put into
;

the soup-kettle. As for the greenest thing in the

garden, it was a green gown which the goody had
meant for her daughter-in-law ; that he cut up into
little bits, and away it went
into the pot; but their

little pig,which was called "All," he cooked by him-

self in the brewing tub. And when Matt had done all
this, he laid hands on a pot of treacle and a feather
pillow. Then he first of all rubbed himself all over
with the treacle, and then he tore open the pillow and
rolled himself in the feathers, and then he sat down on
the dresser out in the kitchen, till his mother and the

lassie came.
Now thing the goody missed when she came
the first

to her house was the dog, for it always used to meet

her out of doors. The next thing was the cat, for it

always met her in the porch, and when the weather

was right down good and the sun shone, she even
came out into the yard, and met her at the garden
2 A
37 Tales from the Fjeld

gate. Nor could she see the green gown she had
meant for her daughter-in-law either;and her piggy-
wiggy, which followed her grunting wherever she went,
he was not there either. So she went in to see about
all this; but as soon as ever she lifted the latch, out

poured the water through the doorway like a waterfall,

so that they were almost borne away by the flood,
both the goody and the lassie.
So they had to go round by the back-door, and
when they got inside the
kitchen there sat that

figure of fun all be-

feathered.
"
Whathaveyou done ?"
said the goody.
" I did
just as you bade
me, mother," said Matt.
" I tried to get the water
up to the fifth plank, but
as fast as ever I
poured
it in itran out again, and
so I could only get up as
high as the fourth plank."
" ' "
Well, well ! but '
Fat and Lean,' said the goody,
'

who wished to turn it off, "what have you done

"
with them ?
" I did as "
} ou bade me, mother," said Matt.
7
I

took and put them into the soup-kettle. They both

scratched and bit, and they mewed and whined, and
Fat was strong and kicked against it ; but he had
to go in at last the same; and as for 'All,' he's
all

cooking by himself in the brewing tub in the brew-

 Silly Matt 371
house, for there wasn't room for him in the soup-
kettle."
"
But what have you done with that new green gown
"
I meant for my daughter-in-law? said the goody, trying
to hide his silliness.
" did as you bade me, mother. It hung out
Oh, I

in the cabbage-garden, and as it was the greenest thing

there, I took it and cut it up small, and yonder it boils
in the soup."
Away ran the goody to the chimney-corner, tore off
the pot, and turned it upside down with all that was
in it. Then she filled it anew, and put it on to boil.
But when she had time to look at Matt she was quite
shocked.
" "
Why you are such a figure ? she cried.
is it
" "
I did as you bade me, mother," said Matt. First
I rubbed myself all over with treacle to make myself
sweet for my bride, and then I tore open the pillow
and put myself into fine feathers."
Well, the goody turned it off as well as she could,
and picked off the feathers from her son, and washed
him clean, and put fresh clothes on him.
So at last they were to have the wedding, but first
Matt was to go to the town and sell a cow to buy
things for the bridal. The goody had told him what
he was to do, and the beginning and end of what she
said was, he was to be sure to get something for the
cow. So when he got to the market with the cow,
and they asked what he was to have for her, they
could get no answer out of him than that he was to
have something for her. So at last came a butcher,
who begged him to take the cow and follow him home,
37 2 Tales from the Fjeld

and he'd be sure to give him something for her. Yes,,

Matt went off with the cow and when he got
;
to the
butcher's house, the butcher spat into the palm of
Matt's hand, and said
" There have
!
you something for your cow, but look-

sharp after it."

So off went Matt as carefully as if he trode on eggs,
holding his hand shut; but when he had got about as
far as the cross-road which led to their farm, he met
the parson, who came driving along.
"
Open the gate for me, my lad," said the parson.
So the lad hastened to open the gate, but in doing so
he forgot what he had in his palm, and took the gate

by both hands, so that what he got for the cow was

left sticking on the gate. So when he saw it was gone
he got cross, and said his reverence had taken some-
thing from him.
But when the parson asked him if he had lost his
wits, and said he had taken nothing from him, Matt got
so wroth he killed the parson at a blow, and buried him
in a bog by the wayside.
So when he got home he told his mother all about it,
and she slaughtered a billy-goat, and laid it where Matt
had laid the parson, but she buried the parson in
another place. And when she had done that she hung
over the fire a pot of brose, and when it was cooked
she made Matt sit down in the ingle and split matches.
Meantime she went up on the roof with the pot and
poured the brose down the chimney, so that it streamed
over her son.
Next day came the sheriff. So when the sheriff

asked him, Matt did not gainsay that he had slain the
 Silly Matt 373
parson, and more, he was quite ready to show the
sheriffwhere he had laid 'his reverence.' But when
the sheriff asked on what day it happened, Matt said,
"
It was the day when it rained brose over the whole

hrorld."

So when he got to the spot where he had buried the

parson the sheriff pulled out the billy-goat, and asked
" Had "
your parson horns ?
Now when the judges heard the story, they made up
their minds that the lad was quite out of his wits, and
so he got off scot-free.
So after all the bridal was to stand, and the goody
had a long talk with her son, and bade him be sure to
behave prettily when they sat at table. He was not to
look too much at the bride, but to cast an eye at her
now and then. Peas he might eat by himself, but he
must share the eggs with her and he was not to lay
;

the leg bones by his side on the table, but to place them
tidily on his plate.
Yes, Matt would do all that, and he did it well yes, ;

he did all mother bade him, and nothing else.

that his

First, he stole out to the sheepfold, and plucked the eyes

out of all the sheep and goats he could find, and took
them with him. So when they went to dinner he sat
with his back to his bride but all at once he cast a
;

sheep's eye at her, so that it hit her full in her face ;

and a little while after he cast another, and so he went
on. As for the eggs, he ate them all up to his own
cheek, so that the lassie did not get a taste ;
but when
the peas came he shared them with her. And when
they had eaten a while Matt put his feet together, and
up on his plate went his legs.
3 74 Tales from the Fjeld

At night, when they were to go to bed, the lassie

was tired and weary, for she thought it no good to
have such a fool for her husband. So she said she
had forgotten something and must go out a little; but
she could not get Matt's leave, he would follow her ;

for to tell the truth, he was afraid she would never

come back.
"No, no; lie still, I
say," said the bride. "See,
here's a long hair-rope ; tie it round me, and I'll leave
the door ajar. So you think I'm too long away you
if

have only to pull the rope and then you'll drag me in

aeain."

Yes, Matt was content with that ;

but as soon as the
yard she caught a billy-goat, and
lassie got out into the
untied the rope and tied it round him.
So when Matt thought she was too long out of doors
he began to haul in the rope, and so he dragged the
billy-goat up into bed to him. But when he had lain a
while, he bawled out
"
Mother ! mother !
my bride has horns like a billy-

goat."
" and bewail yourself," said
Stuff, silly boy, to lie
"
his mother. It's only her hair-plaits, poor thing,
I'm sure."
In a little while Matt called out again
" Mother mother
!
my bride has a beard like a goat."
!

"Stuff, silly boy, to lie there and rave," said the

goody.
But there was no rest in that house that night, for
Matt screeched out that his bride was
in a little while

like a billy-goat all over. So when it grew towards

morning the goody said
 Silly Matt 375
"Jump up, my son, and make a fire."

So Matt climbed up to a shelf under the roof, and

set fire to some straw and chips and other rubbish
that lay there. But then such a smoke rose, that he
couldn't bear it any longer in-doors. He was forced to
go and just then the day broke. As for the goody,
out,
she, too, had to make a start of it and when they got
;

out the house was on fire, so that the flames came right
out at the roof.
" "
Good luck !
good luck !
Hip, hip, hurrah roared
!

out Matt, for he thought it fine fun to have such an

ending to his bridal feast.

 King Valemon, the White Bear

OW once on a time there was,

as there well might be, a king.
He had two daughters who
were ugly and bad, but
the third was as fair and
as soft as the bright day,
and the king and every
one was glad of her. So
one day she dreamt of
a golden wreath that was so lovely
she couldn't live until she had it.
But as she could not get it, she
grew sullen and wouldn't so much
as talk for grief; and when the

king knew it was the wreath she

sorrowed for, he sent out a pattern cut just like the
one that the princess had dreamt of, and sent word to
goldsmiths in every land to see if they could get the
like of it. So the goldsmiths worked night and day;
but some of the wreaths she tossed away from her,
and the rest she would not so much as look
at.

But once when she was in the wood she set her

eyes upon a white bear, who had the very wreath she
had dreamt of between his paws, and played with it.
 King Va lemon ,
the White Bear 377
Then she wanted No, it was not for sale
to buy it.

for money, but she might have it if he might have

her. Yes, she said, it was never worth living
without
it. It was all the same to her whither she went and
whom she got, she could only have that wreath and
if ;

so it was settled between them that he should fetch

her when three days were up, and that day was a
Thursday.
So when she came home with the wreath, every one
was glad because she was glad again, and the king
said,he thought it could never be so hard to stop a
white bear. So the third day he turned out his whole
army round the castle to withstand him. But when
the white bearcame there was no one who could stand
weapon would bite on his hide, and
before him, for no
he hurled them down right and left, so that they lay in
378 Tales from the Fjeld

heaps on either side. All this the king thought right

down ;
so
scathe he sent out his eldest daughter, and
the white bear took her upon his back and went off
with her. And when they had gone far and farther
than far, the white bear asked
"
Have you ever sat softer, and have you ever seen
"
clearer ?

"Yes; on my mother's lap I sat softer, and in my

I saw clearer," she said.
father's hall

"Oh," said the white bear, "then you're not the

right one;" and with that he hunted her home again.
The next Thursday he came again, and it all went
just the same. The army went out to withstand the
white bear; but neither iron nor steel bit on his hide,
and so he dashed them down like grass till the king
begged him to hold hard, and then he sent out to him
his next oldest daughter, and the white bear took her
on his back and went off with her. So when they
had travelled far and farther than far, the white bear
asked
" Have you ever seen and have you ever sat
clearer,
"
softer ?

"Yes," she said "in my father's hall

;
I saw clearer,
and on my mother's lap I sat softer."
"
Oh, then you are not the right one," said the
white bear, and with that he hunted her too home
again.
The third Thursday he came again, and then he
smote the army harder than he had done before; so
the king thought he couldn't let him slay his whole

army like that, and he gave him his third daughter in

God's name. So he took her up on his back and went
 King Valemon^ the White Bear 379
away far and farther than far; and when they had
gone deep, deep into the wood, he asked her as he had
asked the others, whether she had ever sat softer or
seen clearer ?
"
No, never," she said.
"Ah " he said, "you are the right one."
!

So they came to a castle which was so grand, that

the one her father had was like the poorest place when
set against it. There she was to be and live happily,
and she was to have nothing else to do but to see that

the fire never went out. The bear was away by day,
but at night he was with her, and then he was a man.
So all went well for three years; but each year she
380 Tales from the Fjeld

had a baby, and he took it and carried it off as soon as

ever it came into the world. Then she got more and
more dull, and begged she might have leave to go home
and see her parents. Well, there were nothing to
stop that; but first, she had to give her word that
she would listen to what her father said, but not do
what her mother wished. So she went home and ;

when they were alone with her, and she had told how
she was treated, her mother wanted to give her a light
to take back that she might see what kind of man he
was.
"
But her father said, No, she mustn't do that, for
it harm, and not to gain."
will lead to
But however it happened, so it happened she got a ;

bit of a candle-end to take with her when she started.

So the first thing she did when he was sound asleep

was to light the candle-end and throw a light on him ;

and he was so lovely, she never though she could gaze

enough at him but as she held the candle over him, a
;

hot drop of tallow dropped on his forehead, and he

woke up.
" "
he " Now
What is this you have done ? said.
more
you have made us both unlucky there was no ;

than a month left, and had you lasted it out, I should

have been saved for a hag of the Trolls has bewitched
;

me, and I am a white bear by day. But now it is all

over between us, for now I must go to her and take
her to wife."
She wept and bemoaned herself; but he must set off,
and he would set off. Then she asked if she might not
" "
go with him. No," he said, there was no way of

doing that." But for all that, when he set off in his
 King Valcmon^ the White Bear 381

bear-shape she took hold of his shaggy hide and threw

herself upon his back, and held on fast.

So away they went over crags and hills, and through

brakes and briars, till her clothes were torn off her
382 Tales from the Fjeld

back, and she was so dead tired, that she let go her
hold and lost her wits. When she came to herself she
was wood, and then she set off again, but
in a great

she could not tell whither she was going. So after a

long, long time she came to a hut, and there she saw
two women, an old woman and a pretty little girl.
Then the princess asked, had they seen anything of

King Valemon, the white bear.

" " he
Yes," they said passed by here this morn-
;

ing early, but he went so fast you'll never be able to

catch him up."
As for the girl, she ran about clipping in the air and
playing with a pair of golden scissors, which were of
that kind that silk and satin stuffs flew all about her
if she only clipped the air with them. Where they
were, there was never any want of clothes.
"But this woman," said the little lass, "who is to

go so and on such bad ways, she will suffer much

far ;

she may well have more need of these scissors than I

to cut out her clothes with."
And as she said this she begged her mother so hard,
that at last she got leave to give her the scissors.
So away travelled the princess through the wood,
which seemed never to come to an end, both day and
night, and next morning she came to another hut. In
it there were also two women, an old wife and a young

girl.
" "
have you seen "
Good-day said the princess
!
;

anything of King Valemon, the white bear?" That

was what she asked them.
" Was it "
you, maybe, who was to have him ? said
the old wife.
 King Valemon^ the White Bear 383
"Yes, it was."
"
Well, he passed by yesterday, but he went so fast
you'll never be able to catch him up."
This little girl played about on the floor with a flask,
which was of that kind it
poured out every drink any
one wished to have.
"
But this poor wife," said the girl, " who has to go
so far on such bad ways, I think she may well be
thirsty and suffer much other ill. No doubt she needs
"
this flask more than I and so she asked if she might
;

have leave to give her the flask. Yes, that leave she
might have.
So the princess got the flask, and thanked them,
and set off againaway through the same wood, both
that day and the next night, too. The third morning
she came to a hut, where there was also an old wife
and a little girl.
" "
Good-day said the princess.
!

"Good-day to you," said the old wife.

" Have
you seen anything of King Valemon, the
"
white bear ? she asked.
" was you who was "
Maybe it to have him ? said
the old wife.
"Yes, it was."
"
Well, he passed by here the day before yesterday,
but he went so fast you'll never be able to catch him
up," she said.
This little girl played about on the floor with a
napkin, which was of that kind that when one said on
"
it, Napkin, spread yourself out and be covered with
aJi it did so, and where
dainty dishes," it was there
was never any want of a good dinner
384 Tales from the Fjeld

"But poor wife," said the little girl, "who has

this

to go so over such bad ways, she may well be

far

starving and suffering much other ill. I dare

say she
has far more need of this napkin than I " and so she ;

asked if she might have leave to give her the napkin,

and she got it.

So
the princess took the napkin and thanked them,
and set off again far and farther than far, away through
the same murk wood all that day and night, and in the
morning she came to a cross-fell, which was as steep as
a wall, and so high and broad, she could see no end to
it. There was a hut there, too and as soon as she set
;

her foot inside it, she said

" have you seen
Good-day ! if King Valemon, the
"
white bear, has passed this way ?
" " was you,
Good-day to you," said the old wife. It
"
maybe, who was to have him ?
" was."
Yes, it

"Well, he passed by and went up over the hill

three days ago; but up that nothing can get that is
wingless."
That hut, you must know, was all so full of small
bairns, and they all hung round their mother's skirt
and bawled for food. Then the goody put a pot on
the fire full of small round pebbles. When the
princess asked what that was for, the goody said they
were so poor they had neither food nor clothing, and it
went to her heart to hear the children screaming for a
morsel of food but when she put the pot on the fire,
;

and said
"The potatoes will soon be ready," the words dulled
their hunger, and they were patient awhile.
 King Valemon^ the White Bear 385
It was not long before the princess brought out the

napkin and the flask, that you may be sure and when
;

the children were all full and glad, she cut them out
clothes with her golden scissors.
"Well," said the goody in the hut, "since you have
been so kind and good towards me and my bairns, it

were a shame if I didn't do all in my power to try to

help you over the hill. My husband is one of the best

smiths in the world, and now you must lie down and
rest till he comes home, and then I'll get him to forge
you claws for your hands and feet, and then you can
see if you can crawl and scramble up."
So when the smith came home he set to work at
once at the claws, and next morning they were ready.
She had no time to stay, but said, "Thank you," and
then clung close to the rock and crept and crawled with
the steel claws all that day and the next night and just ;

as she so very, very tired that she thought she could

felt

scarce lift hand or foot, but must slip down, there she
was all There she found a plain, with
right at the top.
tilled and meads, so big and broad, she never
fields

thought there could be any land so wide and so flat ;

and close by was a castle full of workmen of all kinds,

who swarmed like ants on an ant-hill.
"
"What going on here ? asked the princess.
is

Well, if she must know, there lived the old hag

who had bewitched King Valemon, the white bear, and
in three days she was to hold her wedding feast with
him. Then she asked if she mightn't have a word
"
with her. No was it likely ? It was quite im-
!

possible." So she sat down under the window and

began to c ip in the air with her golden scissors, till

2 B
386 Tales from the Fjeld
the silks and satins flew about as thick as a snow*
drift.

But when the old hag saw that, she was all for
"
buying the golden scissors, for she said, All our tailors
can do is no good at all, we have too many to find
clothes for."
So the princess said, " It was not for sale for money,
but she should have it, if she got leave to sleep with
her sweetheart that night."
" " she
Yes," the old hag said, might have that leave
and welcome but she herself must lull him off to sleep,
;

and wake him in the

morning."
And so when he went
to bed she gave him a sleeping

draught, so that he could not keep an eye open, for all

that the princess cried and wept.
Next day the princess went under the window again,
and began to pour out drink from her flask. It frothed
like a brook with ale and wine, and it was never empty.

So when the old hag saw that, she was all for buying
it, for she said
"
For brewing and stilling, it's no good, we
all our

have too many to find drink for."

But the princess said, " It was not for sale for
money, but if she might have leave to sleep with her
sweetheart that night, she might have it."

"Well," the old hag said, "she might have that

leave and welcome but she must herself lull him off
;

to sleep,and wake him in the morning."

So when he went to bed she gave him another
sleeping draught, so that it went no better that night
than the first. He was not able to keep his eyes open,
for all that the princess bawled and wept.
 King Valemon^ the White Bear 387
But that night there was one of the workmen who
worked in a room next to theirs. He heard the
weeping and knew how things stood, and next day he
told the prince that she must be come, that princess
who was to set him free.
That day it was just the same story with the napkin
as with the scissors and the flask. When it was about
dinner-time the princess went outside the castle, took
"
out the napkin, and said, Napkin, spread yourself out
and be covered with all dainty dishes," and there was
meat enough, and to spare, for hundreds of men but ;

the princess sat down to table by herself.

So when the old hag set her eyes on the napkin,
" For all their
she wanted to buy it, roasting and boil-
ing is worth nothing, we have too many mouths to
feed."
But the princess said, " It was not for sale for money,
but if she might have leave to sleep with her sweet-
heart that night, she might have it."
"
Well, she might do so and welcome," said the old
"
hag ;
but she must first lull him off to sleep, and wake
him up in the morning."
So when he was going to bed, she came with the

sleeping draught ; but this time he was aware of her,

and made as though he slept. But the old hag did
not trust him for all that, for she took a pin and stuck
it into his arm to try if he were sound asleep ;
but
for all the pain it gave him he did not stir a bit, and
so the princess got leave tocome in to him.
Then everything was soon set right ^tween them ;

and they could only get rid of the old hag, he would
if

be free. So he got the carpenters to make him a trap-

388 Tales from the Fjeld
door on the bridge over which the bridal train had to

pass, for it was the custom there that the bride rode at
the head of the train with her friends.
So when they got well on the bridge, the trap-door

tipped up with the bride and all the other old hags
who were her bridesmaids. But King Valemon and
the princess, and all the rest of the train, turned back
to the castle and took all they could carry away of the

gold and goods of the old hag, and so they set off for
hisown land, and were to hold their real wedding.
And on the way King Valemon picked up those
three little girls in the three huts and took them with
them and now she saw why it was he had taken her
;

babes away and put them out at nurse : it was that

they might help her to find him out. And so they

drank their bridal ale both stiff and strong.
" The "
trap-door tipped up with the bride
 The Golden Bird

on a time there was a king who had a

ONCE garden, and in that garden stood an apple-tree,
and on that apple-tree grew one golden apple
every year. But when the time drew on for plucking
it, away went, and there was no one who could tell
it

who took it, or what became of it. It was gone, and

thatwas all they knew.

This king had three sons, and so he said to them one
day that he of them who could get him his apple again
or lay hold of the thief should have the kingdom after
him, were he the eldest, or the youngest, or the mid-
most.
So the eldest set out first on this quest, and sat him
down under the tree, and was to watch for the thief;
and when night drew near a golden bird came flying,
and his feathers gleamed a long way off; but when
the king's son saw the bird and his beams, he got so
afraid he daren't stay his watch out, but flew back
into the palace as fast as ever he could.
Next morning the apple was gone. By that time
the king's son had got back his heart into his body,
and so he fell to filling his scrip with food, and was all
for setting out to try if he could find the bird. So the
king fitted him out well, and spared neither money nor
391
392 Tales from the Fjeld

clothes ;
and when the king's son had gone a bit he got
hungry, and took out his scrip, and sat him down to
eat his dinner by the wayside. Then out came a fox
from a spruce clump and sat by him and looked on.

V ^

" me
Do, dear friend, give a morsel of food," said
the fox.
" I'll
give you burnt horn, that I will," said the king's
" I'm
son. like to need food myself, for no one knows
how and how long I may have to travel."
far
" Oh "
that's your game, is it 1
! said the fox, and
back he went into the wood.
 The Golden Bird 393
So when the king's son had eaten and rested awhile
he set off on his way again. After a long, long time
he came to a great town, and in that town there was
an inn, where there was always mirth and never sorrow;
there he thought it would be good to be. and so he
turned in there. But there was so much dancing and
drinking, and fun and jollity, that he forgot the bird
and its feathers, and his father, and his quest, and the
whole kingdom. Away he was, and away he stayed.
The year the king's midmost son was to watch
after,
for the apple-thief in the garden. Yes ; he too sat him
down under the tree when it began to ripen. So all at

once one night the golden bird came shining like the
sun, and the lad got so afraid, he put his tail between
his legs and ran in-doors as fast as ever he could.
Next morning the apple was gone but by that time ;

the king's son had taken heart again, and was all for

setting off to see if he could find the bird. Yes, he

began to put up his travelling fare, and the king fitted
him out well, and spared neither clothes nor money.
But just the same befell him as had befallen his brother.
When he had travelled a bit he got hungry, and opened
his scrip, and sat him down to eat his dinner by the

wayside. So out came a fox from a spruce clump and

sat up and looked on.
"
Dear friend, give me a morsel of food, do ? " said
the fox.
" I'll
you burnt horn, that I will," said the king's
give
"
son. may come to need food myself, for no one
I

knows how far and how long I may have to go."

"
Oh that's your game, is it ? " said the fox, and
!

away he went into the wood again.

394 Tales from the Fjeld

So when the king's son had eaten and rested himself

awhile he set off on his way again. And after a long,

long time he came to the same town and the same inn
where there was always mirth and never sorrow, and
he too thought it would be good to turn in there ;
and
the very first man he met was his brother, and so he
too stayed there. His brother had feasted and drank
he had scarce any clothes to his back but now they
till ;

both begun anew, and there was such drinking and

dancing, and fun and jollity, that the second brother
also forgot the bird and its feathers,and his father, the
quest, and the whole kingdom. Away he was, and away
he stayed, he too.
So when
the time drew on that the apple was getting

ripe again, the king's youngest son was to go out into

the garden and watch for the apple-thief. Now he
took with him a comrade, who was to help him up into
the tree, and they took with them a keg of ale and a

pack of cards to while away the time, so that they

should not fall asleep. All at once came a blaze as
of the sun, and just as the golden bird pounced down
and snapped up the apple, the king's son tried to seize
it, but he only got a feather out of its tail. So he went
into the king's bedroom, and when he came in with the
feather the room was as bright as broad day.
So he too would go out into the wide world to try
ifhe could hear any tidings of his brothers and catch
the bird ; for after all, he had been so near it that he
had put his mark on it, and got a feather out of its

tail.

Well, the king was long in making up his mind if he

should let him go, for he thought it would not be better
 The Golden Bird 395
with him who was the youngest than with the eldest,
who ought to have had more knowledge of the ways of
the world, and he was afraid he might lose him too.
But the king's son begged so prettily, that he had to
give him leave at last.

So he began to pack up his travelling fare, and the

king fitted him out well, both with clothes and money,
and so he set off. So when he had travelled a bit he

got hungry and opened his scrip, and sat him down
to eat his dinner; and just as he put the first bit into
his mouth a fox came out of a spruce clump, and sat
down by him and looked on.
" me a morsel of food, do,"
Oh, dear friend, give
said the fox.
" I
might very well come to need food for myself,"
said the king's son
" for I'm sure I can't tell how
;

far I shall have to go; but so much I

know, that I

can just give you a little bit."

So when the fox had got a bit of meat to bite at, he

asked the king's son whither he was bound. Well, he
told him what he was trying to do.
" If "
you will listen to me," said the fox, I will help
you, so that you shall take luck along with you."
Then the king's son gave his word to listen to him,
and so they set off in company, and when they had
travelled awhile they came to the self-same town and
the self-same inn where there was always mirth and
never sorrow.
" Now I may just as well stay outside the town,"
said the fox. "Those dogs are such a bore."
And then he told him what his brothers had done,
and what they were still doing, and he went on.
39 6 Tales from the Fjeld

" If
you go in there you'll get no farther either. Do
"
you hear ?

So the king's son gave his word, and his hand into
the bargain, that he wouldn't go in there, and they
each went his way. But when the prince got to the
inn and heard what music and jollity there was inside,
he could not help going
in, there were not two
words about that; and
when he met his brothers,
there was such a to-do,
that he forgot both the
fox and his quest, and the
bird and his father. But
when he had been there
awhile the fox came for
he had ventured into the
town after all and peeped
through the door, and
^^ winked at the king's son,
and said now they must
set off. So the prince came to his senses again, and
away they started for the house.
And when they had gone awhile they saw a big fell

far, far off. Then the fox said

"
Three hundred miles behind yon fell there grows
a gilded linden tree with golden leaves, and in that
linden roosts the golden bird whose feather that is."
So they travelled thither together; and when the
king's son was going off to catch the bird, the fox gave
him some fine feathers which he was to wave with his
hand to lure the bird down and then it would come
 The Go/den Bird 397
flying and perch on his hand. But the fox told him
to mind and not touch the linden, for there was a big
Troll who owned it, and if the king's son but touched
the tiniest twig, the Troll would come and slay him on
the spot.

Nay, the king's son would be sure not to touch it,

he said but when he had got

;

the bird on his fist, he thought

he just would have a twig of
the linden; that was past pray-
ing against, it was so bright and
lovely. So he took one, just
one very tiny little one. But
in a trice out came the Troll.
"WHO IS IT THAT STEALS
MY LINDEN AND MY BIRD?"
he roared ;
and was so angry,
that sparks of fire flashed from
him.
"Thieves think every man a
thief," said the king's son; "but
none are hanged but those who
don't steal right"
But the Troll said it was all one, and was just going
to smite but the lad said he must spare his life.
him ;

"Well, well," said the Troll, "if you can get me

again the horse which my nearest neighbour has stolen
from me, you shall get off with your life."
"But where shall I find him?" asked the king's
son.
"
Oh, he lives three hundred miles beyond yon big
fell that looks blue in the sky."
 Tales from the Fjeld

So the king's son gave his word to do his best. But

when he met the fox, Reynard was not altogether in a
soft temper.
"Now you have behaved badly," he said. "Had
you done as I bade you, we should have been on our
way home by this time."
So they had to make a fresh start, as life was at
stake, and the prince had
given his word, and after a

long, long time they got to

the spot. And when the

prince was to go and take

the horse, the fox said
" When
you come into the
stable, you will see many bits
hanging on the stalls, both
of silver and gold them you
;

shall not touch, for then the

Troll will come out and slay
you on the spot; but the
ugliest and poorest, that you
shall take."

Yes, the king's son gave

his word to do that ;
but when he got into the stable
he thought it was all stuff, for there was enough and
to spare of fine bits ;
and so he took the brightest
he could find, and
like gold; but in a trice
it shone
out came the Troll, so cross that sparks of fire flashed
from him.
"WHO IS IT WHO TRYS TO STEAL MY HORSE AND
"
MY BIT ? he roared out.
"Thieves think every man a thief," said the king's
 The Go Iden Bird 399
" but none are
son ; hanged but those who don't steal

right."
the same," said the Troll, "
"
Well, all I'll kill
you on
the spot."
But the king's son said he must spare his life.
" " if me
Well, well," said the Troll, you can get
back the lovely maiden my nearest neighbour has stolen
from me, I'll spare your life."
" Where "
does he live, then ? said the king's son.

"Oh, he lives three hundred miles behind that big

fell is blue, yonder in the sky," said the Troll.
that

Yes, the king's son gave his word to fetch the maiden,
and then he had leave to go, and got off with his life.
But when he came out of doors the fox was not in the

very best temper, you may fancy.

" Now
you have behaved badly again. Had you
done as I bade you, we might have been on our way
home long ago. Do you know, I almost think now I
won't stay with you any longer."
But the king's son begged and prayed so prettily
from the bottom of his heart, and gave his word never
todo anything but what the fox said, if he would only
be his companion. At last the fox yielded, and they
became fast friends again, and so they set off afresh,
and after a long, long time they came to the spot where
the lovely maiden was.
" "
Yes," said the fox, you have given your word like
a man, but for all that, I dare not
let you go into the

Troll's house must go myself."

this time. I

So he went in, and in a little while he came out with

the maiden, and so they travelled back by the same way
that they had come. And when they came back to the
400 Tales from the Fjeld

Troll the horse, they took both it and the

who had
grandest and when they got to the Troll who
bit;
owned the linden and the bird, they took both the
linden and the bird, and set off with them.
So when they had
travelled awhile, they
came to a field of rye,
and the fox said
" I hear a noise now
;

you must ride on alone,

and I will bide here
awhile."
So he plaited himself
a dress of rye-straw,
and it looked just like
some one who stood
there and preached. And
he had scarcely done
that before all three
Trolls came flying along,

thinking they would

overtake them.
"
Have you seen any
one riding by here with a lovely maiden, and a horse
with a gold bit, and a golden bird and a gilded linden-
"
tree ? they all roared out to him who stood there

preaching.
"
Yes, I heard from my grandmother's grandmother
that such a train passed by here; but Lord bless us!
that was good old time, when my grandmother's
in the

grandmother baked cakes for a penny, and gave the

penny back again."

 The Golden Bird 401
Then all the three Trolls burst out into loud fits of
laughter. "HA! HA! HA! HA!" they cried, and
took hold of one another.
"If we have slept so long, we may e'en just turn our
noses home, and go to bed," they said and so they
;

went back by the way they had come.

Then the fox started off after the king's son ;
but

when they got to the town where the inn and his
brothers were, he said
" I dare not
go through the town for the dogs. I must
take my own way round about ; but now you must take

good care that your brothers don't lay hold of you."

But when the king's son got into the town, he thought
it very hard if he didn't look in on his brothers and have

a word with them, and so he halted a little time. But

as soon as his brothers set eyes on him, they came out
and took from him both the maiden, and the horse, and
the bird, and the linden, and everything; and himself
2 c
4-Q2 Tales from the Fjeld

they stuffed into a cask and cast him into the lake, and
so they set off home to the king's palace, with the
maiden, and the horse, and the bird, and linden, and
everything. But the maiden wouldn't say a word she ;

got pale and wretched to look at. The horse got so

thin and starved,
all his bones scarce clung together.

The bird
moped and shone no more, and the linden
withered away.
Meanwhile the fox walked about outside the town
where the inn was with all its jollity, and he listened
and waited for the king's son and the lovely maiden,
and wondered why they did not come back. So he
went hither and thither, and waited and longed, and
at last he went down to the strand, and there he saw
the cask which lay on the lake drifting, and called out
"
"Are you driven about there, you empty cask ?
"
Oh, it is I," said the king's son inside the cask.
Then the fox swam out into the lake as fast as he
could, and got hold of the cask and drew it on shore.
Then he began to gnaw at the hoops and when he had
;

got them off the cask, he called out to the king's son,
" Kick and "
stamp !

So the king's son struck out and stamped and kicked,

ever} stave burst asunder, and out he jumped
7
till

from the cask. Then they went together to the king's

palace, and when they got there, the maiden grew lovely
and began to speak the horse got so fat and sleek
;

that every hair beamed the bird shone and sang the
; ;

linden began to bloom and glitter with its leaves and ;

at last the maiden said

" Here he is
who set us free " !

So they planted the linden in the garden, and the

 The Golden Bird 4 3

youngest prince was to have the princess, for she was

one, of course;
but as for the two elder brothers, they
put them each into his own cask full of nails, and rolled
them down a steep hill.
So they made ready for the bridal ;
but first the fox
said to the prince he must lay him on the chopping-

block, and cut his head off, and whether he thought it

good orill, there was no help for it, he must do it. But
as he dealt the stroke the fox became a lovely prince,
and he was the princess's brother, whom they had set
free from the Trolls.
So the bridal came on, and it was so great and grand,
that the story of that feasting spread far and wide, till.
it reached all the way to this very spot.

CENTRAL C1RCULATIOH
CHILDREN'S ROOM